Hey, hey!
Again, thank you guys for all the love. I greatly appreciate it!
I know some of you wanted my guy Naruto to keep suffering, but I couldn't do that for too long. I adore him!
Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Naruto and Hinata reached a village on the outskirts of Amegakure. It's been two weeks since their experience at the waterfalls, and things between the two of them have been different. In a good way.
Naruto has been nothing but at peace since he's been with Hinata. Since the two of them have opened up and expressed their feelings to one another. Hinata would still go through her silent mental battles, but it grew easier every day for him to help her through it. She talked more. Expressed to him what was going through her mind, so he could talk her through the motions.
He talked her through a lot of emotional trauma. The guilt that she felt when Neji sacrificed his life. How it wasn't her fault. Naruto couldn't stress this enough since Neji and her family were the top two reasons why Hinata had left Konoha, and why she couldn't stop crying sometimes.
Gosh did he hate seeing her cry.
He had to admit. Hinata losing her title as heiress bothered him probably a lot more than it bothered Hinata. He could see that it bothered her, but as long as her little sister was happy and safe, that was all that mattered to Hinata. Which was fine and dandy, but to know Hinata was passed down because she wasn't 'liked' bothered Naruto.
These are the things that created villains. Made people's hearts turn black and poisonous.
They couldn't say Hinata wasn't strong enough. She proved on more than one occasion she was more than strong enough. She's proved she was a leader when Neji went down. Hinata has earned her flowers and those people just won't give it to her, because they don't like her. It grinded Naruto's gears.
Deep down. He knows Hinata left because she couldn't stay at the Hyuga compound after being rejected. Especially with Neji not there to be her rock. Naruto could imagine Hinata just feeling stuck there. Alone and she slowly slipped away from reality being miserable there. So, he was starting to understand why Hinata did what she did.
Being in Konoha sucked the life out of her.
Yet. Hinata didn't venture out to talk to her friends. She stayed in the Hyuga compound and mentally tortured herself. Naruto realized that by being out with everyone, Hinata had to see everyone moving on and being happy, and it made her angry. It made her heart grow darker. She couldn't move on. She couldn't be happy. She lost someone very close to her in a life changing way. Hinata felt like the world forgot about Neji's pain.
She couldn't talk to anyone because in Hinata's mind. No one understood her pain. Everyone got the happy ending they wanted. She was the one that had to wake up, every morning, in the Hyuga compound and see that her family member was gone.
It crushed her to the core. It broke Hinata.
Naruto remembered about a year ago. When it got really bad, and their friends tried to encourage Hinata to get out more. To live a little. That was when she started to turn cold, and would avoid them. She even avoided him, which now, Naruto knows he had to be a major trigger for Hinata while she was stuck in Konoha.
Naruto used to ask Hinata, back in Konoha, if she wanted to go out to eat. She'd decline, but would still order food from the same restaurant he was eating at, to-go. He'd ask her if she wanted to train. She'd say no, but he'd find her training alone. She started requesting solo missions. Long missions that would take weeks or months. She just distanced herself so much that she became this walking, pale shell.
So, to find out what was going through Hinata's mind for over two years. It broke Naruto's heart. She was miserable, and worse of all, she was hurting. Screaming out for help, but refused to accept any from anyone. Hinata wanted to punish herself, she blamed herself.
Naruto guessed Hinata wasn't ready to accept the help. Now she was. She just needed a little bit of a push. Who better to push her, than her main trigger.
Currently, they were at a clothing store. They had just left a nice hair salon and decided to gather some new clothing. Why not?
Naruto stepped out the dressing room first. Hinata waiting for him eagerly. They arrived in this mini-village four days ago and went to a tailor. Gave them the clothing they wanted altered and designed, and the tailor told them to come back today for the finished results.
Naruto had a long orange jacket that reached down to his calves. Black flames at the bottom of the jacket and at the sleeves. The sleeves of the jacket stopped at his elbows. The collar to it popped up and passed the nape of his neck. He had on a black long sleeve shirt that was V-neck and mesh in the center. He got himself a new pair of ninja sandals that were black and raised up to his black pants that stopped at his shins. He wore his black head protector showing his village affiliation proudly as his hair almost toppled over it in length.
Hinata smiled when Naruto stepped out the dressing room. He looked very handsome.
"You look very nice Naruto-kun. Charming." Naruto arched his brow at her. "Charming you say?" He walked up to Hinata and stood in her personal bubble as he played with her new haircut. Just as he requested. A little above shoulder length, straight cut. With her bang still present. "Thank you Hinata."
He leaned down and kissed her, watching as her face turned lobster red.
By now Hinata learned that Naruto was an extreme public display of affection type of man. He didn't care about tradition and how he looked as a ninja. He's said it before. If he wanted her, then he should have the freedom to indulge with her, when he wanted to. Vice versa.
If Hinata wanted to fill up on him in public, Naruto would gladly accept this.
Hinata may be a traditional woman, but she wasn't opposed to accepting such PDA. She smiled after he kissed her and her eyes lit up when Naruto wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. Their bodies rubbing together, enjoying the heat their bodies gave off. Hinata remembering why she thought his eyes were always so dreamy. "You look really good Hinata."
He backed away from her without breaking eye contact. "Your turn. Try on your clothes."
Hinata had picked out Naruto's designs and had them tailored to what she thought would look nice and would fit his style. Along with being paired effectively with how Naruto fought. Naruto asked her to do this for him, and he would do the same for her. So, what Hinata was trying on, was picked out and tailored designed by Naruto.
Naruto sat out the dressing room, sitting in a chair facing the room Hinata was specifically in. He was patient, but eager at the same time. Finally Hinata opened the door to the dressing room and smiled at Naruto, as his grin stretched from ear to ear when he looked at her.
Kimonos were Hinata's thing. It was her family's style and Naruto accepted that. He got it. Plus it somewhat worked with their fighting techniques. He just wanted to see Hinata a little more modern with it. Spice it up instead of solid colors.
Even though Hinata wouldn't admit it. Naruto knew she liked the material of a kimono oppose to a yukata. It was fine, Hinata grew up in a prestige clan and enjoyed the finer things in life. She deserved it. Plus kimono's were heavier and kept Hinata warm and secured.
The kimono's Hinata typically wore from her family had really long sleeves, and Naruto was no idiot. He knew that was the Hyuga clans way of advertising that their daughter was unmarried and was on the market. So, these kimono's he got the sleeves shortened. Not too much, so it didn't take away the elegance.
Hinata wore a dark purple kimono with soft white, lavender and hot pink flowers scattered around it. Her obi was a light purple color and hugged her not too tight, but showed her figure in a teasing-respective manner. She wore a mesh shirt underneath that hid the fact she was wearing a sports bra to support her breast and she wore short black spandex shorts underneath for combat. Like Naruto wanted, the sleeves weren't as long as her usual ones. They expanded a little over her hands.
Her kimono was mini. Stopping at her thighs, barely covering her shorts. Her ninja sandals were black and hiked up to her knees. She looked at Naruto with a blush on her face and bit her bottom lip. This was very different for her. However, she saw the excited look on Naruto's face and how big his smile had gotten.
"Wow. Just wow. You are…you're beautiful Hinata. You're always beautiful, but…like." Naruto smiled brightly and laughed at himself as he was getting flustered. "This really says a lot about how much you've changed. For the better."
Hinata walked up to him and placed her hands on Naruto's shoulders while she smiled at him. Her eyes hooded as usual as she gazed in his sky lit eyes. "Thank you Naruto-kun. I appreciate that so much."
His smile became a sneaky grin as he looked at her. "Put the other one on Hinata. I just want to see you in it." Hinata's face grew red hot and she covered her face as she leaned into Naruto. "Oh Naruto!"
Naruto held her wrists and laughed as he whispered to Hinata. He shushed her as he laughed, and pulled her closer to him, while she was still covering her face. "Shhh! I-I just want to see it. Hinata. Shhh." The two laughed quietly between one another. Naruto finally got Hinata to take her hands from her face and kissed her fully on the lips. "For me. Please."
Hinata was still red in the face, but nodded her head in agreement. Naruto had the outfit in his lap and gave it to Hinata while biting his bottom lip.
Hinata took the dress and quickly walked into the dressing room. She shut the door and Naruto sat in the chair propping his elbows on his knees and rested his face in his palms. He waited as patiently as possible. He already knew he was going to love it.
He heard the door start to open and immediately straightened himself up. When Hinata walked out it was a black dress. It stopped mid-thigh and the slit on both sides rose to Hinata's hips. He could see she wasn't wearing any underwear. There was a white belt that was around her waist and tightened the dress to her frame. The black dress was sleeveless and had a popped color like Naruto's jacket. It was deep V-neck, going down just a little past her breast. The collar had white trimming and on the back, the Uzumaki whirlpool was engraved on it.
Hinata looked at Naruto. Eager for his feedback. She saw this glazed look to his eyes, as he slowly stood up. "Wear this when I ask you to. Please?" Hinata looked at him as she still stood in the dressing room. She nodded her head as she bit her bottom lip. "Of course."
Naruto smiled and walked inside the dressing room with Hinata. She looked at Naruto confused, especially when he shut the door.
However she soon learned why Naruto deemed this his favorite outfit.
"Oh Naruto!"
"Shhh."
A week later they arrived to Amegakure.
It was raining in the great industrial village and Naruto has never been more unhappy to be somewhere in his life. He walked with a rain cloak covering him and so did Hinata. Naruto also didn't want to really be noticed in this village. It was rather painful.
He followed Hinata silently. Until they reached a rather long and stretched out building that was painted over with graffiti until it resembled a mural. Words of gang affiliation. Expressions of being tortured. Anger and hate was littered all over the mural. Painting nothing but the image of death.
It started to rain harder and with it came lightning. Naruto looked at the mural a little while longer, before he looked at Hinata. "Why did you want to come here?"
Hinata looked at the mural in fascination. "Neji heard great things about this village. He said it was a work of art, and I had to see for myself. I now see. It is beautiful. This place is beautiful."
This made Naruto look at her confused. He looked around and did a 360 of their surroundings. What? This place didn't show any type of art or beauty. Just misery. "Art? How is this art? It's pain and grief."
Hinata looked at Naruto and smiled, "That is a form of art. You look at this mural and you feel the creators emotions. How they felt during that time. What this place brings. It's all art. It doesn't have to make you feel good all the time."
Naruto looked back at the mural and let out a heavy sigh. "I promised that I would come back to this place and make it better, but I have no clue how to even go about it. Look around Hinata. It's pain everywhere. It's so much misery and corruption. Violence. Other villages just want to come here and scavenge what they can get. They sucked this place dry. It just seems hopeless."
Hinata blinked at Naruto. This was so unlike him to sound so discouraged. Her face then morphed to one of understanding. Naruto lost someone very important here. This place brought him pain. His demons lie here. He should face his demons.
Naruto felt Hinata hold his hand and he turned to look back at her. She smiled at him as she turned to face him. "Yet, I know that you will find a way. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but that is what makes you special Naruto Uzumaki. You do not go back on your word."
Naruto blinked rapidly as he looked at Hinata. "Hinata? How long were you planning on staying here? What other places did you want to go to? If we finish your list off, could we come back here? To Amegakure?"
She had no other plans. There was no more parts to her list. In reality, this dark beauty was a gem to Hinata. A good place to just…curl up and fade away. That was her plan. No one would have ever thought to look for her here. It was a beautiful place to let consume her.
Hinata preferred to be at the bottom of the waterfalls, but Naruto was very much present. All those times she made a detour to seek the waterfalls. Now being here, this was the last of her list. Yet, she found the will to want to do more. With Naruto.
Odd. How one man could make such a difference to your life. Hinata liked that about Naruto, and hated it. All at once. "I…honestly had nothing else planned. This was it."
You had me all figured out, this whole time Naruto.
Naruto squeezed Hinata's hand and smiled at her. It was a vulnerable smile, and Hinata could tell Naruto wasn't okay right now. To imagine this would be the place he lost his sensei, and could have lost Hinata. It put him in a bad place right now. To know that if he didn't push to follower her and be in her personal bubble, that this was going to be the outcome. It was breaking him down. He adored Hinata too much now. Borderline depended on her.
Hinata kissed his hand and gave him a stare that made his body grow warm. Since Naruto has been her rock the last few months. She would be his. "Naruto, we should find a bed for the night. Come back tomorrow when the rain has let up."
Hinata watched as Naruto slowly nodded his head and felt her tug for him to follow her, which he did. They found a small inn, a little on the outside of the industrial village, because anything in the village was barely inhabitable. The room was cozy, and the bed was comfortable. Naruto almost felt like he didn't deserve to sleep somewhere so nice while the people in Amegakure suffered. Where Jiraiya suffered.
He was about to sit on the bed, but Hinata stopped him. She smiled at Naruto and whispered for him to remove his soaked clothing and to get into the shower. He looked almost like a zombie as he looked at her with dull eyes and nodded his head. Right now, it reminded him of how numb and broken he felt when he found out Jiraiya died. Fuck was he messed up. It was happening again and he couldn't shake it. He never knew he suppressed the memory and emotion so much.
Hinata helped Naruto undress and undressed herself as well. She hung their wet clothing in the bathroom to air dry and pulled Naruto in the hot shower with her. Even he could admit he was cold, and the hot water brought him back to some reality.
Naruto just let the hot water run over his head and had his eyes closed. He flinched slightly before relaxing when he felt Hinata start to bathe him. The soap going across his body as Hinata tried to ease his mind. "This was a mission that broke Jiraiya. Seeing how this place ruined the kids. How many more kids in this village are like Nagato? Has the cycle started over already and we missed it? Is another war already brewing because this place is just so broken?"
Hinata shushed Naruto this time. She finished cleaning him and wrapped her arms around his body. "Don't think like that. You won't let me submit to my dark thoughts Naruto, and I won't let you submit to yours. We won't lose any more people to war. Right now, things are fixable. Change can come to this world."
Once they finished cleaning themselves and were dry. Hinata directed Naruto to the bed. She got him in a nice comfortable pair of thick dark blue pajama bottoms. She wore a silk cream colored nightie.
She made sure Naruto was comfortable on the bed. He laid in the middle and Hinata climbed on top of him and wrapped the comforter around their body's as she laid on his chest. She looked at Naruto and noticed how he just stared up at the ceiling in thought. "Naruto. If I may give my opinion. I know I might be the last person you might want to hear advise from about finding peace, but I have some input."
He wrapped his arms around Hinata and frowned while still looking at the ceiling. "Stop that Hinata. That's not true. You're the first person I'd want advise from."
She smiled as she looked at him. "When I wanted to understand my clan from a leaders standpoint. I went to the main house and the branch house. I experienced what it was like to be in Neji's shoes. To live his fear. I got to understand the root of the problem within my clan, so I was able to pinpoint the resolution. Before I gave my title up to Hanabi. Me and my father pushed to abolish the caged bird seal. So, unless it is by punishment. No Hyuga will be separated in my clan. The Hyuga elders were not all happy with my push for this. That was the last straw they had with me. So, when the caged bird seal was abolished, they pushed for me to step down. So I did, but I'm proud of what I was able to accomplish Naruto."
Naruto's eyes focused on Hinata in the dark room. He took a deep breath in his nose before letting it out heavily. "They shouldn't have done that to you Hinata."
She furrowed her brows at him in confusion. She was trying to give him advise. Uplift him. "Naruto?"
He hugged her closer to his frame as he gave her an intense look. "I got what you were saying, and I agree with you Hinata. Instead of pushing this village away from my mind frame, while I'm here I should go visit everything. Talk to the people. See the actual problem here. Maybe then I can actually do something or at least make a plan in the future."
Naruto was listening. He processed everything Hinata was trying to tell him with her story she shared with him. "I get it, but hearing about what happened to you still makes me upset Hinata. They weren't fair to you. You did something great by pushing to abolish the seal. You and Neji both led your clan during the war. You've passed every test they threw at you the older you got. It's just not fair, and I don't like it. I feel like I have that right not to be happy when someone mistreats you."
She smiled at him and leaned up to give him an eskimo kiss. Naruto closed his eyes and basked in the pureness from Hinata. He could see she was trying, even though she was going through her own mental struggles. She was still trying to be there for him. "You're my joy Hinata. I'm always going to be over protective of you."
Their voices grew lower as the night progressed. Hinata rested her head on the pillow beside Naruto's and looked at him. Naruto would like to think, she was starting to look at him with love in her eyes again. Perhaps he has earned her full love back? That she loves him whole heartedly again.
Hinata raised her hand up and outlined his jaw. "You are a precious human being Naruto Uzumaki. I hope you understand how valuable you are to this world. To love you, would mean to share you with the world. You say you will give everything up, just for me, but a woman that would make you do such a thing, is not worthy of you."
Naruto's eyes became hardened and he gave her a stern look. "Don't you start Hinata. Don't push me away, especially right now. I need you."
She smiled at this and inched closer to him. "I told you, I am done running from you Naruto. I'm telling you, that I…want to try to be able to share you, so you can better the world. It's just not easy for me. I am over protective of you I have learned. This does not come easy for me."
This made Naruto smile. He took her hand and kissed it. "If we do this right. If we build the foundation between me and you right Hinata. We won't have to share each other. You won't have to worry about sharing me."
They went to sleep that night in each other's arms. Making promises to one another. Whispering words of encouragement and praises. When the two woke up, Naruto was more eager to explore Amegakure.
The first place he went to, was the orphanage. He wanted to know how many children were there. What their ages were. If they wanted to leave. They all wanted to leave, it was 20 children in this orphanage. It wasn't a lot.
So, he sent them to Konoha.
Konoha was more established and had a bigger orphanage that could take care of these kids. He summoned a giant toad. Scared the hell out of the kids, and gave each of them a note to give to the Hokage of Konoha. Everything should be worked out after that. Well until the orphanage here became proper enough for children.
The second place Naruto went to was the industrial businesses. The workers. He wanted to know what was being built. What were their wages. He wanted to see if they were stuck. What he saw were people being overworked and underpaid.
Hinata pointed something out to Naruto. The industrial era was over, it was now the dawn of technology. Which was scary, but could be a good thing if the right people handle it. These were old, middle aged, factory workers though. How could he teach them about technology, when Naruto himself was bad at it?
Again Hinata stepped in. This wasn't going to be a quick fix. It would take time. It would take years maybe, but it was doable. Open the village to the market. Place these buildings for sale. For dirt cheap and specifically aim for tech businesses to come in and open shop.
When Naruto saw Hinata reach out to her father. He immediately wanted her to stop. He didn't want it to seem like she was crawling back to her family for anything. However, Hinata reassured him, for this situation, for the people here. She was willing to ask for the help.
So, with Hinata's father's contacts. Communication and cell towers were being built and businesses were scheduling to come out to see the promising land. Hinata was confident the land would be bought. When she first came to Amegakure she could easily see the promise of the village.
Another thing on Naruto's list. The corruption. The gangs and the internal wars. No business will stay here if they kept being chased out due to the high crime and violence.
So, Naruto took that challenge head on. Before he knew it, five months had passed and they were still in Amegakure. Gone from Konoha for seven months. Naruto could tell this wasn't a bother for Hinata. The change in scenery compared to Konoha was a positive on her, and Naruto had noticed.
This morning, him and Hinata were in bed. Typically, like every morning, they would listen to the rain for about an hour before they got out of bed to start their day.
Naruto looked at Hinata as he cuddled her under the thick comforter and ran his fingers up and down her back. Since being here so long, they found a cottage on the boarder of the village and were paying rent to stay there. The owners were a sweet elderly couple, that was just happy to finally find tenants to care for the land and property.
It was a cute cottage. Two bedroom, one and a half bath. A decent size kitchen, living room and dining room area. Plus a guest house wasn't too far from their cottage. What was really beautiful was the land. In this industrial village it was so rare to find acres of land, but they had over 10 acres of land. It was perfect to lay low and still be active in the village.
"Do you hear that Hinata?" Naruto pulled the comforter from over their heads and looked out the window of their bedroom. "It stopped raining." He looked at Hinata and she looked at him tiredly, but with a smile. He guessed that was his fault. He kept her up a lot last night. He was in a needy mood.
"Do you have to leave so early today Naruto?" She cuddled up to Naruto's side and he smiled as he laid back down with her. "Hmm. Would I rather continue about my day scaring corrupt officials to leave the village, and putting their heads through walls. Or would I rather stay in a little while longer, to make you breakfast and relax with you? So, what would you like to eat today Hinata?"
The two of them giggled when Naruto said this. "Oh. I almost forgot. They'll be having a concert tonight Hinata. Since that nightclub opened two months ago, a lot of popular artist have been coming here to perform. Money is coming back to the village. I hope Amegakure's accountant is paying you for all your business idea's you brought to this place."
Hinata pulled the sheets over her nude body and blushed. A night out sounded lovely. Amegakure in the past was the grunge and nu-metal capital of the world. Hinata loved their music. "It's not needed. It's nice helping people. It's nice seeing you glow again Naruto."
Naruto bit his bottom lip before he looked at Hinata. Tempted for another session before he went to cook, but him wanting Hinata to have a break outweighed that. It was attractive seeing someone take care of him the way Hinata was doing. He trusted her with his life. His physical, mental and emotional well-being.
Naruto got out of bed and slipped on a pair of black boxer briefs. He went over to the bed and placed one knee on the bed while he leaned over to take Hinata's left hand. He placed her delicate hand against his lips and kissed it.
When he pulled away, he looked at the diamond engagement ring he put on her finger about a month ago. Kissing the enlarged diamond.
"I love you Hinata."
End of chapter.
Love is in the air! Seven months away from home and Naruto has gotten engaged. Yet, no one back in Konoha even knows any of this is going on. Surely Naruto's former teammates would want an explanation.
I know in canon, they covered Naruto kind of bouncing back from his sensei dying. However, in this story, I wanted that vow to go back to Amegakure and to rebuild it, to happen.
Next chapter is a continuation of this chapter. A night out on the town. I am a nu-metal music type of gal, so maybe before you read next chapter you'd like to listen to some popular 'Deftones' songs. They can get pretty hot and heavy.
See you Friday!
