NOTE! - I am extremely sorry, but many of the original reviewers and watchers of this story may be confused as to why its at the top of the Naruto section again. This is because I accidentally deleted it as explained shortly in the summary and on my profile. Again, so sorry! On a happier note, the reposting of this has spurred some muse in me and I am currently in the midst of finishing up chapter three!
I kept feeling guilty of the unfair exchange we had. It seemed I gave him far too little in return for all the knowledge and fun he filled my hours with. So it was a couple of weeks later, when I was absently making a daisy chain and Naruto carefully trying to copy it, that I decided to let the matter arise. I'd had it in mind for some time now, and with the boundless enthusiasm he had for general antics and actions I was almost completely sure that he would like the idea. Again, though, I was hesitant to speak first. I never was all that good at starting a conversation.
"N-Naruto-kun?" His unique, dancing eyes rose from trying to push a stubborn daisy stem through another and the expectant but warm attention fixated on myself made me want to cringe and just give up the idea. After all, he wouldn't take too kindly to me if he didn't like it, would he? The days I'd spent didn't involve many words about the villagers whom I daily walked through, but whenever they were mentioned there was a certain tense air surrounding him. His past had been relayed to me in short, undefined sentences. But I'd grasped the basics. Driven from the village when he was around five. I felt wary to approach the idea of him learning their techniques - how would he react? If it was one thing I had learnt when in the company of Naruto, it was that he was totally unpredictable.
"I was.. I w-was wondering. Y-You see, I f-feel that you're n-not r-really getting much out of m-my company and I w-was wondering if.. you would like m-me," I gulped harshly as my throat became dry before forcing the last words out, "To t-teach you th-the ninja t-techniques we learn a-at school. I-If only f-for a bit."
There. I'd said it. No going back now. I didn't know what I was expecting - anger? Confusion? Disgust? But the utter silence which met my words made me want to curl up into a ball and never set eyes on the world again. Where was a good old hole in the Earth when you needed one? I averted my gaze automatically - something I'd learned from the beginning during Kata's taunting and jeering. Never make eye contact. It could provoke anyone to far worse things than intended.
The empty air seemed unbearably stifling all of a sudden, and the steadily growing daisy chain in my hand suddenly felt weak and limp. Had I gone too far, this time? Had I done something wrong? I closed my eyes briefly in bleak despair. I might as well walk away from the mess I'd made. But when I made a move to get up, the same familiar hand clamped down on my wrist and pulled me downwards with such force that my legs protested slightly. Prolonging the inevitable meeting of eyes, I stared at the hand on my wrist before warily meeting Naruto's gaze. It was not what I'd expected.
Blue. A deep, oceanic blue shone from the irises like a beam of light in the dark. I felt my jaw drop in unmatched shock. The purple, ever-raging depths of the normal eyes were gone, briefly replaced with a much more meaningful colour as I stared. My own pupil less eyes just couldn't bring their locked gaze off the awed colour. Vaguely, in my mind, I realized I hadn't been wrong on my first assumptions when I looked at the violent pupils a couple of weeks back. The red and blue were fighting - colours fighting for dominance. The thought was ridiculous - verging on plainly unbelievable, but somehow I knew I'd grasped another unknown fact of my friend correctly. Assumed correctly.
The sudden uncertainty which was so vacant from those irises normally was back in startling clarity: verging on a joy which was hidden further behind. I was awoken from my internal discoveries by the tightening grip on my arm. He made no move to stop me as I gently unlatched the fingers off my skin, rubbing it delicately as I waited for him to speak. The large pause between us was slowly arousing a nervous, edgy side of me. What was he thinking? I wanted to know, badly, within the seconds following the thought.
"You- You'd really do that for me?" Naruto whispered the question, and without hesitation - and before I could lose my nerve - I nodded with conviction. There was a moment of strained silence before his enthusiastic response. I was pulled into a chest-crushing hug which made it hard to breath, but still made me want to smile. No one could deny the idea that he was happy. And when I managed to twist my head away from the position I was in, his eyes were still the strange, dancing blue. I wondered if he realised the changing colours but I was cut off from voicing the question when he shouted his own joy.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you Hinata-chan! Seriously, that would be totally awesome! I mean, we could train together and stuff, right? If I got to your level?" Instinctively I felt myself nod, but my attention was turned from the words by an uncomfortable reminder of the date coming up. Genin tests. If I passed, I would go onto the twisting road to become a full-fledged ninja - and be spending a whole lot less time with Naruto. The grim reminder was like an impending death penalty. How could - no, how would - I live through the hardest role of my life without my ever-faithful, demonic companion beside me? How would I suffer through the nail-grinding training of a ninja without the sunny smile and endless support from Naruto? The dark cloud of growing up was far too close for my liking. The boy in question, though, was happily oblivious to my grim thoughts as he carefully pushed the fifth daisy stem through another. I watched him as I paused in my own daisy-chaining efforts. How could I give up this content, happy feeling? I felt selfish after thinking such a thought, but it was true. The questions taunted me before Naruto broke the slowly lengthening pause in the air.
"So, um, when can we start? I mean, whenever it suits you of course." There was a certain endearing quality in his features as he uncertainly glanced at my frozen form. Smiling slightly, I left the far from finished chain of flowers on the now flattened grass, heaved myself to my feet and offered him a hand to take hold of.
"Now, i-if you want to," I replied unsteadily, running on pure feeling right now. I could tell my heart was ruling my head. But I didn't care. And it seemed, neither did he as the boy briefly looked at my hand before taking it with the same signature grin and regaining his own feet. Still holding his hand, I led him confidently across the small clearing which he had showed me that fateful few weeks ago before stopping by the stream. It felt odd when I let go of his hand. Like I was missing something. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind to contemplate later before trying to assume a teacher like pose. Automatically, Naruto sat down in front of me and I felt an odd surge of confidence as he gestured for me to begin.
"O-..Okay, Iruka-sensei recently b-began teaching us a-about making c-clones."
His face screwed up immediately in incomprehension before he voiced his confusion. "What's a clone?" Only Naruto could say something like that.
"A clone i-is like a copy of s-something - invaluable to n-ninja if th-they need t-to be st-stealthy. Such a-as if they n-needed bait o-or a d-distraction," I explained, trying to recite from memory as I recalled the lesson. He remained his confused expression for a few moments before the face lit up with understanding. "Like how all the silver butterflies are exactly the same?" He assumed a smug-like mask as I nodded in agreement. "So, how do you make one?"
"W-Well, through every n-ninja there r-runs something called ch-chakra. It I-is the key s-skill you n-need if you w-wish to u-use things like j-jutsu," I taught, surprised out how easily I'd memorised such things. A sudden thought occurred to me as I remembered one of the Genin that occasionally stopped by the academy. "Th-Though some n-ninja use s-something called taijutsu - which d-doesn't involve ch-chakra all that m-much."
"Chakra," he echoed with an abstract look on his face, before it turned slightly worried, "Do I have chakra?"
The idea, unfortunately, had not occurred to me before now. I suddenly felt embarrassed at being unable to tell him if he had it or not. For one moment, I felt the undeniable urge to run away like the coward I was. Instead, I replied briskly, "Well, w-we'll j-just have to f-find out." The blank expression on his face at my sudden change in tone made me want to apologise, but I instead opted to continue in my normal voice.
"F-First you n-need to make y-your hands form th-this kind of sh-shape," I said, forming the unusual clasp of hands in demonstration until he slowly copied it. Automatically I reached forward and corrected the awkward version he had managed to create before continuing. "Th-Then you n-need to say B-Bunshin no Jutsu a-and concentrate o-on making an exact c-copy of yourself."
"B-Bunshin no Jutsu?" he asked, a frown marring his forehead slightly.
I sighed, all of a second exasperated with my own weak stuttering habits. Taking it as a sign that I was tiring of teaching him, Naruto hurriedly added, "It doesn't matter. I don't need to know. Carry on."
Shaking my head slightly in rejection, I held my jaw steady and was slightly surprised when the words "Bunshin no Jutsu, that's how you pronounce it," came soaring out of my mouth without a hitch. A curious sense of accomplishment made me pause in teaching mode for a few seconds. Was it possible that I had managed to say a sentence without stuttering? The thought was unnerving, and more than slightly disarming. My stutter was a part of me. Much as I hated it with a cold, unmatched feeling, it was still the part of me I had grown up with. Hinata, the girl who stuttered. I couldn't say a clear sentence for the life of me. So why now?
"Hinata-chan? Hello?" Naruto's hand vaguely being waved in clumsy flailing motions in front of my eyes brought me out of my thoughts. Shaking away the strange unfamiliar feeling, I returned my attention to teaching. "A.. As I s-said. Concentrate o-on making an e-exact copy of y-yourself."
Frowning with the utmost concentration, he carefully mimicked the hand sign I had shown him and closed his eyes, the same frown as he tried to complete the jutsu drifting over his face. For a moment, I took the time to examine him in a way that not many people got the chance to of one another. The bold birth marks, the carved features, the eyes I could not tell the colour of shut against my gaze.. An odd feeling I could not identify pushed its way to the surface and caused the all too familiar tears to well up at the corners of my eyes. Why was I so sentimental?
"Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Eager to see if my teaching efforts were a success, we both peered at the puff of smoke which had appeared next to him, waiting for it to clear anxiously. As it cleared, it became very much apparent that he hadn't succeeded. The resulting clone was more a ragged doll than a human, pale white limbs sticking out at awkward angles as it pressed its face into the ground in a slightly comical manner. There was nothing comic about the eagerness which fell from his face at the sight of the failed clone. The sight made me, strangely, want to hug him or offer some sort of human contact and comfort.
"Do I really look like that?"
If this had been an anime of some sort, I definitely would have sweat-dropped there and then. Trust him to think like that - sometimes, he just really surprised me. I stared at him dead-pan for a few moments, wondering whether to collapse laughing or solemnly tell him he'd failed the jutsu. The urge to laugh won out as I bent over. Only this boy - this demon boy, no less, the one everyone was afraid of - would confuse a failed clone with himself. Naruto stared at me for a few seconds blankly before joining in, though I was sure he really didn't get the joke. But that was him. If someone laughed, he'd automatically join in, whether he realised what they were laughing about or not. Like a moth to a flame. Wiping tears from the corner of my eyes, I tried to continue the teaching without splitting my sides again.
Time passes when you're having fun, as they say. And it passed quickly. Days turned to weeks, in their own time turning into a month before I even knew it. And still, I was surprised everyday by something new. I could barely contain my eagerness for the classes to end, and instead of concentrating on the subject at hand stared out the window, day-dreaming of the hours to come. Sometimes, I swear I saw that same, irrepressible peering out from the line of trees just visible on the horizon.
Unfortunately, Iruka-sensei seemed to notice my behaviour and it was when a month had passed that I was asked to stay after class while I was stuffing books into my shoulder bag as fast as I could. The small balloon of anticipation in my chest burst upon the words as I sank in my chair beneath his gaze and nodded silently. Instead of wanting the lessons to move faster, I simply wanted them to fall back to that snails pace that they used to be at. So it was with a dejected slump in my step that I crossed the room to my sensei's desk after the lessons finished for the day.
He was silent for a few moments, and I daringly looked up into his pensive features, the scar across the bridge of his nose slight awry as he thought. Dragging my eyes away again, I studied my worn out ninja shoes as I waited for the berating to come. Surprisingly, it didn't. It did, however, start with the typical reassurances which came with every sort of conversation between a child and teacher.
"Now, Hinata, I know you're a bright girl really," he began in that same gentle tone they always used on such a delicate wall flower as myself, "But you seem to be distracted lately and at this rate you're not going to pass the genin examinations. Is anything wrong at home?"
The words set off more of an internal reaction than an outward as he studied my reaction to his words. Mentally, I had stiffened like a block of wood. The genin exams. I hadn't thought about them in some time, but they were coming up soon. If I didn't pass, what would father say? The question to myself made me want to cringe and run to the forest - no, run to Naruto. If I didn't pass, Hiashi would certainly punish me. Much further than the times before. This time, I physically stepped back at the mere thought of what he would do. He would be extremely angry. That was unquestionably certain.
Briefly, in the small part of me which felt the need to invent some kind of plan, I wondered whether to truly tell him what was going on at home. That my father was putting the pressure on his eldest daughter to become a ninja no matter what. That the elders of the Hyuuga clan were mulling over the idea of disowning me from their ranks. That my mothers grave lay unattended to in the darkest corner of the Hyuuga graveyard.
But such things were clan matters. Not to be spoken of.
Shaking my head vigorously, I tried to hold my chin firm and bit my lip to suppress the tears. Naruto-kun wouldn't cry, I thought fiercely. Naruto would be yelling at Iruka-sensei that it didn't matter: that he would become a great ninja whether he made the rank of genin or not.
The silence that followed wasn't altogether comfortable. And when a response did come from Iruka-sensei, it was in the form of an unhappy sigh. When I looked up, his features were torn in indecision for a moment. For a brief few seconds, I forgot my own problems with this conversation and wondered what was troubling him. It was then that he chose to speak. "Hinata.. If you won't tell me I can't help you. If your family's giving you a hard time, the council and I could always do something about it."
Not for the first time, the urge to tell him everything was overwhelming. Tell him of Hiashi's continuous pushing for me to excel. Tell him of my shaky position within the ranks. Tell him of the boy who was becoming more of a puzzle each day. Tell him I was distracted because of this demon, who wasn't the demon everyone said he was.
But of course, I couldn't.
Biting my lip further, I was loath to find that my teeth had drawn blood as I shook my head firmly again. Seeing no further need to stay, I murmured something garbled about getting home and turned to run out. He didn't try to stop me, but I could feel that same troubled gaze boring holes into the back of my head.
Unfortunately, my troubles did not end as I rounded the corner at the end of the corridor, only to go sprawling across the floor when someone's leg tripped me up. And despite accompanying one of the most closed off people I knew on a daily basis, I hissed aloud my pain as my knee knocked woodenly against the hard floor. Twisting, I found my eyes coming into contact with the slitted brown ones of Kata. It would have been lying to say I was surprised. I'd had it coming for days. Only sticking to Iruka-sensei's side like glue had lessened any chance that he would be able to corner me after the Kyuubi incident, as I sometimes called it.
He stepped forward menacingly, thrusting the ugly, rage-twisted features into my face with a snarl and automatically I flinched. My reaction seemed to reassure him further when he brought his meaty hand down of my arm, holding it in a death-grip so hard that I gasped softly. I was only vaguely surprised that I was dispassionately comparing him to a wild hog mentally.
"You enjoy that, Hyuuga?" he sneered in that horribly raspy voice of his, "Enjoy the extra attention? Can't get enough of it, can ya? Hm? It's not enough that the damn council sucks up to you - you've got to manipulate the teacher too, right? Right?" He tightened his grip on my arm to emphasise the last words and when I squeaked my discomfort he only tightened it harder. Without any right to, I wished with a sudden, pathetic surge of fear that Naruto was here to stop him again. The only mark from that time so long ago was a long scar which had appeared across Kata's cheek. What was more surprising was the fact that I wished violence upon the boy - and it felt good. But still, despite my new found violent side, I couldn't control my natural reaction.
"K-Kata-k-kun p-please d-don't."
His face shoved itself further into my vision and the idea of him being related to a wart hog seemed to only increase in likeliness. "What, Hinata-chan, can't stand a little rough play?" Another tightening of the grip on my arm, and I could feel my muscles protesting viciously to the treatment.
"Kata, Hinata, Shouldn't you two be going home by now?"
Thanking whatever form that Fate took, I glanced down the corridor I had just run up to find Iruka-sensei standing with hands on hips with narrowed eyes at the pair of us. Quick to recover, Kata released his grip on my hand before spinning round with a smile on his face - a mask I knew all to well. Absently, I rubbed my hand over the sore spot to calm the red mark sure to come. Rising to my feet, I was cut short as Kata smoothly walked by in a seemingly harmless action. "You haven't seen the last of this, Hinata-chan."
The words sounded ominously like one of those quotes from villains in comic strips, only this was totally realistic. And his voice held the promise.
Without thinking, I ran. Iruka-sensei's voice called out behind me, but I didn't stop. And the tears which ran down in streams from the corners of my eyes didn't stop either as I ran to the only place I knew to be safe - my own retreat. I didn't bother to look where I was going, and it was a miracle that I didn't trip over some precious item.
And as if he knew, he was waiting. Like always, he was waiting for me. Never the other way round. The dark, fathomless purple eyes were alarmed as they took in my state, but I paid no heed to what he thought of it. Without hesitation, I practically threw myself bodily into his arms and just cried like the pathetic fool I was. Shed tears, because someone had threatened to hurt me. Like a parent comforting a child, his voice wove words of comfort around me, like a blanket against the world. And much as I hated to admit it, it would work like the times before. I could feel my salty tears soaking the solitary shirt he had, and slowly I tried to pull away, but he pulled me back firmly. And I couldn't stop the flow of tears. Couldn't stop the endless streams which ran in hot tickles down my cheeks and throat.
It was childish and selfish for me to come to him for comfort. Transfer the burdens I was supposed to carry to his own heavy shoulders. Cheat life's sorrows. Yet I did it, without hesitation. What did that say for my sense of caring for others? As the sobs stopped wracking my ribs, it was replaced with a depressing lack of self-preservation and plenty of self-loathing. Why was I so weak?
He didn't say anything for a long while. Just waited for me to hiccup my way into shuddering silence. He didn't let go of me, either. Just rubbed one of his hands along my back in a soothing rhythm. Dimly, I realised we had somehow managed to end up deeper into the trees than we'd been before. And that instead of standing, both of us were sitting.
The strange feeling of human comfort was so alien and new, that I felt the immediate urge to pull away from it. Regular people wouldn't - no, couldn't - do this. Simply couldn't sit comforting one another with no barriers or secrets or worries between one another, be it physically or psychologically. I'd been hugged before, as a child in younger, happier days. But there'd always been a gap, no matter how comfortable and warm the arms which held me had seemed at the time. But there wasn't a barrier or a secret between myself and Naruto. How ironic, that I would achieve such a thing with a demon container.
Eventually, the shudders and sniffles died away and my face burned hot and sticky with tear tracks and snot. Pulling away slightly, his arms briefly tightened in concern before letting me wipe my face on my sleeve. I tried not meet his gaze, but it proved difficult to do when I was facing him. My irregular breathing kept hitching, so I remained silent as I studied a crack in the ground and he in turn studied my face. I wasn't an attractive crier: all snot and tears, puffy eyes and a runny nose. I knew that much, at least. It couldn't have been fun to examine my face after that particular crying jag, but when his fingers tilted my chin up I automatically looked at him, and yet again those same eyes caught me. The comfortable feeling was gone, as I felt an chill like icy water pour down my back. Those irises I knew so well were a vibrant, angry red.
"Hinata-chan." Those red eyes scared me. Scared me like he'd never scared me before. Not when he'd hurt Kata. Never when I'd mentioned the villagers. This time he was really angry - the kind which made him a demon. "Hinata-chan, who did this to you?"
Those eyes were mesmerising: the slits more animal and wild than anything the Inuzuka or Kata's clan could ever hope to recreate. "Hinata-chan! Who?" The order was practically growled and it made me blink, breaking the sudden trance which had seemed to come from nowhere. I didn't think, before I spoke. "Kata-kun."
And within that one word, it angered him beyond belief. With an almost animal snarl he pushed me away with a strength he had never shown - so great it made me stumble on to my feet until my back was up against a tree. Red. Blazing red surrounded him. The same red substance which had saved me that first time with Kata. On all fours, my mind began to play tricks on me as the chakra - for there was nothing else it could be - seemed to form the vague shape of ears and a tail around his body. The heat was licking like flames at my pale skin. Whimpering still, new bursts of tears coming to my eyes, I tried to back away from him. This, was the boy I had been trusting the last month. And this, was why they truly called him a demon.
It hurt to watch, and again I wished for the Byakugan. I could barely see through the angry, hissing air to the crouched body. Tears trailing from the corners of my eyes, I tried to push through it to no avail. It was like the padded walls of a cell: just bouncing me off. The red flames of hell burnt, as well: searing like a black-smith's hammer into my skin with a burning sensation of pain. All thoughts of breaking through the transparent barrier vanished as the agony blinded me.
Then the chakra moved, faster than any kind of thing I'd seen. Instead of making out a form, the every dancing area of red moved forwards and in the direction of Konoha - the pure, evil energy twisting and mangling every life and tree in its path.
Before I could blink, it was gone. He was gone. Gone to do who knew what. Without the strength to stand, it was a slow tumble to the earthy floor which smelled of burning wood. My forehead collided heavily with the ground, but for once I did not show the physical pain, feeling my mind glazing over. Something tried to tell me to keep my eyes open. Was there something I had to do..? Naruto- I had to find.. Naruto..
*
For a few moments, I didn't move of show any sign of my awakening as I stared at the thick blanket of stars above. I just stared blankly at their twinkling lights, slowly recovering the memories my mind wished to block from me. Naruto.. Naruto had..
He'd gone into Konoha. Something he'd sworn never to do.
And I shuddered physically at what could have caused it. My own selfish reasons. No matter how foolish and petty is sounded, the only reason he could have gone in there after my outburst was to actually go after Kata himself. Destroy the destroyer, as he'd once quoted.
The burns on my arms protested along with my mind. Could he have actually done it? Could he have actually gone to Konoha and fought Kata again, over some silly, childish tears from me? It was idealistic at best, but one of the few reasonable explanations I could come up with. Automatically, I curled tighter into the ball of warmth behind my back and tried to ignore the prickly feeling on the back of my neck. I could quite possibly have inflicted wounds upon a person, no less a ninja in training, of my own village. Because of some harsh words and a tight grip. It was only slightly amazing that I still had enough energy to shed a tear. The self-loathing I had harboured over many a time of weaknesses was added to. Foolish girl, taunted my sub-conscious.
It was only then that I realised the warm presence at my back was steadily rising and falling as he breathed. All at once, my breath irrationally caught in a hitch as I held back my own breathing to listen to his. Twisting my vision, I found that I was leaning on my back against the stomach of Naruto. The one who'd saved me, the one who'd scared me, and the one who made me laugh. The blonde hair was more ruffled and wind-blown as usual, and I tried not to think of exactly how that could have happened as I smoothed it back without thinking. The normally set features were relaxed in his own dream-world, surprisingly making him seem far more.. childish. My hand froze when a single violet eye drifted open to fixate on me, caught in the act.
"'Lo sleepy-head," he mumbled with a drowsy air to his voice, obviously still half-asleep. Good enough for me: maybe he wouldn't remember it later. Remembering earlier events, I suddenly felt the undeniable impulse to shift away from the relaxed body, and as I complied his gaze abruptly turned sharper and more alert, a hint of sadness verging. "What are you doing?"
"Wh-What were y-you d-doing?" I countered so low, I only wished he hadn't heard me when the features twisted into something akin to guilt and acceptance. Turning my gaze away, it startled me slightly to find ourselves in the clearing with the silver butterflies. It seemed slightly less colourful without the said creatures floating around. Staring particularly hard at one of the countless daisies, I only flinched slightly when he spoke.
"Look." A sigh, making me turn my head to see it whether I wanted to or not. His expression was pained. "Look, I'm not.. I'm not proud, exactly, of what I did. I lost control of myself and I guess.. I'm sorry?" The last words were almost a question, as if asking whether I wanted an apology or not. For a brief few moments, I stared at him, at loss for words as I tried to discover my own feelings as well as speak them.
He'd lost control of the demon he kept at bay, over me. Run to Konoha.. for me. An irrationally warm glow starting at my shoulders and slowly washing over my body at the petty thoughts. He cared, if only a little. Cared about me. A completely new idea to me, but it still had the power to make the world of difference. For a moment, as the action occurred to me, I was awkwardly hesitant as I slowly straightened my arms out in front of me stiffly: the universal gesture for hugging. And without thinking, I wrapped my arms around his body, still warm from sleep. In a seconds indecision, it seemed like he may push me away. But then the arms returned the gesture with a surprising amount of energy.
So I sighed. Content.