A Crack In The Mask
Toki: Okay im back and ready than ever!
Sasuke: Finally...Your gonna make you're viewer's mad if you keep disappearing.
Toki: Yeah yeah I got it SasuGAY!
Warning(s): Slight Hyuga (Incest), violence and cursing
Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own Naruto, but if I did the ending wouldn't have happened the way it did, enough said...
Toki: Take it away Naruto!
~Naruto~ Enjoy Chapter 12 of A Crack In The Mask!
~By the way~
●Talking- "ItaNaru"
●Thinking-'ItaNaru'
●Flashback- ***ItaNaru***
●Naruto Mentally Talking- 'ItaNaru'
●Kyuubi/Kurama Talking: 'ItaNaru'
●Kyuubi/Kurama Thinking: (ItaNaru)
Chapter 12: The Commontion
Hinata sat on a grassy hill on the edge of a cliff in the forest a little ways from the group, crying her eyes out.
Everything in her life always turned upside down at one point or another in her life.
Her mother that she loved deeply was mysteriously murdered when she was at a far too young age.
She was known as weak and puny by her own father.
She was treated like trash and looked down upon in her own household.
And now the one love of her life was gone and there was nothing she could do about it.
Tenten and Neji whom stood in the clearing glanced at each other before nodding with silent communication. Neji began to make his way over towards his sadden cousin with a bowl of hot soup with rice in his hands and sat on the cliff as close as he could to her. Tenten smiled and walked back to the campsite.
"Lady Hinata, are you alright?" No response. "I brought you some food." Still no response. "Lady Hin-"
"Ar-Arigato...Neji N-Nii-san..." She happily accepted the bowl of soup while Neji stayed and watched her eat in fascination.
'So beautiful...Too beautiful to be this hurt.' He thought as he continued to watch her eat.
When she was finished she handed the empty bowl back to him and whimpered as tears threaten to come down her cheeks again. Neji, taking a deep breath, wrapped a hand around her waist and to her surprise pulled her close to his chest. She sniffed and looked up into his sympathetic eyes, happy yet in shock by this caring gesture.
Neji usually was cold and uncaring, but over the years he had changed, thanks to Naruto which many people think, but it was mostly because of Hinata. Yes, after his battle with Naruto in the chunnin exams five years ago he had started to change for the better and had become bitter sweet after it, but when Naruto left Neji decided to not only get stronger but find himself in a happier place. Things started to get better between him and Hiashi since he was now recognized as one of the main Hyuga in the household and wasn't treated like dirt so much anymore.
But what really changed him the most was his beautiful Hinata.
After Naruto left the village he expected Hinata to be more shy and fearful of everything more than she already was, but instead she started to train more than she ever had and even came to him a couple of times to ask Neji to train her personally. Her whole attitude and persona changed since then. She became stronger and more confident with herself which made Neji look at her in a whole other way. He respected his cousin and even started to gain strange feelings for her.
To see her sad and upset like this made him feel very uneasy and he needed to do something about it. Whenever she cried it reminded him of the past which he hated since he felt he was the main person and reason that she has shed so much tears. And even though these past years of being with her and treating her so kindly has made him feel he has made up for his past self, it was times like this where he doubted he ever did anything for her.
"Do not cry my lady...Everything will be okay." With his free hand that wasn't holding her waist he grasped her hand in his and softly rubbed the top of her hand with his thumb. "Have faith in Naruto-Kun. I know he is fightng just as hard to escape as we are trying to find him and I assure you he is not dead. Naruto is much stronger than that to let the Akatsuki kill him so easily. I know he is still alive and just waiting to see everyone with the grin that is always plastered n his face." Hinata whimpered but she didn't cry.
Instead she giggled, much to Neji's surprise.
"Neji Nii-san...Im s-so happy because yo-you're right...Naruto-kun is probably waiting to come home and h-here I am just crying like I always am w-when I could be helping the others...Im so selfish..." Neji held her closer.
"Don't say such things lady Hinata!" Hinata giggled once more and looked up at her cousin with watery, yet beautiful, crystal pearl eyes.
"No Neji...It's time for me to grow up and show everyone just how much stronger i've gotten. It's t-time for me to, as Kiba say's...gr-grow a pair and man up." Neji scoffed and shook his head at Hinata's obnoxious absent teammate. The kind of pep talks she has been given he could only imagine...
"Thank you Nii-san..." She wrapped her arm around his neck to hug him and squeezed her hand in his. Neji blushed a light red, but luckily it was too dark for Hinata to notice. She retracted her head from his neck and gazed into his eyes with her own, both staring at each other in silence. Hinata blushed as well and looked away, hoping he didn't notice.
"Would you like to return to the camp lady Hinata?" Hinata hesitantly nodded her head and stood up along with Neji. He offered his hand and she quickly took it, both walking very slowly back to the campsite hand in hand.
...
Kankuro had caught up with the group about a day ago and sat next to Shino, along with Lee and Choji on one log and Tenten and Ino on the one next to Lee and Choji. The six of them surrounded by the huge fire as it crackled, warming them from the slightly cold nighttime air. Kakashi and Sasuke were on the other side of the woods alone while Gai went into the town closest to see if he could find any information on Naruto.
When Kankuro had arrived he had told the group that Sand was in on the operation 'Naruto Retrieval Mission' and that Temari was with Shikamaru's team. He told them that Sakura wasn't with them, but that Sai, Kiba, Akamaru and Shikamaru were okay and going to catch up with them soon enough. The group was delighted to hear the news at the time.
"So...you think the shorty is still alive?" Kankuro asked out of the blue, not liking the silence from the little group he was sitting with.
Ino stood up and glared at him, "Of course Naruto is still alive, how could you even question something so stupid!" Tenten gave Ino a sympathetic look.
"Hey calm down blondie-"
"It's Ino jackass!" Kankuro scoffed at her attitude and glared at her. She reminded him of Temari: blond and bitchy.
"You said he's been gone for a week and a day now right?"
"Yes..." Lee responded, knowing where this conversation was going along with Choji who was munching on chips beside him, both feeling the upcoming tension.
"Well when the Akatsuki kidnapped Gaara it only took them three days to extract Shukakau out of my brother...I understand that you guys are trying hard and that the leaf never gives up but let's come in with the terms of reality real quick and face facts that Naruto might be dea-" Tenten was the one who cut him off this time.
"But did that stop you from trying to save Gaara even though there was a possible fact that he could already be dead?!" Kankuro narrowed his eyes at her.
"Im not saying he's dead! Im just saying that when the time comes he might not be the same as he was before and if not that, he might be gone by the time we find him." Tenten and Ino looked taken back by his words and both were going to yell at Kankuro when Choji grabbed Ino and Lee grabbed Tenten, trying to calm the two females down.
Shino grabbed Kaknuro's shoulder and shook his head.
"That's enough for tonight Kankuro." Kankuro looked at the two females and instantly shut his mouth, looking down at the ground and away from they're sad and angry gazes. He knew he was out of line and decided to keep quite for the rest of the night.
Hinata and Neji shortly returned to the group and sat down beside each other on the last log left.
Tonight was going to be a long quite night...
Shikamaru, Temari, Kiba and Sai decided to stop at a town and rest for the night at a well-known inn there before heading back out in the morning to meet the others. Sai and Kiba with Akamaru were in one room while Temari and Shikamaru were in the other.
As soon as Temari felt the bed her eyes began to shut and she instantly fell asleep. She hadn't had any rest for more than five days, three getting to Konoha, and the other two travelling with Shikamaru and the other three. She was dead tired and deserved the needed sleep. Shikamaru sat down on the bed across from her and smiled at he sleeping figure. It wasn't everyday he got to watch his girlfriend look peaceful like that.
A quite knock was heard against his door and quietly, he went towards it and opened it to find Kiba on the other side with Akamaru grinning up at him.
"Hey im goin' out to get some food, you wanna come with?" Shikamaru nodded and exited the room, making sure not to wake up his sleeping girlfriend. He closed the door to they're bedroom and followed Kiba and Akamaru outside of the inn and into town.
Shikamaru had his hands in his pockets and let out a deep sigh, looking up at the night time sky and all of it's beauty.
"Where's Sai?" Shikamaru questioned.
Kiba looked up at the sky as well.
"He went to go pick up a couple of supplies he didn't get a chance to grab back in Konoha." Shikamaru nodded at this information and sighed once more.
"We did leave pretty suddenly didn't we...?" Kiba nodded in agreement.
"Yeah we did, but were here now right?" Akamaru barked in agreement as her tail swished back and fourth. Shikamaru smiled and pet her, she licked his hand in return.
"I wish I could be as enthusiastic all the time like you are Akakmaru." She barked and leaned into him as the walked further down the road.
"Hey, im always happy too!" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.
"But there's a difference. She calm and collective. Your wild and out of control! And she's a dog none the less!" Kiba punch the side of his arm, Shikamaru chuckled.
"See Inuzuka? Temperamental and crazy, right Akamaru?" If Akamaru could laugh she would but instead she barked, agreeing with Shikamaru.
"Hey, you can't side with him!" She whimpered but stood her ground and stayed close to Shikamaru. "Aww damn you Nara, now she's on your side! Whatever." Kiba crossed his arms and huffed.
The three continued to walk as silence surrounded them, Shikamaru getting lost in thought.
"This is all so troublesome..." Kiba snickered.
"I think it's a bit too late to be sulking about it Nara." Shikamaru rolled his eyes at the nickname.
"Yeah yeah..." Kiba scoffed at at his friends response.
"Do you think he'll forgive me after this..." He said quietly, but loud enough for Kiba's ears to catch.
Kiba looked back at Shikamaru with a frown.
"I'm sure he will...It's not your fault Nara."
"It's all my fault." Shikamaru stopped completely, putting his head down and looking at the ground. "All of this is my fault. I was the leader of that mission, I was responsible for this- I should have been a better leader and friend! None of this would have happened if I-" A hard punch to the stomach had Shikamaru on the ground and out of breath for a moment. He looked up into the angry eyes of Kiba who had his fangs barred at him.
Akamaru whimpered and curled around Shikamaru.
"What the hell gives you the right to blame everything on yourself huh?!" Kiba shouted, ignoring how the residents of the town paused to look at the three. "You think you can blame everything on yourself? You think that you're the only one that feels horrible about this? You think this is all your fault? Well your fucking wrong! I was one of his closest friends too you know so im just as responsible as you! What the hell makes you so special, huh!" Shikamaru was unable to look up as Kiba continued to lecture him. Now it was Kiba giving him a tongue lashing? how ironic things were.
"Stop blaming yourself for everything Nara...It's not your fault you asshole...It's not... To be honest it's both out fault's for not notcing Naruto so don't blame this all on yourself 'kay?" Kiba wiped the tear that came down from his left eye and stuck out a hand for Shikamaru to take. "Get up. We're gonna get through this together alright?" Shikamaru didn't have to look up to notice the hand and happily accepted it. Kiba pulled him up and dusted the dirt off of his friend.
"We're both each other and Naruto's closest friends, along with the Uchiha...We're gonna find him Nara-Whatever it takes." The spiky haired male finally looked up at his best friend and smiled.
"Right..." Akamaru licked Shikamaru's hand and happily barked when Shikamaru pet her head, wagging her tail uncontrollably.
They stood in moment of silence looking at each other until a loud scream was heard down the street. With a nod both males and dog rushed there to see a huge commotion happening from inside of a local bar. The three were about to head in until a certain voice caught there attention.
"TO THE POWER OF YOUTH!" A huge explosion erupted and Gai sensei came flying with sparkles around him and a grin plastered on his face.
"GAI SENSEI!?" Both males, along with a bark from Akamaru, shouted towards the man.
Gai sensei looked at the trio and raced over to them.
"No time to explain, follow me!"
Toki: Cliff hanger! Sorry if the chapter seemed boring but I cut it off so short for a reason which will be reviled to you in a few days with the next chapter! And sorry if things seem so slow but since i've gotten accepted into my top 2 colleges I can finally relax and get back to frequently updating!
~Naruto~ Yay Toki!
Sasuke: Woo hoo...
Toki: Until next time and Happy New Year my Lovelies!
Toki Out O3O
