What is Love?
Chapter 29
Hinata was getting to where she wanted to stay asleep all of the time. Her dreams seemed to get better and better lately. Reality had a way of being too harsh and no fun at all…but in her dreams, especially of late, she was deliriously happy.
In this one she and Naruto lay in bed…their bed, and cuddled and giggled like little kids. Of course his fingers were being naughty once in a while which made her blush and giggle more, but then she would be a little naughty too, with a little deeper blush of course, and a moan from her Naruto-kun.
His sparkling blue eyes were enough to make her weak as she looked into them, but his eyes always did that to her and his smile. His smile was wondrous because she knew it was just for her. She would reach over and tickle him, or he would reach over and tickle her and the giggling would start all over again.
It was very pleasant and she wondered why they ever left bed at all? It would be wonderful if they could stay in bed all day and tell the world to go screw itself!
She giggled and blushed slightly. She had never used such language before…but it felt kind of nice to cut loose once in a while, and Naruto didn't mind. He made her feel something she never felt before and it was something she wouldn't give up for all the money in the Fire Daimyo's treasury... he made her feel comfortable, with the world, but most importantly, with herself.
Before
long he leaned over her and smiled his beautiful smile, his lips less
then an inch from hers, and her lips pursed as if trying to reach for
him.
"Hina-chan…I love you, but sleepy time is done, I need
you to wake up."
Hinata frowned as she considered his words. Wake up? But she was awake…wasn't she?
Noises began to creep in on their beautiful scene and she whined, but then she felt a shaking sensation on her shoulder and an awful stench that made her choke slightly, and she waved a hand in front of her face. Did Naruto-kun forget to brush? She thought as the light began to get brighter and her eyes fluttered then opened.
The vision began to fade and she pouted and blinked her eyes a few times, and Naruto's face began to swim in front of her and he was looking at her from an odd angle, almost like he was sideways.
Slowly she opened her eyes all of the way and understood as her memory slowly returned. They were on a mission together, to the dark forest, Zombies!
Hinata blinked quickly as she looked around, then She remembered how they looked, and how they smelled! But they made it out thanks to Fana, and Naruto-kun's back!!
She turned and looked at him in concern, but his smile and his happy eyes made her relax as she remembered Fana said he was healing.
Hinata calmed her breathing as she looked around the clearing again. They were far from the leaf village…and on a mission. Slowly she began to sit up and she understood what had happened. As the heat of the moment returned to her…
Naruto said he loved her!!
As she started to swoon again, the blood rushing to every available space in her face, Naruto rubbed her shoulders briskly. "Whoa, easy killer…catch your breath…you can sleep later…but we need to get moving now."
Hinata nodded as he helped her to her feet then she understood his strange angle. Naruto was strapped to a litter. "Naru-kun…are your legs still unable to work?"
Naruto nodded and frowned as he looked down at the afore mentioned limbs. "I can feel them now, and wiggle my toes and feet a little…but Shikamaru suggested this because we don't know if he will be back."
Hinata frowned as she checked the ropes binding him to the litter. He was secured very well, and there was no chance of him falling off, so she looked at him and asked the first question that popped into her mind. "Him? Who him? Shikamaru?"
Naruto shook his head and pointed towards the dark forest which seemed closer then it was before she fainted. "The little old, gimpy, guy who was here earlier."
At Hinata's blank stare he grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "Oh yeah…you were taking a nap…not much to tell about him…a short, old, man with more wrinkles then hair was here and he talked to me. He had a bad limp, and he had a hump on his back I think…not very pretty I can assure you.
He seemed to know about me and you and he wanted me to tell the people of the leaf village a message."
Hinata felt dread grip her stomach as she got closer to Naruto. "What message?"
Naruto shrugged and looked a little confused as he scratched the side of his head. "Um…he said to tell them "the "cripple" was coming...and he was bringing the darkness with him"…I think. I didn't understand what he meant…but that is what he said." Naruto shrugged as Hinata frowned in confusion.
Hinata blinked but looked as blank as Naruto. "The cripple? What does that mean?"
Naruto shrugged again. "I don't know…he was kind of gimpy though. Walked with a limp you know? And to be honest like I said earlier, he was not pretty. I guess most of what was wrong with him was because of his age…but parts of him looked…deformed."
Hinata continued to frown as she considered it then sighed with a shrug of her own. "I don't know Naru-kun…it sounds kind of weird…like he wanted to strike fear with his name but couldn't come up with anything better then a descriptive term of himself."
Naruto laughed then nodded a little. "I guess you're right. It is kind of silly when you think about it."
Hinata nodded but wondered to herself as she sat next to Naruto on the litter. I wonder if this "cripple" was the chakra signature I saw in the dark forest. It was at the edge of the byakugan, but it was the only true chakra other then mine and Naruto-kun's that I could see in there. Hinata wasn't sure herself, but she would definitely make note of it to the hokage when they got back to the village.
Shikamaru returned at that moment and rested a foot on the litter with a sigh. "When Naruto told me earlier I thought it was kind of dumb…I mean of all the names you could call yourself to strike fear in an opponent…that one is pretty lame."
Hinata nodded and gave Shikamaru a little wave. "We set off the flare but no one came…at least not while we were fighting."
Shikamaru nodded but did not comment immediately. "I'm not supposed to say anything…but I have got to know what happened in there…Lady Tsunade wants a mission report as soon as possible!
I mean when we found Naruto and you lying here we were stoked!
Everyone had given up hope and Lady Tsunade had to explain to your father that you had gone missing on a mission…and he was really pissed when he found out who you were on a mission with…but where were you all of this time?"
Hinata and Naruto looked at each other and blinked with the same lost look.
"All this time? We just went into the forest this morning." Naruto did his best "I'm totally lost" look, while Hinata was trying to digest most of what he said, her brain stuck on her father and him being pissed!
Shikamaru's face fell but then he shook his head. "Are you kidding? You have to be kidding!"
Naruto opened his mouth but Hinata's hand on his shoulder stopped him. "How long were we missing?"
Shikamaru frowned then shrugged. "You've been missing for a week. We have been waiting for you for five days hoping you would come out.
We sent word back to the leaf and they sent us a message to search the surrounding area but not to go into the dark forest, which became harder and harder as the days went by. We got orders to return to the leaf, but we were able to drag it out another day, and thankfully we found you."
Naruto and Hinata frowned as they looked at each other before Naruto nearly exploded! "But…that isn't possible! We..We've only been in there for half a day!"
Shikamaru frowned as he looked back at his team then came closer to Hinata and Naruto. "Say nothing else. You need to speak to the hokage first…and we never had this conversation."
He put his mask back in place then made a series of hand signs and touched Naruto and Hinata on the shoulders and there was a flash of a jutsu taking effect before he got on the other side of the litter and they started to pull Naruto along.
Shikamaru frowned then shook he his as he looked back over his shoulder at them then muttered, "Troublesome."
Both Hinata and Naruto were at a loss for this phenomena. Neither of them knew of a jutsu that would create this effect…they had both lost four and a half days of their lives! Fana was still slumbering, so there was no help there, so Naruto turned to the only source of information he could. But when Naruto turned to Hinata and tried to say something to her, nothing came out! He could feel his throat and mouth moving, but not a sound emerged.
He could still hear the litter moving through the grass and birds overhead but he couldn't talk. He looked at Hinata and she seemed to be having the same difficulty which made him sigh in relief a little. If he had been the only one affected he may have had a panic attack! He hand signed to Hinata, "I guess they are serious about us not talking. I think it is a silence jutsu."
Hinata nodded then shrugged as she hand signed back. "Just relax until you can walk again…I guess we will find out when we get back to the city."
Naruto nodded and lay back on the litter again.
He blinked but he couldn't get the frown off of his face.
Fana seemed to be sleeping deeper then usual, and all of Naruto's attempts to wake him to ask questions were met with loud snores and slight yipping noises. With a frown Naruto closed his eyes and lay there quietly.
Shikamaru always was too lazy to play a prank like this and he looked dead serious…
Just what the hell happened to them in the dark forest, and why was this cripple coming to the leaf?
O
Hinata had gotten a lot braver and more confident since she started being with Naruto…but she was afraid right now. She had not been this afraid in a long time, and now her confidence had fled her, and her self esteem once again hit rock bottom. It wasn't that she didn't love Naruto anymore, he filled her with confidence, but while he gave it to her, her father took it away!
Her thoughts flitted back and forth between panic and confusion! On the one hand it didn't make sense that they were in the dark forest all of this time…not an entire week! How was it possible…and immediately back on the other hand, her father was involved! Kami what was she going to do? If he found out about her and Naruto, her life…THEIR LIVES would be over! He would forbid her from seeing him, lock her in the manor…no telling what else he would do!
She started shuddering as her arms wrapped around her person and she remembered all of the times he disciplined her for not living up to his expectations. His cruel hands, his even crueler eyes…why did he hate her so?
Hinata reached down and wrung her hands until they hurt as she could almost feel his hand stinging her again and again.
Flashback
Suddenly she was five years old again, her mother was lying in review after her funeral and she was crying hard, and was almost at the point of hysteria. Hyuga Izumi was the only person, (Other then Naruto-kun) who never judged her or expected too much of her. She encouraged her, showed true pride when she did well, and did not scold her to the point of tears.
And now she was dead. Died during childbirth. Now Hanabi would start her life without a mother, and Hinata would have to live her life without the mother she loved more then anything.
Hinata tried…she tried to be proper, to not show how much losing her mother had crushed her…but she could not stop the tears, or the sobs that were beginning to take their toll on both her, and the embarrassment it was causing the head family. Hiashi turned and shushed her a few times but his face fell further and further as the council members glared toward him and his "weakness". Finally Hiashi stood and picked her up in his arms and carried her into an anteroom and shut the door. Nodding to one of the nearby servants to watch his youngest child, he stood her on the floor and held her back as she tried to rush into his arms again and again. "Daddy…" she wailed, and though it broke his heart at first to do it, he finally did the only thing he could think of…
SLAP!!
Her head rocked to the right and she fell over onto the floor and looked up at him in fear, as he summoned his fury, and glared down at the daughter who began to become an embarrassment to him.
"How dare you? You are the next head of the house of Hyuga and you kneel there crying like a simpleton!
She is gone…this is the memorial…the time of mourning is past! You will fix yourself and you will come out again and present yourself as the heir apparent should! Am I understood or do you need to be disciplined again?"
He raised his hand as if to strike her again and she flinched away and shook her head quickly. "N..no father…I obey."
He grumbled in disgust, whether at himself for taking the extreme route, or at her for being human is undetermined, but he turned and left the room. Hinata rubbed her face where he had struck her then brushed her Kimono off with her hands. She wiped her tears, then went over to a basin and rinsed her face, before she went out and knelt with the family again. She did not cry again the rest of that day, at least not where anyone could witness it.
Present
She never forgot that day, never forgot how he made her feel and for eight years it continued until she started leaving early to train and coming home late. In this manner she did not see him much, and he did not see her unless he called her into his study. In that period of time she went from training under him in the Juken style, to training under a branch member who only trained her because he didn't want to anger the head of the household, or the heir. All of this changed of course when she moved in with Naru-kun…There she felt like nothing could hurt her.
She couldn't go back to living like that…her father's constant disappointment…or his brutal hands.
She looked at her hands and felt her tears start to well up.
What was she going to do?
O
They walked through the gates of Konoha a few hours later…Naruto stood by Hinata's side. He wanted to hold her hand…but she was paler then usual and she kept a tight grip on both of her hands, her head down, almost as if she were waiting for someone to scold her.
He tried on two separate occasions to get her attention. But she seemed lost in her thoughts as they raced swiftly through the trees. What had happened to her? It was like the old Hinata again…He didn't want her to go back to that…to fall apart again!
As they walked through the gates more ANBU black ops nin appeared until they had an escort of twelve around them leading them through the streets.
Naruto blinked as he looked around. They've got us surrounded…what the hell is going on? They treat us like we're escaped criminals or…
Naruto blinked but couldn't believe what he was thinking
No…not criminals…traitors! They are treating us like we have betrayed the leaf village!!
The ANBU led them through the streets at a swift pace, and they recognized a few faces they saw all of the time when he and Hinata were in the village, but none approached and no one said a word to them.
He looked at Hinata but she was still lost in her own thoughts. C'mon Hinata…snap out of it. Naruto thought as he grabbed the sleeve of her coat, but when he gave it a tug to get her attention one of the ANBU behind them clubbed him so hard it knocked him to his knees.
Hinata felt the tug and saw as Naruto went down, but when she rushed to help him, a dagger at her throat stopped her and three other black ops nin stood there with weapons drawn.
Naruto climbed unsteadily to his feet and turned on the black ops nin that struck him. Teeth bared as one hand held the back of his head.
"That's enough!! Stand down now!"
Shikamaru was standing between Naruto and Hinata glaring at the nin in the back of the formation. "Who gave you drek heads an order to attack them?"
The black ops nin that struck Naruto stepped up. "Sir, he was trying to communicate with the female. We were ordered that they were not to communicate."
Shikamaru grumbled as he took a threatening step towards the nin. "They are not to talk to anyone else you moron! They are not prisoners…they are being escorted to ensure that the hokage debriefs them first."
Shikamaru grumbled in disgust then waved his hand dismissively. "Report back to the commander…tell him to deal with you as if you fell asleep on duty."
The nin took a step back and his stance made it seem he was surprised. "But sir, I was only just…"
Shikamaru clenched a hand into a fist. "Are you disobeying an order? You will deal with me, or you will deal with Ibiki…YOUR CHOICE!" The nin in question seemed lost until Shikamaru made up his mind for him. "Or should I just tell the hokage that you got over zealous with your orders and hurt someone close to her? I'm sure she will be merciful." The last part was said in such a way that anyone could tell he was being facetious.
The nin stood straight then bowed before turning and leaping to the roof of the closest building and was gone.
Shikamaru shook his head and watched the nin go before shaking his head. "New guys are so troublesome." Shikamaru didn't want to be as harsh as he was, but he liked Naruto too, and the nin DID go overboard. He turned to Hinata and waved off the nin that had the knife to her throat. "Just nod…are you all right?" Hinata nodded and went to check on Naruto.
"How about you Naruto?" Naruto nodded but winced as Hinata touched the back of his head and her fingers came back red.
Her face fell and Shikamaru cursed as he inspected the gash. "I will have his ass for this when I get back…can you keep going? I know it's a drag, but the hokage will take care of it when we get to the tower."
Naruto nodded again. Shikamaru turned to the remainder of his group of nin. "That is not to happen again under any circumstances…am I understood? They are not under arrest, they are being brought in for debriefing." The nin all nodded or responded affirmatively before Shikamaru turned and took up the lead again and they continued down the street.
The rest of the walk seemed to be like he was walking through gauze and his vision was a little fuzzy. He didn't remember entering the tower…or the other ANBU members leaving them, but before he knew it He, Hinata, and Shikamaru were at the hokage's office. Shikamaru turned and released the silence jutsu that held them, but they still felt a little stiff, but held their tongues as Shikamaru held a finer to his lips. "Not a word until you are alone with the hokage…understand?"
Both Hinata and Naruto nodded as Shikamaru opened the door when Shizune nodded to him, a grim look on her face for Hinata and Naruto, and they stepped in only to see Hinata's worst nightmare.
Hanabi, Neji, and Hiashi were sitting in front of the hokage.
And her father did not look pleased to see her.
O
Next Episode: Turn the cheek…
