Hiashi couldn't comprehend the news; to him it was no longer a matter of approval or promises, he just had to stop the relationship under any circumstances.
"Naruto..." whispered Hiashi, "Naruto..."
Hinata was now afraid of what would happen next. "Father?"
Hiashi didn't speak; he just slightly turned away and signaled her to not say anything. "Naruto..." he whispered again.
"Did I break him?" thought Hinata.
The man turned back to her, "Was he the one to teach you the new style?"
Hinata shook her head, "No that was someone else."
"Who?"
"His name is Kiyoshi."
Hiashi stood up and stormed out the door, "I'll assume he's the one that made Naruto realize you love him."
Hinata jumped up, "How did you know about that? How did you know about Naruto? And about Kiyoshi?" Hiashi stomped down the hallway without reply. The girl looked down, "That didn't go too well."
Naruto couldn't keep up with the documents; even with the help of his clones he knew that he wouldn't be able to finish the work that night. It was one in the morning and he was completely tired out. "How does Tsunade stay awake?" He then remembered the answer to his own question, "Oh yeah, she doesn't. She always gets drunk and falls asleep... the reason for all this undone work."
Another hour passed until Naruto was on the verge of death from lack of sleep, he decided to call it a night. Putting all the remaining documents into neat piles, canceling his clones and putting his Hokage coat on, he walked out of the office. "Soon... soon I'll have time to study," thought Naruto; totally oblivious of the fact that study was the last thing he wanted at that moment.
He walked down the nearly pitch-black streets of Konoha, too tired to be careful. He didn't care if he got ambushed; if it meant he would get some rest, he would walk off a cliff.
The boy passed the Hyuga estate, feeling strange vibes coming from Hinata's house. The feeling of being watched was somewhere in the back of his mind; he couldn't care less.
Naruto got home, put his new coat on a coat hanger, and without undressing tossed himself at the bed.
Two glowing green eyes wandered the streets. Kiyoshi didn't sleep; he hadn't slept in a while now. The only sleep he had in the previous two months was that of the previous night. He just walked through the streets, thinking over the things that haunted his mind numerous times before, "I'll have to tell them soon, Hikari."
Warmth embraced him from behind, something he hadn't felt since Hikari passed away. He slowly turned around, glowing-blue trails spiraled him. He turned his blood limit off, seeing none other than Ino hugging him. "Ino... it's late, you should go home," he paused for a moment, "Ino?"
The girl didn't reply; she was already asleep. "Be mine," whispered the girl through her dreams.
Kiyoshi wasn't surprised by her behavior, but rather hurt by life's harsh twists. "I can't. My heart belongs to someone else."
A tear rolled down her cheek, "It's not fair..."
Kiyoshi picked her up and carried her home, "It never is. I'm sorry."
A knock came on Inoshi's door; he rushed over to open it, worried by the disappearance of his daughter in the middle of the night. Kiyoshi entered, holding Ino in his arms.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Kiyoshi," replied the teen, laying Ino back in her bed. "I'm sorry she ran off, but she did it subconsciously."
The father calmed down when he heard the boy's name, "So you're the infamous Kiyoshi..."
"You've heard of me?" asked Kiyoshi, turning around and walking towards the door.
Inoshi put his hand on the teen's shoulder, "Wait a second, don't leave. I want to talk to you." Kiyoshi didn't have anything better to do, so he agreed. Inoshi handed him a cup of tea and sat him down on a cushy chair. "Before anything, I must thank you."
Kiyoshi sipped his tea, "For what?"
The man stood up and walked over to Ino's room, leaning against the doorframe. "You changed her for the better, I can't explain how, but she's more mature than she was before she met you."
"Inoshi-dono, I..."
Inoshi cut him off, "Please hear me out. I couldn't help but feel for her, when she said she was in love. She said that phrase numerous times, but this time she was enlightened. This is much more than a crush that she has on you."
Kiyoshi knew this night wouldn't be a very pleasant one, because he was about to do something one would consider stupid. "Inoshi-sama, before you make any assumptions about me based on what Ino may have told you, please understand that it's not wise for her to go out with me."
Inoshi didn't understand, "Why?"
The teen didn't know how to get his words out, he sighed. "I wish I could lend you my eyes."
This confused the man even more, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I'm already in love with a dead girl."
Inoshi gave off a hard sigh. The man heard rumors of Kiyoshi's summer mission, the girl that died in the boy's hands "Well this sucks."
Kiyoshi got up and headed for the door, "I'll be going now, thanks for the tea."
"Kid... if you ever get over Hikari's death, come back."
Kiyoshi stepped out of the house, "This is why I wish I could lend my eyes to you," whispered the boy, walking into the night and activating his blood limit once again.
Naruto woke up too early for his own liking, looking at the clock he realized that he only had three hours of sleep. "Shit! Got to get back to work!" screamed the blond boy, rushing through his morning routines and out the door.
Kiyoshi was unlucky enough to be passing by Naruto's house, when the man himself ran out and trampled over Kiyoshi on his way to the Hokage office. "God damn..." Thought the blond teen, getting up and dusting himself off. "What's his problem?"
Shino appeared from behind a corner, spotting Kiyoshi he decided to go pay him a visit. "Hey."
Kiyoshi turned around, "Hey Shino, long time no see."
"Yeah, a full day."
Kiyoshi was rather confused; "I don't remember seeing you since I got back."
"That's not very surprising," replied Shino, then recalled images Kiyoshi chugging barrels of sake. "The fact you don't remember anything is not surprising at all."
"Right... so how's life treating you?"
Shino ignored the question and skipped directly to "I heard you rejected Ino."
"Wow, very direct of you."
"Do you have a good reason?"
"I don't need to have a reason for not loving her, I just don't. But it so just happens that I love someone else."
"Who is she?"
The stories of Kiyoshi have traveled far and wide, Kiyoshi was used to the fact. But the fact that Shino, one of the few people that knew him, didn't hear about Kiyoshi's loss was rather startling to him.
"You didn't hear about the summer mission?" asked Kiyoshi. Shino shook his head, which was annoying to Kiyoshi, as he couldn't see past the guy's hood. "Damn..."
Shino's careless expression didn't change from the last statement, "What happened?"
"No offence, but I'm tired of explaining."
A shadow slithered across the ground and stopped several inches before them. They looked up at the person, who cast it, only to be blinded by the sun. "Kiyoshi, have you figured out what the transformation did to your eyes?" Asked the man on the fence.
"Hey Kakashi," said the boy and continued walking down the street.
"What? No warm reunion?"
Kiyoshi shook his head in reply, "I'm still slightly mad at you for doubting her. Even though she..." he paused, and stared at the ground.
"Even though what?"
"Nothing. I'll tell you later."
Kakashi jumped down to join Shino, "He's mad at me because I was suspicious of Hikari," explained Kakashi.
"Who's Hikari?"
"She's the girl he met during the summer mission... she died."
"How about we have a village meeting to tell the story to everyone at once?" screamed the blond boy ahead of them.
"Calm down Kiyoshi, I'll tell the story to Shino whether you like it or not."
The boy just walked away, hearing the past again was sickening to even imagine. He decided to pay Hinata a visit; at least she wouldn't ask him to review the past. "What the hell am I, a newspaper?"
He casually strolled into the Hyuga estate, feeling stares fixed upon him, yet not wasting a single thought on caring. Hinata came out of the bath, dressed in a white robe, drying her hair off with a towel.
"Oi, Hinata!" exclaimed Kiyoshi and knocked on her window. "You busy?"
She came over to the window and opened it, letting the delicious vapor out into the world. "Hey, Kiyoshi-kun..."
"Want to hang out? I got some news."
She leaned over to him and whispered, "Run Kiyoshi... if my dad sees you, he'll rip you a new hole."
Kiyoshi was stunned by the sudden vulgarity, "What? Why?"
"He doesn't seem to be happy about my new style, and he figured out that you got me together with Naruto."
Kiyoshi took a sharp inhale, "He knows about Naruto?" asked the boy. Hinata nodded. "How?"
"I told him."
Kiyoshi felt dizzy, "Why? Why would you do that? Naruto..."
Hinata grabbed him by the collar, "Don't worry about Naruto, worry about yourself!" exclaimed the girl, "I made him promise he wouldn't hurt Naruto, but nothing is there to stop him from getting to you!"
Kiyoshi sighed, "Is there a way I can get out of the Hyuga estate other than the main entrance?"
"Go! There's no other way out! The more you stay here, the more likely he'll intercept you on the way out!"
"Thanks, I'm going."
Hinata watched the teen walk away, "Kiyoshi... I'm sorry to put you into this situation."
He turned back, "Don't worry about it. I only wanted to tell you one thing; go see Naruto the next time you get a chance. He's in Tsunade's office."
"Why is he there?"
Kiyoshi was now almost out of sight, "It's a surprise!" he yelled back at her, before turning around a corner.
"Surprise... that's the word I'm currently looking for," said a man, blocking the exit from the Hyuga estate.
"I'm afraid to ask, but are you by any chance Hiashi?" asked Kiyoshi. The man nodded in response. "Well, fuck..."