Vengeance in Seven Days

By: Crystal Avatar

Disclaimer: I do not own the character names Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Hinata. That's probably why I don't have any problem throwing them all into a bloodbath.

Author's Note: Welcome to Chapter Five! I'm sorry it took too long to get this out, but for those of you still reading I am totally honored by your interest (new readers too!). Let's get on with the story in 'Day Five- Conflict'!

C.A

Punctuation Notes

"Talking" 'Thinking' SFX (Author comments)

Day Five – 'Conflict'

The brazen young lieutenant, Hinata, of the Tokugawa line, stopped when she saw a dark horse secured to a post just outside the view of a small village.

By then she realized that the horse undoubtedly belonged to Naruto and that she had finally made it to the village of Leaf. Officially, she was to see to him and to make sure that his mission had been completed without a hitch.

Secretly, she wanted to spend a little alone time with him.

She tied her horse to the same post, lending Naruto's beast a mate to play with.

"Let's hope we can all get tied to someone for our own eventually," Hinata whispered and left towards the town on foot, eager to find her childhood dream, young Naruto.

Naruto awoke to a cold and tired morning. His body ached and his head hurt from overuse.

'But at least', he thought, 'the mission was successful.'

Before he had fallen asleep he had questioned whether it would be safe to stay in a town where he had just murdered a high-ranking official. The smart ninja, he recalled, would have been to leave town straight after the kill, putting as much distance between him and the town as he could before anyone could wake up to see his work. Despite knowing all this, Naruto gave himself a break anyway, giving in to the feeling that he deserved this rest after such a laborious mission, and that he would be relatively safe under his disguise should anyone raise the alarm. He doubted the guards would though, that they would keep the death a secret.

'Although I'd be the first person to suspect, seeing as I'm an outsider, only a few people in this town have ever actually talked to me, let alone seen me more than once. I'd just be a passing face to them, right? Therefore, there couldn't be many in this town that knew I even existed.'

"No one knows who I am," He reassured himself out loud.

Suddenly there was a commotion of activity coming from the lobby of the inn. He heard the noise grow louder until he could faintly make out someone screaming at another. The sounds grew louder and clearer still, inching it's way towards the door under heavy footsteps.

The young boy tensed and nearly threw himself into panic. 'Was it the guards? Had they determined where he lived so quickly and had come looking for him? Where could he hide?'

Then the door to his room suddenly burst open, threatening to tear away the hinges that held it to the wall. Naruto was still in bed, half naked and weary. His mission plans had already been burnt the night before he had set off to assassinate Fugaku, but he felt like that didn't matter anymore, that this figure dressed in leather riding armor would see whom he really was. His vision sharpened to focus on this female guard.

She smiled, her face was pretty and passive. 'Almost too pretty', Naruto thought, 'That she really shouldn't be a guard.' It struck him that he may have actually met this particular guard before. As his mind began to race to remember who this girl was, his question was answered.

"Hello Shinta-san, my name is Hinata."

'Hinata!'

"Hinata!" Naruto cried, and a wave of sick relief clawed over him.

Hinata, the young blue-haired girl with the misty, water-colored eyes, had grown. She had grown a lot. Her short hair had become longer, her eyes even more opulent. Her stance, too, was a little different. He had always remembered her as shy and a bit withdrawn during her early days training under her father's army, but it appeared that she had grown more confident. Something about her shined from within, something that wasn't there earlier.

"Yes, that's my name."

Naruto turned and noticed the distraught innkeeper directly behind Hinata. Apparently, Hinata had burst into the inn of her own accord and the innkeeper had politely been trying to keep her out. All of this was totally uncharacteristic of the young Hinata Naruto had grown up with.

She had fought her way to his door and burst it down with her boot.

"Hiroko-san, it's fine. This guard is an old friend of mine, please allow her through."

Hiroko stood aside shakily, then suddenly turned and disappeared back down the stairs. Whether there was frustration and anger in her footsteps, Naruto could only guess.

"What are you doing here?" The surprise in his voice was barely fading.

"I came here to check on you, Naruto-chan."

"What are you? Crazy? You could've gotten us both killed! My identity…"

"Will you calm yourself down, please Besides, I'm the one who should be mad at you! You didn't even let me say goodbye to you before you left for your mission! You know how much I hate it when you do that. So I figured you and I could spend a little time alone together in this nice little inn you've found. Took me a while to find you, but I knew you'd be sleeping at this time and this seems to be the only motel in the entire town."

"Hinata-san, I'm done here and I'm ready to leave. Besides, there aren't any more rooms left in this inn. I booked the last one."

The blue-haired woman seemed to ignore his comment, turned and closed the door. She walked slyly up to him in his bed, a new gait of confidence exuding from her long legs. She unfastened a latch at her armor and it all slid off to reveal a sweaty undershirt that clung to her chest and shoulders. She smiled at him and Naruto dreaded what she would say next.

"Then I guess we'll have to share rooms, Naru-chan."

"Hinata! My mission here is complete, stop fooling around! Does your dad even know you are out here? It's really dangerous here, I'm not joking!"

"No. I let you out of my sight before and I'm not letting it happen again. I want my hot passionate week with you and damn it, I'm getting it!"

She jumped on to the bed and straddled Naruto with her two powerful thighs and looked down at him as if he were game that she was hunting.

"Daddy knows I'm here, don't worry. He thinks I'm here to provide you with assistance, not that a ninja of your skill would ever need to rely on someone like me…"

She trailed off, that familiar tinge of low self-confidence lingering in her voice. Then she quickly snapped out of it as if she were trying to convince herself that that side of her had already died long ago.

"Get off me," Naruto whined, surrender in his voice.

"No, until you promise me that we can stay in this tiny town for a small while, at least until the mission period is over- say, by the end of this week? C'mon, I mean you've already 'cleansed' this place right? So there shouldn't be anything to fear. Anyone that knows about the murder will be looking for an outsider traveling alone, they wouldn't suspect a couple."

Naruto's eyes narrowed at the last word she had said. 'What was she suggesting?' But he had talked back to her requests long enough, which was bordering on rude, seeing as she was the daughter of his great Lord Tokugawa. He had no choice but to oblige, besides, her argument did make sense. Together, perhaps as a romantic couple, they seemed more innocuous.

"Okay, Hinata-san."

"Actually, you should call me Hina-chan. It'll make our disguise more effective," She said with a clear and unwavering voice, but Naruto couldn't deny that her face was changing color.

"Good idea, Hina-chan," Naruto said with a sly smile.

They could both feel it now and Naruto was excited at the tension between them. 'Could she really like me?' He'd heard rumors about the famed daughter of his Lord having a tiny crush on him but he'd never been able to see any proof that'd agree with the accusation. Now, he saw, that there was a chance that the rumor may not only have been a little true, but that those tender feelings of her had survived all this time. 'Interesting…'

Naruto was not in the least bit fazed- he felt his pride well up from within. Hinata had certainly grown up into an attractive woman. Even wearing her armor during her time in the army had not so much as scratched her new feminine appeal. She had a well-developed bosom, a soft-spoken voice, a long pair of legs and pale, tender skin. 'She's amazing.'

"I hope that's your sword underneath the sheets," Hinata warned, breaking the silence.

"Believe me it is," Naruto returned with a laugh in his voice.

'Perhaps I may actually enjoy this. A little time together with an attractive girl.'

The couple sat together in the lobby of the inn, chatting small talk and sipping udon that Hiroko had been cooking for lunch. What Naruto had not realized was that the udon was originally intended for him and Hiroko alone. Naruto had offered to pay the innkeeper for the cooking, not aware of this vital fact, and she had refused with a heavy stone in her heart.

"Really? So how are things back at the castle?"

"Ah yes, Yukimura is still old and Kamakura is still crazy," Hinata giggled.

Naruto laughed in reply, "How is Lord Tokugawa?"

"My father is well and hopes that you have-", and she looked around to make certain that no one was close by, speaking the next line in a bare whisper, "finished what you came here to do. That you would be able to return home soon. So do I."

And with that the girl became quiet.

'That's it,' Naruto hit himself, 'I have just got to do this now.'

Naruto leant over the table, over the bowls of noodles, and planted a soft, wet kiss on Hinata's face the moment it looked up to gauge his strange, anticipatory expression.

And that was it for her. The one thing Hinata had been searching for forever, since she was a child: for her feelings to be acknowledged and, if she dared ask for it, returned by him.

"Naru-chan…"

Naruto silently returned to his seat and began sipping at the noodles in front of him as if nothing had happened. Inside, he was excited at what romance they could possibly form.

'Hina-chan…'

Hiroko had been listening.

'Lord Tokugawa? Naru-chan? Shinta returning home to a castle…?'

All of it was too much to bear. As if it wasn't hard enough serving the couple the food that Naruto and her were supposed to be eating, but now she came to realize that the young visitor had been lying to her about so many things. Her feelings had been toyed with and deceived. Just who was this blonde-haired boy?

But now she felt she could not even stand, and she slumped against the wall in her kitchen, a lone tear sliding down her cheek and hanging off her chin. She began to sob, at first a little bit, but when it threatened to grow louder and giver away her eavesdropping position, she muffled it by brining a rag to her face and burying her mouth and nose in it.

She was suffocating herself and welcomed the feeling. 'Now I'd definitely prefer death. Why do men keep lying to me, leaving me, hurting me? Am I so bad that I should be punished?'

The couple grew silent and she stifled her sobs for a second to peek her eye around the edge of the doorway to see what they were doing.

They were kissing.

Hiroko recoiled back behind the wall and prayed that Misa, her young daughter, would not see her mother weakened in such a state. Not again. She had promised. Never.

A few hours had passed, and the empty dishes below them lay on the table uncollected and long neglected. They had finished eating much earlier and now sat together talking and sipping green tea. Years worth of catching up had been taking place and Naruto was equally surprised to see what adventures she had been thrown into since she had grown into a teen.

She looked outside the window after telling him of a great battle she had fought on behalf of her father, regarding the moon with a wispy gaze. "It's gotten so dark already."

"It's only evening approaching. It's still pretty early. It only seems darker out here because there isn't as much light as there was back home."

"I kind of like it. It makes me feel like this town actually goes to sleep. The castle was always so busy every hour of the day. I'm glad we've found a place that knows how to relax with us."

"Agreed," Naruto raised his cup and took a tiny sip.

Then there was a loud and heavy knocking on the door.

Naruto and Hinata turned silent and faced the door, half-expecting that it was a cruel prank, that their romantic night of togetherness would not be spoilt.

Then there were guards in the doorway, three of them. Naruto looked down and saw that the little girl, Misa, Hiroko's daughter, was beside the leading guard.

"Shinta-san?" The guard asked with gruff authority.

"Yes?" Naruto quizzed, looking confusedly at little Misa, whose face was looking down at the ground, her long hair covering her expression below.

"We've come for you, our Master has requested that you present yourself to him. You may bring your lady friend too."

Hinata's head returned to Naruto's face, looking at him, as if he were expecting him to handle this situation, this new mess they seemed to have dropped in. His face was confused, but his voice was calm, as if he were genuinely not sure why the guard's master was seeking him.

"Misa-chan?" Naruto mused, hurt in his voice.

The little girl did not look up; she only walked to where her mother was now standing at the doorway to the kitchen. Her eyes were red and swollen and she held a rag in both of her hands. She looked at the pair for a moment, sitting at her table, then at the three guards who had entered the room, then looked down just like her daughter had been doing.

"What? Am I under arrest? What's going on?" He directed at the guards. Then he said, "Hiroko? What is the meaning of this? Are we under suspicion?"

"Yes, you are, Naru-san," Hiroko was firm, but shaky, in her accusative tone, looking up briefly to show Naruto just how red her eyes really were.

"Shinta-san… what's going on?" Hinata asked innocently, but clearly flakily.

The guards did not seem in the least bit surprised that the boy was being referred to with two names. An alarm bell went off in the ninja's head that something was very wrong here.

"Master Sasuke asks that the both of you join him for dinner. They would like a word with you both, if you could please oblige us and allow us to escort you to the manor," The lead guard spoke, an eerie calm in his voice, as if he were staging a trap for the ninja to fall into.

"Master Sasuke? I don't even know who that person is!"

Then he froze suddenly. Something inside Naruto's body shattered open to reveal an ugly memory of the beautiful geisha he had met earlier in the week, the one that dazzled his heartstrings even now, and how she had betrayed him by kissing another. He choked silently.

"Lady Sakura would also be pleased to have you, she has emphasized that we include her request in the invitation of you both," The lead guard continued, ignoring the comment.

The second guard spoke, "If you do not come with us, our lord will take great offense that his offer of hospitality has been wasted and we have been instructed to arrest you."

"Well, I guess I don't have much choice then," Naruto murmured loudly, slowly turning his head to Hiroko and Misa huddled together in the kitchen doorway. Their eyes fell back down to the ground as if they were some shy flower that he could never look upon.

"Sure, take us to your master. I would be happy to come too," Hinata added confidently to the guards. 'Naruto, I just hope that you know what we're getting into. I trust you.'

Naruto could never bring himself to hate Hiroko and her adorable daughter but he could not help but feel that they had sold him out to the guards. But how? And why?

And so the two rose from their seats and left the inn to wherever the guards would lead them. The two shaking innkeepers were still huddled at the kitchen doorway, holding each other for security and protection.

Naruto paused for one more second at the doorway to see the faces of the woman and her young daughter. He found his duffel bag had been brought down without him knowing it and resting by the edge of the doorway. He picked it up without another word, but paused again to see their faces- sad and distraught, as if they were in the depths of a dilemma. And as he stepped outside the inn he could not help but feel that this was the last time they would know each other for the rest of their lives. If not for his good, then for theirs.

"Don't worry, Misa-chan. Nothing will happen to daddy," Hiroko assured as they left.

At that moment, Misa, the young girl, recited a poem that she had been intending to recite to the guest in an attempt to impress him into spending more time with her. She had worked at it for one whole day, getting the verses and pitch just right. Then her mother had asked her to tell the guards that there were two suspicious outsiders staying at their inn.

"Fragile and sickly/ Prone to betrayal/ The cold autumn breeze."

COMING UP! THE NEXT PART IS ON THE WAY!

Thanks for your attention so far, readers!

In the impending addition...

A leisurely dinner dangles inches away from a bloodbath!
Can death be avoided?
Or does love know no other way to express itself?

Love is a gamble and betrayal, a way of life...

Stay tuned for some crafty swordsmanship in the next chapter!