NARUTO IS PROPERTY OF MASASHI KISHIMOTO
"Kyuubi talking"
'Kyuubi thinking'
"Normal speech"
'Characters thinking'
Author's note:
Sorry. It's hard to start a war. But I'm still here.
Leave a review if you have something to say!
Generation Lost
Chapter 17: The Violence
"The bombs are getting closer everyday
"That can never happen here" we used to say
Have these wars come to our doorstep?
Has this moment finally come?
Or is it all a dream?
To a predetermined fate are we condemned
Or maybe we're a book without an end
We're not stories, we're not actors
We're awake and in control
And this is not a dream"
He found himself in one of those dream/reality edges. The ones that occur when you are on the verge of awakening, feeling your reality checks come back on, while there's a sweet dream still going on in your head that you'd like to come back to.
He was already forgetting what had been going on inside his mind. And he specially didn't want this one to end. It somehow had to do with Hinata.
But now he felt how the bed was moving slowly in the cold room. Someone had turned on the light on the night table, shining a dim, orange-glow. It took Naruto a few moments to think about the implication of someone sharing his bed. He had to think about it for so long that he fell asleep back again for a few minutes.
The bed was still moving.
"Hin?" He croaked groggily. Now he remembered. He turned on his back slowly so he could turn to her side of the bed. He was cringing at the light offending his eyes, so he placed his arm on top of his eyes while squinting between his fingers. "What are you doing up?"
She had just slid under her shirt back again. It almost seemed like she didn't want him to look at her.
Naruto had just woken up. But even in his sluggish state, he knew that dressing yourself in a hurry in the middle of the night was a sign that she was going to get out of there without him knowing. It was also a terrible sign of post-coital behavior.
"Naruto-kun…"
The blond had to lift himself halfway up in sudden realization that she looked absolutely magnificent with her tousled hair going off in different directions and more strands than she had ever let get close to her face.
Naruto felt himself grow larger in just half a second. He blushed silently while he took the covers upwards toward him.
It would have been funny, but she was in another state of mind. A much somber one.
"I didn't want to wake you up just yet." She spoke honestly, with her voice still hushed.
Naruto looked over at the bright, green numbers staring silently at him from the night stand. It was 4:03 AM.
He looked at her like she was crazy. "The sun isn't even up yet." He gazed with pleading eyes at her. "Come back to bed. We don't need to get up early in this trip." Besides, they had only slept for like 7 hours in the last two days. He still needed to recharge.
He grasped her forearm gently, and guided her down towards him and the bed.
"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun." Hinata said with a heartfelt tug to his arm. The blond didn't know how to react at her rejection. It was especially hard given that he could see her cleavage clearly from her bent position. It brought a lot of splendid memories. "But we need to go back."
Naruto didn't know what was happening with her. "What?! That doesn't sense." He felt vulnerable when he was woken up way too early. He'd never been a morning person.
Hinata, seeing that he still wasn't getting up from bed, decided to hoist her knees on top of the mattress and look at him from a heightened position. "We are going to war, Naruto-kun…"
Naruto was left with an unsaid 'what' on his dumfounded mouth. He started shaking his head, still signalizing that he was at the biggest loss of his life.
The Hyuuga pressed her lips together and hardened her heart. "We are going to war with Sasuke and the Sound Nation."
The Uzumaki's head suddenly stopped moving. A blank expression adorning his handsome face. His eyebrows started to tilt and his eyes fell to look at the nothingness.
With her expert ways in predicting human behavior with the help of her eyes, Hinata knew he was in denial.
"No." he breathed, incredulous. "What are you talking about? He wouldn't…"
She watched with pity how he started to breathe faster, his mouth going from a skeptical grin to a sharp grimace.
His body was shaking.
She knew he got it.
He was breathing loudly, shaking his head again, this time to himself. The woman swallowed in concern. Naruto was livid and he wasn't trying to hide it from her.
The Uzumaki snatched the covers away from him and stood up hastily, walking to the corner with his head down and his arms and back muscles swelling up from the force.
It was very intimidating seeing him like that. He had nothing to cover him, except his red boxers. When he raised his head, he looked through her as he walked over to the bathroom next to the walk-in closet. He snatched a pillow without saying a word and shut the bathroom door.
Hinata was at first puzzled, but then she finally heard his muted screams raging on top of the unsuspecting pillow.
He didn't want her to see him like this, but at the same time it was inevitable.
She waited, unsure if she should do or say something while he was in that state. After a few mouthfuls of death threats, the bathroom maintained quiet.
A minute went through, and Hinata was starting to get worried about what he was doing or thinking of doing.
Just before she started making her way to the bathroom, Naruto emerged with a bright red face. His frustrated eyes finding hers in the dim-litted room.
"How did you know?" The blond was sweating with rage, still trying to lower his breathing. "How long have you known, Hinata?"
Hinata's lip started to shake in anticipation. Her eyes started to sting. She bowed her head weakly, not knowing if he was going to hate her for hiding it from him. "Since Neji left…"
The look of utter betrayal adorned Naruto's face. Now he understood. "Why-"
"B-Because…" The girl knew what he was going to ask, she saw it in his eyes, and she needed to make him understand. "Neji told me the Hokage's orders were to finish just this gala successfully, without you knowing until after we finished the mission."
Naruto gritted his teeth. He didn't remember when Kakashi last withheld information regarding Sasuke from him. Naruto was under the impression that they were together on their mission to bring him to justice. Making Hinata lie to him…
"You could've told me sooner." There was a thin veil of anger behind his constrained attitude. And Hinata knew beyond a doubt he was mad at her, even if he tried to suppress the incriminating tone of his words.
She watched crestfallen as he strode purposefully to the heap of clothes next to his bag and started going through them aggressively as he packed.
He took a training mesh shirt and left it aside hastily, a frown was adorning his face. "Pack your stuff. We are going now."
Hinata, deeply impacted by his cold tone, turned away and left his room.
Kakashi pressed his left hand against his head, trying to nurse a flashing headache.
Shikaku noticed and closed the binder in front of him. "Maybe we should take a rest. We still have time before the troops head out."
Inoichi placed a plastic shuriken figure on top of the map spread out in front of them, next to three other figurines. "We have already planned out the initial attack formation, we only need to decide on skill distribution between the battalions and chain of command."
"That in itself is going to take another day of planning." Hiashi warned. "We need every minute we can take."
"We'll reconvene in three hours." Announced Kakashi, dressed in his complete shinobi attire, with his red shinobi vest with the symbol of Konoha etched in gold fabric on his back. It was the Hokage's signature vest in times of war. "And bring Shikamaru with you, Shikaku. He'd be of help."
Shikaku nodded, chest inflating in pride at the recognition the Hokage granted his son.
"Take a nap. That's an order. We can't make good decisions with an exhausted mind."
Everyone in the room nodded and started their exit short after. Everyone except Hiashi, who stayed behind. He didn't move from his spot.
Kakashi glanced tiredly at his pretentious aura. "Something to add, Hiashi-san?"
"I want my daughter to stay behind." He demanded pointedly.
The Hatake measured his stare. He straightened his back. "We need every Byakuugan we can take." Answered the Hokage, reflecting his previous words. "And Hinata will make a fine addition. She proved it when she leaded the evacuation of Konoha's West quadrant during Pain's attack."
"She is the heir to my clan. Assign her to my company. She won't be well protected otherwise."
Kakashi immediately shook his head. "We need to spread out the Byakuugan to assure survival rates. Besides, she can be well protected by her teammates."
Hiashi glared at him coldly, his eyes twitching at his words. He prepared himself for the next request.
"Then place Uzumaki with her." Hiashi said through gritted teeth.
The grey-haired man raised an eyebrow. "He's the most prone to get targeted, the risks of confrontation will be greater with him around."
"He's the strongest shinobi in Konoha." Hiashi was forced to admit. It actually surprised Kakashi that the head of the Hyuuga clan would concede that honor to Naruto over his nephew.
But Kakashi could sense other reasons underneath. Both Naruto and Neji would be compelled to protect her even at the cost of their life. But Naruto would have the bigger chance to eliminate the threat.
"We'll see." Kakashi left through the door, leaving Hiashi brooding in the war room.
When Hinata offered to take the horses from the postman services stables, Naruto shook his head.
He then proceeded to sit down and meditate for what seemed like twenty minutes, before looking back at her with her yellow eyes and emitting a mysterious, pure chakra.
"Get on my back." He turned his back on her. "We'll get there in half the time."
"But…" Hinata started, she was feeling alienated by Naruto's negative of looking at her. Naruto didn't say anything, his back staring at her expectantly.
She felt his harsh resolve overcoming hers. She was trying to evoke Naruto's loving behavior last night and place it on the serious Naruto standing in front of her, but it was proving almost impossible to visualize now.
Slowly, Hinata climbed onto his back. His solid arms locked her knees in place. He didn't say anything else as they darted at incredible speed along the desolated streets of the city. She had to hold on for dear life as he bolted ahead.
"Hokage-sama." Managed to greet Shikamaru, hiding his yawn behind the palm of his hand. He noticed that Inoichi was still to arrive.
"How's it going kiddo?" Kakashi graced him with an honest, tired smile under his mask. Shikamaru could see the corners of his covered mouth tugging upwards.
"Well, we are going to war so… not great."
Kakashi had to marvel yet again at the striking resemblance between Shikaku and his son. Shikamaru was practically a carbon copy of his face, and the fact that they both wore their hair in the same fashion didn't help either.
Incredibly, Shikaku seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. He grinned back at him without saying a word, and placed a hand on top of his son's head.
Shikamaru raised his confused eyes at him. His eyes then moved onto Inoichi coming into the room.
"Shika-kun, I haven't seen you in ages!" He lunged towards Shikamaru to hug him tightly. The young Nara managed a smile.
"Let's get working, if you will." Hiashi called from his spot on the table.
Everyone had dark bags under their eyes.
"Correct." Kakashi lead everyone at the center of the table, where miniature shurikens were littering the map of Fire Country. "To fill you in, Shikamaru, here is where we are estimating to clash with Sasuke's army." The Hokage pointed at some place in the Manju Forest, west from their village. It was 4 days away from Konoha.
Shikamaru swallowed worriedly. In the map, it looked awfully close to their village. An involuntary twinkle of fear sparked from his navel and ran all the way to his head. They were just 4 days away from his mom and the rest of his family. And from everyone else in Konoha.
"These pillars represent each of the 5 Batallions that we are going to form against Sound's forces. They have little more than 4.300 shinobi. We have the numerical adavantage, as we're going in with roughly 5.500 shinobi of our own. We have to decide which jounin are to be placed as the captains and Platoon Leaders. Afterwards we need to see which jounin and/or chuunin get to be Squad Leaders."
They all took in the pieces and their locations. Shikamaru noticed a pyramid placed farther away from the other pieces.
"What's this supposed to be?"
"Those are Suna allies coming from the South." His father answered. Shikamaru took a few moments to take the formations in.
"So you basically want the Batallions farther north to push the Sound nin south into Suna's formation."
Kakashi was pleasantly surprised. Hiashi was watching Shikaku's son warily. "As a general idea, yes. But each Batallion won't define its detailed strategy up until they are face to face with the enemy and they know their surroundings."
Inoichi took over. "There are a few mountains covering five kilometers of battlefield, and a river coming from the peak of this mountain."
"We'll have to consider each shinobi's specialties so that they can exploit the terrain better." Concluded Shikamaru, grabbing his chin.
"Otherwise is no fun." Kakashi piped up.
"In front of your chairs is a list of every jounin and chuunin in the village, ranked with our Shinobi Evaluation System. We'll have to decide the assignations of the strongest, the smartest, the trackers, the rangers… You know what I mean, don't you?"
Shikamaru, looked at the piles of paper littering the oak table. He sighed.
"So, from what I can see… I'm here to help you place the youngest chuunin in the positions they will perform better."
Shikaku, Inoichi and Kakashi looked at each other with pleased grins.
Shikamaru started to browse through the papers.
Even through his harsh motions, Hinata could feel his heartbeat pounding from her place in his back.
She had started to notice it an hour ago, just a low felt tremble.
But now she could not also feel his hammering through his back, but also hear the air fill with his strained gasps.
She was feeling lightheaded for the last two hours, but she stood silent, bearing the harsh movements as they sped through the road.
The sun was already shining through the canopy, but it was still pretty cold. For her at least. She could feel Naruto's moist back under her chest and she wondered, for the hundredth time, how could he still be going at the crazy speed they had been going for the last four hours without rest?
As if on cue, she sensed a spike of chakra coming from Naruto, followed immediately by the absence of it.
"Naruto?" She called over the air hitting against her face. His running posture was doubling over, but his feet were still carrying them.
Hinata pressed her hand hard against his shoulder, making him notice her. "Naruto-kun, we should stop, you're about to fall over!"
The blond slowed to a stop. Once he was fully still, he now started to feel his legs and feet tingling uncomfortably. They were about to go numb.
Hinata took advantage of his pause to wriggle free of his grasp, feeling the cold morning air hit her chest that was otherwise warmed up by Naruto's elevated body temperature.
"Rest, Naruto-kun." Hinata rounded the blond until she was right in front of his hunched form. "You can't take us anywhere with your chakra levels running so low."
Naruto looked at her and then immediately lowered his gaze to the side. Hinata was painfully aware of the disproving look he still had on his face.
Naruto walked with wobbly knees up to a random tree and let himself fall on it with his back. Letting a tired sigh escape his mouth, he looked up at the morning sky with sweat running down his face.
Hinata sat down in front of him and offered him an energy bar. Naruto regarded it coldly for a few moments, before deciding to take it from her.
Finally giving his legs permission to relax, the Uzumaki flopped with a grunt to the hard floor, raising dust where he sat. His arm extended behind his back, preventing him to fall over. He permitted himself a full ten minutes of rest before he even remembered the energy bar in his other hand.
Naruto ate his food looking away from her. Hinata was burning with shame. She could barely stand his attitude toward her. But there was still a small amount of hope that made her entertain the idea that she could explain herself so that he wouldn't hate her anymore.
The Uzumaki hero was gulping down the last remains of his water bottle, when he heard her voice.
"Naruto-kun, I'm really sorry I didn't tell you sooner." She started, crestfallen. Naruto lowered the bottle and stared straight at her, conflicting emotions flashing through his cold stare. "I thought that it'd be better if-"
"You know, Hinata, sometimes..." Naruto interrupted her with his voice easily going over hers. "there's more than one way to accomplish a mission. You can't always follow step by step the orders you're given, especially when the one giving them is not even there and knows nothing of what exactly is happening."
Hinata felt his piercing gaze looking through her. He was squeezing the wrapper in his hand as he spoke with cold calculation.
"The Gala was a breeze by the end of it, my clones were more than enough to wrap it up." Naruto felt his chest rise and his nostrils flare open again. "You, more than anyone, should've known how much that information meant to me and you had so many opportunities to tell me about it yet-"
"What you don't seem to know, Naruto, is how much that information meant to me as well." Hinata interceded pointedly, with tears shining from her eyes but with a penetrating look directed at him.
The blond momentarily forgot his words. Her stare seemed to carry a lot of emotion. He was taken slightly aback, but her words didn't justify the incredible delay on relaying the news to him. Sasuke was his rival and every little afront he demonstrated against peace in the land was a personal afront to him as it was Naruto's fault he was out and about.
Hinata could still feel his glare weighting down her own. He was really mad and she could feel it. She wasn't going through to him. She surrendered and lowered her head guiltily, taking a hand to her eyes and rubbing against her tears.
"I was being selfish." She said under her breath, but still loud enough for Naruto to hear.
Somehow that word didn't register on Naruto's thoughts about her. Selfish how?
"What?" He felt lost enough to ask, crossing his arms in front of his damp shirt.
Hinata didn't say or do anything for a while. The blond was starting to get impatient.
Finally, the girl continued. "I-I knew… that after telling you, everything would be different. That we wouldn't be able to smile as we did anymore. In a few days we could be dead, or mourning our friends and families. We would enter such a different world than what we've known all along, so I didn't want it to end just yet."
Despite him not wanting to let go of his anger, flashes of Hinata lying in a pool of her own blood went through his mind. The only recent memory she's had of Sasuke was of her and death.
"I just wanted to spend one last night of peace with you."
The blond got up suddenly, and marched away from her and into the forest. Before completely disappearing from her sight, he asked: "Would you have slept with me, even if you didn't know we were going to war?"
Hinata felt a cold sensation paralyzing her whole frame. She wasn't liking his train of thought. So she felt the least she could do was be honest with him.
"I don't know." She lifted her eyes and found out he was looking pointedly towards her. The Hyuuga licked her lips to speak. "Probably."
The blond stood still for a moment. Then he started walking away from her but something made him stop his steps.
So far, he'd just been thinking of kicking Sasuke's ass as soon as he had the chance to get his hands on him. But apparently, he had missed a key emotion that went always along with the preparation for war.
Fear.
Hinata had succumbed to it as soon as Neji dawned it to her. It even made her more willing to do stuff she wasn't normally used to. For Hinata to lie, even if it was an order, she continued doing it even after finishing her mission. Powered by even something that was so uncharacteristic of her that Naruto was still processing the meaning of it all.
Generous and selfless Hinata claiming to be selfish.
Soon they'd be marching towards the battlefield, unaware that each fight might be their last one, sleeping in dirty, uncomfortable barracks. All semblance of a normal and peaceful life giving way to the desolation and solace of war and death.
Naruto turned to look at her with thoughtful eyes. She wasn't even facing him. Her sullen gaze was directed at the dry dirt beneath her.
'Do I really want to spend what little time we have feeling like this?' He suddenly understood that he wasn't mad at Hinata just for hiding it from him. He was mad at her because he needed someone to be mad at to cope with the fiery emotions of wanting to hurt Sasuke so much for disrupting the peace he had fought for.
He sighed deeply, feeling many more emotions enveloping him now, not just anger. He walked back to her and sprawled on the floor next to her. Trying his very best to relax the frown governing his face.
"You have the right to be selfish, Hinata. Not even I can judge you for doing it." Hinata looked at him with surprise. "You always put my needs in front of yours and I'm so petty I get mad when you do it just once."
Hinata was still trying to decipher what to say to him at his fast change of heart. Naruto was looking intently at her eyes, with flashbacks of those eyes looking upwards at him from so close littering his mind. 'If she had told me, we wouldn't have had the opportunity to…'
"I'm a fucking idiot." He said while he hung his head and placed his hand on top of hers. Hinata tried to stop him from letting him take the guilt all upon himself.
"No, you're not, Naruto-kun. You are also not petty in any way. You had every right to get angry."
"Not at you." He interjected forcefully. He looked at her intently. "I am sorry."
"You don't have to apologize, Naruto-kun. I don't blame you."
The blond knew it was beyond his abilities to make Hinata accept his apology. So he decided to take another approach.
"Hinata if you would let me be selfish this time." The blond ventured. He looked timidly at her but still held her gaze with his eyes. "I'd like us to have a last date before reporting to the army."
The Hyuuga heiress felt herself swoon at his proposition. But she knew all too well that it'd be impossible to escape their duty with their village as soon as they stepped inside. "That's very sweet, Naruto-kun, but they are expecting us."
The blond stood up and offered her a hand so that she would too. He flashed her a smile. "Nobody will look for us if they don't know we've arrived." He explained with a sure nod, guiding her hips towards him and making sure there's little space between them. "One last date, in my house. We can be free to do as we want before sunset."
Hinata gulped as she strained her head to look up at him while being so close. His smell was strong from all those hours of running, but it wasn't displeasing. It made her feel completely attracted to him. Just like she had been last night. She felt herself growing sensitive between her thighs, as she remembered the bitter-sweet feeling of him entering her for the first time.
She wondered how she might feel a second time.
She stood in her tippy toes and kissed him passionately.
Ayame was helping his father pack the last cases of frozen noodles on top of the wagon parked right next to Ichiraku's restaurant. Business today had been low given the need of the village to focus on war preparations instead of day-to-day culinary pleasures.
Her father had been selected as one of the cooks for the shinobi army, and although they assured them they'd be out of danger's reach, she still felt slightly unsettled about the approaching absence of her dad.
"Ayame, we have a takeout order." Her father said from behind the curtains that separated the front end to the small warehouse the restaurant held in the back.
The young woman raised her eyebrows suspiciously and placed her hands on her hips. "We are not doing that today. We still have much to pack."
Teuchi was banging pots and pans as he searched for noodles containers in one of the cupboards.
"Is for the kid." He said simply. Ayame widened her eyes for a second. She then started to help her dad pour the hot Ramen broth and noodles on an XL sized container.
After fifteen minutes of placing his large order on the takeout bags, Ayame was dispatched swiftly to the streets, wasting no time so that he could get to enjoy his dishes still hot.
"Senju street…" the brunette muttered to herself as she struggled to find the right address. She had never delivered for Naruto elsewhere that wasn't his usual apartment.
She approached a towering house that had upward stairs that lead to the green door and double-checked the address before ringing the bell.
The footsteps didn't take long to reach her. And suddenly Naruto was looking down at her with a white shirt and the distinctive smell of someone who had just recently showered. The blond graced her with a grin. "Hey Ayame, thanks for the favor. I know it's not a good time."
He started to rummage through his pockets to get his wallet, but Ayame was faster. She placed the bags on his left hand and bowed at him respectfully. "Anything for you, Naruto-san. You've done so much for us already, we're sure that you'll help Konoha out of this war soon."
The blond was left speechless for a second. But then Hinata's muffled voice shattered through the silence between them.
"Naruto-kun, do you have a spare towel?"
Ayame's eyelids blinked three rapid times, before focusing on the blushing blond in front of her, growing more and more appalled by the clear implication that she was imagining.
"I-I-It's not as you think." The blond hurried to say with a dismayed expression, thinking of excuses to say.
The young woman looked at Naruto with a knowing smile. She winked at him. "Your secret's safe with me, Naruto-san." She started to walk backwards, still not being able to diminish her smile. "If I may ask a bold request…"
The blond stopped shuffling his feet in mortification for a second to place his attention on the older woman.
"Please take care of my father out there. The whole village trusts you to defeat the attackers and come back triumphant." She bowed even lower this time.
The blond regarded her pose thoughtfully, starting to feel a sense of responsibility growing within him for the safety of all the people he's known through his short life. "I'll bring him back safely." He promised, setting his heart on making Ayame's wish come true.
The girl walked away after that, so Naruto finally shut the door in front of him.
He stood motionless, thinking about the request over and over again. He hoped that he was strong enough to deliver.
'I need to learn more useful jutsus.' He thought quietly to himself.
Hinata's soft voice rang again through the halls. "Naruto-kun?"
The blond suddenly remembered and sprang to place the heavy Ramen order on top of the dinner table and then towards the wooden door that lead to the main room.
"Coming!" He called back, feeling embarrassed at making her wait so long. "Hin, there's a couple of clean towels in the drawer next to the sink."
Hinata was feeling her heartbeat pounding beneath her hand. She had been fearing, and maybe hoping, that Naruto would've to enter the bathroom while she was naked to get it to her. In retrospective, the Uzumaki had all the right to do it after she'd done it to him.
"Oh, Okay."
And with that Naruto was gone to prep their lunch.
They both tried to keep their smiles on their faces as they ate the wonderful food in front of them.
Naruto might've overdone it a bit by asking for 5 XL servings for the two of them, which earned a confused and worried glance from the Hyuuga. But Naruto quickly justified himself.
"Well, this might be the last time I'm gonna eat ramen for God knows how long. I wanna make it count."
Oddly enough, each time they did something there was a somber thought hanging over their heads along those same lines; this might be the last time I get a nice bath, this might be the last time I sleep in a comfy bed, or this might be the last time I get to make love to Hinata…
The blond quickly buried his face back in his bowl as his eyes had traveled again to his girlfriend with the same thought on his mind. He wondered if she knew what he was thinking every time she caught his eyes staring at her. Somehow it didn't feel right to hang out with her with the sole purpose on his mind being to get some. The whole stretch of their relationship was just hanging out for the fun of it, and whatever came afterwards was a bonus.
On the other hand, he couldn't stop his leg moving up and down as he realized that the clock near the kitchen wall was ticking, and their time was running out way too quickly. His mind was also thinking on the stuff that he was going to need to prepare for his deployment and the future chat he was going to have with Kakashi about all this. He felt the anger lingering in the back of his mind, ready to shout abuse at his sensei for letting him out of the loop.
"Try to relax, Naruto-kun."
The Uzumaki snapped his head upwards, almost forgetting she was in front of him. Her bowl already empty. He was about to formulate his question, but the heiress beat him to it.
"You've been barely eating." She answered simply. It also didn't help that he hadn't said a word for the last ten minutes.
It was true. Naruto still had two other bowls to go, and he barely even ate the one in front of him. He slumped back on his wooden chair and sighed. "I'm sorry."
Hinata gave him a sympathetic smile. She knew exactly what was going through his mind, as she was also trying so very hard not to let her despair take over her.
He wanted to say something more, but the situation was getting the better of him. And he'd never been very good at juggling different emotions at once. His silence said it all.
"Are you going to keep eating?" The girl asked, but she already knew the answer. It was surprisingly easy to read him when they were alone.
The blond sighed once again. It had been a while since he had been so worried, he didn't have stomach for his favorite food. He watched silently as Hinata gracefully stood up and walked towards him. She offered him her hand to take. Naruto obliged with clear confusion in his face.
"Let's sit on the couch." She cooed.
With an easy smile, the blond followed. It felt really neat to have her in his house, like she somehow belonged there.
"Help me redecorate this place when we get back?" Naruto had to remind himself that the word 'if' was prohibited if they wanted to keep the positive environment in the time they got left.
Hinata sat down next to him, his open arm already waiting to engulf her gently.
"Of course, Naruto-kun." She placed her head on the man's chest and relished the fresh smell coming from him. "I already have some ideas on my mind."
Naruto's eyes found hers. "Do tell."
The young Hyuuga turned to the window next to the dining room. "Perhaps some hanging plants over there."
The blond chuckled and pecked her on the forehead. "You do love your plants." Hinata obviously blushed at his tiny act of affection.
"Don't you like it?" The girl asked with sincere concern. Naruto had started to mindlessly play with a strand of her long hair.
"I mean… I'm not good at taking care of them." Looking down he started thinking about what was beneath her modest cleavage. But he ripped his eyes away to look at her.
"I can help you." She offered. She didn't want to admit it but the thought of decorating a brand-new house excited her. After all, she could only exert her creativity on her room at her house. The rest was meticulously decided by his dad.
A mischievous look housed itself on Naruto's face. "That'd mean that you'd be spending lots of time here." Hinata felt slightly nervous at Naruto's expression.
"I wouldn't mind." She swallowed, trying to remember how she got so bold last night to show herself to him.
The Uzumaki tried not to laugh at Hinata's red face.
He failed.
"What is it?" The Hyuuga felt herself at a disadvantage. Naruto spared her.
"Nothing. You can put as much flowers as you want. What else?" He waived away her question.
Hinata felt herself breathe easier at the change of subject. "Maybe a rug in the living room for some contrast?"
"I was thinking on two big speakers next to the TV. Oh, also a bigger TV for the living room. I'll get the old one to my bedroom."
It was Hinata's turn to laugh at him. "I don't think that counts as decoration."
"Sure it does. I bet guests will take more notice of a 70" TV than some plants." This only made Hinata giggle more.
"Keep going." She prodded. She was delighted at the both of them thinking of his house like it was theirs.
"I'm sure it'll sound stupid to you but I don't care. I've always wanted a pool in my own house." Naruto's eyes were shining at the new subject at hand.
Sadly, Hinata had to bring him down to earth. "I don't think your backyard is big enough for that."
He sighed. "You're probably right. My second choice would be a giant jacuzzi."
Hinata was already imagining how this house would look like after a few months of Naruto buying everything he had always wanted since he was a child. 'I guess he has all the right to do so.'
"Have you thought of painting the walls a different color?"
"The paint is cracking down in some places…" The Uzumaki mused, looking at the dark shade of green of the walls. "Yeah, why not. Maybe white this time?"
Hinata nodded her head.
"And I can do wonders for your garden." The young woman assured with confidence, looking at the sliding glass doors that led to the garden.
Naruto grinned widely at her energy. "More flowers?"
The Hyuuga smiled back at him. "Not only that, your garden is big enough for a small pond." Her boyfriend nodded his head pensively.
"How 'bout a hammock?" Naruto was actually getting excited at the thought of spending more time outside.
The girl giggled openly at him.
They started to talk less and less after a while, the blond noticed how sleepy he was getting. He didn't want to end their last day together with something as anticlimactic as a nap, but when he peered at Hinata he saw she was already starting to doze off.
"Hin." He whispered and shook her a little. Hinata inhaled sharply and blinked twice. Her big eyes looked back at him. "Let's get some sleep before we go."
Asking her to get into bed with him had always been a thing of torture. Sexual tension had always gotten on the way. But the woman was so sleepy he actually had to guide her to the main bedroom and tuck her in before he got in himself.
Granted, it was still very weird to feel her next to him and even more now that they were on his bedroom, but being as tired as they were after such a crazy day (And night) made it all so much easier now.
Making sure to activate his alarm clock on top of the night stand, Naruto took one last look at the picture of his parents next to the clock and turned around to find Hinata lying on her side and waiting for him with half lidded eyes.
He couldn't help but smile. Even though he was itching to have sex with her again, he felt strangely content with just having her rest next to him.
"Everything is going to change when we wake up." She mused out loud, no longer being able to suppress her worried thoughts.
The chuunin pursed his lips as he thought how to answer. He scooted closer to her. "Come closer."
It was surprisingly easy to maneuver her under his right arm. Her hair was soft and sweet. It thoroughly calmed him.
They were almost nose to nose, and he was looking at her like she was the only person in the world.
"We are going to come back alive and well." He whispered as he caressed her cheek. Hinata looked longingly at him. "I won't let anything happen to you, okay Hin?" He made sure that she was looking straight at him when he said that. "I swear."
She housed herself in his chest, closer than ever. His voice was soothing and loving. He was everything she had ever thought he would be.
"I'll protect you too." Her muffled voice reached his ears. Naruto couldn't help but smile at her pure nature. He hugged her tightly. Hardly any space left between him and her.
"You really do love me, don't you?" He breathed on her ear, still amazed at his incredible luck. She rustled her head up and down against his chest and neck.
"I love you too."
"You're late."
The rest of the people in the room stopped their work and turned to the newcomer in the Hokage's office. The rustling of the pages halted at once.
From his place in the back of the room, Hiashi called for a clerk to bring him a pack of aspirins.
Kakashi's tired eye was following Naruto, fully clad on his chuunin uniform, as he walked among the shinobi littering the war room and walked over to Shikamaru. Somehow, he seemed changed. Older.
"You should've called me sooner then." The Uzumaki replied coldly, throwing a dirty look at his sensei.
This earned a tired sigh from the acting Hokage.
"Finally." Shikamaru greeted his fellow chuunin, wearily standing from his seat at the corner of the room. Naruto clapped his hand with Shikamaru's and gave him half a hug.
"How's it going?" He peeked at the scattered figurines on top of the table and the piles of shinobi files surrounding his corner.
"I'm just finishing organizing the last Batallion's young forces." Shikamaru grabbed his left temple with one hand.
"Need any help?" The blond offered, he could see his, Hinata's and Shikamaru's records tucked under a green file.
"I don't have time to explain myself." The Nara said frankly. "I'm mostly done."
Naruto was not used to being rejected, but at the same time whatever Shikamaru was up to looked like a lot of nasty paperwork. So he didn't pursue it further.
"How's Hinata?"
At the mention of his girlfriend the blond saw how Hiashi sat straighter in his chair. "She went home to get ready. I guess you'll see her soon enough."
"She alright?" Shikamaru knew what her mission was and guessed it must've been hard for her.
The blond took a few seconds to answer. "She's a little gloomy. Just like everyone else. But determined to kick Sasuke's ass."
The Nara nodded his head. He understood that Hinata was second in line to get her revenge on the Uchiha traitor. 'That motherfucker deserves the wrath of Konoha.'
"Enough chitchat. Kakashi needs to talk to you." Shikamaru dutifully sat back down again, sighing to himself as he pressed his fingers against his temples. The blond patted him on the back and went ahead to greet Shikamaru's and Ino's fathers.
"Naruto, are you ready to be a war hero next?" Inoichi greeted with a firm handshake. The blond found it in himself to smile at his words.
"I'm ready to do what's necessary." He replied, feeling Shikaku's hand on his shoulder.
The Nara clan head nodded seriously at him. "It's not going to be easy, Naruto. But the village is counting on you."
The blond appreciated his truthful words.
"If you fight as well as you did against Pain, we'll have no problem against some sound-nins." Another jounin piped from his post at the opposite side of the table. Naruto had no idea who he was.
"It's not the sound-nins I'm worried about." The Uzumaki placed his hands on his pockets. "Sasuke and Kabuto are sure to have something prepared for us."
The blond turned to the man in charge. "Any ideas what that might be?" Naruto saw Kakashi's hands twitch before he answered.
"A few months ago, some families reported their dead missing." Kakashi said tensely. Naruto's eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Tsunade-sama was pretty sure Kabuto had something to do with it."
"More experiments with corpses?" Naruto shook his head. "If I get the chance, I'm going to stop him once and for all."
Shikamaru turned to him, wanting to say something but his father looked at him pointedly. He desisted. 'Kabuto can easily get corpses in Sound. The real question is why steal those specific corpses from Konoha. Is it just a demoralizing strategy?' But the identity of the corpses would only serve to distract Naruto from the war at hand. He understood that Konoha needed their key fighter in optimal mental conditions to deal with his duties.
His eyes drifted to the Hyuuga clan leader. 'If the identities of the stolen corpses were disclosed, more than one shinobi would lose their cool.'
"If either Sasuke or Kabuto get spotted, the general order is to notify the closest Yamanaka to relay the information and get the closest squad to dispose of them." Shikaku announced.
The Uzumaki tightened his fists. Of course they would want Sasuke dead. And Naruto knew he could no longer protect him. But something told him that no one would have a true chance against Sasuke. Not with his new eyes that granted him strange power. Something told him that in the end, it would be Sasuke and him. One last time.
The blond looked away as he tried to calm his thoughts.
Kakashi noticed his struggle. He observed as Naruto continue on his way to Hiashi. The Hatake nodded to himself as he commended Naruto's maturity level on his most sensible subject. 'He's ready.' All this time he knew Naruto could be the ninja the Village needed. He only needed to grow up.
As he watched Naruto approach, Hiashi sighed deeply, readying himself for yet another Naruto induced headache. He ignored pointedly the mocking grins that Inoichi and Shikaku were sharing amongst themselves at his expense. 'Snigger as much as you want, Yamanaka. Your time will come when some boy comes for your daughter and then I'll bear witness to your suffering.' There were plenty of times when he wished he'd have sons instead of girls. Shikaku looked happy enough with his only boy.
He stood up.
"Uzumaki." The mighty Hyuuga spoke. He couldn't help to admit that Minato's son looked more respectable in uniform.
"Hyuuga-san." The blond was starting to get used to bowing to the guy. It was a small price to pay to keep sleeping with his daughter. Much like Hiashi, Naruto ignored Kakashi's not so subtle guffaw at his interaction with the man.
"I hope your fundraiser had gone smoothly."
Naruto placed his blue eyes on his cold, white ones. Feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders made it easier to deal with Hinata's father. He somehow seemed insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
"It went great up to the point when the news came in…"
Kakashi's and Shikamaru's eyes met and they shared a grin between themselves. He wished Tsunade and Jiraiya were present to witness Naruto's conversation with what could be his father-in-law. The thought of that made a string of chuckles come out again. He made a mental note to tease Naruto about this when the war was over.
"We'll talk again when your position has been made official." Hiashi cut their talk short. He didn't want to keep exposing his pride in front of the other Generals.
"Get to the briefing room in the third floor, Naruto." Kakashi announced. "Your Captain and Platoon Leader will meet you there."
Just as he was making his way back from where he came from, he felt a firm slap on his back. He turned to see Inoichi grinning at him.
"You're going to be under my orders now, Naruto. Let's work hard together." Ino's father was flashing him a modest smile.
Kakashi looked at Inoichi with pity. He looked happy enough to have Konoha's hero in his Batallion. He guessed it might change when Naruto showed just how stubborn he was with authority figures.
"Nee-san!" Hanabi greeted Hinata just as she arrived to her place. It surprised her a little, given that her sister had always been kind of detached from her.
"Hello, sweet sister." The older Hyuuga answered breathless. She had to run all the way to her house and still needed to get her ninja clothing before reporting for duty. They had fallen asleep 30 minutes past the set time.
"Are you going to fight in the army?" The long-haired girl asked anxiously. She was walking closely behind her sister.
Hinata looked quizzically down at Hanabi. She managed to see the lower lip of her sister trembling in concern. The Hyuuga heiress stopped dead on her tracks and kneeled in front of Hanabi.
"I am. As any other shinobi in Konoha. It is our duty." The look on Hanabi's face at her answer broke her heart. She didn't even try to hide the tears that were peeking in the corner of her eyes.
"C-Can't you ask father permission to stay here?" Fresh tears were leaking already. Hanabi was showing what was behind her usual façade of tough main-branch member.
Hinata wanted to show her that everything would be alright. Make herself look strong in front of her sister which needed it the most. But there was a tight knot on her throat already, and her eyes were stinging in preparation.
"Hanabi-nee, I'll be fighting so that you can keep being safe back here. And so are father and Neji-ni." She hugged her tightly. Hanabi was sobbing into her hair.
"I-I don't want to be left alone." The younger Hyuuga wept shamelessly, not caring about the other Hyuugas in their proximities.
Hinata was torn between appeasing her sister's worries or just give in to her despair and cry in sync with her at the unknown future.
She decided on the former.
Pulling back from their embrace, Hinata placed two firm palms on her sister's wet cheeks. She tried her hardest to stop her tears from falling.
"We'll be coming back, Hanabi-nee, I promise." Hinata breathed in shakily. "Me and Neji-ni-san have trained all of our lives for this moment. We'll come back victorious, and we'll show the whole world just how strong the Hyuugas are."
Hanabi stared at the floor, crocodile tears running down her face. She looked back up to her older sister, gaining even more respect for her. Hinata was terrified for what was about to come, and she still tried her best to make her feel better.
"Can I come with you to your briefing?"
The young woman seemed to think about it.
"You can come and wait outside if you want. I doubt they'll let you in."
Hanabi nodded her head vehemently.
"Wait for me in the lobby and we'll get going in 15 minutes."
The older Hyuuga hurried to undress. She found her flak jacket hanging in the left side of her spacious wardrobe. Looking on a drawer she found her long sleeved shinobi shirt with matching pants.
She'd never felt this nervous donning her chuunin uniform. Not even after receiving it for the first time 2 years ago.
She stared at the mirror, noticing her slightly reddened eyes. Her sight derailed towards the picture of her mom holding her while she was just two years old. Taking a decided breath, Hinata bowed at the picture and sent a prayer to her mom for protection.
"I bet Neji and father are also in the Hokage tower." Hanabi commented as she looked straight ahead.
It was nearing night time but the village was full of life. Everyone was hurrying to one place or the other. Every shinobi was wearing a version of Hinata's uniform. Most of them were exactly the same; green vest with the red whirlpool adorning the center of the back. Others had their collars and shoulders embroidered with blue leather.
Family members bawling hopelessly through the windows or even in their front doors became a common sight as they made their way through the crowded street that lead to the Hokage's offices.
The Hyuuga siblings ignored people gossiping around them as they walked through.
They finally got to the base of the building, that had several raised tents all around the neighboring park to fit the hundreds of ninja that were getting assigned to their respective groups.
Hinata spotted four lines of shinobi waiting to be directed by clerks sitting in front of a table with scattered papers around them. Hanabi suggested they cut in line as they were Hyuugas, but her older sister shook her head and gave her a stern look.
"Isn't that Hyuuga Hinata?" Hanabi's ears perked up at her sister's name.
"Huh, would you believe it? I thought they would keep her locked in her mansion in fear she might get killed." The young girl was trying to locate the origin of the voices, but there was so much people standing around them that it proved difficult to see.
The original gossip spoke again. "It's only for show. I'm sure she's already assigned to a rearguard squad that's never supposed to taste battle."
Hanabi was ready to call the offenders on their bullshit, but Hinata placed a pressing hand on her shoulder and coaxed her to advance in line.
"C'mon girl, I do not have all night." An old lady, with a long cigarette hanging from her lips beckoned the next in line. She stole a glance at the beauty standing in front of her and asked. "Hyuuga what?"
"Hinata." She spoke with confidence. She didn't care to make herself known among all the other recruits. This war was an opportunity for her to show her real strength to her peers.
The elder took her time to scan a long list of pages until she reached the 'H'.
"Hyuuga Hinata…" Her eyes followed the wrinkly finger in front of her name. "4th Batallion, 13th Company. Get yourself to the third floor of the Hokage building. Next!"
Hinata nodded and started walking towards the building, ignoring the looks the rest of the recruits were giving her.
The space inside the tower was very narrowed. Dozens of soldiers were making their way up and down and across the floor. She had to walk slowly behind a group of walking chuunin. A familiar voice coming from the other side of the floor caught her attention.
"Hinata!" The Hyuuga sisters turned around to see Kiba jumping with his hands above his head. "Let's meet outside after you're done."
The girl lifted a thumbs up, as her voice wasn't strong enough to be heard so far with so many people around her.
"He's going in another direction than you." Her sister pointed out. Hinata was painfully aware of that.
"Ok, finally." She turned around to Hanabi as they got to the big chamber that served as the 13th Company's room. It said so by a big label located next to the double doors. "Wait for me here, okay?"
Hanabi nodded with a pout.
Hinata gave her a quick hug and ventured inside the room.
A sudden wave of heat hit her face as she entered. She counted at least 60 people lingering around in the room. Some were entering, like her. Some were already leaving with papers in hand.
She made her way to one of three desks scattered around the room. As she approached, she noticed yet another label.
2nd Platoon
"Excuse me." She called for the lonely chuunin attending the table. A young man, with stubble around his cheeks looked up at her. "I'm looking for my squad."
"Uhm… sir?"
The poor guy was not expecting to look upon Hyuuga Hinata's lovely face so close. "Yeah, hello. What squad did you say you were looking for?" He sat down straight, paying more attention to her than to the sheet of paper in his hands.
"I don't know which one is my squad. I'm looking for it." She repeated patiently.
The man cleared his throat in embarrassment. "Right, right. Er…" He looked down at the wrinkled sheet of paper in his hand. "Hyuuga Hinata am I right?"
The girl nodded.
"Oh, here you are." He turned his gray eyes to the heiress. "1st Platoon, Hinata-sama. Uzumaki squad."
Both Hinata and the other chuunin thought back on the name before reacting. "Well aren't you lucky?" The man offered a smile. "You get to be with your boyfriend. I wish I could fight along with my girl."
The indigo-haired chuunin blushed in embarrassment. She had to process the information for a few seconds. Her heart was singing with joy.
"Thank you, uhm…"
"Banko, Hinata-sama." Replied the man with a smile.
"Banko-san." The girl finished. "Please, just call me Hinata." She turned around to look for the 1st Platoon banner. She found it further to the right. Banko sat in his chair and watched her go until she got lost among the bodies moving around the room.
As she treaded through the room, she spotted Yamato talking with three other men that had red leather on their collars and shoulders of their jackets. She noticed that Yamato's jacket was the only black one in the room. 'He must be our Captain.'
The former AMBU caught her staring at him and sent a smile her way. He pointed his thumb to his right. Hinata eye's followed in that direction. Once she spotted a bright yellow mane, she started to walk towards it.
He was giving his back to her, while conversing with three other recruits. Hinata approached just enough to listen in on their conversation.
"I guess you're the weapon expert in my squad, then." Naruto said, looking down at the shorter man standing next to him. He was sporting a new chuunin jacket, with blue covering the top part of his attire. "Better hurry towards the armory and ask for 50 meters of wire so we can get some traps in the field."
"Tochiro, Genko you need to get the kunai crates to the carts waiting in the west stables. It should be marked with our Platoon number. Oh, and get some extra waterproof explosive tags. Tell them that we're going to be fighting along a river so get at least 100 for the team." Naruto pulled three small sheets of paper from one of his jackets pockets and wrote the squad order for each of the items he needed. "Don't lose this. They'll need to see the signed order."
"Do you need any special weapon, Naruto-san?" An eager, young chuunin with freckles all over his cheeks and forehead was looking up at Naruto in adoration.
The Uzumaki shook his head. "Just get going. Come back here again when you're done. There's still much to do."
"Hai!" The three eager chuunins replied in unison. Naruto clearly didn't like their volume.
Hinata saw how two other chuunins were expecting for Naruto to end his conversation with those three and started to approach him. The Hyuuga rose her voice before they could get to him.
"Naruto-kun."
Said blonde turned to look around at her. The general frown he had plastered on his face for the better part of an hour relaxed immediately to give way to a smile as bright as the sun.
"Hey Hin!" He went in for a hug immediately. Hinata returned his hug awkwardly. The stares of fifty recruits were on them. "Would you believe it? We'll be fighting side by side!"
Hinata guessed she needed to start getting used to be seen in public with her boyfriend. There were far more serious matters at hand. "I still can't believe it." She extended her own grin. They needed to start enjoying the little things to keep sane.
"We'll be fighting under Yamato's orders. I doubt Inoichi-san has much time to come personally to order us around."
"Yamanaka Inoichi? Ino's dad?"
"Yeah, he's the General of this Batallion. I guess we could've done worse." Naruto added thoughtfully. "On the not so good part, I'm stuck with Ebisu as my Platoon Leader."
Hinata recognized the name as Konohamaru's private tutor.
The two recruits that had been waiting for Naruto to notice them exchanged nervous glances. The blond noticed them from the corner of his eyes.
"Come here, I'll brief all three of you together." He turned around to see if there was anyone else he hadn't guided. He spotted four other faces he hadn't seen before making their way towards his area. "Hey! You four! What squad are you looking for?"
"Yours, sir." The youngest one of the bunch replied. Hinata saw how Naruto's left eye twitched in annoyance at the title. The others looked like they preferred to be anywhere else than where they were now.
The blond signaled them to come to him. Once they were all standing in an arc in front of him the blond took out a folded paper and a pen.
"Alright, give me your names." He pointed at the newcomer.
"Yasutake Takao, sir." Replied the white-haired man. He sported thick glasses.
"Yasutake…" Naruto mumbled under his breath as he looked for his name. He ticked off the space next to the kanjis. "Call me sir once again and there's gonna be trouble."
His words startled the poor shinobi. "Hai, si-" He stopped himself before completing the word. His new squad comrades snickered at him.
"Next."
He checked off each of their names. He didn't bother to ask for Hinata's.
"Okay, I'm almost done meeting all of you." Konoha's hero placed his piece of paper back on his breast pocket. "Welcome to the Uzumaki Squad. I'm Uzumaki Naruto. This squad reports to Platoon Leader Ebisu, who in turn reports Captain Yamato. I might be younger than most of you but given that I have the blue jacket your only option is following my orders or risking punishment."
He fumbled around another pocket and took out seven green tickets. "I'm gonna give each one of you a voucher for a basic weapon kit. It consists of a pouch of 20 kunai, 10 explosive tags, and 30 normal-sized shuriken. If you are proficient with any other weapon tell me now so I can issue you another voucher for two units of said weapon so in case you damage or loose it you can have a replacement."
Takao raised his hand. "I fight with senbon, Naruto-san."
"Senbon? Alright. I hope fifty is enough for your first two days in the field." The blond scribbled something in else in Takao's paper.
A gruff-looking brunette with a vertical scar going down his jaw and into his neck raised his voice. "I fight with double kodachi."
Naruto proceeded to take his order and give him his slip of paper.
"A katana for me, Naruto-san." A good-looking blue haired female said.
"Anyone else? No? Okay, get going to the basement. Come back once you're set."
Naruto sent a small smile to Hinata as she turned to go with her new teammates.
"Hanabi-sama, what are you doing here?" Neji exclaimed with a serious expression as he made way among the hundreds of ninja walking around him. Shinobis who knew well enough who he was made it a point to not get in his way.
"Neji-ni!" She exclaimed, shaken from her utmost boredom and face lighting up at his sight.
"You should be in the house." He said sternly, looking around for his uncle. "If your father sees you here, he will not be pleased."
"Neesan said I could come wait for her until she comes back." Hanabi said in one breath, making clear that she did not desired to go alone back to the house.
Neji frowned deeply. He did not approve of the heiress way of thinking. But he couldn't confront her wishes. "How long have you been waiting here?"
Hanabi made a face. "Like two hours."
"Hinata-sama may still take longer. I suggest you stick with Hiashi-sama so you can go back with him."
"How about I stick up with you?" She suggested.
Neji immediately shook his head. "I have to move around a lot. Wait for your father outside the Hokage's main meeting room. He shouldn't take long. I'll be sure to tell Hinata-sama that you will be with father."
Hanabi stole a hug out of Neji before going away. Neji was slightly unsettled by her show of affection in such a public place. He started striding towards the 4th Batallion's designated headquarters. He made a point to ask the men sleeping on the chairs with papers sprawled all over them.
"Soldier!" His voice was loud enough to wake the two men in front of him.
"Sir!" They voiced at unison, their horror scaling when they noticed it not only was a Hyuuga, but a Platoon Leader glaring down at them.
"Where's Uzumaki Squad gathering?" His voice made it clear that he had not time for nonsense.
"Uhm, they are all over the place. But Uzumaki-san is meeting with Captain Yamato." He pointed to the west side of the room, where a few room dividers had been added to give some sort of privacy among the other ninjas.
Neji approached until he saw Yamato's distinct black jacket surrounded by shinobis wearing red and blue.
He spotted Naruto right next to Yamato. Apparently, the Captain had asked everyone else a question, and they all replied with a heavy nod of their heads and an audible "hai".
The rest of Platoon and Squad leaders started heading out, except for Naruto, who was deep in conversation with Yamato about something. Neji couldn't decipher what it was they were talking about, but Yamato finalized with a clap on Naruto's shoulder and a dismissal.
The older Hyuuga gave a few steps so that Naruto could promptly spot him.
"Neji. What's up?" He stopped and regarded his red embroidered jacket coldly.
"Do you know where I can find Hinata-sama?"
"She's stocking the carts with rations in the back of the building." The blond claimed, pointing a thumb out the back.
Neji nodded and turned to leave, but for some reason he stood still in silence. It was beyond weird for the Uzumaki.
"Could we talk in private?"
Neji's tone took Naruto aback. "Is something wrong?"
Neji motioned for the back of a panel screen for Naruto to follow. The Uzumaki did so suspiciously.
"Uzumaki, you have a great responsibility in your hands." Naruto expected Neji's words to be chastising, but for some reason he felt they were sort of desperate. His fists were tightly pressed. Naruto smelled fear off of Neji. "The heiress to the Hyuuga Clan will be in your care throughout this war. You can't let any harm come to her."
"She's not just the Hyuuga heiress, Neji." It was Naruto's turn to get serious. But Neji continued.
"If Sasuke were to come at her again you cannot hesitate this time."
Talking about the very topic he was sensitive about made his face heat up in anger. He grabbed Neji by his shoulders with a vice grip and pulled him closer. The taller man's eyebrows rose at the sight of Naruto's irises red as his face. The blond didn't open his mouth immediately. He looked through him, as he steadied his breathing. Finally, he spoke.
"I'll kill any bastard who dares try to hurt her." He was feeling hotter than he should be. He was trying to look calm before the rest of the soldiers. But Neji poked directly at his insecurities. He added. "And I'll make Sasuke pay dearly for what he did."
The blond released his grip on Neji. The Hyuuga almost took a step back. He had heard stories of Naruto showing his nasty side. Not the rebellious, stubborn, hot-headed shinobi he was known to be. The real nasty side. The blood-thirsty demon he could become when he fought for real.
The Uzumaki was regarding him coldly, unable to shake the anger in his system. He watched, to his amazement, how Neji bowed deeply to him.
"That is all Hiashi-sama and the rest of the Hyuuga Clan need to hear." He turned to leave.
"Good luck out there." Neji added with a smile.
Author's section
(The Violence – Rise Against)
Thanks for reading!
PS. Stay safe out there, folks. Some day we'll go back to normal.
Leave a review if you liked it.
- Paty