Hanabi Hyuga had thought she'd figured it all out.
It was a dark night, darker than most, but that wasn't why she had chosen it for her attempted departure. She lived with people that could see through walls, at all angles. She wasn't foolish enough to think that just the shadow of an unnaturally dark night would be enough to hide her.
No, it had been the several times she had left the Hyuga Compound undetected before that had created her confidence. The first couple of times, she had been terrified. It was an extremely intimidating prospect, after all. But once she'd figured out the weak spots within the guard patrols, and the times in which they would have to rest their byakugan, it had always gone smoothly. As long as she was careful, and never complacent, she had always been able to make it through the tight-knit guard undetected.
She was a shinobi, she knew to expect the unexpected - and she knew that eventually, she'd run into some kind of trouble, one way or another. There was always going to be an unaccounted for factor, and she had just been waiting for the day that it would rear its head.
She'd thought it would be an additional guard that she hadn't accounted for. Perhaps someone who had gotten overzealous with the use of their byakugan, and had not abided by their normal schedule, but…
She had never expected something like this.
"It's a strange night to be out here, ne?"
Everything had been going perfectly, and she'd made it away from the compound - to a secret training spot that only she knew about - at least she had thought - and for one second, she had dropped her guard.
She had never expected anyone to already be there.
"I didn't think I'd be running into anyone out here, at least."
At the centre of the training grounds, there was a pond, with a wooden pier spiralling out near the middle of it. She couldn't see much, from the darkness, but a tall, lean silhouette stood stalwart near the end of it - but she couldn't mistake the presence that she now felt.
And now that he was talking - the voice, too, was immediately recognizable.
If it was anyone else, she would have activated her own byakugan to verify her thoughts, but she had heard the tales of Hyuga with far stronger eyes than hers that were blinded for weeks when exposed to the sheer amount of chakra that this shinobi exuded.
He turned, and in the glimmer of the night, she could have sworn that she saw the cerulean flash of his eyes.
"What are you doing out here, Hanabi Hyuga?"
He had been pondering before, almost talking to himself - reflective with a sense of aloofness.
But it was business now. She understood the situation all too well.
If he thought for even a second that she was escaping for any other reason than secret training away from the eyes of the harsh Hyuga - that she was betraying Konoha - there wouldn't be any delay.
Such was the way of the Golden Fox of Konoha.
AN: Yo,
Very small one shot.
I've had this idea for a long while now, and I've definitely written drafts longer than this one, but I've come to the conclusion that it'll never be a finished product.
I love the idea of a much more serious Naruto, someone that people were rightly afraid of. People often forget that behind his aloofness, Naruto is probably the most powerful entity on the planet and if he had any other motive or goal, there would be nothing that could stop him. Even something as small as a change as this creates a whole new dynamic.
Either way, I hope you enjoyed.
Luerio