Chapter V
Hello everyone, it's finally time for the newest chapter of Destined Dynasty. I apologize for the break, some things came up and writing on any of my stories stopped for a while. But, I finally managed to get it done and here it is. I'd like to give thanks to my coauthor, seeker of true anime fan fic, as usual. Guess there isn't a whole lot else to say here so might as well move on to the reviewer responses.
TheBeastofFairyTail: Yes. Yes I did. Because we're sadists. But really, it's just an important part to the story. As with all things in my stories it will be resolved eventually. She probably would once she shows back up. Adopt him? That's an interesting idea. I might give that some thought.
firetemplar415: Glad you liked it. You can probably guess where she is if you know her role in canon. Which you seem to.
YuNarukami1995: Don't worry, I would never think of abandoning this story. Ever.
TheLastNanaya: Yes, Kagero Fuma. I haven't seen much with Sasame and I've actually never read anything with Kotohime. But I do like Kagero and felt she was tragic in the story, so I've decided to change things up a little. No, no, not in the least. She is not pretending in the least, how did you even come to that particular conclusion?
RandomWriter21: He will start out like canon Sasuke, actually a little worse, but with Naruto's influence will slowly shift into becoming a better person. That's a good idea but unfortunately I have ideas pertaining to Sakura that require her to be in Team Seven but don't worry, there will be plenty of interaction between Naruto and Hinata regardless, there will just be points early on where there isn't.
God of Thorns: He will reach Mangekyo on the Sharingan. Whether it'll go further or not will be for you to see.
Well, that seems to be it for the reviewer responses, guess it's time to get onto the real story, huh?
Hiashi sat in the main room of the Hyuga compound with several of his advisors.
Hiashi sighed in thought before looking to the sides. "No more."
Several of the advisors nodded.
"Hinata's skills have reached a good peak for a Hyuga her age. So whatever training she has been doing with that thing must stop immediately. So I expect you all to ensure that."
"Sir, how do we handle it though? Lady Hanari has made that beast comfortable in our home. How do we keep it out?"
Hiashi nodded. "I have methods for doing so. You merely leave that to me."
The advisors all nodded.
Naruto awoke in his room slowly. He felt tired. He didn't know exactly why as he slowly came to, before flashes of the previous night filled his mind. Or more specifically, emotions and sensations.
Naruto knew that the way Hanari had touched and fondled him would be considered abuse under the law, but he also trusted her implicitly, knowing that she would never do anything to hurt him or take advantage of him in any way. He also knew that she loved and cared for him, and his gut told him that what she was doing was for their mutual benefit, but more for his. He knew that what she had done was an act of giving to him. He remembered more of it as well as he just felt the images fill his mind. He remembered things she said, promises she made, how safe he felt with her, and he even remembered the sensation of her skin.
However, there is one thing that stuck in his mind most. Her eyes. He had always seen people looking at him with eyes filled with fear or hatred. But he saw Hanari's eyes filled with only one emotion that he could place: love. He smiled to himself as the image filled his mind.
After a few more moments he got up and made himself some breakfast. He also noticed one more thing, the sky seemed brighter than normal. He liked that.
Kurama sat inside his cage bored until he noticed something off to the side. The sphere next to him had grown some again and he now noticed it had darkened considerably in color. He narrowed his eyes in thought.
Naruto spent quite a lot of time merely sitting in his room in thought, mulling through the events of the past few days. Mainly trying to discover what possible reasons Itachi would have for leaving, now that he could focus on that without the crippling pain that came with it. He then noticed something to the side.
He looked at the chair next to his desk, which sat almost right next to his bed, and saw something unusual on it. He turned on the desk lamp and picked it up. A long, dark blue sash that was merely lying on the chair back as if it were tossed there. He tilted his head in confusion before he seemed to remember something.
'Hanari wears an obi just like this. Why'd she leave it here?'
'Who knows. Go ahead and return it to her. It gets you out of this damned apartment at least. Even I need supplies to heal your body, and so far you're not getting any of the nutrients you receive from sunlight.'
Naruto sighed in resignation as he neatly folded the sash and placed it in his pocket before grabbing his key and leaving the apartment.
Naruto decided on a rooftop path to the Hyuga compound that day, he really wasn't in the mood to deal with the disdainful villagers.
He arrived at the compound quickly enough. He looked around and noticed that the front guards were not present. He tilted his head in confusion. "Huh, guess they must be busy or somethin'."
He walked a short way into the compound and then came face to face with Hiashi.
Naruto curled up slightly under the man's heavy glare.
"So, demon, you finally showed up. I've been waiting."
Naruto narrowed his eyes.
"What, are you going to attack me? To kill me?"
Naruto just frowned in annoyance. "I'd like to see Hanari."
"I'm sure you would. But you won't. Nor my daughter. Some beast like you has no reason to be around my wife or daughter ever again. You had your benefits for being around Hinata, but you've now far passed your time for where I feel you're benefitting my daughter."
Naruto's frown deepened.
"You see, your continued presence here, in my compound, the Hyuga compound, is causing quite a few problems. People are starting to change, your cursed influence is having very negative effects on my people. I refuse to allow your curse to affect the people that I, as head of the Hyuga clan, am sworn to lead and protect."
Naruto's frown turned into a light glare.
Hinata had peeked over the corner, hearing her father's angry voice and was surprised to see Naruto standing in the middle of the courtyard. She was scared when she noticed several Hyuga clansmen standing behind him.
Hiashi waved a hand and one of the clansmen jumped forward, placing a paralysis jutsu on Naruto, causing him to fall to his knees.
Naruto fell and felt his whole body become numb and heavy. His eyes widened in shock and horror. 'W-what the hell?!'
'Shit! That's a paralysis jutsu! Naruto, you need to try and break it!'
Naruto tried his best but he found that even his chakra network was paralyzed.
Hiashi then stepped forward some. "Now, it's time I taught you a lesson. You may have had a free pass before thanks to my bleeding heart of a wife and my foolish daughter, but I have, and have had, no desire for you to ever step foot here again. So, here is a taste of what will happen should you curse us with your presence ever again."
One of the Hyuga walked up in front of Naruto and raised an open hand at him.
Naruto's eyes widened in shock, even with his Sharingan active he could tell what that was.
The Hyuga then slammed their hand forward at Naruto, releasing a burst of chakra into his body.
Naruto released a shout of pain, muffled by his paralysis.
Another Hyuga stepped forward and did the same, then another, and then another. Until a total of four Hyuga clansmen were surrounding Naruto, pounding on him with Gentle Fist strikes.
Hiashi turned as he heard a loud shriek of horror as Hinata ran out from her hiding place. She ran over to her father and grabbed his kimono, pleading with tears in her eyes. "Please! Stop! Don't do this! Naruto rescued me when I was kidnapped! Please don't hurt him!"
Hiashi roughly pushed his daughter off of him and sneered at her. "I don't care. I could have dealt with the problem myself, plus I would rather a kidnapper put his hands on a Hyuga than that scum."
Hanari, who had heard the commotion by that time, came out from the compound and saw the event taking place in the main courtyard. Frozen in place in pure horror she turned to Hiashi with furor. "Hiashi! Stop this!"
Hiashi just frowned at her. "No, this must be done. The boy is already causing fragmentation of the clan, I can't allow it to go any further."
Hinata then ran over and pulled on Hiashi's coat, begging him to stop with tears in her eyes.
Hiashi frowned and did something even Hanari hadn't expected, he slapped Hinata away. "Do not attempt to usurp my decisions. Your skills may have increased due to your association with that thing but your mind has obviously been distorted."
Naruto froze mentally when he saw that. His current level of pain, combined with his already mangled mental state, caused his rage at Hiashi to fly through the roof. Without intending to, Naruto cracked Kurama's seal and tapped into the fox's power. This was a bad thing because Kurama's chakra was being tainted by not only Kurama's own emotions, but Naruto's intense rage turned the chakra vile. He smashed through the Hyuga's paralysis jutsu and his body underwent a physical change. His whisker-marks thickened, his hair became messier and more feral, his normally bright blue eyes became slitted and turned blood red, his nails and canines extended ferociously, and, to top it all off, his body became enshrouded in a thick cloak of bubbling, red chakra that took on a hazy resemblance to Kurama, one tail swaying behind him and two long ears atop his head. Naruto merely reacted and charged through the Hyuga that were attacking him, gunning straight for Hiashi.
"W-what the?!" Hiashi shouted. That, he had not expected. He had merely expected Naruto to eventually tire of the assault and begin begging to be let go, agreeing to never return, or to simply pass out. He hadn't expected Naruto to become monstrous like that.
Hanari widened her eyes as Naruto charged for Hiashi. Without thinking she began running to intercept Naruto, while at the same time one of the other Hyuga came in with a kunai in hand.
The three intersected at roughly the same time, blood flying high into the air before splashing onto the ground in a wide splatter. Hiashi's eyes widened as did Naruto's. The lone Hyuga stopped cold as Naruto realized what had happened.
He stood with his slung forward, tentacle like chakra arm pierced through Hanari's chest, out her back.
Naruto completely froze, his body and mind merely shutting down as he seemed to be incapable of processing what happened, falling to his knees as three Hyuga ran over and held him down.
Hiashi ran over to his bleeding and heavily wounded wife, while Hinata stood motionless against the wall.
As Hiashi held Hanari's dying form, Naruto could only look on in emotionless shock before Hanari turned to him with one last bit of energy and mouthed words to him.
His realization upon what they were finally cracking him. His eyes widened intensely, his cloak bursting off as his Sharingan activated on its own. The three tomoe began spinning before the "bulbs" of each tomoe extended and met in the middle, creating a three-pointed pinwheel shaped. The form as the large circle in the middle shrunk until it disappeared, leaving a curved, three-pointed star with a small red circle in the middle, the three points then splitting down the middle as they became a six-pointed star with curved arms. His eyes then closed as he finally lost consciousness from the events, Hanari's last words ringing in his mind.
"I love you, Naruto."
Kurama looked to the side worried as the small, dark purple sphere began to grow and grow, the color turning black as night before he watched as a figure stepped out of the growing and now misshapen sphere.
Kurama's eyes widened as he watched Naruto, or a figure closely resembling Naruto, stumble out of the sphere with an almost deathly pace. He then noticed the two biggest differences when the figure looked at him.
Jet black hair and dark violet eyes. The figure looked at Kurama blankly before a thick, angry glare formed on his face, followed by a blood curdling howl as he grabbed his head and fell over onto his side.
Kurama sneered as he returned his focus to the events outside.
Hiashi, covered in Hanari's blood, stumbled towards Naruto with a small sword in hand. He raised it up in an attempt to strike Naruto but found himself bound by three snakes as Anko jumped down from the rooftops.
Two ANBU, one Yugao and the other a man with tall silver hair, jumped down as well, standing around Naruto to keep the other Hyuga away.
From that point on, Naruto saw only flashes of the following events.
Anko struggling to restrain the incensed Hyuga patriarch, Hinata lying on the floor weeping, the two ANBU beside him.
Hiruzen appearing and shouting at the crowd.
Naruto then completely blacked out.
Naruto awoke inside his mindscape, mind and body still weak and lifeless from the events. He looked around weakly before it registered where he was.
He attempted to move so as to stand but found his body, and his mouth, useless.
"So…this is where it begins, hm?" Naruto heard a voice, similar to his own yet feral, say frustrated.
'What…who said that?' he attempted to ask, only able to form the words in his mind.
"I did you bastard," the voice said again as Naruto watched a figure walk over him, obscured by the single light source just above Kurama's cage. "So…you feel tired?" The figure attempted to reach down to Naruto but was suddenly yanked away by a small amount of Kurama's chakra that managed to get through the bars.
Kurama then wrapped his tail around the figure and seemed to throw it high into the sky, the figure vanishing even from his view.
Naruto was too weak and confused to question any of what happened as unconsciousness took him again.
Eventually Naruto was cleared from the hospital, but to Hiruzen's surprise and concern, Naruto's memory seemed very incomplete, with large chunks of time missing in his memory. Unfortunately, Naruto seemed to have a perfect recollection of Hanari's death, to a near crippling degree.
With a little help from Hiruzen Naruto was able to cope and managed to return to the ninja academy.
It was there that Hiruzen discovered what was either Naruto's true sense of will, or a debilitating coping mechanism. Naruto played a complete fool at school. Acting boisterous and energetic, doing everything in his power to annoy everyone possible. Ranging from the simple acts of bugging other students to resuming his village-wide pranks.
However, it was not invisible to all, mostly Hiruzen, Anko, and a few others, that Naruto was avoiding Hinata. He would mostly divert his gaze from her or become busy whenever she attempted to speak to him.
The reason wasn't too hard to decipher to the aged Hokage. Naruto felt guilty, as would anyone in his particular situation, and more so Naruto specifically, due to his dreams of reaching Hokage.
Naruto, while at school at least, seemed to attempt to continue his rivalry with Sasuke for a time.
Sasuke made it clear he wasn't interested however, ranging from coldly brushing the blonde's actions off to snapping at him. During the tail end of the first year of the academy is when it came to a head however, seemingly pushing the two apart permanently.
"Yo! Sasuke!"
Sasuke snarled in disgust as the familiar energetic voice called to him. He turned with annoyance as Naruto approached.
Naruto stopped in his run when he saw this, before curling up some. While Sasuke had given looks of annoyance to Naruto before, none had been quite like that one. Sasuke was giving Naruto the exact same expression he had seen everywhere. That same hateful, disdainful look he received from the villagers.
Sasuke sneered at the blonde. "What do you want, loser?"
Naruto glared at Sasuke, not exactly pleased with the resurgence of his old nickname. He looked back at Sasuke and was about to speak before turning and saying plainly, "Nothing." Naruto then walked away.
Sasuke sneered in frustration. "Hn, then don't waste my time, loser."
Naruto was not in the mood for that and unfortunately, reacted. He spun on his heels and charged a fist at Sasuke.
Sasuke barely turned before he felt the dull throbbing on the side of his face.
Naruto stood nearby breathing heavily, his fist still balled, looking at Sasuke with hurt and frustration.
Sasuke stood up and spat a small bit of blood from his mouth before glaring at Naruto. "What the hell's wrong with you, loser?!"
"Why don't you just shut up?!" Naruto snapped.
The two glared at each other for several more seconds before they seemed to just drop their emotions and turned to walk away from each other.
To the surprise of no one the girls in the hallway all rallied around Sasuke, either chasing him in attempts to console him or turning and hurling insults at Naruto, among other objects.
Hinata attempted to catch up to and speak to Naruto but stopped when she saw the cold blue in his eyes.
Naruto stopped and turned to Hinata. "Oh." He opened his mouth to speak but then dropped his shoulders and walked off from the hall in a fast walk, getting away from the area as quickly as possible.
From that day forward Naruto and Sasuke had little to no interactions. Naruto swiftly returned to his energetic and clown-like persona the next day but mostly ignored Sasuke, and the ravenette seemed perfectly okay with that.
Naruto had been true to his word though, he had managed to subdue and hide his skills the entire time he was in the academy, making just below average grades in all areas. High enough to not be in danger of failing but not high enough to rouse suspicion.
Of course this act was made some easier thanks to the frankly assholes of teachers he received. Throughout his entire first of four years in the academy, he was bounced from teacher to teacher, instructor to instructor, all of whom quit the class Naruto was in because they simply couldn't stand his antics or, and what was generally the real reason, were frustrated with him making it past all of their attempts to undermine him.
One teacher managed to stick with Naruto, a man with silver hair, but just looking at him made Naruto's skin crawl so he tried to spend as little time as possible around him.
This all began to change during his second year when a new teacher was assigned to Naruto's class. Iruka Umino.
Iruka had been asked personally by Hiruzen to take up the position of teaching Naruto's class, purposefully because Naruto was in that class. Naturally, Iruka was opposed to the idea as he, with all others in the academy, had the same negative feelings towards Naruto as the villagers.
However, Hiruzen had counseled Iruka into opening his mind somewhat on Naruto's teaching. Iruka thought that was easier said than done.
Naruto sat in his seat, allowing his face to drop its energetic smile for a more solemn look when he heard footsteps outside the room. He narrowed his eyes as he remembered all the different teachers he'd had last year. 'So, what'll this one be like?' Naruto thought bluntly.
Iruka stepped into the room, an authoritative smile on his face as he looked around the room. His smile dropped however when he saw Naruto. Returning his smile he went to the classroom's main podium. "Alright everyone, calm down."
The class ignored him.
"Sit down everybody."
And again.
With a twitching eyebrow he shouted, "Sit down and shut up!"
The entire class responded instantly.
Naruto raised an eyebrow and then chuckled to himself. 'This one will be entertaining.'
Iruka sighed and then looked around. "Alright. I think we should start this year off right – with class wide introductions. I'll start. My name is Iruka Umino, and I'll be your homeroom teacher for this year. Now, you should each include something about yourself. For me, my favorite food is miso pork ramen."
Naruto perked up in interest at that.
"Alright then, we'll just move down the list with students. Ayuka Sari, you go first."
After that, the other students proceeded to, rather nervously for some and annoyed for others, introduce themselves. Most of them didn't see the need as the class selection was virtually the same as always but they complied anyway.
Eventually the list got down to Naruto.
Naruto merely rested his head on his arms, not expecting to be called, when he heard, "Naruto Uzumaki."
Naruto didn't respond for a moment thinking it was a fluke.
"Naruto Uzumaki," Iruka said slightly more annoyed.
Naruto perked up, excited that he was actually being noticed, but then drooped some, not really wanting to say much of anything, despite his usually rambunctious nature. However, not wanting to be seen for how he truly felt, he put on his best close-eyed grin and retorted, "Nah, I don't wanna."
Iruka twitched an eyebrow in annoyance. He was tempted to just skip Naruto, but decided to give it a little bit of a chance. "The other students did it as well, so should you."
"Well I don't want to! I don't want to be lumped in with everyone else! I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"
Iruka smirked annoyed. "That's…a good start…so how about you get down here and try it?"
Naruto moaned as he stood up and walked down.
As he did, Iruka noticed that despite Naruto's grin, his eyes looked hollow. He ignored it as Naruto began his introduction.
He turned on his heel and looked lilke he was about to do a proper introduction when he said, "I don't need to introduce myself, everyone knows who I am 'cuz I'm awesome!"
Iruka nearly face-faulted and was about to scold Naruto for his disruptions when the words of another teacher filled his head, 'Naruto's just trouble, like a fly. If you let him get to you you'll never get rid of him. But if you ignore him long enough he'll just go away. Then just worry about everyone else.' Iruka sighed and pointed to the seats. "That's fine, just go sit down."
Naruto's grin dropped when he saw the cold look in Iruka's eyes. He put his hands in his pockets as he walked to his desk, sitting down with a huff as he looked out the window. 'I really thought this guy'd be different.'
Iruka looked at Naruto with an expression mixed with frustration and confusion before returning to the rest of the introductions.
To Naruto's dismay Iruka remained that way for several more weeks. One particular moment for this stuck out in Naruto's memory.
Naruto had managed to mostly avoid Sasuke for a long time, until it came time for taijutsu sparring under Iruka.
"Naruto Uzumaki versus Sasuke Uchiha!" Iruka called.
Naturally the girls of the class cheered as Sasuke entered the ring, either ignoring or booing Naruto.
Sasuke looked at Naruto dismissively, Naruto at Sasuke annoyed.
"And here I thought I'd be able to evade the loser throughout the academy. No such luck I guess," Sasuke sneered confidently.
Naruto just huffed. "Don't think this is a treat for me either, jerk."
Naruto groaned as it seemed "jerk" was the keyword to set the mob of preteen girls on the kill as they began shouting crudely at them. Naruto had learned to ignore them.
Sasuke couldn't stand them, he found them greatly annoying.
Iruka looked between both boys and then nodded. "Now, do the Sign of Confrontation."
Both boys responded, annoyed as they were, and formed the half-hitsuji signs.
"Now, begin!"
Sasuke charged in immediately.
Naruto almost sweat-dropped. 'Seriously? He's just using a basic charging punch. Well, I can't kick his sorry ass, heh, but that doesn't mean I can't have a little fun.'
Sasuke neared Naruto and swung, Naruto ducking under the punch to dodge it. Sasuke sneered and spun with a backhand, Naruto jumping back to avoid it.
Iruka raised an eyebrow in confusion. 'That's odd. Naruto's always so energetic and confrontational to the other students, but in this spar he's just dodging. Actually…he seems to always do a lot of dodging, as if he doesn't want to get into an actual fight.' Iruka narrowed his eyes in thought as the spar continued.
Sasuke flung his arm forward in a weak and flimsy attempt to hit Naruto, before stopping to pant as sweat poured down his brow.
Naruto just grinned playfully. "Aww, ya tired?"
Sasuke snarled and then seemed to get a burst of energy, turning and charging at Naruto.
"Wh-what the…?!" Naruto shouted, honestly surprised before he suddenly found himself on his back, Sasuke above him poised to strike. It was then that Naruto noticed something he hadn't before. Sasuke's eyes, or more specifically, the look in them. They had almost the same look as the villagers, a cold, empty glare. But Naruto could instantly tell they were different, unlike the villagers, Sasuke wasn't glaring at him, he was glaring at something else, someone else. And then, he began to put more of the pieces together. After the two stood up, Naruto frowned in thought. 'So…that's what it is…' Naruto just sighed as Iruka announced Sasuke as the winner. Naturally the girls in the class, most of them, cheered happily for the Uchiha heir's victory.
"Now," Iruka began. "The Sign of Reconciliation."
Naruto nodded, Sasuke didn't react. Naruto stuck out his hand, a half-sign formed, and extended it to Sasuke.
Sasuke reached forward but then stopped short and slapped Naruto's hand away. "I have nothing to reconcile with you."
Iruka groaned and was about to scold Sasuke for his words, but then glanced at Naruto and sighed. "Fine, just leave the field."
Naruto flinched. He hadn't expected that. Most teachers at least scolded the other students for not performing the Sign of Reconciliation with him, though it was so they didn't do it to other students, without any specific punishment about it being Naruto. But Iruka hadn't even done that much. Naruto was starting to wonder if Iruka was possibly even worse than the other teachers. Naruto clenched his fists and then returned to the group of students, off to the side as normal, and then just slumped over.
"Naruto."
The blonde flinched momentarily upon hearing the voice. He looked up to see Iruka next to him. Naruto frowned in suspicion. "What?" he asked gruffly.
Iruka groaned as he looked at the boy's annoyed face. He attempted to find the words he wanted to say, but after a moment's hesitation he just sighed. "Nevermind, just…better luck next time I suppose."
Naruto raised an eyebrow confused. 'Really? That's the whole reason he came over here?'
'No you halfwit. There was obviously another reason. I assume he wanted to say something to you, but I guess he's like everyone else.'
Naruto frowned. 'Meaning he sees you every time he looks at me. What a pain in the ass. You know, I'm really getting fed up with this crap.'
'It'd be a simple thing to just grab your stuff and vacate the village.'
'Yeah…' Naruto moaned in response as he slapped his goggled head against the fence. He then ran a hand through his hair in frustration. 'I couldn't do that! I've got Pops' legacy to hold up! Plus…I don't actually hate this village…'
'What?!' Kurama asked in almost a sardonic laugh. 'I've seen firsthand how forgiving you can be, but you really mean to tell me that after everything that's happened to you because of these mongrels you still don't bear any resentment towards them?'
Naruto put his hands behind his head and stared up at the clouds in thought. '…Nope. Instead of hating them, I just want even harder to prove them wrong.'
'Haah, you are an interesting one. I keep getting surprised by you.'
'Mom didn't run off did she?'
'Well…that's…bah, shaddup! That's totally different!'
Naruto smirked victoriously. 'Oh? And how's that?'
'She had that bleeding heart father of yours with her all along the way.'
Naruto frowned in thought. 'Really? You mean, they were together that long?'
'Yeah. After those Hidden Cloud nimrods tried to kidnap her to control me, which wouldn't have worked had they succeeded because I would've just eaten them, Minato tracked her all throughout the forests on the edge of the Leaf Village and singlehandedly throttled those ninja and rescued Kushina. If I wasn't just apathetic to all human endeavor it woulda brought a tear to my eye.'
Naruto looked down in thought. 'Oh…I see.'
'Somethin' wrong? You sound despondent. I didn't drudge up feelings about them did I?'
Naruto shook his head. 'No…that's not it. Whatever, it's not important.'
"Yo, you like watchin' the clouds too, huh?"
Naruto turned in subdued surprise to see his class' resident genius, and resident sloth, sitting next to him, staring up at the clouds. "Uhm…you are…Shikamaru…right?"
Shikamaru turned with a smirk. "Yup, you remembered."
Naruto just grinned. "'Course! I always remember the people I make friends with!"
Shikamaru blinked in thought. "Right…I wouldn't really call what we had a friendship, more like we talked to each other."
"Does it really matter?"
"Hmm, guess not. Long as I get to watch the clouds I really don't care."
Naruto grinned in response as he turned his gaze skyward. "Yup, we can agree there."
Shikamaru sighed. "You know, you blondes are a real drag, you're always so energetic."
Naruto chuckled. "It's what we do. This blonde hair acts as one big sun battery."
Shikamaru sweat-dropped. "Uhmm…o-kay. I'm not even going to pretend I know what that means."
"Oy! Shikamaru!" Choji shouted as he ran over. "Oh, uhm…you're…Fishcake, right?"
"Naruto!" Naruto responded indignantly. "It means Maelstrom! Not Fishcake, dammit!"
Choji totally ignored him. "Mmm…fishcakes…"
Naruto just twitched an eyebrow in exacerbation. "I…give up."
Iruka turned his head somewhat as he observed Naruto interacting with the other students. He narrowed his eyes in thought and then redirected his attention back to the students in front of him. "Hey! Careful with those punches, don't aim for the head!"
After finishing up the classes for the day, Naruto left the school with everyone else.
However, as soon as he was far enough away from the others he let his constant grin drop. To anyone seeing him the change would've been jarring. His smile dropped into an emotionless frown, his face became shadowed by his bangs and his eyes almost seemed to glaze over as he began his walk home.
He looked around the village as he wandered slowly, mostly ignoring the villagers. He normally would've just sped home but that day he had to buy a few things. He had a system to this as a result. His system being he wander to the section of the village where the stores he wanted were housed, and then subtly try to scope out which ones were the best to buy from. The reason being he had to be in a transformed state to buy anything worthwhile, and he didn't want to waste time looking around while disguised since he did have a certain time limit for his transformations. An unfortunate result of his massive reserves.
Unknown to him, he had a casual observer to his actions.
Iruka Umino sat on a roof nearby, observing Naruto as he wandered through the streets. Reason being that he had pushed past his hatred of Naruto and into curiosity. As he observed the blonde, he began to notice odd habits in his movements. Pacing up and down the same streets over and over, taking a paused momentarily, seeming to just stand randomly, before moving on again. It wasn't until he saw Naruto duck into an alley, Transform, and then move out to a store and purchase food that everything seemed to come together. And not in a particularly good way either.
Naruto wasn't just wandering, he was examining. Just like a shinobi trying to break into a building or facility, he was looking for the best place to go, biding his time and examining all options, before making his move. 'All that…for a few pieces of fruit and a carton of milk?' Iruka's somber thoughts continued as he watched Naruto move to the red-light district. With a sigh he mumbled, "I see. So…the whole village hates him, meaning he has to go through all that effort just to buy food." He then paused and looked up at the Hokage Monument. "Is it possible that we are…wrong? All Naruto does is joke around in class and perform mischief…but…it always seems to make everyone else happy. When I announce a big test that makes everyone worried, Naruto does something stupid to get everyone laughing. When it's time for everyone to perform basic benchmark tests, he screws up in a laughably insane way. It's…it's just like…just like me…"
Iruka's thoughts then moved back to when he was in the Leaf Academy. Only a few short months after Kurama destroyed the village, killing Iruka's parents in the process. He had been essentially abandoned by the rest of the village, since they were all concerned with their own children. He was the one who received no praise for completing his exams, simply because there was no one there to praise him. He quickly learned he received nothing for doing well. So he acted out, playing a fool and becoming class clown to get attention.
Iruka laughed regretfully before slapping his head against a wall lightly. "Of course…that's it. Naruto's not acting out like that because he's a monster or anything. It's because he's lonely. And that's the only way he gets anything from anyone. I've heard from the other teachers how they view him when he does well…and here I go doing the same damn things…"
"I see you've finally realized, Iruka, why I selected you to be Naruto's teacher."
Iruka froze and turned to see Hiruzen behind him. Iruka immediately turned and kneeled. "Lord Hokage!"
Hiruzen waved a hand. "No need for such honorifics right now, Iruka. I came here only as a civil visit, not an official one."
"Oh, I see…" Iruka said with a small, guilty frown.
Hiruzen nodded. "As I said before, it seems you've finally realized why I selected you for Naruto's tutelage in the first place."
Iruka blinked in curiosity. "Ah, forgive me Sir, but…I don't follow."
"Right, well, Naruto has, mostly, had a life of being alone like yourself, which is part of the reason I selected you. Another, is that his acting out is for a slightly similar reason to your own, to get some form of attention from his peers and to give raised spirits to the others. There are also certain events that have transpired that make me feel he is in need of a friend or two, which is sadly something he is currently lacking."
Iruka looked down ashamed. "I see that now, Lord Hokage. I apologize for not realizing that sooner. I still treated Naruto the same as everyone else. And yet, I saw that he is hardly the monster everyone, even myself, believes him to be, often getting himself into bad situations just to cheer up a few classmates. And then to see him have to treat buying groceries like an A-rank mission, it almost makes me feel disgusted."
Hiruzen chuckled warmly. "I'm glad you did see it though, Iruka. Although, at this point, I'm not the one you need to be apologizing to."
Iruka nodded assuredly. "Right…I'll try to speak to him soon."
"Good." With that Hiruzen disappeared in a burst of smoke.
The next day, Iruka decided to talk to Naruto after the sparring session for the day.
That was the plan anyway, but the day didn't go quite as planned.
A new student was added to the class a few days prior, Yakumo Kurama, a girl from a clan with impressively powerful genjutsu abilities.
Put simply, her clan hoped that putting her in a social setting would quell her powers somehow.
Naruto was more than aware that was a foolish gamble, since the students began to bully her. Mainly because it was only the academic areas where she had any success, all other areas of learning she was very poor at. So the others picked on her for it.
Of course, Naruto being Naruto would always do something stupid whenever it started getting nasty to pull their attention away.
It wasn't until this specific day that matters became rough.
That's because the girl hadn't shown up for class and her parents stirred up a storm, meaning Iruka had to cut classes short for the day to look for her.
Naruto was quite happy with that. Despite being more skilled and more powerful than the other students, atop being smarter, Naruto was still a kid, and kids naturally didn't like school, and he was no exception. His reasons were just greater than most.
Iruka was continuing to search around the village for Yakumo when he noticed something out of the ordinary.
A small group of travelling merchants with a cart and a single bag.
Iruka narrowed his eyes and jumped down in front of the merchants.
They naturally were frightened.
"W-what do you want?!" one shouted worried.
Iruka nodded and looked at them. "We're in a crisis situation right now, I'll need to search that cart."
He easily noticed the head of the group gulp nervously. "W-well…we're uh…in a real hurry. We've ah…got a…newww, station, to get to so we don't really have time to stop."
Iruka narrowed his eyes. "I assure you, this will only take a moment."
The man nodded uneasily as Iruka walked around the cart. He reached out for the bag and was about to investigate it specifically when the head of the merchant group threw down a smoke bomb, blinding Iruka.
"Dammit! What the…!?" he shouted and looked around. He grit his teeth when he realized that the merchants were gone and so was the bag. "Crap…" He Teleported to another area of the village to investigate.
Naruto was on the edge of the Leaf Village's largest forest, about to start training again after a very long hiatus.
'Hold on.'
'Huh? What is it?'
'Before you start, I need you do something.'
'Uhm…okay…'
'You haven't activated it in a long time, so turn on your Sharingan.'
Naruto raised a puzzled eyebrow. 'What for?'
'Just do it.'
'Yeesh, alright.' He activated his Sharingan, and noticed nothing out of the ordinary. 'Okay, so what am I supposed to do now?'
'Flow more chakra into your Sharingan.'
'Why?'
'Just do as I say.'
Naruto sighed and did so. For a few seconds he didn't notice anything but then felt his vision sharpen to an even greater extent than normal. 'W-what is…this?'
'Look into the stream over there.'
Naruto nodded and walked over to the stream and looked in. That's when he saw the new shape his Sharingan had taken. He gasped momentarily, surprised at what he was seeing.
'I remember this from being alongside your bastard of a grandfather, what you've got now is the next evolution of the Sharingan, the Mangekyo Sharingan,' Kurama explained plainly.
Naruto looked into his reflection slightly puzzled before a big grin split his face. 'This is so cool! What's it do?! What's it do?!'
'Calm down, calm down. I'll try to explain its abilities as simply as possible. I'm assuming for now you've only got access to the Mangekyo's simplest technique, advanced genjutsu.'
'Simplest, you mean it has other powers?'
Kurama nodded, even though Naruto couldn't see it. 'Yes. Aside from that it can cast an incredibly powerful genjutsu called Tsukuyomi. Unfortunately I can't say much about it since my only experience with it is Madara and that other Uchiha putting me under the genjutsu.'
Naruto raised an eyebrow. 'Other Uchiha?'
'Not important. It also has an ability called Amaterasu. That's a nasty one, as well as Kamui and Susano'o.'
Naruto blinked in confusion. 'That's…a lot.'
'That's what makes that damn thing so powerful. For now all you can do I assume is Tsukuyomi.'
Naruto folded his arms in thought as he looked down at the water's surface. 'How do I practice it?'
'I know of two options: you can either cast it on someone…'
Naruto interrupted, 'That's not happening.'
'Or,' Kurama said annoyed, 'you can cast it on a Shadow Clone to train it.'
'So, do I control the genjutsu or does it just happen?'
'For now it will probably be random, since there aren't specific signs used like for normal genjutsu.'
Naruto nodded and created a Shadow Clone, and then activated his Mangekyo.
'Before you start, Tsukuyomi is cast with the left Mangekyo, so closing your right eye might help.'
Naruto nodded again and closed his right eye, and then looked at the clone. Nothing happened. He then got an idea. One thing he had learned while practicing basic genjutsu with the Sharingan is that using a half-sign helped to complete the jutsu. He also wondered if saying the technique's name wouldn't hurt. So, nodding to himself, he closed his right eye, widened his left, looked at his clone, formed a half hitsuji sign, and declared, "Tsukuyomi!"
Nothing happened for a moment before his clone fell over in a heap before dispelling.
Naruto was about to learn that casting such a powerful genjutsu on a Shadow Clone, which transfers its memories and experiences to the user, was a very bad idea.
He learned this as, right after the clone dispelled, he suddenly felt a sickening feeling in his stomach before his perception darkened. He turned around slowly and almost screamed as something, he couldn't tell what, appeared as a massive, shadowed creature behind him before swiping its large, clawed hand at him.
"Gah!" Naruto shouted as the illusion ended. He looked around frantically. "W-…what the hell was that?!"
'Huh, I guess casting Tsukuyomi on your own clone is like casting it on yourself. You probably shouldn't do that again.'
'Ya think!?' Naruto shouted in his mind. Before chuckling. 'Although, if I do need to use it I might want to try and make that the illusion I use.' He then winced as he felt a sudden and intense pain in his left eye, dropping to his knees. "W-what is this?!" He snapped his left eye shut as he saw with his right as several drops of blood fell to the ground. Grunting he managed to stand up and walk over to the stream. He almost gasped when he looked at his reflection. Blood was streaming from his eye like tears. Thinking it was another accidental illusion he tried to dispel it to no avail. So using his sleeve he wiped the blood away.
' K-…Kurama…why did…that happen?' he asked the fox apprehensively.
Kurama hummed in thought. 'My guess is the strain.'
'The strain?'
'Yes. Even though it didn't affect him all that much I remember Madara using Tsukuyomi and that it put a large amount of strain on his body. Of course being what he was it had little outward effect on him but it was there. I'm guessing the strain it takes on your chakra and your body caused that side effect. I'd recommend getting a little more proficient with that jutsu before you go hog wild in combat.'
Naruto sighed as slumped to the ground. 'Riigghht. Only problem is I don't know how to get more proficient outside of combat.' He frowned before tossing a stone into the stream. 'If Itachi-sensei were here I'd be able to train with him,' Naruto pouted.
Kurama just sighed. 'Well he's not. And moping about it won't get us anywhere.'
'But it's not fair! I finally get one person in this village that respects me and they have to leave. Same thing with Hanari, she died because of me. It's like everyone I make friends with goes away.'
Kurama sighed again, this time regretfully rather than annoyed.
Naruto then found himself sitting in front of Kurama's cage.
Kurama was looking at him curiously. "Is that why you're avoiding Hinata?"
Naruto widened his eyes in shock before tightening up the ball he'd curled himself into. He then nodded slowly. "Yeah…I don't want her to leave. At least…if I stay away from her she'll stay in the village. Even Sasuke's lost it after we became friends."
Kurama frowned as he looked at Naruto. "I see…well, do you plan on just slumping around like that?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow and then looked at Kurama frustrated. "What do you suggest I do then?" he asked roughly.
"I certainly don't suggest sitting on your ass feeling sorry for yourself."
Naruto groaned as he tightened in on himself as a snarl took his features. "I…don't know what I'm supposed to do…how the hell can I become Hokage if everyone I care about just goes away?!"
Kurama narrowed his eyes. "You want to know what I think part of this problem is?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "What…?"
"You're just scared."
"Of course I am!"
"You shouldn't be. You have me at your side, begrudgingly so but it is what it is. As you said yourself before, my existence may be involved with what's happened to you, but I am not the cause of it, the way people foolishly react is. So instead of sitting around whining and complaining, get out there and do something to prove them wrong, that's what you set out to do, isn't?!"
Naruto just listened to Kurama's words before nodding. "Yeah…you're right…it is. But what if-"
"Don't."
Naruto looked up at Kurama surprised by his swift interruption.
"When you protect someone, don't let them die. Or, when you defend yourself, don't get cut, and when you attack someone, you kill them."
Naruto was sucked into Kurama's words. "Where did you…?"
"From Old Man Six Paths."
"Old Man…" Naruto thought about his words for a moment. "You mean, the Sage of Six Paths!?"
"The same."
"How are you-?!"
"Not yet. I've already told you far more than any other human before you. I'll tell you this, those are some of the words he spoke to me while I was young. So take those words, and use them. If you can do that then maybe all your boasting won't just be a lot of hot air."
Naruto just smirked and was about to speak when he noticed a commotion back in the real world.
Naruto awoke and looked around to see a small group of ninjas heading towards the edge of the village. His Mangekyo Sharingan still active he was able to keenly see a sack one of them had on him, with a person inside. "Okay, that can't be good." Naruto immediately jumped to his feet and was about to take off after them, before Kurama's words entered his mind again. He smirked and then jumped towards the group.
Iruka was busy pursuing the group of "merchants" he had encountered. It was obvious to him at that point that they were not merchants. He didn't know if they were involved in Yakumo's disappearance but it was looking more and more likely.
He continued chasing after them before getting a glimpse of the two ninja just ahead of him. He reached into his pocket and prepared to launch several kunai at the group when something caught his eye.
Naruto jumped up the tree trunks and then lunged after the group. "Hey, why don't you three drop the girl, huh?"
"What the…?!" they shouted seeing Naruto behind them.
The leader just grunted as he turned. "Tch, it's just some damn brat. Kagubo, deal with him."
"Right," the other ninja responded. He lunged at Naruto with a kunai in hand.
Naruto ducked under the lunge and kicked the man's shoulder, sending him crashing onto a nearby branch.
The man snarled as he turned and flashed through several hand signs.
"Crap," Naruto snarled, not having his Sharingan active, making the man's gestures nearly invisible to him.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" The man then launched a ball of fire at Naruto.
The blonde managed to dodge to the side, but realized his mistake.
The fireball was only a distraction, the man had run up matching its speed and had predicted which side Naruto would dodge to.
Naruto paid for his folly with a knee to the gut, sending him slamming against a tree. Naruto grunted as the pain coursed through his body.
"Annoying little brat," the man sneered as he approached Naruto with a kunai drawn.
Naruto held his injured abdomen and realized it was bleeding. 'W-what the hell?!' He then looked and saw the hidden blade on the man's knee.
"Time for you to die, little brat." The man pulled his kunai wide, ready to slash Naruto's throat.
"Shadow Kunai Jutsu!"
Both Naruto and the man turned as a hailstorm of kunai slammed into him from the side, killing him almost instantly.
Unfortunately he had Naruto by the throat, meaning Naruto was flung to the side as well, and hadn't had time to react to the plummet. 'Oh no!' He snapped his eyes shut, waiting for the pain of impacting the ground. He felt an impact alright, but it wasn't a rough impact, it was more like he was caught.
"So, you alright?"
Naruto eased his eyes open and saw Iruka had caught him. The shock of being held by a man caused Naruto to squirm until he fell onto the branch Iruka was standing on.
"Oww…" Naruto moaned.
Iruka chuckled. "I'd say you're doing alright."
Naruto sat up and looked at Iruka incredulously. "Why?"
"Why what?" Iruka asked, though a knowing smirk on his face.
"Why did you save me? Don't you hate me like everyone else?" Naruto asked, honestly perplexed.
"Yes, at first."
Naruto looked at Iruka angrily.
"But not now."
Naruto froze in confusion and surprise.
"Now, I've learned a little more about you, and it's obvious you're not some monster. You're just…one of my students." Iruka smiled warmly at Naruto.
Naruto could only look on in surprise. He smiled as well and nodded, allowing Iruka to pull him to a standing posture. He then flinched as he remember the other ninja. "Hey, those other guys, they-!"
Iruka interrupted him with a cold glare and tone, this time aimed at the retreating ninja, "I know…go and alert the Hokage. I'll deal with them, Naruto."
Naruto widened his eyes momentarily before grinning. "You got it, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto turned and ran off towards the village as Iruka went the other direction.
Fortunately, Iruka had managed to find Yakumo with the foreign ninja, it seemed she had at some point woken up during their travel and her genjutsu abilities activated unconsciously, unintentionally killing the two ninja. Hiruzen was told of this and decided that since she had now unlocked her powerful abilities, normal schooling wouldn't suffice, so Hiruzen had it arranged for Yakumo to be taught by a specialist in the genjutsu field.
As for Naruto and Iruka, after Iruka met with Naruto afterwards and apologized all over himself for being such a fool Naruto forgave Iruka easily, he wasn't one to bear a grudge. Iruka then took to making sure Naruto was no longer hindered by the other teachers involved with Naruto's schooling.
He would dispel the genjutsus placed on Naruto's tests and would step in to correct any of the other teachers misguiding Naruto on his skills.
Of course Naruto still needed to maintain his veil of idiocy, meaning even with Iruka's help Naruto seemed to only improve at a slightly faster rate. However, instead of coldly ignoring Naruto like before, Iruka was making sure to dole out the full and proper amounts of shouting and scolding to the blonde for his screw-ups.
Naruto never thought he'd actually be pleased to get reprimanded.
Iruka even began treating Naruto to meals at Ichiraku's, after tracking Naruto down to the little restaurant on a few days he skipped classes.
Naruto and Iruka became fast friends after that, although Naruto had quickly lost touch with both Sasuke and Hinata.
Naruto could say plainly even without his eyes how hateful Sasuke was becoming, and Naruto just began to dislike his ex-teacher's little brother.
Hinata, however, was an entirely different issue.
Naruto began to notice her stalking on him increased more and more as she continued to tail him at almost all times.
He also began to notice something troubling, she was beginning to do poorly in the academy classes. Her scores in everything but the mental skills were decreasing. Her confidence also seemed to be shrinking.
Naruto soon realized it was because he kept ignoring her.
Naruto sat on a swing attached to a large tree on the edge of the academy grounds. He looked up at the sky in thought. 'Damn…so all I've been doing is making things worse?'
'Even I coulda told you that,' Kurama added snidely.
'Not. Helping.'
'Whatever…point is, ignoring someone like you have, especially someone who's so gaga over you like that is-'
Naruto suddenly interrupted his tenant. 'What're you talking about?'
'What do you…? Wait. You mean you haven't noticed?'
'Noticed? Noticed what? I'd hardly say Hinata's gaga about me, or whatever you said.'
'YOU DENSE IDIOT!'
Naruto was almost floored by the loudness of Kurama's shout. 'What the hell was that for?!'
'Because you blind little fool, Hinata has done everything but say it!'
Naruto twitched an eyebrow in frustration. 'Please, to me I'm a brother at best.'
Kurama was almost speechless. 'I…I knew you were dense, but…this dense? If Hinata was making it anymore obvious she'd be carrying a sign around. You can't honestly tell me you don't see that.'
Naruto rubbed his chin in thought. 'Huh…I guess you do kinda have a point. It would explain the stalking and all.'
'WHY DID YOU THINK SHE DID THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE!?'
'I…I dunno. I just kinda thought…well I didn't really think about it.'
'Uuuggghhh…obviously. Whatever, even though I know you did what you did because of that irrational fear of yours, Hinata doesn't. To her, you were basically rejecting her.'
Naruto paled. 'N-no…I…I couldn't have.'
Kurama gave a confused grunt. 'So…it worries you that much, eh?'
Naruto hung his head. 'Yeah…I never thought that I'd be hurting her so much.'
'Well, if the look she always gives you is any indication, an apology might sew things up. Though I suggest making it soon before she falls too far.'
Naruto stood up with a nod. 'Hey Kurama…is there a way I can try to sense her?'
Kurama thought for a moment. 'Perhaps. Try pulsing a large amount of chakra, one that's big enough to cover the whole village. Then try to distinguish her chakra signature from all the rest. If you can do that then finding her will be easy.'
Naruto nodded as he put his hands in the hitsuji sign and stored a mass amount of chakra before pulsing it all outward. He concentrated on each return pulse that came back. Distinguishing each one from the other turned out to be a little harder than he thought. A lot of them came back at the same time so often Naruto had a hard time breaking them up.
He had to perform the same act over and over several times before he finally found hers.
He snapped his eyes open and, without giving consideration to where he was, despite not being watched anyway, used the Teleportation Jutsu and disappeared in a burst of smoke.
Hinata was not feeling well. She had just finished getting heavily scolded by Hiashi. The reason being her grades. Mentally she was doing just above average for her grade. However, all other areas, those that are typically necessary for a shinobi, primarily physical, she was doing poorly in. She had also started sparring with her younger sister Hanabi, and was being beaten to a pulp in each bout.
Plus, Naruto had been ignoring her. For a long time Naruto was avoiding her. Looking away when she turned her gaze to him, turning around when she was getting near to him, or suddenly getting busy when she tried to talk to him. And each time he did that felt like an arrow to her. She tried to keep herself assuming it was just him actually being busy or something simple along those lines, but she couldn't prevent her mind from falling to the worst possible conclusions each time she thought about it.
So, in an attempt to push out all of those thoughts, she was busy training herself to the bone so she had no time to think.
That was what she was originally doing anyway.
She had slipped away from her guard Ko so she could train in peace, and found herself physically exhausted far faster than normal.
Which turned out to be a big problem.
The reason being it turned out that there were more than a few people in the village who were dissatisfied with the Hyuga. Multiple smaller clans throughout the village who were rather insulted by the Hyugas' general demeanor and responses to the other clans.
A few of those clansmen, all of whom were adults, decided the best way to knock the clan off their high horse would be to take out or humiliate the clan heir, less than a year after their matriarch died.
Four people from smaller clans showed up in the training ground Hinata was in.
She looked to the side and saw them approach. She gasped before attempting to stand weakly.
"Well, well, look at this, the pitiful little Hyuga heir, all by herself in the middle of nowhere," one of the men sneered.
"It would be a real shame if anything…bad happened to her," another snarled.
Hinata stood shakily and brought up a hand sign. "Byakugan!" she announced, her Byakugan flaring to life.
"Heh, heh, lookie here, she's gonna try and fight us. Little brat!" the first man shouted, swinging his knee around at her, sending her across the field.
Hinata tried weakly to stand up as the men approached. With her Byakugan active she saw one of them pulling out what was obviously a kunai. She grit her teeth as she attempted to stand again.
'Oy, Kit.'
'What?' Naruto asked as he sped along the rooftops.
'I suggest you get movin'. I don't know who but there are several people gathering around Hinata. And something tells me it ain't a cordial visit.'
Naruto snarled. 'Shit! I need more speed then.' His eyes widened as he remembered. Raising a half-sign, he announced, "Release!" His seals flashed as air seemed to rush out from his body. He then vanished again, but this time before the smoke even launched.
Hinata was lying against a tree, hurt from a blunt hit to the head.
The fourth man, who had looked uneasy from the beginning, was now quaking. "C-c-c'mon guys, I think we'd better stop there. No one cares if we smash that demon brat, but if we go too far with her, well…we'll probably be killed."
"Che, who cares?" the first man snorted. "No one could prove it was us, we'd just tell'em the shit demon did it. The people'd love nothing more than a legitimate reason to axe that little cretin. Of course…" he paused menacingly as he tightened his grip on his kunai, flipping it to stab, "that'd require the little brat to be dead first."
The other men gulped but then the fourth one, who had yet to speak, nodded weakly. "Yeah…plus, if we take her out it'd cripple the Hyuga. And then maybe we'd actually get some of the rights we deserve."
The first men nodded as he raised his kunai.
Naruto approached and saw them getting ready to strike.
"Nnooo!" he shouted as he ran towards the four men and Hinata. However, as he was about to reach them, his desire to protect Hinata caused something he had never expected to happen. His outstretched arm, in such a position out of futility, began to feel warm before his sleeve began to shift. Suddenly, three chains made of pure chakra burst from his sleeve and launched at the would-be assassins.
The man with the kunai ducked, but the other three were struck across the torso by the chakra chains, getting sent flying back with large, shallow, gashes across their torsos.
Naruto ran over, grabbed up Hinata in his arms and jumped away from the man, his chains suddenly dissipating.
As he landed nearby, his back turned to the man, he slowly turned his head towards the man, Hinata still in his arms.
The man nearly screamed at the intense, dead-eyed glare Naruto was sending at him, his eyes being partially shadowed by his bangs.
The man seemed to collect himself long enough to assume a fighting stance and stare Naruto down, though he still sweat as he did. "You little brat! You can't scare me!"
Naruto set Hinata down and closed his eyes. Before turning to the man and snapping his eyes open, his Mangekyo Sharingan activated.
Of course, he was too far away for the man to make that out, but he was close enough for Naruto to make eye contact.
Naruto then formed a half-sign and said calmly, "Tsukuyomi."
The man felt a small twitch in his torso before he saw the shadows at Naruto's feet begin to distort, almost spinning and writhing. Then, they extended out behind him some, before a hunk of the shadows rose up in an indistinct form.
As it did, the figure began to darken more and more, its shape becoming more distinct as Naruto's body was enveloped in a thick red mist.
The figure took on a humanoid torso, a long, animal-like head with long ears shaping, nine long protrusions forming behind it like tails, swaying back and forth. Then its body was enveloped in a red cloak, flowing and pulsating like tissue, before two large, round, white eyes opened slowly to look at the man.
He stumbled backwards, falling to his knees as he attempted to scoot backwards. He found himself against a tree, unable to move further as sweat and tears poured from him.
The creature opened its mouth slowly, releasing a deep, guttural growl, a red mist escaping its mouth before it reached up a clawed hand that then extended like a tendril and shot for the man.
"I-i-i-it…can't be! It's…it's…the Nine-Tails!" he shouted before the claw stabbed him through the torso.
Naruto stood stoically looking at the man, who stood dumbly in front of him, frozen stock still in pure fear, before wetting himself and toppling over.
Naruto sighed heavily and then seemed to get knocked out of his daze and turned around to face Hinata.
She was lying on the ground where he had placed her, still unconscious. He knelt down slowly and picked her up gently, lightly shaking her. "Hey, Hinata. Hinata."
"Mm…" she moaned sleepily and weakly before her eyes slowly opened. As she cracked her eyes open she saw what she thought was Naruto sitting over her. She thought it couldn't be before her vision corrected and she realized it in fact was Naruto. She smiled to herself slightly before suddenly realizing, Naruto was only a few inches from her face. Which immediately turned a dark tomato red, almost luminescent, as she pushed Naruto away frightened.
"Whoa!" Naruto exclaimed as he fell over.
"N-Naruto!" Hinata said worried.
Naruto sat up slowly and rubbed the back of his head embarrassed. "I'm okay." His expression then fell when he looked at Hinata. "But what about you?"
Hinata looked at herself and realized how beaten up she'd gotten. She shook her head slowly. "No, I'm fine."
"Thank the Sage," Naruto breathed out in relief.
Hinata raised an eyebrow. "You were worried?"
Naruto smiled at her apologetically. "Of course. I've actually been trying to find you."
Hinata turned red at those words. "Y-you were?"
Naruto nodded and then immediately bent his head down. "I'm sorry!"
Hinata looked at him surprised and confused. "W-w-what for?"
Naruto looked at her mirthlessly. "I'm sure you felt bad with my avoiding you all this time."
Hinata brought a hand to her chin and nodded weakly. "It's…it's okay. You just…wanted space…right?"
Naruto shook his head forcefully. "No! That's not it at all! I was just…worried…"
Hinata tilted her head puzzled. "What do you mean?"
Naruto tightened his fists greatly as he was about to explain it to her. "Well…" he began, biting his lip in frustration, "it's because…I was scared. I didn't want you to go."
Hinata froze completely. She'd never expected him to say that. Her face immediately turned bright red. "You…didn't want me to go?"
Naruto nodded with a weak smile. "Yeah…Itachi-sensei…Hanari…they're both people I cared about and now they're both gone. I thought…maybe if I stayed away from you, you wouldn't go anywhere."
Hinata's eyes widened as he continued.
He looked back at her weakly. "But…looks like I've just been a jerk huh?"
Hinata shook her head with a small smile. "No, that's…actually nice. But…don't…d-do t-…that anymore, okay?"
Naruto smiled at her and nodded. "You got it. If you're not too mad, we can still hang out and train, right?"
Hinata nodded silently with a smile.
Naruto lit up with a bright grin. "Yay! Thanks Hinata, y'know!" He immediately leapt forward and hugged the shy Hyuga.
Of course the sudden contact from him after so long overloaded her brain a little and steam almost shot out from her ears as she passed out.
"What?! Hinata! Hinata! Ohh not again!"
Naruto apologized all over himself some more after that.
Eventually he seemed to apologize enough to satisfy himself, at which point he and Hinata began training together again. Secretly of course.
Hiashi made no effort to hide his hatred for the blonde.
Naruto was not bothered by that but Hinata feared Hiashi's wrath and thus suggested they try to keep their actions secret.
Which worked until a few weeks into their training sessions they were discovered by Ko.
Naruto was naturally worried of having to do something rash but was surprised when Ko's reaction was not anger but relief. He was merely content that Hinata seemed to be happier again, since she had not been after Hanari's death.
Ko agreed not to reveal anything to Hiashi as long as Naruto made sure to help keep Hinata in high spirits.
Naruto accepted naturally.
After that time seemed to pass by for the duo at a fast pace.
Naruto and Hinata kept up their training meetings during the next three years of the academy.
Naruto and Sasuke's bitter relationship continued and eventually formed into mutual loathing.
Eventually the two seemed to forget each other's existence as Naruto focused more and more on his studies at the academy, some of it actually being new, as well as training and having fun with Hinata.
Sasuke, however, focused all of his attention and energy on one thing, revenge against Itachi for slaughtering the clan that night. He also had to deal with the constant onslaught of fangirls.
The two most vocal being two specific girls.
One was a girl with fair skin, green eyes, and long pink hair who always wore red named Sakura Haruno.
The other was a girl with long, bleach blonde hair tied in a high ponytail and one bang draped over one side of her face with featureless blue eyes who always wore purple named Ino Yamanaka.
The two of them seemed to have been friends at one point but had become bitter rivals over trying to win Sasuke's attention.
Although Sasuke honestly did care about them at all as his only focus was his hatred.
Naruto and Hinata continued their training during the academy time, though Naruto continued to present himself as a slightly below average student, Hinata didn't hide her improved skills though.
Hinata eventually asked Naruto why he hid like that, not presenting himself as skilled and smart as he actually was.
He was not thrilled to explain the reason was because the people of the village were so biased against him any vast increases or displays of ability would make him seem like even more of a threat than they already view him as.
Hinata understood, she had seen multiple times how the village viewed him, and she felt it was not right. Although she respected Naruto's request not to reveal any of it to anyone.
After a short time, Naruto felt that their training ground was getting too destroyed by their training, which would result in many problems.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, someone came in with an idea.
"Wow, you guys sure are doing a number to this place, huh?" Anko asked as she overlooked the two guiltily crestfallen preteens.
Naruto sighed heavily. "Yeahh…" he muttered guiltily.
"Well, guess it can't be avoided. Once you get up to the point of things like Great Breakthrough you're gonna do some damage."
Naruto slumped his shoulders. "I thought you were tryin' to make me feel better…"
"Heh, heh, what gave you that silly idea?" Anko teased. "I do have a solution though."
Both looked at her curiously.
Anko motioned behind her grandly. "Here we are! Training Ground Forty-Four, otherwise known as…the Forest of Death."
Naruto and Hinata stood practically shaking.
"N-N-Narutooo…I'm scared…" Hinata moaned shakily.
Naruto made a weak thumbs up, his bones rattling with fear as he did. "I-i-it'll…be okay…"
Hinata and Naruto continued to tremble as they stared at the large, dark forest with the distinct sounds of roars and hisses coming out from the depths.
Anko just chuckled sneakily. "Alright, alright. Calm down you two. Just stick behind me, as long as you do that you'll be alright. There's an area in the forest the animals don't like to go to. I'll take you there. But you gotta stick close."
Both nodded swiftly and proceeded to follow Anko into the imposing forest.
Anko ran through the forest, just a little faster than she knew the duo could move, with said duo behind her.
Hinata and Naruto were jumping through the forest at high speeds chasing after the crazy snake woman. "Ankooo!" Naruto moaned loudly. "Slow down! We'll lose track of you at this rate!"
Anko turned back with a devious glint in her eyes. "Oh quit whinin', you'll be fine."
Naruto sighed and then, Anko vanished when a branch obstructed his view.
"AAAHHH!" the two shouted before slamming into two trees en synchronous.
"Hahahah!" Anko laughed as she appeared in a burst of smoke in a branch just above them. "Wow…you two even slam into trees the same way."
"Owww…" Naruto moaned as he rubbed his soar face. "Ah!" he turned swiftly and saw Hinata lying on the branch with swirls in her eyes.
"Naaruutoo…everything's…spinning…" Hinata moaned sleepily.
"Hinata! Hinata!" Naruto shouted as he shook her shoulders lightly.
Hinata came to and saw Naruto right above her. Like clockwork she immediately shrieked and pushed him away in surprise.
"Ouch," Naruto groaned as he sat up. Before standing up and shouting at Anko. "Anko! What's the big deal! We coulda died!"
"But ya didn't, and that's what matters."
Naruto looked at her with twitching eyebrows.
Anko then jumped down to the same branch as them and pointed to a nearby spot. "Alright you two, here we are."
Naruto and Hinata turned around and saw a clearing just below them that was almost completely devoid of animals.
Seeing the brightly lit area of the forest the three jumped down so Anko could begin explaining how to train in the new surroundings.
And that's a wrap. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Make sure to tell me what you thought about it and any other ideas in a review, or a PM if you have questions since I'll answer anything in PMs but will only answer things that can be answered without spoilers here.
