AN: Yay! Another update! Take that, school!
Also- this is just my moment to be thrilled- this is my longest chapter yet for this fanfiction! Woohoo! XD
Please review and wish me luck on my exams next week! I'll need it…
Painfully Yellow
Inspired By Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto
Kisame Hoshigaki stood off to the side in the Akatsuki's temporary hideout, watching from the corner of his pale eyes as his partner slipped out the door- without an assigned mission- for the fifth time that month. Once the door was closed again he frowned. His partner had never before been the type to leave a hideout for anything other than a mission.
So why would he start now?
The swordsman's frown deepened into an annoyed scowl. Well, he sighed, Pein and Konan are in the same compound as us for the first time in ages for an in-person assessment on how everything is going, so I might as well use it while I can.
Wordlessly he moved from his spot and stalked through several hallways and rooms, only stopping upon reaching a single, inauspicious wooden door. He knocked once and waited, hearing a toneless "Enter" before slowly swinging it open. The man walked cautiously in, turning his gaze to the orange-haired male with multiple facial piercings and the woman with a white origami flower perched in her blue hair who were both standing near a tiny window that sunlight filed faintly through.
"What are you here for, Hoshigaki?"
Kisame could tell from Pein's tone that his visit wasn't expected or readily welcomed. He sighed, "Itachi's been acting strange lately."
The pair before him each raised an eyebrow at the statement, marring their usually impassive faces, "How so?"
"Well," he ran a hand through his spiked dark blue hair, "he's been leaving the compound a lot, for one."
"He's always leaving temporary hideouts," Pein waved a dismissive hand, "How else would one accomplish his mission?"
The swordsman frowned again, "He's leaving when he doesn't have missions."
The leader of the Akatsuki paused, considering his words before he spoke slowly, "… Continue."
"He's also been distracted for months now, and whenever I ask him about it he shrugs it off."
Konan's lips tilted downwards, "Itachi Uchiha? Distracted? I haven't noticed it in our time here, and his mission reports have been as flawless as ever."
Kisame huffed agitatedly, "But I have noticed. And his mission reports? Used to take him thirty minutes to write the entire thing." All of which usually lasted five to thirty pages, depending on the mission, "Now it takes him forty-three."
Now that caught their attention, "What else?"
"He keeps getting this strange look in his eyes." He paused before amending his statement, "Actually, that's not the weird part. The weird part is that he has any type of look in his eyes at all."
The duo before him shared a small, not-quite-concerned look before Konan asked seriously, "Do you suspect him of being traitorous?"
"No," Kisame grumbled, "but I think he's being damn creepy."
Pein nodded, "Very well. Did Uchiha leave yet?"
"Yes," the large man nodded, "Just a few minutes ago."
"Then you are to follow him and figure out what he's doing and whether or not he's a threat. Afterwards you will report back to us with your findings. Understood?"
Hoshigaki's grimace answered Pein's glower, "Understood."
~oOo~
Hinata was a quiet girl. It was a well-known fact throughout the village. Ino, however, was not. That was another well-known fact. Perhaps that was how they managed to be such good friends, with one doing almost all the talking and the other practically none at all. Regrettably, things got rather difficult when one of them tried to change that.
"C'mon, Hinata! Tell me more!"
The Hyuuga flushed at her blonde friend's verbal prodding, "I… Ino… I, um…"
Her female companion pouted, "Please? I need to know what your opinion of this dress is."
She was, of course, referring to the pretty off-white summer dress that flowed down to her knees and had delicate blue flower patterns scattered around it that she was currently in the middle of trying on.
"It's…" Hinata fumbled for words, "… pretty?"
Ino grinned teasingly, "I know that, silly. Why else do you think I took it off the rack? I'm asking whether or not it looks good on me."
Hinata mumbled, "It l… looks good on y… you."
The Yamanaka got a triumphant look on her face, "I knew you'd say that eventually." She turned and went back to the changing room of the store so she could get ready to make her purchases, "What about you? Anything you'd like to try on?"
"N… no, Ino, I'm fine."
Ino seemed to shrug from behind the door before responding, "Well, suit yourself. But I think there's a dress a few racks away that would look great on you."
Hinata shook her head weakly as her friend came out of the changing room in her normal clothes, several outfits draped carelessly over an arm, "I don't n… need any new clothes, Ino. I'm f… fine with what I have."
"Hm," her friend spared a quick glance at her loose-fitting, dark blue pants and baggy lilac jacket, "If you say so." There was another pause as she walked away and placed her chosen clothing on a counter to be bought, Hinata trailing after her, "Do you want to go anywhere after this? We could get lunch, or maybe go look at things in another store?"
"S… sorry, Ino," the shy Hyuuga apologized, "I have to go check in with my f… father after we leave here."
The blonde deflated before asking, "What about afterwards?"
Hinata lowered her head a little sadly, "I was g… going to train when I was d… done."
"Oh, alright. I'll just walk you home, then."
"Thank you." Hinata smiled gratefully, managing to not stutter.
Ino replied with a shrug, "No problem."
With that they left the store and walked breezily to the Hyuuga compound, only stopping occasionally to greet a friend or compliment an item in the window of a passing store. When they reached the entrance to Hinata's home the friends hugged briefly before Ino pulled away.
"Good luck with your father, Hinata," the blonde paused before adding impishly, "And try not to get groped while I'm away!"
Hinata flushed and gasped after her retreating friend, "I… Ino!"
She laughed and disappeared around a corner, leaving Hinata to simply stand there. Ino was able to joke about what had happened now that it had been almost two months since the experience, but it still unnerved the Hyuuga with each reminder. Ever since her discovery while she had been bathing she had been confused and- though she suspected she was just imagining it- felt as if she were being watched. However, whenever she activated her Byakugan she would see nothing.
The navy blue-haired teen sighed softly and looked down at her jacket only to realize that there was long, blonde hair all over it. Ino, as she had come to find out early on in their friendship, was a hugger. Her hugging, combined with the fact that she had long hair, tended to mean that she left strands of her hair wherever she went. Hinata didn't mind. It just meant that she had to spend a little time plucking the hair from her clothes.
She was about to do just that when she heard one of the Hyuuga guards calling out, "Lady Hinata. Your father would like to speak with you."
"O… okay!"
Stray hair forgotten she hurriedly walked into her home.
~oOo~
Itachi slipped through a blind spot in the Leaf Village's defenses that had been left there for him by the previous Hokage should he ever need it. If he knew I was using it to spy on the Hyuuga heir, he mused, he'd be rolling over in his grave right now.
Trying to ignore his distracting thoughts from that moment on the Uchiha was careful to slip from shadow to shadow and tree to tree as he snuck through the village, staying on constant alert in order to keep himself hidden from villagers and Shinobi. He knew that it would have been a better idea to watch the Hyuuga during the night- or not at all- but after his first few visits he found it more enjoyable to watch her go about her daily activities. Not that he didn't enjoy watching her sleep as peacefully as she did, but it made him feel… surprisingly guilty.
He was instantly snapped from his thoughts when he saw a flash of navy blue in the corner of his eye, turning on his perch in a tree he had landed on to see his target leaving the Hyuuga Compound. Just as every time he saw her she was breathtaking with her long hair fluttering lazily in the wind and her pearlescent eyes almost glowing in the light. Itachi knew at that moment he would have been more than willing to remain watching her for the rest of his existence if he could.
That was when Itachi's failing eyes finally noticed something. When she had shifted a little so she could turn a corner a ray of sunlight flashed across her chest, making what appeared to be hair flash brightly and revealing that it was all over Hinata's front. That wouldn't have been so alarming if it hadn't been for its color. It was blonde hair.
Hyuugas didn't have blonde hair.
None of them did.
In that moment the Uchiha's dark eyes narrowed in distaste as an irrational surge of jealousy swept through him. Naruto, his thoughts hissed venomously. He had never seen her with any other blonde in the village. The only question, he wondered sourly, is how the fool managed to get his hair all over her, and in the chest region of all places.
As if he had read his mind the teenaged boy he had been thinking of suddenly turned a corner and walked right into Hinata. Itachi bristled in his tree. He saw Uzumaki looking apologetic for running into the girl and Hinata flushing an amazing shade of red, but was too far away to hear what they were saying. As he observed them Naruto's demeanor went suddenly gloomy and Hinata looked concerned. They talked a little bit more before the boy suddenly got excited and… and… hugged Hinata!
The blonde then grabbed her hand and began to tug the crimson-faced Hyuuga away, unaware of the man who was full of killer intent in a nearby tree. The Akatsuki member growled softly, thoughts viscous as he gave himself completely to his irrational side.
Naruto... today you die.
~oOo~
Hinata was flushed and embarrassed, fingers poking each other idly as she glanced nervously at the one trotting gleefully next to her. When Naruto had run into her he had told her that he was upset because Sakura had turned him down for a date (Again) and had been a little rougher with the refusal than usual. She had, in fact, given Naruto such a strong punch to the jaw when he was persistent in his hopeful begging that he had ended up flying quite a bit a way.
The Hyuuga, sympathetic to his plight and completely forgetting how she had earlier said that she would train after talking with her father, had offered to go with him somewhere instead in an attempt to cheer him up. I still can't believe I said I'd go with him, her mind buzzed, slightly panicky, I was so bold, and it's almost going to be like… like… a date! She suddenly squeaked and covered her face with her hands, but her companion paid no notice as he was used to her behaving oddly around him.
After a moment she glanced around her hands to look at her blonde companion once more, a blush still on her cheeks, as she wondered why he had accepted her offer. I suppose, her thoughts sighed sadly, to him ramen is ramen, no matter who it may be eaten with. The teen lowered her hands from her face as her mind continued, He would still probably prefer to eat with Sakura, though.
Before her line of thinking could continue, however, a loud crash followed by an agonized yelp and several mild curses rang through the air, "Ow!"
Hinata jumped and turned to look at Naruto, who- for a moment- had lagged a little behind. He was clutching his head and hopping up and down in pain, pieces of smashed pottery, potted dirt, and ruined tulips littered around him.
"N… Naruto! What h… happened?"
The heiress's tentative question was answered by a groan, "Owww… I think a potted plant fell on my head from a window up there."
He pointed a finger above him while his other hand remained clutching his skull. Hinata's pale eyes followed his finger and looked at the only window above them, several floors up in what seemed to be an apartment complex. She winced sympathetically upon realizing how high up it had fallen from before glancing back at the blonde. Poor Naruto. He's so unlucky.
A small tingling sensation went up her spine at that moment, alerting her that she was being watched.
The Hyuuga activated her Byakugan and briefly searched the surrounding area, only to find nothing as she had so many times before. She deactivated her Kekkei Genkai and frowned lightly.
What is going on?
~oOo~
Itachi chuckled darkly from his perfectly concealed place nearby.
Direct hit.
~oOo~
Naruto plopped onto his stool heavily, a soft, keening cry escaping his throat. Never before had he realized just how far of a walk it was from the Hyuuga compound to Ichiraku Ramen, especially when it seemed like someone or something had it out for him. Just on the way over three potted plants had fallen on him, one barely missed him, a flying bird overhead- which looked like a raven- had pooped on him and hit him in the center of his forehead, and he had tripped so many times over so many things that he had lost count.
Teuchi, the owner of Ichiraku Ramen, glanced at his most common customer and the quiet Hyuuga girl he had brought with him, raising a quizzical eyebrow at Naruto's somewhat ragged appearance, "Been training?"
"No," he grumbled, "but the entire way here it felt like someone was trying to kill me!"
"Why," Teuchi's daughter, Ayame, asked as she served one of the other customers their food.
Naruto scowled from his slouched position in his seat, "I don't know!"
"Hmm," the ramen shop owner said thoughtfully, "Then I better get you the best ramen available to lift your spirits, eh Naruto? And I'll add your lady friend's for free."
He sat up, blue eyes sparkling gleefully for the first time since he had begun his cursed walk to Ichiraku's, "Really?"
With a grin the shop owner put a balanced amount of noodles, broth, and other delicacies into two bowls with practiced ease before setting them down in front of the duo. Hinata ate a little of hers- after thanking the father and daughter- and smiled softly in appreciation before Naruto grabbed the entire bowl and dipped it towards his mouth hungrily.
He didn't get very far.
There was a pause in his rapid slurps and swallows as his face turned a dark shade of red. He dropped the bowl back on the table and hurriedly spat out the ramen he had been eating. He gagged, gasped, and choked before letting out a pained yelp followed by the rapid repetition of a single word.
"Hothothothothothothot!"
Everyone looked startled at the proclamation before the blonde grabbed the nearest glass of water- earning a complaint from its original user- and chugged it quickly. After he finished he slammed it on the table once more and slumped, tongue lolling out of his mouth in fatigue.
"Agh," he shouted, "Did you put an entire pepper shaker in there?!"
The father and daughter shared a look, "We didn't put any pepper in there."
"Well someone did!"
Hinata's brow furrowed in concern and Ayame put her finger to her chin in thought, "Huh. I wonder who would do a thing like that."
Had any of them bothered to look for the culprit they would have found a dark-haired man leaning against a tree trunk, hidden amongst its branches as he lazily tossed and caught an empty little clay pepper shaker.
They also would have noticed that the man had a rather unsettling smile on his face.
~oOo~
Naruto Uzumaki had nothing but Hinata's pity and support. She didn't know what was going on but she knew that there was something strange happening to the usually cheerful blonde. What else could explain all the odd occurrences that had happened in the time she had been with him?
Just as it had been all evening her thoughts were interrupted by incident. It started when Naruto stepped on a banana peel the moment he had reached the top of a series of stone stairs. Neither Naruto nor Hinata knew how long it had been there, but it was there in time for Naruto's foot to find it. As he put weight on it he slipped and fell backwards… bouncing back down the steps of the stairs that he had just finished climbing.
"N… Naruto!" Hinata called out, to no avail.
As she watched in shock and amazement the blonde reached the bottom of the stairs and rolled several more yards… right into an awaiting tree, head first. Just when the Hyuuga thought it was over an enormous beehive fell from a branch- having been knocked loose from the collision of his skull and the tree trunk- and landed on his already injured head. There was barely a second for everything to process before Naruto promptly started screaming and running away, an entire hive's worth of angry hornets buzzing after him.
Regrettably for him the hive was stuck to his head.
Cursing and shrieking he continued to run around in circles for several minutes- and likely would have remained doing so for hours to come- before Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Akamaru appeared, having been walking nearby when they heard the screams and decided to investigate. While their original purpose was to help the poor idiot Kiba found that upon coming across the sight he could do nothing but burst out into howling laughter, Akamaru sitting next to him and wagging his tail as his tongue lolled out in amusement.
Despite his teammate's uselessness on the matter Shino managed to calm and soothe the bees enough so they would leave Naruto alone and helped get the beehive off of his head, but afterwards proceeded to tell him off for putting the insects in such harm in the first place. He plain out ignored Naruto's attempts to defend himself by saying that they had harmed him way more than he had harmed them and that he hadn't meant to get them angry in the first place.
After the lecture had finished and Kiba's laughter had mostly died down- though his eyes were still damp from tears and an occasional chuckle would escape him- Hinata's teammates waved goodbye to them and promised to see her the next day.
During the panic Hinata had come back down the stairs to help Naruto, but now that Kiba and Shino were gone she was alone once more with the usually energetic boy. With a quick breath to gather courage she hesitantly called out to the blonde before her to get his attention. After a moment he turned to look at her, revealing a face that was almost completely purple with large welts from the bee stings, his blue eyes barely peeping out from behind the lumps. The rest of him was in just as bad of a state, but Hinata barely noticed.
The Hyuuga pulled out a small container of ointment from her jacket pocket before holding it out at arm's length while her face began to flush a brilliant scarlet. She peeked out at him from under her lashes, barely able to get out a stutter.
"N… Naruto… I, um… I w… was wondering…" she swallowed and spoke in a rush, "P… please take this ointment! It'll h… help with the b… bee stings!"
Her voice rose to an embarrassed squeak at the end, but his lumpy face broke into a grin, "Thanks, Hinata!" He gladly took the ointment from her outstretched hands and opened the container before beginning to dab it on the stings. After a couple of minutes of doing so he paused and his brow furrowed in thought, "Didn't you give me this stuff before? During the Chunin exams?"
Her face went an even darker shade of red, "Y… you remember?"
"Course I do! I healed almost instantly because of it! This stuff's amazing." Hinata ducked her head shyly and began to poke her fingers together before he cocked his head, "Do you always carry this stuff with you?"
She nodded, "Y… yes," she moved her hands to clasp behind her back, "I a… always carry it, j… just in case."
"Then I guess it's lucky that I'm with you right now!"
Naruto's cheerful response made her smile softly. If he could smile like he was then he would be fine. And, she added giddily, he said he's lucky to be with me.
~oOo~
For a while Itachi was actually grateful for Kiba Inuzuka's raucous laughter. It was, after all, the only thing that had kept the young Shinobi from noticing the tree he was hiding in shaking mirthfully in the distance. Pulling away from the firm tree trunk he had leaned against during his highly uncharacteristic laughing fit he peered at the blurry, far-away shapes of Hinata and Naruto.
In an instant all his mirth left him.
He saw the concerned beauty give something to Naruto that his fading eyesight couldn't quite see. After Naruto opened it and appeared to dab bits of its contents on his numerous sores he came to the conclusion that it was an ointment. A Hyuuga ointment. One Hinata had given to Naruto.
The Akatsuki member kept his perch, watching them sourly as they began to slowly walk away. As they went he puzzled over what had happened. I hurt Naruto and Hinata paid him more attention than she did before. If that's what'll happen every time then, he wrinkled his nose in distaste, I can't hurt him anymore.
At least, his dark eyes narrowed thoughtfully, not when we're somewhere Hinata will notice.
He leapt from the tree he was in and landed soundlessly in a nearby bush, knowing he had to leave soon. Just as he was about to start his cautious trek towards his secret way into and out of the village he paused, seeing a small, pointy whitish-gray stone in the dirt near him. A slow smirk reached his features. I'll make my departure right after this…
In the blink of an eye the stone was in his hand and thrown at high velocity to the back of Naruto's spikey blonde head. There was a yelp of confirmed impact followed by a questioning murmur from Hinata. After a moment of muttering and rubbing his sore cranium Naruto just shrugged it off and they continued on their way.
The Uchiha nodded once in satisfaction and turned to leave, Now I'm good.
~oOo~
Kisame Hoshigaki stared with disbelieving eyes at Itachi after he threw the rock at the Jinchuriki's head. He had been his partner for years, and never before had he seen him act so childishly. Not even when he was a child. Itachi Uchiha had never been emotional, or petty, or… or… anything!
And yet, with what he had just witnessed…
He shuddered and slumped against the tree he had been hiding in several yards away from Itachi, who had been too busy focusing on the two teens to notice him.
The man, a paler shade of blue than usual, swallowed thickly and barely contained a rising whimper. He had just witnessed an impossible, frightening thing and Pein and Konan were never going to believe him.
AN: My sister pointed out with this chapter that it's rather funny how Itachi- who's eyesight is failing him- is far enough away that he can't hear their conversation and yet can manage to see bits of blonde hair all over Hinata's chest. My sister then began to laugh and said that apparently his eyesight becomes a solid 20/20 as soon as it comes to her boobs. I'm just going to agree with that explanation because even I find his sudden improvement of vision fishy.
Also, I kinda pity Naruto in this chapter. Who'd have thought that Itachi would be so vindictive? *Insert evilly amused chuckle*
