Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or its characters.
Back again…
Chapter 11: The New Ally.
The next day, Shino woke up. He checked outside his tent, and found Maki preparing the breakfast. She seemed happy, even when she had her forehead covered in bandages, so as her chest, to cover her latest wounds. She perceived him getting close slowly and said:
- Good morning, Shino. Did you sleep well?
Shino answered, drawing out of his backpack some plastic dishes and some chopsticks:
- Well, I've slept better before, how about you?
- Better than ever! Don't know what happened yesterday, or why are we outside the village, but I feel great. Are we on a mission, Shino?
She remembers nothing from the last fifteen days. I better tell the rest about this. Shino answered:
- Not exactly, Maki. I shall wash my mouth in the waterfall; I'll come back to eat with you.
- Don't keep me waiting.
Shino walked quite fast to Naruto and Hinata's camp, and saw them having breakfast together. He got close to them, worried:
- Good morning, Hinata, Naruto.
- Hey there, Shino. – Naruto's answer was quite merry, compared to the reception Shino received from him yesterday: - Something wrong? Come, sit with us.
- It's about Maki.
Naruto asked then, interested:
- How is she?
- She remembers absolutely nothing about the last fifteen days… since the day Danzou put the seal on her forehead…
Hinata was quite surprised:
- S-she remembers nothing?
- She actually thinks that we're on a mission, what can I say to her?
Naruto glanced to Hinata, and she nodded. He replied:
- Bring Kiba, Sakura and Maki. We need to discuss this in group.
Shino nodded and left. Hinata asked then:
- Did this happen to Sai either?
- Sai only had trouble speaking for a couple of weeks, as long as I recall. The day I saw him after getting released, during that mission in the Lightning Country, he still felt dizzy when talking. So, for the receiver of the Mind Subdue Seal, the affected area is the memory. We must deal with it immediately.
- I understand, Naruto-kun…
Naruto hugged a worried Hinata, kissing her forehead and whispering her:
- Don't worry, Hinata-chan, we're quite close from our destiny…
Hinata, curious, whispered her question:
- Um… Where are we going, Naruto-kun?
- We're heading to the house that belonged to my mother in the ancient Whirlpool country, who had its own Hidden Village before the Third Great Ninja War smashed it. The town where she lived during her childhood is standing still, and she left me the property scrolls of that house, in case I was forced to leave the Hidden Leaf. She lived close to the beach, you knew that?
- No, I didn't! That's great!
Naruto chuckled, nodding with his head. Shino interrupted the chat:
- Well, we're here.
Hinata and Naruto broke their hug, and both saw them arrive. Shino explained the situation:
- As she told you earlier, she is Maki Yamada, member of the Clan Yamada. She is my girlfriend, and also a Chuunin of the Leaf…
- Got it. – Sakura's response was quite serious. Maki saluted, waving a hand and smiling gently:
- Hello, guys!
- Hi, Maki…
Everyone saluted Maki neutrally, as they heard Shino:
- Maki has no memories of her last fifteen days… more or less since the day Danzou called her to join ANBU Root's forces.
Maki turned to Shino's serious expression, surprised:
- Fifteen days?? – She then snapped and burst in tears: - No!! My family!! NOOO!!!
Shino hugged her with strength, fighting against her outrageous and impotent shaking. Naruto asked, with commanding voice and blunt words:
- Maki, what happened to your family?
Maki, sobbing, remembered the scene once again, and, crying inconsolably, she replied:
- T-there were… masked ninjas… and… and that bandaged man… - Maki focused on the man's awfully emotionless face: - a red eye and a white eye…
Kiba replied:
- I remember that Danzou was the leader of ANBU Black-Ops, and also now he's the Hokage… that's a big problem…
Sakura said:
- The Sixth Hokage killed your family, Maki, and almost makes you kill us all…
Hinata continued:
- He sealed you so you could… become a p-puppet, for ANBU Root…
Maki, completely broken, bowed on the floor, falling on her knees, completely penitent, as more and more images jumped to her mind:
- I-I'm so, so sorry, guys!! I-I don't know what to do to… to make you forgive me…!
Naruto checked at her, and heard Kyuubi:
- Somehow I knew she was innocent… Even when she had done terrible things in two weeks, there was something in her eyes that told me she didn't actually sign up to do them… This is the real Maki Yamada…
Naruto woke up, checking on Hinata, and then on Kiba and Sakura, and said:
- Well, don't look at me. I'm not exactly the leader of sorts, so each one of you; please consider your opinions about it.
Sakura said:
- You need to heal your memory, and remember what happened in these two weeks. If you'll join us, we need to know what you've done, and what should we be aware of about you.
Kiba asked:
- What do you say, Akamaru? You trust Shino's girl?
Akamaru got close to Maki and smelled her, growling. Maki, scared against the big white dog, heard Kiba say:
- You'll have to show Akamaru your worth, girl…
Naruto stared at her amethyst eyes, and said:
- I agree with you coming with us, but we need to know what you have done.
Hinata nodded and Shino said:
- Never forget that you can count on me, Maki…
Maki, after hearing them, she replied, still bent on her knees:
- I-I accept your terms… thank you…
Kiba saw a still penitent Maki and asked kind of changing the subject, but in a blunt way:
- Well, we've got to eat something, right?
Sakura replied:
- Yes. Kiba and I haven't had breakfast.
Shino's answer was quite soft:
- Neither Maki nor I have.
Hinata, smiling, said:
- We already had breakfast! We're going for training!
- As we finish our training we're moving! Tonight Hinata and I shall arrive to our destiny, and if you wish so, it can also be yours too!
Kiba, kind of thrilled, replied:
- Very well! You call for it! Sakura and I will handle Maki!
Naruto made a grin and his "thumbs up" sign with a hand, leaving then with Hinata to some lonely place in the forest. Both had undone their camps and packed everything ready.
Naruto and Hinata had developed an amazing synchrony as part of their training; the fact of them being so well together and discovering each other more and more every single day (and also discovering themselves on their inside) thanks to their mutual love, had made their synchrony training develop quickly and smoothly in two weeks. Now, they were ready to work in collaboration techniques. Naruto checked on Hinata and asked:
- How are you doing with your Water chakra training, Hinata-chan?
Hinata smiled, blushed:
- Great, Naruto-kun! I can add now some water to my habitual skills!
Naruto checked on her, also smiling, and asked:
- How about a Taijutsu practice combat, Air against Water?
- That's a great idea!
Naruto adopted his own developed stance: right hand behind in open position, and left and to the front, index and middle finger stretched and pointing at Hinata. She adopted the classical Hyuuga combat stance. Both crossed sights as they charged their chakra, and a spectacular battle would start. Naruto used mostly circular attacks, and frontal attacks when he had been sure of his target; Hinata used both circular and frontal attacks, and she used her hands for her attacks mostly, as the Gentle Fist style commanded. After some five minutes, they stopped the fight. Both were tired: Hinata had cuts in her arms and one leg, and Naruto had bruises in his chest and legs. Both were quite in pain, but they could take the heat. Naruto said:
- Wow! I've never imagined the Water chakra was so good with your Gentle Fist, Hinata-chan! It's amazing!
Hinata chuckled:
- And your Taijutsu… I've never seen anything like that before, Naruto-kun! Where did you learn that?
Naruto took a hand to his hair:
- Well, heh, heh, I had to practice it during missions. This Taijutsu style belonged to my mother, as she was a Wind-chakra user. I learned it from scrolls they left, and I practiced while outside the village, so I could not devastate the protective forest, heh, heh.
- Well… I actually like that style, Naruto-kun… now, can we start?
- Yeah, let's stop competing and start collaborating.
Both smiled and got close to each other. Naruto spoke:
- Well, Hinata-chan, let's see what we can invent now…
Hinata thought for a few seconds and whispered:
- Naruto-kun… we don't handle Genjutsu skills normally… How about creating a… a combined Genjutsu skill?
Naruto suddenly felt ashamed, lowering his sight and turning to a side as he spoke:
- Hinata-chan… I-I'm not good at all with Genjutsu… I don't even have the minimum intelligence required to detect when I'm under a Genjutsu… That's what everyone used to tell me, and that was a misadvantage I've always had against the Uchiha ninjas...
Hinata whispered, brushing Naruto's whisker marks with her thumbs gently:
- Well, Naruto-kun… I can teach you how to detect a Genjutsu… - Hinata's blush reached a deep red tone: - If… if you actually want, do you?
- Really, Hinata-chan? That should be awesome!
- Yes… we could go and study… I-I'll do my best to not get you bored…
Hinata kissed Naruto and took him to the waterfall. Once there, they sat down and started studying Genjutsu basics.
Meanwhile, Shino, Sakura and Kiba were taking care of Maki. Kiba helped Sakura diligently, as she mildly used her Medical Ninjutsu on her brain. She learned a bit of brain illness treatment with Ino Yamanaka, but she wasn't a trained mentalist, so she had to work carefully. Shino held Maki's hand, so she could drain the pain and the pressure of Sakura's treatment by squeezing it. After some minutes, Sakura said to Kiba:
- I've found the last poison remnant in her brain, Kiba; prepare to take the poison and avoid it from falling again inside her mouth. It can only be released through the nose, so… - then, turning to Maki, she said: - this will hurt you, girl…
Maki nodded as Sakura made a careful movement with her fingers. Kiba noticed that a couple of black drops fell through the nose holes of the green-haired girl, and rushed to dry and clean them with a tissue. He left it under Maki's nose for about thirty seconds, until Sakura told him to withdraw it. Shino felt Maki squeeze his hands with a lot of strength, and also heard her growl in pain. That tissue, along with another twelve previously used, turned to black. Kiba said, watching Sakura sit on the floor, tired:
- I understand now why you're so stressed sometimes, Sakura. The medic job requires steel nerves…
Kiba stood then by Sakura's back, massaging her shoulders, and listening to a lovely whisper from her:
- Aaahhh… Thanks, Kiba-chan, you always know what I need, heh, heh…
- What kind of a boyfriend would I be if I didn't know, Sakura-chan?
Both smiled, while Shino looked down at Maki, very worried. She opened her eyes slowly, and met Shino's sunglasses:
- Shino… calm down, I'm feeling much better now… - Shino held her hand softly and she continued: - I'd love to kiss you now, but Sakura told me to wait until my tongue healed completely… damn it…
- Please, Maki, rest for a bit…
As if commanded by the demons themselves, when these words were told, Maki felt a rush of terrible and crude images entering her mind. As it happened, she shook and moaned, scarily:
- NOOO!!!! WHAT HAVE I DONE??!! NOOOOO!!!!
Kiba and Shino jumped to hold Maki, and Akamaru jumped into her legs, making weight to immobilize her. The giant dog didn't bark or growl at her, as it could already smell her terror. Sakura realized what she'd been put through and, placing herself in a position where she could immobilize Maki, said to Kiba:
- Honey, please, go get Hinata and Naruto now. I think it's time.
- At once, my dear.
Kiba smelled and started searching for the couple's scent.
In the waterfall, Naruto had realized something he completely missed in the Academy, and said, very happy:
- So, that's how you detect a Genjutsu! It's so interesting, Hinata-chan! Finally I got it through my skull!
Hinata giggled while seeing Naruto so excited. Naruto-kun understood my lesson, heh, heh. It was tough, but I could help him. She said:
- Heh, heh, and that's why you have to send a chakra pulse through your whole body to get released from a Genjutsu you couldn't avoid: the pain caused by the chakra pulse awakens you from those illusions…
- Well, now we can work on a great Genjutsu, Hinata-chan!
All of a sudden, they could hear the echoed scream of Maki:
- NOOO!!!! WHAT HAVE I DONE??!! NOOOOO!!!!
They got alarmed by that scream, and ran to the voice. As they stepped through trees and bushes, they reached their camp site and took their backpacks, meeting with Kiba:
- Naruto! Hinata! It's time to listen to Maki!
Naruto and Hinata nodded, following Kiba to the camp.
After listening to the things Maki had to say, and the heartbreaking sadness that those statements produced her, Shino hugged her and didn't seem to let her go: he was protecting her, and both Naruto and Hinata recognized the gesture. Sakura and Kiba were quite worried: the things they just heard from Maki's lips were simply horrifying:
- Y-you killed… the Twelve Shinobi Guardians? – Sakura's voice was trembling.
- And also you murdered the Fire Country's Feudal Lord? – Kiba was quite upset. Hinata tried to ease the tension:
- W-well, Maki… it seems you've done… terribly dark deeds… - Kiba was about to agree with her, but Hinata simply overwhelmed the group with her next sentence: - B-but your repenting is genuine… and it seems y-you're quite s-strong…
Naruto replied, also surprising the group, as if he tried to retain the title of "Hidden Leaf's Number One Unpredictable Ninja" after Hinata's statement:
- And Danzou will surely drop the blame on us, the Twelve of the Leaf… - Kiba and Shino turned to Naruto, overwhelmed of his quick thinking: - I don't know if that bastard Danzou ordered already to inscribe us in the Bingo Book, but, what's certain in here is that, if we split up now, we'll die… - With this last statement, Naruto made Maki raise her sight to meet his fierce blue eyes: - And Shino won't let you die for coming with us…
Maki, still crying and sobbing, but feeling her heart grow with Naruto's serious glare, replied:
- I-I shall… p-protect you… if anyone comes to, to attack us… because of me, I-I shall s-stop them m-myself…
Naruto replied to her:
- Maki, you are now in this group, so, if anything happens, we shall fight by your side. As I know Shino cares deeply about you, then I say we cannot treat you as if we didn't care about you.
Hinata continued:
- You will be our ally… and, if you want it, our friend… if you decide to join us as renegade ninjas… but, if you wish to go back to the hidden Leaf, then we shall do what we have to do…
Sakura and Kiba nodded, still shocked due to Maki's past actions and Naruto's mature comprehension of the situation. Maki, cleaning her tears, said:
- The Hidden Leaf Village has nothing to offer me anymore, and I've got no motives to go back there… so… - Maki took her headband and buried it on the ground, using her Earth chakra to turn some ground into mud, burying the headband in it and then compacting the mud into earth again with her chakra: - so, count me as one more renegade.
Naruto and Hinata smiled gently to Maki's determination, and both Kiba and Sakura still kept an eye on her, as she hugged Shino. After deciding she had no deceiving intent, they smiled and glanced at Akamaru, who smelled and barked. Kiba replied:
- You really think so, Akamaru? Yeah, me too… they truly love each other.
After that, the group packed up and continued their journey to the southeast.
End of Chapter 11.