A/N:I have officially updated the entire story of The True Meaning of Valueas of March 9th, 2016. The story has been cleaned up to fix plot holes and hopefully to the betterment of the story's flow - I'm hoping this fixes the crummier parts of the story so that this fanfic becomes ten times more enjoyable with a more realistic approach to the characters and story development. Thank you everyone for supporting and following this story, and please continue to do so as new chapters are on their way! Read on, my fellow fans! I hope to see each and everyone of you guys at the end of this long, long journey!
- Pencilfreak17
Chapter 10: Unfortunate Meetings
Kakashi watched Kiba jump all around him and the other two teachers as he exclaimed, "Yeah, Naruto got shot in the chest so he's recovering; but he's alright now! Patched up and in bed; he should be up and running again in a few months or so. He's one hell of a bastard when it comes to healing!"
Kiba laughed and Iruka smiled sadly as he sighed, "Oh goodness… all the boys look so… so grown up now."
Gai, who stood next to them, nodded as he dramatically shed his tears, "I completely agree with you, Iruka! Such a sad but glorious moment for these young boys…! WHEN OUR YOUNG BLOSSOMS OF YOUTH SPREAD OUT THEIR PETALS WHILE THEY PERSIST TO GROW AND FLOURISH IN THE WORLD; NO LONGER ARE THEY IN NEED OF OUR NURTURING HELP AS TEACHERS – THEIR GARDENERS-!"
Neji eyed his mentor and sighed, "You're still using those awkward metaphors…? Someone shoot me…"
Suddenly there was a gasp and everyone turned to see a flash of green as Gai was tackled to the ground.
"OH MY GOD – GAI SENSEI~!"
"LEE! ROCK LEE! My, have you grown, my boy! COME NOW! LET US SPAR AND TEST YOUR ABILITIES!"
Gai and Lee broke out into a wrestling match on the ground, having to be separated as Kakashi grabbed the older man by his collar and dragged him away from the younger, enthusiastic boy.
"Don't. Honestly Gai; you need to act more mature around your students, otherwise you'll influence them."
Neji stared at Kakashi before slapping himself, "I'm afraid that's a comment made several years far too late… Lee is already poisoned in his mind by Gai's morals…"
"Gai sensei! How have you been in the past years!?"
Gai stood and laughed as he straightened his clothes before slapping his student roughly on the back while enthusiastically flashing a thumbs up; "Fantastic my young boy, just fine! I'm assuming you and your friends have been doing well on your own as well?"
Lee smiled, "We're nearly getting killed almost every day!"
Gai smiled back and smacked him on the back none too gently as he heartily laughed, "HO-HO, SUCH EXCITING TIMES, EXCITING TIMES! THAT'S MY LEE! THE SPIRIT OF YOUTH MUST GO ON IN YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS! LIVE DANGEROUSLY MY BOYS!"
Sasuke and Shikamaru looked up from the living room, where they were discussing the Akatsuki files, only to blank out at the sight of the three men.
"K-Kakashi sensei!"
Sasuke stood, his knee bumping the table as the files went scattering everywhere. Shikamaru sighed and dropped his head on the table at the sight of the organized files flying everywhere, "I want to cry now…"
Kakashi smiled behind his mask as he grabbed Sasuke's hand and shook it curtly in greeting, "It's good to see you Sasuke. How have you been?"
Sasuke nodded, still in shock as he replied, "Uh…yeah, just fine. When did you…?"
"We arrived just a moment ago, did you not hear us knocking?"
"Uh… no?"
Slowly the other boys got to the living room, Choji and Shino quietly giving their greetings in mild shock as the boys briefly spent a short moment of 'catch-up' with the teachers.
Sasuke walked with the teachers as they headed down to Naruto's room while asking, "So Kakashi sir… after the school shut down, what happened to you?"
Kakashi sighed, remembering the tragic days of the school ending as he nodded with closed eyes, "Ah yes, well… for a while I went off to start teaching in another school in a different city – hated it. So I came back to Konoha and looked into law work; I had a short history in my past about being an investigator's assistant and I soon found a job as a detective. I worked as a detective for about two years before getting accepted into the FBI. Played as a spy for about a year off in some disturbed society in a foreign city. I moved around quite a lot. Eventually I got tired of all the hassle of investigation and undercover work and decided to find a simpler job. I quit the FBI and looked into security; I met Hiashi Hyuuga, president of the company I work for, and I was hired as his head agent in the security department."
Sasuke made a low whistle, nodding as he shrugged, "As expected from you… Kakashi sensei."
Kiba elbowed Iruka sensei as he asked with a grin, "Well then, we've heard Kakashi's background; what about you sir? How did you find work?"
Iruka laughed nervously, scratching his chin as he started speaking, "Well for starters, all three of us work at the same company under the same department and a few other smaller departments, but nonetheless, we work for the same guy. Anyway, when the school shut down, I tried to find a job in teaching and had it rough should I say. I went to a school at the central part of the city; a big fancy boarding school and I taught there as a teacher and as a private tutor. But after two years of that, I got into a bad situation and my teaching license was suspended. So I had to find other work. Kakashi came in contact with me around the same time and asked if I wanted to go on a job hunt with him. Naturally I agreed and sooner or later, I found myself working in the police department as the chief of police investigation and worked closely alongside Kakashi as he became our lead detective. I stayed as a police for a while; even after Kakashi left to do FBI work, I stayed in the city for the past years. Then Kakashi called me one day, and told me that he was planning on ditching FBI work for something quieter and easier, and I decided to go with him. Police work wasn't something I was cut out for anyway; tackling criminals and chasing them down dark alleyways only to be jumped with a beer bottle to the head wasn't what I planned to retire with. So then we looked around for a job, and we met Hiashi Hyuuga and now we're security agents."
Lee turned immediately to Gai sensei and eagerly questioned, "What about you, Gai sensei? Anything amazing?"
Gai laughed, smacking Lee on the back as he roared, "My dear boy Lee! I had a very disappointing past in the last few years, but nonetheless, very interesting!"
He thumped his chest as he began, "Yes… there I was, kicked out of a dead school that was the sole purpose of my passionate life! After a few days of mental breakdown, I decided to finally go find a job. I got up one day and found a job as a gymnastic teacher! Then I became a fitness teacher, a football coach, and – oh! Let's not forget a past time favorite, a BOXING coach!"
Lee ooed and clapped his hands as Gai basked in his pupil's admiration.
"That's so cool sensei!"
"Wasn't it? One of the best jobs I had. But nevertheless, they were jobs I didn't enjoy doing because I lacked the young bright and passionate souls like you my boy; so I quit after several years of diverse work and ran into Kakashi and Iruka eventually. Together we decided to go find a job for something worthwhile and were immediately hired as the Hyuuga Company's finest security agents! Then we came here to meet you kiddos again!"
Neji rolled his eyes and mumbled, "I wish you'd lose the leotard… that's probably somewhere in your closet still…"
Iruka looked to Choji and Shino and asked, "Well then, have any idea how Kurenai and Asuma are doing? We lost contact with them after the school closed down, you see…"
Choji nodded with a smile as he replied, "Oh, Kurenai is just fine. She just married Asuma in the last two years."
Kakashi whistled and laughed as he shook his head, "Oh dear, they got married? Figures; they were so love struck it was hard to walk by them without giving one of them a dirty grin."
Iruka asked, "Any kids yet?"
Shino shook his head as Choji choked on a chip, "Of course not sir; those two are taking it slow… I think?"
Shikamaru patted a choking Choji on the back as he added, "I wished they had a kid though; it'd be kind of cool to go and hang out with their kids once in a while."
Kakashi eyed him as he asked, "But I thought you said kids were troublesome?"
Shikamaru hesitated before looking away blushing, "W-well… I've sort of changed my perspective on kids lately."
Iruka eyed Shikamaru before gasping, "Hold on… you… you… no! You couldn't have…!"
Kakashi placed a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder as he sighed shaking his head, "My boy… who did you do it with-?"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!? YOU DIRTY SENSEIS!"
One of the bedroom doors in the hall slammed open as the men turned to look at Temari who yawned as she stood by the door frame in her shorts and a tank top as she growled, "Oh my God, shut the fuck up in here. I'm trying to catch some beauty sleep?!"
Kakashi pointed at her and asked Shikamaru as discreetly as he could, "Is it her…?"
"S-SHUT UP! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO HER!"
Temari raised her eyebrows at the men and blinked in surprise, "Oh? Well if it isn't the old Konoha school instructors; nice to see you again. I see you've reunited with my boyfriend."
Iruka flustered, "B-BOYFRIEND!?"
Temari stepped next to Shikamaru as she slipped her hand in his as he blushed madly while she smiled sweetly, "Why yes. We've been dating for at least four years now."
Kiba leaned to his shocked elementary teacher with a low whisper, "Yeah, they've been hitting it hard lately though… I wouldn't be surprised if Shikamaru proposes to her soon-"
"AHAHAHAHA- SHUT UP KIBA!"
Shikamaru lashed out his foot at Kiba as he danced away with a small, embarrassed smile, the boys laughing and shaking their heads. Finally, Kakashi folded his arms as he jerked his head towards the hallway, "Alright now, enough of this chitter-chatter; where's Naruto?"
Kiba led the group down the hall and to the last door at the end of the hall as he knocked on the door politely, "YO NARUTO! We've got some special guests here! We're coming in!"
There was a frantic bustle of noise inside the room and Kiba shot his friends a puzzled look before shrugging, "Let's go in guys…"
They opened the door and filed inside, Naruto looking up in surprise as he made a nervous attempt to smile.
"H-Hi…"
"Ah damn it all, I still don't get what's going on here, but whatever! Get over here Hinata, I know where you can hide!"
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him while hastily ordering, "Hide in the bed with me!"
Hinata blinked and yanked her hand away as she took a few steps back, blushing madly as she hissed back, "B-But that's just – no, I'm sorry, we're going to have to think of something else-!"
"Like what?"
"H-How about I… hide under y-your bed?"
Naruto shook his head sharply; he draped one leg out of the bed and knocked his heel against the metal cases shoved neatly beneath his bed covers.
"You can't do that; Kiba decided to put all our guns in metal cases and shove it all under my bed for safe keeping. You can't really wedge yourself in there against nearly five to six metal cases."
Hinata looked around and pointed to his bathroom hopefully, "Then I can just lock myself in there…?"
Naruto stared at her and exclaimed, "How am I supposed to explain to the teachers of having my bathroom door locked? What happens if one of them wanted to go to take a piss-?"
Hinata held out her hand, her face clearly asking him to stop there before she pointed to her last desperate attempt of another possible hiding spot.
"Y-Your closet…?"
Naruto stared at his closet behind his shoulder and laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head as he mumbled, "Well… if you really wanted to, I guess you could. But uh, I shove a bunch of crap in there so there may be some laundry in there that I haven't dealt with…"
Hinata pulled back the door of the closet and quietly closed it back when a tumble of laundry poured through the narrow gap and at her feet. She took three steps back after catching sight of a pair of frog printed boxers.
"Um… o-okay, maybe not the closet either…"
The two jolted in shock once they heard Kiba pipe out, "YO NARUTO! We've got some special guests here! We're coming in!"
Hinata shot Naruto a desperate look of panic and he growled as he leaned over his bed and grabbed her wrist, giving her a harsh glare and pulling her towards him roughly.
"Oh my God, just deal with it for just this one time, okay? I know it's probably really uncomfortable for you, but please, if you don't want to get caught, just trust me on this!"
Hinata yelped as she collapsed on top of him with his arm wrapped around her waist as he proceeded to pull the thick blankets over them and pull her dark hair down and beneath the covers and away from sight – doing his best to cover up any signs that she was with him under the bed sheets. Thankfully, the blanket was thick and large; it wouldn't show Hinata's body line and as long as she keeps quiet and doesn't move, she may luckily go unnoticed. The door opened the moment Naruto finished situating Hinata atop of his lap. He stiffened and sat up in bed smiling the best he could after all the panic he experienced as it was all put to the test – Kakashi and the other two men walked inside with his friends, all greeting Naruto simultaneously before Naruto was forced to answer back.
"H-Hi…"
Iruka hurried over to Naruto's side and grabbed his hand and cried out, "Naruto, when Kiba said you got shot in the chest, I didn't think it'd be this serious! How are you Naruto!? Are you well?! Does it hurt a lot!? Let me see-!"
Naruto slammed an arm down on the blankets that he tugged on and almost forgot about Hinata's head somewhere down there – thankfully his arm didn't smack her face.
"Um uh, I'd prefer you didn't do that. But I'm fine Iruka sensei, I'm just fine."
Neji looked around and slowly turned his gaze to Naruto suspiciously before asking, "Naruto… where's my cou-?"
Naruto shot him a sharp look and Neji stuttered as he rephrased his question, "My uh, my c… cou…cup?"
Naruto wanted to face palm himself; really Neji? That's the best you could come up with? Sasuke quickly caught on as he quickly grabbed Naruto's cup off the drawer and handed it to Neji.
"Here you go Neji, found it. Now why don't you go to the kitchen and wash it? You never know if Naruto used it by accident, am I right, Uzumaki?"
Naruto laughed nervously as he nodded, "Yeah, sorry about that Neji, my mistake!"
Neji blinked in momentary confusion before walking out of the room to 'wash his cup'. Kakashi eyed the boys before shrugging and sighing, "Whatever… anyway, how have you boys been doing? Especially after the school closed down, what did you kids do afterwards?"
Kiba jumped into spinning their tale of 'what happened afterwards' while Sasuke crouched near Naruto's bedside and asked in a low hiss, "Okay dude… what's going on? Where's Hinata? Did she leave? Or is she hiding right now… and why would she be?"
Naruto leaned closer towards him and, as inconspicuously as he could, responded, "Hinata is hiding right now because Kakashi and the other teachers work for the Hyuuga Company, and in case you haven't heard the rumors, they're looking for her because they've replaced the Heiress with her again! She asked me to hide her and well…"
Sasuke glanced around the room before turning back to Naruto with raised eyebrows, who in turn, pointed at his own blankets.
"She's under here…"
Sasuke stared and smacked his face as he groaned, "Oh my God Naruto… is that really the best you could come up with-?"
"What are you two talking about so discreetly?"
The two jolted as they turned to look up at Kakashi who had drawn near to their side with a curious look in his eyes – but behind the curious screen was a hint of suspicion. They knew it all too well…
"Erm, nothing. Just asking Naruto a few personal questions…"
Naruto nodded, laughing nervously while Sasuke stood and asked their teachers in attempts to distract them; "Uh, hey, do you guys want, you know, a drink or anything…?"
Gai sensei brightened and smiled, "Why yes! That'll do just fine!"
Iruka shrugged and responded, "Sure, why not? We might be here for a while catching up and all, go ahead and bring me some tea, if you have any."
Sasuke nodded and hurried to leave the room, but along the way he brushed past Kiba and briefly muttered to him in an inaudible whisper, "Help Naruto, act natural though."
Kiba glanced over to Naruto before responding, "Already on it Uchiha."
Kiba cheerfully skipped over and placed himself between Naruto and the teachers as he casually began conversing, "Well, it's great to see the old high school teachers back again! How have you guys been doing lately? Busy? Earning enough money?"
Iruka laughed as he waved the air before him dismissively, "Oh, never mind our jobs and how much money we make. What about you boys? Been behaving yourselves? I've been half expecting you boys to have stayed at your parents' houses. Oh… well, except Naruto and…"
Naruto's forced smile immediately dropped away, his grip around Hinata's waist loosening as he sighed in depression.
Kiba shot Iruka a look as the other teachers elbowed Iruka before hissing, "That was rude Iruka…!"
Iruka flustered as he tried to cover up his mistake, "Ah, um, a-anyway, sorry about that Naruto, I was just-!"
"No… it's fine. It's okay…"
Naruto sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, closing his eyes to try and forget the horrible memories.
"It's okay; really… you didn't mean to bring it back up. It was a mistake. Let's just forget about it now…"
Kiba placed a hand on his shoulder and sighed sympathetically, "Naruto…"
Hinata thought to herself hiding beneath the blankets as she clung to his shirt in deep thought, 'So wait… Naruto is an orphan? I wonder what happened to his parents…'
Kakashi propped his elbows on his knees as he rested his chin on folded hands as he asked Kiba, "Alright, time to switch subjects. So tell me Kiba… have you heard anything interesting on the news lately?"
Kiba frowned as he scratched his chin while trying to recall anything significant he caught on the reports, "Erm… not much really. I heard there's some governmental issues with Suna, the northwest jail center broken into and… that's pretty much all the things I've heard that have been pretty interesting lately. Why?"
Kakashi pulled a newspaper out of his jacket and placed it in front of Kiba on the coffee table before then as he gestured to it, "Let me show you boys something interesting then ahead of time. This is the newspaper for tomorrow morning; I want you boys to be the first to see them."
Kiba eyed Naruto who nodded to him. He reached out, took the newspaper in hand and read it out loud, "'Hyuuga president declares a new Heiress; Hinata Hyuuga is back in line'… what? They changed heiresses again?"
Kiba tried to act as shocked as possible (though he genuinely was, to find it actually prepared for public views) as he shot Naruto a warning look. Naruto stared at the bold headlines on the newspaper as Hinata shifted under the blankets at the mention of her name, what was going on here?!
"You see, lately, our job is related to this. We're supposed to find this Hinata… now I don't know if you guys know her very well, but obviously, she's Neji's cousin. Anyone remember her?"
Kiba faked a frown as he shrugged, "Hina-who? Nyeh, sorry. I'm not good with names… or faces… or remembering as a matter of fact…"
Naruto tapped the side of his head as he sighed, "Sorry, can't recall any names or faces right now, must be because I didn't sleep at all last night…"
Iruka blinked in surprise as he politely asked, "Oh uh, what were you doing last night…?"
"Researching…"
"Researching what?"
"…oh just… stuff about another gang…"
Kakashi eyed Iruka who shared the same suspicious look before turning back to Naruto.
"Okay… is it something we're allowed to know about? You can tell us Naruto…"
"Really, it's nothing. Don't you start worrying about us and what kind of games we play with the other gangs around here, its fine, really! No one is getting hurt."
Gai crossed his arms as he gestured to Naruto's chest.
"Hmm… getting shot in the chest is a bit more than rough housing, don't you think Uzumaki?"
Naruto unconsciously lifted a hand to his chest before shrugging as nonchalantly as he could.
"Uh, well you know... crazy things happen in my life."
Kakashi nodded as if he was agreeing before walking over to the laptop sitting on the dresser on the other side of Naruto (Lee was using it to watch a movie while watching over Naruto) as he tapped the edge of the screen asking, "Alright then… then can I ask what this is?"
He pulled up the other browser and revealed the last website Naruto was on where clearly in the search box he had typed AKATSUKI GANG and hundreds of articles followed afterwards. Naruto stared at Kakashi before sighing inwardly in relief.
'Okay great, they're not interested or suspicious about Hinata right now… guess I have to tell them about the Akatsuki business… damn! It would've been nice if they hadn't found out…'
"Uh… that's just um, you know…"
Iruka squinted at the laptop's screen from where he sat before throwing his hands in the air exclaiming, "Oh my God, don't tell me you and Sasuke are still on this wild goose chase to kill his brother!?"
Kiba shrugged, smiling sheepishly as he laughed, "Well sir, you're partially correct on that one, it's Naruto, Sasuke AND the rest of us, who is trying to help Sasuke gain his revenge upon his older brother…"
Gai gave Kiba a firm glare before scolding him, "Now that young man, is very dangerous business. Not to mention immoral! Why are you boys still stuck up on that? You're grown men! Why can't you think straight and ever consider that taking up revenge is nothing but murder to the public!? When will you boys ever grow up?"
Naruto sighed as he leaned back against his pillows with a groan.
"See…? This is why we didn't want to tell you guys; you always get all nosy and then you're all like nannies or something…"
Kakashi crossed his arms at Naruto with furrowed eyebrows as he retorted, "Well I'm glad I found out. I'm going to have to talk to you and Sasuke about this – ESPECIALLY Sasuke, considering he's been quite… revengeful."
"What about me?"
Sasuke walked in with the drinks upon trays, with Neji following closely behind to help, as he handed everyone their drinks before standing next to Kakashi near Naruto's bedside with raised eyebrows.
"I heard you mention my name, something about… being revengeful?"
"Perfect timing Sasuke, why don't you sit down? It might take a while."
Sasuke eyed Naruto before slowly sinking down in a chair, his eyes glued to Naruto as Kakashi started to speak, "Now from what I've found out from Naruto… you've dragged all your friends into this big hunt for your brother… am I correct?"
Sasuke glared at Naruto as he mouthed, 'Why did you tell him!?'
Naruto held up his hands in innocence as he mouthed back, 'I didn't mean to! He found out!'
"Sasuke? I'm asking you a question, am I correct or not?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, yes… I suppose you are."
"Good. Glad I didn't get any facts misplaced. Now, from what I clearly remember… you wanted to take revenge upon your brother for the sake of your family's deaths, am I also right on this?"
"Yes sir…"
Kakashi bent down to look into Sasuke's eyes before darkly replying, "I don't know if you remember Sasuke, but I do remember sitting you down just like this… talking to you… about revenge. Do you know what it will do to people…? They lose their sense of sanity and get sucked up into the everlasting mindset of revenge and the desperate struggle to avenge the deaths of loved ones. You become an animal, a savage animal hunting for their blood. Do you want to be like that Sasuke? I've seen what it has done to people; it happened to my closest friend before he died. He made the wrong decision, don't do the same here, Sasuke… you have a fresh future ahead of you, don't screw up anything right now."
Naruto looked between the two helplessly as Kiba grabbed his hand and whispered to him softly, "Look, we need to get Hinata out of here so… what do you want to do?"
"No… she doesn't need to leave, look, just get the teachers out somehow, tell them we'll have catch up time some other day."
"What!? But they just came-!"
"Do it Kiba! Do you want Hinata to get caught?"
"…fine!"
Kiba turned around and sliced through the awkward silence of the Uchiha glaring at his teacher as he chirpily spoke, "Alright now! I think that's enough for one day. Naruto says he's tired and that he wants to sleep, I think you guys will have to come another time. Plus, I think Sasuke is feeling a bit sour today so he's not going to be in the best mood to talk to you guys either. Maybe next time okay? Okay, good, bye now teachers!"
Kiba started to shoo the teachers out the door and down the halls as they tried to stay behind and talk some more, but by Kiba's insistency, they were forced to leave.
"Wait, but Kiba, we've only been here for five to ten minutes-!"
"Oh but we all know how sensitive Naruto can be! He's tired already, the poor sap. Let's leave him be now, and the best way you can help him out right now is leaving. You can come by some other time though, I'm sure the next time you come around he'll be willing to talk more. Now bye-bye!"
The teachers were shoved out the door and with one quick wave of the hand; Kiba slammed the front door and locked it behind them. Iruka eyed Kakashi before sighing, "Well… they were acting strange."
Gai nodded, his arms crossed as he agreed, "Good point there Iruka old boy, especially Naruto… always shifting around and looking as if someone was going to stab him or something…"
Kakashi stroked his chin and muttered, "Boys… I think we've found our new target here… I don't believe the boys when they said they didn't remember Hinata. I think they're trying to hide something…"
"Well I seriously doubt that Hinata would've come here to the boys to hide and all. She barely knew them!"
"Perhaps, but then again…strange things happen. And it's not like Neji is a stranger to her…"
"Kakashi…? What are you thinking about doing-?"
"Let's head back to the office for now, I'll talk a bit more in detail there."
The three headed back towards the car when Iruka stopped Kakashi from sliding into the passenger's seat, Gai having already settled himself inside at the backseats as he whispered, "Kakashi, about Sasuke earlier…"
Kakashi eyed Iruka as he cautiously prodded, "Did it have to do something about your friend…?"
Kakashi looked off to one side as he grimly replied, "…something like that. Look, let's just leave it as it is. It's their problem, not ours…"
"But they're tracking down the Akatsuki, it's that serial killing group that's been all over the news lately! Some say they're trying to bring down society itself by pulling their strings with their connections to the underworld! Are you sure we should just leave it be?"
Kakashi considered Iruka's words, weighing them mentally to himself as he shrugged, "Well… this is Naruto and Sasuke we're talking about here. Whenever those two decided on a goal, they've never really stopped at all once they've started it. It's even more so since they've decided to follow through collectively as a group with the others so… it's beyond us now. Even with us hounding them about giving up this stupid objective of theirs, it's not going to influence them much. They're not teenagers anymore – they're adults. They dictate themselves now."
Iruka frowned as he grumbled, "Even so… they're just entering adulthood, and with them affiliating themselves with the underworld… I don't like where things are heading, Kakashi…"
"Just have a little faith in their better judgement, if things turn south for them, well, they'll learn their lesson soon enough. Those boys aren't meant for the underworld anyway, it'll only be a short while until they learn their place…"
"How can you be so sure?"
Kakashi patted Iruka reassuringly on the shoulder as he stated, "You know my history. I've spent a fair share of my time with some underworld goons, dealing around with sewer rats with serious influence. Once you experience the true horror of the society built up by these top shot criminals, you'll wish you never stepped into that kind of turf. Those boys will probably learn that soon enough…"
The pair heard a tap of the car window as they looked over their shoulders to where Gai waved at them from his seat with the tinted window rolled down, he tapped on his wristwatch and warned, "What's with you two chatting idly to the side? We've got a call from the president about his daughter and we need to head out right now to deal with it, so let's go!"
The two nodded, Iruka hurrying to the other side of the car to slip in the driver's seat as Kakashi jumped in the passenger's seat, taking one last glance at the boys' home in the ghetto neighborhood as they pulled away, leaving their next encounter up to the next time they crossed paths.
Neji watched the teachers board their car and drive away, satisfied that they finally left; he left the window side and walked into Naruto's room where all the other boys were standing in before giving them the okay.
"The coast is clear. Now tell me, where the hell did you hide my cousin- HINATA!"
Naruto threw back the covers and allowed Hinata to jump up and roll off to one side gasping for air as the boys blinked in surprise at her appearance (with the exception of Neji screaming his head off).
"Good lord Naruto! You hid her under your blankets with you? I must say, I'll either be crediting you for your quick thinking or awarding you for thinking up of the worst hiding spot ever. Well done idiot."
Sasuke crossed his arms as he added unto Kiba's words, "He has a point there Naruto. What would you have done if they had found out that Hinata was right there? It would've been chaos!"
Naruto shrugged, sporting a grin as he exclaimed, "Well they didn't. Guess we got lucky, huh?"
Sasuke sighed as he brought a hand to his face in exasperation, "Well Naruto, you can't just depend on luck all the time…!"
Neji pulled his cousin to her feet as he brushed her down and asked frantically, "Holy crap, did he do anything to you? Are you okay? You look so pale! Maybe you need a glass of water and some time to rest-!"
Hinata brushed her cousin away from her as she put on a sour face as she stated firmly, "Neji, I'm fine, t-thank you though. Y-Your concern is appreciated, b-but I don't need you mother-henning me."
Surprised, he meekly backed down as the boys turned to eye Hinata with crossed arms and frowns.
Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at Hinata in mild confusion as he prompted, "Well Miss. Hyuuga, I think it's time you sat down and explained all of this in a little more detail. I still don't get why you needed to jump under the covers with Naruto, so if you could provide a reasonable explanation…"
"She's being tracked down and hunted by Kakashi and the others as the newly declared heiress as you may know already from earlier. They want to take her back to her family and have her back as heiress, but Hinata here doesn't want that apparently and has come here not only to watch Naruto, but hopefully to avoid Kakashi and the other teachers."
Shino shrugged as they all stared at him.
"And just how do you know all of this exactly?"
"I went with Kiba and Neji to go pick up Hinata and Asuma happened to tell us about it."
Shikamaru sighed as he shook his head, "Geez, I practically hang out with the guy more than any of you and you guys STILL know a whole lot more about situations than I do."
Sasuke continued to frown as he pointed out, "So wait, let me get this straight. You're being re-declared the new heiress of the Hyuuga company… and they're willing to let you back into the family, obviously if they have already sent out agents after you, and you don't want to be heiress and return to your family because…?"
Hinata sighed as she sat down heavily in a chair as she grumbled, "M-My father…"
Neji shot a warning look to his friends to keep them quiet as he sympathetically placed a hand on his cousin's shoulder.
"It's okay Hinata; you don't have to tell them everything…"
Naruto frowned as he glanced at Shikamaru and Sasuke, who gave him the same look of mixed concern and interest. Naruto sighed as he shook his head, "Oh forget it guys. Let's just stay out of her business."
Sasuke smirked as he crossed his arms, "Well said… though it's a surprise that it's coming from you of all people."
Shikamaru sighed as he shook his head while shrugging, "Eh, why would I bother to anyway? It'd be too troublesome."
Lee frowned as he shared a look with Choji, "I hardly even know what's going on anyway."
Choji nodded, "Yeah, same here."
Kiba yawned as he stretched his arms over his head and agreed, "Yeah, I think I'll keep my nose out of it too."
Shino kept silent on the matter in obvious agreement as Shikamaru turned to Sasuke.
"Alright then, with that out of the way, we should just leave the situation to be dealt with Naruto and Neji if anything serious happens with Hinata and the Hyuuga Company. For now, Sasuke, you and I have work to do."
Sasuke nodded, "Yeah, we need to find Sakura. And fast."
Shikamaru and the others left Naruto's room one by one as they went off to discuss plans on tracking and bringing back Sakura from the hands of the Akatsuki, leaving only Naruto, Neji and Hinata in his room. Neji pointed to the door as he asked his cousin gently, "Hinata? Do you mind if you stand outside for a while? I want to talk to Naruto alone…"
Hinata eyed her cousin before standing and replying, "A-Alright… take your time. M-Meanwhile, I'll just unpack my things in the guest room."
Neji nodded at her as she walked by, "Thank you."
She gently closed the door behind her, leaving Neji to turn to Naruto with a drawn out sigh as he shook his head in dismay.
"So… what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"
"It's about Hinata. I need to ask you to do something for me about her."
Naruto raised his eyebrows as Neji drew up a chair next to his bed and sat down as he crossed his arms.
"I need you to protect her and make sure that my uncle, well… her father, doesn't find her. Ever. Do you understand what I mean?"
Naruto sighed as he pressed his knuckles to his own forehead, "No, I don't. I mean, what's so bad about her father? Is her father like, abusive or something…?"
Neji shook his head.
"No, more like a passive aggressive father…"
Naruto sat there staring at Neji as the Hyuuga took his time to reorganize his thoughts. Naruto then finally asked, "…What happened between Hinata and her family…?"
Neji sighed as he dropped his face in his hands.
"… it's a long story."
"Well I'm not going anywhere since I'm sentenced to recuperation in bed. I have all the time in the world right now."
"… I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you what happened then…"
Hanabi screamed as she furiously tore the mirror off the wall and slammed it violently on the ground, watching in satisfied fury as the brilliant white shards scattered everywhere and littered the ground along with broken vases and porcelain antiques. Hanabi stomped over the glass in her slippers as she twirled around and kicked a chair down from the desk next to her, yelling in anger again as she banged the chair on the walls and floor until it snapped and broke into pieces of wood. She was sick of it all, why her sister? Why her? Of all the shitty people, it just had to be good-for-nothing Hinata!
"Go to hell… just fucking go to hell…"
Hanabi bit down on her tongue as the boiling fury rose again as the bitter taste seeped in her mouth and made her hands ache for something else to break.
"Not just you Hinata… all of you… all of you just fucking go… to… HELL!"
Before Hanabi could lunge for another object, the door slammed open to reveal her father's agents, all three of them standing in mild surprise at her door.
"Well… seems like little Miss. Princess here threw an ugly fit…"
Hanabi glared at Kakashi as he stepped in her room, his shoes cracking over the vases and glass. Hanabi stood and lashed out an arm as she ordered, "I don't want to fucking hear another one of your shitty lectures again you bastard! Get the hell out of here!"
Kakashi kept walking towards her until he stood a good feet away from her, his hands casually slid in his pockets as he stood there with a frown on his face.
"One… I don't give shitty lectures. They're quite informative and influential, mind you. Two… I'll have you know that I have every right to be here right now."
Kakashi then closed the gap and grabbed Hanabi by the collar of her shirt and yanked her roughly towards his face as he glared viciously at her.
"You can curse and scream all you want, throw all the fits you wish in this prison of yours. Unless you shape up, you're never going to step foot out of this room, you little brat."
Hanabi gasped in shock before hardening her gaze and yelled back, her hands flying to his arm as she tried to pull his grip away from her, "Who the hell do you think you're talking to!? How dare you call me a bratty little bitch! Well, why don't you just go fuck yourself and stay out of my life you mother fucker-!"
Kakashi then turned heel and slammed her to the ground harshly, sending her reeling and collapsing against the glass and porcelain she broke earlier, a bitter cry torn from her as the glass and porcelain bit and tore into her exposed flesh through her clothes. Iruka quickly stepped in to intervene as he placed a warding hand on Kakashi's chest, "Look, you've done enough. But you've gone too far as to throw her on the ground! Do you have any idea what's on the floor just now?"
Kakashi growled as he shrugged away Iruka's hand, "I know, but do I care? A bit of glass won't hurt a brat like her too much. If anything, it won't break her dirty pride."
Gai stood by the door, unmoving as he stood there with crossed arms and a judging gaze as he oversaw the situation unfold before him, unsure of how to react. Iruka sighed as he simply turned away from Kakashi and bent down before Hanabi as he sat back on his heels.
"Miss. Hanabi? Are you alright?"
Iruka reached for her hand, "Let's see how- shit!"
Iruka leaped back as he grabbed his hand, blood staining his hands from the cut Hanabi inflicted upon him. Glaring at the agent she held up a shard of the broken mirror in a bloody fist as she hissed, "Don't. Fucking. Touch me. You filthy bastards!"
Kakashi instantly stepped in front of Iruka and slammed his foot in her gut, sending her flying across the room and to slam against the bookshelf, a cry of agony erupted from her lungs as she collapsed in a heap against strewn books. Iruka grabbed Kakashi back with his uninjured hand as he cursed, "Kakashi! My God, pull yourself together! I'm fine! Don't get all riled up because of something she mindlessly did-!"
Kakashi ignored Iruka as he tore himself away from him and stormed up to Hanabi's crumpled form and held her up to her knees painfully with a fistful of her hair in his grip as he glared down at her with a snarl, "Why do you act so childishly? Acting stupidly and thinking that violence, money, and the influence of your father will solve everything for you, is that really how you see the world?"
Hanabi grabbed at Kakashi's hand and gasped in pain at the hair that strained against her scalp as she cried, "Let go! It hurts, let go-!"
Kakashi grabbed the shard of glass from her hand and held it up to her face, Iruka's blood still on the edges as he glared at her angrily, "You think this hurts? Imagine how much more it hurt when you cut Iruka's hand. You're thinking that I'm being violent right now, aren't you? Well I've got news for you; at least I'm not the one that goes around cutting other people with glass!"
Hanabi glared back through her tears as Gai stepped in, "Enough Kakashi, you're losing composure."
Kakashi let out a guttural sigh before throwing the glass shard aside and releasing her hair from his grip. She collapsed at his feet as he cursed, "How pathetic. No wonder why your father wanted you replaced. It's because of that heart of yours; dark and greedy. You're nothing but a spoiled little brat that throws a huge fit just to get noticed and atoned for. I hope you realize that this time, no one is going to listen to your screams and neither will we care if you break all the precious china plates in the entire house. No one will do anything for you anymore."
Kakashi threw her one last dirty glare before turning heel back to the door, "So stop giving everyone a headache already, and quit your bitching. Before your father takes a step further in disciplining you."
Gai watched him exit the room and hurried over to Iruka to walk with him out of the room, the cut on his hand still bleeding as Iruka stumbled after Kakashi. Gai reached for the door and glanced over to Hanabi over his shoulder and noticed a strange smile on her face just as he shut the door.
"You're right Kakashi… if no one will do anything for me…"
Hanabi looked up at the closed door as she hysterically laughed, "Then it's all up to me to get what I want!"
Neji stared down at his hands as he began, "Everyone in the Hyuuga family knew, that Hinata was a poorly developed child in her earlier years of childhood. She wasn't particularly talented at anything and she lacked confidence. She wasn't able to make friends at her private school and was always the quiet, shy one. Though we all knew this, the only good thing that she had was her kind spirit. Gentle and sweet was she, always trying to help out in the family the best she could even if she wasn't the best suited for the job. She was just the sweetest when she was young; and because of that, everyone loved her, but we worried about her future as the heiress. Even her father, Hiashi, was already worried. Intending to make sure she wouldn't be a disappointment, he placed her in many classes with the best tutors and teachers in order to hopefully nurture and develop a better character in Hinata as she eventually grew older… but in the first year of her intense teachings, her younger sister Hanabi was born when she was only five years old. Hiashi still focused on Hinata of course, though he kept a close watch on Hanabi to see if she was anything better than Hinata. Sure enough, as the years went by, Hanabi proved to be by far, the most preferable candidate for the heiress title. Hanabi was outspoken and confident, she was talented and nearly a genius in every class she ever had. She was the idealistic daughter Hiashi was looking for, and what's worse, he didn't see any of it in Hinata ever since she started intensive and extensive tutoring. I'm not quite sure when her heiress title was stripped from her, since I left that household long before she did for different reasons… but however it happened, it really doesn't matter. All I needed to know was that she was wrongfully kicked out and ignored. It makes me angry to think they want her back now of all days; where were they five years ago? They should've came looking for her the day she went missing! But instead… they let her run away and become a nobody…"
Naruto recalled the first time he met Hinata and the way she described her unfortunate past. How she was called useless… a failure… a disgrace.
Neji shook his head, still distraught by it all as he clasped his hands together and begged, "Anyway, what happened between her and her father was just… awful. He was passively aggressive towards her and always treated her like she was a disease of some sort. However not only that, to make matters worse, her own sister ridiculed her. Even the entire household began to question her existence; why did Hinata exist when Hanabi was around? What else did they need Hinata for when Hanabi was the heiress? The only one that ever loved her and cared for her was her mother and a few members of sympathetic household members who did their best to comfort her each and every day. Even I was there to be with her before I had to leave. Yet still, throughout all her suffering, the little support she had wasn't enough. And now as you see, she's here with us – living as an author of a few books on morality and wasting away her life as a disgraced family member. I don't want her to go back to the house that belittled her and ruined her life. So please, just… take care of Hinata whenever I'm not around. I have the feeling she's going to be around you mostly and so therefore, I'm going to have to ask you to do your best to keep Hinata safe and hidden from the Hyuuga Company – and that includes Kakashi and the other teachers. Do you understand Naruto?"
Naruto nodded, his eyes glued to his bed sheets as he growled, "Don't worry… I'll make sure that none of the goons of that bastard Hiashi gets near her. Hopefully I won't have to face Kakashi and the others as a result though…"
Neji nodded as he thanked Naruto.
"Thank you… Naruto."
He nodded back and watched as Neji stood and sighed, wiping suspiciously at his eyes as he added in, "I'll be counting on you Uzumaki."
Then he turned heel and left his room briskly, right before Naruto could even notice the tear he already shed.
Her world was swaying before her as she drifted back to conscious, the darkly lit room adding to the confusion as she looked around groaning with the headache that came into her head.
"Where… where am I?"
Sakura looked around herself and immediately grew aware of the ropes that tied her down firmly in place in a chair; even the chair was stationed and fixated into the ground so that she wouldn't be able to move the chair in anyway whatsoever. She tested the ropes and stopped straining against them once she realized that it would be pointless to try.
"Crap…! Why do people tie it so fucking tight…?"
"Well, the little hotty finally woke up."
Sakura glanced around her surroundings quickly in fear at the sound of a drawling, husky voice. There was a soft chuckle before the voice spoke again in the shadows just beyond the light, "Deidara, go fetch Itachi. Tell him that his little toy is awake."
There was a shuffle of feet as Sakura stomached the courage and shouted, "Who the hell are you!? What the fuck do you think you have any right to just kidnap me!?"
"Hey, it wasn't MY idea. Certainly none of this has to do with me."
The footsteps drew near her until she could see his shoes at the light's outer circle. His violet eyes laughed back at her as he added in, "I personally could care less what Itachi decides to do with you. All I know is that you're one hotty…"
Finally, he stepped in the light as he drew closer towards her with a dirty smile playing on his lips as he purred, "How about you and I have a little sensual fun before Itachi gets here…?"
Sakura noticed the hungry look on his face and growled as she cringed away, unable to defend herself because of her bonds. (Normally she'd smack the hell out of him, but she was tied down from her shoulders to her toes, nothing more and nothing less.)
He grabbed her chin and planted a sloppy kiss on the corner of her lips, a whiff of alcohol wafted up Sakura's nose as she gagged and recoiled from his touch.
"Mother fucker! Get away from me-!"
He placed another kiss down on her neck, just beneath her chin as one hand moved to her legs, stroking her thighs as she tried to jerk him away from her.
"Stop… fucking… touching me, you sick bastard!"
Sakura reeled her head back and slammed it into his forehead before he could get his lips and hands anywhere else and watched in satisfaction as he stumbled backwards, cursing with a hand to his forehead. He cursed as he quickly responded by back slapping her across the face.
"You bitch! You'll pay for that!"
Suddenly, a hand reached out from the shadows and grabbed the man by the back of his coat, holding him steadfastly in place as there was introduced a new voice, "What do you think you're doing Hidan? I asked that you and Deidara to watch her, not for you to go drooling over her when I clearly told you she was off limits."
Hidan twisted himself away from the grasp of the stranger as he cursed again, "Well fuck you Itachi! You know I can't handle myself around girls!"
Sakura's blood ran cold at the sight of a pair of hellish crimson eyes that blinked slowly back at Hidan in the dark with a hint of a faint smirk shadowed by the darkness, "Must be because you're drunk right now…"
"HEY! It's one of the natural causes of drinking booze; you tend to get lightheaded and hella horny."
Hidan hiccupped as he shook his head while sighing as he waved the air dismissively, "Whatever. Fuck it, I like women with a real body, she doesn't have anything near to that even though she's what, twenty something?"
Hidan gave her a dirty smirk as he spat, "You must be a late bloomer."
"That's enough Hidan. I didn't bring her here so you could sexually assault her and tease her about certain body growth, you just go back to drinking with Deidara and the others, Kisame and I will do our own work here."
Hidan frowned as he shrugged and shuffled off in the dark muttering, "Fine by me, do whatever the fuck you want. It has nothing to do with me…"
There was a metallic slam of a door as the eerie clang of metal against metal echoed in the room. Finally those eyes moved to Sakura and stayed on her as he slowly stepped into the light. She held her breath in petrified shock and fear at the sight of Sasuke's older brother; tall, intimidating and dangerous – his eyes held the gaze of a murderous fiend. But she had to admit… he was kind of good looking. The dangerous sexy kind, but Sasuke was more for her considering Itachi was much older and an evil criminal…
"Good evening to you Miss. Haruno. How are you feeling?"
"What's it look like? I've been kidnapped by a murderer and got assaulted by a sick bastard. You tell me, do I look like I've been having a good day so far?"
Itachi cracked a smirk as he let out a light laugh, "I suppose not, it is a bit too much to take in I suppose."
Another man approached the light as Itachi's partner joined the scene.
"So she's finally awake huh?"
"Yes, now make sure that the others don't get inside or try to overhear our conversation. I don't want their nosy heads buried in our situation here."
"Roger that."
Sakura watched the man suspiciously as he moved away back to the metallic door she heard towards the left of the room. Then she asked Itachi cautiously, "… who was that?"
Itachi slipped out a knife from his sleeve and played with it between his fingers casually as he shrugged, "Friend. Colleague. Partner. Call it what you want."
"…what do you want with me?"
"Nothing. Just a few questions answered, that's all really."
Itachi walked up to Sakura with the knife still weaving in and out of his fingers as he gave her a simple smile, "Tell me, did Sasuke ever tell you what he did with the Uchiha Enterprises?"
Sakura frowned as she shook her head.
"What? No, he never told anyone about what he did with it…"
Itachi nodded, the knife he held in his hand as he tested it's blade with his thumb, "Mmhmm… so, do you know anyone that he might've told it about…?"
Sakura kept the frown on her face as she shook her head, "No, I don't know anyone-"
"Not even Naruto Uzumaki?"
Sakura eyed Itachi and scowled as she snapped, "For God's sake, what do I know about their relationship? Just because they're close friends, doesn't mean that Sasuke would trust him with everything! I doubt that Naruto knows anything about the matter!"
Itachi weighed her words to himself mentally before he bent down so that his gaze was level with hers as he held up the knife to her eyes suggestively.
"Listen very closely then, Haruno. I have a little favor to ask you…"
Sakura scoffed as she retorted, "Favor? What makes you think I'd do YOU any favor-?"
Suddenly he grabbed her shoulder, cut away her sleeve and sliced her arm with his knife as he glowered down at her, her scream echoing for a split second as she sat there enduring the fresh waves of pain.
"I REALLY don't want to sit and give you a long speech about why you should help. That's not how I make things work. You simply agree and do as I say; otherwise you'll be ending up with more than a few cuts on your arms, Haruno."
He waved the bloody knife in her face, her tears spilling through angry eyes as she spat back, "Go to hell you mother fucker! You're just a fool using violence to get things your way, you can shove that weapon right down my throat and I'd still go down dying without telling or doing you a single thing! Naruto and the others can handle this without a single sweat; and I'm not about to break down after this like a pathetic loser!"
She hardened her gaze as she brashly hissed, "Like my friends, I'll stand strong!"
Itachi stared at her before chuckling lightly, a smile spreading across his face as he twirled the knife in his hand, "My, my, you're talking as if this is some kind of a drama or action movie. More or less, you're acting as if this really should be exaggerated into a life and death situation. All I asked was for you to cooperate and do me a favor. I only cut your arm because you were being incredibly stubborn. I don't expect to do anymore; I expect you to be smart and just agree with me to at least cooperate with me. I have no intentions of harming you truly, Sasuke thinks dear of you and I don't intend to want to have to fight him on the spot again since he's so weak right now. This is why I'm going to need you, to break his soft and gentle nature."
Sakura frowned as he pulled out a handkerchief from his cloak and stood behind her chair as he bandaged her arm with it. He leaned down and whispered in her ear as he tied it off, "Oh, and another thing you might wanna know about…"
Kisame stood to one side, smirking at the growing shift of the expression on the stubborn girl's face; at first she stayed true to a glaring sour frown, but now it had evolved into a stunned expression of pure horror – Itachi struck home.
When he moved back from her he crossed his arms smiling before walking to stand in front of her with his foot tapping the floor.
"Now… do we have a deal?"
Sakura glared at Itachi, though the wavering look on her face confirmed all the fear and doubt that now rebelled against her morals. She cursed under her breath and hung her head, the silence eventually cut off when she gave her answer.
"W-Will you be gone long?"
Neji shook his head as he reached into his closet, yanking out his jacket as he shrugged it on with a sigh.
"No, I doubt we'll be gone long. It's just that Sasuke wants us to do a bit of scouting around so we're going to be dealing with that for a while…"
Neji closed his closet as he turned to face his cousin Hinata as he crossed his arms staring back at her.
"Now I'm just worried about you; are you sure you don't want someone to stay behind with you? Really, it's fine if we're just one man down in the search for Sakura…"
Hinata shook her head, a hand going up as she made him stop.
"No Neji, I-I'll be fine. Besides, Sasuke seems like he really will need all the help he can get. I-I don't want to pose as a delay for anyone just because I'm worried about my o-own welfare while everyone is gone. B-Besides, I have Naruto to talk to, so I won't be completely alone."
Neji shook his head as he muttered, "Geez, it's not you being left at home alone that I'm worried about… it's about Naruto and you…"
Hinata frowned as she asked, "Huh? Did you say something?"
"…Nothing. Just take care of Naruto while we're gone, alright?"
Neji patted her on the shoulder before walking past her to join the other boys gathering in front of the garage door, a few of them bothering to take a few guns with them in case they ran into the Akatsuki members. Hinata trailed after her cousin to watch them all leave as the boys prepared to depart. Shikamaru was talking to Choji and Shino about a few procedures while Kiba was dealing out guns to Sasuke and Neji. Lee was checking the engine of the vehicles while making sure if they needed more gas or not as Hinata stood to one side wondering if this was really all the boys did in their lives…
Shikamaru noticed Hinata to one side and excused himself from Choji and Shino as he went over to her to address to her, "Hello Hinata, is there something you need?"
"Hmm? Oh, no, n-nothing at all. I w-was just going to make sure you all left p-properly so that Naruto won't be worried and such."
Shikamaru smiled, a sigh on his lips as he nodded, "Ah, of course. That silly idiot always gets too worked up whenever he's not involved in anything. He gets paranoid that something bad will happen to us."
He shook his head as he shrugged, "Anyway, thanks for taking the time and effort to watch over him for us. Otherwise we'd have two plates full on our hands."
Hinata nodded as she glanced over his shoulder to Sasuke who was standing grumbling to himself with crossed arms as he leaned back against the van as the others walked around getting things ready.
"It's m-my pleasure actually… but uh, is S-Sasuke going to be o-okay?"
Shikamaru nodded, scratching the back of his head as he turned to glance over at him as he cracked a tired smile, "Ah him, he'll be fine. He's just really worried right now about his 'to-be' girlfriend…"
Hinata raised her eyebrows as she asked with a hint of a laugh behind her words, "'To-be' g-girlfriend…?"
Shikamaru nodded, giving her another smile as he explained, "Yeah, Sakura was really close with Sasuke and Naruto. Naruto used to have a crush on her, but he's waaay over her now. However, there is a bit of a romance between Sasuke and Sakura right now. Sakura has always been madly in love with that Uchiha and well, I think now Sasuke might have some feelings to return to her, but who knows… maybe he's just concerned about her since she is his childhood friend and all…"
Hinata shrugged with him.
"I-I suppose…"
Lee kicked open the van door (nearly toppling Sasuke to the ground) as he shouted, "Alright everyone! All systems in order and ready to roll!"
Sasuke gave Lee a dirty glare as the boys started to pile inside. Shikamaru gave Hinata a quick goodbye before hopping in after them. Neji gave his cousin a hug before giving her a few last pointers, "Now Hinata, if Naruto tries anything funny on you, don't let him do it. And if he does anything crazy, you have my permission to go through the medicine cabinet and if you dig to the far back, there's a few drugs there that we keep. One of them is used to make loud and annoying people pass out for hours on end. You can use that on him-"
"T-Thank you, but I-I don't intend on using ANY non-prescribed d-drug on Naruto…"
The van honked loudly to Neji as the garage door began to be pulled up and away as Neji sighed, squeezed his cousin's hands one last time before nodding, "Alright then. I'll trust you that you'll make good decisions and treat Naruto to the best of your abilities. Please don't let him do anything crazy to you. Now take care…!"
Then Neji hurried off and jumped into the van just as it was pulled away and down the driveway… before it crashed into the trashcans. Hinata stopped waving and stood there frowning in puzzlement as there was a momentary struggle inside the van, the boys shouting undecipherable words at one another before Shikamaru jumped out of the van and yanked open the driver's seat door away to grab Kiba out by his hood.
"God damn it Kiba! Stop trying to drive the van!"
"But guys! I swear guys; I'll drive better this time! Come on! I just bumped the trash cans a little! Let me drive-!"
"Just shut up and sit tight in the back seat! I'm driving!"
There was a little struggle between the two before Shikamaru wrestled the rebellious Kiba into the backseats where the other boys restrained him as he took his place in the driver's seat up front. Hinata stifled a chuckle as they finally drove off, a far more experienced driver at the wheel as they drove off far less crazier than before…
"Kiba was never a very good driver."
Hinata turned to see Temari standing behind her with a bag slung on her arm as she gave Hinata a lazy smile.
"Oh… T-Temari! Hello, are y-you leaving already?"
Temari nodded, loading her bag in the passenger seat of her car as she stated, "Yup. With my boyfriend on another mad run to help his buddies find Sakura, I'm forced to seek refuge once again under my brothers' household. I'll stay over at Gaara's and Kankuro's place tonight; so you and Naruto can be alone."
Hinata flustered at Temari's statement, "W-What!? We're not- I'm not-!"
Temari leaned on the car door with a slight frown on her face as she asked, "You're not what? I thought you liked Naruto."
"W-What makes you say that!?"
"Well if you ask me, it was pretty darn obvious to tell. Even I'm surprised Naruto didn't figure it out, considering how cunning he can be sometimes. But I guess an idiot will always be an idiot in some fields sometimes. He's always been a numbskull when it came to love."
Temari cocked her head at Hinata as she smiled, "But I have the feeling you two will hit it off just fine."
Hinata flustered again as Temari laughed, as she shook her head.
"Well, I hope you two have a pleasant night!"
She gave her a wink and slipped inside her car, leaving Hinata stunned for a few moments to register that.
"W-Wait, Temari-!"
"See yah!"
Temari drove off in her car down the road as she finally left Hinata truly alone… with Naruto.
"W-What was she trying to say…? That Naruto and I w-would…"
Hinata blushed furiously as she slapped herself as she corrected herself, "N-No, don't think of such things, Hinata! It's just Naruto… so…. so…"
"HHHHIIIINNNNAAAATTTTAAA!"
Hinata flinched as she turned to the door as she quickly made sure the garage door was shut, clambered back inside the house and rushed to his room upstairs in a flash.
"What is it? What's wrong!? Did something happen!? Naruto-!"
"Oh. Good. You're here; glad to know you didn't leave me alone at home here."
Naruto smiled at her innocently as she stood there confused at his bedroom door.
"H-Huh?"
"I thought you left the house since you didn't come back upstairs. I was just making sure you were here and that you didn't ditch me to cope by myself."
Naruto folded his arms behind his head as he smiled at her.
"Sorry if I scared you."
Hinata heavily sat down next to his bedside, sighing as she hung her head with her hands planted on her knees, all the rush of sudden fright and worry draining out of her as she mumbled, "T-Thank goodness…"
Naruto eyed Hinata before quickly asking to fend off the dead silence that would overtake them, "So uh, the others left?"
Hinata nodded, her hand tucking her hair behind her ears to prevent them from shielding her eyes as she replied, "Y-Yes, they did…"
Naruto nodded, his eyes staying on Hinata as he asked, "So uh… what now?"
Hinata shrugged, looking around his room she tried to offer up, "Well u-um… how about you just lie in bed and watch TV or amuse yourself with something you like doing. M-Maybe if you're hungry, I can make you some food back downstairs in the kitchen…"
Hinata stood, meaning to hand the remote to Naruto and scurry off downstairs, but Naruto reached out, grabbed her wrist and stopped her.
"Nyeh, I'm not in the mood for food or TV. I think I'll settle with chatting with you a bit…"
He cocked his head at her, a smile playing on his lips as he asked, "You don't mind right?"
Hinata blushed as she felt his hand pulled her back down in her seat, his hand still gripping her wrist as she settled back down in her chair.
"N-No, not at all I suppose…"
"Great! Now…"
Naruto released her wrist and his hands went behind his head once again as he grinned, "I don't wanna ask about your past too much, but I'm really curious to know if you went to a public school or private school when you were younger. You probably went to a private school, but you know… just curious!"
Hinata nodded, smiling at his innocent demeanor as she shrugged replying, "Oh well, b-being part of the Hyuuga family, it was traditional that we a-all went to a good private school. B-But for a single week… I was at a public school. Just for a bit of a taste and for a visit…"
Naruto blinked and sat up straighter as he asked, interested, "Ah! What school was it? Did you like it? Who were you visiting?"
She blinked at the sudden rush of questions but gladly answered them back, "A-ah well, it was just a normal Konoha district branch primary school. I don't quite recall what the school's name was, but I did enjoy it a bit when I was there. Apparently it was a week for a sports competition between the Konoha Primary school branches and all the schools had gathered there because it was the largest primary public school in Konoha… o-of course I was visiting Neji since he wasn't really part of the higher ups in our family, but he was placed in a good primary school even if it was for the public…"
Hinata smiled as she recalled her past a bit to herself.
"It was a good week. I was able to see the friends my cousin made and I was happy to know that he was fine at that school. He made strange friends, but it's nice to see that they've stayed friends up until now…"
Naruto smiled as he nodded.
"Yup. Neji stayed close with Lee and Tenten all the way through grade school. I'm sure they met Shikamaru, Choji and Ino later in grade school, but eventually we all met up in high school. But that's a surprise to know that you were actually allowed to go to Neji's elementary school for a week, even if you really should've gone to a private school."
Hinata smiled, nodding as she asked, "Yes but Naruto, I-I'd like to ask, what school were you in at that time?"
Naruto's smile faded slightly as he laughed with a hint of remorse glazed over his next words, "Ah…. well, I didn't attend school from kindergarten to second grade. I didn't attend school until the third grade…"
Hinata sat there unsure of how to respond as he continued, "At the time, something happened to my parents. I was upset and stayed home from school for at least a year. Once I got the hang of how to live on my own, I tried to get back to school, but they wouldn't let me in until I had a guardian ensured to me. I thought it was unfair, and so I just kept my distance. But all the other kids knew I didn't go to school and sort of mocked and teased me because of that, calling me an idiot whenever they passed me on the streets. Eventually later on I met my godfather Jiraiya who traveled from another city to take care of me when I was younger since he heard about what happened to my father and mother. Finally in the third grade, I was able to attend school again. But I was like, about three grade levels behind each year… I was on the verge of being held back, until I met Sasuke and Sakura. It was hard to get along with those two since they hated my guts the first day they laid eyes on me, but earning their trust and friendship was good enough for me and eventually, they softened up to me enough to be willing to tutor me and help me catch up with everyone else. By the time I got to middle school, I was on the same level as they were. I'm extremely grateful for everyone's support and help when I was younger. I didn't have my parents' support since they died, I knew I had Jiraiya that time, but an old pervert like him wasn't bound to be very influential. I had to learn how to live a good life from the people around me, differentiating between what was good and bad as I learned what everyone else learned in my own way. It was a bit rough being on my own…"
Naruto sighed as he ruffled his tangled blond hair, giving Hinata a smile as he reassured her, "But you know; I had my friends and my teachers. So there really isn't any need for you to feel sorry about me or give me any pity."
Hinata nodded, her eyes glued to her hands as she replied softly, "O-Oh… I-I see."
Naruto attempted a laugh as he stated, "Well, enough of this gloomy talk. Now let's go find something to do-"
He blinked in confusion as Hinata jumped up and planted her hands on his shoulders and forced him back in bed.
"N-Naruto! You need to stay in bed! You heard what your friends told you; the doctor ordered that you stay in bed for at least a month or so and you haven't been doing that – Naruto!"
Naruto laughed as he stood up and held Hinata's opposing hands down as he grinned, "Aw come on now, what does that doctor know about me? I heal fast so I'll be fine. Now if I start fainting and coughing blood or whatever, you have every right to take me back in bed and such, but for now, just take a chill pill."
He walked past her as she quickly followed him closely as she tried to convince him otherwise, but gave up once he got downstairs.
"Oh why do I bother…?"
Naruto nosed his way through the refrigerator as he took out a half-eaten burrito and sniffed it.
"Hmm… I think this was… Kiba's? Or maybe even Akamaru…"
Naruto looked up and held Hinata's gaze before standing and peeling back the wrapper to stuff it in his mouth, much to Hinata's dismay.
"N-Naruto! No!"
She quickly stepped forward and snatched the leftover burrito from his hand and scolded him as she snapped, "What did I tell you earlier? I-If you were hungry, I-I would've made you some soup or something! You can't just go around eating l-leftovers like an animal – ugh!"
Hinata took a whiff of the burrito and immediately turned heel to throw it away as Naruto exclaimed, "Hey! That was a perfectly good burrito you just got rid of!"
Hinata coughed as she shook her head, "Goodness …! That must've been w-weeks o-old! It smelled like r-rotten meat and s-spoiled b-bread…!"
Naruto rolled his eyes as he muttered to himself while he stuck his head back in the fridge for any more, "Whatever… girls…"
Hinata grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him away from the refrigerator as she stepped in between him and the fridge.
"Look Naruto, w-why don't you go find something else to occupy yourself with while I deal with the food, o-okay?"
Naruto sighed as he shrugged.
"Oh fine, I'll let you 'clean out' the fridge…"
Hinata shooed him out as she opened the fridge to investigate the condition of the food left inside; cups of unfinished yogurt sat on the shelves with mold growing on the rims of plastic as poorly contained food condiments spoiled and rotted in her sight. The overwhelming stench of decaying food made it clear to Hinata that these boys haven't been eating very healthily at all…!
Hinata closed the fridge, making a mental note to clean it all out later, as she went to grab her coat as she called out to Naruto in the living room, who was amusing himself with the TV.
"Well then… N-Naruto? I'm going to go shop for some… fresh food. If you could please remain here a-and-"
Naruto leaped up from the couch, turned off the TV and shoved his feet into a pair of sandals as he marched past her to the door.
"Great! Let's go; I could use the fresh air!"
Hinata grabbed his sleeve right before he reached the door knob as she exasperatedly exclaimed, "Naruto! I already let you get up and out of bed; w-what more do you need?"
Naruto gave her a grin as he reassured her again, "Hinata. It's fine! I just need a little walk, that's all! Why can't I walk with you to the store? Besides… what if you ran into the Hyuuga agents again?"
Hinata lost her words as he threw an arm around her shoulders and laughed, "Come on now Hinata, stop trying to be a mother hen and just work with me here. It'll only be for a few minutes, right?"
Before she could reply, he steered her out the door and out into the chilly evening night as he closed the door behind them and locked it. Hinata crossed her arms as she tried to appear annoyed.
"N-Naruto, you're really p-pushing it here-!"
"Well Hinata is always too nice for her own good; she'll let this one slide. Come on! Let's go!"
He gave her a charming smile before linking his arm in hers and leading her away against her will towards the nearest store as she eventually stopped trying to convince him to stay back at home.
Why do I even bother…?
SNEAK PEEK INTO CH. 11...!
The agent smiled as he responded immediately; bingo.
NEXT TIME IN CH. 11:
THE SEARCH IS EVER SO FRUSTRATING AS EVERY TRAIL TURNS UP DEAD.
WORRY FILLS THE AIR AS FEAR AND UNCERTAINTY REIGN THEIR MINDS - CAN SAKURA BE FOUND IN TIME?
HINATA BATTLES HER HAUNTING PAST AS NARUTO GETS TO KNOW HER A LITTLE BIT BETTER...
THE HYUUGA ARE GETTING ANTSIER BY THE DAY AND THE SEARCH FOR HINATA INTENSIFIES.
IS AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE HYUUGA AGENTS INEVITABLE FOR HINATA!?
A desperate struggle for their goals - can they succeed...!? Stick with us like glue, 'cause things are about to get messy and confusing!