A slow burn story about Naruto and Hinata getting sent on an undercover mission together.
Part 1: The Encounter
It was 2:36 am in Konoha. Most of its residents were tucked away safely in their beds. Down an abandoned side street, two shadowy figures were stumbling in the distance — one appeared to be swaying and leaning on the other for support. The first figure, the one who was swaying, was tall with a lean muscular build and long hair. The second was shorter, with a curvier figure. Both figures possessed light, pale eyes that glistened in the moonlit night.
"Neji… please— keep your voice down" the smaller figure whispered.
"Shut up you stupid bitch" he said, words heavily slurred.
"I—I'm sorry. I'm just trying to get you back to the compound safely."
"NO!" Neji's voice shot up exponentially and he pointed a harsh finger down at the timid girl.
"You were trying to ruin my night. You took my place at the heir of the clan and now you want to take my fun away too! You want to take EVERYTHING from ME"!
His voice continued to climb and his body movements became more extreme. The girl staggered over, attempting to place a hand over his mouth. This quick motion must have startled him because he swung his arm in response and slapped her clear across the face. She fell back. The sound of his open palm hitting her cheek followed by her yelping and falling to the ground was enough to stir a nearby Ninja from his slumber.
Just a few seconds prior and only a few yards away, Naruto was fast asleep in his bed. He jolted up at the sound of the yelp and jumped to his feet shortly thereafter. He peeked out his bedroom window and saw two familiar figures. 'Neji and Hinata?' He thought to himself, confused, 'What are they doing out this late?' He took a glance at the clock before his eyes were pulled immediately back to the figures outside.
"Get up." Neji barked.
Hinata did not look at up at him. She stayed still on the ground, light sniffles coming from behind her veil of hair.
"I said get up— Hinata!" He barked again. This time louder.
Still she did nothing.
This time Neji lunged toward her, preparing his hand to strike her again.
"You stupid bi—"
POW!
Before Neji could land another blow, something had hit him square in the face. He had barely seen it coming. He stumbled back and fell down. Reaching up a hand to wipe his face, he saw blood.
"M-My nose!" He slurred.
"Y-You broke my nose".
It took him a moment to focus his vision but when he looked up he saw a yellow haired ninja standing in the middle of the street wearing bright orange frog pajamas. Hinata was behind Naruto, still kneeling on the ground. She had barely seen what happened herself and was rapidly trying to make sense of what she had just seen.
"What do you think you're doing, Neji!?"
Naruto scowled down at the bloodied ninja.
"Mind your own business" Neji snorted, wiping blood from his face and stumbling to his feet.
"This doesn't concern you, brat!". He spat down at the ground by Naruto's feet.
"Oh yeah?" Naruto scowled and grabbed Neji by the collar of his shirt before bringing him in bringing so the two were face to face.
"I don't think I like your business Neji Hyuuga".
For a brief moment, Neji thought he saw Naruto's eyes flicker red and even in his inebriated state, thought it would be best to leave while he still could. Naruto shoved Neji off and sent him stumbling down the street toward the Hyuuga compound. He then turned his attention to the kunoichi behind him on the ground.
"Are you okay Hinata?"
He knelt down beside her.
She turned bright red and was attempting to keep her face hidden.
"Y-Yes. Thank you Naruto. You really didn't have to do…"
"Are you kidding!?— Hinata, he hit you! I couldn't let him get away with that".
Naruto inspected Hinata's cheek. It was definitely red, equally from the impact and the fact that she was surely blushing from him being so close to her, but unlikely leave a mark.
"C'mon." Naruto stood up and reached out his hand to help her off the ground.
"I'll make you some ramen. That always makes me feel better".
He chuckled as she rose up next to him, the blush failing to subside. She was still in shock over what occurred in the last few minutes. 'How did walking Neji home turn into eating ramen with Naruto!?' She thought as she entered his humble apartment gazing around the small studio. He had a small bed, an old couch and a microwave that sat on top of a mini refrigerator.
"Make yourself at home" Naruto said, motioning to the couch as he made his way to the tiny kitchenette.
Hinata shuffled over to the couch and sat at the edge of one side. Her heart rate was slowly returning to normal, though still reeling over the events of the evening in her mind, which made being around Naruto less anxiety provoking than normal. She took a deep breath.
"I hope he gets home okay". She thought, not meaning to say it aloud.
"Huh?" Naruto glanced over at her as he reached for two cups of instant ramen.
"Are you talking about Neji? What's gotten into him?"
Hinata let out a heavy sigh and struggled to get the words out of her throat.
"He's been drinking a lot lately…"
Her head dropped below her shoulders.
"Ever since he found out about his father, he's had a hard time… dealing with it. He wanted to go out to the bars tonight and my father instructed me to go with him… to keep an eye on him."
A tear managed to slip out of the corner of her eye and fall down her cheek.
"He just got so out of control— He got kicked out of the bar and could barely walk. I tried to help him— but he just… hates me so much…"
Naruto, sensing the sadness in her voice, took a seat next to her on the couch.
"How could he hate you? You're family."
He placed a hand on her shoulder.
"With the way they treat me, sometimes it feels like I don't have a family."
Hinata sobbed as the words escaped her mouth.
This stunned Naruto. To the best of his knowledge, the Hyuugas had always been one of Konoha's most reputable clans and one of the oldest and most noble families. For years, he thought about what an honor it must be to belong to such a family— how their lives must be so different than his own— but seeing Hinata in front of him now reminded him of himself and how he too felt alone in this world— without a family.
Seeing the look on Naruto's face, Hinata regretted her words instantly, after all, he was an orphan, and here she was complaining about quarrels between cousins.
"Naruto, I"m so—"
-BEEP-
The sound of the microwave went off and it startled Naruto out of his daze and he jumped up to retrieve the steaming hot ramen. He handed one to Hinata, along with a pair of chopsticks and then reclaimed the seat next to her on the couch.
"Cheers" Naruto bumped their ramen cups together.
Hinata thought better of revisiting the subject and decided to just eat her ramen. To her surprise, the first sip broth did seem to lessen the intensity of her emotional pain. They sat in silence for a few moments, slurping their ramen. Naruto was the first to finish his meal and the first to break the silence.
"Wow can you believe it's already almost morning!?"
He glanced over at the clock with surprise, then turned to the window to see the sun peeking over the distant mountains, and stretched his arms toward the ceiling.
"I'm sorry to have kept you up all night"
Hinata said as she set down her empty ramen cup.
"Actually, this is the time I normally get up to train!"
"Really?" Hinata looked up at him with an impressed look on her face
"Yeah" He chuckled "Gotta work hard if I want to be Hokage some day!"
He gave Hinata his classic 'Uzumaki thumbs up' pose.
Her blush returned with a vengeance, but she was feeling braver than normal. Perhaps it was a side effect of the ramen. "Um- Naruto?" Hinata shifted around in her seat, avoiding his gaze.
"What is it Hinata?" He said, leaning towards her to try and get a better look at her face.
"Do you think I could go train with you today? I don't think I'm ready to go back to the Hyuuga compound yet".
"Sure!" He broke out into a beaming smile. "I almost never have a training partner!"
He made note of how she failed to call the 'Hyuga compound' home, but thought better of reading too much into this. After all, he was genuinely glad to have someone to hang out with.
