Ishikengo no Kami

Author Notes:

Hello again! Thank you for continuing on to this chapter. I hope you enjoy it as well. Few things first again:

Note: I'm puting this up in a rush before I leae for a while. There may be some issues...but it should be good.

Disclaimer: I have no rights to the character, setting, story and otherwise that have been taken from the original manga and anime Naruto. I will make no money from this, nor do I intend to cost the holders of the original work's rights any money. I do this not to cause trouble, but to express a great appreciation for a wonderful series. I request that the original creator and those who have the rights to it to not look upon this not as a mean spirited infringement, but as a great compliment and free advertising.

Thanks: I would like to thank Deaku for beta and proof reading. I would also like to give a big thanks to my friend Joe, whose characters and ideas I am, in part, using. Finally, thanks to Masashi Kishimoto-sensei for creating Naruto in the first place.

Denotation:

"Speech"

'Thought'

-Sound-

Japanese:

Okaa – Mother (respectful)

Ittekimasu – I'll be going now (Roughly translated. It's a common saying for when you leave home)

Itterashai – Take care of yourself (Roughly translated. It's the common reply to Ittekimasu)

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A small pool of blood soaked the ground around the forms of the three travelers, steadily expanding around pebbles on the un-even dirt. Hinata opened her eyes, feeling as if it was for the first time in years while time had passed so slowly. She looked up.

Above her stood Alucard, both eyes shut tight. His breathing heavy and ragged, as if he had been running for days on end. His cheek was still soaked with blood, but only a small trickle escaped his eye now. His right hand still gripped his sword, his left hand gripped his right, and the tip was buried in his own leg.

His hand slowly opened and released the grip on his sword arm. Hinata noticed the marks on his wrist from where he had been squeezing it. The sword was pulled from his leg and his arm hung at his side, still holding it. The flow from his eye picked up a moment and his body tensed, before he let out a scream of rage and drove his head into the tree next to him.

For the longest time, the only sound was of his heavy ragged breathing as is gradually slowed and came under his own control. Hinata looked briefly to Naruto. He was conscious, but seemed detached from reality. His hand still gripped his stomach, though it had slackened when the pain had passed.

Finally, Alucard's breathing came back to normal. He turned, walked past the two genin and then paused. "You have no idea of what you speak, so I suggest you hold your tongue. I WILL fulfill my mission and bring you back as I was ordered to."

As he began to walk again, Hinata thought she heard him speak again in a much softer voice. "It's all I can do just to keep control now. Don't push me any further."

Naruto was mostly unresponsive for the rest of the day. Having no other choice, Hinata had followed with him behind Alucard. The mood had been decidedly gloomy. Even in the morning it still was.

'Naruto-kun…'

She looked across at the boy she so admired. His head still hung as he walked. Something was very wrong. Alucard had scared the wits out of Hinata, but even so it was so strange seeing Naruto this way. Maybe…just maybe…she could cheer him up? She didn't have much hope, but for his sake she had to try.

"N-Naruto-kun…?" He had told her she shouldn't stutter. She had to work on that!

"Hmmm?"

"Are you…alright?" What a dumb thing to say! He must think she's so stupid. How could she ask something like that?

"I'm not sure." The heiress turned. Not sure? How could he be not sure? Naruto was always sure… "Hinata…I'm sorry."

"N-Naruto-kun?"

"I'm sorry I couldn't do anything. I'm sorry you had to protect me. I couldn't even protect myself. I was scared….and then I was in pain. I couldn't even move." His voice rose. "I should have been the one! I should have protected you! Instead I was just curled up like that! It's pathetic!" His head dropped again, depression steeling over him. "I hate this…I hate being helpless. I'm so…so…"

"It's ok, Naruto-kun."

'H-Hinata?'

"It's ok, you don't always have to be the strongest. As long as you never give up, and you keep on trying, you can become stronger and make your dreams come true. I learned that from you. When I fought Neiji-niisan I gave up hope too, until you called out to me. You didn't let me give up, and because of that I was able to change. Now, I won't let you give up either. Even if you aren't strong enough now, you will become stronger. I know you will. Because never giving up and always striving towards your goals…that has always been your strength. That's why you are truly strong already. No matter how bad things get, I know you can succeed."

Naruto was stunned. He didn't know what to say. 'That's why you are truly strong already…' She thought…he was strong…

It had happened again, she realized. Her emotions had spoken for her. She wasn't even fully sure what she had said. She quickly turned her head away, a deep blush creeping over her cheeks. She was so embarrassed!

"It's funny…I never tell anyone when I'm feeling sad…or weak." Hinata turned an eye to her companion to see his face hidden as he watched the ground as he walked. "But with you, it's so easy. And every time I do you end up making me feel so much better, just like that." He raised his head to look at her, a slight smile on his lips. "Thank you, Hinata."

Hinata felt her mind suddenly suffered a catastrophic system failure as her face nearly began to glow. What part of her could still think began down a line of thought that threatened to make her state of mind even worse. 'Should I tell him…how I feel?'

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A ways down the road, Alucard attempted to evade his pursuer with his slow plodding pace. It was no use. The memories always caught up…

"Get up sleepyhead, you're going to be late!"

The young boy, who looked to be about six years old, rolled over mumbling something about a few more minutes.

"Sheesh, what an irresponsible little brother I have. How do you expect to make Anbu some day if you can't even get out of bed to go to the academy on time?"

That usually did the trick. The boy rolled irritably out of bed and followed his big sister downstairs for breakfast. Mother was cooking eggs again. "You need to be more responsible. A good ninja is never late."

"Hai, Okaa-san."

"I have an important mission today, so I will be home late. Your sister will cook dinner."

"Hai, Okaa-san." This was nothing new. Mother was a member of the elite Anbu squad that had been nicknamed 'The Watchers' for their highly developed stealth skills. She was rarely home for dinner…

"Don't worry," his sister whispered to him. "We can order out."

"Good, I don't think I could survive another of your home cooked meals." With that he raced to the door grinning widely before she could retaliate. "Itekimasu!"

"Itterashai, you little brat."

"Itterashai, Alucard."

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"N-Na-Nar-ru-ruto…I…." Naruto turned towards the stuttering girl. What was up with her? She was redder than he'd ever seen her and struggling with her words more than usual. She can be so weird sometimes…

"I…I…" Suddenly, the struggled sentence cut off as there was a rustle in the trees. "Hey, who's there?" shouted Naruto.

With a great leap, a figure came down from the branches landing mere inches in front of Naruto and staring at him face to face. After pulling back in surprise, Naruto managed to recognize him as the boy from earlier. "Who are you?"

The other boy stepped back with a smug grin. "I'm Inu Coldash, the future greatest ninja of all time!"

Naruto could only look on in shock. "Huh?"

"That's right! The best ever! I'm going to become the greatest ninja in the world and everyone will know!"

The confusion from the recent event soon drained to the back of Naruto's mind as his ego kicked into full gear. "Hah! If you're going to be the best ever, that means you'd have to be better than me, and that's not possible! I'm going to become hokage and surpass all other hokage before me!"

"Hokage nothing! I'm going to be even better than that! I'm going to surpass everyone and everything!"

"Oh yeah? Well…!"

Hinata slowly came to grips with the current situation as the heated debate continued. A little while ago Naruto had been telling her she was nice to talk to and…and...

She blushed significantly at the thought.

Then this strange boy, the same one who had been having some sort of staring contest with Alucard a little while ago had popped out of nowhere. Now he and Naruto seemed to be arguing about who would become greater than the other. Not surprisingly, Hinata was being ignored again.

She took a moment to look the boy over. He was indeed about their age, with spiky black hair. He seemed to be wearing some sort of dark purple martial arts gi, and his features seemed slightly foreign. But despite the foreignness, he looked a bit like Naruto.

"Well then, how about we settle it now, huh?"

"If you're looking for a fight, you got it!"

"A-Ano….excuse me…"

"Huh? What's up, Hinata?"

"Huh? Who are…" The boy seemed to freeze a moment. He stared at Hinata with wide eyes as she was poking her fingers together. "S…So cute!"

"Huh?"

"You're so cute! You said her name was Hinata? Such a nice name! My name's Inu Coldash! Say, say, Hinata-chan? Will you go out with me?"

"N-NANI!" Naruto looked back and forth between this newcomer and Hinata. She looked shocked and was blushing heavily. He had a great big grin on his face. "What happened to our fight?"

"Huh? Oh, never mind that. It's not important. Hey, Hinata-chan! Want to go find some place to get a bite to eat? It'll be my treat! How about it?"

Hinata found herself unable to answer. He was speaking way too quickly and loudly for her to reply. Not that she knew what to say anyways. "Hey, leave her alone! Can't you see you're bothering her?"

"What? What are you talking about? I'm not bothering her. Right, Hinata-chan?"

"A-ano…"

"Hmm?"

"W-We have a mission! We h-have to go now. Alucard-san is…"

"Huh? Alucard? Oh, that guy who was just here…" Inu glanced at Naruto a moment. "Well, I can't very well leave a pretty girl like yourself unprotected with a guy like that. Where are you going? I'll come with you."

"Like hell you will! I can protect her myself. You just run along." With that, Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand again and dragged her off. 'Who does he think he is? Declaring he'll be the best ever just like that…some nerve!' Naruto glanced back at the girl he was dragging along. 'Can't protect her, huh? I'll show him!'

Hinata was thoroughly confused.

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"G-good night, Naruto-kun." It had become a habit to say that, even though they both knew no sleep would be coming.

"Good night, Hinata." Naruto looked across at Alucard again. He was being even quieter than usual today. Ever since…

"Good night, Hinata-chan!" Naruto glanced over in annoyance. "Why are you still here?"

"I told you, I'm going to protect Hinata-chan. That's why." With that, Inu plopped down in front of the fire across from Alucard, blocking his view of them.

"That bastard…" Grumbled Naruto. Hinata fell asleep almost instantly. Having Inu blocking the line of sight from Alucard greatly relieved the nervous pressure he gave off, and her sleepiness quickly overcame her. Eventually, Naruto drifted off to sleep as well. Demon fox or not, you can only go so long without sleep before it catches up to you.

Inu glanced back at the two fondly. Well…at one of the two fondly.

"Why am I so attracted to you?"

A large sweat drop rolled down the side of Inu's head. "Did you need to phrase it that way?" He paused to look behind himself at Naruto. "Same reason we're both attracted to fox-boy here." He turned back to the other. "Tell me, how much do you know?"