Chapter XVII
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
"Sai! Listen to me! No, don't smile at me, just listen. You cannot be here while I train those genin." Jaitan said distractedly. He pulled off one of his bandanas to push a hand through his hair. It was early morning and the two- or rather three- of them were standing in the large training field, waiting for Jaitan's students to turn up for a day's training.
Sai continued smiling. "Why can't I stay? I want to watch."
"Normally, I would try to say this gently, but since it's you, it really doesn't matter how I say it. If you stay here and watch us, you're going to say something or do something really insensitive and everyone will end up hating you. You may even get into a fight, if I'm particularly unlucky."
"Why should I care?"
"You probably do not and will not care regardless of what I say, but I will care and my students will care. They'll wonder why I even talk to you."
"And why do you talk to me?" Sai asked, his faux smile more disconcerting than ever.
"I talk to you because I don't understand how you can have no emotions at all and because you don't understand how I can live with myself in this condition." He indicated his other body, who was twisting his bandana in agitation. "Neither of us understands the other and it makes a nice change being around someone who doesn't even try to understand me and with whom I can be brutally honest."
Sai gave small laugh that was creepier and less sincere than his smile. "I could kill you if you don't let me stay."
"Yes, I daresay you could. I just have to take that risk because I can't let you stay. Someone will get hurt and you know it. Even if you can't feel the anger yourself, you know that others become angry when you say the wrong things and, the kind of people that my students are, they will fight you and they will get hurt. I want to train them so that this kind of thing won't happen. Please don't force me to fight you. Please just leave. I'll come around afterward if you want."
"I'll never understand you, Jaitan. Why should you care if others get hurt? Their pain is not yours."
"I am not sure that I am capable of explaining it to you. I was brought up differently than you were and I believe in different morals and bonds. Please leave us to train, and I promise to come by afterward to talk; or not, if you prefer. I am capable of sitting silently or fighting or anything if you just do me this favor."
Sai seemed to see an opportunity. "So you'll owe my a favor? Be in my debt?"
"Yes, within reason."
Sai was silent for a moment, thinking, the eerie smile never leaving his pale face. "Very well. We will fight after you finish your little lessons." Without so much as a farewell, the pale boy left.
Jaitan watched him go with relief. Slowly, he retied his bandana, checked it by looking at it through his other set of eyes to be sure the forehead plate in front was straight and then set off to find Anko.
By the time an uncomfortably hung-over Anko had been coerced into accompanying Jaitan back to the training ground, a feat which required many promises and a little bit of light blackmail, they were both running late and were unsurprised to see their students already present and waiting for them. At least, Jaitan assumed that everyone was there, until he performed a quick headcount, proving the crowd of students to be one short. Who is missing? Ah yes. Who else? Short dark hair, pale eyes, anxious, eager-to-please air. But Hinata is never late. What's going on?
Jaitan was about to inquire about the girl's whereabouts, when the Hyuuga heiress herself came slinking in through the trees, head down in a clear don't-notice-me-or-comment sign. Jaitan had the decency to comply, carefully avoiding looking at her.
Hinata knew she was going to be late for training, but she just couldn't bring herself to pick up the pace. She kept her head down, knowing that if she caught the eye of any of the early-morning villagers around her, they would see her agitation and seething anger. Her eyes narrowed and her fury peaked as she recalled the cool, precise words that her father had spoken to her only that morning.
(Flashback)
Hinata woke cheerfully enough, knowing that it would be another day for training and another day in which to see Naruto-kun. She still found her unlikely friendship with the blonde, so long coveted, hard to believe at times. Hinata was getting dressed when there was a gentle rap at her bedroom door. She frowned. Most days, her family left her alone and didn't so much as greet her unless she was attending a formal dinner with them. Leaving her heavy coat on the bed, she opened the door to reveal her cousin, Neji.
She briefly wondered why he was there. He barely ever spoke to her and since his father had died, he had never, to her knowledge, sought her out. Neji did not give her long to ponder his unusual behavior, however, as he spoke almost as soon as the door was opened.
"I was told to give you this," he said, and thrust a small scroll into her hands. Not so much as a 'Good morning,' Hinata thought sadly. Does he really hate me that much? I suppose he considers it an insult to be treated like a servant and be asked to deliver something. Hinata took the scroll and Neji wheeled away, striding down the corridor without another word. Hinata watching his retreating back and noticed that he was making no effort to hide his anger from her via his hunched shoulders and fast walk. I suppose it is sort of an insult to treat him like that. How could he help being born into the Branch House? Hinata retreated to her bedroom again and quietly closed the door. But, then again, I couldn't help being born as heiress. I almost wish I weren't, if the alternative to being Main House weren't so bad. What an awful family, where less than half has the rest enslaved!
Hinata realized that she was still standing behind the door, holding the scroll and staring at the dark wood in a kind of daze of unhappiness. She shook her head. This wouldn't do. She sat down on her bed to unroll the scroll. The first thing she noticed was her father's signature at the bottom of the missive. Indignation licked her insides. Imagine! The nerve of her father: treating his own nephew as a servant to deliver scrolls for him. No wonder Neji had seemed so uptight. Though, that did seem to be his perpetual state when he was inside of the compound. She consulted the scroll. As far as she could gather from her father's unnecessarily wordy message, he wanted to 'consult with her on a matter of immediate importance.' He had listed a time at which expected her in his study. Hinata checked the clock on her bedside table and realized that she was already to be late by several minutes. She dropped the scroll and leapt up and was already halfway down the corridor before she remembered that her coat was still on her bed. She gritted her teeth and kept running. She would have to face her father without a coat to hide in.
She arrived at the door to her father's study, knocked, was told to enter, and did so. Hiashi's first reaction upon seeing his elder daughter was to frown and check his watch exaggeratedly. His next was to instruct her to close the door and his mood was not much improved by the sight of her obeying. When Hinata was seated in a low chair before his desk, he spoke. "Hinata-chan, I am aware that you are presently undertaking a new training program under an instructor by the name of Jaitan-san."
Hinata did not respond. All of her resentment of her father on her own and Neji's behalf seemed to be manifesting itself in a form of rudeness. How dare he imply through his actions that her lateness was her fault when he had sent the message only minutes before she was supposed to meet him.
"Hinata, respond when I am speaking to you."
"My apologies, father. I was merely waiting for you to ask a question," Hinata replied, unconsciously adopting the cold, lofty tones that she had always been instructed to use when handling official matters. "Yes, what you say is true."
"And am I to understand that this Jaitan-san has temporarily dissolved your class' genin team assignments in favor of a form of training in which all genin are taught at once in one group?"
"Yes."
Hiashi waited for a heartbeat to see if she would add anything to this statement. "Would you care to expand on that?"
"No." Hinata winced internally. She knew that it would be wise to stop her blatant rudeness, but at the same time, she discovered her complete inability to care about how much she offended her father.
Hiashi leaned forward ever so slightly over his desk. His pale gaze bored into his daughter's but to his surprise, she did not look away. "This method of teaching seems to me to be rather inefficient. I wish to inform you that I shall be lodging a request with the Hokage that he separate you back into teams for training purposes."
"Father, I believe that that would be a grave error," Hinata said quickly. "I have learned more from Jaitan-sensei than I had expected to learn in the same period of time from training with only three people. The fact that I have frequent contact with more than one sensei, as Jaitan usually has someone to assist him, be it Kurenai-sensei or Asuma-sensei," Hinata thought it wise at this point to conveniently forget to mention Anko-sensei, "only makes the learning experience more beneficial. In addition, I get frequent contact with other genin whom I may very well be fighting alongside in a few years. Do you not agree that this is a positive factor?"
"While I do agree that an increase in your fighting skill, no matter how insignificant, is an immense improvement, I still have some concerns about your frequent contact with certain other children."
Hinata stared at her father. For one thing, he made it sound as if her level of skill was beyond the hope of salvaging. For another, did he genuinely want her to remain as friendless as she had been in the academy? Lastly, she knew exactly about whom he was speaking when he spoke of 'contact with certain other children.' "Are you referring to Naruto Uzumaki, father?" she asked sweetly.
Hiashi was surprised that his elder daughter should grasp the point so quickly but did not let it show by so much as a blink. "Yes, Hinata. Your association as of late with the Uzumaki child has grown more and more worrying."
Hinata sat very still and moved her lips as little as possible when she next spoke. "What point do you wish to make, father?"
"Sever your connections with him. He will only lead you down a path of self-destruction and continuing contact with him will cause your public reputation irreversible harm."
"Father, I wish it were not so, but I feel more ashamed by my relationship to this clan than my association with Naruto-kun. Naruto is my friend. He is reliable and easy to talk to and he encourages me and inspires me. This clan has nothing to offer me. No one is willing to train me, though as clan heiress I ought to have full access." Hinata felt low, playing the I-am-not-getting-the-respect-my-status-deserves card, but it was one her few arguments that she was sure that her father would understand. "Furthermore, related to this matter, but less so, is the topic of the Main and Branch House members of this clan. How can we truly be the strongest clan in Konoha the way our family's hierarchy is arranged? The Branch House members despise and fear the Main House members. Given half a chance, they would willingly betray us." Hinata stopped, biting her lip. If she was not careful here, she would cause unnecessary suffering, but she was in too deep to back out now. "And it would be all the fault of the Main House members," she continued. "Both parts of the family are so paranoid and vindictive that it's a wonder that anyone in Konoha still thinks us most powerful." Hinata paused to draw breath, but her father interrupted her.
"I do not blame you for the words you are saying. It is clearly the Uzumaki boy's influence that has caused you to say such things. You are not capable of such thoughts. You have been raised inside of our clan and it is all you have ever known."
Hinata stared for a moment, incensed. When she spoke, she could not keep a slight quiver of anger from her voice. "You call the treatment I have received at your hands 'raising' me? You think I cannot be capable of those kinds of thoughts? How would you know? You didn't even get around to confronting me about Naruto-kun until now and we've been friends for months. You know nothing of my life."
"That may be true, but you are a child- incapable of understanding that all I have done for you in your life has been for your own good."
"I've always wondered how you justified in your mind the neglect and abuse that you treated me with," Hinata said. She was so furious that she could not shift her eyes from her father's face and there were tiny flashes and blurs of light around the edges of her vision.
"Hinata, stop speaking. If you do not, I will be forced to the conclusion that your mind has not been corrupted solely by the Uzumaki boy's influence."
Damn straight it hasn't! Hinata screamed inside her head. I have thoughts that are worse than you can imagine! And I want credit for them! "Father, unless you have anything more to say to me, I believe this meeting is over," Hinata said abruptly. "I have nothing more to say to you and if you say another word, I would be forced to end this meeting on a much nastier note."
"You do not yet have my permission to leave. I have one more thing to say and you will hear me out. Once and for all, I want you to swear that you will renounce your friendship with the Uzumaki boy. Will you or will you not return to the fold?"
"One, I am not friends with anyone known as 'The Uzumaki boy.' I am friends with Naruto-kun. And two, no I will not abandon him."
"Hinata, I do not wish to tell you this, but you have forced my hand. For your own safety, I must inform you that the Uzumaki boy is extremely dangerous. He is, in fact-"
"The demon container for the Kyuubi no Yoko? I was wondering when you would bring it up. I know exactly what Naruto-kun is and why you hate him. However, he is not dangerous, as far as I can tell. In fact, from what I have suffered at your hands, you have caused me to fear you more than I have ever been afraid of him. He could not help being made a Jinchuriki, just as I could not help being born into this Log-forsaken clan. I will never abandon him, no matter what." Hinata stood to leave. She forced herself to bow politely, no matter how much of her was aching to blow her father a mocking kiss. "Good morning to you," she said freezingly, and left, knowing that she looked just as tense and angry from behind as Neji had looked.
She was so angry that it had taken her a while to muster the urge to go outside at all, let alone walk through the streets of the village. Consequently, she was the last one to arrive in the training grounds. She noticed Naruto trying to catch her eye. She was not yet ready to talk about her conversation with Hiashi, but she shot him a talk-to-you-later look as she listened to Jaitan explain the day's training.
Jaitan held up what looked like a limp white strip of cloth with the hands of one body while the other spoke, "Do any of you know what this is?"
"Yes," Sasuke and Sakura said simultaneously. Sakura fell respectfully silent as Sasuke continued, "It's one part of a set of training weights."
"Very good, Sasuke." Oscar said patronizingly, but in a quiet enough voice that Jaitan couldn't hear. Kiba and Naruto smirked and Ino and Sakura glared. At the same time, Jaitan continued with his lecture uninterrupted.
"That is correct. There are, in fact, four parts, all similar to this one, in a full set of training weights. Today, you will each be receiving a set and it is my wish that you keep them on at all times, even outside of training, unless you are on a mission and your sensei gives you the okay to remove them. These weights are set at seven pounds each, but as you grow accustomed to them, I will be able to raise the settings."
Naruto heard Shikamaru give an audible sigh and mutter, "Troublesome," but the Nara meekly received his set of weights along with everyone else. While the genin were clumsily fastening the weights to their wrists and ankles, Ino raised her hand.
"Yes?"
"What are we doing today?" Ino asked, eying the gleeful expression on Anko's face. The purple-haired woman had been silent thus far and had been looking distinctly hung-over and disheveled. When Ino had asked her question, however, Anko had looked up expectantly.
"Can I explain, Jaitan?" The purple-haired woman asked hopefully.
"Yes, you may."
Anko gave a cackle that caused most of the genin to give involuntary shivers and for cold sweat to ice their fingers, making it harder for the few who had not yet finished fastening on their training weights to do so. Anko pulled a pair of handcuffs from behind her back and said, "Alright, listen up, brats! I didn't want you getting bored of training; so today we'll be doing something a little different. I am going to assign each of you a partner- and no, you may not pick your own." Sakura, who had just opened her mouth, shut it hastily. "I will be handcuffing you to your partner and giving each of you a role to fulfill. One of you will have to be the captor and the other will be the prisoner. Think of it like a role-playing game. You will have to make it through the outer three miles of the Forest of Death before sunset and meet me at the clearing that I have already marked out. The twist is that the prisoner must try to hinder the captor as much as possible and prevent the pair of you from reaching the meeting place. The captor must try and make it to the meeting place before sunset. Those who complete the task, ie: those captors who make it to the meeting place before sunset and those prisoners who prevent their captors from reaching the meeting place before sunset will be taught a new jutsu."
"What new jutsu?" Naruto asked eagerly.
"That would be telling, wouldn't it? Are there any questions?"
"Yes. What happens if we are unable to find the meeting place at all? What if we are lost in the Forest of Death?" Shino asked quietly
"You'd just better not get lost, that's all I can say. Anything to add, Jaitan?"
"No, you've got it pretty much covered. Want help handcuffing them?"
"I'd be delighted," Anko said, and handed Jaitan two pairs of cuffs. Then she advanced on Kiba and shackled him to Ino, much to the audible consternation of both of them. Meanwhile, Jaitan cuffed Sakura to Shino with one pair of hands and Choji to Sasuke with the other. Anko approached Naruto, Hinata, Oscar, and Shikamaru with the other two sets of handcuffs and gazed at them shrewdly, considering. "Oscar," She said slowly, "I'll put you with-" she stopped, seeing Shikamaru shake his head and make his eyes wide and pleading. "Shika." She cuffed them together and handed the last pair of cuffs to Hinata and jerked a thumb at Naruto. "You know what to do, girlie." Hinata could have sworn that Anko tipped her a wink. Numbly, she shackled herself to Naruto, avoiding his gaze and returning his smile only half-heartedly. Though everything she had told her father about Naruto's friendship was true, having the conversation fresh in her mind gave her a stab of mixed embarrassment and rage whenever she met Naruto's eyes.
"Alright," Anko said, glancing around to make sure that everyone had a partner. "You, you, you, you and you will be the captors. You're responsible for getting yourself and your partner through the first three miles of the forest of death." She pointed to Choji, Ino, Hinata, Shino, and Shikamaru. "The rest of you," she indicated Sasuke, Naruto, Oscar, Kiba and Sakura, "Will try to slow up your partner as much as possible. Picking the lock is not allowed, even if you know how, and neither is kawirimi'ing out. I have the only key. I'll be waiting. Good luck! Break a leg!" With that, both the purple-haired woman and the two Jaitans shunshin'd away.
The ten genin stood uncertainly for a moment. Finally, Choji asked, "Which way is the forest of death from here?" Shino pointed vaguely in a direction which may have been Northwest, momentarily forgetting his shackles and dragging Sakura's arm with him. She hissed and punched him in the arm.
"Watch it! That hurts!" Shino gave Sakura an annoyed look and set off running the way he had pointed, dragging her after him and making her have to scrabble for balance. Getting the idea, the other captors took off running, pulling their partners behind them and not giving the prisoners enough time to devise any delaying tactics. In no time, only Oscar, Shikamaru, Hinata and Naruto were left. Oscar was trying to run the other way while Shikamaru was just letting himself be dragged. Hinata frowned.
"Shika! Don't let him pull you! The only way you can get the cuffs off is if you reach the meeting place before sunset!"
Shikamaru looked at her gloomily over his shoulder. "I don't even think it's worth the trouble." As he spoke, Oscar began running in circles around Shika and spinning him around. On one of his laps, he spotted the pond at the other end of the field and a truly evil look came into his eye. He raced off towards it, but Naruto didn't get to see what happened next because he felt a sharp yank on his wrist and almost fell over. He regained his balance and had to run hard to keep pace with Hinata. She led him out of the field and up on a zigzag path across the rooftops of buildings in the village. They were passing the Hokage tower before he remembered that he was supposed to be preventing their progression. He began to run more slowly until he eventually slowed to a walk that had Hinata straining at the cuffs. The next time she tried to jump to another rooftop, he made himself go limp and heavy so that they dropped down to the ground in an alleyway. He stood still as Hinata dragged at him without making any headway. He suddenly got the impression that she was crying though he could not see her face. He touched her straining arm with his free one. "Hinata?"
She whipped around. Her face was flushed and she had an I-will-bite-you-if-you-don't-back-off look. "What?"
"A-are you alright?" Naruto faltered. He had a nagging suspicion that he had done or said something, or perhaps failed to do or say something to her that had triggered this response.
"What? Yes. I'm fine. Let's go." Hinata turned away from him again.
"Hinata, what did I do? You're upset; how can I help?"
Those last four words got to her. She let out a long shuddering breath and let her shoulders relax but managed to hold back the tears. "I had a bad morning. My father just…" She trailed off, still not prepared to speak with him about it.
"It was about me, wasn't it?" Naruto asked softly. Hinata glanced up in surprise at his acute perception and nodded slowly. "I thought so," Naruto said, grimly. "I'll talk to him if you want."
Hinata shook her head emphatically. "Trust me, I know my father and that would make it infinitely worse. In any case, this is between him and me and there was ever a time for me to show him that he can't push me around, it's now. I need to show him that I can be strong without someone to lean on." Which is not to say that I don't want Naruto-kun's support. Hinata thought.
Naruto inclined his head in submission. When he compared this Hinata to the weird dark girl who used to stare at him from the back of the class in the academy, all he could feel was pride at how far she had come. However, they were in the middle of a training exercise and if he truly wanted to make her feel as though he respected her prowess as a ninja, he wouldn't be able to go as easy on her as he had planned. Following that train of thought, he quickly scooped her up one-handed so that she was clinging to his shoulders with her legs straddling his waist. Her right arm, the wrist of his was still shackled to his wrist, was draped over his right shoulder.
Hinata stiffened in surprise but quickly made herself relax as Naruto began running back the way they came. She leaned her head against the base of Naruto's neck and closed her eyes, momentarily forgetting all about the training exercise. When she did remember, her eyes flew open and she laughed incredulously. "Put me down! No fair taking advantage of me when I least expect it!"
When this made not the slightest difference to the blonde except perhaps that he picked up the pace a little, she struggled and pulled at the handcuffs. She heard his laughter floating back to her over the sound of rushing air. She felt equal parts exhilarated and annoyed. She wasn't going to lose this exercise to anyone! She unwrapped her legs from around Naruto's waist and dropped to the ground, pulling viciously on the chain and starting to run before Naruto could regain his balance. When she felt him move to start pulling her back the other way, she started channeling chakra to her legs and right arm and ran faster. She could feel him trying to slow her down by slowing his own pace, but she simply grabbed his left forearm in her right hand and ran as hard as ever.
Whenever she felt him try to turn, she tightened her grip and gave his arm a jerk or a twist to throw him off balance. She varied her speed, too, but despite this, it wasn't long before they arrived at the edge of the forest of death. Hinata had taken no more than five steps beyond the fence at the boundary when she was brought up short. Naruto had thoroughly enmeshed his fingers in the wires of the fence and was using chakra both to strengthen his fingers and arms and to stick his hands to the wires. Hinata, thoroughly exasperated, stopped altogether and just sat down on the ground. "So," she said, "aren't you going to try and convince me to turn back, or will this just be a battle of physical strength?"
"Strength, if you don't mind," Naruto said cheerfully, fingers still entwined in the wires of the fence. "I'm not very good at persuading people."
"We still have three miles to go. If you give up now, it will take that much less time to get out of these cuffs."
"Do you really want to get the cuffs off?" Naruto asked slyly.
"Do you?" Hinata shot back.
"No. I want to learn the new jutsu," Naruto replied.
"Well tough because I want to learn it too and we are going to be in that clearing before sunset. Clear?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Don't call me ma'am."
"Yes, sir." Naruto grinned cheekily and did not release his grip on the fence.
Hinata growled in frustration. "Alright! That's it!" She leapt up and seized Naruto but the wrists and twisted them, using chakra to enhance her strength. Naruto yelped and let go; it was either that or have his arms broken. Once his hands were freed from the fence, he grabbed Hinata around the waist and hoisted her over his shoulder to carry her back the way they had come.
However, Hinata was ready for a fight. She planted her feet on his thighs and pushed off, pushing herself over Naruto's shoulder headfirst and using the chain to pull him to the ground. She landed on her knees but was on her feet before Naruto could begin to get up. She stepped over to his body, swung one leg over his supine form and sat down on his chest. Naruto made a feeble effort to push her off or roll over, but Hinata leaned forward and pinned his hands above his head, holding them at the wrists. With the other hand, she pulled a kunai from one of the pouches strapped to Naruto's leg and held it at the blonde boy's throat, just beneath the ear.
Naruto froze, starring up at Hinata, who looked flushed and triumphant. Her coat had come unzipped a few inches in the struggle and the sight of the exposed curves of her pale breasts beneath the mesh shirt, just inches from his face, as she had had to lean forward in order to pin his arms, had his attention more acutely than did the kunai that she was using to menace his throat.
Hinata looked carefully at Naruto's face and at the blood dripping steadily from his nose. She looked down at her partially unzipped coat and connected it to the expression on the blonde boy's face. A good half of her wanted to release him immediately in order to refasten her coat and then curl up and die from embarrassment. A tiny part of her, a part she was most ashamed of, wished she had the courage to unzip her coat all the way and see the look on Naruto-kun's face. She did neither of these things, however, instead opting to take advantage of a good situation. She pasted a sly smile across her face and spoke through her mortification. "Do you like what you see, Naruto-kun?"
"Mm-hm," Naruto murmured, a glazed look in his eyes.
"Good." Hinata took her chained hand away from Naruto's wrists and transferred the kunai to that hand, keeping it steady at Naruto's throat. She zipped her coat up one-handed and said, "If you ever want to see that again, I suggest you cooperate with me." She scooted back so that she was straddling the base of his stomach, right above where she could tell he was getting uncomfortably hard. Then, she leaned forward so that she was laying full length along his chest, her knees on either side of his legs, only holding herself apart from him with her left hand planted flat on the ground. Her lips brushed his ear as she whispered, "If you don't cooperate with me, I may just have to hurt you. But don't worry, I hear you're a fast healer and a quick study." Hinata sat up quickly, eliciting a gasp of mixed pain and longing from Naruto. Drawing the kunai back from his throat, she tossed it casually from hand to hand; heedless of the way that Naruto's hand was being dangled helplessly from the end of the chain. "So, what'll it be?" she drawled. She almost spoiled the performance by laughing at the expression on Naruto's face.
"Can I stop now?" Naruto panted.
"No you may not."
"You are a cold, hard woman," Naruto said, stumbling as he landed on another branch and tensing his legs for another jump. "I'm not trying to prevent you anymore. You could just get down and walk."
"But where would be the fun in that?" Hinata asked, wrapping her legs a little tighter around his abdomen. "Anyway, on the way here, you've tried to prevent me three times."
"Those shadow clones didn't stand a chance," Naruto said mournfully.
"You really have to think of a way to make them more durable."
"I know." Naruto dropped to the ground just outside a large clearing in the trees. It was most certainly the meeting place Anko had spoken of. He was hoping Hinata hadn't noticed it. He himself had only seen it because they had been so high up in the canopy.
But apparently Hinata had noticed the clearing. That, or she had noticed him slow down. "Oh no you don't," she said and pulled a piece of ninja wire from a pouch. She threaded a loose coil around Naruto's throat and wrapped the ends around her hands like reins.
Naruto groaned and hoisted Hinata a little higher on his back while she slackened the wire a little. Then he carried her through the border of the clearing and stopped just inside the ring of trees in time to dodge to the right of an incoming kunai.
"What the hell?" he roared at Anko, who was leaning against a tree and idly tossing and catching another kunai, its blade flipping end over end and forming a mesmerizing silver fan in the air each time she released the grip.
"You deserve it for letting her bully you into carrying her. You didn't even try, did you brat?" Anko scolded, not bothering to conceal her grin.
"I tried! You have no idea how hard I tried!" Naruto cried out in indignation.
"Is that true, Hinata?" Jaitan asked, coming up to stand beside Anko.
"Nope," Hinata said. "Do I get to learn the new jutsu yet?"
"Tomorrow," Jaitan said soothingly.
At that moment, there was a loud crash as Oscar and Shikamaru burst into the clearing. Shikamaru was much the worse for wear; wet and looking as though he had been dragged through several thorn patches, he was still be pulled around by Oscar. The darker boy looked around and, when he spotted Anko, let out a whoop. "Yes! We made it!"
"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked as Hinata slid down from his back and unwound the wire from his throat. "You were supposed to stop Shika from getting here."
The look of jubilation on the dark boy's face faded slowly to one of confusion. "Wha-at?" he said. Then something seemed to snap into place behind his eyes. He rounded on Shikamaru. "You lied to me!"
"I'm a ninja. It's what I do," Shikamaru said in a bored voice. When he spotted the expression on Oscar's face, however, his nerve seemed to break. "Give me the key!" he yelled at Anko, trying desperately to back away from Oscar; not an easy feat considering they were still cuffed together.
Naruto left them to fight it out and pulled Hinata over to Anko. "Can I have the key?" he asked.
"I don't know, can you?" Anko asked, watching the fight with interest.
Naruto sighed. "May I have the key?"
"You may." Anko put her hand in the pocket of her coat and drew out a small metal key, which she dangled in front of Naruto's face. Before he could take it, however, Hinata snatched it away and held it tauntingly just out of his reach.
"Give it here, Hinata," Naruto said laughingly.
"No. Come and get it." Hinata quickly tucked it down the front of her shirt. Naruto slowly and reluctantly let his hand fall to his side.
"I'm almost tempted to reach over there and get it, if I didn't value my life so much," Naruto said.
"You're only 'almost tempted?' I must not have done a very good job earlier," Hinata pouted. She slowly drew out the key and unlocked first Naruto's cuff and then her own.
"Thank you," the blonde boy said devoutly. "Now, why don't we go rescue Shikamaru?"
Sarutobi surveyed the special jonin before him. Really, he would never get used to having a conversation with one person who occupied two chairs. Jaitan scowled at him, slumped forward in the colorless, uncomfortable chairs before the Hokage's desk. "I assure you, Sandiame-sama, that the studies of the rookie genin are progressing with the utmost rapidity. You assured me that I would have free reign regarding their training."
"Actually, I told you that you could have a trial period and we see how it went from there," Sarutobi said pleasantly.
Jaitan stiffened and all of his eyes narrowed. "Are you suspending my responsibilities?"
"Not at all, Jaitan. I was merely suggesting a compromise. Recently a person came to me and voiced the concern that your students are not spending enough time exclusively with the teams they were assigned to."
"And you agree?"
"In some ways, he does have a point," Sarutobi leaned forward over the desk. "But apart from that, the person of whom I speak is a very distinguished member of society in Konoha. To ignore him would be to cause political unrest."
"Politics," Jaitan spat. "We are speaking of the education of ninjas. Of killers. Politics should not interfere with their learning."
"As I said, I disagree that the genin need spend time training only with their teams. Perhaps if they were to have team training once or twice a week… You know that at least one third of the chunin exams will include teamwork, don't you?"
"I am aware."
"Good. Then let us have no more arguments. To start out with, let's say that teams will meet to train on Saturdays and on Wednesday afternoons starting tomorrow. How does that suit you?"
"Perfectly, Hokage-sama," Jaitan said hotly and sarcastically. He got up to leave and was almost at the door when Sarutobi caught hold of one of his arms. The body he was touching didn't even look around but the one closest to the door did, half-turning so that Sarutobi was looking into his gray eyes over one shoulder. "Yes?"
"It's not all about politics," Sarutobi said softly. "That's all I want you to know."
Jaitan's hard gaze seemed to soften just a fraction. "Yes, Hokage-sama."
A/N: Oh yes. I did just do that. If I were you, dear reader, I wouldn't exactly get my hopes up for a lemon all the same. I mean, I wouldn't be ready to trample my hopes into the dirt, though, if you catch my drift. But don't get your hopes up. However, if I were one of you, I would LEAVE A TWICE-LOG-DAMNED REVIEW! Ungrateful beasts
On to other matters... no. You are not permitted to read beyond this point without first leaving a review. Now don't you dare.
STUFF ABOUT THIS CHAPTER:
-Jaitan hangs out with Sai sometimes. They mostly fight. Jaitan thinks it is good practice and what Sai thinks, the world may never know.
-Hinata stood up to Hiashi but then he went to the Hokage anyway. Bastard.
-Hinata seduced Naruto. And he enjoyed every moment of it... (as did she. kind of. in a roundabout underneath kind of way.)
-yeah. now the teams will train together twice a week. yay and all that.
This lack of reviews is seriously depressing. Love You! Bye!