I don't own Naruto
A/N: First off I am a very happy author thanks to all the reviews and scattered PM's Ive been getting. The more you review the stronger I become so keep those reviews coming and I'll be one happy quick-to-churn-out-chapters author, but I'll probably do it regardless. A few things. I intend to keep Sasuke a somewhat involved part of the story. Another would be that despite the quick update I'm not really sure how I'm going to be setting my schedule so don't expect too too much. It would actually be easier if I didn't have to keep putting Author's notes at the beginning and ending of each chapter. I created a live journal page so people could leave comments, criticisms, and questions. I think it would be neat if I could actually chat with my fans, but its only ever been visited once so I guess that's out. One other thing is that the characters introduced in the Shipuuden arc are going to act somewhat differently then they did simply because situations are going to be really different.
Hinata awoke slowly to the constant sound of blowing wind. At first she thought she was still outside, but it wasn't until her wits managed to find their way back to her that she realized that she was indoors. Not only was she indoors but she was somewhere unfamiliar to her. What tipped her off first was the pungent odor of various unfamiliar spices. Her body felt lighter than it normally did but at least she didn't feel any pain like she initially had feared. Her eyes told her that the room seemed to be made out of sandstone and was sparsely decorated with the standard fare of tables, potted plants, and lighting. It took a few more moments of her groggy observations before she realized that the ever-present sound of wind was coming from outside a circular window located to the right of her bed. From what she could tell there was a mild sandstorm occurring outside, the room seemed to reverberate slightly with the storm's endless assault on whatever building she was in. Turning her head to the other side yielded a view of a similarly groggy Naruto.
"Ah, H-H-" the blond boy's remark was cut off by a loud, jaw-stretching yawn "Hinata, you're finally awake. Are you okay? Chiyo-baa-chan said that you had already recovered from the…cut, but that you needed rest from the ordeal with the sound-nin". The second they were both aware of each other's consciousness Naruto sprang from the uncomfortable looking chair he had been sitting in.
Hinata, realizing she didn't feel tired or even exhausted pushed herself up into a sitting position on her bed. The scratchy blanket that had been laying on top of her concealed the fact that she had lost her jacket somewhere and was now only left with a spare white shirt of a blessedly softer fabric than the blanket. Her modesty took over quickly and she pulled the blanket up close around her. Unsure herself why she acted that way a blush never-the-less traitorously crept across her cheeks. It's just a shirt, why did I have such a strange reaction? "Na-Naruto-kun were you… are… Where are we?"
Naruto, seeing that Hinata was perfectly okay settled back into his chair and assumed a disorderly slouch. "Well after Obaa-chan patched you up she took care of Lee and then arranged for us to come here a little bit more quickly than Ero-Sennin thought, we're in Sunagakure now".
Naruto's relaxed nature quickly overrode the timid girl's own sense of embarrassment and she found herself more relaxed then she had expected. "We were days away when we were attacked right, how did we get here so quickly?" something else was nagging at her but she preferred to focus at one thing at a time.
Naruto jumped up in his seat and leaned forward enough to bring his face very close to her own. Hinata was finding that Naruto had a talent for being oblivious. She was both relieved and frustrated with this, but at least in this case it was a blessing as the boy in question once again overlooked the blush he always elicited. "Once the old lady had rested for awhile she summoned this really big-" Naruto spread out his arms as wide as they could go for emphasis "-puppet thing like one of those croco…gator…things-" his words slowed when his knowledge of exotic animals failed him "-we all got on it and it moved really, really fast through this river nearby for half the way and then we got to this really big desert it just kept on going until we reached here".
Hinata smiled despite herself as Naruto's enthusiasm for his story managed to catch on. It never ceased to amaze her that the blue-eyed boy could sweep her up in his enthusiasm or optimism with little effort. "That's really amazing…OH!"
Her sudden outburst surprised Naruto back into a sitting position, not expecting such an outburst from the usually quite girl. "uhh what?"
Hinata finally remembered what it was that had been nagging her. "When those sound-nin attacked us we lost our packs. Were they-"
She was cut off by Naruto's quick interjection "Oh yeah we got those too, yours is on the other side of the bed, every thing's still there from what I could tell".
Hinata couldn't hide her shocked expression before it came out "you went through my things?" There were things in there she would have rather others not go through, especially boys…well, even more so especially not Naruto.
Naruto knew were this was going. He had once gone through one of Sakura's packs looking for food. When she found out both the living and the dead tar had been completely beaten out of him. He put his hands out defensively in front of him in a futile attempt to shore up his defenses. "I uh, well… just wanted to make sure no-one had gone through our things or planted an explosive tag. I know I'm not really good at that sort of stuff but uh, I didn't see anything-" I never did figure out what Sakura didn't want me to see… must've been a love letter to me, yeah that had to be it. What would Hinata have that's so important? "-so ummmm please…" he trailed off as he realized he never got this far in his defense before. He looked between his fingers to see the surprising scene of Hinata not getting ready to pummel him.
As if solely to compound his confusion "Oh-okay then, that was really smart Naruto-kun" Hinata hands had originally gone up to her face involuntarily out of shock, but she now allowed them to drift down and clasp in her lap. I should have known Naruto-kun wouldn't have done something suspicious…unlike Kiba. There had been one incident with the Inuzuka boy's dog going through her things once that still scarred her.
Smart? She said I was… Smart? "You're not going to hit me?" I don't get it, are girls really this different? Narutoblivion set in once again.
"No, I would never do that?" She could only think that there was a reason why he would expect such a reaction from such a relatively trivial matter.
"Oh, well Sakura-chan always hit me for stuff like that. I thought that's just how it went I guess". The previously fearful boy was now filled with an unpalatable sense of confusion at this revelation.
Sakura-san… again? He always talked about her. It seemed like such an extroverted girl like Sakura would always have a higher foothold on the mountain that was Naruto's affections list than her.
While Hinata contemplated her misgivings Naruto was going in a somewhat different direction with his thoughts. He wasn't really sure what was going on between him and Hinata anymore. Sakura was the only girl he had ever really had contact with in his life and as far back as he could remember. He would chase after her affections while she vied for Sasuke's while, apparently, his 'former' best friend could only chase after his hated brother like it was all some kind of leprous conga line. He was quite used to all that, yet now he found himself in a completely unfamiliar setting. The way he had acted toward the girl laying before him yesterday also confused him. The way he couldn't stop looking at her, the completely different way she treated him from what his experience told him should happen… he had no idea anymore. I'm completely out of my league.
Both of them in their separate contemplations took their time noticing that a silence was stretching before them as impassable as the sandstorm ragging outside. When Naruto finally came out of his inner monologue he found himself in a desperately needed change of scenery. Standing up just suddenly enough to again startle the recuperating girl he made to leave the room while hastily attempting to utter a farewell "Uh, well I should probably be going, I haven't checked up on Lee yet, So… I guess I'll see you later".
He hasn't seen Lee yet, but that would mean… "Naruto-kun… have you… have you been here the entire night?" Hinata's heart beat faster at the mere thought, as preposterous as it must be.
Naruto froze in his tracks at the question. True to his own personal fashion his mouth started moving as if propelled by an internal combustion engine while his brain could only manage simple steam power. "No, not… really. I was just more tired than I thought I guess and dozed off". A smaller expanse of silence passed between them now, once again broken by Naruto. " I really should get to see if Lee's okay, you should get some rest. Chiyo-Obaa-san said she was going to bring somebody by to see you later, and I think you'll need all the rest you can get to deal with that old fossil". Without another word he continued his path out of the door-less room and out into the hallway.
What the hell am I doing… why didn't I tell her the truth. It was no big deal right? The sounds of his sandals scraping on the small patches of sand strewn throughout the hallway and the howling wind from outside were his only accompaniment as he trudged down the hallway. What the hell's wrong with me? I just… have absolutely no idea anymore. It's her, I have no idea why but it's her… maybe Ero-Sennin would know. He at least spends most of his time with women though I guess I really shouldn't expect much from him… unless I like having hand shaped welts on my face.
Back in the room Hinata sat alone staring at the most innocuous looking plant in the room. If there was anything she could confess to knowing best it would be the secret ninja art of hiding what you really wanted to say. A small smile began to invade the rest of her mouth almost as if it was an act of rebellion for any corner of her mouth to even consider the act.
Three Chuunin were sent out. Three Chuunin returned from their mission. Three Chuunin had failed in said mission to bring back even one positive result. The number three was out to get him he was sure of it. Being just the latest in many cases of the number three interfering with his life Sasuke was ready to give up on numbers altogether at this rate. Before him, fresh from Orochimaru's… debriefing sat the three ninja in three separate chairs. In the right situation the man standing next to him could be far more threatening, but even now Kabuto would be hard pressed to outdo Sasuke in his current state. As the emotion of anger had proven itself as useless to him as these Chuunin in fighting his brother, Sasuke had since opted for more constructive emotions to lead his actions. Right now disappointment and amusement played out among his features, to their credit his charges kept quite the look of defiance on their faces
" You said they were pushovers, we went in with a completely skewed expectation" Urashihara was the first to break the silence, he had expected the most out of her. "No matter what outcome you expected or how well you expected us to do no matter the level of preparedness it is negligence bordering on sloth that you wouldn't give us the best intelligence to work with.
Sasuke stood there for awhile before deciding what his answer would be. "Funny you would say that considering I gave you those orders straight from Orochimaru. Wouldn't that make your anger only qualified against him? I wonder if your tongue would be so free in his presence?" The fact that the insubordinate woman didn't even flinch spoke volumes about her character to him. Katsu, the largest disappointment, shied away from such a weak threat. Sasuke had to pause to wonder why the gods of spontaneous combustion hadn't seen fit to visit him yet. No matter.
"Whateva' you say 'master' but ya' weren't out there fightin' them were ya'?" Kaeri, the truly insolent one.
Sasuke spun around with a kick too fast to follow to the offending girl's forehead. It wasn't until after her head hit the cobblestone floor with a sickening smack that the other two even had a chance to react. "Your first lesson about me is that I don't deign to fight those that are beneath me. I also only let insolence go so far". The frequency of violent acts he was being forced to perform increased daily ever since he got here. Most of the incidents were truly unnecessary and beneath him however it was about the only thing the pathetic whelps Orochimaru picked up could understand.
"There were many things wrong with the way you Chuunin handled those three and the list doesn't even come close to starting with whether or not I gave you useful information. As it stands only two of you managed to do anything properly. Let's just leave it at that". When Sasuke first arrived he had small doubts about whether or not it had been the right decision. Whether it was the atmosphere of this place or if it was really his heart slowly hardening his resolve, and skills, grew at breakneck speeds. Sparing a withering glare and no words for the pathetic Katsu he turned and walked out of the sparsely lit chamber. He didn't have to wait for Kabuto as he already knew that the snake Sannin's right hand would attend to their wounds before doing anything else. His mood swings are starting to get irritating. One minute he'll carve them up for his experiments, and the next he'll be patching them up to the best of his abilities.
It wasn't until he was well on his way to the more commonly trafficked part of the complex's catacombs that he felt the familiarly slimy presence. "Urashihara's the only one truly worth the effort you know".
"I know that as well as you Sasuke-kun, but don't you think it's wonderful that three perfectly normal brats could be cultured with such abilities with so little effort?" Such a dry, death-like voice really didn't have any place belonging to one who in some ancient point of time considered themselves human, but that fact continued to prove itself valid even now.
Sometimes Sasuke really couldn't tell if Orochimaru was indeed male. Their first encounter didn't help his confusion at all. "I don't care about you and Kabuto's twisted experiments. I only care about one thing, and that's been denied me for a good while now don't you think?"
Orochimaru had spent a long time around the Sharingan eye in his time, yet still found that when those eyes spun in his direction a sense of unease come over him. "I have recently finished my most recent issues with that Akatsuki prowler, and he is quietly finding time to entertain my experiments at the moment. I believe we can pick up where we left off if you wish".
Sasuke continued to stare at the untrustworthy sycophant for awhile. Despite whatever pretense his 'master' showed at not being bothered by it the last Uchiha knew what effect a Sharingan had on the man. Three years… he's stalling if this is the rate he expects to teach me. I must find other means of improving if I'm to survive this. "Just make sure that this time I can use what you have to teach". With that Sasuke stalked off down the corridor in search of the 'usual' place.
As Orochimaru watched his future container walk down the corridor a sinister smile came to him. With any luck Sasuke will never catch on to what's happening to that precious Sharingan of ours. It's almost a shame he doesn't know, it would just be all the more interesting if he tried to resist. "Soon my precious Sasuke-kun, soon, soon, soon…"
The dark, unfriendly bar was not the most of comfortable places he had ever been in his travels, but at least it an allied country for once. Narima sat across from one of his usual contacts here in the village of wind, sand, and god-forsaken sun. Even in the ever-present gloom of the bar his stylish sunglasses obscured his eyes. For a Konoha citizen Narima did his best not to downplay that fact to much. He wore a simple outfit consisting of a harshly worn mud-brown, multi-pocketed jacket, and a pair of frayed-at-the-hem dark grey shorts that stopped past the knees. He completed his ensemble with a pair of bulky steel-toed shoes and an assortment of earrings adorning his right ear. The woman sitting across from him sore the same brown flak jacket and brown pants of any Sand Jounin. Nothing really stood out about her other that the fact she decided today was the day to put her hair up in some kind of very unnecessarily complicated braid. Women… oi.
"You'll be interested to know that your charges have arrived. As you know there will be individual Sand-nin to accompany them for the first couple weeks but you've been hired to make sure that they understand all the differences between our two countries". The woman had a very throaty voice, the kind that just sent shivers down his spine. It was one of many reasons he still put up with her.
"Yes I know I'm supposed to be a neutered version of a translator or something like that. I'll go find them later, first let's get down to the real reason I'm here." The quirky Konohanite attempted to smoothly stretch his hand across the table to envelope hers "Why don't we go on that date you promised me hmmm?" For his effort he received a light slap on his offending hand. "Awww come on Sosha just this once?"
"No, bad boy, sit, stay" she laughed playfully as she got up. "Unlike you I can't brush these charges so easily. I'm partly responsible for the training of one of them so I'd appreciate it if you took it a little more seriously mister". Narima seriously had to wonder if the Jounin object of his affection ever got rid of that smile on her face.
As he watched her retreating 'figure' a painful realization came to him. She had already ordered five drinks by the time he had gotten there and hadn't paid. How many times does that make this? 1…3... 18 ... Carry the 20... Why is it I can't consider these dates again? He begun to dig into his many pockets for what was hopefully enough to pay the bill as the bartender shot him a glare that he must have seen how many times now? 1... 3... 18... Carry the 20. Women… oi.
The building Hinata had been in was a good little walk away from the hospital. Thankfully sandstorms were common enough that underground tunnels had been built for most of the major building in the village. Hands on his head, and a lot of questions on his mind the strangely quite boy walked past various Sand villagers without taking much notice of them. He didn't know how some of this village's Ninja managed to brave the storms, but he figured the tunnels would be way too small if they were all to use this method of travel. For his sake the halls were blessedly labeled with proper directions to the major arteries of travel such as hospitals so he had a good chance of not getting lost. He was what he hoped was most of the way there when he quite suddenly felt himself almost pulled off balance. His right foot was stuck, when he glanced down to see if there was a whole or something he had stepped in his blood chilled. A perfectly formed hand made entirely out of sand was gripping his ankle tightly. The 'arm' of the sand appendage stretched out behind him. With a supreme amount of effort, and a good deal of controlled breathing Naruto began to slowly twist his head to look back on what was hopefully not what he thought.
He turned around to see exactly what he had been expecting to. The air very near danced with random sand particles almost like a slow moving swarm of gnats. Even that was still not enough to obscure the person standing before him. With their history it was hard to remain totally calm "Gaara".
Jiraiya, having just arrived at Lee's hospital room from his meeting with the Sun council had no reason to be impatient, but he was all the same. "You'd think that boy would have enough tact to have visited by now don't you think other boy?"
Lee chuckled slightly at the small joke despite himself and his mending ribs. "He might still be with Hinata-san. Temari-san was by here earlier and mentioned that he might still be in Hinata's room. You don't think…"
To Lee's question The old man snorted derisively "No, I'm sure that boy fell asleep, or got lost, or fell in a whole somewhere as he is wont to do". Jiraiya certainly didn't feel like doing anything himself after all he had to go through for his charges already in the past days. "We'll just wait it out. I'm sure he'll anger someone and it'll get blown way out of proportion. We can find him then".
Seeing as his new Sensei assume the posture of one who wished to get some sleep Lee did the only thing he could being confined to his bed. He reached down the side of his bed and pulled his newest journal out of the slightly bedraggled bag, and began searching for a pen in a spirited attempt to alleviate his boredom.
It wasn't until she heard the rather loud clearing of someone's throat that Hinata realized she had been dozing. Already in her previous sitting position she did her best to look presentable as the medic-nin Chiyo walked into her room followed by a much taller, and much younger woman with a very odd braided hairstyle and unbelievably pale skin.
Unexpectedly the younger woman spoke up first "Hiya there Hinata-chan, hope you slept well". The peculiar woman quickly looked around the room. "I don't see your boyfriend anywhere, did we miss him"
Hinata, her options being shocked silence or shocked babbling 'decided' to go with the latter. "Um, no he's not… no, umm Naruto's, he's not… well I mean…no-" That one innocent question scrambled her thoughts faster than any Genjutsu probably ever could.
"Relax girl your cheeks are redder than adowable wittle Gaawa-kun's hair right now. I was only kidding, only kidding. You might need a sedative if you don't calm down soon". The as of yet unnamed woman took a long moment to compose herself before continuing, smile still present in spite of herself "I'm actually here to evaluate you on what kind of training you'll be receiving since your such a special case". If I don't steer the conversation away from the poor girl's source of near-death hysterics she might actually need a sedative.
A/N: First. Be nice to my OC's, especially Narima. I can't get around needing them so there will be a few more here and there, expect more of him (no, he's not a ninja(OMG he's not a ninja? In Naruto...not a ninja!? Preposterous! Yeah I know)). Also theres a reason why Sasuke has to search for the 'usual' place. I didn't even bother re-checking this chapter so I could get it to you as soon as possible. There's probably more typos than normal (though I do my best not to have any). As I'm noticing a few small inconsistencies with my story I plan on renovation every chapter. So expect something from that sometime.
