Chapter Eight
Hinata blocked a flurry of heavy strikes from Naruto as they fought back and forth across the Hyūga Clan leader's personal dojo. Despite being a personal dojo, Hinata had long since opened its use to Naruto's family as well as their friends on teams Eight, Nine, Ten, and Team Habanero. At the moment, Team Habanero was going through warm up drills while Might Guy, Rock Lee, and Tenten coached her and Naruto from ringside.
"Keep your guard up, Naruto!" Lee shouted as Hinata kicked toward Naruto's face followed by one-two series of hand strikes he parried with ease.
"Put him off balance, Hinata!" Tenten shouted. Easier said than done! Naruto's three years at Mount Myoboku had left him with one sparring partner – Jiraiya. Hinata had sparred with Kakashi, Lee, Tenten, Kushina, and, even a few times, Lord Fourth. While Naruto was no slouch, his taijutsu skills were rusty after three years of lacking variety in his opponents. On top of his already rigorous ANBU/KIB training, Hinata threw Naruto into the meatgrinder of the Hyūga Clan's training regimen to correct his lacking fighting style – a hundred punches, a hundred heel-hand strikes, and a hundred hammer-fist strikes on a heavy bag each hand to warm up at the crack of dawn. After that, it was at least an hour of sparring and other combat drills before breakfast. Sometimes father joined them, other times the other teams joined them at random to change up opponents. In the span of a month and a half, Naruto had shaken off the rust.
Hinata moved in on Naruto. Tenten's recent suggestion to put Naruto off-balance via a trip or sweep attack – a favorite kunoichi tactic when taking on a target of a larger size – proved damn impossible. Naruto rolled with several attempts to sweep his legs out, and her one attempted to thrown him had been like trying to uproot a tree. When it came to balance and raw chakra control, Naruto hands down could still beat her. Unfortunately, all the chakra techniques in the world are useless if we scare the rats back down their hole. Hinata huffed in frustration – the enemy they faced didn't stand and fight. If the Venom Scorpions had, they wouldn't need to infiltrate with all the cloak and dagger.
"Get up into it!" Lee shouted as Naruto again rolled with another leg sweep. Due to their linked chakra and common training from youth, Hinata could predict Naruto's moves, but he could do the same. Neither could gain a tactical or technqiue advantage, and they were now testing if either of them had any advantage in endurance – thus far they were evenly matched.
Naruto came at her with a reverse roundhouse kick; without missing a beat, he surged forward and tried to wrestle her into a clutch. Using his greater mass, good, but not good enough! Hinata slipped from his clutches and buried two solid punches into his gut. Sweat rained off his skin from the impact. Naruto disengaged; while the strikes had stung, Hinata's knuckles burned – hitting his abs was like hitting concrete.
"Come on, Hinata!" Tenten screamed.
Naruto thundered forward, and Hinata responded with a knee followed by a left jab. He kept coming, batting the strikes aside. Hinata began stumbling backwards clumsily toward the edge of the ring. He's going for a ring-out victory, don't let him! As Naruto charged, she leapt onto him, wrapping her right arm over and around his neck and shoulder and getting her legs around his center mass.
Naruto initially did not stumble despite her shifting their center of gravity. After a slight pause, his arm snaked around her left flank, goosebumps erupted over her skin as his fingers traced up her spine, and she felt the ground approaching. There was a loud FLOP of her landing on her left side. Despite the violent appearance of the move, Naruto had controlled their fall, and he had landed them both on their sides, cushioning their impact. Had he been looking to cause injury, he could have easily body-slammed her into the ground, and her smaller mass would have taken the brunt of the impact.
"Guy Sensei," Naruto's voice was muffled by being half-buried into Hinata's side, his scratchy morning chin whiskers tickled her tummy, forcing her to stifle a laugh, "who wins in this case?" Naruto asked. Naruto's arms gripped her tightly, and he kept himself buried in the compromising position with her – totally not caring if he won or lost. My, you are quite the opportunist, boy! Hinata's lips tightened as she tried to conceal her blushing cheeks
"Ah… in this case…" Guy pulled out a manual on sparring etiquette and began flipping pages.
"NARUTO LOSES!" an angry, masculine voice thundered from the entrance to the dojo. Oh god, Neji! Before she could react, she felt Naruto being ripped from her grip. Neji shoved Naruto into the nearest wall, shaking the room. "You couldn't wait like a man!" Neji growled, feral and angry. "You defiled my cousin, my clan leader, AND FOR WHAT!"
"Neji, wait!" Hinata screeched as she got to her feet. Neji had left on assignment on New Year's Day, and before the rumors began swirling the compound. Hinata guessed he had just learned about her night together with Naruto. By now, Kushina, Team Habanero, and the rest of team Might Guy had rushed over.
"Neji, cool your heels!" Tenten ordered.
"Not this time," he dug his forearm under Naruto's chin, "not after what he did!"
"Neji, stand down!" Guy Sensei ordered.
"Neji, you're attacking the Hokage's son, and itching to get thrown in prison," Aunt Kushina's red hair began stirring. Holy shit! Gotta defuse this now!
"Neji," Hanabi's small voice cut through, "We said, cut it out!" She jabbed a gentle fist strike, a single finger, into the back of Neji's right knee.
"GAAAAHHH!" the boy wailed as the leg spasmed like a violent animal then went limp, taking Neji down with it.
"Hanabi!" Akemi scolded.
"He was going to hurt big brother Naruto!"
"Will you stop calling him that!" Neji scoffed.
"Mother, Kushina, everyone else out now!" Hinata ordered.
"Hinata," both moms said in unison.
"That is an order from the clan leader of the Hyūga Clan," she reaffirmed.
"Big sister, I need to stay, too," Hanabi spoke.
"Hanabi…"
"Sis, it's important!" Hanabi stared with her intense, wide Byakugan eyes, trying to communicate something that needed to be shared.
"All right," she relented.
"What about me?" Naruto coughed.
"You stay," Hinata stared at her boyfriend intently. "We're going to talk this out like, mature shinobi, just the four of us." Hinata nodded at Mom and Kushina.
"If you need us, we'll be outside," Mom replied. The others filed out, reluctantly, closing the door behind them.
"You know they're going to eavesdrop," Hanabi said with arms crossed.
"True enough, but at least we have the illusion of privacy," Hinata replied, turning to Neji, "You mind telling me why you thought it would be a good idea to try murdering poor Naruto?"
"Poor Naruto? Hinata, I heard he forced himself on you!"
"Who told you that?" Naruto raised up an eyebrow.
"Heard it from some of the cousins when I got back this morning!" he exclaimed, turning to Naruto, "After cleaning up the New Years party you weaseled your way into her bed!"
"Neji, it wasn't like that!" Naruto protested
"Oh really!" Neji wasn't buying it.
"He's telling the truth, I invited him," Hinata said resolutely. The truth will set you free.
"YOU WHAT!?" Neji's jaw hit the floor. "Hinata, you're only sixteen! Did you two use protection!"
"Neji, nothing happened," Hinata sighed. "We curled up and fell asleep together, that's all!"
"Goddammit, like that is any better!"
"Big brother Neji!" Hanabi chided, "How dare you talk to big sister like that! She's the clan leader!"
"She's our clan leader, and she's too young!" Neji growled in Hanabi's face
"Neji, you're one to talk!" Hanabi sharpened her gaze, unmoved by his feral act of intimidation. Hanabi's face morphed into a the wicked smirk she used when pulling the rug out from under an opponent as she extracted a familiar piece of plastic wrapping from her pocket.
All color drained from Neji's face, and his Byakugan deactivated, "W-where did you get that?!" he stammered as Hanabi held the empty condom wrapper in front of his eyes.
"You can be such a hypocrite," Hanabi crossed her arms and tapped her foot, "Did you think this dojo was so private that one of us wouldn't walk in on you and Tenten! You've been shagging her for at least a year! You weren't any older than sixteen when you started!"
Naruto's mouth dropped open, as did Hinata's. Neji and Tenten had been an item for years, but using the clan leader's dojo as love nest suddenly made Hinata feel less secure about doing tumbling and take down drills on the floor mats. "Neji, is this true?" Hinata asked sternly.
Neji stared back, confusion swirling behind his stormy Byakugan. "Of course, it's true," Hanabi interrupted, "I saw them!"
"You watched!" Neji balked.
"Be glad I was using my Byakugan, I almost walked in on you two the first time!" she stared angrily. "Don't even get me started with having to cover for you when father was planning on using the dojo!"
"Neji," Hinata now crossed her arms, "I get that you worry about me…"
"You're too young, and you're the only family I have…" he interrupted.
"… and I get that," she stepped back in, "but you have to accept I'm no longer a little girl, nor am I some princess in need of rescue, Neji. I would not interrupt your relationship with Tenten anymore than I would let you interrupt my relationship with Naruto."
"Please, buddy," Naruto spoke up, staring at Neji, "We did nothing, at least not what you think we did."
"You're still too young…"
"And you weren't?" Hanabi scolded, "What is the difference?" She stared with an acidic gaze, "It's because she's a girl, isn't it?"
"Even if we did go all the way, Neji," Hinata spoke again, "That give you no right to interfere. I am an adult, just like you, and I'm a clan leader. If you're going to have a negative opinion of my actions or Naruto's, you express it like an adult – respectfully. We are all comrades in arms here, and at a moment's notice we might be called to put our lives on the life for each other! Can you live with that?"
Neji nodded, turned to Naruto, and curtly said, "If you hurt her…"
"I won't!" Naruto replied.
"Brother Neji," Hanabi spoke, chiding , "if it's all the same, please refrain from using the training room as a pleasure den; I kind of don't want to roll in something nasty you left behind!"
"Agreed," Hinata laughed slightly at the inappropriate comment.
"Naruto, Hinata," a knock at the door distracted them. Shikamaru! "You two almost ready, we have a mission to leave on soon!"
Hinata checked her watch – almost 1400. Dammit! "Coming!" she hollered. If she was lucky, she could squeeze a quick rinse and throw on her traditional mission gear.
"You going to ever tell me what you're up to?" Neji asked. Hinata hated keeping her adoptive brother and sworn bodyguard in the dark, but the fewer people who knew about the operation, the better. Even the best made boat leaks water at some point. The fewer parts, the better.
"Sorry Neji, this is something you can't be part of," Hinata shook her head before turning to Naruto, "See you at the gate?"
He nodded. Hinata had a bizarre feeling this operation was going to be anything but smooth.
Naruto observed the curious scene of his parents, Asuma Sarutobi, and Aunt Akemi seeing their shadow clones off from the gate. To maintain operational security, Itachi insisted on it appearing that the group was out on assignment – officially, a diplomatic mission to the Village Hidden in the Sands.
"Kinda weird seeing us saying good-bye, eh," Naruto nudged Shikamaru's arm as they watched their doubles hug parents and mentors as they stepped out of the gate.
"Like going to your own funeral," he replied, sour. Shikamaru worn a black leather jacket, black jeans, and a black t-shirt with a faded band's logo on it. Despite being sixteen, almost seventeen, he looked more like a punk than a proper shinobi.
"What's got you on edge?"
"Nothing," Shikamaru replied curtly.
"Oh, is that what it is" Sai, the somewhat creepy guy said. Despite trying to appear normal wearing a set of traditional robes, Sai's pale skin and bipolar face – bouncing between expressionless and exaggerated emotion – made him stick out in any crowd.
To play or not to play… oh, what the hell! "Why, what did you think it was?" Naruto asked. Sai, Naruto discovered, had little in the way of filter. If you asked the right question, he frequently would give you the answer you were looking for.
"I thought it was the fact that he'll be sharing a safehouse with Temari," Sai answered, "The two pretend to hate each other so vigorously." Sai tilted his head thoughtfully toward Naruto, "Perhaps the two of them sleeping together will finally break them of the illusion." He turned to Ino, "What do you think?"
"I think," Ino bit her lips, struggled not to laugh as she flushed bright pink to match the dress she wore under her matching jacket, "we need to work more on your whole filter thing, Sai!" She began giggling. Naruto, too, slid his tongue be
Shikamaru and Temari did not giggle. Shikamaru sucked in a gulp of air as he turned pink, then purple, and he slowly turned to see Temari. Oh crap! Naruto watched as the slow ember of anger built in Temari, causing the vein in her forehead to pulsate like a volcano preparing to erupt. "Easy, Temari," Naruto laughed nervously as he ran fingers through his hair, "I'm sure Sai was…" Naruto's words hung as she glared at him, preparing to set him ablaze. He turned to Shikamaru and shrugged, "… I got nothing, at least her seething anger will keep you warm at night!" Naruto wished he could suck the words back in. Good one, dolt!
"Everybody likes a little ass," Temari growled as she glared with fire in her eyes, "nobody likes a smartass, Uzumaki!" Unlike the others, Temari still work her traditional mission gear, minus her headband and fan, with only the expensive mauve sweater Shikamaru had given her to conceal her identity.
"On that note," Naruto tapped his watch, "look at the time! Let's go, Hinata!" he snatched Hinata by the wrist as dashed for the other alleyway exit.
"See you all at the meeting point tonight," Hinata called back as he pulled her along.
Safely to the edge of the alleyway, Naruto pulled up the hood of the green sweater he wore and put on a set of glasses. Hinata, meanwhile, removed and folded the pale purple jacket she wore in favor of a blood-red sweater she was wearing underneath, put on a pair of mirrored sunglasses, and she tied her normally flowing silk hair into a tight bun. Amazing how changing one or two little details can change your whole appearance. "So," he smiled at Hinata, "What now?" They were alone again – no training, no combat drills - for the first time in weeks, and the simple fact they had no audience was profoundly satisfying.
Her coy return smile made his toes curl. Damn, I'm one lucky bastard! "You, sir," she hooked her arm around his, "are joining me in the local market. We have to get you ready for tonight!" She tugged at his outfit, "Because this won't do." She began to walk him down toward the market.
"What's wrong with my outfit?" he asked, trying to sound hurt, but sounding more amused.
"Nothing," she giggled, "if you're an undercover cop trying to look hip." Hinata bit her thumb as she laughed.
"Hip?" Naruto tilted his head, "I'd never expect you to use such language, miss high and mighty." Naruto scowled, but soon started laughing, himself. "You want to hit up Ichiraku's before we get started?"
"Afterwards, and carryout only, no eating in," she reminded, raising her index finger, "Just remember, I'm not me, and you are not you; the fewer people who can figure out who we are and recognize us, the better until this is all over." A smile soon returned to her face, "Now come on," they continued to walk arm in arm.
Their walk had taken them to several thrift shops and pawnshops. Several stops and tens of thousands of yen later, Naruto was heaving several massive shopping bags under each arm while Hinata carried a few grocery bags under one arm and their lunch from Ichiraku's under the other as they entered Stony Bridge Apartments.
The longstanding go-to housing option for young shinobi orphaned or abandoned but too old for an orphanage, Stoney Bridge had been home to Grandpa Jiraiya, Dad, and Mom at one time or another. While the conditions and apartments were spare – all were studios with minimal amenities – they were clean, reasonably maintained, and affordable for shinobi that only did D-ranked missions or other odd jobs.
Hinata led him up a set of stairs down a hallway with worn brown carpet and dark wood paneling until they came to a door marked 221. She fumbled with the key, and they were soon inside the small apartment. The apartment was one large room with three distinct areas: living, kitchen, and restroom. The kitchen was a tiled area consisting of little more than a refrigerator, a stove, a large utility sink, and some counterspace with a few small appliances. Strung across the kitchen area was a long clothesline. Naruto eyed the restroom, a toilet and sink next to a stand-in shower with a clear plastic curtain. A simple wooden privacy screen provided the only real measure of privacy.
The living area was the most elaborate. A round, worn, dining table with beat-up chairs sat in the middle, and a simple and distressed wooden bedframe held a twin-sized mattress. There were a few mismatched dresses and a small writing desk leveled with wooden shims. "It's very… homey," Naruto had lived in even simpler conditions at Mount Myoboku; he had no issue with this place. At least there is baseboard heating, and there is a bed! You didn't even have that with the Toad Sages.
Naruto soon realized everything was meant to look old and distressed. An inspection of the table and chairs indicated sturdy construction, probably bought secondhand. While the bedframe was also clearly secondhand and the blankets were old, the mattress was good-quality, and the sheets underneath were a high thread count. Naruto's mind wandered to the sheets, wondering how heavenly they would feel wrapped around him and Hinata. Head out of the gutter! This is not a pleasure den!
"So, what now?" Naruto asked.
"First thing is first, set the table," Hinata said as she set down the carryout on the small table, put away the few groceries, and started filling the utility sink with hot water without stopping. Naruto laid out their lunch as Hinata added what looked like borax and laundry detergent to the sink and tossed in a load of the clothing they had purchased. As she pulled on a set of rubber gloves, she paused, staring at Naruto. "What?" She blushed. You're too cute, girl!
"I never pegged you for a housewife," Naruto chuckled.
"Without an army of servants and an unlimited budget, you learn real quick how to do your own wash and buy second-hand clothing," she remarked as she pulled off the gloves. "The wash will need to set a while, so let's eat!"
Ichiraku's was heavenly, made even better by her company. "So, how long have you had this place?"
"A little over two years; shortly after Sasuke joined the KIB." Hinata stared across the room to a green duffel bag, "He was my partner when we started this investigation."
"Partner?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"He was Itachi Tanaka, a low-level gang leader looking to do business, and I was posing as his wife."
"You two didn't…." The nightmare scenario of the two sharing the one bed flashed through Naruto's head.
"No, Naruto," she cut him off, "he's not my type for one, and for two, he said it was, 'In poor taste to sleep with my best friend's girlfriend'," she imitated Sasuke's voice.
"But there is only one bed…"
"He slept on a floor mat, he insisted" she laughed, "You won't be, unless you'd prefer…" she let her voice trail off thick with mischief.
"No!" Naruto protested.
"Good!" She clapped her hands, 'Now strip out of that outfit and get in the shower."
"WHAT?!" Naruto felt his face turn red at the truly bizarre command
"Well," Hinata grinned, "having you clean makes disguising you that much simpler. You'll find towels next to the shower; now get to it, boy!"
Naruto got up and did as he was told, feeling oddly exposed despite the privacy screen. Hinata was rustling with something, but what he couldn't be sure what over the din of the shower. She could be using the Byakugan of hers to stare. Freshly scrubbed, he shut off the water. "Just come out in your boxers, don't bother getting dressed yet!" Hinata called with a strained voice. Naruto toweled off, put on his boxers, and peeked his head out from the screen. "Well," Hinata said, turning pink as she hung several outfits from the clothesline, "come on, now." She gestured him to come over.
As Naruto approached, he noticed what looked like a massive makeup kit sprawled out on the table, and Hinata wore whiskers marks similar to his own. "What's with the whiskers?"
"They're all the rage at the nightclubs in the red-light district," Hinata explained, "The same clubs we're going to tonight." She walked up and eyed him curiously. She went to her kit and retrieved a slip of paper and a few other things from the kit, "Hold still," she commanded. She pressed the paper to his skin along his neck and dabbed at it with a cotton ball and oil of some kind.
"What is this?"
"Semi-permanent tattoo, it won't wash off, but it can be removed with the proper type of oil." She pulled the paper away and handed him a small mirror, "What do you think?"
Naruto eyed himself in the mirror, seeing a king cobra tattooed to the right side of his neck, "Intimidating."
"Just what I was going for, King Cobra," she winked.
"I thought I was supposed to be Kenji Takahashi," he said. The irony of the name wasn't lost. Kenji Takahashi was a former member of Root sent to assassinate Naruto – almost succeeded.
"Yes, and your gang name is King Cobra," she explained, "Sasuke was King Snake; I figured what better replacement for one snake than another." She put down the tattoo kit and pulled out a comb and hair gel. "Now, time to make you look the part."
By the time Hinata was done, Naruto had chains tattooed around his wrists, green contact lenses to mask his blue eyes, a prosthetic scar over his left eyebrow, and his hair was slicked back and firmly gelled in clean, golden rows. Hinata dressed him in a pair of well-worn black jeans, a black button-down shirt, and a red-leather jacket. "What do you think, Kenji?" She teased him with his alias.
"The King Cobra approves," Naruto said, pulling out a pair of red rimless sunglasses from the jacket pocket. "Don't you, Black Mamba?"
Hinata smirked, letting her voice turn smokey, "You bet your sweet ass, I do! Now it's time for me to get made up."
Author's notes: Hello everyone, and thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this week's chapter. Next week I'm going to be getting more into the undercover aspect of the team's operations, hopefully closing a few plot points I didn't have time for this week. As always, appreciate you all. Stay healthy, stay safe, and I'll see you next Saturday.
-Adam