Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Naruto or AoT.
The Village Hidden in the Leaves was well known for the forests surrounding it, which seemed to stretch around the village for an infinite measurement of distance. A thick wall marked the village limit, and three gates led to the outside.
He was aware of all this without consciously thinking about it as he silently used the branches as his highway to his home. He was so quiet he could barely hear his breathing or his feet making light contact with the tree branches.
Masked as the Dog, the Dog was an ANBU operative returning home from a mission that had exhausted him. However, the few hours of rest he had stolen for himself significantly reduced his exhaustion. Knowing that he would allow himself a few hours of rest back at home before he took his next mission was not supposed to be reassuring, but it gave him a semblance of relief.
He could see the light from a clearing up ahead and thus slowed down his pace. The clearing was just what he needed — a secret entrance to the ANBU Headquarters.
The Nine: Arc 1.
Chapter 3: Promise.
The satisfaction he had felt from his prank a few days before had faded and left him feeling hollow.
The story had been kept from the general public, and if he was being honest, Naruto was disappointed. All attention would have been on him if the villagers had been informed. Perhaps very little appreciation and acknowledgment – the littlest he could receive – but mostly frowns and silent cursing would have been focused on him. Even though the public was not aware, he definitely had the Hokage's attention, not that he ever lacked it before. If he was lucky, a few ANBU must have begrudgingly acknowledged his stealth capabilities.
The sun shone from its position at nine o'clock in the morning as Naruto walked towards the Academy. With the day advancing in time, the streets were busy. Most of the shops by the roadside were already open, and the closer he got to his destination, the more the density of the outlets dwindled. Even so, the streets were occupied. Women were doing some shopping, children were playing on the dusty streets, men were walking in pairs in the middle of a deep conversation, couples were on their dates, shinobi were to and from missions, and Naruto even saw a few ANBU on patrol.
Despite all the activity around him, he felt secluded. He was like a neutral point in the center of a magnetic field – Aha! That was what he had been forgetting – that was the village. Even his bright attire failed to get him any attention. Granted, he had a pair of dark green shorts, a white T-shirt, a burnt orange hoodie, and his blue sandals, but still.
No one paid any attention to him— that lasted until he strayed from his predetermined path to the Academy.
Naruto had made himself aware of the location of everything he needed - or would come to need - in his career. He was halfway through his first year in the Academy, which meant what he needed at the moment concerning his soon-to-be career was relatively minor. Access to a training field, a place from where he could get the standard kunai for a student, a supplier of paint, and, most importantly, a shop where he would be well-charged for the outfits he needed. There was only one place he knew that supplied everything he needed except for his choice of clothing. The place was almost like a hardware store for all ninja equipment, even attire, but Naruto had no interest in the clothes sold there. It also offered materials that civilians might have found useful.
The ground floor was dedicated to civilian tools, while the first floor was for the shinobi.
Naruto entered the place as easily as he always did. As expected, the place was teeming with civilians who were busy purchasing whatever they needed. There were a few ninja, probably in the store for their non-ninja needs.
The silence that befell the premise several minutes after the majority acknowledged his presence was uncomfortable. He could feel the weight of more than a few stares on him, along with quiet whispers that reached his ears. Without turning his head, he looked at words printed in bold on a piece of paper.
"No Discrimination, huh?" The boy muttered. "Can't blame 'em for trying, can I?"
He pocketed his hands and headed for the stairs to the upper floor. In the conspicuous silence that has befallen the place, Naruto's quiet footsteps were as audible as that of heeled shoes, the quiet conversations as loud as a bar— he should know, he'd worked in one for a quick penny the year before.
"It's him," Naruto heard.
"One of them," he heard also. "One of those freaks."
"Even if he wasn't one of them Nephilim..."
"Yeah, I see what he means."
"He's still the—"
"No need to tell us..."
"True. Even if he wasn't a Nephilim, he is still that thing."
Frankly, it was suffocating walking in such an atmosphere. The hostility towards himself aside, the gazes upon his person made him feel like a circus animal, which he might as well have been.
The negativity towards Naruto came in more forms than the decorative titles of the Land of Fire's Feudal Lord. Still, they converged on hatred, fear, and the silent judgment he had accustomed himself to receiving from... everyone.
It was something like this: the civilians feared and hated him, and the ninja hated him and seemed ready to kill the blonde, held back by whatever little remained of their humanity. That, and their fear of their actions' repercussions.
Nephilim or not, Naruto was - in technical terms only - a civilian citizen of the Hidden Leaf and a ninja in training. The law still stood to defend him against murder. Compared to what the rest of his kind underwent in their zones of isolation, his treatment seemed like generosity on the villagers' part.
With that thought in mind, Naruto began his ascent to the upper floor, removing his hands from the pockets of his shorts and using them to smooth out his hair. The climb was short-lived, as he was soon in the shinobi section.
Compared to the ground floor, this one seemed unoccupied. He could hear quiet footsteps all over the place, most likely from the five employees and the few ninja restocking their supplies.
Naruto stopped at the entrance, running through the items he needed in his head. Fifteen kunai and shuriken, a twenty-metre roll of ninja wire, and perhaps a new pouch. He scrunched his face up, wondering if he had forgotten a thing.
The result must have been a displeased-looking face, for a person came from behind him, saying, "You shouldn't pay them any mind."
He turned to face the speaker. "Huh?"
"You shouldn't pay them any mind," the speaker – a girl slightly taller than him with brown hair and brown eyes – repeated. "That's what you were doing, right?"
Naruto sucked his teeth. "Nah, I was just thinking about what I would say to the person who came up here after me."
"That would be me," she said with a smile. "What did you decide on saying to me?"
"I settled on, 'I was just thinking about what I would say to the person that came up here after me.'"
She chuckled.
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "You look familiar. Have we met before?"
"We did more than just meet, you know."
"Don't know. I'm sure I'd remember meeting someone such as you."
"You used to be in the same class as me," she replied.
"Hm, I still don't remember."
With a hidden smile, the girl - he really had to ask for a name - reached for her pouches with both hands, retracting them with a kunai and shuriken on the left and right, respectively. Without waiting for his prompting and amused by his panicked look, they threw the weapons within a second after the other at the bull's eye hung to his left. The end result was the knife going through the hole in the still-spinning ninja star and into the circular board.
His eyes widened in recognition as he pointed an accusing finger at her. "You're the crazy girl with crazy skills at shurikenjutsu!"
Her expression was a deadpan. "So what's my name again? 'The crazy girl with crazy skills at shurikenjutsu'? I have other skills, you know!"
"You tried to dice me up with a ton of shuriken! What was I supposed to call you?"
"I don't know— maybe something that's not 'The crazy girl with crazy skills at shurikenjutsu'!"
"That is a real mouthful, even for me," Naruto muttered. "Why don't you give me your actual name, then?"
She huffed. "It's Tenten."
"Mine's Naruto."
"I know."
"I figured."
After a brief quiet, Naruto sighed as he rubbed the base of his neck. "We really should work on fixing our relationship."
Judging by the expression on her face, Tenten didn't think it was a bad idea.
"I could help you with whatever brought you here," she offered.
"You seem confident despite being an Academy student like myself."
Tenten shrugged. "I work here sometimes, so I know where everything is. Come on."
He took the offer. The two of them walked from one point to another, and Naruto watched as the senior restocked her huge weapons reserves. It was mainly kunai and shuriken for some projects she was working on, but he could see that her interest was almost on every weapon on display.
"So, how has everyone been?" Naruto asked.
"The usual," she responded, testing the weight of a chain in her hand.
"The usual being?"
"Rowdy with a habit of not taking Taka-sensei seriously."
"Oh yeah, you got stuck with the grumpy guy."
Ticking off something in a little handbook she had taken out a moment before, Tenten let out a breath of words. "What about your current sensei? It's no secret you and Taka-sensei never got along. All your teachers quit or complained to Lord Hokage."
"Iruka-sensei is cool," Naruto answered, clamping his hands on the base of his neck with a fond smile. "I mean, sometimes he can be boring, but that's when I'm not interested in history. When I pay attention, his lessons turn out to be very helpful."
"And when do you pay attention?"
"Meh, just now and then."
Tenten scoffed. "What brings you here anyway?"
"I need a new pouch plus a few kunai and shuriken."
She headed towards the section where his needs were. "Do you prefer the Academy-grade projectiles or the standard issue?"
"I usually take any except the Academy-grade projectiles."
"Then this will be easy."
A few minutes later, the two students walked towards the Academy. As they got closer to the premises, the streets became less occupied. It was probably because it was located near the outskirts of the village, and beyond it laid training grounds and a few agricultural fields for the village's clans.
The silence between them was neither comfortable nor awkward; a quiet brought about because they had nothing to say to each other. At least, nothing that would have given rise to a meaningful conversation.
As they reached the school, they parted ways without a word of farewell to each other, even though Naruto had intended to do that.
He headed towards his class, right hand playing with the hilts of the many kunai he had obtained. Their mass was slightly annoying, and having had no time to leave some at his apartment, Naruto had to deal with that inconvenience. It was a Friday, meaning that the lessons were relatively few and students did not have to report early, and thus when he got to the classroom, he was not surprised by the unimpressive number of students in class.
He could see familiar faces, people he knew either personally or in passing. Shino, a boy shrouded in mystery with his face hidden by a high-collared jacket and dark sunglasses, sat on the middle uppermost row, seemingly isolated from the rest of the class beneath him. Choji and Shikamaru occupied the row below his, the latter dozing off. Sasuke Uchiha sat below them, hands locked in front of his face and dark eyes trying to burn holes into the blackboard.
When he stepped into the brightly lit room, Sasuke's eyes shot towards him. Dark eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly, a gesture Naruto returned with a smirk as he ascended to his new preferred sitting position, the upper corner seat. Hinata was not there yet, which was not surprising. She always arrived precisely ten minutes before the lessons began.
He sat down, eyes on the clock above the blackboard, twenty-five minutes past ten.
Naruto blinked. 'Feels like an hour since I walked out of my apartment. This might take a while.'
"What happened here?"
"Captain, you're back!"
He ignored the surprised call, looking into the underground ANBU base. He stood at the door, eyes surveying the place keenly. From the floors to the roof, wall to doors. The walls were pink, portions of the floors discoloured, ninja wire swinging from the ceiling and all doors pink.
"Why are the doors pink?" He asked. "Why is everything different?"
The ANBU closest to him, masked as Cat approached. "We had a situation, sir."
"Explain yourself."
"Three days ago, the base was attacked," a feminine voice came from the masked face.
Behind his mask, Dog narrowed his eyes. "How many attackers? I was under the impression that our mission requests were at their lowest three days ago, meaning that the HQ should have been more protected."
"It was. As always, actually. But the enemy was a tactician never seen before. They put laxatives on our food at breakfast and then while we were emptying our bellies the replaced our uniform with a pink abomination!"
The two shuddered, though it was involuntary on Dog's part.
"And then they taunted us into pursuing the across the streets with aching stomachs and pink uniform," Cat said, Dog having the impression that she was about to cry. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "It was a nightmare!"
"Now, now, don't cry, Cat," Dog said, heart not in the action. "What happened?"
"Lord Third helped us apprehend the fiend."
"Fiend? I thought it was more than one invader."
"No, that's the worst part — it was only one person."
Despite the supposed severity of the matter, Dog remained concerned. "Who was it?"
"It was a male, a child at that: Naruto Uzumaki!" Cat exclaimed, then paused for a moment. "I take back what I said earlier... this is the worst part!"
Dog pushed her away, and she disappeared in one of the recently cleaned rooms. He stood in the defiled halls, eyes staring forward thoughtfully.
"Uzumaki, huh?"
Contrary to his earlier observations, time did go faster than Naruto had assumed. In what seemed like an eye's blink, the bell for lunch went off.
"That will be all for today," Iruka-sensei finalized. "You can go ahead with your lunch plans and make sure you're back in two hours. Since it's Friday, I'm sure you know what I mean."
The class groaned, Naruto included. Friday afternoons were always for an assessment of their skills, starting with a written test— the cause for the groan. Previously, all they had been tested afterward had been throwing kunai, the first skill taught in the previous year, and taijutsu. Since they had been officially introduced to shurikenjutsu, it was probably wise to assume they'd be tested in that, too.
The blonde reclined in his chair. He let out a sharp breath, closing his eyes for a minute as he considered what to do during the lunch break. He had foregone carrying lunch - circumstances, not by choice - which meant he had two hours of free time.
While being the first conclusion and the most appealing, pranking was not an option since he was still under close watch. He could take a nap, which was also an attractive prospect, but he was feeling the urge to be productive. It was also unacceptable for him to go home, which just meant wasting time doing many things that would have resulted in him failing the test.
He smirked, shooting to his feet. 'Since when has that bothered me?' He wondered.
"Hey, N-naruto?"
He turned to look at the speaker, a puzzled twist on his lips. That puzzled look turned into realization when he saw Hinata standing behind him, fiddling with her fingers. In his efforts to maintain her consciousness, he had forgotten that she had been sitting next to him for the previous week.
"What is it, Hinata?" He asked, careful not to startle her.
"I remember you- you asking... if I... I could have lunch w...with you a few days ago," she said, her pale eyes burning holes into the wooden floor. And he had not even gotten to how red her face was.
"Oh, that is right, ain't it?" He scratched his forehead. "I'm surprised you recall that, considering that you fell unconscious afterward."
Her face took on a much brighter shade of red. "Um... sorry. I just wanted to, um, ask if we could have lunch together."
Naruto raised an eyebrow - idly noting that her speech improved the redder her face was - as he answered, "We can't have lunch today. I've got stuff to do."
"Oh." Though her face took another shade of red - seriously, how many reds were there? - it just gave Naruto the impression that she took his denial harder than he had meant it.
He reached out to hold her shoulders but changed his mind midway. "No, not like that Hinata. I didn't bring any lunch today and don't want to impose too much on you."
"But... but that's okay," Hinata said, lifting her face. "I brought more food today."
"Why?" He asked, tilting his head curiously. He had seen her lunchbox before, and its size could not accommodate enough food for anyone's idea of 'extra food,' including Hinata's.
"I just noticed that you don't, um, carry food on some Fridays and... and I just wanted to be, um, prepared for t-that."
"You noticed? When?" He had started doing that two months ago, and no one, not even Iruka-sensei, had made a note of it.
Hinata's gaze was on the floor once again. "About six weeks ago."
"Wow," he muttered, an intrigued smile on his face. "That's actually... that's observant of you, Hinata." She did not have a reply to that, and he grinned, "You know what? I am going to accept your invitation. Believe it."
The Hyuuga's face displayed its ability to discover new colors as it reached a new level of vibrance. Naruto just hoped she would not faint before they got wherever they would have lunch.
It took a little bit of coercion on his part - something that made him feel somewhat guilty of manipulation - for Hinata to agree to have lunch on the Academy's roof, something that the teacher often advised against. They walked towards the roof silently, and her breath of relief, when they got there without incident, was amusing.
The late afternoon sunlight dappled the Academy rooftop, painting lazy triangles on Naruto's freckled nose as he stretched out with a dramatic groan before flopping to the ground. His stomach, however, hummed a less melodious tune, a rhythmic reminder of his forgotten lunchbox. Across from him, Hinata had sat with what he had realized to be a customary quiet grace, meticulously unwrapping a bento that promised culinary delights.
"Hinata!" Naruto whined, a theatrical frown twisting his features. "Did you forget something? Like, say, my favorite bowl of Ichiraku?"
Hinata's cheeks flushed the color of sunset, mirroring the pink blooms of nearby cherry blossoms.
"I'm so sorry, Naruto," she mumbled, fiddling with her chopsticks. "I didn't have enough time this morning and only packed... well, this."
With a hesitant smile, she unveiled her bento, revealing a feast for the eyes: plump rice balls nestled next to a vibrant stew that defied easy categorization. Its aroma, a compelling blend of earthy notes and a whisper of citrus hung in the air, making Naruto's mouth water.
"Whoa, what's that?" Naruto's curiosity eclipsed his disappointment.
"Spicy miso pork with sweet potato and ginger," Hinata whispered, barely above a murmur. "My mother's recipe."
Naruto's nose twitched, a sign of his perpetual food-radar pinging. "Sounds weird, but I'll try anything once!" He snatched a rice ball and dipped it into the stew, his eyes widening as the flavors ignited his taste buds. "Whoa! This is amazing, Hinata! It's not ramen, but I'll take this over no food any day!"
Hinata giggled, relief softening her features. The noon sunlight, glinting off her eyes, held a secret sparkle that piqued Naruto's interest.
"Say, are you ready for the upcoming assessment?" he asked, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Knowing Iruka-sensei's mind, he's probably come up with new ways to make the test harder than necessary."
"I'm a bit nervous," Hinata admitted, picking at her stew. "Especially the taijutsu spar. What do you think will be on the test?"
Naruto shrugged, nonchalant about the test. "Probably the usual stuff. Boring history, punches 'n' kicks, maybe a sneaky throw-down if we're lucky. Honestly, unless it's the graduation exam, I don't have to work too hard. Especially not on taijutsu. If I'm matched with someone like Shino or Shikamaru, I'll throw the match."
Hinata frowned, her concern evident. "But Na-Naruto, you're so good at taijutsu! Remember how you landed a hit o...on Kiba last week?"
Naruto smirked at the reminder before following it with a shrug. "Yeah, well, Kiba tripped over his own feet. Besides, sparring with fellow students is just... lacking somehow. It's not satisfying. I want to fight someone better than me in taijutsu or any field for that matter. Only then can I become better."
Hinata shook her head, face flushed, voice firm but gentle. "Academy taijutsu is the foundation of every upcoming ninja, Naruto. It's not just about brute strength; it's about control, precision, and reading your opponent. Ninjutsu may fail if you're out of chakra, but you'll still have hand-to-hand combat to fall back on."
Her words struck a chord with Naruto. He glanced at her with curiosity, lips flat in thought. With every passing second, maintaining contact was getting more challenging for the Hyuuga. She dropped her eyes on the food she was eating, pouring more effort into it. With a quiet sigh, he picked up a rice ball.
"Maybe you're right, Hinata," he admitted, a sheepish grin spreading across his face after he had swallowed the food. "You know what, I might just put a little effort in today's spar, and if you like, maybe we could practice together after the classes. On a slightly unrelated note, I really think we should make this a tradition."
Hinata beamed, her smile as radiant as the afternoon sun, her previously discovered shades of red forgotten. "I'd love that, Naruto. Um, all of that. Let's both do our best in the upcoming test!"
As they finished their lunch, a comfortable silence settled between them. The air buzzed with unspoken promises: a promise to face their challenges together and a promise of a friendship blossoming under the watchful gaze of the Academy. As the last rays of sunlight kissed the rooftop, Naruto couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, taijutsu wouldn't feel so dull after all.
To be continued...
Guess who's back y'all?! It's the most unpredictable and unorthodox writer on the net. Yeah!
I gotta say, I really love the self-proclaimed WWE Megastar, LA Knight. He's awesome. The current situation between LA Knight, Randy Orton and AJ Styles reminds me of the Three-Way Deadlock, which I'm sure y'all know.
I'll hand this out as my Christmas gift to everyone reading this. I appreciate your support.
Anyway, I lost all my drafts and notes on this fic last Sunday, which explains the late update. I'd written the whole of the first Arc, but I guess I'm gonna have to rethink everything. The only upside is that it offers me a chance to rearrange my plans regarding this story.
What I'm saying is that updates 'might' be slow henceforth but bear with me.
I gotta answer these two:
thor94: I won't tell you explicitly because I don't like giving spoilers, so just be sure to be patient.
naruto8764210storyreader: Don't worry; I intend to continue with the story.
Rate and Review, my people.
Haraviel.