Author's note – Kishimoto Masashi owns Naruto while Guyver is written by Yoshiki Takaya.
I make no claim to either, I am merely playing in their sandboxes.

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Chapter Twelve

Engagement

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Hinata stood outside the front door of the main house in the Hyuuga Compound, her byakugan active as she scanned the skies for her hero. Beside her, Hiashi stood with a slight smirk on his face.

"There he is!" Hinata gasped as a familiar form entered her visual range and Hiashi briefly activated his own byakugan to confirm his daughter's exclamation.

A moment later, Hiro lightly touched down in front of them and bowed slightly.

"Hinata-san, it is good to see that you are well."

Hinata blushed, then stepped forwards, her gaze rising to meet that of Hiro.

"Hiro-sama, I… I never thanked you for saving me from…"

Hiro placed a finger against her lips and behind her, Hiashi raised an eyebrow.

"Hinata-san, I did what I did because it was the right thing to do. Hiashi-sama, with your permission?"

"Of course, but please bring her back by dusk."

Hiro bowed, then scooped Hinata up into his arms, ignoring her 'eep'. Rising into the air, he flew towards the Hokage monument, checking the ground below to see that they weren't being followed.

Crossing the ridge, Hiro swooped down and looped round, aiming for a small cave on the rear side of the small mountain, a cave almost completely concealed by the tree that grew next to it. Slowing down just enough to avoid the branches (since they would hurt Hinata if he went through like he normally did), Hiro flew down the short passage and over the underground reservoir that fed most of the civilian portions of Konoha, then into another cave, this one concealed by a fold in the rock. Within moments, Hiro emerged into the main hall of his secret base and touched down lightly before lowering Hinata to the ground.

"Welcome to the Uzumaki Refuge." Hiro said as Hinata looked around curiously. "You are only the third person to see this place."

"Was Naruto the second?" Hinata asked and Hiro shook his head.

"The Hokage was the second. I was the first."

Hinata blinked. "What? But… I thought I saw Naruto go down that passage."

"You saw a clone of Naruto." Hiro said, stepping backwards. "And this is the first secret you must keep, for I am Naruto."

Hinata's eyes widened to almost comical levels as the armour vanished and Naruto dropped to the ground.

"But… You're Hiro?"

"I am." Naruto agreed. "I didn't know that there was such a person as Uzumaki Hiro when I chose my code-name on the day I found the armour and accidentally bonded to it."

"Does that mean it was you who saved me?"

Naruto nodded, then suddenly he was catapulted backwards as Hinata glomped him. Landing on the ground, Naruto froze as Hinata babbled her thanks while crying, then he started stroking her hair in the hopes it would help her calm down. After several minutes, Hinata sniffed and let go of him, rolling off so that she could sit up and pull out a tissue to wipe her eyes.

"Sorry." She whispered. "Sorry. But why does everyone think you're Uzumaki Hiro?"

"Darned if I know." Naruto shrugged as he moved to sit next to Hinata, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I've been trying to work it out, but I can't. I think I've accidentally pranked the world."

Hinata giggled and Naruto rose to his feet, offering her his hand.

"Come on, let me show you round, then we can talk."

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"…to once again bind the Kyuubi, sealing it into her newborn son.
"Me." Naruto finished and Hinata stared at him.

"The red chakra…" She breathed and Naruto cocked an eyebrow.

"The what?"

"When I use my byakugan, I can see a ball of red chakra just here in you." She said, touching just below her navel. "And in your armour, there are red flecks of chakra."

Naruto paused. "Really?"

Hinata nodded and Naruto stared at his own stomach. "Wow, just… wow. This might explain why no Hyuuga has ever called me demon, they can see it's in me, but isn't me."

Hinata nodded in return. "It's linked to you by a really complicated swirl that changes most of the chakra from red to blue."

"So… the reason I have tons of chakra is because of the Kyuubi." Naruto breathed. "Wow. No wonder I can create all those clones."

For a long moment, they remained quiet, then Naruto half-turned to accept a scroll from a clone that had just entered the room.

"Just finished copying them, boss." The clone said before poofing into a cloud of smoke and Naruto turned back to Hinata.

"You said that you had problems with Jyuuken? In my library there were quite a few scrolls on Jyuuken and a version called Juho that was created by a member of the branch house about forty years ago, but was suppressed and thrown out because it threatened Jyuuken users. This scroll contains copies of those scrolls that were thrown out when the creator, Hyuuga Mishima, died. You might find them useful."

Hinata accepted the scroll, looking at it almost reverently, then she tucked it away into an inside jacket pocket.

"And it's getting late, so I think it's time for me to take you home." Naruto smiled. "If you want to talk, feel free to come to my home any time."

"Thank you." Hinata whispered and Naruto's smile widened.

"It feels good, having someone other than Jiji to talk to about this." He admitted. "Now stand back and… Armour on!"

As he finished, Naruto leapt into the air where a sphere of energy surrounded him before his armour appeared in flashes of light and slid into position round him. Hiro landed and Hinata stared up at him in awe.

"May I?"

Hinata nodded and Hiro scooped her up, letting her snuggle against him even as he rose into the air.

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"Where were you?" Yagura asked as Naruto entered the house and Naruto blushed slightly. "Was it a girl?"

Naruto nodded and Yagura draped his arm over Naruto's shoulder. "Really? Was she nice?"

"She is." Naruto mumbled. "I'm engaged to her…"

Yagura froze and Naruto slipped out of his grasp as he thought it through. "What… really? Engaged? You? Who is she?"

"Hyuuga Hinata…" Naruto began, only for Yagura to cut him off.

"A Hyuuga?! The Hyuuga heiress? How?"

"Long story and most of it's classified." Naruto offered, causing Yagura to sag.

"Damn. S-class?"

"Yep."

"Like the…" Yagura trailed off, giving a meaningful glance at Naruto's stomach and Naruto nodded again.

"Yep."

"I hate secrets like that." Yagura grumped.

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"Good news." Aoi said as he strode into the training field where all three genin were performing their various warm-ups. "Today, we finally get a C-rank."

Aoi waited for the cheers to die down before continuing. "Come on, let's pick up the scroll and find out what we are doing."

"I said it before and I'll say it again." Naruto grinned. "Best. Sensei. Ever!"

"Thank you, but we should get going." Aoi smiled. "In fact… let's practice our branch-leaping and roof-jumping on the way there. Everyone… go!"

The three genin launched themselves into the trees around the training field and Aoi chuckled as he vanished in a shunshin.

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"Heya, Jiji!" Naruto yelled as he somersaulted through the window, only to hit the ground and roll straight into the wall. "Ooowwwww. Gotta work on those landings."

Idate paused in the window before swinging himself down onto the floor, making way for Yagura.

"I thought that I was fast." He laughed, walking over to help Naruto to his feet. "You okay, chibi?"

Naruto glared up at Idate, the older genin smirking over the three-inch height difference between them and Yagura laughed.

"Oh, why didn't I come up with that? Chibi, hah!"

Before Naruto could do more than glower at his team-mates, Aoi stepped out of the corner of the room and placed a calming hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"They're just teasing you in a friendly way." He said quietly. "Don't worry about it. Hokage-sama, team four reporting for a C-rank mission, if one is available."

"Of course." Hiruzen smiled, then he turned and let his hand drift across several scrolls before stopping. "Here we go, a message delivery. You will take a scroll and deliver it to a team of Suna ninja at the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers. No fighting expected, but be on the lookout for spies and non-Suna ninja."

Hiruzen handed the scroll over to Aoi, then two more scrolls. "Here is the scroll to be delivered and a copy of the permission granted for Konoha Shinobi to travel through Kawa no Kuni."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Aoi bowed, then he turned to his team. "Alright. Using branch-leaping, the border is less than a week away, but we'll go via Tanzanuka Quarters to ensure we get at least one night in comfortable beds each way."

"I've said it before, but I'll say it again." Naruto laughed and both Idate and Yagure joined in as he finished. "Best. Sensei. Ever!"

Aoi shook his head as Hiruzen chuckled. "Alright, you brats have embarrassed me enough. Pack for a fortnight-long mission and meet me at the main gate in two hours. Go!"

Three blurs exited the office through the window and Aoi grinned after them, then sobered.

"Hokage-sama, who will I be meeting?"

"Team Baki." Hiruzen said. "Be careful, the genin of that team are the three children of the Kazekage and the youngest is the holder of the Ichibi."

"I understand." Aoi mused. "If you will excuse me?"

"Of course."

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"Whoah." Naruto said as they stepped through the main gate. "This is the first time I've been out of Konoha since just after I was born."

"Me too." Yagura admitted, then they both turned to Idate.

"My brother once took me to the capital because he had a mission and no-one was available to look after me." Idate shrugged.

"C-rank missions and above will almost always take you outside Konoha." Aoi explained from behind them. "Of course, you only really need to worry about personal safety on B-ranks and above, but you won't be tasked with doing them until you hit chunin, unless something goes very wrong. And if it does, that's what I'm here for."

"Thanks, Sensei." Yagura said and Aoi walked past them, motioning for them to follow.

"We'll take the road until we reach the first milestone, then we change course and take to the trees. We should reach Tanzuka Quarters by evening, assuming we don't run into trouble, but as ninja, we should never assume things until we can confirm them. What problems might we face?"

"Hmmm, bandits, nuke-nin, enemy nin…" Naruto began, then he paused and Idate took over.

"Rotten branches, rivers, lakes, disturbed wildlife…"

"Excellent." Aoi said, turning to grin approvingly at them. "Not all problems come from hostile actions, some are just things that are unfortunate or annoying. There are a couple of rivers we'll have to cross and since I haven't actually taught you water-walking yet…"

"I know it!" Naruto interjected and Aoi gave him a quizzical glance. "I've got so much chakra that I needed extra exercises to keep it under control."

"That simplifies things. Idate, since you're smaller than Yagura, Naruto can carry you across the rivers while I carry Yagura. Once we finish this mission, I'll make sure you can water-walk. My apologies for not teaching it to you already."

"Sounds like fun." Idate shrugged.

"Good." Aoi said. "Now, once we reach Tanzuka Quarters, there's a couple of secondary missions that I need to do, so Yagura'll be in charge in my absence, unless you have any objections."

"Nope."/"It's cool."/"Me? I… I'll do my best."

"Good. Now, we really should be getting a move on, so let's start running. Remember to pace yourselves and ration your use of chakra as you move."

"Should we use our flames of youth?" Naruto snarked and Aoi shuddered.

"How did you… no, when did you meet Maito Gai?"

"If I'd been Rookie of the year, he'd have been my sensei." Naruto shrugged. "I checked to see what sort of sensei he was… he's a lunatic!"

"That he is." Aoi sighed. "Then again, the further you rise up the ranks, the more you'll need something to offset the stress of the job."

"Such as?" Idate prompted.

"Well, I paint, Hatake Kakashi reads porn, Maito Gai screams about youth, Nara Shikaku sleeps… then again, all Nara males do that whenever they can… most clan-ninja go for whatever their clans are famous for, kind of a reinforcing loop. Let's see who else there is…"