If only I owned Naruto.

Then again, I'd probably only screw it up…

Chapter Three

.

The Kumo diplomat sprinted silently away from the Hyuuga mansion, the bundle in his arms squirming and sobbing in a futile attempt at resistance. A grin played across his face as he glanced down at his burden which would be used to strengthen his homeland, introducing one of the greatest dojutsu into future generations. As he pelted down the road, he passed by an old wall, and that's when everything went to hell for him.

A rope snapped out of the wall and wrapped around the bundle, jerking it from his hands and through the wall. The man tried to stop and tripped, bashing his head against the ground and spiralling into darkness, not noticing as the rope snapped out again, this time looping round his ankles. An instant later, the rope tightened and pulled him straight through the wall as well.

The road seemed to be heavy with an almost supernatural silence as, for several long moments, nothing seemed to happen, and then the the diplomat was hurled back through the wall, landing on the street, wrapped in ropes and unconscious.

Oddly, he didn't have a single bruise on him, except the one on his forehead.

A moment later, a cushion landed on the floor, then a young girl, fast asleep, was gently placed on it by hands that no mortal eye could see.

.

Hiashi and Hizashi stood above the unconscious diplomat, totally confused. They had chased him, intending to capture him and bring him to justice for trying to kidnap Hinata, but the situation they had discovered made no sense at all.

The diplomat was tied up, trussed so securely that it would take quite a while to free him even with the use of kunai, but a long pole was attached to his bindings allowing him to be carried with ease.

Hinata, on the other hand, was lying fast asleep against the old wall, curled up on a large embroidered cushion, a white-and-silver fox-and-rabbit-patterned robe her size draped over her to keep her warm, a golden fox-plushie in her arms and a huge smile on her face.

"…we owe someone a favour for this." Hizashi said slowly. Hiashi could only nod as he bent down to gently pick up his daughter while two of the other Hyuuga who had followed them picked up the would-be kidnapper, placing the pole on their shoulders to carry him back. Another picked up the cushion, almost absently brushing off the small bits of dirt as he did so.

From the other side of the wall, unseen by the Hyuuga, hidden even from the Byakugan, Sune watched them leave, a gentle yet satisfied smile on her face.

.

Hinata looked around in confusion. One moment, she had been grabbed from her sleep and stuffed into a sack, the next she was sitting up in a large, grassy field, a boy she had never seen before smiling at her.

"Hello."

"Hello." Hinata whispered. "Who are you? Where am I?"

"You are in my Garden." A gentle voice said from behind her. Hinata looked round and her eyes widened at the sight of the giant golden fox that was lying down nearby, its gentle gaze filled with reassurance and love resting on her. "You are asleep and your dreams brought you here, little rabbit."

Hinata simply stared and the fox laughed.

"Kit, show usagi around, she has had a bit of a shock. Why not… watch the fish? Or listen to the birds?"

With a crow of joy, the boy that the fox referred to as Kit pulled her to her feet and pulled her towards a pond. Behind them, the fox laughed again.

"Have fun, children."

.

Sune looked down with a smile at the sleeping form of Naruto who was cuddling the white rabbit plushie, then her gaze lifted. Hiding a frown, she silently walked out into the main courtyard and stood glaring at what anyone else would have thought was an empty patch of air.

"What is it this time?"

The figure of Kami seemed to fade into view, power rippling like an aura of a thousand stars.

"You acted outside your Shrine."

"Nonsense." Sune said. "I remained inside the shrine at all times, the rope was the one used to tie the trunk that Hiruzen sent closed and the plushie was purchased by order of the Hokage."

Kami glared at her. "Your actions affected what was beyond your Shrine."

Sune shrugged. "So do the things you do in dreams and the advice you give in your Shrines. I see no difference. Besides, by tradition, the half of the street in front of the gate counts as part of my Shrine too, so it is easy to argue that I remained within my Shrine and purposefully held back."

Kami seemed to deflate slightly. "I should have known that you would have a counter-argument ready. Very well, this time I will not interfere, but should you come this close to breaking MY LAW again, I will not be so lenient."

Sune bowed slightly while hiding her smirk. "As you command, Kami-sempai."

Kami glowered at her, then vanished, leaving no sign that he had ever been there. Sune smiled and started to fade.

"Time to check that everything is going well."

.

Hinata leaned against Naruto's side, her head pillowed on his shoulder as they watched the soothing, graceful shapes of the fish as they slowly glided along just under the surface of the pond, occasionally vanishing under the floating lily leaves. Naruto's arm curled protectively around her and she smiled as she felt his cheek pressing against the top of her head.

"I am glad to see you two are getting along so well, but I am afraid it is time for you to wake up, little usagi."

Hinata blinked and the Garden seemed to whirl away into darkness as a familiar voice spoke.

"Hinata-chan, are you alright?"

"Kaa-san?"

Hinata opened her eyes and saw Hitomi looking down at her with worried eyes. Sitting up, she found herself being embraced.

"Kaa-san, what happened?"

"You're safe now." Hitomi smiled, hugging her daughter. "That's all that matters."

Hinata looked round, then down at the fox plushie that she was holding.

"I… I thought it was a dream?"

"What was?"

"I… was in a garden, with a golden fox and a boy and we were watching fish." Hinata said, tightening her grip on her new plushie. "The fox called him Kit."

"That sounds like a wonderful dream." Hitomi said, smiling down at her daughter. "But it's almost midnight, so it's time for you to get some proper sleep."

Hinata nodded, trying not to yawn, and lay down on her bed. As she did so, she realised that the pillow had been replaced with one embroidered with foxes and rabbits. Hitomi smiled at her.

"I'll try to explain everything tomorrow. Get some sleep.

"Okay kaasan." Hinata smiled. "Goodnight."

.

"Usagi-hime! You're back!"

Hinata opened her eyes and smiled at the boy.

"Hello Kit-san!"

Kit pulled her into a hug and Hinata froze for a moment, surprised at the open display of affection, before she relaxed into his embrace. Resting her head against his shoulder, she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed, then released him and stepped back, looking into his sky-blue eyes at arms length. A spark of mischief flashed through her mind and she quickly kissed him on his lips.

"…usagi-hime?"

"That's for being my friend." Hinata managed to say even as she blushed fiercely. Kit looked at her, then slowly enfolded her in another gentle hug.

"I… I never had a friend my age before…" he half-whispered. "Now I have you, Sune, Inari…"

Hinata felt Kit's tears tricking down where their cheeks were pressed against each other.

"Will you be my friend forever?"

"Always." Hinata said, returning his hug even as she looked past him and met the approving, gentle gaze of the golden fox. "As long as you want me, I'll be your friend, Kit. I promise."

.

Hiashi put down his saucer of sake as Hitomi entered his office.

"She's asleep. Hugging her new plushie and smiling happily. Although there were a couple of tears on her cheek, for some reason, but she seems to be fine now."

"Good." Hiashi said, glancing over at his brother, who nodded.

"I have increased the guards for tonight and tomorrow I will change the guard schedule. What happened made it clear that our current security arrangements have several holes in them. Those holes will be dealt with."

Hitomi seated herself and, without asking, poured herself a saucer of sake and swallowed the drink in a single gulp.

"What news about… him?"

"Inoichi scanned him while he was still unconcious." Hizashi replied. "His primary mission was to kidnap Hinata for her Byakugan and breeding potential. His secondary mission, should he fail his primary, was to inspire a political dispute that would allow Kumo to get their hands on a sample of the Byakugan. If he had died, Kumo would have demanded your head, brother."

Hiashi flinched and accepted the saucer that Hitomi poured for him.

"We really owe a debt to whoever stepped in." He admitted. "Any clue who it was?"

"The robe is like nothing I have seen before, I have no idea what it is made of." Hitomi said, staring into her refilled sake dish. "The pillow is made of the same fabric, the fox plushie something very similar. The fox and rabbit pattern… I have no idea about. I know of no clan in Konoha that has either as its symbol."

"Did Hinata say anything?"

"Only that she had a dream about being in a garden with a golden fox and a young boy named Kit." Hitomi shrugged, downing her drink and holding the dish out for Hiashi to refill. "I don't think she has any idea of who saved her."

Hiashi nodded. "Then I shall tell everyone not to mention the fox plushie or the cushion. Should the rescuer, whoever he or she may be, finally decide to approach us, seeking payment of the great debt that we owe them, they will be able to prove the truth of their words by mentioning the gifts they left her with."

"A good plan." Hizashi concurred. "As for the robe… I think that Hinata should wear it next time she goes outside the clan compound. Maybe it will inspire her rescuer to approach us."

Hitomi nodded. "I agree. But what will we tell the Hokage? How can we explain this?"

A long silence seemed to descend, then one of them broke it.

"We tell him the truth. We tell him we do not know yet who provided aid to us on this night. When we find out, we will offer an alliance to them."

Hizashi nodded. "I agree, brother. But I must ask, how did he know about the gaps in our security? How did he know where Hinata's bedroom was?"

Hiashi opened his mouth, then froze. A moment later, his jaw snapped shut and his normally controlled expression twisted into one of barely-restrained fury.

"There is a traitor in the Clan Council. Maybe more than one." He ground out. "That is the only way that the events of this night make any sense."

"Then we need to find the traitor and kill them." Hitomi stated.

"After finding out why they did so." Hizashi interjected and the other two looked at him. "We need to know the why, brother. Was it an attempt to gain an alliance with Kumo, to get Kumo to perform a mission for the clan? Was it an attempt to destroy you politically, rendering you easy prey for those who are opposed to your attempts to change the clan? Is someone seeking to render you unfit to lead us? We need to know what the attack was meant to achieve and if there are any more attacks planned."

For almost a moment, the trio remained silent, each wrestling with their own thoughts.

"We shall discuss this further tomorrow." Hiashi eventually said.

.

"Good morning, tousan."

Hiashi turned towards his daughter and froze, his eyebrows lifting slightly.

"Hinata, what is that in your hair?"

Hinata stared at him for a moment, then slowly reached up. Her hand lightly touched the bright orange long-stemmed flower that had been placed in her hair, then she slowly brought it down so that she could stare at it with disbelieving eyes.

"Kit?"

"Kit?" Hitomi repeated curiously as she entered behind her daughter. "Who or what is Kit? Is this the boy you were dreaming of?"

Hinata nodded, a blush spreading itself across her cheeks.

"Yes, kaasan. In my dream, he put this flower in my hair and said it was a gift for my garden… but it was a dream! I don't understand how… how… I don't understand."

"Consider it a gift from Inari." A new and familiar voice said and everyone looked round to see Sarutobi standing in the entrance. "That is a mystical flower. For now, I would advise planting it and letting it grow. Make sure it has a full bed to itself, it will grow quite fast once planted."

"But… it is… orange." Hiashi stated, staring at the flower cupped in his daughter's hands.

"Tousan…?"

Hiashi sighed as Hinata's pleading expression effortlessly smashed through all of his defences.

"Alright. The south-east garden is not used very much, you can plant the flower in one of the beds there."

Hinata's face lit and she took a step before Hiashi's cough stopped her in her tracks.

"After breakfast."

"Yes, tousan."

Hiashi turned to the Hokage, one eyebrow raised. "Mystical flower?"

Hiruzen nodded with a gentle smile. "I received one myself. I now have an entire line of orange along the edge of my garden."

"We shall discuss this later." Hiashi finally decided.

.

"Kit!"

"Usagi-chan!"

Hinata embraced her new dream-friend, then a familiar chuckle caught her attention. Letting Kit, go, shelooked past him and her eyes widened as Kit turned round to look.

"Jiji!"

Hinata's mouth dropped open in shock as Kit charged across and tackle-hugged Hiruzen, who smiled and returned the hug. Gathering her courage, Hinata took a step forwards, then froze as Hiruzen looked at her.

"It's alright, Hinata. There is no rank in the Garden of Inari."

"Hinata?" Kit asked curiously, then he shook his head. "Usagi-chan!"

"Little rabbit?" Hiruzen half-asked with a smile. "Well, I'm sure that you look after her."

"She's my friend." Kit stated, releasing his grip and dashing to Hinata's side. Hinata blushed as Kit gave her another hug, but she returned it, burying her face against the side of his neck and inhaling his scent.

"So I see." Hiruzen chuckled. "So I see. Why don't you run along, I need to talk with Inari about adult stuff that would probably bore you both to tears."

The two children scampered off towards the pond and Hiruzen sighed.

"Ah, the joys of youth."

"A thing to be trasured."

Hiruzen turned and bowed to the golden fox. "Inari-Sama. Thank you for rescuing Hinata, the Hyuuga clan owe you a great debt."

"But they do not know yet to whom it is owed." Inari smiled. "No need to worry, I know that you decided to wait and speak to me before doing anything about it, given that the intervention was on my orders."

Hiruzen nodded. "So, what should I do?"

"I cannot keep the kit in the temple for too much longer without compromising his future." Inari said, watching as Naruto placed a flower in Hinata's hair, getting a giggle and a kiss on the cheek in return. "He will need somewhere to stay, someone to teach him the ways of the ninja. Sune is making sure that he can read and write as well as imparting the knowledge that he needs, but when he goes to the Academy and starts the path of the ninja, the Shrine will have served its purpose."

"I see." Hiruzen mused as he sat down on the grass. Inari curled up behind him, letting him use her haunch as a backrest while her head looked over his shoulder. "I will make the preparations."

"Do not separate the Kit from the Usagi." Inari said quietly and Jiruzen nodded once again, his mind going through all the possible plans.

"Should whoever takes him in learn about his heritage?"

Inari nodded. "Yes, but let the kit enjoy his youth. When he takes the Hitai-ate, then will be the time for him to learn about his parents and their sacrifice."

"And the Kyuubi?" Hiruzen asked quietly, watching as Hinata snuggled into Naruto's side as they sat watching the fish in the pond, dangling their feet so that their toes just touched the surface.

"Again, when he becomes a Genin." Inari said. "Until then, let them grow as they need to, let them be happy."

Hiruzen nodded as in the distance Hinata giggled at the feeling of the fish gently nibbling on her toes.