Naruto just stared at the mystery man as he laid on the bed. He had been asleep ever since he had been brought to the healer. The moment that Naruto had seen him, he felt like he knew him from somewhere. As if there was a part of his memory that he couldn't drag out, but knew that he couldn't do that. This man, he also seemed to have known who he was and where he came from.

Yet, the man had yet to wake up. He had been asleep for a few days now. They had managed to remove the mask and eye patch that he wore. From what the healer had said, the man had an old scar that was over his left eye. It almost seemed to have caused some kind of damage that prevented him from sight out of that eye. As for the other scars, there were some that were old, and some that were new. Though the old scars… it gave Naruto chills.

Rubbing his arms a little, the young man didn't know why it was bothering him so much. Taking a deep breath, hoping to calm his nerves, Naruto knew that he had to get back to Hinata to protect her. Though, before he could even turn around to leave he saw her, and Iruka in the room. "Hinata, Iruka. What brings you by?" asked Naruto with a frown on his face.

"I wanted to see how he was doing." Hinata answered with a soft smile on her face.

"I saw her walking and decided to walk with her to make sure that she was okay." Iruka said with a smile on his face.

Naruto sighed softly. This was distracting him, he knew that he shouldn't let this happen. Yes, he knew that he had to keep her safe at all times but now that this happens? A chance to learn more about his past as it just seems to present itself and now what was he to do? Would this man even still know anything once he woke up or would it be some form of cruel fate twisting its knife in his side until he couldn't stand it anymore?

Fate, life and love, all of it was unfair to him.

Closing his eyes for a moment, the young man closed his eyes as he turned to the man only to sigh once again. Damn it, a key to his past and yet he still couldn't learn anything as of yet. At least, not until the man had woken up. Turning to Hinata, he saw her concerned look on her face. Was she thinking of the same thing that he was? That he finally had some way of knowing who he had been as a young child only for the possibility of it being torn away from him in some shape or form?

Maybe. It wouldn't surprise him if that was the case. After all, she had a pure and gentle heart. Taking a deep breath, Naruto whispered "I want to know the moment when he wakes up. Hinata, didn't you want to go to the village today?" Honestly, he'd rather stay here, but knew that if he did it would only get him more worked up and thus unable to do his job properly.

Hinata just stared at him, as if she wanted to say something otherwise. Yet, it seemed that she saw the look in his blue eyes. She knew, knew that he had to get away from the manor right now. It was the only way for him to relax and to, relatively return to his normal self. Giving him a soft smile, the young woman calmly said "Yeah, I want to order your outfit. Since you aren't having much of a difference in it other than colour you better hope they have the colour there."

Naruto chuckled lightly at Hinata before he started to walk away. Only to stop as he turned to stare at Iruka. "Can you tell me-I mean us, when he wakes up Iruka?"

Iruka smiled brightly as he nodded. "Of course Naruto. Now, go. You know how Hinata is about keeping people waiting." Oh wasn't that the truth. That was one thing that Hinata hated was to keep people waiting for anything. Even if it was for something as small as this. Though, he couldn't help but wonder if he would be able to talk to Izumi about what had just happened. He had no idea what he should feel anymore at this point in time.

Looking around the manor after he left with Hinata, the young man couldn't help but wonder what was with everyone whispering. He could faintly make out a few things, though it was about the mystery guest that had just up and appeared. They had no idea where he came from, only that he just seemed to have appeared on the manor's lawn and nothing else was with him. At least, only the clothes on his back.

It confused not just Naruto himself, but everyone now that he thought about it. Letting out a soft sigh, the young man turned to Hinata. "What do you think happened to him?" he asked her softly enough where only she would hear him.

"Not sure, he had slashes on him though, I think it's possible he was either attacked by a wild animal, or a demon." Naruto shuddered at the thought. With how demons have been lately, there was no way of telling. But, at the same time, if that was the case then how was he alive? If he was attacked by a demon, he should have been dead unless he was a well-trained warrior in some aspect.

Having a thoughtful frown on his face, his hand resting on his chin as they walked. He couldn't help but wonder what it was that could have attacked him. Most demon's had claws, though these, they almost seemed like they were based off of some kind of animal based demon. Maybe a dog? Cat? There were too many that could have attacked him and damn it all, damn it all he just couldn't think!

Suddenly, Naruto felt like something had cracked through him once again. His eyes widened a little as he leaned against the wall. "Naruto?" Came Hinata's words, though it almost seemed as if he didn't hear her. Sinking down to the floor, Naruto tightly shut his eyes as he felt like he had been assaulted by something. It felt like he had walked into a stone wall, or that one had slammed into him. His senses were screaming at him, screaming at him!

"Make it stop." Naruto groaned as he pressed his hands against his ears and moaned from the pain.

"Make what stop?" asked Hinata.

"The sounds, the burning in my nose, my eyes hurt!" Naruto whined. Sure, it was sad that a top warrior was whining like a child but at the moment he didn't give a shit! Curling up in a ball, Naruto tried to get this all to stop! He tried to make it all stop and it was starting to kill him!

Just as he was about to cry out for it to stop once again, he felt something envelop around him. Surrounding him in a calm, warm, and gentle embrace. Even his nose had stopped burning him, it almost seemed like a new scent had over powered the other, sound was overwhelmed by a new sound, as for his eyes well, they still remained closed which had at least lessened the pain.

Opening his eyes, the young man saw that his head was resting on Hinata's chest, the sound was her heart beating within her chest. His nose, assaulted by the scent of vanilla and lavender. Scents that he always found rather calming and soothing. It was amazing that she would smell like this, or at least that he could notice it a lot more.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Naruto allowed the scent of Hinata, and the sound of her heart to calm down his overwhelmed senses. Though, what confused and bothered him was why they seemed to have grown so much now in the first place. Had that weird mark on his stomach gain a new crack? Or was it something more? He'd have to check when he was given the chance.


Hinata sighed softly as she walked with Naruto to Izumi's place. It was nice to be able to get out, though it seemed as if he was a little too obsessed with that man. Though, could she really blame him though? A chance to learn who he was? At least, with how the man acted when he saw Naruto and of course when he heard her call Naruto by his name. It confused her, the emotions and feelings that had to be swirling within him.

Taking a deep breath, the young woman looked up at her friend and saw that he almost seemed to be lost in his own world. There had to be something that he wasn't telling her, though what it was she had no idea, nor did she think that she could fully comprehend.

After all, she had her memories of her family, where she came from and who she was before anything. Yet Naruto, the only thing he could remember was his name. And, assuming that the man was right, that it really was his true name. So, that memory was real, but what more was there to his past that would have him forget in the first place? It almost seemed as if his entire slate was wiped clean.

Turning up to stare at Naruto, she saw that he was staring ahead like he normally did while they were in the village. That would seem normal to anyone who would see him. But her? She saw the troubled thoughts that would swirl within his blue orbs that she had grown to love. 'Naruto, what is going through your mind right now? Does your heart hurt?' thought the young princess. Oh how she wished that she could talk to him about it, but the look on his face before they left? His expression had seemed grateful to get away from it but, it seemed that a part of him wanted to stay to talk to the man the moment he woke up.

The haunted look, the way he almost seemed to whine without even vocalising it. Letting out a soft sigh, the young woman looked away as she thought about what had happened in the hall while they were leaving. Naruto just seemed to act rather strange. He looked as if he was in a great deal of pain as he held onto his ears. Eyes tightly shut and his nose had looked a little red, as if it was irritated to no end. What had happened to him in that moment?

Shaking her head, the young woman knew that when she saw Naruto in that state, it broke her heart. It felt as if a part of her had just wanted to take all of his pain away. No, not a part of her, her entire being wanted to take away all of the pain. She saw how he curled up in a ball and had pretty much cried out from all of the pain starting to overwhelm him. It was amazing, she had never seen him in so much pain before in her entire life. At least, not since he had started to take some kind of special training to help him withstand pain.

Recalling how she had just reached out and grabbed a hold of Naruto and just held him close to her chest. Honestly, that was the only thing that she thought would help him, or at least to support him while they waited out the pain that was wrecking through his body to the point of him almost crying from the pain. It had broken her heart seeing him that way, but with the way that he started to recover, it had warmed her heart to the point that she almost thought that it would burst from her chest.

Though if she was honest, she still felt that warmth swirling within her heart. It was enough to bring her some kind of joy just even knowing that she was able to hold onto him without being seen as indecent.

Closing her eyes for a brief moment, the young woman looked up at Naruto once again as she said "You going to be okay Naruto?"

Seeing him blink his eyes at her for a moment, Naruto looked down at Hinata only to give her a small smile. "I'm okay. Just lost in thought I guess."

"I'm talking about when… you broke down."

Naruto blushed at that. Did he think that he made a fool of himself over that? He shouldn't, it wasn't like he had planned for that to happen in the first place. Hinata gave him a soft smile before gently grabbing a hold of his hand as she tugged him so they'd stop in their walk for a moment. "Naruto," Hinata began, giving him a soft and gentle smile. "I won't lie, I was worried when you just seemed to have broken down." He turned his gaze away from her at that.

Frowning, Hinata reached up with her free hand and turned his face to stare at her. "Naruto, listen to me." She whispered softly. "As soon as I saw you breaking down like that, I knew that I had to do something to help you. So, I did the only thing that I could think of. The one thing that seemed to call out for me to do and that was to hold you."

A soft blush rose to Naruto's face, well okay, she could feel the heat rising to her face as well. Giving him a soft smile, Hinata just laughed a little as she said "Naruto, just relax okay? I'm not going to judge you just because of what happened." Naruto frowned a little at her, he looked like he was going to just walk on ahead until she just tugged him once more. "Do NOT walk away from this Naruto Uzumaki."

He froze at that and just stared at her in shock. It seemed using his full name had shocked him to his core. "Hina-chan?" He said in a whisper that almost broke her heart. Almost anyway.

She took a deep breath, hoping to think of her words carefully. "Naruto, I don't know what you're going through, but just know that I am here to help you in any way I can. Just don't shut me out okay?"

"Alright Hinata." Naruto said with a small smile. Seeing him smile, she knew that this was one of his rare true smiles, was enough to make her heart beat quicken in her chest. Hinata felt like she could be with him, for just a moment forgetting that she was a princess and that he wasn't her guard but her friend, and so much more. How she wanted to kiss him but in that moment her dream left her, and reality crashed down on her.

"Let's go." She said with a smile before walking with Naruto to Izumi's home. Thank god they weren't far from her home, though she couldn't help but look at the man beside her. It had her curious as to what had happened. She had wanted to kiss Naruto, but failed to go through with it. Her own fear of confessing her feelings stopped her. God, she hated herself for not confessing to Naruto.

Stepping through the door of Izumi's shop, Hinata smiled as she called out for the seamstress. It didn't take long for Izumi to come out from the back and smiled at the couple who entered her shop. "Hello you two! What can I do for you?" Asked the brown haired woman with a big smile on her face.

Hinata smiled as she said "Well, Naruto needs some new clothes for the ball. We're hoping to find some in soft blues or at least some kind of blue that would suit me perfectly since he has to match my outfit." Hinata though, as she had spoken looked between Izumi and Naruto, hoping that the older woman would understand what it was that she also wanted without voicing her need to talk to the seamstress.

Izumi smiled before walking around and grabbed some of the colours that laid around the shop and looked at Naruto. "Okay Naruto, I want you to look at all of these colours. Otherwise, I have some clothes I would like for you to try on in case you like the style for what you're looking for." The confused look showed on Naruto's face, but he let out a sigh and started to make his way to the back room and out of the women's sight.

Izumi turned to Hinata after that as she asked "Okay, what's wrong Hinata? Do you just need to talk about Naruto again?"

"Yes."

"Okay, what's wrong?"

Hinata let out a soft sigh as she looked at her friend, confidant? No, not even that. More like an older sister-figure. Izumi had been the only one to know about her feelings for Naruto ever since she had learned that she had fallen for the man. It saddened her to great lengths that she wanted to be with him, but knew that she couldn't because of her title.

It also made everything easier, her soul lighter to tell someone about her inner conflict. Even if it wasn't by much.

"Well, father wanted me to try dancing again and you know how everyone doesn't want to 'dance' with me because of you know." Hinata explained, a soft blush on her face as she looked away.

"Ah yes, I remember you telling me about that once before." Izumi said before chuckling and had her elbow resting on the counter and stared at the blue haired princess, her chin resting on her open palm. "You do know that you can't keep stepping on their feet or kicking their shins because they say something bad about Naruto. He's a tough guy, you know that."

"I know but, they also kept threatening to get rid of Naruto if I married them because I am far too close to him." Hinata complained.

"But, you'd also be the Lady of the lands, not the princess." Izumi pointed out.

"That is true, but I wouldn't have any kind of say in the matter still. The Lord, would have all rights, not me. I'd have an opinion to give my husband and it'd be his choice to listen to me or not." Hinata said with a sigh before she looked away. "The thought of losing Naruto in any way, it hurts me."

"Point taken." Izumi said with a soft sigh. Turning to the princess once more, the older woman stared as she saw the turmoil that Hinata was going through. "Is there something more?" asked Izumi.

Hinata blushed a little before turning away. Closing her eyes, the young woman started to explain everything that had happened. From how she felt while she was dancing with Naruto, to how she felt so close to him. How she felt, how lost she felt as she gazed into his eyes and how, she had seen how Naruto had felt. The pain that she had seen in his eyes, how lost even he had within his own eyes.

Then of course, Hinata mentioned how Naruto had acted when the mystery man had arrived to her home. How he almost to stay in the same room as the man throughout the day to see if, and when he would wake up so he could get answers. Answers about his past since the man had seemed to have some kind of knowledge about him.

Her fear though, was what would happen if Naruto learned about his past? What if he was part of some clan that only cared about war and money? Or what if he had seen or caused a village to burn down and that was what had caused him to forget everything about his past? Or, what if he had even killed someone at a young age and that, was what had caused him to in a way, wipe his slate clean?

So many other things would swim through her mind but she just couldn't voice them. It terrified her so much that she just couldn't be sure what it was. Letting out a depressed sigh, Hinata looked up at Izumi as she asked "What am I to do? I can't be with him. I'm a princess, I have to marry a prince!" Hinata sniffled a little before she wiped at her face.

"Hinata." Izumi began before she held Hinata's hand before giving her a soft smile. "You just need to be honest with him. Tell him about how you feel and tell him how much you love him."

Hinata looked up at the older woman. More tears pooled in her eyes before she blinked them away. Izumi wanted her to say something, that much was certain. Yet, it was her answer that made Izumi frown.

"I'm sorry Izumi, but I can't tell him. I can never tell Naruto how I much I love him."


Naruto sighed softly as he looked over the colours that Izumi asked him to go over. Honestly, a lot of them looked nice though he wasn't sure what would work for him. After all, he wanted to look nice for Hinata, though also not seem like he was something more than he should be. Since he wasn't a prince. Frowning a little, the young man sighed softly as he gazed at all of the colours. There had to be something that he could choose, there had to be something that would just scream at him to pick already!

Tilting his head, he moved over another pile of blue before letting out a grunt of frustration. Damn it all, he just wanted this to be done with and head home. Turning his gaze, he saw another colour of blue that just seemed to call out to him. It wasn't a scream no, it was just a call really.

Frowning a little, Naruto reached over and picked it up and stared at it. "Royal blue?" Naruto frowned more before shaking his head. Right, as if he had a right to even wear such a colour in the first place. Yet, he also couldn't deny that he liked it. He loved the colour, not as much as orange but it was a close second.

Setting that one aside, Naruto looked at some of the clothes at Izumi had picked out. He picked a simple shirt that seemed like it would cling to him but still allow him some kind of movement. The jacket, he didn't mind that. The jacket itself, had tears at the bottom much like what he had now, yet they almost made him think of tails. He was drawn to this jacket for some reason, though he couldn't help but tilt his head. Turning to the pants, they were similar but had more tears but again, allowed him more movement with how loose it was for him.

Though the sleeves for the jacket… there weren't any. He liked the sleeves of his jacket right now but, maybe he could ask Izumi to make him some longer gloves. Hm, gloves that would look like he had claws. That would put the scare into people's hearts! He chuckled at the thought of it. Nah that would be silly, there was no way that they would allow that for his outfit.

"May as well try it on." He mumbled before starting to strip himself down. Though, the young man had removed his shirt and jacket, he couldn't help but notice the symbol on his stomach again. There was another crack in the symbol. What is going on with him? Why was all of this happening to him in the first place? It just seemed like some weird timing but he knew that he had to be careful. Whatever the problem was that was causing this, he knew that he would have to be careful and see if he could stop it.

Narrowing his eyes, the young man threw his clothes aside as he started to put the clothes on. They were nice, no doubt but sadly the clothes weren't the right colour so he'd have to have this freshly made for himself to even wear. Turning his gaze back onto the symbol once more, he saw the crack over one of the little markings on the outside of the swirl that resided on the middle of his stomach. Damn it, it was bothering him more than it should.

"What is happening to me?" He rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. It was like ever since it had started to crack or break on him, that he was going through some kind of weird change and it was starting to freak him out. More so when he seemed to have gained better senses and it scared him to no end. Taking a deep breath, the young man tried to calm his nerves. Maybe it had something to do with his past or something?

Was this part of a clan's power that he had or was it something more? Letting out a soft sigh, the blonde haired man sighed softly before throwing on the clothes and got a better look at his reflection. "This does look good on me." He said with a smile on his face. Looking around a little, Naruto saw that no one was around so that had to mean that Izumi was talking to Hinata.

Smirking a little at his reflection, Naruto flexed his muscles a little wanting to make sure that the clothes wouldn't tear the fabric unless he was in the midst of battle. Though, even then his clothes didn't tear or anything when he was battling a demon. Grunting a little, Naruto flexed more, flexing his arms and his pecs through the clothes. "I can definitely like this for sure." He chuckled a little before he started to strip out of the clothes and grinned all the more. Putting his original clothes back on and started to make his way back to the front of the store.

Yet, he wondered what it was that the girls were talking about. Frowning a little, he tilted his head to the side in confusion. What did they ever talk about in the first place? It was rather puzzling though he just shrugged it off before he moved the curtains aside that kept the back hidden from anyone that was in the shop. "So, I picked what I liked out of the outfits." Naruto calmly said before making his way over to Izumi and said "I pick Royal Blue, and the outfit I would love to have made for me I left it on the little bench. The other ones I hadn't unfolded so those I won't use."

"Alright Naruto. Just make sure that you have everything you want sorted out alright?" said Izumi with a smile.

"Well, since the jacket is sleeveless, can you make me some gloves to go with it? I'm hoping for some long ones or something that would work as sleeves." Naruto requested with a smile on his face before turning to Hinata. "Ready to go home?" asked Naruto with a smile still on his face.

"Yeah." Hinata said with a big smile.

With that said, the young pair started to make the long trek home. Though, as they walked Naruto turned to Hinata for a brief moment. Not sure what kind of outfit she'd wear, though he couldn't help but wonder what it was that she'd do while at the ball. Dance, chat among the others? Would he even be able to talk with her? Shaking his head, Naruto knew that he had to think of something else, he wasn't sure if they would be able to be together after that in the first place.

Though, would he even still be her guard after the ball?

'Of course I will be. Hinata wouldn't allow someone to get rid of me.' thought Naruto with a mental chuckle before he dug his hands into his jacket pockets while in deep thought. The demons seemed rather quiet for a while now, made him wonder what it was that had caused this in the first place. Shaking his head once more, the young man calmly asked "Seems quiet don't you think?"

"It does, though it's nice." Hinata said with a smile.

"Point taken." Naruto agreed.

"Naruto! Hinata!" Shouted one of the many guards that normally stayed around the manor. The pair turned and stared at the other before turning back to the guard. "It's the man! The one that was asleep for a few days, he… he's finally awake!" declared the guard.


long gloves for Naruto or no? also, what do you think will happen with the mystery man? who do you think it is?