Chapter 7: New Friend
When Hinata and Naruto regained their strength, which happened to be only a few hours in Naruto's case like usual and was half a day in the case of Hinata. They were nearly at their destination when Hinata found the energy to do anything more then just lay in bed. For that one half of a day both her and Naruto were nearly worshiped by the other passengers. Even the people that had stared at them while whispering about such a 'young couple' went out of their way to interrupt Naruto's watch over Hinata in order to shake their hands.
Naruto, naturally, just shrugged it off like it had been nothing. His mind was on other things.
Like the color of his chakra and what it could mean.
Hinata, on the other hand, rather enjoyed the attention. Not that she was letting it go to her head or anything. A more correct statement would be that Hinata enjoyed being with people. Naruto could tell that she must be used to having a lot of people around. She seemed to enjoy talking with everyone that came in, if just for a little bit. When the child they had saved visited them she would always light up. She enjoyed being with others.
It was something that Naruto and Hinata did not share.
Or at least it was something that Naruto thought was different about him. To tell the truth, even he would admit that being with people wasn't half bad in his earlier years. He had had friends and acquaintances in his village and he had always enjoyed spending time with them. But after it had been destroyed nearly every town he came to got to see his healing ability at work or some of his other talents and instantly thought he was dangerous and a 'freak'. Being called a freak by everyone you meet…
It leaves impressions.
So Naruto just sat in the corner of their room watching as people came to visit, making sure that no one bothered her too much. The kid they saved nearly spent the entire night with them while they had been unconscious, and when they woke up he was too tired to stay awake. He had fallen asleep on the side of Hinata's bed and when his mother had apologized and tried to take him away Hinata had insisted it was fine. So now he rested next to Hinata.
They had almost reached their destination according to the captain, who had come in to congratulate and thank them, when Hinata turned to Naruto.
"Naruto…"
"Do you need something?" Naruto spun from looking out the window towards Hinata. His mind was pretty much consumed by the chakra problem, but that wasn't as important in his mind as Hinata right now.
"No… I just wanted to tell you I think that what you did… jumping off the ship like that… it was the bravest thing I'd ever seen you do. I didn't expect you to do that…"
"Well, the fact that you jumped off was slightly more surprising to me." Naruto looked into her eyes. "Why would you do something like that? You had no idea whether or not you would be able to save the kid, and you had no plan to get back up."
"I… I really didn't think of it. I saw you jump and…"
"Hinata, you seem to be the braver one here."
Hinata blushed.
"And the more foolish. Don't do something like that again."
Hinata sighed. Naruto wasn't the most tactful person, but he meant well. She could tell he had just been worried. To tell the truth, she had been on the verge of breaking down for those few seconds after he jumped over the edge. No one on the ship could speak. They just stared at the edge where Naruto had just vanished over. Hinata remembered very clearly that she hadn't been able to even think for a few seconds. And then…
She had followed.
There was something about the very idea that Naruto would sacrifice, or almost sacrifice, his life for a stranger… it wasn't what she expected from what he had appeared to be when she had met him. It was almost like he had a hidden personality blocked by his harder exterior that was just now coming out. Like when he saved her, but even that could have been played off as just part of his job. This new incident… this new Naruto… he was a good man.
Naruto didn't notice because he had already turned back to the window, but Hinata blushed just slightly.
"Now docking! All passengers prepare to disembark."
It wasn't much time before they finally arrived in the Land of Lightning. Both were capable of walking, thankfully, as their ship came into the port of the small fishing village of wave. At first glance most people would think that the village was just a bunch of run down cottages home to poor fishing families. And that was most that anyone ever saw if you were just passing through. But Naruto could see it in the way the buildings were cared for despite their age and in the way people seemed to know everyone around. This town was a home and the life of people. It was a warm and cozy town.
But that was the last time Naruto had been here.
Now it looked abandoned.
They had disembarked, after the rest of the passengers bid them farewell, and had gone through the small warehouse, for when supplies were shipped in, that connected the docks to the town. Upon entering the main village square they found… absolutely nothing.
The town looked deserted. No people, no boats, no nothing. It was the middle of the day and no one was around at all. Hinata swore she saw a crumpled piece of paper roll across the town in a warm dry wind.
"Naruto, is it normally…"
"No… something is wrong."
They walked across the empty square to where the boats should have been. It was there that Naruto saw something that shouldn't have been there. Or rather, something that wasn't there that should have been.
Water.
Where the Great Celestial River used to flow now only a small creak ran through an absolutely massive ravine. The boats that should have been there were actually there, just sitting in the mud below the dock with no water to float on. Naruto couldn't understand it. Last time he had been here the water had been a calm river so wide it was hard to see the other side. Millions of fish swam in its waters providing this town with its only source of income and, therefore, food. Now Naruto could count the amount of fish in the river.
Zero.
"The river…"
"It's more of a stream."
"It used to be massive."
"Where are all the people if the river…"
"Most are in the tavern. They stay indoors due to Imperial patrols. Who're you?"
Naruto spun, unconsciously placing himself between the person that had snuck up behind them and Hinata. He was glad he did when he saw exactly who it was. He drew a knife.
"You!" Both him and the man he was facing looked shocked, though one looked less shocked then the other. Hinata got a glimpse of him. The man was wearing a long cloak over most of his body and only his face above his mouth showed. And even then he wore sunglasses.
Hinata was confused for a moment by the man's gloves, they looked very weird… it was almost like they were… moving!
Those aren't gloves… those are bugs!
Hinata jumped back into a fighting stance with Naruto. The man also jumped back, but held his bug swarmed hands up in the air in defense.
"Stop. I do not wish to fight."
"The hell you don't. Last time I saw you…"
"I swore to kill you." The man lowered his hands and Hinata was both slightly intrigued and disturbed as she watched the insects crawl under his coat where she assumed they had come from. Naruto still held his knife in a guarded stance.
"Why the sudden change of heart?"
"Because you were right… back then…"
Naruto sighed and lowered the kunai. Hinata took that as a sign to also lower her guard. The man turned and motioned for them to follow. Naruto silently did.
"Naruto?"
"It's ok, Hinata. Aburame is a man of his word."
They ended up in a smallish home that was meant for one. It was a single room with a table, a bed, and a place for cooking and food storage. The man known only to Hinata only as Aburame walked over to the small bed and had a seat on it, motioning for them to take the only two chairs at his table.
"So… Naruto, is it? Last time it was a different name."
"This is my real one. And this…"
"I'm Hinata. And you are..." Hinata was completely confused still.
"Aburame Shino. Last of the Aburame clan."
"He is the reason I didn't want to come back here. But last I knew you were still with the palace guard, elite forces. What are you doing here?"
Shino took the hood of his cloak off revealing tall black hair.
"I couldn't stay… after I learned the truth about my…friend." Hinata almost shivered. There was so much animosity and hatred in that one word that she felt some killing intent radiate off the insect user.
"I don't regret it."
"I don't either… anymore."
"Ano… I don't mean to pry… but I do not understand what you are talking about."
Naruto sighed.
"It was a few years ago when I started hiring myself out as a hunter."
"An assassin." Shino chipped in. His voice was emotionless, but you could tell there was some hurt in his voice.
"On this mission I was an assassin. I had been sent by my employer to infiltrate the royal guard of the Lord of Lightning and kill a traitor that had been feeding information to dissenting groups. The request had come right after a nearly successful attack on the Lord…"
"… I know we lost a lot of good men after this recent terrorist attack, so the Lord has hired some additional guardsmen. Most will arrive tomorrow, but here is the first of the new royal guards. Assuma Iruka."
Shino glanced quickly at the blond boy standing at attention before turning to the side.
"We don't need any mercs in the royal guard, what is the Lord thinking?"
The man he had addressed turned to him with a smile.
"Worried that he'll take your place, Shino?"
"Never, Kiba. I just don't see why we need some…"
"Because we are running low on men, and when we run out, who will protect the Lord?"
Shino just grunted and turned back to watch this Iruka character shake hands with the captain.
His eyes might have been blue, but all Shino saw in them was cold hard death. This boy, barely a man, was no good, he could tell.
"We have enough problems already. There is one traitor among us at least, why add a potential second one who is paid with money?"
Kiba just smirked with his fang like teeth sticking over his lower lip.
"Mercs are loyal to money, not ideals. You might be right about that…"
"It wasn't long before most everyone, including Kiba, accepted me into their group. Only Shino was holding out. Naturally, at first, I suspected him."
Shino was seated at a table in the mess hall alone. Most of the men were on patrol, but the rest were at the table across the room. The table with that yellow haired twit.
Even Kiba was over there. His best friend.
It wasn't all that impressive when he had almost single handedly killed those four men going after the Lord's wife. And now he just sat there basking in the attention of the entire company.
Actually, if he admitted to himself, the blond didn't seem to even acknowledge the other guards at all. He just sat and ate, and when he was done he got up and left, probably to tend to his weapons.
"Shino, why weren't you over with the others?"
Shino turned to see Kiba sit down next to him. He just snorted.
"Ah, I see. You don't like Iruka much, do you?"
"No."
"But you saw what he did to those revolutionaries…"
"Don't call them that. You make it sound like they have a just cause. Those scum, attacking the Lord, the most noble man in all the five elemental nations. He would sacrifice his life to save anyone of us if he didn't know his place."
Kiba grew silent for a moment.
"Maybe."
"What do you mean, maybe?"
"Of course, you're right. Those damn scum. How dare they attack the Lord."
Kiba left him soon after that.
"I should have suspected it then, but I did not."
Shino was the best, according to some.
He might have been a new addition to the guard, but his youth made him no less deadly. Not even the captain of the guard could beat him one hundred percent of the time.
He was the last of his line, a line of people who had evolved slightly different then most of the rest of the world. While he still had the traditional wings of chakra, he also had various holes all over his body that could open or close on command. The Aburame Clan became this way after centuries of living in harmony with the insects of the Mirage Forest of the Land of Earth. These holes connected small tunnels that traveled over most of the Aburame's body, which became the home of insects.
The Aburame made this a tradition, and each Aburame kept a different kind of insect. What made Shino so amazing as a battler was that his insects had a near perfect mental connection with his through his chakra and, on the other side of things, his insects were a special new breed of consumption insects. His bugs could consume chakra and flesh at the same time, letting them multiply faster then any other battle insect species. It kept his swarm large and even if it was diminished to only the ones he always kept in reserve he could have a brand new colony in one day.
This is a lesson that Assuma Iruka learned the hard way sparring with Shino. The blond had underestimated Shino off the bat and knew nothing about him. Despite the fight he put up he had lost the battle from the start when Shino had placed insects secretly on his back and it had only taken a minute or two for the blond to be nearly drained.
Granted, in those two minutes Shino had nearly been killed by various weapons.
But the point was that he had won.
Shino bent down next to the panting form of Iruka.
"You underestimated me, and you paid for it. Do not underestimate the royal guard of Lightning. I do not trust you."
The blond just panted, but Shino could almost see a surprised look on his face…
"It was then that I realized that the traitor couldn't be Shino. The trust comment got me as well. If Shino trusted someone, they were safe from his wrath. That's why I started investigating Kiba, the closest one to Shino."
Shino had been assigned night patrol with Kiba. It was a moonless night that damned night. They were amiably marching along the battlements, just talking like they had for so many times before it. Kiba was a little less talkative this night though, always nervously looking off into the night.
"Kiba, don't worry. They wouldn't dare attack the castle directly."
Kiba gave a nervous chuckle before leaning back against the castle wall.
"Yeah, you're right. You were always…"
Shino had turned around, but spun when his friend did not complete his sentence. When he turned, it was to the most horrible scene he could have imagined. Kiba was clutching three knife wounds to his heart area and a sword was stuck through his gut. Holding the sword was the last and first person he would have suspected to do such a thing.
"Assuma! Kiba!"
Instantly the air was filled with the buzzing of insects as they flew at top speed towards the blond. But before they reached…
He jumped off the wall and into the night.
"Come back here! I swear… I swear you will pay for this with your LIFE!"
He never noticed the knife Kiba himself had dropped.
"Was Kiba the…"
"Yes. After he died the attacks were less frequent and less coordinated. When we finally captured the leader in their last futile raid I interrogated him, as he was the only one I hadn't been allowed to outright kill. I thought they had hired you. But in my interrogation I found out the information. That night a raid on the castle had been planned. Kiba was going to kill me and get them in. Assuma… Naruto… had killed all of the infiltrators before coming to kill the traitor."
"I learned from them exactly who it was. I had suspected him, but couldn't act without proof. When I knew, I finished my job."
"I do not blame you."
Hinata sat back in her chair.
"Wow. Such a sad story."
"No." Shino shock his head, the only movement he had made the entire telling of the story. "Kiba was a traitor, he deserved to die for the deaths of the innocents he helped cause. I am… grateful to Naruto for exposing him. I disgraced myself by being friends with such a man. Now I live hear, the quiet life of a fisherman. Or… at least I should be."
"What happened to the river?"
Shino sighed.
"No one knows. About a month ago it was fine, then over the course of one day it became like this. I wanted to go up river and see if something was blocking it but both the town's people and the imperials tell me not to…"
"You mentioned them before, why are the imperials here?"
"Potential treaty in the capital. I don't know enough about it, but I think it is a forced treaty. The Lord would never ally himself with those scum under normal circumstances."
Naruto turned to Hinata. By now a message had probably been relayed to the imperials in Lightning. They would be noticed on sight in an instant.
"Why won't the villagers let you go upriver?"
"Superstition. They say the Lord of the River is up there, angering him can bring floods. Legend goes is that he is guardian to the ocean."
"Ocean?" Naruto looked slightly confused, but Hinata looked shocked.
"The ocean, a body of water so large that no human could see across, swim across, or even sail across in a week."
"Sounds like a load of shit to me."
"He's right, Naruto. I've heard the legend of the ocean. When the land was still on the surface of the earth there were large bodies of water separating them from each other. It was called the ocean. But… it would be impossible for the ocean to get up here…"
"Not according to our town's legend. The ocean was sealed by Kami into an entirely different dimension…"
"Now your just joking around."
"… and allowed for a way out of the dimension up the river near the upper edge of the Land of Lightning. No airship has ever sailed there and returned to tell the tail. I, personally, dismissed the idea right off the bat. But some facts always eat at me."
"Like?"
"This is the only saline river in the world. The ocean was saline. There are an endless supply of fish in this river. Much more then could ever truly be supported by it. It implies that this river is connected to something much bigger."
"Coincidental." Naruto scoffed at the idea. But when he turned he noticed Hinata deep in thought.
"Naruto… lets go have a look."
"What?"
"I'll go too."
"WHAT?"
"What's the problem, Naruto?"
"I… you don't actually believe this… myth, do you Hinata?"
"Maybe… maybe not. But this town is in trouble anyway. Can't we see if we can fix it? Maybe this town's predicament is what is causing this false treaty to be brought about."
"This town does supply a large amount of food to all corners of Lightning. This incident has had a large impact on food supplies. Your wife might have a point. I am happy you finally got someone to act as your conscience."
Shino's comment froze them both as stiff as boards. It took a moment for any of them to recover. Naruto was the first, as Hinata was having trouble controlling a massive blush. It didn't help that she had actually thought about something in that general area during the trip here.
"She's not my wife." Naruto barely got the words out. It was like he couldn't breathe right. Or… he couldn't stand to hear himself say what he knew was true…
Where did that come from?
"Ah… Gomen. I assumed too much. Then…"
"I'm his employer."
"Oh… bodyguard, I assume."
"Hai."
The room was silent for a moment. Everyone felt too awkward to speak. It was only when the little red fox started growling towards the door did anyone do anything.
"Your pet?"
"Tag-along."
Suddenly there was pounding on the door. Everyone jumped to their feet.
"Open up, this is the imperial guard!"
Shino was about to open the door when he turned to look at Naruto and Hinata.
And couldn't find them.
"Open up now!"
Shino opened the door. Outside were about twice the usual imperials patrolling the area. The man in front of him sneered at him before holding out a piece of paper. On the paper were hand drawn pictures of a blond man with stripes on his cheeks and indigo haired young woman.
"Have you seen these people? They are wanted for murder, attempted assassination, and treason."
"No."
The man looked over his shoulder and into his house. Shino shifted to block his view. He frowned.
"I need to search the house."
"No, you don't."
"What?"
"Leave right now before I get angry and I won't file complaints against you in the capital."
The man sneered again, but this one seemed to Shino to be slightly humored.
"Fine. It's not like it would matter much anyway…"
Shino watched the man turn away before shutting the door. He took a few steps back before Naruto, with Hinata in his arms, jumped down from above his door.
"You didn't mention you were on the run."
"Does it matter?"
"Not to me. What bothered me was the way the man treated my threat of going to the capital. He seemed… humored. Like it was an empty threat."
"Well then, lets go upriver and see if we can see what's blocking the river, or this Lord of the River, or maybe even the ocean. It doesn't really matter as long as the imperials no longer have leverage for a treaty, right?"
"Right."
"That's all fine and dandy, but how are we supposed to get upriver anyway? Walk in the muddy river bed? And how do we get past the imperials?"
Shino's mouth was still covered, but you could tell he was smiling.
"Hinata-san, you forget that I was once an elite guard of the Lord of Lightning. We are always prepared."
