A/N: I wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed, followed, and has made my story one of their favorites. All of your support is really helping me keep going at this time and I hope you enjoy this new chapter.
Disclaimer: Yup, this is the standard I don't own this disclaimer.
As Naruto exits the Hokage's office building he sees Hanabi walking slowly down the street with her head down as if lost in thought. 'She was really quiet most of the trip back home. I thought that she was just homesick and thought once we got back to the village she would be fine, but she seems even more depressed now that we are back. I wonder what is making her look so depressed.' He hesitates for a moment before shaking his head. 'I don't have a lot of time and I might regret this later, but if something is wrong with her I have to try and help.' He runs up beside Hanabi and when she looks over he gives her a big fox grin. "Hey, I have been meaning to talk with you lately, but we have been so busy with the mission and stuff that I just haven't had the chance. Are you okay? You have been very quiet lately, even for a Hyuga, is something wrong?"
She gives a shrug and continues to stare at the ground.
"Well, I am going to take that as a yes. So do you want to talk about what has been bothering you lately?" He puts his arms back behind his head and sighs. "To be honest with you I have never been what you would call, perceptive to what other people are thinking. Except on the battlefield, for some reason I have been able to look an opponent in the eyes and sometimes I can sense what they are thinking. I guess that comes from growing up alone with no friends or family and just trying to survive each day." He turns and quietly summons a clone, who runs off on an errand. "I know a good place where we can just sit, and if you feel like talking we can, or we can just hang out and sit quietly for a bit."
He leads her to a bench and asks her to take a seat and about that time the clone shows up and hands something to Naruto before vanishing. Naruto unwraps the popsicle that the clone picked up for him and after breaking it in half he offers one half to Hanabi. "I have spent a lot of time sitting at this very bench over the years talking to Iruka-sensei, even after I became a genin he would make time for me if I just needed somebody to talk with about stuff. If you need to talk about something I can listen. I'm no Iruka-sensei, but I will do the best I can to help, okay?" He takes a small bite of the frozen desert.
Hanabi just stares down at the popsicle for a while before she speaks in a weak voice. "I'm sorry."
Naruto turns and bends his head down closer to Hanabi's face to try and peer into her eyes. "For what Hanabi, you didn't do anything wrong."
"Our mission nearly failed because I was not strong enough." She scuffs the ground with her shoe. "If it hadn't been for you the Fire Daimyo's relatives would have been killed. All I could do was get stuck in the dirt and nearly get killed."
"That's why we go out in teams Hanabi, one shinobi cannot do it all alone." He gives a little chuckle. "Even me, sometimes. You should not beat yourself up over what might have happened; because that could lead to hesitation the next time you are on a mission, which could get you or a teammate hurt, or even worse." Naruto scoots a little closer so that their bodies are just touching, hoping his presence will lend her some comfort.
Hanabi can't help but lean into the warm comforting presence beside her. "I have not slept well ever since that fight, Naruto." Hanabi shakes her head. "Every time I close my eyes all I see is that ax coming down towards my face." Hanabi, her cheeks wet with newly shed tears, turns and buries her head into Naruto's shoulder. "Is that how I am going to end up, dead on some battlefield, like Neji, or lame and useless like my last sensei? I don't know who to talk to about this to Naruto. I don't want my father finding out and thinking that I am useless like he once did with Onee-san, or for Tenten-sensei to start second guessing my every move when we go out on missions."
Naruto feels a stab of pain, knowing exactly what the young girl is talking about. He was having nightmares about Hinata being killed those first few nights on their recent mission. The nightmares would happen after he would lay there in his sleeping bag and fall asleep thinking about Hinata. So the next night he had tried not to think about her when he was falling asleep, but he failed at that so miserably because so many things lately make him think of her, especially flowers. 'If it had not been for you Kurama I am sure that I would have cracked during that last mission. Thanks for taking over a little bit and kind of programming my dreams for me for a few nights. The one of me running through the forest on all fours like a fox was my favorite.' The Kyubi does not respond, but just gives out a rumble as if he was asleep and could not hear what he was saying.
"I wish I could say that something bad won't ever happen." He lifts his arm up and drapes it over her shoulder and gives her a reassuring hug. "That is the negative to the life we live. I have lost family and friends over the years and each one of them was hard and I will admit that the thought of losing someone else scares me something awful." Naruto has to swallow to clear his throat of the sudden lump that is threatening to steal his voice, as images from his nightmare come to mind. "During the war so many people lost their lives and I saw that grief and it makes me wonder at times if all of this is really worth the cost. But, unless somebody is willing and able to go out there and defend what they feel is right, then what they hold dear can be taken from them so easily." Naruto holds up a fist with a determined look in his eyes. "I won't ever let somebody I care about get hurt because I was too afraid to fight."
"Think about the Will of Fire: We are all like a family and a true shinobi of Konohagakure must love, believe, cherish and fight for the village's sake just like those who came before us. You are part of a really good team and I came to your aid because you had called my name, but if you had called for one of your teammates they would have been there for you too. That is the Will of Fire I am talking about; fight beside and for your teammates and believe in them like they believe in you and most of the time things will turn out okay. Unfortunately, things don't work out sometimes, but we need to move forward or we will fail to honor the sacrifices made by those that came before us and to preserve a future for the next generation."
Hanabi wraps her arms around his waist and presses herself into the warm comfort of his presence. 'He smells so nice, his scent seems so comforting.' She looks up and gives him a gentle smile. "Thank you, I really needed to get that off my chest and you are right I need to focus on the fact I am alive and so are the people I care about. I should not be worried that I may make a mistake and I lose somebody, but be happy that we can just be together for even one more day, because we might lose them anyways and that will leave us with nothing but regrets. That is really good advice." She pauses for a moment to gather a little courage. "I am very grateful that you were the one who saved me Naruto…" She pauses for another second before adding "kun."
He gives her a gentle hug. "Don't forget you saved my life too Hanabi-chan, if you had not paralyzed that guy he might have seriously hurt me or even killed me, but you were there and fought to save a teammate, even though you were injured and stuck in the ground, which makes that hit you did even more amazing. I guess what I am trying to say is try not to let what has happened interfere with your thinking and just continue your training to become stronger. You have seen a new jutsu and now is the time to think on how to counter it if you ever have it used against you again."
Naruto, oblivious that when he added 'chan' to her name that she squeezed him tightly and pressed her face into his chest, looks down at the ground where her popsicle had fallen when she had wrapped her arms around him. "Oh well, you did not need that ruining your dinner anyways." They both share a laugh at his little joke.
Naruto stands and stretches. "You had better get home before they send out a team to look for you because I am sure that the news of your teams return has reached your father's ears by now. If you ever need somebody to talk to again I am easy to find, okay?" He rubs his stomach and smiles at the old joke around the village about how all that anyone who is looking for him needs to do is wait at Ichraku's and he will show up eventually.
Hanabi nods and after she stands she smiles at him timidly. "Would you mind walking me home? At least to the gates, please?"
Naruto hesitates, his face looking nervous for a moment before smiling. "Sure, but…" Before he can finish his sentence she gives him a quick hug and then grabs his arm, nearly dragging him down the street towards her home.
As they near the main entrance to her family compound Hanabi turns to look at Naruto with a smile. "Will you walk me to the main house? I am pretty sure there is somebody who lives here that would like to see you and to know that you made it home safely." Hanabi was trying to think of anyway she could to get him to spend just a little more time with her, even if it meant using her sister as bait.
Naruto kicks nervously at a loose stone on the road. "What if she is busy doing clan stuff? I would hate to interrupt what she is doing and get her in trouble, and Baa-chan said I need to come back tonight after dinner. Maybe I should just leave her a message and ask her if she would like to get some ramen with me before I go back to work, or maybe tomorrow for lunch?"
"If you want Onee-san to know that you are home then you will need to tell her yourself." Hanabi looks at him as if he had just said the most absurd thing she had ever heard. 'If I go in there and she finds out he walked me all the way to the gate...' Hanabi wanted to just squeal and melt into a puddle at remembering how nice it felt to have him walk her home. '…and then afterwards he went home, she will drive me crazy with stupid questions and seeing her fidgeting while asking why I think he did not come and see her will make me want to break her hands.' She crosses her arms defiantly. "You are going to have to deliver that message yourself."
Naruto runs a hand through his hair trying to finger comb his dirty locks into something more presentable. "But I am dirty from being on the road for days and could really use a shower, before…"
"I think that you look fine Naruto-kun." The sound of Hinata's voice causes a torrent of emotions to course its way through Naruto's soul. He already knew she was alive and well, but the sound of that voice made him just want to turn around and wrap his arms so tightly around her protectively so that nothing would ever be able to harm her again. The nagging fear reminded him that such an action was impossible and would only draw more attention to Hinata and not really protect her. Having her suddenly be so close to him made his pulse quicken, not out of fear or relief, but out of sheer happiness.
He looked up and saw Kodi, who was doing his best to keep his face impassive, and saw the barest hint of a smile creasing the corners of the guard's mouth. Naruto took a deep breath and turned slowly around. As he saw those pale lavender eyes looking at him with that nearly perfect smile he felt all those nagging fears and the nearly overwhelming sense of relief just float away as if they had been nothing more that the seeds of a dandelion caught in a summer breeze. "Hi... Hinata."
Hinata felt a sudden warmth wash over her face as his gaze focused on her eyes with such an intensity that it seemed like he was trying to commit everything to memory. It was because she had been doing the exact same thing for the last few minutes, as she suppressed her chakra and snuck closer to him and Hanabi, looking at him carefully trying to take in everything she saw. She felt like her muscles were going to melt under the searing intensity of his blue eyes. She could see relief, concern, happiness, and dare she hope something more flash through those handsome blue windows to his soul.
She had been going to the gate every afternoon the last few days to see if they had returned yet, and today before she had even reached the desk the guards had begun to smile and wave to her. After they had given her the good news that both teams had returned healthy and in good spirits, she had immediately ran off to do an important errand, for his surprise. She had made it back in time to watch as Naruto walked the last block towards her home, happily talking to her sister.
She had a whole speech planned out to say to him when he came home and had even practiced the last few nights in front of her mirror, but now that she was looking in his eyes and having them stare right back the whole speech was ripped from her brain. "W-W-Welcome home Naruto-kun." The sound of her sister clearing her throat seemed to be the cure for her paralysis and she looked over to see her sister glaring at her in return. "I'm sorry, welcome home to you too Hanabi-chan." She then turns her gaze back to Naruto to feel those butterflies happily taking flight inside her stomach. 'I love how just looking into his eyes makes me feel so giddy inside.'
Naruto opens his mouth to speak, but he really can't seem to find the right words. 'Man, every time I see her smile at me like that I feel so warm inside. It's almost like the first ramen of the day, after you take that first bite and the hot noodles slide their way down your throat. That warmth from the ramen feels so… comforting.' Naruto swallows and takes a nervous breath, but he still cannot find the words he needs to say. 'I wasn't ready for this. I knew I wasn't ready, and I let Hanabi talk me into coming here and now I don't know what to say.'
Hanabi stands there watching Naruto and Hinata staring happily at each other, both of them obviously struggling to find the right words to start a conversation. "Onee-san I can't wait to tell you about the mission. We were attacked by a team of rogue shinobi who were leading a large group of bandits and there was a big fight."
Hinata's face goes pale as she looks carefully at Naruto and her sister. "Oh my, is everyone okay?"
"Yeah, everyone did great in the fight. Hanabi has a great team and Tenten is a great sensei too. I'll bet the whole team will ace the chunin exams in the spring." He puts a hand proudly on Hanabi's shoulder and smiles.
"Why don't you join our family for dinner tonight Naruto-kun and the two of you could tell us all about the mission? Father likes to hear from us after our missions so he can keep up with our progress. They are going to bring out the food soon, so please stay." Hinata clasps her hands together nervously and gives Naruto a hopeful smile that could melt a wall of ice.
Naruto looks down at his dirty clothes and back up at Hinata with a nervous look. "I don't know, my clothes are really dusty and… I could really use a shower. I would be kind of embarrassed to eat dinner with your father smelling like a barnyard."
Hanabi could see by the way her sister was acting that something was up and she really wanted Naruto to stay for dinner for some reason, but he was being too dense to understand the subtle hints Hinata was giving out, plus her sister was too tentative to come right out and say what she wanted. 'Guess it is up to me to get things in motion, besides I want him to stay as well.' She reaches over and grabs Naruto's hand and starts tugging him into the house. "You think that my father will care what you look like after I tell him how you saved my life? Come on inside and have a REAL meal before going back to work."
Naruto looks about for a second trying to recall how he got through the main gate and all the way to the front door of the main house all of a sudden. 'Wait, I don't remember walking through the gate and through the compound. This was not part of my plan. How was I so distracted?'
Hinata looks at the two of them in shock at Hanabi's declaration. "Naruto, you saved Hanabi-chan's life?" Hinata looks at her sister more critically trying to see if there was any sign of an injury that she missed and noticed that one arm did seem a little stiffer than the other.
Naruto still unsure how he got where he is does not try to pull his hand free from Hanabi's grasp as looks at her. "Hey we've already been through this, you saved my life too, so we are even, remember." Seeing Hinata's eyes fill with panic he pulls his hand free from Hanabi's and grabs Hinata's. "Don't worry, we are both fine. I got a little scratch, and nothing else, okay." He gives her a happy smirk that lets her know that everything is fine.
Hinata, happy to feel the warmth of his hands and to see those eyes, now so much closer, looking into her own again, squeezes his hand happily and pulls him towards the house. "That settles it then, Uzumaki Naruto in gratitude for your actions in saving the life of the clan head's youngest daughter your presence is now required tonight for dinner."
Hanabi wraps herself around his other arm in a way that makes Hinata a little uncomfortable. "That's right, you can use one of the guest rooms to clean up and we can loan you some clean robes to wear for dinner tonight."
Naruto opens his mouth to say something, but is quickly cut off by Hinata. "That's right, Hanabi will you show Naruto-kun to the guest room while I make arrangements with the staff to delay dinner for a bit and have them find some suitable clean robes for you to wear." Hanabi drags him off down the hallway before he can raise a protest.
As they disappear around the corner Hinata lets out a sign of relief. 'I am sorry Naruto-kun, but I was afraid that if you went home you might not make it back in time for dinner, or you might not have even came back at all tonight especially if you do not like the surprise.' She hurries off to ask the servants to delay the meal and inform her father of tonight's change in schedule.
A little further back into the house Naruto is nearly being drug through the house by an excited Hanabi. "Hey Hanabi, you don't need to go to all of this trouble. I could just flash step to my place shower, change and run back over in time for dinner. My place really isn't that far away you know."
Hanabi stops and gives Naruto a glare because she was starting to get upset with him. Did he not want to spend time with them? Does he not realize what an honor it is to be invited to have a private meal with the head of the Hyuga clan and his daughters? 'If he goes back home he will most likely get distracted with something and forget about me, I mean us, and not show up for dinner. That would upset Onee-san if he forgot, but she would probably forgive him with whatever excuse he came up with and they would resume again as if nothing had happened.'
"I know, but it makes me happy and I know it makes Onee-san happy to do something nice for you Naruto...-kun." There she said it again and maybe she shouldn't, but now that she has spent some time with him on a mission she was beginning to see some of what her sister found so fascinating about Naruto. "So please let us do this small gesture to show much I... we appreciate what you did on the mission and for the words of encouragement you said to me earlier today."
Naruto sighs in reluctant agreement. "Alright, you win. All this talk about dinner has made me too hungry to argue anymore." They both share a laugh as his stomach lets out a loud growl. Blushing he enters the room and closes the door behind him.
Once the door has completely closed Hanabi jumps up and pumps both fists in the air in victory that she was able to convince Naruto to have dinner with her family tonight. She quickly runs down the hall towards her room to clean up and get dressed for dinner. 'What am I going to wear?'
Inside the guest room Naruto has sat down on the edge of the bed, both of his hands rubbing his temples as he stares down at the floor. "I have to be dreaming. That is the only way I can explain how I got here tonight." He stands up and starts pacing about the room. "I was not planning on coming here tonight. I was going to get some ramen and some sleep then lock myself up in the office for a few days while I figure what to do next without needing to focus on the mission or talking with people."
"What should I do Kurama?" Naruto's asks out loud, the desperation in his voice apparent even to his own ears.
'NOT MY PLACE TO TELL YOU HOW TO LIVE YOUR LIFE KIT. I AM JUST A PASSENGER IN HERE REMEMBER.'
"You have butted in with advice plenty of times before, so why change now?" He pulls off his jacket and throws it on the bed. "I could really use some good advice right now."
Naruto can mentally feel Kurama shrug somewhere inside his being. 'TRUE, BUT I AM NO LOVE GURU, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE TO DECIDE FOR YOURSELF, KIT.' Kurama sighs in exasperation as he senses Naruto's frustration. 'LISTEN KIT, I AM NOT GOING TO TELL YOU WHAT TO DO, BUT INSTEAD I AM GOING TO ASK YOU ONE SIMPLE QUESTION THAT YOU NEED TO ANSWER, NOT TO ME BUT TO YOURSELF.' He waits and gives Naruto a moment to prepare himself. 'WHAT DOES YOUR FRAIL LITTLE HUMAN HEART REALLY WANT?'
Naruto can mentally feel Kurama turn away, not wanting to discuss the issue any further, so he steps into the bathroom and looks himself in the mirror. "So tell me Uzumaki Naruto what is it that you truly want?"
A short time later, after not getting a reply to her knock, Hinata enters the guest room. "Naruto-kun, are you still here?" She looks about the bedroom and stops moving when she hears the sound of the shower running. Hinata crushes the clothes she is carrying against her chest as she stares at the door leading towards the bathroom. Her breathing becomes irregular and her heart rate races at the thoughts of what, or to be more precise, who was just beyond that barrier.
Her face goes crimson and she can feel herself go lightheaded as her inner voice begins to tempt her. 'It would be so easy to activate your byakugan and watch him while he is in the shower.' Hinata shakes her head to banish such thoughts and assert control over herself. 'No, such things are against clan rules and after what Hanabi did to us I would not want Naruto-kun to feel violated like I did that night.' She walks over to the bed and lays down the clean robes she brought.
'He did see you that night at the waterfall, so it would only be fair that you get to see him too.' Hinata has to cover her mouth to try and not make a sound as the memory of that night comes flooding back to her. 'He did not know that it was me, so again it would not be fair. Besides is was too dark for him to see anything beyond my silhouette'
Discarded on the bed without any care are Naruto's clothes. Hinata looks down at them for a moment and runs her hand across the jacket before picking it up and holding up against her face. The smell of the jacket brings back the memories of just before he left for his mission where he held her closely while she asked him not to leave. 'I love this smell, it reminds me so much of the person I have grown to love; earthy and a little sweaty with that lingering scent of ramen.' She giggles a little at the thought of trying to decide whether the ramen smell was from some meal he had spilled on his jacket or was the scent from where he has eaten so much ramen that it comes right out of his pours.
Absently she slides her arms through the sleeves as she puts his jacket on and imagines that it is his arms wrapping around her body to hold her closely. Hinata turns to admire herself in the mirror and as she turns from side to side, one thought immediately comes to her mind. 'I look good in orange.' She wraps herself even tighter in the jacket like a cocoon and inhales deeply that smell which awakens her inner voice again to tempt her to see what is hidden just beyond that wall. As her resolve begins to weaken and Hinata is about to activate her byakugan for just a quick peek the sound of running water abruptly stops and is replaced by the sound of a curtain being slid back out of the way.
She looks down at herself in his zipped-up jacket and panics. 'What if he steps out of the bathroom and finds me like this, what will he say?' Then to her surprise her inner voice purrs in a way that would have made her uncomfortable if what it was saying had not also excited some portion of her psyche that had been hidden deep inside until recently. 'What will YOU do if he comes out of the bathroom naked?' With that image trying to form itself in her mind she feels her head begin to swirl, her breath becomes rapid and her face feels so hot from blushing it could be on fire. 'No, I can't faint. If I faint, he will find me wrapped up in his jacket and I'll have to explain… things." In a fit of panic Hinata grabs his pants and shirt before running out of the room and down the hallway still wrapped in his jacket.
A minute or so later Naruto steps out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist while drying the last of the water from his hair with another towel and after looking around the room he shrugs. "I could have sworn I heard a door slamming a minute ago." His attention suddenly focuses on the bed where a set of slightly wrinkled robes can be seen. "Wait, where are my clothes?"