Ninja of the Void

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters associated with it.

"Talking"

Thoughts

Maelstrom of Time

"Hi! I'm here to pick up Hinata-chan. Is she ready yet?" asked Naruto excitedly as he waved to the guards.

"One moment please, Hinata-sama will be out in a few minutes".

Momentarily the young Hyuga heiress emerged followed by her watcher. "Morning Naruto-kun, thank you for always coming here to take me to school, but you don't have to trouble yourself like that everyday". She then looked up to the elder man before looking back. "Ko-san is usually responsible for this task".

The young blond smiled with glee as he folded his arm behind his head. "I know, but I like taking you there myself". He then took her hand, "Come on let's go!" and with a click of his watch the pair disappeared in a flash.

"Wait!" but it was already too late as the children have already disappeared. Ko then sighed as he slapped his face. "Why did Hiashi-sama leave me with this trouble?" Knowing they had to be at the school already, he quickly ran to the ninja academy to make sure they made it there.

The two guards who watched this event each morning could only feel sympathy yet great amusement of the torment Ko had to go through.

"That kid is definitely becoming a common scene around here".

"Yeah, at first I was skeptical of what Hiashi-sama was thinking of allowing that Kyubbi brat near Hinata-sama. But he doesn't seem so bad. He definitely makes me smile every time he comes around; he's quite the amusing brat even though he has the demon fox inside him".

"I can agree with that". The guards shared an amusing yet brief laugh before returning back to their stoic duties.

Meanwhile from his study, Hiashi was watching the scene below from his window as he too was acknowledging the common event below.

His aid then appeared behind him as he kneeled in his presence. "Hiashi-sama, it's not my place to question your judgment but is it wise to allow your eldest daughter to be around that jinchuriki?"

Hiashi continued to stare out his window not bothering to look back. "Who my daughter wishes to befriend is her own business. Besides I do not see any danger behind her seeing him".

"But Hiashi-sama . . . ."

"You forget that jinchuriki's are not the same as the demons themselves, and from what I have observed he does not appear to be dangerous". The Hyuga head then tilted his head up in thought. "Besides, this friendship does prove to have its benefits".

"Not to over step my place Hiashi-sama, but what benefits could there be?"

". . . . Have you seen her performance as of late?"

"Yes, Hinata-sama does appear to be improving. Probably doing better than average of what her performance was a month ago".

Hiashi nodded. "Indeed, after befriending that jinchuriki her performance has been getting better. Just in last week's sparring session my eldest daughter managed to tie with her younger sister Hanabi".

His eyes widened in surprise. "Incredible! Hinata-sama has never been able to compete against Hanabi-sama before in a match".

Hiashi nodded again. "If her performance is directly related to befriending that jinchuriki then I have no objections for her to continue this relationship". He then reached up to rub his chin. "However, if my suspicions are correct about that boy then perhaps I might discover something interesting . . . ."

"Hiashi-sama?"

He shook his head. "Never mind, continue with your duties as today is going to be rather busy".

~ Konoha Ninja Academy ~ (mid-afternoon)

"Man, that was very boring" as Naruto folded his arms behind his head.

"Don't say that Naruto-kun, what they have to teach is very important. So you should really pay attention to what the sensei has to say" said Hinata shyly as she pointed her fingers together.

"Well at least classes ended early today. Hmm . . . .why was that again?"

The pale girl gave a slight chuckle. "You should really pay more attention Naruto-kun because today is a very important day".

"Oh, why is that?"

"Because today is the day Konoha will make peace with Kumogakure".

"Ahh who cares about that so long as we got to get out of class early then it's all good".

"Well at least we should go and see the parade they have going on".

"Hmm, well if you say so". Naruto and Hinata then proceeded to the parade which was going on in the heart of Konoha. As the children arrived they managed to find a good vantage point as they saw a bunch of foreign ninjas waving to the crowd as they walked through. "Ehh, doesn't seem that great. Come on let's go have some fun while we still have daylight. Maybe we can pull a prank on some of the senseis while we're at it".

Hinata slowly shook her head. "I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but I can't play today. My family is currently hosting the guests. So I'm needed back home to give the proper greetings".

"Ahh!" Naruto then moaned. "Well if you really can't help it then it's fine. But you better promise to play some more with me tomorrow".

The pale girl chuckled. "Of course Naruto-kun, I promise".

They then played for a little while out in the forest before Naruto brought Hinata home before going back to his lone apartment. As he prepared dinner for himself, he sat at his lone table eating his instant ramen briefly at times looking at the door. "Hmm, I guess jii-san would be busy with those other ninjas. He probably won't be coming today".

So after finishing his meal and brushing his teeth, the young blond walked out to the balcony of his room to watch the city below. He then took a deep breath in as the cool winds that evening blew by him. Naruto looked to the city below to see a sea of lights begin to spring up. If it were a month ago, he would feel intense scorn to see all these happy families around him. "But it's different now". He then took out his watch to look at it. "It's just as I wished for. I really did get a friend this year". He then smiled as he looked towards the distance. "I'm so happy to have met Hinata-chan". Feeling slightly energetic, "I wonder what she is doing right now".

Using his watch, he activated hiraishin as he was now instantly at the Hyuga compound. "If Hinata-chan is sleeping then I guess I'll just go home. Hmm? Why are they asleep?" Naruto looked to the two usual guards as they appeared to be napping. He then snapped his fingers in front of them. "Hello, are you guys supposed to be sleeping on the job?"

"I better get out of here while the jutsu is still in effect".

"Huh?" Naruto then looked to see a darkly dressed man climb the wall as he started to run the moment their foot touched the ground. "What's that?" In peering through the darkness, he instantly recognized what the dark figured man was carrying. "Hinata-chan!" He then immediately began his pursuit. "Hey! Give back Hinata-chan!"

But in seeing the perpetrator gaining more distance, "dam, I won't catch him at this rate. I have to get in front of him". He then clicked his watch, and in an instant he was transported in front of them. "Hey you! Give back Hinata-chan right now!"

"Get out of the way brat!"

Naruto then narrowly dodged the attack falling to the ground. He then quickly picked himself up again. "No! Give back Hinata-chan right now!"

"Then you'll die where you stand!"

The young blond dodged once again. "If he wasn't holding Hinata-chan he'd definitely would have hit me by now" as he was barely keeping up with his opponents speed. "But first things first".

The assailant was growing annoyed and desperate as more time passed. "I can't waste anymore time here. I need to make my escape now!" But in the blink of an eye, his prize was no longer in his arms as it was now in the boys. "What! How did he do that?"

Naruto now held Hinata in his arms, but before long he was gone again nowhere in sight.

"Damn it, where did that brat go!" as the dark figured man looked back and forth furiously.

The young blond was currently hyperventilating as the situation was setting in. At this moment he was hiding with the sleeping Hyuga heiress who was under a jutsu behind a building close by as that was the only place he could think of in such short notice. In this moment, Naruto attempted to calm himself down as his legs wouldn't stop shaking nor would his hands. "Oh man, this is the first serious fight I've ever been in. What am I supposed to do?" The fact was it was a child trying to kick a grown man's ass in which he had no real chance in winning. Simply he didn't have any real jutsus to use offensively or for even to buy time.

He then looked to his watch, "but that won't do me any good either". True, he could freeze time temporarily to do as much damage as possible. But still it would be a child trying to kick a grown man's ass to which how much damage would he really do in that much time. Plus with his current chakra reserves he wouldn't be able to hold the function for long before time resumed again. He then looked to Hinata, "but I need to be brave for her now and keep her safe". As he was about to make the jump with his pale friend, he could not.

"So that's where you are you little brat".

Naruto looked up to see their attacker standing on the roof. "Crap, we've been discovered!"

The attacker then dropped down to which Naruto grabbed his friend pulling her to safety. But because of his successive attacks it didn't give the young blond enough time to focus on a destination far away from there.

"Ahh!" as Naruto took a hit to the face sending him a distance away. He then slouched up to see his opponent scooping Hinata up again. "Get your hands off her!" to which he activated hiraishin teleporting him in front of the man punching him in the face as hard as he could.

"You're really getting on my nerves now you little shit!"

In seeing the attack come at him, Naruto jumped to another spot punching his opponent again.

Now his attacks weren't doing much damage, but he was doing the best he could as he could easily avoid the punches. Hopefully he would do enough damage to eventually hurt his opponent. For that was all that he could hope for.

"You really need to die now!" to which he successfully managed to hit Naruto.

The blond began to breathe heavily as he could barely keep his eyes open. ". . . . I don't have enough chakra to make another jump . . . ."He then looked up to his pale friend. "I'm sorry Hinata . . . . I couldn't protect you . . . ."

The assailant then approached him with kunai in hand until he stood right over him. "You've wasted enough of my time. You should die now. In hindsight you probably would have lived longer if you just didn't get involved". But just before stabbing his victim, he was stopped as blood shot out his mouth. "But . . . .how?"

"You made a big mistake in trying to kidnap a member of the Hyuga clan. But an even bigger mistake in trying to kidnap my daughter".

The dark figured man could not utter another word as the last thing he would see before his death was the furious face of Hiashi Hyuga.

After finishing him off, he then unveiled his mask to be surprised to see the head ninja of Kumogakure. "Hmm, so this peace signing was all a ploy to get their hands on the Byakugan . . . . Hmm, this will not bow well . . . ." He then took up both children as he then proceeded home leaving the clean up for Anbu.

~ Konoha ~ (several days later)

Due to the affair, many problems arose. Indeed Kumogakure was at fault for their underhanded tactics in trying to steal secrets from Konoha. Even though this was fact, they still had the audacity to demand compensation as it still remained their head ninja was sent there to promote peace between the villages. Due to his death, the peace that many people worked so hard to achieve was now about to crumble as war was potentially going to break out.

So in one of the hardest decisions he had to make, the third Hokage regretfully asked for a sacrifice from the Hyuga clan. In a much heated debate, it was decided by the council to use Hiashi's brother Hizashi as not only would they avert war, but also keep the secrets of the Byakugan from them.

Due to this decision, many lives were changed.

"Neji-niisan, please don't act like this" Hinata pleaded.

"Get away from me!" young Neji then said angrily as he soon stormed off.

Naruto who watched this scene didn't really know what to say. For he didn't really know Neji except he was a rather stoic guy and really strong when he saw him beat up a bunch of kids older than him. But the fact was his father was killed for the good of the village, and he could somewhat understand his grief. However he still had no words to say to him.

He then looked to see Hinata approach him in tears.

"Naruto-kun, my uncle . . . . Neji-niisan father is dead. What am I supposed to do?"

Naruto remained silent for a while as he didn't really sure what to say. " . . . . I'm sorry. If I had saved you earlier then none of this would have had to happen".

"Naruto-kun?"

He then began to shake as his eyes began to water. "If I were only a bit stronger then I would have been able to save you on my own".

"But you did Naruto-kun, if you didn't stop him then that Kumo ninja would have already kidnapped me".

"But your father ended up having to finish it. If I was able to get you away safely then your uncle wouldn't be dead". He then looked down briefly before looking directly into Hinata's eyes. He then took her hands in his. "Hinata-chan!"

"Ye . . . . yes Naruto-kun?"

"I promise, I promise I'll get stronger so that you will never cry again. I swear on my dream of Hokage that I will always protect your smile, OK!"

"Naruto-kun . . . ." She found herself enveloped in a hug to which she began to blush furiously. Soon a soft smile began to form as she gently hugged him back. "Thank you, and I promise that I will get stronger too so that I can protect you as well".

"It's a promise then" said Naruto to which the pair then shared a warm smile as they then progressed from there.

To be continued . . . .

Author's notes: Now I'm aware of the implications here of allowing Hizashi to die. But this event will be important much later in the story.

After a good amount of thinking I thought of a few neat abilities to give Naruto as he is growing up as well as thought of ways to balance this power so he doesn't become overly reliant on the watches abilities. But when you got a patient smart girl as a friend willing to help you out, I'd like to think Naruto's intelligence will increase by a few points.

So I thank everyone for taking the time in reading this fic and further extend my gratitude if you can review it as well.