lostmoonchild: Thanks for the reviews, everybody! I actualy got to thinking with that scene that Sasuke would still have people supporting him even though he ditched Konoha whereas Naruto would still have people that hate him despite being a Jinchuuriki loyal to Konoha. Anybody else think that's totally messed up? So anyway, here's the chapter and I hope you guys enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto so don't sue.
Chapter Ten
"You're actually going to discuss it with Lady Hokage?" Sai questioned patiently as he looked at Naruto.
"Sure. Everybody else she got placed with ended up doing something to mess her up even more and now she can almost pass off as a normal kid." Naruto replied simply. "I just got to thinking that I might as well adopt her so she doesn't get placed with anybody that'll mess her up. I don't care if you guys want to take her for a few days cause I know you guys aren't gonna mess her up."
Kakashi inwardly sighed as Hisoka pulled his mask off only to make a face when she saw that there was another mask on. It was amusing to watch her try to see his face and he nearly laughed when she kicked her feet in frustration. "We've already tried that when we were kids, Hisoka-chan." Sakura laughed.
"Of course Sasuke-teme wasn't interested until we started pushing the right buttons." Naruto remembered with a grin.
"We? I think it was you that started pushing his buttons." Sakura shot back. "I was just your first victim in the button pushing."
"Of course and naturally he gave in cause I'm that awesome."
Hisoka smiled as she stared at Naruto before trying again to get the mask off of Kakashi. "That's enough." Kakashi told her finally. "The mask is on for a reason."
Immediately the girl stopped and went back to her dinner. It was always interesting to see if she couldn't one day get the mask off of Kakashi's face although some part of her wondered why she always kept his eye closed when she got his headband away from his eye. "Do you think Tsunade will agree?" Sakura questioned.
The look on the blonde's face told them that he wasn't entirely positive. "She's worried about Hisoka cause of what's storing itself in her chakra reserves." Naruto sighed. "Her little fit during her last doctor's appointment didn't help out any."
Immediately the girl's cheeks turned red at the memory. The doctor had tried to give her a shot but of course it was a doctor that just didn't feel right so she had tried to get the doctor away. One minute the doctor was there and the next…
"You swear you didn't teach her how to give a chakra enforced punch?" Sai questioned patiently as he looked at Sakura.
"I doubt anybody's been working on chakra control with Hisoka." Naruto said with a sigh as he watched Hisoka eat as if she weren't listening. "Hell, she didn't even touch him but there was one hell of a flare of chakra."
It was easy to pretend that she couldn't hear Naruto talking about what had happened since she hadn't even really thought about it. All she knew was that it had built up, she had been threatened, and now there was barely any left in her body. Now Tsunade wanted to run a few tests to "eliminate a possibility" but she didn't know what it was.
Sai watched silently as Hisoka's thumb immediately retreated to her mouth as the worry showed in her gray eyes. It was obvious that she was scared of something but he couldn't immediately determine what it was. Was it possible that she was worrying about whatever it was that Tsunade might find? Did the girl know what it was or didn't she know?
Naruto looked at his young charge and gave her a bright smile. "It'll be okay, Hi-Hi. Just keep your chin up and keep going no matter what anybody says or does."
It was strange hearing Naruto sounding smart but Sakura supposed that he might as well at least attempt to apply himself. It was almost painful to know that there was someone actually dependant on Naruto for survival and comfort, requiring him to be aware of the subtle signs at all times but at the same time there was comfort to be found. She knew full well that Naruto had his own problems to work through but having someone that needed him could help him heal the wounds that had refused to heal over the years.
When lunch had ended, Naruto held onto Hisoka's hand and grinned at her as if telling her that everything would be okay. "Well, we're gonna do some grocery shopping. Hisoka's running low on that nasty milk."
"It's good." Hisoka insisted with a small stomp of her foot.
While it was fun to tease her a little, the blonde knew how far to push before she got upset. "Yeah, okay. The thing about opinions, Hi-Hi, is that everybody's entitled to their own. You can explain why you feel the way you do about your opinion while respecting the other person's." Naruto explained. "It's not easy especially if the person makes you mad or upset." Suddenly he grinned. "If the person makes you mad enough though and you wanna hit them, give 'em a smooch. That'll really shock the heck outta them."
Just when the advice was starting to sound nothing like him, Naruto had to throw in something that nobody would expect. "You're weird." Hisoka told him with a confident look.
"He's Konoha's number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja." Kakashi told her lightly as they left.
They had all picked up how to sign knowing that it was pointless to be around the girl when her only method of communication was signing to the world what she wanted or needed. "So you're still good on clothes, huh?" Sakura questioned.
"Yeah. She's starting to outgrow a couple of outfits but I'm not worried seeing as her clothes managed to spill over into my closet."
Hisoka grinned at Naruto before suddenly stopping and staring into the crowd. She could feel her stomach twisting and turning, feeling as if there was something far too hot in her belly. There was someone watching them and they gave her a bad feeling. "What's wrong?" Sakura questioned as their eyes followed the little girl's line of vision.
She didn't know. How could she tell them if she didn't know? If she did know and she told them, what would happen? "Hisoka-chan?" Sai questioned patiently.
Tears began to gather in her eyes before an orange covering darkened her world and she was surrounded by Naruto's scent. "Easy, it's okay." Naruto said softly as she was held in his arms. "We'll wait until you actually run out of milk before we go anywhere. How's that sound? We'll just go home."
A couple taps on his shoulder told the blonde that his young charge wasn't going to argue. "You want us to come with, Naruto-kun?" Sai questioned.
"Nah. I'll just keep her head covered and get her back home." Naruto grinned. "See you guys later."
As they watched the two take off back towards the apartment, the group looked at each other. Something had set the little girl off and they needed to determine what.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
Dark eyes scanned the darkened room for a brief moment, taking note of the large bookcase and pile of stuffed toys in one corner. He wouldn't have thought for a moment that the dobe was even capable of locating any books that had nothing to do with porn but there was obvious proof that he was capable. Hell, he was surprised that the idiot was actually capable of taking care of someone without flying off the handle about something.
Sasuke was silent as he watched the little girl sleeping in front of him and raised an eyebrow when he saw the stuffed fox that was pressed against her chest. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen the look of peace on her face or even if he had ever seen the gentle smile that showed on her face at whatever she was dreaming of. Every smile he had seen was clearly a fake one unless she truly was grateful about whatever kind whim they decided to have.
He watched as she shifted slightly in her sleep, her thumb finding its way into her mouth. While he could tell that she was being taken care of here, he couldn't leave her with the dobe. He needed to take her with him. Konoha couldn't have her and he'd be damned if he just stepped aside. Without saying a word, Sasuke made the few hand signs he'd need to ensure that the girl didn't awaken.
Carefully picking the girl up out of her bed, Sasuke raised an eyebrow. She must have weighed at least ten to fifteen pounds more than when he had last seen her. What in the hell was the dobe feeding her that could make something so small weight so damn much? No matter. At least now he was fairly certain that she wasn't going to die on him.
Silently moving to the window, Sasuke glanced back before taking off with the dead asleep child safely in his arms.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
Neji couldn't complain when patrol was dull but at the moment he wished that there was something going on. He hadn't been on a fairly decent mission in a while that actually challenged him and it was making him antsy. He wanted action but at the same time he didn't want to chance anything.
He stopped when he sensed someone's chakra moving towards him and raised an eyebrow before heading towards the individual. His eyes widened when he saw it was Sasuke and immediately he prepared to attack. "You might want to rethink that, Hyuuga." Sasuke said coolly. "I've got a hostage right here and it'd be a shame if she were to 'accidentally' have a weapon inserted into her throat."
Somehow he didn't doubt that the Uchiha would stab the unconscious girl in the throat. "Why the fascination with her, Uchiha?" Neji questioned.
"Is that really your business?"
"You're attempting to kidnap a citizen of Konoha. That makes it my business."
Sasuke smirked in reply before attacking the brunette, his eyes flashing crimson in the darkness. There was no way he was going to let the Hyuuga prodigy take away the girl. She was his and no one else's. Even with that knowledge Sasuke knew full well that Neji wouldn't do anything to jeopardize the girl's life or safety. He'd just do whatever he could and hope that one of his plans got the girl from him.
How many plans, Sasuke wondered, would work to get the girl away from him when his Sharingan was going at full speed? He knew that Neji knew full well that all of his attacks would be slowed down and memorized, forever burned into his brain. All of his best attacks couldn't be done in fear of harming the girl and the weak attacks would be easily countered. "You might as well give up. There's no point in trying to defeat me when you know that you don't stand a chance." Sasuke informed Neji with a smirk.
Neji thought carefully as he looked at the Uchiha, his white eyes focusing on the dead asleep girl. He knew there was no way anybody could sleep that heavily without being related by blood to Naruto but even then he was fairly certain that the blonde would have awoken by the constant jumping around and being jarred. No, the Uchiha must have done something to ensure that she'd stay unconscious but what had he done?
Suddenly an idea hit the brunette as he looked at Sasuke. The Uchiha was expecting complicated attempts so what if he decided to go for the simple attempts? There'd be no way in hell he'd be expecting that one seeing as he was a Jounin and from the reports that had been received, the Uchiha was possibly at a Jounin's level as well. "You'd better hope Naruto doesn't get his hands on you, Uchiha." Neji informed Sasuke. "You'll be a dead man if he does."
The two shinobi fought against each other, one painstakingly avoiding any harm to the unconscious civilian while the other made it a point to use the unconscious girl as a shield. It was a coward's way, both knew, but they both also could see that it was giving Sasuke the desired result.
Knowing he had one shot, Neji braced himself before making the proper hand signs and applying the correct amount of chakra. With his plan now in place, Neji smirked as he watched Sasuke's reaction as he blended into the trees. He knew the plan would be obvious but that was exactly what he was counting on.
Sasuke snorted in disgust at the knowledge that he had been caught in a genjutsu and smirked to himself as he set the girl down on a tree branch, placing one foot on her head in warning. "Release!"
Nothing seemed to change and suddenly the air sang as several weapons came flying at him. Sasuke had no time to grab Hisoka as he jumped back, his eyes widening as he stared at the little girl now turned pincushion. No, wait a minute. That wasn't the girl.
Anger crossed the Uchiha's face as he watched the smoke clear away revealing a small log. So the Hyuuga decided that a replacement jutsu within a genjutsu was the best method of attack, huh? That just left the question of where he put the real little girl and where Neji was currently hiding.
Deciding that the girl wasn't worth getting caught or killed at the moment, Sasuke snorted in disgust before running as fast as he could away from the area knowing that he was being watched and that within minutes he'd have the hunter-nin going after him once again. In due time he knew he'd reclaim what was his but for now he'd settle with the knowledge that there would always be somebody willing to resort to every trick in the book just to protect the little monster.
Sooner or later he knew that the defense around her would drop and when it did, he'd be sure to use her to locate the rest of the Bijuu and destroy everybody that opposed him once and for all.
lostmoonchild: I don't know about you guys but I just felt that there needed to be at least one Neji vs. Sasuke fight in this fic. It just seemed right for some reason so it got thrown in there although I do admit that I was talking out loud while doing that scene. It's not the first time that's happened and I know it won't be the last time. I'll see you guys next week so to all you dads (or even moms that are filling the dad role): Happy Father's Day!