Chapter 25: Secret Hero
The trek back to the village was uneventful, which, to Naruto, was a weird contrast to the reason which preluded it.
That didn't mean the two young students didn't enjoy their trip. Hinata did for having the opportunity to help her love and hero get back home to treat his injury, not to mention hold him close while doing so. Naruto enjoyed the help and camaraderie that he just found with Hinata and, to a lesser extent, her father.
On the way, Hinata and Naruto talked, well mostly Naruto made small talk and Hinata listened. She asked a few questions and commented, albeit still meekly, with stutters. But she was smiling all the time, having an internal battle to keep from fainting out of pure bliss.
Hiashi had expected her to be like always, quiet and shy, even with, or maybe even because of her kidnapping and her rescue. But he noticed that Hinata had lost some of that as she talked somewhat more than he thought she would. Her ever present smile was just as surprising but also a welcome change.
'Is it because of him being her rescuer or has she had feelings for him prior to this night's events?' Hiashi pondered. 'Regardless, I am pleased to see her slowly breaking out of her shell. Being the clan heiress, she cannot remain as she always have.' He mused further.
Hiashi might have been a strict and outwardly cold father towards Hinata. But the way of the Hyuuga didn't encourage gentleness, despite the contradicting name for their combat specialty; "The Gentle Fist". Hiashi had pondered many times how to mold Hinata into an ideal heiress without removing her personality altogether, as he realized her kind and caring attitude is something the clan sorely lacks as much as needs.
Sadly, he found no such way. He had tried talking to Hinata and gave her the blunt approach. And while Hinata said she would try to be as her father wished, she couldn't find it in her heart to be anything but shy and kind, something she inherited from her mother. As time progressed, her confidence in herself withered as she didn't advance her skills fast enough nor had she shown any strictness towards the branch family servants. She even started to lose her spars with her younger sister.
To Hinata, everyone in the clan should be considered family, but the elders wouldn't allow it. "Only the main family is to be considered such and the branch family are all but slaves to be controlled." Was their teaching. To enforce their rule, they put seals on the bodies of the branch family members that react to main members' related jutsu. When activated, they could influence the seals to either inflict various degrees of pain to discipline their subjects or outright kill them if they deem it necessary.
The official reason was that the seal was present to protect the family jutsus and their powerful eyes from falling into outsider hands, as they have the potential to destroy anything that can be used to somehow gain possession of the mighty bloodline.
And while that was true, it was only half of the entirety. Secretly, the elders enjoyed and abused their power over their 'minor' relatives and strove to maintain that power over generations. Hiashi rarely ever practiced this right himself unless severe insubordination occurred.
Hinata was given the rights at about the time she started the academy. She has not even considered using it once.
Hinata hasn't told anyone this, but one of her dreams was to become the clan leader so she could change their ways and make their relatives equal to themselves and remove the offending seal that binds the branch members to the main, or at least remove the part the elders abuse while still retaining the part that protects the clan's secrets in case of capture. That was the true reason her confidence had dropped as it seemed she was getting further and further away from her goal despite her efforts, the fact her skills weren't on par was actually a symptom rather than the cause which Hiashi believed it was.
Hiashi recalled how happy he felt upon hearing Hinata laugh and her overall relaxed and happy reactions despite such a dark event and gloomy setting when around the boy, she definitely wasn't that way around her father. He needed to have a talk with his wife about this, he didn't like the thought of Hinata being unhappy in their own home.
Back with the pair of students, Hinata recalled her and Ayame's talk about their favorite blond boy. She remembered Ayame's advice on how to get stronger as well as getting closer to Naruto. Gathering up her courage, she addressed Naruto.
"Na-Naruto-k-kun?" She all but whispered.
"Huh? Did you say something, Hinata?"
"Y-yes. I... was wondering if... you would..." Hinata stuttered and swallowed nervously as she spoke slowly and lowly.
"Yeah?" Naruto asked, more curious about her sudden dive into meekness than her upcoming question.
"I-if you would... like to... study and train... t-together sometime?" Hinata finally asked.
"Oh, sure thing. I could use some help with some of this hard stuff Iruka's throwing at us." Naruto answered happily.
"Your teacher throws weapon on his own students?" Hiashi asked with a raised eyebrow, which was the equivalent of mild shock for Hyuugas.
"What? No, I meant the things in the books we get for homework." Naruto replied, secretly shivering of the mental image the question generated.
Iruka could be a nice and caring teacher one moment and the next he could be the tutor from hell when the class got a bit unruly. If he started throwing shuriken as part of his disciplinary measures, Naruto had no doubt he would have no more problems keeping the class in line all day long.
"Oh, I see." Hiashi said. He had to admit. Today's student lingo is unfamiliar to him. He briefly mused if this is how Naruto felt when the two talked before.
"So anyway. Yeah, Hinata. Let's do that. What do you need help with the most?"
"Um... I would... I could use a... a sparring partner." She replied.
"Daughter, don't you have a sparring partner in your cousin and your younger sister?" Hiashi asked.
"Oh, yes..." Hinata answered. "But... I have no one that... has not received training in our family style. I think it would be good to learn to fight... someone like that." Her analytical side, for she had a keen mind, kicked in and provided a logical response. While not as keen as Shikamaru's or Sakura's mind, she was still above average for someone her age.
Hiashi didn't believe her for a second. Oh, there was logic behind her given reason, but he knew better. But he decided to go along with it.
"Very well, Hinata. What say you, Naruto-san?"
"Sure thing! As long as I get some help with the books when I need it." He grinned.
Hiashi nodded. "Very good. I will leave it to you to come to agreements on when you want to spar and study together."
Hinata was surprised, normally nothing would come between training and studying the clan ways.
"Father?"
"You have received enough Juuken (Gentle Fist) versus Juuken training for the time being, daughter. But your scheduled clan studies remain." Hiashi stated firmly.
"Y-yes, father." Hinata replied. Inside, she was ready to burst with joy of being free enough to practically train and study with Naruto whenever she wished. Clan studies were performed on Saturdays and she knew Naruto usually made a point to mostly relax on Saturdays anyway when she overheard him and his friends talking one day.
"Sweet, how about we start tomorrow with that homework we got on survival the other day?" Naruto asked happily.
Hinata nodded while smiling, not trusting her voice at the moment.
Hiashi watched the two as they discussed their future cooperation. He intended to observe them during their studies. 'It will give me the perfect opportunity to not only see if this will lead to improvement for you, my daughter, but to also learn more about Naruto and what sort of person he is.'
They soon after arrived at the Hokage tower. They were met with the night guard shinobi as well as a couple of Hyuuga main family members, Heisei was one of them. She was greatly relieved and elated that her daughter was returned home safely and hugged her like there was no tomorrow, crying tears of joy. Hinata, not being on the receiving end of such affection very often, enjoyed it immensely as she returned it.
Hiashi spoke to the guards, demanding that the kumo scum be locked up till morning when they all will be debriefed by the Hokage himself. They did so and Naruto was about to go home when Hiashi grabbed him by the shoulder, stopping him.
"Naruto-san. There's one more matter I need to discuss with you." He said with nothing but seriousness in his voice and face, which wasn't out of the ordinary.
"Fire away, Hyuuga-san." Naruto replied politely.
"This night's events must be kept from the public. It would not do for the people to think the Hyuuga, the strongest clan Konoha has to offer, are vulnerable. Since you are fully healed and have no need to go to the hospital, I trust you will keep all this to yourself?" Hiashi said. Naruto could tell this was not a request, it was an order.
"... Okay, if you say so. But if you don't mind me asking, why is it such a bad thing for people to know that the Hyuuga are human just like themselves?"
"What do you mean? Of course we are human." Hiashi asked, not knowing if he should be offended.
"Then what's the problem? Being vulnerable is part of being human." Naruto replied honestly.
Hiashi sighed. "You and I both know that. But, to my shame, my clan's pride in being the strongest in Konoha, being the seemingly unbeatable clan, is something quite volatile and if disturbed it could cause considerable problems both on the inside and the outside of the clan. I am trying to prevent this."
Naruto frowned and looked downwards in thought. After a moment, he re-affixed his gaze on Hiashi.
"My teacher once told me there are two forms of pride. One of love and one of selfishness. "Pride out of love is good and nurtures growth while the other is the cause for much pain and stunts development." That's what he said. I didn't get it back then, much, but I think I am starting to." Naruto said, his face showing clearly his dislike of the situation.
"Indeed, Naruto-san, I agree. I see this myself and desire for change but there's nothing at present I can do. Please, do as I ask of you." Hiashi asked kindly, but still, somehow, conveyed the importance through his look.
Naruto sighed and briefly looked at the ground before answering"Alright. No one will hear it from me, I promise." He then looked back up at Hiashi with a sad smile. "And I am a guy of my word."
"I thank you again, Naruto-san. You are an honorable man. It seems we Hyuuga have come to owe you a lot in just one night." Hiashi said.
"Naw, don't mention it. I did what anyone would have done had they been me." Naruto said, grinning and rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. He has never been considered a man by anyone before.
'Don't be too sure, Naruto-san.' Hiashi thought. There were those that resented the Hyuuga.
Naruto turned to Hinata, who was still reassuring her mother that she was alright. He walked up to her.
"Hey, Hinata."
"Oh... N-Naruto-kun." Hinata responded, along with a pink hue to her face and twiddling of her fingers. It seems now that everything was back to normal, her shy and meek attitude returned full force.
"I look forward to our studying, thanks a lot for the offer." He said with a happy grin. "So, I will see you tomorrow, don't forget to bring your books. 'Night!" Naruto said and then turned to walk home.
Hinata nodded and gave a small wave of her hand. Once again not trusting her voice. Heisei hadn't the same problem and said goodnight. Like most women, she was very observant of her daughter's demeanor and could tell she had a crush on the boy who was part of her rescue.
"Studying?" She asked Hinata.
"Um... we agreed to... study together... when we walked back." She replied.
"That's wonderful, sweetie. But what about..." Heisei began but was interrupted by her husband.
"Hinata's clan studies remain, but for now her Juuken practices are adequate and should be put to the test against someone of a different style." Hiashi said, giving his wife a meaningful look. How that look could have been read any different from any other time he displayed it is anyone's guess. But his wife knew him well so she caught his drift easily.
"Oh, I see." She replied with a smile. "Too bad he left so soon, I would have liked to thank him personally for saving our daughter."
"Indeed. But there will be another opportunity tomorrow, Heisei-chan." Hiashi said with a rare smile.
"Ano... what did you speak with Naruto about, father?" Hinata asked.
Hiashi knew what was coming and sighed. "I asked him to not reveal any of this night's events to anyone."
"But, father!" Hinata blurted out. "Naruto-kun is a hero! He deserves to get the recognition and praise!" Hinata pleaded rather vehemently.
"Not to mention those dark rumors going around about the boy." Heisei added. "He could use the recognition to..." But a sharp look from Hiashi silenced Heisei.
"What rumors?" Hinata asked.
"Nothing to be concerned about, Hinata." Hiashi stated.
"But father." Hinata pleaded.
"That is enough." Hiashi said, sternly. "Naruto-san will not go unrewarded. It just cannot be made public."
Hinata wanted to protest that, but as Hiashi said he will get some reward she was put more at ease.
"Now, come. Let's get back home and sleep. We have things to attend to tomorrow." Hiashi said, and all present heard the finality in his tone.