January 1. Konohagakure 8:35. Reign of the 3rd Hokage (2nd term)
"I wonder where Hinata is?" Neji announced making it seem that he wasn't really asking his uncle. The woods panels squeaked to mimic the sound of a nightingale.
It was an old technique used as a countermeasure against infiltrating ninjas. The vertical panels below the floorboard squeaked under pressure and sounded like a harmless bird to the enemy ninja. To the Hyugas however, they knew what it really was.
"Neji, you know as well as I do that she's with Naruto." Hiashi groaned in a tired sense. The celebration last night kept them both up much later than usual. Hiashi could still hear the drunken teens marching through Konoha.
"Do you not protest to her affiliation with that ruffian?" Neji inquired, with his naïve knowledge of the boy's true nature. Hiashi felt a pang of sorrow for the Genin this village loathed.
"Neji.... you must understand. Naruto is not a ruffian. He is a shinobi. Have you not noticed?" The wise Hyuga gave Neji time to prepare himself. "Naruto is showing Hinata how to be strong. If it were not for him, Hinata would still be the shy girl she was."
Naruto awoke with a shiver. He felt too drained to open his eyes His skin tightened as he soaked in his surroundings with his remaining four senses. A blur. The night was nothing more than a hazy blur to him. Fireworks. Shouting. His head was unusually warm. He felt a foreign take him over.
Slowly, the boy opened his eyelids. He realized what that feeling was... paranoia. A strangely clear sky loomed over him. Something still wasn't right. Narcissus Flycatchers chirped their melodies coaxing him to back sleep. He let his eyes droop down again, trying to avoid his mind's crazy antics. His pillow felt a bit rough. Naruto rolled over, trying to get comfortable; when his face met with something he didn't expect. It was familiar to the touch, yet something wasn't right. It was too coarse to be a pillow. His pillow wasn't a pillow at all. It was Hinata lap. Luckily, she was fast asleep
How he got there was a mystery. Being careful not to wake her, Naruto propped himself on his elbows and yawned. Did I really fall asleep on her lap? How in the world did that happen? Naruto strained to remember an event from last night. His mind drew blanks.
Turning to Hinata, his worry lessened and he cracked a smile. How peaceful she is when she's asleep. The curvatures of her midsection seemed to be a bit more pronounced than he remembered them as. The blue hued hair of hers smelled of jasmine and tickled Naruto's nose. Her neck was smooth to the touch. Smoother than cream. Her mouth was a crease; perfectly formed. He was attracted. Maybe a bit too attracted.
A bird took perch on her forearm rather passively with its small black eyes; it stared at the boy inquisitively.
"Hey there." Naruto tried to converse with the animal. It didn't budge. "Isn't it a lovely morning?"
The bird took flight.
"Maybe not..."
Between the flycatchers, stout trees and clean breeze, a sensation of tranquility washed over him. It is beautiful, he mused. Naruto looked down at Hinata. And in more than just one way...
The Hokage never truly had a great night's sleep but last night was definitely not normal. His head hurt. Itachi... who would have guessed? Out of all the people out there... Sarutobi pondered the possibility of Itachi really arriving; he hesitated to even think of the damage and chaos he would create.
Konoha's ANBU wouldn't stand a chance even if they all massed for a single attack. Itachi is simply too fast. It would require a single massively strong ninja, but who?
His shirt was back on; that was another question that was to be answered. Time would tell. Hinata still hadn't fully awoken. Occasionally she'd stir and mumble some incoherent sentence that might somehow make sense in one way or another.
It was almost nine o'clock when Hinata finally came around.
"Hey, she lives!" Naruto hollered in a glorious and triumphant tone more to ward off his strange phobia than to sound cheerful.
"Just five more minutes, Neji!" the girl retorted hoarsely, not noticing who was there, much less, where she was.
"I suppose your cousin wakes you up every so often?" Naruto questioned, shuffling over to Hinata with a slight chuckle.
"Oh it's you Naruto..." Hinata peered up at him sleepily through a thin curtain of hair. "Good morning..." her voice drifted off back into a sleepy mumble.
The paranoia grew as he strode away from Hinata's prone figure. Each tree looked like a hiding spot for an assassin in waiting. The hair on the back of his neck rose slightly. He glanced over his shoulder to the girl. Nothing was peculiar there.
Then what's wrong? Naruto racked his brain. The flycatchers no longer were the serene sentinels that he first saw them as. They now seemed to have a restless characteristic to them. They dashed from tree to tree in a mindless frenzy. Leaves tumbled over one another as kids would do in a playground; a natural occurrence yet pointless. His hand twitched feverishly.
The slightest rustling of dead leaves fabricated an enemy for Naruto to seek for. Never there, yet always in hiding. His hand sought out the kunai and held it firmly.
A hand landed on his shoulder making his heart jump.
"Hinata?" Naruto addressed her without turning.
"Yes?" she replied in a soft voice that could melt butter.
"Is there something wrong here? It just doesn't feel right." His voice was thick and somewhat ungainly.
"Like what?" she placed her other palm on his opposing shoulder. Hinata felt his anxiety in his tense clavicle muscles. "Relax..." her hands massaged deeply but still not enough.
"It's indescribable... almost... inhuman."
Hinata paused, then muttered, "You're paranoid..."
His muscles would not slacken. "Relax Naruto-kun. It'll pass."
She was wrong... the feeling didn't pass.
"Maybe I am paranoid..." Naruto finally gave in and loosened up. The kunai slid out his hands and stuck in the ground. He sighed. Even as he turned, the paranoia did not cease.
Miles away, Shintaro gazed into the ocean with his hollow, black eyes. Waves lapped on the flanks of the vessel, proving no match for the ship's speed. Tomorrow we shall make landfall. He smiled. And the massacre shall begin.
The warrior glimpsed at his inferiors around him. I am the elite. These petty soldiers stand no chance against Jounin. His fellow comrades Takarashi and Yinagi (the only female of the whole army) joined him on the port side of their craft.
"I can't wait..." Yinagi muttered, breaking the silence.
"When this war is over, only us three and the Shogun will be standing." Said Takarashi as he sharpened the blade on his odachi.