A/N: Thank you all for being patient. Sadly, I was held up by a number of things, one being writer's block The other being my computer flipping out on me and somehow I lost half of my chapter, so I struggled with rewriting it, not remembering exactly how I had written it. But I think it ended up coming out good, possibly better than the original.
Also, I have not done this yet, so I shall do so. I do not own anything in Naruto but the characters of my own design are mine.
Chapter Twelve - Interlude: Clouded Clarity
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Morning dawned on the beautiful village of Konoha, bringing forth the beginning of a new day filled with new ideas, activities, and possibilities. If you roamed around the busy sector of the village, you would be able to hear the frantic bustling of the pioneers in the town, the entrepreneurs who have come to accept their roles in life and lead lives around supplying their fellow man with services only they can offer them. As the cool air of an autumn morning blows through the town and is a benevolent reminder of the seasonal difference between now and one month ago, it fails to reach those who are sheltered from it's touch.
One such type of person would be those who roam the halls of, and those who inhabit the rooms of, the Konoha Medical Hospital. One such person was Uzumaki Collette, who was considered one of the most strict individuals when it came to following the standards set by the predecessors before her. Yesterday had been a completely different story though. In a nutshell, she had caved. Giving a supplement that would counter the drowsy side-effects of a pain killer to one Hyuuga Hinata had been one that really did not affect her all that much. No, it was what her idiot son had done later that day, in the evening time, that had her fuming now that it was the next day, the morning now present.
Whatever quarrel the two individuals had had the previous evening was apparently settled. That was obvious by the sheer fact that if it weren't, then the two of them would not be in the situation they were in. She slightly wondered if she would have preferred them to be upset at each other for the meer fact that she would not be in such a delicate conundrum. For you see, Collette, when she got in this morning early, she found out that the Hyuuga's who visited the other day would be coming by soon. She was thankful that they weren't there yet so she went upstairs to try and rectify the precarious position with her son and Hinata. Luck would not treat her very kindly, however, for by the time she reached the floor they were on, she received word that Hyuuga Hiashi and company had made their way into the building and were coming up soon. Even worse was that by the time she heard that news, they made their way onto the appropriate floor and were approaching quickly.
Despite the head of the Hyuuga clan not looking rushed or moving fast, he seemed to bear down on her as she stood outside of the hospital room as guard. Deciding that staving off the Hyuuga head would be necessary to avoid tension and conflict, she prepared herself to speak as calmly and sweetly as possible. She could only pray that the man or any of his company would not resort to using their bloodline to peek through the walls.
"Good morning, Hyuuga Hiashi-sama. I am to assume by your presence here that you are to visit with your daughter, correct?" Plastering an innocent smile onto her face, she looked him in the eyes and saw the sternness that seemed to be always there was slightly receded in favor of determination.
"Yes, you would be correct on that assumption, Collette-san. One of the servants discovered that the Hokage performed a ceremony within the halls of the hospital. The only reason he would do such a thing would be on a congratulatory level and would only be performed in front of all parties pertaining to the announcement. I would trust that the Hokage wouldn't deliver a speech unless both his son and my daughter were conscious and aware enough to comprehend what might be taking place around them." If what he heard was true then what he had managed to theorize might also be true and he might be able to see his daughter fully conscious and bring her home, or at least that was his hope.
Collette was impressed with his logic and found herself almost at a loss. It wasn't until Hiashi spoke again that she became aware that she had not given him a confirmation on his theory. "Was this information true? Is my daughter conscious?"
"Yes she is. She woke up yesterday, rather early actually a-"
"Then why wasn't I informed immediately? Nevermind that she is in the Hyuuga family. Does not a hospital have an obligation to alert the immediate family of one of it's patients as soon as something happens to them, whether good or bad?" She dumbly nodded, suddenly very ashamed of herself for forgetting to do so. "Then why was I not informed?"
"I apologize for that, Hiashi-sama. Believe me it was not a matter of disrespect towards you, it was just that I forgot. I assure you that that rarely occurs so if you could, please forgive me?" She had been hanging her head and so when she apologized, she looked back up to his eyes a bit hopeful and saw the stern facade once again plastered across his face and felt fear for what might be the result now. Her fears were laid to rest when he nodded his head in understanding. She immediately sighed in relief and resumed her steady posture in front of the man.
She took notice of how Hiashi's youngest daughter was with him with an indifferent look, one that could not be broken no matter how hard you tried to decipher the facial language of the young girl. Also with him was his brother, Hizashi, wearing the white kimono with the tell-tale white bandaging over his forehead to disguise the design that marked him as a branch family member. It was amazing how similar the two looked compared to each other.
"Now, if you wouldn't mind, please allow me to visit with my daughter."
"Umm...actually..." She had to think fast; otherwise, this minor incident would become a magnificent catastrophe. "I n-need to perform an analysis of their condition. We do this regularly in the mornings for the patients that have to stay overnight. It's protocol, so when I am finished, you may enter. And no one else is allowed in. And no byakugan either. Patient privacy, remember?" She then turned around and snuck into the room but not before receiving a curt nod of the head from Hiashi as to his acceptance of her duties. He turned to take a seat on one of the benches stationed in the hallway for visitors of the patients and was accompanied by Hanabi and Hizashi. Collette then smiled back at them and then returned to entering the room.
Closing the door behind her, she breathed a sigh of relief again and set about to do her task. She marched towards Hinata's bed with full intentions of causing some kind of harm to the foolish blonde boy who could cause this entire building to radiate with a murderous intent that would put the best of Konoha's nins. Hiashi was normally a calm man but he did have little patience and was very, VERY protective of his clan and it's image.
She started to shake the blonde a bit roughly in order to get him up and was becoming irritated at how little the effect was having on him. So she grabbed the pitcher and took a deep breath and counted.
1
2
3
Naruto was in the middle of an odd dream. It wasn't really about one particular thing or another. It was just strangely...peaceful. Usually his dreams seem hurried, frantic, and fast. They play off of his emotions from when he fell asleep, whether he be happy, excited, nervous, sad, angry, or anxious. But for once, it was calm. When some outside force tried to push him out of this state, he was very hesitant, but started to succumb to his fate. He was supposed to get up. His mind started to take in the more conscious realm around him and he was about to wake up until he was assaulted...by ice cold water.
He gasped for breath and struggled to recover from his racing mind. He was so startled that he swore his heart skipped a beat. Looking towards the source of the disturbance, he was about to retaliate until he saw who it was exactly...and wanted to huddle under the bed.
The glare from his mother made him nervous since his mother scared him to death. He was always scared of her. It wasn't because she beat him or anything when he was young. It was the sheer fact that where he could tease and play with his father, his mother was a different story. You could joke around her, you could explain your day, you could confide your inner thoughts to her...but if you upset her, she went from a benevolent saint to a malevolent angel. Like it was said before, she didn't beat him or anything, it was just that look you received and that feeling you got from her. Right now, if he had to guess, he was on her shit list.
Normally, she wouldn't feel bad about doing that to him, since it was a common practice in their household, but with the young girl there too, she became soaked as well. With a bit of amusement in her eyes, she watched as both pre-teens reacted to the water, woke up on sudden alert, and took in the predicament they were in. With increasing amusement, she watched as Hinata turned very red at the fact she was caught in the same bed as Naruto. Naruto, who seemed oblivious to the girl's plight, kept his grip on her.
"Oh...h-hi mom. Umm...I'm guessing you might want an explanation huh?"
"Perhaps, but that might be better saved for a later time. You need to get into your own bed right this instant and no buts. Hiashi is outside that door and I'm not sure if my friendly request to not use the byakugan to peek in here will be heeded by him."
Hinata, from the moment she woke up, wanted to duck under the covers. Now, with the knowledge her father was right outside the room, she wanted to run away. When she tried to sit up on her own, she was met with slight resistance, due in most part to Naruto's good arm draped around her back and holding her in a one-armed embrace still, even from last night to now, he never released the embrace.
When he felt her trying to sit up, he realized that he hadn't let go of her since last night and wondered just how this might actually look to any outside parties.
"Um...this isn't how this looks." That was the most untactful thing he could say right then and he understood that when he received a slightly surprised look from his mother and felt Hinata go stiff as a board. "I-I-I mean...crap...What I meant is..." but he sighed in defeat and let go and shifted himself so he could get off the bed before he was dragged out of the bed. As he moved around his mom and towards his bed, he noticed the addition to the room's decorum. A couple of flowers in small vases were placed on a small table and that raised one question. "Hey, mom, I know you're mad and all but where did those flowers come from."
"Oh those. Those came from the two young girls who you all spent time with yesterday. Ino and Sakura, I believe. I told them to leave them on the table after you two were asleep. And yes, to answer your next question, they saw...I think they saw everything."
(Whump)
Hinata collapsed onto the bed and was out of it. She was completely out of it too with her cheeks stained red.
Making sure she would be okay, Collette walked over to Naruto and began reattaching all the wires. She didn't reattach the I.V. however, which surprised him but she said he no longer needed it. He would be released after today. A bit excited about that, he waited for her to get the data she needed and take a small blood sample and then watched as she did the same with Hinata. After getting the data, she reached into her pockets and pulled out a small vial filled with a hazy liquid. She uncapped it and put it up to Hinata's nose and Naruto could see vapor being sucked up into her nostrils and then her eyes shot open and were watering a bit.
"Naruto, I think Hiashi would like to speak with Hinata in privacy, so if you wouldn't mind, gather your things that are in the closet and get dressed. Clean clothes are in the bathroom so go change right now, while I take care of Hinata and a couple of...private matters. Don't come out till I tell you to, understand?" She sent him a serious glare, which he saw and sweated nervously while nodding. He got off the bed, very happy that he had recovered his ability to walk. No more needing help to do simpler things like changing and using the restroom.
As he changed into his clothing, he wondered what he would do for the day while Hinata was visiting with her father. 'Maybe I should go see dad. Maybe he can tell me some things about this scroll in more detail.' After he got changed, he waited patiently and heard a restrained shout of pain. He opened the door to see what happened and was met with an empty water pitcher to the head. "I said don't come out!" Naruto recovered and closed the door, thankful he didn't see anything. From what he did see, though, they were trying to get her changed into something other than a wet hospital robe.
'I am not like ero-sennin. I am NOT like ero-sennin. Hell, I'm too young to be thinking like ero-sennin.' With that, he took a deep breath and waited. A couple more slight sounds of pain later, he heard the call from his mom to come back in. Discarded was the normal white hospital gown that she had been in until it was soaked, and in it's place was a light blue gown...provided by the hospital. Her hair was still a bit wet, but it was combed and kempt. She blushed lightly when he stepped out and he did the same. "Uhhh...sorry bout that, just heard you and I-"
"We both understand, Naruto, but now it is time you, as well as I, take our leave. They want to speak with her and I'm not one to just sit around and listen to family discussions." Seeing a somewhat disheartened look from Hinata, Collette felt more clarity was needed. 'These kids tend to be so sensitive. Guess it can't be helped, she is only 12.' "Don't worry, Hinata-chan. When your family is through, you will be allowed to have visitors, okay?"
Hinata smiled lightly at that and nodded in confirmation, as well as satisfaction, but now that she thought about having visitors, she feared her visitors would include Ino and Sakura. She was so lost in her own thoughts, she barely heard Naruto call out to her from the doorway. "Bye, and I'll see ya soon, okay Hinata-chan?"
"O-Oh, okay Naruto-kun. But you don't have to come back, I'll be fine."
Naruto couldn't believe that Hinata thought that she might be a nuisance. Because that was what that statement was. One of her greatest fears was being a burden and he could tell that was her thought process. "But that wouldn't make me a good friend, now would it? See you soon, okay?" She nodded her head, smiling and blushing a little and he opened the door.
Standing up to greet him was Hinata's father, Hiashi, and so Naruto bowed his head slightly as a show of respect. The Hyuuga leader merely nodded, which told him it was okay to stand back up. Naruto started to move out of the man's way until he placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. Looking up at Hiashi, Naruto noticed a warmness to the normally stern features of his face and eyes, and was caught off guard by what came next. "Naruto, thank you." Choosing to leave it with that, Hiashi moved into the room and walked to the edge of Hinata's bed and the door closed to give the family moment privacy.
Naruto would have continued to dwell on Hiashi's words to him and on what might take place behind that door, but he had business of his own to take care of. He walked triumphantly towards the stairwell and made his way out of the hospital.
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Inside the office of the Yondaime, Arashi was hurriedly reading through multitudes of documents that he hadn't gotten to yesterday. Ruffling his hair in frustration for his active nature was yielding no rewards as the stacks of documents seemed to never end, he barely heard the knock on the door of his office. "No visitors, I'm busy."
"You better be able to make some time for me, damnit!" came a loud and abrupt voice from the hallway outside. Arashi almost laughed at the sound of his son's voice but did submit to the inevitable.
"Come on in, Naruto."
The door swung open and in came a burst of yellow that attacked his table and on it stood, or rather, squatted, Naruto. The boy flashed a cheesy smile that radiated energy and Arashi probably would've been entertained by the performance if not for Naruto standing on his documents that he had been signing and now were probably smudged with dirt and other unknown fungi.
"Get off my desk, brat." spat the Yondaime venomously.
"That's no way to talk to your son when he just got out of the hospital, father!" shot the smaller look-alike, glaring into the eyes of his father.
"Maybe I'd show a bit more compassion if you weren't desecrating these papers. They were already tainted by your presence, they don't need your foot funk on them either." Arashi cracked a grin, unable to hold in his amusement. He knew Naruto would cave in soon as well. This was always fun.
"You know...you're boring. I get out of that stuffy building, bored stiff, with nothing to do, and all you can say to me is get off your work?"
"I heard differently." With a confused look on Naruto's face, Arashi's grin grew wider. "Oh, or were you unaware that my wife divulges everything to me, especially things concerning you. Care to explain what happened last night?"
Across the room, Jiraiya could be seen with one of his infamous grins that only spelled doom. "And don't leave out the juicy details, kid."
Naruto went pale, then red from embarrassment, then his eyes went wide and he became frantic. "DON'T...say a word. It's bad enough that Sakura and Ino know about it and are probably gossiping all over town, I don't need to hear shit from you. That reminds me, I need to have a 'chat' with those two before they decide to blow this thing out of proportion. And as for what happened, father, it was just an apology from a guy who couldn't say the right thing last night. I almost fucked up and hurt one of my best friends, so I apologized and that's all. So drop it, I got something else I wanna discuss, okay?"
"Sure son, if you are so serious about it, go ahead. But would you mind getting off my desk first?"
Naruto looked down and realized he was still on the desk. Laughing nervously, he jumped off without disturbing most of the sheets of paper that were under his feet and took a seat. When he heard his father clear his throat and saw the look on his face, Naruto looked down and saw that one sheet of paper was still stuck to his foot. Laughing nervously again, he brought his foot up and peeled it off of his sweaty feet, since he didn't have his sandals on - discarding them outside of the office. He began to hand it to his father until he saw something curious on it. Four faces, one of an elderly looking man with a rough face, one of a young girl with a strange wrapping over her eyes and dark purple hair, one of a young boy whose smile seemed to be filled with abundant energy and gave him the look of a wildman, and one of another young boy with no smile and an emotionless look on his face. Handing the document to Arashi, he asked the obvious question in mind. "Who are they?"
"They, Naruto, are genin from a hidden village in Lightning Country. I've spoken with their jounin instructor in person before and I've decided to allow them entrance to the village early, since the genin seem to possess a certain enthusiasm for the approaching festival. The three genin, from what I've been told, are quite 'unique' and should be interesting to keep an eye on during the chuunin exams." And it was the truth. While he had said what he did in hopes of raising the curiosity of Naruto and making the boy entertain the thought of taking the exam, the truth of the matter was that the instructor of this group of ninja bore a striking resemblance to the ex-third hokage, in terms of how he held himself, and Arashi was eager to see how these genin had progressed under the man's tutilege. "Now, what was it you wanted to speak with me about?"
"Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you something else about the scroll you gave me."
Arashi sat at his desk as he regarded Naruto's demeanor, the subtle little hints his body language seemed to speak for him that he did not state verbally. "The scroll, eh? Okay, what is it you would like to know?"
Naruto thought about his words, wanting to choose the right thing to say. If he merely asked a different take on the questions he had asked earlier, he would be met with the same cryptic answers. Trying to see underneath the underneath was one thing Arashi preached and therefore, tried to teach Naruto to do. "When I asked you about this scroll earlier, you said that the scroll will reveal the techniques it felt I was capable of. Does that mean it has free will to judge where my level is at?"
Arashi was a bit stupified by his son's sudden, and perplexing, insight. Shaking off this bout of amazement, he thought about the question and then, as Naruto had done, chose the right wording. "It was a bit more tricky than merely establishing a sensor into the design. What Jiraiya, Kakashi, and I did was we all made a list of techniques that we felt you would be able to learn and utilize as you progressed. Then, we fused that list of techniques into a complex seal, with limiters and requirements. As we had done for only you to be able to read this scroll, we also made it so that the scroll would feel out for your individual chakra signature. If you are wondering how this was set up, it picked up on your chakra signature the moment you placed your hands on it the day you took it out of the packaging it was wrapped in. Once the minimal requirements were met, it sent out a signal that you, and only you, would pick up."
"But Sasuke said that he felt the chakra of the scroll leaking out. If only I could pick it up then how was Sasuke able to?" Naruto saw his father give him a curious look and asked for him to elaborate on what took place. After Naruto was finished telling them about what Sasuke had said and Naruto seeing the four new techniques, he awaited his father's reaction and theory. His father did not disappoint.
"Sasuke, more than likely, saw the chakra signal, rather than felt it. He probably unintentionally saw it while he had the Sharingan active. If he tried to mess with it then he probably received a painful reminder of why one shouldn't go tampering with someone else's property." Arashi chuckled lightly before he continued, "As for the sudden appearance of the four new techniques, the only explanation I can give for it would be probably the only flaw in it's design. Since you did have the scroll with you when you were on the mission, then my theory may pan out.
"You see Naruto, I heard from Yamato what happened on the mission, and you have mentioned that you do not remember what happened exactly. Well, from what Yamato told me, you seemed to perform two techniques that should not be possible for someone of your current level. I would like to hear your exact words though on what you can remember before I base a theory upon the information I have heard." So Naruto told him everything that he could possibly remember before he blanked. Arashi sat there, rolling each word over in his head and trying to make sense of it all. If Naruto didn't remember what he did, then there would be no point in asking him how he did what he did. So that left only one avenue for his theory to go. "Well Naruto, from what you have told me and from what Yamato has said, I am able to come to one conclusion. Since you did perform techniques that are considered beyond your level of capability set forth as one of the limiters in the scroll's design, it must have revealed these four techniques because at that moment on the mission, it must have judged you to be on the level capable of mastering the jutsus. Also, the techniques revealed, when the requirements are met, will be in response to your will. If your will is strong enough, then it will have an impact on what you the scroll will reveal to you. But I'm a bit hesitant on you learning them. All of those techniques you mentioned are low to high chuunin level." He saw the glum look on Naruto's face and was suddenly reminded of why he made the scroll in the first place.
As the job of Hokage is passed onto the one shinobi felt to be strong enough for the job, the position comes with it's rewards and consequences. One of the latter had been the fact he had to ask his former sensei to assist in his son's development and could only sparingly train and spar with Naruto. When he gave the scroll to Naruto, it was meant as to make amends for all the time spent away from his son's life as a shinobi-in-training.
Now Naruto sat across from Arashi, with that disappointed look on his face, and Arashi reasserted his goals. Naruto was on a team with two other young shinobi who had developed into their clan's respective pride. The Uchiha with his sharingan and the Hyuuga with her byakugan were unmistakable in the eyes of commoners on the streets of the village. Naruto had no such pride. He had no such praise to call his own. He was not the holder of a bloodline limit and his family had no history of one - but who knew what could happen with age of their namesake. He was an ordinary shinobi with no particularly spectacular reputation except being the son of the Yondaime. He knew Naruto wanted to be seen as something else than that title that was branded to him from the moment he breathed life in the village, but it was a difficult process. So that was where the scroll came into play. With all the restrictions and limitations that had been set upon the device of learning for his son, Arashi believed it would push Naruto to become strong and astute, the desire to step into the spotlight as Uzumaki Naruto would be enough of a motivation, and so the boy would push himself. Maybe he wouldn't have a clan's namesake on his shoulders, maybe he didn't have the speciality of a bloodline limit, but he did have his determination, his desire, his drive, and that - in Arashi's opinion - would become Naruto's legacy.
"But, I would have no qualms about you learning such skills if you could, say, master them by the end of two-and-a-half months time." He smiled one of his clever, mischievous smiles that made Jiraiya almost want to burst into laughter. "That, Naruto, would be the end of the upcoming Chuunin exam. You will most certainly be confronted by Yamato about this, since I have given him authorization that your team can enter if it so chooses unanimously. Talk to your team, convince them to take the exam with you, and see it through to the end. Make chuunin and you will prove that you are deserving of those techniques."
Naruto's smile was one of enthusiasm and victory, as he nearly leaped out of his seat to attack his father in a more affectionate way, but held his ground and chose to behave in a more civilized manner. "Don't you worry, otou-san. I'll convince them to join me and then we'll kick that exam's ass together. We'll show everyone how strong we are." He then got to his feet and stretched, cursing quietly at how sore his left arm still was, and made his way to the door. But before he left, he looked back at Jiraiya and then to his father, "Thank you." With that, he left the room, thoroughly excited. He would have to wait to spring the idea on his teammates but it was something he would have to attack soon in order to plant the seed into their minds. But in the end, it would come down to the others feeling confident enough to participate in the exams. From overheard rumors and what certain books explained, the exam for chuunin rank was a lot different and a great deal more difficult than the genin exam had been. But he had no doubts, not when it came to his partners. With a new-found confidence, Naruto joyfully roamed the streets of Konoha and bumped into none other than his sensei, Yamato, accompanied by Sasuke.
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(Konoha's Hospital)
Hinata had been more than a little nervous when her father stepped into the room. That was one of her greater fears was facing her family in the bed of a hospital, looking weak and helpless. It didn't help her that her body was still magnificently sore, her head still seemed to throb with every passing moment, and her arm was completely useless. Also, her little sister, who had been bashful in approaching Hinata - both in a physical sense and in conversation - seemed to pester her with an abundance of questions, such as if she hurt, how badly did she hurt, how cool was the battle, and anything else a seven year old's mind, that was training to be a shinobi, could think of.
Hiashi, however, after gazing upon his daughters' activities for a few moments, decided to squash some of Hinata's fears, early and decisively. "I have heard of what happened while on the mission. Your exploits in the heat of battle, while you, yourself, were not the sole reason for the success of the mission, were admirable. I feared, after seeing you upon this bed, unconscious, that I might not have had the chance to say this when I should have. So I will say it now." He closed his eyes and breathed in and out slightly in concentration.
To Hinata, she slightly feared what these words might mean. He had said her performance on the mission was worthy of praise, but the sudden shift from those words to the now serious tone had her a bit shaken. She braced herself as she saw her father's eyes open again and regard her in neutrality, the look he would don when he made announcements regarding 'the clan's best interest.'
"I am proud of you, my daughter." And for one brief moment, he allowed his facade to drop in favor of showing genuine pride. A small smile formed on his roughened face and his face held one of content. Then it was replaced, just as quickly as it appeared, by the stoic, proud, and firm facial expression of the Hyuuga head. "Now, I am told that you will be allowed to leave this hospital by tomorrow. I will have an escort assigned to you when you are allowed to leave this facility. And do not worry about the family training , I have been told the extent of your injuries. Just focus on getting better quickly, then we will try to catch up in your progress. Now I must return to the house, but I await your return, as does your family." He then stood up to make his exit but not before placing a hand on top of her head and leaving it there, as he smiled at her reassuringly.
Motioning for his brother and his youngest daughter to leave with him, they made their way to the door. "Sayonara, onee-chan, get well soon." called Hanabi to Hinata while the door closed behind them. Now Hinata was left to soak in the afterglow of her father's visit. It had been unexpected, nerve-racking, and very different from the norm. But it was a pleasant kind of different. Desired, but not begged for. Celebrated, but in quiet thought. She nearly leapt out of her skin when someone walked into her room.
"Oh, hi Hinata-chan. I brought visitors." And so he did. Naruto walked in with Sasuke and Yamato and they all sat down and looked at her. After a little bit of light-hearted conversation, Naruto turned his attention to the one thing he was wanting to get to. "Hey Hinata, Yamato received some interesting news recently that he'd like to introduce to us." Turning a fox-like grin to his sensei, the man sighed from the weight of the spotlight bearing down on him.
"Well, like Naruto said, I received some interesting news from the Hokage. It pertains to the event which will take place exactly one month from the beginning of the Festival of Fire. I speak of the Chuunin exams." A strange hush fell over them, every one of his students giving him their undivided attention. "I, at first, thought it to be too soon to even consider you three for the next step, but, as you proved to me in the past, my judgments should not be made until I have done a thorough assessment of my company." He smiled warmly at each of them, noting, with slight humor, the looks of pride and confidence in them - even in the normally humble Hinata. "Therefore, I have decided to address this with you three. It is your careers, after all. The exam is a team effort, so the choice should be a team decision. I will give you time to discuss it with each other. You have plenty of time, so think it through before you-"
"Let's do it."
The other three looked at the person who spoke those words as if they had walked through fire. Indeed, Naruto's reaction was doubled by the fact that he had prepared himself for a full-length chit-chat with the one person on his team who he thought might have second thoughts on the decision of the chuunin exam. But as it seemed to happen more often than not, the blonde shinobi found himself caught off guard and staring in amazement at the one who he thought he had figured out by now. "A-Are you sure, Hinata?"
She looked at him a bit shocked herself. "D-Do you not want to participate in the exams yourself?" When he responded that he did by violently nodding his head, she continued, "And don't you want to participate in the exams, Sasuke-kun?" The boy she questioned just nodded slightly with an amused smile on his lips. "Th-Then let's do it."
Naruto grinned in such an unbelieveable way that those who saw it would've thought he had been hit by a sudden realization. "Well alright then. That didn't hurt at all. You heard the girl, Yamato. Go get those papers so we can register."
A vein twitched unimpulsively on Yamato's skull in annoyance as he heard the verbal command from his pupil. "I am not some servant for you, Naruto. I will get your registration forms later when I am in the office's vicinity. Until then, just be patient. While I am a bit perplexed at this sudden decision you have all agreed to, it comforts me to the thought that you three have truly progressed as a team and are so confident as a team that you are willing to participate in this exam. We have enough time to prepare for the exam. Get healed up you two" he said looking at Naruto and Hinata, "and come back ready to buckle down and get to business. We will not be taking anymore large scale missions until the end of the exam, understood?"
"Hai, Yamato-sensei." was the consensus response, the eyes of the shinobi shimmering with the encounter of this new obstacle.
"Very good then. I eagerly await your recovery. Until then, we shall just have to entertain ourselves with what we can accomplish. So if you want, you can still report to our training area when you are allowed. I'll be waiting." He then grinned broadly, his eyes closing from the extent of the smile, and then he waved at them in a gesture of farewell, before he disappeared in a poof of smoke.
It only took a few moments after their sensei's departure for all of the focus in the room to turn solely onto the only bedridden person. Hinata noticed this too and fidgeted with the top of her bed sheets. Naruto, of course, was the first to pounce, and, fueled by curiosity, assaulted Hinata with his inquisitive mind. "So what brought that along? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm happy you wanted to do it but...just a bit surprising to me that you were the first person to speak on it." And it was surprising. The only thing he could think of that would provoke such a sudden change like this would have to be something that was said during her talk with her family. And if Hinata knew what Naruto had theoried, then she could have confirmed his suspicions.
The knowledge of her father being proud of her was an inflation of her spirit. She had, in the span of 24 hours, gone through several changes in her spirit. First it was grim with the knowledge of her pain, then elation from being with her friends, then humbled happiness from receiving the medal, then embarrassment, then genuine happiness from Naruto's acceptance as one of his closest friends, then content with this newfound knowledge, then fear from his sudden change in mood, then outrage at how he was upset with her, then relief when their argument settled down, then embarrassment again at being woken up in that situation, and with her father brought a whole new exchange of powerful shifts. Fear, regret, sadness, happiness, relief, and now, with her father's words still echoing in her head, confidence. That was a strong driving force.
She had her father's acceptance - and with it, her father's pride. She would not let her father down. Now that she finally had his attention, his acceptance, and his pride-filled gaze staring at her expectantly, expecting her to stand tall and strong in the face of adversity, she would now do something that she didn't think she had the strength to do. She would gain the acceptance of her clan. The chuunin exams would be the first step, but it would be a major step. If she could do this, then surely the rest of the clan would no longer view her as weak. This, she knew, would be her driving force. Yet, it wasn't the only thing driving her. There was something else, the promise she made the night before the confrontation with Vega and Garrett. But she did not want them to know of her true purpose. She considered that to be private, so she had to think quickly.
"Oh, I-I just...w-well, I want to. I think that since we all have an agenda...th-that this w-will help with that." She was referring to their first meeting together as Team Seven, when they each introduced themselves to each other. Sasuke said that he wanted to step out of his brother's shadow, Hinata wanted to gain the acceptance of her father and clan, and Naruto wanted to be seen for him, not as the Hokage's kid. This was their chance. The chance they wanted, the chance they needed.
"Indeed, this will definitely help our causes. Thank you, Hinata, for reminding me of my agenda. Don't get me wrong, I've had a lot of fun getting to know you two, but now it seems that we must get to business. When you two are both healthy enough, come back to the training area. Like Yamato-sensei, I'll be waiting as well." He then stood up, nodded at the two as he normally did (that being his way of saying a silent good-bye) and made to leave. "Sorry for having to go so suddenly, but I was told this morning that my brother is supposed to be returning soon, so I wish to be there to greet him back." Grabbing the door handle, he made his way out the door but not before Naruto called out to the Uchiha.
"You better hurry up, Sasuke, and get strong, because when I get back, you'll definitely have some competition." Naruto then flashed another cheesy grin, which caused Hinata to giggle at his antics and saw her other teammate, Sasuke, smile in content.
"I wouldn't expect anything less, by now. Just get healed. I don't want you to have a cop-out." He sent Naruto one of his more arrogant smiles, but not one that provoked Naruto's wrath. He just chuckled in humor, as Sasuke walked out of sight.
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(The Uchiha Manor)
Sasuke was returning to his home from a day of training with Yamato-sensei. It had been four days since the day he and his team discussed the chuunin exams and he had been training almost constantly, trying to perfect his strengths, strengthen his weaknesses, and learn new techniques.
This day the entire team was there, but it didn't comfort him that both Naruto and Hinata had come to a training session without being capable of training like normal. But they seemed to keep themselves busy. Hinata kept practicing graceful movements, as if she were dancing, but Sasuke took note that with the fluidity of the moves, if she were to implement them with her taijutsu, then she would be able to parry and counter most melee attacks. He was surprised that she was capable of doing that without hurting her right arm, which was still bound in a thick cast, but the sling was discarded. After she finished, she seemed to go over by a tree and meditate for a long time.
Naruto, however, seemed content with staying by a tree of his own and looking over a scroll. The blond-haired boy continued studying whatever was on it, his lips moving as if he were speaking to himself, and his hands would twitch every now and then, but his hands seemed to take the incomplete forms of certain hand seals. If Sasuke had to guess, then Naruto was probably studying jutsus that were written down on the scroll. This made Sasuke feel slightly jealous of Naruto, the boy having a list of new techniques that he was probably itching to try out if only his arm wasn't injured.
Overall, the day had been successful for all of them, because they all seemed to be getting back into the groove of things. Team Seven had come together for a training session, albeit a bit unorthodox, but what would anyone expect from ninjas. Sasuke should've felt content. He had Yamato's undivided attention, he was training relentlessly and could feel the difference already, and his father was even spending some time to teach him a new jutsu or two. But there was something missing, and, no matter how much he hated to admit it, he knew he couldn't deny it.
Without his brother, it didn't mean anything. He wanted to hear what his brother thought about his progress. He always took what his brother said to him a bit more critically than his mother's or father's words. This was for the respect that Sasuke had for Itachi.
When Sasuke was younger, he had bugged Itachi for his assistance in training. He looked up to him with pride and saw through all the teasing and playful ribbing of his older brother, it meaning that Itachi was not annoyed with him, but his mind was always occupied on something. The strangest things was, after reporting to the Yondaime about some mission, Itachi became suddenly different.
He still seemed to be indifferent, holding a look upon his face that threatened almost every living thing, but his attitude had shifted. No longer cold and bitter with some unseen issue, he was more outgoing, especially with Sasuke. And if it were not for Itachi hunkering Sasuke down for what seemed like an eternity of training all summed up in one grueling week, Sasuke might not have activated the Sharingan. The activation part was the most brutal aspect of it. Your body had to be in shape to handle the information it would deliver the person capable of activating it, but the psyche also had to be influenced. Sasuke remembered that day and shuddered.
Passing by random residents of the whole complex without stopping to speak with them, Sasuke continued to brood silently. He carefully made it past his mother and father in the common area of their sector of the manor so that he would not have to speak with them. He didn't really feel like being assaulted by questions from his mother on whether or not he was okay. He loved his mother to death, but she had a tendency to not drop an issue if she felt she wasn't getting the whole truth.
He continued towards his room, feeling suddenly exhausted and wanting a nap before dinner. As he approached his room, however, he felt a prickling sensation come from the back of his neck, as his hairs stood up on end. The feeling was overwhelming to Sasuke, because whatever the presence was, it seemed to focus and bear down on him. 'Behind!'
He whipped around, falling into a fighting stance and drawing a kunai on the ready, but saw a familiar form that, despite it's powerful aura, comforted Sasuke. "Itachi..."
"Hmm?" came the questioning expression from the bored-looking prodigy. "No 'welcome back, brother'?" The tone was surprisingly light in the voice of the normally stoic and indifferent Uchiha.
Sasuke cracked a grin and actually chuckled in amusement. His brother wasn't the joking type, but he was sarcastic. And his very timely appearance helped ease and settle his mind. It slightly upset Sasuke that it took this long for Itachi to come back from a mission, but not everything could go swimmingly all the time. They probably just got held up by something. "How was the mission?"
"We were...held up." But that was putting it lightly. Itachi usually keeps his emotions but Kakashi had held them from finishing up and leaving, all in the pursuit of evidence. Kakashi had mentioned how suspicious these events were in this country, and he wanted to check into something. When they finally found Gatou's hideout, Kakashi had relentlessly gone through numerous documents, with their help of course.
What was very curious was the results of their extra labor. The documents he had searched for showed a very suspicious paper trail of funds going to and from Gatou's major account. This account had had business with an odd account in Rock Country, a mysterious one in Fire Country, and an account in Tea Country.
"Our captain should, right now, be reporting to the Hokage. I must do so as well." He then turned around and walked through the hallway to a side exit.
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(The Hyuuga Manor)
Hinata walked through the halls of her home, wanting to discuss with her father a discovery she had made that day. She suspected him to be in the dojo, so she moved through halls and walkways and doorways until she would finally reach her destination.
For the past few days, she had been under the careful and scrutinous eyes of her family, the looks she was receiving looking like the ones she wished she could banish. Either she was viewed with pity or she was viewed as shameful. And perhaps she was.
For these past few days, she had questioned herself. She had wondered why she was suddenly in the good graces of her father. She did not do anything spectacular while on the mission, and she had yet to even confront one of her fears.
For some reason, Hinata feared activating her byakugan. What if I can't? What if the concussion caused me to lose that ability? These were the questions she would ask herself. The fear of them being true horrified her even more. I would lose father's respect. I would be a disgrace. But she knew that if she didn't confront this situation, she would be worse than a 'disgrace.' She would be a coward.
So with her new resolve, she went to their team's training grounds and relaxed her nerves by performing the maneuvers she had developed through her training. The light and graceful footwork worked wonders on her restless nerves and she managed to relax enough to tackle her task. After meditating for over an hour, she brought her left hand up close to her face and spoke a silent prayer. Then she activated it.
What assaulted her vision was not what she had expected and so she was now searching for her father, hoping that he would be able to make sense of it. She approached the doors of the dojo and opened the door, completely forgetting to ask for permission to enter.
Upon sliding the door open, her little sister, who had been sparring with their father, looked at her in a bit of surprise but seemed to be thankful for her appearance. She was sweating and it seemed to just drip off of her in pools. However hard she was trying, though, didn't seem to be enough to push their father to that point.
The man stood as calm as normal, though a little tensed since he had been training Hanabi, but wasn't sweating from the exertion. The sudden and unexpected appearance of Hinata had surprised him. Had he been a little less curious in wanting to speak with her, he probably would have berated her on customs, such as asking for permission to enter rooms where higher-ups were performing their activities.
"G-Gomen, Otou-san. I did not mean to intrude. I will just-" and she turned to leave and wait for them to finish until a harsh voice held her attention and froze her on spot.
"Hinata, stay." The command, spoken by Hiashi, was not directed so as to intimidate his daughter, but to keep her from leaving. He then turned to his other daughter. "Hanabi, you are dismissed."
The girl smiled thankfully, though her hair hid the smile from view of her father, and she bowed as gracefully as she could before she gingerly shuffled out of the room. Once Hiashi was confident that she was out of earshot, he continued. "Now, what is it you have come here to discuss, Hinata?"
Her father's abilities at insight were truly to be marvelled. She was a bit surprised but had to remind herself that he was the head of the Hyuuga clan. Of course his insight would be so talented to tell such things as that. "H-Hai, otou-san. I have come here to speak with you about something important."
Hiashi, hearing the tone in her voice, made sure that he heard her clearly. He motioned for her to take a seat across from him while he did the same. She struggled to maintain eye contact but forced herself to do so. "E-Ever since the incident on the mission, I-I have been slightly afraid t-to activate my byakugan, but I ch-chose to do so today." Hiashi's eyes widened a bit in realization of this topic.
"And? What did you discover?"
"W-Well, everything seems a bit brighter than normal. A-And...th-there are l-lines everywhere."
Hiashi did have good insight but this little bit of information was vague. 'Lines? Could her eyes possibly be damaged?' He stayed like that for a couple of minutes with his eyes closed in thought. 'hmmmm...wait...just a theory, but...' "Hinata, describe these 'lines' to me. Where is there origin, do they move?"
Hinata bit her bottom lip in a common gesture. Not of worry, but in nervousness of searching for the right wording. "Th-They seemed to...float."
"And their origin?" When she didn't seem to have an answer, Hiashi thought maybe a rejogging of the memory was in order. "Activate your byakugan and tell me what you see."
She gulped down the lump that suddenly formed in her throat. "H-Hai." Bringing her left hand's index and middle fingers up in the familiar sign, she whispered her blood limit's name. The veins formed and her lavender eyes exploded into milky white.
She struggled to make sense of the overwhelming brightness. The walls seemed to be layered with chakra and it was thick. She couldn't see outside these walls because of that chakra, but neither could anyone outside look in. So she moved on to the other thing that was causing her distress. The lines. Before, she had just been confused by them and hadn't hunted for any distinguishing origin as to why they seemed to float around. Forcing herself to fight through the threatening desire to lose her lunch from nausea, she focused on the lines and noticed something very odd.
He watched his daughter impassively while she looked around and came out of his thoughts when she deactivated her byakugan. "Well? What did you see?"
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(The Uzumaki Manor)As Naruto walked towards his home and reached for the doorknob, he stopped, sensing that something was out of place. That was when he turned around and felt all the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
Three figures were walking up towards the house and him. The faces of these people were sheltered from view by the way they hung their heads, as if they were watching where they walked. It also didn't help that two of these people wore straw hats atop their head. These two wore black cloaks. On each of their right arms were strange beads and in their left hand, they carried a long, wooden staff with an odd design on the top of it, with metallic rings attached. Their appearance was finished by the traditional style sandals.
The third person was dressed in a long white robe that covered almost every single square inch of the person's frame, not even leaving the feet exposed. It gave off an eerie look of a wraith floating in the air - the illusion being assisted by the fact you could not see the person's face, since the hood of the robe left the face in shadows.
The three people continued to approach the house and Naruto, and he felt increasingly threatened by their presence. 'Something's just not right about these guys. They're giving me the creeps.' "Hey, what business do you have here?" His question was laced with a serious, threatening tone, as if demanding the answer. But when they didn't immediately respond to him, he continued. "Hey, this is shinobi property and I am a shinobi. What is your business here?!"
"I am sorry for the intrusion, but our intentions are not hostile, young one. We are here because we need to speak with someone who lives here. Would a Kidikime Collette reside in this location?" This came from one of the men dressed in black and his voice was very warm and peaceful, yet held an authoritative tone as if willing the listener of his question to answer.
Naruto sighed in relief, the inviting sound of a peaceful voice coming from this group of people being very welcome. If these three proved to be hostile, Naruto didn't know if he could have handled them. There just was not something right about them. He then pondered the question for a brief moment, recognizing his mother's name, but not the family name that came with it. 'Perhaps her maiden name?'
"Maybe. This is about the time she gets off her shift at the hospital. So she might be here. Hold on, I'll check." He dug into his pocket and fished out his keys, unlocking the front door and opening it, while he called for his mother. He didn't know why, but he felt that he could trust these strangers.
When she came to the front door, Naruto took notice that she was out of her normal nursing uniform and was in her casual around-the-house clothing and was sweating slightly. He could only guess that she was probably in the kitchen preparing supper.
"Hey mom, these guys seem to know you and wanted to speak with you." he said as he pointed with his thumb behind him nonchalantly. His mother, breathing slightly heavy from whatever she was doing, and wiping sweat from her forehead, took a look at them and her eyes almost bulged out of socket.
"It's been such a long time, Lady Collette." came the voice of the person hidden in the white robe, identifying that person as female. The woman's voice sounded as warm as the previous man in the company of three but, instead of the authoritative tone, it was a voice that seemed to hold infinite wisdom, if only one were courageous enough to ask the questions. This person looked up, as did her two companions, and Naruto saw that the third person was also male; however, despite that the woman in the white robe looked up, the hood of the robe still held her face in shadows, but you could see the reflection of the setting sun's remaining rays of light shine against her eyes, and Naruto could swear that her eyes held a grim look in them.
"S-S-S-Sister Serena, y-y-you've come. W-What do I owe this pleasure?" Collette's voice was shaky, and her lips were trembling. But she wasn't afraid of these people and her apparent sister. No, she was shocked, astonished, and surprised.
"My dear Collette, I am sorry for not keeping in touch. And I would love nothing more than to become reacquainted, but alas, this visit is forced upon us as business." The woman halted and looked at Naruto then back up to Collette, as if silently asking her if it was alright for Naruto to hear this. When Collette nodded her head, the woman in the white robe, now identified as Serena, continued. "Sister Collette, I have come with a prophecy."
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Dum Dum Dummmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
More questions now (don't hurt me). But I couldn't resist. The only thing I regret is that I wasn't capable of answering some of your questions but unfortunately, I couldn't get to it with this chapter. But your answers will come. You won't be in the dark the entire time. And like the chapter said, this was just an interlude. I aimed for that type of a chapter because I just couldn't attack the more serious issues without turning this chapter into a monster. But juicier things will be revealed. Trust me. I won't disappoint. So continue reading and sending me your questions or comments and I'll try my best to get the answers to you all.
As for the next chapter: Preparations for the chuunin exam begin as the genin start to buckle down in their training. Naruto tries to amke sense of his new arsenal of techniques. Also, what was Hinata's discovery? What does Kakashi's team's discovery mean and what impact could it have? And what of the prophecy? All that, and maybe more, in the next chapter.