Naruto stood in his personal training area, lighting crackling around his fingers as he stood in an altered Jyuuken stance, before him stood six training dummies. Naruto took a deep breath before charging the wooden figures. The first dummy took a hit that sent bolts of electricity around the figure before they shot down to the ground. Dummy number two didn't fare that well either, its head lit on fire from the heat of the bolts.
Naruto smiled as he ripped through the training dummies. He laughed as the lightning bolts rammed into the wooden figures, doing untold internal damage.
Them, in a second, it was done. The dummies laid scattered on the floor, some burning, others looked like a little more than sawdust.
Naruto smiled bigger. "That is the Raiken."
Hinata walked up to the gates of Konoha and gave a weak smile.
It seemed brighter today.
She walked into the gates after answering a few short questions and saw that Konoha did indeed look brighter. Of course, it was probably the bright green, orange, and yellow paint that had been used to write, "Naruto's Next" on the Hokage monument.
She could also see three scaffolds that were being used to clean it off.
She also heard someone passing by mumble, "D**n troublemakers, what do they want to do, give Konoha a heart attack?"
Hinata could immediately tell who these 'troublemakers' were and she smiled. She made a note to go see them when she finished reporting in.
She smiled as she walked up to the Hokage tower, where several ninja had gathered for their assignments, among them was a team whose female member wanted to hurt someone if they ever mentioned anything perverted or relating to trees. "Hey Sakura-chan." Hinata said.
The pink-haired Kunoichi wheeled around at the voice, and smiled as she saw the owner. "Hinata-chan!"she cried as she ran over to the girl, "Oh, it's been so long. How have you been? Has the Outcast been treating you nicely? Because if not I'll hunt him down and throttle him for you."
Hinata smiled, "I'm fine, and honestly, I doubt it. The Outcast is excellent at stealth; he could probably kill you before you even realize he's there."
Sakura rolled her eyes, "Of course you're known for giving people too much credit."
Hinata smiled, "Well then you'll never know then, will you?"
The door to the Hokage's officer opened and a new team of Genin left, the Jounin sesnei pointing to the door with a hitchhiker's thumb, "Next." He said.
"Thanks, Ebisu." Kakashi said, staring at his book the whole time, before leading his team in.
Hinata waited for team seven to finish. She laughed as she listened to Sakura screaming at Sai as he laughed at the word 'sword'.
When the team exited, Hinata went in, and met a very warm welcome from Tsunade. "Hinata! How's my favorite ambassador?"
"Fairly well, all things considering." Hinata said.
"So what has been happening in the Haven recently?"
Hinata sat down in a chair next to the Hokage's desk, "Well, the Outcast has been hlding a line of defenders on the Konoha-Kumo border, and they have let only a minimal number of teams get past the wall. Six I think. Anyways, any that have gotten past were taken out by The Outcast's specialized hunting teams." She went on to talk about the rest of the events that had gone by in the past month, mostly small, local news. All the while, Tsunade's eyes were on her neck.
"And that's about it." Hinata said in conclusion.
"So what's this?" Tsunade asked as she reached for a green emerald that sat underneath her headband.
Hinata blushed immediately as she thought about what had happened the other day., "Ah, ah that was a gift."
Tsunade smiled as she recognized that nervous blush. "Is he strong, Hinata."
"I-I-I-."
"That wasn't my question."
Hinata made a desperate last dodge attempt, "That has absolutely nothing to do with my mission."
Tsunade looked at her, a smile playing on her lips, "I guess you're right," she said, "Even ninja are allowed a private life."
Hinata sighed in relief.
Tsunade smiled, "You are dismissed, enjoy the rest of the day."
"Thank you, I will see you later, Hokage-sama." Hinata said, as she left, still a little red along her cheeks.
Tsunade smiled as she left, until a frown encroached on her face, "She even forgot about him."
Hinata walked along the long stairwell that went to the top of the Hokage monument. She whistled a tune Naruto had taught her as she walked up, smiling to herself as the sound of laboring workers could be heard, that and the ever present "Troublesome" signaling the presence of a Nara.
When she got to the top, she looked down from Sandaime's head to see three scaffolds hanging from his hair. On each scaffold was one team, teams 10, eight, and Gai.
"Hello down there!" she yelled.
Everyone looked up, and they all got really big smiles on their faces. "Well, well." Chouji said, "If it isn't Miss Ambassador herself."
Hinata smiled, "Hey, Chouji."
"Hey Hinata!" Kiba yelled, "Do you think he would approve?"
"If you're talking about this mess, then yeah probably." Hinata said, while she scanned the cleaners, "Hey, Shino, Shikamaru, I'm surprised you're here, I thought both of you wouldn't have come because it's too illogical or 'troublesome.'"
"It is, Hinata-san." Shino repleied, "But it was sooooo worth it." He said, adding emotion to his voice for the first time that she could remember.
"Ditto." Shikamru said.
Hinata shook her head. "Hey guys, before I go."
"What?" Ino asked.
"I except this to read 'Believe it!' when I wake up tomorrow."
Neji smiled, "I'll do what I can, Hinata-sama."
"Yosh!" Lee cried, "We shall mirror Naruto's flames of youth until all of Konoha is ablaze! If not, then I will perform three thousand jumping jacks with triple the load of weights!"
Hinata shook her head before heading back down the stairs, she had some family business to attend to.
Hiashi sat in his office, alone.
It was dark.
He liked it that way.
Ever sense Hinata had been forced into a diplomatic mission to the Haven, he had become more and more sullen.
Some of his clan were very worried, some even thought that he was going to kill himself.
Idiots. He was depressed, not suicidal.
A hundred pictures of Yondaime hung from the walls with one new addition, a picture of a young boy wearing an orange jumpsuit with a brand new, navy blue Konoha headband tied to his head. A giant smile under his blond hair gave him away in a second, it was Naruto's ninja identification picture. It was probably the only one that wasn't locked away in some file somewhere, excluding the one Sakura had of her and her teammates.
Hiashi looked up at that picture, and sighed, "Oh Naruto, if only I had known you better."
A knock sounded at his door.
Hiashi sighed. "What?"
"Your daughter is here." A voice said.
"Hanabi?"
"No Hinata."
That door never opened so fast.
"Why didn't you say something!?" Hiashi yelled as he slammed the door open.
"She-she just arrived."
Hiashi looked at him before nodding, and collecting himself behind the stoic Hyuuga façade, walked down the hallway to meet his lovely daughter. "Hinata." He said, in his usually cold voice.
Hinata turned and bowed, "Father." She said.
Hiashi then smiled at her, "It's so good to see you again." He said before hugging her.
"It's good to see you too, dad."
"Come on," Hiahsi said, "I'm sure Hanabi wants to see you too."
Then next morning, Hinata slowly got out of bed. She groggily sat up on the bed, and stretched, before slowly getting up and dressing. She stood in from of her old, full length mirror and checked herself over.
Her eyes floated to the green necklace that hung from her neck.
She blinked at it and wondered for the millionth time in the last three days, "Did that really happen? Or am I imagining things?"
Suddenly, a scream was heard in the street.
Quickly, Hinata activated her Byakugan. She froze. Then she laughed. What she saw was the Hokage monument. Each Hokage had been messed with. Shodai now had a very large handlebar mustache painted on his face. The Nidamie was reading a large IchaIcha Paradise that was painted underneath him. Sandaime was looking over Nidaime's shoulder and you could see the trail of red paint falling from his nose to symbolize a nosebleed. Yondaime had six whisker marks painted in his cheeks, and a large, white, foxy grin was painted on his face. Finally Tsunade came, two, large circles were painted underneath her face, any ninja who had ever been in the Hokage's office instantly knew what those were.
Hinata shook her head, she knew three teams that were going to get in a lot of trouble.
Hinata walked deep into the forest, watching her surroundings while all the while, staring at her necklace. She still couldn't believe that had happened to her. It shone like a star in her memory, but, at the same time, despite the perfect clarity of that day, it seemed like a dream to her.
But it was a very good dream.
A twig snapped behind her. Hinata turned, and slipped into her Jyuuken stance, only to be hit in the side of the head with a large club.
She hit the ground hard, and as her world went to black, she could faintly hear a rough voice saying, "You got her, good, now we can make Konoha pay."
Hinata slowly woke up. She kept her eyes shut, but began to take in her surroundings.
She was sitting down, tied to a tree, her hands behind her. The voice of her captors sounded rough, the laughed loudly at coarse jokes and they made very rude remarks about anything they could think of.
Hinata wouldn't be surprised if they were drunk.
The strong smell of alcohol was a good give away.
She heard one of the men stagger by before falling flat on his face in front of her. Another one of the men hiccupped, "Hey…" he said slowly, "Suoldn't wi helph?"
"Nah." Another said, "Not ower fault thet e can'd hold hiz liquor."
Hinata almost shook her head at the volume of their voices; they obviously thought they were whispering. Keyword thought.
Hinata couldn't help but think this is why Konoha never let its ninjas bring alcohol on any mission.
Hinata would even willingly bet that if she cut herself free, stood up, and walked away that these bozos would barely move to stop her, and if they did, they'd probably fail miserably.
She slowly reached for the file that she hid in a hidden pocket in her sleeve and began to wear down the ropes.
After twenty minutes, her hands were free. But she still sat there, eyes closed, waiting for her captors to fall asleep.
Soon the whole clearing was filled with loud snoring.
Hinata sat against the tree for another ten minutes before opening her eyes aand quietly making it to the edge of the camp.
She just made it into the trees when a rough hand fell on her shoulder. She turned and saw a tall man with auburn hair and a Kumo headband tied to his head. "Where do you think you're going, miss?"
"Shoot." Hinata thought, "This is their Jounin instructor."
"I told my students not to bring Sake along." The man said with a smile on his face, "But I guess that just means I'll have you all to myself then."
Hinata suddenly tried to move into her Jyuuken stance but was stopped when a bolt of electricity ran through her body.
"Now, now, don't' resist, you don't want this to hurt more than it has to, do you?" The man said, as Hinata fell to the floor.
"Go die." Hinata said, as she tried to move, but only received a shock.
"You sound like you have a lot of fight in you, that's just the way I like it." The man said, reaching for his pants.
Suddenly, a loud croak could be heard next to them. The man turned his head in that direction, waiting to see if an attack would come from that way. Nothing but only a few more croaks. "Stupid frog." The man mumbled before reaching for his zipper.
Suddenly, another croak sounded, this one from the other side of the clearing. This croak was quickly followed by another one, then another one, then another one. In seconds, the whole clearing was surrounded by croaks from invisible frogs.
The Kumo Jounin looked around him, "This isn't natural." He said calmly, before slowly pulling out a kunai.
Suddenly, the croaking stopped, and all that was left was silence.
The Kumo nin stood there for a second, before he heard a faint whisper. "You were warned."
Suddenly, the blackness surrounding the ninjas erupted in flame, surrounding the Kumo nin with a perfectly circular wall of fire. The Kumo nin watched with a growing sense of horror as he suddenly realized that in the fire were figures, heads and skulls all bearing the N of the Outcast.
An eerie chill crept up on the Kumo nin as he slowly realized that he was trapped, and worse yet, someone was coming for him.
Suddenly, a black figure appeared, he looked evil, approaching from the flames. His masked face seemed to command the forces of nature, and his eyes seemed to hold death itself.
As he stepped out of the wall of fire, the flames seemed to lick at the hem of his coat. His shadow seemed to dance in the firelight. The Uzu headband looked as if it were blood red, and the sword at his side seemed to glow.
It was then, finally that the Kumo nin realized just who he was messing with. "Th-th-th-th-the O-o-o-o-o-Outcast."
The Outcast said nothing, but only put his hand on his sword.
The Kumo nin, realizing that a ninja marked, "flee on sight" was after him, began to shake. "D-d-d-don't come any closer." He said, as he gripped his kunai for his life.
The Outcast took a step forward.
"I-I-I said don't come any closer!"
The Outcast slowly drew his glowing, white blade.
"Please…" The man begged.
The Outcast raised his blade and swung down.
Quickly, the Kumo nin brought up his kunai, hoping to block the glowing blade.
His hopes shattered as he watched his kunai split.
The blade finished its stroke, coming within a millimeter of his nose.
The man gaped for a minute, before he heard the sound of cloth moving against hair. Suddenly, his headband fell to the ground, the metal plate split in half. The man froze as he realized that the glowing blade in front of him had just sliced his headband in half, and he barely saw it.
Finally, the Outcast spoke. "You have a very large forehead. That's a lot of canvas for only a single 'N.'"
The nin suddenly collapsed. "No, please, I have a wife and child! Please!"
The Outcast's cold blue eyes stared at him. "If you have a wife and child, then they would be a family better off without a whoremonger like you as a father. No offence, Hinata-chan."
"None taken." She said as she slowly got up.
"No please, please, don't kill me."
"You infiltrate fire territory to attack Konoha, you try to rape the Hyuuga heiress, who is also the ambassador to my city, and you are an uncaring and unfaithful father. Three strikes and you're out."
"No, please."
"Don't worry about you're students, I don't kill sleeping men. If they get the message and leave, they won't get hurt." The Outcas t slowly approached the man's face, "You better hope your students have at least one good head on their shoulders."
The next morning, The three Kumo students woke up to their captive being gone, and their sensei's body hanging from a tree. A sign was tied around his chest that read. "Leave, and you won't end up like your sensei."
Luckily, one of the students there brought up the point that if the Outcast could leave a sign like this, then their lives was already in his hands once, and if they let that happen again, who knows what would happen.
So, wisely, they decided to grab his body and head for home.
Hinata was back in her tree house, standing on the balcony with a small cup of tea in her hands. She watched with a smile on her face as several kids ran down the street playing tag. Suddenly, one of them tripped, and fell, but before he could hit the ground, Naruto appeared with a yellow flash of light and caught him.
"Careful kid, we don't want your mother getting upset because you scratched your knee up."
The boy smiled "Thanks, Outcast-sama!" he said before running off to continue their game.
Naruto shook his head before walking along on the dirt-packed road.
Hinata watched him go, smiling as he walked down the street. All the while, she couldn't help but think what a great father he'd be.
Her hand unconsciously reached up for the emerald necklace around her neck. She looked down at it and fingered it awhile.
Now that she thought about, it was kind of weird. She wanted to get this for herself just so she could wear it at formal dinner or something, but now that Naruto had given it to her, this same necklace took on a whole new meaning.
It was his gift to her.
He got it specifically for her, he bought it for her. He bought it to make her happy.
Amazing how just one motive can change something entirely.
The thought about what happened the other day came at her for what seemed like the millionth time.
She sighed, before sipping her tea. It was official. The next time she saw him, she'd ask exactly what he meant by that.
And she'd get an answer or else.
End of Chapter.
Now to answer a couple of questions:
#1. Why is Itachi a cowboy? Well, to put it simply, because I want him to be XP. It all started back when school was still in session, we were watching "The Pale Rider" for something or another, and I just had that image in my mind when I brought in Itachi, so I made an experiment, and poof! You have a really cool dude in leather boots and a trench coat.
#2. Why does Naruto mark his victims with an 'N'? Why not the mark of the Exile? I made it an 'N' simply because it's much easier to carve. Don't believe me? Then you try taking a knife and carving a perfect circle in a piece of wood. An 'N' is much easier.
So, see ya next time.