Naruto: Archer and Loner
Authors Note: I own nothing. Neither Naruto nor Bleach belongs to me. All I'm doing is providing a bit of entertainment to others.
A big thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story over the last year. Thank you for all the constructive criticism you've given me and I hope I continue to improve in writing. I know the story is there and I know that character development has improved. I hope to continue on improving where it is needed. Now, on to the story!
Chapter 17: Hyuga Family Healing and Hinata's Feelings
Hyuga Compound Yard
After a somewhat quiet night, Naruto now stood beside Hiashi, Kiski and Hinata in the Hyuga clan compound main yard. Every Hyuga stood before them waiting for the meeting to begin. Much like the previous evening, there was a tense atmosphere. Naruto was surprised when Hiashi decided to let his nephew, Neji, know what happened in the meeting. Neji yelled at Hiashi. He had thought his uncle knew of the original seal. It took both Naruto and Kiski explaining the full situation for Neji to calm down and become a "normal" Hyuga. On top of all that, Naruto had to deal with Hinata's constant staring at him with stars in her eyes. Naruto was glad that Hiashi decided to put the three elders who knew about the original seal to death. Letting them live could've caused more problems in the future.
'I have to set her straight on her feelings soon,' Naruto thought to himself as Hiashi walked towards a podium that had been set up for the meeting. 'Otherwise this betrothal and marriage won't become a happy one.'
"Greetings, Hyuga Clan," Hiashi began. "I stand here a man with eyes that have been opened to the truth of our clan. I am sorry to say that for the past 150 years at least, the Hyuga clan main house has been acting in dishonor and disgrace."
"What do you mean, Hiashi-sama," a branch member asked out loud.
"I speak of the Hyuga clan dishonoring a contract we signed with the Uzumaki clan during the Clan War Era. The Hyuga clan went to the foremost specialists in sealing to ask a way to protect the Hyuga bloodline. The Uzumaki clan could've asked for outrageous sums to provide such a seal. All the Uzumaki clan asked was that the Hyuga clan honor the contract and not modify the seal," Hiashi explained.
"So it is the Uzumaki clan we have to blame for the caged bird seal," another branch member yelled out angrily.
"No. The blame for that seal falls on members of the main house of the Hyuga clan," Hiashi exclaimed loudly. "The Uzumaki clan made a seal that would protect the Byakugan. That is all the seal would do. It would not cause pain or death with a hand seal like the caged bird seal does. The seal was also the size of a mole placed on the back of the neck. Uzumaki-sama brought this truth to me yesterday during a meeting with the clan council. I swear to you all here and now, I never knew about the original seal. Nor did I know that I had the original seal placed on me shortly after my birth." Hiashi looked around at everyone present and saw shock and worry on normal stoic faces.
"The reason I am bringing this all to your attention is because I, as clan head, must rectify the dishonor our ancestors have brought onto our clan. Uzumaki-sama has told me what I must do to gain our clan's honor back. Over the next few days, everyone in the clan will have the original seal placed on them. There will no longer be a main and branch house of the Hyuga clan. We are all family and it is time our family was whole and healed. Uzumaki-sama has also requested that six previous branch members be added to the clan council to bring any issues forward so we can heal. He has requested that we reward members based on talent and accomplishments. No longer will one person lord over another. I will be your clan head to be the Hyuga's voice on the village council. All notes on the caged bird seal will be destroyed and the three council members who knew about this atrocity have been executed," Hiashi stated. "I hope this helps bring our clan together and heals the rift that has been here since the caged bird seal was first used." Hiashi bowed and stepped back from the podium.
Tentative clapping began as Hiashi walked back to the group. By the time he turned back around to look at his reunited clan, yells and cheers were heard.
"Your clan is whole now, Hyuga-san. Go forth and heal. Take it day by day," Naruto whispers to Hiashi.
"I will, Uzumaki-sama. I thank you for bringing this to our attention and showing us a way to regain our honor," Hiashi whispers back.
"Enough with the honorifics, Hyuga-san. Soon enough our two families will be united," Naruto replies.
"Very well, Naruto. I only ask you call me Hiashi in return," Hiashi says with a smile.
"I can do that. And I'm not afraid to sic Neji on you if you get that stick up your ass again," Naruto replies with a wide grin.
Hiashi's eyes widen slightly and a slight pink tinge shows on his face.
"You wouldn't do that to your future father-in-law, would you," Hiashi asks, slightly shocked.
"Of course I would," Naruto replies. "Everyone needs shaken up now and then, Hiashi. It's good for you!"
"Naruto-sama, we should prepare the people who have the caged bird seal on them," Kiski says, stopping the conversation.
"Very well, Kiski. How long do you think it will take you to do all the sealing," Naruto asks.
"It shouldn't take more than three or four days to remove the caged bird seal and apply the original seal to everyone," Kiski replies.
"Hiashi, I will see you later, I guess" Naruto says as he and Kiski walk over to the previous branch members.
Three days later
Hiashi's Office
The last three days have been hectic for Naruto and Kiski. Yet, finally every member of the Hyuga clan had only the original seal placed on them. Now Naruto sat in Hiashi's office preparing himself for the confrontation he had been holding off for quite some time. Kiski kept pestering him over the last three days about confronting Hinata and her feelings about him. After getting tired of hearing it, Naruto agreed to deal with Hinata after all the sealing work had been done.
"Are you sure you want to do this alone, Naruto" Hiashi asked.
"Yes. It needs to be done otherwise the betrothal and marriage will be a lie on her part. I can't promise that it won't hurt her. She has an idea of who I am, but it isn't who I truly am," Naruto replied.
"It'll break her heart. But, I know Hinata is strong. She'll eventually forgive you for doing this, Naruto. It may just take her a while before that happens," Hiashi says. "I'll go get her and give you privacy."
"Thank you, Hiashi," Naruto says as Hiashi walks out of the office.
Naruto only had to wait a few moments before Hiashi was back with Hinata.
"I'll leave you to have your talk with Hinata, Naruto. Good luck," Hiashi says as he closes the door. Hinata stands there looking at Naruto with a questioning look.
"Sit down, Hinata. I have some things to talk to you about and I'm fairly sure you aren't going to like what I have to say. All I ask is that you allow me to say what I have to say and give yourself time to think it over before responding," Naruto says. Hinata slowly walks forward. The questioning look turned fearful as Naruto's words registered to her.
"W-w-w-what is this about, N-N-Naruto-kun," Hinata asks tentatively as she sits down.
"We are going to talk about how you see me and your feelings for me," Naruto states. "I understand this might be embarrassing for you and hard on you. But, this talk needs to happen before we go forward with our betrothal. I don't want our marriage to be based on false feelings or a lie."
"B-b-b-but…" Hinata began.
"Hinata, stop," Naruto says quietly. "I understand you will have a hard time dealing with what I will say. It needs to be said, though."
Hinata lowered her head sadly.
"I am not angry nor am I disappointed in you, Hinata. I see a young, beautiful woman who is struggling to find her way in life," Naruto says. "It is hard. Trust me. I know how hard it is to try and find where you belong in life. The first thing I must talk to you about is how you supposedly love me."
Hinata glanced up at Naruto in shock.
"H-h-how did you know," Hinata asks.
"It was fairly obvious with how you acted around me," Naruto replies. "The truth is, Hinata, you don't really know me. Yes, you followed me around and watched me train. You watched me train by myself until I was too exhausted to move."
"I admired your strength. Your never die attitude," Hinata says softly.
"You admired me from afar. You placed me up on a pedestal. A place I honestly never deserved," Naruto replies. "Never once did you join me in my training. Nor did you offer to help. You just hid and watched me from afar. That is how you see me, Hinata. You see me as an unobtainable goal. Something to be placed on a shelf and admire. That isn't me, Hinata. We barley talked when we were in the academy. Now, we are being betrothed. Soon you'll be living with me in my clan compound. I want our betrothal and marriage to work because it is a chance for me to have something I never had growing up. Do you know what that is?"
"A wife," Hinata replies hesitantly.
"No. Yes, a wife is part of the equation. The truth of what I really want is a family," Naruto replies. "I never knew the warmth and touch of a mother or father growing up. The reason why is something I may eventually tell you."
Hinata sat there quietly with tears forming in her eyes.
"Hinata, please believe that I don't want to hurt you. I want you to understand your feelings for me. I want you to start over with me. A fresh start to really develop real feelings, so to speak," Naruto says. "I'd like to eventually fall in love and have a happy marriage. If I didn't say anything and went ahead with the betrothal, there would come a time in the future where you would hate me or yourself once you realized your feelings weren't true. I want trust and honesty for us, Hinata. We're ninja. We lie to the world by profession. I don't want us to have to lie to each other too."
Hinata sat there with tears slowly falling into her lap. "D-d-do you mean that, N-N-Naruto-kun," Hinata asks.
"Yes. I want us to grow as a couple. Not start off with something false and fake," Naruto replies. "Please take the next few days to examine everything you think you know about me. I'll be at the Uzumaki clan compound when you are ready to start a new life." Naruto stood up and walked over to Hinata. He leaned down and gave her a small hug.
"Only when you are ready," Naruto whispers in her ear. He stood and walked out of the office. Closing the door behind him, he sees Hiashi standing looking out a window a few feet away.
"It is done, Hiashi. She may not like it, but it is done," Naruto says as he walks over to Hiashi.
"She'll cry for a while and then hopefully think about what you told her, Naruto," Hiashi replies. "She's strong like her mother. I'll have Ko prepare for the move to the Uzumaki compound. He will continue with protecting Hinata in the village and help with training her."
"I'll make sure he is welcomed. Along with Hinata when she is ready. Do not push her, Hiashi," Naruto says sternly. "She is broken right now. If you push her, we will lose her. Let her have time to truly think about everything."
"I will, Naruto. You have my word on this," Hiashi replies with a slight bow.
"Thank you, Hiashi. Thank you for opening your home to me for the last few days. I'm going to head home and make sure Zabuza hasn't destroyed anything yet. Plus, my bed is calling me," Naruto says. "Kiski will probably go over your security seals and upgrade them before he goes back to the compound. Just please let him do it. It is his way of making sure my soon to be family is protected."
"I will, Naruto. You have a pleasant night," Hiashi says. Naruto nods and walks off.
'She will get over it and hopefully you'll have a happy marriage to look forward to now, Naruto. I wish you all the luck in the world,' Hiashi thinks to himself. 'She is so much like you, my dear wife. I wish you were here to see how strong our little girl has grown.'
Yay! I finally got the confrontation out of the way. It took me a bit longer than I thought it would. But, I'm happy with how it turned out. Now I just have to see if I can actually write romance now. Lol. Hopefully the next chapter will be out soon. I'll be working on that over the next few days.