Chapter 12: Of Kisses

"Soul meets Soul on Lovers' lips."- Percy Bysshe Shelley

Naruto & Hinata

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into." Madam Yua begins. Her stern stare remains fixed and indifferent upon Hinata and Naruto finds himself scowling before he can help it, fidgeting in his seat to not make a smartass remark back.

What is it about so many adults they've encountered that have such bad attitudes upon meeting them? Being Leaf shinobi and even their aptly dubbed titles she noted upon greeting them shouldn't be reason for her to exhibit such frosty behavior.

He crosses his arms, meeting her glare head on when she glances his way and he smirks when she backs down just slightly from the intensity of his silent fury. Nothing about this woman so far gives him the impression she'll be of any help, if anything this will be an exercise in patience...

In control.

Hinata holds up a hand, already sensing where his thoughts are trailing to and Naruto huffs, leaning back in his chair.

"I haven't done anything yet you know!" He complains.

"But you're starting to think about it. I can tell." Hinata counters back.

"No, I'm not! Wait...the byakugan can't read my thoughts, right?!" Naruto questions after a moment.

Yua rolls her eyes at their antics, tapping her fingers impatiently against the end of her wooden table. Her morning is being wasted by a lover's squabble of two teenagers.

She moves to pick up her tea again before it grows cold, studying her reflection in the ripples of amber. What possessed her to even invite them in? The memories are coming back, the smell of smoke singing her lungs, voices booming in her ears from all sides telling them to run...

"I'm sure you didn't come here to waste my time, correct? Time I'm sure is an important lesson taught in your clan and surely things haven't changed thatmuch between the generations." Yua emphasizes, finally looking back up at them.

Their light arguing instantly ceases, the pair at least having the decency to be embarrassed over their behavior.

'Bickering mustn't be something they do often.' Yua notes at the change in their expressions, Naruto smiling softly at Hinata encouragingly.

Hinata swallows her nerves, she knew already it wouldn't be easy to speak to this woman, but not this much so.

She straightens her posture, pearl orbs giving her her full attention.

"Madam Yua I wish to know more about Ao, a man from your home nation." Hinata begins.

Yua scoffs, chestnut eyes hardening. "Why? Do you actually think you could take him on the way you are currently? Yes, I know of him. Most shinobi and civilian from Kiri know of his status as the Mizukage's bodyguard and being a Hunter-nin."

"How did he come to possess a Hyuga clan member's eye?" Hinata probes further.

Yua takes a long sip of her tea before responding. "At some point during the Third Shinobi World War he came back from the battlegrounds with that eyepatch. Such an ugly war that was, but then what war isn't? Children just fresh out of the Academy, some not even with full mastery of how to use kunai or shuriken were being led into fields to face grown adults more than twice their height and weight."

"He became known as the 'Byakugan killer' for a while, didn't he?" Naruto questions.

Yua shrugs at that, though a passing smile crosses her features. "Sure I suppose; that's what he is after all. A lot of shinobi looked up to him for somehow taking down a Hyuga, especially with their renown visual process. Guess not so much so for the man he murdered. I was mainly focused on getting my children and I the hell out of there when the skirmishes started causing all these night earthquakes and blazing fires. None of the history books really discuss how it impacts the regular civilian, how it changes a person not just physically, but mentally as well."

Hinata bites her lip at how sourness, how easily she is dismissing her clan.

Yua catches her stare before she can mask it, grin widening. "What's wrong? The truth isn't pretty nor does it care about feelings."

Hinata intakes a slow breath in and out, focusing for a moment on the memorabilia surrounding her. Pictures of smiling faces accumulating dust, knickknacks and heirlooms silver to sapphire in color from journeys done long ago.

"I would like retribution for my fallen clan member. One that didn't deserve like your own loved ones to die alone in a battlefield filled with strangers and far from home." She explains.

A sliver of unease curls at her chest at the silence that follows. Thinking about it now she isn't sure if anyone in the clan remembers who this man was. Father knew of the loss, but he never likes to discuss the topic of war with her. Tension still lingers between the Main and Branch families as well and surely if this man was from the Branch family he has disappeared into the past...

She squeezes her fists together before the thought can take root. 'No, I won't let that happen.'

Yua's grin contorts quickly into a frown, flicking away strands of gray hair from her face. "...I see you did more research on me than I thought."

Hinata grins softly then. "Of course. It was your Uncle if I remember correctly, Kohei-"

"Don't say his name!" Yua spits before she can finish, hazel orbs burning before leaning back in her chair calming herself.

"You came here to talk about Ao; not myself. There isn't much to know about the man. He's from my generation, taught than men should be tough and quick-thinking no matter the situation. He liked the thrill of battle from what I recall of seeing his training exercises, a great tracker of course."

"Any weaknesses?" Hinata questions, all she's mentioned so far is his skill.

But everybody has a weakness.

Yua looks thoughtful for a long minute, humming lowly to herself. "Well, whatever weaknesses the byakugan has; he has them as well. Maybe his pride or shades of bitterness at getting older, a man like that who has only seen war his whole life has no concept of peace. Perhaps he would even detest it, such a thing could leave him bored and unsure what to do with his time."

Hinata looks to Naruto then, it wasn't much to work with.

Naruto beams though, cobalt eyes bright despite this woman giving them mostly veiled insults over the last half hour. "You've been very helpful ma'am! And don't worry, I'll make sure you can continue living a peaceful like here you know!"

Yua watches then as he helps Hinata out of her own seat, staring between the pair before sighing. She wishes they didn't remind her of Kohei and his own wife, of long afternoons chasing dragonflies through patches of greenery so naïve to the war on the horizon...

"I see a lot of good in your future Yua, whether it's your baked goods for the community that always brings a smile or that sharp tongue of yours that makes me laugh!" Kohei mentions, Manami nodding in agreement beside him as she picks leaves from her hair.

"None of that matters right now when you're leaving!" Yua whines in return. She shouldn't sound like such a stubborn or whiny child when she is an adult herself too who understands every able bodied man must participate. She has kids of her own that she would reprimand for such pouting.

"Just for a bit though! We men all have to do our part to help out Kiri." He chuckles, pinching at her cheeks until she gives him a proper smile in return.

She blinks away the memory, straightening up to see them to the door. "The trick is I suppose like with any shinobi, you need to catch him by surprise. You've studied him well enough I'm sure to know how to land a sneak attack. He's skilled with water too, like most Kiri-nin though lightning as one of your natures could maybe counter that."

Hinata takes all her advice in slowly and Yua herself finds it hard to resist a coming grin.

She bows to her politely, Naruto following suit after a moment before they turn to go.

"Thank you." Hinata murmurs.

Yua shakes her head, features shifting between a smile and a grimace of painful recollections...

"Don't say you two weren't warned."

-X-

Sakura

"Has your scarlet mole truly turned into a mouse?"

Sakura barely looks up from her paperwork to deign Kakashi-sensei with a proper answer, clicking her tongue. He would appear in the middle of shift change, between her just getting updates on a mother and son's food poisoning case who have come into the ER for the 3rd time today already to the psychiatric case of a man continuing to hallucinate he is still on the battlegrounds.

"Not my biggest priority at the moment." She replies after a moment, finally looking up at Kakashi properly.

He waves a file in front of her face and she sighs, pushing back from her desk.

Curiosity needles at her, a much needed distraction from what will be another busy night.

"I took the liberty of doing some of my own investigating you see. This report is from the very whispers of the Red Light District and the underground Black Markets. Particularly, I was able to get one man to talk bringing up the name Suigetsu, your 'bargaining' man so to speak." And Sakura knows even without seeing it there is a smile beneath that mask of his.

A grin passes and fades from her own features, it truly is hard to keep secrets from Kakashi-sensei even when he thinks the very task at hand is a chore to do.

So she shrugs instead, keeping up her own façade. "Well as you've already noted Suigetsu more than anything wants to collect all the swords of the infamous 7 Ninja Swordsman from Mist. He's a collector at the end of the day and I'm sure Sasuke knows that, it's part of the reason why he joined him in the first place."

Kakashi arches a brow, nodding for her to go on.

"So like you, I used a rumor network that I knew would get back to him. That if he fed me info on Sasuke's plans he could get one of those prized swords he so desires, or at least a damn good replica of one." She finishes.

"He would know it's a fake immediately and why would he agree to even help you in the first place?" Kakashi counters and questions.

'Because he can see how unstable Sasuke is perhaps getting, that eventually the harm he did to Karin can be turned to him even if they are a team.' Sakura thinks, but keeps to herself.

"Suigetsu is dangerous in his own right Sakura, I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that. This situation can go wrong in so many ways I don't think you've thought of yet. Sasuke as well can-" Kakashi starts at her silence.

"Sasuke is as strong as he is right now onlybecause of this current support system he has!" Sakura cuts him off sharply before calming herself.

"Look, with the masked man who you said is potentially another Uchiha named Obito along with these highly skilled rogue ninja working with him someone has to try and crack into that; time is of the essence here. Jugo wasn't going to budge no matter what Sasuke has done and Karin is grudgingly helping only to avoid facing a slow death to poisoning. Suigetsu was the best option, granted it's not a perfect one like you said but his trust and loyalty to Sasuke only runs so deep..." She trails off, rubbing her head to ward off a migraine.

Saying this all aloud makes her stomach roil as if on fire, knots set aflame by the reminder of the things she's done and will have to continue to do.

And then she bristles at the thought of this plan going oh so terribly wrong like Kakashi-sensei worries. That Naruto will be captured and have the Nine Tails extracted from him before she can do anything, that Sasuke will be the one to do it severing Team 7 forever and making all her nightmares become real.

Kakashi's look softens at her expression, sighing as he turns his attention to outside. It's a contrast to the buzz of activities going on inside the hospital, roads below quiet and barren as streetlights glow bright yellow to white along the pavements.

"Has Suigetsu been properly in touch with you yet?" He eventually asks.

"Just to ask if I could even seriously help him with his goal of collecting. I know he cares about Sasuke on some level, however this was a passion project of his before he even met him. On top of that more than anything I know he gets a thrill of cutting things up be it physically or emotionally, I'm sure that extends to breaking ties if he sees the benefit for himself at the end." Sakura replies.

Her pager beeps urgently once more from within her pocket, a flash of Lady Tsunade's name that she's needed in the ICU.

"I have to go, but let's keep each other updated sensei." Sakura remarks, moving to stand.

She can feel his eyes boring on her as she gathers back up her files, focusing her jade eyes instead on notes she's going to need to reread once more before giving an update to Tsunade.

"You're entangling yourself in many webs Sakura. Sasuke himself is probably already suspicious, though I don't imagine he's traced it back to you yet or else we wouldn't be sitting here talking so casually." He mentions.

'Don't you think I know that!' Sakura wants to snap back however she knows he's just concerned over how much she is pushing herself on top of these long shift hours. Naruto doesn't even know about just how much she has weaved herself into Sasuke's team...

But it's better that way.

Her heart swooshes in her ears as she pulls on her white coat, pinning up her hair properly as she tacks on one last grin for Kakashi.

"Remember, keep me posted!" She repeats, gesturing for him to leave her office via the window as he came in so that she can lock up.

She passes dark haired men both young and old as she transverses the halls to get to the ICU, burying the thought of Sasuke as far as it will go before he eventually resurfaces to the forefront of her mind like time and again.

He can't find out about her plans, no he won't find out...

At least until it is too late for him to do anything about it.

-X-

Naruto

'Damn it, I'm not getting anywhere with this training!'

Afternoon has progressed into nightfall with no progress at all at better controlling Kurama's power. Each session at the Falls of Truth is just anger and bitterness being drudged up over and over, each memory worse than the last.

The moon shines overhead, full and silver in the clear sky and he swipes at sweat pooling at his head.

His muscles burn and twinge all over, thinking back on what Killer B told him when he saw how difficult this task was for him. He communicates so easily with his own Tailed Beast like their old friends and if it weren't for Motoi running into that squid earlier he isn't sure B would've provided him with any help.

But at least he was friendlier now than their first interaction.

"You won't gain control of your tailed beast until you beat all that heat burning up in you ya fool! Maybe you should take a break before you keep making any more of these mistakes!"

Couldn't he give him proper advice without making it into some type of rhyme or rap?

Anyways it doesn't matter right now, it's late and sleep pulls at him to truly call it a night.

'Hinata must already be asleep.' He imagines as he enters the guest house not too far off from the Falls. This forest was much larger than he imagined, Motoi probably never gave them a complete tour of all that lies within the fauna and shrubbery.

Within the darkness though to his surprise he sees flickers of white to yellow sparks, Hinata sitting up in bed with a multitude of ninja tools spread out across the bedspread.

He watches as she picks up a kunai, holding it towards the moonlight creating a faint current of electricity making it glow.

Lavender eyes are so deep in concentration he almost doesn't want to interrupt, though his footsteps creak against the wood flooring and her gaze moves up to meet his.

"You're back late." She smiles, scooting the weapons aside for Naruto to plop down with a sigh.

"You've been busy as well, probably got way ahead in your progress than me." Naruto remarks back, gesturing to the mix of kunai and shuriken and Hinata's grin fades just a bit.

"I'd hardly say I've made much in way of 'progress' either. Despite it being one of my affinities, I haven't used lightning release much in practice. It could be used effectively though by blending it with Hyuga clan techniques and could be used for more long range attacks." Hinata muses.

Naruto sits up from the sheets. He wishes his current training was as easy as trying to master a new skill, none of his past drills or exercises in creating the rasengan or even making his renown shadow clones compares to what he is dealing with now.

Hinata notes his stare and stretches her body out to be beside him. "Let's switch topics from talking about our current stressors for a moment. It can get...overwhelming thinking about war coming and everything that entangles."

She leaves off on saying aloud the Akatsuki's rising power, their influence on Sasuke on how based on the information currently gathered he won't be the only Uchiha he'll have to face on the battlefield.

'I'm losing out on time, ugh how do I get rid of that dark version of myself?!' Naruto questions himself.

"Stop thinking about it." Hinata whispers by his ear, fingertips tracing along his whisker marks turning him back towards her. She presses her lips against his before he can say anything else, tasting of a blend honey and cinnamon.

His whole body ignites.

He wraps an arm around her immediately pulling her in for a deeper kiss, taking the lead switching their positions rolling himself on top of her. Her breasts rub against his chest and he pauses for a moment to drink in the sight of her flushed skin, the lightness of her nightgown nearly giving him a perfect view of her body. He presses back into her, letting her feel just how easily she can get his body to react.

Her blush turns a shade deeper if possible when he tosses off his shirt and locks their lips again, breaking it to leave a trail of kisses that lead down and down until she squirms and snaps her legs shut.

"I...I Naruto, we can't do this." Hinata breathes out.

The haze in Naruto's stare doesn't lift, cerulean orbs flecked with red as he thumbs and makes slow circles along the sides of her hips. "Why? I can smell your desire and I want this too."

Hinata shakes her head, gaze flickering towards outside. The rustling of the bushes to the low howls of the nocturnal creatures prowling about.

"We're guests here Naruto, it wouldn't be right." She points out in return and it is this that makes Naruto pause thoughtfully.

He doesn't take Motoi or Killer B to be perverts or voyeurs, however Pervy-Sage gave him enough lessons that intimacy and intimate acts should be done in private.

"Sorry, I keep letting my emotions act first before thinking of the consequences!" Naruto breathes out all at once, slipping off of her quickly to bury his head out of sight from her.

Hinata lightly pokes at his cheeks until he meets her gaze properly.

"That's one of the reasons I love you Naruto, you let people know how you feel whether it's going to upset them or not. Something I still struggle to do you're able to do so easily. It's why so many of the villagers no longer fear you, they saw for themselves you're not just all talk and that you care about them in making sure Konoha doesn't continue to suffer." She starts.

Naruto feels his face warm, just as it always does whenever Hinata says she loves him. His voice goes dry, stumbling to find the right words to say he feels the same while simultaneously trying to ignore a crawling fear that love isn't meant for people like him as Sasuke and so many others have told him before.

"What makes you think someone like you, someone who has committed such vicious acts in the past can be loved" His mirror version scoffs with contempt.

"-Naruto, listen." Hinata urges snapping him from his thoughts as she squeezes at his hands forcing him to focus.

"Have faith in yourself." She repeats, lilac meeting azure before she leans her head back against his chest.

He's sure she can hear how fast his heart is pounding.

-X-

Naruto & Hinata

"Back again so soon?" Dark Naruto smirks, though he arches a brow faintly at his opposite version's stance.

It isn't one prepared to fight, arms instead reaching forward as if to...hug him?

"I accept you and myself. I know I've done some cruel things in my past, but I'm not going to keep letting the past hold me back from moving forward." He remarks.

With that in watching this version of himself fade, the first trial is done.

Hinata beams at him in return while B gestures for them to follow him into the sacred temple behind the Falls. He leads them into rooms with walls painted blue, headless figures lining them on both sides.

"What does this second trial consist of?" Hinata asks when they come to a stop at a room with switches in front of them.

"Naruto will have to fight the Nine Tails head on, absorb enough of it's chakra while also making sure to not lose complete control." Motoi speaks up before B can explain.

'I see, so Naruto will have to fight Kurama head on. This is chakra sealing chamber should the worst case scenario occur.' Hinata notes.

Her eyes move towards Killer B, he'll be helping him during this process but even then it won't be easy.

"I would never give my power away to my jailer willingly." Kurama snarls as Naruto approaches him, baring a row of fangs while crimson eyes pinpoint on him ready to strike.

"So you say. Don't forget I'm going to change that attitude of yours!" Naruto grins.

And then he breaks the seal.

Kurama slices away the Eight Tail's tentacles with ease before they can pin him down, purplish-black orb forming from his mouth about to launch directly at him.

'That's a tailed beast bomb!' Naruto's eyes widen.

"Oh no you don't! This fight ain't over yet." B remarks, blocking Naruto from receiving a direct hit with the last of the Eight Tail's strength.

"Go Naruto, do it now!" B orders and Kurama looks back to Naruto only to see him no longer there.

A clone.

His eyes move then to the glow of energy swirling above him, roaring away the rasengan before it can make impact. Even so, the real Naruto still manages to appear from amid the whirls of rasengans and pin him with a proper rasenshuriken.

"Get off of me; you don't deserve my power or even to be here!" Kurama roars.

He sees a flash of his Dark self once more, the hatred and bitter memories clamping onto him like vices.

"You're not strong enough, stop wasting your time." He hisses cruelly.

"Naruto, don't let anything Kurama or your mirror version says get to you!" Hinata calls out to him at seeing darkness pouring over his figure, Motoi keeping her back from getting any closer. Neither can do anything to help during this phase except wait.

"You have no right to tell him he can't be here Kurama." A new voice joins the conversation.

Naruto catches the glimpse of long scarlet hair from the corner of his eye before he even turns around fully, same green apron dress and violet eyes from the few photos he and Hinata managed to find regarding his family.

"Mom?" He croaks out.

-x-

I live in the Southeast part of the U.S. which this past week was hit by and is still experiencing the effects of a devastating winter storm. Without power and cooped at home, I spent most of this week writing this chapter on old notebooks and typed it up once power got restored. I just wanted to end my week on a positive note so I decided to post this next chapter even though I'm not sure it's 100% my best. I'm okay and my family's okay, this cold is not something most of us have ever experienced or want to experience again for the rest of our lives though!

Please let me know your thoughts if any!