Naruto paced back and forth. He wasn't sure what he could do, he knew that his family was in danger. The desire to protect them surged through him, but the ever overwhelming sense of danger was there as well. It kept telling him that something was wrong, that something was going to happen. He just wasn't sure what it was going to be. It just felt, strange to him and so alien.
Shaking his head, the young man knew that he had to do something. That man, his uncle, he was a late bloomer as well it seemed. Yet, the only difference between himself and his uncle was that Naruto himself had more control over himself more or less. His uncle, it seemed had lost himself to the madness of his wolf's control over him.
Suddenly, Naruto felt someone grab his shoulder, causing him to whip around and snarl. Only to frown when it was only Kakashi. "You okay Naruto? You seem distracted. Is it about what happened at your house?"
Naruto took a deep breath as he ran a hand through his spikey locks. "Yeah, I won't lie it was rather shocking to find that… that it was my uncle that scratched Iruka." He whispered softly.
"I didn't think it was possible. I never knew I had an uncle and dad had to pretend he never had a brother for so long…"
"He did it to protect you I think." Naruto frowned a little in confusion. "Think about it, for years he thought that you wouldn't shift, he could be happy with that. Yet, when you started to shift it must have bothered him thinking that it was only going to happen again." Kakashi whispered softly, patting Naruto's head before he gave a weak chuckle. "The only difference I believe is that this time, you have help while his brother didn't."
Naruto looked down and frowned a little at that. Was it really that simple? Was it really all that simple of a thing?
"Come, it's time for your training." Kakashi said with a chuckle before patting Naruto's shoulder and started to walk on ahead. Naruto knew that he shouldn't allow this to bother him. Yet, at the same time he couldn't help but feel as if there was something more to his uncle's appearance than what it appears to be. There had to be something more but what? "Naruto don't let it bother you."
"I'm just confused, why would my uncle come back? He was banished, not to mention he didn't know that grandpa was dead by now." Naruto said with a frown, still rather confused.
"True, but maybe he sensed you. Those who are late bloomers can sense another. So he must have known when you first shifted and came looking for you as a means to make you join him. As he is another who can understand you, but at the same time so he wouldn't be alone." Naruto frowned a little at that, why was his uncle so dead set on having him though? He had control over himself. Mostly.
Shaking his head, Naruto looked up as he tried to get his mind off of everything. But, he wasn't sure what it would be. "Kakashi, how is Iruka?"
"He was shaken up, he knows the eyes of your uncle it seems. No matter what form he takes, no matter he be wolf or man, the sight of his eyes is what puts Iruka into some kind of shock." Kakashi said with a sigh as he rubbed the back of his head. Naruto frowned a little at that, it must have scared him greatly, why else would he still be so scared of a man that he hadn't seen since he was a teen?
"I see."
"The nightmares have also started for him, Iruka told me that he hadn't had those nightmares for years and now they seemed to have resurfaced. It's enough to break my heart." Kakashi said with a small whimper. It had to hurt, to see the one you love more than anything be in such a frightened sight.
Closing his eyes for a moment, Naruto took a deep breath, wondering what he could do. It just seemed, strange really. To have this happen to Iruka. For the man to be scared of his own shadow, he remembered that much from when he was a child. Or at least fuzzy memories, of when Iruka would come by and he would be trembling like a leaf.
The memories were still fuzzy no matter how old they were.
Taking a deep breath, hoping to calm his own nerves, Naruto looked up at Kakashi as he asked "So, who's with Iruka right now? I know for a fact that you wouldn't have left him alone." Naruto said with a frown on his face.
"I asked Hinata if she could keep an eye on him. I was worried for him to be alone so I made sure to have someone with him at all times of the day. Though, he seemed okay but I'd feel better with Iruka being with Hinata at least. She has this calming effect to her."
Naruto couldn't deny that, Hinata was a wonderful woman that was for sure. Though, he couldn't help but wonder what Iruka was going to do. If he was having these nightmares again, then what was he to do? He had remembered some stories, here and there about how Iruka was when he was younger. The nightmares had been so horrible to the point that he couldn't sleep anymore.
It had taken a while, though Naruto knew that Iruka wasn't alone either this time around. He had Kakashi and of course right now even had Hinata to help out. But, he couldn't help but be rather curious as to how Hinata would be able to help him. It just seemed as if all of this was crashing in on him all at once. It made him concerned, but he felt like if anyone could do it that it was Hinata.
Hinata hummed softly as she walked around Iruka's apartment. It was a rather odd request from Kakashi, but she hadn't complained. She had seen how Iruka had been lately at school. He had dark circles under his eyes and that was only from a week since he had seen Naruto's uncle. It seemed that it had scared the man greatly, to the point of him losing sleep.
Closing her eyes for a brief moment, before taking a deep breath in the hopes of calming herself. She hadn't been near his uncle but even she knew that the man was dangerous. There had to be something more about him but what?
Turning to the living room, she saw that Iruka was still asleep. His chest would rise and fall with his soft yet even breaths. It made her wonder what it was that he was dreaming about now.
Though, maybe it was best that he napped for now. She knew how much Kakashi worried about Iruka, the man meant the world to him. It made Hinata smile at the thought, and for that she was thankful.
Humming softly still, the young woman worked in the kitchen as she went to get some tea ready. Maybe tea would help Iruka relax a little more once he woke up? That would be a nice change, that's for sure. Smiling at the thought, the young woman put on a kettle of water to boil as she went to pick out some tea bags to use.
Only to see that Iruka didn't have a huge selection.
Shaking her head, the blue haired woman went back to her humming as she went to make the tea. Tilting her head a little, the young woman set the cups aside for now before making her way over to the living room and checked on Iruka. He looked calm, peaceful even. Placing a hand on his forehead, she felt that his skin was still a little clammy but not overly so. "At least he's still asleep." Hinata whispered softly.
This was all she could do, to make sure that he was well rested. He deserved that much though she just hoped that he didn't have another nightmare.
Walking over to the hall closet, the young woman pulled out a spare blanket before carefully draping it over Iruka's sleeping form. The man still slept on, though he seemed to groan in his sleep. "Iruka?" Hinata whispered softly in concern.
He just groaned in his sleep. It confused her as to what could have happened to the man in the past to make him so afraid of one man in the first place. Could Iruka have been that traumatized by that man? Enough so to make him so scared that he couldn't move on from such a fear? It could be possible, as she was scared of losing Naruto in some way.
Such as if he lost himself to his wolf, his mind torn to shreds as if it was unable to handle the stress. Or worse yet, if he was killed off. Hinata grasped as her chest, right over her heart as she tried to get herself to calm down. She couldn't allow herself to feel such things, knowing that the fear was understandable, but she also had to have faith in Naruto's abilities and strengths.
Iruka groaned as he started to mumble things in his sleep. It seemed as if the nightmares were starting. Carefully, she reached out for the man, placing a hand on his forehead. He was starting to sweat already. Iruka was breathing deeply, most likely in panic as he mumbled about whoever he was dreaming about to move away. To leave him alone and not kill him. To not eat him, it seemed as if the nightmare itself bothered him more than it should have.
"Please… don't…" Iruka whispered softly, rolling onto his side as he tried to move away. He wanted to move away from whoever it was that he was dreaming about. Most likely Naruto's uncle, and the time that he had cursed Iruka with… whatever it was.
She knew that Iruka had some of the capabilities a werewolf had, such as senses being much stronger than him. He was still stronger and faster than the average human that was for sure. Though, why he couldn't shift still bothered her a little. It was something that she'd have to ask him about but knew that she also had to be careful not to bring up old memories.
Shaking her head, the young woman let out a soft sigh as she gently reached out and grabbed a hold of Iruka's shoulder, shaking him gently as she tried to rouse him from sleep. "Iruka, wake up. Come on." She whispered gently, telling him to wake up again. Not sure how else to really wake the man up.
Then, she grabbed onto his arm, causing his eyes to snap open as he snarled at the woman, glaring at her, her hand still on his left forearm, causing her to look down at the man before removing her hand from the man's arm. Causing her to stare at the scarred flesh. It looked as if something had tried to claw his arm off and it made her curious if this was the cause of it. The cause for his 'curse' so to speak. "Iruka?" Whispered Hinata with a frown on her face.
His eyes, they glowed a bright gold in colour before dimming down to their original brown. "Hinata?" He whispered in shock, causing him to frown a little in confusion. "Oh god I'm so sorry!" He let go and frowned a little at the woman before he let out a soft sigh and curled up on the couch before he peeked up at Hinata with wide frightened eyes. In a way, he reminded Hinata of a child right now, a frightened child at that.
"It's okay Iruka. What were you dreaming about? We can talk about it if you want, I made some tea to help you." Hinata said, hoping that would be enough to help him. Seeing him nod, Hinata made her way to the kitchen to pour the tea.
Maybe if she got him to talk about it, it may help him in the long run. Smiling a little, the young woman made her way back to the living room and saw Iruka still curled up on the couch. Frowning a little, the blue haired woman made her way over to Iruka and sat down with him. "Here." She said with a smile before handing him a cup of tea. "Iruka, what's wrong?" She asked softly.
"I just thought about Daisuke. How he managed to curse me. Just thinking about it makes the scar burn." Iruka whispered, causing Hinata to frown a little in confusion.
"What do you mean? How were you cursed?" asked Hinata.
"You see, a bite can turn a human into a werewolf on the next full moon." Iruka explained, causing Hinata to frown a little in confusion. "But a scratch though, it can 'curse' someone to have some abilities like a wolf. Such as sense of smell, sight and so on. Yet, it is very difficult to control it." Iruka chuckled a little sadly at the memory it seemed. "You see, after the first full moon, my senses got stronger, but so did my anger."
"Anger?"
"A wolf sometimes just act, as they can get agitated rather easily. For me, I would lose my temper rather easily, even just a simple shove would make me snarl at people. I knew something was wrong with me when my injury healed after a week." Iruka shook his head before looking up at Hinata and frowned a little. The blue haired woman gave him a small smile before holding out the tea to the brown haired man. Iruka nodded his head before accepting the tea and sipped at it.
Hinata gave him a small smile before sipped at her own tea. "How did you learn to control it?" asked Hinata.
"Minato came to me I guess, feeling guilty at first. I know why that is now and I know that he felt bad for his brother scratching me." Iruka whispered before shaking his head and sighed softly. Yeah, the memory bothered him a little.
"How about we go for a walk. I think maybe some fresh air will do you some good." Hinata said with a small smile.
Iruka blinked his eyes for a moment before nodding his head slowly. Yeah, it seemed that he agreed with her on that. Hinata smiled a little before allowing the two to finish their tea and started to make their way to the door. It was a nice day so why waste it away being inside all day?
"Do you have any control over it now or do you still struggle with it?" asked Hinata.
"For the most part, I have it under control. There are times when I slip but that only happens if I'm in pain or just angry." Iruka said with a soft sigh before walking out of the apartment with Hinata, locking up behind them. "Though, it is still hard to handle it but Kakashi helps me here and there." Iruka said with a smile on his face and chuckled a little. Hinata didn't think she had ever seen Iruka this happy before in her entire life. It was nice, to see the man so happy.
Though, she knew that he was still rather conflicted, even though Iruka seemed to love Kakashi, it seemed that he was still struggling with his own feelings. It made her think back on how she had felt for Naruto. She loved him, she knew that better than anyone but knew that it had been hard on him as well since he was afraid of her reaction to him.
"Iruka, I think you should just tell Kakashi how you feel about him. You do love him after all right?"
"I… uh…"
"What does your heart tell you?" asked Hinata with a frown on her face.
"It tells me that I do care about Kakashi greatly, more than a friend but it's hard to explain." Iruka whispered softly before he took a deep breath and looked over at Hinata for a moment until something seemed to make the man jolt. Hinata frowned a little in confusion before he rushed over and tackled her to the ground.
Not a moment too soon, for a hand had swiped at where the blue haired woman was. Hinata looked up in shock and saw Daisuke. He looked at the two of them with a crazy look in his eyes. "You!" Hinata shouted.
"Ah, and I thought that I would have gotten you too." Pouted the man before he snarled. "Though, I want to hurt you. I know why my nephew hadn't come to join me yet. It's because of you, you are the one thing that is keeping him from joining me!" Iruka started to tremble, Hinata could feel it as he held onto her. "So I'll have to make sure that he comes to me knowing that I have the one thing that is most precious to him."
"You won't have her, you've already ruined my life I won't let you ruin hers!" Iruka said, he started to tremble but he tried to sound brave. Wanting to make sure that he could keep himself from going into some kind of shock. "Stay away from us." Iruka snarled, his eyes glowing gold.
"Oh, but sadly I have to take her in order to get my nephew to join me." Daisuke said with a smirk before he rushed forward, punching Iruka in the head. Only to slam his knee into the man's stomach. Iruka felt the wind being knocked out of him before falling onto the ground below him. Iruka groaned before wrapping his arms around the man and snarled. "You won't give up eh?"
"No!" Iruka shouted, trying to fight back. "Hinata run!" shouted Iruka.
"Nope, she won't get very far, sorry!" Daisuke said before kicking the man in the head. Iruka felt his vision starting to blur. Hinata covered her mouth in shock before shaking her head. She had to stop this, had to do something. Jumping on the man's back, the young woman wrapped her arms around the man as she tried to get him to leave Iruka alone.
"Oh? A fighter eh? I think I know why Naruto likes you so much." Daisuke said with a chuckle.
"Leave Iruka alone!" Hinata shouted.
Daisuke laughed as he reached up and grabbed a hold of the woman and threw her to the ground, causing her to cry out in pain as she felt her vision starting to fade from the pain. "Got you, you little bitch."