Hello !
Sorry it takes that long... . But I've problems that needed to be taken care off...
I still don't own Naruto...
Thanks to all the reviewers : akume ; MysteryLady-Tx ; Lyemi ; Eleirah (I found how to change it... XD) ; Firehedgehog ; Shadow-Sensei ; LanierShazar and sonic.
Unbeta-ed because my dear beta for this story has no internet for the moment... And that I'm way too impatient to wait for her to have it back...
Up to the chapter : this chapter is dedicated to Peter Kim who gave me the idea a long time ago... so I put it in use now (sorry it took so much time... )
Painful Praise 6.
Hyûga Hiashi was never one to lose his temper but now, all he wanted was to blew off those unsightful old jerks that were part of Konoha civilian's counsil.
Flashback :
Hiashi was worried : his daughter,
his successor, had not been out of her room nor eaten anything for
two days in a row.
He knew he had never been a good father for his daughter, treating her rashly and personally training his second daughter, Hanabi, not doing the same for the heiress, sending her to the Academy explicitly rejecting her as a 'weakling'.
No, he did not hated her, but she was so much like her mother : Her smile ; her short dark blue hair ; her long and thin fingers ; her shy personality ; the way she played with her fingers when she wanted to say something, all this was breaking Hiashi's heart a little bit more each time.
He knocked lightly on the wooden part of the sliding door leading to his eldest daughter's room.
" Hinata ? " he asked in his soft low authoritative's voice.
He heard a muffle sound coming from the room, then hurried steps and the door slided open.
" Otousama... " Hinata whispered sniffling, her eyes looking down at the wooden floor.
" Can I enter ? " Hiashi asked.
Hinata shyly stepped away her eyes still fixed on her feet as her father entered the room silently. He sat down at the low table in the middle of the room and looked around while waiting for his daughter to join him.
The room was quite clean, on the farther left there was shells covered with scroll and books. Hiashi narrowed his eyes to read the title of one of the book : 'Anatomy Regional and applied' by R.J. Last (1). He frowned : medicine books ? What was his daughter doing with medicine books ?
" So you are studying medical Jutsu ? " Hiashi said walking up to the library and picking up a book.
" Y-yes... " Hinata answered in a whispered her eyes fixed on her covered knees.
" Why is that ? " Hiashi asked turning the pages of the book not really looking at it.
" B-be-because... "Hinata stutered. " I-I wan-tt to help the other... "
Hinata took a deep breath and muttered : 'Naruto would want me to be courageous, I have to be strong, no one will be strong for me... not anymore... I have to do that... to change... for Naruto...'
Tears began to form in her eyes and her breath became irregular, she tried to gulp back the tears. She licked her lips and stand up.
" I-I... I want to help... other... because... I... I am no good... at fighting... I can't... be as strong... as Neji-niisama or you f-father... but I want... I want to try... my own way... becoming strong... because no one... No one will save me... Not anymore... " Hinata told her father looking at him straigh in the eyes. " I have to move on... because he is not here anymoer to help... me... "
Hinata eyes were swimming with unshed tears. " He won't come back anymore... " She whispered bowing her head to hide the tears that were slidding down her cheeks.
Hiashi frowned. " Who ? " He asked himself outloud.
" Naruto... " Hinata said to herself not really to answer his father.
" The Uzumaki's child ? What about him ? " Hiashi asked his daughter trying to pry the informations out of her. " Is it because of him that you are so depressed ? "
Hinata shivered, and threw herself at her father.
" I-I know... as Shinobi... as the heiress... I-I... s-should not-t s-show any w-weakness but... He is d-dead... I loved him ! I loved him so much and now he is dead... "
Hiashi was at lost of words :
Uzumaki Naruto, the demon's vessel, one who had endured the harsh treatment from all part of the population : civilians and shinobi alike, and, he admited it not without shame, that HE, himself, had taken once or twice his anger out on the poor boy, being it verbaly or phisically ; this person that had remind him the sacrifice his brother had willingly done and what had been his ambitions when he became the leader of Hyûga clan, was now dead...
" How ? " Hiashi asked his daughter sizing her shoulder and pushing her slightly away from him so he could see her pale eyes.
" U-Uchiha-san... he... he... k-killed... him... " Hinata said trying not to cry again.
" I have to do something... " he said harshly his eyes flaring with pure anger as he stormed out of the room.
Flashback end.
Hiashi was standing in front of Tsunade desk glaring at her. Not just a minute ago, he had seen The Uchiha's brat exited the office with his Jounin sensei, free of any chains. It looked like the little treator would be freed of any accusation. No doubt that the civilian's counsil had a hand in that.
" Why ? " Hiashi simply asked, his voice deep and low clearly showing his barely repress anger.
" I've no choise. " Tsunade answered breathing deeply.
She gestured to the Hyûga to take a sit before getting a bottle of sake out from under her desk.
" They would not sue their precious Uchiha... " She snickered.
" So you had to make a compromise... " Hiashi said shocking his head in distain.
" I knew I should have refused when the brat asked me to become Hokage... " She said not bothering to hide the sadness lacing her voice.
She served two cup of Sake and gave one to Hiashi. She quikly gulped her own cup and served herself a second cup. While Hiashi sipped his slowly.
" You're here to discuss of the Uchiha.. " Tsunade stated more than asked.
" Always the sightfull one, Tsunade-sama. " Hiashi answered with a slight smirk.
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Tsunaru was finally alone.
After his little 'training session' with Itachi, Tsunaru had gone throught a lecture from the older teen, it deseperatly remind him of Iruka and he began to wonder what Iruka was doing now. He ended up not listening a word of what Itachi was saying, nodding his head every once in a while, and trying to muffled his laughter when he thought of the funny things he did in the Academy.
After two hours and a half of explaining whatever he was explaining, Itachi lead him to his room and after informing him when his training would began the next day, he left him alone.
Tsunaru entered his room quietly, then went to shower.
He got out of the shower, walking over the fogged mirror and he wipped the mirror cleaned.
Looking at himself, he was quite surprise to see his long multi-colour hair covering his eyes. He delicatly pushed the blond and red bands away from his eyes and discovered to his great surprise that his once blue sky eyes were now a range of colours from red on the rim to blue on the center passing thought dark purple and light purple. He also remarked the two canines looking like fangs getting out of the mouth : they looked quite sharp and were a glittering white colour, he smiled at the thought that he looked like some kind of big Leopard with his long whiskered like scars on his cheeks. He shoked his head, he did not have time to waste dwelling on those change...
'Maybe I had to change my appearance for the mission.' Naruto thought walking out of the bathroom a blue towel hanging dangerously low on his hips.
He looked around the room searching for any trace of Jutsu or any device hidden to spy on him. He quickly find out that there was a powerful yet very discrete Genjutsu on the room. He did not know what could be the Genjutsu's utility and decided not to take action against it just yet. But he found no other suspicious things.
He walked up to his bed and laid down : He had to think of a way to pass informations to Tsunade-hime.
He would certainly not be allowed out any time soon. So he could not used 'normal' means like passing message throught watters, or sending a message's bird. Neither could he use his Kuchiyose no Jutsu to call upon Gamagichi to send his message because of the Jutsu on the room and the lack of discretion of the frog. Naruto smile thinking of how loud the little green and red frog could be.
He sighed. That would be hard but he had to find a way ! Afterall Tsunade was counting on him. He could not let her down. He surely gave her his word. And he did not go back on his word ! It was his way of a ninja !
Tsunaru sighed again.
He did not even remember the briefing for this mission. In fact most of his memories were fogged :
He vaguely remembered the red bridge where his team met ; Sakura, his teammate, running to the bridge screaming something that he could not make out, at someone whose face he could not see.
He remembered Kakashi explaining Chakra's control to his teammates and him ; he remembered the fight with Haku...
But some parts of his memories were curiosly blank, as if someone had wipped part of them out.
He could rememeber each member of the rookies apart from his second teamate. Apaprently it was a male and the top rookies of his year... but that was about all...How could he forget about one of his teamate ? What had happened ?
" Argh... " Tsunaru scremed in frustration covering his face with his pillow.
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Sakura got up, woobling on her legs, she had cried all day long and she was sure she had no tear left. She sniffled slightly.
Ino had gone at noon when Sakura had begged her to leave her alone. More exactly Sakura had been taken by some sort of fury and chased out Ino throwing her every things that came under her hands, begining by her pillows to her reading lamp that was now laying broken in front of her door.
All this because Ino suggested that Sasuke was a murderer.
She could not believe it, Sasuke could not have killed Naruto.
It was simply not like him. Yes, Sasuke was cold ; yes, Sasuke was selfish ; He never smile, never had a kind word nor for Naruto nor for her. But he had made progress, had he not?
He even gave Naruto a nickname, not a kind one but it was a nickname none the less. Now that she thought of it, she could sware she had seen him smiled or not maybe smiled but smirked at Naruto's antics...
Sakura shocked her head in denial : No Sasuke was definitly not responsible.
If there was someone to blame, it would be that Orochimaru person !
This disgusting person ! He attacked them marking Sasuke like he was some kind of object he could take and use before throwing it away. Then he killed the third Hokage, and now he had forced Sasuke to kill Naruto ! She would make the snake like man paid ! With her bare hands, he would pay ! She sware : because this was Naruto's way of a Ninja, Her way of a Ninja.
Sakura stepped on the broken pieces of her lamps, little shards of glass impaled themself inside her feet. She looked down at her feet, seeing the red blood forming a small puddle on her wooden floor. Strangely, she felt no pain, she just felt like an heavy weight have been lifted out of her shoulder, she squatted down, observing the crisom liquid running down her feet. She tried to put out one of the shard of glass, but only managed to cut her left pointer finger. She looked at her finger fascinated by the beautiful red drop running down her hand inside her palm and down her arms. Her eyes followed the little drop that was sneaking its way to her elbow leaving a glittering crimsom line behind.
Suddenly someone knocked at the door.
" Is every thing alright, Sakura dear ? " a sweet-coated voice asked.
Sakura shocked her head out of her daydream.
" If you need to talked... " the voice she now recognised as her mother's continued.
" No everything is alright now... " Sakura answered.
Sakura began to pick up the shards out of her feet carefully putting them away in the crash can next to her.
" Yes... everything is alright... " She muttered to herself.
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Kakashi eyed his charge wearily as they exited Tsunade's office. The Uchiha's heir had not utter a word since he picked him up at the hospital and that was bothering him. He did not even protest when Tsunade spatted at him dishonoring his familly name. He did not buldge when the said women slapped him in the face. He just stand there passively.
This pained Kakashi greatly. Sasuke was reacting the same way he did for Obito's death.
He remembered that he had closed himself up, not seeing anyone, just going on mission : he was a freshly appointed Jounin at that time and he asked for the most dangerous mission not always receiving them.
He did not say more than two words to people ignoring Rin's pleas for him to move on. When he would come back in his father's house, he would just lock himself him sulking in the dark. Sometimes he would take a kunai and cut his thigh to see this crimsom liquid slide down his legs a proof that he was still alived and then, quickly, almost shamefully, he would heal himself leaving small scars and then promising himself not to this anymore but always ending up doing it again.
Kakashi absentmindly rub his hands on his thigh feeling through the thin material of his pants the scars he had inflicted himself. They were still there, small reminder of the darkest time of his life.
He shocked himself out of his daydream.
Now was not the moment to remember the past. The past did not matter anymore. He had pupils now, students that needed his help. He looked down at Sasuke whose eyes were hidden under his bands.
He placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.
" Life goes on. " He whispered sadly. " It's unfair, it's painful but life goes on Sasuke. "
Chapter 6 end
(1) This is a book that really exist but it may be a little out of date...
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