The Orange Daimyo of Uzushiogakure

Chapter Nine – Hidden Allies

Hinata blinked. She felt very warm, and safe. She smiled and wriggled further into bed. Perhaps she would go back to sleep…

"Naruto!" She bolted into a sitting position as her last waking events came back to her. Naruto was the Daimyo she was suppose to marry. She covered her mouth as she gasped. She had fainted in front of all those people; how embarrassing!

The raven haired beauty looked around. She was definitely in a bedroom. It was a spacious room, with pleasant, cream coloured walls. The bed she was in was huge, and rose off the ground by half a meter. It was cozy, that was for sure. But who's room was it? She couldn't have been unconscious for long and she was still in her fancy clothes from the procession. Sighing, she climbed out of the bed.

Her hands shook slightly. She really didn't feel that much better; she needed to find something to eat. Treading with care, she headed towards the door. Just as she approached it, it swung inward. In her high tension state, this startled her enough that she jumped back, and reached for where she would normally keep her kunai.

Hinata shook her head. She sorely needed to relax. The first thing that entered the door was a tray with a piping hot plate of food resting on it, which was followed by an older woman, with wine coloured hair. "Oh good, you're awake," she said. Her tone was very no nonsense, but not unkind. "Naruto was quite worried about you, you know. Unfortunately he's stuck downstairs talking to the Konoha delegation. He was going to come up again himself, but I stopped him." The redhead looked rueful. "He's still so impulsive."

"T-thank you, ah…"

"Airi, nice to meet you," she said as she passed the Konoha kunoichi the dinner tray. "I've been Naruto's head tutor for the past couple years."

Hinata remembered her vaguely, because she was the nin that had picked up Naruto when she left. "I-I'm Hyuga Hinata. Pleased to meet y-you."

Hinata took the tray to a small table and sat on the cushion. Her stomach growled as the smell from the tray wafted up. Silently, she hushed it and tried not to be rude. "Would you care to join me?"

The older woman laughed. "Thank you for the invitation but we already ate downstairs. In fact, I need to go rejoin the councilors at the table. I'm sure Naruto will be up as soon as we finish up."

With that, Airi left and Hinata dug into the meal that had been provided for her. It was delicious, and Hinata was ravenous. In no time she had finished the meal: yakizakana and miso soup. It was well prepared and having eaten, she felt far, far better than she had in the last couple hours. That being said, her brain was still running a mile a minute, trying to wrap her head around the fact that the number one Konoha prankster was now overseeing an entire country. Of course, she was excited that her path had crossed Naruto's again, but how much had things changed? Was he still the same hyperactive, orange loving kid who had recklessly fought everyone for acknowledgement? It was difficult to imagine him calmly talking to dignitaries.

She pursed her lips. Perhaps that was unfair. Was she the same person as three years ago? Hinata liked to think that she wasn't, that she had grown from where she was before. He had spent years training specifically for this. Of course, he would have gotten better at it because if there was one thing she knew, it was that Naruto achieved what he set his mind on.

She cursed herself for not having the forethought to ask Airi to show her to where she would be staying. One might assume that she had been brought to her own room, but she couldn't find any of her bags. Perhaps they had been stored elsewhere? Aside from the main door that Airi had used, there were two other wooden doors: one on the far wall opposite the bed, and another right beside it. Hinata moved to the one closest to the bed and opened it. Her mouth opened a tiny bit in surprise. It was a lovely bathroom! It was all warm woods and white stone with a deep carved basin at the back of the room.

Tearing herself away from the gorgeous tub, she went to investigate the other door. Behind it she found an open room that didn't have much in it aside from her bags and a large wooden wardrobe. It was quite a bit of space, and now that she found her belongings, she was much more comfortable in surmising that these were to be her quarters. It had been a very long day. She fumbled a bit finding the light then opened up her bags to find her normal clothing. There had been no indication that she would be going back downstairs tonight.

She started pouring water into the tub, and then returned to the wardrobe to disrobe from her fancy attire. Collecting more casual clothes, she returned to the washroom and climbed into the water. Unlike the first one she had hurriedly taken this evening, this one was completely relaxing. Hinata lay back as all the tension left her body. Despite the long journey and the stressful, sudden encounter with Naruto, she was happy. Never in a thousand years would she have guessed that losing her position as heiress would work out so well.

Her bath was a long one, and she had started to contemplate getting out of the cooling water when there was a rapt knock on the door. Hinata jumped out of the bath and grabbed a towel in one swift motion. "Coming!" she called. She glanced around and realized that in her hurry to get into the bath, she hadn't grabbed all of her clothes. She bit her lip and tossed on a fluffy white robe. There was a second knock, slightly louder. She opened the door a crack. It was the-her?-Daimyo. "N-naruto!"

He placed both hands behind his head and grinned. "Hey Hinata, I wanted to come up and check on you, and make sure you were okay! You really startled me down there, ya know!"

"Um, I'm feeling much better, but ah, could you wait one moment before I let you in?" Her voice seemed extra quiet, even to her. A slight blush crossed the blond's face as he noticed that she was only in a robe.

"Oh, yeah, totally, I'll just, erm, wait out here for you."

"T-thanks," she said, slowly shutting the door, feeling like she might be strangled. Naruto had seen her in a robe. She rushed to change. Her original plan had been to changing into something that was less formal but still eye catching, but that had been foiled as soon as she got flustered. Hinata pulled on the first outfit she found: a long purple sweater and black leggings. Hardly flattering, but far more appropriate than a robe.

She hoped she hadn't taken too long. Hinata opened the door to find Naruto still standing outside. "O-okay, you can come in."

Naruto's wide smile didn't waver as he followed her into her rooms. "Wow! It looks great in here!" he explained, looking around.

Hinata's eyebrows lifted. "You mean you haven't b-been in here before?"

He looked sheepish. "Not since I first came to the palace. Airi more or less took care of the details. She did ask me what I thought should go in the empty room, but I had no idea what to suggest for a civilian girl!"

"Ah…"

"Not that you're a civilian. I didn't know it was going to be you, or even a ninja 'til just before the ceremony. Anyway, never mind that! Was the trip okay? How's everything in Konoha?"

Hinata was surprised that he didn't know who was going to be his betrothed, but didn't inquire why that might be. She assured him that the trip had gone well and that things in their hometown had been settled and peaceful when they had left for the island. They spend quite some time talking about various people that Naruto had known and how they were getting along now. Once that conversation had petered out, they sat in silence for a moment.

"I'm sorry about what happened at the ceremony this evening. It's been quite a long time since I've passed out like that." Slightly over three years, she silently added.

"Nah it's okay. It was kind of brilliant actually. It was a pretty boring dinner. I mostly just listened the councilors talk, and it wasn't much of substance. Maybe I should have passed out too!" he laughed and it was infectious. A smile graced her face.

Naruto looked down at her, and she was struck by how much taller he had grown. A faint blush returned to the kunoichi's face as he started speaking again. "I'm glad that it was you, Hinata. I was really worried I was going to be stuck with some stiff, boring girl."

Hinata wasn't sure if that was a really a compliment but her smiled didn't waiver. "I was worried I'd have to hide my training."

"Hide it?" He thought for a moment. "Oh, yeah, The Land of Whirlpools is run a bit differently than the Land of Fire. Technically, I oversee the shinobi as well, although for the time being the head councilor, Hideaki has been overseeing it."

This news absolutely increased Hinata's spirits, but it didn't slip her notice that Naruto frowned a bit when discussing the council. If they were anything like the Hyuga council of elders, she could understand the gesture.

"I just had a great idea! We should train together tomorrow! I haven't had a sparring partner my own age for, ah, a while!"

Hinata swallowed hard. "O-okay," she said, "but will we have time tomorrow?"

"I don't see why not, I mean, I got a couple meetings in the morning with the council, but my afternoon should be free. The official ceremony isn't until the end of the week during the festival…" his words tapered to a stop, and they both didn't dare look each other in the eye.

"I look f-forward to the challenge," Hinata finally said, breaking the awkward silence that was looming.

"Great! Well, it's getting late, I guess I shouldn't be keeping you. Night! I'll see ya tomorrow!"

Naruto left Hinata's rooms, feeling more thankful that his fiancé to be was someone that he knew. Hinata seemed much the same as he remembered her, although maybe a little less shy. It comforted him that he had another trusted friend here, especially in a time when he couldn't trust his own council.

It had struck him when he had been explaining the differences in the way Shinobi operated in Uzushio to Hinata, that Hideaki was the one who headed up the Ninja Academy. He should know if one of the students was missing, and he would also be the one who could dispatch a team to find the missing boy. His previous inquiries with the lower council members hadn't given him any results in the whereabouts of Nobu. He decided that he'd probe further into the matter when he was in meetings the following day.

If he could find a lead…of course! Hinata had been part of a tracker team back in Konoha! Maybe she could help him find the boy! He'd have to talk to her more about it tomorrow, maybe during or after their training. Excitement flared up in him. He hadn't trained with someone his own age since he got to Uzushio. His sparring partners were always just his tutors or sometimes ranked Uzushio shinobi.

Naruto was more relaxed than he had been since the sudden announcement about the betrothal. The council had tried to weight him down and instead, they'd given him another ally! He was still grinning as he returned to him rooms. Once inside, he pulled off his shirt and climbed into king-size bed. Things were looking up. His peaceful sleep was nearly instantaneous.

A loud knock at the door woke him, and by the dim light outside, he could tell it wasn't far past dawn.

Groaning he sat up. "Wha-what is it?"

Airi poked her head into the room. "I need to speak with you. I need to know what happened yesterday."

It was too early for him to think straight. "About what?" he mumbled, still half asleep.

His tutor crept into the room and closed the door. "The girl…Hideaki would have been the one to approve her. I'm sure this was mostly his doing. You spent quite a bit of time in her room last night". She paused, seemingly weighing her words. "Can you trust her?"

He couldn't help it. Naruto laughed at the question. The redhead's brow furrowed. "I know she's pretty Naruto but this isn't about wedded bliss, it's about the future of Uzushio!"

"Relax Airi, I know her from Konoha. We were in the same academy class, and made Genin at the same time."

"And what else do you know about her?"

"Well, she's a Hyuga."

Airi looked unimpressed, which in turn made Naruto look sheepish. "Hey, hey it's early. She can use the byakugan and was part of a team of ninja that were good at tracking. She's always been really nice to be, I mean, she offered to let me take her answers in the Chunin exam. She also helped me figure out what to do when I was making my decision about leaving in Konoha."

Airi thought it over. "I see. Is she ill? Why did she pass out during the ceremony?"

The blond shrugged. "She passed out a couple times that I saw. I think she just kinda gets overheated, because her face is usually red too. Come to think of it, I think someone said that it mostly happens around me…" he trailed off, trying to remember which of his classmates had told him that.

The older woman smiled knowingly at her charge. "Oh, if that's the case, I'm sure we have nothing to worry about."

Naruto was baffled at her sudden change in tune. What had he said that convinced her? A yawn overtook him, and he rubbed his eyes. "Is that all you wanted Airi?"

She shook her head. "I also wanted to give you this. I think it's a message from that guy." She made a face like she had bitten a lemon. Knowing Airi, it was probably a message from Pervy Sage. He tore into the envelope and found that the message inside was encrypted. Naruto sighed, and climbed out of bed.

Yawning a second time, he stretched and headed over to his desk in the corner of the room. His teacher glanced at the paper he was carrying. "Sealed?" she asked. He nodded in the affirmative. It was a basic encryption, but it was Jiraiya's own fuinjustu key that was needed to unlock it. It had been one of the first seals that his godfather had taught him.

Even with the morning fatigue weighing on him, he could perform the jutsu. He grabbed a brush off the desk, and roughly popped it into the inkwell. He painted several characters quickly on the back of his hand and performed the hitsuji seal. Ink sprouted up over his wrist in an arc. Placing the message on the desk, he slapped the ink covered hand down on top of it. In an instant, the ink on the page rearranged itself into something legible. He read through it and was instantly frustrated. There were no secrets in the message at all! It was merely a note that Jiraiya had heard of Naruto's 'female predicament' and would be back during the Festival of Tides to oversee things.

"Ugh, stupid Pervy Sage! Forcing me to do fuinjutsu at this hour…" Naruto trailed off into grumbling. Airi laughed.

"Get some sleep, Naruto. The meetings in the morning are going to be long." She waved over her shoulder and left as quickly as she came.

Feeling irritable, Naruto returned to his bed. He hoped that he could get back to sleep, and that no one else would be barging in.

Hideaki was the first to arrive at the meetings for the day. Cracking his arthritic knuckles, he sat at the massive circular table designated for council meetings. His mood surrounding their ruling predicament had improved substantially. He had high hopes that Naruto would be distracted, if not today, then shortly with the lovely and weak-willed maiden.

Danzo had assured him that the Hyuga girl was a perfect match for his purposes: she was from a noble house and a lightening release kunoichi, but enough of a failure that she had lost her title as clan head. The betrothal was playing out exactly as he had hoped. The boy had left the dignitary dinners rather abruptly last night to check on his female companion. Hideaki was extremely pleased to watch the girl faint during the ceremonies the previous night. It confirmed that she would be a perfect docile wife to distract Naruto.

Over the next several minutes, council members slowly trickled into the room. Many looked tired; doubtless they had overindulged in drink the previous night. Hideaki's scowl deepened. He longed to place stricter rules in place for the councilors, but he didn't yet have that kind of control…He took a deep breath. 'Patience', he chided himself.

The young Daimyo himself strode into the room a few minutes before the scheduled start to the briefing. His posture was dignified, and his eyes were sharp, but the slight bagging under them suggested he hadn't gotten enough rest. Perfect.

The young Daimyo didn't acknowledge the council beyond curt nods until the meeting started. Hideaki was pleased that aside from the opening remarks, and the occasional question, the boy didn't add much to the meeting. He did seem more distracted than the last council meeting they had had. After an a couple hours of discussion without Naruto interjecting much, Hideaki was feeling comfortable that his plan was foolproof. He decided to end the meetings quickly, with the hopes that the boy would further get wrapped up in the goings on with his betrothed and the upcoming festival. "Any further concerns before we adjourn this session?" he asked councilors at the table, not bothering to look at Naruto. The table was quiet, until the youngest shinobi cleared his throat.

"I have a concern to bring forward, Hideaki," he stated, lacing his fingers together on the table.

"Ah, yes, my lord, what is the issue you wish to bring before the council?"

"It has come to my direct attention that there is a missing boy from the capital, a member of the Nin Academy." He slid a mid-sized slip of paper across the table toward Hideaki.

The paper was a missing persons notice, discoloured by weather with marked rips on the top. The boy had clearly taken this from a bulletin within the town, which made Hideaki mildly uneasy. What was worse was that he had already covered the tracks of the abduction and could no longer shift the blame toward someone else easily without revealing his involvement, however trivial. Indeed, the loss of a nin that was likely to never make it beyond the regular forces was a small price to pay for his outside investor's help, but only so long as he himself didn't get caught in the crosshairs.

His face twisted into that one of great concern, and he looked up to meet Naruto's eyes. The usual warmness was missing from the boy's stare. "I'm horrified to say that this is the first I have heard of this matter, my lord. It may signify some sort of error in our reporting systems or a breakdown in the chain of command. I will see to this matter immediately," he said as he put on his most grandfatherly look. "After all, these young nin are the future of our great nation."

The distrust in the young ruler's eyes flickered. Naruto did not trust him perhaps, but he surmised that the boy had not found any direct evidence of his so-called blackened fingers.

"I want regular updates on this matter until Nobu is found," Naruto declared, more forceful than usual. "I made a promise and I am going to keep it."

"As my lord wishes," Hideaki said with a slight bow.

The room of councilors fell silent for several moments before the end of the meeting was declared formally. At once, the blond shinobi rose from his seat and left, jacket flapping in his wake. Hideaki sat for a moment as the lower council members began to murmur about the missing boy. Tightly reining in his unbridled rage for the morning's events and the foolish young man who forced them, Hideaki too got up to leave for his study. He would have to meet with his more knowledgeable agents and create a plan to pay his associate a visit. He could not afford more missing persons on the isle for the time being…As for Naruto, he would have to wait and simply hope that the betrothal plan worked before more drastic measures had to be taken.

Naruto left the council meeting feeling vaguely uneasy. He didn't trust Hideaki, but did that make him a kidnapper? Hideaki could have been lying about knowing nothing of the matter, but it horrified him to think that one of the head council could be so corrupt as to kidnap innocent students. The old man was a conniving old wretch, but he was a patriot. He ran his hand through his blond mop of hair. He didn't want to believe that the founder of the Whirlpool Independence Foundation would be actively harming the Uzu citizens. Despite this, doubts nagged him. Something about the man's reaction didn't add up.

He shook his head. A good training session would help put him more at ease. Hinata! That's right, he said he was going to spar with her today! The idea buoyed his mood substantially. Not only did he want to spend more time with his friend, but he wanted to test his skills on someone who trained outside the village of Uzu. How did he stack up against his schoolmates from his childhood? He hurried to his room to change into training garb, before running to Hinata's quarters.

Hinata sat on her bed, picking at her thumbnail. Today she was sparing with Naruto! At first, she had been overwhelmed with excitement, but this soon soured into worry. It was difficult for her to pinpoint her anxiety about the afternoon, but much of it may be that she just didn't want to disappoint her betrothed. She didn't know how she would fair sparing with him, and she hardly knew what his expectations were. It had been too long since she had gone all out for her to actually gauge her skill set. Her heart was already hammering in her chest before she heard the knock at her door.

"Coming!" She hurried to the door, taking a deep, steadying breath before opening it. She opened the door to find two bright blue eyes and a beaming smile on the other side. "Hey Hinata!"

The heat of her body rose to her face. "H-hi!" she stammered out. Naruto was dressed in navy slacks and a burnt orange top. It was similar to his outfit from the previous night, but more functional and somehow more him. Seeing him in his trademark colour brought a smile to her face. The pause in their exchange didn't go unnoticed.

"Uh, is something wrong?"

"Oh, n-nothing, it's just, um, you look quite n-nice in orange" Her voice fade to a high whisper and her face turned red as she spoke.

He laughed. "I'm glad you think so, because it's still my favourite colour, ya know!"

His easy demeanor smoothed over the slight awkwardness of the exchange and the two set off toward the training grounds. The training grounds were tucked away behind the gardens, which the pair jogged through as means of a warm up. The gardens were well-tended and in full bloom, and she found her lips curved into a small smile as she followed Naruto through the foliage. How many times had she dreamed of being in a place like this with her crush? Perhaps not jogging, but still, it was enough to fill her heart until it was bursting at the seams. Making a mental note to take a longer, far slower stroll through the gardens later, she followed Naruto through the large stone arch that marked the entrance to the training grounds.

The training grounds in looks were very similar to the ones back in Konoha, other than the fact that the forest bordering the side of the grounds was made up of thin, wiry island trees rather than the thick foliage of the Land of Fire.

Naruto ran his hand through his wayward blond locks. "So, where do you want to start?"

Hinata blushed. "I'm not sure…"

"Start with 10 minutes of Katas," a voice stated from above them.

Hinata's eyes widened and she glanced up to find Naruto's tutor balanced on a tall wooden pole several meters to the left of the pair. She hoped down and landed smoothly behind them. "People are going to talk if you two spend too much time alone un-chaperoned before the festival you know," she said. She sounded serious, but her lips were turned into a playful smile.

Vaguely horrified at breaking a traditional protocol, Hinata nodded in assent to the declaration. Naruto merely rolled his eyes. "I seriously doubt that people were going to be gossiping about daytime sparring, Airi. You just want to watch me spar against an unfamiliar taijutsu."

The older woman grinned wickedly. "Astute observation, my lord," she said before clapping her hands together. "10 mintues of katas, GO!"

Hinata dropped into her Gentle Fist stance, and began going though the forms. It had been several days since she had had the time to train, and even doing such a basic exercise calmed her. These forms were second nature to her now and she moved through them with ease.

A few minutes into the katas, Hinata was struck by how confident and worry free she was feeling. In the past years leading up to the fight for clan leadership, even simple katas made her fret: was her footwork good, but not too good? Were her forms adequate but not precise? She had toed this line for so long, she had forgotten what it was to simply train to better oneself, seeking improvement and perfection before all else. A slight smile graced her face as she began the most difficult set of forms. Hinata didn't need an outside eye to tell her that her execution of them had been without fault.

It didn't escape Hinata's notice that Naruto's tutor was watching her almost as much as she was inspecting her charge. This wasn't altogether unsurprising; she was sure there wasn't any nin in the Land of Whirlpools that had an understanding of all the Hyuga taijutsu kata. Still, Hinata was deeply thankful for her flawless demonstration. Airi was obviously quite close with her student, and Hinata wanted the burgundy-haired kunoichi to like her, if only to make things easier for her budding relationship with Naruto.

Within another minute or so, their warm up was complete. Naruto stepped backwards a few paces and faced her with a wide grin. "Ready?"

Hinata nodded, nerves flaring.

"Naruto?" Airi called, again positioned on the wooden pole.

"What?"

"No shadow clones!"

The blond shinobi rolled his eyes. "I wasn't going to."

Hinata thought about the massive amount of clones Naruto had been able to generate during the Chunin exam and was relieved. She didn't expect that her friend was actually going to harm her, but she also doubted she could take on dozens of Naruto copies by herself.

"Ready?" Naruto asked again.

She was nearly shaking, and she wasn't sure if it was nervousness or excitement. "Ready," she called. Naruto charged her immediately. It was fast and bold, something like what she expected when facing off against Kiba. He came at her with a series of punches that she easily deflected. She jumped over his lowkick, before hopping further back to reorient herself.

His attacks had not been half as quick as his charge had been. He was testing her, likely making sure that he wouldn't accidently land a crippling blow. He had stopped the barrage for a moment, hesitating. Hinata could almost hear her cousin's voice, telling her that their taijutsu was a nimble art and to take advantage of the small pauses that can be found in slower styles.

Naruto charged her again and this time she met him head on, dodging a broad hooked punch and firing off two hurried jabs at his exposed side. He took the light hit and used the momentum of the failed punch to swing his body around until a kick was aimed directly at her eye-level. Hinata put her forearms together to block the hit, the familiar reverberation in her bones reminding her again of sparring with Team Eight. Hinata didn't have time to react before a scoffing noise from Airi stopped the fight prematurely. "That was like watching two kittens battle it out for a treat. The pair of you looked so timid!"

Naruto looked slightly abashed. "Well I didn't want to hurt her…"

"You won't! Lady Hyuga, am I right that you were on active duty until very recently?"

Hinata nodded. "…until three weeks ago, ma'am, "she squeaked. She felt vaguely uneasy being called Lady Hyuga, as that title in Konoha hadn't been spoken since the passing of her mother.

"And what was your rank, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Chunin." The raven –haired kunoichi noticed Naruto's eyes widen slightly. She hadn't told him that the previous night, had she?

"And Lady Hyuga…I know you are, uh, friends with Naruto, but you don't have to worry about harming him. He's resilient. He spars primarily with jonin from Uzu and trains with a Sage." Airi explained. "Plus he has an extremely thick skull," she added with a wink.

Hinata's face heated up as she caught the older woman's meaning. She had only been in Uzushiogakure for a day and already someone had noticed her crush.

"No need to embarrass her Airi," Naruto said in reaction to Hinata's blush. "She didn't know that Perv- ah, Jiraiya, comes out here to train me."

Airi shared a brief glance with Hinata, as it became clear that Airi's previous intonations had gone over Naruto's head.

"I'm sure Lady Hyuga will forgive me. Now are you two ready to get serious?"

"Completely!" Naruto hollered.

Hinata felt her cheeks further heat up, and Airi grinned. "Y-yes."

"Perfect. Get back into position, and….GO!"

Thanks for reading! :)

~NwL