A/N: Okay, guys. Last school-focused chapter, promise. And there's a time skip after this, cause I just can't wrap my mind around a believable way for the seven year olds that they are now doing what I need them to. They're not Kakashi. As it is, I think I've probably pushed it a bit already. Anyway, thanks go out to: Sarcastic Tofu, jolteonforever, QuietInsomniac, Auphora66, InARealPickle, World's Neighbor, Rangerfan58, iNsAnE nO bAkA, DarkRavie, The Laughing Phoenix, x-smith and WhyMustIWrite.
Naruto's world is owned by some rich Japanese guy. I am, unfortunately, poor – not to mention American and female. Therefore, I obviously don't own Naruto.
December, 4 years ago
The girl ran blindly down the moonlit walkways. Tears in her eyes, sobs choking a throat that already could not draw in enough breath, she ran. She knew not to scream. No point wasting what little breath she had on a cry no one would hear. After all, hadn't he cast that silencing jutsu?
The nine year old turned a corner, slipping and falling to the ground in her haste. 'No' she thought. 'No… no… nonononono…' She scrambled to her knees, jumped to her feet…and felt a hand wrap around her elbow. She gasped as her momentum made her swing towards her captor. Then a sharp, burning pain in her gut stole the air she had just drawn in.
The hand let go, and the girl slid once more to her knees. Her small hands went to her belly, trying uselessly to stop the flow of blood – of life. The pain was intense, but worse was the breaking of her heart. She looked up at her killer, hot tears streaming down her face. The blood bubbled up in her throat, choking her with its' thick coppery taste, but she felt the jutsu break, and forced out the words she had wanted to scream since the chase began.
"Why" she whispered, as the life faded from her bright eyes. "Why, brother?"
-
The eight year old boy looked down at her, sorrow briefly flitting across his eyes. "Because," he answered, the sorrow disappearing as if it had never been. "He said you wouldn't join us. Now that you know, he wouldn't be happy if I let you live. Nothing personal, but…goodbye, sister."
Unknown to the boy, another young girl stood horrified in a shadowed doorway, leaning breathlessly against the connecting corner. One small, trembling hand hovered in midair, reaching out in a helpless, futile gesture as an agonized scream caught silently in her throat. The wide-eyed girl didn't even blink as the boy walked away from the body of the child, didn't flinch as her legs gave out, spilling her to the floor. She only stared, unseeing, at the blood slowly spreading to where she lay bonelessly against the wall.
-
The man knelt beside his trembling daughter. He wrapped the girl in his arms, hiding the child's face in his shoulder to allow encourage the child to cry. But the little girl stood silent, wide blue eyes still blank. It seemed that a quarter of the Village – and of course, the entire Clan – had turned up at the funeral to pay their respects to the nine year old girl who had inexplicably taken her own life, but the man was far more concerned with the shock numbing the mind of the little girl in his arms.
He had found her on the porch that horrible morning, staring blindly at the still body of her older cousin. He had bundled her up, taken her away immediately, and had carefully shielded the child's involvement from the Clan Elders. He did not think that she could bear to be questioned, and so he had told no one that she had not been in her bed. The little one must have witnessed the death, and it had clearly shaken her to the depths of her gentle soul.
"Please" the man murmured, kinder with her than he had been in years. "Please, talk to us. Say something, Hinata."
----
Iruka fought the urge to cry. Little Hyuuga Hinata had returned to school after a two-week absence, but her father had warned the girl's homeroom teacher. Hinata had not spoken a single word since her cousin's death, and was even more timid than she had been before. All of the Academy first-year teachers had held a conference on the matter, carefully discussing ways of trying to include the little girl in classes – hopefully draw her out of the mental shell she had retreated behind – without putting too much pressure on the delicate child. They wanted to give her the chance to come out of it before deciding that she was unfit for the shinobi lifestyle.
During the morning class, Iruka had watched the girl as closely as he could without being obvious about it, and she had broken his heart. There was a light glaze in the girl's eyes, showing that much of her mind was still elsewhere. She responded well enough, completing her work as quickly as she always had, and she followed the simple commands given to the class, but… she flinched away from others, putting herself in the farthest corner of the room that she could manage.
Even now, with all the children out for recess, Hinata sat in the curve of the fence surrounding the weapons yard. A small part of the Chunin's mind noticed that the girl always had her back against something now, almost a defensive posture, but he brushed the thought away. She was probably feeling that she needed something to lean against.
Though at least the other children were finally acting normally.
-
Sasuke sighed, standing up abruptly. While it made him feel slightly lightheaded for a second, it had the benefit of shutting up Naruto's rambling. "If you're that worried, I'll go talk to her, okay?" he muttered, his tone dangerously close to sulking.
Naruto blinked, but then a wide, beaming smile lit up his face. "Okay!" he chirped. The blond had tried to talk to Hinata-chan himself, but the quiet girl had practically cowered, slamming her eyes shut and curling into herself when Naruto had come bounding up to her. Naruto may not have been the smartest kid in class, but even he knew that he could come on a little strong sometimes. Heaven knew that Sasuke-kun and Iruka-Sensei had told him so often enough. But…
'But Sasuke-kun's quieter, so maybe she won't be… scared… of him. I hope so. She's nice; I hate seeing her so… so messed up. I wanna know what's wrong; I wanna fix it. She shouldn't look like that.' The blond watched eagerly, worry and anticipation mixing in his blue eyes as his darker friend approached the little girl curled against the fence.
The taller boy didn't seem to say anything, just sat down against the fence a few steps away from the Hyuuga heiress.
Naruto scowled. 'What does he think he's doing?! He's supposed to talk to her, not take a nap!' But... but after a minute or two, Hinata relaxed. Just a little, but still… the girl was less tense than she had been all day.
Hearing someone call his name – he'd made some friends since coming to the Academy, though Sasuke-kun was his best friend, of course – the blond glanced over to where a classmate was waving for him to join their game. Naruto hesitated, looking back over at the pair leaning against the fence, but then he decided to give them some space. 'Hinata-chan probably doesn't need me staring at her' he reasoned, 'so I'll leave 'em alone and just grill Sasuke-kun later. Besides, it looks like they could be there a while.'
Catching his friend's eyes, Naruto jerked his chin towards the group across the playground. An acknowledging nod later, and Naruto flashed a bright grin before turning to dash across the yard towards the others.
-
Dark eyes flicked quickly over the playground, subtly studying a number of the children gathered there. Lips quirked in a cruel smile, hidden behind the book opened in front of him. 'They're doing well' the man thought, his eyes lingering on some of the older students. 'They've gotten the hang of hiding the extent of their skill, of appearing to be at the same level as their oblivious compatriots. And they finally understand that they cannot be so exclusive; that they must be friendly if they are to draw others to our cause. Good, very good. Hm, children are so easily manipulated.'
-
Brown eyes watched the loudmouthed blond dart across the yard, and Shikamaru took a slow, deep breath. His class finally had recess with the first years again, and the loud boy had finally left his quiet friend's side. It wouldn't do for the volatile blond to get upset and shout anything concerning what he needed to talk to Uchiha-kun about. And the girl… he'd seen her flinch away from the blond boy, and had watched her place herself carefully against the wall. Even the way she sat – on her knees, feet tucked underneath her – left her able to jump up or move quickly if she needed to. She might be worth talking to as well.
Levering himself up from his chosen lounging spot, the Nara heir made his slow, seemingly ambling way towards the two children leaning against the fence. Stopping near the boy, Shika leaned against the fence, his gaze locked on the clouds floating far above them. The boy beside him never moved, but he could feel a sharp gaze locked on him. He fought the sudden urge to smirk. 'Well. Either he really is as anti-social as they say, or he knows something.'
Shikamaru decided to take a chance. "So" he murmured, sliding down to sit between the two freshmen. "You're scared of them too, aren't you?" On either side of him, eyes widened and snapped around to stare incredulously. 'Yep. They know something. That could make this… a little less troublesome.'