First of all, yes, it has been a magillion willion kazillion years since I've updated. But I'm still clogging away on this because I'm too addicted to these daaaaarn characters. :D
Secondly, the biggest thanks goes to my every loyal beta who saves me. It's kinda likeing shopping with my mother who always helpfully reminds me to shop for needs not greeds. I can be greedy with words I'd like to use, but they don't really make much sense, so Wings, you rock my socks you lifesaver you! And I have been thoroughly educated in the way of emdashes. :)
...
Tsunade had a headache and, to top it off, enough unfinished paper work to make a trail from here to Suna. She knew she shouldn't have left it thislong, but since Shizune was away on a special mission she didn't have anyone to pester her about how important it wasto do all her duties as the Hokage and how she probably shouldn't be drinking sake at ten in the morning even though it helps make things feel better.
The papers strewn across her desk had the marks of being thoroughly studied, coffee marks and dog-ears marring the edges. All of them sporting the seal that identified them as confidential —the kind of top secret that gets people killed for just thinking about it.
Among them was a scroll that was covered in seals that even Tsunade didn't recognize or know how to break. It was the scroll that Neji's team brought back a couple days ago, along with two dead Iwa-nin she had sent to Inoichi for some healthy brain-frying, and three that were still alive last time she checked. Granted she did leave them with Ibiki, so their status could safely be categorized in the unknown as of the moment they were in his custody. Not that she really cared in the first place. They'll get what's coming for attacking her ninja.
She tossed the difficult looking scroll to the other side of her desk because it only made her headache worse. She would have to make sure to hand that one straight onto Shikamaru when he got back from Suna. That brat will need something productive to do by then.
The idea of not having to hurt herself via code-breaking brought a small, triumphant smile to her face as she scanned her desk for anything else she might be able to palm off to some poor, unsuspecting sod. But the smile was gone as soon as it arrived when there was a series of sharp taps at the door. Tsunade sent a glower directed at the door handle and cursed whatever person stood on the other side; someone who no doubt wanted to create even more work for her.
"What?" She barked.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you Hokage-sama," was the cautious but unfazed voice, "I haven a report from bordersurveillance, as per your request."
Tsunade sighed and tried to make some sort of order of the mess on her desk. She braced her elbows on her desk and rested her chin on her fingers.
"Come in."
The door creaked open and was quickly shut again. Standing in front of her was Genma, for which Tsunade was glad of. At least Genma won't expect anything less if she were to accidently explode in a fit of anger due to her currently sour state.
She inclined her head in greeting and regarded him with a sharp gaze. "What news?" She asked,her voice devoid of the tiredness that the bags under her eyes betrayed anyway.
"The hostiles are on the move," Genma began in his normally lax manner, "Although we observe nothing worth being alarmed about. It seems they are gathering information at the moment and are content to lay low. The count is as before, no new recruits or support, but we remain cautious as they have proven themselves skilled in the art of disappearing without a trace." He pulled a senbon out of his pocket and started to chew on it thoughtfully before saying, "I think they're wary though, after what happened a few days ago with the last reconnaissance team you sent out."
Tsunade nodded. "And what of Naruto's team, by the way?"
"We have not encountered them."
"They have not moved from the western border. That's good."
"Would you like us to head to the western border and meet up with them?"
"No, I don't want our efforts at reconnaissance exposed just yet. And besides, he's faced the enemy before, he'll be fine." Tsunade sat thoughtful a moment, staring at the seals on the paper and running a hand through her hair before asking, "News from Intelligence?"
Genma nodded once before answering, "Inoichi sends word that he's got no headway on the first Iwa guy yet, he's busting down some pretty strong barriers. However he is confident he'll have something before the day is out."
"That's good. Tell him to report back to me by the end of the day. Have you heard from Ibiki concerning the other three in custody?"
"Nope."
Tsunade reached across her desk for the scroll she just earlier discarded and, picking it up, offered it to Genma who accepted it without word.
"Was there anything else?" sheasked, settling back into her chair comfortably.
Genma shook his head and said, "No, that is all."
"Then can you make sure to pass that scroll onto Shikaku on your way out? He'll know what it is. Tell him it's a little welcome home gift for his son and him to work on together. I want it back as soon as possible."
Genma inclined his head. "Oh, I'm sure he'll appreciate it."
"Thank you, Genma, you can go."
Genma bowed again as he started towards the door. As soon as it closed behind him Tsunade let out a sigh of relief. That wasn't as bad as she anticipated. A slaughter house was the last thing she needed to be dealing with, so to know that the rogue group had not made any further advancement was just one thing she could add to her trivial list of good things happening today.
She knew, though, that she would have to find a way to deal with this issue concerning Iwa soon. Depending on what Inoichi came up with, Tsunade might have no choice but to respond with hostility. She hoped otherwise, but these things always managed to wear her down to the point where her patience became virtually non-existent. And a Tsunade with no patience was a ticking time bomb.
...
...
He was too late.
She was already gone from him. And the disappointment that came with the revelation was, surprisingly, just as damaging as anything he's had to deal with. But now that Naruto knew the truth — and the truth was better than chasing after a phantom dream, as nice as the phantom dream was — at lease he could stop making such a fool of himself in front of Hinata.
However it took a great lecture from Sakura for him to actually realize all of this in the first place; after which he felt like the biggest loser in all of Konoha. He's just glad he didn't kiss her on the lips like he so wanted to. Initially it was because, first of all, it breaks the code of smoothness, and secondly, it's Hinata. Everything that involves Hinata must be dealt with the utmost care.
When he returned home he would make sure that he smoothed this over. As sad as it made him feel, because he felt like he both didn't get a chance and yet had all the chances in the world with Hinata, he likes to think that he can somehow be the bigger man in this picture. It's high time he learnt to be one.
"I can't believe you never saw them together," Sakura said in a tone of bewilderment. She was perched on a rock working vigorously to clean her weapons so that they would shine even in the shadows. Naruto thought she's maybe been spending too much time with Tenten lately; she's picked up some weird habits. "They were so inseparable. Tenten said it was going to happen any moment now. Probably would've too, if it wasn't for you."
Naruto rolled his eyes, because it seemed this was all she wanted to talk about since they started this mission. He'd almost forgotten what this mission was even about, having to deal with her constant bantering. And besides, whatever role he played in halting Hinata and Neji's apparently inevitable courtship was surely so miniscule it hardly even counted. He didn't even do anything for crying out loud! Or, at least, anything much.
"I told you, I don't really notice those kinds of things," he said, exasperated. "And they're freaking Hyuuga, for crying out loud! Of course I didn't notice anything."
"Pfft, whatever. It was totally obvious. They were, like, almost holding hands!"
Naruto jabbed his stick into the dirt. "Yeah okay, I got that."
He shuffled the dirt around, counting the seconds as they went by, praying that was the end of it.
…Seven…eight….nine…ten…shove some dirt around…eleven…
Hey, a bug! Ew, what's on it's butt? I'll bet Shino knows what it—
"What are you going to say to her when you get back?"
"…"
"Because you should probably say sorry. Y'know, cos you pretty much got in the middle of it. I'll bet poor Hinata seized up like a deer in the headlights when you zoned in on her like you did. Kami that must've been awful for her! But you didn't actually kiss her, did you? Because if you did—"
"No, I already told you. Now can we please concentrate on this — on whatever we were meant to be doing?"
Naruto sighed in relief when there was no response and tried instead to remember the name of the group they were meant to be gathering intel on.
From somewhere nearby he heard the cracking of twigs and both he and Sakura froze, concentrating on the noise. They both relaxed when they realized it was only their teammate.
When Sai approached he donned his standard blank expression, and Naruto rolled his eyes because he learned long ago not to expect anything less from Sai.
"I've set the boundaries. Traps located to the north, east and west, a radius of fifty metres," Sai said, settling himself on the other side of Naruto and pulling the food out of his backpack.
"Don't look so excited about it," Naruto muttered.
"There is nothing to get excited over," Sai replied, tucking into his food, "Although I would like to know what they put in these granola bars. The ingredients are quite excitable to my palate. It's not that cranberry apricot one you got last time, because that wasn't very exciting at all."
Naruto rolled his eyes againand looked away. A period of blissful silence ensued, during which Sai chewed away at his palatably excitable granola bar, Naruto stared in the direction of their not-even-doing-anything target, and Sakura polished her already spotless weapons.
Naruto thought about Hinata and Neji. He wondered how he could've missed seeing that kind of relationship between them blossom. Despite the fact that yes, he was slow and missed a lot of things, was he really that blind?
In fact, now that he thought about it, he didn't really know a lot about any of his friends. For example, he didn't know when Sakura started hanging out with Tenten and why, or when Shikamaru grew the guts to ask Temari out and travel to Suna every other week just to maintain the relationship. Or even when Sai decided to take on a team of his own. Hearing about that three months after it happened was the shock of a lifetime, because Naruto wanted to know first of all why Baa-chan would agree to letting that lewd, emotionless guy take on a team of aspiring ninja. They were only children.
But what it all really meant was that everyone was moving on with their lives, doing things all without Naruto even noticing how big a deal it all was. In his efforts to become Hokage – all the intense training and study it required just to be ready for consideration of the role –it all seemed to take up so much more of his time and attention than he thought he had in the first place. And knowing all of this made him feel detached in a sad way, because since when did he take for granted any of the bonds he shared with his friends?
But fixing all of that was just another thing to add to the list of things to do when he got home. However, smoothing things over with Hinata, and probably Neji too (who would quite possibly would like his ass on a silver platter), was first and foremost.
"Hey Sai," Sakura said, breaking the sweet silence, "Did you hear about how Naruto totally tried to get in the middle of Hinata and Neji by confessing his love for her?"
"Oh really? I did not know that. I thought he was gay?" Sai's blank expression was replaced with a genuine curiosity that Naruto just knew would bid him ill fate in the future. That kind of information in Sai's hands was as bad as telling Sakura that Sasuke loved Ino more than he loved her. It was asking for a painful existence filled with every kind of strife.
And before Naruto had the chance to leap from his perch and forcibly shut Sakura up via some brutal tackle, she had already braced herself with chakra in anticipation. She smirked over at him before replacing it with a sickly sweet smile and turning back to Sai.
"Well you should because..."
Naruto groaned, praying for this mission to end soon.
...
…
Physically, she was fine – or at least not dying. But there was an excruciating pain in her chest, a pain that flared and clenched both at the same time. There were tears that streamed from her eyes like a river, and despite all her efforts, they wouldn't stop. So she curled further into herself and pressed further into the darkness she had hidden in.
It was some kind of cave, shallow but still dark. After Neji fled from the scene it was all Hinata could do to stand upright. She felt the shock of events course through her like lightning as each disbelieving moment struck her a dealing blow. How could she have known that it would end up like this? That Neji would react to her words in the violent way he did?
It didn't make sense.
She didn't know what to do, just standing in his room like a piece of aftermath, but she did know that she couldn't stay there. That room was now a scene of a moment that she couldn't understand. A well of confusion dug itself deep into her composure so that she had none left, and instead was left with a thousand sharp points jabbing her from every direction.
She had to flee.
So she ran and she didn't stop running until she had the cover of trees to block out any hope for sunlight. Because it was still morning, late though it was, and for once she despised the bright, warm yellow disc that hung suspended against a background of blue. It was all too cheerful for her mood that was, instead, a total contradiction of that. Vaguely she recognized the place she had come to, a training ground that was once used exclusively by the Hyuuga clan after the demolition caused by Pein; a temporary arrangement while they had their own repaired.
She remembered happier days spent training here with Neji, working so hard to improve her skills so that she could somehow become his equal. Someone he wouldn't be ashamed to be with, someone he wouldn't be ashamed to love.But that seemed like such a long time ago now. Even this morning, and her walk with Tenten seemed like an imprecise moment during a time too long ago to even matter.
How hopeful she had been, confident even that Neji would hear her out. Would take it in, understand and reciprocate her feelings. Hadn't everything they'd done, becoming close the way they had, hadn't it all been for that moment? When they could finally confide in each other in a way that meant so much more than friendship or mandatory family ties?
Even though she had never been sure about it before, shy and hesitant, there was always that feeling of rightness that she got only in his presence. She had never been so blind as to ignore that. But then again, it seemed she was blind this whole entire time. She'd been fooling herself so well into believing her feelings for him were okay; that nurturing them the way she subtly did would all add up to this wonderful fairy tale ending. Except in this fairy tale it seemed her prince wasn't coming at all. Her prince didn't even exist. He was just a perfect image of someone she thought she knew. And all of it hurt so much to know.
…
...
Tenten had been walking past the compound when she saw Hinata running out of it. Well, truth be told, she was being a snoop. She wanted to be the first person to know about whatever it was that went down in that room with Hinata and Neji. Didn't she deserve it? Hell yeah she did. It was a huge thanks to her that Hinata got her act together and decided to man up to Neji. And Neji owed Tenten big time too for that. Because there was no way he was going to do it anytime soon, grow some balls and confess his undying love and ardent infatuation for Hinata. Or however that romantic mushy stuff went.
Because for all the outward strength and arrogance he showed, there's not a shred of smoothness in his entire demeanour. He had as much courage to ask Hinata out as Tenten did to shove her kunai in dog crap.
So Hinata running out of the building in the panicked way she did was not what she expected to see. It was so unexpected that Tenten had to double take, and before she could even think of chasing her down, Hinata was gone in a puff of smoke. But not before Hinata glanced backwards,exposing her face to Tenten.
Tenten didn't know what to make of the sheer terror that spilled from her eyes as Hinata glanced back at the door she just came from. But it was enough for Tenten to want to go into that god-forsaken compound like a beast on a rampage and hunt down the bastard who was at fault, and she could hazard a guess as to who that bastard would be, despite the reason why having escaped her entirely.
So instead of trying to trace the last faint wisps of smoke that marked Hinata's sudden escape, Tenten rolled up her sleeves and marched into the compound, resolute and enraged, completely ignoring the fact that branch and main members alike were staring at her in a way that said 'Intruder Alert.' Because by Kami if Neji did anything to mar her wonderful, kind and altogether damn awesome efforts at getting those two together, she was going to make sure that by the time she was done with him, he wouldn't even know his own name.
…
Thanks for reading readers. Please don't forget to review because they make me smile like an idiot. And I love that.
