::I think I'm suffering from shock. I got so many reviews for that first chapter! When the counter hit twenty that afternoon I immediately started work on the next chapter, which I hadn't planned on doing for a day or two. Hopefully this next chappie will explain things a bit better, I kinda left everyone hanging at the end there.
Also, when I write fics they tend to ignore most of the events in an anime/manga aside from the most essential ones. I can't afford the Naruto manga, so my info for this fic is based on the anime and info from websites. I'm not going to mess with events I don't know! Namely the Fifth Hokage, Rasengan-thingus, Itachi, etc. I will be playing happy havoc with everything else though. As I said, slightly AU::
Hyuuga Hiashi frowned at the room he stood in. It was one of the many spare bedrooms that had been used for storing some of the overflow of stuff from the family's long history. They weren't pack rats, they just kept a lot of stuff because it was useful. That afternoon he had made sure it was cleared out and cleaned, then refitted with bedroom furniture suiting a boy in his mid teens. This meant a futon, dresser, desk, and bookcase. They were all empty and waiting. Hiashi walked out and slid the door closed.
He still couldn't believe it.
Hyuuga Naruto. The look on the Hokage's face when he'd signed the adoption documents had let the old man's pleasure show. Hiashi didn't often find himself doing something he didn't want to, but in this case he was starting to feel more optimistic. Naruto had talent, and chakra to spare, and determination. He could make a good student…
He heard something fall in Hinata's room across the hall and knocked on the frame. "I'm fine," she said quietly, answering his unasked question. Turning away he silently despaired over his eldest daughter's faults. She was Naruto's opposite. Quiet, listened to anything anyone told her, physically weak, and while she had become more sure of herself to a degree, she was still a genin.
The front door was opened and he proceeded down the hall to the main entrance. Kakashi and Naruto stood there, removing their shoes with a stack of three boxes on the floor. "Welcome home, Naruto," Hiashi said. Naruto looked up and hesitated, then bowed. Maybe this wasn't such a bad deal after all.
Kakashi picked up all three boxes and started towards, Naruto's room. The quiet house then enjoyed its first Naruto-sized sentenced. "HEY! Where're you taking my stuff?" Hiashi tried not to wince as Naruto hastily followed his sensei. Hiashi and Kakashi traded a look over the boy's head, Hiashi came up behind Naruto and rested a hand on his shoulder as Kakashi went on his way.
"He's dropping it off in your room. You can unpack later. It's beginning to get late, so keep in mind that there are those who tend to consider this quiet time for study before sleep." Naruto nodded, not getting a word of it passed the part that told him where his stuff was going now. His thoughts had then proceeded to question where the room was.
Hiashi led him down the hall, giving him a quick tour of the main family's part of the Hyuuga compound. They ended up back at the front door. Hiashi stopped and turned to Naruto. He looked at the boy's face. He was getting nothing from that expression. "As your new guardian I am also resonsable for making sure you learn what you need to in order to succeed. There is no need to wait, so you can start now by finding your own way to your room." Naruto nodded and started down the hall the same way Kakashi had gone. Hiashi felt mild disappointment. Boy doesn't remember a thing.
Naruto pause at the end of the hall, looked both ways and took a left. Hiashi sighed and proceeded to his own room. If Naruto had gone the other way he would have found a box sticking out of a doorway. Well, if he found his new son sleeping in the hallway the next morning he'd know where to start with the lessons.
------
Naruto grumbled and crossed his arms, coming to a stop in the hallway. He recognized this door. He'd passed it at least five times. Tired from a long day of training and a few hours of wandering, he sat on the floor and looked out the window. The moon was a quarter full and waxing, painting the walls and floor in silvery blue and black. He sighed and yawned. "Maybe I should just make myself comfortable here…" he muttered.
"…Naruto-kun…" Naruto's ears perked. Was that a ghost? He turned and looked behind him.
He jumped to his feet, eyes wide. It was a ghost! White hair! White face! White eyes!
The ghost spoke again, its head tilted down to look at the floor as it nervously tapped its pointer fingers together. A strangely familiar sight… "Naruto-kun, are you lost?"
Naruto blinked. "Hi-Hinata? What are you still doing up?" he asked. He'd had the sense to speak quietly, but Hinata winced and ran forward, a finger to her lips.
"Shh. We're right outside father's room. Follow me." She turned and started to walk silently away. It was then that Naruto noticed how very quiet it was. His apartment hadn't been in a rowdy neighborhood exactly, but still more lively than this private residence. He tried his best to make his footfalls as silent as Hinata's, but the tension got to him after a while. I've been walking around normally all night anyway… He eased back into his normal pace, reaching it just as Hinata stopped. Naruto looked down and saw the door was cracked open with the corner of a box sticking out of it.
"Oy, I must have walked right passed…" he said.
Hinata giggled then fell silent. "Good night…Naruto-kun."
Naruto turned to say goodnight and found Hinata was closing the door opposite his. Hunh, right across the hall. "Goodnight, Hinata."
------
Hiashi sat in the breakfast room sipping his morning tea, enjoying the light of a new day as it came in through the windows. His youngest and favorite daughter, Hanabi, wandered in and sat down. Hinata followed soon after. They waited. "I suppose Naruto didn't get to bed until late last night," Hiashi said, ignoring Hinata's blush. "Today I hope you two can train yourselves since I will be occupied with introducing Naruto as to how we do things around here." Hanabi and Hinata nodded. The steam stopped rising from their food and Hinata's stomach gurgled. Maybe I should have woken Naruto up, father isn't going to be pleased… Oh, but he looked so peaceful! Hinata had paused at Naruto's door on her way to breakfast and peeked in to find the shades down and his face turned towards the door. Her heart had melted.
"Wow! Breakfast!" Naruto said from the doorway. Hanabi flinched at the volume and felt like his orange jacket was going to blind her. The Hyuuga household was a quiet and serene one based on discipline. Naruto was practically glowing with energy.
"Morning, Naruto-kun," Hinata mumbled as he sat opposite her on Hiashi's left. Hinata and Hanabi sat on the other side with Hinata closest to her father. A couple years ago this situation would have ended with a nervous Hinata spilling food all over, but she had managed to train herself not to tremble—ever. It had been as much of a necessity as learning not to freeze up when under pressure, something she felt Naruto had helped her considerably with. With deceptively steady hands she reached out and picked the largest piece of salmon and set it on her father's plate. Naruto reached for another dish, but Hiashi held out a hand to stop him.
"Hinata serves," he said. Naruto dropped the spoon and sat back. The spoon bounced on the table making a racket until Hanabi's small hand sprung out to slam it down on the table. Hiashi eyed her warily. This didn't look good for familial bonding, and their time together would have to be handled carefully. Naruto's stomach complained as he waited impatiently for Hinata to finish serving everyone. When the last plate—hers—had been filled, Hiashi clapped his hands together and they reached for their chopsticks. Naruto held back, but he still looked rushed compared to the restraint and ceremony the others practiced.
When he finished, he remained where he was. Hiashi hoped this was because the boy was picking up on how things were done, but knew in the best case it was probably because the boy didn't know how to get back to his room from here. Setting his chopsticks aside, Hiashi said, "Naruto, you'll be joining me in the main practice room in the west-facing part of the house. Don't bother bringing any weapons, we'll be working on basics."
Naruto frowned. "What?! Why basics! I'm a chuunin!"
Hiashi tapped a finger on the table and said, "You know the basics from the Ninja Academy, but the Hyuuga discipline is different. Come." He rose and Naruto followed him out, still feeling resentful.
The sisters remained at the table. Hanabi looked at Hinata and said, "I'll be in the training room next to my bedroom." She got up to leave.
"I'll be in the forest," Hinata said quietly. Hanabi paused and turned to watch her sister rise to her feet and leave the room without a second glance. Had Hinata just spoken up for herself? Maybe she'd simply said it out of habit and would show up anyway. Hanabi held to this theory until she reached her private practice room. Hinata was always first to arrive, afraid to displease, but she wasn't there. She really went to the forest training grounds?! Father told us to train together!
Hanabi slammed the door shut and ran for the back door. It didn't take the seven-year-old long to catch up to her sister, who was running half-heartedly along the tree path she frequented. Hanabi sighed. Hinata came this way all the time, had for years, with was evident in the worn dips in the tree branches. Even a young student could follow this path.
"Didn't you hear what father said?" Hanabi asked.
Hinata spared the time to look back. "About what?"
"He told us to train together! I said I was going to my training room!" Hanabi loved her sister, but to ignore their father's instructions…
Hinata looked forward and took a sharp right turn, landing in a clearing. "I didn't hear…" She didn't look too disturbed by it, though. Her heart had been singing in her ears for the past twenty hours or so. Ever since her father told her they were taking Naruto into their family she had been walking on air. She knew Naruto would succeed in whatever training her father chose for him. He couldn't use their style of taijutsu, but there were other things to being a ninja.
Turning to Hanabi, Hinata said, "Attack me…please?" I'm going to be stronger. Father will never see me as the rightful heir to our house as long as Neji and Hanabi are so much stronger than I am, and now there's Naruto… Naruto… The name was her personal mantra of strength and determination. She called upon her Byakugan and took up a defensive pose.
------1 week later:
Sasuke shifted his position so his shoulder blades rested against the tree more comfortably. Sakura stood a little ways off, a kunai swinging around her finger as she waited for just the right moment… Thunk! One more kunai in the tree. She sighed and cast a look in the direction of the sun. Today Kakashi was supposed to be giving them some extra training, but Sakura knew it was an excuse for him to get the team together and to watch Sasuke and Naruto fight. As the hours ticked by she began to wonder if Naruto was going to show up at all.
"Oy! Sakura-chan!"
The pink-hared girl turned to see Naruto and was about to shout at him for being late, but the words died at her lips. Instead she blurted out, "What happened to your clothes!"
It was true, Naruto's orange attire had disappeared and been replace with a navy blue version. The result looked…wrong. This wasn't Naruto. He winced and took a seat on a tree stump. "Yeah, Hiashi-sama said I'd get my old clothes back once I learned how to talk. As if they were connected!" He shook his head, then looked up with a sparkle in his eye and adoration written all over his face. "So what have you been up to, Sakura-chan?"
Sakura walked over to the tree she'd been using for target practice and started to pull kunai out as she spoke. "Since I last saw you, I've done three missions and written four reports." She didn't sound too happy.
Naruto peered at her. "Uh, why four reports?"
Her fist tightened around a kunai and she shouted, "BECAUSE THE HOKAGE COULDN'T READ YOURS!!" Sakura was one of the few who could read Naruto's handwriting. She'd been more than a little irritated when the Hokage had asked her to imitate Naruto's handwriting in her messages back to him to keep the intercepted ones from being understood until Iruka had a chance to 'translate' them. She suppose it could have worked, but even at her best, she found herself incapable of creating the blonde's script.
Naruto blinked. "It's perfectly legible, ya know…" he muttered, looking away.
Sasuke, who'd had very little interest in the events up to this point looked up in surprise. He and Sakura looked at each other? You hear that? I heard that. Sasuke looked at Naruto, then closed his eyes again. "Who'd have guessed that changing the Dobe's clothes would give him better volume control?" he said. What ruined it, was the fact that his voice cracked at the end. He tensed. Please let him miss it…
No luck. Naruto was guffawing loud enough to scare some birds into flight. The initial burst was bad enough, but he seemed to sacrifice volume for more time and fell off his stump thrity seconds later—still laughing. Sakura scowled and started to berate Naruto for laughing when he would have the same thing happen to him. The scene Kakashi entered on when he arrived was just what he needed to settle his nerves. Naruto laughing and rolling around on the ground, Sasuke looking peeved, and Sakura yelling at Naruto. I knew it was a good idea to bring them together for a day.
::Closing note on pairings: In Japan a couple that wants to get married can't have different surnames! One must be 'adopted' into the other's family, so NaruHina isn't out the window! …And what is Hinata's mother like?? Don't remember seeing her…ever o.O ::
