Kurenai waited till Tenten's movement through the foliage had died away before turning on him with a harsh look.
"Why are you here?"
"I have no mission, so I chose to follow your team on theirs."
"That is highly against protocol and dangerous."
"It seemed like the course of action I may have been given should Hokage-sama still been alive."
"You're lying."
He paused. He was. Time to resist.
"I am telling the truth."
"Gai."
He didn't have a chance to resist before his hands were grabbed by the man. Kurenai flew through the hand signs.
"Illusion Style: Reality of Falsehood!"
The world swam before his eyes and he activated his Byakugan to try and rid himself of the false world that was building around him. He fought the foreign chakra that was trying to lace its way into his system. He tried to pulse his chakra, but with his hands held firmly apart he couldn't generate enough umph.
Eventually, he stopped bothering and deactivated his Byakugan. A world of swirling non-colours surrounded him, and he was sure he was standing on some sort of sand.
He tried not to trust his well honed senses. Then the voice came from all around.
"Why are you really here?"
"I told you, this is what I believed my mission would be."
"Tell me the whole truth."
"That is it."
The world heated, purples grew redder and the sand began to swirl violently around his ankles. He felt the sweat begin to run down his neck from the heat. No. This was all in his mind. It was not real heat or real sand pressuring his legs.
"It is not. I can feel it. This is my world and you will tell me the truth."
Her voice echoed like a thousand roaring oceans in the non-world, distorted and vicious, yet still hers.
"Show me your face."
Kurenai appeared before him, taller and more menacing. She stared down at him from what seemed like miles, red eyes burning him with their gaze. When she spoke, the sound boomed over the world with the force of a hurricane. He struggled against his own senses.
"Tell me your truth. What more do you seek from this team? Why my team? Have you not done enough to hurt Hinata?"
"I wish to apologise to her."
The world of the genjutsu ended abruptly, and he fell to his knees and panted when the man's hold was released.
"It is as well you should."
Kurenai's voice was still quiet, but it was more placid.
"Kurenai-san, was it truly necessary to use a genjutsu on him to get that out of him? He is a comrade who has helped our youthful teams."
Naruto held up a hand as he rose.
"I understand Kurenai-sensei's actions and agree that they were reasonable."
The man gawped before striking the pose he had before.
"Excellent! Such resilience to survive her prowess and remain youthful! Truly an example to our genin. Lee would be inspired."
Naruto looked at Kurenai as he ranted, and she smiled and shook her head. Did this mean that any bad feelings had been smoothed out?
"Regardless Gai, I think we should now talk as equals and team leaders on this mission, even if Naruto is not officially a part of it. What is our plan?"
The man switched back to serious in the blink of an eye. Naruto didn't quite understand. Was he bipolar, switching at random between two personalities? Or was he merely eccentric like the rest.
"We hold here in case the attack was merely a testing assault. Their losses were severe, so I expect that they will not return until the next patrol takes over responsibility."
Kurenai nodded.
"What about our two teams? Should we keep them separate? What of Hinata and Neji? After the chunin exams I do not wish for Neji to damage her further with words or physically."
"A true concern. Keeping our teams in their current formations may work better. What are your thoughts on this Naruto?"
He didn't have any. Interplay between people was still a mystery to him.
"I would assume your judgements are superior to mine in this matter."
The man nodded.
"Good. Let's keep rotation of sentry duties until the next patrol sweep arrives in a week."
Kurenai nodded.
"Naruto. I respect your skills, but I do not like you as yet. I expect you to make amends with Hinata. I also expect you to eat, sleep and work with both teams during this mission like the rest of us."
"I intend to. If I may be honest?"
They both nodded.
"My interpersonal skills are poor. I have not had much chance to work with others my age, so I apologise for any offence I cause."
Kurenai nodded, but her expression was firm. Gai was confused.
"Who are you?"
"Ask Kakashi."
"Ah, my eternal rival! He did not say much of you, but I shall learn more! When I return I shall challenge him for the knowledge! I shall..."
A vision from Kurenai swam in front of him. It was a genjutsu, and it was only one thing. A sign. A basic wooden sign.
'Run whilst he's ranting about challenging Kakashi whilst you still can. I'll grant you this small mercy.'
He broke the genjutsu and fled quietly and thankfully towards the camp. He could feel a sunset forming behind him, and he wasn't sure that was possible.
The fire crackled as night began to break. The genin around the camp began to get down to the meticulous tasks required after such a battle.
Kiba lay peacefully, his breathing steady. The anti-venom had worked, and he would soon recover. Hinata was by his side, daubing cream onto some of the small cuts on his body. Shino sat on his own, quietly in meditation.
Gai's team was off keeping watch, and the site was quiet.
Naruto realised he had to breathe deeply as he decided now was a good time to talk to Hinata. He realised he was slightly nervous.
He walked over and crouched next to her, observing the careful way she applied the cream to even the smallest cuts on Kiba's arms.
He breathed deeply to calm himself again and caught the scent of the cream.
"Lavender and Aloe extracts?"
She looked around sharply, and he realised she hadn't heard him arrive. Then again, he never wanted anyone to notice his arrival. The sudden conflict was confusing.
"Oh, A...ano Naruto-san, I didn't see you arrive."
There was silence for a moment.
"Sorry."
He realised he had blurted the word. He suddenly felt his cheeks burning under his hood. He'd never experienced this nervousness before. He wasn't going to die, he wasn't in any danger whatsoever, so why was he shaking a little?
"It's ok."
His fugue was broken by those simple words.
"Oh."
There was more silence as Hinata turned back to her work on Kiba. When she finished, she screwed the lid back onto the tin of cream and placed it back into her backpack.
"So, Naruto-san, who are you?"
He realised that a lot of people asked him that question. He also realised that eventually he'd need a new answer.
"I'm...a ghost I guess. I don't know how to describe myself."
"That sounds lonely."
Her voice sounded quieter somehow.
"It isn't. Well it is. A bit. Sometimes, but I don't mind. I like being alone sometimes."
He mentally chided himself for the sloppy, contradictory answer.
"So who are your friends?"
"Anko-chan and Baka-san I think. I'm...not sure what makes a friend. It is hard to define."
The girl nodded.
"A friend is someone who's there when you need them the most."
"Oh."
Hinata looked at him with her pale, lavender eyes. What was he? He would have killed her had he been given the chance, and yet now he seemed so out of place.
"Can...can...can I um...see your Byakugan?"
Naruto looked at her, and briefly activated it to see that no one was watching. He also got a long glimpse of Hinata's chakra flow. It was pale and gentle, almost seeming to withdraw from his sight when seen. He wondered if someone's chakra was a good indicator as to what kind of person they were. Her flow was pleasant to watch.
No-one was watching them. He pulled back his hood, then softly moved the strip of fabric that hid the Byakugan aside.
Hinata stared into his eyes, the azure blue and pupilless Byakugan sitting oddly either side of his nose. The eye was familiar somehow, but then most Byakugan looked the same. She looked at the area around the eye with her own Byakugan sight, and saw the damage.
"Your eye socket is damaged. The nerves and chakra around it are strained. You must feel pain whenever it is used!"
She reached to touch the side of his head near the replaced eye. He rapidly pulled the strip of cloth back and threw his hood up, turning the side away from her outstretched hand. She realised that he didn't want to acknowledge it.
"I cope. The loss was...painful, but I am glad. The Byakugan is a wonderful thing. Your chakra is...gentle."
She checked his. It was dark, and restrained. She realised that something on him was blocking it, yoking it and keeping it in check.
"Yours is pained. You must...be..."
She lost the words to say but she knew what she felt. He had to be in constant pain. He knew he was sometimes lonely, he felt physical pain constantly. What was he that life had treated him so badly.
Naruto shrugged.
"I cope."
There was silence again. Naruto thought rapidly to come up with something to talk about.
"So, your healing cream. How did you create it? It is impressive."
Hinata flushed slightly and pushed her fingers together.
"I like flowers and...I...I learned their properties and so thought it might work. Would...would you like some?"
"I would appreciate it, it could prove useful on missions."
She reached into her pack and rummaged for a fresh tin. She withdrew it and opened it to check it.
He caught a sniff of the cream, and found the smell to be pleasant. He then realised he hadn't washed since the fight. He shrugged off the cloak and checked himself.
There was a gash along a portion of his arm, the wound caked in dried blood. He'd suffered injuries like it before in training; he would heal in a couple of hours without assistance.
Hinata took some of the cream and rubbed it onto the wound instinctively. He felt a slight tinge as the paste sat on the exposed wound, before it began to feel less painful.
Then they realised what she was doing, and the contact of her hands on his arm.
Hinata drew back quickly and turned away, her face turning slightly pink. He drew back more slowly.
After a moment, she offered him the tin, still looking away.
"Thank you Hinata-san."
He took the proffered tin and stowed it in one of his many pockets. The silence was awkward.
"I don't hate you."
The words came softly from the mouth of the Hyuuga heiress. Turned away from him, he couldn't see her expression.
"Why?"
"I should. You bring nothing but death and violence to the world. You would have killed me. You nearly killed someone close to me. You have the eye of my clan."
She turned to look him in the eye, her face set in an expression he'd never seen before. It was angry and sorrowful, determined and resigned. He realised that it summed up so many of the emotions he was struggling to understand. He tried to fill his memory with the face.
"And yet, I can't hate you. There is good within you somewhere. You saved Kiba; you saved people when you killed Gaara in the stadium, even if killing him was probably wrong. You...I don't know. You scare me."
Naruto didn't know what to do. Their gaze locked, blue eye meeting the pale, pupilless eyes in a gaze that lasted for what seemed like some time.
The fire crackled, and Naruto couldn't tear his eyes away from Hinata's. It was the longest he had ever looked at one person, and he had to remember this moment. Something deep within called him to remember.
The face, full of emotion. Every emotion. He found himself seeing a face that wasn't a single emotion but was every emotion. All of them. And yet at the centre of it all this quiet girl. Her face. Her eyes.
There was a cough from off to one side, and Hinata jumped a little. Naruto merely turned to face the noise quickly. He felt a pang of annoyance that he hadn't noticed them coming, lost in the moment.
"Please leave my weak cousin alone, she is not worth your time."
Naruto looked at the other Hyuuga. He recalled the name, Neji. His face was the opposite of Hinata's. There was negativity written all over his face.
"Why is she not?"
"She is weak. She lost to me in the exams. I beat her to within an inch of her life before our sensei stopped me."
Naruto heard a soft sound from Hinata. He realised she was crying.
"Neji-san, I believe your words are causing Hinata-san distress, please desist."
"No. Then I beat the one she idolises in front of all of Konoha."
That clicked.
"Oh. I saw your match."
The boy smiled, well frowned less.
"Any thoughts?"
"Like most of your peers, you are far too flashy and dependant on close up assaults. If I wanted to kill you, I could. I didn't pay it much attention until Baka's jutsu. It was pretty to watch, if too showy."
The boy leapt across the camp ground at him and took a blow to the chest for his trouble. This surprised Naruto, as he hadn't moved.
Shino stood between Neji and himself, arm outstretched.
"Neji, this is not a logical course of action. Naruto-san merely gave his assessment."
Neji stood back.
"Ha. He talks to the weak side of my family, he judges my performance like I am nothing and claims he can kill me. I am the prodigy of my clan! I am the betrayed one who will crush all before me."
His voice echoed around the trees as the standoff became tense. There was silence.
Then there wasn't as the soft noise Hinata was making grew a little. A cold snivelling. Naruto realised she was crying.
Unbidden, the memories of the night in his apartment came back in a rush. He remembered what had happened in the end, and how people had acted with him.
He knelt down next to her, and wrapped his arms around her.
"It's ok, it's ok."
He felt his shoulder become a little damp as the tears fell into it. He felt her arms wrap around him and hold tight, like there was nothing else in the world. He knew it would happen because he had done the same. He understood someone else.
He didn't look, he didn't dare, activating the Byakugan in front of Neji might well be suicide, but he heard the boys scoff.
"Ha. Look at her cry. Destiny is destiny, and she will always be weak. Now I have to pass the guard onto Kurenai-sensei."
He moved off, deliberately loud.
Shino knelt next to Naruto and Hinata, and placed a hand on Hinata's back. The sad noises had dulled to nothing. Naruto checked on her, and saw her eyes had closed into a quiet sleep.
"It appears Hinata-san has fallen asleep Naruto-san."
"It has Shino-san. I appreciate your intervention earlier."
"It was the logical option. You interest me Naruto-san."
Naruto moved his cloak around Hinata's shoulders and sat with his legs crossed by the fire. Shino joined him.
"How do I interest you?"
"We are similar, and yet different. From the skills you have demonstrated, you are a lone wolf, killing at range and at your choosing. You are however very much a lone wolf. You do not actively seek others, and you did not choose to reveal your presence until you needed to. You avoid detection, and when you throw off your hiding place, you strike quickly."
"Those are differences Shino-san. Your clan specialises in Hive tactics, using your bugs as a coherent swarm to achieve success. You act with a team, and although you hide you care deeply for your teammates. This is likely due to your clan and mannerisms."
"Indeed. Yet we are similar. We both hide our faces and prefer the clear air of the outside. It also seems logical that you prefer the dark, as you shift your body so that you don't get as much light on your face as you can. You also think in a logical manner, in fact more logically than I."
"Howso?"
"When I consider something, I too consider the wide variety of options in a fight. From my observations of you, you act as I do, so in the skirmish we took part in, I moved into a further support role once you had committed to protect Kiba. You performed the action I planned to take just before I did. I was slower than you because I feared that committing myself to the situation would be dangerous, or that I might misjudge and hurt Kiba-san."
"So you say I do not consider the danger of a situation?"
"I'm saying that you do not act upon normal human concerns, like fear."
"I trust you are not going to share this conversation with everyone?"
"Of course not, you are an ally, and it would be foolish to share this conversation for no reason."
"Thank you. I don't act upon normal human concerns because I am not normal. My upbringing was sheltered."
"It is a logical statement, even if it makes me uneasy of you Naruto-san."
"I don't fully grasp emotion, or social interaction. In truth I find a kinship with you in that you share some similar concerns."
"How did you know?"
"Because we are similar. Yet different."
"Indeed. I was raised as a normal child. The academy is a place where we develop our ideas and our methods of talking to others our age. Yet you seem to have missed that step. You are like a child when it comes to interaction, yet matured in everything else."
"Eloquently put."
"You do show some signs of learning though. I take it you have had some time to develop such ideas?"
"I have. I made a few friends, each of whom has taught me something."
"Such as hugging? I will admit I am not entirely keen on such close human contact. Or that others are usually that keen on having such contact with me. Bugs are something of a negative in my age range."
"I do not know why I hugged Hinata-san, only that it is what others did for me when I was in a similar situation."
He found Shino's face, hidden behind glasses and collar very hard to read. In a few ways he didn't mind.
"Logical. You have applied your knowledge of the situation, as far as you know it, in the way it was before. All of your decisions are logical, but without normal human concern. You are aware that she is an heiress, and that she is very shy. Such actions towards her are rare at best."
"I was not. But she is a friend. I think. She fits all of the criteria I have for friendship thus far, and yet I do not know how I would confirm this."
Shino nodded.
"I would ask her, given that that is your approach. Do you consider us to be friends Naruto-san?"
"I would. You fit all the criteria. We have something in common, I have held a conversation with you, and you appear to not want to kill me."
"Those are the criteria?"
"Yes."
Shino paused to consider.
"I believe there is more than that. I'm not really sure friendship is something that you can make into an equation that can be solved. Similar with emotions."
"Oh."
There was brief silence as the fire crackled. Shino idly added some more wood to the fire.
"As much as I enjoy such philosophical discussion, it would be illogical not to get enough sleep. As such I bid you good night."
"And to yourself."
Shino rose and went off to sleep. Naruto sat in meditation by the fire, occasionally feeding it to keep it going.
He stared into the flames and watched them dance. He knew he should have been sleeping; Shino was right about not being rested enough. Then again, he'd only been awake for 16 hours, nowhere near his limit of operational function. He could afford another 30 hours at least before sleep.
No. The flames were more interesting. They flickered and moved, creating a symphony of dancing shadows. He wondered if he could hide in them, but looked across at Hinata's sleeping form. The face was purely at peace now.
He stared into the fire.
A/N Just a quick one to say that if you get an account on FF, I can reply to your reviews. I really want to reply to all my reviewers outside of the story text, so if any guest reviewers want a reply please get an account!