Three years, huh…?
Once again, I apologize for the delays. Job hunting, actually getting a job, part of my family visiting and staying for longer than they should (IMO), sickness and a nasty surprise with the Ch4 revision's first fight scene proving it needed an overhaul are the big culprits here.
Moving on from my excuses, this is not the full chapter 23 but don't worry! This is not another "it got too big" incident, which the word count should clue you guys in. If before chapters got big enough that they had to become two, this is the reverse where I'm literally taking a normal chapter and splitting it into two smaller parts. This is the bigger on.
I just didn't want to leave the anniversary to pass by without any fanfare, and this part of the chapter works out quite well for the event, given the strong focus on Naruhina throughout like the other two anniversary chapters… so I'm releasing this part earlier as a present to you guys! A few days later, but still.
One final but very important topic: gio08 has left the beta team (hopefully only temporarily), and to help me with that job alongside the sometimes absent SimplePotato is a recent and former reviewer, Ozymandias Rex Regum! Ozy was the only beta that worked with me on the Ch4 revision, and they are helping out from here on forward.
With that said, enjoy!
The Chunin Exams arc/Anniversary Special
Chapter 23: The Calm Before the Storm (v1.0.1)
Hinata was proud of herself.
While Iruka's loose references to basic dating etiquette had fried her brain for a little while, Naruto needed her help. She had to focus, and even with him so close, supporting himself on her shoulder, she didn't falter.
She was fairly sure her face wasn't even red! Maybe a bit pink, but still.
Naruto kept groaning sickly every now and then, and they had exchanged no words during their trip. He evidently wasn't in the mood, and Hinata was a bit thankful—she could only hold one-on-one conversations for so long.
Their journey through Konoha's streets had ended. The two were in front of Naruto's apartment door, waiting for him to get his keys.
"Ugh… here it is," he mumbled, taking his keychain from his back pouch. Naruto went to show it to Hinata, but…
He ended up burping on her face.
"O-Oh, geez, sorry Hinata! I didn't mean to!"
"N-No! It's… okay," she offered with a shaky, unconvincing smile. "I-It's not your fault. You're sick after all…"
"That's actually my fault though," he sighed, shaking his head. One hand then went back to cradle his stomach and he let out another pitiful groan. "C-Can you unlock it for me?"
"Of course."
With a little difficulty, Hinata opened the door while keeping Naruto upright. That changed quickly, for as soon as she was done he disentangled himself from her and broke into a mad dash to his bathroom.
The door slammed behind him, leaving Hinata stunned outside the apartment.
"Hinata," he yelled from inside, "I-I'm sorry, but this might take a while… uh, but feel free to look around! Or something!"
"O-Okay," she mumbled. There was no way Naruto heard it though… but Hinata didn't care. A spark of excitement bloomed inside her—she was inside Naruto's home!
But it quickly disappeared.
"This place…."
Clean was one word that fit the bill. Naruto had taken Sakura's bribery with a smile and kept his place tidy On a semi-regular basis. It was far from the standards of excellence that she was used to seeing from the Hyuuga manor's cleaning staff, but Hinata didn't see anything egregious like what Sakura had described to her once.
Empty was another word that fit the bill. She walked around, peering into the bedroom briefly and then the kitchen. The apartment lacked personal belongings beyond basic furniture and a few plants, and even though it was small and cramped, it still felt a bit wide was thanks to that.
'This doesn't feel like Naruto-kun… ramen poster aside.'
That stray thought gave her pause. Ramen… her promise to Iruka!
'His tea!'
This time her examination of the kitchen went deeper. She searched cabinets for what she'd need, yet didn't find much more than a bunch of instant ramen packages of varied flavors.
'This does feel a lot like Naruto-kun, though' she smiled for a moment. 'But… it's also a problem.'
She scratched her chin in thought and doubled back into the main corridor, stopping by the bathroom's door.
"Um, Naruto-kun?"
"W-What...?"
"I… I'll go out a bit. I need to buy a couple things…"
"Sure. Oooh shit…"
Gulping, she erased Naruto's painful moan from her mind and walked away after a brief mental debate with herself over locking the door on the way out or not.
In the end she left it closed and unlocked, and left the building.
A while later, the door to the bathroom opened.
"Whew," Naruto sighed in relief, the sound of which was almost drowned by the flush noises behind him. His stomach was still feeling weird, but it was more than bearable now.
He closed the door.
"Hinata, I'm out. I wouldn't use the bathroom if I were you though."
Silence.
"Huh?"
The boy searched around a bit, but Hinata wasn't anywhere.
The thought that maybe she just ditched him altogether drifted in his mind. It made sense after all—he burped right in her face as a thank you for her help.
'Nah. She's way too nice to do something like that; she's gotta be outside still.'
Naruto decided to make use of the opportunity to take out the trash while he still could. He'd hate to subject Hinata to what had happened there… so he took the toxic waste and what little other trash he had in his home, locked everything up and headed outside.
Once he got rid of his baggage and made his way back to his building's entrance…
"Hinata!?"
"Oh! N-Naruto-kun? Why are you here?"
"Never mind that! What kind of tea needs so much stuff to prepare!?"
The girl blushed. In her hands were a fair number of plastic bags with things Naruto couldn't really identify; Hinata was barely able to hold them all.
"Um, y-you see… m-maybe we should talk upstairs?"
Hinata walked in without waiting for an answer, as if to avoid conversation. Naruto watched dumbly for a few seconds, but dashed ahead and blocked her way, almost making her fall over.
"Look, at least gimme some of them," he frowned at her.
"Naruto-kun, that's not—!"
"You're clearly struggling just to walk with these things. Actually," he made the cross hand sign and summoned a trio of clones, "give it to them instead."
"B-But I can-!"
If an outsider watched what happened next, they'd think the clones were mugging Hinata…
"Sheesh. You're stubborn, you know?" Naruto remarked to her once they were in his kitchen, and he said so with an amused grin. The girl had gone up the stairs empty-handed and with a small pout in her face the entire way, and it had yet to go away.
A simple thought popped up in his mind then.
'Cute.'
"Y-You already paid for my food earlier," she tried to argue. "I… just wanted us to be even, at least."
"Can't be even with me if you tumble down the stairs and break your neck, right? Cuz that's what would've happened if I hadn't arrived in time."
Hinata mumbled something under her breath in response, far, far too low for Naruto to catch it, making him wonder if she was cursing at him.
"'Sides," he continued, "isn't that what that tea was for anyway? And don't forget you helped me get here in the first place!"
"B-But… alright," she sighed. "I should start preparing your tea then."
Naruto nodded and let her do as she pleased in the kitchen, and minutes passed without a conversation between them. His guest kept to herself, focusing on her work. Brewing tea was a simple affair but Hinata wanted perfection. Naruto, on the other hand, was busy investigating the plastic bags Hinata had brought for some reason.
There was mostly food in there. A sizable variety of non-perishables, like rice, condiments as well as some milk, vegetables and fish.
'How was she planning to get these to her house later?' he wondered, scratching his head. The Hyuuga district was on the opposite side of Konoha after all; it was quite the walk and some of these items like the fish simply wouldn't survive the trip. He stole glances at Hinata, hoping to find a chance to ask a question but she seemed too concentrated on what she was doing.
Normally he'd fire away regardless, but he knew she was at least a bit upset with him, and through a painful trial-and-error process with Sakura over the past few months (and some warnings from Chouji and Shikamaru regarding Ino), Naruto had learned to tread carefully in those cases.
Maybe Hinata didn't warrant this caution, but she was handling boiling water…
"It's ready," she finally announced, bringing a plate with a steaming mug to him. (Naruto didn't own any cups).
"I-I hope you don't mind that I made some for myself as well. J-Just be careful! It's really hot! But please don't wait too long or else it will lose its potency."
"Okay. Is this a sweet tea?"
"No, you probably want sugar with it."
They sat by the table and Hinata went on to explain what kind of tea it was and how it would help his stomachache. Naruto didn't really pay much attention, focusing on blowing his tea and risking experimental sips to gauge how much sugar to use. He would've just copied Hinata, but she was putting a ridiculous amount of sugar into her mug…
The moment Hinata stopped to taste her own tea, Naruto found his opening.
"So, Hinata, what's up with all this food anyway?"
"W-Well… y-you see, I don't really agree with Iruka-sensei," she said, gaze locked on her tea. "I-I could've paid for my food, and you said you wouldn't have enough money for ramen later and I noticed how you didn't have much more than instant ramen here and... um…"
Naruto did the math.
"You bought these for me?"
"…I guess?"
He stared at her dumbly with his jaw on the floor. His unabashed surprise made Hinata's cheeks glow red, and she held the mug as if to shield herself from his gaze.
"I-I figured you'd have to do this today anyway." Her voice rose a pitch whereas her volume went down. "I didn't know which brands you prefer, s-so I hope you'll… er, not hate it?"
She cringed. Like she so often did, Hinata found herself wishing for a shell to crawl into.
Naruto cleared his throat. "Look, I don't really know how to say this but... uh, I never buy most of these things. Hinata, I can't cook."
"Huh? But you live by yourself so… I thought…?"
"Well, I just stick to instant ramen or sandwiches if I have lunch or dinner here. My breakfast usually is milk and sandwiches or cereal. Though sometimes I eat ramen in the morning anyway."
"…"
The only thing stopping Hinata from apologizing more was noticing how unhealthy Naruto's lifestyle was. She drank her tea instead to fill the silence, numbly.
"I do eat out often," he continued while putting some sugar in his mug. "But it's usually Ichiraku. Or your food!"
'…My food?'
The light bulb that lit up above Hinata's head was so bright that even Naruto noticed she had stumbled upon an idea.
"I can cook for you!"
"…What?"
"I-I mean, you have a refrigerator. I could cook food and leave it there for you to re-heat it later!"
"Eh… but why are you offering?" He lifted his mug at her. "We should be even by now."
The girl paused and took a deep breath. "Naruto-kun, you are living basically just on ramen. I… I understand you like it. B-But it isn't healthy… you need a balanced diet to get nutrients, especially for someone like you: a ninja who is still growing up."
She frowned a bit then. 'If what he said is true, I'm honestly surprised he isn't sick from not eating properly for so long.'
Naruto then spoke up, shaking her thoughts away. "Well, I really like your food so it'd be pretty hard to say no, but how exactly is this going to work?"
Hinata brought a finger to her chin. It was obviously out of the question for her to come over to cook in a normal weekday, however…
"How about I come over every Sunday? I could cook for you in my own house, but… I-I can't bring all of these ingredients home with me. The exams would be on the following day so I doubt we will be given any C-ranks, or even train with Guy-sensei like we did today."
He took another experimental sip. "I don't really mind you coming over, but are you really fine doing that on the day before the exams? It will be our last free day before they begin. And I really don't want to cause you so much trouble, to be honest…"
"It's fine," she assured him with a smile. "I love cooking, so it's no trouble at all. It relaxes me, too, so that's probably the best thing I could be doing to prepare for exams by then."
"Huh. Well, if you're sure then I'm okay with it! But," he held a finger up, "next time, I pay for the ingredients. Deal?"
Hinata hesitated. She wanted to argue, but she sensed it would lead to her plan falling apart, so she swallowed her protests down. She didn't mind paying, but she could see how Naruto would.
"…Deal."
"Awesome," he leaned back in his chair, contently downing the rest of his tea in a single big gulp. "Ah. That was better than I expected! And I'm already feeling better too."
Hinata blushed but kept to her tea. Her cheeks didn't stay pink for long, however…
"Naruto-kun… I-I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions about, well," she motioned towards the plastic bags.
"Nah, it's fine," he waved her off. "Like you said, those cabinets are pretty empty. And besides, I can tell you had good intentions… or… wait a sec."
Naruto narrowed his eyes at her. It made Hinata's last gulp to finish her tea double as one of fear.
He leaned over the table. "I know what you're doing."
"…W-What?"
"I got sick because I ate too much, and what did you do?"
He pointed at her in accusation.
"You offered to help me… by making me more food!"
"…!"
Naruto fought to keep an angered expression, but his lips began to quiver and he couldn't help himself—Hinata's expression of shock was just hilarious to him.
He didn't know if it was the situation or his little slip that appealed to her, but…
"…Srnk…! Hahahah! T-T-That's true!"
Her shock melted into laughter. Even though she muffled it with her hands, Naruto heard her loud and clear, and boy did he feel satisfied by getting that reaction.
'Can I keep this going?' he wondered.
"I-I swear," the girl tried to speak between laughs, "I wasn't trying to kill you!"
He crossed his arm. "Hmm… I guess I'll believe you. But you better not be lying! You know, a man can only take so many betrayals in a single day."
"Huh? You were betrayed today…?"
The confusion helped her slow down, but that was exactly what Naruto had planned.
"Yeah! Can you believe it? Betrayed by ramen of all things! What's the world coming to? Next thing I know my clones will be out to kill me too!"
Hinata's hand flew to cover her mouth again, but like before, they were far too close for her to hide her loud giggling.
It left Naruto chuckling a bit even over his lingering stomachache. His attempts to lighten the mood worked, and that was something that surprised him. Maybe it was just that he always picked a tough crowd, but his jokes tended to not work on others unless maybe if they were at the expense of himself or someone else.
Sakura sometimes laughed with him a bit, but he had learned not to try his luck if she wasn't in a noticeably good mood. With Hinata, though? Thinking back on their other interactions, he realized he could actually get a laugh out of her quite consistently.
…Case in point, said Hyuuga was doubled over the table, shoulders quaking terribly with her laughter. She tried to rise a couple times, which let Naruto see her face had reddened once more. She had also attempted to speak then, but couldn't manage anything coherent despite getting the volume right for once.
Maybe it had been just his delivery rather than the joke itself? Either way, it felt really nice to have someone laughing with him like that, he realized.
When Hinata finally recovered, her first words were in retrospect predictable, but surprising to Naruto nonetheless.
"S-Sorry… hehehe…!"
That she was considerate enough to apologize made him feel even better about this. He could tell she wanted to be sure she wasn't hurting his feelings.
"Nah, it's fine."
"Still, it was kinda silly of me to bring you more food considering what happened," she said, wiping a tear from her eye.
"…About that. Can I ask you something?"
"Of course!"
Said smile died a bit when she realized he grew serious.
"Why are you going so out of your way just to help me?"
'…Ah, I see,' Hinata thought, closing her eyes to steel herself. 'I suppose this would have come up sooner or later.'
"Like, up to a certain point I got it," Naruto kept going. "You wanted to be even, that's easy to understand… but you offered to cook for me on a weekly basis. That's way beyond what happened at lunch today. I don't understand."
He frowned. That became an unfortunate theme for him when it came to Hinata…
"Naruto-kun. Do you remember what I said to you back in Wave, the day we came back?"
He blinked.
"To me, Naruto-kun… y-you… you are a hero."
Naruto had to be honest with himself: that was the only part he remembered clearly. He knew what they talked about, from beginning to end, but only in broad strokes. The finer details were already lost to him, leaving him with no other choice.
"Er, yeah, but which part exactly?"
She smiled, and Naruto felt she was seeing right through him.
"When I told you about how you had inspired me with your courage and perseverance, with your smile. I… wasn't exaggerating, Naruto-kun. Your example helped me keep going when I couldn't do anything with my own strength. You've been helping me for years now."
Years. That word echoed inside Naruto's head for a while.
"After that mission," Hinata continued, "I was really happy we became friends, but still, I wanted to find a way to repay you for all you have done for me. I don't think I can ever really make you understand just how much you helped me… and I know that what I'm offering isn't really a lot, but I… I… really want to do this. Right now, it's the only thing I know I can do to start repaying my debt to you."
For once, Naruto was the one blushing and looked away.
"Geez… I already said it was okay, you know. It's not like I was going to pass up the chance to have more of your food. Even just this tea was really good."
She giggled. "I'm really happy that you like my cuisine that much! But," she looked at the nearby bags, "I can't make anything good if my ingredients spoil…"
"Ah! Gotcha, of course," he rose from his chair, and the two spent the next few minutes packing what she had brought and then cleaning the mugs and other utensils they had used.
"Well," Hinata dried her hand on a towel, "I think I'll be going now Naruto-kun. I promised my father I'd be home before dinner…"
"Wow, your family has dinner early then," he shot back, glancing at a nearby clock on the wall.
The girl looked away. "I… I want to clean up and rest a little bit before that," she confessed. "Guy-sensei's training took a lot out of me."
"That's not a bad idea," Naruto said, walking towards the entrance with Hinata following closely. "I think I'll do the same when I get back."
"Get back?"
"Gotta take you home, right? Sakura-chan said to me that a gentleman always takes the lady back to her home, or something like that," he shrugged. "Kinda reminds me of what Iruka-sensei said, so maybe there's a point in there."
Once again, a familiar shade of red dusted Hinata's cheeks. 'Oh, Sakura… what were you thinking!?'
Her first instinct was to turn him down… but…
'Naruto-kun doesn't seem to get why Sakura suggested this, so… if he was too tired, he wouldn't have suggested it…right?
Just this once, she decided to be selfish. That afternoon had turned out to be quite enjoyable and Hinata, quite frankly, didn't want it to end just yet.
With a giddy smile, she turned to him by the door. "Shall we?"
Part of why Hinata took that gamble to spend even more time with Naruto was a detail she had noticed in his apartment: his plants. She remembered him commenting about them when they left Konoha with Tazuna, and she also remembered his interest when the topic surfaced during their first encounter with Haru in Wave.
Her choice proved to be a fortunate one, as it gave them enough to keep a conversation going for more than half their walk, even if it strayed from his plants to Hinata's.
"Wow... I can't even imagine a garden like that!"
Naruto's awe made her giggle a bit. "My mom was very passionate about her hobby... I-I haven't been able to dedicate as much time as she did when she was alive, but I help take care of it from time to time."
"The way you describe it, I kinda really want to check it out, you know?"
"A-Ah… I-I'm sorry, Naruto-kun," she lowered her head as they turned a corner. "I would need to ask my father for permission."
"Gah. Well, forget it then."
…Hinata couldn't, though.
'Now that I think about it, Father never said anything at all to me about Naruto-kun... how odd.'
She knew her father must have been aware of how she followed Naruto around. The boy in question apparently deemed this a lost cause, but…
'Could it be that his opinion on Naruto-kun isn't as negative as we fear…?'
It was a thought worth making a mental note about, she decided.
And it was her luck that she committed that to memory right then and there as she and Naruto were about to turn another corner, and not a second later.
"Honorable grands—oof!"
"Wah!"
"Naruto-kun!"
Hinata's reflexes kicked in and she managed to catch Naruto before he fell. The man that had just knocked him over, though, had no such luck and fell butt-first on the floor.
"What the—hey!" Naruto screamed, "It's you! That closet pervert!"
"C-Closet pervert!? How dare you!?"
The man on the ground had to be the most suspicious person Hinata had ever met. He was dressed almost from head to toe in dark clothes, with everything below the neck covered by fabric that matched his bandana. The sunglasses he wore hid his eyes, but his expressive body language more than made up for that.
"Ebisu-sensei, are you alright!?"
The person who followed next, however, was someone Hinata knew very well.
Dressed in familiar maid clothing, a young woman with pale eyes similar to her own and shoulder-length green hair turned the corner and helped Ebisu up.
"Natsu-san? What are you doing here?"
"H-Hinata-sama!?"
The woman, Natsu, was Hanabi's retainer and caretaker; much like Ko was for Hinata herself. As such, despite what her simple maid clothing suggested, she had extensive combat training and was more than capable of defending her charge from danger. The headband she wore wasn't just for show, despite Natsu rarely ever accepting missions after becoming responsible for Hanabi's.
But Hinata's question still held up: what was the maid doing in the middle of the street? She and Ebisu both looked winded and a bit sweaty, as if they had been running for a while.
"Bah, I don't have time to deal with you, Naruto," Ebisu spat, nodding briefly to Natsu before glaring at the boy again. "This is all your fault to begin with!"
"My fault? What did I even do to you!?"
"Not to me, but to the Honorable Grandson! He has all but become your successor as the local prankster, thanks to your terrible influence corrupting him that fateful day four months ago!"
"It's not my fault you suck at teaching!"
Despite his words, Ebisu allowed himself to be dragged into an argument with Naruto, leaving Natsu to pull a dazed Hinata aside.
"Honorable Grandson... does he mean Konohamaru-kun?"
It was an odd thought—Hanabi had told her more than once about how she wasn't in good terms with the boy, but if both of their retainers were together then…
"Indeed Hinata-sama," the maid nodded. "He has been up to mischief today, and… unfortunately, it seems he has dragged Hanabi-sama with him somehow. I wasn't with her today, but I happened to stumble upon the scene while out doing errands... and here I am."
The blood drained from Hinata's face. She had more than enough information to know that Hanabi was treading very dangerous ground—Hiashi had been making an effort to be nicer, but she knew that didn't mean he was against harsh punishments if either of them stepped out of line too drastically... and she had a feeling Hanabi would learn that the hard way.
"What did she do, Natsu-san?"
"Directly, nothing. But from what Ebisu-sensei has gathered, she seems to be acting as a spotter for Konohamaru-kun and helping him escape via the Byakugan."
"What!? B-But she knows she's not supposed to use it in public!"
Hinata's outburst drew Naruto's attention away from a flailing Ebisu. "Wait, you can't? For real?"
"Hmph," Ebisu adjusted his glasses, "Using sensory techniques such as the Byakugan inside the village but outside of training areas is deemed a crime. A variant of invasion of privacy, if you will."
"That's stupid."
"I agree."
Naruto quirked an eyebrow. Ebisu seemed way too uptight to ever condone breaking the rules like that; he was the last person Naruto ever expected to agree with him about such matters.
"The Byakugan's range is massive even for a pre-teen such as Hinata-sama right there," Ebisu explained. "If a Hyuuga wished to misuse their eyes, they could easily accomplish that from any sanctioned training area."
"Which would be counterproductive in our case, unfortunately," Natsu sighed. "This law doesn't really help non-Hyuugas, but that was a concession our clan had to make to avoid civilian unrest when we joined Konoha."
"And thanks to that, those two have been eluding us for a while now," Ebisu muttered. "Trapping a Byakugan-user in a crowded, open area like this is difficult even for an accomplished jonin such as myself. And on that point, I believe we have to say our goodbyes before they escape for good."
The two adults took one last minute to verify if Naruto or Hinata had seen anything and, after hearing negative answers, asked from where they had come from. With that, Ebisu and Natsu ran into another street to continue their chase.
Hinata's hand fell to her chest. It would be difficult to prove her sister was breaking the law, but if someone could prove it… 'Father is going to be absolutely furious.'
"Hey, Hinata? You okay?"
"Ah. Y-Yeah… I'm just worried about my sister, is all."
"I see." Naruto fidgeted a bit. "Looks like siblings can be a handful, huh?"
"You have no idea."
Hinata began to walk again, but then she felt a finger poking her shoulder repeatedly. She turned back only to see Naruto with a single finger raised by his lips.
He then pointed to an alley right behind them.
'…No way.'
Among all the clutter on the little dead-end, there was a dumpster with a bunch of trash and just nearby, a big rock.
A perfectly rectangular rock with a trail of brown hair and a blue scarf spilling out on the ground from "below" the rock, and two black holes in one side.
Eye-like holes.
"I guess those two missed this because we were blocking the way here," Naruto whispered to her.
But Hinata didn't bother to lower her voice. "I think we found two little rats."
Wearing a scowl that reminded Naruto of when he told her about the fox, she marched up to the rock and tossed it deep into the alley. By some miracle, the rock—or rather, a painted cardboard box—bounced from a wall and landed right into the open dumpster.
In the box's place were two young kids, both wearing very guilty smiles after realizing their cover was blown.
"Hello, dear sister..."
Something about Hinata's tone made Naruto wince and step back. It was friendly, and yet it just… wasn't. It was chilly and reeked of danger.
"H-Hey, onee-sama… fancy meeting you here, hehe!"
One of the kids was Hanabi, who was dressed in her usual training clothes. The other was the blue scarf's owner, a small brown-haired boy dressed in a yellow shirt and grey pants that Hinata almost didn't recognize as the "Honorable Grandson" thanks to the green goggles he wore, echoing what Naruto walked around with before becoming genin.
"And is this Konohamaru-kun I see? You've grown a lot since I last saw you… I don't think you remember me, right?"
The boy shook his head, silent if not for one errant gulp.
"That's okay," Hinata continued, her voice still hinting at an unspoken threat. "I'm Hinata Hyuuga, Hanabi's sister. We've met before, but you were even younger than now… and you were such a calm, well-behaved child too. It seems that isn't the case anymore, though…?"
"Er… I-I guess?"
One swift interrogation later and Hinata had a summary of the case:
It had all been about the bullying problems in her sister's class. She could remember some off-hand mentions of such problems from Hanabi across the past few months, but the situation had gotten worse. The bullies in question had become smarter about how and when they would go after their prey, not allowing room for teachers to catch them or even punish them after hearing from a few witnesses.
Since the academy's staff was incompetent, Konohamaru and Hanabi ended up declaring a truce to take matters on their own hands, the former because he wanted to make up for his failures to help some friends who were targets, and the latter simply because her sense of justice was too strong. Together, they decided to go after bullies after school and start pranking not only the bullies, but also their parent's business when they felt they could get away with it.
It was a noble cause. That helped Hinata calm herself, but that didn't make their methods worth praising, hence why she stared them down with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Hanabi-chan, I've told you more than once not to use our eyes in public. You could get father in deep trouble if you are caught—and then you'd be in deep trouble as well!"
"But onee-sama, what other choice did we have? The teachers are all useless and it's not like we can even pick a fight. Those… jerks, they'd just play victim."
That was a wonderful question. Hinata herself had been target of bullying before, and she only survived because they somehow ended up losing interest after the first month, so she had no idea what to do.
She looked at Naruto but he just shrugged. "You know I'd do the same thing in their place."
"That's part of why I did it!"
Konohamaru's outburst made Hinata curious. "What do you mean?"
"Boss's a well-known prankster in and out of the academy! A legend, almost!"
Hinata looked back at Naruto. "Boss?"
He waved her down, shaking her head. "Long story…"
"Anyway, I asked myself what boss would do in that situation… and well," Konohamaru gave her a sheepish smile, leaving Hinata to sigh.
"I… I'm sorry, I don't know how to help you two out," she admitted. "But this isn't the solution. You two are pranking people who aren't involved and if anything you'll only make these bullies come down harder on your friends as revenge."
"Hinata's right," Naruto piped up. "I'm obviously not against pranking, but stick to who deserves it. Or to pranks that don't hurt anyone like my masterpiece," he motioned to the Hokage Monument.
"Wait," Hanabi said, "that was you… so you're Naruto! The Naruto!"
The blond beamed at her, puffing up his chest. "The one and only! Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage!"
Though Konohamaru protested at the last part, Hanabi tuned him out completely. "I see… so you're the boy onee-sama has a—mmmpph!"
Hanabi began to struggle, with Hinata's hand clamped over her mouth. The older girl leaned down and, scowling, whispered something in her sister's ear… and then Hinata released her.
"A-Ah. So, yeah. I know you. Heard about you, yeah," Hanabi said.
Naruto noticed her face had lost some color after Hinata's stunt, who in contrast was glowing bright red once more. It only added to his inner confusion.
"Well… now that introductions are over, I suppose we should be on our way," Hinata said, her voice wavering in pitch.
"Oh yeah, I was going to take you home, right?"
"And Hanabi's coming with us too."
"What? B-But why!? It's nowhere close 5 p.m just yet!" Hanabi said, panicking as she realized what was happening.
"That may be so, but consider that your punishment for what you did today," Hinata shot back. "If you're lucky that'll be the worst of it. Father would do much worse. Natsu-san is not going to be pleased either when she gets her hands on you."
"But… but!"
Hanabi then shot a pleading look to Konohamaru, who cleared his throat before meekly stepping forward to help.
"I, um, I invited your sister to hang out with my friends for a while… w-we were going to meet up with them right now actually!"
"Hinata raised an eyebrow. "And by hanging out, do you mean pranking people?"
The boy desperately waved in denial. "N-N-No! W-We were done for the day! Right Hanabi?"
"Yeah!" the girl agreed, nodding multiple times. "We were just going to play around! I swear!"
Hinata's hard stare didn't waver beyond shifting between her targets from time to time. But that… was quite honestly just for show. She didn't have the courage to shoot her sister down like that, not when she saw how the kids were acting.
Konohamaru seemed simply afraid of her and constantly kept looking at Naruto as if to get his "boss" to bail him out. Hanabi though? Hinata couldn't help but remember her little sister making that same fearful face whenever the topic of friends came up. She knew Hanabi was lonely and struggling to make friends… Hinata couldn't bear to take that chance away from her sibling when she knew exactly how horrible it felt to be in her place.
Eventually Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder, making her jump slightly. "C'mon, let them go…"
"…Alright."
That was all Konohamaru needed to hear to jump up in joy. "Yay! You heard that, Hanabi!?"
The smaller girl was beaming when she replied. "Yeah! I-I mean," she coughed, crossed her arms and looked away "well, it's not like I wanted to play all that much, but you do need an even number of people to play ninja…"
That caused Konohamaru to scowl. "And it's not like I wanted to invite someone like you either! You just happened to be the only one available."
"What was that!? Say that again you—"
"Settle down you two!" Hinata slipped between the two young kids before their argument escalated. "Behave! I wasn't done talking anyway… I'll let you go under three conditions."
"Conditions?"
"Three?"
She raised one finger. "That you both will stick true to your words and stop pranking people today," she raised a second finger, "that you both will apologize to Ebisu-sensei and Natsu-san the next time you see them and, "she raised the last finger, "that you Konohamaru-kun will not take my sister to do any more pranking. Period. Likewise, Hanabi, I don't want you involved in these things ever again. Promise me all of that and you are free to go. Understood?"
The two whined for a while and tried to get Hinata to be more lenient, but the older girl refused to budge on any of her terms, and after one final threat to just drag Hanabi straight to their father, the duo admitted defeat.
"Now go," Hinata smiled at them and moved to unblock the alley's entrance. "I can't promise you'll get off this lightly if Natsu-san or Ebisu-sensei catch up to you, so enjoy what time you still have!"
"Okay! Thanks Hanabi's sister!"
"Yeah, thanks nee-chan!"
Hinata almost reprimanded Hanabi for that little slip, but the younger girl was faster and tackled her into a strong hug. Giggling, Hinata couldn't help but answer in kind, and she almost didn't hear Konohamaru's words before he left.
"Don't forget, boss! You promised to play with me and the others next Sunday! Come on Hanabi!"
"Ugh…I was hoping he'd forget that," she heard Naruto mumbling to himself.
Hanabi took the cue to push away from Hinata and follow her "friend" down the alleyway, only pivoting for a moment to wave goodbye.
Hinata waved back. "Hanabi, be home before… ah," she frowned. Her sister was too far already. "I don't think she heard me."
Naruto then approached her, smirking. "Heh, you were pretty stern with them. Didn't think you had it in you."
"I hate to do this," she confessed with a sigh. "But I'm her older sister, and we don't have our mom around anymore. I… tend to leave this sort of thing to Natsu-san, to be honest, but sometimes there's no choice."
"You seemed pretty upset too. They actually got a bit scared of you, you noticed?"
"These," Hinata pointed to her own eyes, "unfortunately, make for quite unsettling glares. And… yes," she looked away, "I was a little angry..."
She hoped she hadn't scared the two children too much, but Hinata couldn't keep her feelings in check. Perhaps it was selfish or petty or just plain wrong of her to feel that way, but Hinata had sacrificed a lot to keep her sister's reputation as pristine as possible over the past few years, even if a lot of it was just by letting her own reputation rot and make Hanabi look better by contrast.
If Konohamaru was on his way to be the next Naruto as his wording suggested at multiple points… Hinata couldn't let her sister's image be tainted with the stigma of a troublemaker. And just thinking about how it could happen already shook her.
Allowing Hanabi to keep going down that path would only make everything hard for them both and their father as well in the long run.
'I can only hope they don't break their promise. I… don't know what I'd do then. Or if I should do anything.'
She shook her head—she could talk to Kurenai later if it came to that.
"Well," Naruto said, "at least I know that you'd have refused to help me if I ever came to you for help with my pranks back in the academy." He then broke into a smile. "Man, I wonder just how many pranks I'd be able to pull off with a spotter like you to help me? I bet you I could've done way better than that," he pointed at the Hokage Monument once more, chuckling to himself.
'…And now I feel like a hypocrite,' Hinata frowned. She knew that if Naruto had asked, she would have become his partner in crime, no questions asked. Socially speaking, at least she could've afforded the stain of such a label back then, unlike Hanabi.
The feeling of hypocrisy quickly morphed into guilt, as irrational as Hinata knew it was… but it led her to an idea.
"Hey, Naruto-kun…?"
"What?"
"I… um, well. A-About next Sunday… I was thinking, I-I'm not exactly going to be good company…"
"Huh? You don't want to come over anymore?"
"NO! I-I mean, yes!" Embarrassed, her gaze fell to her feet. "I do but, er, it's just… when I'm cooking, I'm usually paying too much attention to hold a conversation or anything. I… really don't like to mess things up when it comes to food."
"…Okay, sure," he shrugged. "I did notice your focus when you were making tea a while ago."
"Yes. So… m-maybe I could bring Hanabi-chan with me? If you invite Konohamaru-kun and his friends as well you all can go outside and play while I work."
Naruto crossed his arms. "Hmm… you sure you'd be fine alone?"
Hinata looked up in surprise. "Y-You're actually fine with me being alone in your apartment?"
"Why wouldn't I? You're trustworthy! I'm just afraid you'll be bored in there by yourself.
"Well, I—"
"Let him go!"
"…"
They both just stared at each other for a second until the faraway voice rang out again.
"I said to let him go!"
A chill ran through Hinata's spine. "That's Hanabi's voice!"
"Then let's go check that out!"
It barely took them a minute to reach Hanabi's location, and when they walked down that empty street they found more than just her and Konohamaru.
A third person was with them, and that person definitively usurped Ebisu's top-ranking spot in Hinata's list of suspicious people.
They… looked male. It was hard to tell since their body was covered from head to toe in a dark violet body suit and only their face was left uncovered, unless one counted the various thin purple lines painted across their features, lips included. The hood of the bodysuit had weird protrusions that Hinata couldn't decide if they were meant to be horns or… cat ears.
Beyond all the purple the only color in their outfit came from the half-red, half-yellow circle on his bodysuit's chest. Finally, there was a big, unknown objected strapped to their back. It was as big as the person, and fully covered by bandages so Hinata couldn't know what it was supposed to be. She just knew she didn't like that thing at all.
Whatever it was, the forehead protector shining with the Hidden Sand Village's emblem made Hinata sure it had to be dangerous, but that wasn't even the worst part.
The mysterious person held Konohamaru by his shirt's collar, holding him up with just a single arm and far enough that the boy's kicks had no hope of reaching him. Hanabi wasn't too far from them, and though she had her back to Hinata and Naruto they both could sense the aggression coming from the little girl.
She was preparing to pounce.
Hinata couldn't let that happen.
"Hanabi!"
The girl whirled around. "Sis!"
Hanabi dashed off and like before tackled Hinata into a hug, but there was no comfort to be had for either of them.
Naruto however just kept going. "What the hell is going on here!?"
"Oh great, more pests," the person muttered—a male, Hinata realized.
"B-Boss! Help!"
"Shut up, you. As for what is going on here," the unknown boy turned to Naruto, "short stuff here was running around while looking backwards, like a stupid idiot, almost knocked me over and still had the guts to blame me for it!"
"But he already said he's sorry!" Hanabi yelled.
"Y-You're hurting me," Konohamaru choked out.
"It hurts, huh? It's only going to get worse for you until I hear an actual apology," the person said, smiling wickedly. "The girl did make you say you were sorry but those were just empty words. Your eyes betrayed you, stupid brat, and I don't like what I saw in them…"
"Who cares if you liked it or not!?" Naruto bellowed, his posture lowering aggressively much like his tone. "He's sorry, so let him go already!"
"I'm not convinced."
The Sand ninja threw his other arm back, balling it into a fist.
"I hate condescending brats like you, always used to getting your way… but unlike him, I can definitively make you be sorry for messing with me!"
Hinata knew what would happen next. Those words were enough to set Naruto off. He practically flew towards the foreign ninja, despite them both knowing he was just a bit too far to stop the punch from landing.
Except the Sand ninja didn't go through with it.
Seeing Naruto's advance, his closed fist suddenly opened, his fingers all aimed at Naruto while he began to… wiggle them, as if playing an invisible piano but with his hand flipped.
And Hinata saw the exact moment Naruto was swooped off his feet. It almost looked like he tripped, but the way his leg moved was unnatural. Something had pulled it forward mid-run, and Naruto ended up rolling on the floor.
"Pathetic," the older boy sneered. "Some ninja. Looks like you're just another stupid kid. If this is all your village's genin are capable off, they might as well promote me to chunin right here and then, hahaha! One is weak," he grinned at Naruto, then at Hinata. "The other is just useless."
Hinata clutched Hanabi tighter, her teeth clenching together behind her closed lips.
"And you are surrounded, foreigner."
A new voice rang out from above. A girl's voice.
Confused, all parties looked around until Naruto and Hinata each spotted someone.
"Sasuke!"
"Sakura…?"
The Uchiha was high above on the branch of a tree beside the street they were on, and on a nearby rooftop a little ways behind the foreign genin and across from Hinata was Sakura. While she was twirling a kunai, Sasuke held a simple rock in his hands.
It then flew at a blinding speed, striking the Sand ninja's hand and finally freeing up his hostage from his grasp.
"Argh!"
"Konohamaru!"
Naruto quickly rose to two feet and put himself between Konohamaru and the Suna ninja. Between Hinata and the Team 7 members, there was no escape route for him.
"Damn you!" he yelled at the Uchiha, clutching his aching hand.
"You should be more careful," the boy shot back, this time drawing a shuriken from his pouch. "You are a long way from the Land of Winds".
"And you're messing up with the wrong people too," Sakura added, shaking her head. "Did you know that boy is the Hokage's grandson and that the girl is the Hyuuga Clan's heiress?"
The Suna genin's aggressive stance shifted. Though he still looked ready to punch someone, Sakura's warning dulled his anger to the point where he seemed to be reconsidering his actions.
Naruto took it as a sign of weakness and laughed at him, going so far as to point at him while at it. "Not so tough now, huh?"
"Grr…"
"And I have to say," Sasuke continued from up high, "interesting technique there with those chakra strings."
What little of the foreign genin's face was still exposed went pale. "W-What!? How did y—!"
"Oh, interesting!" Sakura cut him off. "That must mean you are one of Suna's famed puppeteers. Could that weird lump on your back be a puppet, perhaps?"
"…Hmph. I guess there's no point in denying it," he said, crossing his arms and smirking. "You're completely right. I represent Suna's newest generation of puppeteers, proudly!"
Naruto just shook his head, unimpressed. "You play with dolls and wear cat ears plus make-up. I'm surprised you have any pride left in you."
"Dolls and make-up? Hardy har har," the older boy turned to snarl at Naruto. "Like I haven't heard that one before, pipsqueak. This is war face paint, you ign—"
"Kankuro, that's enough!"
Hinata watched carefully as a young woman came out from a street that was a little ways ahead of where she and Naruto entered the area and marched right up to the Suna ninja—Kankuro, apparently.
"I was wondering what kept you, Temari," he said to her.
As the metal protector sewn into her dark grey scarf indicated, Temari was also a ninja from Suna. Her eyes were green and her hair a sandy blonde, leaning more towards a light brown, styled in four pig-tails that made an X-like shape behind her head.
She wore a lavender dress, starting from just below her shoulders and ending mid-thigh. There was also a faded red sash around Temari's hips, and fishnet material covering the skin between her dress and scarf, as well as extending past her left tight. A stray bit of fishnet also covered just her right calf down to her sandal.
What caught Hinata's eye was that she had a weird object strapped to her back just like Kankuro did. In Temari's case it seemed like a weapon of sorts, but all Hinata could see from her angle was a thin, rectangular metal plate. 'A club, perhaps?'
"Oh yeah?" Temari began to speak, irritation dripping from her voice. "And I was wondering if you were seriously getting into a fight with a bunch of kids. I thought we were way past this phase already. You're bringing shame to our village!"
"But listen—"
"I don't care." Temari then turned on her heels, ignoring Kankuro and facing towards everyone else that was at ground level. "I heard that last part, and I apologize for anything my brother has said or done," she said with a small bow.
The gesture was enough for Naruto to lower his guard, but not for Hinata. Kankuro's brief words about eyes betraying oneself rang in her mind… she couldn't quite decipher what she saw in Temari's, but it wasn't the look of someone who was sorry.
If Hinata had to guess, she seemed amused.
'Amazing how it went back to this again,' she thought, sustaining her tight hold on Hanabi even when the little girl attempted to let go of her, a silent but firm denial.
"Please don't take this hot-head buffoon's actions as an example of what we from the Sand are like. He's just an unfortunate exception," Temari said, turning her head to glare at Kankuro again, who for his part looked away, grumbling under his breath.
"So that's where you guys come from, huh?" Naruto muttered, crossing his arms. "I'm not great at history but I thought the Sand was an ally of the Leaf…"
"Oh, you're not wrong," Temari replied. "As I said, he's just an exception. We didn't come here to pick up a fight… well, not yet anyway," she shrugged, smiling innocently in a way that unsettled Hinata.
"I take it you two are here for the Chunin Exams then," Sakura asked, jumping down to the street.
To that, Temari nodded, briefly sparing a glance to Sasuke who was still perched up on the tree. "We've just arrived actually. Our teacher went up ahead to deal with some bureaucracy and other such wastes of time with your Hokage, so we were left to walk around and enjoy the sights until he's done."
A still-upset Kankuro then spoke up, "And I was just chilling here where we agreed to meet up, until the midget barged in anyway."
"Kankuro, drop it!" Temari scolded, making Kankuro flinch. He opened his mouth to retort, but someone was faster.
"I… I'm sorry."
The two Sand siblings turned to Konohamaru in shock.
"I'm really sorry… I didn't want to cause so much trouble."
The little boy's head hung low, and his voice was both weak and shaky. It made Naruto place a hand on his "pupil's" shoulder.
"It's okay, I'm sure they got it now."
Naruto shot a look at Kankuro, his words laced with a promise of violence.
"…Whatever." Kankuro looked away, visibly annoyed. "I'd be just wasting my time on a stupid kid like him anyway."
Sensing that the incident was finally drawing to its end, Hinata gathered the courage to speak up.
"N-Naruto-kun, Sakura... we should go. If, if their team is meeting up here then we shouldn't intrude."
In truth, Hinata just wanted to get Hanabi as far away from these people as she could.
'Getting Naruto-kun out of here will be good as well,' she observed. Her hero still looked ready to brawl it out with Kankuro at the slightest provocation.
"…Right," Naruto grumbled.
"I agree," Sakura said, turning to the foreigners. "Let's leave the fighting and all of that for the exams then."
Though her words were friendly in tone, the reply Kankuro gave was anything but.
"Look here. You guys might have figured out what kind of ninja I am, but don't let it get to your heads. If we meet at the exams and combat is allowed, I'm going to wipe you all out. You won't even see it coming."
To his surprise, Naruto laughed at the threat and pointed near Kankuro's feet. "Won't see coming, like you and that rock?"
Kankuro looked down, finding the rock that Sasuke had thrown at him. He walked over to it while Naruto still laughed out loud.
"Sounds rea—OW!"
Hinata gasped. Kankuro had kicked the rock, hitting Naruto straight on the forehead.
"What the hell!?"
"More like you and that rock," Kankuro sneered, pleased with himself. "What a loser."
"That's it! When the exams come I'm definitively taking you down, you jerk!"
"Hmph." Kankuro pulled at the bandages that held whatever he carried on his back, placing the bulky bandaged object by his feet. "You are the kind of person I hate the most. Loud, obnoxious, but worst of all, you're all talk."
"What are you doing?" Temari spoke up, her tone now one of worry.
"I just had an idea," he smiled at her, and then looked back at Naruto, meeting the blond boy's angry gaze with one of his own. "I saw a training ground nearby."
Temari rolled her eyes and walked away. "I'm done with this," she huffed, leaning against a nearby wall. "If anything happens the blame will be on you."
"Don't be like that, Temari. It'll be just a friendly spar between allied ninja!" He then smirked at Naruto. "I'll even let you take your friends with you. You're going to need all the help you can get if—"
"Kankuro. Be quiet."
The temperature dropped.
Yet another voice.
'…So the third member is here,' Hinata thought with a grimace, staring at the tree that Sasuke was at. The voice came a little behind and above the Uchiha was another boy, standing upside down with his chakra gluing him to a nearby branch's underside. 'But where did he come from? I looked at Sasuke-kun just seconds ago and saw nothing near him…'
"G-G-Gaara!?"
Given the newcomer's calm tone and Kankuro's nervous stutter, Hinata allowed herself to hope this Gaara would be the one to reign in the volatile puppeteer once and for all… but she got much more than what she had bargained for.
"Did you forget what we came here for?"
Kankuro tried a reply but only managed a panicked stuttering that Gaara quickly grew tired of.
"If you don't shut up, I'll kill you."
…His words were without any inflection of anger, annoyance or any other emotion to it, almost as if he had been making small talk about the weather instead. Hinata would have considered it as a simple exaggeration or joke if not for one thing:
Hanabi was trembling in her arms.
"N-Nee-chan…?" the little girl whispered. "It's cold! I-I can't breathe! W-What's happening!?"
Hinata closed her eyes and focused her senses. Her brows furrowed for a split second, but when she opened her eyes again it was with a warm smile.
"Don't worry Hanabi-chan. I'll keep you safe, alright?"
She maintained a strong grip on Hanabi, but allowed one hand to roam to the little's girl shoulder, rubbing it comfortingly.
"Just close your eyes and try breathing again," Hinata continued, her voice low but soothing. "Everything will be fine."
"O-Okay…"
Hanabi obeyed, and only then Hinata allowed that frown to escape freely.
The sensation that shook Hanabi so much had been killing intent, which Hinata had failed to recognize immediately thanks to an old friend, Zabuza. The mission to Wave led Kurenai to incorporate simulations of killing intent through genjutsu in her lessons, to get the genin used to the chilling pressure so it wouldn't affect them as much anymore.
Though her focus remained on Hanabi until she finally calmed down, Hinata risked a few glances toward the foreign ninja, more specifically the last of the trio. Gaara exchanged a few quiet words with Sasuke that she wasn't close enough to overhear, and while far from spooked, the words still had a noticeable impact on the usually unflappable Uchiha.
Not even Zabuza had managed to unsettle him, but Gaara did.
Temari wasn't much better. She was visibly tense and had lost the carefreeness she had exhibited earlier as she tried to calm down Gaara despite the redhead not seeming nervous in the slightest. Kankuro was even worse, being practically at the same level of panic as Hanabi.
…In other words?
'This Gaara… when he said he was going to kill his own teammate, he truly meant it! That's crazy!''
Suppressing a shiver, Hinata then watched Gaara disappearing in a cloud of sand, only to reappear behind Temari and Kankuro.
"Let's move," he said. "Baki-sensei should be done by now. We didn't come here to play around."
The other two Suna genin agreed shakily and all three of them began to walk away as if nothing had happened… and then something did happen.
Gaara stopped.
By the time Kankuro and Temari noticed his absence, Gaara had already backtracked all the way up to Naruto, who had a quivering Konohamaru glued to his legs.. and stared at Naruto, as if searching for something.
"…"
Naruto scowled at the foreign boy's silence. "What's wrong, huh?"
There was an unspoken threat in those words much like before with Kankuro, but Gaara either ignored it or didn't realize it at all.
Hinata took the opportunity to examine Gaara more closely. His hair was short, red and messy, with green eyes similar to Temari's. He wore a black bodysuit but his was very different than Kankuro's, with short sleeves, open collar and baggy legs. A white cloth crossed his right shoulder to his left hip, with two strands hanging between his legs, one on each side.
Like his teammates, Gaara carried a large object on his back, held secure by thick leather straps that crossed his chest in the opposite direction of the white cloth—and where, weirdly enough, his forehead protector was attached to, near the hip. In Gaara's case the object was a large gourd, leaving Hinata once again completely mystified to what its purpose could be.
As eye-catching as the gourd was, it paled in comparison to black, unhealthy skin around Gaara's eyes and the kanji for "Love" on his forehead… it wasn't a tattoo.
It was scar tissue. Someone had carved it into his skin.
"I don't know," Gaara answered Naruto's question in a stoic but curious tone. "Mother told me to approach you, but now..."
"Mother? Wait!" Naruto pointed accusingly at Temari. "She's your mother!?"
Even as far away as she was, Hinata could see the older girl's face redden furiously. "What the hell is wrong with you!? I'm not even seventeen yet!"
"We are siblings," Gaara clarified.
"Er... oops?" Naruto smiled nervously.
"Mother is confused," Gaara continued, only to turn his back on Naruto and walk away. "You're probably not worth killing. Not unless you get in my way."
"…What?"
Nobody else said anything until the Sand siblings were well out of sight. Only then did Sakura choose to break the silence.
"And these are supposed to be our allies. Makes you wonder what Cloud or Rock genin would be like…"
Sasuke then landed from the tree. "That guy, Gaara. He recognized my Sharingan."
Hinata blinked. Sasuke had been too far away before, but now she could clearly see his active dojutsu. Had that been how he saw through Kankuro's technique?
"Seriously…?" Naruto muttered. "How does a kid from another country know something like that? If he was older, sure, but…"
"Exactly. He said something about how he can't kill me, even though he wants to. And that bloodlust in his eyes..."
Sakura's sighed deeply, shoulders sagging. "First Zabuza and now this… ugh…"
"Bah. Whatever," Naruto waved her off. "He put on a good show but he probably can't back it up."
"You sure about that, boss?" Konohamaru piped up, voice still shaky. "He's a scary dude…"
"Yeah. I'm sure," he said dismissively.
"You shouldn't underestimate people like that, Naruto-kun," was what Hinata almost said.
She had a feeling Naruto didn't actually mean those words at all. The way Gaara appeared behind Sasuke without anyone noticing spoke volumes about the foreign genin's skill, and that level of killing intent for someone their age… she didn't know if Naruto was scared too, yet Hinata was sure he wasn't going to take Gaara lightly if their paths ever crossed again.
"But like I said: whatever. Leave those guys to us, okay?" Naruto patted the small boy on the head. "More importantly, though…"
He then stared at Sakura. And so did Hinata—there was a detail that was impossible to miss about her, yet there had been no time to bring it up when the hostility had been so thick in the air.
"Sakura…?"
"Oh, this? Tell them, Sasuke-kun."
Hinata at that moment witnessed something she never thought she'd see: Sasuke looking away in embarrassment, with hints of red creeping up on his cheeks.
"We were training together today, but I misread one of her moves and ended up shooting a Great Fireball she almost didn't dodge. It just caught her hair."
"We were lucky our little spar doubled as Water Walking training," Sakura said, turning a bit and combed her hands through her hair.
Her shoulder-length hair.
"Geez," Naruto frowned at them. "You two gotta be more careful, you know."
"It was an accident," Sasuke said. "And I paid for her to get a proper haircut afterwards too."
Naruto opened his mouth to retort, but Sakura was faster.
"In the end I think this was for the best though. Guy-sensei did warn me that enemies could use my hair against me, so problem solved! Though… it will take a while to get used to it."
The pinkette then whirled around.
"So! How does it look…?"
Konohamaru stepped forward, his mouth hung open. "Wow! I don't know how you looked with long hair before, but I think it looks pretty good on you, miss!"
The comment made Sakura give a dazzling smile. "Thank you!"
Naruto didn't seem as impressed, however. "Well, it doesn't look bad, but… eh, I think you look way better with long hair," he shrugged.
"I-I think it looks good too!" Hinata spoke up quickly, hoping to cover up Naruto dissenting opinion with her own.
"Onee-sama, can you let go?"
"Ah. Of course."
With no threats around, Hinata allowed her precious sibling to go free. The little Hyuuga immediately approached Sakura to take a look at her hair.
"So, you're Sakura-san?"
"And you must be Hinata's sister," Sakura crouched to the girl's level. "Hanabi-chan, right? It's a pleasure to meet you! You're just as cute as Hinata said you were!"
The compliment made Hanabi giggle. "Onee-sama spoke a lot about you! About your hair, too… it's a pity, I kinda wanted to see how it was when it was long. She said it was so pretty!"
"I'm sorry, but maybe when I grow it out again I can show it to you. Or if I grow it. Long hair is a bit of a hassle sometimes."
"I know, right!? If it wasn't a clan tradition I'd have cut mine ages ago."
"Oh?"
…Hinata began to squirm. Everyone's gazes suddenly were on her besides Hanabi, who was busy touching Sakura's hair.
"Um, w-well… there's a tradition among the warriors of our clan, about hair… long hair is supposed to be disadvantageous, but our Gentle Fist is so effective that it's very hard for an enemy to ever exploit that. It's… it's like a taunt," she explained, looking down.
Her hope was that her friends would leave it at that, but Sasuke, blunt as always, asked what she didn't want to talk about anyway.
"Then why do you keep yours short?"
"…Not every Hyuuga does this. But… Otou-sama just never allowed me to grow it out."
She tried not to let bitterness seep into her voice, but couldn't.
For many years Hinata had thought this was a way her father had found to punish her, a permanent reminder that she was not good enough for the clan's standards… but that changed after Hiashi opened up to her that day by her mother's grave.
It wasn't something she realized right away, but Hinata now was sure that his only reason was to stop her from resembling her mother any more than she already did. And as much as she had grown closer to her father since that day, those reminders of what he did to her and why were still too much for her.
She needed more time.
To her luck, that little emotional slip was enough that nobody felt like pressing her for further explanations. Nonetheless, Naruto drew close to her, staring with a pensive expression.
"You know," he said, making her look up, "I think long hair would work for you too."
"R-Really?"
"Yeah," he pointed a thumb at Hanabi. "You'd look kinda like your sister, right? Except with blue instead of brown. It'd be a nice look for you."
Her face was on fire.
'Maybe Naruto-kun just likes long hair in general,' it occurred to her.
It was a thought she wasn't going to forget anytime soon.
"By the way, boss," Konohamaru interrupted, pulling at Naruto's sleeve, "who are all these people?"
That question sparked a sequence of introductions, which ultimately led to Sakura asking what exactly Naruto and Hinata were doing together.
To Hinata's great displeasure, her friend's teasing tone and suggestive expression made her attempt to answer the question a complete mess. Naruto helpfully took the lead, and it took a few minutes before everyone was on the same page.
"Then that's when you guys bumped into that puppeteer, I take it?" Sasuke asked.
"Yeah," Naruto muttered, scowling. "What a jerk. Then you guys showed up, and you know how things went from there."
"It was very lucky for us that you arrived when you did," Hinata said. "I don't know how things would have ended if that Kankuro person actually hit Konohamaru-kun."
Sakura nodded at that. "He really looked ready to cause trouble. It's a pity that I and Sasuke-kun splitting up and taking the high ground didn't intimidate him like we had hoped it would," she said, reminding Hinata of Asuma's tactic classes and how he stressed more than once about how advantageous high ground was.
"That was a good idea," Naruto remarked.
"Maybe," Sasuke allowed, "but in the end he only stopped because of his sister."
"Still better than what I did though. Konohamaru," he turned to the smaller boy, scratching his own head in embarrassment. "Like, sorry for not being much help in the end. I should've thought of a plan before diving in, but…"
"It's okay boss! Everything turned out fine, and if anything you helped distract the guy enough for him," he pointed at Sasuke, "to throw that rock. Thanks for that by way!"
"Hn. It was nothing."
While that happened, Hinata subtly approached her sister and nudged her.
"Ah. Yes, thanks for helping out everyone," Hanabi said. "Anyway, Konohamaru, we need to hurry. Udon and Moegi have got to be worried by now."
"You're right, let's go!"
Sakura held up a hand. "Wait a second, you two! I think I had an idea."
"What are you talking about, Sakura-chan?"
"About that bullying issue you just told us about." She then faced the kids. "Why don't you two try asking a teacher to use the Transformation Jutsu to look like one of you?"
"Oooh, I like that idea!" Hanabi said, smiling broadly. "They will get to see by themselves what goes on when they aren't looking, Konohamaru!"
"Yeah! Looks like that huge forehead isn't just for show—OUCH!"
Hanabi had stomped his foot.
"Stupid! Apologize to her right now!"
"Sorry! Sorry! I-I'm really sorry!"
"I-It's okay…" Sakura replied with an awkward smile, her eyebrow twitching.
"Idiot," Hanabi grumbled. "Come on, we should get going before it gets too late."
The kids soon disappearing into another street, going the opposite direction the Sand siblings had taken. Whether that had been a coincidence or not, Hinata didn't know.
'I hope those two will be alright… but at least I don't think they will be pranking people anymore.'
A loud, frustrated sigh from Sakura drew her attention to her friend. "This whole ordeal left me hungry."
"Have you reconsidered?" Sasuke then asked.
"You know what? Yeah. I accept that apology cake now." Sakura's gaze went to her other teammate. "Make sure Hinata gets home safely, okay?"
Naruto went straight as a rod and saluted her with a deep voice. "Yes ma'am!"
His dramatics earned him a few giggles from Hinata, which made him smile as well while Sakura shook her head at him before walking away with Sasuke, leaving Naruto and Hinata to continue their journey to the Hyuuga district.
…Time flew as they moved through Konoha streets.
Hinata didn't do much talking, as Naruto took the lead in the conversation and started to recount a couple of his bigger missions that happened since Wave. She was glad he didn't choose to discuss the genin from Suna or the upcoming exams in general, knowing that wouldn't do much good for her mental state at the moment.
But Naruto stuck to his words and didn't focus on what there was no point in focusing on just yet. Hinata wished she could be like that, but worrying was just in her nature.
Unfortunately for her, their trip couldn't last forever and they eventually arrived at the gates that led to Hinata's home.
"Whoa… fancy!" Naruto said, gazing at the manor with unabashed awe and making Hinata laugh a bit from behind her hand. "I know I said that about all the other houses on the way here, but, wow, your place is huge!"
"It is," she agreed. "But a lot of it is just for the staff's quarters, actually…"
"That makes it sound even fancier to be honest. But, well… Hinata, I guess this is it for now."
"Yes. T-Thanks for bringing me home, Naruto-kun."
"Heh. You say that like it was a bother."
The comment made a silly smile bloom in her face. "…See you tomorrow for Kakashi-sensei's lesson?"
"Definitively!" he pumped his fists. "I'm sure that tomorrow I'll finally have that Wind jutsu down! Look forward to that!"
"I will! Oh, and please, if you see Konohamaru-kun again tell him about our plans Sunday!"
"Gotcha! Bye!"
Hinata stood by the gates, watching as Naruto's running figure grew ever smaller with the distance.
Her hand went to rest by her chest, and true to what she could hear in her own ears, her heart was drumming fast and strong.
For years she had wished to become Naruto's friend. It all began on that last day in the Land of Waves, and now, finally, she felt confident saying she had truly achieved that goal.
It was thrilling.
…But it also was worrying.
This had just been a taste, but she could see herself getting addicted. That would be nothing but trouble.
Deep trouble.
For the past couple years she had been aware of how her feelings for Naruto had morphed into something that tended towards the romantic. This self-awareness came in great part from how often she read romance novels and how she matched what she felt to what some characters described their emotions.
…But thanks to those same novels, Hinata also felt she was too young to call what she felt as "love". She had a deep admiration for Naruto that was not at all romantic, mixed with a simple teenage crush.
That is what she kept telling herself, especially when Sakura and Ino persistently insinuated things at the worst times. She wanted to focus on being Naruto's friend first and foremost, helping him as he had helped her.
The rest would come later if it was to come at all. Hinata was sure she would grow out of these feelings eventually… but after their time together that day, she was left with a dangerous thought.
'What if… what if these feelings grow instead?'
Hinata wasn't stupid. Her father's words about how marriage could be a possible solution to the mess her family had found itself in… it was a plan B, sure, but one she wasn't going to forget about or put in jeopardy selfishly.
Of course, both that plan and a possible future with Naruto had an immense roadblock in… herself. Hinata knew she was dreadfully boring, on top of being plain-looking—and that was a very generous self-assessment in her opinion. Her chances of finding anyone were already close to zero, let alone someone so specific like her family could need her to find, or…
No matter how Hinata looked at it, she saw no hopes for that kind of future with Naruto.
The thought didn't even sting. She had come to terms with that not too soon after first realizing she had a crush on him, and acceptance followed almost instantly.
…But if her feelings were to grow, would that change?
Her debt to Naruto was a lifelong one, and by extension, so would be any negative emotions her heart could end up associating with their growing bond. Desire, frustration, envy, pain… love.
She frowned.
'Why am I even thinking about this anyway? How I feel, be it now or in the future… that doesn't matter at all. Idiot!'
Shaking her head at her own foolishness, she sighed and tried to forget these musings lest they stain what had been otherwise a wonderful day.
…Her debt to Naruto, which she had only just begun to pay him back for.
…Hanabi's uncertain future and the struggle ahead of her and her father to protect it.
…Her clan's past mistakes, which tormented her mother from her birth to her last breath.
…Her teammate's lives, which depended on her becoming less and less of a burden to them.
Her focus needed to be on those matters. Not how she felt about any of them. If those feelings ever became a problem, she would have to grin and bear it, no matter how much it could hurt.
Before heading back to her home, Hinata turned for one last moment to look down the street Naruto had gone through. Though he was not much more than a little dot in the distance she was still able to see him thanks to his bright clothing… and Hinata nodded to him, despite knowing he wasn't there to see her.
'I'll keep going forward no matter what. That's what he taught me after all.'
With her resolve renewed, Hinata walked through the manor's gates.
She would continue to fly towards the sun.
Even if deep down, she could already feel her wings starting to burn…
A/N:
As you can see the other reason I had the split was the super-convenient ending point. It felt right to end the chapter here, and I think most of you will agree.
Does this push the exams for even later? Not at all! Remember: this is just me dropping this half of the chapter early, rather than delaying the exams. The next part will probably be a fair bit smaller than this chapter (around 8K words I believe), and I will not be putting out a revised chapter in-between so at the latest, expect it to drop by the end of November, which was the ETA for the full chapter anyway.
By the way, Chapter 4 is looking pretty good now! I'm actually able to look at it (and the ones before it) with pride. I hope you guys enjoy it, because I worked really hard on it!
Leave a review about this chapter before that, tho! I'm anxious to know what you guys thought about the Sand Sibling's debut, as well as the constant Naruhina interactions throughout the chapter and Hinata's mindset at the end! I hope you all enjoyed them all, especially the Naruhina! Those moments were a delight to write!
I'm also hoping we might be able to reach the 500 reviews milestone before the next part! That would be wonderful!.
(PS to Guest reviewers: I'll be replying to your reviews next chapter, okay?)
See you in a month hopefully!
Changelog:
v1.0.1 (11/02/2018) - Apparently headbands are so common in Naruto that I can't even notice them. Ander Arias however did notice Natse was actually an enlisted ninja as proven by her headband, and helpfully notified me so I could change it. A pity, because it makes for a more interesting take but oh well.