Chapter 9: Hiashi's Secret
In which Kakashi discovers more than he bargains…
"Hi-ya!" Ino yelled out at the top of her lungs and threw a desperate kick at Naruto. The young jinchūriki side stepped the attack with relative ease.
"Come on, you can do better than that!" He taunted with a cocky grin. One hand rested in his open jacket, while the other shot up to catch Ino's backhand.
Ino quickly pulled herself away from Naruto and back stepped a couple yards away. She wiped sweat from her head while staring at her opponent intensely. It wasn't bad enough that the sun was hot, but the humidity was making it rather hard for her to catch her breath.
She cursed under her breath at proposing to get some quality training time with Naruto this morning. When she said quality, she didn't mean this. Gaara, Lee and the two tails sat at the edge of the clearing, watching with amusement as Naruto dominate her with almost no effort. Hell, he unconsciously handicapped himself by only using one arm and he's still making her look like a fool!
She reached down for a kunai, then cursed under breath upon realizing she was unarmed. "Guess we'll do this the hard way." She mumbled to herself. Enhancing her legs with chakra, she leapt at him with a shinobi's prowess and poised her fists to strike her target with pure fury.
"Gotcha!" She let out a warcry as the fist shot out aimed at Naruto's jaw. Without warning, his eyes flashed red as a strong wall of wind appeared between them and launched her back with a vicious thud.
"Sorry Ino," Naruto scratched the back of his head, "my mind was lost in thought for a second and just kinda reacted."
Ino pushed her body up to a sitting position, dumbfounded at what just happened. She knew Naruto had wind affinity, but no way was that normal. There were no hand signs, no verbal commands, so what was it? "How did you do that?" Ino asked as Naruto's shadow covered her voluptuous figure.
"Do what?" Naruto asked. A second later, his eyes widen in realization and snapped his fingers, "Oh! You mean this?"
Naruto's eyes flashed red as he waved a hand back and forth and, as if on command, gust of wind shot between him an Ino, causing the girl to shriek and grabbed the hem of her skirt. "Yes, that!" she pointed at him accusingly.
"I was unaware you knew such abilities." Gaara proclaimed as Ino and Naruto suddenly became away from his and Lee's presence.
The young leaf jinchūriki smiled, "Oh it's something I developed with Kakashi-sensei. Just like how you infuse your chakra with dirt and sand, I do the same thing except I use the wind around me."
"You may have the chakra, but I'm aware of your lack of control. Fundamentally speaking, you shouldn't be able to control anything, much less a gust of wind." Gaara explained. Lee and Ino watched as the two jinchūriki's talk, completely ignoring that they were even there.
Ino felt her cheeks blush, once again reminded that she doesn't share as close of a bond to Naruto as does Gaara. The two talked casually to each other like this, easily capable of shutting out the world in their conversation, yet if she were to talk to Naruto, he could easily get distracted from their conversation and forgetting about it completely.
"Ah my red haired friend," Naruto held up a finger, "I may lack chakra control, but I excel at using my tailed beast's chakra… well to what part of him I can control."
To prove his point, his eyes flashed to his demon mode again as a spinning pillar of wind appeared to their side. A feint green chakra could be seen directing the wind in an unnatural motion. "Interesting."
Ino looked at the red haired kazekage in surprise. Never had she ever thought she'd live to hear such a word escape such a powerful teen's Mouth.
"To turn demonic chakra into wind chakra… Ingenious, though risky." Gaara admired.
Naruto nodded in agreement, "Yeah. It doesn't take as much chakra to produce a stronger effect, but it's more unstable than normal wind chakra. Not to mention anyone trained can sense this kind of chakra."
"Ah ha, I got it!" Naruto turned to Ino. Chills ran down her spine when she looked into those crimson feral eyes, "We are going to find out your affinity!"
"Huh?" Everyone but Naruto said in unison.
XX
an hour later...
"Naruto, what the hell is this?" Ino deadpanned looking at the fragile black paper.
Naruto held the black piece of paper between his finger tips in everyone's view, "This, my dear little Ino, is how we're going to check your affinity. Observe." Ino and Lee moved closer to get a better view, eyes locked on the small parchment afraid to miss a single detail.
As if it were done by a pair on invisible scissors, the paper split clean in half and flew in opposing directions. "As you can see, my chakra is wind."
A trio of heads turned to Gaara as he held up a paper as well, and on cue, the paper split in two. "Wind." Gaara affirmed.
"Wait, I thought your affinity was sand Gaara-kun!" Lee pointed at the kazekage's gourd.
Gaara shook his head, "No, there are only five basic affinities. Earth, Fire, Wind, Water and…"
"Heart?" Lee finished. Naruto and Gaara slapped their palms against their face, both unsure if the chunin was serious or joking. Sadly, they were betting on the former.
"Lightning." Naruto corrected. "Now, there are advance types, but these are usually kekkai genkais such as Captain Yamato's wood element. However there are exceptions, like jinchūriki's tend to have unusual element types, case in point, Gaara here. Not only that, but some ninja's, mostly clans, have access to other elements with their jutsus such as the Nara clan and their shadow element."
"Now," Naruto held up a small parchment of black paper, "Ino, your turn."
The long haired blonde gulped and grabbed the piece of paper, "Okay, here goes."
"All you have to do is apply some chakra." Naruto informed.
A concentrated look graced Ino's features while she stared at the parchment, her mind focused as she pushed chakra through her body and to her finger tips. Come on! Come on! She shut her eyes to concentrate harder. You stupid paper… don't make me look like an idiot in front of Naruto!
"Ah ha!" She heard Naruto shout in excitement. Fearfully, she slowly opened one eye to sneak a peek, preparing herself for disappointment. The once stiff paper hung over, dripping wet as it he had been dowsed under a faucet.
"Did I do it?" She asked staring at the wet paper in disbelief.
Naruto beamed her a smile while shooting her a thumbs up, "Hell yeah you did! It's water."
Without warning, her body flung at Naruto and wrapped the jinchūriki in a powerful hug, "I can't wait to tell Shikamaru and Choji!"
"Ahem," The two tails heavy voice alerted the four to its presence, "Sorrry to ruin your fun, boy. But I believe the one tails has an appointment."
"Five already?" The question was more of a statement as Gaara gazed into the sky at the unforgiving sun, "I suppose I can't keep Lady Hokage waiting. Naruto, Lee, Ino."
Naruto just nodded as Gaara walked alongside the two-tails back to Konoha. "I guess I should go as well, Naruto-kun." Lee held up a fist, "Next time we spare, I want to test your wind against my flames of youth! Bye Naruto-kun!" In a blur of green, he was gone, leaving the two blondes alone, surrounded by nothing but grass and trees.
"And then there were two." Naruto said eerily as a wind blew between him and Ino.
"Stop that!" Ino playfully slapped him on his chest.
XX
A rasp on the door alerted Hiashi Hyuga. The noble calmly set his quill into it's ink bottle, "Who is it?"
"Hiashi-dono," The familiar voice alerted the noble that it was his personal messenger, "a Hatake Kakashi-san is here."
"Understand. Show him in." Hiashi informed while straightening his papers.
The old fashion Japanese style paper door slid open revealing Kakashi's presence. "Sorry to drop by." Kakashi raised a hand in a friendly gesture. Before Hiashi could open his mouth to say a word, Kakashi nonchalantly let himself in and approached the desk.
His head turned to take in the view of the entire room. Gold wall paper with a golden floral design, various suits of samurai armor stood again the far wall, while above them were traditional katanas and kodachis on their perspective racks. However, none of it were truly traditional, so to speak. The hilts and sheaths of the swords were much too fine and highly decorated with expensive silk and gems to truly be useful on the battle field.
Plain weapons were expensive as is, and often more than not did weapons break on the battlefield, regardless how well you took care of it. The armors were a little ridiculous in his eyes as well. The helmets were designed to resemble demonic faces, with narrow eye slits far to hard for anyone to see out of. If one were to wear the armors, you'd be better off to go without a helm and see than risk it with severe restriction on your field of vision.
He eyes turned to the wall to his left. Several paintings hung on the wall, clearly Hiashi was a man of art as well. Three to be exact. Two were traditional Japanese paintings, clearly very old and from the same painter judging by their style. The third however, definitely came from over seas. It was an abstract painting he recognized in pictures, one titled "The Woman" yet, it looked nothing like a woman. The mouth as far off, so were the eyes, and the picture itself resembled blue and pink triangles just throw together.
Then there was the lighting, he knew Hiashi, along with many other nobles, preferred the old ways. But keeping a room lit with candles wasn't old, it was ancient! "Wonder if Hiashi has heard of something called the light bulb." Kakashi mused to himself.
"I'm so glad you take interest in my room," Hiashi brought Kakashi back to reality, no hint of emotion in his voice. A true professional if Kakashi had seen one.
"Yes, it's an interesting room. Along with an interesting house. Very traditional." Kakashi said while approaching the desk and laying down a large book. Hiashi eyed the book suspiciously before grabbing it and flipping it open.
"Hmm, these are bank records." Hiashi stated, "Of course, the question asks what would a man such as yourself be doing with a copy of one of my bank's records."
"I believe you'll find your answer on page 832." Kakashi responded. He watched as Hiashi did as he was instructed and thumbed through the pages. Several moments had passed until he saw, however brief it was, a surprised look on Hiashi.
"You realize what you're accusing." Pale, lavender eyes turned cold and stared into a single onyx, as if he were looking into the eye of a demon.
Kakashi nodded, "Whether or not you agree, Naruto is dear to me. And if someone is indeed stealing from him, then I'll find out who's doing it regardless of the consequences. I came here hoping you'd assist, but don't think that if you refuse I'll give up and go home."
Hiashi shook his head, "Stubborn fool. Anyways, I'm glad you brought this too my attention. I've been suspecting that one of my bank managers have been stealing from my customers for years. At least this will give me some evidence to form an investigation. Hyaku!" Hiashi called out.
"Yes milord?" A hyuga, the one who had escorted Kakashi, appeared in the doorway.
"Fetch Hinata." Hiashi ordered. The messenger bowed before disappearing.
Kakashi watched the man disappear then turned his attention back to Hiashi, "I was hoping we could discuss some more things in private."
Hiashi held up a hand to silence Kakashi, "Whatever you have to say you can say in front of my daughter as well."
Kakashi let out a sigh, "Unfortunately, this is classified information concerning Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze."
"I see." Hiashi closed the book in his hand, "Kushina Uzumaki, that's a name I haven't heard in years. I suppose it's only natural for a ghost to appear at a time like this."
"If you can call her a ghost." Kakashi responded.
"Hmm, and what does her son, Naruto, have to say about this?" Hiashi debated out loud. A small, high pitched squeal caught their attention as both men turned toward the door.
Hinata stood there, twiddling her fingers in embarrassment, "Forgive me, I didn't mean to over hear." She quickly bowed apologetically.
"Don't forget, I'm the one that summoned you here." Hiashi said while Hinata regained her composer and moved beside Kakashi.
"What's this about Naruto and um…" Hinata said meekly.
"Really Hiashi, I'd rather some things stay in the closet." Kakashi sighed, "So you are aware of the fact that Kushina Uzumaki is Naruto's mother?" He glanced at the hyuga girl, her eyes wide with amazement. Her gaze turned from him to her father, looking for some sort of confirmation.
"I am aware of Naruto's lineage" Hiashi informed then called out to the hall, "Hyaku, close the door and insure we are not disturbed by anyone until further instructed."
"Yes milord." Hyaku appeared at the door before sliding it shut.
"Hinata, I'm sure this doesn't need to be said, but what I say doesn't leave this room." Hiashi flatly told his daughter.
XX
"So, how do we go about my water training?" Ino asked as she and Naruto settled by the lake nearby.
"Well," Naruto began as he threw his mesh shirt and jacket to the side and laid flat on his back, "I was thinking about asking Captain Yamato. He's really good with water jutsus, maybe even better than Kakashi-sensei."
"Oh." Came Ino's small reply.
"You sound disappointed." Naruto responded, looking at the blonde haired beauty beside him.
"I was kind of hoping you'd teach me." Ino admitted. Taking the initiative, she sat near his head and slowly began to caress his cheeks. Her fingers ran over the whisker like marks, how they lightly rose up from the skin like a scar. Hell, she used to even think that they were scars until recently.
She saw it, it was for only a split second, but she saw the panic and fear in his eyes when her fingers first caressed his cheek. "What are you doing?" A bewildered Naruto asked, his mask firmly in place.
"What does it look like I'm doing silly." Ino teased, "I was just curious about your marks."
"Oh…" The comment left Naruto without a word. Without warning, the jinchūriki broke physical contact by sitting up.
"If you didn't like it you could've said something." Ino said, crossing her arms over her breast. In words and body language, disappointment spoke loud volumes.
Naruto shook his head, "Naw it's okay."
"About my training…" Ino bit her lip, slightly nervous at the possibility of Naruto's rejection, "I was hoping that maybe, instead of asking Captain Yamato, you teach me. We could grab books and ask some of the other ninja's advice, but I'd like it if it was one-on-one. You know, someone I can trust."
"I don't know…" Naruto looked at the small lake, it's clear water seemed to sparkle from the of rays from the sun escaping through the forest canopy. "I'm not exactly a water user."
"I'll make you a deal. You say yes, and I'll make home-made ramen once a week starting tonight." Ino offered with a smile, knowing full well what she was doing.
"Once a week?" Naruto turned to her with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Well… I guess I could make it two nights, but…" Ino raised up a finger, "We'll be having more than just ramen. We're working in the vegetables too. Also," She raised up a second finger, "you're going to help me buy the groceries every night we have ramen."
Naruto eyed her suspiciously, "Sounds like a little one sided deal if you ask me."
"Fine, two nights of ramen with vegetables and one night of a well home cooked meal. Final offer." Ino held out a hand with a gleam in her eyes, Naruto took it to solidify the deal, "Now, time to work on the charms. They say a way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Among other things…" She thought while glancing at his well toned body.
A flash of a smile crossed Naruto's lips as the next thing Ino knew, he jumped back pulling her with him into the water. "Naruto you jerk!" Splash!
XX
"I see." Kakashi took the book from the desk, "I wish you told me about this sooner."
"Forgive me. You see, a month after the attack, physically she recovered, however, I'm afraid her mental state was still nursing fresh wounds. She had just lost her lover, plus her son had a terrible curse placed upon him. Regardless of Minato's intentions, she knew that Naruto wouldn't be able to live such a life." Kakashi was taken aback by Hiashi's words. Guilt and sorrow was clear as day in the Hyuga. Part of him regretted forcing Hiashi to relive such memories, but it had to be done.
"The Third had approached me, unaware that my compound was nursing Kushina. Minato had decreed in his will that should he perish, his assets go to Konoha's orphanage system." Hiashi said.
Kakashi nodded, "Makes sense not to leave anything behind to Kushina. If he were to die in combat, and leave everything to her and Naruto, it wouldn't take long for everyone to start drawing a connection."
"Yes," Hiashi confirmed, "however, it wouldn't matter whether he did or not, Kushina was rather quite wealthy due to being an Uzumaki. Being a ninja was more of a passion for her than a way to make a living."
"Which is why the Third had split her account in half, to set aside some money for Naruto." Kakashi pieced together.
"Not quite," Hiashi took the book from Kakashi and opened it to page 832, "we transferred all of her assets to Naruto. It would seem that someone had reopened her account and reinvested the money from Naruto's account. Last place anyone would think to check would be a dead woman's bank account."
"I see. And the max withdrawal?" Kakashi queried. Things were beginning to make more sense as Hiashi explained things. Kushina surviving the attack, the Naruto's account, Minato's account, Kushina's account, while it didn't answer all of his questions, it did close the book on some. The main problem was that, it added more questions into the fray.
"As I said, she knew Naruto wouldn't be able to live a normal, happy life. Yet, she knew she couldn't take Naruto away. She wouldn't say why, but she said Naruto was needed here." Hiashi said, "So when the Third approached me, I took the opportunity to make a withdrawal on Kushina's behalf and smuggle her out of the country."
"If that's, why didn't she stay here? Naruto needed her!" Kakashi slammed his hands on the desk. The action surprised Hiashi and Hinata, both never seen Kakashi angry in their entire lifetimes. "Jiraiya was chasing after Orochimaru and I was forbidden from approaching Naruto by the Third for as long as I was with ANBU. So if she was here, she could've at least gave Naruto some sort of normalcy in his life!"
"So that is why you quit ANBU. I always wondered what your reason was." Hiashi mused calmly.
"Forgive me," Kakashi regained his composure. He bowed politely, a characteristic Hiashi found unnerving as Kakashi had never showed any sort of mannerism when it came too a Hyuga, "I have to go."
Kakashi grabbed the book and turned toward the door, sliding it open. "Will you still pursue Kushina-sama?" Hiashi's voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Yes," came Kakashi's cold reply. "But not just for Naruto's sake, for my sake as well. I have questions that only she can answer."
"I'll send Hinata to your house at noon, tomorrow. We'll head to my bank together and investigate. Hopefully it won't take too long to get some answers." Hiashi, turning to his daughter who bowed in agreement.
"Until then." Kakashi disappeared through the doorway, sliding the door shut behind him.
"Father?" Hinata looked at Hiashi, confused at what could be going through the man's mind. "Will Kakashi-sensei be okay?"
Hiashi stood up, knocking his chair back and circled the desk. His powerful, yet gentle arms circled around his daughter in a tight hug, "Some times I forget how lucky I am to have two wonderful daughters. To see you both grow up before my very eyes, I take that for granted too much."
Unsure of what to do, Hinata did the only thing natural. She returned the embrace as tears began to form. Hiashi's story and Kakashi's reaction really opened her eyes to just how little she knew about Naruto and just how close the Kakashi's bond was to the boy. The two didn't always show it like she did with Kurenai-sensei, but from today's evidence, it was clear that Naruto was truly dear to the jonin.
"Tell you what," Hiashi broke the embrace and looked at his daughter, "How about you go tell Aiko not to worry about dinner and you cook tonight. I know how much you love cooking and I don't think I've ever ate any of your food."
"Really?" Hinata's eyes lit at the prospect. "Hanabi and Neji too?"
"Sure," Hiashi gave one of his rare smiles, "we'll make it a family affair."
XX
The half moon perched in the sky as Kakashi stood on the Hokage Tower, his mind contemplating everything he learned today. Many had spoke highly of the jonin's calm demeanor, yet, today such a man didn't exist. All that stood was a confused man, questioning why such things had to happen in this world.
"Kakashi?" Tsunade's voice called out to him. The woman approached the jonin, taking note at the crushed railing in Kakashi's grip, clearly unaware he was pushing chakra to his hands.
She leaned against the railing and gazed at the jonin, his mask pulled down. It was the first time she had seen the jonin without his mask, and to say his features were striking was an understatement. "Kakashi Hatake." She called out again, this time in a more commanding tone.
"Where did things go wrong?" Kakashi questioned. Tsunade was unsure if the question was rhetorical or towards her, either way Kakashi continued before she said anything, "I talked to Hiashi about Kushina. There's some things you should know."
"You're moving faster than I anticipated." Tsunade watched as the jonin slid his mask back on.
"One step forward, three steps back." Kakashi said, his lone eye turned to the puzzled hokage, "Let's talk about it in your office. I could use a drink."
Tsunade only nodded, something was clearly wrong. She could feel it in her bones, but for some reason, she felt like being there was the last place she wanted to be.
Well, I'm back. I planned for a big fight scene on this chapter but, lost all of my notes so had to re-do everything from scratch. Instead decided to focus this chapter a bit on Naruto/Ino and Kakashi diving head first into the mystery. Don't worry, there'll be a fight scene next chapter, however, I want the main focus of the story to be on the Naruto/Ino aspect and the humanity of the characters, not one person kicking another person's ass, so don't expect a three chapter long fight. That's what DBZ is for.
Oh, and as for Ino learning water, I wanted to pick something that a lot of people tend to ignore. Whenever a character in a story learns their affinity it's always something like fire, lightning or wind, whatever is deemed cool. Earth and Water just get no love. It's a conspiracy I swear.
Already got a vague idea on where I want to take this story. Well, had a vague idea a long time ago, just lost notes equals starting from scratch. So feel free if you got any ideas. Trying to avoid being clichéd, but then again, everything is clichéd these days it's just a matter of putting your personal twist on it. If your idea sounds plausible (sorry I don't see Naruto suddenly strapping Sasuke to a rocket and sending him to the moon), and fits in the general direction of where I want to go, I'll add it with full credit going to whoever supplied the idea.
