Hey everyone
Sorry, I just started school yesterday so I didn't get the chance to write and post this chapter.
I don't remember if I mentioned it, but I plan on ending at chapter 30 this story. I do plan on writing a sequel, but I'm finding it hard to come up with a name, something similar to this story's name.
Anyways, enjoy
I don't own Naruto
Chapter 22
The next day was mercifully less hot. Naruto had surprisingly slept early, and woken up early. It was currently 7:30. He was a little bummed that he had to go on a mission just when Kurenai-sensei was scheduled to be released from the hospital today; he wanted more practice on disabling genjutsu.
After showering, eating breakfast, and getting dressed, he left at 8:15.
The mission today was supposed to be transporting supplies to a farm, and then guard the people who live there while they use the supplies to build fences. The only reason it was even a C-rank mission was because it was out of the village, and there were possibilities for bandits to rob the place.
"Man, I guess going on this mission won't be two bad. Hinata will be around to see if there are any possibilities of an attack, and Shikamaru is a genius, even if he's lazy. Then there's me. This mission should be a breeze" Naruto says out loud, getting himself pumped up.
Once he reaches the gates, he realizes that he's early, and even the supplies that they were supposed to take weren't at the gates yet. Figuring that he had time to kill, he goes up to the guards.
One of them is sleeping, or pretending to sleep, while the other is yelling at him to take the job seriously.
"I told you that nothing is going to happen today, like usual, so it's fine if I catch up on some sleep. Relax" Kotetsu says.
"That's no reason, and you don't know that; for all we know a hidden attack might be approaching, but since were so tired it'll let itself in" Izumo shouts at Kotetsu.
"Um guys, what's going on?" Naruto asks, slowly approaching them.
"Oh hey Naruto; were on duty today, but since it's still early, I just wanted to take a nap. Izumo here, though, won't let me" Kotetsu says.
"That's because were on duty! That means were supposed to keep watch of the gates on who enters and who leaves" Izumo yells at Kotetsu.
"Naruto, what did you do to have them arguing this early in the morning?" Shikamaru asks, yawning.
"Nothing, Kotetsu wants to be lazy and Izumo is not letting him" Naruto replies.
"Hey, that works for me, just lying down and taking a nap, while watching the clouds; nothing wrong with that" Shikamaru says, rolling his shoulders.
"See, Izumo, he gets it" Kotetsu says.
Sighing, Izumo turns to Shikamaru, "So why are you up early?"
"Were here to transport a cart full of supplies, it's for some farm; you have anything I'm talking about? Shikamaru asks.
"Right outside the gates, one of the guards brought it out since they figured it wouldn't take much space outside the gates than inside" Kotetsu explains.
"You lazy bum, you made me do it since you just wanted it to be left in front of the gates" Izumo whines.
Kotetsu just shrugs, and puts his head back down.
Naruto didn't know whether to feel bad for Izumo, or laugh hard on how the two are handling the situation.
Fortunately, Hinata came so he didn't have to do anything about the two.
"Good morning Naruto-kun, Shikamaru-kun, hope I'm not late" Hinata says.
"Nope, just in time Hinata; the cart is outside the gates. All right, let's get this mission done" Shikamaru says, walking towards the gate.
Hinata made to follow, but Naruto grabs her arm for a moment, startling her.
"Hey, Hinata, are you feeling better? You gave me quite a scare yesterday" Naruto asks, his eyes narrowing in concern.
Hinata was beginning to feel warm from his words, and hoped that she wasn't blushing, "I-I'm f-ine Naruto-kun."
Holding on for a moment longer, he lets her go, "well, if you say so. Just let me know if you need to rest though; I'll argue with Shikamaru if I have to."
Hinata now knew she couldn't hide the blush she sure felt was appearing on her face, and turned to follow Shikamaru before Naruto commented on it.
"So this is the cart?" Naruto asks.
"Yup, troublesome, it looks like all three of us are going to be pulling it with all that lumber in the back" Shikamaru says, giving up on how easy he thought the mission would be.
"Well come on, let's start" Naruto says, placing himself between the cart, and the wood that he would be pushing to pull the cart.
Hinata and Shikamaru join him shortly, and the three begin to pull, realizing just how heavy the cart is.
"Troublesome" Shikamaru mutters.
"Hey, the farm isn't too far. I'm sure we'll be there shortly" Naruto says.
So the three prepare themselves to push and pull what will take hours in order to deliver to the farm.
"Where is this farm?" Naruto groans out. It had been two hours so far and the three were still positioned in front of the large cart, hauling the hundreds of pounds of lumber. They were pulling the materials down the path towards where they were going. All three grunted in exertion.
"Does it matter; it's still going to take a long time to get there. Man, let's take a break" Shikamaru complains.
"No, if we stop, then it will take longer" Naruto exclaims at Shikamaru, then pauses, and looks at Hinata, "unless, you feel tired Hinata?"
"No, I'm fine Naruto-kun" Hinata says, keeping forward so her blush doesn't show.
"Troublesome, fine" Shikamaru says, giving in.
Naruto chuckles at this, "come on Shika, it's just walking. We're just dragging along the way, that's it."
Shikamaru rolls his eyes at this, "I'm not as strong as you Naruto; this feels about at least 400 or so pounds."
"Hinata's not complaining Shika" Naruto says, moving his head to the side where Hinata was.
"Hinata never complains Naruto, especially to you" Shikamaru mutters, but Naruto catches it.
"Really? Hinata, your more than welcome to complain to me; you know I won't judge you if you're feeling tired" Naruto says, turning his head to her.
"R-r-really Naruto-kun, I'm fine" Hinata stutters from the attention she's getting from him.
They become quiet after that, and while Hinata is looking forward, she doesn't notice Naruto glancing at her. He didn't know why, he just felt….protective. It seemed to him that Hinata has frequent fainting spells, and yesterday it actually really scared him when he just saw her lying motionless on the ground. It was like his heart stopped for a second, before springing into action and beating franticly. He also didn't know, but when he held her close yesterday, he felt that he could protect her. Naruto knew how strong Hinata was, and knew she didn't need anyone protecting her, but Naruto felt that he wanted to, and he didn't get why.
After a few more minutes of mulling it over, he sighs and breaks the silence, "Seriously Shikamaru, where is this farm?"
It's been a few days, and Jirayia still hasn't heard word from his spy. He's been doing the usual to pass time; sightseeing, doing some 'research' for new material for his next story, going to bars and houses full of beautiful ladies on the off chance of getting info, and sleeping off the hangovers.
It was going to be another night of the same thing, when the toad he sent a few days ago, popped next to his bed.
"Master Jirayia, I have received the information from your spies. I hope this will prove useful" after the toad gives him a small scroll, he bows and poofs.
Jirayia opens the scroll, scans it, and sighs. He rolls it back, and decides that this will be his last night in the cloud village before heading back to the leaf.
'This should give Tsunade something to mull over; I'm not even sure what to make of it' Jiraya thinks, making his way to the bar.
It has been getting closer to late afternoon, and the trio hadn't stopped for a break. No one had spoken for hours, except for Naruto's constant 'where is this farm?'
"I think we should take a break Shikamaru; if you won't answer where this farm is, then I am going to assume it's quite far" Naruto says, looking at Hinata while saying this.
"I would have agreed with you if you had suggested that hours ago, but not now, keep going" Shikamaru answers.
After another hour of tugging the cart, and Naruto can't take it anymore, "Where is this farm damn it?" He's practically growls out.
Sighing, Shikamaru finally gives in, "It's close, just keep going. If you look hard enough you can see it through the trees. It's more of a ranch than a farm Naruto."
"I can't see anything Shika, just trees. These woods are pretty thick" Naruto says.
Hinata had to agree with Naruto, and activates her eyes to see if she can spot it.
"I see it Naruto-kun; it's not too far now" Hinata says.
Naruto sighs in relief as Shikamaru speaks, "Which now brings us to part two of the mission, the part that I like; after we deliver the lumber we've been hired to transport, we're to stay back and protect the livestock and other animals until they can build the fence or whatever they wish to build with the lumber we brought. That should take between a few days to two weeks. It's all based on how fast these people chose to build them."
And just as Hinata had said, it didn't take much longer for them to finish making their way through the forest to find themselves in an area, rather large area, with a pretty good sized house near a farmhouse. Near the farmhouse were tons of animals; chickens, cattle, ducks, sheep, and pigs.
The team finished pulling the cart up to the front of the farmhouse as a slim looking red-haired man in a white shirt and black pants walks outside, coming to greet the team.
Shikamaru just stops pulling the cart and goes to greet the man. Naruto falls on his back, muttering 'finally.' Hinata giggles before she can stop herself, and Naruto looks at her, smiling.
The man just chuckles at them as he shakes Shikamaru's hand, "Well, you ninja sure work fast. I was expecting you all at least tomorrow or midnight."
"We would've have taken longer, but these two here refused to take any breaks. There was no reason to go slower if we can actually keep a faster pace; besides, it thankfully wasn't that far out from Konoha" Shikamaru explains.
"I suppose that's true. I and my siblings are the only ones here, so we'll be building the fences tomorrow. How about you three come in to eat with us and perhaps freshen up if you want to?" The man asks.
"Food? I'm down for that, right Shikamaru?" Naruto asks, with eager eyes.
"First, let's put the cart with lumbar in the farmhouse so it stays safe, then we'll accept the offer. My name is Nara Shikamaru, and my two companions here are Uzumaki Naruto, and Hyuga Hinata" Shikamaru introduces them.
"My name is Mono Koji. My brother is Kohaku Koji and Sister Sango Koji. I'm the eldest, then Sango, then Kohaku" The man called Mono says.
The three of them bring the cart with lumber to the farmhouse, then enter Mono's house. Instantly they can smell the food being cooked, and see a young teen prepping the table. He looked pretty young, his hair was black instead of red, and was wearing a black sweater and blue pants.
"Mono, is that them? I thought they were going to be here tomorrow?" Kohaku says.
"They surprised me to. They managed to get here without breaks, so I invited them for dinner; we'll begin the fences tomorrow" Mono says.
"Sounds good to me; hello everyone, my name is Kohaku. Thank you for taking the trouble to bring our supplies" Kohaku introduces himself, bowing down.
"Hello Kohaku, my name is Shikamaru, and this is Naruto and Hinata" Shikamaru says, introducing them once again.
Kohaku looks up, and his eyes widen slightly, and then turn to head for the kitchen, but not fast enough for Naruto to notice that Kohaku had turned a little shade of red.
'What was all that about?' Naruto wonders, as the food begin to be placed on the table; it consisted of chicken curry, miso soup, and steamed white rice.
"Itadakimasu" Everyone says, and digs into their food. Mostly Mono makes light conversation, with Sango talking every now and then. She looked more like her younger brother than the elder one with black hair.
Shikamaru did most of the talking, with Hinata answering whenever asked. Naruto wasn't usually quiet, but he had his focus on something; the Kohaku guy was staring at Hinata, and he didn't like it.
After the meal, Mono allowed them to take a bath while the siblings cleaned up afterwards.
During the soak in the water, Naruto begins to talk to Shikamaru, "Hey Shika, did you notice anything weird during dinner today?"
"Not really, but they do seem too jolly for my liking" Shikamaru responds lazily.
"Well, during dinner today, that Kohaku guy kept staring at Hinata. I thought maybe there was something on her face or something, but she eats with manners so there was nothing" Naruto explains.
Shikamaru looks at Naruto for a bit, wondering about something, then goes back to his position before, "Don't worry about it, I'm sure it's nothing, maybe he's never seen someone with eyes like that before. Even if it is a big deal, Hinata can take care of herself."
Frustrated, Naruto just sinks into the water; it didn't seem like nothing to him.
After the three finished their soak, and were given a room to sleep in, Shikamaru made the schedule for guarding the supplies for the night. Naruto would be first, then Shikamaru, then Hinata.
As Naruto starts his shift, he can't help but wonder what he felt, or why it bothered him the way Kohaku looked at Hinata. He didn't want him looking at her, or anyone else for that matter like that; just staring at her as if she was some shiny object.
'I'll keep an eye out in case he tries to do something' Naruto thinks. The rest of his shift is boring, and when he switches with Shikamaru, and lies down, he takes a good look at Hinata.
She seems so relaxed in her sleep, and with the way the moon was lighting her up, she looked beautiful to him, just like an angel.
'Whoa' Naruto snaps out of his thoughts, turning red with what he thought just a moment ago. He always knew Hinata was pretty, and after figuring out she was the beautiful lady that danced on the water during team 8's mission, he already knew she was beautiful. This was the first time he admitted to himself that Hinata was beautiful to him, and that just got him blushing.
Turning around, he closed his eyes in hopes of sleeping, but it would be hours later, before Hinata's shift, before he sleeps that night.
There we go
So I'm sure you all know that I'm slowly building it to when Naruto realizes that he likes Hinata more than Just as a friend, but is not quite there yet.
Hey, that might be a good name; Not quite there yet, for my Sequel, what you guys think.
Please let me know
Cheers