Chapter 11: Night Life

Walking toward Ichiraku, Naruto felt the usual rush of joy that accompanied eating ramen. That lasted about three seconds before the bigger rush of going on a date came, and all of a sudden he wasn't very hungry.

"See!" he said to nobody in particular. "Dates ruin the best things about life."

It was earlier than they'd agreed to meet: he'd been bored, sitting around at home with nothing to do but head out.

"Six thirty, five thirty, same difference," he told himself. Naruto often speaks to himself when he's nervous, like several famous serial killers used to just before beginning their careers.

"Ichiraku's a great place to eat, and it won't cost me much!" The genin smiled to himself confidently. Then another thought struck him: things that seemed good to him usually ended up wrong when it came to girls. Maybe a ramen stall...wasn't a good date restaurant? A terrible understanding came over him in that moment, leaving him changed forever.

At least, that's how it felt. Sighing, he reached for his wallet and started to count.

Naruto turned the corner a few minutes later, and saw Heaven...I mean Ichiraku. Under the flaps he could see three people sitting at the counter, and a glimpse of teal fabric where a fourth stood off to the side. For a moment he wondered if the ramen stall would work after all: it looked like somebody dressed up to go there.

"You can at least sit down until he gets here," Naruto heard the old man say.

"N-no, I'm fine."

"Hinata?" he asked as he pulled back a flap. He froze for a second: she was wearing a yukata! Well, not quite a yukata. It was a Kunoichi's yukata, it only came down to her knees and looked much easier to move in. Still he could tell it cost something serious, and she looked...beautiful, in it.

"Naruto!" She smiled at him brightly, as people do when they're rescued from feeling uncomfortable.

In an instant, Naruto realized he was still wearing his orange jumpsuit. Actually, in that instant he realized he didn't own anything other than his orange jumpsuit, and a few spares.

"H-hey," he said nervously. All three guys at the counter were watching, plus the owner, and his daughter was staring from the back.

"Hi," she said just as nervously. "I guess I got here a bit early. Are you hungry yet?"

Naruto took one look at the owner, who gave him a dark look that said, Get out of here. Then the old man smiled, and somehow the genin understood.

"Yeah, I'm starving. Let's go, Hinata." He held out his hand.

"What!?" Hinata looked terrified. Then after a second she took his hand and followed him out as he held up the flap.

"Where do people go around here to spend money- ...I mean, eat?" Naruto asked as he led her down the street. Hinata giggled.

"Anywhere is fine."

Yeah, that's helpful. Okay, something you don't get everyday, like from another country. Then he saw it, and his face lit up.

"How about chinese food?" Naruto pointed to a restaurant down the street. "Yen King" read the sign above the door, and it was obviously a sit-down restaurant.

"Okay." Hinata was having fun just walking down the street.

The hostess smiled pleasantly at them, and lead them to a booth. The place was pleasantly dark, with music playing in the background and murals on the walls. Only a handful of people were there besides them.

A well-groomed waiter approached the two genin with menus, and their evening began.

Sakura's stomach grumbled. This evening walk she was on was as nice as her walk this morning, but she needed to eat something. There was Ichiraku up ahead, what a coincidence!

Maybe I shouldn't... she mused. A second later she made up her mind and ducked under one of the flaps.

Sometimes when you really want to hear a specific sound, you start imagining that you heard it even though you know it's impossible. Ino didn't bother opening her eyes; there was no way.

"Psst! Ino!" Her eyes shot open and she whirled over in bed.

"Hiru! What-

The teen rushed forward, tried to clap a hand over her mouth, but the instant he touched her a ripple flowed up his arm and he dissipated.

Ino stared at the empty room for a few seconds before the scroll started smoking again.

"I forgot I'm not very good with bunshins," the second Hiru said sheepishly. "One touch and I lose them."

"W-Why are you here?" she asked.

"I'm not here, this is a bunshin remember?" A pillow sailed through his head, causing him to ripple away again..

A few seconds later he was back.

"Please don't do that," he pleaded.

"Stop joking around! What's going on?" Her simple question carried a lot of meaning.

"All right," Hiru said as he walked over. Ino blushed in the dark when he sat on her bed, even though the bunshin was weightless. "Let me tell you a bedtime story," he began.

---

"The village hidden in feathers was started as an attempt to safeguard the land of silver during the great ninja wars. The small country takes its name, and also most of its income, from its silver mines. Knowing they would immediately become a prize to be fought over, they tried their best to remain neutral. They failed, and during the last war the mines were taken from them one by one by neighboring countries.

"Only one mine remained under their control, because its existence was kept secret. The country's leaders faced a dilemma: if they hired shinobi to protect it, it would be discovered and taken like all the others. Their military strength had been low before the war, and now it was nonexistent.

"Their solution came when the Umou clan, who were known for their incredible genjutsu abilities, was devastated in a fight with the Uchiha. Desperate, the Umou survivors accepted a permanent contract to disappear from the war and defend the land of silver.

"By now the Umou clan has grown into a decent shinobi clan again, tied to the land of silver as its only fighting force. Some of the outlying silver mines were returned after the war, but now they are all depleted. Only the hidden mine remains active, and because of it the land of silver is wealthy again.

"Now we skip ahead to six years ago. The third Tsumekage stepped down, and the elders pressured the new Tsumekage to increase our military strength with money from the silver mine."

---

"Wait, Tsumekage!?" Ino cut in.

"Uh, yeah... Like I said before, we aren't a major village but the elders copied the naming style."

"Okay, whatever makes them feel good."

"Hey, Tsumekage is a one-man army, just like your Hokage's and Kazekage's."

"hmm."

"Where was I? Right, the elders said that if we don't increase our military at the same rate as our economy, we'll end up just like before. So the decision was made to purchase fighters, jutsu, whatever came our way. A few days later, we got more than we bargained for.

"A tall man wrapped in a black cloak strode into town, headed straight for the Tsumekage's office. He made the elders an offer, and they purchased from him one of the most destructive forces in existence..."

Hiru paused for dramatic effect.

"Get on with it!!!" Ino barely kept herself from hitting him again. That would take even longer.

"He sold us...the Kyuubi."

Ino looked long and hard at Hiru, who studied the floor. Finally she spoke.

"No way! Are you serious?"

"Yes, the powers of a tailed beast can be sealed into a person, a jinchuuriki. The elders chose the ace of my generation, me!"

"You have it inside you?"

"Yes." Hiru's voice changed, grew harder. "And it changed a lot of things about me. With its powers I was able to complete the ultimate jutsu that I had always dreamed of, but it also got me kicked out of the village."

"But the village bought it!"

"Yeah, well, the village was tricked. The Kyuubi's power doesn't stay inside its host forever, every once in a while it takes over and goes on a destructive rampage."

He says it so calmly, Ino thought irritably. How many people died the last time the demon fox attacked Konoha?

"When did you say you received the Kyuubi?" she asked.

"Six years ago."

"I haven't heard of the demon fox going on a rampage in the last six years."

"No you haven't. Nobody has outside of Umou, but it happened. The ending of my story is that the elders researched the bijuu and found a better way to seal the Kyuubi and use its power. That method includes taking it from me by force, which would kill me."

They sat in silence for a minute, while Ino absorbed all of it.

"That Asuka girl was sent to kill you?"

"Asuka was sent to bring me back. She wasn't the only one either, she just moves the fastest. She got here first."

"No really, tell me!" Naruto demanded playfully. Hinata was still reeling from her own statement.

"Still, you're amazing!" Naruto had said. "You've gotten much better in a short amount of time."

"I think you're the amazing one, Naruto."

"Eh? What makes you say that?"

He was still waiting on her answer.

"W-well, you never give up, no matter what."

"Huh?"

"You...you always fight seriously, even when it's not hat important. You don't do anything half-hearted."

"Really? Well, that's probably because I have to give my all to keep up with Sasuke when he's not even trying."

"But that's changing, right? You're getting stronger all the time."

Naruto grinned. "Thank you, Hinata."

She didn't know what to say, so they ate in silence for a few minutes.

Two booths away, a small storm was brewing. Sakura couldn't believe how...well their date seemed to be going.

---

"Ha ha, that Naruto finally got himself a girlfriend!"

You're too loud, Sakura thought, hesitating outside the flaps.

"She was quite a looker too, in that yukata."

"Eh? You're a lolicon!?"

"Gaah! No! I just...no, I..."

"Heh heh, don't worry about it. Naruto's done well to catch her, that's for sure."

"Oi, Jaren, you've been quiet for some time now. Something wrong?"

A third voice spoke for the first time. "I was just wondering...is it safe?"

"Now what could that mean?" the owner asked.

"Do her parents know about them? Surely if they did then they wouldn't allow it."

Sakura heard nothing for a few seconds, then something slammed down onto the counter.

"I'd trust Naruto with my life, before most other people in the village!" the old man said sharply.

"Well maybe Naruto, but what about the Kyuubi inside him?"

---

The stall had gone deathly quiet once again, but Sakura ran off before she could hear anything else.

What about "the Kyuubi inside him?" she asked herself. She was interrupted by the waiter asking if she was ready to order.

"Oh, I'm sorry. One sec..." she opened the menu, then froze.

I...don't have any money with me.

"Um, actually I'm waiting for someone," she lied, and the man went away.

"So what is it about Asuka?" Ino dared to ask. "You let her go when you could have just stopped her." For some reason, thinking about it was painful.

"I don't want to kill her! She's my sister."

"Eh!?" Painful feeling gone.

"You sound relieved somehow."

"No way!"

"..."

"...Well, yeah, I guess I am."

"Heh."

"So what're we going to do about her?"

Hiru was taken aback by her words. "I have no clue what I'm going to do, but you're going to roll over and go to sleep, instead of starting a conflict that would probably destroy my village."

"I..." Ino paused and thought about it. "...I can help without doing that. It's the whole point of being a ninja, isn't it?"

"Well yeah, but this is...different."

"That's not good enough. I'm going to help you."

"I don't like where this is going, and I need to get some rest anyway. I'll...see you later."

Hiru melted away, leaving Ino utterly exasperated.

After they were done eating, Naruto and Hinata wandered the streets of Konoha for a while. They talked and laughed and both were very surprised at how fun they were having. Sakura followed, also surprised at how much fun they were having. Whenever she tried to turn away and go home to eat, Hinata would trip and Naruto would catch her arm and oooooh she was pissed all over again. Or something like that anyway. A lot went through their heads that night, all three of them. Finally Hinata suggested they go someplace quiet and just talk some more and Naruto agreed.

"Things are really getting interesting," he said after flopping down on a grassy hilltop. He'd never known that Konoha had any grassy hilltops before, but the date had activated romantic-spot finding instincts deep within his psyche.

"Umm..." Hinata looked down at him nervously. Dress+grass=no-no.

"Oh, here." Naruto started taking off his orange jacket for her to sit on. Hinata blushed bright red.

Topless, he looked at it with a confused look on his face. "That's funny, I thought I was wearing another shirt under this.

Two girls mumbled as they stared at him.

---

"Hiru-sensei, I quit!!! This is stupid!" the blond teen whined.

"I'm pretty sure I asked you before, and you said you'd never quit."

"If it were normal training, that would be true," Shino answered him, "But we've been doing this for hours on end and getting no results whatsoever."

"Well if I were a normal instructor I'd have told you to rest every fifteen minutes, but then you'd all go and train some more when you get home, and that's bad."

"If it's just getting stronger, there are lots of techniques out there," Kiba cut in. "What's so good about this one?"

Hiru turned his head, and they all followed his gaze to where Hinata was practicing. Smirking, he leaned in and whispered, "Well, for one thing it buffs you out."

"It does what?" Naruto asked stupidly.

"Buffs you out! Makes your muscles bigger! Chicks dig the muscles, you know."

Naruto chuckled nervously, as the other two gave Hiru a look.

"Sensei, you're...well, not 'buff' at all."

Hiru shuddered. "You shoulda' seen me before."

A moment of silence passed between them.

"Maybe I'll keep at it a while longer."

"That's the spirit!"

---

Maybe it was the Kyuubi's influence, but Naruto had seen a decent effect considering it had only been a few days.

Holy cow! What's he been doing!? thought Sakura, while Hinata wondered if all boys got like that when they reached his age.

"Oh well, here." Naruto lay the jacket on the grass next to him. "Sit, sit!"

"O-okay." Hinata was nervous all over again.

Have you no sense of awkward!? the pink haired girl wondered at him.

"Anyway, like I was saying, things are getting cool lately. I feel like I'm really improving with my jutsu and...well, just improving in general."

Hinata nodded.

Smiling at her, he added, "life is just getting better all around."

"Yeah," she said softly, looking down.

What a disgusting atmosphere, Sakura thought to herself yet again.

"Ahh, what a romantic atmosphere," a voice whispered next to her.

"Hiru!" she barely avoided shouting.

"I'm so happy you've remembered me!"

Turning, she saw the old peddler crouched uncomfortably close next to her.

"Oh, it's you."

"But...but you knew it was me! You cried my name!" he chuckled, and the sound was painful.

"Go away! I don't have time for you."

"Yes, I can see that. Why are you just sitting here while she takes your little crush away? You don't have a second to lose!"

whack.

Sakura punched him, hard. The shriveled old man tumbled backward, still cackling quietly.

"Yes, that's very good my dear. But I'm not the one you want to strike, am I?"

"Yes. Definitely."

"Ooh, I'm flattered. I was thought your 'fist of love' was reserved specially for Naruto-kun."

"I'm going to be a murderer," she mumbled to herself. "They'll say it was Jii-jii-cide."

"Oh, that's very funny."

Sakura decided that completely ignoring the old man was the best thing to do. She turned her attention back to Naruto and Hinata, trying to catch their conversation again.

"I've been wondering, Hinata-chan, are you ticklish?" asked a deep voice in a low whisper.

"Oh no...ha ha...noooo! Naruto-kun, not there!" It was the old man's teenage girl impression again.

"But, you agreed to come to this hilltop with me, so I thought..."

"Oh Naruto-kun, you already knew. I can't keep anything secret from you."

"QUIT IT!!!"

Up on the hill, Naruto's ears perked up. "Did you hear something just now?"

"I-I did, but I don't know what it was," Hinata answered. "Should I check using the byakugan?"

"Uhhh....no, I guess not. After all, we're still inside Konoha. It can't be anything serious."

Behind the tree, Sakura let out the breath she'd been holding.

"Why are you doing this?" she hissed at the old peddler.

"I like to watch things in motion," he said simply, and cracked a grin.

"Go away! NOW!!!"

"Okay, but first let me at least check on the 'product'."

"What product?"

"The product I sold you, of course!" he advanced towards her, flexing his fingers. "They seem to be off to a slow start, but I can tell that it's working!"

Sakura looked down. "You really think so? I was starting to get discour-" Cutting off, she started to tremble with incomprehensible rage.

"Goodbye!" Waving, the old man slipped a scroll out of his cloak and quickly summoned himself elsewhere.

Looking back at the hill, she realized she'd finally lost interest. "Let them have their little date...thing," she told herself bitterly. No, not bitterly, just sort of ticked-offedly. She wasn't mad or anything, just a tad annoyed was more like it. Yeah, that was it, 'a tad annoyed' that Naruto was on a date with another girl, after all the times he'd gone after her. If he'd really meant any of that stuff about liking her, it would have taken more than years of rejection and a permanent cold shoulder to make him move on. Well, that and the constant attempts on Sakura's part to hook up with the boy he considered his rival. Obviously, his crush on her had been just that, a crush that had no chance of going anywhere.

Thinking these things took Sakura as much time as walking home, and when she got back she jumped right into bed. She tried thinking about Sasuke until she went to sleep, and succeeded in dreaming about him. In her dream it was three years later, and a taller, even cooler version of Sasuke had come back to the village. Sakura ran out to meet him and they embraced, and everything was wonderful again. Sasuke offered to take her away from Konoha and live together with her. An older version of Naruto came up and held out his hand. The blond-haired teenager was very muscular now, she noted, but much shorter than Sasuke. Sasuke took his hand and shook it, sneering down at him.

Then the black-haired teen yanked Naruto around, thrust a chidori through his heart and tossed his corpse on the ground. Needless to say, the dream went downhill from there, but the next morning she couldn't remember the rest so it is pointless to describe it here.

Sakura shot up in bed, ready to defend herself. The scary part was, she didn't remember what she needed to defend herself from.

"Oh, right. Dream. That was scary...how did it go again?"

She was panting at first, but that soon stopped. Then her window shot open, and she jumped out of bed.

Well, fell out of bed. Her covers were wrapped around her enough that it didn't work.

"Sakura! We have to go!" It was Ino's voice.

"Wha?" the pink-haired girl asked from down on the floor.

"We...umm, what are you doing?"

"Nothing!" she rolled over and looked up at her friend. "My mattress is getting old and lumpy, so I decided to sleep on the floor last night.

"Oh...okay, I guess."

"So what's up?"

"Right! Come with me, Kiba got in a fight this morning!"

"But it is morning."

Ino stared at her. Sakura looked at the clock.

It annoyed her when Ino told her the time right after she saw for herself. "It's eleven thirty. The morning's practically over."

"Oh. So, who'd Kiba fight with?"

"That Asuka chick! And he's hurt pretty bad!"

The Critic214:

Okay, serious note to all my readers.

At least, to all the readers who come back and see this.

I'm very sorry for stopping work on this story. It's not cool for you, I know. Here is my reason:

There comes a time in every man's life when he needs to drop everything else and work hard for what he cares about most. For me, that time pretty much came and went and I missed most of it. Now I have to work my butt off to pass Calc II and Econ, or they'll kick me out of Colorado School of Mines.

If I have to choose between updating this story and studying integrals for a test that will have a massive impact on the rest of my life, I don't really have to finish this statement do I?

However! I hope you will all set up email alerts for this story, because I'm not done with it. I know that from a Fanfiction point of view, 4 months is forever and it usually means the story is long dead and forgotten. But in the real world, 4 months is actually just a short break from any hobby, and it's not at all strange to go back to it after that much time. This is me going back to "The Peddler comes to Konoha." I hope that if any of you are still around, you will come back and review again, let me know that my efforts are not pointless.

And on that note, I'm ready to write this story for the right reason: because I want to write it. I talked to a published author friend of mine and he told me that people write because they have a story and they're unhappy with it stuck inside their head. He said "writer's block" sometimes happens because you've gone over a story in your head until you're happy with it: you don't mind if it never gets written because you've figured it out for yourself. I do this a lot, and I only write because I get reviews. Then I get selfish and I tell myself that if the reviews stop, so will I. Well, this time I'm going to write even if I don't get a single review! I've got potential story-lines in my head and on paper that go past chapter 20- something, and I want to write them out.

And so, this chapter has many connections to the next, which is actually half written already. This is to force myself to finish chapter 12 and post it in the next week at the very latest.

Next Chapter: Fang vs. Talon.