AN: Hi guys!
Finally more NaruHina interaction!
I would like to experiment with is adding some Physics concepts in each chapter; by that I mean no mathematics or intensive descriptions of physical phenomena, just that I, as a Physicist, would enjoy drawing parallels. Please just give it a try, I will give you a taste for it in this chapter, so please let me know if you like it. I think it would add a nice touch of originality to my piece. This particular chapter will be named after one of the most influential (female) Physicists, Emmy Noether. I highly encourage you the read a bit up about her life, if curious.
Enjoy! :)
Noether's theorem states, that behind every symmetry lies a corresponding conserved quantity. And this was the case right here, right now. Hinata has loved Naruto for nearly as long as she could remember: It started in the Academy and hasn't flinched under any information – even knowing of Naruto's Jinchuuriki burden - or situation encountered. Well, physically speaking, time invariance corresponds to the law stating the Conservation of Energy. The fact that one can repeat an experiment under the same parameters for instance today, tomorrow or in one hundred years and yield the same results is reflected in the fact, that the energy of a system is conserved. One could always suppose, that if Hinata were to have met Naruto just now, she would have fallen equally hard for him, or that if she were to meet him in ten years, the result would have been the same, for Naruto had that radiant attitude which drew Hinata in, managing to rip her out her darkest thoughts.
One could take that even further, Shikamaru could only supposition, stating that regardless of where they would have met, the petite Hyuuga was meant to fall for the same Naruto Uzumaki and the torch she carried for him would have burned as bright and as powerful as now. Position invariance corresponds to momentum conservation, he could nearly recite those words from the Physics book he read a while ago. These physical truths were described by very intricate mathematics and the realization belonged to none other than Emmy Noether.
Nonetheless, drawing this parallel - that's a pretty nice way to think about it, Shikamaru concluded and he felt deeply happy for these pure feelings someone was harbouring for Naruto – the guy deserved it. And just like that, one could logically place Hinata's deep affection to fit this very incoherent world unfolding around them.
The smoke of his cigarette complimented the dry, hot day in the worst way possible. If the dirt from the roads wouldn't scratch your throat enough, there was this unnatural heat (especially considering it was mid-autumn) that melted you down from the outside. The hot, dense smoke did the same from the inside. Well, if he were to be honest, Shikamaru was changed by the recent death of his father. He needed more time to shake this mood off; who knows, maybe he was a changed man altogether. And just then, as if feeling a ray of light breaking through his dark mood, he heard Naruto mumbling something about instant ramen never expiring like his milk, dattebayo, and thus he noticed he wasn't alone anymore. They headed together to the gates, a small, honest smile gracing Shikamaru's lips.
After arriving first, Hinata could take in the meteorological conditions: it was hot, but not humid. Even though she barely had to run for 20 minutes, she felt dried from the inside by the dirt roads of Konoha - no, more like sand roads if she were to be honest. She was certain that upon arriving at the gates, she held more dust on her body than the average Suna citizen would gather by the end of the day. Since her hair started sticking to her neck, she decided promptly to tie it into a high ponytail, but that was a task to behold; her hair was so soft, it slipped every attempt of trying to tie it. She was sure she looked a mess since her hair lacked any texture to give it shape. Kami, she was a ninja, not a runway model. Buuut she would have Naruto-kun join her and- she shook her head violently. Calm down, Hinata, try to be cool!
Oh, boy, she would need that, as a sweaty Naruto arrived besides an atypically at peace Shikamaru. Naruto took off his jacket and started dramatically fanning himself with his hands. One could definitely see how Naruto's mesh shirt was sticking to his body, failing to hide any detail of his strong upper half. Hinata adverted her eyes, blushed, but talked herself into looking at Naruto again, this time higher up, to his face. Good, now exhale.
Just then, they locked eyes and Hinata was immediately feeling ashamed for having just checked him out, Kami, what if he found out. To Naruto, on the other hand, the eye contact seemed so natural and normal, that he didn't think anything about it. The kunoichi felt a subtle blush creeping in and she started to get more and more agitated, so she tried – she really did – to calm her breathing because it would be problematic for her not to be able to stand in his proximity. How did she plan on walking by his side in this state?
Naruto on the other hand had trouble pointing it out, but Hinata seemed indeed a bit off - she had this faint blush on her face. Well, didn't she always? Oh, no, what if it's sunburn! He reached out to her in a panic touching her face, to which Hinata jumped as if burned and went even redder.
"You're so weird, Hinata!", the blond said scratching his whiskers. As if on a cue, a fast and long trail of dust seemed to materialize out of nowhere and Naruto was sent flying. That was the dramatic reveal of Sakura's fine sense of hearing for you, as she was triggered by the blond idiot's exclamation from afar.
After looking for a slightly crumpled Naruto they found him lying bottom-up in a small crater. Now was the moment where Shikamaru decided, still inside the gates, to give everyone a short debriefing. At first, he was very confused on how during peace one couldn't even stay in the proximity of the walls of the village or how on Earth a Chuunin and an Elite Jounin were kidnapped without any apparent struggle. Maybe Genjutsu? That wouldn't make any sense, Aiko was still a sensory type, she should have seen it coming a long way.
The concept of a Kekke Genkai market was also making little sense during peacetime since no one would dare set the hard achieved peace under threat, not to mention, scary or not, since all nations were now allies, Konoha's Kekke Genkai was really any other nations Kekke Genkai. Even so, sadly, the truth was, many things never made sense, but still happened; this point he couldn't for sure rule out but was still unlikely.
Maybe Takumi found someone requesting help, so he went along and thought nothing of it. Then maybe Aiko found him and assisted him. Yes, now this seemed more plausible, but then why didn't she contact the Hokage stating just that? Regardless of what it was, Shikamaru had a bad feeling about it, since making two such ninjas disappear into thin air was no easy an easy feat, in fact, he was having trouble figuring out the skill someone would have needed to do so.
To be honest, even the Hokage had little clue on what was going on, which is why he handed it to the only person he deemed capable enough, Shikamaru, for thinking it over. He also didn't spare anything on giving him one of the strongest teams Konoha, actually, the whole shinobi world, had at its disposal. Only the Kazekage admitted to encountering similar incidents in Suna, but Kakashi was sure the other nations could have encountered these disappearances as well, only maybe the trust didn't run that deep yet. He couldn't blame them, in fact, everyone else besides Gaara has had the blood of the other nations on their hands – no, now wouldn't be an appropriate time to have flashbacks from the war against Kumo, Kakashi managed to discipline himself.
"I think this may be running way deeper than we are currently imagining, maybe there could be a kind of underground resistance to the new state of things. Surely, some people may not be that happy about so many secrets being shared between the nations", Shikamaru reasoned. Naruto felt goosebumps creeping up his arms and back. If that were to be the case, who knew what they were embarking on. "I am not sure we could trust Takumi or Aiko at this point, so keep that in mind", Shikamaru continued, looking carefully at each of his team's members.
"Even if we were to find such a conspiracy, keep in mind we will probably not be able to do much about it other than report to the Hokage. I also happen to know that Ino's and Shino's espionage mission was also related to a message hawk sent from Konoha never reaching Suna."
Shikamaru proceeded to throw an especially piercing look at Naruto, then a lazy, hooded one at the sky. He then closed his eyes and spoke calmly: "If I am right, neither of them was abducted due to their blood limits. They either went there willingly or they were captured for information. Let's first investigate the area around, see if we find any struggle signs. Hinata, we are counting on you."
Hinata just nodded, feeling taken aback by the possible magnitude of the situation. Despite all this she kept calm – this was the worst-case scenario. There were too many unknowns. This was barely their first theory. They will have to adapt as they go according to new findings. They set off.
Naruto's nervousness did not recede. The goosebumps only spread wider and his movements seemed mechanical. He gulped. Naruto was terrified since this was going to be his first mission with his new arm. He hated its colour, hated the fact that whilst it behaved very much like his old one, it felt off, like it belonged to someone else. It was always slightly cooler than the rest of his body and just felt still like an unnatural annexe, which is why he wanted it covered up in bandages or whatever would make him forget. Right now, regardless of how much he wanted to just get it out of sight and out of his mind, he couldn't run away anymore. All his insecurities swarmed up and he tried his best to still seem like the reliable easy-going ninja everyone could throw anything at.
He just got it not too long ago and not only did he feel self-conscious, but he was not sure how far his abilities went now since he never tested it to its fullest. Everyone needed him to be there, to be the hero he always proved himself as. He never expected such a complicated mission so early on into his recovery. He was scared for the first time in his life, not of possibly dying or losing a battle, but scared he won't be able to meet people's expectations.
While Shikamaru pulled Sakura aside to tell her the true reason for her presence here, namely the supervision of Naruto's new arm and an assessment of its behaviour, Hinata sensed something was off with Naruto. Somehow, she always knew when he was feeling down or insecure. She grabbed his right hand between her own two and smiled.
"I-It's going to be all ri-right, Naruto-kun. We always r-relied on you, p-please just t-tr-trust us as well", she blurted out, adverted her gaze and blushed. After inhaling and exhaling the hot morning air, she proceeded with more confidence, looking him in the eyes: "I am confident you will do it, N-Naruto-kun, but should anything happen, we are here."
Naruto was taken aback. His eyes opened in shock to Hinata's words. Just earlier he was complaining to himself about the slightly off temperature of his arm, but now he felt how cold Hinata's hands were. His arm felt like having a normal temperature comparison if he were to be honest. What he didn't know was that her hands were abnormally cold due to her nervousness, but this was a detail he would only later find out. For now, her touch and words broke through to him and he found himself pulling his right hand away to build a fist, grin and proclaim, as always, that he was ready to kick some ass, dattebayo.
The little exchange between Shikamaru and Sakura also came to an abrupt end when hearing Naruto's confident proclamation, to which both friends smiled. Sakura winked at Shikamaru again and he got it, it meant to leave those two alone, they seem to have each other's back and just like that their mission started with Naruto and Hinata in the lead, and Sakura and Shikamaru closely following.
After hours of search, Hinata failed to get to any lead and the strain of having her Byakugan operating at such a high intensity took its toll. They managed to come across Takumi's bag where he was collecting various herbs, but it just looked like he left it there and walked away without further ado. The Aburame Jounin seemed to have disappeared into thin air, nothing but one of her insect companions managed to be found - dead.
The huge amount of visual data bombarding Hinata was the hardest part, especially since she had to look everywhere for a potential clue. Meanwhile, the others were helping however they could, but soon enough, Naruto proposed taking a break, which shocked Sakura. Naruto never asked for a break. Then it occurred to her he must have noticed the strain Hinata put herself under and that the Hyuuga, more than anyone, deserved to sit back for a while. That was not only mature but also very observant of Naruto, Sakura thought to herself.
They were now still in the proximity of the village, roughly a two hours journey from home, but decided to set camp in a small clearing in the woods just in case something were to happen because they were in dire need of clues. Sakura and Hinata would share a tent, same went for the two men. Since Shikamaru and Naruto offered to look for wood and maybe some food other than the standard mission bars, Hinata and Sakura started building up the tents. The Hyuuga decided to open up about the news she just received the day before at home. Sakura was the only one besides her clan to know of the full extent of her injury.
"Those asses! I cannot believe it!"
Hinata made an uncomfortable face, which signalled to Sakura she was too loud for her comfort, especially when talking about such private issues.
"Sorry, Hinata, are you okay? How did you take it?"
Naruto was just making his way back, he forgot to take his kunai pouch with him and ended up having to come back all the way from the river when he happened to overhear Sakura's questions which seemed pretty serious.
"Well… I don't know how I feel about it, honestly."
Naruto paid even more attention. Hinata wasn't stuttering? Why was she so pale? She usually had those pink cheeks going on, is she sick?
"I understand, but it makes me angry. Like your whole value resumes to your ability to be married off."
"Neji-nii would have been very upset to see me sealed."
That's it. Naruto didn't hear anything anymore, he felt like something snapped in him: They wanted Hinata sealed, just like Neji. No, this could not be happening, no, not on his watch. Neji's dying words still resounded in his head: "Lady Hinata... Is willing to die for you. So you hold more than one life in your hands... "
Yes, Hinata's protection now fell over to him as well. No way in hell he was going to allow this to these hags. Why couldn't they learn anything from Neji's death? Why would they label someone as strong and caring like Hinata as being less? He couldn't possibly let such a thing happen. Not on his watch! How could she seem so happy before, at the gates, yesterday at the debriefing, so carefree and tell no one but Sakura about what was going on? And what on Earth did Sakura know that he didn't? He had to calm himself back again before going back to the camp.
"Hey, it's not nice to listen in, you know", Shikamaru interjected while smoking. He was leaning against a tree, probably to stay out of Sakura's sight. Not that she didn't have more pressing matters at hand. Surely, he was skipping work and had the incredible luck overhearing such troublesome personal matters.
"Sometimes, there might be nothing you can do about it", Shikamaru said in a stern tone.
The cigarette was now stomped under Naruto's foot. He was angrily holding Shikamaru's collar and looking him in the eye. He then said in a low tone: "I don't know what's gotten to you, but acting so indifferent to such matters not how my friend, Shikamaru, would have reacted."
He proceeded to ease Shikamaru out of his grip, feeling sorry for his outburst.
"We need you, dattebayo!"
Shikamaru agreed, sighing, then looking at Naruto with the sharp determination no one has seen o his face after that fateful day when Shikaku died:
"We all need to wake up because the world is moving forward. We need to stick for each other. Sorry, Naruto, I'm here now. Let's figure everything out."
And just like that, Shikamaru and Naruto walked back into the camp side by side.
AN: Guys, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I am looking up to hearing what your thoughts are. :)
See you next time!