Take Me Home

By TheChrysanthemum

Chapter 2

Inside a room at the top of the Konoha Incorporation skyscraper sat a formidable force that sent shivers down Shikamaru's spine. A pen twiddled several times between her long fingers and with a raised eyebrow, she regarded the open file in front of her. "An Uzumaki, huh," a small smile played at the corners of her mouth and Shikamaru never felt bad for his friend more than he did in the moment when he saw her wicked expression.

"He's very qualified for the job," said Shikamaru but quickly added, "though he has little experience in the field."

Cool brown eyes contemplated him. "Ever since you joined this company, I was uncertain that you will succeed due to your young age, but you have exceeded my expectations. Well done, Shikamaru," she said as she picked up Naruto's picture. "I trust your judgement." Her eyes flickered back to him and he noted her softened expression that reminded him of the look filled with regret and pity. "He's the exact spitting image of his father."

It was a rare occasion to witness his boss show sentimentality because of the brute rationality and logic that came with her job. But he was well aware of her friendship with the previous deceased chief.

"Does Naruto know?" she whispered, still looking at his picture.

"Yes," replied Shikamaru. "The information only established his resolve to work here."

She put down his picture on the table. "That settles it then." She leaned back on her chair. "If he and his partner can prove that they're worthy, the jobs are theirs. However, it may not be easy. You are dismissed."

Shikamaru inwardly smirked. Crunching the numbers inside his head, he was one-hundred percent certain that she would accept Naruto along with Kiba, despite of their performance level in the tests. The Inuzuka clan had their ways of tracking rogue people in strange animalistic manners such as dogs sniffing out their preys. However, an Uzumaki was indeed a special case though more times than he could count, Naruto often put himself in troublesome situations.

...

"Hinata! Open up!" Tenten's irritated voice woke her up from her sleep. Groggily, Hinata walked to her door and unlocked it. Tenten burst through and she almost fell from her sudden entrance.

"What are you doing here?" asked Hinata as she slowly went to her kitchen to make tea.

"Oh, thank god!" Tenten rushed to her side and hugged her.

Hinata met Tenten when she was scouring for a place to stay after her banishment. She was different from the others. Others often looked at her with disgust and shame when she learned that she was the Hyuuga pariah. In fact, Tenten used to date Neji, her cousin, when she was still in college and found him to be too uptight for her liking.

"What's wrong?"

"I saw this, and I was worried." Tenten showed her the Hidden Leaf's newspaper.

Hinata's eyes landed on the bold headlines that read: Serial Killer On The Loose! Another Victim Found." Underneath the headline was a smiling picture of a girl, no more than eighteen years old. She hadn't started living her life yet, Hinata thought sadly.

"What does this have to do with—-"

"She was found dumped at an alley near Kurama's," interrupted Tenten. "And I thought… I came here as fast as I could."

Hinata was touched at her concern, especially when she came to her apartment during her specialized weaponry class. "I'll be careful."

They had breakfast together and after Tenten left, Hinata further looked at the details pertaining to the girl's death. Harsh realization dawned to her. She had seen the girl before working in Kurama's. According to the article, her mother reported her missing a week ago when the girl didn't arrive home after walking home from her school. She sighed, throwing the paper on the table, and leaned back against the couch. Not until her eyes caught another interesting section on the paper did her interest piqued again.

...

After Tenten's unexpected visit, Hinata finally decided to follow her gut. She didn't want to be found dead one day like the girl on the newspaper because of her stripper job. So before she could balked away from her intended plans, she fixed her head into a tight bun, zipped up her pencil skirt, and buttoned her shirt for an ordinary job that could be her ticket out of her dangerous night gig. Her eyes landed on the Job Openings section of the Hidden Leaf's newspaper, more specifically at the circle marked in red, and bit her bottom lip at the uncertainty creeping underneath her skin. The description read, "Wanted: Secretary position. Must be literate and have experience."

The "experience" part of the job worried her tremendously, but she steeled herself not to falter. She prayed her confidence wouldn't leave her. She also prayed that her Hyuuga afflictions wouldn't caused her employers to turn her away.

So here she was with her application, fidgeting in front of the great Konoha Incorporation as she struggled to breathe from the constriction of her skirt. For a minute, she wished she could just switch to her night persona who had more confidence until shame shoved that thought away. This was her chance to start anew. To distinguish herself from the rest of the Hyuuga clan and most importantly, to show them and the world that she wasn't a failure.

…

Naruto was impressed. Actually, "impressed" was more of an understatement. Even though he had been there multiple times, the inside of the incorporation never ceased to fascinate him. Growing vines coiled and twisted around the red columns giving the place an earthy aura, different from the technological world of the city. What Naruto liked the best were the giant portraits of the previous chiefs that were hanging at the main hall. There were five of them exactly.

Hashirama, the founder of the incorporation and the person who coined the term will of fire, was the biggest portrait of them all. Hashirama's succesor, Tobirama's picture hanged below him followed by Minato. Naruto's eyes lingered a second longer at Minato's face and tried to remember to his father during his childhood days.

"Oi, Naruto!" Kiba's voice snapped him out of his trance. "We gotta go!"

"Give me a minute!" Naruto yelled back, his eyes still on Minato's smiling portrait. A prideful feeling rose within him whenever people pointed out his uncanny similarities with the Third Great Chief. Before he turned eleven, he discovered his lineage by sheer accident when he stumbled into the company. "I'm here, dad." He loudly thumped his chest with his fist. "I'll make you proud, you'll see dattebayo!"

Naruto's heels pivoted, intending on following Kiba. But he didn't see it coming. In the future when he reflected on his past actions, he would deemed the crucial moment as the second most important moment in his life. The first was when he found out his father was the legendary Minato. Nevertheless, papers flew everywhere reminding him of when he eagerly jumped on a fresh pile of snow.

His ass hit the floor before his arm could intercept the fall. He groaned, trying dull the ache on his ass and back. He opened his mouth with the intention of scolding whomever it was that bumped into him. "Watch where you're going!" he said, rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

A shocked pair of eyes widely stared back at him, with the same surprised expression that he must had on his face. Strands of hair so dark that it had almost a blue tint to it framed her face in a sort of disheveled manner, her neat bun mussed, and Naruto couldn't help but to stare back dumbfoundedly at her. For a split second, they were frozen and just looked at each other, like a spell was casted around them.

"Um… I'm so sorry," her lithe voice broke the silence between them, breaking the spell. "I should have seen where I was—-"

"No! It was my fault," Naruto wrung his hands as though doing it would help his apology. He began gathering the papers that fell on the floor, some belong to him and some hers. "Here," he offered his hand to her and she gracefully accepted it. His long fingers completely wrapped around her hand and for a second, a warm undefined feeling flared inside of him. It was so strange to him, catching him off guard.

"You can let go, now."

Naruto yanked his hand from hers as though it was on fire. His tie suddenly squeezed his throat and his suit felt hot—-too hot underneath her unnerving gaze. "Er, name's Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki," He held out his hand.

Her eyes fell on his outstretched hand, a flicker of uncertainty crossed her dainty face. A minute passed.

"Come on, don't leave me hanging," said Naruto, but it sounded more like a whine.

"H-hinata... " she whispered, and Naruto had to lean forward to her reply. They shook hands, almost too formally.

Awkward silence hung heavily in the air. Naruto waited for her to say her last name. He coughed into his hand, wanting to fill the gap between them. "Nice to meet you, Hinata." He flashed her a smile.

"Likewise," she replied but she didn't return his smile, remaining composed and stoic. Her hard-stoned expression somehow annoyed Naruto who wanted nothing but to see another flicker of emotions passed her face.

Before he could ask her any more questions, Hinata quickly got her papers together. "I should go. I apologize, again." She bowed and ran to the direction where Kiba had ran to.

She left Naruto standing there like an idiot, his mouth gaping open like a fish out of water.

A/N: Sorry for the grammatical errors. I'll fix them when I'm finished with the story. Thanks for sticking with me so far!