Thanks for everyone who's read and reviewed my story so far! I really appreciate your opinions and hope you continue to enjoy my fanfic! I'll try to have a new chapter at least once a week, but with school and work that might not happen all the time. Anyway, here's CH 2! Hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters in the manga or anime! They all belong to Masashi Kishimoto! If I owned them, I wouldn't be writing a fanfic!
Key:
"Speech"
"Kyūbi and other large beings"
Thought
"Normal Speech Emphasis on a word Normal Speech"
CH 2: At the Hospital
Naruto ran as fast as he could to the hospital. He felt the hospital was the safest place from Hiashi because at least if he got there, he couldn't kill him without someone seeing it. He made is way up to his room and laid in bed for a moment to catch his breath. He looked around the room to see that it looked like every other hospital he'd ever been in: plain, boring, and creepy. A moment later there was a knock at the door.
"Come in!" He yelled and looked towards the door.
"Yo." Kakashi said casually as he entered the room.
"Kakashi-sensei! How are you feeling?" Naruto asked.
"Fine. A little tired, but at least I'm not dead anymore." Kakashi said with a small smile hidden by his mask. "How are you handling everything?"
"Pretty good. I mean, as good as I can handle everything, I guess. I know Tsunade baa-chan will wake up eventually. And I know the village will be rebuilt really fast since everyone is pitching in. But there's still a lot on my mind…" Naruto replied as honestly as he could. He was still feeling down, but was remaining hopeful about the whole situation.
"Oh?" Kakashi asked. Wonder what he's thinking about if he's optimistic about all the major stuff. "Such as?"
Naruto thought for a second. Ok, Kakashi-sensei is trustworthy, but he's also the second biggest pervert I've ever met. So can I trust him to not give me shit about what Hinata said to me?...No probably not, but whatever. "Promise not to say anything?" He finally asked.
"Yeah yeah, don't worry. I won't say anything to anyone. But I'm not promising to tease you about it." Kakashi said with a smirk.
"Thanks a lot." Naruto said sarcastically. Bastard.
He took a breath and then went into the details surrounding Hinata's confession. Kakashi looked to be somewhat shocked at first, but gradually returned to his stoic appearance as Naruto explained his dilemma.
"What the hell am I supposed to do Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked after he finished his story. "This is the first time this has ever happened to me."
"Hm…" Kakashi thought for a moment. "Well if it were me, I'd probably tell her that I would like to be friends first and see where that took us. You know, dating and stuff. Not anything serious. But you two are already friends and you have hung out just the two of you before, so you're kind of already past that." Kakashi thought out loud again.
Naruto thought about that for a moment. Have we gone on dates already? I don't remember anything like that…Hm… After some thought, he finally he remembered going to Ichiraku's just the two of them a few times.
"So I'd say you need to think about a few things huh? Maybe you need to talk to a few other people first. Maybe Sakura? Or one of her team mates, Shino probably. Kiba can be a little… emotional about things."
"Yeah, he can." Naruto smirked slightly.
"If you were really bold you could talk to Hyūga-sama about it." Kakashi said jokingly.
"Oh, he actually knows already. I ran into him on the way over here. He knew something was bothering me and since I can't lie to him, I told him the truth." Naruto stopped and Kakashi was speechless. "He said basically what you did and added he'd kill me where I stood if I ever hurt Hinata."
"I see…" Kakashi said surprised. "Well I don't know what else to say… so… good luck with that! I'm in the room across the way if you need me for something, so don't be afraid to ask for more advice if you need it. I've got a checkup and then I'm going to relax. Later."
Kakashi walked out the door leaving Naruto alone again. He sat in silence staring at the white ceiling for a few minutes thinking.
Talking to Shino might be a good idea. But he'd probably just say the same thing as Kakashi-sensei and Lord Hyūga. And talking to Sakura-chan is probably a bad idea right now with Tsunade baa-chan's condition… I guess I'm on my own for now…
Naruto sighed and reached for his iPod so he could listen to some music. He sat ph the bed listening to his music for about a half hour before he drifted to sleep.
Before long, Naruto found himself in a long, dark hallway with pipes on the walls and ceiling. There was water dripping from the pipes onto the already partially flooded floor. The air was thick with moisture, which made it harder to breath. It didn't take long for Naruto to figure out where he was.
"Aw man. I don't wanna talk to you, Kitsune-teme. What do you want now?"
Naruto began to walk down the hall towards the sound of growling. He turned the corner to see the gate and the seal that held the Kyūbi trapped inside of him.
"Silence brat. Just because you and the Yondaime managed to reseal me in this prison doesn't mean you will remain in control forever. One wrong move and I'm back in control." An evil grin spread across the fox's face. His red eyes glowed and hatred emanated off of him.
"Shut up, who asked you? Answer my question! What do you want?" Naruto wouldn't back down.
"You're too arrogant brat. If it weren't for this seal, you would make a delicious appetizer." The fox licked his lips and grinned again before becoming deathly serious. "I have brought you here, believe it or not, to warn you of a coming threat."
"Warn me of a coming threat?" Naruto asked confused.
"Yes. Though we defeated Pein, there are others in the Akatsuki who are much stronger and more resourceful than he was. He was not the true leader. There was someone controlling him from the shadows, and he is much more powerful." His eyes squinted as he thought of the danger of this person.
"I know." Naruto proclaimed without hesitation.
"Oh? And how did you learn of this?" The Kyūbi asked surprised.
"My father told me after he resealed you." Naruto informed the Kyūbi with a small smirk adorning his face.
The fox's eyes twitched slightly at the mention of the Yondaime. "I see. Very well. He told you who it was in the Akatsuki that is really in control then?"
"Yeah, the guy in the mask. Is he really that strong?" Naruto asked of the fox.
"Yes. He is the one who controlled me and had me attack you village before you were born. He is very dangerous." The Kyūbi starred at Naruto very seriously.
"Who is he?" Naruto asked.
"He is the one who fought the Shodai Hokage in the Valley of the End, the eternal rival of the Senju Clan, and a member of the Uchiha as well as the first to gain the Mangekyō Sharingan: Madara Uchiha." The fox spat at his name in disgust. "I believe he is calling himself 'Tobi' while in that Akatsuki disguise. Though I'd say he enjoys the act too much."
"Madara Uchiha… how is he still alive?" Naruto wondered.
"He is powerful. When you are powerful, you can find a way to live a very long time. He likely used his defeat at the hands of the Shodaime to cover his movements and wait for a time when he could enact his plans for revenge." The Kyūbi theorized.
"He will be stopped." Naruto said confidently. "I will stop him."
"Do not get cocky brat, I don't want to die because you are careless. Now get out. I grow tired of your presence." The giant fox laid his head down and closed his eyes, pretending to sleep.
"No need to be rude." Naruto said as he turned to leave. He walked down the hallway and turned to see a room he had never seen before in his mind.
"I wonder what's in there." He opened the door to find a room filled with pictures and a screen projector. "Huh? What's this?" He looked at all the pictures. They all contained memorable moments with Hinata: when she cheered for him during the fight with Kiba, her fight with Neji, her motivating him before the finals, eating at Ichiraku, and the fight with Pain among others. He assumed on the projector would be "videos" of them spending time together.
"This is kinda weird." Naruto said looking through everything. There was a bookshelf on one of the walls that contained written out descriptions of times he had spent together with Hinata. "Why is all this stuff here?"
"You have rooms like that all over this place brat. This one though, is the most detailed. Only six others are close: the Uchiha brat, your silver haired sensei, the brown haired sensei, the old perverted Toad Sage, the current Hokage, and the pink haired woman. The others don't have the books or the architecture though. That means this woman is important in another manner." Naturo heard the Kyūbi's thoughts.
"Oh. I'll have to check them all out someday. But I better be getting back. I can't rest if I'm here all night listening to you." Naruto said as he walked towards the exit. There was a picture of Hinata and him laughing at something while sitting on a rock, probably during one of the training sessions they had over the years. He smiled at it and exited the room and left his mind to sleep comfortably until morning. He was very curious about the rooms, but they could wait.
Hinata walked to the flower shop to get some flowers to plant in the Hyuga estate's garden. The estate was mostly intact, though the main house was damaged. However, only a few buildings were completely destroyed. Construction was already under way and making great progress. Many of the decorations and flowers outside the structures were torn up in the chaos of the attack, so Hinata decided she'd replace them to help boost morale.
She greeted Ino and Sakura who were standing at the counter talking and began looking for the right flowers to replace the ones that were destroyed.
"Oh, I almost forgot I need some flowers too!" Sakura said when she noticed Hinata browsing for flowers. "Kakashi-sensei and Naruto are in the hospital to check their chakra networks and a few other things." She finished, not wanting to go any further into details.
"Oh yeah. I overheard Shizune-san saying Naruto would be there until they run a bunch of tests on him and he is cleared. I hope everything is alright." Ino responded in a concerned tone.
"WHAT?" Hinata suddenly appeared in front of Ino but quickly turned to Sakura. "Naruto-kun is in the hospital? Is he ok? He didn't seem hurt when we saw him after his fight with Pein. What's wrong? Is there anything I can do? I need to see him!" Hinata was shaking Sakura frantically trying to get an answer out of her before frantically trying to sprint to the hospital to see the love of her life.
"Woah! Easy Hinata. Give her some time to answer before you start freaking out." Ino laughed as she held Hinata's hood to keep her from leaving.
"Eep!" Hinata blushed. "Sorry Sakura-san… Please tell me what you know."
"It's ok…" Sakura said slightly surprised. "He's probably fine. Shizune-san just wants to run some tests to see if there were any adverse side effects of the Kyūbi taking over."
Hinata sighed in relief. "Thank Kami-sama… he's ok."
"You sure are worried about Naruto, Hinata. I know you have a crush on the guy, but if I didn't know any better I'd say you were in love with him." Ino said matter-of-factly. After a long awkward silence, it clicked. "WAIT! YOU DO LOVE HIM DON'T YOU?"
Hinata's face turned bright red and she desperately tried to think of an explanation but to no avail.
"Hinata." Sakura said with a sympathetic look on her face. "It's ok."
Hinata nodded and calmed down enough to speak. "Y-yes…I love Naruto-kun…" Her face turned red again and she started to fall over but Sakura caught her.
"Woah, easy Hinata. Ino, get a wet rag and a glass of water, please. We need to calm her down." Sakura told Ino who nodded and left to get a rag. When she returned, she placed the rag on Hinata's forehead and gave her a sip of water.
"Who would have thought? Hinata actually loves Naruto. They aren't going out or anything right? Does he know?" Ino asked Sakura.
"I don't think they're together. And I don't know if he knows or not." Sakura responded. Why am I feeling so uncomfortable with this?
"He… knows… I think." Hinata answered Ino's question.
"He knows? How? Did you tell him or did he just find out from someone else?" Ino asked the blushing Hyūga. She was a sucker for gossip, especially when it had to do with love.
"…I told him. When I tried to save him from Pein. He tried to tell me to run away, to save myself. But I couldn't just leave him there at the mercy of Pein. I told him that the whole reason I am a successful kunoichi is because of him; that his attitude and his nindo helped me to become who I am. I told him I wasn't afraid to die protecting him because—" Hinata paused. "Because I love him."
"AW!" Ino squealed. "So cute! Did he say anything back? Have you talked to him?"
Hinata shook her head. "No, but I never really expected an answer. I just wanted him to know just in case…" She couldn't finish.
"Oh…" Ino bowed her head in understanding. "Well you need to talk to him about it if you ever want to know the truth. Right Sakura?" She turned to look at Sakura.
"Y-yeah." Sakura agreed cautiously.
"It's settled then! We're going to the hospital to talk to Naruto! You need some flowers Hinata." Ino began to get excited.
"Ino, we can't just force them to talk about this, it should happen naturally. And we shouldn't be there when they do either!" Sakura argued.
"Relax Sakura. We'll all visit him as friends. And when we leave, Hinata will walk in by herself and they'll talk then. We'll just wait outside for them to finish talking. That way Hinata won't be alone when they're all done! It's perfect!" Ino responded.
"Well I guess that's ok." Sakura said finding nothing she could argue against.
"Are you ok with it?" Ino turned to look at Hinata.
"Y-y-yeah. I g-guess s-so." Hinata said nervously.
"You can't avoid it forever. You're gonna have to talk to him if you ever want to be together! It's better to just get it over with." Ino reassured the girl.
"Y-yeah. You're right." Hinata finally agreed.
"Great!" Ino said excited. "Now let's find you the perfect flowers for Naruto." She set out looking for the flowers that held the right meaning for the occasion.
She decided against the obvious and cliché red rose. Instead, she went with a combination of red and white carnations. The red carnations symbolized Hinata's passion and admiration towards Naruto while the white carnation symbolized her devotion to him, as well as the innocence and purity of Hinata's own soul.
"There." Ino said as she finished setting the flowers in a vase. Even she was impressed at how good it looked together.
"Wow..." Hinata said in amazement looking at the bouquet of flowers. "It's perfect. Thank you Ino-san."
"Don't mention it. Now let's get going! I'll be back in a little while Mom!" Ino called out to her mother.
The three kunoichi walked together to the hospital. Before going to Naruto's room, they stopped at Kakashi's room first and left him some flowers. Then Sakura and Ino went to Naruto's room, leaving Hinata with Kakashi to wait for the signal to go to Naruto's room.
"So…" Kakashi decided to break the silence. "You love Naruto huh? Quite a surprise, though you make it kind of obvious sometimes. You're the heiress to the Hyuga clan; more or less royalty in Konoha; and you love the village idiot. Where have I heard that story before?" Kakashi asked jokingly.
Hinata giggled at how Kakashi had worded it. "I suppose you're right. It seems a little cliché doesn't it? But it's the truth. I love him." He voice slowly getting quieter at the end.
"Yeah, I know. Be strong, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised when you talk to him. He's a little dense, but he's not stupid. He'll at least give you a shot. What's not to like about you? You're a talented and beautiful kunoichi, you're the kindest person in Konoha, and you're a princess." Kakashi tried reassuring Hinata.
"I don't know…" Hinata said nervously. "I guess we'll see pretty soon though…"
"Everything will be fine." Kakashi said. He placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and smiled in an attempt to calm the Hyūga down.
"Right!" Hinata returned his smile with one of confidence. This is no time to be thinking like this, I need to be more confident!
In the other room Ino and Sakura were talking to Naruto about his stay in the hospital. As they turned to leave, Naruto stopped them.
"Wait, there's something I need to get your advice about. Both of you since you're here too Ino." Naruto told them.
"Ok, go ahead." Ino said. Must be about Hinata!
"Yeah, you can talk to us about anything Naruto." Sakura told him. Is he going to ask what to do about Hinata?
"It's kind of embarrassing…" Naruto hesitated slightly, donning a slight blush as he spoke. "When I was almost captured by Pein, Hinata-chan defended me. Before she attacked Pein, she confessed to me…"
Ino squealed. "NO WAY! EEK! So cute!" She tried to make it convincing that she didn't know already.
"Really? She told you she loves you so easily? But Hinata's always been so shy." Sakura tried to sound generally shocked.
"Yeah…" Naruto responded. "I don't know what to do. I mean…I like Hinata-chan as a person… but I never really looked at her that way before. She's really pretty and a nice person, but I just don't know… it's just so sudden."
"Well, why don't you talk to her about it? I'm sure she'll sit down and talk with you." Ino said. Honestly, you're so dense Naruto. "I think you should just go for it! Take her out on some dates and you'll fall for her. She's so sweet!"
"Isn't that a little bold Ino?" Sakura asked.
Ino shrugged. "Maybe a little. But Hinata confessed first. You already know her feelings, but neither one of you know yours. The only way to figure it out is to spend time together." Ino told Naruto.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Sakura said, sounding a little annoyed and unconvinced.
"Ok… I guess I can do that." Naruto smiled. "If you see her, tell her I want to talk to her ok?"
"Oh, I'm sure once she finds out where you are, she'll come running to see you." Ino said a little too obviously.
"Well, we don't want to keep you from getting rest. We'll be back tomorrow to check in again and see how the tests are going. Take it easy Naruto; get lots of rest. We'll see you soon." Sakura hugged her teammate and Ino did the same before both kunoichi turned to leave.
"Thanks you guys. See you later." Naruto shut his eyes and thought about everything they'd said. I guess they're right. This is the only way I'll get to know the real Hinata.
Just then a knock came at the door. Naruto figured it was Shizune. "Come in!" As the door opened Naruto saw that it wasn't Shizune standing in the doorway, but the very person who had just been thinking of before he tried to sleep.
"H-Hinata…-chan…"
End CH 2
And there's CH 2 of Troubles and Triumphs. Thanks so much for everyone who's read my fanfic so far, I hope you continue to enjoy my work.
Sorry for the cliffhanger by the way. You'll have to wait a couple days for CH 3, I still need to reread and edit a few things before I'll be ready to post it.
Please Continue to read and review! Any friendly advice you can give is welcome!
Until next time,
CBM-1701