Here's the next chapter, guys!
Enjoy!
6. And So They Meet
Hinata stared at the blond man in front of her with wide eyes. His gaze was locking into hers almost fiercely. Even though right now she really felt like crawling into a hole, she couldn't look away from him; part of it was due to fear, but another part of it, was that she found his eyes somehow...mesmerizing.
They were cerulean blue, making her think of beautiful blue waters and the sky on a sunny day. His eyes had a shine to them that Hinata had never seen in any other person before, and only for a second, did she feel safe for the first time since leaving home.
But then, the feeling went away as soon as he spoke.
"What are you doing?" the man asked in a sort of commanding tone.
Hinata felt the fear come back into her body in an instant. "I-uh, um...I..." She heard some unintelligible whispers among the crowd, and prayed she wasn't getting red from how embarrassing this moment was becoming.
The blond man kept his eyes on her, and for some reason, it was making her blush deeply. She hoped he couldn't see it, since she was still under the table and the shadow of it covered most of her face.
He furrowed his eyebrows and then extended a hand towards her. "Here," he said, as he waited for her to take it so he could help her up.
Hinata stared at his hand, then looked up at his face for a few seconds (waiting for her blush to die down), and noticed he was quite young, maybe her age or a little older. Even more notable, besides his beautiful blue eyes, were some marks on his cheeks that resembled whiskers. She found this curious, but having calmed a tad down, decided to accept his helping hand.
The moment they made contact, Hinata gasped out loud and let go of his firm, but gentle grasp. A sudden spark of electricity had just passed from the tips of her fingers all the way down to her feet.
The young man only gave her a confused look, wondering what had caused her to react that way.
The recruits that were watching the whole scene snickered at Hinata's weird reaction. "*Cough!* Coward *Cough!*" was then heard loudly from one of them. A few snickered some more in response, until the blond man whipped his head around to look at them. His face was expressionless, yet something in his cerulean eyes inflicted fear upon the recruits. They shuddered a bit before becoming silent again.
Hinata was about to die from how humiliating this situation was - maybe even more so than the scandalous one with the matchmaker yesterday. Now everyone was going to think she was a coward and her cover could totally be blown right now, thanks to that little bolt of electricity she had felt. Had the blond man felt it too? If he had, he hadn't shown it. Most likely, he hadn't felt anything - not having reacted strangely to the touch at all, like she had.
Taking in a deep breath, Hinata took said man's still extended hand quickly, before anyone started to wonder about anything. The blond seemed a bit surprised, but nevertheless, helped her up from under the table. Hinata was glad there was no spark this time. She only felt how strong, steady and warm his hand was; it was actually comfortable. When he let her hand go, she almost winced at the loss.
Remembering that right now she was in a tight spot, Hinata tried to calm herself down a bit more. Focus, Hinata, focus.
"Your hand is so frail, I think I could break it..." the young blond commented, genuine surprise evident on his face.
Hinata's eyes widened. Her heart started beating fast. Panic began to surge within her, making her quickly lose the composure she had just been trying to achieve.
Had her cover been blown?! Would they arrest her now?! Was she going to get killed?! This was a big mistake...! Oh, no...
She was about to start hyperventilating, when suddenly, the blond burst out laughing.
Hinata almost felt her heart stop beating as she looked up at him in horror. The rookies also started laughing while she stood there frozen in place, not knowing what to say or do. If these were modern times, one would say she looked like a deer in headlights.
W-What? Why are they...? What's going on? Are they laughing at my demise?
After about a minute, Naruto finally stopped laughing and spoke up, "I was just joking! You should've seen your face! You looked so freaked out!" He laughed a bit more, and wiped a tear from his eye before he calmed down, the recruits doing the same.
Hinata continued to stare at him, nearly feeling like her heart really stopped. A...joke? He...He doesn't suspect...?
She let a shaky breath escape her lips. Her growing fear stopped and began decreasing. Almost fainting from the huge relief she was starting to feel, there was no time to blush from the embarrassment. She had gone into panic mode for no reason, and decided it was necessary to keep her head cool at all times from now on.
The Hyuuga heiress glanced at the young blond, who was now frowning a bit. "What's your name?" he demanded, gazing at her intensely, like he was anticipating something.
The dark-haired beauty let out another shaky breath before responding, "M-My name is Hiro. Hiro Hyuuga." She mentally kicked herself for stuttering, and hoped her scruffy voice didn't sound weird to him.
The blond man's eyes widened. "Hyuuga?" He looked away and muttered, "So you're related to Neji Hyuuga."
Hinata tensed at hearing her cousin's name again today. "Eh-Uh-Um, yeah, but we are distant relatives, so I barely knew him." She prayed he took it.
The blue-eyed male only hummed in understanding, seeming to become lost in thought as he resumed staring at her.
Now feeling awkward, Hinata decided it was best to turn the conversation to another direction, since she did not want to talk about things that were sad, or that could get her caught. Hoping he wouldn't suspect anything, she started tentatively, "Sorry about earlier..."
The young man let his thoughts trail away and focused on the person before him. "Don't worry about it. Everyone gets nervous on their first day!" He smiled at her, his white teeth showing.
The lavender-eyed heiress stared at him for a bit, blushing slightly from the smile he directed at her. She hoped he wouldn't notice her shy reaction, and gave him a small smile back.
"Okay, so we're good then!" the blue-eyed man exclaimed, grinning. As a friendly gesture, he stood beside her and slapped her on the back. Too bad when he did so, because Hinata shot out forward, almost falling to the ground. His eyes widened as he looked at his hand in confusion and then at Hinata in surprise. The rookies stared at her in shock, then some of them started to snicker again.
The sudden impact had hurt Hinata's back, and she held the urge to soothe the pained spot. She knew the gesture was friendly, but it had never been done to her. Heck, she'd only seen men doing that to each other, not women. Like her mother would say, it wasn't lady-like. Besides, maybe if she weren't so weak, she could've taken it like a man. She was pretty sure the blond used the same force on his male friends, but for her frail self, it had been a little too much.
She sighed internally. Not wanting to be questioned for yet another weird reaction, Hinata tried to act like it had been nothing. "I'm good. Th-Thank you. I was just caught off guard, haha." She turned to face the young man and stood up straight in place, giving him another small smile.
He just stared at her in confusion, but still smiled back, giving her a firm nod. Then he turned away and looked towards the rowdy recruits, placing his hands on his hips. He wasn't smiling anymore, a slight frown now on his fine features.
"Alright! Dinner is over! Go back to your tents and no one's allowed to go out until tomorrow! Now!"
Without questioning him or even hesitating, all the men started scurrying out of the dining tent, some of them shouting out, "Yes, sir!" as they exited out like frightened dogs. Even the previously unconscious people were back up on their feet, as if by magic, and started scrambling out in a similar fashion.
As he watched his men go, Naruto let out a sigh. He had been so excited about introducing himself to the rookies as their commander, but because of the incident, decided to wait until tomorrow. He felt slightly disappointed, but thought that maybe it was better this way. It would probably come off as a huge shock to his men, having heard some of them whispering about him being a war hero and all. Beginning to feel excited once again, he headed towards his best friend.
In a calmer manner than the others, Hinata also started making her way towards the exit, trying not to fall and get trampled on by all the scrambling and shoving that was going on. She was simply relieved and thankful that everyone's attention had been diverted from her.
She suddenly took notice of a raven-haired male that was standing beside the tent flaps, not moving an inch.
He was dressed in a similar attire as the blond man, but instead of combining the color black with orange, it was with dark blue. She could tell he was close to her age and maybe handsome, but for some reason, his presence let out a dark sort of aura that made Hinata feel somewhat cold by just watching him.
She made a mental note to stay away from him; he surely did not look like the type of person to be around with, if you wanted to keep your life. Hinata shuddered at just the thought of standing right next to that man. It seemed like nearly everyone else had the same thought, since they kept their distance from him when exiting the dining tent. He was definitely intimidating.
Just as Hinata neared the entrance, she noticed the blond man walked towards the dark-haired one, and began to converse with him. Unlike everybody else, including herself, he did not seem to be afraid of him. Both men looked like complete opposites, but seemed to get along well. Hinata felt curious about this, but decided to keep heading towards the tent flaps, and exited out into the cool, night air - it wasn't exactly nighttime yet, but it was already getting dark.
She was about to jog all the way back to her tent, when a sudden thought came to her mind, stopping her in her tracks. She needed help setting up her tent. It had all been a mess earlier, and since she couldn't do it in the daytime, she doubted she would be able to build it now in the oncoming darkness. It was best to ask someone for help, rather than wasting more hours in trying to do it by herself. She turned back around on her heel but stopped again.
Who would she ask for help? She wasn't exactly on friendly terms with any of the men yet, and as a matter of fact, who wouldn't make fun of her for not being able to set up her tent? They would surely laugh at her again, and she did not want to appear more useless than she already did.
Just when Hinata hopelessly decided she was going to give her tent another try (knowing she would spend hours on it), she caught sight of the two men she had met in the dining tent: Kiba and Shino. They were already a little distance away from her, going to their own respective tents.
Should she try asking them for help? They seemed to be kind of nice when they chatted with her before the fight broke out; but, several doubts ran in Hinata's mind on why they might not help her, and if she should really just try building the tent by herself again. In the end, after about a minute or so of pondering, she decided to risk asking. Hinata took a deep breath and headed towards both men, hoping they wouldn't find her request bothersome and think she was cowardly (due to the incident earlier). She tensed a bit as she neared them.
"Just because he's a war hero, doesn't mean he can order us around like he's the commander or something! I think I just lost some respect for that blond idiot." Kiba had an annoyed frown on his face as he spoke to Shino, both of them heading towards their tents that were beside each other.
"Kiba, I think he has all the rights to give us orders. And why, you ask? Because he is our senior, our superior. We are but simply rookies compared to him," Shino responded in his usual calm manner.
"Yeah, but- Oh! Hey, Hiro!" Both men stopped in their tracks and faced Hinata, who was only about a few feet away.
When she finally stopped before them, Kiba didn't lose any time. "Can you believe that conceited jerk just sent us to our tents so early? Who does he think he is?! And he also made you look like a fool in front of everyone! Like, what the hell's his problem? We should report this to the commander tomorrow!" Steam seemed to be coming out of his ears as he spoke with contempt.
Hinata gulped nervously at the revelation that even they thought she looked pretty bad during her encounter with the blond man. "Uhhh..." was all she could utter, embarrassed.
"Don't listen to him, Hiro. Apparently, Kiba is just mad that he couldn't finish his fight against the man that bumped into you," Shino spoke up placidly, having noticed Hinata's discomfort.
"I was winning! I was about to land the finishing blow to that bastard when the blond idiot suddenly came out of nowhere! Plus, he ruined my shirt, so I'm more pissed off that I couldn't finish kicking his ass." Kiba continued to whine as Shino shook his head calmly from side to side, pursing his lips in a slight frown.
Hinata stared at both young men and held in a giggle. This wasn't really the time to be laughing, but she had found the moment quite funny. She was glad they were still willing to talk to her, and seemed to have no problem being around her either.
Deciding now was a good time to ask for their help, she started hesitantly, "Uh, sorry for the change of subject, but would you guys mind helping me set up my tent?" She began to feel really nervous as she continued, making her stutter, "Y-You see, I wasn't able to build it earlier and I-I don't want to spend all night working on it." Her nervousness increased now that her request was out of her mouth.
Both men stared at Hinata for a few seconds. "What? But building a tent is so easy! How can you not do it?" Kiba answered curiously.
Hinata felt herself get red in the face from embarrassment and racked her brain for an excuse. "W-Well, y-you know us Hyuugas, haha. We are not that used to the outdoors, aha..." She hoped they took it. It wasn't like she was lying anyway. She really wasn't that used to the outdoors; mostly just the large, safe grounds of her home.
"Ohhhhhh! I see how it is. Don't worry, we'll help you set up your tent! Right, Shino?" Kiba looked at his friend, who nodded in agreement. "Alright, lead the way, Hiro!"
Hinata smiled with gratitude and let out a relieved sigh. She began walking towards her isolated spot, the two men following suit. She was glad they were getting along; maybe she could befriend them while they were all here in the camp. Sticking out as the loner could somehow blow her cover, and she couldn't take any chances.
"Let's just hope war hero Uzumaki doesn't come and order us to go take our baby naps," Kiba suddenly muttered in a mocking tone.
Hinata widened her eyes at the name. "Uzumaki? The war hero you mentioned earlier today? The one who helped Neji in the previous war? That was him?" she couldn't help to ask as they walked, genuinely surprised.
"Yeah, that's him. Some other guys were even whispering about it back in the tent. I heard a few say they were actually there during the ceremony in the capital when he was being pronounced a war hero."
Now that he mentioned it, Hinata remembered she had heard some whispering going on during her encounter with the blond man. She supposed she might have heard the word, "hero", and possibly his name, but she had been too much of a nervous wreck to have even deciphered anything. "I couldn't tell what anyone was saying," she commented quietly in slight embarrassment.
Kiba waved a hand dismissively. "Well, his name is Naruto Uzumaki. I didn't even know he was here until he barged into the dining tent. Did you see that dark-haired man that was talking to him? The one standing by the entrance?" Hinata nodded in response to his question, and he continued, "That was the other war hero, Sasuke Uchiha. They were both with Sir Neji in the previous war."
Hinata hummed in understanding at his words. So those two men were cousin Neji's comrades in the past war... Hinata felt bad that she didn't recognize either of them. They didn't even look familiar anyway, because she's never seen them before. She then briefly wondered if they had attended Neji's funeral. If they had, she certainly hadn't noticed them. She really had been immensely saddened about her cousin's death for months, that she hadn't even payed much attention to her surroundings. A little guilt and regret overtook her.
"I wonder what they're both doing here anyway. Weren't they supposed to leave with the other troops?" Kiba wondered out loud.
It was true. Why hadn't they left with the others? Why were they both here in the rookie camp? Hinata also found it strange, but wasn't too keen on knowing their reasons, so she dropped her questions.
Just as she caught sight of her bundle of a tent, she felt a sudden presence behind her, making her stop abruptly in her tracks. It seemed that her two companions felt it too as they stopped right after her simultaneously. Kiba cursed under his breath.
"May I know where you guys are headed to?" inquired a familiar voice. Kiba cursed again before he and the other two turned around.
Right there, standing a few inches away, was the blond hero, Naruto Uzumaki.
Hinata wanted to shrink into herself by the look he was giving the three of them. He had a small frown on his face. She could guess he suspected what they were going to do.
"Ah, well, you see-" Hinata tried responding, but Kiba's voice cut her off.
"We were just gonna help a friend in need. Are you gonna order us not to?" he asked threateningly.
Hinata had the sudden urge to place her hand on Kiba's mouth in order to silence him, but held herself back when she noticed the amused expression that overcame the blond's face.
"Yes," Naruto answered calmly, as if Kiba's implied threat hadn't bothered him at all.
Knowing that her spunky peer was about to retort, Hinata faced both her companions to tell them they should go back to their own tents, not wanting to get either of them in trouble. More so, since this man gave off a vibe of high authority, and disobeying him could cause them problems with the not-yet-known commander.
Before she could get a word out, she noticed Kiba looked to be boiling with anger, making it obvious he wanted to start yet another physical fight. From across, Naruto was staring him down, a smirk now on his face that was basically daring Kiba to pounce on him. Hinata suddenly felt terrified - not just because it seemed like Kiba wanted to commit murder, but because the whiskered male looked like he could take Kiba's life in a single moment if he wanted to. Her new comrade looked like a baby standing up to a wild beast.
"Look here, bud-" snapped Kiba, but was abruptly cut off by Shino before he could make a grave mistake. "We're very sorry, Sir Uzumaki. We will both be taking our leave now." He placed his hands firmly on his friend's shoulders and started leading him off quickly, shooting Hinata an apologetic look as he left. Kiba's protests could be heard loud and clear as he was being dragged away.
Hinata stared after her new comrades wistfully, understanding they wouldn't be able to help her now, but felt more relieved they were safe from Naruto Uzumaki. Now she needed to figure out what to do about her unmade tent. It was already getting darker outside...
All her thoughts were quickly dismissed as she realized that the blond hero was still standing there. She gulped and turned her head towards him, but quickly regretted it.
He was staring at her intensely, like he had done back in the dining tent.
Hinata had to fight off a blush. "I, uh..." She mentally urged herself to form coherent words, but had no idea what to say and closed her mouth instead, gulping nervously.
"You know, you look a lot like my dear friend, Neji," Naruto said quietly, as he continued to stare at her.
Hinata felt a bit surprised at his unexpected statement, but trying to lighten up the mood, she replied, "Well, you know us Hyuugas. We all look the same, hahaha..." She really hoped she wasn't making a fool of herself.
Naruto shook his head slightly in disagreement. "No, all you Hyuugas look different, even though y'all have the same eyes." He furrowed his brows a little. "But you...you remind me of him."
Hinata felt slight panic, but decided not to let it get to her. "Eh...whatever you say, but I barely knew him. We are long distance relatives, after all, so I have no idea." She mentally praised herself for giving such a smart answer, not knowing she had it in her to say that, and felt like patting herself on the back.
Naruto slowly shook his head a little, somewhat confused. "Alright, I must be going crazy," he muttered audibly and shrugged. "Anyways, I heard those two guys you were with say that you needed help?" He gave Hinata a huge, friendly grin, looking the total opposite of when he was staring Kiba down earlier.
"Eh? Um, no! No, I can handle it myself. Y-You don't need to bother yourself with my problems." Hinata was surprised that he actually cared about what she needed help with, but didn't want to bother him if he had more important things to do.
"Nah, don't worry about it. I like helping people out. Plus, it wouldn't be fair not to help you, since I sent the people who were going to, back to their tents."
The young Hyuuga smiled at Naruto, grateful and a little nervous that he actually wanted to assist her. "Well, thank you. The thing is..." She then felt embarrassed about the tent thing again. "Y-You see, I don't know how to build a tent...so I kinda need help in that...?" Her voice came out more as a question than an answer. She really did find it embarrassing about telling him of all people, to help her out with something that possibly anyone her age could do by themselves.
"You need help setting up your tent? Well, sure, I'll help you out!" Naruto gave her another grin. "Man, did I have a hard time when I first had to build one..."
Hinata felt relieved that he didn't even question her inability to do it, and was also surprised at his comment. He didn't seem like the type of person to have a hard time with anything. He seemed confident and strong to her.
Noticing her bundled tent in the distance, she pointed towards it. "It's that one over there."
Naruto glanced at it in confusion. "You're far away from everybody else. Why all the way over there?" He looked at Hinata with an eyebrow raised. She sort of knew he would say that, 'cause who wouldn't wonder about her selected spot?
"I l-like my privacy." She hoped it was a good enough excuse. It was mostly true anyway.
Another grin formed on Naruto's lips again, but this time, it seemed kind of wistful for some reason. "Ha! Neji liked his privacy too when I first met him. He usually preferred being on his own, but then he got closer to everyone. In the end, he hardly had any privacy at all." Naruto chuckled at the memory, making Hinata let out a quiet laugh (trying to sound male). Her beloved cousin Neji - oh, how she missed him.
"I hope you cherish your privacy as much as you can, 'cause you won't be having it later." Naruto turned around and started heading towards Hinata's tent, the young woman following suit.
As they walked, Hinata couldn't help observing him. His back was to her, so he wouldn't notice and get the wrong idea.
Their height difference was great; he was really tall, almost towering over her. He seemed well-built, not bulky or too thin, his shoulders were broad, and his back was straight as he walked in a confident manner. Hinata realized she was alone with this man, who was going to help her build her tent, which was going to take quite a while...
She started getting more nervous than she already was. It was mostly because, having to admit it, she was a little scared of him. After the incident back in the dining tent and the few intense seconds that transpired with Kiba earlier, Hinata thought being alone with Naruto Uzumaki was going to make it in her list of scenarios to stay away from.
Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the man in question. "Okay, this is your tent?" He knelt down on one knee and grabbed a section of the bundled tent.
Hinata hadn't even realized they had already arrived to their destination. She guessed she had been too caught up in her thoughts, and nodded in response at his question. He gave her a nod, then looked over at her white stallion, Akamaru, resting comfortably on the grass beside the bundle. The creature looked back at him with what seemed like a bored expression, then started to calmly nibble on some grass.
"Ooh, you got your own horse?" Naruto asked, then quickly added, as if correcting himself, "Duh, you're a Hyuuga." He chuckled and started connecting some of the tent's parts together.
The Hyuuga blushed a little at his comment, but observed with curiosity at how easily he was doing the work, his brows furrowed in concentration. Of course it would be easy for him; he wasn't like her, and she still felt embarrassed in her inability to do the same. She sulked for a few seconds, when a sudden realization came to her mind. It wasn't right for him to be doing all the work, while she just stood there waiting for him to be done.
Becoming determined, she spoke quietly but firmly, "I want to help. It is my tent, after all."
Concentrating to finish setting up the tent, Naruto didn't look up at her as he replied, "Eh? Nah. I can do it myself, Hiro. I've done this several times, and can finish in a matter of minutes."
"Are you su-"
"Positive."
"...Um, okay."
Hinata reluctantly let it go and decided to sit down on the grass, feeling it was better than to continue standing there awkwardly. She sat cross-legged beside Akamaru, and looked up at the sky, noticing the stars had become more visible. It was definitely night now.
She let out a small sigh and observed Naruto at work, trying to instill in her mind each thing he did to set up her tent. If he won't let me help, I can at least watch how he does it.
After about two minutes, the silence between the two young adults began making Hinata feel uncomfortable, so she decided to rack her brain for something to say.
"It's getting late," was all she could come up with. That was lame..
"I can see that." Naruto again didn't look up at her as he replied. It somewhat bothered the Hyuuga heiress that he hadn't given her a glance or even a little nod. He just continued his work as if she wasn't even there.
The next few minutes passed in near silence, and Hinata's mind was going in circles, trying to come up with something else to say; maybe something conversational. Just when she thought of asking Naruto about why a war hero like himself was spending time in a training camp, rather than joining experienced troops in the war, she got interrupted.
"Alright, it's finished." The blond finally turned to face Hinata and gave her a big grin as he placed his hands on his hips.
What..? Already? Hinata hadn't even noticed when he did. She decided she needed to stop letting herself get lost in thought so often, and begin paying better attention to her surroundings.
She uncrossed her legs and stood up, dusting off some grass from her pants. "Thanks for your help...man." That's a manly way of thanking, right?
Naruto nodded his head. "I'm heading back now. Have a good night." He turned around and was about to start jogging away, when suddenly-
"Grrrrrrr..."
Hinata blushed furiously as her stomach grumbled. The blond clearly heard it as he stopped in his tracks and turned his head to look at her. Hinata was thankful that it was dark outside, so he wouldn't be able to see her flushing face.
"E-Eh, s-sorry about that..." Great, she stuttered two times.
Naruto just kept staring at her, which made her feel very embarrassed. Just as the young woman began to wish she could crawl into a hole, the man in front of her burst out laughing.
Hinata's lavender eyes widened. "W-What?" she uttered. Is-Is he making fun of me..?
"Have you eaten at all today?" Naruto asked after he stopped laughing.
"Uh, no, but I'm good. I'm actually more tired than hungry." Hinata did a fake yawn to try showing her point.
The Uzumaki continued to stare at her for a few seconds, squinting his eyes a little in suspicion before he turned around and jogged away.
Hinata stared at his back until he was out of sight. "I guess he bought it..." she whispered to herself. For some reason, it hurt her a little that he had just left like that. She closed her eyes and shook her head. She really did need some rest after a long, tiring day.
"Grrrrr." The Hyuuga girl grimaced at the pain in her stomach, and let out a discontent sigh. You can hold it in until tomorrow, Hinata. You can do it.
Just as she opened the flaps of her now set-up tent, she heard someone call her name. Well, her male name.
Hinata turned her head towards the voice and became surprised. It was Naruto Uzumaki. He was jogging straight to her while he seemed to be holding something in his hands.
"Eh? What happened?" the young Hyuuga wondered aloud as he neared her.
"Nothing. Just that I brought you a bowl of white rice. It was the only thing I could find available at this time. Here." Naruto moved the small bowl towards Hinata. She stared in shock at it being handed to her.
"T-Thanks...man." Hinata was trying not to blush, but even if she did, he wouldn't notice, since it was already dark out.
"Make sure to eat it all. No wasting food." Naruto smiled at the younger "man" before him. "I'll be taking my leave now." He turned around and walked away.
The dark-haired beauty just kept standing there in place, watching the blond's back as he walked away out of her sight. Once he was gone, she looked at the bowl of rice in her hands and smiled warmly.
"He's not as scary as I thought..." she murmured, and a quiet giggle escaped her lips.
She turned to Akamaru beside her, and removed the two bags with her belongings from his reigns. She patted his light-brown mane for good night, then went inside her tent and made her "bed" by laying out two thick blankets on the grass, one over the other, and another one on the top to use for covering herself up. Lastly, she placed a soft pillow on the blankets. Once done, she took out a candle from her personal bag and lit it up. Obviously she wasn't going to eat the rice in the dark. She set her sword down somewhere on the grass, and sat down to begin on her meal.
White rice had never tasted so good. Some water to go along with it would've been nice, but this was good enough. She wasn't complaining, and was just simply glad that she didn't have to be on an empty stomach for the whole day. Hinata continued to eat contently.
Her mind wandered over to the one who had given her this little moment of joy: Naruto Uzumaki. She felt truly grateful to him. He was really kind, and she felt silly in having found him even a little scary.
Once Hinata finished eating every single grain of rice, she put the bowl to the side and started getting ready to sleep, now feeling much better after her small meal. She removed her top first, placing the armor and shirt atop the sword on the grass. It wouldn't be such a good idea to sleep with the bandages pressing firmly on her chest, so she loosened those a little, just enough to ease the slight pain, and put on a loose blouse. Then she took off her leather boots, slid off her pants and put on some more comfortable ones, and untied the lacy band from her hair.
Once that was done, Hinata let out a big yawn. She was very tired indeed, and laid down on the thick blankets, covering herself with the spare one. She reached for the candle she had lit, and blew it out. The only light source in her tent was now gone.
Even though she was actually comfortable settled in her tent, Hinata couldn't sleep. She began to wonder what her family was doing, what they thought after she had left, and couldn't bring herself to stop. Do they know where she is and why? Did Hanabi cry? How were they taking all this?
Questions and worried thoughts continued to plague her mind, and tears started dripping down Hinata's cheeks onto her pillow. She couldn't help but cry silently for the rest of the night, until sleep overtook her near morning.
"Commander Uzumaki! You're late! An hour late, to be exact! Did you forget about our meeting or what?!" the gray-haired Mizuki shouted as Naruto re-entered the meeting tent.
The man in question gave him a playful smirk. "Nah, I just took my time so that Kakashi and Shikamaru could take a good nap."
"Wow, Naruto, thank you. I really appreciate your concern. I did have a good nap while you were gone." Kakashi gave him a thumbs up as Shikamaru lazily nodded his head in agreement.
Mizuki just stared at the three men in anger and shook his head. "Ugh! All of you are so irresponsible! I'm guessing Sasuke is the only sane one here besides me." He looked over at the young Uchiha, who had returned to the tent way before Naruto did and was sitting calmly on a cushion, his arms crossed and eyes closed. "Right, Sasuke?" Mizuki asked with hope.
No response.
"Um, Sasuke?" asked the councilman again. Is he ignoring me?
The dark-haired man opened his eyes and stared at Mizuki with an annoyed expression, making him sweat-drop. Then Sasuke closed his eyes, ignoring him once again.
Mizuki sighed in relief and muttered, "Never mind." Naruto snorted in amusement and the gray-haired man gave him a slight glare.
"Hey, by the way, Naruto," started Kakashi. "Did you present yourself as commander to the rookies?"
The Uzumaki walked over to the small table, which had some lit-up candles on it now, and sat down on his cushion next to Sasuke. "I decided to reveal that information until tomorrow. A lot of them know about my involvement in the previous war, but have no idea I'll be the one to train them." He let out a chuckle. "This is gonna be fun..." His eyes glinted with mischief as a smirk formed on his lips.
Kakashi and Shikamaru both nodded and grinned in understanding at the blond's response. A small smirk became visible on Sasuke's lips.
"What?!"exclaimed Mizuki. "But training starts tomorrow!" he complained. It seemed he wasn't on the same page.
"Exactly," responded Naruto with a knowing smile.
"The men have to know who their commander is before training even begins, so they won't get out of line!"
Naruto frowned at Mizuki's outburst. "That's not a rule. I'm the commander and I decide what I can or cannot do. If I say it's tomorrow, it's tomorrow." He glared at the older man, making him shut his mouth.
The Uzumaki seemed satisfied and let out a sigh as he grabbed some scrolls on the table. "Let's finish this before it gets too late."
Everyone else nodded their heads in agreement and continued their meeting.
Tomorrow was certainly going to be a tough day for the rookies. And a surprising one at that.
What up, guys! Thanks for reading this story. I hope this was long enough cause I take a while to upload chapters!
I hope you guys are liking this story so far :)