Blah blah blah blah blah. translation: Refer to disclaimers from the previous chapters
Chapter 3
Sakura stood frozen as the revelation suddenly came to her. He was there when she first woke up at the forest. What had he been doing there at that time? Sakura sat on that thought for a long time, but the importance of that little snippet of information, and the answer to her earlier question would elude her for a long time.
************
Unknown to Sakura, Hinata had been awake for quite some time now. She had been too groggy to really take notice when she first heard voices, and thought that she was dreaming at first. She was wide awake now, her mind reeling from the shock when she finally realized that it was Naruto who was visiting.
She lay absolutely still, not doing a thing that would indicate that she was awake, but she had heard everything.
She wondered, for the millionth time, just why they hated him so. Being a quite girl, Hinata had over the years learned to be very perceptive in observing the many people around her. And she had noticed this trend many times before when it came to the man known as Uzumaki Naruto. She had no idea what was going on really, but while it seemed like the villagers near her age only saw him as someone annoying and hence not really worth anything, the adults of the village looked at him with contempt and loathing. And she had been saddened that even now, they still continued to do so.
For now though, she didn't dwell too deeply on that, she would ponder it later. The important event for now was he was here.. he had been here. And she never even got to look at his face.
Hinata had never been a expressive person to begin with, but as time passed by she began opening up more and more to the people around her, most especially Sakura. Never being one to dwell on the past, she rather lived the present with them, getting closer though shared experiences both inside and outside work. She knew that they knew about the situation with the Hyuga's but that didn't really concern them.
For some reason though, she felt that Naruto did concern them, and not just them, but a whole lot of other people. She had always tried to keep her attraction for him to herself, taking care not to let it show to anyone. Not that anyone was really watching, but still. Byukagan users are known for their heightened perception among other things and Hinata had learned to sharpen her perceptive abilities, not just when it came to combat, but on all aspects of her life.
She had felt something else when it came to the young boy, something deeper, hidden beneath the surface. It was that feeling that started it all. It was nothing more than casual interest at first, she just watched him trying to figure out the puzzle that was the boy.
As she continued to watch him though, she noticed things about him, and over time made she came to a conclusion. He was strong.
It started as a sort of Hero worship. When she looked at him, she felt like he was battling something huge and unyielding every day of his life, but unlike others, he was still standing, never giving up. Always believing that there would be a way. Against such a unknown enemy he still continued to fight. She wished she could be like that.
When the Chunin exams came, her admiration for him only grew more.
At the day of the Chunin exam finals, at their last and possibly only real conversation, he had bared a part of himself to her. She saw the Naruto that she doubted a very few people had seen before, and if they did, she doubted that she understood just what they were looking at. She saw not his pain, but his struggle, his self-doubt, his determination to succeed no matter what the odds. His ninja way.
It was on that day, when she knew that she had truly fallen for him.
"But... a person like you. I really like" he had said to her, as he started on his way to the stadium. Simple but powerful words. It had left her shocked and speechless, knowing that out there, someone did believe in her. It had ultimately given her the confidence needed to finally change her and her life, she had resolved later on that she would work hard to make herself worthy of those words.
Now more than 4 years later, here she was wondering if she was finally worthy.
Her image of Naruto hadn't changed much from the boy that was Naruto 4 years ago. Now that he was here, she thought to herself that she would like to get to finally know him.
She didn't know if he was in fact staying, but she promised herself that she should at least talk to him once. As soon as she got out of this hospital, that is.
Her earlier thoughts forgotten, she giggled inwardly as images of the possibilities on just how they would meet came to mind.
**************
On one of the training areas of the village, a lone figure gazes upwards to the stone faces of the Hokage's of the village.
Four years since he last gazed upon this monument, there are 5 faces on the side of the mountain now.
"Your not planning on vandalizing the monument again are you, Naruto?" a familiar and missed voice suddenly says behind him.
"Hmmm, If your going to treat me to some ramen afterwards, I might consider it" He replies, smiling mischievously at his former sensei before adding, "but no, Hokage-sama may kick me out of the village if I did something to her image-- literally."
Iruka chuckled, amused at the thought of the Hokage in her robes of office, punting Naruto out of the village. She could do it too.. he mentally added, while letting his gaze drift to the image of the Fifth Hokage carved on the side of the mountain. His looked back to the young man who had turned back to gazing at the monument, drinking up the image of the person before him, taking note of the effects of 4 years worth of growth. He has grown much.
Iruka moved a few steps until he was beside Naruto, putting his hand on his shoulder, he said "Glad to have you back."
Iruka-sensei..
"Arigato" he stated instead, his face beaming.
"Yosh" Iruka stated, "Lets celebrate! Ill buy you some Ramen, my treat!
**************
Sakura slowly walked out of the hospital and sighed. A cold wind was blowing across the village tonight. After tying her hair together to prevent stands from flaying about, she slowly trekked back to her home. Sasuke had waken up earlier.. as had almost everyone else with the exception of Shino. She felt relieved, but at same time heavy hearted. Naruto's appearance at the hospital had her thoughts going into different tangents all day. She felt lower than a slug.
The last time she had seen him, just before he had vanished from the village into who knows where, Sasuke had told her something. On that day they had no missions to take care of, the 3rd Hokage's death and the aftereffects of Orochimaru's attack on the village had temporarily scared away a lot of the village's customers, leaving most of its ninja's with nothing to do.
Naruto was on the far side of the training area with Kakashi, unsuccessfully trying to learn the Chidori. As she and Sasuke watched at the sidelines she realized she had a rare opportunity here, she was alone with Sasuke with no Naruto to get in the way! Sasuke though, was intently watching Naruto with a strange expression on his face.
"Sasuke-kun, thank you for that time you saved me from the grip of the sand", she had said, hoping to kick off a conversation that she hoped would turn romantic later on. Instead of Sasuke saying something like her being important and all, he had denied it saying that the one who had saved her had been Naruto. She hadn't really believed him, since it had never entered her mind that anyone other than Sasuke would be able to beat Gaara, most especially not Naruto.
"To save you, that guy risked death. Up until now, you haven't really seen him, so you haven't seen his strength either.", he had added after a moments thought.
She realized now, that those words had been true in more ways than one. She hadn't really tried to understand Naruto, to her he was just a person she had to work with, who had over time become someone she was comfortable around. She acknowledged his improvement, and the fact that he was better than her, but she had never really thought him strong. Whatever Naruto may have been, Sasuke was better.
'Have I been that selfish all along?' Sakura thought to herself. Naruto had obviously considered her a friend, he had even saved her life.. putting his own life at stake. Yet she could not even remember saying anything kind towards him.. ever. She had never said thanks, She couldn't even come to his aid, opting to stay silent while two women insult him openly, saying it was a shame that he lived even! Oddly enough, those two women reminder her of herself... long ago.
**************
The 5th Hokage of the Hidden leaf, Tsunade, looked up briefly at the bartender as a plate of grilled eel was placed on the table that she was currently sharing with Jeraiya.
The duo was currently arrayed on one of the many roadside stalls that do business inside the village. Jeriaya's face was set in a serious expression, a sure sign that he was either talking about something pertaining to the past, or business. In this case, the latter was true.
Tsunade was the person on the village who knew Jeraiya the longest, she knew that something important was up but knew that when it came to dealing with Jeraiya, it would be better to wait it out and let Jeraiya say it on his own. She poured some sake on his cup and hers and waited.
She didn't have to wait long.
"I have a favor to ask you Tsunade." he said, before pausing to down his cup.
"Ill be staying here for a while, but I wont be taking care of Naruto anymore. He's technically a adult now, but... its more than that."
"What are you talking about?" Tsunade queried, slightly confused.
"As Naruto's teacher, I don't have any more jutsu's to teach him. These four years, that brat has really grown as a shinobi." he sighed. "I'm worried Tsunade."
"Naruto is strong, stronger than any of the current Jounins of the leaf. He hasn't quite reached our level yet, but his limit is still nowhere in sight. His potential is astounding, his chakra--almost limitless. He would be... no doubt a valuable asset to the leaf, and in a few years time, a acceptable choice to be the 6th."
"What worries me is that while he continues to grow as a shinobi, he does so outside the leaf. He is slowly loosing that side of him that is tied with the village. He is a shinobi of the leaf, but slowly he is turning to be just a shinobi. A very strong shinobi, but just a shinobi nonetheless."
"You mean to tell me, you don't want him turning out like me then?" Tsunade said softly.
"Not in that sense, the circumstances are as different as they can be, but basically yes."
"So… what does you asking for a favor have to do with this?"
Jeraiya told her.
"I see…." She trailed off. Downing another cup of sake. Her last for the night.
A/N:
Just realized this fic is a AU in a true sense now... anyway chapter 172 was a huge disappointment. He should have been a Chunin dammit!
Jounin vs. Special Jounin - In the manga there are mention of people who are Jounin and those that are special Jounin. Kakashi, Kurenai, Gai, Jeraiya, et. al are Jounin. While Ibiki, Anko(not sure if she is), Ebisu, et. al, are Special Jounin. The ninja hierarchy in the manga is Genin, Chunin, jounin, and hokage. How jounin are different from special jounin isn't really explained. My belief is, special Jounin are a sort of intermediate rank between a Chunin and a Jounin. People who hold this title are technically of the Chunin rank, but have specialized jobs, which justify giving them the title of special jounin. I noticed that Morino Ibiki and Ebisu have specialized lines of work, Torture and Interrogation and Elite teacher, respectively. ( I don't really know what Anko normally does, but she's cute *smile*) For this story, I'm following this hierarchy.
Regarding just what Naruto looks like in this story, ill leave that up to you. I think of him as looking basically like the old Naruto, only taller and had his forehead protector tied loosely around his neck (like the ceremony honoring the 3rd). But hey, that's just me.
Regarding how he turned out... you cant really saw just what will happen. It's a fact that Jeraiya, Iruka, Tsunade and maybe even Kakashi did a lot of stupid things when they were young. (Kakashi vol 16, Iruka chap 1, Jeraiya and Tsunade... well they still do a lot of stupid things on occasion.) So saying that its impossible that Naruto will turn out like that blah blah blah would be wrong because these people may have acted similarly to him at a young age but they all turned out differently.. weird, but a different kind of weird. hehe.
On the last chapter, someone mentioned grammatical errors. I offer no excuses for that.. but your probably continue to see them anyway. I'm posting this stories without the benifit of a beta reader, and I'm basically too lazy to double-check the stuff I write. ( I use Wordpad to type is as well, and use Word only before I upload *hangs head*) I guess I could look for a beta reader to check up on the story prior to posting, but that would mean that I would have to revise again, and I honestly don't want to do that. I don't consider this story good enough to have to be beta'd anyway.
Chapter 3
Sakura stood frozen as the revelation suddenly came to her. He was there when she first woke up at the forest. What had he been doing there at that time? Sakura sat on that thought for a long time, but the importance of that little snippet of information, and the answer to her earlier question would elude her for a long time.
************
Unknown to Sakura, Hinata had been awake for quite some time now. She had been too groggy to really take notice when she first heard voices, and thought that she was dreaming at first. She was wide awake now, her mind reeling from the shock when she finally realized that it was Naruto who was visiting.
She lay absolutely still, not doing a thing that would indicate that she was awake, but she had heard everything.
She wondered, for the millionth time, just why they hated him so. Being a quite girl, Hinata had over the years learned to be very perceptive in observing the many people around her. And she had noticed this trend many times before when it came to the man known as Uzumaki Naruto. She had no idea what was going on really, but while it seemed like the villagers near her age only saw him as someone annoying and hence not really worth anything, the adults of the village looked at him with contempt and loathing. And she had been saddened that even now, they still continued to do so.
For now though, she didn't dwell too deeply on that, she would ponder it later. The important event for now was he was here.. he had been here. And she never even got to look at his face.
Hinata had never been a expressive person to begin with, but as time passed by she began opening up more and more to the people around her, most especially Sakura. Never being one to dwell on the past, she rather lived the present with them, getting closer though shared experiences both inside and outside work. She knew that they knew about the situation with the Hyuga's but that didn't really concern them.
For some reason though, she felt that Naruto did concern them, and not just them, but a whole lot of other people. She had always tried to keep her attraction for him to herself, taking care not to let it show to anyone. Not that anyone was really watching, but still. Byukagan users are known for their heightened perception among other things and Hinata had learned to sharpen her perceptive abilities, not just when it came to combat, but on all aspects of her life.
She had felt something else when it came to the young boy, something deeper, hidden beneath the surface. It was that feeling that started it all. It was nothing more than casual interest at first, she just watched him trying to figure out the puzzle that was the boy.
As she continued to watch him though, she noticed things about him, and over time made she came to a conclusion. He was strong.
It started as a sort of Hero worship. When she looked at him, she felt like he was battling something huge and unyielding every day of his life, but unlike others, he was still standing, never giving up. Always believing that there would be a way. Against such a unknown enemy he still continued to fight. She wished she could be like that.
When the Chunin exams came, her admiration for him only grew more.
At the day of the Chunin exam finals, at their last and possibly only real conversation, he had bared a part of himself to her. She saw the Naruto that she doubted a very few people had seen before, and if they did, she doubted that she understood just what they were looking at. She saw not his pain, but his struggle, his self-doubt, his determination to succeed no matter what the odds. His ninja way.
It was on that day, when she knew that she had truly fallen for him.
"But... a person like you. I really like" he had said to her, as he started on his way to the stadium. Simple but powerful words. It had left her shocked and speechless, knowing that out there, someone did believe in her. It had ultimately given her the confidence needed to finally change her and her life, she had resolved later on that she would work hard to make herself worthy of those words.
Now more than 4 years later, here she was wondering if she was finally worthy.
Her image of Naruto hadn't changed much from the boy that was Naruto 4 years ago. Now that he was here, she thought to herself that she would like to get to finally know him.
She didn't know if he was in fact staying, but she promised herself that she should at least talk to him once. As soon as she got out of this hospital, that is.
Her earlier thoughts forgotten, she giggled inwardly as images of the possibilities on just how they would meet came to mind.
**************
On one of the training areas of the village, a lone figure gazes upwards to the stone faces of the Hokage's of the village.
Four years since he last gazed upon this monument, there are 5 faces on the side of the mountain now.
"Your not planning on vandalizing the monument again are you, Naruto?" a familiar and missed voice suddenly says behind him.
"Hmmm, If your going to treat me to some ramen afterwards, I might consider it" He replies, smiling mischievously at his former sensei before adding, "but no, Hokage-sama may kick me out of the village if I did something to her image-- literally."
Iruka chuckled, amused at the thought of the Hokage in her robes of office, punting Naruto out of the village. She could do it too.. he mentally added, while letting his gaze drift to the image of the Fifth Hokage carved on the side of the mountain. His looked back to the young man who had turned back to gazing at the monument, drinking up the image of the person before him, taking note of the effects of 4 years worth of growth. He has grown much.
Iruka moved a few steps until he was beside Naruto, putting his hand on his shoulder, he said "Glad to have you back."
Iruka-sensei..
"Arigato" he stated instead, his face beaming.
"Yosh" Iruka stated, "Lets celebrate! Ill buy you some Ramen, my treat!
**************
Sakura slowly walked out of the hospital and sighed. A cold wind was blowing across the village tonight. After tying her hair together to prevent stands from flaying about, she slowly trekked back to her home. Sasuke had waken up earlier.. as had almost everyone else with the exception of Shino. She felt relieved, but at same time heavy hearted. Naruto's appearance at the hospital had her thoughts going into different tangents all day. She felt lower than a slug.
The last time she had seen him, just before he had vanished from the village into who knows where, Sasuke had told her something. On that day they had no missions to take care of, the 3rd Hokage's death and the aftereffects of Orochimaru's attack on the village had temporarily scared away a lot of the village's customers, leaving most of its ninja's with nothing to do.
Naruto was on the far side of the training area with Kakashi, unsuccessfully trying to learn the Chidori. As she and Sasuke watched at the sidelines she realized she had a rare opportunity here, she was alone with Sasuke with no Naruto to get in the way! Sasuke though, was intently watching Naruto with a strange expression on his face.
"Sasuke-kun, thank you for that time you saved me from the grip of the sand", she had said, hoping to kick off a conversation that she hoped would turn romantic later on. Instead of Sasuke saying something like her being important and all, he had denied it saying that the one who had saved her had been Naruto. She hadn't really believed him, since it had never entered her mind that anyone other than Sasuke would be able to beat Gaara, most especially not Naruto.
"To save you, that guy risked death. Up until now, you haven't really seen him, so you haven't seen his strength either.", he had added after a moments thought.
She realized now, that those words had been true in more ways than one. She hadn't really tried to understand Naruto, to her he was just a person she had to work with, who had over time become someone she was comfortable around. She acknowledged his improvement, and the fact that he was better than her, but she had never really thought him strong. Whatever Naruto may have been, Sasuke was better.
'Have I been that selfish all along?' Sakura thought to herself. Naruto had obviously considered her a friend, he had even saved her life.. putting his own life at stake. Yet she could not even remember saying anything kind towards him.. ever. She had never said thanks, She couldn't even come to his aid, opting to stay silent while two women insult him openly, saying it was a shame that he lived even! Oddly enough, those two women reminder her of herself... long ago.
**************
The 5th Hokage of the Hidden leaf, Tsunade, looked up briefly at the bartender as a plate of grilled eel was placed on the table that she was currently sharing with Jeraiya.
The duo was currently arrayed on one of the many roadside stalls that do business inside the village. Jeriaya's face was set in a serious expression, a sure sign that he was either talking about something pertaining to the past, or business. In this case, the latter was true.
Tsunade was the person on the village who knew Jeraiya the longest, she knew that something important was up but knew that when it came to dealing with Jeraiya, it would be better to wait it out and let Jeraiya say it on his own. She poured some sake on his cup and hers and waited.
She didn't have to wait long.
"I have a favor to ask you Tsunade." he said, before pausing to down his cup.
"Ill be staying here for a while, but I wont be taking care of Naruto anymore. He's technically a adult now, but... its more than that."
"What are you talking about?" Tsunade queried, slightly confused.
"As Naruto's teacher, I don't have any more jutsu's to teach him. These four years, that brat has really grown as a shinobi." he sighed. "I'm worried Tsunade."
"Naruto is strong, stronger than any of the current Jounins of the leaf. He hasn't quite reached our level yet, but his limit is still nowhere in sight. His potential is astounding, his chakra--almost limitless. He would be... no doubt a valuable asset to the leaf, and in a few years time, a acceptable choice to be the 6th."
"What worries me is that while he continues to grow as a shinobi, he does so outside the leaf. He is slowly loosing that side of him that is tied with the village. He is a shinobi of the leaf, but slowly he is turning to be just a shinobi. A very strong shinobi, but just a shinobi nonetheless."
"You mean to tell me, you don't want him turning out like me then?" Tsunade said softly.
"Not in that sense, the circumstances are as different as they can be, but basically yes."
"So… what does you asking for a favor have to do with this?"
Jeraiya told her.
"I see…." She trailed off. Downing another cup of sake. Her last for the night.
A/N:
Just realized this fic is a AU in a true sense now... anyway chapter 172 was a huge disappointment. He should have been a Chunin dammit!
Jounin vs. Special Jounin - In the manga there are mention of people who are Jounin and those that are special Jounin. Kakashi, Kurenai, Gai, Jeraiya, et. al are Jounin. While Ibiki, Anko(not sure if she is), Ebisu, et. al, are Special Jounin. The ninja hierarchy in the manga is Genin, Chunin, jounin, and hokage. How jounin are different from special jounin isn't really explained. My belief is, special Jounin are a sort of intermediate rank between a Chunin and a Jounin. People who hold this title are technically of the Chunin rank, but have specialized jobs, which justify giving them the title of special jounin. I noticed that Morino Ibiki and Ebisu have specialized lines of work, Torture and Interrogation and Elite teacher, respectively. ( I don't really know what Anko normally does, but she's cute *smile*) For this story, I'm following this hierarchy.
Regarding just what Naruto looks like in this story, ill leave that up to you. I think of him as looking basically like the old Naruto, only taller and had his forehead protector tied loosely around his neck (like the ceremony honoring the 3rd). But hey, that's just me.
Regarding how he turned out... you cant really saw just what will happen. It's a fact that Jeraiya, Iruka, Tsunade and maybe even Kakashi did a lot of stupid things when they were young. (Kakashi vol 16, Iruka chap 1, Jeraiya and Tsunade... well they still do a lot of stupid things on occasion.) So saying that its impossible that Naruto will turn out like that blah blah blah would be wrong because these people may have acted similarly to him at a young age but they all turned out differently.. weird, but a different kind of weird. hehe.
On the last chapter, someone mentioned grammatical errors. I offer no excuses for that.. but your probably continue to see them anyway. I'm posting this stories without the benifit of a beta reader, and I'm basically too lazy to double-check the stuff I write. ( I use Wordpad to type is as well, and use Word only before I upload *hangs head*) I guess I could look for a beta reader to check up on the story prior to posting, but that would mean that I would have to revise again, and I honestly don't want to do that. I don't consider this story good enough to have to be beta'd anyway.