The courtship of Naruto Uzumaki

XXVIII. While Naruto was sleeping

Although his personal life seemed to be going great—he had a girlfriend, he had a cousin, and they were getting along like sisters—Naruto's professional life seemed to be a complete dud.

Absolutely nothing happened during his next night on patrol—not even something suspicious.

Disappointed, after the end of his shift, he moodily walked Hinata home with his hands in his pockets, his eyes on the ground, and his feet scuffing the stone walk in angry kicks.

Hinata had never seen him quite like this before. She walked quietly beside him almost all the way home holding an internal debate wondering what was wrong and what she should do. Was it her—no—no—she had to stop immediately assuming she was the problem. Continuing to doubt and mistrust him would surely drive him away. Besides, it was a little conceited to think that she was at the center of Naruto's every thought, behavior or mood. She couldn't handle the responsibility or scrutiny if that were the case. She needed to support, comfort or sympathize with him in whatever mood he indulged. Bravely, she decided to ask him about it.

"Naruto?" she began too softly. She started again. "Naruto? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said brusquely, kicking a stone with brute force out of his path. He didn't want to dump his foul mood on her. It was too early in their relationship for her to see just how moody he could get.

She tugged on his sleeve. "Naruto, I know something's troubling you. You'll feel better if you talk about it. Please, tell me."

He stopped, turned his body to face her, but kept his face averted, and his eyes on the ground. He shouldn't talk about it, but once she'd offered to listen, he just couldn't keep still. He really wasn't any good a keeping quiet about his problems. He was a sucker for sympathetic attention. He wanted to be soothed, and stroked especially by Hinata.

"I wanted—needed something to happen tonight. Not anybody getting hurt—not really hurt, but I wanted to save someone—capture the bad guy—save the village. I wanted to be Konoha's hero," he told her in a low intense voice.

"Oh, Naruto." She slid her arms through his still hanging from his pockets, and hugged him tightly. "You are a hero. You've always been a hero. I've always thought you a hero."

He still didn't take his hands out of his pockets to return her hug, but she felt his body slump slightly in her grip.

"Just to you," he denied. "I'm nobody else's hero."

"That's not true!" She stroked his back comfortingly. "Naruto, you've saved lots of people during your ninja career, and you'll save lots more. Maybe this time it's someone else's turn to be a hero. Maybe this time we'll all be heroes. Remember, we're all in this together. It's all of our jobs to protect the village."

"I know. I know. It's not just my job. I know it's selfish—but I just wanted it to be me." He sighed, and finally hugged her back. "I just need to—" he stopped unwilling to admit his real need to her.

But she knew what he meant. "Prove yourself to the village," she completed his sentence.

He buried his face in her hair to whisper in her ear, "Yeah."

"Oh, Naruto." She hugged him even tighter. "You've proven yourself so many times—too many times to count. If the village doesn't know your worth by now I'll—I'll go around, and tell everyone I see just how wonderful, heroic, and important you are to this village."

He laughed softly. "You will? You? Sweet, shy, Lady Hinata, daughter of the great Huyga clan, will tell everyone in this village all that about lowly me?"

"Yes, I will. You are not lowly! For you I'll overcome my shyness. I'll be your campaign manager. I'll ring your praises all over the village," she told him shyly hiding her face in his shoulder. She'd do that for him if he needed her to. She'd brave anything for Naruto.

"My campaign manager, eh? What office am I running for?" He grinned at the idea.

"Why, Hokage, of course."

"Duh! I should have guessed that, but I don't think that'll happen any time soon. The Fifth has years and years to go yet unless another Orochumaru shows up in the village to take her down. I don't think we've got any renegade ninja on the loose just now."

"If we did, you'd save the Hokage," she told him stoutly.

He grinned wryly. "I doubt whether the Fifth would need my help."

"Then we go back to plan A. We'll have years to campaign—starting now. Don't forget this attacker hasn't been caught yet. In two days, you'll have another chance to catch him—or her. Maybe you'll come face to face with him then."

He perked up immediately. "Yeah, that's right. I've still got a chance. Thanks, Hinata. You're terrific." He squeezed her back then slid his hands down her arms to hers detaching them from behind the back of his jacket. He retained one pulling her back down the path to her house. "C'mon. It's time you were home dreaming about me."

"How did you know?" she asked in embarrassed surprise.

"That you dream about me? Because I dream about you. I hope it's mutual."

"Oh, Naruto, it is," she whispered, and all too soon found herself at her door.

He kissed her good-night/morning, and made plans to come by sometime in the afternoon with Naomi in tow. He'd explained earlier that he needed to spend some of his time with his cousin. Hinata understood. They agreed that their daytime activities would include Naomi, but the nights that weren't already scheduled by the Hokage, belonged to them alone.

He was in a much better mood now. Hinata always knew how to make him feel better. He loved that about her. Love? That word gave him something to think about right up until his head hit the pillow. Then he was dead to the world, and all rational thought until sometime in the early afternoon.

He checked in at the ninja complex after lunch to find out if anything had happened while he was unconscious.

He felt a little guilty at his relief in discovering that nothing had. He still wanted to be a part of the capture. He wanted to make his mark now not over a long period of time.

He asked the Hokage for permission to take Naomi off for the afternoon. In the past, it never would have occurred to him to ask, but an older, wiser Naruto was beginning to realize that there were some limits he shouldn't cross. If he wanted Naomi to be accepted in the village, he had to change his ways, and teach her that it wasn't the thing to play hokey, disappear without permission, and generally do anything to incur the Fifth's displeasure. It felt a little strange to be on the adult side of the fence, but still acting like an adult felt kinda good. He thought the Third would be laughing in his grave if he could see Naruto behaving responsibly. Who'd a thunk it?

Naturally, permission was granted. In fact, the Hokage seemed glad to get rid of that whiny, complaining, disruptive teenager, as she worded it, before her files were completely destroyed.

Naruto just grinned as he left the room. It was nice to hear those words applied to someone else for a change.

He took Naomi over to Hinata's house. He didn't tell her that he planned to put her to work. He'd leave it to Hinata to make it seem fun for her. She was good at that sort of thing. She certainly made work seem more fun to him.

While he worked on finishing the hole for her pond, Hinata and Naomi picked through a huge pile of rocks for decoration surrounding the pond. He grinned as he listened to them giggle and whisper together. He assumed they were making plans for his birthday surprise. He really looked forward to it. No one had ever made a fuss over his birthday before. There were a lot of pleasant surprises involved with having a girlfriend.

Once he'd completed the hole to his satisfaction, the three of them lined it to prevent the water from being absorbed back into the ground. Since it wasn't a natural hole fed by a natural water source extra work was necessary to force the hole to retain water. When they were finished, they partially filled the new pond with water to check for leaks over the next few days. If the water didn't disappear then they'd add soil, and rocks to the bottom before filling it up completely.

They sat on Hinata's veranda drinking cold drinks after their hard work.

"What's the next step for your water garden, Hinata?" Naruto asked as he relaxed looking out over the yard behind Hinata's little house. Hinata's little corner of the estate was larger than many properties in Konoha. The main house was well-hidden behind a small cluster of pine tree in the center of the large Huyga estate. There were other small houses on the outskirts of the estate for cadet branches. Those were hidden out of view by trees, too.

"I have a carpenter working on an arched bridge. He took the measurements after you dug most of the hole the other day. That installation is all I have formally planned for now. I could place the stones Naomi and I sorted decoratively around the perimeter after that. Neither fall nor winter are good times for new plants to flourish so I won't do any planting until spring.."

"So our job on your water garden is practically finished for now?" He wondered if there was anything else she needed him to do—make repairs, paint her house. He would do whatever was necessary to ensure her comfort not exactly in payment for her cooking and mending for him, but simply because he wanted to help her. He enjoyed the work. He had too much energy to be a real sluggard even on his days off.

"What about koi?" Naomi interrupted. "You're stocking your pond, right? Koi would look so pretty swimming around under a bridge."

"Of course, I do want koi, but I'll need water plants in the pond for the fish, and to attract insects for my little ecosystem. I'll have to wait for spring to do that, too."

"It'll be so nice when it's finished. I wish I had my own water garden," Naomi sighed.

"You'll need a job so you can make money first," Naruto pointed out practically. He was thinking the same thing. He'd always been a fairly thrifty guy, but he wondered if he had enough money to buy a house, and all the amenities that went with it. He'd like to take care of his cousin himself rather than have her stay forever with the Hokage. He'd also been thinking of the other aspects of homeownership—like a family of his own—but those were still idle, unformed thoughts.

"Can I get a job now?" she asked eagerly. Anything would be better than filing.

"You already have a job," Naruto grinned, reading her mind.

She pouted. "That's not a real job. I don't get paid. I wouldn't even do it if I got paid. I want a more interesting job than filing."

"An interesting job? You couldn't get an interesting job without an education or apprenticeship. You'd only get the kind of jobs nobody else wanted—like filing. You need to go to school first."

Naomi wrinkled her nose. "I'm too old for school, aren't I? How old were you when you two became ninja?"

"We were both accepted as genin when we were 12. We were in the same class," Hinata told her.

"See? I'm way too old. Couldn't I be a ninja now? You could teach me stuff."

"I'm not a qualified teacher yet. You don't know enough to be accepted as a genin. If you really want to be a ninja, you have to go to ninja school—and graduate. It's not so easy. Are you sure that's what you want to do?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I never really thought about anything else. Aunt Yukari only talked about ninja training. She only taught me stuff that would be useful for ninjas. I didn't think I had a choice." She looked upset.

"Don't worry about it yet," Hinata said soothingly, and patted her hand. "When the teachers return, you can try ninja school. Iruka sensei is very nice. But, if you don't like it, I'm sure Naruto will be able to find you another apprenticeship."

"Yeah, sure," he felt a little guilty about telling her ninja school was hard. "You know, Naomi, I almost flunked out of ninja school myself," he confessed. Enough time had passed that his memories of that time hardly bothered him anymore. He'd certainly come a long way from that boy who couldn't perform basic jutsus without making the entire class fall off their chairs laughing.

Her eyes widened. "You did?"

"Yep. I couldn't do the most basic jutsu—henge no jutsu. Everybody laughed when I performed it during the exam, I was so bad. I flunked the graduation exam several times because of that jutsu."

"It's one of his best jutsus now," Hinata added proudly. She and Naruto exchanged a smile.

"How did you finally pass?"

He couldn't tell her the real story about how he was tricked into stealing a forbidden scroll. Even Hinata didn't know that story. So he temporized. "I worked even harder, and proved myself to Iruka sensei. He passed me after a special exam. That's how."

"What would you have done if you'd failed?" Naomi asked curiously.

He sobered. That wasn't a memory he cared to revisit. He'd had more than a few anxious moments after his last exam failure. That's what made him so ripe for Mizuki's treachery. "I really don't know. It never occurred to me that I wouldn't be a ninja. I love it. I can't imagine doing anything else. But I worked hard to get where I am. You'll need to work hard to catch up, if being a ninja is what you really want to do."

She looked back and forth between the two professional ninjas sitting beside her. Could she do it too? Was it what she really wanted? He'd certainly given her something to think about. Was she ready for the hard work involved? What else could she do if she wasn't a ninja? She just knew that she hated filing, and she'd loved the training Naruto had given her so far. Surely, that meant something?

After dinner, Naruto took Naomi home, then washed and changed for escort duty in the evening. He'd found out earlier that the Iseki Acting Troupe was leaving later that night so escorts weren't needed for the theater. That just left the bars, and night clubs.

This time he and Hinata were stationed at separate locations. Once the Hokage had heard the report on the behavior of the bar denizens to the kunoichi, she'd decided to have only male escorts at those locations. He approved of that decision even though he wouldn't see anything of Hinata during their escort duty. He hadn't liked what he'd heard from that report either. He'd been ready to beat up a few drunks even if they didn't remember any of their behavior towards Hinata the following morning. He would have if he'd learned about it that night, but she hadn't said a word to him about it at the time.

He was home and in bed by midnight which seemed too early after his previous late nights. However, he managed to fall asleep fairly quickly.

It wasn't until he reported to the ninja complex the next morning that he learned of the excitement Neji's team had experienced while he was sleeping.

"I really gotta go," Udon explained apologetically as he hurried along to keep up with his mentor's clipped stride.

"Fine. Just hurry up," Neji told him impatiently. Why was he paired up with such an inexperienced chûnin? Didn't the boy know better than to overeat and drink before guard duty? Wasn't it common sense? Neji had never been that stupid or thoughtless at the same age.

"Moegi cooked dinner for me. She's not a very good cook. I think she put too many spices in the sauce. They don't agree with me," he continued giving Neji anxious glances. He'd never been comfortable as Neji's partner. He could never seem to do anything right for Neji. He was getting lectured all the time. Konahamaru was so lucky to be partnered with Lee, and Moegi with Tenten. Why couldn't he have had a nicer partner? Why couldn't they have been assigned to Naruto's team?

"I don't need the details. Be quick about it. We should have returned to the front gate by now. I'll wait for you out here."

It was after two in the morning. They'd walked to the ninja complex from their patrol area because that was the only place Neji was certain they'd find open public toilets. 

Unfortunately, it was in the opposite direction to the front gate. He didn't like being the last group to return. Maybe it was anal of him, but he infinitely preferred being early to being late. He was rarely late for anything, and it made him irritable to wait for others. His chûnin partner succeeded in irritating him even more than anyone including Naruto Uzumaki.

While Udon went inside, Neji stood close to but not leaning against the wall. He wasn't relaxed. He couldn't relax. He was stood tensely with his arms crossed tightly against his chest, and his legs locked in a military stance. He looked out onto the darkness around him just waiting.

As usual at this time of morning, it was very quiet. In fact, on their patrol the noise his chûnin partner had made just walking was almost the only sound in the night. He'd gone to a great deal of trouble to teach Udon to move quietly, but the boy seemed extremely slow to pick up stealth skills. He'd had to constantly admonish him to work harder every time they were paired, and the boy seemed to be getting worse not better.

He wished now that he'd chosen Konohamaru to partner instead. However, at the time that chûnin had seemed too much like Naruto Uzumaki to be a suitable partner. He knew a Naruto type would be impossible to guide or train or endure so he'd taken the other boy. Maybe he should have taken the girl only she hadn't seemed any better. She hadn't evinced any of the quiet, cheerful, confidence that Tenten did. She'd seemed more like Sakura Haruno at that age full of foolish, girly noise. He didn't care for excitable girls. Why couldn't today's kunoichi be calm, skilled, and competent like Tenten? Why did the other kunoichi just irritate him no matter what they did? Even the Fifth had a loud, temper that he found undignified, and unprofessional. No one but Tenten seemed to meet his exacting standards of kunoichi behavior.

Analyzing the chûnin his team had been foisted with, he reluctantly had to admit that he'd probably picked the best of the bunch. The quality of ninjas had really deteriorated since he'd been a chûnin. That sad fact didn't bode well for the future of ninjas in Konoha.

As he stood just waiting in the still darkness, he thought he heard a door softly close. Ordinarily, that sound wouldn't be alarming even at this time of morning, but since he was here with nothing else to do he decided to take it seriously. He engaged his Byakugan, and scanned the business area of Konoha.

He focused and scanned each building slowly and thoroughly. He didn't see anything unusual until his eyes reached the bank down the street. He was immediately alerted by what he witnessed there.

Inside what should have been a dark, empty building was extremely suspicious activity. There was one small light glowing within. It was placed on the ground so its light wouldn't reach the windows. In its meager glow three people moved in a furtive manner in and out of the vault in the center of the building. Another person rocked nervously at his station at the front of the building overlooking the main street while yet another paced impatiently at the back door.

Five were all he counted as he watched.

Five people may or may not have been more than he could handle on his own, but he decided to err on the side of caution. He radioed his team.

"Lee, Tenten, leave your chûnin to guard the front gate. I need you. Something's not right at the bank. There are five people inside the bank. There's one watch at the front of the bank so stay close to the building next door until I tell you to move in." He spoke softly, but decisively. "I'll take the watch at the back door. Wait for my signal."

He ran into the ninja complex to tell Udon to wait there for him. The boy was just clueless enough to come out calling his name, and alerting those in the bank to their presence. That unobservant behavior was another Naruto Uzumaki trait he'd witnessed regularly in the up and coming genin and chûnin. What was Iruka Umino teaching at that school these days?

At the back of the bank building, he was able to get fairly close due to the lack of windows. When he thought Lee and Tenten were in place, he called them on the radio.

"Are you ready? Good. There's still one person at the front door, one at the back, and three at the vault. Take out the one at the front door then head for the vault. Break in the door if you have to. I'll do the same at the back door. Go now."

Fortunately for him, the back door was unlocked. He quietly opened the door so he could take his quarry by surprise.

He could see the man inside turn towards the front of the building as Lee and Tenten crashed through the front door.

Neji ran forward, and chopped the man in the neck before he could take more than two steps.

In satisfaction, he watched as the man collapsed in an untidy heap at his feet.
He still had his Byakugan engaged so he was able to quickly turn on the interior lights for his team mates.

Three men were running at him from the vault area. Lee and Tenten were right behind them. He stood in their path, so they stopped in confusion. They were taken down by himself and his team without so much as a fight. The men had been either too busy trying to escape to fight, or they had no fighting skills.

With his adrenalin pumping, and geared up for a fight it had been somewhat disappointing to win the battle so easily. If he'd known how lame these five bank robbers were, he would have taken them down himself without bothering Lee and Tenten. He almost wished he weren't such a cautious man. Naruto Uzumaki certainly would have leapt first, and called for backup later. Not that he wanted to emulate Naruto, but he sometimes regretted his need to act logically—especially when his logic made him look weak.

"Tie their hands behind their backs. When they come to we'll take them over to the ninja complex, and lock them up," he ordered brusquely.

"Who are these guys? Do you recognize them?" Tenten asked as she trussed up one of the men.

"No, I don't."

"I am not certain, Neji, but I think these men are the monks from the Order of the Way of Horse," Lee said as he dragged the man from the front of the building back to where the others were lying, and tied him up with the rest.

"Why do you think that?"

"I have had them described to me. Kiba had a very interesting story of his meeting with the group. These men look exactly like the description. They are bald. They are wearing robes. There are five of them. I know of no other group of this description in the village besides the monks," Lee explained.

"That makes sense. You're probably right, Lee. I wonder if we have our attacker as well as bank robbers. Wouldn't that be a coup for our team? I'd better let the Hokage know what's happening. Someone will have to guard the bank until the door can be fixed."

He apprised the Hokage who'd been waiting impatiently for a report of the outcome of their bank attack. She monitored the radio most nights. She needed very little sleep, and until the attacker was caught or the more experienced ninja returned to the village she couldn't rest for very long at any time night or day. If she could, she wouldn't sleep at all, but that was beyond even her special ninja skills.

As the bank robbers began to arouse, they were stood up against the wall. While they were unconscious, Lee and Neji had stripped the three from the vault of the ill-gotten gains hidden in deep pockets inside their robes. Tenten had returned the money in several trips to the vault while the others monitored their captives.

"Tenten, I'd like you to stay and guard the bank. I'll send Udon to help you. He's at the ninja complex now. Lee and I will take the prisoners to lock up, and meet the Hokage there. Lee can return to the front gate afterwards to acquaint the genin with our new arrangements for the rest of the night."

Neither Tenten nor Lee had anything to add to his orders. They were used to taking orders from Neji when Guy was away. He was the natural leader of the group whenever Guy was absent. Besides neither Lee nor Tenten had any ambitions for leadership of their present team. They were both too good-natured to even attempt to thwart either Neji or Guy. Leave that to the Naruto's and Kakashi's of the world. They preferred a peaceful coexistence to an irritated or irritating leader.

Tsunade stared at the man sitting across from her in the ninja complex interrogation room. Shikamaru and Neji stood guard behind her with Lee and Choji outside to lull the prisoner into a feeling that she needed protection. If he underestimated her abilities as well as the intelligence of her guards so much the better. However, if warranted she'd love to give him a demonstration of her power. With non-ninja a threat was often all that was necessary to achieve cooperation, but on occasion she had totally annihilated a few tables with a single blow to make a point.

The man looked stubborn enough to make tricks a necessity in getting him to talk. He was bald obviously by design since a dark stubble of hair covered his head which matched the beard sprouting on his face. His monk's robes were wrinkled and ill-kempt, but that might have been due to the hours he spent in his cramped cell. His arms were folded protectively across his 

chest. His mouth was set in mutinous lines, his chin was thrust out denoting intractability, and his eyes were narrowed and leery.

He'd already identified himself as Yuu Higa, head monk of the Order of the Way of the Horse, but that was all the information he'd volunteered. She intended to keep all five of the monks separated not allowing them any converse so she could play one against the other. It was a good method of interrogation that had worked well in the past. It was merely time consuming with so large a group. Why couldn't criminals caught in the act simply confess at once to their crimes? She'd be willing to reduce time from their sentence if they'd save her the same. However, that wasn't something she could actually promise up front. She didn't want the reputation of being soft or slovenly in the execution of her duties.

Since he was being mulish, she by-passed the obvious questions, and went straight for the important ones. "Why did you find it necessary to attack and kill innocent people just to rob our bank? Was it a ploy to distract our attention? It wasn't very successful, was it?"

His eyes flashed in alarm. "We had nothing to do with that!"

"What are you denying? The bank robbery, the attacks, or the killing?"

"The attacks and the killing—I mean—" he halted in confusion suddenly realizing what his omission had admitted to.

"Well, you could hardly deny the robbery considering we caught three of you with your pockets full of our citizen's money, and all of you trespassing."

"I'm not talking."

"You've already talked quite a bit. I'm sure your confederates will do their share. We'll have the complete story by the end of the day. I may even be willing to make a deal to those who cooperate."

"What kind of deal?" he asked warily.

"I'll make no promises just yet."

"I need to talk to my men."

She leaned back in her chair. "I don't think so—not until I've questioned each of them alone. I may not have to make any concessions at all once I've spoken to them."

"We didn't harm anybody. We don't do that," he repeated.

"Is that so? Well, I consider stealing people's life savings certainly harming them."

He shrugged. "That's different."

"To you perhaps. To the people you've robbed, it's just as damaging."

"We didn't do anything to hurt anybody," he insisted stubbornly.

"I don't believe you. I don't see any other suspicious characters around this village except the five of you. I think you are the guilty ones—guilty of all crimes."

"We didn't do it!" His voice rose.

"Let's just see what your confederates have to say about that. Take him back to his cell," she ordered.

As Neji and Shikamaru escorted him out, the prisoner still protested, "We didn't do it! We didn't do it!"

She sighed as she watched him go. She had a long day ahead of her, but she intended to discover the complete truth before the end of the day. That was a promise.