NARUTO IS PROPERTY OF MASASHI KISHIMOTO
"Kyuubi talking"
'Kyuubi thinking'
"Normal speech"
'Characters thinking'
Author's note:
Longest yet.
/
Generation Lost
Chapter 8: All These Things I Hate
"Torn apart at the seams and my dreams turn to tears,
I'm not feeling this situation."
Kakashi signaled to his crew to take a moment to gather their breaths. Even he felt he could use some water and a three-hour nap, but they still had hundreds of feet to go and there might still be survivors under the piece of mountain that collapse thanks to Naruto's berserk mode.
'I wonder what technique he used to make such damage.' The copy cat ninja asked himself, wiping sweat from his brow and looking at the map the jounin in charge of the excavating operation drew from his earth sensing jutsu.
They were only eight shinobi with him, and they all could use earth jutsus to push dirt and rocks aside as they headed deeper into the ground and avoided the delicate parts where one mistake could bring the cave further down. Sai was with the other group of diggers, controlling three ink-drawn monsters that resembled moles, only ten times their normal size. Meanwhile, Sakura had stayed in the surface managing the medical unit where the survivors, be it prisoners or gang members, were being treated and readied for questioning.
Although there wasn't much that they needed to know. The only thing Ibiki could get out of the enemies confessions were confirmation to Anko's report on the scientist's interrogation. By now she had already informed them what he was doing there, who had hired him, and for what purpose.
Kakashi's crew objective was to find the laboratory chambers where Kabuto and the scientist had been doing their experiments on the villagers. Anko's report could only be taken seriously if he could find evidence of what the scientist said. But Kakashi was sure they would at some point find exactly what the scientist was talking about.
What he didn't understand was why would Sasuke keep Orochimaru's organization alive, and furthermore, why would he want to dispose of Yugakure's whole population in such a butchery manner. His gut told him that they hadn't taken Sasuke seriously enough the last three months, when he started to move after Orochimaru's assassination, and that gave way to an extremely uneasy feeling about his former student.
'Did you feel it too, Naruto?' The grey-haired man mused, breathing deeply and adjusting the lantern hanging from his forehead protector. Both teacher and student shared the same purpose of chasing the young Uchiha and bringing him back home so he could adjust again to the life he left behind, but every time there was news of what he was doing it seemed the Sasuke they once knew was gone.
'I'm not giving up.' The former ANBU captain thought firmly, and he imagined his blond-haired student nodding at him.
The only way to know for sure what had become of the stoic child they'd known was to meet him face to face.
'What went wrong this time?'
Naruto ran a hand through his golden mane as he examined yet again the unraveled scroll. He read the whole paragraph and ran the whole set of hand signs listed under the Blade of Wind jutsu. It was the first technique to catch Naruto's attention, since it could create an invisible sword out of thin air and slash almost anything with it. Theorically, it could also be casted upon a solid blade and widen its range and deepen its sharpness.
"Hmm…" Naruto continued to stare in deep thought at the scroll as he sat cross legged on the grass.
He had started to train early in the morning, since his nightmares wouldn't let him sleep.
The Uzumaki then turned around to find a small notebook with a few lines written messily over the blank paper on his own handwriting. It contained notes and tips Naruto had already discovered on how not to do that jutsu.
As he was hovering above his notes, a drop of blood stained his otherwise white sheet of paper. Naruto frowned, but at the same time thanked the gods it didn't fall on the old scroll. He rubbed the back of his hand on his cheek, wincing inwardly at the itching pain that accompanied the several cuts on his face.
Placing a few more notes to remind himself that he should perform the jutsu with his fingers tight against each other so that the air current would flow through them as one item, Naruto leapt to his feet and jogged to a spot far enough it wouldn't damage his belongings.
"Let's do it right this time." Naruto told himself confidently as he nodded, promising himself an early lunch if he managed it. "Blade of Wind no Jutsu!"
Naruto wasn't the only one training his elemental jutsus today.
Hyuuga Hinata had booked her family's private forest for herself that morning to practice jutsus of her own. She had already discarded her jacket since it was all wet by now, and there were a few wet patches on her pants but she didn't mind them, as she was already mastering the technique she'd been at for two months now.
Still, her chakra was running low, so she doubted she could continue training for long. But she wasn't the one to decide when to stop her activities, since a female servant from her house that she knew was called Hilda, told her she was needed quite urgently by a little boy asking for her.
Hinata asked for a spare jacket to be brought to her before meeting with said little boy. She supposed it must be Konohamaru since it was one of the few boys she knew.
It took her four minutes to retrieve her training material. By the time she reached the compound Hilda was waiting for her with a dry, sleeveless jacket hanging from her hands.
Thanking her, the heiress headed for the entrance lobby where she found none other than Udon, quietly reading one of the magazines that were placed on top of the small glass table in the middle of the room.
"Good morning." Hinata greeted sweetly, hiding the disconcerted look at seeing Konohamaru's best friend on her house.
"Hinata-san." The brown-haired boy said with a wide smile and a small bow, which Hinata reciprocated. "I'm sorry to trouble you at lunch time, but Iruka-sensei said it was urgent."
Hinata frowned at the mention of her former sensei. It only served to make her more eager to know what was going on. Although Udon's happy face made her doubt he knew how to react at an urgent matter.
"It's okay, Udon-kun. Would you tell me what's wrong?" Hinata prodded, hiding her worry from him.
"It's Naruto-niisan." The 13 year old boy started. "Iruka-sensei was told he was hurt and had been sent to the hospital. But he couldn't attend the call because he is busy overseeing the genin exams."
"What happened?" the girl could no longer pretend to be calm, and this time she stepped next to the younger boy.
"He didn't say. But Iruka-sensei told me to ask you if you could go in his stead. He's being treated in room 505."
With a quick nod, the Hyuuga thanked the boy and told him she would head to Konoha's hospital immediately. She didn't even wait for his reply as she sped through rooftops with her heart beating rapidly.
'He must have gotten hurt with one of the scroll's jutsus.' Hinata was sure of that, since he had told her the day before yesterday what he planned to do the next few days, as he walked her back to her house.
Flashback
"Just so you know, I wasn't staring." Naruto said, placing his arms over his head and resting his head against his hands.
Hinata looked at him with a patronizing stare, but the blond was looking at the exact opposite direction of her. "I wouldn't be so sure." The girl replied as she played nervously with a strand framing her face. The fact that they weren't in swimsuits didn't mean she still wasn't embarrassed about the whole thing.
"It's true!" The blond countered, glancing at her momentarily but deciding to look ahead instead. "I was just surprised. That' all."
Hinata looked at him extrangely, trying to figure out why he was trying so hard to deny it, when it was so obvious to everyone when it happened. It's not like she was mad at him; she just didn't know what to make of it. It was like being in front of a whole new person.
"Surprised?" The girl inquired. "Of what?"
Naruto visibly struggled to phrase cautiously his next words. But as soon as he tried to say something, he stopped before uttering a word and tried for a better explanation.
"You know…" The all mighty Uzumaki said lamely. Hinata cocked her head to the side, and couldn't help to enjoy a little bit watching him struggle with a reddened face.
"I don't think so." 'Oh, Hinata stop torturing him like this.' She scolded herself, but it was the first time she felt their roles reverse completely.
Naruto balled his fists as he tried to battle his tongue-tied disease.
"I was surprised… to see you almost completely naked." The blond said bluntly, as he hung his head. But this time, it was Hinata's place to turn scarlet red.
"W-What?" she gasped at his accusation.
"I mean!" Naruto hurried to say, holding his hands up like there was a gun being pointed at him. "I've always seen you fully clothed, you know? And… well, your swimsuit was almost as revealing as Ino's."
"You weren't gaping at her…" The girl said slyly, trying to regain her composure.
"Why would I? Ino likes showing her skin every single day." Naruto shrugged. "You on the other hand… well, it's hard to see you without a jacket on."
The girl looked straight ahead, avoiding his eyes. For one blissful moment she thought he might be actually attracted to her, but apparently it was her fault for guarding her body so much. "Yes… you've mentioned that before." She whispered, but Naruto didn't seem to hear her.
"Besides, Ino's got nothing on you." Hinata turned her unbelieving stare at him, but Naruto picked up his pace so his face was a few inches ahead of hers. Before she could question him on his words, the young man said, "I promise I won't be taken aback next time. Or at least I'll pretend I won't."
Hinata didn't know how to respond to his words, but Naruto was an expert of escaping awkward situations.
"Well, good night. I'd like to keep talking but I've got a busy week with my new jutsus." He grinned sheepishly, remembering his source of excitement. "Maybe we can get together one of these days."
Just as she was watching his back get farther away from her, did she realized that he never apologized for what he did.
"It's bleeding again." The younger nurse informed her partner, pointing to Naruto's left arm.
"It does that." The Uzumaki said incoherently, as he was still under the effect of an abnormal amount of sedatives so his pain would lessen, but after half-an-hour they were losing its effects. He started to sit up straight in his hospital bed but the nurse approached him and advised him not to move.
"You shouldn't be awake yet." The short-haired nurse said, leaning over him and pushing against his naked chest, right over the scar. Naruto turned his eyes at her and she blinked at their shade of blue. 'Blond hair and blue eyes? Does he come from a fairy tale?'
"The doctor said it could bleed a bit more before completely stopping." Her more experienced colleague explained to both of them calmly. "You can manage it from here, Azumi. Just make sure to change his blood bag when the other one runs out."
"Hai." Azumi answered obediently. Normally she would complain about managing a patient alone, but she wouldn't mind treating this one here on her own.
Even though she pushed him against the mattress, the young man was struggling to stand up again and this time he managed it before she could prevent it.
"Well, since you don't want to go back to sleep…" She leaned over the end of his bed to look at the name scribbled on the top of the clipboard. "… Naruto-san, why don't we talk while you clear your head?"
Naruto grunted but she couldn't tell if it as a positive or negative sound. "You got hurt pretty bad, huh?"
"Hn." The blond tried to pass a hand through his face but found both of them bandaged up. 'Oh right. They almost split in half.' He looked at his right one. 'Well, one of them did.' He shook his head brusquely to wake himself up.
"You're a shinobi, aren't you?" The green-haired older woman said, turning to the small table at the other side of the room and glancing at his Konoha headband.
"A chuunin." Naruto answered, looking around and finding a half empty blood bag hanging near him and plugged to a tube that lead to his arm.
"How old are you, Naruto-san?" The nurse asked, finding there was still time before changing the bag and sitting in Naruto's visitor chair. The blond now seemed fully operational.
"16."
"Oh." Azumi felt disappointed.
"But I'm turning 17 next month." The blond added as an afterthought. He was looking around, as if searching for something.
"Oh!" The woman said, this time with a glint in her eyes. 'We're technically one year apart. I can work with that.'
"What's your name?" Naruto asked, turning to her.
"My name's Azumi." The girl said, excited.
"Azumi, would you help me with the phone? I need to reach someone." The blond pointed at the white phone on the wall behind him.
"I'm not sure you're allowed to. Only staff can-"
"Please." The blond turned his eyes to her. "I only need to do one call."
After an internal struggle, Azumi decided to help him out. The blond dictated the number and once it was ringing, the short-haired woman took advantage to sit on the edge of the blond's bed and hold the receiver next to his face.
"Baachan, it's me." Naruto said once the other end picked up the phone. Naruto knitted his eyebrows together as he listened to the other side. "Don't you recognize my voice? Fine I'll give you a clue: I'm gonna be your replacement someday."
The whiskered boy grinned widely, which only served to make Azumi scoot closer to him. He didn't notice.
"Oh, it's not that bad." The blond said through the voice receiver. Azumi heard a tiny, muffled voice from the other side but couldn't decipher what it was saying. Naruto rolled his eyes. "Then just heal me so I can get out of your hair!"
The green-haired nurse raised her eyebrows at the high volume used by the person on the other line to answer to the young man's request. She immediately recognized the voice to be the Hokage's. 'How can he speak to her like that?'
Naruto winced at Tsunade's tone, but at the same time frowned at what she was saying. "Why do you treat me like that? You know I hate hospitals!"
The Hokage's tone receded to an indistinct set of words. The whiskered boy listened grumpily.
Just at that moment Hinata entered through the door, almost missing it, and screeched to a halt. The nurse turned to look at her uninvitingly, but Naruto didn't notice as he was too ensnared in his conversation.
"Fine!" Naruto finally stopped listening and snapped to the receiver. "How long will she take?" Pause. "Just give me an estimate, you hag!" Pause. "Hello? Hey! Baachan!"
Naruto stared blankly at the phone, then to Azumi, then back to the phone. His eyes turned murderous. "Did she just hung up on me?"
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata said in between pants. The blond's eyes tore away from the nurse and towards his unexpected visitor. He looked at her like he didn't know her at first.
"Hinata?" The blond asked, incredulous. She saw how his right arm was covered in bulky bandages from fingers to elbow, while his left hand and wrist were covered under a set of gauze that was still leaking blood and staining the white cotton. "What are you doing here?"
The girl gathered her breath as she took in the sight of him. He looked paler than she remembered, and his face was covered in band aids. He had three in his right cheek, one over the bridge of his nose, and a big gauze covering his left.
"I can ask you the same thing, miss." The green-haired woman said icily, placing the phone back on the wall and addressing the Hyuuga. "Naruto-san is still being treated. He's not cleared for visitors yet."
"I'm his emergency contact's replacement." The Hyuuga explained, already familiar with the hospital's policies. She then turned her worried eyes to Naruto. "Iruka-sensei couldn't come."
"Iruka…" The blond said as her words dawned on him. Hinata was too busy fuzzing over Naruto to notice how the nurse was looking at her from head to toe. Naruto's eyes then narrowed. "He's such an idiot for worrying you. Besides, he knows I always make it out just fine."
"What happened?" The girl asked, approaching slowly towards him. "Why are they giving you a transfusion?"
At the girl's last word, Azumi remembered it was time to replace the empty plastic bag for a new one. But she still regarded the girl as a threat.
"Naruto-san." The green-haired nurse said, calling his attention. "We need your approval of her being in the room."
The blond clicked his tongue, clearly annoyed. "Yeah, it's fine. She's my friend." Azumi's shoulders relaxed visibly.
"I just had a small accident, you don't have to worry." Naruto said with a smile to try and calm her down. Of all the people Iruka could've tell he decided to go for Hinata, the one who always got worried the most when he was at the hospital. "I'll be out of here in a few hours so-"
"Naruto-kun." She pleaded. The blond sighed. The nurse let them talk while she busied herself with his transfusion.
"Well, remember that jutsu that summoned a sword out of thin air?" Hinata nodded, preparing for the worst. "I couldn't control the length of the blade and it spread through my arms and hands… cutting a few of my veins."
"And your forearm in half." Azumi added. She was analyzing the long-haired Hyuuga carefully. She could be his friend, but she seemed like a friend that was really worried for him.
The Hyuuga gasped, to which Naruto hurried to ease her worries. "But it wasn't that bad, they found me just in time due to the surge of chakra."
The green-haired woman couldn't believe how the boy could talk so lightly of such an accident. He had already lost most of his blood by the time they found him and thought he was dead when he arrived for resuscitation.
Azumi felt the need to say something. "He arrived with only one pint of blood in his body. The doctor spent three minutes resuscitating him."
Naruto glared at his nurse while Hinata gasped dramatically. The nurse felt just how mean those eyes could turn if provoked, and swallowed. Clearly he didn't want his friend to get more concerned that she already was. She couldn't stay there if the other girl was interfering. Once she finished setting up the blood bag, she announced she would come by later to check up on him. Surprisingly Naruto smiled at her, almost as if he had forgotten about the scolding glare he sent her way. The Hyuuga thanked her profusely for helping Naruto and taking care of him, which made her realize that the girl was too sweet to hate.
"How can you be so calm? This is serious." The girl whispered with a hand on her mouth as she approached his mangled body.
"It's not as serious as you think…" Naruto started, but Hinata's chastising stare stopped him.
"The nurses say you were dead when you arrived."
"Only for three minutes." Naruto retorted childishly.
The girl shook her head, unbelieving his disregard for his own life. "Okay. So how long must you be dead for me to have a right to worry?"
This time Naruto saw how pushing her buttons led her to get frustrated with him. He winced inwardly at her tone. "All right, Hinata, I'm sorry. But now that you know about Kyuubi you must also understand that my life is not as fragile as the one of a normal person."
This was a subject Hinata was new at, and no matter how impressive his powers were, she still couldn't help to worry about him getting hurt. "But you're not immortal, Naruto-kun…" Her eyes fell to the scar on his chest. Naruto followed her gaze.
Pursing his lips, the blond took a hand to his chest and felt for the tender skin, but the bandages got in the way. He frowned. "You know what?" As soon as he spoke he shook his head and glanced away from the girl. He didn't try to show it, but sometimes Sasuke's memento took him to a dark place. "Forget it."
Hinata sighed to herself. She was sure they were past the point of shriveling up and holding in their thoughts. But she noticed how Naruto always acted differently in a hospital bed. Placing a patient hand on Naruto's naked arm, she waited.
"I sometimes really hate this scar." He talked staring blankly at his lap, but knew Hinata was listening carefully. "It reminds me that I need to get stronger, no matter the cost. Day in and day out, that's all I think about. That way, when I find him, I'll know for sure I've made it."
He turned and looked seriously into Hinata's beautiful eyes. "This is the cost, Hinata. I just have to accept it anyway it comes."
"But I don't." The girl responded, leveling his stare. Their staring contest lasted a few moments, before Hinata squeezed his arm and softened her eyes. "That doesn't mean I'll leave your side, though."
Naruto tried to hide the smile tugging at his lips, but Hinata saw his struggle. Secretly, he was hoping the girl would say something like that. It just gave him more confidence that she'd always be there for him. She smiled at him and his lips gave way to one of his own.
"Is that a confession, Hinata?" Now that the mood was friendlier, he felt he could tease her a bit.
Hinata's eyes widened for a fraction of a second. 'I wish.' "You wish." She managed to say without letting her face betray her. Hopefully he couldn't see her hands pressing painfully against each other. "Maybe when you can act like a human being when I wear my swimsuit."
Her words provoked a better reaction than she expected. Naruto blushed right in front of her nose; first from the neck, then evolving until it hit his ears. He cleared his throat and took a moment to reply. "Oh, you're never going to let that go, are you?"
Hinata smiled sweetly in response.
"Fine. While I cook up a way to get back at you, why don't you help me look for Shizune so she can heal me completely?"
Sasuke held a hand in the air, signalizing Karin to halt her steps.
They were halfway through a dense forest, littered with skeletons of gigantic animals that once had been, but the Uchiha felt something that Karin ignored. She doubted that anyone would be living within the forest, less that masked man, but his chakra trace had led her near the forest.
"What is it, Sasuke-kun?" The red-haired girl inquired, trying to glance at her leader's face but only managing to look at the back of his head.
The young Uchiha stayed quiet, listening to his surroundings, before announcing: "He already knows we're here, let's wait for him to appear."
Without waiting for Karin's reply, Sasuke turned right and approached the nearest tree, entering its shadow and resting his back against it.
The red-haired ninja followed him and, after a couple of minutes of silence, tried to spark up a conversation. Once she opened her mouth she knew it was futile, as Sasuke closed his eyes and raised his upper lip in distaste.
Her words died in her mouth.
'Why do I always try so hard? It's not like he will love me back.' She kicked herself inwardly, turning her gaze to the floor. There were times she felt the urge to run away from him and his dark goals, but the Uchiha seemed to know when she was reaching her limit.
When that happened, he would change his attitude towards her for one night. Acting almost as a gentleman, Orochimaru's apprentice would lead her to his chambers and please himself with her, rendering her love anew.
If only Kabuto and the rest of his male followers were so easy to control as her.
A sudden chakra signature appeared right beside them. Karin snapped her head to its direction and witness how the masked man stood calmly besides them, almost as if he had been standing there all along.
"Took you long enough." Grunted the young Uchiha, turning to the man.
He smirked through his mask. "It seems I caught you in a bad mood." The self-proclaimed Madara said. "Or are you always like this?"
Sasuke decided to ignore his words and go through with his subject instead. "We've finally cracked the secrets to the Reanimation Technique."
The man's only visible eye widened. "Oh?"
"Kabuto got inspired with the deadline I gave him." This time Sasuke was the one to smirk. Karin wanted to shudder at Sasuke's rare facial demonstration.
"And how are you willing to play this card?"
"We both can use the forbidden jutsu to strengthen our ranks in the upcoming fight." The Uchiha explained, his smirk evolving into a hungry grin. The masked man almost felt proud for his power-crazed eyes. "But my request still stands."
"Your requests shall be granted." Madara said, holding his hands calmly behind his back and walking in front of them. His eye shifted to the red-haired girl and immediately said woman searched for something else to look at. "You can have Suna and Konoha. Although there won't be much left of your former home."
At this, Sasuke stopped smiling at once. "What do you plan to do?"
"Well, to start a war there must be a catalyst that makes all the nations stand in attention." He paused to analyze the younger man's face and smiled to himself. "Everyone must see us as a threat, and the best way to do that is to burn to the ground the biggest nation of them all."
Sasuke's bad temper started to surface. "Konoha's mine to destroy, it's my right!"
"You need to understand, Sasuke-kun…" Madara said patronizingly, which only served to make Sasuke furious and Karin could sense it. "It must be the Akatsuki versus the shinobi nations, and the one to perpetrate the first attack must be us."
"You-"
"But don't worry," the man raised his hand to shut Sasuke up. "After the war you can add another nation to your loot."
Sasuke fisted his hands tightly. He didn't like one bit the man's negotiation tactics. It was like he was a kid and he was promising more candy just to keep him from going on a tantrum. "I can gather a small army of the best shinobi ever to live and help you obliterate the village, just wait three months and-"
"That won't be necessary." The cloaked ninja interjected, facing the younger Uchiha. "The date is already set. And although the army of the undead is very helpful, only one person will be in charge of the task."
Sasuke was left with his mouth trying to force a reply, but it was clear that that man had already everything planned out, he doubted he even needed his help at all. 'Did he just put me in charge of discovering the Edo Tensei to keep me out of his way?'
"Who?" Sasuke's voice shook with anger.
"You'll find out in no time. And believe me Sasuke, he hates Konoha even more than we do."
Only the sound of pages turning could be heard in the small room. The raining had stopped an hour ago, but that didn't mean it was safe to come out.
Even if he was on an underground safe-house, Jiraiya knew if he made any loud noise or brusque movement, one of the patrolling squads could locate his location, and that would mean months of exhaustive work gone to the gutter. According to what his informants on the wet country told him, every squad had one earth user, so they weren't only looking out for someone hiding in the forest or a town, but for intruders coming underground.
'This god of them is very meticulous.' The tall man thought as he lifted his gaze to look at the numerous reports and notes plastered to the wall right in front of him. To a complete stranger it might look like the person who put it there was very messy, but Jiraiya had a system only he and Naruto could understand.
His tired eyes went back to his notepad, where everything he wanted to know about Pain was transcribed. By now he knew his schedule from months before and the one for next month. It didn't come easy, he lost one of his spies two weeks ago to the village's guard.
With his heightened sense of hearing, he raised his head to a pair of persons walking right above him, but they went on their way without even stopping to suspect anything.
'Good.' Jiraiya sighed. 'In just a few weeks I can finish this mission, one way or the other.'
Oh he would come for them, he didn't care if they were waiting for him. There would be much to talk about. He searched in his little book for the page where two small photographs were attached, one besides the other. They were both hazy due to the heavy rain that was falling at the moment, and there was so little light you could almost miss the hair color of both of them. But Jiraiya recognized their silhouettes and their hair style. If it weren't for the woman's paper flower attached to her hair, he might've never believed it.
He was sure his students would make it big, but to be the leaders of the most lethal organization in the whole shinobi world was something else.
'At last I found you, Konan… Yahiko.' Jiraiya looked longingly at the pictures and sighed heavily. 'Now, what happened to Nagato?'
"I'm training with you."
Her comment was so sudden, that Naruto almost choked on a piece of pork that hastily made its way down his throat. His eyes turned to look at her in alarm, and his mind had already decided on the words of his response, but Hinata saw it before he could actually speak them.
"You can't train alone when practicing those techniques, they're too dangerous." She had wanted to tell him when they finished eating, so as to not ruin the joyful lunch they were sharing at Ichiraku's, but the idea had been in her mind as soon as they left the hospital.
"Listen." Naruto managed to say, wiping a droplet of broth that had climbed down his chin when hearing the girl's daring proposal. His normally tanned arms were now covered from his fingertips to his elbows in white bandages. They were a recommendation from Shizune after treating the remainder of his open wounds. Naruto couldn't wait until Sakura and Shizune opened their medic ninja school so at least one out of ten doctors could heal like a ninja could. "Just because you treat me to ramen doesn't mean I'll agree to anything you ask of me. I'm not a child."
"It's not a request." The Hyuuga said firmly, placing her chopsticks besides her empty bowl and turning fully to Naruto. "It's been decided by the Hokage and informed to me by Shizune-san. If you don't like me to be with you she could send Ebisu instead."
Her arms were naked to the shoulders, which made Naruto want to appreciate how white her skin was. Almost like milk. He loved milk. But still, he was mad. "Why does she always think I'm gonna screw up? And why do you take her side?"
"One, she doesn't think that, she's just worried about your safety." The long-haired beauty answered, raising one finger. "And two, I worry too. Besides I'm not going to interfere with your training because I will be busy with my own."
The blond stayed hunched above his almost empty bowl, clearly displeased with both women. But more with the Hokage.
"There's no rivers near my spot, you wouldn't be able to use your water jutsus." The whiskered young man said, trying to talk her out of it. Hinata wouldn't have it, obviously.
"I'll do something else, then." She watched as the blond's leg was jumping up and down restlessly. His frown still hadn't diminished. Hinata rolled her eyes. "If you end this week without incident, I promise I'll leave you alone."
"You make it sound like I don't want you around." Naruto hurried to say. Hinata raised her eyebrow. "I do want to hang out with you, but it's supposed to be my space."
"It can continue to be your space next Monday."
"Fine." Naruto conceded, lowering his shoulders. "Just this week, but I warn you, you're gonna get bored. I don't make the same mistake twice."
Hinata smiled, and she admitted she looked forward to train with him tomorrow morning.
"Naruto, please answer me, you need to breathe!"
Even if Hinata was yelling as hard as she could, Naruto didn't seem to listen to her. In fact, Naruto appeared only to live inside the painful moment that was building up in his lungs and throat.
The girl was practicing her gentle fists against a poor tree, when an incredible surge of chakra, much more different like the three others Naruto had expelled before, hit her senses. It was followed by a wave of wind that pushed her bangs back against her cheeks and the leaves of the trees to sway gently. Then, a simple gasp from the blond caught her attention.
No matter how strongly she shook Naruto to open his eyes, the young chuunin was spasming silently in the grass. His eyes were scrunched shut and his face was starting to get pale. 'Why isn't he breathing?' Hinata managed to think in her alarmed mind.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, the blond opened his mouth with a strangled gasp. A forceful gush of warm blood sprang out of his mouth, tainting the girl's cheeks, and finally falling back to the face of the owner.
The long awaited breathe Hinata had been hoping for didn't come. Naruto seemed to be drowning in his own blood, so she pushed him to his side and let gravity do its work. The river of red coming out of his mouth was endless.
"Naruto-kun!"
"I'm assigning Hinata as your nanny." Tsunade said with her arms crossed tightly across her chest, and a vein clearly visible just above her right ear. "She'll make sure you don't kill yourself every time you step out of your apartment."
Hinata nodded tiredly. Naruto could only make a few outraged grunts, since his throat wasn't still completely healed, and his lungs could only take a few breaths at a time. Thankfully his arms were still working, so he lifted them up angrily.
"I'm not letting you play with those suicidal jutsus after two fatal accidents in less than 20 hours." The Hokage continued. Boy, was she glad the blond couldn't speak back to her or else her hands would already be crushing his tender throat.
Still, that Naruto couldn't talk didn't mean he had less of an attitude. He looked straight at her, holding his head high and looking at her with a you-just-watch-me glare.
Tsunade's nostrils flared wide open, but thankfully Hinata intervened. "Naruto-kun, if Kurenai-sensei found out about your accidents, she would surely take the scroll back."
Naruto, already clothed in a non-stained shirt and pants, turned to look at Hinata and made a complaining groan.
"You will only be able to train with a jounin by your side." Tsunade ordered. Her eyes travelled to the clock on the high wall and stood up hastily. "If you don't, I'll order my medics not to heal you ever again."
She noticed how Naruto's blue eyes were almost hidden by his furrowed eyebrows and decided to add. "Including Sakura."
Naruto mouthed something that Hinata didn't quite get, but Tsunade understood clearly to be 'You hag'. Forgetting the appointment she would most definitively be late to, the Fifth walked calmly towards Naruto and flicked her finger against his chest, sending him back to bed with a painful howl.
"Tsunade-sama!" Hinata exclaimed as she stood to her feet and hurried to help the blond sit straight.
"I don't know how you put up with him." The older woman said, heading for the door. "I really don't."
Walking away from the hospital, Hinata read the prescription paper Tsunade assigned the Uzumaki. Knowing him, the Hokage decided to give it to Hinata instead.
"We need to get you your painkillers." Hinata explained, lifting her lilac eyes from the paper and looking at the blond's back. "You need quite a lot of them."
The whiskered chuunin waved her comment away, placing his hand back into his pocket and heading to the known streets that led to Ichiraku. Hinata took in a deep, calming breath to keep her cool.
"If you eat ramen or anything solid you'll just choke again." She said, and saw him stop dead in his tracks. The blond took his head back and sent a suffering look at the heavens above. Hinata tilted her head to the side and gave him a sympathetic smile.
"But how about we go for a…" She referred to the list of recommendations from the Hokage, and Naruto approached her curiously. "Milkshake?" she chirped with a tinge of excitement. The blond cocked his head, wondering if she loved milkshakes as much as he loved ramen. It occurred to him that he had no clue what her favorite meal was, when she knew so much about him. He'd have to pay more attention.
He glanced to his left and noticed a fat man passing by with a blue pen hanging from his breast pocket. Stepping to him casually, his hand grabbed the pen in a blink of an eye, without even the guy noticing. Turning back to Hinata and snatching the prescription out of her hands, he wrote on the back:
I've got ice cream and milk at home.
He placed the paper in front of Hinata's nose.
"Oh." The girl said, stepping back to read properly. "Okay. Maybe I should go home too."
Naruto rolled his eyes, took her by the arm and led her to his apartment.
Tsunade read again, this time more slowly, the words printed on the light red paper that was handed to her by Kotetsu. His face was just as serious as hers.
"Seven empty graves?! Why am I only hearing this until now?" Her voice boomed, as she hit her desk with her open palm, making the chuunin flinch.
"The graves were disguised with genjutsu so we wouldn't notice, but one ANBU member noticed Hayate's grave had been tampered with when she went to pay her respects." The tall shinobi lowered his head as he thought of the list of robbed graves. "There might be more tombs with missing bodies, but so far we've only found six more."
'This is bad.' Thought the Hokage, reviewing once again the three most prominent names on the list. Hyuuga Hizashi, Sarutobi Asuma, and… "Bring me as many Inuzukas as you can find."
The Hokage's sudden request made Kotetsu jerk his head in attention, and after a few seconds he nodded and left the building.
"Oh, this is bad."
Tsunade said once again, this time out loud. She couldn't let the villagers find out about the stolen corpses, much less the relatives of the deceased. She needed first to know what exactly was going on.
'Messing with the dead, that's only something Orochimaru dared to do.' But then she remembered her former teammate and friend was dead. 'But his wickedness lives on… Kabuto is sure to follow his every step.'
She'd never felt so interested in finding Uchiha Sasuke than she did at this moment. Maybe this time hers and Naruto's interests would overlap.
She looked down again, and read the fourth name on the list. Her lips trembled slightly as she pronounced the name she never thought she'd say again.
"Dan…"
"Hey there girl!" Kiba announced happily, once he saw Kurenai opening the door for him with Mirai in her arms. "Hadn't seen you in a while."
"She's asleep, Kiba." His sensei told him in a low voice. As soon as the Inuzuka heard this, he retreated his hand that was about to touch the baby and stood obediently still. Akamaru stood two steps behind his master.
"Sorry." He said with an embarrassed grin.
The black-haired beauty smiled at him and stepped aside so he could get inside. She really liked Kiba's enthusiasm when he saw her daughter, but there was always this tone when he was addressing her that reminded her of the tone he used to talk to dogs.
"I tried to visit as soon as I arrived, but I couldn't even get to my room before my mum told me the Hokage needed every Inuzuka available." The spiked-haired brunette explained, taking a seat in the familiar coach, the dog took his preferred spot under the crystal table and laid his head on top of his paws. That had been almost a week ago, when he arrived from the Hinata-less mission. Shino, as always, was too busy being a jounin to play with his old team anymore. But Kiba couldn't blame him; the bug-user even placed aside every Saturday to meet with his old team.
"Is that so?" Kurenai said, interested. She placed Mirai down on her crib and sat down on her favorite chair.
Kiba knew the meaning of her tone, so he continued to explain. "It's kinda classified- I mean, extremely classified- but I guess I can tell you." His face suddenly became serious and he leaned forward closer to his sensei. "There's been several robbed graves all over Konoha's cemeteries, mainly from Konoha's Memorial. The Hokage asked my family to try and figure out who had done it. My mother is outside the city, following the trail."
The jounin's eyes widened for a fraction of second. Now that she had been more than 10 months off duty, she itched to know all the details of the shinobi world she had been advised to ignore. She obviously wanted to stay at home with her baby, but she knew she was a good jounin for a reason, and the stay-at-home lifestyle really wasn't for her.
"Just how many graves are we talking about?" The jounin asked carefully.
"Ten since yesterday." Answered the Inuzuka gravely. This time, Kurenai's face was frozen in shock. It was the first time in twenty years that a corpse went missing from its grave. She might have been a kid but Orochimaru's evilness was well known in her youth.
"I'm guessing the names of those gravestones are also completely classified." She had her hands clasped together in front of her. Kiba swallowed nervously as he nodded. "Well, don't worry, I won't put you in a tight spot forcing you to tell me."
The boy wanted to sigh in relief. He had agreed with his mother that telling Kurenai that his late husband's body had been taken out of his resting place was a very bad idea. The gorgeous woman excused herself and came back two minutes later with two steaming cups of tea.
"I actually wanted to talk about something else, Kiba." She said, just before taking the cup to her lips.
His most boisterous student peered at her curiously as he sipped from his beverage. "Hmm?"
"How are you doing… with Hinata, I mean." Kurenai tried to tread carefully. She had been the one to push Kiba into asking her to dinner. After all, it was so obvious to her that the dog master was in love with her once shy student. Not as obvious as the girl's crush on the blond haired Uzumaki, but both of them knew that if there was ever a time to try his luck with Hinata, it was in Naruto's three year journey away from civilization.
Kiba's bummed face told her everything she needed to know before he even spoke. "Honestly, not great." The Inuzuka said as he hunched his shoulders. Akamaru turned his sleepy eyes to his lifelong friend, sensing something was troubling him. "Last time I saw her she was still mad at me."
"For saying what you did about Naruto's condition?" Kurenai was well informed, as Hinata had told her most details about their last mission. Kiba's behavior towards the Kyuubi container wasn't something she was proud about, but she could see where he was coming from.
"I don't get it." The frustrated boy said. "How can she still stand up for him after almost getting killed by h-"
"Kyuubi?" Her sensei offered. She knew he understood, but his feelings were in the way.
"…yeah." Kiba sighed, knowing that Kurenai was also a firm believer on Naruto's innocence. He just didn't long since how long the jounin was aware of the Uzumaki's condition.
"Hinata's a kind soul. And you shouldn't have said that about Naruto." The jounin took the final sip from her cup.
"I know, but I was so angry I couldn't help myself." Kiba gripped both hands together tightly and looked solely at them. "I have to apologize so we can pick up where we left."
"Kiba…" she stared hesitantly. The boy raised his eyes to look at her red ones. "I think you should stop going after Hinata."
His reaction was delayed. At first she thought he didn't hear her correctly, but then a smile started to spread across his lips.
"Stop?" He laughed the word, looking at her like she was crazy. "What do you mean? Why would I ever do that?"
Kurenai pursed her lips. Destroying one of her student's dreams wasn't in her list of favorite things to do. "Have you seen how they act with each other? Naruto and Hinata?"
This time Kiba lost his smile and furrowed his brow. "Tch. They talk just like we talk, and they laugh just like we laugh. But I've spent more time with her. Believe me, Kurenai-sensei, those three years weren't wasted between us."
"Have you seen how she looks at him?" The woman saw Kiba shrug his shoulders, like that didn't even matter. "I've only seen him once since he came back. Right here, in the same couch you're sitting in. Hinata brought him with her."
Kiba was too surprise to get angry. "Here?"
Kurenai nodded. "You know how Hinata is when she has Mirai in her arms. Normally there's no one else who can steal her attention."
The Inuzuka nodded in agreement, the Hyuuga might as well forget who she came with. But he still didn't get where the conversation was going.
"But I saw her look at Naruto the same way she looked at him in your genin days." Her heart hardened as she opened her mouth to say the next words, "Kiba, her feelings didn't change after three years. She still loves him."
Her words entered coldly into Kiba's delicate ears. She saw how his shoulders tensed and his jaw clenched, but he still wasn't talking. He wasn't even blinking.
"And I believe he might feel something for her in return." She finally spoke the words she wanted him to hear. If Kurenai knew something about Kiba – and she did – was that he could be very sensitive to other people's feelings. The fact that he hadn't addressed Hinata's was because he simply didn't want to see it. And she thought someone should open his eyes before he got hurt.
But Kiba already was hurting. The very same woman who told him to go after Hinata was now telling him there was no point to how he felt for her anymore. What if there never was? What did that make of him? He didn't know who to hate more: Kurenai, Naruto, or Hinata herself.
"Are you saying…" The man started carefully, letting cold anger sip through his bones slowly. "It always goes his way, doesn't it? He comes and goes whenever he wants, and not only Hinata but even you support him."
"Kiba I didn't-"
"No! It's very clear, isn't it?" He stood up abruptly, eyes crazed. "He goes away without even saying good bye, and Hinata forgives him, just like that. Not only forgives him, but she welcomes him with open arms, forgives everything he's done... Hell, she even forgave him while he was killing her!"
"Kiba, you can't blame her for knowing what she wants." The jounin also stood up and raised her eyes to look at him. Her daughter started to wail in her crib, but that didn't ease Kiba's rage.
"And what about what I want?!" He hit his chest with an open palm. "I've been there for her. Three fucking years! You told me to go for it, didn't you? That was all I needed, a little bit of encouragement from someone other than myself. And I covered a lot of ground, sensei!"
"You're being selfish." At that moment she thought she was speaking to a small child, and not to a chuunin heir to his clan.
"Am I?!" The young man exclaimed, bearing his fangs at her. He never thought he'd talk to his sensei like that, but then again he never thought Kurenai would be the one to break his heart. "I feel cheated."
"Don't you want her to be happy?" This time Kurenai pleaded for him to understand. She didn't want to imagine the damage this could do to her remaining team. Something not even Shino could fix using rational arguments.
"She can be happy with me!" After speaking, Kiba started panting lightly. He wasn't aware of how forceful the words were coming out of him. He now felt he had something to prove; not only to his sensei, but to himself. "I'm no coward, Kurenai-sensei. I'll take the last step to show her how I feel."
"Kiba, wait!" Her words were drowned by the wailing coming from Mirai. Her face was twisted in distress. Kurenai thought about going after him, but Kiba had already closed the door after him, leaving only mother and daughter in the building.
"Take a deep breath, sweetie." She told her daughter, taking her into her arms and starting to shush her while rocking her back and forth. "Take a deep breath." She whispered, focusing on what just happened instead of the deafening weeping of Mirai.
Kiba was a hotheaded man, but he might calm down after a good night's sleep. Yuhi Kurenai just hoped he didn't do anything stupid.
It was really weird that Kiba decided to leave a message for her with a maid and not waiting in the lobby to tell her himself. From what Hilda told her, the boy apparently couldn't wait to get out of her house.
But she had learned to deal with Kiba's strange quirks. It wasn't as difficult as dealing with Shino's behavior. So she went at the appointed time to team 8's training ground, the one they were familiar with ever since they were a genin team, finding it strange that he wanted to train an hour before sunset.
'But that's Kiba for you.'
Once he got an idea on that sturdy head of his, it would take an army to change his mind. An army, and a little bit of Hinata's or Kurenai's help.
Once she got to the edge of the forest, she could clearly see the three stumps standing next to each other, just as the rest of the training grounds had. They were placed in the middle of a clearing. The shades produced by the trees were getting longer and longer as the minutes passed by, and then she saw him.
Hinata didn't need to get too close to know that something was going on; she had sharp eyes, after all. From her position, she could see that he wasn't wearing his usual black pants and leather jacket. Her tall partner sported a pair of blue jeans and stripped red and white blouse.
"Kiba?" She called, walking into the clearing. He was already facing in her direction. She knew he could smell her coming, it got less creepy with the years.
He offered her a nervous grin, that didn't make her feel any more comfortable. Once she was two paces away from him she noticed something even stranger. 'Is… Is he wearing cologne?'
She never quite got how much perfume was proper for men to wear, but coming from Kiba, it seemed like too much. But this was perhaps because it was something he never ever used.
"I thought we were going to train a bit…" The girl felt put out by the whole sight of him. He even changed his sandals to a bright pair of shoes. She finally noticed Akamaru lying ten feet away from them, under a tree. Very strange indeed.
"Not exactly, I'm sorry I didn't specify." He shifted from foot to foot. None of them spoke for a few seconds. The Hyuuga noticed he was intentionally placing his right arm behind his back.
"What do you-"
"No need to ask. I'll give them to you." He said almost too quickly, and placed a bouquet of bright red, fresh roses in front of Hinata's nose. Clearly taken aback, the girl leaned her neck backward to analyze them better. Kiba took advantage of her surprise and placed them in her hands.
"Oh, this are very nice." The girl said, feeling the weight of what she supposed to be at least thirty roses in her arms.
"I thought you'd like them." The young man said sheepishly, looking intently at her expression.
"But Kiba-kun, why are you giving them to me?" She finally questioned one of the endless lists of things that were out of place that evening. It couldn't be her birthday, it'd be snowing and she would have known. A number of other special occasions ran through her mind and she found none that made sense. "Is it because my suspension is about to end?"
"No." The Inuzuka said with a chortle. He desperately wanted to wring his hands together but forced himself no to. "I want to ask you… no, not ask you. I want to tell you something."
Hinata raised her eyebrows but stood silent, patiently waiting for him to talk. A nagging feeling coming from the back of her mind was starting to warn her about something, but she tried to pay no mind to it.
"I was about to tell you, when we were having dinner about two months ago, but we were interrupted." Kiba started, and now he was clearly nervous. Hinata vaguely remembered that occasion. "And I think this is the right time…"
Suddenly the nagging feeling became a loud foghorn blaring away inside her head. She could imaging red lights going on and off. Something told her to stop him from going on but Kiba was on the loose.
"The last few years helped us grow really close, and I want us to be more than teammates or friends." The boy didn't break eye contact, but Hinata was staring to freeze in place. "I've liked you for a really long time. And if you give me a chance I know I could make you happy."
"I-I…"
"Would you be my girlfriend, Hinata?" He took a step forward, shyly looking down at her eyes. Hinata felt how the foreign scent of him filled her nostrils, and wanted to take a step back. And another. Her instincts were screaming for her to run as fast as she could in the opposite direction. How could she have let this happen? She thought she heard the dog moan from his vantage point.
"Hinata?" He started to lift his hand but the girl finally snapped into attention.
"I can't." She said firmly, although her eyes didn't look as strong as she wanted to be. "Kiba-kun, I can't."
Kiba's scrunched his eyebrows together. His mouth opened once but no words came from him. The second time he did manage to say, "I'm… sorry?"
"No, I am. I…" She tried for the words at the same time that all her memories with Kiba got twisted. 'How long? Just how long had he seen me in that light? Did I lead him on? This can't be happening.' "We are teammates, Kiba-kun. And we are friends, but I can't go further than that… with you."
Her hands tightened on the bunch of roses tickling her forearms. She saw a flash of hurt going through Kiba's dark eyes, and for a moment, her heart constricted in her ribcage. The Hyuuga couldn't believe she was the one breaking somebody's heart. She always thought she'd be in the receiving end. And at that moment she hoped she was the one getting her heart crushed, because being the responsible for the look on Kiba's face hurt more than she could believe.
"I'm so sorry, Kiba-kun." She whispered, at least trying to convey how really sorry she was for him. For them.
Kiba's paining face suddenly became one of deep loathing, but Hinata guessed she deserved his hatred. It must've been her fault.
"Kurenai-sensei was right…" He said coldly, staring at the mocking roses on the girl's hand. "It's because of him."
Her eyes widened at his words, proving his accusation without her even having to say anything.
"I fucking knew it." He grunted darkly, and Hinata started to feel afraid of what he was thinking. She hurried to try and calm him down.
"It's not his fault, Kiba-kun. I just…" She didn't even know what to say. She knew she would die with that secret, if it even was a secret.
"You just what?" Kiba demanded, stepping away from the Hyuuga and walking aimlessly in front of her back and forth. "You think you love him? Is that it?"
"Kiba-"
"I think you're wrong!" The taller chuunin yelled, startling Hinata. "You just stare from a far. You're never going to get a chance with him." His words were starting to pierce her in all the wrong places. Hinata was starting to feel angry at him for saying all the things she had already thought about over and over again. But Kiba didn't stop talking. " – I can give you so much more. Here! I'll prove it to you."
The situation turned so confusing that Hinata didn't see him coming towards her and pushing himself against her and the flowers. She heard the flowers scrunching up and felt the unbearable perfume enveloping her. The last thing she register was Kiba's lips pressing painfully against her unsuspecting ones. And now hell broke over.
Akamaru rose and trotted towards them as soon as he saw Hinata smack her palm on Kiba's face.
If dogs could wince…
"What is the matter with you?" She said furiously. Her cheeks were flushed with anger, and Kiba could see it. But he was still angry himself; angry and rejected.
Kiba had his head bowed to the ground and both his hands pressing on his sore cheek. "Hinata, you should thank me…"
"Excuse me?" She almost seethed. Kiba couldn't deny that he was terrified by her expression, but he was going to get to the point.
"I gave you a real first kiss, instead of an imaginary one that would never become true." He straightened up again, ignoring the burning feeling in his left cheek. Akamaru was whining by Hinata's side; maybe it was for being so close to the horrible scent his master was wearing, but Kiba knew Akamaru was disapproving of everything he'd done up until now.
"First of all, you had no right." She narrowed her eyes at him. Oh god she didn't want to hate him but right now all she saw when she looked at him was deep red fury. Fury that made her run her stubborn mouth. "And also… that wasn't my first kiss."
The forest was silent for a moment. In that few seconds, Kiba's face went from confused to blank, and to blank to knowing. By that time, Hinata was already regretting her words. He seemed to be about to be knocked to the ground by her sole confession, his face the image of defeat, but it only lasted one second as the betrayal fueled him yet again.
"I guess I never had a change, huh?" He asked mostly to himself. The girl saw how his fists got tighter and started to worry.
"Kiba." She walked slowly towards him, but the boy was starting to breathe loudly.
He shook his head. "I'm going to fucking kill him."
He turned his back to her and started to walk away but Hinata got him by his sleeve. "Kiba, you're not-" With a firm push, the girl almost went flying backwards, but Akamaru absorbed her fall by standing behind her.
He barked loudly at him, while Hinata still couldn't believe that Kiba had assaulted her physically.
Kiba found it almost impossible to turn away from Akamaru, but he was decided to find Naruto and give him a piece of his mind.
He walked away of his remaining team.
He had to admit that even if he had spent the remaining days of his suspension without any sort of training, he was starting to have fun with his recent assignment.
It had been a long time since he had to decipher a coded message. When Jiraiya first started to teach him one of his twenty different ways to go on about translating numbers into letters that made sense, he had been adamant to learn. But what really got him excited was the hidden message that was conveyed in the manuscript. Most of them ended up in an exciting and dangerous mission on a strange country, and Naruto still couldn't help to feel giddy as he slowly but surely turned the code into coordinates.
'Coordinates heading where?' He asked himself, but he knew he'd eventually find out. Maybe in a few hours.
Tsunade had called him to her office on Wednesday, and told him there was a message for Jiraiya that none of her specialist could decipher. The Uzumaki doubted if that was true, because he knew that if she really wanted to interpret the code she could just assign a team with a Nara to do it.
"But I'm sure you could do it in a blink of an eye." The blond haired Hokage said with a small smirk. They both knew she was appealing to his sense of curiosity to make him do it so he could stop nagging her about letting him train.
"How much will you pay me?" Naruto had asked with forced indifference. He had to admit that the tainted roll of parchment sitting on her desk seemed juicy. There was a slight tick of annoyance on Tsunade's right eye.
"You're off duty. It's against the rules to remunerate you." The Hokage said with a smile. Even if he was playing hard to get, she knew that with the next words she would break him. "But if you do it you could choose the destination for your next mission."
'Goddamn her.' Naruto thought to himself, reading into the paragraph of handwritten numbers with a small grin adorning his face.
"Here's your refill, Naruto." Teuchi offered a smile as he placed the steaming bowl of ramen next to his notes. The whiskered boy raised his head distractedly, then saw his dinner and grinned back to him.
"Thanks old man." Naruto replied good-humoredly. It was great to be able to eat real food again. His throat took its sweet time to heal. He took the small parchment and rolled it on itself so it was small enough to put on his pocket. The only things that remained on the counter were his ongoing translation of the message and an open book. Jiraiya taught him to make sure the message was safe if he wasn't directly staring at it.
As he was about to dig in on the delicious dish, he felt someone glaring at him from behind. Turning his head slightly, he rolled his eyes. "Have you come for my soul?"
He waited for said person to seat next to him, but she decided to stand next to him while looking with disgust at the red stool she had been offered. "In a way." Hanabi answered curtly, waiting for Naruto to fully turn to her. "But I doubt you even have one."
He was so happy with his day he let a smirk grow in his lips. "Right back at you." He complied with her expecting stare and leaned against the counter. "Aren't you supposed to be playing with the rest of the kids?"
"I am not a child." She said stubbornly as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, much like Ino would do.
The blond let out a laugh. "Aren't you like… I don't know… ten?"
Hanabi puffed out her chest arrogantly. "I'm twelve."
"Ten, twelve, doesn't matter much. But to tell you the truth, I really think you should just take it easy for a while and play around."
"I'm a Hyuuga. We're the closest thing to royalty in this village. I'm not supposed to act like that."
Naruto felt reminded of a young and pompous Sasuke. She even glared at him much like he did.
"Well, don't expect me to call you Your Majesty." The blond said with a smirk.
"Don't worry, I won't." She said with a smirk of her own. "You have the cordiality of a common dog."
"Charming." The Kyuubi container said with a glare of his own. "Tell me what you want from me so I can get back to my ramen."
"Let's talk in a place more… private." She suggested, eyeing the whole ramen shop with distrust.
Naruto raised his eyebrows but then grinned at her. "Believe me, princess. Not even Neji can make me leave my ramen." And just like Neji, the title "Princess" provoked the same reaction on her. Her cheeks filled with red anger but he wasn't about to continue arguing with a toddler. "If you want me to help you just say it quickly before I change my mind, so what is it?"
For a moment Naruto thought that she hadn't heard him correctly, as she was looking at the ground. He then recognized her body language as embarrassment. 'What could possibly make her so embarrassed?'
"So…" The blond started again, just when Hanabi looked up with determined eyes.
"I need you to help me come up with the perfect birthday gift for…" her determination didn't last for long, as her eyes fell to the ground again. Naruto wanted to smile. It reminded him dearly of Hinata at her age.
"Yes?" Naruto prodded. By now he knew it must be a boy. He was betting on Neji, but he was wrong.
"… Konohamaru…" The girl finally said in a whisper. Surprisingly, her cheeks were pink with embarrassment.
"Holy shit." Naruto said after a pregnant pause, his eyes widening. "You like Konoha-"
"If you make fun of me I'll make sure my dad buys this petty soup shop and build a clothing store instead." The girl said in one breath but clearly conveying her threatening words.
"Wow, calm down jeez!" The chuunin said, holding up his hands and speaking in a lower voice. "Okay, okay I won't make fun of you…"
"And you won't tell him either." Hanabi enunciated.
"Or say a word to him about this, I swear. You are pretty serious, huh?" Naruto asked her conspiratorially. Hanabi nodded once. "Fine, when is his birthday?"
"You don't know?" The girl asked in surprise. "You're like his best friend!"
"Hey, I've been gone for a long time I honestly don't know anyone else's birthday." Naruto explained, although he did felt kind of bad for Konohamaru. And the rest of his friends. He made a mental note to start collecting dates.
"Fine." The girl said with a huff. "December the 30th."
Naruto raised his eyebrows at her. "We're barely starting October… you have like three months to-"
"Can we skip the obvious?" Hanabi said, clearly embarrassed.
"Fine… Holy crap you've really got a temper." Naruto said. "Well, that gives you some time to get him something nice."
"What does he like?" The Hyuuga asked eagerly.
Naruto laughed freely. "I mean, you know him. He likes just about anything ninja-related. You can give him some nice kunai or a proper sword or a-"
"I want to give him something special." Hanabi confessed in a low voice. "I'm sure everyone is going to give him stuff like that."
"Something special?" Naruto mused, running a hand through his locks. "I'm not really good with that."
"You know him better than anyone." Hanabi accused. "I've seen him cry in your arms. You must know what he'd appreciate."
"Oh, I know!" The blond exclaimed suddenly, almost startling the other costumers and a girl walking by. Hanabi looked at him with wide eyes. "Give him a scarf."
"A scarf?" Hanabi said in a monotone. "A scarf…" She repeated, giving it some thought.
"He always wears one. If you really want to make it special you can knit it yourself. You've got months to do it."
"You're right, although it pains me to admit it… but… he already has one."
A slow grin appeared on Naruto's face, making his whiskers widen. "Well, a lot can happen in three months. If you really want to give him that…"
Hanabi looked up to see a malicious glint in his eyes. She hesitated. "Would you?"
"For a price." The blond finished, leaning closer to her.
Hanabi rolled her eyes. "What is it?"
"You just have to answer this question." The blond said, and his smile disappeared. The young Hyuuga raised an eyebrow at him. "And answer truthfully…"
"Out with it!"
"Hinata's birthday…" That blond finally said. The confidence he had for the whole length of the conversation died in that moment. "When is it?"
Hanabi stared at him like he was crazy, and then she burst out laughing.
"Keep it down, will you? It's just a simply question!" Naruto said with a small blush on his face. Hanabi didn't answer until she was through with her fit of hysterics.
"You're hopeless, you know that?" Hanabi sent a mocking smile at him. "And here I thought you were much greedier than that."
"Obviously, I'm not." Naruto glared at her. "Just tell me and let's seal the deal."
Hanabi grinned widely at him. "27 of December." Naruto had a huge impulse to write that down. "I expect you do your magic by that date."
'December 27, December 27, December…' The blond chanted the date inwardly so he wouldn't forget. By the time he looked down he saw Hanabi's outstretched hand and shook it.
"Deal."
"Was that your friend?" A much more feminine voice asked besides him. Now that Hanabi was gone, the blond hurried to finish his ramen before it got too cold. He was halfway done when a mass of green hair entered his line of sight. It took a moment to recognize her face, but she got ahead of him.
"I was your nurse not too long ago, Naruto-kun." The brown-eyed woman said with a small smile. She watched patiently as it downed on him.
"Right, yeah…" The blond started saying, still not placing a name to her face. "Harumi?"
"Azumi." The girl corrected patiently.
"Right, right. I'm sorry, I'm not good with names." Naruto placed a hand behind his head and offered an apologetic smile. He wondered why she was still standing so close to him.
"So, was she your friend?" Azumi asked, taking a seat right next to him.
"Hanabi?" The blond let out a chuckle. "More like a divine punishment. She's kind of a bully to tell the truth."
The woman graced him with a small laugh. "It's good to see you're all fine now."
Naruto nodded as he took a drink from his soda bottle. "Yeah, my lungs really got battered, but the throat took the longest to heal."
"Lungs?" Azumi asked. "I was referring to your arms."
"Oh, that too. I'm all patched up. Nothing to worry about, nurse." Naruto grinned at her and turned back to his meal, but Azumi placed a hand on his forearm.
"I'm only a nurse when I'm at the hospital." She said with a seductive smile. "You can call me by my name."
"All right." The blond agreed. The green-haired girl looked at him expectantly. "… Azumi."
"So, what are you reading, Naruto-kun?" She asked, leaning towards the notes he had to his left. The blond leaned slightly away from her, but that still didn't stop her from pushing her breasts against his right arm. "Icha-Icha Pooltime?"
"I know what you're thinking, but I need the book to decipher some code one of my master's informants sent to the Hokage." Naruto hurried to explain. He saw how Teuchi was looking at them strangely, so the blond shrugged his shoulders his way.
"Oh, it must be important then." She mused, looking at him straight in the eye.
"I… should really hope so." Naruto said, turning his head away from her and focusing solely on the paper besides de bowl. "Or else I'll get mad."
Just as she was about to say something into his ear, a flash of red and white pounded Naruto in the face. Azumi retreated almost immediately, alarmed by the sudden noise of breaking glass.
Naruto wasn't really paying attention. In fact, he was trying not to pay attention to whatever the woman was saying to him, when the pain came.
"You fucking bastard!"
He immediately recognized Kiba's hate-filled voice. Turning slowly in his stool, opening and closing his mouth and feeling how Kiba's knuckles summoned blood into his lips, Naruto spoke slowly.
"If this is about the fox…" Naruto said, looking at the strange way Kiba was dressed standing in front of him, thinking that that shirt really didn't suit him. "I deserve it."
"I don't give a rat's ass about the fox." Kiba spat, standing close to him, just like Azumi did not five minutes ago.
The nurse stood up and was watching from a safe distance, wondering, just like Teuchi and Ayame were wondering, what the hell was going on.
"Really?" Naruto asked with a small ray of hope burning inside him. He didn't want to admit it, but Kiba was still showing up in his bloody nightmares. He still owed him an apology for almost ripping his shoulder apart.
Naruto's silly words got Kiba even more worked up. Grabbing him by his collar, Kiba head-butted him right in the forehead.
A hollow sound resonated through the spectator's ears, but neither of the two boys showed any signs of pain. In fact, Naruto was starting to lose his good humor, and he wanted Kiba to know it.
"Kiba… If you keep this up I'm going to get mad." Naruto said serenely, but Kiba could hear the threat behind his words.
"You always act so cool about everything." The spiked-haired brunette seethed.
"And you have a problem with that?" Naruto asked, leveling his stare with his. He started to walk slowly away from the shop, leading Kiba also out of it.
"I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH YOU!" A bit of spit fell on Naruto's cheek but he paid no mind to it.
His blond eyebrows were firmly planted against each other. "If it isn't about the mission, I have no idea why you're so angry with me."
"Don't play stupid!" Kiba shoved him backwards with all the force his arms would let him, but Naruto only took two steps back and stared at him. "I have a problem with you and Hinata!"
For the first time since their altercation started, Naruto let down his guard and he looked at Kiba with a clueless stare. He blinked twice. "What?!"
"Oh no…" Teuchi heard Ayame whisper besides him, but he couldn't figure out what she had already figured out.
"You always do this!" Kiba walked purposefully towards him again, but this time he just stood really close to his face without attacking him. "You act like you have no idea, but even like that you still ruin everything for me."
"What the hell did I do?!" Naruto was desperately trying to figure out why he would be so mad.
"You kissed her!" Kiba's glare, combined with his slitted eyes, took Naruto aback. He never a friend of his to look at him the way Kiba was. But he was still wrong.
"Kiss her? I didn't-" The blond started to explain himself when that night's flashback hit him in the stomach. His words faltered as Hinata's comforting lips clashed against his, and the worst thing was that he barely remembered what happened.
Kiba watched him intently the whole time, and by the time Naruto noticed how his face was a mirror of his emotions, it was too late. "You fucking traitor!"
This time, Naruto dodged the swing that was headed for his head by ducking. But he didn't want to fight back. "You got it all wrong, Kiba! It wasn't me-"
"You knew I liked her!" The dog master continued to scream at the top of his lungs, while his fists only managed to hit air. The blond was too fast for him.
"I swear I had no idea!" Naruto exclaimed truthfully. Now this was a night of revelations. "I'm really lost!"
His words only seemed to enrage Kiba even more. For the Inuzuka, it would have been easier to hate him if he was playing Hinata behind his back. But he knew how oblivious Naruto could be. And if he hadn't discovered by now that Hinata had a huge crush on him, it wasn't a surprise that he also didn't know Kiba felt the same way for her. But that just meant that Kiba had lost completely to someone who didn't know was playing the game.
"It's so unfair." Kiba kept muttering. Naruto now felt he was beginning no mold chakra. This wasn't a game anymore. "Do you know how frustrating it is to be the second one to kiss her?"
Naruto had locked both his arms under his armpits, and even though Kiba was as strong as a beast, the blond wouldn't let him move his arms. Then his words reached his brain. "Second one?"
Kiba was about to lunge his forehead against his again, but thankfully for everyone there, Hinata arrived to the spot along with Akamaru.
"This is enough, Kiba!"
Hinata's icy voice and angry stare made Kiba and Naruto freeze in their positions. The blond was admiring the wave of anger emanating from Hinata, when he remembered how to speak.
"Thank god, you're here, Hin! I'm so confused right now." The blond admitted, looking from Hinata, to Kiba. But neither was looking his way.
"Let him go, Kiba. You're over exaggerating for something you know nothing about." Every time she said his name without suffix, Kiba's insides twisted in pain. I was almost unbearable, but the source of all his anger was still clutching at his arms.
"What else is there to know?" He spoke looking directly at Naruto. "You did it behind my back."
"Good lord, Kiba. I didn't-"
"He didn't." Hinata said at the same time. She looked at him meaningfully, and the blond understood that it wasn't his place to speak. "I did."
Kiba looked between both of them, but her words didn't register. "You did what?"
"I was the one who kissed him." The girl said in a steady voice. "Not the other way around. It wasn't his fault."
Naruto felt how all the strength that had been straining Kiba's muscles left all at once. He release his arms and the fell limp at the Inuzuka's side. All the sadness that had been repressed on Kiba's heart finally made its way to his face. He stood there with his mouth slightly open, as if the whole world had crashed around him.
Naruto hadn't even made a move on her. He didn't even try, didn't even pay attention to her. And she still threw herself to him. 'Just like that.'
"It's nothing like you're thinking." Hinata hurried to say. She wanted to avoid any more misunderstandings. "I was trying to help him."
By now Naruto knew they put up a really good show for the people staring at them. But he just wanted to make everything clear.
"It's true, Kiba. She was trying to calm me down." The blond stepped slowly at the brunette, whose eyes were looking at him resentfully. "I was freaking out after my outbreak. You must know that. I was…" The next few words took a lot of courage for him to get out, but he finally did. "I wanted to kill myself right then and there… Hinata brought me back."
The girl turned her head slowly to Naruto. She wanted to ask him if that was really true, but the blond was looking at Kiba.
"C'mon dude." The blond said amiably, trying to offer him a comforting smile. "We shouldn't be fighting… we're friends, right?"
Kiba looked through him. "Friends? Don't make me laugh."
The boy nodded to Akamaru for them to get moving on. The dog complied, but followed him at a much slower pace. The enormous canine threw a look back to Naruto and Hinata, almost apologizing for his master's behavior. The sound of a few trash cans being kicked away filled the streets. Then silence.
Hinata watched them go, while Naruto sulked in place.
"I'm sorry I started all this, Naruto-kun." The Hyuuga said sadly. She noticed Naruto's bloody lip. "It wasn't my intention."
The boy nodded at her words, but sighed deeply before speaking himself. "I know. Kiba is just… being Kiba."
"I'm sure he didn't mean that." The girl said, hoping to raise Naruto's spirit. But she wasn't so sure herself.
"I'm going to pay for whatever he broke." He said. 'That's what friends do.'
Hinata silently agreed.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked a bit shyly. He would only do it if she wanted to, but what he really wanted to do was give everything that Kiba said some hard thought.
The Hyuuga shook her head. "I think I'll go home." She said simply, and the tiredness of the whole evening fell upon her shoulders like a brick. She looked really worse for wear.
"Take it easy." He called after her. Hinata didn't even turn around to say goodbye. He guessed they were all really tired. There would be a lot of tears tonight.
'Kiba, you dickhead.'
Author's section
(All these things I hate – Bullet for My Valentine)
Thanks for reading!
Leave a review if you liked it.
- Paty