Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any properties in this work that I did not make myself.
Before the redemption
Chapter seven: Painfully Shy
Hinata Hyuga woke up with a start early (like around four-thirty or so) one morning in the village of Konohagakure. The Hyuga chunnin whished that she hadn't woken up, though; she was having the most wonderful dream. In the dream, Naruto Uzumaki, the boy who Hinata had been in love with for as long as she could remember, had asked if she had wanted to marry him. Naturally, Hinata said yes, and the two became engaged.
Hinata was about to kiss Naruto, too, but that's the point when she woke up. "Aww," Hinata muttered to herself sadly as she realized that she had just woken up, "It was just a dream. But it was a nice one." Hinata was just about to go back to sleep in hopes of recapturing that dream, when there was a knock at her bedroom door.
"Are you decent, Lady Hinata?" the voice of Ko Hyuga, a member of the Hyuga clan's cadet branch, called through the bedroom door.
"Yes," Hinata called back in a tired tone. Having heard Hinata's response, Ko opened the door, saw the tired look on the face of the girl who he had been the nanny of for as long as he could remember.
"I apologize if I had woken you up, Lady Hinata," Ko remarked, "But there had been an emergency with one of the Hyuga clan's elders. He has just been rushed to the hospital."
"What?" Hinata asked in an alarmed and worried tone, "Will he be okay?"
"It's iffy at the moment," Ko replied honestly, "He was experiencing pains that made him collapse as he tried to get out of bed. According to what I heard after he was taken to Konoha General, he's having kidney problems."
"Oh dear, I hope he gets better soon," Hinata remarked worriedly.
"Konoha General has the best medical shinobi in the five great nations, Lady Hinata," Ko said, "Our clan's elder is in good hands." As he closed the door, Ko said, "Sorry again if I had woken you up, Lady Hinata."
"I had actually woken up a bit before you knocked on my door, Ko," Hinata replied in a kind tone, "Although I was having a very nice dream."
"A nice dream, you say?" Ko repeated in a curious tone, "Mind telling me?"
"Oh, you're going to think it's silly, Ko," Hinata said.
"Meh, can't be any weirder than the dream I was having before I was woken up and told the news concerning the clan elder," Ko replied with a shrug. (1)
"Umm, well," Hinata began in an unsure tone as she started blushing, "You know Naruto, right? The boy I have been in love with for as long as I could remember? Well, I was dreaming that he proposed to me and that we had gotten engaged."
With a somewhat amused smile on his face, Ko replied, "That…actually wasn't a dream, Lady Hinata. You really are engaged to Naruto. In fact, it happened…" Ko stopped short to take a quick look at the old-fashioned-looking digital clock on Hinata's nightstand. "…Yesterday evening," Ko finished, "About eight hours ago, in fact."
"…Huh?" Hinata said, unable to process what Ko was saying.
"Technically, Naruto didn't actually propose to you," Ko explained, "Your father had offered Naruto your hand in marriage, just like countless other fathers did for their daughters all across Konoha due to how much of a name Naruto had made for himself as of late. Naruto accepted your father's offer and was worrying if you'd be okay with the idea of-"
Ko stopped midsentence when he suddenly saw Hinata fall back onto her pillows, having fainted. "Oi! Lady Hinata!" Ko said worriedly as he ran forward, giving Hinata's left shoulder a gentle shake, "Are you alright, Lady Hinata? You were just released from the hospital yesterday, so it'd be really bad if you had to go back so soon, especially considering one of the Hyuga clan elders was just taken there!" Hinata, despite having fainted, was actually perfectly fine.
Hinata's dream had actually come true, after all.
Later in the morning at around ten or so, Hinata was sitting on a bench in a local park, a picnic basket sitting on the bench next to her. Hinata was also wearing a different outfit than normal this day, too; the Hyuga chunnin wore a pink t-shirt over a light-gray long-sleeved shirt, and over that Hinata wore a long-sleeved lavender coat which ended a little bit past her knees. Hinata also wore a pale light-green skirt that ended roughly halfway down her shins, and a pair of shinobi pants under that; the pants ended about an inch lower than the skirt. Hinata wore her shinobi sandals on her feet; to complete her outfit, Hinata wore her Konoha ninja headband, around her neck as always. (2)
Hinata had brought along a book to read to pass the time; it was a fantasy book based off of a popular tabletop RPG game called 'Mage Land'. Hinata had always loved reading these 'Mage Land' books, ever since she was little; her teachers back at the academy were amazed that Hinata was reading at such a high reading level. (3)
As Hinata sat on the bench in the public park, she heard a familiar voice call out, "Oi, Hinata!" Hearing this voice, Hinata smiled gently, placed a bookmark in the book to keep her place, got up and turned to face the owner of the voice that had called out. The Hyuga chunnin was met up by Naruto Uzumaki, the person that she had been waiting for.
The Jinchuriki with spiky, long blonde hair had been making quite a name for himself recently, what with all of the missions he had been doing and having recently won a combat tournament hosted by Lady Tsunade, the fifth and current Hokage, in an attempt to advertise Konoha's finest chunnin to potential clients. In fact, after winning this tournament, Naruto was promoted to jonin, which made his reputation go up even more. Many fathers all over Konoha had offered their daughters in marriage to Naruto; Hinata's father, Hiashi, was one such father, having offered Hinata's hand in marriage to Naruto, an offer that Naruto accepted.
Hinata did hear that Naruto, due to how many fathers in Konoha wanted him to marry their daughters, was pretty much given his pick of any girl in Konoha. And yet Naruto had chosen her.
Her.
Hinata could not help it that, as she was thinking about this, her eyes were watering up a bit. Seeing that there were tears in Hinata's eyes, Naruto's expression became mildly concerned. "Hey, Hinata," Naruto began as he came up to her, "Are you okay? Why are you crying?"
"Oh, I was just thinking about last night, is all," Hinata replied, as gently as always, as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
Smiling gently, Naruto said, "For a second there, I was worried that I had done something to upset you." Gently shaking his head, causing his long golden spikes to sway back and forth, Naruto continued, "I'd hate to have done something to make my fiancé upset with me."
Suddenly, Hinata started giggling. "…Did I say something funny?" the blonde jonin asked, regarding Hinata with a confused look.
"I'm sorry, Naruto," Hinata replied as her giggling died down somewhat, "It's just that hearing you refer to me as your fiancé really made me happy." Her giggling having died down completely, Hinata looked Naruto right in the eyes. "This is really happening," Hinata said in her usual gentle tone, "I'm still having trouble believing it, though."
Smiling gently himself, Naruto said, "Well you better believe it, Hinata." His eyes wandering over to the bench he saw Hinata sitting on, Naruto spotted the picnic basket. "What's that all about?" Naruto asked in a curious manner, pointing to the picnic basket.
"Oh!" Hinata said suddenly, turning around to make a quick dash to the bench to retrieve the basket, "I thought that, for our first date, we'd have a picnic in the park." Looking mildly unsure, Hinata added, "Umm, if you have the time, of course."
"I actually have all day," Naruto replied, "Granny Tsunade said that the only mission she had that she would have given to me was already taken by Mr. Fisher, Mr. Yamanaka, Mrs. Inuzuka and Kuromaru, and that's just because it involved checking out something over at a brewery in the Land of Hot Water. She said that all of the other missions were run of the mill beginner missions for genin fresh out of the academy, and that she didn't expect me to go on any of those unless I suddenly became a jonin instructor."
Smiling, Hinata said, "Well, I bet that you would make one great jonin instructor, Naruto." With a giggle, Hinata continued, "I can already imagine a group of genin referring to you as 'Naruto-sensei'."
With a smile, the blonde jonin said, "That does have a nice ring to it, now that you-"
"Big Bro!" the familiar voice of Konohamaru called out, cutting Naruto off and making him and Hinata turn to face the direction it came from. As such, they saw Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi come running up to them. "Hey, Big Bro," Konohamaru said in a worried tone, "Udon, Moegi and I think that the-"
Konohamaru, along with Udon and Moegi, took pause when they noticed Hinata with Naruto, giving the Hyuga chunnin some consideration. "Hey Big Bro, who is this?" Udon asked.
"Oh, this is Hinata," Naruto replied as he introduced his fiancé to the three genin who saw Naruto as a big brother figure, "Hinata and I are…going out." Naruto did not say that he and Hinata were engaged, as Hinata wanted to wait and spring the news during a large gathering of all of their friends. (4) The respective reactions from Udon, Moegi and Konohamaru were varied, although Naruto didn't really appreciate the reaction from Moegi.
"She looks like a really nice girl, Big Bro."
"Ehh, she looks kinda plain compared to the last girl you had a crush on." (5)
"She's at least a solid eight, Big Bro."
"So…what did you all need to see me for?" Naruto asked in a dry monotone, resisting the urge to give Moegi a good bop on the head.
"Oh yeah," Konohamaru said as his mind got back on track, "The stalker is at it again, Big Bro!"
"A stalker?" Hinata repeated in an alarmed tone.
"Oh yeah," Naruto said as he turned to face Hinata, "Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi have been complaining to me that someone is apparently stalking them. It's got them rattled, to say the least."
"You gotta help us, Big Bro," Konohamaru said in a worried tone, "Udon, Moegi and I don't know how much more of this we can take!"
Sighing, Naruto said, "Alright, I'll help you all." Turing to regard his fiancé, Naruto said, "Looks like our picnic date will have to wait, I'm afraid."
Shaking her head gently, Hinata replied, "It's no trouble at all, Naruto. In fact, I was going to offer to help as well."
To the genin, Naruto said, "Alright Konohamaru, Udon, Moegi. Lead the way."
A short while later, Naruto, Hinata and the genin were at the training grounds for practicing the use of throwing weapons such as shuriken. "This is where we usually feel that we're being watched the most, Big Bro," Konohamaru said in a nervous tone as he and his friends looked around timidly.
"Hmm…" Naruto remarked as he took a quick glance around. As he looked around, Naruto started up his ability to sense out nearby chakras, to see if he can find anything. While Naruto was doing this, Hinata activated her Byakugan to assist Naruto with the search.
"Do you see anything, Hinata?" Naruto asked.
"Not yet," Hinata replied with a gentle shake of her head, "If there is someone watching the genin in secret, they're doing a really good job at-"
Hinata stopped short when Naruto suddenly took off running in the direction diagonal from Udon's left shoulder. "Big Bro must have sensed someone!" Konohamaru remarked confidently as he pumped a fist, "The stalker has been-"
"AHHHHH!" a young female voice called out in surprise, cutting off Konohamaru. Hinata and the three genin were surprised when they had heard the cry; Hinata was especially surprised, as she recognized the voice that cried out, having heard it many times before.
With the three genin following her, Hinata dashed off in the direction Naruto took off in. Within a few seconds, Hinata and the three genin came upon the sight of a girl crouching down in a fetal position, her hands over her head; Naruto stood a few feet in front of the girl. The girl wore a dark sleeveless shirt and pants of a similar color, a tan jacket vest, shinobi sandals, and white bindings around both her ankles and her wrists. The girl's hair was black and cut in a sort-of bob style.
Turning to face Hinata and the genin, Naruto said, "Umm, I found her."
"So, it was you!" Konohamaru exclaimed self-righteously as he pointed at the girl, "You're the one who's been creeping me and my friends out!"
"I'm sorry!" the girl cried out, still huddled up and not looking up, "I wasn't trying to creep anyone out! I was just too nervous to walk over and talk to Glasses Boy because he's always with you two and I'm no good with crowds and-"
"Wait, Glasses Boy?" Konohamaru interrupted in a confused tone, "You mean Udon?"
"I didn't know his name because I was too nervous to approach him and ask!" the girl cried out as she started actually crying, "I'm really sorry!"
Sighing in a knowing tone, Naruto said, "Konohamaru, Udon, Moegi."
"Yeah, Big Bro?" Moegi asked.
"I believe that there's a few things that all six of us need to go over," Naruto explained as he gestured to himself and everyone else that was present, "The main one being that the three of you were never in any actual danger. All that there was is just a shy girl who was too nervous about approaching you three because she wanted to be friends."
"Oh, really?" Moegi remarked as her tone sounded much more relieved than it had been in a while, "Whew, that's a load off my toad."
"I think that there might be a bit more to it than that, Naruto," Hinata remarked to her fiancé, a small, amused smile on her face. When Hinata spoke, the crouching girl, who had been shaking ever since Hinata and the genin arrived on the scene, stopped shaking the instant she heard Hinata's voice.
"…Onee-sama?" the girl said in a confused tone as she slowly got up.
Nodding gently, Hinata said, "Yes, Hanabi, it's me."
A short while later, Naruto and the others were standing near the bench where Naruto had met up with Hinata previously. Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi stood in front of Naruto and Hinata. Hanabi Hyuga, the girl who had been following Konohamaru and his friends around in secret over the last few days, stood between Naruto and Hinata. "…So," Konohamaru began as he gave the Hyuga genin a look of consideration, "You just wanted to hang with us, but was too scared to approach and ask, so you took to following us around in secret."
"I'm sorry!" Hanabi exclaimed in a flustered manner, bowing her head so quickly and with so much effort that she almost lost balance and fell over onto her face. Naruto gently grabbed Hanabi's right shoulder with his left hand to keep her from falling over.
"Well there was no need to be all nervous like that," Moegi remarked with a kind smile, "Hell, I'd gladly welcome another girl to our group! I'm getting tired of being outnumbered by boys."
"Wait, I think said something about me specifically," Udon said in a curious tone. To Hanabi, Udon said, "Didn't you call me Glasses Boy, or something?"
"I didn't know your name until your friend said it!" Hanabi said hastily and in a tone which suggested Hanabi was afraid that she had offended Udon, "I'm sorry!"
"It's okay," Udon replied as he tried to reassure the panicking Hyuga genin, "There's no need to be so upset."
"Yeah, I think Udon has a point," Konohamaru said to Hanabi, "You did mention him specifically when Big Bro caught you. What, do you, like, have a crush on Udon or something?"
"Heh," Moegi laughed, "That's a good one, Konohamaru! Like any girl in her right mind would seriously have a crush on a dorky looking guy like Udon."
"Gee, thanks a lot, Moegi," Udon remarked in a sarcastic tone.
To Hanabi, Moegi said, "Seriously, though. Why did you mention Udon specifically?"
"Well," Hanabi began in a nervous tone as she started blushing profusely, poking the tips of her index fingers together, "Well, I, err, umm, you see, I, umm… I do have a crush on him."
"…What?" Moegi said in a dry, confused tone.
"Aww," Hinata remarked, "This is so cute! My little sister has finally started looking at boys!"
"…What?" Moegi repeated in the same dry, confused tone as before.
"Well alright, Udon!" Konohamaru said in a congratulatory tone as he gave his friend a congratulatory shake of his shoulder, "A girl likes you! And she's a cute one, too! Way to go!"
"…What?!" Moegi said for a third time, but with a little bit more emphasis.
"I'm actually not used to this," Udon remarked honestly, "I mean, I never really saw myself as the kind of guy that a girl would actually like."
"Nonsense!" Hanabi insisted, "In fact, I'm both surprised and lucky that there haven't been any girls that have taken an interest in you yet!"
"…WHAT?!" Moegi exclaimed. (6)
Another short while later, after Naruto and Hinata took off to try and have a proper date with each other, Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi returned to the throwing weapons training grounds with Hanabi. "So, Bunny," Moegi began when she turned to face Hanabi.
"Hanabi," the Hyuga genin corrected.
"Whatever," Moegi replied in an indifferent tone, "So Fireworks, if you're going to be rolling with the boys and I, there are a few rules that you need to be made aware of."
"A few rules?" Hanabi repeated in a curious tone.
"Rule number one," Moegi began as she held up fingers to count off the supposed 'rules', "I'm the leader of our group."
"Umm," Hanabi said in an unsure tone, "I was sort-of under the impression that Konohamaru was the leader of your group."
"I was until my grandfather died in the Konoha Crush a few years ago," Konohamaru remarked, "After that, I was kind-of too upset to function properly for a while, so Moegi took over as group leader. And she's been leading us ever since."
"Rule number two," Moegi continued as she held up another finger, "Every Friday is Snack Day, where one member of our group brings snacks for all of us to share. Girls get first crack at the snacks, as girls get to go before boys."
"This meant that Moegi always gets to go first," Konohamaru pointed out to Hanabi, "As she was the only girl in our group prior to you joining us."
"Wait, Konohamaru raises a valid point," Udon said to Moegi, "Since there are two girls in our group now, which one gets first crack at the snacks on Snack Day? Or will both of you go at the same time?"
"I still get to go first, as I am group leader," Moegi explained to Udon, "Flowers here goes after me, then either you or Konohamaru follows afterword."
"My name isn't Flowers," Hanabi remarked somewhat nervously.
"Wait, today is Friday!" Konohamaru pointed out, "Who's turn is it to get the snacks?"
"Today is supposed to be your turn, Konohamaru," Moegi explained, "As we go in alphabetical order according to first name, and Udon provided the snacks last time." Pointing to Hanabi, Moegi continued as she spoke to Konohamaru, "However, since we have a new group member, and her first name comes before yours alphabetically, she can get the snacks this time."
"Do any of you want something specific?" Hanabi asked.
"It's best to get multiples of identical snacks," Konohamaru advised the Hyuga genin, "If you get anything special or unique, Moegi will lay claim to it first."
"He's got that right," Moegi stated somewhat smugly, "It's my prerogative as group leader."
"Well there goes my plan to get something special for Udon," Hanabi thought. Out loud, Hanabi said, "Alright, I'll head over to a store and buy some snacks. I'll be right back." With that, the Hyuga genin took off.
…
A few minutes after running off to buy some snacks, Hanabi returned to the throwing weapons training grounds; she held in her right hand a grocery bag that contained four snack-sized bags of mini chocolate chip cookies and four cans of cola. Upon reaching the throwing weapons training grounds, Hanabi saw that a jonin instructor was about to give Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi a lecture. It was an educational lesson lecture rather than one that is given to a child who got in trouble. The jonin wore the standard Konoha shinobi outfit minus the flask jacket, a bandana-style Konoha shinobi headband, and a pair of circular shades.
"Now that we're all here," the jonin said to the three genin, "I can start the lecture."
"Hello?" Hanabi called out, getting the attention of the jonin instructor and the three genin.
Seeing Hanabi, Moegi said, "Ah ha, the new girl's come back with the snacks!"
"Who is this jonin that's talking to you guys?" Hanabi asked in a friendly, curious tone as she pointed to the jonin.
"This is Ebisu-sensei," Konohamaru explained, "He's the jonin instructor that's been assigned to teach Moegi, Udon and me."
"Oh dear," Hanabi replied in a worried tone, "I hope I wasn't interrupting a lesson."
"No need to worry, young lady," Ebisu assured the Hyuga genin in a kind tone, "In fact, I was just about to start a lecture before you came here." Arching an eyebrow in curiosity, Ebisu said, "Say, young lady, you have the Byakugan. I take it you belong to Konoha's Hyuga clan?"
Nodding in the affirmative, Hanabi said, "Yes, I belong to the Hyuga clan."
"Aha!" Ebisu remarked in a pleased tone, "Then you of all people will be perfect to have join us as a guest member today!"
Ebisu spent the next half hour talking off the respective ears of Konohamaru, Udon, Moegi and Hanabi. Over the course of that half hour, the four genin consumed the cookies and sodas that Hanabi got. "…And so," Ebisu said as he wrapped up his lecture, "If any of you four see a member of the Inuzuka clan in the streets of Konoha as you are out and walking about, I want you to turn around and run as far and fast as you can in the opposite direction. Those dogs are nothing short of complete and total monsters."
"Ebisu-sensei, that all was just a bunch of negative stereotypes perpetrated by Konoha's small-minded one percent and easily influenced villagers," Moegi remarked. Turning to face Hanabi, Moegi said, "Isn't that right, New Girl?"
"My older sister was nearly killed by a member of the Inuzuka clan during the Chunnin Tournament a while ago," Hanabi remarked in a mildly bitter tone.
"Hmm," Ebisu said as he held a hand to his chin, "The only Hyuga clan member who competed in the Chunnin Tournament was Hinata, the first-born daughter of the Hyuga clan's leader, Lord Hiashi."
"I'm his second-born daughter," Hanabi stated.
"Egad!" Ebisu exclaimed out of shock, "I knew that you were part of one of Konoha's noble clans, but to be such an important member of that clan! Truly you grace us with your presence!"
"It's, umm," Hanabi replied in an embarrassed manner, "Not all that big a deal, Ebisu-sensei."
"No need to be so formal with me, young lady," Ebisu said, "In fact, we should be referring to you in the respectful manner that is afforded to you!"
"No, no, that really isn't necessary," Hanabi said insistently, her embarrassed blushing growing even more.
"You are a modest one, young lady," Ebisu remarked in an impressed tone, "Konoha is all the more better off to have humble personages of high prestige such as you!" To the four genin as a whole, Ebisu said, "Well kids, the lecture is over, so I'll be taking my leave now. Have a good day!" And with that, Ebisu turned around and took his leave.
After Ebisu was gone, Moegi turned to face Hanabi. "Ebisu-sensei having shown up brings us to rule number three," Moegi said to the Hyuga genin, "When he's around, we all do whatever he says."
"Because he's the jonin sensei?" Hanabi asked.
"Because he's one of those annoying, by-the-book kinds of guys and it's best to just humor him," Moegi clarified, "It'll save so many headaches in the long run."
"He's won Konoha's Brownnoser-of-the-year award six years running," Konohamaru stated as he raised an index finger. (7)
"Speaking of the Chunnin Tournament," Moegi said with a mischievous grin. Heading over to her backpack, which laid on the ground at the base of a shuriken target, Moegi unzipped it and pulled out a case containing a DVD.
"I managed to swipe the DVD that Iruka-sensei made that has recordings of all of the matches from the Chunnin Tournament on it," Moegi continued, "Who wants to head over to Udon's place and watch it?"
"Why Udon's place?" Konohamaru asked.
"Because my foster mother thought that our DVD player broke when she couldn't get it to open with the DVD player's remote," Moegi explained, "So she took a four-iron golf club to the DVD player. As it turned out, the DVD player's remote just needed new batteries."
"Wait a minute," Udon said. Turning to face Hanabi, Udon asked, "Didn't you say that your older sister was nearly killed in the Chunnin Tournament?"
"Yeah," Hanabi replied in a sad tone.
To Konohamaru and Moegi, Udon said, "If Hanabi is going to join us, then I think we should skip the fight where her older sister almost gets killed, because I'm pretty sure that watching that fight would freak her out." Hanabi smiled at the consideration that the boy she has a crush on is showing her; it was small but sincere, and actually kind of cute.
"…Fine," Moegi replied, "I'll just watch that match on my own at a later time. I'm actually looking forward to watching all of Big Bro's wins, anyway."
The four genin watched all of the matches on the DVD that Moegi swiped from Iruka, save for the Hinata-versus-Kiba match which Moegi skipped at Udon's suggestion. "Woah, that was awesome!" Konohamaru exclaimed excitedly, "Big Bro is really awesome!"
"It's kind of annoying that we had to skip one of the matches because it would have otherwise freaked the new girl out," Moegi remarked, "But then again, I'd probably want to skip watching a match in which Big Bro nearly gets killed. Not like that would ever happen, of course, given how OP Big Bro is."
"So Hanabi," Konohamaru began when he turned to face the Hyuga genin, "Now that you had a taste of what it's like to roll with our group, what do you think?"
"Are there any more rules I have to be made aware of?" Hanabi asked.
"There is one more rule, now that you mention it," Moegi replied, "Rule number four is that whenever Big Bro is around, we all do whatever he says."
"Unlike doing whatever Ebisu-sensei says because it's best to just humor him," Konohamaru explained, "We do whatever Big Bro says because he actually deserves our respect. Also, if Ebisu-sensei and Big Bro both gives us different orders at the same time, Big Bro's orders get priority."
"Hey, now that Big Bro is a jonin, you think we can get Lady Fifth to replace Ebisu-sensei with Big Bro as our jonin instructor?" Udon suggested.
"Oh, that would be so cool!" Moegi said, "Then we wouldn't have to deal with an annoying brownnoser anymore!"
"Let's ask Lady Fifth if she'll consider it," Konohamaru replied.
"Actually, I think that he's going to be busy for a while," Hanabi replied.
Turning to face the Hyuga genin, Moegi said, "What do you mean, new girl?"
"My father told me that Naruto is going to be doing something for the Hyuga clan," Hanabi explained, "And as such, he'll be too occupied to lead a group of genin. My father didn't go into much detail, though." (8)
"Well darn," Moegi replied, snapping her fingers in a disappointed manner. After putting the DVD that she had swiped from Iruka back into its case, Moegi said, "Well anywho you guys, I have to go put this back before Iruka-sensei finds out that I stole it."
At that moment, there was a knock at the door, which Udon answered (they were all at Udon's place, after all). Opening the door, he was greeted by the sight of a stern-looking Iruka Umino; standing behind him was Kiba Inuzuka, accompanied by his (Kiba's) loyal Ninkin Akamaru. "I had to get Kiba and his dog to help me find whoever swiped the DVD I made of all of the matches from the Chunnin Tournament," Iruka began in a stern tone as Akamaru walked up to sniff at the bespectacled genin, "Udon, would you care to explain to me why they led me-" Iruka was cut off when Akamaru woofed a few times.
"Akamaru says that this kid doesn't have the smell he picked up from your desk, Iruka-sensei," Kiba stated, "But Akamaru also said that he still smells the scent that he picked up."
"Yeah, Moegi took it and was showing it to us, Iruka-sensei," Udon explained as Konohamaru and Moegi came to the front door, with Moegi wearing an expression of worry and shame. Akamaru then approached Moegi and sniffed at her a few times before turning to face Kiba and woof a few times.
"Akamaru says that the girl's scent matches," Kiba informed the chunnin instructor.
"Moegi, why would you swipe the DVD?" Iruka asked in a stern-yet-gentle tone.
"Well maybe if-" Moegi said, but she was cut off when Hanabi ran forward and swung her right foot right up into Kiba's groin, scoring a critical hit. Kiba, his hands covering his vulnerable area, fell over and laid on the front patio of Udon's family's house; Akamaru, his tail between his legs, slowly backed up while whimpering out of mild fear.
"This is for trying to kill Onee-sama, you monster!" Hanabi yelled angrily as she repeatedly stomped on Kiba; due to him rolling over, most of the stomps Kiba took hit his back. Iruka had to grab Hanabi in a full nelson and pick her up in order to get her to stop stomping on the downed Inuzuka chunnin.
"Kiba wasn't in his right mind when he did that, Hanabi!" Iruka said as he struggled to keep a hold on the flailing Hyuga genin, "His mom and some other adults managed to snap him back to normal!"
"Ugh," Kiba moaned in a knowing tone while doubled over pain, "Yeah, I pretty much have this coming."
The next day, as Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi had met up with each other, they were soon joined by Hanabi. "So, did anything come of you kicking that Kiba guy in his hidden treasure?" Konohamaru asked the Hyuga genin.
"His mom and a talking Ninkin came by the Hyuga clan estate to raise a big stink about what I did," Hanabi replied, "My father was able to brush off what I did as me being really upset for what that Kiba jerk did to Onee-sama during the Chunnin Tournament. Although my father still gave me a mild scolding after the Mrs. Inuzuka and her talking Ninkin left, saying that I was lucky I didn't kick hard enough to warrant Kiba needing to be taken to Konoha General."
"So, what's up on today's list of activities?" Udon asked Moegi.
"You know mister bowl-cut, who is mister Kakashi's self-proclaimed rival?" Moegi asked, and after the other genin all nodded in the affirmative, Moegi continued, "Well, he's recently taken to reading those pervert books because he wants to understand why mister Kakashi likes them so much." With a slight chuckle, Moegi said, "I secretly swapped out all of mister bowl-cut's pervert books with some reading material of a different nature. You all wanna come check out the results with me?"
…
Over at an outdoor café, Might Gai was treating his team to lunch. "I still cannot believe that Lady Hanabi would kick Kiba in his coin purse," Neji remarked in a mildly disappointed tone as he shook his head.
"Come now, Neji," Gai remarked, "Put thoughts like that away for now. The four of us are here at a quaint little outdoor café for lunch, so we should enjoy ourselves!"
"You know, Gai-sensei," Tenten began, "I'm surprised that you'd want to eat lunch at a place like this."
"Ah, that there is an important life-lesson, Tenten," Gai remarked, "The simple pleasures in life are often the best."
"Wise words as always, Gai-sensei," Rock Lee stated. (9)
As Neji picked up his mug of tea, Gai reached into the ninja weapons pouch on the back of his belt while saying, "I might as well get a bit of reading in as we wait for our food to arrive!"
"Uggh," Tenten said in a tone of disgust, "Gai-sensei, I still don't know why you'd want to read the same smut as Kakashi-sensei."
"In order to understand why my eternal rival likes these books so much," Gai replied as he opened his book, "I have decided that it is best for me to try reading these Why is a lady mage using an explosion spell to kill goblins?" Confused looks on all of their faces, Gai's students all too a quick look at the cover of the book that Gai was holding.
"That's one of those Mage Land books," Neji remarked as he looked at the cover, "It's a series of fantasy books that Lady Hinata loves reading."
"How did this get to where I kept my copy of Make-Out Paradise?" Gai asked rhetorically as he looked at the cover of the book, "Furthermore, where did my copy of Make-Out Paradise go?"
…
Over at the local park, Hinata, while dressed in her outfit that she wore when she had met up with Naruto the morning after they had gotten engaged, had quickly closed the book she was reading almost as soon as she had opened it. Noticing the profuse amount of embarrassed blushing on his fiancé's face, Naruto took a look at the cover of the book in her hands.
Sighing in a knowing manner, Naruto said as he shook his head, "This is Moegi's handiwork. I just know it."
END, BEFORE THE REDEMPTION CHAPTER SEVEN
Author's Notes:
(1) Ko was having a dream where he was part of an investigation team looking into Konoha restaurants supposedly discriminating against overweight customers. While Ko was donning a fat suit in order to do some undercover work, Ayame met and sub-sequentially fell in love with him.
(2) This is my best attempt to describe the casual outfit that Hinata wore in 'The Last', going off of at least two pictures I saw of Hinata wearing that get-up on the internet. The only deliberate changes I made to the outfit was replacing the regular sandals with shinobi sandals and throwing in Hinata's ninja headband.
(3) At the time, Hinata and all of her classmates were supposed to be at a first-grade reading level. The 'Mage Land' books are at a ninth-grade reading level at the least.
(4) Which would, surprisingly enough, include Sasuke Uchiha.
(5) I was debating for a bit on whether to have Moegi say 'plain' or 'chubby'; I ultimately settled on 'plain'.
(6) Moegi's mind broke upon hearing a girl confess to having a crush on Udon. Moegi's mind was rebooted in short order.
(7) Konohamaru isn't kidding; as part of an elaborate prank to mess with/insult Ebisu, Tsunade seriously started up a 'brownnoser of the year' award ceremony where, once a year, Tsunade presents Ebisu with a trophy topped with a nose. Ebisu has yet to realize that Tsunade is actually insulting him.
(8) At Hinata's request, Hiashi is keeping word of Hinata's engagement to Naruto a secret. Hanabi won't find out about it until sometime just before the Aburame clan requests help from Konoha government concerning the trouble they're having with their beekeeping fields.
(9) Rock Lee got runner-up in the 'Brownnoser of the year' award ceremony on two occasions; his trophies are silver as opposed to the gold ones Ebisu gets. Much like Ebisu, Rock Lee has not yet realized that this is all a joke/insult.
Well there's chapter seven, where Hanabi is introduced to Konohamaru and his friends and the groundwork for Hanabi and Udon's relationship is laid. The next chapter will feature a flash back and a special guest.
One word: séance.
