It was an average day that day in the Hidden Leaf Village. The sun shined brightly over the village, with a cloud or two in the sky and a gentle breeze that would sweep the land every so often. There were citizens out and about, going about their daily chores but the streets weren't overflowing with human traffic. It was as quiet as a prosperous and peaceful village of ninja and civilians could be. There was nothing unusual on the surface of the village.
Underneath everyone's noses, however, something was about to happen that would affect the village as a whole. For underneath the Hidden Leaf Village was a lair, with many man-ways and escape routes, barracks and obstacle courses. Currently occupying the dimly-lit main room of the underground lair were three people sitting at a large, round table of oak; one was a man with shoulder-length brown hair and a Konoha Military Police uniform. To his left was a man with sickly pale skin, long black hair, and eyes that were best described as those of a snake. And lastly, sat an elderly man who had half of his body wrapped in medical gauze, with only his left arm and left side of his face being exposed. The elderly man kept his eyes closed as the trio waited patiently for the fourth member so show up. Though, for some, it was easier said than done.
"Where is that blasted man?" the snake-eyed man barked harshly, not really expecting an answer. Not surprisingly, the eldest of the three didn't flinch at the sudden sound of the other man's voice and continued to dwell in his thoughts.
"Will you shut up? He won't show up any faster with you behaving like a brat," the officer stated sharply at the snake man. Then he leaned back, emphasizing his point by crossing his arms over his chest. But this only seemed to amuse the yellow-eyed man.
"Oh, what's gotten you so riled up, Fugaku?" He prodded teasingly. Fugaku stared him down.
"Your mere presence 'riles' me up, Orochimaru. It sickens me to even be in the same nation as you. If it weren't for our mutual ambitions, you'd be down on the ground, with a blank look on your face and drooling with me pounding you into nothing," Fugaku growled out while he activated his Sharingan eyes in mid-sentence. To anyone else, it would've have intimidated him or her into a corner or even broken them. But he wasn't dealing with just anyone, thus, he wasn't surprised when Orochimaru of the Sannin simply smirked at his threat as if it was an idle promise and broke eye contact before he could cast a Genjutsu.
"Phrasing," was all Orochinaru said, but it was enough to intensify Fugaku's rage.
"Enough of this, you both sound like spoiled children," the older man chided coldly. Fugaku's eyes never left Orochimaru and the Sannin just kept smirking but neither said a word.
"Wow, this room just reeks of utter cliches and generic villainy," a child-like voice boomed from behind the oldest man. With a quickness not normally possessed by a man of his age, the eldest turned and swung at the voice, simultaneously pulling a kunai from under his sleeve.
"GAH!" The voice cried out as its owner jumped back and away from the old geezer. "What the hell, Danzo?"
Danzo's singular eye narrowed as it stared down the mask man in front of him. Sure, the man had avoided the actual kunai, but Danzo had also put enough wind chakra into the blade to extend its reach by two inches; he should have been hit! And yet, here he stood, with no scratch on his mask or hood. He put away his kunai and sat back down on his chair. He'd have to look into that later.
"Do not stand behind me Tobi; I hate that," he warned the masked man. "Now sit; there is much to discuss."
"Such as~?" Tobi asked in a singsong voice as he made his way to the empty chair. His amusement grew at the sight of Danzo's scowl.
"Our plan to overthrow the Fourth, and what part you and your organization plan to play in all this."
Tobi hummed as he rested his head on his hand and placed his elbow in the table. He drummed his fingers on his mask, as if contemplating what he would eat for dinner later. The other occupants could feel their patient begin to wear thin, especially with the dull thud of his fingers echoing off his orange porcelain mask.
"Chicken!" He declared happily. The others in the room raised an eyebrow at this. He shook his head. "Long story. Anyway, I've spoken to Pain about it and he told me to tell you that we will send a team of two to assist you in your... endeavors is the word he used, I think."
"Only two?!" Fugaku gaped furiously. They would only send two to help them?
"Two S-rank rogue ninja; what more do you need?" Tobi asked, unperturbed by Fugaku's completely unnecessary outburst. Though they couldn't see his face, they could tell he turned his attention to one of the Leaf Village's advisors. "And we will do it for ten percent off our regular price... in exchange for something..." he trailed off as he shifted his focus to Orochimaru. "That belongs to us."
Ever since Tobi had entered the picture, the Sannin had donned a neutral expression. The last time he had been in the same room with someone wearing the black coat with the red clouds, he almost got his head chopped off. He had kept his guard up just in case the fool tried anything sneaky. Sure, he acted like an idiot but he wouldn't be in Akatsuki if he didn't have some amazing level of skill; that goes double for the fact that Pain had actually sent him here instead of coming himself. He had really expected Tobi to ask for his death or something of the like.
Orochimaru blinked. "What are you-"
The thundering sound of Tobi's foot slamming down on the table as he stood silenced the Sannin. "Don't act like you don't know!" Tobi exclaimed theatrically, pointing an accusing finger at him. Orochimaru's frown deepened, but kept his cool.
"If you don't remove your finger-"
"Fool!" Tobi barked, once again interrupting the Snake Sannin. He sat back down and propped his feet on the table. Danzo raised an eyebrow. "We will need our ring back, and we'll throw me into the mix, on top of the two other members already being sent."
"We'll pay you not to join," Fugaku mumbled under his breath, leaning back on his seat.
"We accept," Danzo said, annunciating the word 'accept' to Orochimaru. Said man glared at the war hawk.
"I'll have it sent to you," Orochimaru begrudgingly muttered lowly, but Tobi heard him.
"Now," he demanded, and the other three in the room noticed how his voice dropped an octave. Orochimaru finally broke his scowl, replacing it with an amused grin.
"And what makes you think-" a tiny siren could be heard from within Orochimaru, causing said man to cut himself off and glare at the masked man.
"Is that a ring in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" Tobi joked and followed it up with a chuckle. His chuckling then cut short. "On second thought, don't answer that." He sat up straight again and leaned forward, his hand coming up, palm up. "But seriously, the ring."
Orochimaru could not frown any deeper without having his lips touch the floor.
"Keep the stupid ring. It does nothing for me," he sneered as he tossed the ring in Tobi's general area. The Akatsuki member hopped off his seat and shot for the ring, but had leaned back too far that it had sent him into the chair and crashed onto the floor with a harsh *thud. Silence invaded the room before they heard an exaggerated and child-like groan come from the floor.
This brought back Orochimaru's good mood.
"Is that all?" Danzo asked, not quite as entertained as Orochimaru.
"Pretty much!" Danzo once again swiped the second he heard Tobi behind him. This time, he tossed an extra kunai after feinting the swipe. He was surprised to see the kunai pass through him, as if he was never physically there.
"You're so paranoid, you need to lighten up," he addressed Danzo before focusing on the group as a whole. "And we will meet again, you have not seen the last of Tobi the Great!" He called out dramatically and disappeared into a vortex that began at his eye-hole.
Miles away from the secret lair, Tobi appeared on the branch of a tree just outside the walls of one of the Great Hidden Villages. His sudden appearance hadn't disturbed his environment; the only sign that he was actually there was the branch slumping down slightly from his weight.
He inspected the ring carefully underneath the canopy of the forest, turning it this way and that before being satisfied with its condition and pocketing it. Had he not been used to it, Tobi probably wouldn't have noticed Zetsu trying to sneak up behind him.
"What news do you bring me?" Tobi's tone had returned to its original pitch and all signs of his immature and idiot persona had disappeared from his voice and body language. He found it strange that Zetsu had not spoken yet and turned to face the half-man, half-plant duo. He was looking at the tree branch, then the ground and the green leaves. He was looking at anything but *him.
Finally, the Akatsuki spy met Tobi's eye and sighed. "Leader wishes to speak with you," White Zetsu stated monotonously. "He's not happy that you came all the way out here to speak with Danzo and Orochimaru without his consent."
'Consent, ha!' Tobi thought bitterly. He might have the other members fooled with the whole 'Leader' bit, but in the end, Tobi knew who the real leader was. It seemed that Nagato just needed a quick reminder.
"Let's go," Tobi didn't wait for Zetsu's response. He teleported away using his Kamui and left both Zetsu to their thoughts.
"He's getting arrogant," White Zetsu stated. Black Zetsu scoffed annoyingly.
"Don't worry, Madara has a plan for his arrogant ass. He's just another pawn in this game; he will be removed from the board soon enough."
"Speaking of pieces..."
"What?" White Zetsu could feel the ire roll off his partner in waves.
"Who exactly do you report to when you think you're alone?" He asked though he immediately regretted it when he felt his counterpart's killing intent focused solely on him.
"You will speak to no one about that. Otherwise, I'll kill you," Black Zetsu uttered it sharply and lowly but it cut at White Zetsu like a kunai. He nodded and did not say another word, not wanting to anger him any more than he already did. And with that, the two practically melted into the ground, leaving the area in favor of a more familiar terrain.
It appeared to Naruto that there was a deity, out there somewhere, who was bored as all hell and had nothing better to do than to mess with him. He had went up to the front of the classroom to get his randomly assigned seat. The closer he got, the colder the room became. It didn't take long for him to piece together that it was Kushina who was causing the drop in temperature at his proximity. But, oddly enough, he wasn't the source of her anger, though he was the trigger that caused it. But, through it all, he refused to give her the satisfaction that it was affecting him, so he grabbed a random number and walked off to find his seat without sparing her a glance.
And of course, of course! He would be seated next to the psychotic teen with the urge to kill him. Why him, Naruto could only guess, but he wasn't going to die any time soon, even if the Fourth Hokage himself came for his head. The redhead kept his eyes forward but Naruto could feel the teen's anxiousness radiating off of him like heat. What was up with redheads not liking him? It was like he was doomed to live out his life fighting against red-haired people of all ages. When he first met Honoka, she had wanted to rip his head off his shoulders and kick it all the way to the bottom of the ocean where the Land of Whirlpools used to be.
'Maybe it was a genetic thing,' he mused idly.
Naruto vaguely recalled someone sitting down next to him but he wasn't interested enough to see who it was. He kept his eyes on his mother, who monitored her charges as they moved around the room to find their seat. He noticed her violet orbs kept scanning his approximate area, though never directly on him. She might have been able to get away with it had he not been trained by the very best the Stone Village had to offer. But the question now was, why him? It couldn't have been because of yesterday, could it? She wouldn't hold a grudge on him because of that...
Would she?
"Good, now that everyone's sitting down, we can beginning the first portion of the Chunin Exams!"
Minato stared off into his village, eyes distant, his mind lost in his memories. He had thought over every scenario he could think of, every possible outcome to how his child had survived that night but there was no way he should have. He saw the kunai pierce him with his own eyes! He had gazed into his lifeless face and knew that his boy was dead!
"So how..." Minato cut himself off, not sure where he was going with that. He continued to replay the events that unfolded that night and the horrible days to followed after it. He had to bury his own son and do nothing but accept his fate.
But no, his son was very much alive; participating in the exams at this very moment. His body was sitting somewhere in the building, trying his best to complete the first part of the exams. And like a bolt of lightning, a thought occurred to him.
"So, who did we bury?!" Turning quickly, he burst out of his office and was in front of the door leading to the Jonin Standby Station where he knew his student would be. His blue orbs spotted the building he was looking for, a very tall, circular building with a green sign with the kanji for 'up' and another with the proverb 'human life is varied'. He opened the door but before he could even utter anything, his eyes spotted something that left him flabbergasted. On the couch not too far from him was his student, laying on his back as a very enthusiastic woman kissed and bit his neck. They were both lost in each other, they failed to notice someone coming until it as too late.
"Sensei!" Kakashi called out in surprise as the two Jonin jumped off each other. All three were blushing, and it was hard to tell which of the three was more embarrassed.
"Uh..." Was all Minato could utter as he organized his thoughts.
"Is there, uh, anything we can help you with, Lord Hokage?" Sputtered the red-eyed Jonin. Minato just kept staring at them both for a moment longer, making both of his charges fidget uncomfortably. Minato took another moment to let all this information settle in before shaking his head.
"Kakashi, with me," he spoke firmly as he walked away. He needed to get out of there and focus on what he had previously thought of. With one last shake of his head, he headed straight for the cemetery, with Kakashi following closely behind.
"What do you mean 'I'm out'?! But I didn't-!"
"I mean, you're out," Kushina said lowly, her voice not a decibel higher than a whisper, but the young Leaf Genin looked as if she slapped him in the face. His teammates were not happy but they weren't as vocal about it as him. "You were caught cheating, which will not be tolerated here. If you make me repeat myself, well," she paused, a smirk appearing on her face. Everyone felt ice go down their veins and the entire room shivered simultaneously. And just as quickly as it appeared, her smirk vanished, her plum-colored eyes bearing a tremendous weight on the lowly peon. "Get out."
The three Genin walked out of the room as quickly and quietly as they could, the door slamming shut behind them. Most of the remaining Genin kept staring at the door; that was the seventh team to walk out since the test started... ten minutes ago!
"At least there's no favoritism here," Naruto mumbled as he scratched off his answer in favor of a better one.
"You, Pebbles!" Her voice rang like the giant bell poised over a church. A growl rose from Naruto's throat but he kept his bite back; no use getting disqualified over his smart mouth. "You have a problem with how I run things?"
"No, ma'am," Naruto answered a bit forcefully. His reply seemed acceptable, as all Kushina did was nod sharply and continue to watch over her charges like a mother hen.
Naruto sighed inaudibly and continued on with his test, glaring down at the offending paper. No matter how many times he'd gone through it, he'd always hate taking any written test. It didn't help that the problem he was stuck on was a math one, either. He scratched the side of his head more out of habit than frustration.
Out of nowhere, a small folded up paper came flying onto his test. He blinked but proceeded to subtly open it, noticing that in the tiny area of the sheet, was the answer to his problem, the process of the answer written out neatly. His eyes shifted to his left sharply and found Hiku sitting beside him, all her attention on the sheet in front of her.
A small smirk crawled its way to his face as he copied down the answer before summoning up some of the Kyubi's chakra to the tip of his index finger and thumb. With the small paper in between his fingers, the paper began to burn until it became small gray ashes. And with that, he'd pass the first part of the exams, now he just had to wait for the tenth question. He eyed the clock and scoffed under his breath; there was only fifty minutes left until Kushina revealed the tenth question.
Kakashi was getting worried. Typically, his sensei would've at least said something to him at this point but the blond haired man had not uttered a single syllable. He was to himself, lost in his thoughts just as he always was. But this was different, the leader of the Leaf Village was pointedly ignoring him and the cycloptic Jonin had a inkling it had to do with her had transpired moments ago.
With a sigh, he continued to follow after Minato, knowing he'd eventually get some sort of tongue lashing from him. Not surprisingly, he found himself staring down at a grave he knew all too well.
"What are we doing here?" Kakashi asked as lowly as he could.
"Bring up his coffin," Minato commanded, his tone leaving no room for arguments. Kakashi hesitated for a moment before dashing through hand seals and then crouching down to touch the ground. A small tremor shook the ground under the two as the ground in front of the tombstone parted and up came a small coffin. Minato walked up the his son's coffin and touched the aged wood. Most of the coffin had a thin coat of earth sticking to it with a few bugs crawling over it. Taking in a deep breath, he ran through several hand signs. Reaching his final seal, he sent a pulse of his chakra to the chakra, causing it to activate the seals under all the dirt. The coffin shook once before it sent all the dirt off in different directions. Minato eyes narrowed when he saw the state of the remaining seals on the coffins.
'It's been tampered with,' he thought angrily. With an amazing display of strength, he ripped the cover off the coffin, despite all the nails keeping it attached. Kakashi's eyes widened but kept his face clear of it. He noticed that whatever it was his sensei was looking for, it wasn't in the coffin. Kakashi stepped forth and a small chill ran down from the top of his head and down his spine to the tip of his toes. Right before them was Naruto's coffin, with a gaping hole in the center of it.
"This brings up more problems than solves them," Minato said before walking away. "Close it up."
Silently burying the empty coffin, Kakashi felt a headache come on as his mind came up with the implications. Shaking his head, he disappeared in a whirlwind of leaves with a final thought:
'I'm getting too old for this.'
Naruto was getting bored, very quickly and those who knew the teen well also knew that a bored Naruto was never a good thing.
He kept both hands under the desk, where he subtly pulled out a scroll from one of his hidden pockets. He summoned a small, square sheet of paper with a seal neatly drawn on it, doing so without the flashy smoke. Reigning in his desire to snigger, he kept the sealing tag in his palm and did nothing more with it.
Hinata had watched the entire scene play out from the corner of her eye and found it all to be strange. Whatever that seal was meant to do, she was sure it would be something big; a seal that complex surely couldn't be used for anything less. Feeling her curiosity get the better of her, she let her left foot slide until it gently collided with Naruto's foot. She saw his eyes shift ever so slightly so she continued to tap his foot, with Naruto recognizing it immediately as morse code.
'What's that for?' She asked. It took Naruto a moment to figure out she was talking about the seal in his left hand.
'For fun,' he replied back, not finding a reason not to tell her the truth. 'I'm bored, trying to keep myself busy.'
Hinata frowned at this. 'What does it do?'
A smirk broke out on his face.
'Fun things.' Seeing the frown deepen on her face made his smirk widen. 'Just you wait.'
Before long, Naruto sighed as he propped his head on his right hand with his fingers drumming against his cheek. He stared upfront in a bored manner, waiting for the fifteen remaining minutes to tick away and finally end the most boring test he'd ever taken. He had seen through the ruse the test pulled and, though it was quite clever, Naruto found the entire thing not as entertaining as the proctors probably found it.
Speaking of proctors...
Naruto shifted his gaze to a more interesting ceiling when Kushina turned her eyes to him. Every time the redhead crossed his mind, it would send his heart beat into a faster tempo and fray his nerves. The longer he was near her, the more he was sure she knew who he was. Fortunately, neither she nor the Hokage had confronted him about it. As much as he had trained and longed to finally come face to face with his parents, now that he really was, his mind froze and his nerves would get the better of him. Could he really kill these two people in cold blood without first getting answers to his questions? Though he never mentioned it outloud - let alone to the old man - he took no pleasure in taking a life. More than that, he disliked it. If he could complete his missions without taking a life just as easily, then he would.
There was no sparing Kushina or Minato, but that didn't mean he couldn't sate his curiosity before then. And yet, that same curiosity scared him deeply. What if the answers he finds are not the ones he's looking for, or even makes him change his mind?
'Highly unlikely,' he mused melancholy. In the end, he decided that he would make his decision on what he would do when the time came, and he could only hope he wouldn't regret his decision.
"Ten minutes," Kushina informed them, keeping her emotions off her sleeve. As she monitored the Chunin-hopefuls, she found her eyes coming back to her son, who she would catch staring at her every so often. It ate at her heart that she couldn't go up to him and hug him with all she had and never let go. She suppressed a sigh all the while subtly informing a random Chunin of another test taker being caught. With a responding nod, the Chunin let her know that said Genin was done.
"Number 55, you're done. Get your teammates and get out," she called out, much to the three Kumo Genins' displeasure. Kushina's violet eyes were back to scanning the room, not giving the recent failures a second glance. When she felt she had tortured the examinees enough, she took in a lung full of air and put her hands on her hips.
"Now then, time for the last question; and believe me, it's a doozy," she paused as she began to pace in front of the class. "You have one last question, good for you, but there's a catch! It's all or nothing; you either answer the question right and pass, or you answer it wrong and fail the exam."
"So what was the point of the other nine?!" A random Genin from the Hidden Waterfall asked. He shook in fear from Kushina's death glare.
Otherwise, she ignored his question. "You can choose to take it, or you not. If you choose to walk away, you can come back next time and try again. But if you stay and get it wrong..." She stopped and faced the room, her face as serious as they'd ever seen it. "You'll never be anything other than a Genin for the rest of your life."
The silence and dread in the room was palpable, but no one said anything, lest they incur her anger. She waited for any idiot stupid enough to interrupt her dramatic pause but was happy no one put a damper on her atmosphere.
"I'll give you all five minutes to decide. Anyone can quit within those five minutes. When time's up, I'll ask once more before moving on. Any questions?" Silence. "Good."
Kushina was glad she was 'chosen' to take part in the exams. She forgot how much fun it was purposely scaring people, as opposed to being scary already. She monitored everyone's reactions, briefly on both her son's teammates. The redhead, who was surely an Uzumaki, sat at the very back, head turned down so her own onyx eyes couldn't be seen. The older redhead had seen her activate some sort of Fuinjutsu but wasn't sure what it did. It wasn't an original Uzumaki-style one; must have been one of her own design. Regardless, Kushina felt a small sense of pride rise in her at the Chunin-hopeful's clever and subtle use of their family's special affinity for the Sealing Arts.
Much closer, and on the other side of the room, sat the black-haired teen with passionate pink eyes. Kushina knew her well enough from looks alone; she was the Third Tsuchikage's granddaughter, Kurotsuchi. And it was completely obvious that she had the biggest crush on her son. For some reason, the idea didn't really sit well with Kushina. Her eyes narrowed.
Kurotsuchi could almost feel the proctor's focus on her, even though she kept her eyes down. To her, it seemed as though the Hokage's wife was bitter towards the Hidden Stone Village; no love lost there. Still, there was something unsettling about her stony gaze, almost like she was trying to figure her out, like a puzzle. Not that the teen cared, so she turned her thoughts to her teammate up front and felt her face flush slightly.
It was a weird feeling, the ones cluttering up in her stomach. It hadn't been too long since they first showed up, maybe five or six months ago. It scared her when she first felt them, they snuck up on her like a well trained assassin and just like one, it hit her before she even knew what happened. Every time she was near him, it had sent her mood soaring, her heart racing and usually, a sincere smile to her face - unless he was being annoying, then she'd just hit him. That usually helped settle the butterflies in her gut. Kurotsuchi just felt so at peace when she was around him, and he seemed to enjoy her company too.
Kurotsuchi sighed, wishing her feelings weren't so complicated and annoying.
"No talking!" The evil proctor scolded, pointing straight at Kurotsuchi. Said teen stared flabbergasted.
"But I didn't-"
"What did I just say?!"
A loud thud echoed through the entire room. "Leave her alone, ya hag!"
The room got deathly quiet, not a single sound could be heard from in the room, or out for that matter. Even the Chunins seated against the walls held their breaths, trying to seem as innocent and unimportant as possible.
Naruto stood from his seat, his hands on the table in front of him, while he glared holes at the redhead in front of the class. There were spider-web-cracks on the table from where the teen had slammed his hands on it and his test lay forgotten, crumbled and wrinkled between them.
A vein was pulsing dangerously on Kushina's forehead and it was taking all her will not to throttle the little delinquent. Baby or not, she was not going to allow anyone to talk to her like some nobody. Those days were behind her.
"You've got some nerve, brat," Kushina stated coolly, crossing her arms under her chest. If she noticed the sudden attention to her chest from the male test takers and examiners, she didn't outwardly show it. "I could very well fail you and your team for your disrespect."
Naruto didn't flinch at her threat. "Go right ahead, I don't need to pass this exam to be Chunin. I'll go to next one and get promoted then!"
"Oh really? What if I fail you and your little friends, and you get prohibited from ever becoming more than Chunin?"
He scoffed. " I don't need a rank to tell me how good I am. I can be a Genin all my life and I'll still be better than everyone in this room," Naruto growled out. His proclamation painted a giant target on his back as everyone glared at the black-haired teen.
"And your team?"
"We'll become Chunin, one way or another. If there's a will, there's a way," he replied, ignoring her earlier proclamation. his defiance radiated off him like heat and it was hard for Kushina not to admire his spunk; he sure was his mother's son.
"Moving on!" Kushina shouted to the room. "Anyone else quitting?"
A brown-haired teen Naruto vaguely remembered burst out of his seat the second she asked. "There's no way some Rock-for-Brains is going to show me up," the feral teen declared, his white dog barking in agreement.
"Bring it on!" A voice called from the back of the room. Soon enough, everyone was proclaiming similar words and phrases. Kushina scanned the room, amazed at the determination sparking in everyone's eyes. Her eyes strayed to Naruto, who met her gaze with a defiant one. He would not back down, he crossed his arms over his chest to emphasize his point.
The Chunin-hopefuls were all silenced by a strong killing intent flooding the room. Kushina's silky red hair rose and parted into nine equal sections, flowing behind her by the excertion of her chakra. Though she kept a neutral expression, the occupants of the room could feel her ire crashing into them like waves crashing into the harbor during a violent storm.
Naruto was impressed, even he flinched at her small display of power. However, try as she might, she would not move the immovable object that was Naruto. He kept his eyes firmly on her, not giving her an inch.
"Congratulations, you all pass!"
A moment passed.
He blinked.
Her sudden change in mood and words almost sent Naruto falling down to the next desk down.
A figure stood in the middle of a clearing during the night of a full moon. She wore a white, extravagant kimono that hugged her curves comfortably and exposed her smooth, creamy shoulders. Her dark locks curtained her back, swaying every so often from a breeze. Her eyes were closed as she faced the full moon, her face contorted into a fearful expression. She kept her petite hands close to her chest, just over her racing heart. Any observer would be able to tell the distress the young lady felt deep in her heart.
And suddenly, without warning, a giant silhouette rose from seemingly nothing and towered over the young maiden. The thing was so large, it made the Nine-tailed Fox seem like a kit by comparison.
It's breath was ragged and labored, coming out as a strong gale that swept across the field.
The maiden flinched but she could do no more before her shadow popped open two eerily yellow eyes and engulfed her. Her form struggled under the darkness before she stilled and two new appendages grew out of her head. The shadow melted off the young maiden slowly, revealing a new woman in her place. She had longer, flowing white hair with two horns sticking through it. Her sickly-white skin seemed to glow, even in the shadow of the horrible beast before her.
She took in a deep breath before her eyes snapped open, revealing perfectly white Byakugan eyes with a sinister smile spreading across her face. Behind her, the mighty being opened a singular eye, revealing a pupil with ripple-like patterns and three tomoes in each ripple. It's gaze hardened at the sight of the odd woman before it released a primal and hideous roar.
Hiashi shook his head, hoping to rid himself of the scene. It was such an odd dream, even odder that he couldn't even remember the last time he had dreamt of anything. And yet, he couldn't stop thinking about it, couldn't stop seeing the same maiden over and over again. The look of fear and despair gripped his heart in a vice. He never clearly saw her face, nor her eyes, but he knew who she was.
For the third time that day, he abruptly stood from his seat in front of his desk and hurriedly headed out to see her. Though he appeared calm and stoic, internally, he could feel his blood turn to ice and his heart thump against his chest. Finally reaching his destination, he gripped the handle to the door but paused. He gave himself a moment to compose himself before opening the door and examining the room with his sharp eyes.
He wasn't surprised to find Hinata sitting eloquently and expectantly as her personal tutor explained the proper way to welcome her future husband. Though, like any father, he wasn't exactly thrilled that he'd one day have to give his daughter away, he knew it would happen and he had to at least prepare her for that.
Hiashi's eldest daughter tore her attention from her tutor and as soon as her eyes landed on him, a breath-taking smile came upon her lips.
"Good afternoon father," Hinata greeted politely, bowing to him at the same time her tutor bowed as well. She came back up, having completely missed his relieved look.
"I assume all is going well, Ako?" He asked the eldest woman, who nodded in response. Without another word, he left, closing the door softly behind him.
She was safe, that was all that mattered.
'But for how long?' he wondered idly as he made his way back to his office.
Naruto walked down the sidewalk just outside the academy with his hands on the back of his head and leaning back slightly. He had just passed the first portion of the exams and felt like celebrating his small victory. His team wanted to go back to the room to discuss their strategy for the next part but Naruto told them to start without him, the only thing he wanted to think about was ramen. Of all the ramen stands he'd ever been in, the little Ichiraku stand made some of the best ramen he'd ever had, though he'd never outright admit it.
"So are you ever going to tell me what that seal you hid does?" a voice questioned behind him, but he didn't flinch. He knew it would only be a matter of time before she would seek him out. A smirk crossed his lips as a strong gust of wind exploded from the room they had all left a few minutes ago. He turned slightly so he stood in profile to Hinata and the academy down the block. He could see the small pieces of glass hanging in the edges of the window. He chuckled, swiftly grabbed Hinata's hand and tugged her forward. She was too surprised by what just happened to question or resist him, so she failed to notice when they arrived in front of the most famous ramen stand in the Leaf Village.
"Come on, I'll explain... For a price," he said with a smile.
It didn't take long to get everyone to answer the tenth question and out of the classroom, Kushina mused as she collected the test papers around the room. Still, she couldn't help but sigh as she neared her son's test; it was hard to be so near him and not chain him up and demand questions from him. She could see the Uzumaki in him just as much as she could see the village symbol on his protector. It broke her heart but she had faith that by the end of the exams, she'd finally have her son again...
And just as she lifted the Sand Genin's test, a great gust of wind exploded from the paper. She didn't have time to react as the gale ripped the other tests from her arm and sent them flying everywhere, while also tearing some into two or three. By the time the gust ended, Kushina had her hair and clothes rustled, test papers covering every part of the floor and chairs and the occasional table turned over. Her left eye twitched as her face became the same shade as a tomato. She knew who did this, only one person had enough balls to do something like this to her. Kushina had considered, then quickly discarded the idea of the red-haired being the culprit; he seemed too crazy to be sane, but not suicidal.
Not a moment later after the event, four ANBU appeared by her, with the leader bowing to her and the others on alert.
"Are you ok, Lady Kushina?"
"Tch, peachy. Clean this place up, dattebane!" she hollered as she stomped out of the room, only one place in mind she needed to go. He will give her what she wanted, she'd make sure of it.
"And so when everyone was cheering about passing the test, I slipped it under the redhead's test," Naruto explained, slurping up some noodles after he did. Hinata, under her alias, nodded slowly, trying to remember that moment. She took her eyes off him for a split second during that time but didn't even see him move in her peripheral.
"So," she began carefully. "That was a storage seal and you stored a burst of wind in it?"
Naruto chuckled. "You could say that," he served his cryptic answer with a cheeky smirk, bring some color to her face. He finished his bowl quickly before facing her again. "It'd take something much more complicated than a storage seal to store something like a strong gust of wind, only because of the extra reinforcement needed to keep the wind from tearing it from the inside out. Also, I'd need more space than that to write it out."
"So you've studied the sealing arts?" She asked, with genuine curiosity and he chuckled again. He was about to shrug but something about her big pleading eyes made him give her a solid answer.
"Yes. You can say I'm a bit of a master at it, depending on who you ask... So don't ask Honoka," he admitted a bit sheepishly. She blinked at him before asking her next question carefully.
"So if it wasn't wind, what was it?"
"I never said it wasn't wind. One more bowl!" He called out to the cook. He turned his eyes to Hinata. "I just said it wasn't wind stored in a storage seal."
Hinata nodded and waited for him to continue but he never did. He just tilted his head forward and kept his eyes on the table. His sudden change threw her off her train of thought as she got lost in his expressive red eyes.
"How have you been?" His question surprised her and for a moment, she forgot she has been in the ramen stand with him. All she knew of the world was her and his ruby gems. He flicked his gaze at her and it was almost like she could see into his soul. "Y'know, since our mission?"
"A-Ano," Hinata stuttered, flustered all of a sudden. She sat forward, tucking her hands between her knees and looking down, hoping her hair would hide her rosy cheeks. "I'm fine," she answered, a little too quickly for Naruto's tastes. He knew she was lying.
"Liar."
Hinata looked up at him, once again surprised before looking back down with a frown."I've had been getting them less as time passes, but I still occasionally get a headache for an hour or so. And I'm not sure why..."
Naruto observed her as she trailed off, getting lost in her thoughts, as if they would give her the answer she was looking for. Finally, after what seemed like hours, she turned to him with her expressive orbs.
"Why is this happening to me?" her voice was barely considered a whisper, but Naruto heard her as if she had yelled. He wanted to look away, to stare at anything but her pleading eyes. Her blond hair was tied neatly into a bun but had a few strands trickle onto her face. With a sigh, he turned to face the ramen he didn't know had been served to him.
"Not here," he agreed solemnly, filling Hinata with a sliver of hope. "If I'm going to tell you, I'm going to need some privacy," he kept Hinata in his peripheral and noted the bright, demure smile on her face. He let himself smile a bit, all the while wondering how he's going to explain what he knew to her.
"I know where we can go," she said as she stood, taking out her money to pay for the ramen. Naruto stood and followed her after she paid, summoning a shadow clone and sending it off to the hotel. He knew exactly how he would explain everything to her.
When they arrived at where they would discuss her state, Naruto immediately and inconspicuously summoned another Shadow Clone and dispersed it, sending their location to his other clone.
He stared out at the village as he stood on top of the head of the Third Hokage. His eyes took in the luminous village and couldn't help but find it peaceful and beautiful. His heart thumped strongly against his chest, and he could feel an indescribable happiness occupy it.
He shook his head; he squashed those feelings as thoroughly as he could and focused on the task at hand. He faced Hinata but noticed she too was hypnotized by the nightlife of the Leaf Village. Naruto wanted to bring her back from her observation but his voice wouldn't come. He tried to tear his gaze off her but they wouldn't do that either. His body remained as it was, standing to her left and facing her.
A sigh of longing escaped her luscious lips and she turned an apologetic look to Naruto.
"I'm sorry, I just can't get enough of the view," she fixed her stare back to the village, her eyes lighting up with glee. "Have you ever stared at your own village and just felt so lucky to be from there? To know that out there were people willing to die for you, just as you would for them?"
Naruto wasn't expecting such a philosophical question from the blonde in front of him, but he didn't find any harm in obligating her. He faced the village once more and found himself back in the Hidden Stone Village, watching it as he stood off on top of a nearby mountain. It wasn't as bright at night as the Hidden Leaf, but it wasn't any less breathtaking.
His mind drifted to Han, his cousin and teammates and even old man Tsuchikage.
"Yeah," a small smile spread across his mouth as he was brought back to the real world, turning his face to Hinata who had done the same. Now the hard part was thinking of a way to stall until reinforcements showed up.
"What?! And you mean to tell me that after two months - TWO! - you decide now is a good time to tell me all of this?!" Naruto winced and flinched away from Honoka, who looked ready to rip his head off.
"Don't be so loud, woman," Naruto told her. "And I only told you now because I didn't think it was relevant to mention it before."
The redhead took in a deep breath through her nose and released it through her mouth. It was taking all her patience not to sock the idiot in the face. "How so?"
"Now's not the time for that. Just follow me to the Hokage Monument so you can explain what's going on and-"
"But I don't know what's going on," she mentioned flatly. The Naruto clone turned to her with an incredulous look.
"What? How could you not know?"
"Because I wasn't there, and I wasn't told beforehand so I could research it!" She growled out before swung her fist forward, releasing a torrent of golden chains. They all hit him square in the chest and sent him flying until he hit the wall harshly. The hit caused the clone to disperse. Honoka scoffed and smirked prettily; maybe now he'd learn his lesson.
Hinata frowned when she noticed her companion suddenly tense and a confused frown marring his features. He scrunched his brow in thought, before a sigh escaped through his lips. He turned his red orbs to her and she had a feeling that she would not like what he was about to say.
"We have a problem," he muttered. "I'm honestly not sure what's going on. I barely know anything about it." he added before looking away. He was expecting her to blow up, yell and call him names; he was even prepared to jump away just in case she tried to hit him.
He eyed her from his peripheral and was surprised by her reaction; he certainly wasn't expecting that.
She was biting her lower lip, a worried, pensive look on her face. Then, she looked up at him, her bright eyes pleading.
"Can you tell me what you do know. Please?" Her tone was so soft, so desperate that it almost made him sick.
With a sigh, Naruto sat down, his legs crossed, and stared out to the village again.
"Sit down, it might take me a while to explain what I know," and that seemed to be enough for her. She smiled and nodded as she sat beside him. He proceeded to explain everything, from begin to end, as well as he could. He didn't go into too much detail concerning what he said, but he did tell her all the important things. In the back of her mind, Hinata knew there was a very strong possibility that he could be lying, but she had an even stronger feeling that she could trust him. At the end of his recounting, Hinata forgot how to make her mouth function again.
"S-So," she stuttered unevenly, still trying to comprehend everything. "I h-have the knowledge of the First Uzumaki?" She asked.
"That's what Chiyemi said," he states noncommittally, moving to lay on his back. Hinata didn't join him, she kept staring blankly at the village. Multiple thoughts spring to her mind, keeping her from continuing the conversation. Naruto didn't mind, though; he figured her brain would shut down to reboot after his explanation.
He heard a small sound to his right and his eyes turned to see that it was just a bird, a crow by the looks of it. It stood off to the side on a branch of a tree, pecking at its wings and looking out at he world every so often. It looked at him and Hinata, considered them both for a moment before flapping its wings and taking flight.
"So..."
"So?"
"...now what?"
Naruto sat up as if his back was on fire. "What do you mean 'now what'?"
"What do we do?"
"Well, you just keep your trap shut about this; don't you dare tell anyone. The less people know about this, the better."
Hinata but her lip. "But I know someone who can help and-"
"And she would only make this worse," Naruto cut her off, knowing who she was referring to. He sighed exasperatedly. "Look, it might take me a while but I know I can figure out how to fix this. Promise me you won't say a word to anyone."
Hinata shifted her eyes away from him, feeling a bit uncomfortable under his hardened stare.
"So what's all this about?" A new voice questioned. With reflexes beyond his years, Naruto stood, already in a defensive stance and his right hand in possession of a kunai in a reverse grip. His eyes narrowed at the sight of the unmistakeable blond hair and trademark white haori.
Minato grinned at both Naruto and Hinata with a knowing smile.
I can't believe it's taken me this long to update this story; let alone any of them.
There's no real excuse why I've been absent for so long; life happens.
Anyway, once again, I find myself disappointed in myself for not accurately writing this story the way I really wanted to but I'm too far in and I'm just going to run with it. There are a few contradictions that I had unknowingly committed and plan to correct them soon. In the mean time, I'll just roll with it and do my best to keep this story afloat.
With that said, I'll try my best to set up the next chapter within the month, but no promises.
Till next time!
