A/N: This was a fast update (for me at least). There will be about the same time frame between updates from now on, now that the most complicated stuff is over. I know how, when and why things will happen now, not just knowing where I begin, where I end, and not having the foggiest idea at what goes in the middle, which is kinda what I was doing before. Ehehe...
Hey, does anyone kow of any 2D animation programs that are really good that make professional quality animations? I found this program by Smith Micro called Anime Studio 5. Its $50 and it looks to be good, but is there any program that anyone can reccomend that gives the same quality results at a lower price? I thought up an awesome NaruHina AMV that's from Hinata's POV and she's reviewing what has happened during the five years she has been gone from Konoha. It'll follow this story. That's why I need the program. PM me or if you don't have an account, put it into a review.
Anyways, my friend introduced me to HanaKimi, an awesome manga series. Kinda like the movie "She's the Man" with Amanda Bynes but the relationships are more serious and there are really funny moments in it. Its given me some fluff ideas for this story and even a lemon (!) idea but that won't come until MUCH later in this story. When I do write it (!!)... well, we'll see. -snickers evily- (!$#&)
Ah a cookie for you all! If you have ever seen 'Achmed the Dead Terrorist' by Jeff Dunham (you can see it on YouTube, its as funny as hell), there's a hillarious line he says, so look for a modified version of it in this chapter. I see someone has already noticed it... -coughcoughQuathiscoughcough-
As always, read and review! w00t!
Chapter 9 – Rejected Decision
"Myuri-san, I have some important information that I have heard in the market place today." The Uzumaki kneeled in front of the elder.
"What is it?" He was currently the clan head, as he was the oldest Uzumaki, but the two youngest elders at the time of the attack were there to keep things going when he died. Plus, there was the youngest in front of him now, reporting the future of the clan.
"There have been rumors of a boy at the Chuunin exams who defeated a Hyuuga prodigy and later, a Jinjuuriki by the name of Subaku no Gaara when Suna invaded his hometown of Konoha. From what people have told me, he was the dead last dropout in everything."
"Konoha? Isn't that where Kushina was sent?"
"Yes. What's more is this boy's name."
Myuri's brow furrowed. "He is Uzumaki?"
The said boy's grandmother smiled. "Uzumaki Naruto."
Hundreds of miles away, the very same boy, tired an exhausted, closed the door to his apartment, a thick yellow envelope in his hands. He sighed, and shook his head.
'My god, what an eventful day. I gotta ask Hinata about this thing tomorrow,' thought Naruto ignoring his growling stomach, he went over and sat on the floor next to his bed.
He put the package on the floor in front of him and stared at it, as if he couldn't decide whether to open it or not. He made the former choice and undid the string at one end and shook it. An avalanche of photos came out, followed by a thick wad of folded paper and oddly, two forehead protectors. He picked up one of the pictures and studied it, trying to imagine what was happing at the time it was taken.
It was of a woman with very long red hair, holding a crying blonde baby and she was kissing his cheek. The infant had three whisker-like marks on each cheek and had a brand new stuffed fox in his hand. Naruto turned around and looked on top of his bed. That same animal, though patched in many places now, was on it, lovingly placed on his pillow.
"Heh, that must be me." He said out loud. "So that must be…mom." The word was so alien to him. Sure, he had heard other kids use it, but to actually say it and know who he was talking about was entirely different. Never in his thirteen years of life had he done that once. His parents always were a mystery to him, who they were, what they did and why they left him.
Looking at other photos, Naruto had to admit hat his mother was a beautiful woman, but there were others too that had another woman and her child in it. This one had dark, dark blue hair that went just past her shoulders and the baby's hair was the same color. Shaking his head, he picked the fat wad of paper and unfolded it. It was addressed to him in his mother's handwriting. He read it, eyes gathering tears of happines, laughter and sadness with each sentence.
Hey Naruto-kun.
It's me your mother Kushina. I know, this must be hard for you to read, but I am dying and your father can't take care of you either because he has passed on. Both of us didn't want this to happen. We wanted to have you grow up knowing us, but this is the only option for even one of us to talk to you. If we lived, your dad would teach you all these cool jutsus and maybe, when you got older, his signature S-ranked Jutsu and I would train you in taijutsu everyday. We'd make sure you, literally, turned out to be the greatest shinobi in history just like your father. If only that damn Kyuubi came on another night, this wouldn't be so. Maybe, your dad would be here to take care of you but I wouldn't. I'll explain what I mean by that later.
Hopefully, if the village hasn't treated you too badly because of the damn fox sealed inside you, (How could I not know this? I'm your mother for cryin out loud!) you've turned out to be an awesome shinobi. Did you come out on top or did an Uchiha boy by the name of Sasuke do that? Personally, I never cared for them. To me, they were a bunch of arrogant bastards who thought they were better than everyone else and who needed to get the stick out that was stuck up all their asses. That boy's father, Fugaku, and your father were really good friends since he was head of the Uchiha police, despite the stick factor.
Hey, talking about clans and such, I want to tell you a bit about mine. You see, I wasn't born in Konoha. I was born in the Whirlpool Country, into the Uzumaki clan. We had the coolest sword skills, I remember. If you search through the gazillion photos there, you might find the old one of my mother, father and I. Its interesting how all the very important guys in my life, including you, your dad and my father, had blonde hair and blue eyes. Anyways, I came to this village when I was four. My clan sent me here because of a man called Pain. I think if you looked where the site of my clan's house is or was, you wouldn't find a thing. I think it was because the Pain guy was so powerful that my clan felt threatened enough to send me here.
Our swords and style were legendary, rumored to invincible. Of course, that's not the case, because everyone has a weakness of some sort. When I left, there were quite a lot of students and masters at our clan complex. Very few were foreign, as we rarely accepted them to train in our secret art, but most students were branch members of the clan. They had to have all died, unfortunately if that mysterious guy was so powerful and threatening. I think it they sent me because I was of the main line. Hey, don't get cocky and tell all your friends that. That's going to unfocus you from your dreams, whatever they are, if anything.
After I moved here, Sarutobi-san showed me around the village. Oddly enough, later that day, two, no three amazing things happened. The first was that I had ramen. I never had the stuff before, so at the time it had felt like I had experienced something from heaven. The second was that I met your father. He was heaven. He was everything a girl could ever want and more. We were a bunch of ignorant kids at the time, and didn't realize we loved each other the second we laid eyes on each other. I know it sounds corny, but there was something about him I saw in him that day. He told me the same thing when were teenagers dating, and ready to go the whole nine yards… in bed. Hahaha, sorry it's my secret perverted side kicking in. Damn you, Ero-Jiraya-sensei!
Anyways, I'll tell you that story later. The third thing on that first day in Konoha was when your blonde genius of a father took me on top of the Hokage Monument and showed me the setting sun. I have never seen a landscape so amazing as that! What was really weird was the next day when I discovered his family was going to be my foster family, or in other words, the family who adopted me. That led to many awkward moments between us, including when he moved in with me six months after I got my own apartment, when we began to realize we had feelings for each other. Finally, at the Sakura festival, we got together as boyfriend and girlfriend when I was seventeen and everything fell into place after that. We got married year's later yadda, yadda, yadda, so on and so forth.
Then I got pregnant with you. Those were probably the best nine months I had ever lived. Unfortunately, that also meant I had to be taken out of the shinobi ranks as an ANBU. And I was so close too! I could feel that promotion to Captain! God damn it! I mean, uh, Kami, damn it.
After your birth and the Kyuubi was sealed inside you, I took care of you. Though, the worst part was that you looked and acted so much like your father. It was creepy, because the Kyuubi claimed his life and it was sealed in you and you are your father's son. It was a weird triangle of hate and love. Anyways, I cried for many painful days over that, but my ever trusty childhood friend Sumiko snapped me out of it with her words, persuading me to keep going. She herself was pregnant with her first child, a girl who would grow up to be a noble Hyuuga. I hope both of them are doing well now.
Now this is the story of what killed me, why I'm not here now. Evidently, when I gave birth to you, I got some sort of lethal disease from losing so much blood. Ouchy. Unfortunately, I was diagnosed when it had already taken root in my body. There were cures for it, but only when it was still free-roaming in me.
This is why I'm writing to you now, so I can talk to you, so you can know me and my life story, and let you know that I love you. I love you and never forget that. I love you, my son, and no one can take that away, even if I am dead and am watching you from heaven. Actually, you are the last living descendant of two clans, the Namikaze, your father's, and mine, the Uzumaki. Weird, huh? It must be fate! Not. I hate the idea of fate. Actually, I believe there's no such thing as that, only dreams. Dreams will guide you.
Before I forget, I want to tell you about your father. I won't tell you exactly who he is, because you might not be mature enough, but I have mentioned what he has done, what he looks like, etc. even his clan's name, so you might be able to figure him out. As I said, he was what most girls could only dream of. He was kind and considerate, knowing just how push your buttons or makes you feel better when you felt like crap. He didn't care what people thought of him, as long as it made him improve, feel good or make him better. Guys like him only come by once or twice in a lifetime.
Others are just lazy, shy, assholes, or just want to get in a girl's pants (I noticed Ero-sensei will do anything to get in Tsunade's). Plus, he was popular, and had a bit of a bad boy attitude, but not to the extent I had when I was in the Ninja Academy. I was the prankster. I just loved the look on people's faces when they opened up one of my giant paint bombs! He was also considered to be one of the greatest shinobis in world history. Why? Among the foreign villages, he was known as the Yellow Flash of Konoha. He created so many Justus, even a middle level Chuunin wouldn't know that same amount himself. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if he was the best ninja ever. I'm probably biased though, probably because he was my husband.
Wow, I just looked back at you. Right now, as I'm writing this, it is around 3 in the morning and you are behind me, sleeping soundly in my bed. I couldn't sleep tonight after I had a conversation today with Sarutobi-san about what would happen to you when I died. You're just so innocent and peaceful looking right now; it's kinda scary that you will grow up to be a killer. And I mean the most bad-ass shinobi ever!
Remember, I love you and don't forget that! Ever!
Your mom,
Kushina
PS: The forehead protectors are mine and your fathers. His has the Namikaze clan symbol on one end. Mine has the spiral, Uzumaki clan symbol.
Tears were flowing freely down the boy's face as he lowered the paper onto his lap. This was all too much for him. His emotions were running wild. Naruto picked up the hitai-ates of his mother and father and looked at the ends. There they were on both, the spiral on one and a closed eye on another. He stood, eyes shut tight, and clenched his hands around them so much that the metal almost cut into his palms.
"M-Mom…D-D-Dad…" he stuttered, sitting on the bed and looking at the two leaves engraved on the scratched metal. Naruto grabbed his stuffed fox and clutched him to his chest, the forehead protectors in his hands. He cried into its dirty orange fur, blubbering jumbled words. The boy softly fell sideways, head landing on its pillow and he curled up into a ball, sobbing silently into the night.
She was so nervous, sitting next to him. He had invited her to eat with him again and now he was talking to her, asking her questions. She never believed he would be like this.
"Oi, Hinata." Naruto waved a hand in front of her face.
"S-sorry." She shook her head. "I was just thinking about your question."
"Oh."
"I don't kn-know. I can't think of anybody th-that looks like that." the Hyuuga lied. She perfectly well knew who it was, because it was her and her mother.
He looked downcast. "Oh. I thought you might've known since your hair is a similar color… You know what I'll do? I'll bring it tomorrow when we finish building."
"Okay."
Naruto turned his eyes to the passing clouds. After a few seconds, he said, "What would you do Hinata, if you just discovered who one of your parents was after they remained hidden all your life? What would you say?"
She spoke after a moment's silence. "I don't know. I-I've always had my family here, no matter how mean it was to me. Why, what are you f-feeling now?"
He picked a stick up from the ground and rolled it between his palms. "That's the point. I don't know what to feel. I'm confused. I want to feel happy, but I think I'm in shock, but then again I feel sad because of what my mother had written. She wrote that I caused her a lot of pain after I was born because I was so much like my dad. My mom didn't tell me who he was either. She told me he was a great ninja and man as she put it, 'everything a girl could ever want.' I wish I could be like him."
The words left her mouth before she could catch them. "N-Naruto-kun, you already are." Hinata bit her lip and turned away; embarrassed she had revealed so much. Only her mental fortitude kept her from running away this time.
Naruto turned to her. "You really think so? All I ever so is screw up and cause trou-"
"It's because you fight for those you love, even if they don't return it. Y-you beat down that Gaara kid because you were fighting to protect Sasuke-san and Sakura-san, your friends."
"But how am I everything a girl could want? That's the hardest part. Sakura –chan keeps on turning me down. She's still obsessed with that bastard."
Hinata shut her eyes and shook her head. 'They don't see you like I do. They don't see how amazing you really are.'
"Baa-chan, here is the mission report." Naruto put a paper on the Hokage's desk and turned to leave. He waved his hand. "See you tomorrow."
"Naruto, wait." Tsunade's voice had a serious and commanding tone to it. "I have received some very serious information concerning you."
He stopped in his tracks and sighed. "Great, what did I do now?"
"It's not what you have done, but of what you could do."
He immediately perked up and turned around upon hearing that. "Do I finally get another C or even B-ranked mission? Huh? Huh? Huh?" He started jumping up and down.
Tsunade shook her head. "No Naruto. Much more serious than that." She pointed to the chair in front of her desk. "Sit. This may take awhile to explain." The boy obediently did as he was told, eager to know what was more important than a higher ranked mission. Tsunade began. "Last night, I received a messenger hawk from a clan that is in the former Whirlpool Country. The-"
"Yeah, I know. My mother's clan, the Uzumakis." He said matter-of-factly.
"How-?"
"The day after you assigned me the building mission, the one I just completed, Hinata gave me a letter from my mom. I don't know how she got it, but it told me a lot of things, including that."
"Can I read it later?" the Hokage asked.
Naruto glared. "No. It's really private and I don't want anyone seeing it, at least, not now. Can you get on with the other thing about my mom's clan?"
Tsunade rubbed her temples and looked up, surprised by this new bit of information. "Right." She opened her desk and took out a small scroll. "Anyways, I received this last night from a messenger hawk. This is the decoded message, since it was in the code we used when I was a Jounin. What I do not understand is that about 32 years ago, the clan was reportedly destroyed by an unknown Nin. The only known survivor was your mother and even that fact is kept secret. This may be a trap, but I highly doubt it because of what it says. Here, read it." She tossed it to him. "They are inviting both you and your mother to come and train you for five years in the Kenbu-do. Do you now what that is?"
The boy though about the word's meaning. "Some sword style?"
"Not just any. Back when I was young, the Uzumaki's were a feared clan because their swordsmanship was so skilled and advanced. It was said that if one became a master of this style, the Way of the Dancing Sword, then they would become practically invincible. Now, since your mother has passed on, I would like you to choose someone to take with you on this trip, preferably a female friend of yours since they are expecting two people and one of them a girl. Make your decision soon because the clan's correspondent will be at the gates on Friday, so that's three days from now. They will be there at 9 AM to keep themselves from being tracked. Tell not a soul about this unless you plan on asking them to come with you. You're dismissed, but get back to me by Thursday with who you are bringing, if you are bringing anybody."
Naruto bounded out of the office, knowing already who he was going to ask. He found her as always, next to Sasuke's bed. As far as he could tell, she was always at his bedside. Sasuke still hadn't awakened from his coma after being put into one by his much hated older brother, Itachi.
"Sakura-chan!" the boy yelled when he opened the hospital door.
"Shhh! Naruto could you be any louder?" she turned and whispered. "You don't want to disturb Sasuke-kun, do you?"
His voice dropped to the same level as hers. "Sorry. I wanted to know if you would like to go on a five year training trip with me. We'd-"
"ARE YOU CRAZY!?" Sakura screeched, abandoning her former rule. "Why would I want to do that?! And especially you of all people!"
Naruto looked down at his feet. "Oh well um I thought you might've wanted to because we'd be training with my-" His face met the floor before he could finish.
"With who?" she said standing over him. "That pervert of a sensei you had for a while there? No! My answer is no! I won't leave Sasuke-kun, unlike you Naruto!" Sakura yelled down at him. She sat back down and turned back to the sleeping Uchiha prodigy she hoped to have someday.
Naruto dragged himself up. "S-s-sorr-"
"Whatever. I don't want to hear it, you Team 7 traitor." She waved him off not seeing Naruto scowling behind her.
"That's it." He growled. "You know what Sakura? If you want Sasuke-teme so much then you can have him and his bastard children if he lets you. Oh and for your information, I'm not the traitor of Team 7...Its YOU! When you finally realize that, then maybe you'll stop being a total bitch to me! I give you everything I have and what do you give me? Not a single credit for what I have done! I saved BOTH you and your precious god's asses and lives when I defeated that Gaara! You could have at least thanked me for that!" yelled Naruto, shocking Sakura as he left the room slamming the door behind him not caring anymore about the pink haired excuse of a kunochi.
He glumly went out the Hospital main door feeling utterly defeated that Sakura turned him down despite the fact he had let some of the frustration off his chest. He thought about how she had said what she said. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he exited the hospital and looked at his feet. 'She said she won't leave Sasuke. Man, she's so deeply into him that now that I think about I never had a chance. Oh well, I suppose when Sasuke treats her like dirt she'll understand its how I feel when she did it to me.' Naruto thought as he stared blankly ahead.
He made his way through the thin crowd of villagers, letting his feet take him wherever they pleased. Eventually, they led him to Ichiraku Ramen where he sat down and had a bowl of ramen to clear his head.
"Hey, Naruto-kun, you look like something's on your mind." Teuchi stood behind the counter drying a bowl.
"Yeah. The girl I really liked and who also happens to be my teammate just turned me down. It was something really important to me too and she didn't even let me finish explaining."
The old man chuckled. "Ah the old game of love. Fortunately I won and was rewarded for a beautiful wife and daughter."
Naruto stared at his reflection in his bowl. "Not helping."
Teuchi shook his head. "Naruto, how long have you been going after this girl?"
"About two or three years."
"That's two or three years too long. You should've started looking elsewhere ages ago. There's plenty of other fish in the sea that could appreciate you."
The boy snorted. "Yeah right. You know what happened all those years ago on my birthday, on October 10. They would think I'm… you know… that."
The man shook his head again. "Naruto, I know that fact about you and do I chase you away from my ramen stand? No. I know that you are Naruto and not something else. Besides, when I first saw you, I thought I had déjà vu of this other blonde kid who looked exactly like you that I serve in the early days of this business. My first impression was that you were just an ordinary boy that loved ramen but then one of my customers told me you were the special child. Then I realized how wrong they were of judging you. The same goes with that girl you like, whoever she is. She doesn't see how good you really are and when she does, it will be too late."
Naruto looked at him questioningly. "Too late for what?"
"Hopefully by that time you will have given up on her and you'll be with someone who deserves and really appreciates a guy like you more. Just look around and see who has been nice to you all this time. I'm sure that there's at least one girl out there right now that does, even if she doesn't show it."
Naruto finished his ramen, stood up and took out some ryu to pay for his bowl. "Thanks Teuchi-san. I needed that." He waved his hand and walked out from under the flap. "See ya."
The man collected his money. "Bye Naruto-kun."
The sun had gone down a great deal during their 'man to man' talk. The boy walked eastward into the nicer part of town where there were less people by far. As he passed an old clan complex, something caught his eye. He stopped and looked at it, then at the wall. On it, there was a symbol that looked almost exactly like the one sown on his father's hitai-ate. Instantly, Naruto's mind clicked, making the connection, but the body began to run away, a single name running through his mind.
'Hinata!'
A/N: Sorry about the Sakura bashing. I like her, I really and truly do, but it was for the sake of the story. Wahhh I'm so sorry, Sakura-chan! You will find redemption in Gaara-kun!
Kushina? Jumping all over the place while writing? Sure, wouldn't you if you were making a time capsule for your child who you were unintentionally going to abandon? Plus, not being able to sleep all night because you had a gazillion thoughts running through your head?
Yay! I'm soooo happy!!! I'm going to the AAU New Jersey State Karate Championships, in the Advanced division (3 plus years of training, I've been training for 7-8 years) as a brown belt and going to kick some ass! Then Regionals, then maybe even Nationals... Ohhh I can't wait!!!! -jumps up and down excitedly-
Now, things are being set in motion. For the story, at least.
USD
Next chapter: Naruto and Hinata leave, but they leave more behind than they thought.