E
Naruto: Stray
By ghettomusick23
Chapter 07 – The Enemy of My Enemy
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its many money making properties.
" " – Speech
Italics – Thoughts
This was the feeling he relished. This is what drove him on a daily basis. The fear that laced every breath they exhaled. The erratic thumping of their fragile hearts. Their faces were always blank, a skill every ninja gradually learned to accomplish, but it could not shield them from his eyes. He was death personified, a Shinigami brought upon the land to weigh judgment as he pleased. The power that coursed through veins felt good enough to be considered erotic.
Walking at a steady clip through the heavily forested area, his red eyes settled on their guide and his voice was almost a whisper, "You are to guide us to him?"
He watched the muscles in the mans throat constrict in fascination, the slow bob of his adams' apple as he struggled with an answer.
"Hai, Otokage-ama."
It was intoxicating and even after several years of inhabiting this body he still could not get enough of the feeling. He was feared, exalted as one of the cruelest ninjas in history before his change. Now the difference was he could witness it on a different level, just like the unease and wariness that he could see clearly from the man.
"Tell me, are you afraid of me?"
The ANBU in question failed in hiding the slight tightening of his spine and instead of turning around to answer, he kept marching forward, unwilling to look into the frightening red eyes.
"We have been informed of your new appearance. It is wise to stay wary around anything unknown."
Orochimaru pouted at his answer. 'Really, was it to hard to get a straight answer?'
"Otokage-sama, we're here," the ANBU guard suddenly broke in.
He watched the forest narrow off before slowly opening up into a large circular clearing. It looked as if someone had intentionally destroyed the area. The ground was charred black in a perfect symmetrical circle for several yards and the smell meant that it happened only recently. Orochimaru took his time admiring the work, then turned his attention to the center where the Raikage of Kumogakure stood, his robes standing out against the darkness of night like a halcyon beacon.
The guard that escorted them bowed before his leader and quickly vanished, leaving three people standing alone, or it appeared to be. Orochimaru could still feel several chakra signatures from the half dozen or so ANBU and their vain attempts to stay hidden. 'Foolish.'
"Orochimaru."
He eyed the young Kage, feeling the chakra he was spilling in an obvious ill guided display of power. He stood back and his body involuntarily itched. He could feel himself growing rigid in response from the display. The need to fight, to tear him apart, to learn everything he knew and suck him dry of every secret he owned almost broke him from the weight but he reeled it in.
"Shinzaburo."
The youngest Raikage in the history of Kumogakure and the strongest warrior in the Lightning Country frowned at his guest. "We have had reports of a disturbance in the Wind Country. I took it to believe that you successfully completed your end of the bargain, but alas I was wrong."
Orochimaru didn't like being goaded and he knew the boy had the answer to his question before he even asked it.
"What was the purpose of our deal? You were to kill Gaara of the Sand, yet you come here without fulfilling your task."
The smile was wiped off Orochimarus face, replaced by a livid anger that made him look more demonic than ever.
"I would watch my tongue. You can easily be replaced."
The threat barely moved the Kage. He stood unaffected, cool and composed. He was the image of a man who knew he had all the cards in his favor.
"I think you're wrong. The Stone and Wave don't want to be involved in your vendettas. Attack the Sand and the Leaf help, attack the Leaf and the Stone counter. We are your only chance of winning this little war. Kumogakure will remain strong without your help for years to come."
Orochimaru could see the arrogance and decided to cut the snake of by the head, quickly. "You're not talking about your only son whose mother you sacrificed to seal one of the great demons of Makai within him. What is he now Shinzaburo, six years old."
And just as quick as it left, the sinister smile was back in place, the power wielded by Orochimaru himself. Kabuto standing off to the side, smiled in satisfaction of another job well done.
He silently watched as indecision wracked the Raikage, the decision to cut their affiliation off and be done with him now or hold his hand and play the hand he was being dealt. The decision was easy. He could kill his ANBU in a single breath and then where would that put them. Despite his claims of otherwise the man may not fear him like the rest but he was no fool. For all his supposed prodigal talent and unsurpassable skill, he was just another cog in the wheel of his plan.
"You require that I take care of Gaara, a simple matter I am already taking care of. My concern is with your ability to follow directions." He could feel the Raikages chakra pulse in tune with his quiet anger but easily ignored it. "The distraction you are meant to cause must be timed perfectly. It would be wise to make sure your men have some sense of timing," he ended with a sneer.
Having heard enough, Shinzaburo took a step forward, his very power behind his chakra cracking the ground beneath every step he took. The force coming off him in waves would have broken a lesser man in half but Orochimaru was anything but an average ninja.
"Shinzaburo, this show of aggression is totally uncalled for," he said, narrowing his eyes at the younger shinobi.
"You have your secrets as well but those do not interest me. Your arrogance is what will down you in due time Orochimaru. Everything is not going according to your so called plan."
"What do you mean?"
Shinzaburo's smile was all too knowing. "You're seal on the boy is not absolute." Orochimaru laughed at the accusation but Shinzaburo continued unheeded. "You should know that nothing is absolute in our world, not even death. Your seal can be broken and there is one in Konoha who can do it."
There was no need to sort through the riffraff. He personally knew the only person who could do it. Tsunade
"I've played this game hundreds of times and you'll find it extremely hard to play me Orochimaru. The Akatsuki are far smarter than you realize."
The itch in his eyes returned with a vengeance and he restrained the need to retaliate, to strike down the arrogant pup and put him on his knees where everybody belonged. "I thank you for your help, I will be sure to repay you in kind," he finished with a smile.
And there they stood; evil and evil, cohabitating in order to further each of their own goals. Kabuto who was a veteran in shady business deals had never witnessed anything like it. They knew if they succeeded it would be the two of them putting themselves against each other for control of the remaining villages and yet they were going to carry on because they needed each other for this to work. That was the only reason Shinzaburo was alive and the only reason Orochimaru was walking on his ground without facing down any opposition.
Taking a step backward, the Raikage gave an unknown signal and Kabuto could feel the assorted ANBU that had been trailing them vanish. He turned to Orochimaru who didn't seem bothered by the action.
"I guess this is the end of our discussion?"
Shinzaburo gave a mirthless laugh. "As always, it has not been my pleasure. Do manage to stay alive long enough for me to finish my tasks," and with that he was gone.
The two of them stood in silence for several minutes and when Kabuto all outsiders were out of their vicinity he asked, "Orochimaru-sama?"
Orochimaru glanced at his right hand man and in all seriousness asked, "I may have underestimated her to an extent. Kabuto; any suggestions on how to fix our current problem."
He didn't answer immediately, taking his time to think up a suitable answer. "The obvious choice would be to try and take out Naruto but with him currently residing in Konoha our options are severely limited but we can succeed."
"And how do we do that?"
"Kimimaro is busy with other tasks and with the Sound Five no longer with us we may have to use some one from the rouge-nin group."
Orochimaru seemed to accept his idea on the subject because there were no further questions on the subject. "I take it you can handle things in my absence."
From so many years in his service, he didn't miss the hint of steel in his voice and like the many times before he acknowledged Orochimarus silent scrutiny. Kabuto rarely counted loyalty as one of his more prized traits because form the beginning he chose the side that he knew would be victorious. Orochimaru was precisely that.
Tsunade filled small bowl full of rice, focusing on her task while trying to ease the tension off her frazzled nerves. It was an extremely rare occasion when she cooked and for the thought to even occur it would have to be for a really good reason. She saw no better reason than the return of her last breathing family member. But her good mood was quickly dissipating. Apparently Jiraiya hadn't taken her words to heart earlier. Not only had he taken Naruto with him but the fool obviously couldn't even be good at the one thing he did well, be a pervert. Her whole afternoon had been filled with nothing but complaints from outraged women demanding justice. Making yesterday her worst day ever since she became Hokage.
She hoped that Jiraiya was more than happy to help the teachers at the Academy by volunteering himself for the whole week of instructions. Whatever the head instructor wanted he would comply or else. Now after dealing with him she was having a far harder problem with his unknown accomplice.
It wasn't the act of talking to him that was draining it was his lack of regard for anything she said that pulled at her sense of order and his lackluster demeanor only added to the fire. She would not let him control her and as absurd as it sounded that a sixteen year old teenager could do anything of the sort to someone old enough to be his mother twice over, she was quickly recognizing her grandsons' talents in needling her. During their earlier discussion over breakfast she'd gotten so agitated over his preference of ramen over the meal she slaved over all morning, she left the room and tried to find that happy center inside herself in fear of punching a hole through his face.
"Are you going to tell me what really happened?"
With a mouth full of food he shrugged his shoulders in answer. One Tsunade didn't like.
"That's not an answer."
Still chewing his food he tried to swallow the mouthful all in one gulp, pounding his fist against his chest for the added push. "What is there to say? He peeked, I pushed and, he got caught."
Swallowing her food, she tapped her chopsticks against his forehead. "You should have run instead of hanging around to watch. Someone saw you on the roof and they wouldn't stop giving me grief about it."
He gave her an inquiring look before a grin spread across his face. "So the words gotten out already."
"Fortunately it's not what you think it is. The woman was carrying on and complaining about the corrupted youth in our village."
Naruto didn't bother to hold his snort at the comment. There was nothing corrupted about this village, despite his earlier observation this village seemed too good of a place to live. The streets were cleaned, people milled about with nothing better to do than gossip about who was doing who, he'd seen several children running through the streets screaming their heads off for no apparent reason. It was such a stark contrast to nearly every other major hidden village and he felt more out of place than he ever remembered being in one place. If not for Ichiraku he would have spent all of yesterday trying to ditch Jiraiya and get the hell out of here.
Tsunade cut into his thoughts, deciding to drop the subject for know. "While I'm at the office I've arranged for far more reliable people to show anywhere you didn't get to see yesterday."
"What did you do to him?"
"Who," she asked.
"Ero-sennin." He elaborated. Pleased with himself for giving the perverted man an appropriate title.
She muffled her laughter behind her hand, settling on for a smile that lit up her face. "In all my years that is the first time I've ever heard that one."
He sat and watched her, wondering how something a simple as a real smile could transform her normally dire looking features with breath taking results. It was unconscious on her part he knew, because she didn't think his staring was anything abnormal, she probably didn't know it herself. Being Kage must not be that marvelous of a job. Including her he couldn't remember ever seeing one with a smile on their face but with her it seemed wrong. It was something about her that pulled at him; made him feel guilty for the sad look she always tried to hide when she would look at him without his knowing.
"Since Jiraiya will be handling a few personal requests, I assigned two very capable people to give you a more reliable tour through Konoha."
He mulled it over in his head and came to a conclusion. Shoveling, more like inhaling more food into his already packed mouth, she decided to ask for his opinion on a certain topic when there was a knock on the door.
Tsunade excused herself and Naruto continued eating what was turning out to be a pretty good meal. From his first impressions of her he didn't think she knew what a kitchen looked like, the idea seemed too absurd to contribute time to and in the few hours they talked to each other he'd found out that she was temperamental, moody, and strong as hell. If she were born a man she would fit right into their universal society.
"Naruto."
He turned his head and found his keeper walking into the kitchen with two girls, two extremely attractive teenage girls.
"Naruto, this is Ino and Hinata. They will be your guides today."
Tsunade felt worry creep up when several minutes passed and he continued staring at the girls. Ino never flinched from his gaze, maintaining eye contact but Hinata clasped her hands behind her back to keep her sudden fidgeting unseen.
"Naruto."
He slowly drew his eyes to look at her and just as slowly turned back to her guests and the split second they made eye contact her intuition flared to life. "Well I have a long day ahead so I have to leave, early." Tsunade almost laughed at the helpless look he gave her. "Naruto, make sure you lock the door on your way out," she said, turning around the corner and leaving the three of them alone.
Now Naruto silently pondered why this whole situation was making him uneasy. He was the keeper of the Kyuubi and an honorary member in the Akatsuki, arguably the most feared group of ninjas in history, so why would two teenage girls make him so anxious to get out of his skin. He could only point to their admission of keeping him out of the spotlight, a decision that left him sheltered in a sense, leaving his only real contact with women of any kind to Noriko and Anko. One woman being his sadistic, demon spawned sometimes wisdom spouting friend who was twelve years older than him and the other was an emotionally scarred, infinitely patient, slowly evolving girlfriend who seemed light years ahead of him mentally. Not a lot of experience to draw from when confronted with situations like this or more specifically people his own age.
Hating the unlucky and uncomfortable situation in general he ignored them altogether; turning back to his already cooling food. Hopefully they would get the message and leave. Until he found a way around the seal he wasn't going anywhere anyway. Too many people were already on his ass. Best thing to do would be to use this time to gather information and plot out a plan of action.
"You're pretty rude."
Naruto figured it was the blonde talking. Even with the aggravation coloring her tone the sad, almost shadowed look in her eyes matched the slight tilt in her voice. Not too loud or too soft, it sounded too much like Noriko for his liking.
He didn't bother turning around to tell them, "The door was left unlocked so you could leave."
"Hokage-sama asked that we be the ones to show you around today."
That was the Hyuuga. Her voice somehow slid along the edges of his annoyance, quiet yet strong in an unobtrusive way. His silent and involuntary observation only soured his mood because she was trying to placate him. "The old hag knows I'm not going anywhere. I don't need a baby sitter."
"Naruto-kun please. Hokage-sama has asked that we only do it today. That won't be too bad will it?"
If she didn't sound so sincere, she would have been patronizing but because Naruto was a sucker for adhering to women in distress he braced himself for a long day. Running his hand through his blonde spikes he took a deep breath and turned around in his chair, "I guess it can't get any worse than getting stuck with Ero-Sennin. What's first on the agenda?"
Ino's behavior began to lightlen almost perceptively and she suggested, "We can take you to view the Hokage memorial. You probably haven't seen it up close have you."
Hinata gave Ino a pointed look. Leaning close so she could whisper low enough for only her to hear, "Haokage-sama doesn't want us straying to far from the office."
Ino failed to see what harm taking him to see the monument would do. "It not like we're going outside the walls."
He didn't fail to miss the soft words and unspoken signals passed between the two. 'So she still is keeping me on a short leash.' Why send these two was the question he wanted answered. Unless they were seriously restraining their chakra signatures there was nothing about them that would normally turn his eye. Whatever rank they were, they weren't very strong but maybe that wasn't the case.
He remembered encountering an elderly shinobi who looked almost brittle in the afternoon sun, like he would break with just a stray blow of wind. The man had been laying on his makeshift deathbed spread in an alleyway, awaiting the clean, cool embrace of death but a foolish youth had attacked him, in a rash attempt at taking the few belongings he possessed and Naruto watched as the man performed a technique that drove the boy into madness, only so he would seek death by a rusted pipe by his own hands. I was a lesson he never forgot.
"Why the memorial?" he asked.
She, Ino looked at him like the answer should have been obvious. "Everyone goes to see the memorial when they visit Konoha."
He wanted to tell her how much he actually didn't care about that memorial of theirs but stayed quiet. If he just listened and nodded when appropriate maybe he would get out of this day with minimal casualties.
"Are you ready?'
He looked down at himself and decided that he looked respectable. A blue short sleeved button down shirt worn open and over a white t-shirt, matching blue shorts and a pair of sandals. It was well made; almost custom fit to his size. Waking up this morning and finding his closet full of clothes had been a surprise. How and when she would have found time to go out and purchase the he didn't know. From their talks earlier in the morning she was to busy to leave wherever she worked at.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a thin piece of fabric and tied the back of his hair into a ponytail. "Lead the way."
The walked through the village and Naruto noted the drastic difference between yesterday and today. There were no husbands shooing their wives behind doors and no mothers quietly hiding their maturing young daughters behind counters and clothes racks. Without his constant babbling about his legendary abilities concerning the opposite sex it was turning out to be a good day.
He was getting a couple more stares than necessary but that was to be expected. He was new and yesterday they took his accompanying Jiraiya as nothing peculiar, the man probably got a kick out of being exalted and feared in the same breath. But now he was being escorted by two women who must have some stature in the village. They were stopped more than once by friends and well wishers and the nosey ones even ventured to ask his identity. He never answered but they did.
An important visitor from the borders. They were such horrible liars.
"You look like him," Hinata thought out loud when they reached their destination.
Naruto had to agree with her but didn't. A couple of years ago the resemblance wasn't so strong but at sixteen he probably was the spitting image of the man. Which, now that he thought about it was another reason so many people were staring at him like he was some ghost. "I've heard somebody say that before but I don't see it."
Ino recalled several pictures she'd seen of the man and the resemblance was uncanny. The blonde hair, blue eyes, even their build was similar in a way. "She has a point. Even though it's carved out of rock you can still see it."
"I don't think so."
Her alarm bells were going off and from lessons learned the hard way and she listened. Throwing her arm around her friend she said, "I think he knows something we don't. You're not his long lost son or anything are you?"
He raised an eyebrow at her accusation and all too accurate guess. She couldn't have known what she was saying but he easily sidestepped her prodding. "I think I've seen enough of this place. Is there anything else to do here?"
Hinata gave him a cursory glance before nodding her head. "This place is meant to be a monument, a gift for the leaders who have helped keep Konoha prosperous. There are no shops or anything of the sort."
For some reason he didn't like this place. Hearing tales about the man who took part in creating him always left him with a hollow, shelled out feeling. What good would tales of narrow victories and reminisces of unsurpassed strength do for him when the man was long gone and he was left alone. His strength did nothing for him. But the lifelike stone carving brought on an emotion he thought he'd sufficiently stamped out of his system, a phantom longing for what could have been.
It was the first picture Naruto ever remembered seeing of his father. Itachi was his only connection to the man and he was a distant one at that. He sometimes questioned if the deceased Kage had any idea of the hell he put him through. In order to save his village, he gave himself and his son and while he was busy enjoying the afterlife Naruto was here, walking through the muck that so populated his life.
Were all father and son/daughter relationships supposed to be so warped? Itachi rarely mentioned his family but from the few tidbits he could piece together they hadn't been close. His father had been obsessed with heritage and old traditions, Itachi hated it being a chess piece so he killed him. Noriko's mother was subjected to countless experiments; her father gave her away at the Raikage request without a second look for the betterment of the Cloud so she killed him. Haku's father killed his mother in cold blood, in front of his eyes because of old prejudices and you guessed it, he killed him. Did families attest to anything in the present world? What was the use when they did nothing but screw up and destroy not only their lives but the following generations as well?
He prayed he never saw his father again for his name would easily be added to the list.
"Naruto-kun, would you like to go somewhere else?"
He pulled himself out of his ruminations. His internal conversation would be best saved for a later time and he smoothed the severe frown from his face. "Actually I want to know what happened with Uchiha Sasuke."
Hinata jerked back in surprise. Her shock so great that eyes were almost touching her hairline. I could be considered funny but his attention was centered on Ino. She stood stock still, inanimate as a rock.
Hinata shook herself out of her daze and immediately tried to reach out and calm her friend. "Ino."
She would have none of it. Slapping the hand away she looked at him with eyes so full of hate, he could feel the razor sharp edge of her killing intent touch upon his mind and the reaction to take a step back was stilled only slightly. This small whiff of a girl was furious.
"Don't ever say that name around here," she all but hissed in his face.
The oddest sense of déjà vu came over him at that moment. "You're obviously angry but that still doesn't answer my question."
She took a step forward and Naruto thought for a moment that he would have to consider hitting a girl, not yet a woman, for the first in his life. He wouldn't have any problems with it but the fact still didn't escape his notice.
With her friend almost pleading for her to calm down Naruto watched the comprehension of her lose of control hit her and the weight of the world was back on her shoulders.
"I'm sorry. It's just…"
The words would not come to her and Naruto blinked in confusion when the crystal clear sheen of tears could be seen. Some unseen force was moving her and she opened her mouth, biting off a sob. "She loved him so much and he destroyed her. He killed her in so many ways. So many people were lost to his arrogance, Chouji, Sakura, Otousan…I…" Her words were lost when she hit her knees and succumbed to the pressure of whatever she had been holding in, caving in on herself.
Hinata kneeled down and secured the sobbing girl in her arms, rocking her gently. Naruto looked on and tried to mentally distance himself from the scene but to no avail. It was disturbing, watching her because in his travels he'd seen so many scenes resembling this but unlike then he wasn't a passerby but the cause in a way.
"We should take her home." Hinata suggested. But from the looks she was going to do it regardless of his answer.
For whatever reason he didn't have the heart to argue with her.
It was approaching dusk when they were leaving the Yamanaka region of Konoha and Naruto had to admit that the clan lived in far better dwellings than he imagined. Their individual homes were roughly larger than the low key apartment complex he stayed in when he was younger.
Hinata had walked Ino home from the entryway and he opted to stay outside and away from the whole area. It wasn't gentlemanly or even right but he was looking out for himself and the last thing he wanted was to answer a million and one questions about why the girl looked like a train wreck and who was to blame. Nope, not today.
"I'm sorry for today. She is going through a rough time right now. It's the upcoming anniversary of her friends' death." Hinata said coming up from the low decline.
"Are you gonna tell me what happened?"
Hinata gave him a slow, measured look. The Hokage had never mentioned Sasuke as one of the topics to steer clear of but his obvious interest in the traitor was alarming. Nobody spoke of the Uchiha openly nowadays and some just chose to forget him completely. "I'm sorry but that isn't my story to tell. Of everyone in this village I was the least affected by his actions. It wouldn't be right."
"How long has it been since he ran away?" he asked undeterred.
Hinata calmly kept her annoyance at being ignored in check. "Four years."
"He was the last one huh." He observed with an almost humorous chuckle.
She didn't say anything but his words and actions brought questions of her own, like how did he know Sasuke. Tsunade-sama hadn't told them a lot but Hinata knew they weren't given anything near the entire story. That meeting yesterday with the Jounins and select Chuunins, the increased number of Jounins she spotted walking around the village, and Tsunade-sama's plea for their cooperation where all linked to him.
"Where did you got to?"
"Huh."
She clarified her question, "For eight years you've been gone and you just pop back up out of nowhere. Nobody knew what happened to you."
He started laughing and Hinata wondered if she said something unintentionally funny.
"You're a terrible liar," he said.
"Excuse me." Indignant, never in her sixteen years of life had anyone ever called her a liar.
Either he didn't notice or bother to care because his next words were just as scathing. "Nobody knew I was gone because they didn't give a shit. Why start acting like you care when you had eight years to start."
The words were out before she could stop them. "What happened to you?"
Because she was a few inches slightly shorter, he was looking down at her, gauging her as if she were some sort of puzzle he could easily break down and put back together. "I don't know what she told you but it would be smart to stay away. You can tell her to stop sending people and their save the world sales pitch. Whoever you think you know; it's not me."
His words must have did a number on her because for the rest of their little jaunt through Konoha she hadn't so much as said a word, which was fine by him. He hadn't been gone so long that he forgot what the place looked like. Over the years he found that the more effort he put into forgetting, the tighter his memories sunk their claws into him. It was irritating at best and a little frightening at worst.
"How did they die?"
Hinata looked up, hating how he was continually shocking and keeping her on edge. In a unconscious effort she was slowly warping back into her childhood tendencies. Staying silent, hiding herself from other peoples' scrutiny, things she struggled hard to get rid of as she grew older. In an almost defiant act she said, "I don't know."
"You're lying again."
He was trying to bait her. Instead traipsing around his around his constant control of the conversation she decided to pick up the conversation from earlier, now coming from a different perspective. "You're taller than I imagined you would be."
Naruto slowed his steps until he pulled to a halt. He changed somehow and she couldn't read anything from him. Where before she could only see hostility and tension coiling around him, now there was nothing, he was a blank canvas and the wind even slowed to a standstill.
It was a warning to her.
"I was five years old. I didn't have a lot of friends because of my position within the clan. I watched other kids play among themselves and wished that was me so many times, to be able to play without any reservations. You were the same way I think but instead of letting it keep you down you went as far as fighting them for some form of recognition." She stopped and looked as him but he was giving her the same dispassionate look as before. "You keep calling me a liar but it's true that there are people that missed you. I didn't say anything to you back then but I'm saying something now."
He was awake for no more than two full days, in a place he would rather commit seppuku than return voluntarily and he was being bombarded with this. The frustrating part was the girl, from what he could tell was speaking truthfully. It didn't seem in her nature to lie, to shield half truths in deceit but she was still one voice against an all encompassing storm of remembered hatred. Maybe a couple of years ago her words would have sparked something in him.
"Hinata, what are you doing?"
She didn't have an answer that would satisfy him because she didn't know herself. Eight years and she still remembered him when others were all too quick to toss him aside and reduce him to lowest denominator. When the parties over his death reached her ears she muffled her screams of outrage and drowned them in laborious hours of blood and sweat during training. Years after his supposed death she kept him alive inside of her for fear of losing the one thing that mattered to her.
Now he stood before her whole, healthy, breathing but so different from the Naruto that grew up along with her in her thoughts. Her Naruto was always smiling, handsome in his own way. He lived life like a rollercoaster, enjoying both the dizzying ups and downs. He could make friend out of his worst enemy and show them a better side of life, walways willing to fight for his beliefs and friends.
This one, the real one was different. Like night and day and it took no more than a few hours for her to realize there was a reason Tsunade was being so tight lipped about him but it was still a struggle not to compare the two.
"Forget about it. Where else is there to go today?"
Realizing she was floundering, Hinata reached out and grabbed the lifeline he'd thrown her. "I have a few friends that you might want to meet."
"Why not," he accepted with a shrug. "It's not like I have anything else to do."
"Do you always have to be so condescending?" she asked, finally growing tired of his attitude.
His smile was unapologetic. "You better get use to it or you won't last another day hanging around me."
She watched his slow measured gait and against the red of the setting sun she thought it was a fitting display.
Today she was slammed back into reality and it hurt far more than she would have ever dreamed. It meant an end to the specter of a boy she protected. Somebody who consoled her during some of the roughest times of her life. A friend when she at one time had none.
Hinata tried to reach back inside herself and find him. She needed to see his smile and hear it was going to be okay.
There was no answer and wouldn't be from now on.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
First of all thank you all for the reviews. You never realize how they affect you till you start getting a couple, then it turns into an addiction- like double stuffed Oreos and milk.
Now we have seen two of the three villains. I got big plans for him and the whole Hidden Sand part of the story. I think I overdid it a bit with Orochimaru. From what I keep seeing he just gives off vibes of perversity Jiraiya would never acquire, which happens when you're evil. I could just see him gaining Sasukes body and screwing everybody and everything in the vicinity, not caring that his offspring would send the world into oblivion.
I almost erased the whole chapter and started over from scratch. After reading 'Asinine Rationalizations' I was like damn, that is how you're supposed to write. Cooler heads prevailed however and I slowly backed my index finger up and away from the delete key. Seriously, take a look if Sasuke rates lower than Ebisu on your favorite character list..
Thank you to everyone that answered last chapters question and I got another one. Before anybody tries to write a post blasting me the question is rhetorical, meaning you don't have to answer. Now, why does Naruto always get the crappiest fight scenes in the anime? At the beginning of the series I kind of let it slide, thinking he was the underdog role and just had to work his way up top but it's been months. The show is named after him but his battles are the least animated and interesting. The list would be to long to name here but a perfect example is the fight against Orochimaru in the Forest of Death. The way Sasuke was going at it with the Sannin you'd think the show was actually about him.
Note, in chapter two I made a small booboo. Haku asks Temari if she's taken her Jounin exam when it should have been special Jounin. Small error fixed that would have screwed up the next chapter.