Gentle Fist, Will of Fire
Hi there, my dear fans! How was the last chapter? Sorry about the cupcakes, I guess I'm not a very good cook… But we're in luck! My grandma is! Hands every reviewer a freshly baked snickerdoodle Believe me, those are much better than anything I could produce.
As for what happened in the last chapter with the battle between Tatsuki and Naruto: I did have a pretty cool fight scene planned out, but I thought I'd made you guys wait too long for number 5 without spending a couple more days trying to write a fight scene, so I cut it short. I apologize, and if I get some time later on I might revise the ending to that chapter so that the fight scene is described, okay? Alrighty then, on to the story!
≈
"Well, this is going to set us back a few hours, maybe even a few days."
"W-what do you mean, Kakashi sensei?"
"If he doesn't wake up soon, we're gonna have to stay here and watch over him. There will be no moving him in his current state, which brings me to our other problem. After he wakes, he'll probably need some time to regain his strength, and we don't exactly have the time to wait around on him to recover."
"… Is it the UBNA, sensei?"
"Hai, Sakura. Apparently they thought they could get to me by capturing one of you…"
Naruto listened in on the conversation, not really aware of what he was hearing. His muscles felt sore, and there were places on his shoulder, forearm and leg that ached really badly, as if he'd gotten cut by something. Trying to figure out how he'd gotten injured opened up his memory, and he remembered what had happened: the incident after dinner with his boxers, the walk out in the dark, fighting that one girl, Tatsuki…
Opening his mouth, he attempted to speak and was surprised and alarmed to hear his voice cracking and weak: "Hi-Hinata…"
A light pressure was immediately put on his shoulder, and he knew exactly what it was-- a hand, her hand. "Naruto-kun! Are you a-awake?"
There was a slight scuffling sound, and he could now hear more voices, a faint conversation: "Naruto's awake, you guys…"
"What? Finally, I thought Ramen Boy would never wake up! Even now, he's as lazy as ever…"
"Yosh! I just knew Naruto-kun would come out of it soon! The Flames of Youth have not failed him at all!"
A sigh. Then: "Oh, Lee…"
Naruto opened his eyes slowly to the world around him. The first thing he saw was the dark rock ceiling above him. The next thing he saw was Hinata's pale face, concern written all over her features, leaning over him. Her nose was red, and her eyes were puffy. "Naruto-kun, are you alright?"
"What… is… wrong… Hinata-chan?" He managed to say, struggling to speak. It was almost like he was trying to talk through a rock in his throat, an obstacle that seemed to be tearing away his vocal cords as he struggled to bypass it.
Blinking her watery eyes at him, she struggled to stop crying long enough to explain herself to him. "You got attacked last night, Naruto-kun. By members of the UBNA. I don't know how you did it, but you defeated all five of them, and then you were able to make it back here. I was so worried…"
Looking up at her, he noticed something. She had her hair pulled back in a low ponytail, and behind her left ear she wore a couple of light lavender flowers… The lilacs he'd picked for her. Seeing her wearing his flowers made him smile softly. Even with her face all puffy like it was, she was still as pretty as she'd always been. He put a shaky hand up on her left cheek, trying to comfort her. Her downcast eyes suddenly opened wide at his touch, and he could clearly see the tears glittering away in those light lavender pools.
Using his thumb, he touched one of the lavender petals tucked behind her ear. "You didn't have to worry so much about me, Hinata-chan…. I told you I would protect you from your family, and I can't do that unless I'm by your side, right? So I didn't have a choice: I had to get better." Suddenly his arm got heavy, and he was unable to keep it up any longer; it fell back down to his side, where Hinata sat.
Blushing at his words, Hinata smiled and put a hand over the one that had fallen, squeezing lightly. "Thank you, Naruto-kun."
At that moment, their peers entered the cave, quietly shuffling over to where he lay. "Hey, Naruto," Kiba murmured, crouching down on the other side of the blonde boy, smiling softly. "You know, you didn't have to go and get yourself beaten up just because we laughed at your boxers. Really, man, we were just joking."
Naruto smiled and nodded at him, unable to speak for the stone in his throat.
Kakashi followed the teens into the cave and kneeled down beside Hinata, his one visible eye scanning the boy. "Well, Naruto, how are you feeling?"
Naruto frowned as if he was unsure of the answer. He tried to sit up, but his exhausted muscles gave out on him, and he fell back, sighing.
Kakashi nodded, as if that was what he'd expected to happen. "Ah. Well, I guess we're gonna be here for another night. Sakura, give your teammate some more of that medicine you cooked up, he'll probably need it. Hinata, could you scan the surrounding areas with your Byakugan a few times today? I don't want the UBNA getting too close to the camp while we're stuck here. Hopefully, you'll regain your strength during the night, Naruto. Until then, you just need to rest, ne?" After Naruto nodded, Kakashi stood and walked towards the entrance of the cave. "I'm going to go get the firewood we'll need tonight. I don't want any of you to leave the cave today, alright?"
As soon as Kakashi left, Naruto closed his eyes and sunk into the depths of his conscience, and soon found himself looking at the oh so familiar thick bars of his inner demon's cell. He walked up to the bars and grasped them, shouting "Oi, fox!" into the darkness within.
Argh, what do you want, loudmouth? The demon muttered back, walking into view. His red eyes glowed with exhaustion as he stared at the orange clad boy before him.
"Why is my body so weak? I thought you were supposed to take care of my injuries," Naruto said, glaring back into the fox's crimson eyes. As far as he could remember, he'd never seen the demon so exhausted before.
You took a real beating last night, kid, Kyuubi replied, sitting on his haunches and sighing deeply. Before, all I had to fix was minor injuries-- a couple bruises, depleted chakra storage, stuff like that. Last night, though, I had one hell of a mess to clean up. It was like this after your last battle with the dark haired Uchiha boy, too.
Naruto was silent at the mention of Sasuke's name. Hai, then he'd been in poor shape, too, but it had been almost five times worse. Now he wasn't anywhere close to dying, only weak. He sighed as if a weight had settled down on his shoulders, and asked, "Alright, but how long will it be before I can walk again?"
Like the silver haired Jonin said… You'll be better by tomorrow, don't worry. Just relax, kid, and you'll be better in no time, ne?
"Whatever," Naruto replied wearily. He laid down on the cold cement floor, all of a sudden very tired. He closed his eyes and fell into a deep state of unconsciousness, and as he watched Naruto fall asleep Kyuubi chuckled.
Ahh, kid… You sure have a long way to go yet. I hope you don't get yourself into trouble, fighting and injuring yourself like this…
Shaking his head, the demon started working on Naruto's injuries, a soft smile on his face.
≈
"Naruto-kun? Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried, worried when Naruto's breathing slowed drastically, clutching at his hand like a lifeline. She started when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to see Shino standing behind her.
"Do not worry, Hinata. He has to sleep to get his strength back. Maybe, if he sleeps long enough, he'll regain his strength quicker, and then we can leave sooner. Okay?"
Smiling at him, she nodded. "Thank you, Shino-kun."
The rest of the day wore on, and still Naruto did not wake. Hinata was just about to get really worried when, around six 'o clock, the blonde opened his eyes and smiled up at her. "Hey, Hinata-chan. You're not worrying about me again, are you?"
After Kakashi returned, the shinobi cooked ramen again, and Naruto was feeling strong enough to sit up and feed himself. Kakashi smiled at this development, stating to everyone else's confusion "He must be working overtime in there, hmm, Naruto?"
Naruto bit his lip, but smiled and nodded anyway. He knew what Kakashi was trying to do, and he didn't like it.
He's trying to get me to tell everyone else about you, Kyuubi. He thinks they ought to know.
… Don't you think the others have a right to know the real reason the Hokage had for sending you on this mission? They are your friends, after all.
Since when did you concern yourself with such trivial matters as my personal life, Kyuubi? Naruto asked a little hotly. After all, the demon had no right to lecture him on anything, much less his personal life.
The fox huffed. Whatever, kid. If you want to continue being dense, it's no skin off my back. He didn't talk to Naruto once more that night, and the blonde had to admit, he did get a little lonely without the demon to talk to.
Later that night, Naruto awoke to see Hinata curled up beside him, flowers laid out on the ground before her. He smiled widely and whispered into the silent cave, "Good night, Hinata-chan."
≈
A fist hit the tree, followed by a palm and then another. The dark brown bark began slowly flaking off as the chakra was continuously applied to it, over and over again.
"Damn you, father."
The force with which the tree was being battered with increased, and slowly the bark began to peel off faster, the chakra acting as sharp blades that bit into the tree's skin. Gentle fist technique or not, the traditional Hyuga technique could be very destructive when applied just so. She was going to show him that, among other things.
"Why… I never wanted to be heir…"
She hadn't. Oh, sure, she'd take the position with the grace that was expected of her, and she was sure she'd do a wonderful job being her father's successor, but that didn't mean she'd enjoy doing so. She had always been assured that the position would go to her elder sister, and she'd be spared. She would be able to live a normal life, choose her own path. Hell, she hadn't needed to become a ninja before, it had always been something she'd wanted to do. Being the heiress, though… She'd be expected to be able to defend herself well, she'd be expected to become another genius of their clan, like her cousin. She could always pass the position off to Neji, but then her father would look at her with the same expression he used to look upon Hinata with. If there was one thing Hanabi feared, it was being rejected as both a daughter and a member of the Hyuga clan by her father like her sister had.
The blows to the tree slowly lessened, and finally stopped. Hanabi leaned against the destroyed surface of the tree with one hand, breathing heavily.
She began thinking of the day when she had received the note. An unnamed member of the branch family had given her the note while they'd passed in the halls of the Hyuga estate, claiming it had been from her father. She'd opened the note then, alarmed instantly. Hiashi had never sent her a note like this before, had either sent for her or talked to her over a meal, so she knew that this was important. She'd nearly cried when she read the words on the paper that claimed that she would be named the Heiress by default. Her sister hadn't been strong enough for Hiashi, and he'd finally gotten tired of her. Hanabi couldn't believe it.
Why had her father never accepted Hinata as his daughter the way she was? He had always expected more of her than he did anyone else. Then again, Hinata had never wanted to be a ninja, but was forced to because she was the heiress. Yet when she had become a kunoichi, she was never good enough. No matter how much she trained, Hiashi had never accepted her. No matter what she did, he still looked down on her with that expression, that expression one would use when looking at a forlorn and ugly animal rather than his daughter.
She glanced up at the dark sky, untouched by the dawn that was destined to come. Somehow, somewhere, she had to convince Hinata to come back. Sure, she and her elder sister had never been visibly close, but there was times when there seemed to be potential to get that way. Maybe Hanabi would be crying and Hinata would comfort her, or Hinata would be training and Hanabi would help her out. In these little moments, before their father would come and lure them apart, sparks seemed to fly and a sisterly love would begin to spark. Hiashi, however, always seemed to see it coming, and doused the flame even before it could light.
"Damn you, father…."
≈
Lee's eyes snapped open, and he was immediately up and moving. He snuck out of the cave, taking care not to disturb any of his peers. Once outside in the darkness before dawn, he glanced around himself. There was an orange lining on the horizon to the east, and he knew that morning was almost upon them. Knowing very well that he was disobeying his sensei's orders, he walked along the path, heading towards the place where he and Naruto had trained yesterday. It was a clearing surrounded by large rocks, bearing a large rock in the center. It had proved a fit training spot for him and his peer, so it should work for just him all the same. When he reached the clearing, though, he discovered that he wasn't alone.
"Sakura-san!" He said, surprised at the sight of the girl. She was sitting cross-legged on the rock in the center of the clearing, staring up at the dark sky.
She started, not expecting anyone else out and about this early. Turning around, she saw him and put a hand over her heart, sighing. "Oh, Lee-kun! I didn't think you'd be awake this early…" An uncomfortable silence threatened, and she wasn't about to let that happen. Gesturing at the rock beside her, she smiled. "Well, did you wanna sit? We're not serving breakfast, but we've got a good view…"
He chuckled and nodded. Jumping up to the rock, he plopped down beside her and said, "… You know Kakashi sensei told us not to leave the cave, right? What are you doing out here?"
"I could ask you the same thing," She replied, smiling mischievously and elbowing him in the ribs.
"I was just going to go through a little training before we set off today," Lee answered, and she could tell he was being truthful-- something in his eyes told her. After a pause, he asked, "So, what did you think you were going to do? Were you going to train, too?"
She giggled, but the humor didn't quite reach her teal eyes. "No, Lee dear, I wasn't going to train. The cave just got so stuffy, and I had to get somewhere comfortable to think. Hai, to think…"
"About what?" Lee asked, urging her to continue.
She stared off towards the horizon, unsure of what she should do. Should I tell him about what I saw yesterday?
No! her inner self answered for her. He'll think you're crazy.
She frowned at the sky. I don't think he will. Lee's kind of like Naruto-- he doesn't judge anyone unless he knows their entire story. I think I'm going to tell him.
"Well, Lee…" She began, finding a lump had formed in her throat. He waited expectantly, an ear turned towards her. If Lee was anything, he was a good listener, he would understand. She nodded, smiling.
"Yesterday, when I went to get the water for the ramen, I… saw something."
"Was it the UBNA?" Lee asked, visage growing concerned as he listened.
She shook her head, closing her eyes. "No… I mean, I don't think so. Kakashi sensei said they were good with Genjutsu, so it might've been an illusion… I don't think so. I don't think it was them."
"… What'd you see?"
Sakura took a deep breath before replying. "…. I saw him."
Lee knew immediately who she was talking about. "Did he say anything?"
She frowned at the sky as she spoke. "He said hi… and he asked me if I was surprised to see him. Then, he vanished."
Lee stared down at his hands, in deep thought. "He didn't touch you or anything?'
"No."
"So you have no proof that it was really him or if it was just an illusion." It was a somber statement.
She shook her head, just as melancholy as her friend.
"Sakura-san… What were you thinking about before you saw him?"
Here it goes… Her cheeks turned pink as she murmured, "I was thinking about you."
Lee's face involuntarily flushed, and Sakura couldn't help uttering a giggle. "Oh-- well-- that's nice to know."
"Hai, it is," Sakura giggled, snuggling closer to him. A chill had fallen over the early morning atmosphere, and she was out here without a coat.
After a moment of inner turmoil between his heart and his common sense, Lee's heart won out and he put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. They both blushed at his actions, but it was a happy kind of blush, and Sakura momentarily forgot about her worries as she yawned, leaning on him for support. "Good morning, Lee-kun."
His heart jumping at her voice, the almost visible silken luster of it, he replied, "Good morning, Sakura-chan."
≈
Later that morning, after they had breakfast and had packed up all of their belongings, they started off once again. Pulling out a map from his pack, Kakashi opened it up and pointed to a spot about an inch away from the border. "See, we're here," He told a very interested Sakura and Shino, who looked over his arms at the scroll. "If we continue on like we are, then we should be there in no time. Maybe by dusk. We'll have to pause at the outside of the rainforest, though, because it could get very dangerous in there after dark."
"Forest?" Lee questioned, and eyebrow raised. He and the other three ninja walked behind Kakashi, Shino and Sakura. "But Kakashi sensei, I thought we would only be seeing rocky ground from now on."
"Only until we get closer to the border, Lee," Kakashi answered, rolling the map back up and tucking it into his pack. "When we get closer, we'll start to hit trees again, and we might get some relief from this cursed heat." As to amplify his statement, he dramatically wiped the sweat from his brow.
"Sensei?" Kiba piped up, also mopping his own brow. "Are we going to hit any villages before we get to this rainforest? 'Cause, well, I'm all for roughing it in the wilderness, but we all know how bad dogs can get to smelling when they haven't had a bath in a few days." He looked down at Akamaru, who glared up at his owner and huffed, as if to say Well, humans aren't all that great smelling when they're dirty either!
Kakashi nodded, sending his short silvery hair flopping. "We're pretty close to a village now. We can probably stop there if you all really think we need to." A chorus of "Yes's" and "Hallelujah's" met his statement, and he smiled underneath his mask.
They reached the small village around ten 'o clock, and found a hotel with a couple of bathhouses, one for men and one for women. They paid their way in and hurriedly took off towards their opposite rooms. Kakashi was bonked on the head by both Naruto and Sakura when he tried to follow the girls to the female's baths, and he decided to take a private bath instead of taking one with the four boys.
As Sakura changed into her swimsuit, Hinata paced around outside of the changing room, somewhat nervous. "Ano, Sakura-san…"
"Hai, Hinata-chan?" Sakura replied, opening up the door. She wore a dark blue two piece swimsuit, with small white flowers adorning it. She smiled down at the shorter kunoichi, who hadn't changed out of her usual clothes.
"Ano… I couldn't go home and get my own things, so… Ano… I don't have a swimsuit…"
Sakura frowned and put her hands on her hips. "Oh, Hinata-chan, is that all?" Then she smiled and walked over to her bag. Burrowing in it, she came up with a piece of fabric and tossed it at her friend. "Here, Hinata-chan, you can have this one. Sorry, though, it's only a one piece. I hope you don't mind."
Hinata shook her head, blushing and smiling gratefully. "No, no, not at all! Arigato, Sakura-san!" She walked into the changing room that Sakura had just came out of, thanking the Gods that she had such a good friend as Sakura.
The swimsuit was a pale pink one with darker pink sakura petals patterned all over it. It had a high front and a low back, and it tied behind her neck. As she was changing into it, Hinata couldn't help but wonder what Naruto would say if he saw her in this. At the thought, she nearly stopped changing and took the suit off.
"Hinata-chan? Did you change yet?"
Sakura's voice spurred her onwards, and she slipped the pale pink swimsuit the rest of the way on. Naruto-kun won't see me in this, don't be silly! He would never peek into the girl's bathhouses, even if Jiraiya-sama would. Chuckling as she remembered the many humorous stories Naruto had told her about his perverted sensei, she gathered up her clothes and walked out of the changing room, blushing as she was met by Sakura's scanning teal eyes.
The pink haired kunoichi smiled and squealed excitedly as she saw her friend walk out of the changing stall. "It looks great on you, Hinata-chan! Naruto's jaw would definitely drop if he saw you in that!"
Unaware of the look of horror she got from Hinata about that statement, she seized her wrist and dragged her out into the sun, where the girl's bathhouse was at. It was a large beautiful pool, blocked from the outside world by a six foot cement wall. If anyone was trying to peek, they'd have a hell of a hard time doing so, and Hinata relaxed slightly.
Peeking, however, was just what was on both Naruto and Lee's minds as they walked out to their own bath with Kiba and Shino. All were dressed in shorts and were topless with the exception of Shino, who was wearing a pair of black and white shorts with a long white tank top. He also still wore his dark glasses, and his raised eyebrows were visible as they entered the bathhouse.
Naruto launched himself forward, doing a cannonball into the warm pool, a mere blur of orange and yellow to those watching.
Coming up, he gestured to the other three, grinning from ear to ear. "Hey, guys! Jump in, the water's great!"
"Can you all not read? The sign says 'No Jumping'," Shino remarked even as Lee and Kiba ran forward, Kiba belly-flopping into the water and Lee doing a dive.
When Kiba's shaggy head came up out of the water, he smirked over at Shino, who still stood in the exact place where he'd stopped. "C'mon, Shino! If they didn't want us to jump in, then they shouldn't have made this thing, like, nine feet! They should have built it like a regular bath!"
"Your logic is very shaky," Shino stated, but jumped in after them all the same. His spiky dark hair, when wetted, hung down to around his chin, and he looked very much like Kiba had before he'd cut his hair.
Laughing at his teammate, Kiba cried, "You look like Akamaru! Haha!" The result was him getting dunked under the water, held under by Shino's strong arm.
Naruto and Lee laughed at this display, but then Naruto interrupted by pointing at the entrance to the bathhouse and screaming "Ahh! Dog!"
As if he'd heard his master talking about him, the huge white dog came bounding out of the hotel lobby, chased by the lady that sat at the desk. Akamaru launched into the pool, sending a tidal wave at the four of them. Laughing, the boys barely heard the lady screeching "Oi! Bad dog! Bad dog!"
"It's okay, lady-san, he's with us," Kiba called, grinning broadly as Akamaru dog paddled over to him.
The woman glared at the dog and boys a moment longer before stalking back into the lobby.
"What a crazy old bag," Naruto muttered, and the others chuckled. Suddenly high-pitched laughter interrupted their own merriment, and Naruto and Lee glanced over to where the voices had come from.
"Hinata-chan," Naruto murmured, recognizing one of the voices at once.
"Hai… And Sakura-san," Lee stated, nodding towards the voices.
"That was really stupid of the owner of this place, putting the bathhouses right next to each other," Kiba scoffed, rolling his eyes at Shino. He knew very well what was on their minds, and he didn't know if he approved. Well, they could look at Sakura all they wanted, but Hinata was kind of like his younger sister. Did Naruto really think he could get away with spying on his sister in the tub while he was in the same country? He hoped his friend wasn't that dense. "Don't even think about peeking, you two," Kiba said, closing his eyes and folding his arms. He didn't see both of his friends attain nosebleeds at the exact same time, nor did he see the green and orange blurs launch up out of the water and into the bathrooms.
Shino sighed, beginning a lap from one side of the pool to another. "It seems as if Jiraiya-sama's perverted nature has spread to Naruto, and from him to Lee."
Kiba laughed, relaxing back in the pool. "Hai, apparently so. Apparently so."
≈
Later on, when they had all bathed and felt one hundred percent better, they set off again, and sure enough they began seeing less rocks and more trees. Slowly but surely they began to trail off into the woods again, and before they got too far Kakashi stopped them.
"Ah, why are we stopping, sensei?" Naruto asked, stamina refueled with the bath. He wasn't ready to stop just yet.
"Like I said, we don't need to go into the rainforest at night alone," Kakashi replied, sitting down in the grass with a sigh. "Also, while you six bathed I contacted Shinji. He should be here sometime soon to guide us through the forest, so we don't get lost."
"Ah, man!" Naruto exclaimed, plopping down onto the ground, a frown creasing his naturally smiling face. "What are we going to do now? It's too early to go to sleep! There's nothing to do out here!"
"Too early to go to sleep? I think not," Kakashi replied, leaning backwards and putting his arms behind his head, sighing deeply. "It's been a while since I was able to take my beauty nap. I say, I could get used to the normal people's lazy way of life."
"Get used to--? YOU ARE LAZY, YOU PERVERTED OLD MAN!!" Naruto yelled, launching himself up off of the ground as he saw Kakashi pull out the all too familiar orange book he always used to read. Naruto could tell his sensei was smiling, and that made him even more angry. "You're no better than Jiraiya sensei! Too perverted for your own good, can't even go a day without reading one of those-- hey, wait a minute." Pointing at the orange book, the blonde frowned. "Why are you still reading the first book? I gave you the second book, so why aren't you reading that one? At first, I didn't like it too well, but it sort of grew on me as Ero-Senin forced me to read it."
Kakashi sat up, and with a twinkle in his one visible eye said, "Oh, hai, I wanted to read the one you gave me, but the first one is soooo good! It's my favorite, no matter what Senin-sama comes up with next." He issued a slightly girly squeal before continuing. "Plus, I'm going to wait to read the second book until he comes out with the final one. I think it will be so much better if I read them back to back, that way I'll know what happens quicker."
Naruto shrugged, crossing his arms. "Whatever turns you on, sensei." Turning away from the silver haired perv, he looked back at his peers, smiling widely. "Well, guys, what are we gonna…. Do…. Wait, why are you all staring at me like that for?"
All five of his teammates were staring incredulously at him, eyes wide. Lee, Kiba, and Shino all were sweat dropping, jaws dropped. Hinata's expression was quite the same, except her face was aflame, almost as if she'd come down with a horrible fever. Sakura was standing off to the side of the group, steam positively pouring out of her ears. She looked absolutely miffed.
Kiba was the first to speak, perhaps out of surprise more than courage. "You… You sure know a lot about the 'Icha Icha Paradise' series, Naruto."
Naruto blinked, then blushed and kind of poked his index fingers together. "Ano, um, I don't really, I just, you know… Being the author's apprentice and all, I hear about these things, ne, and--"
"Save it, Naruto," Sakura growled in a low voice, sending her teammate face first into the ground with a single punch. The others continued to sit there, perplexed, until Kiba let out a howl of laughter at the blonde's misfortune. Lee joined in, and Shino sat down, shaking his head. Hinata squealed in horror as she saw the grounded Naruto, and a steaming pink haired teen sat beside Shino, eyes closed and mouth pulled into a grimace.
The rest of their wait consisted of a steaming team 7, a hysteric Kiba and Lee, a calm Kakashi and Shino and a doting Hinata as she administered a healing antidote to the small cuts and bruises on Naruto's face that he sustained when he got punched into the ground. Naruto grumbled, but not once did he complain about Hinata rubbing the clear cream over painful parts of his face. After she finished, he looked up at her and grinned widely. "Thanks, Hinata-chan!"
Suddenly the relaxed Kakashi sat up, and out of the corner of his eye Naruto saw their sensei push his black bandana up to reveal the Sharingan eye. "Hinata," he murmured.
"Hai." Naruto glanced over at the dark haired girl to see her activate her own bloodlimit, scanning the area around them. Sakura was instantly on her feet, a hand on the pocket of her bag that held her kunai and exploding tags. Both Kiba and Akamaru were now sniffing the air, looking for the scent of an enemy. Shino sat as he had only a moment before, except Naruto could see the bugs crawling around on the bare flesh of his face, tense and restless, as their master was. Lee was checking the weights on his limbs, making sure they would come off easily enough would he need an extra boost of speed in the possible battle ahead. Glancing down at himself, Naruto found that he was also on his feet, and his hands were clenched at his sides. Apparently, their reflexes were right in tune with each other.
"Ahead, sensei," Hinata muttered, drawing a kunai from her pocket. Pointing at the forest before her with the knife, she continued. "In the trees. Just one. I don't know who it is, but they're coming straight for us. They're chakra level is high, probably about as high as yours is, sensei."
'I see him, Hinata," Kakashi replied, voice just as low. He stood up calmly and put his book away in his bag, all the while keeping both eyes focused in the direction that Hinata had just pointed out.
The seconds wore on, and soon everyone could hear the person jumping through the trees. He was really close. Then, the sounds just died away. It was like he'd stopped moving. The minutes grew into what seemed like hours, and as Naruto began to think that the guy in the trees had simply moved on--
A body jumped out of the trees, sending green leaves everywhere. As the person and the leaves came down, a single kunai was thrown upwards, eager to pierce the unknown figure's skin. Before it could even get close to the falling person Kakashi caught it between his first two fingers.
"Hinata!" Kakashi said, not turning around to look at her. "You should be a little less eager to attack. If that had been a civilian rather than a ninja, and if I hadn't been quick enough, you might have injured an innocent. Think before you throw, ne?" His voice was just as apathetically pleasant as it always was, and there was no hint of anger in his voice. It almost seemed like they were in the classroom again, and Kakashi was their teacher. He sounded like a doting sensei rather than the nin he was, and Naruto briefly wondered if Kakashi could have ever had a future as a schoolteacher.
"Gomenasai, sensei," Hinata said quietly, bowing her head and poking her fingers together. She knew that it would have been smarter to wait for the other nin to make the first move rather than to go ahead and attack without knowing who it was, but she'd thought of the UBNA and how they'd tried to capture Naruto, and she was overcome by a desire to protect him, no matter what.
Naruto walked over to comfort her. Patting her on the shoulder, he whispered into her ear, "Hey, does he sound like a schoolteacher or what?"
Smiling up at the blonde, Hinata giggled and nodded.
"Sensei, who is that?" Sakura asked, frowning over at the figure half shrouded in the darkness of the trees. He had stood straight up and was now approaching them briskly, head held high. He entered into the sun, and Sakura blinked in surprise-- this guy had long silver hair, pulled back into a high ponytail. He wore a dark green poncho that reached all the way to his knees and a pair of black ninja pants with silver stitches in the bottom of them. His sandals were a dark green to match his poncho, and he carried a dark green umbrella at his side. Over his forehead he wore a dark green forehead protector, and upon that was the Amegakure's symbol. His dark eyes scanned their group, and as they swept across her, she could barely repress a shiver.
The man stopped about three feet away from each other, both apparently staring each other down.
The man spoke first. "Hatake."
Kakashi nodded slowly. "Nomura."
They were silent for a few more seconds. Then: "How do I really know it's you?"
"How do you know it's not me?"
A slight flicker of a smile flashed on the man's face, but it was gone in an instant. Then, quick as a flash, he was shouting, pointing an accusing finger at their sensei. "My sister's name!"
Kakashi had taken on the same dramatic pose as the man, his finger about an inch away from the other man's. "'Tatsuki! What organization was I in when we met?"
"Easy! The ANBU! When we were caught sneaking peeks in that bathhouse in the village about a mile away from here, who did we blame it on?!"
"Jiraiya sensei!" Kakashi yelled back. By now, they were getting plenty of odd looks from the teens standing around them. Naruto had a weird look on his face as he watched, his attention apparently focused on the newcomer; Lee, Akamaru, Kiba and Hinata were looking back and forth between the two men as if they were watching a mildly interesting tennis game. Sakura was frowning as if she greatly feared for her sensei's sanity, and Shino would look about as apathetic as he ever did-- if it weren't for his razor sharp eyebrows steadily inching towards his hairline.
"You're good," The man interjected, lowering his arm and stood upright, eyes still glued to the other man. Kakashi did the same, and a silence grew between the two. It stretched longer and longer, and right before Naruto was about to say something the man with the ponytail pointed towards Kakashi again, with less drama this time. "OKAY!!" He shouted, startling the teens enough to make Hinata fall backwards. The girl would've hit the ground had Naruto not caught her in the last moment. "Final question: What did I do the first time I met you?"
"You attacked me with your umbrella and nearly drowned me with a water jutsu," Kakashi answered lightly, shrugging. He crossed his arms and smirked as if the question he was about to ask would prove whether he was the man he knew or not. In a low voice, he asked, "How old am I?"
The other man stared at him for a moment. Then, all of a sudden, he began cracking up laughing, doubling over. "Ah, I don't think anyone could answer that one correctly. Welcome back, Kakashi."
"Well, it's kind of good to be back, Shinji," Kakashi replied, smiling through his mask. He walked forwards and patted the laughing man on the back, gesturing towards his students. "Shinji, these are my students. Their names are Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, Sakura Haruno, Rock Lee, Hinata Hyuga, and Naruto Uzumaki." He pointed toward each of them as he said their names.
Akamaru barked at the Jonin, affronted that he was left out of the role call.
Smiling, Kakashi said, "I apologize. My SEVENTH student, the hairy short one, is called Akamaru Inuzuka."
The dog smiled and laid down while Kiba chuckled and rubbed behind his ears.
Shinji grinned at this little display. "Well, to the seven of you, I say greetings. My name is Shinji Nomura, as you probably already know, and I am Kakashi's friend that you will be staying with for a while. I doubt Kakashi has told you how exactly we met, so--"
"Wait a second-- Nomura? As in, Tatsuki Nomura?!" Naruto exclaimed, glaring over Hinata's head at the newcomer. Shinji's eyes went wide as he heard the name, and a hint of depression itched at his facial features.
"Did… Kakashi, did you tell them about Tatsuki?" He asked slowly, looking over at his friend. Kakashi nodded.
"Your sister attacked me!" Naruto yelled. Hinata jumped at the volume of his voice, feeling about as skittish as she always used to be. Why did everyone around here have to yell?
Shinji looked at Kakashi with an eyebrow raised, and the older man nodded once again. "Hai, we've already had a few run-ins with the UBNA. They've followed us almost ever since we left the village, and they recognized me right off the bat."
"Ah, so that's why the uniform change came about," Shinji stated, looking his friend up and down with approval.
Kakashi nodded. "Two days ago, Naruto here was attacked by your sister and a squad of the UBNA. They tried to take him hostage, but he was able to defeat them all."
Hinata touched the lavender flowers that she'd tucked behind her ear, suppressing a chill at the memory of seeing Naruto as beat up as he was the other day. He'd fought that squad of enemy nin and was barely able to win, and still he'd brought these back…for her. Did that mean that, maybe, just maybe, he had feelings for her…?
Shinji bowed his head, looking genuinely ashamed of what his sister had done. "Gomenasai, Naruto. I apologize with my greatest regrets for what my sister and her squad did to you, and I will do anything and everything to make it up to you. I will allow you to yell at me all you want about that incident when we get home, but for now we just need to make sure we get there. If you all will follow me, we can probably get through here without too much hassle." Pulling a strange-looking lantern out from beneath his poncho, he lit it up with a turn of a knob, and the orange yellow light cleared all the shade around the group. He started towards the deep forest, but then turned and looked back at them. "Stay close to me, and pair up with a buddy in case you get lost."
Kiba leaned down and patted his dog on the head, indicating that he'd found his buddy; Sakura tugged on Hinata's arm, and Lee walked over to stand beside Shino. Seeing that all his teammates were taken, Naruto grumbled all the way over to his sensei, who smiled lightly. "I wonder if I could read my book by torchlight…"
"No reading," Shinji said, laughing at the dejected look on Kakashi's face. He grew solemn again as he continued. "This goes for all of you: do not talk about the UBNA-- or Tatsuki, for that matter-- until we're save in my house, Ok? As you may have guessed, they're not exactly a light topic around here."
They all nodded at him, and as the others began to follow him into the trees, Sakura stopped suddenly. Her breath caught in her throat as she listened to the voice inside her head.
"Well, Sakura… This is kind of nostalgic, isn't it? That man there… He's looking for revenge against his sibling for killing off their entire clan… Guess I'm not the only Avenger you're supposed to meet on your journey through life… Wonder what you're supposed to do with this one, hmm?"
Hinata stopped as her pink haired friend doubled over, watching her grip the fabric of her pale pink skirt. "Sakura-san?" Hinata asked, eyes wide. She saw a few glistening tears fall from the other girl's face, and she wondered if she'd been injured somehow.
"Ano, it's-- it's nothing, Hinata-chan," Sakura said, standing upright by a sheer force of will. Wiping the few droplets of tears away from her cheeks, she glanced over at Lee, who was the only other person besides Hinata to realize that something was wrong with their pink haired companion. She nodded at him, as if to tell him that she was alright. Looking as if he didn't believe her, he turned and continued his conversation with Shino as if nothing had happened.
Sakura began to walk forward, she and Hinata bringing up the rear of the group, and the dark haired kunoichi had no choice but to follow her. As they walked into the forest, she looked up at the last wisps of sky she would see in a while, deep in thought. Oh, Sasuke-kun, she thought, trying her best not to cry again. What do you want from me? Why do you keep contacting me like this? What in the hell do you want?!
The sky above gave no condolences, no answers. It remained a deep wise blue, seemingly mocking her with it's infinite knowledge. She found that she instantly hated the sky, and she felt relief as the trees above blocked it from her view. Maybe it won't be so bad not to see the sky for a while…
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So, that was Chapter six. (I swear, I'm going to have to stop making these chapters longer and longer…. Sigh) Hope you liked it, know you liked the snickerdoodles . Goodnight, all, gomenasai for the wait!