We are finally back to this! sorry but school was awful towards the end, but i'm not on vacations and i'll try to update faster.
Thanks to Hikari no Okami for correcting this chapter!
Blazing Night
That night a party was organized in order to celebrate the new baby, the first life of the upcoming new generation of Konoha.
It was held at Haku's, since it was the biggest place and the only one which could hold all the guests: Konoha's shinobi, the Sand siblings, the Snow team and also Kanya, Mina, Haku, Kouta, and Tohru. All good 25 people celebrating that the young Hyuuga head was going to give birth to an heir in approximately 8 months.
Everyone was happy, but no one as much as the father. No one had ever seen Naruto smile for so long. The boy, himself, couldn't recall sometime he was as happy as he was now. The blond wouldn't stop talking about how Hinata had told him, his reaction, and the plans for the baby; every name that appeared in his mind, was immediately said to Hinata, asking if she liked it for the baby, not minding if it was girl's or a boy's; he was always wondering how would he or she look like.
Hinata was being constantly questioned by the other girls about how she felt, her thoughts on the future and her ideas for the baby.
The house was lively and everyone was enjoying the night happily, Tohru was in the kitchen, cooking the dinner, even if it was a little late. The girls were talking in the living room and the boys were laughing in the dinning room.
The door to the living room opened and a girl came in
"Hey Hinata!" greeted Tenten who was just arriving at the party with Neji "I heard the news! Congratulations!" she said giving the young Hyuuga a hug
"Thanks Tenten" said Hinata answering the hug
"It was such a surprise, although I'm not really surprised considering you guys are married and all" said the brown haired winking, making Hinata blush
"Well, yeah, it was a surprise, I was the first one to be surprised here!" said Hinata
"Sorry girl, but I was the first, I read your blood analysis, and I was totally shocked!" said Ino
"If someone had told me back in the academy that you would be the first one to marry and be pregnant I wouldn't have believed a word!" exclaimed Sakura "Hell, I would totally told them that they were stupid!" Inner Sakura added
"Why?" Kanami asked "I mean, Hinata is gorgeous, I'm sure all the boys were chasing her"
"On the contrary" corrected Ino "all the boys were after me"
"What?! You?! You gotta be joking Ino-PIG!" Sakura almost yelled
"Girls, please, let's calm down" said Hinata "the truth is, that I was very, very shy"
"Well, you're quiet" said Suberu
"But not shy at all!" added Kanya
"Believe me, she was absolutely shy" repeated Ino "she would blush and stutter a lot!"
"But Hinata-chan speaks very well!" said Mina
"She has improved a lot" recognized Sakura
"I was a little pathetic…" said Hinata "so pathetic that Naruto told me once that I was a dark and weird girl"
"Well, you must see where the comment came from: Naruto was an idiot when he was young, very obtuse. I'm actually surprised you guys got together. I mean, you were so shy, even more when Naruto was involved; I remember you fainted once when Iruka sensei partnered you with Naruto for a spar when while doing Taijutsu training. And Naruto, well Naruto didn't even know that you existed! Well, he did know that you existed, but he never noticed that you liked him so fiercely! All the other classmates noticed your feelings, even the boys, but Naruto had no idea, he was hopeless"
"Shut up!" said Kanami "The Hinata and Naruto you are talking about are very different to the ones I know! Even if I haven't talked a lot to them I know that much"
"Yes I know we changed a lot" said Hinata "but that's because Naruto and I spent three years together and away from the others in order to train with a sensei, therefore, we were forced to share everything: meals, trainings, studies, every hour, everyday. I think passing through all that made Naruto give me some of his confidence, even if I didn't give him anything"
"That's not true!" argued Sakura "You changed Naruto more than you think!"
"Really Hinata, you are a girl!" said Subaru "I mean, hello, of course Naruto would be affected by being with you: no man can help but to become a better person when they spend time with a woman. We are so perfect that we tend to affect those around us; give yourself more credit, girl! Believe me, that boy would be like any other if he hadn't been with you: a savage, half-dumb, perverted, and probably even bad mouthed"
"No, Naruto only needed to learn a little of the basics to polish his abilities, and Sora sensei's training is what made him the even better shinobi and man he is now"
"Even more proofs to my case" continued Subaru "he was trained by a girl and he improved a lot right? All of his sensei had been men right?" Sakura and Hinata nodded "I was right then. We girls are far better; no offense to men-kind but, really, we are the better thing that could have happened to them; and you, dear" she said referring to Hinata "are the best thing that could have happen to your husband"
"C'mon, give yourself more credit Hinata" said Tenten "I might not know Naruto that much either; but from the way that Naruto acts now I can tell how much he changed thanks to you"
"I agree with her" said Sakura "Naruto has become not only wiser, but also more caring, more sensitive. Have you seen how he acts with the kids? God! I think that's the best proof you have. I assure that the way he acts with the kids is the part of him that better shows how much he took from you for himself."
"Don't you think you are going little too much over the board?" asked monotonically Mornia from a corner
"Even so, I still can't believe that after all those years of watching him from afar, we are together. It's like a miracle, some kind of magic or divine intervention that made it happen. I'm scared at the idea of waking up and find out all of this is nothing but a dream, and that I'm again that weak, little shy girl, which stutters every time Naruto is around, the girl that's so shy that she can't help but blush and that never tells him a word" said Hinata
"You mean that you liked Naruto since the Ninja Academy?" asked Kanya
Hinata nodded
"Liked?! That's like, the understatement of the millennium!" said Ino
"She has loved him since the first day of the academy. That would be more accurate" corrected Sakura "and it was totally obvious, the only one that didn't notice was Naruto" Sakura released a sigh
"I understand her you know?" said Kanami "Naruto is kinda cute, a good looking boy; big bright blue eyes, golden hair, hot body, he's tall, strong. The dream of every girl"
"Definitely you have gone too far there" said Mornia again, as if she had no interest
"But even if she was so in love with Naruto, there were some boys who dared to confess to Hinata" said Ino
"Yeah? What happened?" asked a really interested Kanya
In that moment the dinning room door opened, showing Neji
"I'll be right back, I'll just go and give my congratulations to the future mother" he said to the boys in the dinning room. He closed the door and walked into the living room "Good evening ladies" greeted Neji "Hello cousin, congratulations"
"Neji, thank you very much!" said Hinata
"How are you doing? Are you okay?" he asked
"Yes, we are perfectly fine, thank you" Hinata said with a smile
"I see everyone has come to congratulate you" said the boy
"Well…yup…more or less…" said Hinata with a drop behind her head
"Tohru-chan is the only one who hasn't come" commented Mina innocently
Neji turned and observed the kitchen door before starting to walk there
"Neji?" called Tenten
"Neji-niisan, what are you going to do?" asked Hinata
Neji opened the door, and found Tohru with an apron preparing a salad. As the door closed, he strode towards the cook and grappled him by the neck of the shirt
"Look, I don't know what your problem is with my clan, but I don't like your attitude!" started Neji
"You want me to kick your ass again?" asked Tohru
"Your illusions can't affect me now" he assured "now I want you to go there and put aside what ever issue you have with the Hyuuga clan and congratulate Uzumaki Hinata for his pregnancy" menaced Neji rising Tohru from the floor to look him straight in the eye, since Tohru was only 5'5''
"Put me down, Hyuuga" replied Tohru in the same dry tone "I'm doing dinner for your cousin, isn't it? I think that's more than enough"
Neji threw a punch at him
OoOoOoO
"But Tohru-chan isn't completely responsible of his attitude!" said Mina
"He's kinda cold to the Hyuugas" admitted Kanya "probably Neji has had enough of that?"
"Mina-chan, what do you know about Tohru-san?" asked Hinata
"Well, I heard Haku-chan scold him the first time we met you" explained the pink eyed "He was telling him that he should have stopped the attack when he saw the Hyuuga eyes since it was proof enough that you were Konoha's, yet he didn't and some of you were injured. Haku-chan said that it was unforgivable, but Tohru-chan answered said that Hyuuga's were responsible of his mother suffering"
oOoOoOo
"Your…mother?" asked Neji
"That's right" said Tohru with a line of blood running from his mouth "she was a member of the Branch Family, she was in love with my father, but the clan didn't accept their love. She had to fake her death during the Third Secret World War, during a battle the Leave had against the Rock. In war a lot of people die, and many corpses are lost, so they didn't wondered about her when she didn't appear and weren't worried because she had the seal that would protect the secrets of your precious clan"
Neji stood in silence
"They left the village, came into hiding here, and started from scratch. We passed through a lot of troubles and even had times when we wondered what we were going to eat that day, or if we were going to eat at all. Even if my mother trained me in the way of the shinobi I left it and became a cook, because I couldn't stand the ninja. And then you entered the scene, coming to the village showing your clean main family foreheads"
OoOoOoO
"Oh my god!" said Sakura putting her hand on her mouth after hearing Tohru's story from Mina's "that's so awful"
"I understand now his hard feelings towards the clan" said Hinata
oOoOoOo
"If that's the case" said Neji putting him down "maybe you should know that I'm not part of the main family, but of the branch family"
"Don't play fool with me, I know how your clan runs, branch members have a green seal in their foreheads" said Tohru
"The seal was absolved and the family division overthrown. The new head of the clan fought hard against traditions to create a better clan for all" explained Neji
"You got to be kidding me. Who is this miracle head of the clan that made everything change?" asked the cook in disbelief
"Uzumaki Hinata" he said smiling to a now astonished Tohru "I understand your feelings, as I once was like you, but you should give the clan a chance"
He remained silent for a moment.
"Yeah…I think maybe I could try to…" said Tohru quietly while looking to the other side. He wiped the blood from his mouth "now, leave, I have to finish the dinner…"
"Yes…cousin" said Neji walking to the door
"And please ask everyone to gather at the dinning room, dinner will be ready in a few minutes, ok…cousin?" asked Tohru with a smirk on his face
Neji smirked too "Consider it done"
OoOoOoO
Neji came out of the kitchen, reaching again the living room. A smirk of satisfaction in his lips
"Neji-nisan, what did you do to Tohru-san?" asked Hinata
"Let's just said that we came to a mutual understanding" explained Neji
"You…didn't punch him, right?" asked Hinata
"Erm…well…I…"
"Neji?" asked Tenten in a scolding tone
"W-we talked, we came to an understanding with words…" although I did hit him once "by the way, he says dinner will be ready in few minutes"
"Yay!" said Mina raising her hands high "I'll go help Tohru-chan" and the little girl went running to the kitchen
"Quite the hyper girl isn't she?" asked Kanya with a smile as everyone nodded
oOoOoOo
Not so far away a strike force was reunited outside the village. The dark shinobi gazed from the top of a mountain upon the forest in which the Hidden village of the Waterfall was. They were a force numerous enough to invade a small city, and even if they weren't the most powerful of Orochimaru's forces, a few of them had a level to be considered a treat.
A dark figure reached the top with a jump, closely followed by another
"Uchiha Sasuke-sama!" exclaimed all the shinobi while bowing as they recognized the first of the figures
"The troop's status?" asked the Uchiha
"Ready, and awaiting your orders" replied one of the ninja "they are at the feet of the mountain"
"Command them to split in two groups. One will enter the city with us; the other will block the entrance so no one escapes. Remember, we are here to recover one item and to find a poor soul for their wicked experiments"
"Yes sir" said the ninja and with great speed they disappeared
"Hey, nii-san…" called the girl behind Sasuke
"Yes Hikari?"
"You seem excited" said the girl "but in this village there's nothing but trash"
"I feel him" said Sasuke "Uzumaki Naruto. He's here" said Sasuke as he ran through some seals "Summoning Jutsu!" several gigantic snakes appeared at the feet of the mountain, they were taller than the trees of the forest "let's go" said the raven haired "I would hate to make them wait"
oOoOoOo
Back in Haku's house everyone had already had dinner, and Tohru was picking up the dishes
"Wow, that was delicious!" said Kiba
"Not bad" admitted Chouji "not bad at all"
"Yes, there are two things at which Tohru does relatively good" said Subaru "cooking and Genjutsu"
"He doesn't does relativatily good!" argued Mina
"Relatively Mina, not relativatily" corrected Tohru with a smile
"Don't correct me Tohru-chan, I'm defending you!" said Mina "like I was saying he's not re-la-ti-ve-ly good" Mina divided the word and said it slowly trying to say it right "he's very good"
"He's decent" said Mornia
"Let's not fight about what ever Tohru is good or not, the dinner tasted well didn't it?" asked Kanya
"Yes! It was a refreshing meal for both the body and the spir-" Lee was starting again but Kanya silenced him with a punch that made him fall from the chair
"Then, that's all that matters. It tasted well" finished Kanya
"Why did you do that?" asked Lee standing up quickly
"Because you are annoying!" replied the girl with cat ears almost yelling
"Calm down, don't start a ruckus here" pleaded Kouta
"Hey Hinata-chan! I can't wait for your baby to born!" said Mina "I'm sure he or she will be cute! And we could eat candy together! Although I wonder what kind of games will the baby like…What do you think Kakashi-chan?"
"Uh?" Kakashi was again reading a perverted book "I don't know. We'll have to wait until the baby tells us by itself" he answered without stopping his reading
"Kouta-san?" Sakura called his attention "You are Kakashi-sensei's elder brother right?"
"Yes, that right, why do you ask, lass?" questioned the silver haired man
"I was wondering, why we never heard anything about you before now" finished Sakura
"Yeah I've been asking myself the same thing for some time now" said Naruto
"That's a long story" started Kouta "Kakashi and I were assigned to a mission on the Snow country. During the mission the Hidden Village of the Snow attacked his own country and invaded the castle. Kakashi was able to run away with the princess and I was forced to hide, as well as all the forces loyal to the princess. After more than a decade I heard Kakashi had brought the princess back and defeated the tyrannical king. When the country recovered and became stable I sent letters to Kakashi. Kakashi was, when we got separated, a perfectionist kid, a genius that would always stick to the rules, and never do anything to break them. He was dead sharp punctual, precise, like I said a perfectionist. He relaxed a little when he became jounnin, but entering the ANBU made him rigorous in many aspects. I remembered that he always checked his mail because he always paid the bills in time. The rumor of the Akatsuki group reached my ears, and when my letters weren't answered I couldn't help to fear the worst"
"It's a joke right? Kakashi-sensei being punctual, perfectionist, and sticking to the rules? That sounds like the twilight zone or something!" said Naruto
"But how come that you never got the letters sensei?" asked Sakura
"Well, it's simple, I don't check my mail" answered Kakashi passing the page
"That can't be true, how you pay your bills?" asked Kanya "you can't live without checking your mail"
"Well I do pay my bills, when I get home at night and I notice that something was cut, like the water, the gas, or the electricity I simply do a kagebushin in the morning and send him to pay" explained Kakashi
Everyone in the room stayed silent
"You know Subaru?" whispered Sakura to the purpled eyed "I'm reconsidering your comment about male senseis, I'm glad I had a female one in the end"
Silence continued a few seconds, but Kanami said "So, how about doing some karaoke?"
OoOoOoO
The ninjas at the guarding post never knew what hit them, the striking force, with Sasuke as leader, delivered a swift attack, allowing them to infiltrate the village with ease. They were now inside the village, among the braches of the trees
"Wow, I can't believe they left such weaklings as guards" said one of the ninja
"Focus on your work; I want you to find that object, no matter what. Search every house and below every rock" ordered Sasuke "if you find it send a flare so we can go pick it up"
"Yes sir!" the ninja entered the village, and started searching everywhere
"I think" said Sasuke to Hikari who was by his side "it would be rude to enter without letting them know that we are here"
"Ok, I'll join the search, and maybe I can find a useful person for Kabuto" said Hikari leaving Sasuke alone in the branches of the gigantic tree
"Come Naruto, we have an unfinished score that we must settle before I can destroy my brother" Sasuke took out his katar and started to spin it above his head, creating a gigantic cloud of fire that started to extend, covering the entire village. A rain of fire started to down poor from the cloud of flames, falling like bombs into the village "Come, Naruto"
oOoOoOo
A series of explosions demanded the attention of those enjoying in the party
"What was that?!" asked Haku
"Haku-kun, look at this!" Tohru called the attention to the amazing and terrifying display outside. Gigantic balls of fire were falling from a large ceiling-like cloud of fire which covered the village
"We are under attack!" said Haku "We must protect the village!"
"Sakura-chan! I want you to take the kids and Hinata and leave the village" said Naruto putting his hands on her shoulders
"What?!" said Hinata surprised "No! I'll stay with you!"
"Honey, you've got to consider your condition!" argued Naruto
"I won't leave you fighting alone" said Hinata
"You have to think about our baby now!" explained Naruto
"That's exactly what I'm doing!" said Hinata "I grew up without my mother and you without even knowing your parents! I don't want that for my baby; what would happen to us if you died?"
"Hinata…" said Naruto surprised
"Please, don't make leave your side!" Hinata hugged Naruto as if she was holding on to a log after a shipwreck
"Ok, but promise you won't do anything that would be a risk for you or the baby ok? And if things get too messy you will leave" said the blue eyed looking into his wife's white eyes. She nodded "fine, Sakura, please take the kids to a safe place"
"Yes Naruto, don't worry about that" assured Sakura
"But, Nii-chan, we want to go too!" said Konohamaru
Naruto kneeled in front of them "I'm sorry, but you are still too young. Please go with Sakura-chan, and do as she says"
"Ok" they said sadly
"Konohamaru, I'm counting on you to keep them all safe ok?" Naruto gave the young boy a thumb up
"Yes, Naruto, I won't let you down!" said the boy. He turned to see Hanabi, and both of them nodded with a smile
"Ok, Konoha troops!" Naruto called "battle stations!"
"Girls I want you to go help them!" ordered Kouta
"Mina, Kanya you too" said Tohru
"Ok, let's show them the big mistake they committed by coming here!" said Kankurou
In a second everyone had left the house and took different directions
Sakura was the first one to leave, taking all the kids with her
"We must reach the village edge soon, and find a place to hide until things calm down! Don't slack off!" she pressed. The kids followed closely
They stopped at a corner; Sakura came out and knocked an enemy with a quick hit on the neck, allowing them to move without being noticed. They kept running towards the entrance of the village, only stopping a few seconds to check for any enemy who might be coming. Sakura wanted to run into the less possible fights, because other way the kids would be in troubles
Damn it! Why did they have to interrupt such a nice party! I'm so going to kick the ass of their leader! And then I'll kick Orochimaru's butt! Yeah!" Inner Sakura raged, but the outer expression of Sakura was one of seriousness, a shinobi fully concentrated on the mission she was assigned.
After a few minutes they reached the waterfall, the entrance to the village. They stopped to check if the entrance was clear, a clever idea
"Move it dogs!" said a shinobi covered in scars "Leader-sama told us to stop anyone who tries to escape from the village, take your positions!"
Sakura was impressed by the amount of troops that were invading. They were lots, and this was only the section that was blocking the entrance, no doubt that inside the village would be at least the same number, and that added to the rain of fire were bad news for them
"You won't leave following that route" said a female voice "you better look for a safer way for the little ones" a girl with tanned skin and long black hair tied in a low pony tail appeared before Sakura and the Gennins "and if you don't hurry up you'll loose of opportunity to take those children out of here"
"Kids, go hide, I'll take care of her" ordered Sakura
"Oh is that so?" asked Sasuke's companion "I'm sorry but I must find a powerful shinobi and take him or her to the base, and you are a strong ninja. Sorry but it's nothing personal, really"
"Those are my lines" said Sakura "I hope you don't hold a grudge against me when I defeat you! Konohamaru, lead them out of here!"
"Ye-yes! Konohamaru corps and Hanabi-chan, let's hide!" Konohamaru threw a smoke bomb and the kids ran in the smoke and went to find a place to hide
"So you think you are going to defeat me?" asked the tanned girl
"No, I know I'll defeat you!" said Sakura as her hands glowed with chakra
"Fine then let's have a good fight!" Sakura's enemy ran through some seals "Summoning Jutsu!" a wolf as large as a great dane appeared
Sakura was the first one to attack, but her opponent was fast enough to dodge the punch she threw. The fist slammed in the ground breaking a large part of it
"You are pretty strong" said the girl "I better make sure to dodge all your punches or it could be the end"
"Heh, you won't be able to dodge all the time!" said Sakura as she did a seal "especially if you don't know where I am" several bushins appeared
"Bushin, an A level technique, you don't really think that you can fool me with that do you?"
Sakura attacked at the same time all the bushins did. However the girl just let them pass one by one even if the images attacked her. When the real Sakura was close enough the wolf companion tackled Sakura slamming himself against her gut
"Sorry but my partner can detect you easily with his nose" she said confidently, but then the Sakura that was attacked became a stone "a substitution!"
"Gotcha!" Sakura's voice came from above the girl which prepared to defend against the attack.
However when she tried to attack Sakura, the pink haired disappeared "a Bushin!"
"I wouldn't fool you with a Bushin uh?" the real Sakura came from behind and slashed her enemy with a kunai, using such strength that sent her flying. Using her chance Sakura threw a handful of shuriken than found their mark on the pony tailed girl, followed by a kunai with explosive note attached that also reached its target.
But from the explosion only burned debris came out
"Damn it, the bitch used a substitution! What a copycat!" yelled Inner Sakura
The pink haired had almost no time to block a hit aimed at her face from behind. Yet she did, and then dodged a bite from the wolf
The black haired put some distance between them with a jump, her wolf moved to stay at her side "You're pretty good, what's your name?"
"Uzumaki Sakura" replied the questioned "you are not bad yourself. Care to give the same courtesy? Your name please"
"Sorry, but I can only give you my code name: Okami"
"I see, an interesting name: Wolf for a wolf user"
"You know?" said Okami "you seem familiar to me. Your hair at least, that is not a common color here in the east, I remember seeing it somewhere…Ah! I know; a man in the Hidden Leaf Village had the very same tone. He seemed to be a good man. Unfortunately he interfered leaving no other choice but to kill him and his wife"
Sakura was dumbfounded with this information.
"Wh-what?" asked Sakura "You, are the one who…killed my parents!"
Fury raging inside her, Sakura hit the ground using her both hands, creating a crack that raced to Okami, but she dodged by jumping
"Hey easy, if you want I can send you to where they are!" Okami threw two handfuls of shuriken but Sakura dodged them
"No, I'm going to send you to give them your apologies!" said Sakura trying to punch her, but the girl was too fast, and dodged all the attacks
Okami used Sakura's blind fury to throw a kick to her gut but Sakura stopped it with her hands and spun to gain momentum and threw Okami with super human strength slamming her with her wolf companion which tried to stop the impact.
"Ouch! That hurt" said Okami standing up with difficulties. Sakura rushed to her and threw a punch but the black haired deflected it, and tripped Sakura, making her fall prone on her back to the ground in front of her.
The large wolf jumped above her and tried to bite Sakura but she managed to throw him aside, just to find that Okami was throwing a kick at her face. Sakura blocked and threw a series of kicks standing on her hands, but her enemy managed to deflect them all.
Sakura regained her standing position. Okami ran through a few seals "Frozen Wolf Jutsu!" and an ice wolf appeared, running towards Sakura. The pink haired smashed the ground with both hands and a wall of stone appeared in front of her due to the strong hit, effectively stopping the jutsu. Both girls ran towards the other, Sakura threw a punch but Okami deflected it, and answered with a punch of her own. Sakura stopped the punch it her hand and grabbed Okami's arm throwing her against a wall. The black haired didn't have the time to recover and crashed against the wall, breaking part of it. Okami stood up and attacked with her great speed, followed closely by her wolf. The wolf attacked first, distracting Sakura's attention from Okami. Using the diversion she landed a kick on the face of the pink haired, then a kick at her feet, making the med nin loose her balance; before Sakura could reach the ground Okami kicked her a third time, sending flying to another wall.
Sakura recovered and attacked Okami again, scratching the black haired face with her fist, but as Okami had dodge the worst part of the attack Sakura was left defenseless against a bite from Okami's companion, damaging her leg a little
"Two on one" said Sakura taking some distance between them "It's the only way this could be a fair fight" she said with a smirk as her wounds slowly closed
"Med-nin? This will certainly be an interesting battle" replied Okami
OoOoOoO
Naruto, Hinata, Haku, and Tohru were running to the great tree in the middle of the village
"Tohru and I will go to the base of the tree" said Haku
"Ok, then Hina-chan and I will go to the top to check on what's creating that rain of fire" said the blond
"Right, take care" said Tohru and the pairs split.
Haku and Tohru went to the roots, while Naruto and Hinata jumped through the branches, getting closer to the top with each jump, closer to the origin of the cloud of fire. Little did they know that would be their last fight together in their human lives.
oooooooOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo
Dunh Dunh Dunh!
Death is in the air, believe me!
I know it is a little late, but thanks to those of you who have added this story to his favorites, and thanks for adding it to two groups, it means a lot for me!
Also thank you very much for your reviews, please keep sending them!