CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The calm before part-1
Hinata got back home early that day. Her co-workers had decided to let her leave early for her birthday. In fact, her boss had originally given her the whole week off but she insisted on coming to work anyway. The daily routine helped her take her mind off the tragic events of the past two days. She still felt dead inside but in a way, the constant paperwork and routine inspections helped her cope a little with Naruto's absence. People around the village tried their best to cheer her up and give her space to grieve, and she really tried her best to live life normally but it couldn't be helped.
Not especially when everything reminds me of him…. she thought, twisting the key in the front door of her and Naruto's home and stepping inside the dark entrance.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY HINATA!"
Hinata strained her eyes under the sudden brightness of the switched on lightbulbs and dropped the bag of groceries she was carrying on the floor in disbelief once she could focus on the people in her living room.
"S-sakura? Konohamaru?" she paused and looked around the room, the feeling of warmth spreading all over her
"You guys….." she wiped a happy tear from her cheek and closed the door behind her.
Then she stopped dead in her tracks.
"Ah, come on I told you guys to wait for me!" Naruto had bolted into the room and screeched to a stop once he saw her.
"N…. Naruto-kun?" Hinata whispered, not believing her eyes.
Naruto smiled at her and opened his arms in invitation. "Happy birthday my love"
Hinata gently approached him and placed a hand on his cheek to be sure he was real, then immediately pulled him into a tearful hug.
"We decided to stop by and surprise you sis" Hanabi stepped forward to her elder sister who was still embracing Naruto. Hinata released Naruto and squeezed Hanabi tight. Konohamaru soon spoke up.
"Me and the girls actually got you a gift but you know the whole rescuing Naruto thing came up" he said, gesturing at Moegi.
Hinata finally released her sister and immediately pulled them both into a hug.
"Thank you" It was really all she could say to them. She walked up to Sakura and hugged her too, and even Sasuke wasn't left out of her rampage of embraces.
"Consider this idiot your birthday gift cause I really didn't remember to get you anything Hinata" Sakura said to her friend who was still hugging Sasuke.
"It's okay" Hinata smiled at her. Suddenly Sasuke spoke up.
"I didn't forget however"
He produced a small summoning scroll to materialize a birthday cake in a puff of smoke, to everyone's surprise. Hanabi walked closer to inspect the cake.
"It's 'Hinata' not 'Hinaata' Sasuke"
"Oh, sorry" the Uchiha apologized, appearing slightly depressed. Hinata picked up the cake and took it the dining table inside.
"Just a minor spelling error, I don't mind at all"
Soon the group cut the cake and sang a birthday song for Hinata. The Hyuuga was in tears the whole time, both from the happiness the surprise party gave her and the joy of seeing Naruto again. An hour later, they eventually bid their goodbyes and headed off home, leaving Naruto and Hinata alone at home.
"Typical of them to leave us to clean up the mess" Naruto said, wrapping his arms around Hinata from behind while she arranged the dishes she just washed in a rack. "On your birthday too" he kissed her cheek and held her tighter.
Hinata slowly spun around with a smile and suddenly found herself lifted onto the counter. She took Naruto's face in her hands and paused to take it in.
"I missed you"
"I missed you more Hina" Naruto replied, leaning in to kiss her. "For sometime back there I was afraid I'd…."
Hinata silenced him with another kiss. "It's okay, you're here now and it's all that matters"
"I'm sorry I couldn't get you something, I mean even Sasuke remembered" he laughed.
"I don't think I can possibly feel happier than I am now, Naruto-kun"
Naruto looked into the distance with a frown. "When I tried to stop Momoshiki during the festival, were there any casualties from the explosion?"
Hinata shook her head. "No, you protected everyone Naruto"
He sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. It's a good thing we dealt with him away from the village, who knows how many more lives he could've endangered." Naruto broke their embrace and walked to the couch to plop down on it, deep in thought. "Somehow I feel it's not all over yet"
"What's wrong?" Hinata joined him with a worried expression. "Momoshiki is gone isn't he?"
Naruto directed his gaze to the ceiling and spoke. "Before we defeated Momoshiki, he mentioned something about his people coming to our world to fulfill his mother's decree or something like that"
"His mother's decree?"
"And that's not all" Naruto turned to face Hinata with a stern look. "He mentioned something about the one who bears the Tenseigan being the key to their plan, I wonder if they have collaborators hiding among us"
Hinata suddenly went pale with Naruto's words. She shifted her gaze to the floor in obvious discomfort, which Naruto took notice of.
"Hina, what's wrong?"
She exhaled and rubbed her hands nervously.
"Naruto, there's something I have to tell you…. Something I've kept hidden for far too long"
Naruto sat upright. "What is it"
Hinata took a deep breath and continued.
"When I…..died, I didn't come back due to my body reacting slowly to medical ninjutsu"
Naruto scratched his head. "I mean, it sounded like a stretch then too but it was the only plausible theory we had"
Hinata turned to face him and continued. "I saw a man when I died"
"What? How?"
"He was….or rather I was in his mind plane, like you do with Kurama"
Naruto rubbed his chin, "That's strange, so what happened?"
Hinata continued. "He told me I have a destiny to fulfill and he called me the Byakugan princess, saying I was chosen to wield a power that will 'change the world'…..but he didn't tell me how or in what way"
"Change the world? Wait….did this man bring you back to life? What was his name?"
Hinata felt increasingly more uncomfortable. She opened her mouth to speak but found it difficult to say the words
"Otsusuki Toneri"
Naruto felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. "Otsusuki? So one of Momoshiki's people?"
Hinata slowly nodded. "It seems so, I don't to what his intentions were but he placed some….jutsu inside of me when we spoke, like a glowing sphere."
"He told me that only a specific individual from the main branch of the Hyuuga clan could be chosen to carry on Hamura's will"
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Hamura?"
"He was the brother of the sage of six paths…..and the original wielder of the Tenseigan" Hinata continued. "Toneri was supposed to inherit his father's power but he wasn't compatible, yet he tried to claim it for himself…..and he lost his eyesight for it"
Naruto scratched his head with his bandaged arm. "So now he's entrusted it to you? Why?"
"Look, I don't know why okay?" Hinata slouched further and held her head in her hands. "But now I'm supposed to protect something that is powerful enough to bring back the dead apparently" Frustration could be read in her expression as she sat up to look at Naruto.
"I know I might sound paranoid, but with everything that's happened recently and these strange…beings potentially coming to take away something I don't even completely understand from me…" she paused to catch her breath and continued. "Naruto-kun, I'm scared…."
Naruto took her hands in his and tried to comfort her. "Hey, it's okay, I know how you feel" He pulled her into a hug and allowed her to continue venting.
"What if it's my fault? What if all of us are in danger because I have something that belongs to them?"
Naruto kissed the top of Hinata's head and held her closer. "Remember when Madara and Obito attacked us all to take away Kurama and Gyuki from me and Bee?"
Hinata raised her head to look at Naruto. "Yeah…. I guess you could say it's similar to what's happening with me now"
Naruto smiled at her and continued. "The five nations came together to protect us all, you all stood up for us, putting your lives on the line. Hinata, you fought by my side."
He gently placed a hand on her cheek and looked into her eyes which looked like they were about to cry. "You've been fighting for me all my life. When Pain attacked us to take away Kurama from me, you put your life on the line to save me"
She became one of the least intolerable humans in my eyes that day
Hinata giggled at Kurama's comment to Naruto's surprise. "Thank you Kurama" she smiled at Naruto's seal like the fox was right there looking at her.
"I'm still not completely used to you being able to talk with Kurama these days, It kinda creeps me out y'know" Naruto scratched his head, drawing a laugh from Hinata. He gently stroked her hair and continued, "Look, I don't know much about this Tenseigan either but anyone or anything that comes after Hinata Hyuuga is going to have to talk to me first. I swear it on my life!"
"You've been protecting me for so long, it's only proper for me to return the favour, Hinata" he continued. "We're all here for you, it's our duty. You're not just our friend, you're also a shinobi of Konoha. And anyone that abandons their comrades is-"
"Worse than scum" Hinata completed the saying for him. "Although, I'm pretty sure that's not how the saying goes"
"Huh? I could've sworn…" Naruto looked down trying to remember, drawing a giggle from Hinata.
"Thank you, Naruto" she beamed a small smile at him.
"Hmm, no honorific? I kinda like the whole 'Naruto-kun' thing y'know?" Naruto laughed.
"Oh do you? I didn't know you liked being called that specifically"
"Only when it's coming from you Hina"
Hinata reached up to kiss him on the cheek and lazily said his name in her unique manner "Naruto-kun…"
"Much better" he laughed.
With a smile, she briefly kissed him and whispered to him. "It's reassuring when your protective boyfriend is also the strongest shinobi in the world"
Naruto rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I don't know…..a lot of people think Sasuke is like, 'up there' y'know?"
Feigning anger, Hinata continued with a pout. "Then it just means a lot of people are stupid. It's obviously you"
Naruto tried to unsuccessfully hide his blush. "Come on, I'm not so sure…." But Hinata reiterated her statement.
"But it's true" she said, leaning into him and lazily tracing her finger on his chest. "My Naruto-kun is the strongest shinobi in the world…."
"Stronger than Sasuke?" Naruto asked curiously
"To me he is" Hinata repeated "Just….don't tell Sakura you heard it from me"
Naruto laughed and reached down to kiss her. What started as a polite exchange steadily progressed till Hinata was lying on the couch, with Naruto above her, head buried in her neck and planting kisses along it. He soon claimed her lips again, the passion in their kiss growing. His hand lowered to her waist and cautiously creeped underneath her shirt…the lack of an opposing reaction gave him the all clear to reach for the zipper and pull it down to remove her shirt. Hinata responded by helping him take off his own shirt and pulled his face down to hers to continue their kiss. Her hands massaged his neck and back, finding their way to his chest and then settling on his stomach.
Then she froze.
"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, breaking their kiss to study her face. Hinata sat upright on the sofa and reached for a throw pillow.
"Naruto-kun….I could feel him watching me"
"Huh? Feel who?" Naruto asked, confused.
"Kurama"
"Kurama?!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Yes, I'm sorry it's just…..I didn't expect to…."
Naruto clenched his fist to ease his frustration and took her hand in his free hand. "No problem, I guess it can come off as weird to other people"
Hinata smiled at him. "I'm still getting used to this whole being able to interact with Kurama thing"
"It'll take a while"
"I wonder how you're not bothered by a bijuu being able to see everything you see" she asked him.
Naruto shrugged. "It helps that he's mostly asleep y'know"
"Well he wasn't asleep just now when when we were…..I should go make dinner. You must be hungry" Hinata hurriedly left for the kitchen with her statement. Once she was gone, Naruto decided to have a word with his inner demon
It's similar to watching chickens reproduce for you humans, I'm not bothered by my vessel deciding to mate with his-
"Ahhhhh! I didn't ask for your opinion fox, just go to sleep or something and stop watching! It's creepy!" Naruto interrupted Kurama in his mind plane. The great fox demon scoffed at Naruto and closed his eyes.
Not my problem
"Come on! I'm just asking you to not ruin any more of our moments Kurama, just….. please help me out here" Naruto pleaded with the nine tails who replied with a sigh.
Fine. I'll go to sleep whenever you want to mate with the Hyuuga girl
"And could you stop using the word mate?"
[Author's note]
The romantic scenes were a pain to write in my experience lol, I hope they all turned out okay!