-Set at the beginning of Shippuden, Naruto comes back from training, only to find that Sakura has to leave on a mission of her own. In need of a team, he gets stuck with Hinata and Sai. How will this affect the whole series? And will Naruto ever love Hinata?
Alright, another chapter! I am on a roll here! I'm thinking this might be my new favorite fanfic to work on! I don't have to come up with all of the ideas, and I can change whatever I want! Yay! Please enjoy!
Episode Five
~His New Teammates, Her Resolve, Hinata's Fake Smile~
"I really just can't stand that asshole!" Naruto screamed. "He pisses me off so much! I could just kill him with my rasengan, right here and now! Why is he taking Sasuke's place of all people? Three people is enough for Team Kakashi…"
Hinata just giggled. "Well, he's . . . he's definitely very vulgar, but . . . don't you think he resembles Sasuke-kun somewhat?"
"Hmp!" Naruto shook his head furiously. "Nope, Sasuke's cooler!" But when he realized what he had just said, he took it back. "I mean, he's just better!"
"You're . . . you're right, Naruto-kun." Hinata said. "Sasuke-kun is somewhat cooler than Sai-san…"
"Eh? What do you mean by 'somewhat,' Hinata-chan? The Teme's way better!"
And that comment just left Hinata giggling.
✿｡.:**:.｡✿
"It's already that bad?" Tsunade asked. She sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Well, there's no way around it… Anyway, just try to keep Naruto under control."
"Hai, Tsunade-sama."
But Tsunade knew the face the girl wore. "What is it, Hinata?"
"Oh, it's . . . it's nothing… I just . . . just—"
The Godaime raised an eyebrow.
The Hyuga sighed. "If Sakura-san were here, I think she'd do a better job than I could ever do… She knows Naruto-kun better than I do, and . . . and—"
"And she chose you to replace her, Hinata." Tsunade said. "Sakura wouldn't have done so if she didn't believe you could do a good job. Yes, she knows Naruto better than most people do, but that's because she had spent more time with him than any other. The reason why she had you switch teams, weeks before the actual mission, was so that you could learn more about him. With him being Naruto, some things are pretty obvious, but others aren't so easily spotted. Just give it some time, Hinata. Things will get better."
At this, the Hyuga heiress smiled. She was doing a good job—that was a good thing. At least, she knew she wasn't letting anyone down. Plus, both Sakura and Tsunade believed in her. She just needed to keep going…
Knock! Knock!
"Enter!"
And an old man came in.
Who could that be? Hinata knew she hadn't seen him before. Was he a foreigner? But when she saw Tsunade's face, she knew the man was not welcomed.
"Danzo…" Tsunade tried to keep the displeasure from her face. "What is it?"
"You have assigned an elite ANBU to be the leader of Sai's team, I trust?"
"I chose a person who has stood out since the Third was in office," Tsunade explained.
"Excellent…" Danzo had a wicked smile on his face. Just exactly what was he planning? "But I hope he hasn't taken the Third's teachings to heart. That old man was always afraid of getting into disputes and making decisions… Like how your grandfather taught him, hm?"
Hinata was more than appalled. How could he say such a thing? And right in front of the Hokage herself?
"Anyway, now I'm satisfied…" He turned to leave. "I can go and eat now. Good-bye."
"Wh-who was that?" Hinata asked, once she knew the man was gone.
"He competed for the chair of Hokage with the Third, but he's very different from the Third." Tsunade answered. "He's an overly serious, militaristic, logical thinking leader and Sai's superior. Since I'm the student of the Third and the granddaughter of the Shodai Hokage, he hates me." She sighed, massaging her temple. "Well, it's time, Hinata."
"Hai!" She bowed to the Hokage. "I'll be leaving then."
✿｡.:**:.｡✿
Even since the four-man team had left Konoha, it was all just . . . silence. Now that was weird. Naruto was never silent. He would always be rambling about something. Always. But now he was just . . . just glaring at that guy, Sai… Oh, how he hated that guy Sai! (A/N: Oh, god, I sound like Dr. Suess!) Why couldn't he just fall into a ditch and just stay there for all of eternity? Or, or he could just jump off a cliff and just be done with!
Yeah, yeah, that could work… I could make it look like an accident! Mwa-ha-ha! Naruto thought, a grin coming to his face. Now all I need to do is find a cliff… A nice, tall one would do. Oh, and it wouldn't hurt to have sharp, jagged rocks at the bottom. Hee-hee…
Now, Sai, yeah, he had noticed Naruto looking at him strangely. But that smile was just plain creepy! "What is it?" he asked.
Naruto didn't answer, just frowned. Well, I guess they are alike… he thought. That arrogant tone in his voice…
"Please stop staring at me," Sai said. "Don't make me hit you."
"EVERY DAMN THING THAT COMES OUT OF YOUR MOUTH JUST PISSES ME OFF!" Naruto yelled, shaking his fist in front of Sai's face. As I thought, he's nothing like Sasuke-teme!
"I don't have malice towards you."
"LIAR!"
"I'm just trying to put on that kind of attitude."
"Aha! So you do have malice!" Naruto said. "Why the Hell are you here? All you do is just piss people off!"
"Hey, now, don't say something like that in front of your captain, Naruto." Yamato scolded. "Teamwork and cooperation are the most important things in a team. I thought Kakashi-sempai had already taught you that."
"He did!"
"Then what's the problem?"
"It's because"—he pointed at Sai—"he's not a member of Team Kakashi! The other member of the team is Sasuke! This guy is just taking Sasuke's place, someone chosen to fill the gap! I'll never consider someone like him as a member of this team!"
Shockingly, Sai smiled at this. "Well, I'm glad you think of me that way. I wouldn't want to be compared to that weak shit-for-brains Orochimaru's clone who only cared for power and ran off to that snake and betrayed Konoha."
"You bastard…!" Naruto was ready to punch him, but Hinata held out a hand to stop him.
"Truly," she said, "th-the most important thing is teamwork. Sai, since Naruto-kun doesn't know you all th-that well, he just . . . just said too much. I'm sorry… Please forgive him."
"Hinata-chan…" Naruto was now ashamed of himself. The Hyuga heiress had just swallowed her pride to apologize on his behalf! How could he be so reckless?
"I'm glad at least one of you is reasonable," Yamato said, grateful to the heavens.
"Think nothing of it," Sai replied, that smile still painted on his face.
"Well, that's good." Hinata smiled. Then suddenly . . . she released the gentle fist on him, much to everyone's dismay. "However, you don't have to forgive me," she said without stuttering—a fierce fire burning in her eyes.
"Hmp," Sai wiped the blood off of his face. "You completely fooled me . . . with that fake smile of yours…"
"Since you don't know anything about Sasuke-kun, don't talk about things that you don't understand!" Hinata said. "If you bad-mouth him one more time, I won't hold back on Sakura-san's behalf!"
"Fine," Sai stood up. "I won't say anything in front of you… But the fact that you can use a fake smile like that, I'll remember it."
"You've just been hit!" Naruto yelled. "Why are you acting so cheerfully?"
"A smile's the best way to get out of trouble even if it is fake," Sai answered. "Amazingly, it fools everyone… I read that in a book somewhere before, but"—he dusted himself—"it doesn't look like it works here."
Now, Naruto was just getting more and more pissed off. Would this guy continue to say these weird things?
"Wood Style: Four Pillar Prison Jutsu!" And suddenly, this wooden penitentiary popped out of the ground behind Yamato. "If you guys don't stop arguing, I won't hesitate to toss you in a cage," he said calmly. "I said we don't have time before we go to Tenchi Bridge, but there's still at least two weeks. As the mediator here, here's my proposition. You can spend a day or so in the cage to work out your differences or we can go to a hotel that has hot springs. What will it be?"
And suddenly, he looked like a monster from a horror movie that had just woken up on the wrong side of the bed. "You guys don't know me well. However, I like being nice and friendly, but I don't have any problems with ruling by fear either…"
Yikes… Could you spell awkward much?
✿｡.:**:.｡✿
Naruto kept the bottom half of his face submerged in the water. He sat right in between that asshole Sai and his . . . err, wonderful team leader.
"Ah, for guys, being together naked really makes us feel like companions!" Yamato laughed, but then he threw out his serious face again. "Don't you agree, Naruto?"
"Y-yes, yeah, of course!" Naruto almost jumped. His eyes are really terrifying! He really is ruling by fear!
"Well, well," Sai said, "so you really do have one."
Naruto could fear himself turn red with both anger and . . . well, more anger. "DON'T GO LOOKING! WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS GOING ON ABOUT PENISES ANYWAY?"
Naruto's screams were so loud that even the girls in the female hot springs could hear.
Hinata could feel herself redden with embarrassment as everyone else started laughing. Na-Naruto-kun, I'd appreciate it . . . if you were a bit quieter…
But when Naruto heard all the laughter, a dirty little thought popped into his mind as quickly as he could eat ramen. He began to edge towards the wall that stood in between the two hot springs. He was so close! He just needed to—
"Well, I'm done for now." Yamato said as he stood out of the water. "But first, Naruto, there's something interesting I want to tell you."
"What is it?" Naruto was more curious than Alice was when she saw the white rabbit.
"When Jiraiya-sama was young, he came very close to dying once…" Yamato explained. "Six of his ribs and both of his arms were broken, and many of his internal organs were ruptured… It seemed that the cause was Tsunade-sama's inhuman strength. What he did was exactly what you're doing right now… If Hinata-san were to tell Sakura-san—"
Naruto was now scared for life.
"—what do you think she would do?"
And suddenly, Naruto was right in the middle of the hot springs, trying to play innocent. Oh, boy… Would he ever learn?
✿｡.:**:.｡✿
That night, dinner went pretty well compared to what had happened before when the team was leaving Konoha and during their time in the hot springs. Naruto was chowing down everything he could get his grubby little hands on, Hinata was trying to get him to slow down (and managed to do so when she threatened to tell Sakura), and Sai said more things to piss Naruto off but, with Yamato there, Naruto didn't dare to start a fight.
"So, Dickless…" Sai said. Everything else he said went unheard when Naruto yelled.
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?" He was just about ready to pounce the guy.
"Ahem…" Yamato cleared his throat.
Naruto quickly sat down, mumbling something about killing Sai in his sleep or something close to that. He picked up his chopsticks and started to eat again.
Poof!
When the tiny version of Katsuya appeared, she knew right away she had come at the wrong time. Why? Well, there only one reason. When she appeared, she was met with the sight of the scarring picture of Naruto's opened mouth while she was on his chopsticks.
"Kyaa!"
"Huh? Katsuya? What are you doing on my chopsticks?"
"Na-Naruto-kun, stop shaking them! You're . . . you're scaring her!"
✿｡.:*Minutes later*:.｡✿
"So, Katsuya," Naruto started once everything had calmed down. "What are you doing here?"
"He's talking to a slug?" Sai asked Hinata in a whisper, the two watching from outside Naruto's room.
"Sh-she's not some ordinary slug, Sai…" she explained. "She's one of Tsunade's summonings."
"Oh," was Sai's blunt reply as they returned to watching Naruto and the slug.
"I've come with Sakura's letter," the slug answered. She opened her mouth, and the letter shot right out. "She told me to tell you that she's sorry she hasn't written to you. Something had come up."
"Thanks…" Naruto unrolled the scroll and started reading.
Hey, Naruto, it started, how have you been doing so far? And before you start writing your letter, I'm just going to say that I've been perfectly fine. Something came up, and . . . well, you wouldn't believe it even if I told you what happened. I'll explain it when I come back, so don't ask about it, 'kay?
Naruto made a note in his head to ask about it whenever he'd see her.
So . . . I trust that you've gotten the new members for the team already, right? Who are they and what are they like? Are you getting along? Are you having fun? Do they enjoy ramen as much as you do? You're not letting them bully Hinata-chan, are you? Cuz, if you are, I'll punch you into next month whenever I see you again, got that?
Naruto shuddered at the thought. For some unknown reason, Sakura's threats were a bit scarier when they were on paper…
But anyway, I didn't find any new ramen flavors in this village I'm in right now. (I can't tell you where I am. Tsunade and Jiraiya's rules… Sorry.) There's no good souvenirs here either. It's really dull here, and I'm actually very bored. There's really nothing to do! I've completely lost my way to my great-aunt's home. Apparently, my great-aunt likes to move a lot, so now I've got to hide out here while Jiraiya-san gets her new address but, knowing him, it'll take forever! She might live right next door or just down the street, and I wouldn't know for maybe a month! God, I swear I'll kill him if this storm doesn't.
Naruto laughed at this, but he couldn't help but feel sorry for his teammate. He had been on a two-year training program with the old perv and, for long periods of time, the guy just goofed off. He had a feeling that Sakura wasn't going to be getting anywhere soon, and Jiraiya would come close to dying by her hand rather than Tsunade's this time.
He didn't feel bad for the old man, though. Jiraiya needed a wake-up call to keep him from straying from his job.
God, I miss you… Kiki here just keeps reminding me of you, you know? She barks every minute of the day! I can't get her to stop! And then, during her meals, she reminds me of Ino-pig. She only wants the best of foods—it's really crazy, Naruto. And then there are those rare times when she's quiet and shy like Hinata… Oh, and you won't believe this: when I was fighting these bandits, she went all Tenten-like and grabbed my shuriken with her mouth and started throwing them like there was no tomorrow! It was so weird! But really, Naruto, I really am homesick… It's lonely here… I really do want to come home and even have ramen at Ichiraku's…
At these words, Naruto's mood went down by ninety percent. He missed her, too, and God only knows how much everyone else did.
Oh, I gotta go! I'll write to you tomorrow! Love, your favorite cherry blossom~
But Naruto didn't want the letter to end. He wanted to know more about how she was doing, if she was alright or not. He was worried about her even if she was just visiting her family members… She had never been off on her own before… Just what troubles were she facing?
Hinata watched on with sad eyes of her own. She had known she couldn't compete with Sakura. She just didn't know how much of a status the cherry blossom had held in Naruto's heart. She was starting to think that the possibility of Naruto ever seeing her as someone other than Sakura's replacement was never going to happen. Sakura had too big of a spot in the ramen-loving ninja's heart. That was the one thing that would never change…
And so, she left to try to lull herself to sleep while Naruto started writing his letter.
✿｡.:**:.｡✿
Hiya, Sakura-chan! I'm doing just fine despite the fact that the new team leader Yamiko (I think that's how you spell his name)—
Sakura shook her head at the numerous blackouts before the name Yamiko. It would appear that Naruto's name spelling hadn't gotten any better—
—has a creepy face that's freakin' scary and the new asshole—
—nor did he lose the vulgar vocabulary…
—Sai just says things that pisses people off! Do you even know what he said to Hinata-chan? He called her a "busty stuttering freak!"
Sakura could hardly believe that. How dare that asshole call sweet, gentle Hinata that? Naruto, you better have rasengan-ed him!
Kiki, who was on her lap and also reading over the letter, seemed to have been in agreement with her.
I tried to go rasengan on him, but both Yamato (the asshole actually told me something useful and helped me spell the guy's name) and Hinata-chan held me back! I'm sorry, Sakura-chan! I really did try to kill him for that! But then, afterwards, Hinata told me that the asshole was kinda like Sasuke in a few ways, but I'll tell you this much: the guy's nothing like the Teme! He's much more worser than the Teme!
Sakura rolled her eyes. I highly doubt that now…
Teme was much more cool—I mean, better! Also, also, the asshole—
Sakura let out an exasperated sigh. Naruto, if you keep calling him an asshole, you'll never learn to like him…
—called Sasuke-teme a "weak shit-for-brains Orochimaru's clone who only cared for power and ran off to that snake and betrayed Konoha!" Can you believe him?
Sakura thought about it for a moment. Well, the new guy was right in that Sasuke did betray the village, and he certainly got the shit-for-brains part and only-cared-for-power part right… But a weak Orochimaru's clone, he is definitely not!
But don't worry, Sakura-chan! Even though I couldn't do anything about it, Hinata gave the asshole a run for his money! She went Byakugan on him and knocked him to the floor with just one attack! It served the asshole right!
Sakura smiled. Alright, Hinata! Didn't know she had it in her…
But Sakura, I think you should've been here instead! You could have thrown the asshole right out of this world! I would rather have preferred that then spending any more time with—
Suddenly, Kiki started barking, and Sakura heard the door knob turn. She quickly turned off the lamp and stood from her seat. But before she could find a hiding spot for the letter, one of her captors—though better than the other two, she hated the fact that she was stuck with him of all people—came into the room.
Thinking quickly, Kiki took the letter our of Sakura's hand, grabbing it with her mouth, and ran under the bed.
"What are you doing back?" The kunoichi's question almost came out as a snarl. "I thought you were on a mission, and—"
"Finished it…"
Sakura's hands rolled into fists. She couldn't stand his arrogant tone. "When are you letting me go?" she asked—no, demanded was a much better word. "I already told you: I came just for a vacation, not as a kunoichi—"
"And you expect me to believe that when they told me you were Konoha's hunter-nin or when they showed me the Bingo Book you carried?" the man asked.
And she hated the fact that he wouldn't let her finish most of her sentences.
"You had crossed out five of those S-ranked criminals and one A-ranked," he continued.
"I already told you," Sakura retorted, tired of repeating her lies. "The book wasn't mine. It's probably Jiraiya's. Tsunade makes him check up on me from time to time. He must have accidently misplaced it and put it in my bag by mistake!"
The man didn't say anymore. He went to the bed and pulled the dog from underneath it. He took the letter from Kiki and dropped her on the bed.
"What are you doing?" Sakura could hardly believe this. "That's mine! Don't go looking through my stuff!"
She tried to punch him, but he grabbed her arm and twisted it so hard that she fell to the floor.
"A letter from Naruto…?" he asked.
And even though Sakura didn't look up at his face, she knew his bloodline had activated. The anger in his voice was enough of a hint.
"I didn't tell him about where I was or what happened, okay?" she said, keeping her eyes away from the man's face, as she stood. "I just wrote to him what I usually wrote! He'll get suspicious if I didn't! Do you want him to come looking for me?"
"Hn…" He threw the letter in the air, and the dog caught it, glaring at him.
He ignored the pup and placed his hand under Sakura's chin, lifting her face so that her eyes met his. "Don't forget," he said. "I can make you tell me the truth either through torture or just plain brainwashing. If you continue to go against my orders, I will not hesitate to do what I need to!"
Though scared, Sakura continued to glare at him. And then, he left.
Frustrated, the kunoichi punched the wall. If she had all of her chakra, she would've made the whole structure fall. That might have made her feel better. But she didn't have all of her chakra now, so she couldn't do much anyway. She threw herself onto the bed, but she couldn't forget the bastard. His scent was all over the bed because, well, after all, it was his room she was stuck in.
She could feel the tears in her eyes. If the Elders hadn't given me this mission, I wouldn't be stuck in this mess! And in that small second, she decided she hated those old cronies and that she despised the fact that she was being held captive by the Uchiha bastard…
✿｡.:**:.｡✿
The next day, when Hinata had woken up, she wasn't all that happy. Of course, she wouldn't be. After all, she had realized Naruto could never love her the way she did just the other night. How could she even smile?
At that moment, she spotted Sai outside, painting something. She wondered what. She really did want to forget about her realization, so what better than the asshole who pissed everyone off?
Once she had gotten dressed, she walked over and asked what he was doing. He answered her question nicely, though questioning her whether or not she'd hit him again with her Byakugan to which she laughed.
"So . . . wh-what's the painting's title?" she asked him.
"Who knows?" he shrugged.
"You . . . you haven't decided yet?"
"It just doesn't have one…" Sai explained. "I've drawn tens of thousands of pictures in my life, but I've never given any one of them a title."
"But still . . ." Hinata said, "you're usually supposed to . . . to give a painting a title, right? F-f-for example, if it's a portrait then it's that person's name… Or even with other pictures, the title might be circumstances at the time or maybe your state of mind or your emotions…"
Sai nodded his head at the Hyuga's advice. "I understand what you're saying, but it's not that I don't give them titles… It's that I can't."
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"Not one things comes to me," Sai said. "I just don't . . . feel anything."
"Well, that sure explains why almost everything you say is so insensible!"
The two turned around.
"Na-Naruto-kun!" Hinata almost blushed. Well, so much for forgetting about the other night…
"We're about ready to head out," the knucklehead said, walking over to his teammates. "Yamato-taichou told me to come get you." He glanced at Sai's picture. "Eh, it's nothing special."
"Indeed," Sai replied. "Just like your penis."
Hinata covered her ears. She was Hyuga heiress, damn it! She was not supposed to hear this crap!
"That's it!" Naruto yelled. "I'm going to be straight-forward and completely honest! I ABSOLUTELY HATE YOU! IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH ME THEN QUIT IT WITH THAT FAKE SMILE OF YOURS AND START BEING STRAIGHT-FORWARD AND HONEST YOURSELF! IF YOU WANT TO FIGHT, I'LL TAKE YOU ON ANYTIME!"
". . . You don't understand," Sai said. "I just don't think anything of you, one way or the other…" And then he started to pick up his supplies. "Go on ahead," he said. "I'll follow as soon as I've cleaned things up here."
"Here, let me help…" Hinata offered, picking up some book. "Oh? This . . . this isn't printed, is it? Did you . . . did you draw this, too?"
"Yeah," Sai answered as the kunoichi handed it to him.
"Oh, r-really?" Hinata asked, amazed by his skills. "A picture book, huh? That's . . . that's really something…"
Meanwhile, Naruto sulked. For some reason, he so did not like the fact that Hinata was even talking to that asshole, let alone praising him. That should be him!
"Can . . . can you show it to me along the way s-sometime?" Hinata asked.
"Sorry, but this book isn't finished." Sai explained. "Also, I make a point of not letting other people touch it because it's my older brother's."
Oh, great… Naruto could hardly believe it. Don't tell me he's got a sob story like the Teme!
Shodai Hokage = First Hokage
Taichou = team captain; leader
Whew! Me is finished with this chapter! Yay! Please tell me how you like it so far cuz I'm getting kinda . . . I don't, a weird feeling about how I typed it up… I hoped you enjoyed it and please review!