Chapter fourteen: Comfort and preparation
They were lying in bed, sweat still covering their bodies from the hot night before. It would be two more days and then they'd have to leave to go back to Konoha, but Naruto and Hinata were more worried about how to tell Hinata's father. Neiji knew since it was the second worse kept secret than Keiji and Anko's sex life. From how close they got, from how they talked, and how they ate together, you could tell that they knew each other inside and out, literally and figuratively. Hiashi (thanks you reviewers for correcting me) would hear from Neiji and the couple wanted to get ready for the lecture or shit storm that was looming dangerously closer every day. Of course Hinata could also report on Neiji's involvement with Tenten. The two had dated and courted secretly for three years and had just finally had sex.
"I don't know," said Hinata. "That sounds like black mail."
"Most of what I think up for dealing with Neiji is black mail," said Naruto. "I could use my fist, but Keiji said that I could hurt someone seriously and so I opt for the peaceful method of dealing with this."
"Why don't we talk more about this at the carnival," said Hinata. "I still have to sort out the clan affairs since I'm the representative to give our greetings to the Kazekage."
"You're going just to greet the Kazekage in a place that isn't part of Konoha," asked Narto. He had become familiar with all forms of political and social ceremonies, but he found he could still be amazed at how complicated simple things could be for nobles.
"It seems that father has long wished to meet the Kazekage to ask about another clan that resides in Suna lands. I'm bringing a letter addressing the matter, but I'm told not to tell anyone else because it might seem like we're defecting. I've seen the letter and Tsunade-sama saw it to, so really there is no problem, we just need to be formal about the meeting and it would be disrespectful not to have a high ranking person in the main branch and who better than the future heiress of the clan."
"It sort of makes since, but still it seems like a bit much that they can't just communicate by bird or mail. It's dangerous to have two important people in one place in which neither has much power or influence during these times."
"You do remember that Gaara is Kazekage, who would be crazy enough to try to mess with Gaara to get to me."
"People are still uneasy about him being theKazekage, especially the villagers who remember him growing up. He didn't always have the kind personality back then, in fact he was scarier looking then he was now if you can believe it." (Damn English Dubbing)
"Who you calling scary looking," said a voice. Naruto turned around surprised to see Gaara staring at him with a smirk on his face. "I'd expect you to be talking behind my back."
"You're just mad because Rock Lee stole your eyebrows," said Naruto. "Besides you're one tailed and I'm nine tailed, meaning I'm stronger than you."
"Actually, the Shukaku's gotten stronger and is now a seven tailed demon lord," pronounced Gaara with pride. "I'm still enough to give you a run for your money."
"Will the both of you stop fighting," shouted Hinata, causing the two boys to look at her with shocked stares. Hinata usually had a soft, low voice, but she could scare you when she raised her voice.
"Sorry," said the both of them looking a little embarrassed.
"Hey Naruto, what position did you get," asked Kiba. "I'm gonna be a hunter and Shino is apparently in command of my hunter squad."
"ANBU if you could believe," said Naruto. "Now that they've been split back into three men squads I've been placed in control of squad ten, my father's old squad. Hey Sasuke, what position are you in."
"With my requests it has been decided to remobilize a police force using not only Uchiha, but the secondary branch of the Hyuuga clan. Neiji and I are co-captains and have to answer to Tsunade, but I have higher standing since the police force was originally Uchiha. Sakura seems to be heading the medical ninja's of ANBU so try to make sure that no harm comes to her."
"I hear Roots has been remobilized thanks to Sai," said Shikamaru.
"So Sai finally got out of his coma," asked Naruto.
"Seems to be that way," said Sasuke looking out into the horizon.
Sai was a member of Roots an organization that taught it's shinobi to kill their emotions. When Sai was named as Sasuke's replacement when he went off, he had a hard time getting along with the group because of his autism, but as Naruto revealed his reasons for going after Sasuke, Sai was reminded of his own emotions for his brother and regained that part of him. During the last time they fought the Akatsuki, Sai confronted Sasuke on his unwillingness to return with his friends just because he felt it would weaken him. Sasuke defeated Sai with ease, but after realizing what he'd just done Sasuke felt remorseful and returned to Konoha with Sai's body. Sai was not dead; he was actually in a coma.
"After the old leader of Roots tried taking over Konoha and failed it was decided that someone else should run it," said Shikamaru. "I know that Sai's made second in command, but I don't know who the leader is."
"I'm the leader," said a voice. It was Anko grinning from ear to ear like a school kid. "It seems that I was asked for, specifically by name. The village elders said it would be great if I could run Roots since they stiffed me on ANBU."
"What you're not in control of ANBU," asked Naruto. "But since the reins of ANBU have been passed, you should be first in line."
"Actually Kakashi was placed in charge of ANBU," said Anko. "It seems my marriage with Keiji has caused it, but hey, ANBU isn't that important to me."
It was then that Kakashi made himself known to everyone who hadn't realized he was there (everyone except Naruto and Anko, she saw in the tree) by jumping down from the tree he was in.
"I'm glad you're taking it well," said Kakashi, who was inwardly relieved that she wasn't coming for his head. "So how is life going for the happily married couple?"
"If this is marriage than we've been marred for a long time," said Anko. "I mean the only difference is that my parents aren't saying that we're living in sin and apparently now Keiji doesn't have to beat up my would-be-a-cold-day-in-hell suitors. It feels good to have them off my back."
"Are you sure that there are no problems," said Kakashi. There is no such thing as a perfect marriage.
"Well it's just that he hasn't gotten rid of that old habit of doing everything," said Anko. "It's just too perfect. He cleans, cooks, helps with the dishes, and the sex is…oh god the sex is amazing."
Kakashi coughed and said, "I think you might want to keep tats last part to yourself. Anyway, it seems that he feels like he has to go the extra mile to give you a life of comfort and you're just feeling that you're not worth it because of your own past. He feels the same way, that's why he does what he does."
"When did you become a marriage counselor," asked Sasuke. "By the way, I've found my sex life with Sakura is going to a bit of the rough side. What does this mean?"
"It could mean you're gay," said Kiba. "I read it in a magazine once."
"What magazine was this," asked Shino.
"I saw the same thing in Vogue once," said INo.
"No I don't read Vogue," said Kiba. Everyone looked at him for so long that he couldn't take it. "Alright it was Vogue."
"You read Vogue," asked Naruto. "That's a girl magazine. I hope you were at the dentist or something."
"It just comes to my house," said Kiba.
"Of course it comes, when you order it you big, fat lady."
"Why is Ino even here," asked Kiba trying to change the subject.
"I was sent to get Naruto and Kakashi," said Ino. "The Hokage requests their presence and she told me to make sure that Kakashi wasn't late."
"I know you're both wondering why you're here," said Tsunade. "You're here because I'm about to give Naruto's squad their first mission and I want you to see how well they work together Kakashi. Over in the harbor there is a mysterious ship that claims to be from sound, but it has no records of ever leaving sound village. It seems that there is also turmoil in sound village as some have gone rogue. Orochimaru believes that the ship was sent by them and is requesting assistance in this matter. Helping you will be another squad from Sound. This mission will be carried out tomorrow. You can meet up with the members of your squad now, they are outside."
Naruto left the room to see the three other members of his squad. One was a man named Tetsuo, who had a soldier like calm, another was Mizoguchi, a person who was more talkative, and the other person was Hinata. He was a bit shocked to find her there, but he figured that this was Tsunade's doing. She looked happy that she was on Naruto's squad, but she was still puzzled about why she was in ANBU. Her eyes would be perfect for a hunter and she had been trained as a medical specialist.
"Alright I don't know if some of you know me so I'll tell introduce myself," said Naruto. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto and I'll be your captain. Now there are some things about me that you don't know, but hopefully will know soon."
"Actually ANBU was the first group to hear about you becoming the new Kyuubi demon lord," said Mizoguchi. "At first the people were terrified, but when it was mentioned that you were the Yondaime's one and only son, people seemed to look past the hate. Then it was mentioned that you were Keiji's godson and that any person who so much as thought to give you a cold, would be tortured then killed. That's was probably over kill, but it helped to make sure that no one would hurt you."
"She could have told me," pouted Naruto. He was a bit nervous about how the village would handle it and made Tsunade swear she wouldn't tell anyone while he was away. "That old lady lied to me."
"Just who are you calling old lady," asked a very angry Tsunade, who was just behind Naruto. She gave him a punch on the back of the head that lifted him up to crash into the ceiling.
"Ouch, what did you do that for," asked Naruto. "You're the one who lied about not telling the village."
"I had my fingers crossed," said Tsunade.
"You don't have arthritis pains," asked Mizoguchi, who realized the ignorance of his comment. "I didn't mean it like that. No! Wait!"
It was too late, because she had already thrown the punch that hit him strait in the stomach. It felt like someone threw a sledgehammer into his stomach and then drove into it with a car. He coughed up blood and vomited on the floor just before passing out.
"Now I'm a man short," said Naruto. "Why did you have to kill him?"
"He'll be fine, it'll just hurt like hell when he wakes up," said Tsunade. She noticed Tetsuo was looking at his teammate with a sigh and concern. He picked him up and took him to the medical ward with great care.
"Wow they're close," said Naruto. "Are they lifelong friends?"
"No they're gay," said Hinata. "They were talking about how much they enjoyed their relationship."
"I didn't know that," said Tsunade. It was obvious that she didn't give a damn one way or the other. "Anyway, why don't you two go enjoy the carnival, I'll meet you later."
"Going with Ero-senin by any chance," asked Naruto with a sly grin.
"You must want another slap in the face, don't you," asked Tsunade. "It's none of your damn business, but yes, I am going out with the Sukebe."
"So when did you become attracted to perverts," asked Naruto, receiving him another punch on the head. "Ouch, how can you hit so hard for your old age?"
"My fists are hard to rude boys who stare at women when they bathe in the night," said Tsunade.
"I didn't know Hinata was naked when I saw her dancingin the creek," complained Naruto. "Anyway, didn't you use to go with a guy who was thirty when you were still fifty? I didn't think your gates could open at that age."
Naruto sensed something coming so h held out his hand to catch it. It was hard and was flung at such incredible force that his hand throbbed with pain. He saw everyone's shock and looked saw Tsunade's fist in his hand. He was the first person ever to catch one f Tsunade's punches. Nervously, he let go and left with Hinata before she threw a punch with more anger.
"Well tomorrow is our first mission," said Naruto. "It'll be tougher than most of the missions we've had so I want you to stick with me."
"I can take care of myself," protested Hinata. "I'm not as fragile as I used to be. I can actually put up a decent fight now."
"I know, but there is some fear in my mind that won't stay down," said Naruto. "I just fear that something bad might happen to you and that's the one thing that I want to avoid. There's this rage inside of me that's been bottled up from years of taking shit from the villagers. Hinata, if you were to die, I don't know what would happen to me, but that rage might come out. When it does, not even my closest friends can save me. I doubt even the Kyuubi's attack on the village would compare to it. Please, just stick with me."
"You worry too much," teased Hinata. "We've been on dangerous missions before; this one is just another mission. Right now we should just enjoy ourselves. How about the tunnel of love?"
"Typical female romantic fantasy," muttered Naruto.
"What was that," asked Hinata threateningly. She'd learned it from Sakura and had been secretly instructed by Anko how to keep her man in line.
"Nothing," said Naruto shocked at how much it reminded him of the times when Sakura beat him into a bloody pulp. "Yeah let's go there right now."
"You've been whipped dobe," said a voice. It was Sasuke with Sakura following. "It seems the Kyuubi couldn't give you balls."
"Sasuke, I know you're not talking about balls," said Naruto. "Especially being an emo pansy that sometimes wakes up with nightmares and crying in his sleep."
"What did you just say," asked Sasuke. "I don't care if you do have the powers of a demon, I got the Sharingan."
"Oh yeah that did you a lot of good when you fought with your brother," said Naruto. He realized how deep a wound those words had reopened. "Sorry for saying that, I just said things without thinking again."
"I don't care about that because at least my father didn't hate me enough to curse me," said Sasuke. "He didn't give me a demon in my stomach."
"Yeah, he just wished you were strong enough to help him," said Naruto. "And also smart enough not to let your brother control you."
"Oh yeah, at least I killed the one who caused my problem," said Sasuke. "But you just took everything from the Kyuubi. His freedom, his body, and his existence. Your father must be proud of you, too bad you've never seen him."
"Least I had the balls to stand up to it," said Naruto. "You're too much of a coward. Fucking weakling, you couldn't beat me with that little…what's the word, hate."
Naruto, HInata, Sakura, and everything else were gone. In their place was Itachi still alive and staring at Sasuke and laughing. Instinct took control, and Sasuke's hand moved on its own as it carried the chidori. Before itcould come within an inch of Itachi, a hand grabbed his wrist. Keiji had stopped Sasuke and the interaction had sent Sasuke back into reality. He saw that where Itachi had stood, there was Sakura with hurt in her eyes.
"I'm sorry Sakura," said Sasuke in shock. "I didn't…I couldn't…meanto hurt you."
"You shouldn't use the chidori when you don't know your enemy," said Keiji. "When you get rough with Sakura, when you inflict those cuts on her body, it's not her or Itachi that you point your kunai to. It's your true enemy."
"Who," asked Sasuke. "Who the hell is my true enemy?"
"Isn't it obvious," asked Keiji. "Your true enemy is none other than yourself. You hate yourself for being weak, but not for needing help to beat Itachi, but for everything that you did to alienate your friends. Tell me do you cut yourself, do you cause yourself pain?"
"Yes."
"The only way you can ever stop is by letting go," said Keiji. "If not then you're going to take yourself to a place that you don't want to be. I know your pain, but I have lived with the other pain that you will gain if you do not let the avenger go. Kill it or it will kill you."
Sasuke couldn't say anything else and so he just walked off into the horizon leaving his place of warmth behind until he could dig up the part of him that was covered in his hate and anger. Naruto couldn't help, but feel like he had caused his friend pain. Silence stood on his shoulder with guilt taking the spot on his back causing him to slump down on the floor.
"What the hell did I say," asked Naruto.
"You only brought the problem out into the open," said Hinata. "It wasn't your fault; you just couldn't help him like you want to. There are things that even the powers of the Kyuubi can't solve and this is one of them."
"You wouldn't understand," said Naruto. "We've both felt this pain that is different, but still the same pain. He felt it because of loss and I felt it because I never had it. You've had everything with no strings attached while we had to go through our lives with constant struggle. We fed off of it and now it's still in our stomachs."
"You think my life was easy and happy," asked Hinata, her voice rising in anger.
"You couldn't understand being called the 'last Uchiha' or 'demon child,'" shouted Naruto.
"I know what it's like to be called weakling and to be dispised by my own clan because I fail to meet his expectations," said HInata. "My cousin and father both harbored hatred for me for the same reasons: my uncle, Neiji's father, died to save my father who should have died because he killed to save me. None of the kids would play with me because I was a Hyuuga heiress and they had this grand concept. The only person who gave me hope never even noticed me."
"Maybe if you were strong enough to tell me how you felt, I would have known you were there to care for me and not be alone."
His eyes widened in shock at his last words to Hinata. Tears formed in her eyes, as those words finished cutting their way into her heart cutting off the blood flow that made her warm inside. A new blood flow brought sadness into her body and she ran off leaving Naruto staring at her ghost. Everything had slowed down and reality was distorted until it was pure white. His breathing slowed and he collapsed on the floor in a coma caused from an emotional storm.