"It was for training!" Jiraiya repeated through a swollen lip, "What're you complaining for, anyway, brat? Or are you upset I saw them first?"
Kyuubi was thoroughly enjoying this, and charged Naruto with chakra without any sort of provocation, so that his glare at the toad sage was red, and his teeth twice the size they should be. Jiraiya was not amused, and whacked him on the back of the head, while Hinata, face redder than anyone had thought possible, fussed over his other side and said things like 'I'm sorry! It's embarrassing! Just please don't mention it!' Which, of course, made the situation even worse. The sannin's ability to make everyone hate him was the stuff of legend; it had been less than a day, and he'd already gained the ire of the Last Uchiha, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's jinchuuriki and the Hyuuga heiress.
As a statement of his vexation, Naruto refused to let Hinata get between himself and Jiraiya, and kept her firmly on his left side, her hand in his, and shot frequent glares at the sage. Yeah, he'd missed him, but this was damn irritating. Sasuke was up ahead of the group, hands in his pockets, hunched over and likely re-contemplating his decision to stay in Konoha where the legendary ninja were all perverts or deserters themselves.
"Look, it was amusing for a while, but you've gotta start talking to me again," Jiraiya said, exasperated, "There's that technique I've gotta teach you. The Rasengan."
Naruto gave a cool expression, "Is that what it's called? I just didn't have a name for it." He paused and held his palm out face up, concentrated, and called forth the sphere of rapidly-circling wind. Jiraiya's face would've been priceless, had it not been scary as hell.
"Where did you learn that?" he questioned.
"What do you mean, 'where?'" Naruto said, dissipating the chakra and falling in step with Hinata again, who was watching him curiously. "Once I learned about chakra affinity, I thought I should do something with it."
"Your affinity is wind?" Sasuke asked - he'd dropped back to walk with them once training had started.
Naruto shrugged, still irked, and pressed closer to Hinata, who ran a thumb over his knuckles reassuringly.
The white-haired toad-summoner shook his head, "Every time you come into the picture, kid…"
Naruto was surprised to find himself smirking and gave the man Kushina's trademark grin, "Number One Unpredictable Ninja!"
The sage snorted and walked ahead, "Come on, Uchiha. Some people just can't wait patiently to learn new things, so I guess you and I will just have to catch up."
Naruto suspected the distance was also for privacy between himself and Hinata, perhaps a slight apology and acknowledgement that maybe he wasn't such a brat, and made good use of it, pressing a kiss below her ear and watching her blush grow, slightly.
"Are you okay?" she near-whispered.
"Me? What about you?" he squeezed her hand again, "I can punch that pervert again, if you want."
She shook her head, "It really was just a tracking exercise. I had to fit in with the other girls."
Opportunity! "You were much prettier." She ducked her head, and he snuck another kiss in under her bangs. "This next town, let's go on a date. It's famous for its casinos, but I think we could find a nice bakery or something. It would be cool to see if the cinnamon rolls from around here taste."
"And ramen," she added, bumping his hip with hers.
Naruto's eyes lit up, "I love you."
She giggled, "I love you, too."
"Awww," came Jiraiya's voice, obnoxiously nasal, and Naruto released her hand to chase after him.
[-M-]
Jiraiya's eerily accurate description of Tsunade - right down to her measurements - meant that finding her was child's play for the group's tracker. Hinata had them face-to-face with the woman within half an hour, and Jiraiya's smooth talking got the group ushered into a booth where, to his slight exasperation, Naruto was sitting directly across from the slug sannin.
Tsunade hid her emotions at his appearance well, but he could still see the way her gaze lingered over him - the son of the fourth Hokage and the Bloody Habanero. He gave her a big grin, "C'mon, granny, why don't you come back with us? You can keep the hat warm for me!"
Her face immediately wrinkled in irritation, "Brat, you don't know a damn thing about that village! It'll destroy you."
Naruto scrunched his face in distaste; Jiraiya and Sasuke's attention peaked - he was acting like a brat, and that usually meant something interesting was about to happen. "Man, what're you acting so stuck-up for? Konoha's a nice place!"
''Nice place', my ass, Naruto thought, 'Still the same prejudice everywhere; won't let me walk into a shop unless someone of high standing's there to glare them into submission.' But Tsunade didn't need to know that. Yet.
"You're the one who doesn't know what he's talking about," Tsunade said, anger rising, "Konoha took my brother away from me."
"My gramps died in service for Konoha, too," Naruto said, whining, "That doesn't mean it's the village's fault." This was almost getting annoying. He didn't know how long he could keep up that whine.
"The Hokage was a fool," Tsunade said bitterly, "And so is anyone who chooses to stay in that village."
Thump! Hinata's fist came down on the table. Sasuke and Jiraiya looked like they might've said something, too, but their expressions morphed into stunned surprise at the look on Hinata's face. Stony. Hyuuga.
"Don't you dare say that," Hinata said, voice firm, "Don't you dare call Naruto a fool for choosing to give his life to Konoha." Tsunade blanked. "He's given more to Konoha than anyone should've had to." The emphasis was strong; Tsunade's intake of breath meant that she understood exactly what Naruto's childhood had been like, and, maybe more privately, that she ought to have been there, if only because no child should endure being alone. "Sasuke's lost his entire family - they gave their lives to Konoha, as well. They're not fools. I don't know what Jiraiya-sama's been through, but I can bet that he's felt loss because of his duty, as well. Don't call us fools."
Jiraiya cleared his throat, "Y'know, the kid - " - he nodded to Naruto - " - has a point. And he's not unimpressive on his own. I was trying to teach him the Rasengan earlier - "
Tsunade snorted, "A brat like that, learn the Fourth's technique?"
"Well, if he's just a 'fool', I don't think it'd be too hard," Naruto said, crossing his arms. "If I do, you'll come back to the village!"
Tsunade gave him a considering glance, then shook her head, "No. This isn't something to bet on. I'm not going back to that village. It's destroyed everything to me."
("Nice try, kid." Jiraiya said out of the corner of his mouth.)
"When everything's destroyed, you have to start building again," Sasuke said, surprising the blonde genin. The avenger's eyes were darker than usual as he stared at the woman, "It's the only way to get anything done."
"You wanna get something done?" Tsunade said, "Don't give your life to an ungrateful bunch of idiots." She turned to Naruto, "Look, kid, I'm sorry about what I said. It's fine to have a dream. But I don't, anymore. And I'm not sure how you do, either. If you ever need a place to go, outside the village, I can help you out." She left.
Shizune, who'd been silent until now, jumped in front of Jiraiya, "Don't leave just yet, please," she said, "I'll talk to her."
Jiraiya sighed, "I don't think she'll change her mind, after something like that. This means that she'll be put down as a missing nin, for failing to report to duty when called."
The medic-nin nodded, "I know. Just - Just give her some time. A week. I'm sure she'll change her mind by then."
Jiraiya shrugged, "It's no problem. I can wait a week - it's a training trip for the kids, too. But if she doesn't change her mind…"
Naruto fisted his hands. A lot of what he'd done, he'd done under Tsunade. He wasn't sure how his plan would play out under the rule of someone chosen by the council, and he didn't want to find out, either. If Tsunade didn't take up the mantle of Hokage, his next-best option would be Jiraiya - and that wasn't happening. He couldn't convince her by mastering the Rasengan - so how could he change her mind?
[-M-]
Hinata was remarkably annoyed with Tsunade; her hand was vice-like on his during their date, and she didn't move further than two feet away from him at any given time, which would've been fine if they were in any position to step into a closet for seven minutes in heaven or something, but the whole mood was wrong. With her being peeved at the Hokage candidate and him anxiously grinding his teeth over the issue, the date was mostly awkward silences and small talk - neither wanted it to devolve into a trash-talking fest. There were a few kisses, but they were absent-minded and unenjoyable. After a dinner of ramen and a short walk, they called it a night.
The next morning brought the reminder that at some point on this trip, he was to encounter Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki. Actually, Naruto could remember it being before they'd hit this town, but then, they'd covered the distance much faster than before, with Hinata's tracking and Sasuke's on-the-go training. The day was hotter than he would've liked, the sun shining down on the town and making everyone blink dazedly whenever they stepped outside. Spotting two figures in black cloaks from a vantage point in this heat was child's play; no-one else was wearing anything so stuffy. From then, all he had to do was wait.
Jiraiya had gone off to try talking to Tsunade without the kids, so Sasuke and Hinata unrolled some scrolls and got to studying, while Naruto leaned back and acted like he wasn't about to have a panic attack. When the knock on the door came, he jumped up to answer it.
"Naruto Uzumaki. We would like you to come with us."
He didn't so much see as he felt Sasuke stiffen in the room. An avenger would have a difficult time forgetting the voice of his target. Hinata looked up with curiosity.
"Uh…" Damn it, what did he say in this situation?!
"This brat's the Nine-Tails?" Kisame drawled lazily from behind the Uchiha.
"Brother." Sasuke snarled, so close to Naruto that he almost jumped out of his skin. The bandages on the dark boy's hands fell away and glowing seals - they looked like storage seals, but not quite; he could see the character for lightning somewhere on there - appeared, the ink so luminous that it was almost floating off of his skin. More chakra than Naruto thought Sasuke had erupted around him, and he dodged to avoid getting fried - but so did Itachi. Hoshigaki ended up receiving the blow head-on, and was blown back, electricity dancing around his body.
Naruto twisted around and saw Itachi bending over Sasuke, grabbing hold of his arm and using a move so elementary no-one would've expected it to sprain his wrist, then tossing him away. At this point, Hinata popped up on Naruto's left side, just in time to dance around Samehada and hit Kisame on the arm, but the usually-disabling hit did nothing, and the shark-man batted her away without blinking. Good. Better she wasn't anywhere near the crazyness.
Naruto called on Kurama's power, but kept the chakra to himself, avoiding the Shark Skin like the plague. The sword would suck him dry if he allowed it, and that was just not what he needed today. Three, four clones, and each jumped the missing-nin, but were popped as soon as they neared his vicinity. Straight-up combat it was. Naruto drew out two kunai and jumped onto the blue-skinned ninja, proceeding to make himself the biggest annoyance he could, jumping off his sword, kicking him in the face, dodging every attempt to quarter him he could - but not getting caught.
Itachi moved in to help - but found his way blocked by a certain white-haired sage. Naruto couldn't hear the conversation that occurred and he didn't care - any second now, his last clone's seal would activate and he could get over there himself. Any second… After what seemed like an eternity, Kisame roared in anger when inky tendrils from his own shadow pulled him down and bound him in a Hear-no-Evil, See-no-Evil seal, unable to do more than roar in anger and wait. Samehada was picked up carefully, Fox's chakra flowing into it despite the blonde's best attempts to retain it, and set aside, another quick seal blocking the sword access to its owner.
"Impressive that you managed to subdue my partner," Itachi said to him around Jiraiya, who was, evidently, attempting to figure out their purpose. (Sasuke had made another attempt to attack his sibling, and been given a face-full of wall for his trouble. He lie crumpled up to the side, but, Naruto knew, likely just knocked out and nothing more serious.) Jiraiya muttered something under his breath, not looking away from the ex-ANBU.
Which was fine. Kisame out, Sasuke out, Hinata probably out, too - coast was clear for Naruto to spill the beans. "You were ordered to kill the Uchiha Clan. By Danzo."
Jiraiya blinked. Itachi blinked.
"How did you find out?"
"I - "
"You know the Rasengan, you know sealing, and now you know a secret about the village that I didn't know before you just said it," Jiraiya said, putting a heavy hand on Naruto's shoulder, fingers digging into him, "Who are you?"
And, well, Naruto had always been a fan of pranks. "I'm the son of the Yondaime Hokage - Konoha's Number One Unpredictable Ninja!"
[-M-]
"So all this time, you knew?!" Jiraiya roared, throwing his hands up in the air. "About everything?"
"Could you not yell?" Naruto spat, tucking a blanket in around Hinata. There was a lump on her forehead the size of Jupiter, and he had absolutely no idea what to do about it. He didn't even know if he should be waking her up.
"What is your plan of action?" Itachi asked. He was enjoying a rare moment of peace, sitting at his brother's bedside and observing as Naruto fussed over his girlfriend. The genin had left the fussing over Sasuke to his older brother. Itachi fussed surprisingly well.
"I needed Tsunade to become Hokage. Under her, I could've taken a mission to go after Akatsuki and put an end to this in Ame before it went too far over there. Then I'd warn the other Jinchuuriki about Madara's plan."
"Madara Uchiha?" Jiraiya asked.
"Yeah."
"The Madara Uchiha that was supposed to have died in an epic battle over a hundred years ago?"
"Yeah."
"Just checking."
Naruto sighed, "Anyway, without her as my leader, no-one will legally let me take that mission."
"What makes you think she would've given it to you?"
"I would've fessed up. She knew my parents a bit, she'd probably be convinced if I showed her what I could do. But if she didn't...I'd have to go missing-nin."
Jiraiya's face darkened, "No."
"It's the only way!" Naruto said, raising his arms in defense, "You have no idea how fucked up everything is about to get! Itachi, tell him!"
The Uchiha watched him cautiously, "Everything you've told us makes sense, though I can't understand how you found out about it."
Naruto pouted, "Big, furry thing? Lives in my stomach? Smart enough to put two and two together and give me a leg-up in life at an early age so that it doesn't die?"
Itachi shook his head, "There are holes in that story."
"Screw the holes!" Naruto spat, slamming his fist into the headboard, corrosive chakra making it smoke. He wasn't the only one getting pissed. "I'm trying to save the life of someone important to me! Same reason you became a missing nin!"
"Calm the hell down," Jiraiya said sternly, "You're in no position to be throwing a temper tantrum. Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki leaves the village, we're obligated to go after him. Matter of national security."
Naruto seethed. "This is a matter of international security."
"You're not helping yourself by arguing, kid. Or by letting Cute-n'-Fuzzy out to play."
The demon container reigned in the Fox's chakra. Deep breaths.
"And Hinata?" Itachi asked pointedly, "How will she react when she hears her boyfriend's abandoned her home?"
Naruto sighed, "I don't know. Her safety's most important, though."
Itachi nodded, and rearranged the compress on Sasuke's head.
Jiraiya looked like he was going to start beating his own head against a wall. "No, no, no - you - " - he pointed at Naruto - " - are going to sit your ass down, wait for your friends to wake up, and then come back home with me. You - " - he pointed at Itachi - " - can sign yourself up for a toad summoning contract and begin submitting regular reports to myself about Akatsuki's behavior."
"You're not getting it, ero-sennin," Naruto growled, "This has to be done. With or without your approval. I'll take my name being dragged through the mud to ensure my village is safe."
Jiraiya took a deep breath. "You. Are not. Becoming. A missing-nin."
"You're not my damn guardian!" Naruto said. Then, realizing just what that sounded like, decided he might as well top off the twelve-year-old act, and jumped out the window.
[-M-]
"I don't know what happened, exactly, but I'm here if you want to talk," Hinata said, limping up to him.
The blonde sucked in a guilty breath, "The bastard sent you to get me?"
"Me and Sasuke," she said, accepting his arm around her waist and leaning against him. "I just found you first."
They lapsed into silence. Naruto's mouth went to her cheek; she tilted her head up and their lips met. The street was on the outskirts of town, there was no-one around, the sun was going down; it was pretty much the date they'd been hoping for last night. He breathed in through his nose and gathered her up, using chakra to get them both up and over the railing around the roof of the nearest building. Even less chance of anyone walking in on them here.
Hinata pressed her hands to his face and pulled him down to her, backing up into the siding and letting him steady himself with hands on either side of her. The sun was shining in his eyes and the breeze was getting her hair in his face, but this was perfect. The kunoichi arched into him, hands moving down his neck, his front. She unzipped his jacket and moved her hands over his torso; he mimicked her, untying the wrap she'd put on to expose his favorite tank top of hers and gripping her hips. Hinata sucked lightly on his lip, then moved to his neck, kissing and nibbling down his collar, while he just breathed her in.
"Naruto," she kissed right next to his ear, "Tell me what happened."
"I can't," he said, finding her mouth again. He couldn't tell her. Absolutely not.
She pulled away, "You keep a lot of secrets from me. I - I think you trust me, but - "
"Please don't ask, Hinata," he said, staring at her.
She bit her lip, "I know Naruto-kun does everything for the best, and that he saved my life during the invasion and helped me be-become s-so much more," she stuttered, "But I worry, because Jiraiya-sama said that you wanted to...leave." And she started to cry.
Naruto froze. He was exactly where he was during the mission to Wave. And despite how strong she'd gotten, how she could stare down Neji, Tsunade, her family, how she could jump into the path of an S-ranked criminal without a second thought, the fact remained that Hinata was dependent on him. It was disastrous, terrifying to see this woman so in need of his presence and approval; he remembered her shy, remembered her strong and firm, remembered fighting with her, once, and she'd near twisted herself out of shape in anger, but she'd never broken. Was this Hinata, without a spark? Without her own will of fire?
And he couldn't pause here. It would've been better to back away and tell her she was strong on her own, maybe even to leave and let her take the hit - God, Hinata, needing someone this much? - and piece herself back together with that strength she'd shown him before, but he didn't. He grabbed her and pulled her down onto the roof with him, muffled her crying with his mouth, wiped away her tears, "Not you. I would never, ever leave you."
She was one hundred percent his right now. He kissed her on the jaw, on the neck, over her heart, between her breasts, solar plexus, ribs, right above the navel, back up to her lips. She didn't move - he'd never touched her like that, never gone farther than he'd thought would make her uncomfortable, but now she was just looking at him and, God, she was kissing him back, pulling on his hair, her legs wrapping around his middle, having her this close felt so good -
And then there was a wetness, and he realized this body was twelve (Hinata was twelve) and wasn't used to this much stimulation, yet. He scrambled off of her and sat nearly a foot away, trying to settle himself and tying his jacket around his waist to attempt to hide the evidence of what they'd been doing. Hinata had it a little easier than him, because her shirt was long and the dampness was in a place that would be difficult to see, regardless. He couldn't think for a moment, only panting and staring at the ground, then stiffening when she moved herself over to him and sat down in his lap, giving him another deep kiss. No hard feelings.
Still, "I'm sorry."
"I'm not," she said, tears gone, though she was still sniffing a bit. "I love you."
"I love you, too," he said, "I'm sorry you keep having to put up with this shit."
She shook her head, kissing him again. He broke the kiss and tucked his chin over her head. The sun had gone down. Now it was just cold. Somewhere in the village, a clone was discussing his defection with Tsunade. Another one was discussing Madara's plan with Itachi Uchiha. No-one else knew it yet, but he was no longer a Konoha nin. But he could wait a big longer. For Hinata.
…
…
A/N: (Naruto ejaculated prematurely. FYI.) So, um, there's an M-rating now. You, uh, might be able to tell why. Also, it got angsty and creepy. Sorry.