I started to watch Boruto only to see at Hinata rescuing Naruto again. This week episode was good (A lot of adult!Sasuke) but I'm so disappointed. You had one job, SP, one.
*sighs loudly*
I don't owe Naruto, if I had the others Tailed Beast would have been more important.
Chapter 10
Naruto crumpled up the lottery bill. This wasn't his day.
He lost again. He had won the last week and he hoped his unusual luck would help him this week, but it was the second day in a row that he lost. Maybe he had to gamble against Tsunade-baachan again, but the last time he'd done that Shizune-neechan begged him to stop before he left them in ruin. Not that he liked to do that (And Baa-chan sucked so much that he almost had pity for her) but he needed the money, his missions weren't paid him enough and he had to live too. And now he was out for luck.
Naruto wandered for the Village (He was doing time before going to see at Kakashi-sensei in the hospital.) while his mind wandered for his least favorite topic: Sasuke.
He couldn't bring him back.
And this time, Sakura-chan was with him. They tried so hard.
First, they had a fight with Orochimaru. He didn't know when or why but the rage and hatred exploited, and was too much for him to handle. It was the second time he reached the four tails and it had been a nightmare. When he woke up, the green forest was burned to ashes. He found his head aching, his skin boiling and fear in Sakura-chan's eyes. Stupid Fox. Stupid and damn Fox. And Stupid Naruto to believe that this time, this freaking time, he could control him. Damn him.
Sakura didn't reject him (Thanks Every God in the Earth, he was sure he couldn't have put up with that), but since then she treated him with more caution and care than usually did and that was the worst.
Worse than that, if it was it possible, was the cold gaze of Sasuke.
Sasuke changed.
In almost three years, the boy that he had been left him. The Sasuke he'd seen was tall and handsome and powerful. (That Teme, always perfect in everything.) He was glad that he was alive and he hasn't become a freaking monster. In some of his worst nights, he had dreamed about him with horns, wings, scales or another head in his shoulder. But monsters don't have only that, (Naruto knew it so well) and Sasuke had the eyes of the monsters: they were hard and merciless and cold and they were shining with his red hate.
And they tried so hard. To understand him, to talk to him, to fight to him, to put some reason in his stupid head but he didn't care. He didn't want to be saved. The only thing he wanted is Itachi. Itachi and Itachi's death. Itachi and his precious revenge. He didn't care of the afterwards. He didn't care about them or about his sensei or his Village. He didn't care about his body. He didn't care about him.
To their despair, he was beyond salvation.
But something was chewing over in Naruto's head since he was back, like a hammer hitting a rebellious nail and he couldn't shut up. In one moment, when he was trying to get him away from Sakura, Sasuke could kill him, Naruto had an open, clearly, and for an instant he could feel the death in his blade, but he didn't. Sasuke didn't kill him. And Naruto didn't understand why, why he hesitated, it was something than contradicted his words. And that was a little tiny hope for him and he hung into it: even so he knew that has Good in him and still he was his friend. The bond wasn't broken.
But still, Sasuke wasn't back and Naruto failed again.
The Fox laughed. "Friend? He is like Uchiha Madara, I don't like him"
"Nobody asked you, jerkass" said Naruto in loud voice. A woman and a little girl moved away from him, scared of his comment. Naruto apologized but they run away anyway, this wasn't his day.
When he arrived at the doors of the hospital, Naruto found at Sakura and Sai here, immersed in a conversation.
Something good about this mission was met Sai: he was the weirdest person in the Earth (Real), Sakura-chan had her doubts with him (And the fact that he came with those super-duper awful nicknames, didn't help) and probably he hid a lot of awful secrets, (like those secrets missions. If Baa-chan didn't was, who was his boss?), but Sai felt genuine when he said that he wanted to protect his bonds with Sasuke and to Naruto was enough. It was simple but he believed in him.
"Sakura-chan! Sai! 'morning." He greeted them. They didn't mind him. For a change, Sakura was angry and Sai had his always creepy and not-could- figure-out smile. Great.
"Oh! Hi Naruto-kun" said Sai. "We've just been talking about you."
"Well, I'm just that awesome. I hope it was something good, dattebayo, like the date you owe me, Sakura-chan!" He put his best grin at her. (For him was less dumb, he was always so clumsy in front of Sakura-chan) But she glared at him, and he could read well her expression, between sad and angry.
"So, you can go to dates with another people? I read in a book that was always settled when you meet it." said Sai.
"Huh? Translate?" asked at Sakura.
"We were talking about soul-mates, Baka Naruto" responded her, gnashing her teeth.
Naruto gulped.
Sai was still unaware of everything "I didn't know that Uchiha Sasuke's was Ugly-san's soul-mate. That does explain a lot of things."
"Sai, don't call Sakura-chan like that." Naruto tried to warn him. "And it's nothin' to do with it" Such an idiot… It was a delicate issue for her: in the last fight, Sasuke ignored at Sakura when she told him that and tried to burn her mark, which made her cry and then fight, destroying all Orochimaru's hideout, injuring at Yamato-taicho, almost killing him and finally made her cry again. Delicate, indeed.
"And I didn't know that yours was Otsutsuki Hinata. Ugly-san was surprised too." Sai dropped bombs every time he'd opened his mouth. How this guy is even alive…?
"I didn't know that Hinata changed her name" Sakura remarked.
Naruto was surprised that she didn't beat Sai for his nickname (or the mention of Sasuke) like she always did. She was more troubled for that? Weird. Hinata said it was a secret so maybe was the first time she heard it. And he never talked about this with her, not like it wasn't really important, sometimes he wanted to forget all that shit. And he was his plan and time and he wouldn't give up. "And he said Otsutsuki?" That was the name of the rich bastard? He mentally wrote down that to ask Ero-Sennin later.
"She didn't. Hina-chan is still a Hyuuga." He tried to set this quickly, his fingers moved impatiently. This wasn't his day.
"But I thought that was correct." Sai continued and he kept smiling like nothing. "She is his fiancée. It's a great honor to the Village and the Hyuugas, the Otsutsuki are the royalty in Tsuki no Kuni."
"Royalty…" he thought ironically. "So Hina-chan is a real princess now" It was the first time in his life that he regretted a joke. And fuck that honor. Sai sounded like those fucking old men and he was starting to piss him off.
"Hinata hasn't married yet. So, she is a Hyuuga, 'ttebayo."
"Oh, sorry." Sai didn't seem sorry, jerk.
"So did you know?" the voice of Sakura was flat.
"Huh… yeah."
"Since when?"
"Dunno" he shrugged. "Chuunin Exams."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I don't know Sakura-chan" This was frankly uncomfortable. "It was supposedly a secret, Hinata told me once and I promised to her to said nothing."
"And you are fine with that?" Sakura's words were like daggers "I thought she was your best friend."
Naruto avoided her green eyes. "No." He clenched his fist. "No. But… but Hinata can marry with who she wants." He has a lump in his throat. "It's just… just… complicated y'know, Clan'stuff and all..."
"…"Clan stuff", "little matter", eh?" Sakura mumbled in her breath. "And what about her?" she said loudly, her anger was boiling in her eyes.
"About what?"
"She accepted it without think about you?" This time the lump in his throat went to his heart, and expanded like a void. "It was about honor, like Sai said? Or money? Or titles? Or something else? What's more important, eh? I didn't know she was so… so… selfish..." She grumbled. "I thought she was better than this, she always looked so kind… Don't you see it, Naruto? She is your soulmate, it's unnatural and wrong. She will leave you alone and you are fine with that. I can't believe it, she said me that she l-" She stopped and crackled her knuckles, to calm herself.
"Sakura" Naruto said, his heart was echoing in his ears. "Hinata hasn't another option, okay?" She hasn't, did she? "Her Clan is totally made of shit… well, except Neji and her sister… and like I told ya, it's complicated. And, y'know, she is kind." Too much. He smiled with that thought and looked at her and hit his chest with all his conviction. "Don't worry, okay? I'll help her. I promised that to Neji and I never go back in my words. "
"But…"
Something in his eyes shut her up. Sakura went silence.
After a pause she said "You promised that to Neji..."
He nodded.
Her frown changed, from scowling one to thoughtful, and something connected in her head. "And Neji… Neji doesn't have… the seal…"
"Yeah..." Naruto smiled sadly, it was good thing she was so smart. "And I don't believe in that useless destiny crap. It's just a scar. I do my own path." He said confident. "And Hinata thinks the same. We won't give up."
Sakura sighed. "It's not a crap, shannaro. You two… I swear…" She gave him a little punch in his arm. "Okay, I believe in you, Idiot, but if you need help with that you'll call me, okay? Hinata is my friend too, geez." She walked into the hospital, to Kakashi-sensei's room "I'm still angry because she didn't tell me anything, cha…"
"It was a secret and you don't know to keep it. You scoop everything to Ino." He joked, trying to light up the mood.
"Hey! Don't compare me with Pig! I'm not a gossiper!" This time her punch hurt more.
"Ouch" Naruto asked at Sai "And how didya'know about Hinata's engage 'ttebayo?"
"I read in a report and I was curious"
"Report, eh?" He could imagine why a report needs to said who his soulmate was. Maybe Sakura-chan was right when she still had some doubts about him, especially with his secrets missions.
"And what about your mark?" asked Sakura. "Did you find it?"
"No. It burned when I was a child. I can't remember it very well, it was purple or blue." He shrugged.
"Oh, that's sad, Sai. Maybe you should ask Ino-Pig to search in your memory." Said Sakura while she opened the door "She is good on that…"
"I'll keep it in mind" smiled Sai and they enter in the room.
"Yoo…" welcomed them. Kakashi-sensei was in the bed reading his book, as they expected. His two black eyes followed them, boring, while they went in. He was slowly recovering since their mission in Suna, but Sakura (and Naruto too) believe that he only wanted to read those pervy novels in peace. He should have spoiled them.
"So, you're Sai. Nice to meet you." His words seemed kind but Naruto noticed a cold wariness in his eyes. Kakashi-sensei didn't seem trust him. Sai nodded, saluted him and never let go his smile.
Naruto swallowed. All the painful conversation from before didn't erase his reason to come, he hated giving bad news, specially this news. "Kakashi-sensei , our last mission it…"
But he waved with his hand, belittle. "I've already heard everything from Yamato. About Sasuke too." Kakashi-sensei dropped slightly his shoulders; he felt the same as him.
"We don't have more time. Orochimaru has less of five months to do that. We need to go again and…" Naruto looked his hands and clenched "And we're… not strong. Sasuke is too powerful…"
"Well, you need to train more" He made a smile behind his mask.
"But his powers are unusual strange, sensei." Said Sakura "Probably, he's using drugs or forbidden jutsus. I talked with Tsunade-shisho but we couldn't find anything." Sakura bowed in front the bed. "Kakashi-sensei, I know you aren't in your best condition but you're the only Sharingan user in Konoha. I need to train with you, I have to beat him."
"Sakura, the Sharingan is a mystery for me too. I'm not an Uchiha, I don't know how much Sasuke could have progressed." He started to read again his novel again. "And I'm not so good to genjutsu, remember Itachi?"
How he could forget him… "Maybe we can ask help to Kurenai-sensei, 'ttebayo." Hinata always said that her sensei was good in that.
"Naruto, Kurenai-sensei is pregnant." Sakura said in a patronizing way. "She can't use chakra like before."
"But Ero-Sennin wasn't in the Village and she is only one who can help us with that." Jiraiya had left him for is multiple secrets missions and Baa-chan didn't want to tell him why and when he'd return. Naruto was exasperated, how was he supposed to train if the old man wasn't here?
"Yare… yare…" Kakashi-sensei was laid-back as always, he turned the sheet. "You aren't the genjutsu type, Naruto. I have another kind of training for you. You'll surpass me."
"…Surpass you…?"
"You'll develop an ultimate ninjutsu to call your own. The rasengan is an incomplete ninjutsu, well, is that the Forth said to me once." He winked. "Would you want to take it to another level?"
"Another level…" he murmured. A fire appeared in his stomach. The rasengan was powerful and if he could make it stronger he would. He was could surpass Sensei, he could surpass the Forth. He was another chance, he won't give up. "Deal done, sensei"
Sensei 's eyes smiled "Sakura. Try to keep your research. You have my authorization to get in the Investigation division. Sai, help Sakura too. Ask Anko, maybe she can help you, she knows a few things about Orochimaru."
"Yes, sir" they said at the same time.
"Ah! One more thing… Sakura, Sai. Can you give us a minute alone?" They nodded.
"Bye, Naruto-kun, Kakashi-senpai" Sai bowed his head and left them.
"See you later, Naruto" said Sakura.
"Wait… What about our date, Sakura-chan?"
She sighed and shook her head. "Idiot…" and left them too, following Sai. Geez , another chance lost.
"Naruto" Kakashi-sensei called him when he thought that they were far enough to don't catch them. "From now on you'll train always with Yamato. He told me you had problems with Kyuubi" "Oh, it was that." He should have known. "Is until Jiraiya-sama'll be back from his mission and check your seal again. He told us that the Kyuubi's chakra was mixing with yours. Did you know why that happened?"
"Dunno, I was… just angry" He scratched his hair, uneasy. "I didn't on purpose, Sensei."
"I know, Naruto. But you can lose the control again, okay? It's dangerous for you."
"…okay."
"Maa… maa… Don't worry." He had a smile behind his mask. "Yamato is good at that but try to don't get angry too much. I like this Village." He joked. "Tomorrow at eight. Ground Three."
Not funny, sensei but he tried to keep the mood. "Ain't ya sure that it's eight, sensei? You're always late, 'ttebayo."
He flapped his hand, downplaying and continued reading his book again. It was his signal to leave.
When he was going out wondered again what was the appeal of that novels, Kakashi sensei said him without looking away from the pages "Naruto, don't worry too much about Sasuke. He… is a smart kid."
"Yeah…"
"And don't give up on him." he added.
"Never, sensei."
...
Naruto didn't search for Sakura and Sai. His stomach grumbled angry. "Gotta go to Ichiraku." He thought but when he looked at his loyal wallet Gama-chan, it was empty "Better a cup of instant ramen" He left the hospital and jumped into the roofs of the Konoha and free running, in seek for the cheapest conbini*, which oh-surprise was in the other side of Village, this wasn't his day.
The encounter in the hospital left him drained. "… She will leave you alone..." He buried that thought in the deeps of his mind. "…you can lose the control again…." Said Kakashi-sensei. Well, duh, he didn't wanna do that. The Fox watched at him and growled. He ran faster. He had his new training and Yamato-taicho would help him. He won't give up. His stomach protested again. Damn, he only hoped that the shop wasn't closed…
And the shop hadn't closed, he arrived just in time but it'd run out of instant ramen and Naruto's reluctantly accepted some dull onigiri in replacement. Definitely, this wasn't his day.
He shrugged resigned while he was eating the tasteless rice.
"N-Naruto-kun?" A soft voice called for him.
When he turned around, Team 8 was there with another girl. She was tall, with short green hair, orange eyes and a wide grin. She had a familiar aura like he knew her since a long time ago and he couldn't pinpoint from where.
"Oh! Hi Kiba… Mmm? Shino? Hina-chan" Naruto evaded her pale eyes. The dog barked "Akamaru. Long time!" he added quickly.
"Whaddaya doin' eating that crap?" asked Kiba "Not Ichiraku today? We're going to get lunch there. Wanna come too?"
"No money, Kiba." He tried to smile.
"Don't worry, Shino pays today." Shino's glasses shone dangerously while Kiba patted his back. "Oh, I didn't introduce Fu." The green haired girl waved her hand "She is Fu from Takigakure, she is staying a while in Konoha. Fu, he is Uzumaki Naruto, the dumbass ninja in Konoha"
But before he talked back, the girl spoke, she had a bright voice "Hi, Hi, Uzumaki-san"
"Next Hokage for you, Damn Mutt. Naruto is okay 'ttebayo."
"Oh, like Tsunade-chan." Weird way to call Baa-chan, he was sure she would be happy for that. "Taki hasn't Hokage so I don't understand what the big deal is. It is the hat? Or the robe? They're cool." she grinned. "I'll be the next leader of my village too. What're you eating? Is it tasty? I want some. Shino-kun, would you buy me some of that?" she hung Shino's arm. "Pretty please?"
And Shino blushed. Blushed. He didn't know he could do something like that he was the most stoic guy he's ever known, more than Morino Ibiki, Ino's scary boss. "I don't think that it like you." He said serious, trying in vain to keep his coolness. "And didn't you say that you wanted to eat something different today?"
Fu laughed "Hehehe. You're right. That's why you're so cute." She pinched his cheek. Wow.
"What?" Naruto spited.
"Well, turn out to be that Fu is Shino's soulmate and she really likes him" explained Kiba, without holding his laugh, he was enjoying this so much "Look those cheeks, he is worse than Hinata, hahaha" He cried of laughter with Akamaru at his side.
"Kiba-kun" scolded Hinata.
"Buu, Hinata" he said "You're a party pooper, you spend a lot of time with that cousin of yours." and continued to laughing loudly while Shino was in the border to faint.
Hinata crossed her arms and glared at him with an indignant pout. Kiba didn't seem to feel her stare, lost in bother Shino. Naruto held his laugh, angry Hinata was the best, and her expressions were always so funny. When she looked at him, they shared a knowing look and burst in laughs together. Hinata was a real meanie.
"You should prank him…" he said.
"I know…" she giggled. And when she calmed herself a bit she said "Naruto-kun, would you like to come with us? It doesn't have to be for Shino-kun. I-I owed you… Remember it?" She blushed. Kiba was wrong; Hinata's red cheeks were unrivaled.
She was fidgeting her fingers waiting for his answer. "…And you are fine with that?" Sakura's words were fresh. "… She will leave you alone..."
"…no"
She got him. "Oh… Mm… Okay. You must be busy. S-sorry for bother you." She couldn't hide the sadness of her voice.
"No, wait." He was a mess, it wasn't her fault. He scratched the back of his head. "…accepted that without think about you…" No. Ramen, Hinata was offering ramen. He couldn't say no to ramen. "…And you are fine with that?" "No, I mean yes. Yes, you save me."
"Eh?"
"I mean, I was so broke today and I couldn't get ramen so you save me today, 'ttebayo."
"Oh! Okay. I-I'm glad to help y-you…" she stuttered and smiled at him happy with her pale lavender eyes, which shone like pearls under the sea. "… She always looked so kind…"
"Naruto come too!" Fu surprised them, cheerfully.
They cringed. He felt his heart explode. Next to him, Hinata was redder than Shino.
"Come on, I'm starving." Fu patted her belly. "Your cookies were awesome, Hinata-chan, but I want something more full. This place, Ichiraku, is it good?"
"The best of the world, 'ttebayo"
"Great,'ttebayo!" shouted Fu "And what's 'ttebayo means?" When Naruto tried to explain, she didn't hear his response and run ahead of them with Akamaru, dragging Shino behind, like a big doll. Kiba was still laughing.
Naruto couldn't believe it. "Is all people of Taki like that?"
"No, only Fu-san." Hinata chuckled.
They followed at Fu. The mood was changed a bit thanks to her. "So, could you complete it in three days? Your mission, I mean…"
Kiba eavesdropped his question, approached and gripped Hinata with his arms from behind, catching her head. He boasted loudly "Three days? Puh-leeze, Naruto, we're the fastest team of Konoha! Who the hell do u think…"
"Two days and half" responded Hinata, ignoring at her teammate, letting loose of his arm and walking ahead. Naruto laughed and Kiba looked at her distressed. "Well, this day isn't so bad" he though.
...
"Waa, this was delicious, Oji-san" smiled Fu, happy.
Teuchi-ojisan smiled behind the desk. Fu'd eaten 6 bowls in a row, all of different flavors. "Y'know in Taki doesn't have ramen but we have a lot of fruits. This is a season of watermelons and ours are delicious… And don't you have a strawberries or a ramen with strawberry flavor that would be awesome. They are my favorite and I never understood why they called like that, they ain't made of straw…" and started to chat happy again with Shino about the different kinds of deserts with that fruit. Fu talked a lot and he was surprised that Shino handled her so well. Merits for her too, she was truly interested in him, even when he started to ramble about bugs.
It was really a mystery, but maybe all the soul-mates where like that. Opposites. Not like if he was so different to them… But Shikamaru and Temari didn't seem too opposites. Iruka-sensei explained him once that the important thing was the feelings, not the person. "Not like it that matter, is just a mark…" he sighed.
He looked at his side. Next to him Hinata was finishing her ramen with the delicacy and manners of the queen. "…the Otsutsuki are the royalty..." She put a lock of her long black (almost blue) hair behind her ear, and he could see her full lips blowing the hot noodles... Maybe… maybe… She blew again and tasted them, delighted… maybe this was the mystery. She did her small smile. Naruto felt his ears burning and quickly focused in his bowl.
"…She will leave you alone." He shook his head. Sakura-chan had said that because she was angry, he knew but "Why bothers me so much?" he thought. Hinata was one of his closer friends and she was so kind. All that engage and Clan' stuff was unfair to her, and to her sister and to Neji. It must be that.
He shrugged and finished his third bowl, courtesy of Hinata, again.
"Konoha is so humid and hot. Shino-kun, I want some ice cream." shouted Fu like a little kid when they went outside of the restaurant. "Why don't you go with Kiba and Hinata and bring me lots."
"But…"
"Don't worry. That Anbu who always follow us will take care of me and Naruto seems strong and you can leave Akamaru and your bugs" she insisted and pet the dog. "Come on, Kiba and Hinata-chan you two want it too. Pretty please?" and gazed at them with puppy's eyes.
"Ok" he sighed Shino. "Wow, she was so good" he thought again. "Naruto take care of her, Why? Orders of Hokage-sama."
He nodded, dumbfounded. That was strange, why did Baachan order that?
Kiba laughed "You'll buy me a chocolate one, Lover Boy." Shino blushed. Really, Kiba never stopped to mocker him in all the lunch and that was annoying.
"Kiba-kun" scolded Hinata for tenth time. "Okay, Fu-san. We don't take long. Let's go Shino-kun." she bowed and left them with Shino.
"Come on, Hinata, you should enjoy this, too." complained Kiba and chased them.
Akamaru whined for the leave of his master. In that moment, Naruto realized that he was alone with Fu who was waving his hand and smiling.
Fu looked at him and made a big grin. Her eyes were sparking with joy. "You are the same as me."
"Eh?"
"Yes, you are the same as me." She smiled "I'm so glad to meet you, Naruto isn't it? I'm not good with names, but yours sound delicious. And who is there? Eh? Eh?" asked eager. "No, no, no. Let me guess… You have a peculiar face, eh? With those whiskers…" She started to touch his cheeks, squeezing it hard, like a cozy grandma.
"Wah-" That hurt him.
"But, you can't be the One. 'cause Kazekage is the One." Fu ignored him. "Mmmmh… is pretty difficult, eh?"
"Stop 'ttebayo! Stop to touch my face…" Naruto tried to escape of her hands. This was awkward, he wasn't a kid, and it hurt a lot.
She didn't seem care his complains. "Oh I know! Let me see your seal!" And she pulled up his shirt and starting to look and touch his belly. Damn crazy woman. She wasn't like a grandma, she was like the female version of Ero-Sennin.
"STOP!" He shouted and this time, pushed aside and escaped of her "I don't get you. Whaddaya talking about?"
"Eh? It's pretty obvious." She tilted her head "You are a Jinchūriki."
He froze. "How… how do y'know that?"
She groaned annoyed and rolled her eyes "Are you an idiot? Kiba was so right, didn't he Akamaru?" The dog barked and flapped his tail. "I told you, you are the same as me. I'm jinchūriki too."
"What?"
"Yes, I'm the host of Nanabi, Chomei." She said proudly "But he likes when I call him Lucky Seven. Y'know, Seven Tails and Seven is a lucky number and…" She shrugged "So which is yours? No wait; don't tell me, I want to guess it. Shino-kun'll be back."
Now this was getting crazier. His brain tried to connect with her words… host… Lucky Seven… Shino… "Did… did he know….?"
"Nope, it's a secret. Why do you think I'll send them to buy ice cream? Now let me see your seal, quickly" Fu pull up his black shirt again and started to see his belly up close. Naruto was too surprised to be embarrassed. "Waaaa! Such a good job! Eight Trigrams Seal is pretty awesome itself, you know. Who did this beauty?"
"Eh?"
"Later…" and after a while, she let him, at last. Naruto went back a few steps.
"I said Nibi!" she shouted completely sure.
Nibi? Naruto burst in laughs. "Wrong." he said. He could believe that someone joked with that, with that lightness and freedom.
"Aaaagggrrhh" She made a grimace. "I said…"
"You had one chance, 'ttebayo." he teased more relaxed.
"Huh… That's not fair." She pouted. "So what is?"
He crossed his arms with a little proud, and it felt weird and right. Be proud of Fox, all his life it had been his shame. "Kyuubi."
"Oh, the Fox!" she said in wonder "A nasty one, eh? Lucky Seven said he was a bully. And how is he? How is his name?"
"Name?"
"Yeah, he had a name."
"Well, I don't know."
"Eh! You never talked with him?!"
"Yeah, but I didn't know he had a name, he always was, y'know, big angry fox in my belly"
"Hahaha, sounds funny." "And the funny thing is…" "But is he your friend? Lucky Seven is my friend. We meet in dreams and talk a lot. Is it the same to you?" she asked suddenly.
"Friend?" Fu definitely was nuts. "Ain't u kiddin' me? Every time I tried to talk with him, he threatens me with things like kill me, take my body or destroy my Village. And he always gave me those nightmares, is the worst"
"Oh. That's sad. But probably was difficult to him, I mean, to talk with you. With that strong seal, who wasn't angry? And it was designated to use his power, poor little thing. Who did that?"
"The Forth Hokage."
"Well, tell him that he is a genius." Naruto rolled his eyes; he stopped to reason with her. "And why are you so surprised to meet me? Am I the first one? I heard that Kazekage was pretty famous here."
"Yeah, I think I met one in Kiri but he never said me anything. Gaara and I are friends but I didn't imagine that you were one too."
"So, can we be friends too?" Said hopefully. Her orange eyes shone and Naruto knew very well that spark. When he was a kid he always wished for the same. "I mean, we, the jinchūriki, have to be together and…"
"Yeah, I'd like to be your friend Fu." He smiled.
She beamed "Waaaa… Thank you, Naruto." She hugged him tightly. "I'm so happy." She pushed him aside and laughed. "Sorry. Y'know, the other Jinchūriki I met was Roshi-ojisan, he was the Yonbi, Four Tails and he was a big monkey. Roshi-ojichan said me that if I was the friend of my Tailed Beast I'd never be alone." She smiled.
Friend with the Fox.
That was something that never came to his mind. But he hated him and hated everyone. He always felt that and they always fought for that. Maybe he has to try to be his friend. Maybe he could understand him and convinced him to use his power and luckily don't destroy Konoha. It was weird but new and that though gave him hope.
Fu continued "When I was shutting in and everybody hated me in my Village and I was alone, Lucky Seven helped me. So that's why he is my best friend forever and ever. Y'know I can fly" She said like a secret and grinned. But suddenly she lowered her eyes and clenched her fist. "And that's why I left Taki and I'm here in Konoha. They're coming for us. Don't you feel it, Naruto? That something is empty… I can't feel Roshi-ojisan anymore… and the others… and I'm a prey I don't wanna be a prey… I'm a human too… and…"
"Hey! We're back" shouted Kiba. Akamaru barked and went to meet him.
Fu exhaled, cleaned her tears with her sleeve and put her best smile.
"Oh Shino-kun!" she said delighted "What did you buy me? Ah! Strawberry, my favorite! You're the best Shino!" and Fu leaped her arms around him and cuddled him. Shino stopped and passed out standing up.
"Oh Shino-kun, who did that to you?" asked Fu completely clueless.
Kiba howled in laughs with Akamaru. "Hey Shino wake up, man. Don't you learn anything from those novels? You're so damn green! Even Konohamaru is better than you hahahaha…" Hinata was right, he couldn't wait for him to meet his soul-mate and started to tease him right now, he was insufferable.
"Here, Naruto-kun. I hope you like it." Hinata said while she gave him a vanilla ice-cream. This time she didn't make an effort to stop Kiba.
"Ah, thank you, Hinata."
They watched their banter. Now, Fu was scolding Kiba while she was shaking Shino to wake him up. "Fu-san is amazing" she said with admiration. "Shino-kun was so lucky to find her."
"Yeah… Fu is really… something." he said while he was eating his ice-cream, lost minded.
"Are you okay?"
"…And you are fine with that?" "Yeah, it's all right"
He sighed. He didn't know if it wasn't his day but Fu was the icing of it. Between Sasuke, Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei, Hinata, Yamato-taicho and Sai and now Fu and the Fox gave him a lot of think and it wasn't his strong point. He was exhausted.
Hinata tilted her head. Her soft lavender eyes looked at him with so much kindness. Beautiful. He didn't know why but her presence eased him a bit, like a ray of sun. She always did that. It was another mystery. "…And I don't like that Naruto-kun is alone…" Her voice sounded far and small when the rain surrounded them, the first time he reached her. Ah, it was true, she told me that once… And he knew that he could give up on her. Because she reached him too. He smiled.
"Y'know, tomorrow I'm gonna start training with Kakashi-sensei. Do you wanna hang up after training? Like old times…"
She nodded and smiled "Yeah, I like that."
...
That night, Naruto was in front of the cage. It was a dark place and the black water soaked his feet. The kanjis of seals were in front of him. "Hey… Mm… I know is weird but what's your name,'ttebayo?"
He never got the answer.
...
That was one of the best summers ever in the life of Hyuuga Hinata.
The things were the same. Her days went on between lessons with her teachers, trainings with her cousin and missions with her Team outside the Village, which she continued searching for kidnappings and robbers, infiltrating in buildings, retrieving scrolls and protecting (or nannying) Fu-san, and the days were full of friends and laughs like before.
But now Naruto was there and his presence was like the sun: everything was more bright and warm and beautiful.
And every time she could, she tried to meet him.
Sometimes, like the old times when he fought with Neji, Hinata met him after his training.
This time, Sakura-san was with him.
Naruto and Sakura trained together every day in stamina, new jutsus and speed. They trained when it was raining or the sun burned the ground. They trained early in the morning and late in the night. They learnt to expel powerful genjutsus. They sparred at the point of exhaustion with Kakashi-sensei. Sakura learnt about poisons and curses. Naruto learnt about seals and sword-fighting. They needed to be strong against the Sharingan. And Hinata guessed right, they were training for Uchiha Sasuke.
At the beginning, Hinata trained with them but she couldn't keep their pace: Naruto's stamina and Sakura's skill were from another world. And her poor condition didn't help it: every time she had matches with them her chest hurt, her breath left her and her heart beat erratically at the point they had to stop in the middle of it, watched her miserably and Sakura ended healing her, injecting chakra in her badly healed heart points. As always, she was so useless.
So in pursuit of not discourage her (because she was promised once, to not give up), Hinata decided to help them in other ways: sometimes she brought them homemade food or their favorite sweets or sometimes they let them to heal their little wounds. Not like they needed, Naruto had his unnatural ability and Sakura was the best medic nin after Hokage-sama, but they let her anyway and Hinata thanked them (pathetically) for that.
To her surprise, he was better with chakra control and he (finally) showed her the rasengan. It was really beautiful, a ball made of threads of pure chakra and power. He said her that it was incomplete, and even his idol, the Yondaime, couldn't do it but he would. He was obsessed to learn all the technics of him. "Y'know Hinata, I learnt the Rasengan and I'll learn Hiraishin no jutsu, he used fuuinjutsu with that and I still don't know how he did that, but I'll master it. Believe it". And of course she did. And when he struggled with combine with his wind release, Hinata gave him the idea to add another clone, and he made it. She was the first person to show it.
Sometimes, Hinata taught Naruto to meditate in order to help him with his (neglected) Senjutsu training. It was difficult because Naruto, although he was less rowdy than before, was still Naruto, always full of energy and life. So every time he was starting to boring, he always did a silly joke that made them laugh and Sakura rolled her eyes, scolded them and they had to start again.
Naruto tried to teach her fuuinjutsu ("It's fascinating, like a real Sage, Naruto-kun.") but soon they discovered that she was awful at that. (And the fact that he explained everything with wooos and gahhhs and booms, didn't help her.)
Hinata tried to teach him infiltration ("…it's so cool 'ttebayo, like a real ninja, Hina-hime.") but soon they discovered that he was awful at that. (And the fact that they fight over about his fondness with the orange, didn't help him.)
Once a time, she taught him how to cook in pursuit to win a bet against Kakashi-sensei.
That afternoon after training, they cooked side by side in his small kitchen. Hinata taught him all her little secrets, from how to roll tamagoyaki* and the way to do a good teriyaki sauce to the exactly temperature to fry the kaarage* and the right way to cut an onion. And while they cleaned the mess in a comfy silence, after a lot of hours of failed attempts (Naruto had burned three times with the pan), complains ("Yuick, I don't wanna taste the spinach, Hina") and laughs ("Look this, Hime, this broccoli looks a lot like Kakashi-sensei, if he eat it'll be cannibalism, 'ttebayo"), a strange sensation of ordinary daily routine invaded Hinata and she couldn't help to think that in another life that would be their everyday. She quickly put that thought off.
Kakashi-sensei made a draw because Naruto over cooked the rice. But he didn't give up. "Next time, I'll win Hina, believe it." And she hoped for that, for another next time with him.
Sometimes, their friends joined to them to help.
Lee, Kiba, Neji-niisan or Chouji were their partners of taijutsu. Tenten explained to use the sword. Shino and Ino helped them with genjutsu. Shikamaru planned strategies to defeat Uchiha Sasuke.
"You two are really close" pointed Sai without malice the first time Hinata met him. He was the new member of Team 7 and ironically he looked extremely alike at Uchiha Sasuke. (In Ino's opinion, he was better). It was only physically, Sai was mess of mystery, socially clueless and brutally honesty but she noticed his eager urges bond with everyone and she warmed quickly at him, despite the cautious looks of Kiba and Shino.
Sometimes they went to eat together to their favorite restaurants Ichiraku or Yakiniku Q or Dango-ya. And sometimes all their friends were there, even Temari-san who was planning the Chunnin Exams with Shikamaru, and Fu-san who was quickly became the big sister of Naruto's tacit family. And their dinners were so much fun, that Hinata always ended with her cheeks hurting from laughing.
But Naruto never explained why the Anbu captain Yamato-san was there with him in his trainings, watching them with wariness, like and old dog. When Hinata asked at Sakura she simply waved her hand unconcerned and told her that didn't worry, orders of Tsunade-sama.
And speaking of Sakura-san she knew about her engage. Hinata didn't know when or for whom she found out (She suspected from Tenten, Kiba or Naruto, but it was weird.). She was angry at her, Naruto was her friend too and she felt betrayed for the words that Hinata said once.
She decided to tell her everything in exchange that she wouldn't tell Ino. She couldn't bear to see the pitiful looks of her friends, she had enough with her family in her home, and she was proud for that she did, Hanabi and Neji were safe. After she finished Sakura was angry again, but this time it was for her and she was glad of have friends who were angry for her. She promised to help her and Hinata only smiled, Sakura was so kind.
But the best times were when they were alone.
Those times, Naruto had spent his afternoons only with her, walking in the Village or in their spot in the bank of the Naka River, in their little world of two. And they talked a lot. And it was like the time never passed. Of course, Naruto talked more than her but she didn't care about that: she loved listening at him and she was so happy to be at his side that she always forgot all her problems. Naruto was her sun that dispersed all the storms.
He told her about his travels with Jiraiya-sama, the wonders and the places he knew, and Hinata was eager to know it too. He told her about his missions, the good ones and the bad ones and how Sakura, Sai and he tried to become a better team. He told her about Uchiha Sasuke, how he changed, the time he had left and the little hope he was in him.
He vented his frustration about the next Chunnin Exams, nobody wanted to hear anymore his complains about Kakashi-sensei and Tsunade-sama and how they didn't want to him to participle. He confessed to her that he was planning to jump in the middle of the Stadium and prank them for that. Hinata suggested in laughs that maybe this time she'd go with him. ("Ain't u late bloomer for pranks? But better not, Hina-hime. Neji and Kiba'd kill me.") But he invited to walk with him that day anyway and Hinata hardly convinced herself that it wasn't a date.
And sometimes they sat together in the grass; watching at the world slowly pass, talking in silences and hearing the wind and the sun and the river and the birds and the flowers and each other presences and for an fleeting moment they knew that was is the place that they belonged to.
And that's why that was one of the best summers ever in the life of Hyuuga Hinata.
The first day of autumn, the day of Chuunin Exams, they met in the main street.
*Conbini is the 24 hs super useful supermarkets that sell everything. Tamagoyaki was sweet egg omelet. Kaarage was fried chicken. Onigiri was the rice balls.
A heavy Naruto's chapter.
Sorry for the late update. As always, transition and calm- before-storm with a lot of SoL and building chapters were the most difficult chapters to do: I had so many ideas for this chapter and anything was good. And having only two POV was difficult to show it. So I re-wrote two times and this third one was the result.
Thinks that were in the inkwell: Hanabi and Naruto's meeting, Konoha 11 Monthly Bento Competitions, Sakura and Hinata's discussion, the mission in Takigakure and so on…
I hope that you like it. Thank you so much for the reviews. Next time finally the some action.