Author: R. Anthony Roth
Pairing(s): Naruhina & potentially others
Language: Canadian English
"Speech"
'Thought'
"Kyuubi/Inner Sakura speech"
'Kyuubi/Inner Sakura thought'
(Clarification, fun fact or author's musing)
Anything bolded indicates emotion or extraneous content
A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but between work and assorted summer plans, I haven't had oodles of spare time, still I'll try my hardest to keep updates reasonably regular! (Just send me along a nice "Ganbatte Anthony-san!"). Also due to delays chptrs 2-5 have yet to go through my excellent beta reader, so feel free to re-read em at a later date after they have been spruced up.
Back in the forest, morning had just begun to rise, however this didn't dissuade Naruto from continuing to sleep, an action rendered understandable after his previous night's exertions. Little did he know that while he remained in a peaceful slumber a pair of eyes, neither malignant nor friendly, was watching him.
She was wearing a simple flower-patterned komon (type of kimono) and had her long black hair hanging loose around her shoulders. After Zabuza's skirmish with Team 9, she had been told to run surveillance on the blond kid who had managed to surprise him, despite the expected gap in skill level for a renowned jounin, and a seemingly green genin. From what she had seen since the previous day she knew that this "Naruto" possessed no great skill or technique, other than his usage of the jounin level kage bunshin no jutsu and his vast chakra reserves, he was for all intrinsic purposes quite average. However there was something about him… while watching him train into the night, she herself felt invigorated by his presence. The sheer spirit he put towards accomplishing his goal was exceptional for someone his age, as most kids, even ninja, were prone to giving up or settling with what had been done rather than wishing to do more.
Seeing him lying prone on the ground reminded her of the days she had spent training with Zabuza. He had never forced her to train herself to the ground, but she had done so willingly, this same attitude she found mirrored in Naruto, a kindred spirit in a sense. Both had a very strong reason for wanting to grow stronger, for Haku it was to be able to protect and aid Zabuza. Though as for Naruto, his motives remained a complete mystery to her, and Haku was intrinsically a rather curious girl.
'This boy seems quite interesting, and Zabuza did tell me to run reconnaissance…' Haku mentally excused herself before leaving her place of concealment to check on the sleeping boy.
Deciding that he had rested enough, Haku approached his slumbering form with the intent to awaken him gently. However distracted as she was, she failed to notice an errant tree root, this mistake would prove to cost her dearly. As she passed the root her sandal caught it and she was deprived of her balance as she came tumbling down –right on top of a sleeping Naruto.
This sudden impact brought Naruto into the conscious world (interrupting a rather pleasant dream about "Ramen World"), where he found his face inches from Haku's dazed countenance.
'Wow, this dream keeps getting better! This onee-chan is even prettier than Sakura! But wait… my arms and legs are aching, and you don't feel pain in dreams… KUSO!' Naruto began to instinctively flinch as he realized that a girl prettier than Sakura must hit harder than her too, and being within inches of Sakura was generally enough to warrant a K.O. punch.
Embarrassed over the accidental intimacy of the situation Haku extricated herself from Naruto and quietly began to dust herself off while hiding her reddening countenance.
After realizing that he had been given a reprieve Naruto began stumbling over himself in an attempt to apologize (regardless of why he should be the one apologising), lest this mysterious lady withdraw her apparent mercy.
"Gomenasai onee-san, I shouldn't have been sleeping in the middle of a forest where an innocent lady such as yourself might trip over me. Please excuse my rude forwardness!" Naruto expiated quite profusely.
Haku began to giggle as she watched the mortified Naruto continue to seek penance for something he had no fault in at all. She figured he had problems with moody females back in Konoha, though his female teammate hardly seemed like the sort to fall into that category.
"Is something funny onee-san?" questioned Naruto while checking to see if an errant booger was leaking out of his nose.
"Your cute attempts at apologizing are quite funny, I was to blame in this incident not you, after all a sleeping person cannot be blamed for an accident" replied Haku "speaking of which sleepyhead, do you happen to have a name?"
"Hai! Uzumaki Naruto at your service onee-san, and if I may be so rude as to ask what your name is?" Naruto answered, still using formal speech as he suspected that the situation might still turn dangerous for him.
"I go by Haku, it's a pleasure to meet you Naruto-san. If I may ask, what brought you out here in the middle of a forest, and I'm curious about that headband you are wearing."
"Actually I'm a ninja from the Fire Country here on an important mission, and I was training last night, so I guess I accidentally fell asleep here"
"Ohh a ninja! Wow that sounds very cool, though you should be careful, sleeping in a forest can be quite dangerous, are you here by yourself?"
"No my teammates are here as well, speaking of whom I should probably get back to them so they don't worry. In addition, what brings a pretty lady like you out here in the forest, like you said its quite dangerous."
Haku paused for a moment, mentall kicking herself for not preparing a reasonable cover story. Fortunately Naruto seemed like a pretty trusting person, after all he had told a random person about being on a ninja mission, a detail normally left secret by most ninja.
"Ahh…. I'm… birdwatching! Yeah there are some very interesting birds in this part of the forest that I was looking for…" replied Haku as she spoke the first thing that came to mind.
"Well you must be really skilled at finding birds, because I haven't seen a single one since I began training, although I wasn't really paying attention to that sort of thing" responded Naruto
"Skilled yeah that's it… Well anyways enough about boring old me, you should probably get back like you said, I don't want to keep you."
"Its ok Haku-san" said Naruto as he preformed the ram seal and used his signature jutsu. A clone popped into existence and immediately Naruto sent it running to Tsunami's house with the intent of relating his location to the rest of his team.
"Wow was that a ninja jutsu? You must be very skilled yourself, creating copies like that!" Haku commented while considering the implications of what had just occurred.
"Ohh just one? Naw that's nothing, watch and be amazed!" boasted Naruto
Haku watched on in amazement as approximately 30 Naruto clones appeared and accompanied them. The kage bunshins remained completely intact and functional for a good while before vanishing in puffs of smoke.
'This kid can use a jounin level jutsu with such ease, and his clones are durable enough to be used for travelling reasonably long distances. This would indicate either an extremely high level of technical skill, or an immense amount of chakra, considering his age I hardly expect the former, though the latter hardly seems plausible either.' Pondered Haku
The main thing that continued to bother Haku as they strolled through the forest, supposedly looking for birds, was that she couldn't attribute his chakra levels to any logical source. He was far too young to have undergone chakra training of a level sufficient enough to support what she had seen. The next possibility was a bloodline, but she had never heard of such a one, and never came across the Uzumaki name, this was saying something, as Haku was a well-traveled ninja. Of course it could be a village secret, but that she doubted as most advanced bloodline users belonging to important clans were cocky and overbearing (cough Neji/Sasuke cough), whereas Naruto was simple but outgoing and amusing in a cute sort of way. Well she would have to discuss the subject with Zabuza, he was certainly more experienced than herself and might have an idea as to the truth behind the strangely enigmatic Naruto. With this thought in mind Haku politely bid farewell to Naruto, and began her trek back to Zabuza's base camp.
At the departure of his new friend Naruto quickly ran back to Tsunami's house to rendezvous with his team, and get some breakfast. When he arrived a flustered Hinata greeted him at the door. Lee and Gai had gone out to embrace their youth, and Tsunami and family were off doing shopping, leaving Hinata alone with Naruto, the thought of which strained her composure to the utmost extent. As she contemplated this concept, Naruto devoured the breakfast prepared by her that she had specially reserved for him, in anticipation of his pending arrival.
"Wow this ramen is great! Normally Iruka would scold me for having ramen for breakfast, you're the best Hinata-chan!" said Naruto between mouthfuls of ramen
'Naruto called me Hinata-chan! chan……chan……….chan……………' were the last thoughts that passed through her head before Hinata lost the fight with consciousness
Naruto was able to catch Hinata as her body slowly slumped, but he was left in a confused position. In previous situations Naruto realized that he was unable to wake her when she fainted, and now nobody else was there to do the job.
'Why did she faint? Normally on the rare occasion that I faint its because of exertion, but Hinata wasn't training this morning… Hmm what was she doing when she fainted? Well I thanked her for the ramen, and then she blacked out… and she was looking a bit feverish… AH HAH THAT'S IT!'
Naruto's mental machinations had provided him with an interesting conclusion, Hinata had woken up feeling sick, and cooking the ramen over the hot stove had given her a fever. With this in mind Naruto set himself to the task of providing her with the care associated with healing the sick. Thus when she finally awoke she was covered in her futon with a wet cloth over her forehead and a bowl of soup beside her. Further inspection of the room revealed Naruto dozing off in the corner, looking rather exhausted.
'What happened… ahh I fainted again I guess, but why am I in a futon…? Wait… Naruto must have thought I was sick, after all he always mistakes my habitual blushing for feverishness… But if I'm in my futon that means I'm upstairs… but I fainted downstairs. Which means… eep!' Hinata's train of thought came to an abrupt stop when a sudden realization hit her, Naruto must have carried her upstairs, and tucked her in.
This almost sent Hinata back into a dead faint, but she persevered through it, and simply lay there, blushing her body temperature up a few degrees. Realizing that she would actually have a fever if she stayed there, Hinata slowly crept out from under the covers, careful as to not disturb the snoozing Naruto. Just as she was edging past Naruto, she heard him mutter a sleepy "Oi Hinata!" and she turned around to see him gazing drowsily at her.
"You better already? If you are feeling sick you should tell me, if disregarded sickness can be more deadly than enemy shinobi! Naruto began to mildly berate her.
Stuttering past her embarrassment, Hinata managed to reply, "N-n-naruto-kun I'm f-f-fine really…"
"So then why are you talking so weakly, and why are you so red, really you should get some rest so that you can defend Tazuna properly" continued Naruto sceptically
Realizing that half the truth would not be enough to get past Naruto, Hinata exercised her craftier side, "Ahh I was red downstairs because of the steam from the stove, and now these covers are stifling me, I am still wearing my jacket you know…"
Hinata's logical response and Naruto's naturally trusting nature won through his scepticism, and his mildly irate attitude was replaced with an apologetic tone, "Gomen Hinata-chan! I thought you were sick… and well I guess I made it worse eh? Geez I always mess up with this sort of stuff! Guess I'd better be going now…"
"Wait! Naruto umm…." Hinata managed to call after him
"Eh?" Naruto replied as he turned around
"Ano… if uhh I'm sick I will be sure to tell you Naruto-kun" Hinata stuttered out
"Anytime Hinata-chan, I'll always be there for you if you need me!" Naruto replied with his usual bravado
This statement, whose meaning was lost on the rather clueless Naruto, delivered a full serving of unintended romance to Hinata. Apparently this was the last straw as it caused Hinata to slump to the floor in a dead faint. However, ironically Naruto had already left the room and failed to notice her graceful performance. So as Naruto sauntered away thinking about what kind of ramen he wanted to eat next, Hinata was lost in dreams of her Naruto-kun, the contents of which would be unfit for a T-rated story (though it would make great filler!).