Ninja of the Void

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

"Talking"

Thoughts

A Usual Day

It was early morning as the sun began to rise over the sleeping village of Konoha. At this time many ninjas were already awake and performing their duties like clockwork as some were on gate duty, some were on patrol, and others were doing their morning exercises. However for a certain member of the Hyuga household, things were slightly different.

On this pleasant morning, the Hyuga heiress was awakened by the light that shined through her curtains.

Although by certain perspectives she was considered a princess, she sure didn't indulge in the perks of one. With all the wealth and servants Hinata had at her disposal, she enjoyed doing things her own way.

The pale girl rubbed the weariness from her eyes as she made her way to her dresser to begin her usual morning schedule. Ever since that promise she made with Naruto, the two of them have been going to the forest every morning to train. At first it was difficult to maintain, but as they got older the process became much easier as they went along. In the beginning they were ambitious in their pursuit of betterment. First was a run around the forest to gain stamina then tree climbing for strength and finally light sparring for dexterity, toughness, and taijutsu polishing. With any time left they did whatever they felt was necessary to do. Although most of that time was spent sitting around talking about anything they could think about which they thoroughly enjoyed.

She then got dressed in her black form fitting training attire and then exited her room.

"Hinata-sama, will there be anything you require of us?"

Hinata looked to the branch family member as she shook her head. "Thank you, but I do not" as she gave a polite bow before leaving. As she left a slight frown couldn't help but appear as she thought about Neji and all the branch members. In the years the Hyuga clan had existed, there have been two distinct factions. The main family and the branch family, although officially the branch family were the protectors of the main it was painfully obvious to see that most of the main family treated the branch like slaves. This idea left bitterness in her mouth to which she tried to rectify. As far as she saw it they were all one big family and should be equal in every aspect of that meaning. However it was not easy to reach out to them as she was the Hyuga princess and they were simply servants, bridging the gap would not be easy. Naruto also agreed with this idea as he saw some of the living conditions the branch members were having. But seeing that someday she would become the next head, "This is something I must fix". For now, she did what she could for them.

Now making her way down the hall she stopped at a particular door as she knocked on the frame before sliding it back. "Hanabi-chan, are you going to come on a run with me this morning?"

The young Hyuga looked slightly irritated as she fumed to her older sister. "Knock it off with the Hanabi-chan! I'm not a child anymore!" as Hanabi now dressed in her training attire soon exited her room to join her.

"OK Hanabi" Hinata giggled as she petted her to which she responded by swatting her hand away before proceeding outside. At first Hanabi wasn't too interested in joining Hinata in her training regime. But after the incident with Naruto, well . . . .

~ Flashback ~

"Why should I do something foolish like train with you guys?" bluntly stated Hanabi. "You and Hinata-neesan probably just waste all that time messing around. So why should I waste my time when I'm better off training with the main branch".

"Come on Hanabi-chan, it'll be fun" smiled Naruto. "And besides, it was Hinata-chan's idea that you'd come along with us".

The young Hyuga felt irked at the honorific. ". . . . Stupid blond", "I'm better off training with my peers. So if you'll excuse me . . . ."

But just before she was out of hearing range, "oh I see" then interjected Naruto. "You're just afraid of how hard the training is".

Hanabi stopped dead at where she stood. ". . . . What?"

"You're probably right. The training me and Hinata-chan do is probably way too much for a little kid like you to do anyways".

Hanabi then turned back and gave the blond a signature Hyuga glare. "Do you care to say that again?"

"Yeah you're afraid and I completely understand that it's just too hard for you". He then started pushing Hinata to the exit. "So if you'll excuse us, we better let you get back to your training".

"Hold it!" Hanabi then exclaimed. "I don't know who you think you are. But I will not allow you to sully the Hyuga clan name by saying something was too difficult for me to do. So I will personally show you how pathetic your training schedule is".

~ End Flashback ~

Hinata couldn't help but giggle again. Although her sister was young, she had the Hyuga ego down perfectly as she was easily baited into coming along.

So it has been a few weeks now as Hanabi was joining her on her training runs. Consequently her relationship to her sister was slightly improved as at least they were on talking terms and at times she would listen when she was giving advice to her.

The two Hyuga's made their way to the training grounds in the forest to which they were then greeted by another common sight.

"Hey guys! It took you both long enough!"

The pair looked to the direction of the voice as Hanabi gave the boy a slight glare as her lips couldn't help but twist in disgust. "It's the stupid monkey boy again".

"That's not very polite Hanabi" whispered Hinata. "Address him appropriately by his name and please keep in mind that he is just trying to be friendly with you".

"Fine whatever" the young Hyuga then replied.

"Ahh, is Hanabi-chan finally recognizing me?" smirked Konohomaru. He then pinched both her cheeks as he stretched them.

Hanabi immediately swatted his hands away as she rubbed her face. "That's it monkey boy! I'm going to beat the crap out of you when I get you!"

"Nah nah, catch me if you can then" as the young Sarutobi ran off towards the trees.

"Get back here you stupid monkey!" as Hanabi then gave chase.

Hinata smiled as she watched the scene unfold. It wasn't until sometime after Hanabi joined that Naruto invited Konohomaru in their morning runs. As the Hyuga heiress remembered it, the young Sarutobi heard of Naruto's victory over Mizuki and thus wanted to train under him in order to someday gain power and fame which didn't automatically state 'because he's the Sandaime's grandson'. Although Naruto didn't mind, he also had another reason for inviting him.

~ Flashback ~

"And Kono here will be your training partner from now on" smiled Naruto as he introduced the boy to the group.

"Why?" then questioned Hanabi. "He looks really weak".

"Who are you calling weak short stack!" Konohomaru rebuttal as he raised his fist in agitation.

"Weakling . . . . " she plainly stated again not giving much care for consequences.

Konohomaru growled as he then turned back to Naruto. "I wanted to train under you. So why do I have to train with her?" as he pointed at the said person.

"It's important that you start off at your own level before going higher. Trust me when I say that Hinata-chan and I learned that the hard way during one of our practice runs".

"But I don't want to train with her!" to which Hanabi also gave a slight nod in agreement.

Naruto then looked up in thought before looking back in inspiration to the young Sarutobi. "I'll tell you what; if she doesn't catch you during this entire morning practice then I'll start giving you instructions OK".

"Promise?"

"Yeah yeah, I'll teach you some of the stuff I know".

Kono smirked with excitement. Although he already had jounin appointed instructor, he found Naruto a far better teacher in relation to his current. "Piece cake", but he then looked to him curiously as he scratched his cheek. "But what happens if she does catch me?"

"Then you're going to have to keep doing it until she doesn't".

"And why do I have to do this?" then asked Hanabi. "I didn't come here to train with a weakling like him. So what exactly do I gain out of this?"

"Why?" Naruto then asked. "Are you worried that you're actually weaker then my kouhai here that you won't be able to catch him?"

"Of course not!" Hanabi exclaimed.

"Then you won't have any trouble catching him then will you?" he then taunted.

The young Hyuga gave him a slight glare before turning back to neutral. "I'll give him a ten second head start".

"In your dreams short stack!" as Kono soon ran off towards the forest.

It soon became visibly apparent that Hanabi was growing irritated by the boy's banters. She then turned to face the pair. "If he comes back dead it's not my fault" as she soon ran off to chase him.

Naruto gaped at the statement. ". . . . I'm beginning to think this was a bad idea".

"Agreed" nodded Hinata.

~ End Flashback ~

Although Konohomaru had succeeded recently in not getting caught, he kind of actually enjoyed his time in teasing her sister as he baited her into a chase to which the young Hyuga kept getting all caught up in. Now if Hanabi was irritated by this or actually enjoyed this game of tag, she didn't really know but decided to leave it be as she didn't seem to complain much about it. Besides it was good for her that she did kid stuff and not get so caught up in Hyuga customs and traditions and actually behaved like a kid as she was supposed to.

Hinata then began her light jog around the forest as her mind began to wonder onto her blond friend. As of recently they both have been incredibly busy with missions. When she was home, Naruto was out and vice versa. But with the time they did have together they would usually spend it talking about their usual stuff like how their missions were, what have been going on with their lives, or if they learned anything new recently.

But as of this week, Naruto wouldn't be home for a while and thus would be unable to attend their usual meeting times.

~ Flashback ~

"You're going away!" as Hinata held her mouth unable to contain her shock.

"You don't have to put it that way" said Naruto trying to calm his pale friend down. "My team is currently going on a mission to the Land of Waves as a bodyguard escort for some ossan against bandits". The blond then looked very giddy. "Oh I'm so excited about this mission. I finally get to see some action against bad guys".

"Bodyguard work?" she questioned. "Isn't that a C-ranking mission?"

"Yep!" said Naruto excitedly. "My first C-ranking mission, I can't wait to get started".

"Oh . . . ."

The blond then noticed his friends drop in behavior. "Is there something wrong Hinata-chan?"

Hinata shook her head. "No . . . . it's just that you'll be gone for a while . . . . and I'll be lonely . . . ."

Naruto chuckled a bit before giving her one of his reassuring smiles. "Don't worry; I'll be back as soon as I can. Plus as a bonus I'll bring back a souvenir from Wave, alright?"

The Hyuga heiress then smiled to this. "OK Naruto-kun, just please promise me that you'll be safe".

He then gave a thumb up, "believe it! When I return from a successful mission let's celebrate at Ichirakus!"

~ End Flashback ~

It has been sometime since he left and truthfully she was a bit sad with how long he was gone. Most D-ranking missions that genins went on were usually local jobs in neighboring places around Fire country ranging from farming work to locating lost pets. But as missions get higher in rank, so does their danger and distance from home. Although she worried about Naruto, he made it a habit to constantly remind her to have faith in him as he'll always come back safely.

Since finishing her strength training and practicing her taijutsu, she decided to call her morning session to a close as she proceeded on to the next part of her routine day.

~ Hyuga Compound ~

"Breakfast is ready!" called Hinata as she served the dishes on the table. This was the next part of her morning as she would make something for herself and something for anyone else who was present.

Hanabi arrived to the table first followed closely by Konohomaru. "Wow Hinata-neechan, this looks delicious as usual. Hanabi-chan would probably burn water given the chance".

"You can't burn water" the young Hyuga plainly stated.

"Knowing you, you'd definitely find a way".

"Shut up" as they then began their meal.

Hinata watched the two bicker as her mind then began to wander again. She didn't know when it started, but recently she took a liking to cooking. To further this pursuit she began learning tips, tricks, and recipes from any source she could find from the main branches cook to books in the Konoha library.

Of course she didn't have to do this as the Hyuga household did employ a full time cook. But she enjoyed cooking as a kind of hobby. Since Naruto liked it so much, she figured why not?

"Good morning".

Hinata turned around as she gave her father a polite bow. "Good morning father".

The elder Hyuga took his seat at the table as he quietly ate his meal.

Her father was still a strict and somewhat cold man as long as she could remember. But somewhere deep down she knew he cared for both her and Hanabi's well being. At first Hiashi was none too interested in spending time with her outside of training as he had his own routine to follow as each morning a servant would bring his breakfast to his study so he could remain relatively undisturbed when sorting out the daily state affairs of the Hyuga clan. But then one day after having a conversation with Naruto, her father started being a part of her daily life. She then looked back to see her father quietly eating his meal, ". . . . The effect Naruto-kun has on people".

~ Konoha ~ (afternoon)

At morning's conclusion she was then given the option of either training with her team or with her father and sister at the household. However it usually was with her teammates. As far as her father was concerned, she was more than capable of keeping up with her studies. After demonstrating her ability to use Kaiten, he found her private training with Naruto sufficient enough in keeping her gentle fist style well polished. Although at times he would request a session with her either to teach her something new or a surprise sparring match with her sister to make sure she wasn't messing around. With her sister in those matches, she made sure to go easy on her to make sure neither of them got into trouble with their father.

So making her way to the training grounds she found her team already there waiting for her.

"About time you got here Hinata, we've been waiting for you" called Kiba as his dog Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Good afternoon" greeted Shino.

"Now that Hinata is here" said Kurenai. "Let's begin our team building exercise".

"OK" nodded Hinata. The team soon ventured into the forest to begin their exercise.

"OK" called Kurenai. "I've hidden something special out here in the woods coded with my chakra. But don't bother trying to sense for it as its presence is well shielded. So you need to combine all your abilities to find it".

"Kurenai-sensei, won't you tell us what the target is?" asked Kiba.

"No, that's a part of the exercise. Are there any other questions?"

"Will there be a time limit?" asked Shino.

Kurenai nodded, "the time limit is until this late afternoon. But don't worry; I won't penalize any of you if you don't find it. However I will be quite impressed if you do, and if you find it I'll buy dinner for everyone".

"Thank you sensei!" they all said unanimously.

"Good, now go!" to which the team dispersed.

"So what the hell can this thing be?" asked Kiba as he jumped along the tree top along with his dog. "Do you really think this thing can really be that hard to find?"

"It best not to underestimate Kurenai-sensei" answered Shino who was jumping alongside him. "Sensei is an expert genjutsu user. It would be unwise of us to underestimate her skills. So we better look everywhere carefully or otherwise we might miss it".

Hinata nodded as she kept close to them. Although they were trained like any other genins of their kind they were also trained with the special quality of being a tracker unit.

Looking to her left was Kiba Inuzuka, the nose of her team. He was from the Inuzuka clan who were well known for their dog based justus and their incredible sense of smell. Now Kiba had a very loud personality similar to Naruto. But in contrary to him, he lacked a kind of sensitivity and finesse her blond friend had.

Now looking to her right was Shino Aburame, the ears of her team. The Aburame clan was a very mysterious group as they were the definition of secrecy. However it was a well known fact that their clan specialized in bug jutsus which varied in many types of tasks. Although Shino didn't talk much he appeared to be kind and polite from what she could see.

She herself was the eyes of the group. With her Byakugan, she could spot things far away with certain defined detail making her a very valuable asset to the team.

With their three special attributes put together, they were easily the best tracker and spy team for their age group in the short time they've worked together. However this particular task was going to be quite the challenge.

"I don't smell anything that matches Kurenai-sensei's scent" said Kiba. "So she must have chakra scrubbed it well if there isn't even a trace of it left".

"My chakra bugs sense her presence" added Shino. "But it seems to be too faint which is making it difficult for me to locate". He then looked to his third teammate. "Hinata?"

The Hyuga heiress nodded as she activated her Byakugan to look around. She then shook her head, "I don't see anything. Whatever it is must be shielded from my sight".

"Then we'll have to investigate everything as we go" said Shino

"But that would take forever!" then said Kiba. "There has to be a faster way to find whatever it is". He then slammed his fist into his hand. "If only sensei told us what the target was my nose could probably have picked it up by now".

Hinata gave it some thought as she looked around. "But Kurenai-sensei must have left some clue somewhere. There is no way it could be this perfectly concealed".

"I agree" nodded Shino. "But we don't have much to go on".

The pale girl gave it some thought until something came to mind. "Shino-kun, do you think you can spread a bug network around the forest ".

"Why would he do that?" asked Kiba.

"I see" then said Shino. He then raised his arms as a swarm of bugs began to fly out covering approximately a one mile radius of their position.

"Wait! What's the point is doing that?" to which Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Quiet" answered the bug ninja. After a moment he looked up as he gave a slight flinch.

"Did you find something?"

"I'm not sure" said Shino. "I felt something for a moment but then it disappeared".

Kiba looked at the scene in bewilderment. "What could this be about?" Slowly he thought about it as he looked around at all the bugs that surrounded them in approximately the one mile he smelled them.

"There it is again".

The dog ninja looked in the said direction, but then it hit him. "He's using himself as a sensor tower!" looking a second time around him, he could feel all the bugs around them sending some sort of signal back to the source as Shino as this point could sense anything that dam well breathed in the mile around him.

"Shino-kun?" asked Hinata.

"I'm not sure, it was there for one moment but then it disappeared again". Shino shook his head a bit. "I'm not sure where it is. It keeps disappearing before I can lock onto it".

Kiba then looked at a particular direction as he focused his eyes. ". . . . I think the object is alive" which caused both his teammates to look at him. "Well it's just a guess, but it seems to be the most obvious choice".

"I agree" then said Hinata. Simply if Kurenai really wanted to hide something it couldn't have been something stationary as it would have been easily located by the bug network. If there teacher really wanted them to work for it, it must have had to be something that could continuously elude them. She then looked back. "Shino-kun?"

"I got it" he said. "It's over there" as he pointed in the said direction.

"Kiba-kun!"

"I'm on it" exclaimed Kiba to which he raced in the said direction. "Which way now?"

Hinata activated her Byakugan, "Something moved to your right" to which Shino nodded too.

"Alright!" as he chased after it.

But to no avail, the target was leading them on a very merry chase which seemed to have lasted a good ten minutes until . . . .

"Alright! I've got its scent. I can chase it on my own now!" Then after two more minutes, "I got it!"

Shino nodded in approval as Hinata smiled in a job well done. Soon Kiba walked out of the forest with the 'special object' in hand.

"How cute!" Hinata blushed as she looked at it as she held her hands together.

Shino kept silent as he looked at it.

"This was . . . . interesting". In Kiba's hand was a squirrel with a collar around its neck brandishing a wooden talisman marked with their teacher's name. "I guess that it".

~ Konoha ~ (sometime later)

Hinata began her wandering around Konoha as she didn't have anything in particular she had to do. Although her teacher offered to take them out she kindly refused. Simply at this time she was free to do anything she liked. On days like this when she completed her usual morning rituals, everything was just free time.

Since she had no missions to do or prepare for she just enjoyed the leisure time she had to allow her mind to wander. However, "I'm bored . . . ." Usually on days like this Naruto would be around her to keep her company. The blond had this radiant personality which always made her smile every time she was around him. But now that he was gone for so long, she just simply didn't know what to do with the time. "I guess I can go to Hanabi and see if she needs to do anything today". Just as she was about to walk back to the Hyuga compound a huge rumble was felt which she could literally swear shook the entire village of Konoha. "What was that?"

She then ran to look around for the epicenter of where this all occurred. Finally after a little running she arrived to the Konoha hospital to see a large crater in the ground and a trail leading into the hospital. Not being able to deny her curiosity, she went to the entrance to investigate.

"Hey doctors! He needs immediate medical help right now! Get some people over here!"

Hinata instantly recognized who the voice belonged too, "Naruto-kun!" From everything she knew, Naruto wasn't able to make a jump this far due to massive power requirements it needed. But looking back at the crater it was apparent that he did and it was rather messy one due to the displaced ground he teleported on. Now entering the hospital she saw the blond with a couple of doctors around a very feminine looking boy, and her friend trying desperately to get some immediate help. He then looked back to her.

"Hinata-chan! Thank god you here! I need your help now!"

"Of course" she stuttered. "What is it?"

"Haku suffered some serious damage to his shoulder. But I managed to preserve him by placing him in a time loop keeping him from death by preserving him in the last few minutes of his life. But I have to get back to the fight. If I leave now the time loop will end". He then grabbed Hinata's hands. "I need you to use your Jyuken to help slow down the blood flow so he doesn't bleed out!"

Hinata slowly nodded as she approached the dying boy. Just as Naruto had said, the boy was experiencing one of his time jutsus, 'time loop' or 'repeat' which kept an isolated pocket within space-time repeating itself within a window of two minutes. The techniques general purpose was to place allies in stasis in case something happened to them. However the drawback was that the watch needed to be close by to be them to keep it working. Now as she looked to him she was slightly scared at seeing so much blood everywhere. It just happen to be her luck that no other Hyugas were on the medical staff as they were either at the compound or out on a mission making her the only one there able to do something about it. Her hands began to shake at seeing how much pain the boy was in. ". . . . I don't know if I can do it".

Naruto then placed his hands on Hinata's shoulder to calm her down. "You can do it, I know you can".

"But Naruto-kun . . . ."

"Just breathe, remember how you kept me from bleeding out my leg? Just focus at the correct chakra points to control the blood and you'll be fine".

Hinata paused for a second closing her eyes taking in a deep breath before reopening them with renewed determination. "I'll do what I can".

"Alright" stated Naruto. "I have to go now. I've got an old bastard to beat the crap out of". As he said this, a strange orange glow appeared as he then disappeared to wherever he was going.

The pale girl's eyes widened, but then immediately focused back on her task. "I'll ask him later about that later".

"OK! Get him to the ER!" The head medical ninja then looked to Hinata to which she easily saw their face twist into a frown. "I really don't want an amateur in the operating room while we're working. But since there are no other Hyugas here you're going to have to be the one to help control his blood flow as we stabilize him".

Hinata nodded as it was clear to what she had to do. So arriving at the ER she did her best to coordinate with the staff as they got to work setting up sutras to regenerate and close the wound as she made certain that the boy's blood was going exactly where it needed to in his body. Of course she was nervous as hell for being dropped into a situation like this all of a sudden since all of this was new territory to her. At times when she was about to freak out at hearing the sudden spikes in his heart monitor, she would take a deep breath and remember that Naruto and this boy were counting on her to save his life.

Then finally after an exhausting one hour surgery . . . .

"Operation is done, he is stable now".

Hinata breathed out in relief as she was worried the entire time that she would mess up and get the boy killed. "Thank goodness that he'll be OK now".

The medical ninja from before then approached her removing their mask. "Good job kid, for a complete amateur you did one hell of a lifesaver".

"Thank you" as she blushed at the compliment.

"If you ever decide to find work here I'll definitely write you up a recommendation" to which Hinata nodded happily too.

"Ano, so will he really be OK?"

"Yeah, but he'll have to rest for a week until he fully recovers. So overall just let him rest peacefully and he'll be fine".

Hinata then gave a polite bow as she then left with the knowledge she did good that day.

~ Konoha ~ (late evening)

At this time Hinata returned to the compound to rest for the day. Before returning she was expecting Naruto to reappear with his team back to Konoha as he did before, but did not. At first she worried that something might have happened to him. But then she knew better then that as she did have faith in Konoha's number one unpredictable ninja. So she decided not worry as she would wait for him to return.

As she walked back to her room, her father summoned for her.

So crossing by his door as she slid it open, "How was your day Hinata?" asked Hiashi as he kept his usual stoic tone.

Hinata looked up in thought which soon turned to a smile, "Just another usual day father".

The elder Hyuga blinked a few times at this before giving one his rare grins. "Of course" as he then turned back to his desk. "Good night Hinata".

"Good night father" to which the pale girl returned to her room finishing yet another day in the village of Konoha.

To be continued . . . .

Author's notes: I apologize if some parts seem not original enough, but I will try harder to make things more interesting. In addition if things seem too rushed I also apologize for that as I do have a particular but non-excusable reason for that.

In writing this fic, most of my interesting ideas are focused in later parts of the story where my inspiration was drawn from to which I'm trying to get there as soon as possible. So in relation to your critiques I'll try to slow down some more and add more details and be more original so that the story doesn't seem so boring.

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