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A Day with Team 8
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Naruto was sitting in the middle of a training ground, all by himself. His hands were resting in his lap, eyes closed. He'd been sitting still like that for the last ten minutes, but it felt like two hours to him already. It was early morning, even before their team was supposed to meet. They would go on yet another C-rank mission with Kurenai's team. He'd hoped to make some progress before that. Unfortunately, his teacher seemed almost as clueless as Naruto himself on the topic. 'Maybe try some meditating,' he'd told him. So Naruto spent his time meditating. He didn't know what good it was supposed to do, sitting there with closed eyes, doing nothing.
He heard some yelling not far away, and decided to check it out. His motivation was low. He wanted to train his body, not sit around idly and wait for a miracle.
He found Gai-sensei's team nearby. They were doing sit-ups. Gai was yelling at them to do more, and to do them faster. Naruto had never talked to Gai before, nor seen much of him, but Kakashi told him that he could become a shinobi, even if he decided to seal the Kyuubi's chakra away again. All he had to do was to change to this team. Curiosity spread in Naruto.
He hid behind a tree to observe the three Genin, his potential new team. They were a year older than him, so he didn't really know them. One of them was a Hyuuga. He used to see him with Hinata a lot back at the Academy. Just like Sasuke he often wore a frown on his forehead. The girl was called Tenten, he'd seen her talk to Naho once or twice, but he never talked to her, nor did she ever talk to him. The third Genin was the weirdest to Naruto. He wore an awkward green jumpsuit and a bowl cut, and had awfully bushy eyebrows. Naruto could only guess that he wasn't exactly the most popular guy. And to make things even weirder, he looked exactly like a younger copy of their teacher.
"Can I help you?" Gai called over to him. The three Genin now noticed him too. "You are Naruto, right?"
Naruto stepped away from the tree. Lee was the only one who didn't recognize him. "I was training nearby and heard you guys," Naruto explained.
"Ah, training hard early in the morning. I'd expect no less from one of my eternal rival's students. Always hardworking and striving for perfection." Gai shed a tear, he already liked Naruto. "Come, join us." He opened his arms wide to welcome Naruto.
Naruto approached slowly. Gai irritated him. Was this some sort of trap?
"Hi there, I'm Lee!" Lee threw a big smile at him, something Naruto didn't see too often from people he didn't know. "If you are Kakashi-sensei's student I'm sure you must be pretty strong."
The looks he got from Neji and Tenten were completely different though.
"You are Naruto Namikaze, right? The son of the Fourth Hokage," Neji said.
Lee's eyes grew bigger. "What, you are? Wait, the Fourth Hokage had a son?"
Tenten facepalmed. "Come on, Lee. How can you not know?"
"No one ever told me!" He grabbed Naruto's hand, holding it tight in his. "Then please, you have to fight me. I need to prove myself."
"Well, don't expect me to go easy on you. I'm not only the son of the Fourth, I'm also going to be the next Hokage myself!" The words almost automatically left Naruto's mouth, despite him not really being in the mood to prove himself. At least not to strangers he'd just met.
"Alright, let's do it!"
"Huh? Right now?"
"Just a friendly spar. I don't think you can beat me, but I'm always searching for a challenge!"
Naruto considered for a moment. He somehow liked the enthusiasm of the bushy-eyebrow guy. And some good old physical exercise was exactly what he needed. So he agreed.
Lee took a stance Naruto had never seen before when readying himself, one flat palm raised at him, the other hidden behind his bag. Surely he wasn't going to fight him with one hand. Naruto didn't even care to raise his fists as the fight started. He would know how to move once Lee was going at him.
But Naruto never even saw him coming. Lee moved so fast, the first thing Naruto felt was a punch in his stomach, followed by kick in the face. He didn't manage to raise his fists to block before the third hit knocked him down to the ground.
The next punch he managed to dodge by rolling to the side, but more soon followed.
Lee stopped, still standing in a fighting posture. "I expected more from the son of a Hokage."
Naruto pushed himself up. Not even Sasuke was this fast. "Kakashi-sensei told me you guys were good at taijustu. Guess he was right." He laughed at Lee. He felt bad. He hated losing. But he didn't show it.
Gai gave Lee a tight hug. "I'm so proud of you, Lee. You truly beat one of Kakashi's students."
"Taijutsu is our specialty." Lee gave Naruto a thumbs up. "Actually, you could even say taijutsu is my ninja way. I will show everyone that I don't need ninjutsu to become a respectable shinobi."
"Really?" Naruto was starting to get more and more impressed. "But why no ninjutsu?"
Lee blushed and scratched his cheek. "Well, I'm just really not good at ninjutsu… Like, not at all."
"The other Genin teams in our year liked to call us the taijutsu losers," Tenten said. "But then we beat them up."
"They never called me a loser," Neji added.
"Right, right. Of course, Neji was never a loser but a prodigy. My bad." Tenten and Lee both laughed.
Naruto could see it. He could see himself as part of that team.
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Kakashi's team met with Kurenai's team at the gates of Konoha. Kurenai arrived together with Kakashi. She'd met him earlier and made sure to drag him along, so he wouldn't be late for once. The first thing she did was to introduce herself to Kakashi's Genin.
"Let's work well together," she said, smiling. Hinata was standing behind her, eyeing Naruto with a soft smile on her lips. Kiba and Shino both nodded at team 7. They already knew each other from the Academy, except for Naho, so they shortly introduced themselves again.
"I'm Kiba, the future Hokage. And this is Akamaru," Kiba said when it was his turn. He'd claimed the title of future-Hokage back in the Academy already. It was something that Naruto would usually make a fuss over, making sure everyone knew that he was the future Hokage and no one else. But not today. Today Naruto's mind was still with Team Gai.
"Kurenai, Kakashi." Someone stopped them before they could leave Konoha. "Could I talk to you?" Naruto immediately recognized him. It was Kou, Hinata's guardian.
He took Kakashi and Kurenai aside to talk to them. The seven Genin only overheard parts of the conversation, but those short scraps were enough to understand what was going on. Kou wouldn't allow for Hinata to go on a mission with Naruto, especially not if he wasn't near. Yet Kurenai had an arrangement with Kou and Hinata's father that he wasn't allowed to accompany them on missions. Kou took his duty very seriously. And it hurt Hinata's progress when he jumped in front of her every time there was the slightest hint of danger.
"I'm sorry," Hinata said in a quiet voice. "Kou is… always very worried about me, but he shouldn't…" She looked at Naruto for just a second. His eyes were locked on the ground, and it hurt her. She didn't want to be the reason Naruto felt this way.
"You can't be serious?" Kou now yelled loud enough for anyone to hear. "Missions are dangerous enough as they are. I can't allow Lady Hinata to travel with him on top of that." He pointed at Naruto.
"Kou, please don't say such things," Hinata said, but Naruto stopped her from going over to them.
"It's fine," he said. "I'm used to it. Besides, maybe he's not even wrong." Naruto gave her a big smile, a sad smile.
Hinata blushed at the interaction, but was equally irritated. This wasn't how Naruto usually reacted. Last time, he'd thrown himself straight at Kou to let him know he couldn't treat him like that.
Kakashi and Kurenai handled the situation. They eventually came over to their Genin again, leaving an angry Kou behind.
"Let's go," was all Kurenai had to say.
"Are you sure I shouldn't just skip this mission? I can stay home and train some more." Naruto looked at Kakashi, while putting on a smile. He tried his best to make it sound like this was no big deal at all.
"You are part of team 7, so you are coming."
Naruto was disappointed at his teacher's answer. He'd almost hoped Kou convinced them to leave him in Konoha. This wasn't just any mission. It was a mission in a town far away, which meant they'd spend the night there. Just the thought of being that close to his teammates again at night sent shivers through his whole body.
They left Konoha, and only stopped their ninja sprint again at noon to have a short lunch break.
"How come you never have those nice homemade bentos anymore, Sakura?" Naho asked, looking at the packaged bread bun and onigiri Sakura pulled out of her backpack.
"Ah, making them every day just took way too long."
"Didn't your mother make them for you anyway?" Sasuke asked.
"She did, but I'm not a child anymore. I don't need them." Sakura looked around, desperate for a new lunch topic to talk about. "Hey, Hinata. Your bento looks delicious too. Did your mom make it for you?"
Hinata blushed. "No, I made it myself." Her blushing increased as Naruto scooped closer to her to look at the box full of food.
"Wow, this really looks tasty. I didn't know you are such a good cook," Naruto said.
"D-do… do you w-want…" Hinata started stumbling, holding the bento into Naruto's direction.
Sakura's scream interrupted her. "Hiya, there is an ugly bug on my food! Shino! You still play with these weird insects? This is so gross, take it away!"
Shino silently took the bug away from Sakura's food. It vanished inside his jacket. Sakura shivered at him.
"Pretty sure that bug was more scared of you than the other way around," Kiba said with a mouth full of meatballs.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it seems like you haven't changed either. You are still always yelling around."
"Excuse me?!" Sakura covered her mouth as soon as she realised she was indeed yelling.
"My, are you all lively today." Kurenai smiled at them. "Doing missions with other teams really is exciting, isn't it?" She looked over at Kakashi, who was reading a book. The smile on her lips vanished when she read the title. "How can you read that in front of your students?"
"Haven't you finished that one already?" Sakura asked. She'd stopped caring about her teacher's taste in books.
"It's the second volume," Kakashi said, ignoring Kurenai's appalled glances.
"Unbelievable," she sighed. "Not even Genma would be that bold."
"Who's Genma?" Naho asked the others, wondering how many more people she didn't know.
"He's also a Jounin and teacher. But I heard his team disbanded after they had to make their first kill on a mission," Kiba casually told them, while throwing some of his meatballs for Akamaru to catch.
"They killed someone?" Naho was the only one who really seemed surprised.
"Yeah, I don't know the details. Think it was some psycho serial killer they had to catch. No idea why they'd split up over something like that though."
Hinata barely listened to her teammate, her eyes were focused on Naruto, and her mind was trying to work out the best way to talk to him. This was the first time ever Kou wasn't nearby to scold her for it. She had to make the best out of this opportunity. But because her eyes were always on Naruto, she didn't miss the constant glances he threw at Naho.
"Hey, Naho-chan," he eventually said after they'd finished their lunch. "I bought some mochi. These are your favourites, right? Here, I want to share with you."
Hinata's heart sank. And while she didn't miss any of Naruto's glances, Kiba didn't miss hers. He instantly grabbed the bag of mochi and took them away from Naruto.
"What bad manners. Only sharing with one of your teammates, do you always do that?" He put Naruto into a deadlock. Naruto didn't hesitate to fight back, and a little brawl emerged between the two. Hinata shyly asked Kiba to stop, and Naho offered the mochi Naruto had given her to Kiba. But Kiba didn't really care about the mochi.
"Pathetic." Sasuke closed his backpack and got up. "Can't we just continue and leave these two idiots here?" he said towards the two teachers. Kurenai looked at him in surprise, not used to the harsh tone Kakashi's student used. But Kakashi only ignored his comment.
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Hinata's head was as red as it might get when they arrived at their destination. They were told that there was one room prepared for all of them to spend the night in. Her heart was racing and she just stood there, rubbing her fingers together, while everyone else dropped their bags and got comfy.
"Sasuke-kun, let's sleep next to each other again," Sakura squeaked.
It was just like their last mission, with the exception that Naruto didn't try to grab the spot next to her. Instead, he sat down at the other end of the room. Sasuke's eyes followed him, but he didn't say anything.
"It's late already, just rest for today. There is a wedding here tomorrow. It starts early in the morning, so don't stay awake too long." Kurenai already vanished in the bathroom.
Kakashi sighed at Sakura. "Those are some exciting years for you guys, aren't they? Getting all thrilled to sleep next to a certain person." He laid his futon down in the middle of the room. "Come on, Naruto. I'm all thrilled sleeping next to you tonight too." He threw an exaggerated smile at Naruto.
A shiver ran down Naruto's spine. "That's… creepy. Don't say these kinds of things. That's just wrong," Naruto yelled at him. He stopped when he saw Naho giggle at them. Sleeping next to Kakashi was the best thing he could do. He jumped up, filled with new determination. This night would be fine. He would prove to everyone, including himself, that there was no harm sleeping in the same room. He pulled off his jacket and shirt. Hinata almost fainted. He took three paper seals and put them on his tummy. "This should do," he said, a confident smile on his face. He casually went on to put on a sleeping shirt.
Hinata stumbled some unrecognisable words before fleeing the room.
"You know, Naruto. Sometimes less is more. And those seals don't grow on trees. Use them more carefully." Kakashi changed into sleeping wear too.
"What's wrong with you guys?" Sakura yelled at them. Shino and Kiba were also about to take off parts of their clothes. "Don't you know any manner and common courtesy? You already scared Hinata off. Go change somewhere else." She turned around and was suddenly looking at Sasuke again. "But, I mean, since you are all almost done already… you might as well…"
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Naruto could hear everyone's monotonous breathing. He knew they were all fast asleep, and he wished he was too. But he couldn't. He couldn't put this much trust in a stupid piece of paper with some symbols on it. He sat up and looked over at his three teammates. They all slept peacefully. Sakura had turned towards Naho, her arms wrapped around her.
"There's nothing you have to worry about, Naruto," Kakashi whispered at him. "Go to sleep."
Naruto only realised now that he was awake as well. His left eye was still closed. Naruto lay down next to him again. "Have you stayed awake all this time to watch over me?"
Kakashi rolled on his back. "I usually don't sleep much at night. It's just a habit."
Silence returned as Naruto considered going to sleep. "I dreamt of my mother a few days ago," he eventually shared with Kakashi. "I mean, I dream about her a lot, but that time was different. It wasn't a nightmare for once."
Kakashi silently listened.
"She was just sitting there at my table, talking me to sleep." He laughed a bit. "I guess it was a weird dream, first she had blond hair, then red hair." He turned to Kakashi. "Did you… know my mom?"
"Yes."
"What was her hair colour?"
"Red."
A big grin formed on Naruto's face. "Really? Somehow I knew it. I've never seen a photo of her, but I always pictured her with red hair." Kakashi had to remind him to keep his voice down. "Say, what was she like?"
"She was… nice." Kakashi stared up at the dark ceiling. "A lot like you. Loud and bubbly. I guess you managed to inherit her personality."
"I hope I can dream of her again tonight. A good dream." Naruto had his eyes closed. He slowly drifted off. All he could see in his sleep was red hair.
Time passed, and Kakashi was the only one left awake. Pictures of Kushina and Minato kept appearing before his eyes. He rolled to his left, and to his right, and to his left again, until he was caught in a vivid half-sleep. His brain was showing him scenes of his past, making them awfully real.
A kick from Naruto finally woke him up again. The boy went on to turn towards Kakashi and wrapped his arms around him. It was weird. Kakashi didn't like it. But he couldn't just wake him up again now that he finally was asleep. Not being able to sleep peacefully was a curse he didn't wish on anyone else.
So Kakashi just lay there, with Naruto cuddled against him. He listened to his even breathing, wondering if his wish had come true. And after a while, his eyes closed again as well. And this time, his mind rested in a deep sleep with no nightmares.
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Naruto woke up with the feeling that someone was watching him. His eyes shot open, and he looked into both Sakura and Naho's faces. They were close to him, grinning. The two girls giggled, both pulling away from Naruto again. Only now did he feel the arm that was wrapped around him. He looked to his left to find Kakashi-sensei's face right next to his, still fast asleep.
Naruto shrieked, and jumped out of bed. Sasuke was staring at him, throwing a dirty grin at him. "Did you sleep well while cuddling onto Kakashi-sensei like a little baby?"
Naruto charged at Sasuke, running straight over Kakashi. "Shut up, that's not how it was!" Naruto yelled at him.
"It pretty much looked like it," Sasuke kept teasing him.
Naruto jumped at him, knocking him down onto the futon. The two boys wrestled while throwing taunt after taunt at each other. Sasuke eventually managed to get on top of Naruto and pinned him down, sitting on top of him with a smile. Naruto was ready to fight back, but something caught his attention. It was Sakura and Naho, standing next to them, laughing. It was a cute laugh, Naruto a thought. Wholehearted. And all the events of the past days came back to him.
Sasuke let go of Naruto, realising that he'd lost his will to fight.
Naruto stared at his two teammates, both looking amused and carefree. This was what he'd have to give up to join Gai's team, he realised.
"Why's everyone screaming around?" Kakashi sat up, scratching his head. "What time is it?"
Sakura, Sasuke and Naho both threw the same dirty grin at Kakashi, who had no idea at all what was going on. He checked the time, and his eyes grew bigger.
"We are late… Why didn't you guys wake me?" His voice remained calm, and it didn't seem like he was actually going to get up any time soon. "Why are you all still standing there with that stupid grin on your faces? Go get ready!" he told his Genin instead.
They all got dressed in a haste. Kurenai's team was nowhere to be seen. When Naruto opened the door to run downstairs where they were supposed to meet their client, he almost bumped directly into Hinata, who was standing in front of the door.
Her face was red. "N-naruto… I uh, um… I was supposed to get you guys, but… uh…" She wanted to say more, but was interrupted by Sakura and Sasuke who pushed Naruto out of the doorframe. Hinata had to dodge to not get hit by all three of them.
Sakura pulled Sasuke along. Hinata wondered if she could do the same and walk together with Naruto. She'd tried talking to him for all of their journey, but could never find the right time or words. But even now, Naruto wasn't looking at her. He was looking back at Naho, who was standing in the doorway, wishing Hinata a good morning.
"Should we get going? I wonder what today's mission is," he said to her. The smile on his lips wasn't one that Hinata had seen before, and she'd seen many. It felt forced. And sad.
"You haven't paid attention yesterday, have you?" Naho and Naruto walked down the hallway together. "Kurenai-sensei explained it yesterday."
Hinata watched them leave. She'd barely seen Naruto since they left the Academy. And even then, they'd never been close. She'd watched him, that was all she could do. All she was allowed to do. She'd watched him carefully, and that's why she could tell that he'd changed. Something inside of him had changed.
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Sakura had a bright smile on her face once again as she clung to Sasuke. Their mission was to be bodyguards for a wedding. A royal wedding. The wedding hall was decorated with thousands of flowers. Guests were sitting around small tables, wearing their best garments. Sakura loved these kinds of events. She loved weddings. Though she'd never been to one, but she'd often dreamt of them. Specifically, of her own wedding with Sasuke. She glanced over at him, giggling to herself.
"Alright, let's split in two groups. One will stay in here, the other one should stand guard outside," Kurenai said.
Hinata was hoping they'd mix the groups up, but, of course, they didn't. She stared at the floor while following her teacher outside.
Team 7 sat down in the back of the big hall. They'd been advised to hide their presence as best as possible, because apparently people didn't enjoy armed shinobi at their weddings.
Sakura gasped at the bride when she was walked inside. She was wearing an expensive looking kimono and jewels on her arm, neck and in her hair. "She is so beautiful!"
Naruto wasn't as impressed. "She's not even smiling."
"Well, obviously she's nervous," Sakura snapped at him.
"She also looks so much younger than him. Like, how old is that guy? 50? 60?"
"Psst!" Kakashi put a finger in front of his masked mouth.
Sakura went on to quietly admire the bride, while Naruto and Sasuke looked around the room, bored.
Outside, Kiba was sitting on the wooden veranda in front of the wedding hall. "What a stupid mission." Akamaru was chasing a butterfly on the field. "Who needs shinobi to stand guard on their wedding. I mean, 9 shinobi."
"He's a lord, Kiba. You never know what kind of enemies they might have." Kurenai was leaning against a pillar, observing the road not too far away from them. It let out of town.
The butterfly fled to Shino and landed on one of his fingers.
"Oh, how beautiful!" Hinata admired it. She caught Akamaru and held him in her arms when he jumped up to snatch at his prey. The dog let out a disappointed whine.
A group of men approached them. They came from outside of town and were dressed in dirty shirts and torn trousers. Clearly they were none of the invited guests.
"Step away," one of them said as Kurenai blocked their way to the entrance.
"Do you have an invitation?" she asked nicely.
"My sister's the bride. Of course, I gotta join the party."
"I'm afraid I can't let you pass without an invitation card."
He immediately got angry at her and attempted to push Kurenai out of the way. Within seconds, she was behind him, twisting his arm behind his back.
The others charged to free their friend. Kurenai had already locked her eyes on them, ready to put them into a genjutsu. But she then looked at her Genin.
"Capture them," she calmly said, dodging away from a punch. She let go of the self-pronounced brother of the bride and positioned herself between door and men again.
"What the bloody hell is wrong with you? I just want to see my sister!" the man yelled at her again.
Meanwhile, Kakashi and his team were still sitting on some cushions, watching the ceremony. Bride and groom were in front of the altar, saying their vows. Just as the bride said yes, Kakashi's ears caught something.
"Naruto, accompany me outside. You guys stay here." Him and Naruto tried to leave the ceremony fairly unnoticed.
Outside, Kakashi and Naruto found around 15 men laying on the ground. Some were unconscious, some were trying to flee from some vicious insects, and others had already been tied up.
"You don't understand. I'm trying to save her," one of the men said. A rope was tied around his wrists.
"Save whom?" Naruto asked.
"My sister. Please, you have to let me go and see her. Before she's married to that guy."
"Well, I'm afraid you're too late for that." Kakashi said, pulling out his book to use the short break for some entertainment.
"Your sister is the bride?" Naruto asked.
"He's been going on and on how apparently his sister got kidnapped by that lord and is now forced to marry him." Kiba said, arms crossed behind his head. Akamaru was sniffing their captives for food.
"See? I told you there was something wrong with them, Kakashi-sensei! That guy's way too old for her!"
"It's not really uncommon for a man to take a young wife. Especially not if it's a lord," Kurenai explained.
Kakashi pretended to be intrigued by Naruto's findings. "No, please, Kurenai. Let this young expert speak. What's your plan now, Naruto? Go in and crash the wedding?"
Naruto couldn't help clenching his fists. "Well, yes! If I have to," Naruto yelled at his teacher and marched back inside. Kakashi grabbed his jacket before he could reach the door.
"Naruto. Stop picking sides." Kakashi's voice sounded as strict as it could possibly sound. Which wasn't a lot. "Our mission is to make sure everything regarding the wedding goes well, you can't just go in and crash it.".
"But what if that guy's right and she's forced to marry him? That's not fair!"
"I told you, life is hardly fair. She said yes at the altar. There's nothing you can do about this."
They moved the captives out of the way and locked them into an empty storage shed that was nearby. Surely wedding guests wouldn't appreciate stepping outside to find a bunch of tight up villagers. Naruto stood on the veranda. He refused to help.
Hinata walked up to him. She was nervously playing with her fingers. "I think you are right. She shouldn't be forced to marry someone she doesn't love."
"Then why didn't you say anything?" Naruto yelled at her. He hadn't intended to make Hinata cringe, but it was his anger speaking. He could feel it seethe deep inside of him. He turned away from her and ran towards the entrance door.
It opened the moment Naruto wanted to storm inside, and he almost crashed into the groom.
"Careful, boy. You might get my garments dirty." He looked down at Naruto before pushing past him. "I've heard they showed up after all. Good job on catching them."
"What do you want us to do with them?" Kakashi asked.
"Ah, I really don't mind. Kill them for all I care."
Naruto's mouth opened to throw all the insults he could think of at that weird lord. This was the person his anger was supposed to be directed at. But Kurenai's eyes met his for just a second, and suddenly, something blocked his mouth. He opened it further, put his fingers inside. There was something, but he couldn't get it out. What was it? A towel? He gagged, panicked. How did it get there?
"If you don't mind, we'll make sure they safely return to their homes." Kakashi glanced at the brother, who was throwing insults at the lord in Naruto's stead. "And we'll make sure they won't return until the wedding is over."
The lord nodded and went inside again.
Naruto took a deep breath as the towel in his mouth was suddenly gone again. "What was that?" he yelled.
"A genjutsu. You should know by now." Kakashi wasn't too impressed with his student.
"You put a genjutsu on me? Why? That guy just wanted all of them killed!"
"Calm down. Yelling won't do you any good." He walked over to Naruto to put a hand on his head, messing with his hair. It didn't exactly calm Naruto down, but at least it got him somewhat distracted. "Come on, let's get the others and get these guys back home."
Hinata approached Naruto again when Kakashi vanished inside. "I'm sorry… Maybe I should have…"
"No, I'm sorry," he interrupted her. "I shouldn't have yelled at you." He didn't look at her. He was still angry, but not at her. He left to go after Kakashi.
"I wonder if something happened," Hinata said, more to herself, but Kiba still engaged in a conversation.
"Why? Naruto's always had a big mouth. Poor Sasuke and Sakura, having to put up with this on every mission."
"No, that's not…" Again, there was something Hinata wanted to say, but she didn't.
Kiba looked at her with a frown on his forehead. "Speak up when you got something to say." He'd told her those words many times already.
Kurenai stayed at the wedding to make sure nothing else was going to interrupt the festivities, while Kakashi went on a little walk with 7 Genin and 14 captured villagers.
"You guys have no sense for morality," the brother kept telling them. "You are just emotionless tools, aren't you?" He kept going. Naruto was his main target. It wasn't hard to see that his words affected him the most.
Kurenai had asked Kakashi to leave Naruto with her. But Kakashi didn't believe in avoiding problems. So he silently walked in front of them, ignoring the insults and pleads that man threw at Naruto. This wouldn't be the last time the boy would be insulted for choosing the life of a shinobi. It was something he'd have to get used to.
"I didn't become a shinobi to care about morality," Sasuke suddenly intervened. "I became a shinobi to kill those who hurt those important to me. At least that's something I can do. All you do is talk, talk, talk. It's annoying."
"What? You little brat."
"I don't care about your sister one bit. But if she was my sister… I'd be ashamed for being too weak to protect her." It was quiet as everyone stared at Sasuke with open mouths. He kept on walking like nothing happened.
"Wow, that was so cool, Sasuke." Sakura smiled at him, upping her pace to walk next to him again.
But Sasuke's words seemed to hit deep, and the man didn't say another word until they arrived at the small village they lived in.
On their way back, Sakura and Kiba were the only ones to engage in a lively conversation. Sakura felt bad for the girl too, but let everyone know that it was her fault too for being too weak, not only her brothers, and that she would never let something like that happen to herself.
Sasuke and Naruto both stayed out of the conversation. They looked depressed, something that was quite normal for Sasuke, but not for Naruto. Hinata kept looking at him. Her mind thought of hundreds of different ways to start a conversation with him, but none seemed to be quite right. So she just quietly followed after him, playing one scenario after the other in her head.
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"Is this how it's always going to be?" Naruto asked his teacher on their way back to Konoha. "Am I going on mission after mission feeling like I'm doing more harm than good?"
"You need to stop getting emotionally invested in this."
"But how? How can you just stand there and watch when that guy kidnapped a girl and forced her to marry him?"
"You only heard one side of the story, yet you're ready to judge and act accordingly. You are a shinobi. Choosing a side is none of your business. Your side is chosen for you by the Hokage. So start acting like a shinobi."
Naruto kicked a stone that was in his way and distanced himself from his teacher.
Hinata watched him. She'd been so excited to finally be able to talk to him without Kou interrupting, yet they were already halfway back to Konoha and she hadn't managed to speak more than a sentence at a time.
"Why don't you just go and talk to him instead of staring at his back all day long?" Kiba appeared next to her. Akamaru sat on his head, giving her a reassuring woof.
"Kiba! I… I don't know what you are talking about."
Kiba raised his eyebrows at her, grinning. "Oh, you do. Come on, it's obvious."
Hinata blushed and started stumbling.
"Ah, you really are hopeless. Let me show you how it's done. Hey, Sakura!" he called Sakura over to them.
She only reluctantly left Sasuke's side.
"What's up with Naruto and Naho?" Kiba asked when Sakura walked next to them. Sakura pretended she had no idea what he was talking about. "Well, Naruto's usually all bubbly and talkative. But every time he just happens to look at Naho he gets all gloomy and serious." He supported his question with fitting facial expressions, which reminded everyone that Kiba, next to Naruto, had always liked taking on the role of class clown. "So what's going on between the two?"
Sakura again claimed she didn't know what he was talking about, leaving Kiba utterly dissatisfied.
"Hey, Naho," he now called the girl in question. He wasn't giving up that easily.
Sakura immediately punched his side. "What are you doing? Leave her alone."
"So there is something you are not telling us."
"It's none of your business." Sakura left to go back to her team, which was walking further in front of them. Kiba could tell by the look on Sakura's face that she was telling an excuse to Naho to ignore him.
They stopped at a small temple for their lunch break. The first thing the seven Genin did was to walk up the stairs to offer some ryou for the gods' good fortune.
"Don't you want to say a prayer too?" Kurenai smiled at Kakashi. He ignored her and lay down in the shades of a tree to relax. She sat down next to him. "It's nice that you finally found your own team of Genin. Seems like they are quite a handful."
Kurenai only meant well, but Kakashi was definitely in no mood to discuss his life. So he just pulled out his book again and continued reading.
She sighed.
Kiba couldn't stand the pitiful glances Hinata threw at Naruto anymore. Every time Naruto walked past her, Hinata would start stumbling, searching for words, just to blush and turn away again.
So Kiba thought of a plan. He told Akamaru to hide, and went to Hinata to tell her that Akamaru had run off into the woods, chasing some butterflies again. Hinata was immediately hooked and ready to help. He told her to search the woods behind the temple while he'd check somewhere else.
He waited a moment, before telling Naruto that Hinata wanted to talk to him. Naruto didn't question anything either and made his way behind the temple.
"I didn't think you'd be that invested in getting those two some time together." Shino was leaning against a wall. Kiba hadn't noticed that he watched him. Shino had the gift to become one with any background, completely erasing his presence. Though it often felt rather like a curse to his teammates.
Kiba put his hands behind his head and stretched. "Oh, I just couldn't stand her gloomy face anymore," he casually said and walked off.
Hinata had decided to activate her Byakugan to search for Akamaru when calling his name didn't work. She didn't want to get lost in the woods, and this allowed her to cover a wide area without having to move much.
"Hey, Hinata." Her body shrieked at the sound of Naruto's voice. "Kiba said you wanted to talk to me."
"W-what?" She whirled around, irritated.
"Oh, and he also said he found Akamaru again, so you can stop searching." He noticed the change in her eyes. "Is that the Byakugan?"
Hinata deactivated it again and nodded.
It was the first time Naruto saw it. But he knew about it. Everyone in Konoha did. "So, what did you want to talk about?"
Hinata blushed as she stumbled unintelligible scraps of words. There wasn't anything she wanted to talk about. Well no, actually, there was a lot she wanted to talk about. But she hadn't called him. She hadn't prepared. "I uh… well… I guess I just… wanted to ask you how you are?"
"Huh? You called me here to ask how I was?"
Her face turned even redder. "I mean you… seemed a bit down, so…"
Naruto smiled at her and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Was it that obvious? I'm sorry if I worried you." His smile vanished again. "I guess the last few days were a bit… difficult, that's all."
"Do you want to talk about it?" He looked at her in surprise, and Hinata immediately averted her eyes again. "I mean… o-only if you want to. I know we don't really know each other that well and all…"
"Hinata. Are you by any chance… scared of me?"
"Huh?"
"I mean, you always shared your chocolate with me in the Academy, and I always thought you were being nice, but… You are so hesitant and gloomy when I'm around. I mean, I appreciate your worrying about me. But if you feel uncomfortable here with me you don't have to stay."
Hinata's heart was beating fast. He'd actually noticed that she liked him. He just… interpreted it completely wrong. "That's… that's not how it is. Actually, I admire you."
He looked confused again.
"People were always so mean to you. Especially Kou-san. I just… I admired that no matter how many times they said awful things to you, you always kept believing in yourself and your dream. I admire that."
Naruto got sad again. He lowered his head. "You are right. I always told myself they were all wrong. But maybe, they aren't."
"What? But…"
"I'm just… So many things have changed recently. I feel… overwhelmed. Becoming Hokage was supposed to be my one goal in life. I always thought everyone would acknowledge me when I'm Hokage. But now I'm not sure anymore if it's enough." He suddenly realised that he was babbling too much. "Sorry, you probably have better things to do than to listen to all this."
"No, I do want to listen. Please, go on."
Naruto didn't. He couldn't. He didn't know her well enough to trouble her with his problems. And he didn't want her to think badly of him if he told her the truth. "Hey, Hinata." He thought of something else to ask her. "With the Byakugan… can you see inside of me?" He saw Hinata cringe and for a moment he wondered if he'd asked something inappropriate. "I mean, it lets you see chakra, right? Would you mind looking at my chakra and tell me what you see?"
Hinata blushed, but nodded. They sat down in the grass next to each other. Naruto clapped his hands together and closed his eyes. If only Hinata could tell him where exactly this monster was supposed to live in him, maybe it would help him.
"Your chakra is orange," Hinata said.
"Orange?" It wasn't exactly the kind information Naruto had been hoping for. Though he wasn't entirely sure what he'd expected anyway. "Is orange good?" he wondered.
"It's a nice colour," Hinata said.
Naruto kept his eyes closed. His hands were still pressed against each other, and he started infusing his chakra into them. "What am I doing?"
"Huh? Um… collecting chakra into your hands?"
He peeked at her. Those eyes really did work. "Is there anything else?" But to his disappointment, Hinata couldn't spot anything out of the ordinary. He sighed, letting himself fall backwards. This was no use either.
"Did you want me to… look at the Kyuubi?" Hinata suddenly asked.
Naruto instantly rose again. "You can do that?"
She considered for a moment. "I don't know. It's not like I ever tried. But, I guess, if you used its chakra…"
Naruto nodded. "That's exactly what I've been trying to do. But I… can't find it?"
"Do you know where the seal is?"
"Sure, on my belly. But you can't really see it." He pulled up his jacket and shirt, causing Hinata to blush again.
"You uh… need to draw its chakra through the seal, into your own chakra system."
Naruto looked at Hinata with big eyes. "That's what my teachers used to tell me too. How do you know that?"
Hinata averted her eyes. She looked left and right, and up and down. "I uh… I'm sorry, I'm not supposed to tell."
"Huh?"
"It's one of the things you learn as the heiress to the Hyuuga clan." She glanced at Naruto again, though looking him straight in the eyes was still hard.
"I see… a clan secret, huh? Well, nevermind then. Let's try this." He straightened himself and closed his eyes once more. This time, he concentrated on his belly. He tried to draw chakra from there, collected chakra there, let it flow again. Nothing. He tried again, at a slightly different spot, drawing, collecting, distributing. Nothing. He tried again. It was an exercise he'd done many times before, but was never quite sure what it was supposed to do.
"There!" Hinata suddenly yelled. "I see a slightly darker chakra."
Naruto did what he last did. It took a bit, but then Hinata again told him that this was the spot. He'd found it. He drew more chakra, trying to remember the feeling.
"It's a darker orange. No, it's… red."
Naruto drew more and more. Until suddenly, he could feel it. He felt it spread from his belly into his whole body. His hand started twitching. It was like his body wanted to move on its own, but he resisted. There was someone else in his body. He looked at Hinata. Her big lilac eyes stared back at him in wonder. And all he wanted to do… was to kill her.
Naruto pressed his hands on his belly, curling himself up into a ball. "Push it back!" he yelled. "Push it back!" His heart was beating heavily. But slowly, his body relaxed. The feeling was gone as fast as it had appeared. This other being was gone again.
Naruto stayed curled up for a while, too scared something inside of him might actually break out if he gave an opening.
"Are you alright?" Hinata eventually asked.
Naruto wasn't sure. This was exactly what he'd wanted to find. He wanted to find it. But now that he really knew it was there, he was scared.