Author's Note: Alright, this next chapter will require a bit of imagination on your part as the reader. I'm sure I'll be getting a few reviews arguing with me that I've portrayed characters completely out of their normal behavior and attitudes. I remind these reviewers that they're reading a fan fiction of Naruto crossed with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. If you've read this far and are still expecting character coherence with the series…perhaps you'd be better off reading something else. For everyone else, enjoy!

21: Cat's in the Cradle

Hinata watched as the great glass elevator began to descend once again towards the ground. They had traveled across the continent in almost a half hour, which was faster than anything Hinata could imagine. She peered out the glass of the elevator's wall, which was now fogged up. She wiped away some of the condensation to get a better view of their surroundings and where they were landing.

She saw that they were landing in a forest clearing. The entire area was covered in a thick blanket of white snow. Up ahead, she saw an enormous building; it looked like an ancient mansion owned by a feudal lord. She saw that despite its size and elegance, the place was in poor condition, looking very dilapidated. The walls were worn and falling apart, the roof tiles chipped and broken. It looked like no one had lived in the place for at least a few decades.

"Wonka-san," Hinata breathed, "Is that it? Is that where we're meeting your father?"

Wonka-san looked through the clear patch of glass Hinata had wiped clean. Hinata saw Wonka-san swallow nervously as he looked towards the giant dwelling. "Yeah." He mumbled, "that's…probably it." It seemed to Hinata that Wonka-san was quite nervous about the prospect of meeting his father. She felt encouraged by the fact that her own meeting with her father had gone so smoothly, thanks to Wonka-san. She knew that she'd do everything she could to return the favour.

"Sugoi…" Naruto gasped, "what a big place! Too bad it looks so crappy."

Hinata gave him a concerned look. She leaned over and whispered to him, "Naruto-kun, that's Wonka-san's father's house. You shouldn't call it crappy, it's disrespectful."

"Hinata-chan," Naruto whispered back, "look at the place, how can someone live in that house. It's falling apart everywhere."

"Oooh, I like to whisper too," Wonka-san's voice snuck in out of the corner of both of the Genin's ears, "It's okay to call that place crappy, Hinata. To be honest, it's a crappy place." He whispered to them.

Then, with a bit of a thump, the great glass elevator landed. Wonka-san pushed a button and the doors slid open, letting the three of them out and into the snow. They walked out a bit, breathing in the cold air. Hinata felt the inside of her nose freeze as she took in the chilly air. Wonka-san turned around to face Naruto and gave him a telling smile.

"Say, Naruto," he said in a singsong voice, "You wouldn't mind…"

"Hai, hai," he cut Wonka-san off, sighing a bit. "I'll watch the elevator." He looked to Hinata and gave her a warm smile. "Be sure to look out for him and take care of yourself. Say hi to Wonka's father for me!"

Hinata smiled back and nodded. With that, the two of them began to walk towards the old mansion. Soon, an entranceway came into view. It was a large set of steps, which went down deep into the earth, the back of it shrouded in darkness. Hinata felt a little unnerved as she walked closer and closer to the entrance. Perhaps it was the darkness, or it could have been that Wonka-san seemed nervous as well, but Hinata began to feel that maybe going into this house wasn't such a good idea after all.

"It's…not too late to turn back…" Wonka-san said, as if reading her mind. He gave her a bit of an uneasy glance.

Hinata shook her head and gave a bit of a smile. "Y-you went out of your way to help make things right with me and my father. I o-owe you the s-same. We're going to meet him, even if it means going inside." She said as bravely as she could manage.

Wonka-san gave her a grin, the two held each other's hands, and started down the entrance steps.

It turned out that the mansion's exterior was slightly deceiving.

No matter how large it had appeared on the outside, Hinata figured that it had to be twice as large on the inside. She and Wonka-san were walking down what she thought had to be the twelfth corridor since they had descended down the stairs. The corridors were stonework with fiery torches adorning the walls. Hinata couldn't be sure, but she guessed that they were deep underground. Each corridor felt lower and deeper than the last. She held onto Wonka-san's hand tightly as he led her along.

"Wonka-san," Hinata said to the man as they walked, "a-are you sure you know where you are going? We've been walking f-for quite a while now."

"Of course I do," he said in a chipper voice. "I'm absolutely, positively, definitely, pretty sure that we're going the right way."

This statement didn't make Hinata feel any better. She found herself reminding herself of the promise that she made to him. Along with a smidgen of curiosity, it was the only thing keeping her with him in such a dark and spooky place.

At that moment, they had reached a very large and winding staircase leading upward. The stairs were made of an old and musty wood that Hinata thought probably wasn't very sturdy. The thought of going up made her legs quiver. Wonka-san took a torch off of the wall and raised it into the air. It illuminated a bit of the staircase's path, which twisted up a great distance into the air. Hinata imagined that it could take them all the way up to the surface, and then some.

"I believe that he must climb up, Hinata" Wonka-san said. Hinata swallowed hard, wishing that there were an easier way.

"A-are you sure?" she asked halfheartedly. Wonka-san nodded, held her hand tightly, and began to climb the stairs. Hinata followed along, hoping and praying.

The wooden stairs creaked under her feet, but they seemed sturdy enough to Hinata. They were holding their weight without bowing or buckling. Despite this, they were still quite intimidating. Wonka-san said to her, "Try not to look down. The sight will turn your legs to jelly. Try to take your mind off of it," he continued, "Why don't you try to think of some of the things you'll do at the factory. That'd be nice, wouldn't it?"

Hinata agreed with him. She made quite sure not to look down, and began to focus her mind on Wonka-san's factory. Memories from earlier that day came back to her: waiting anxiously at the gates with Naruto, wishing for them to open, riding with Naruto on Wonka-san's great ship down the chocolate river, holding Naruto's hand as they left the Inventing Room, Riding with Naruto in the great glass elevator, and hugging him after she had dispatched Souya-kun. It wasn't until they were almost halfway up the massive staircase that Hinata realized that all of her favourite memories from the day had included Uzumaki Naruto. She smiled and wondered if she'd ever be able to tell him how she really felt about him.

"Almost there, I think," Wonka-san said. Hinata saw that there was a faint light coming from the top of the staircase.

"Where exactly is there?" Hinata asked him. "Where are you going?"

"Up there," Wonka-san pointed, "there should be a library tower. A great storeroom of knowledge and interesting and boring facts compiled in shelves upon shelves of books."

"A-and," Hinata said, "is that where you think your father will be?"

Wonka-san didn't answer right away. "It might be…" he said at last, his voice low.

"Did you ever get along with your father?" Hinata asked.

"Not really," he said, "we were very different people back then. My father…he was similar to yours, I suppose. He was always obsessed with whether I was strong enough, or fast enough, or smart enough. I left home when I was…probably just a year or so older than you are now."

"What did your father think when you told him you were going to be a chocolateer?" Hinata asked, now quite interested.

"Feh," Wonka-san snorted, "he went crazy! It was the reason that I left. The man hated chocolate, and everything it stood for…" Wonka-san began to trail off. There was a moment where neither of them spoke. Finally, Hinata decided to break the silence.

"I'm sure you'll be able to make amends with him," she said at last, "you helped me reach my father, I'm sure we'll be able to get through to yours too."

"I'm ever so glad to hear you say that," Wonka-san smiled, and then he stared off into the distance. "I wonder what's become of him, after all these years…"

At long last, Hinata and Wonk-san had reached the top of the staircase. As they climbed the final stair, there was a cloaked man sitting in a chair beside a door. Hinata jumped when she saw him. The shrouded person's cloak was a light purple colour, tattered and frayed. The man's head was hidden behind a large hood. He seemed to be asleep in the chair (Hinata hoped he was asleep).

Wonka-san moved quietly across the way to the door, avoiding the sitting man as much as he could. He reached the door and moved his hand to slide it open when…

"And where do you think you're going?" a voice called from the side. Hinata looked over to see the cloaked figure had raised his head. His face was covered in a white, ceramic mask in the shape of a cat's face. Hinata gasped, the mask was the tell tale trait of an ANBU shinobi. The masked figure looked up at Wonka-san, continuing to sit. "May I ask who you two are?" the voice was gender neutral. Now Hinata couldn't tell whether it was a high voiced man or a deep sounding woman. There was something oddly familiar about the sound of this mysterious person's voice, as if she had heard it before somewhere.

"My name is Willy Wonka, this is my friend and business associate, Hinata Hyuuga." Wonka-san said matter-of-factly to the masked man. "We are here to see my father. Please do not try to impede us." He added at the end.

The cloaked man chuckled in his chair. The laugh sent a small shiver down Hinata's spine.

"I would do nothing of the sort," the masked man said reassuringly to Wonka-san, "he is expecting you within. Please," he gestured towards the door, "go right in."

Wonka-san looked back to Hinata, who had been waiting at the steps, to follow him. She quickly went to him and proceeded to the door. All the while she could almost feel the masked man's gaze upon her. Wonka-san opened the door and led her inside. As she entered, Hinata couldn't shake the feeling that she had met that man before…

The room Hinata entered wasn't at all like the rest of the mansion that she had seen. It was a tall, cylindrical room much like the staircase. It was far better lit than the others, however, as there were many tall windows along the walls; the sun beaming in through them. Hinata shielded her eyes as she walked in; the doorway was in the middle of a sunbeam.

Like Wonka-san had guessed, it was indeed a library of some sort. There were shelves upon shelves of books in this room along the walls. It looked as though there were three open floors to this room; each one's walls were lined with books. Hinata peered over to the side and saw ladders, which ran up to the second floor. The room was also exceptionally dusty. It coated the floor and bookshelves; it floated in the air, catching the sun through the windows.

"Well, I guess nobody's here, why don't we leave!" Wonka-san said to Hinata so quickly she barely caught it. He turned around and started towards the door. Hinata shouted, "Wonka-san! C'mon, you've come this far…let's see it through." Slowly, he turned around and continued forward with her. Suddenly a voice called up from above:

"Hello," the voice called, "what brings the two of you into my humble study?" The voice was coming from the highest level of the room as far as Hinata could tell. She couldn't quite tell where it was coming from though, aside from above.

"H-hello!" Wonka-san called up. "It's me…"

The voice didn't answer for a while, it remained silent, until, "And who might "me" be? I can't say I recognize your voice, nor your attire." It said at last.

Wonka-san's eyes screwed up. Hinata saw that he was growing somewhat cross. "It's me!" he shouted up at the voice. "My name is Willy Willibus Wonka!"

The voice from above gave a bit of a chuckle. "Ah…Willy Wonka…now there's a name that brings me back…I must say, you're a bit late."

Hinata wasn't sure what to say or do. She felt somewhat out of place in this conversation between Wonka-san and a mysterious voice. She didn't know whether she should try and say something or not. She just continued to keep silent.

"Oh," the voice came again, "your friend down there looks as if she's got nothing to do. You may tell her to wander about if she wishes. I dare say our talk will be a bit sophisticated for someone so young."

Hinata jumped in surprise at the voice mentioning her. She looked over to Wonka-san, wondering what she should do. He looked over to her and shrugged, then gestured for her to go look around. She nodded and began to take in the sights of the room around her.

"Now then," the voice said, "what brings you back after all of these years?"

Hinata saw many books, their spines adorned with symbols and languages that she couldn't understand. All of them were thick and very dusty. She walked over to a table positioned near a window. The table seemed to have several pieces of paper strewn across it. She went to take a look. Her eyes widened in surprise.

Scattered on the table were yellowed newspaper clippings, as well as some leather-bound books Hinata recognized as scrapbooks. Hinata glanced over the clippings and flipped over the pages. Hinata could hear Wonka-san talking to the voice, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. The articles had titles like: GENIUS CANDYMAKER OPENS FACTORY IN FIRE COUNTRY, WONKA SENS AID TO SUNAGAKURE, CHOCOLATEER RE-OPENS FABLED FACTORY, and SUCCESS: THE WONKA STORY. Hinata couldn't believe her eyes. Wonka-san's father was keeping track of him. She ran over to Wonka-san to tell him what she'd found. She tugged on his sleeve.

"Wonka-san!" she cried. "Over here, you have to see!"

Wonka-san brushed her off and looked defiantly up towards the third floor. "And to think that you'd use your old name, Urami H'coro!" he said.

Hinata stood beside Wonka-san, confused. Did he just say his father's name was Urami H'coro! Visions of the shady man flew through Hinata's mind. She listened intently on the two's conversation.

"Why did you send that little boy to steal my invention?" Wonka-san asked the man above. "What purpose could you have had!"

"Ah, little Souya-kun," the voice laughed. "I hope he's alright. I take it his performance was a bit over the top. Believe me, the boy wasn't meant to actually steal an invention, but to draw your attention to me."

"But!" Hinata interrupted. "You spoke to me as well! What's going on here!"

"Ah yes," the man said, his presence was still unseen. "I thought you looked familiar. Hinata Hyuuga of the Leaf Village. Let me clarify, I tempted you because, like Wonka here, I believed you might be a good candidate for his succession."

"That doesn't make any sense!" Wonka-san shouted. "Nothing you've just told me makes any sense! It's complete and utter doo doo!"

"Ah, I suppose you're right…" the man said. Hinata got the distinct impression that she had missed a very crucial bit of information. "But that doesn't matter now," he continued, "what matters is that you're here now."

"Wonka-san!" Hinata tugged on his coat again, "Who is this person!"

Wonka-san looked up towards the ceiling as he answered. His voice was neither angry nor content.

"My father. Known as one of the greatest shinobi on the entire continent. Often adopting the alias of Urami H'coro to hide his true identity to the public. Since I heard little Souya Ikari say his name, I knew I had to see my father again, to find out what it all meant…"

He looked down at Hinata and continued softly.

"My father's alias…such a simple play on words…perhaps its simplicity is why nobody had figured it out at the time. It's just his real name spelt backwards…Urami H'coro…Orochimaru."

Hinata felt the blood rush from her face. She looked upwards and saw the figure behind the voice.

Finally coming into the sunlight, Hinata stared up and recognized the Bingo book S-class felon immediately. She must have seen his picture on wanted posters every day when she was younger. He was wearing a light toned shirt with an enormous purple belt around his waist that resembled a piece of large cord. He had long black hair, which came down past his shoulders. His pasty grey face stared down at them, his eyes yellow with slits for pupils, like a cat's eyes. He was grinning down at them.

"Him!" Hinata gasped. "He's your father!"

"Him?" Wonka-san said, giving a small, geeky laugh, "Oh yeah, that's him alright. Mr. 'I'm such a powerful ninja I can go about doing a really crappy job of raising my son!'."

"Willy-kun," Orochimaru said in a bemused tone, he began to climb down a ladder towards the same floor as Hinata and Wonka-san. "Your words cut me to the quick."

"Yeah, well," Wonka-san said defiantly, "You were! I worked like a slave trying to impress you, and when I finally found my true calling in life, you shunned me!"

By now, Orochimaru had reached the ground. He began to slowly walk towards Wonka-san. Hinata noticed there was something odd about his eyes, aside from their colour and shape.

"Willy…I remember…" he said slowly.

"I hated you," Wonka-san said desperately, "for so long. I tried to go against everything you taught me, because I didn't believe any of it!"

"I can see that…" Orochimaru answered. Hinata noticed him walking slowly closer and closer to Wonka-san. They were about two meters away from each other.

"I…I…" Wonka-san said quietly, "I just wanted…I wanted you to be satisfied…to be proud of me."

"Willy…" Orochimaru said as he gave a weak sort of smile. "Your mother…" Wonka-san looked up at him now, his eyes wide. "…Your mother…was right. Rest her soul, she was right about you. I should never have raised you the way I did…I wanted you to be strong…I thought, that if you were stronger, you'd be able to take care of yourself…but I suppose I pushed to hard…"

"Yeah," Wonka-san scoffed, "that's an understatement!"

"Willy, I'm sorry…I'm not proud of what I did…I…I just want to apologize…" Hinata had backed away from the two of them, retreating to a corner. She looked closely at Orochimaru, realizing what was wrong with his eyes. They had seemed blurry before, as if something was obscuring them. Then, as she saw something fall down his pale cheek, she realized…

He's crying, she thought to herself. He was actually crying. Hinata could see the stray tears falling down his face. By now, she saw that the two men were standing face-to-face, not even a foot away from each other.

"Willy-kun," Orochimaru said, "I…I want you to know…that I've always been proud of you…no matter what you decided to do. You've become a big success…I just wish that I'd have had more faith back then…"

"…Oto-san…" Wonka-san mumbled.

The two of them stood in front of each other for a very long time. Finally, The two of them rigidly reached out, and awkwardly hugged one another. Soon, their embrace became less rigid and more comfortable. When they parted, the two of them faced each other, smiling, tears running down one another's cheeks.

"You know," Orochimaru said at last, "you're much taller than I remember."

Wonka-san smiled.

"It's the hat," he said.

"I do believe we should part now," Orochimaru said, taking a step back. "I do believe that young Hinata-san here is quite scared of me. It would be best if you brought her home. She has a big future ahead of her…"

Wonka-san turned to Hinata and smiled. "I do believe you're right." He gave his father one last glance, then walked over to where Hinata was standing. He put a hand on her shoulder and leaned in to see her. "Hey, let's get going, okay?" he said warmly.

Hinata could only nod.

The two of them left the library room and, upon exiting, found that a new door had appeared almost out of nowhere. The cloaked man with the mask was nowhere to be found. Wonka-san opened the new door to reveal a snowy path that lead right to the great glass elevator, which stood a short distance away. Hinata could just make out Naruto, leaning against it. The two of them headed out.

"Wonka-san," Hinata said quietly as they walked towards the elevator. "I-I want to say that I-I'm sorry. Even after all the things you said about me…being brave and all…I couldn't do anything to help you with your father…" she sniffled a bit.

"Don't worry Hinata," he said in a warm voice, "even though you may not have noticed it, I think you did a splendid job. I should be thanking you."

"Oh no," Hinata protested, "I r-really didn't do anythi-"

"Hinata, please. You may not notice it, but at times you do inspire a fair amount of courage in those around you." He walked past her towards the elevator. He looked back as he did and said, "After all, I would have never gotten through that if not for you."

Hinata blushed a bit and tried to keep up, the elevator close by.

It had certainly been an interesting day.