Author's note: before you start worrying; yes I did split this part of the chapter up as well, BUT it's only because this chapter got so FUDGEING long!
I don't know what happened, maybe I wanted to make things up to you guys after last week's short chapter or maybe I just went crazy.
Either way, I thought the chapter got too long and fearing it might feel too heavy to read through in one go, I split it in two.
Rest assured, the next part will be coming soon! I have been writing on this for the past 8 hours and before that I was doing homework, so now I really need a short break and some dinner, and then I'll do a quick proofread of the next part - so expect part 2 to be up in a few hours.
Thank you for reading & I hope you will enjoy this chapter full of random Naruto and Hinata interactions!
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The Orange Protector - part I
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Naruto arrived at the village gates early the next morning, where he would be meeting up with team 8, Hinata included, before the guys left.
He made sure to get there before their agreed meet time; that way Kiba wouldn't have an excuse, to accuse him of not taking his mission seriously.
The blonde yawned and stretched his arms; he had barely gotten any sleep the night before.
After talking to Shino and Kiba, his head had been so full of thoughts and memories of seeing Hinata talking to men and of those men's intentions. It had been impossible to escape and resulted in him tossing and turning the whole night, only falling asleep an hour before the alarm blared at him.
Despite the minimal amount of sleep, Naruto had instantly sprung out of bed. He dressed and ate his morning ramen with a speed, which rivalled that of his father's on the battlefield, and then he was out of the door.
As he watched the group appearing in the distance, 20 minutes later, he almost wished he hadn't been so early.
Naruto watched the great white nin-dog, as it walked in front of the group, constantly glancing back at them. The blond followed the dog's eyes and frowned as he noticed how Kiba was, once again, wrapped around Hinata possessively, while the bug user was glued to her side, a tight hold on one of her hands.
"They resemble a group of overgrown puppies, trying to delay the moment when their master will depart. Do they not?"
Naruto jumped back and glared at Sai, who squatted on the roof of the guard house, "How long have you been there!?"
Sai shrugged and smiled, before he jumped off the roof and landed next to the blond.
Naruto considered yelling at Sai for not announcing his presence earlier, but he had to admit, the man's comment had made him feel a little better, though he'd never say that out loud, of course.
The men stood together, in silence, and watched the group approach them.
Kiba was talking quietly to Hinata and from the way her eyes moved to Shino, Naruto assumed he was speaking to her as well, though Naruto couldn't actually see the man's mouth.
Sai had a point; they did kind of resemble a group of puppies, trying to make the most of the last of their time with Hinata, before they had to leave. It almost made Naruto smile, but at the same time, it made him feel a little lonely.
When Hinata looked towards him and smiled with a "Good morning Naruto-kun, Sai-san", he shook the thoughts out of his head and grinned back, "Morning Hinata"
"Good morning Hinata-san" Sai said, smiling.
"Yo Naruto," Kiba said, smirking wolfishly as he finally let the pale-eyed woman go. He stalked towards Naruto and slung his arm around the blond, before dragging him off to the side.
"What do you want?" Naruto muttered, glancing back at the others.
"Just need to make sure you remember; if anyone touches so much as a hair on her head, you're dead!" Kiba growled at him, "And if you hurt her in any way, you'll wish you were dead!"
Naruto glared back at the dog-nin, "Don't worry; I remember your stupid threats" he huffed "And as if I'd let anything happen to Hinata, I promised I'd protect her!"
"You'd better!" Kiba muttered, before he went back to his teammates.
Naruto followed with a pout, which turned into a frown as Kiba called out to Hinata.
"Oi, Hinata" the dog-nin said as he bent down towards the woman, who looked up at him with questioning eyes. With a pout on his lips, Kiba turned his cheek to her and tapped his finger against it.
"K-Kiba-kun!" a soft, pink glow appeared on Hinata's cheeks, as she glanced at Naruto quickly, before she placed her lips gently against Kiba's cheek.
The blond's frown deepened and he scratched at his arm, as a familiar prickle started up under his skin.
He watched the dog-nin grin at the Hyuuga and ruffle her hair, before Shino stepped close to her. "Please, do not forget about me" the bug user said, bending down to her and showing his cheek.
Hinata couldn't help but smile; "Of course not Shino-kun" she said and pressed her lips to the bug-user's cheek.
"Naruto, will you kiss my cheek as well?" Sai asked the blonde with a smile.
Naruto glared at him, "Shut up" he exclaimed and turned away. Why weren't they leaving yet, he grumbled to himself, and why did they have to say goodbye like that anyway?!
...
"Please take care of yourselves" Hinata said, smiling gently, "You too Sai-san"
"We'll be fine" Kiba grinned, the great nin-dog barking in agreement.
Shino nodded, "Do not worry about us Hinata, we will return soon"
"I will watch over your puppies while we're away" Sai assured her, while Kiba sputtered in the background "What did you just call us?!"
...
A short while later, Naruto and Hinata were walking towards the Hyuuga compound in comfortable silence.
"Um, Naruto-kun?" the pale-eyed woman spoke after some time.
The blond looked towards her curiously, "Yeah?"
"I'm sure you have more important things to do, than stay with me for the next week, so it's okay if you don't stay, I promise I won't tell" Hinata assured him, as she smiled gently.
"Eh? No way, Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed, "I promised I would protect you and I never go back on my word, you know that!"
He grinned and scratched the back of his head, "And actually, I don't have much else to do. Tsunade-baachan made Kakashi-sensei agree to not send me on any missions out of the village until I learn how to use my arm properly,"
"O-oh, I didn't know that" Hinata said softly, "I-is there a problem with your new arm?"
Naruto held his bandaged arm out and stared at it, "Not really" he said, clenching and unclenching his hand a couple of times, "I.. I don't know.. Sakura-chan says I'm being silly, but it's just.. it still doesn't really feel like my arm, y'know"
"Oh, I-I think I understand" Hinata said gently and nodded.
Naruto looked surprised, "You do?"
"Ah well.. I mean, it must have been really difficult, for you to lose your arm, but you moved forwards and didn't allow it to bring you down." Hinata spoke softly, "And then you got your prosthetic arm, but even though you can use it, I think maybe, you don't feel completely connected with it on an emotional level. I mean, I'm not saying you-"
Naruto smiled and interrupted her, "You're really smart Hinata," she looked at him surprised, "You totally get it. It's really nice to know someone understands" he told her.
"Even if I don't understand, I will always be willing to hear your worries, Naruto-kun" Hinata told him honestly, "And I will do my best to try and understand"
Naruto felt something warm and comforting, spread through his body, at her words and he smiled, "You're always so nice Hinata" he said, enjoying the pink colour rising on her cheeks.
...
When Hinata and Naruto arrived at the compound, Hanabi bounced towards them, greeting her sister happily, before looking to the blond, "What's Naruto-san doing here?" she asked.
"I'm here to protect Hinata!" Naruto grinned.
The girl tilted her head with a raised brow, before she spotted her older sister's blush and grinned, "Good luck, Naruto-san"
"Are you ready Hanabi?" Hinata spoke up, lest her sister start saying anything embarrassing to her crush.
"Hai, Nee-chan" the younger girl said happily and led the way around the building, to their training court.
"Naruto-kun, please let me know if you need anything," Hinata told him.
"Thanks Hinata," Naruto grinned and watched as the woman took off her coat, revealing her tightfitting training outfit, and folded it neatly on the ground. Blushing, the blond quickly turned away and conjured a clone.
He swore he could hear Hanabi giggling behind him.
"Let's warm up" Hinata said and the younger girl agreed, moving to stand next to her sister.
Naruto normally didn't warm up, but he was a little curious, to see how the siblings did it, and couldn't help but peek back over at them.
He watched, as Hinata moved her arms and legs slowly and elegantly through the air around her, and Naruto couldn't decide whether it looked like she was dancing or like she was caressing the wind with her movements.
Next to her, Hanabi moved in much the same way, trying to mimic every move her older sister made, though not quite as elegantly.
The blonde smiled and turned back to his clone, only to find him still staring at Hinata, "Oi" he hissed.
His clone blushed and rubbed his neck, while Naruto scowled at him.
...
Naruto stayed with the Hyuuga girls the rest of the day, training alongside them, taking breaks with them and eating with them.
He learned that Hanabi really liked to tease her sister, but even through her teasing, Naruto could feel how much she cared for and admired the woman.
He also learned that Hinata was an amazing cook.
He vaguely remembered tasting Hinata's delicious home-cooking many years ago, and he wondered how he had ever been able to forget her talent.
...
The next day went much the same, as the day before. Naruto returned to the Hyuuga compound to train alongside the sisters and he spent the first few minutes, not so secretly, if Hanabi's giggle was any indication, watching Hinata's warm up. He had decided to wait until after their warm up, before conjuring a clone today. Much to the clone's disappointment.
...
Again, he took his breaks together with the girls, though he stopped a little before them, to watch them fight together, with curious eyes. The two sisters both used the Hyuuga clans' techniques, but to Naruto's surprise, they fought very differently.
During their warm ups, Hanabi mimicked her older sister carefully, but during their training she moved completely differently.
While Hinata still moved with the same grace and elegance as she fought, Hanabi was much stiffer and more particular with every move she made.
Naruto wondered how two sisters could be so different, in almost every way, and he remembered the tales he'd been told of the Hyuuga family, during the chunin exams many years ago. He realised that maybe it wasn't so strange, after all, that they were so different from each other.
...
The Uzumaki later came to learn, that Hanabi wasn't just interested in teasing her sister, but also seemed to find amusement in teasing him.
He had discovered this, when the two had been alone for a moment and Naruto had walked around the court, studying all the flowers which grew around the edge.
"Hey Naruto-san" Hanabi called out to him, "If you want to impress Nee-chan, you should avoid peeing on her flowers"
Naruto jumped back and stared at the girl, cheeks reddening as he spluttered, "I-I-I wasn't gonna pee on anyone's flowers-ttebayo!"
The girl laughed at him and he turned away. Despite the fact that he hadn't been planning on peeing on anything, she had still managed to embarrass him.
The teasing had led him to learn something, though; apparently Hinata grew flowers.
He had never known the quiet girl shared one of his hobbies, and the discovery caused the warm feeling, to return to his chest.
...
Later in the day, Naruto went with Hinata to a tea shop, where he learned the pale-eyed woman had a wide knowledge, on tea leaves and their benefits. He asked her about different teas and she answered with a smile.
When he asked if she knew of a ramen-flavoured tea, she began to giggle. He didn't really mind though, since the sound of her giggle was really nice.
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