A/N
First, I forgot to say this last chapter, but I don't own Naruto.
Second, this chapter is not going to be funny. Next chapter will, but not this one. It gets a little gory/violent up ahead, so skip that part if you want. But it's not too bad.
Also, I completely pulled Hinata's new ability out of my ass. It's not really realistic, but it was cool so I went with it.
Enjoy!
Chapter 2
Hanabi still remembered the first time Naruto had introduced himself as their new sensei. She had been unconvinced. This is the guy who defeated Neji? This is the guy who saved the village? This is the guy who saved the world in the Fourth Shinobi World War? Initially, Naruto had just struck her as a loud, happy, hyper blonde. Cheerful, but scatter-brained.
But he also had a certain aura about him. He had that way of subconsciously drawing the eyes of everyone in the room when he entered. People would shut up when he talked, even if he was saying something stupid.
It hadn't been until their first C-rank mission that Hanabi had seen how dangerous Naruto could really be. They had been escorting a caravan down a mountain pass when cries filled the air. On either side of the pass, bandits had come running down the slope.
The smiling, joking Naruto-sensei Hanabi had known had disappeared. He had quietly given orders, issuing them quickly and confidently. Each order was followed immediately, without hesitation. Each genin had protected a side of the caravan, even though there wasn't much to protect from. Naruto had taken out most of the bandits by himself, before they could even reach the caravan.
When she'd turned her Byakugan he'd lit up like a second sun, so bright that she'd instinctively averted her eyes.
Afterwards Naruto had scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, "I meant to let you guys fight more of them, to get some combat experience." He laughed. "I guess I got protective and went a little overboard."
Hanabi had never made the mistake of underestimating him again.
She squirmed against the ropes uselessly, frustrated that she couldn't reach her chakra. She fought down the rising panic.
Please hurry, Sensei!
xxxx
10 minutes earlier
Hinata looked around quickly, searching for Hanabi's chakra signature. There. She finally found it, almost at the edge of her Byakugan's range. Hinata tried to force down the rising panic.
She turned to Ken. "Go get Naruto. Now." Her voice was sharp, layered with anxiety and tension. Ken moved immediately.
She focused her chakra into her fists. She pictured the shape she wanted, willing it into existence. It started with two lion heads on the ends of her fists. Then the body followed, resulting in a fully sized two-headed lion standing in front of her, made purely of chakra.
She quickly hopped onto its back, and yelled "Go!"
xxxx
"Hinata-sensei went after them but..." Ken said.
"Who's them?" Naruto interrupted.
"Shinobi. That's all Hinata-sensei could figure out before she left. Then she sent me to come find you."
"Okay. Lee, find Neji and Hokage-sama and tell them both everything." Lee dashed off. "The rest of you are dismissed."
With that Naruto's chakra suddenly flared, and he had a yellow cloak of chakra around him. Ken knew that this meant he was using the Kyuubi's chakra.
Naruto closed his eyes and searched for Hinata's familiar chakra. It took him longer than he would've liked, but he found it, anxiety pouring off of her in waves. Beyond her he felt the same anxiety from Hanabi.
There was a yellow flash of chakra, and then he was off, streaking through the woods.
xxxx
The lion sped through the woods. It's true that ninja can travel extremely fast by augmenting their jumps with chakra, but Hinata's lion was faster.
She examined the enemy shinobi as she started catching up to Hanabi's chakra signature. There were 10 of them, and judging by their smooth chakra coils and large reserves, experienced chunin to high jonin.
Not good.
But it didn't matter. She needed to slow them down, or stop them, as soon as possible. It would be very bad if they reached the border.
The 10 shinobi were spread out in a line, in groups of two. Hanabi was in the second group of two. That meant there were probably sensor types at the front and rear of the column. Sure enough, the last two split off at that moment, waiting for her.
That means they probably have some kind of delaying mechanism. I need to be careful.
Hinata was rapidly approaching the two Jonin. With her Byakugan she could see that one of them was chewing something in his mouth. Right as she approached the clearing he spat out a giant web.
Quickly she directed the lion left, avoiding the web. She dismounted with a back flip, landing neatly on a tree branch. She willed the lion to focus on the Shinobi with the webs, and gave it a simple command, "Attack."
The lion wouldn't stand much of a chance without her directing it, but it would buy her some time. She sprang towards the ninja on the left, who drew a kunai.
They circled each other warily. He sneered when he saw her Byakugan. "Another Hyuuga, huh? How cute. Now we can get two Byakugans instead of one."
Hinata chose not to respond. She danced forward, dodging his kunai strike. Quickly, she struck him in the chest, sending him flying backwards. His back hit a tree, and she dashed forward to finish him off.
He swung downwards wildly with his kunai, and Hinata knocked it out of his hand. She didn't see his companion's approach until it was almost too late. Quickly she grabbed the first guy's jacket, and spun around, placing his body in front of hers just in time to take his companions kunai in the chest.
The second man stared in shock, then met her eyes over his companion's shoulder. "You killed Cato you little bitch!" His eyes turned mad with anger as Cato dropped to the ground, lifeless.
Hinata decided not to point out that it had been, in fact, him who had killed Cato.
Quickly, Hinata tried to back away to create space, only to have her back hit the tree. The man lunged forward, stabbing. She leaped to the side just in time for the kunai to stick in the tree. She jumped away as the man ripped the kunai out of tree, turning to face her.
She waited until he was just the right distance away, then spun, releasing chakra from all over her body. "Kaiten!"
The spinning chakra picked up the unfortunate ninja and threw him headfirst into a nearby tree. There was an audible snap as his neck broke.
Hinata glanced at the limp bodies on the ground, the taste of bile entering her mouth. What a waste. A plaintive growl brought her attention to where her chakra lion was completely ensnared.
The lion hung a couple feet in the air, looking at her, trapped between four large webs. The lion's heads had bitten through all the web it could get at, leaving a hole in the thick webbing through which it stared at her. It almost seemed to be asking her, "You planning on doing something or should I just hang here?"
Hinata examined the thick webbing, trying to decide the best way to free the lion. After a moment, she decided that there was no way to quickly free the lion without breaking it's chakra flow, and thus dispersing the lion.
Walking forward, Hinata stuck her hands through the hole the lion had bitten through. She stuck her fists onto the side of the lion, and sucked the chakra back into her body. The only risk with this was that if she did it too quickly she risked chakra overflow, and if she did it too slowly the lion might dispel before she collected the chakra.
But it worked perfectly this time, and feeling slightly jittery at the amount of chakra in her body, she quickly focused and created the lion for the second time.
Hopping on its back, she commanded it forward urgently. I've wasted too much time already.
The lion knelt low to the ground, and sped through the forest, kicking up leaves with the wind from its passage.
Within a few minutes Hinata had almost caught up to the group of ninja. They were still traveling in pairs of two. Hinata directed the lion up into the trees, where it began to leap from limb to limb. If she was lucky, they wouldn't notice her presence, and she could take out the closest pair before they even knew she was there.
No such luck. There was an exclamation from the front of the column, and Hinata felt her heart drop as the ninja in front halted.
They gathered together in a small clearing, eight ninja turning to look at her. At the same time, the leader dropped down to the forest floor carrying a bundle on his shoulder, which he set down in front of him. He twisted the bundle to face her.
Hinata felt her throat catch as she recognized Hanabi. The girl was wrapped almost completely in rope up to her neck. A chakra sealing note was stuck to her forehead.
Hinata met Hanabi's eyes. Emotions flashed in the younger girl's eyes. First hope and relief when she saw Hinata, which quickly turned into confusion. That melted into terror as she realized that Hinata was alone. Then her eyes finally settled into despair, and her head sunk down into her chest.
Hanabi knew that Hinata couldn't take all these Ninja herself. It doesn't matter. I just have to stall till Naruto gets here. Hinata thought.
The man holding Hanabi was tall, probably 6'4 at least. He had spiky black hair, shining with sweat. He had a black eye patch over his left eye, and a short, prickly beard. His forehead protector was wrapped around his bicep, and Hinata noticed that it had a line through the cloud symbol. A missing-nin then.
His smile was wicked, more of a leer than a smile, and his right eye pierced her, roaming her body as if evaluating cattle.
The leader laughed. "Well, well...what do we have here? Another Hyuuga? Come to rescue your relative perhaps?" The leader laughed again. "And all by yourself too...I must say that strikes me as a very poor decision." He said the last part with a very mocking tone.
"I didn't ask." Hinata retorted sharply. The ninja in the trees laughed.
"Well I suppose we can skip the pleasantries." The man said, smile never faltering. "I'll tell you your options from here. One, you can change your mind and try to run, in which case my men capture you, and we take two Hyuuga to Kumo. Two, you can try to fight us. In which case, I'll kill your sister right here, and then take you to Kumo instead."
If they're missing-nin then why are they returning to Kumo?
His grin widened. "Or the final option; you can come willingly, in which case you'll both live to see another day. And in return I'll go out of my way to make sure none of my men get too...friendly on our journey." The men in the trees laughed wickedly.
Hinata considered spitting at the man, but decided against it.
"What happens if I take the fourth option?" She asked.
"The fourth option?" The man asked, still smiling, still playing his game.
"Yeah. What happens if I stay right here?" She asked, pointing down to the branch she was standing on.
xxxx
Naruto had to forcibly restrain himself from going any faster. After all, it wouldn't do Hinata or Hanabi any good if he smashed himself into a pulp against a tree.
He had been monitoring the chase the only way he could; through Hinata's emotions. He could sense the other's emotions too, but it was harder. He had noticed two of the shinobi split off to stall Hinata. He had felt relief when he felt the two shinobi vanish. Then he had felt Hinata's disgust, something he was all too familiar with.
He had sensed her fear when the eight ninja had stopped, confront her. He had sensed the turmoil of emotions from Hanabi, and the slight despair Hinata had felt in response. Then the emotions had stopped as she gathered her resolve.
Then Naruto felt her relief as he entered the Byakugan's range. Hold on Hinata I'm almost there!
xxxx
The men in the trees laughed.
The man grinned. "Why, that's easy. We capture you and take you with us, of course."
"Hmmm, I doubt that." Hinata stated.
"Yeah? Why's that?" The man said smiling.
"Sir!" One of the men shouted from above. "Uh-"
"Because there's a new player in this game." Hinata said. A second later, Naruto appeared beside her on the branch in a flash of yellow.
Naruto was wearing a black jacket, navy blue pants that stopped at his ankles, and his black sandals.
He tied his forehead protector tighter, surveying the situation quickly, then stared down at the leader. "You. Release the girl. Then maybe I'll let you and your men live." His voice was deep, deadly and serious.
The man barked a laugh, and then pulled out a kunai which he held against Hanabi's throat. "How about you turn around and return to your little village, or I kill the girl here."
Naruto snorted. "Wrong answer. I suppose I should've just listened to Kurama in the first place. He's been trying to tell me-"
The temperature suddenly seemed to drop drastically. Hinata shivered when Naruto's voice changed as the Kyuubi's voice mixed and joined with Naruto's voice.
"The only unforgivable sin in the eyes of an Alpha-"
Naruto was emitting so much chakra the air was actually starting to change color. It was tinged red, and the air became stifling and heavy.
"Is attacking their pack..."
A massive killing intent froze everyone in their tracks. If it'd been directed at her Hinata probably would've hurled. Hanabi immediately passed out, caught right in the crossfire.
"And the punishment is death!"
In that second Naruto appeared on the ground, grasping the leader's wrist in his right hand. With his left hand he punched the man, crushing his face like a soda can and sending him flying backwards.
Naruto appeared back up on the branch and handed Hanabi's unmoving form to Hinata. Hinata took her quickly, and laid her at her feet, the branch beginning to bow a little under the weight of three people.
Naruto called upon even more of the Kyuubi's chakra, making sure to keep some of it inside his body. Slowly he could feel his nails elongating into long, thick claws, his hair lengthening, his whisker marks deepening.
"Hinata, don't watch." He growled softly.
Hinata ignored that. If Naruto was going to kill all these ninja, the least she could do was watch. A true kunoichi wouldn't look away.
So she kept her Byakugan on, kneeling to release Hanabi, watching as Naruto appeared behind the first ninja in the trees.
With a swift jerk of his hands he had broken the man's neck. The second ninja was young, barely older than Naruto. Naruto head-butted him viciously, breaking his nose, and leaving him dazed and in shock in a tree.
With a single swipe of his claws Naruto disemboweled the third man, leaving the man to watch as his life literally slid through his hands.
The other ninja started to unfreeze, and began to try to run. Not a single one of them made it more than 10 yards. Hinata forced herself to watch as the ninja were ruthlessly slaughtered, one after the other.
Naruto walked back over to the Leader, who was dying, unable to breathe properly. His face looked like a grapefruit that had been smashed with a baseball bat. He ripped the man's throat out with a swipe of his claws, ending the man's misery. Then he shook his hands, sending blood flying. He released the Kurama's chakra, feeling the power recede.
Naruto felt an itch in his hands as the claws receded, the weight taken off his neck as the extra hair fell to the ground. A sharp pain on his cheek accompanied the closing of his scars.
He jumped back up to the branch Hinata was kneeling on.
Hinata met his sad, blue eyes. "I told you not to watch." He said softly. He had of course, felt her horror, felt her sorrow as he slaughtered the ninja like cattle.
"You left one." She said softly, ignoring his comment.
"I know." Naruto said, stripping off his jacket, leaving him in a white undershirt. His sleeves were covered in gore up to the elbows, and his jacket was ruined. He tried to swipe off some of the blood on his hands and wrists with the inside of the jacket, then tossed it aside.
Hinata picked Hanabi up in her arms, bridal style. They didn't say anything else the entire way back to the village.
xxxx
Neji met them at the gate, cool, as always. He glanced at Naruto's bloody hands, impassive. Then he offered to carry Hanabi.
Hinata shook her head, keeping Hanabi in her arms.
"Neji." Naruto said, his voice serious. "Tell Hokage-sama that there are 9 bodies northeast of the village. If they have a sensor ninja, the ANBU won't have any trouble finding the scene."
Because the Kyuubi's chakra is still hanging heavily in the air. The words remained unspoken.
Technically, Naruto wasn't the Hokage yet, so Neji didn't have to follow orders. But he also knew better than to argue with Naruto when he was serious, so he nodded and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
Naruto made a handseal, and three clones appeared, scattering to run off in different directions.
The sun was starting to set over the village as they jumped over roofs to the Hyuuga compound. The last rays of sunlight lit up the clouds red and orange, and sent long shadows stretching across the village.
They arrived in front of the Hyuuga compound, and the guards waved them through. The walls were bleached white, completely devoid of color. There was just one word to describe the Hyuuga compound; plain. It reminded Naruto more of a barracks than a home.
Hinata carried Hanabi to her room, and Naruto took a few minutes to scrub all the blood off his hands in the bathroom.
When he entered Hanabi's room he saw that she had been set down on her bedroll. Bedroll? What the hell kind of place is this...
Hinata was sitting next to her, holding her hand. Naruto walked over and sat next to her, at Hanabi's side. Just then, Hanabi's eyes started to flutter.
She opened her eyes. "What...where..." She sat up suddenly, or tried to, her memory returning.
"Shhhh." Hinata said, her hand on Hanabi's shoulder, pinning her to the floor. "It's fine. It's okay, everything's alright now." She squeezed Hanabi's hand. "You've had a pretty hectic day. Just try and sleep it off."
Naruto felt a lump form in his throat, watching them.
Hanabi's eyes traveled to Hinata's face. "Nee-san?...I feel like crap."
Hinata laughed softly. "You better not let father hear you talking like that."
Hanabi smiled in response, her head already dropping back on the bedroll. Her head rolled to the side, and she relaxed into sleep.
Naruto sat stunned. She fell asleep that fast? She hadn't even seen him.
Hinata turned to him, her eyes searching his. Then all of a sudden a dam broke, and Hinata's eyes started tearing up. His senses were assaulted with a plethora of emotions; fear, relief, panic, sorrow, anxiety, anger, horror, gratitude, exhaustion.
How can one person contain so many emotions and not explode? Naruto wondered.
She choked out a sob, and latched on to him. For a split second Naruto thought he was being assaulted, then he realized it was a hug. She had thrown her arms around his neck, and firmly planted her forehead against his chest.
Except Naruto was pretty sure hugs were supposed to end. This one wasn't. And his neck was starting to seriously hurt. So instead of shoving her off, he did the only other thing he could think of. He put his hands on her waist, and pulled her up a little, then gently lowered his back to the floor, wrapping his arms around her lower back.
Hinata didn't even notice.
A detached part of his personality watched with interest as her emotions started disappearing one at a time, as Hinata dealt with them. First, the panic vanished when she had latched on to Naruto. Then the fear disappeared next.
The other part of his personality tried very hard to think about something other than the fact that Hinata was lying on top of him. Right on top of him. He tried not to think about the fact that her...chest was pressing firmly against his ribcage. He tried not to think about the fact that one of her legs had ended up entangled around one of his own. He tried not to think about how unbelievably soft her body was.
It wasn't working very well, so Naruto got out his mental sledgehammer and pounded those thoughts into submission. He locked them away under lock and key, determined to avoid them. After all, dwelling on any of those things would probably lead to a very embarrassing situation.
So instead he tried concentrating on how cold her arms were around his neck. When that didn't work, he looked at her shining midnight blue hair.
And that's how he found out about how unbelievably good her hair smelled. It didn't smell like any one particular thing. It smelled like... the air after a summer thunderstorm. Or the smell of his apartment when he got to open all the windows for the first time every spring, letting out the stale winter air and letting in the new, fresh air.
If there was one word he could've used to describe it, it would've been refreshing. He had to stop himself from inhaling deeply through his nose, trying to explore the scent completely.
Wait. Too late, he realized that he had already done just that. He blushed in mortification, waiting for Hinata to laugh at him, or look at him weird and tell him to get lost.
But it seemed that she was still too busy battling her emotions, because she didn't move.
xxxx
Hinata finally succeeded in bludgeoning away the last of her emotions, leaving her empty and exhausted. She could practically fall asleep right now, after all she was warm and comfortable, snug against Naruto.
Against Naruto!
Hinata emitted a loud squeak, pulling away from him suddenly. Naruto sat up, looking curiously at Hinata, who had backed away from him on her feet till she reached the wall.
She stared at him, petrified."Did I...t-tackle you?" Hinata asked, her stutter creeping back in.
Naruto laughed. "Well...not exactly. You didn't knock me over, anyway." He said, nervously scratching the back of his neck.
His response left her confused, but she was so embarrassed she immediately casted around for a new subject. "Naruto-kun...why did you leave that one man alive?" She asked, pulling on a thought that had been bothering her.
Naruto sobered immediately, his face falling behind an impenetrable mask. He lay back down, staring at the ceiling. Naruto examined his memories, and he felt his chest empty, as if his heart was hiding; too ashamed to poke it's head out.
"Someday, I want the whole world to understand each other. I want to put an end to all the wars, to the cycle of hatred that's tearing this world apart." He took a deep breath. "I don't think kids should be trained as killers before they can even legally drink."
"But those are huge goals. A radical change." He took a deep breath.
"One time, when we were fighting with Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei told me not to give my life away for Sasuke. Because if I did, I could never become Hokage."
"In return I asked him, 'How can I become Hokage if I can't even save one friend?'" Naruto smiled sadly. "The same principal applies to my new goals. How can I hope to save the world if I can't even protect Konoha, the village I live in?"
Hinata listened intently, not saying a word.
"As Hokage," Naruto continued, "it's my job to protect Konoha. And I intend to do the best job I can do. I'll use every weapon in my disposal." His voice turned cold as ice. "Including fear. That man today was barely older than us. I left him in shock, to wake up among his battered, ripped, torn, and very dead comrades."
Naruto's voice turned bitter. "I left that man alive today so that he can tell every missing-nin on the continent what happens when you mess with Konoha. So he can spread the stories about the rampaging Kyuubi running loose around Konoha, preying on those unfortunate enough to provoke it's anger."
Naruto closed his eyes, suddenly tired. He wanted to lift his head up, to judge Hinata's reaction to his words, but he was afraid of what he would see. The horror in her eyes, or the confusion as she told him she didn't know him anymore. Or the anger, as she called him a heartless bastard, and yelled at him to get out.
"I think you'll make an excellent Hokage, Naruto-sama." Hinata said softly.
The honorific, as well as her tone, conveyed nothing but respect. Naruto's eyes opened, and he lifted his head up to look at her, his eyebrows shooting up. Even her eyes conveyed nothing but respect, a small smile on her lips as she observed his shock.
Her smile fell a little. "However...I think you should rethink your strategy a little."
Naruto smiled in relief. He should've known better than to doubt Hinata. "Go on."
"The Hokage isn't just the protector of the village. He's also a public figure, the living symbol for Konoha. He's the guy everyone in the village looks up to, and the man people trust when things go wrong. That's why... I think you should be careful."
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.
"I understand that as Hokage you may have to make some...unpleasant decisions. But as Hokage, you don't want those things tainting your name. I think you should find someone you can trust who you can rely on to handle the more...unsavory side of protecting a village."
"You mean like Danzo did for the Third!" Naruto exclaimed, making the connection.
"That's where I got the idea." Hinata said, smiling.
"I get it...yeah you're probably right. I hadn't thought about it that way." Naruto said, scanning Hinata's eyes. Sometimes it was easy to forget how smart Hinata was.
He settled his head back on the floor, "Who should I ask though? ...Neji?...Sai? No..." He mumbled to himself.
A loud rumble split the air.
Naruto sat up, turning his head quickly back and forth, looking for the source of the loud noise.
Hinata laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. She pointed to Naruto's stomach.
"Oh... I didn't realize until just now how hungry I was." He said, rubbing his stomach.
He sobered, looking at Hinata. Her laughter stopped, changing to wariness as she eyed his expression.
"Hey... wanna go get something to eat with me?" He asked, turning a little red.
Hinata giggled. Naruto could stare down 8 elite shinobi like it was nothing, but he got nervous asking her to dinner.
"I'd love to." She said, shyly tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
They got up, and Naruto held the door for Hinata as she walked through. Then they walked down the hallway side by side. Without even thinking about it, Naruto took her hand in his. It just...felt right.
Normally, Naruto couldn't sense positive emotions very well. But the emotion Hinata was emitting was so strong, and so pure, that Naruto couldn't help but feel it. It was happiness.