A/N: Hello everyone. We are back again with a new chapter of One Year Early. Nothing much here as we will be transitioning into the next arc over this and the next chapter, so please bear with me. Let me also use this opportunity to thank you all for the continued love and support this fic is receiving from you all.
I won't be holding you for long, so lets get on with the chapter.
CHAPTER 10: APOLOGIES, RECONCILIATION AND A HOPE
About two hours after leaving the hospital for a walk to calm his mind and send a message to the Hokage about their present condition, Shikaku returned to the Taki hospital. It was relieving for the Jonin commander to know that his students hadn't been disturbed. Dispelling his clone, the Nara clan head sat at the visitors' seats and contemplated about what to do once he got back to Konoha.
'If Hinata's leg isn't treated, it is a given that those troublesome old fools will do everything in their power to have her branded and moved to the branch family. I have to talk to that old fool Hiashi and make him open his eyes. I simply don't understand why he has been so harsh on this child. As long as she remains a direct subordinate to me, I can continue having a say on her. Hopefully, everything will be alright. At least she will be quite happy now having gotten Naruto for herself.'
The Nara was brought out of his musings by the sound of someone approaching and looked up to find the Sand Siblings, Baki and Fu. If anything, Gaara looked quite troubled and pained. Temari and Kankuro looked sad while Baki looked ashamed. The Nara knew why exactly so, as a Jonin, Baki had failed to keep his student under control and was unable to stop Gaara from his sudden rampage before any significant damage was caused. It was quite obvious that Temari and Kankuro blamed themselves for having not been able to do enough for Gaara. And the redheaded jinchuuriki himself was quite conflicted. He was ashamed of his conduct and was also finding it hard to find to right words to utter an apology, he was just that ashamed.
Finally, Gaara spoke up with a lot of difficulty;
"I…I am…extremely…sorry for what I have done…I am sorry…for being so…violent…out of control" He spoke with a sincere bow and the rest of his team bowed down with him. Shikaku sighed, these things were troublesome.
"Honestly, I don't really have any reason to hold a grudge against you, I do understand how hard the life of a jinchuuriki can be. And I am not even the one you should be apologizing to, it's Hinata that deserves an apology. She's the one who suffered the most during the fight." The jonin of Team-6 explained trying to sound as reassuring as possible to let the redheaded boy feel a bit at ease.
"I…see. May I see her?" Gaara pleaded.
"She was asleep, let me just check a moment." Shikaku said before quietly entering his student's room, only to find that not only the young couple was awake, but they were a bit busy…kissing and surprisingly it was Hinata that appeared to be the more dominant one between them. (It's always the meek and innocent ones who hide away the most devious of bedroom personas, isn't it?)
'Interesting, I must say.' The head jonin of Konoha mused to himself before letting out a muffled cough to get his students' attention. Which he immediately got and had to struggle to suppress laughing out loud at the degree of embarrassment they showed for being caught red-handed.
…Perhaps red lipped or mouthed would be the better term in this case.
"E-e-eh S-s-s-sensei… y-you s-see, I-I….m-mean w-w-w-weeee…" Naruto began fumbling out an excuse with a face as red as a ripe tomato while Hinata's face began inventing new shades of red as she couldn't even get the words to somehow form a proper excuse regarding her current actions.
"It's alright, I am okay with that and in all honesty, I had seen this coming from ever since the day I first met you at the roof of the academy. Honestly, its none of my business. Anyways, Hinata, Gaara and his team have requested to see you." Shikaku lazily stated, adding a bit of seriousness at the last part. His genin somehow managed to reduce the redness of their faces and grasped the situation.
"Hina-chan…it's okay if you don't feel ready to see them ya know." Naruto whispered in the Hyuuga girl's ear, who only developed a pink tint on her cheeks at being called 'Hina-chan' so affectionately.
"I-I am fine with that Naru-kun, b-but i-it will be better if-if you stayed." She whispered back giving her boyfriend an affectionate nickname of her own, which made him blush as well. "I-I would like to s-see t-them, s-sensei." Hinata responded to her instructor who simply nodded and went outside to fetch the Sand team while Naruto carefully got out of the bed, so as not to bring anymore embarrassment to his Hime or himself.
Soon enough, Shikaku returned with the Suna team and Fu, who gave a smile to the new couple in the room. But then for the immediately following minutes, total silence reigned. Just after getting to the hospital, the sand siblings had done an inquiry about Hinata's status and had learned that her career as a shinobi was now in total jeopardy due to the damage sustained on her leg. Finally, Gaara gave a very sincere bow.
"H-Hyuuga-san, I am very sorry for my misconduct earlier…words cannot fully express how much shame my actions earlier have given me…I knowingly targeted your teammate…my understanding of humanity or lack thereof made me who I am right now and you had to suffer because of that. I am extremely sorry and I am prepared to face any punishment Konoha gives for my misconduct yesterday." The redheaded genin said with a sincere bow.
Naruto and Hinata only looked at each other, for some reason unexplainable, they had always been able to read through each other's mind by just looking at each other's eyes.
'He's changed. He appears quite sincere.'
'I-I am glad for that and I don't really hold it a-against him. H-He's had a very hard l-life it seems.'
"R-raise your h-head G-Gaara-san. I-I forgive y-you, actually I-I never h-held it against you, I got w-wounded as I tried to protect N-Naruto-kun, I would have done that r-regardless of who t-the opponent w-was. I b-bear the f-full responsibility of injuries, not y-you." Hinata said as humbly as she could. Gaara and the sand team couldn't believe it. They were certain that the Hyuuga girl and her teammates would be pretty pissed at them but first Naruto said he completely understood Gaara's pain and didn't hold it against him, then Shikaku also said the same thing and now Hinata who had lost her career also forgave them and especially Gaara so easily.
"But your career as a shinobi…" said Gaara
Hinata's look became downcast for a moment.
"I-I understand that, Gaara-san, b-but I d-don't regret it, not at all. I was a-able to protect N-Naruto-kun at the cost of my leg, t-that's nothing for me, I-I would happily lay my life for him if-if needed a-and wouldn't regret it one bit. I-It's alright Gaara-san. P-please d-don't b-blame y-yourself for my actions." Hinata explained again.
'Hinata you…' Naruto thought to himself sadly, he couldn't still believe that Hinata was prepared to go to any length to keep him safe. Of course, he would do the same for her in a heartbeat but still, to see her proclaim it just like that was a sobering experience for the blonde boy, to know that there was at least someone who would lay down their life for him without a second thought, he had to prove himself worthy of that, worthy of her, no matter what.
Without saying anything more, the Suna team left, leaving the young couple to their thoughts, who soon focused on cuddling, after being left alone.
"Shikaku-sama, I think I need to come clean to you regarding the details of our mission and its objectives in Taki." Baki said once outside. He knew he was committing treason by sharing mission details with a shinobi of another village but he needed some advice as to what he should be doing next as he was sure, with how their 'mission' turned out, the Kazekage would punish all of them pretty harshly.
"You don't have to; those are village secrets. I don't think there is any necessity for me to learn the details of your mission in this area, Gaara losing control and going after Naruto and Fu makes complete sense, taking his mental instability and damaged psyche due to years of isolation, scorn and mental torture into account. It's all really troublesome." The head Nara responded.
"Well, our mission did have everything to do with Fu here, that's why I believe you need to learn the truth Nara-sama." Baki said with a serious expression. Shikaku raised an eyebrow and got to thinking and his big brain connected the dots in no time.
"Troublesome, don't tell me the Kazekage sent you here to capture Fu and take her to Suna…" Shikaku said with a sigh. Baki and the sand siblings all were taken totally by surprise and seeing their shocked reactions, Shikaku understood that his reasoning was totally on spot.
"Wait, what was that about capturing Fu?" The green haired girl asked in confusion and concern. Shikaku and Baki both sighed.
"Troublesome, it seems that the Kazekage suddenly saw fit to have you taken to Sunagakure to be made another of their 'weapons'." Shikaku explained and Fu began trembling in fear.
"Please don't fear, we won't be trying to kidnap you. We will just report to the Kazekage that Taki's patrols were on high alert and we didn't risk attracting their attention and risk a possible war." Baki suggested, making Fu relax a bit.
"Hmm…that could be a reasonable explanation. But I don't see why the Kazekage would risk jeopardizing Suna's relations with Taki as an allied village. This was a really risky mission with a very high probability of failure, which eventually happened but it also included the risk of a very serious bilateral fallout which also posed a great to Suna's reputation, so why take such a huge risk? It's a big move with a big payoff with little chance of success and a massive chance of backfire instead of simple failure." Shikaku asked.
"It's not me but the Kazekage who might have an answer to your question Shikaku-sama, I can only make a guess and all I can guess is that Raasa-sama is getting desperate due to our current unstable and falling economic conditions. The jonin have had to take salary cuts for over a year now, the chunin are being paid less than half of their salary and the genin, well they haven't received a pay since the last four months. Several shinobi have resigned from their duties and there is a high possibility of them going freelance and becoming Missing-Nins and if that happens, Suna would completely collapse. And there is also the risk of Iwa taking advantage of the situation and launch an offensive to capture several bordering areas of the Land of Wind and minor countries acting as buffers between us, from which we are supplied with grain and other food products. So, we are currently in a desperate situation." Baki explained.
"I see. And since your Daimyo is currently assigning missions to Konoha instead of Suna, it is understandable that the Kazekage doesn't trust us to come to his aid should Iwa attack Suna at this point although Suna assisted us at a very critical juncture during the previous war. Therefore, he sought Fu as some sort of security guarantee against Iwa, since they have two jinchuuriki and Suna only has one, Gaara." Shikaku said in contemplation.
"I also consider that this was the most probable reason of assigning us the mission. Although me and my team understood that the risks involved were quite high and that the mission might not even be in Suna's interests but we have no possibility of persuading the Kazekage to see our way. In the recent years he has become more and more mistrusting of people and is not paying much heed to any of his advisors." Baki said in a tone of concern and sadness.
"He…has distanced himself from us and Gaara…he's had it the worst. Father… doesn't even consider him as…" Temari tried to say but couldn't.
"I totally understand. It seems the Kazekage is under severe mental strain due to the current conditions. And, as a result, there is now a growing risk of him joining forces with those who are hostile to Konoha if he gets a good enough deal and that would make things really difficult for Konoha, such a scenario is high risk as it could be used to backstab Suna using its desperation to keep it blind till the knife is in. I have repeatedly tried persuading Sandaime-sama to reject the missions from the Wind Daimyo and persuade him to restart assigning missions to Suna before things start spiraling out of control. But it seems his advisors and the council favour the current situation and are not willing to change things. I also have a very good idea of who is behind all of this. Anyways, Baki-san, Once I return, I will try persuading the Hokage to talk to the Wind Daimyo and improve things with Suna. I'll try my best." Shikaku said in reassurance.
"Thank you very much, Shikaku-sama." Baki said in gratitude. "And one more thing. As an apology from us, we are willing to teach something to your student, Naruto, one or two wind jutsus considering his affinity for the element, please accept this." Baki said sincerely.
"Hmm…I don't see why not, but let me repeat this, you absolutely don't have to do this. None of us hold anything against you and your team, please don't blame yourself too much."
"Even if you say so, Shikaku-sama. Me and my students have agreed that we owe him at least that much. Naruto helped Gaara and brought him out of his trauma and made him understand emotions again. So, it will be an honour for us to help him in some capacity." Baki reasoned.
"All right, I don't think Naruto is going anywhere outside the hospital for long until Hinata is discharged, which is 3 days from now. So, you might have to stay here for at least that long if you wish to train Naruto." Shikaku stated.
"I see. It seems they are very close to each other. We don't have a problem with staying here for some more days." Baki replied, actually he was hoping for some more time away from Suna to at least think of some excuse to placate the Kazekage so that they won't receive any harsh punishments for failing the mission. That got him the time he needed.
*3 days later*
The day of Hinata's discharge came. Apart from Naruto who stayed the entire period of his girlfriend's hospitalization, Shikaku and Fu were also there. The Hyuuga was put on a wheelchair and was wheeled out. Seeing her bound on a wheelchair almost made Naruto cry, but he held those tears back so that Hinata remained in relative comfort. Both the blonde and his jonin-sensei were mentally berating themselves for not being good enough to keep her unharmed.
Mentally the Nara made the decision to train himself harder and instead of just focusing on strategies, to bring up his skills in all sorts of ninjutsu and taijutsu apart from just focusing on his clan's jutsus.
The team reached Fu's hut where the sand siblings greeted them. Gaara was still a bit uneasy in his self-blame but the smile Naruto gave him upon meeting gave the redhead some sort of relief.
"So, you guys are still staying here?" The blonde asked.
"Yeah, we wanted to do something for you for helping out Gaara when everyone had lost their hopes on him." Temari replied with sincerity.
"Oh, come on. Gaara is like me, so it was my duty to help him out. Through our shared burden, and the Biju actually being siblings, we jinchuuriki also share a type of sibling bond, which makes Gaara a brother to me. So, there's no need for you to owe me anything, I just helped my brother out." Naruto said with a grin. Hinata appreciated the declaration, the sand siblings got shocked and Gaara…well his eyes widened like saucers before he became teary eyed.
"A…brother…that's what you think of me?" He asked in surprise. "After all that I have done?"
"Come on…Fu considers you and Naruto brothers too. We are alike so it makes perfect sense." Fu chirped, flipping her wings a bit.
"I…thank you." Gaara said still in disbelief of being accepted by people so easily, people, he had attacked them just 5 days ago.
"Naruto-san, your sensei also said that we don't owe you anything but I would like to sincerely request you to accept what we wish to offer." Baki stated.
"Yes…I insist Naruto. You opened my eyes and made me see humanity again. I owe at least that much." Gaara said, while Temari and Kankuro nodded.
The blonde boy looked at his girlfriend, whose wheelchair he was holding. Hinata gave him a slight nod with a smile.
"Alright, if you guys insist so much. But let me repeat that you guys really don't owe me anything." The Uzumaki said rubbing the back of his head.
"Naruto-san. We would like to teach you two wind jutsus. For example, the vacuum serial waves and the wind blade that I specialize in." Baki offered.
"Also… I want to present you one of my fans and the weasel summoning contract." Temari added.
'Would he be able to sign the toad summoning contract after signing the weasel one. Jiraiya-sama might kill me if he can't. But I don't think this is a chance Naruto should miss. Battle fans and the weasel contract are considered very prestigious in Suna and it would be a dishonour to Temari if Naruto rejects that.' Shikaku thought to himself but before he could say anything, Naruto spoke.
"Umm…Baki-san, is it okay if I choose to have the fan and learn the wind blade as the two jutsus?" The blonde said thoughtfully. Baki couldn't help nut smile at his innocent expression, Naruto was a child after all. The battle hardened jonin really appreciated these light-hearted moments, he got to enjoy so rarely.
"Why not Naruto-san? It's fine by me. We will be getting to practice from tomorrow."
"Yes, Baki-sensei." Naruto responded with determination.
From the next day onwards, Baki taught Naruto the hand-signs of the wind blade and demonstrated it to him. The jonin knew that it would take the blonde perhaps a month to fully master the jutsu. He also suggested Shikaku to have Naruto trained in the waterfall cutting technique once they got back to Konoha. Although Taki had waterfalls for Naruto to do the exercise, he and his team just didn't have the time to complete it. They were already running very late and were supposed to be in Konoha, a day before. The only reason they hadn't set off for Konoha already was that Shikaku was waiting for a reply from the Hokage. Which he got the same evening through a summoned monkey. (Gotta love coincidental plot timing!)
Upon reading the message from the Hokage, Shikaku let out a deep breath. He was supposed to head towards the Land of Hot Springs, which would take a detour from his direct route to Konoha. Another challenge that he didn't want to talk about to his students was the question of transporting Hinata. Pushing her on a wheelchair to Konoha obviously made no sense. Making her walk using a crutch risked damaging her leg permanently so that was completely out of the question. Naruto could either personally carry her or form a clone to carry her or form a group of clones to carry her somewhat comfortably. Though that option was probably out considering it would probably cause Hinata more damage in the long run from blood loss through her nose.
"It seems you are having some trouble Shikaku-sama." Baki asked in a low voice as he and Shikaku observed Naruto attempting to form a wind blade on his right hand.
"Yes, unfortunately." Shikaku replied just as quietly as Naruto failed in an attempt and scratched his own hand.
"Ouch!" The blonde boy groaned in frustration and pain.
"Naruto, use twenty clones." Shikaku ordered.
"Yes sensei!" Naruto did just that and soon Fu's courtyard was full with 21 Narutos (20 clones and the original) relentlessly practicing the jutsu.
"If you don't mind, may I ask what's the problem?" Baki humbly asked.
"Troublesome. Well, it's not something I am not supposed to talk about so it's okay. As you see, my student's current condition makes taking her to Konoha a bit troublesome." Shikaku said in low voice, looking down.
"If you don't mind…" A voice spoke from the Jonins' backs. "I would like to help. I…can make a platform of sand and carry her all the way to Konoha." Gaara spoke in his usual monotone and serious voice.
"Gaara?!" Baki said in shock.
"I am sorry for having eavesdropped Baki-sensei, it wasn't intentional, I was just passing through the corridor when I heard the two of you talking about Hinata-san." Gaara responded. Baki thought a minute about the offer.
"I think we can do that. If you don't mind Shikaku-san. Our team can accompany you to the gates of Konoha. I will have the shinobi postmen carry a message to the Kazekage informing him of our need to help out a stricken Konoha team. He will definitely agree."
It didn't take the Nara clan head a moment to figure out that by accompanying them and letting the Kazekage know that they had to assist a stricken Konoha team, Baki could give the Suna leader a reasonable explanation about his failure to carry out the mission. "I see." He mused. "Though, I would like reiterate that you don't need to do anything more for us, you have already done enough. We are all very grateful to you for teaching Naruto one of your personal and favourite techniques." Shikaku responded.
"Think nothing of it Shikaku-sama. Maybe someday you will be help us in our hour of need as well, though what your student Naruto did for Gaara is something we will forever be grateful to him for, so you can call upon any of us if you need any kind of assistance, I promise upon my honour as a shinobi that me and my students will always be available to you." Baki said with determination.
"Thank you." Shikaku replied in appreciation.
And the day after, they were all ready to leave. Team Baki was accompanying Team-6 on their return trip to Konoha. Gaara had raised a platform upon which Hinata was made to lie down. Needless to say, she protested the decision at first, out of embarrassment and unwillingness for a team of another village, a team who might have a hard time explaining their actions upon reaching their village no less, to bother with her and her problems. Naruto, who had at first decided to carry her on his back all the way to the village agreed with the decision after some moments of contemplation had agreed with the idea and in turn had persuaded his girlfriend to comply with it.
"Fu will miss you all." Fu said with a very sad expression as she bade farewell to the two teams. Everyone of both the teams winced in sympathy for her, over the days they had spent with her, they had come to understand very well just what kind of life the Nanabi jinchuuriki was leading in Taki. The Suna team could have offered her to simply come with them, thereby completing their mission but it was Gaara that actually disagreed, saying that Suna wouldn't treat her any better than they treated him and that his father, the Kazekage wanted her as a weapon, as a tool, not as a human. His teammates had to agree. Shikaku did offer the green haired girl to come with them to Konoha. Naruto and Hinata both had some reservations about the kind of life the girl might have in Konoha but they agreed that it would be better than anything that awaited her in Suna and the life she was living in Taki. However, Fu refused. She wanted to keep trying to win the hearts of the people in Taki. She knew at least Shibuki, the village leader, didn't hate her so she had a hope that someday she would able to break the ice between herself and the populace of Takigakure. Both Shikaku and Baki respected her decision and didn't try to coerce her into moving to either of their villages.
"It's alright Fu. We'll write to you and we will be visiting Taki later too. Trust me, dattebayo." Naruto said in reassurance.
"Yes, Fu, w-we will write to you and keep i-in touch. You can also v-visit us in Konoha, w-we will look forward to that." Hinata said from atop the sand platform Gaara had made for her.
"And same goes for us. If you ever visit Suna, you can always come to us. We will also make sure to visit Taki again under better circumstances, that is." Temari said.
"Yeah, Fu will make sure to visit both villages. Take care guys." The green haired girl said with teary eyes as the group slowly left.
Destination: detour through the Land of Hotspings.
A/N: And done! So we are headed to the Land of Hotsprings to meet Ms. 106. Well, lets see how she treats Hinata's injuries. Can she treat it? Well, its Tsunade after all. Will I find ways to spice it up? Who knows? Hehe. Anyways, we will be hitting the road to the Land of Hot springs. We will be in transition over the next chapter as well, so kindly bear with it just a little more.
Thank you all I hope you all had a nice read. Thank you all for the continued love and support. And with that, lets conclude here. See ya all in the next chapter. Stay safe, cheers and peace.