Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

"Windows to the Soul"
by Chronos Astral

Chapter 5:

'End of a Cycle'


A relatively normal day in Konohagakure no Sato and all was well for its inhabitants. A busy day for any man, with people going about their own business, buying, selling, working, resting, or playing. Even the local ninja have jobs to do, papers to sign, places to guard, and whatever else a Konoha-nin does. All in all, just an average day in Konoha.

Of course, 'average' is a word that doesn't apply in a place like Konoha.

If one were to look closely enough one would spot two blurs flitting through and fro within and above the village streets, expertly swerving in and out of buildings and avoiding contact with anyone. To the casual observer, they would have passed it off as a trick of the eyes. To the trained eye, it was a duo of ninja, playing an extreme game of tag.

"Come on, Naruto!" The blue blur called out while zipping across building to building. Behind him in close pursuit was another blur with a mane of yellow.

"Slow down, Nii-san!" The blond kicked off from a pole in the direction of his guardian, nearly needing to use both hands and feet to keep up.

"Can't do that! You need to know how to implement speed, chakra control, and pursuit at high velocities! You're enemies won't wait for you to chase them!" The man lectured him while running along a wall, picking up momentum for another jump. Swinging up a clothesline, he launched himself into the air, giving him a bird's-eye-view of the village. Sensing something to the west, his smile grew wide as he knew that it was something Naruto would be interested in.

The man dashed of into the direction of a training area, where his plan would come into fruition.


Hyuuga Hinata felt horrible with herself. She let her salty tears sting her eyes and cascade mournfully onto the grassy soil. 'Pitiful' she thought to herself. Pitiful that a Hyuuga would be so weak, physically and emotionally. She couldn't help it. Her clan was harsh, with her, constantly chipping away at her confidence with their spiteful words. Having no will to fight back, she merely took them in, letting herself wallow in her shame and sorrow. It built up her self-doubt, which sapped away at her strength, which drew even more hate and even more pain. A deadly cycle, to which there was no end. At least in her point of view.

The little Hyuuga Hanabi sat beside her weeping sister, trying to find the right words to say to make it all better. It hurt to see her like this. And it hurt even more that she couldn't do a thing. She was only four, she couldn't understand. She could only hug her, in the hopes that her pain would go away with her tears.

In their tribulation, they failed to sense the fast approaching intruder, making its way through the brush of the training area they took refuge in. The sound of branches and trees rustling had finally alerted them, and they tensed.

From the bush came a blur that jetted off into their direction. In their surprise, the two Hyuuga's put their hands in front of them, anticipating an attack. The intruder slowed down before them, briefly flashing his smiling face and light-blue mane at them, before darting off deeper into the forest.

Hanabi was the first to come out of her shock. "W-w-what was that?"

Before anyone else could say another word, a second round of rustling had started from the direction the stranger had come form. Another blur charged forward at them, with too much speed to stop. Hinata picked up a few tresses of yellow hair before it collided with her, sending both Hinata and said blond onto the floor.

"Oof!!"

"Ah!?"

"Hinata-Nee-tama!" Hanabi rushed over to her immobilized sister, ready to try defending her from their attacker.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" Naruto pushed himself off the dazed girl, and croaked an apology. He offered to help her back up, but she retracted shyly in response.

"Who're you!?" The younger Hyuuga sibling demanded, her loud almost commanding bark betrayed by her quivering feet.

"Huh?" Naruto turned his eyes curiously to the smaller pale-eyed girl, whom he assumed was the other girl's sister due to their physical similarities. "Oh! I'm sorry for startling you. I was just chasing after my Nii-san thought this place, though I think he's far away by now."

"I-I'm s-sorry..." squeaked a small stuttering voice.

"Eh?" Naruto kneeled down closer to the older girl, who's breathing was hitched and her cheeks were flushed and wet with tears.

"I'm sorry... th-that you couldn't catch him... It's because I-I was i-in the way and..." Hinata couldn't bring herself to continue and her eyes began leaking again.

At once, Naruto was at her side, trying frantically to comfort her. "N-no! It's alright, really! I was only playing a game with him! Please don't cry!"

Hanabi stomped indignantly, more confident since he didn't seem to want to hurt them, and angry with him for making her sister cry. "You made Nee-tama cry!!"

"I-I didn't mean to!" He defended desperately, while trying to calm the girl with a few rubs to the back. Seeing that they weren't getting anywhere, Naruto decided to apply chakra in his ministrations to help the girl relax. It worked marvelously as the girl settled for small defeated whimpering and laying her head on his lap in a half-depressed half-dazed state.

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Hinata managed to shake herself from her trance. She noticed that she was using his lap as a pillow and blushed. "I-I'm sorry. I d-don't know w-what came over me a-and-"

"You know," Naruto cut her off. "You apologize too much."

"I-I'm sor-" She immediately stopped herself from muttering another apology.

Naruto smiled sweetly. "That's better." He turned to regard Hanabi. "Now what were you two doing out here all alone?"

The girl felt conflicted on whether or not to tell him of her sister's dilemma. Hinata noticed this, and decided to answer herself. "W-we... no... I was c-crying because O-Otou-sama got angry at m-me for being weak in training a-again." She blubbered, tears threatening to spill once more.

"Weak?" Naruto blinked curiously. "Why would he think that?"

She wrung her hands nervously, trying to word out an answer. "I-I'm always s-scared, because I kn-know I'm going to f-fail..."

"You know you're going to fail? You shouldn't think like that."

"I'm sor-"

Naruto put a finger to her lips, effectively stopping her. "You need to believe in yourself more. You can't get stronger if you always think you're weak or that you're going to fail."

She nodded absently, blushing all the while at the strange contact.

"So, may I know your names?" He asked.

The younger Hyuuga hesitated a moment. "... Hanabi. My name is Hanabi."

Naruto nodded and regarded the older Hyuuga on resting his lap. "And you are?"

"Hinata... H-Hyuuga Hinata..." She squeaked out, blushing all the while in his scrutiny.

"Well then, Hinata-chan, Hanabi-chan. It's nice to meet you both. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I think I can help you." He gently lifted Hinata's head from his lap and stood, eyeing the girl closely.

Struck with an idea, he shaped his fingers into a seal and cried. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Instantly an audible 'poof' was heard and smoke permeated in the air. Upon dissipating, two Naruto's were revealed to the bewildered sisters. One of them stepped forward to the gaping Hinata. "You were trained to fight a little, right?"

Still a little dazed from his jutsu, she nodded dumbly.

"Good. Now I want you to hit me with all your strength," He grinned reassuringly at her trouble expression. "Don't worry. I can take it."

Hinata was uncertain, darting her eyes back and forth between the two before her. Hit him with all my strength? She asked herself. At once it triggered a memory.

"Hit me with all your strength, Hinata." Hiashi demanded, towering his eldest daughter and heiress of the Hyuuga clan. He felt ashamed of her. To have someone like this as the heiress to one of the strongest clans in all of Konoha was a disgrace to him.

Hinata only cowered before her father's gaze, tears spilling at the sides of her cheeks. She knew it was only a test, but she couldn't bring herself to hitting her father. And even if she did, she knew it wouldn't be backed with the strength her father wanted. It would only disappoint him in the end.

Hiashi sneered in disgust and turned away.

"Pathetic..."

"I..." Hinata looked away, shame twinkling sadly in her eyes. "I can't..."

Naruto sighed. He knew this wasn't going to be easy. He looked to his clone and signaled him with a nod. Taking it as the cue to start, the shadow clone approached Hanabi.

The Hyuuga took a step back. "W-wha-?" She was cut off when the clone tackled her to the ground.

"Hanabi!" Hinata exclaimed in concern, expecting her sister to scream in horror. What was heard was the sound of hysterical laughter. "Hanabi?"

Taking a closer look, Hinata finds her little sister being mercilessly tickled by the clone. The petite girl struggled in vain, against the stronger boy's grip, giggling and laughing uncontrollably all the while. Desperately, she called for her. "Nee-tama! Hahaha! Help!"

Naruto grinned mischievously. "If you don't hit me, my clone will keep tickling her."

This didn't exactly achieve the desired effect as Hinata was immediately downtrodden. Seeing her sister helpless and 'tortured' in a way because of her had only worsened her opinion of herself. She still couldn't bring herself to hit the boy and blamed herself for hesitating and having Hanabi brought into her matters. While she knew that Naruto was trying to help her, she felt horrible that she would now be disappointing someone who could have been her friend and she might even lose the respect of her own sister.

With all these thoughts weighing down on her, along with the sorrow that still hung on her before she met Naruto, Hinata broke down and cried, sputtering apologies every which way. Naruto went to her side at once and tried calming her.

"Hey, hey. Come on. Don't cry..." He cooed softly to little avail.

"Don't worry about-nngh!" Naruto stopped dead as he cringed in silent pain, eyes losing focus.

"N-N-Naruto-san?" Hinata looked up to see his face contorted in pain. She looked around for the cause and found it latched to his leg.

Hinata gasped and drew back in fear as the snake withdrew its venom-dripped fangs from the blond's shin. The boy was knocked unconscious from the potent poison, and landed face-first into the ground. The viper coiled menacingly as it eyed the petrified Hyuuga in its slitted gaze.

"N-Nee-tama?" A terrified squeak called out to her.

"Hanabi! Run!" Hinata cried desperately to her sister, who was shaking in fear. The snake shifted its head to look at the smaller Hyuuga and hissed as it slithered its way towards her. In her fright, Hanabi attempted to flee, but only stumbled clumsily on her behind.

"H-Hinata-Nee-tama!! H-Help!!" She pleaded, too afraid to move with the reptile a mere foot away, ready to pounce. Tears brimmed from her pale eyes as she awaited her cruel fate.

"Hanabi!" In a mix of panic and sense of protectiveness, Hinata sprang up with a newfound strength.

With the remainder of his consciousness and strength, the shaky hand of Naruto held up a kunai for her. "U-use this..."

She stared at the kunai, seeing her reflection glint of the slightly worn metal. In her chaotic state of mind, images of her memories flashed before the steel, voices echoing within her.

"You apologize too much."

"Pathetic..."

"You know you're going to fail? You shouldn't think like that."

"You need to believe in yourself more. You can't get stronger if you always think you're weak or that you're going to fail."

"Hey, hey. Come on. Don't cry..."

"H-Hinata-Nee-tama!! H-Help!!"

Hinata accepted the weapon, not at all fazed by the aspect of wielding a tool of killing. Steeling herself with a determined scowl, Hinata charged in with little grace and form. She drove the blade into the reptile, impaling it into the ground. It writhed and squirmed in pain for a while before stopping dead.

"Nee-tama!" Hanabi snapped out of her stupor and embraced her savior in both relief and happiness. Hinata returned the hug with the same vigor.

In that instant, the snake disappeared with a poof of smoke.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

"You passed! Well done Hinata-chan!" Cheered the newly rejuvenated Naruto, grinning broadly as if nothing had happened.

"Huh?" The two sisters tilted their heads.

"You did it! I'm proud of-grk!" Naruto was cut off with a well-planted fist to his jaw, courtesy of Hinata. At the utter force of the attack, he fell onto his back.

The fuming Hyuuga bent down and started shaking the boy violently. She screamed at him without a stutter. "You mean to tell me that the snake was fake and you were only pretending to be unconscious!"

Naruto, who was too disoriented to form a proper word, only nodded.

"I was so scared to think what would have happened to Hanabi or you!" She seethed right in his face.

"It worked though, right?" The blond asked.

"I-!" Hinata snapped to realization, the adrenaline and panic in her slowly subsiding.

Naruto smiled, despite the throbbing pain in his bruised cheek.

After taking a few calming breaths, she realized that her face was quite near his, dangerously near, and that she was sitting on his stomach, her hands clenched with a fistful of his shirt. Something in her brain clicked and it snapped into realization. "Ah!?" She stood off of him and bowed repeatedly, her face redder than a tomato as she blurted one apology after another. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!!"

She stopped when she felt his hand on her cheek. "As cute as it was, at least you stopped stuttering." Naruto teased lightly, making her blush even more than possible. He walked over to Hanabi and lightly petted her head. "Sorry for the scare, but I had to make your Nee-san braver somehow."

"So we're not in trouble? And Nee-tama is gonna be okay?" She queried cutely, her eyes sparkled with child-like curiosity.

Unable to resist, Naruto picked the smaller girl up and mounted her on his shoulders. "Yup. Everything's fine now. Your Nee-san did really good." The little girl made a small cheer and yelped in glee as he jogged around with her riding his shoulder. He stopped in front of Hinata, who still felt a little ashamed for hitting him. Sensing this Naruto smiled assuringly. "You don't have to feel bad. You did what I told you to didn't I? 'Hit me with all your strength.' You did it, and it really hurt too."

"I-"

"Don't say sorry. I'm glad that you hit me. It means your not weak at all and you have the confidence to do anything with the right push." He gently put Hanabi down to properly regard Hinata. "You are anything but weak, Hinata-chan, I can assure you of that. You 'saved' your sister, so to speak, without hesitation, something that will require an amount of courage to do."

He put both his hands on her shoulders and peered deeply into her lavender eyes with his own cerulean.

"You are strong Hinata. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Hinata gasped lightly at his words and his touch. She felt the familiar heat rise into her cheeks, giving them a great rosy hue. She found herself staring and couldn't look away no matter how much her shyness told her to.

This stranger, this person was telling her what had contradicted everything she was told, everything she thought she was. 'Strong'. It seemed so foreign to her, and at one point thought the boy to be lying. His eyes spoke no falseness. He meant it. It was true? Was it true?

When Hanabi was in danger, only one thought crossed her mind. She didn't want to lose her. She didn't want the feeling of losing someone. Not again. Her mother was as dear to her as her sister, and she had died. She was so devastated at the fact that she could do nothing to have stopped it, so sullen, that her confidence had broken down. But at that moment, she could do something to protect her loved ones. At this one thought, she found unbelievable strength.

This blond stranger, this Naruto, had rekindled a familiarity she had longed for.

"You are strong Hinata. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." The words of a fond and gentle voice spoke to her. Words that carried with them love and compassion.

"Hai, Okaa-sama." A small Hinata smiled brightly as her mother brushed her hair gently with her slender fingers.

To have someone have faith in her, was something that Hinata had always wanted. It made her heart race so, and she found herself doing something she never would have found the courage to do. She approached the boy, and hesitantly let her arms encircle him, tenderly pulling him closer into a hug. "...Thank you... Naruto-kun..." She mouthed softly, too embarrassed to look at the boy directly.

Surprised by the contact and words, his eyes went wide before letting himself hug her in return. "You're welcome Hinata-chan." He told her, unaware of the small tears of happiness that was drenching his shirt.

The moment lasted a while and they separated, much to Hinata's disappointment. Naruto dug into his pockets and presented to both girls two small crystalline like rocks. If one looked at them closely, they were shaped like a circle, many bits of it were chipped. It glittered mildly in the light of the sun, glinting its ivory exterior.

"It's so pretty. What is it?" Hanabi cooed in awe.

"I found these in one of the places my Nii-san took me to. I shaped it a little with my kunai. It's not much, but you girls can have it." He stated and offered it to them.

"We couldn't-" Hinata tried to protest against his generosity but he insisted.

"Take it. Yellow means courage and its also the color of the sun like in your name. Let it be a reminder of what happened today and who you are."

Hinata couldn't suppress another blush creeping up her cheeks as she was touched at his thoughtfulness. "I can't thank you enough, Naruto-kun..." She said, taking one of the stones.

"Arigato, Naruto-Nii-tama!" Hanabi squealed as she latched herself onto him and happily took her present from his hand.

As Naruto busied himself with playing with Hanabi, Hinata eyed her present thoughtfully, setting it into the glare of the sun.

Like the sun... She thought to herself. Color of courage... Naruto's hair is yellow too...

For the nth time that day, Hinata found herself going red.


The blue-maned figure watched then from the trees, beaming warmly to himself at the sight of the blond and his new friends.

"You've taught him well." Commented an aged voice.

"Thank you for the compliment Jirai-san." The man smiled knowingly at the presence of his former teacher, despite having gotten his name wrong.

Jiraiya grumbled. Even now, his student failed to get his name right. It didn't seem like he was doing it on purpose, and no matter how many times he corrected him, he would always call him 'Jirai-san'. Shaking himself from his annoyance, Jiraiya turned his attention to the blond once more. "He changes people as he goes. Is that your doing?"

The man shook his head. "It's a natural talent of his. Something that's touched even me."

Jiraiya nodded and noticed something off in the young Uzumaki's eyes. "Is that...?"

"Mmm... My, how oddly familiar that is." The man said as he also gazed at the boy's cerulean orbs.

The Toad Sannin swiftly turned to his blue-haired student. "You plan on awakening it!?"

The man smiled mysteriously. "Why, Jirai-san..." His body began fading away from plain sight, the light around him distorted and hazy. "... I believe..."

"... I don't know what you're talking about..." And he disappeared.


Finished! Took me a while on account of laziness and whatnot.

Before you ask, no it's not the sharingan or the byakugan or whatever other doujutsu you maybe thinking of that was in Naruto's eyes. All will be revealed in time.

Yellow means courage in Japan.

A little iffy on this chapter. Might edit it later.

I also have another Naruto fic going. It's "Something About Naruto", semi-crack fic about nearly everyone falling in love with Naruto, females and males. Not yaoi per say. Mostly humor.

I need more reviews please!!!