Black Light (Naruto)

Chapter 31

That was what Hikaru was banking on, so he headed up the stairs towards his apartment, only to still the moment he opened the door. 

Kakashi was lounging on his couch, reading his Icha Icha. Black eyes darted up towards Hikaru as the door closed, and Hikaru sighed. So much for that plan of avoiding everybody he knew. 

Kakashi eye-smiled at Hikaru and his teammates, his hands ruffling Hikaru and Sasuke's short hair as they all turned towards the camera. Sakura smiled, and Hikaru sneered towards Sasuke, who turned away. 

"Maa, Hikaru-san, I haven't seen you around in awhile." Kakashi cheerfully said, although there was something hidden in his voice that Hikaru couldn't quite pick up on. 

"I've been around on a few missions and such." Hikaru ventured, sitting down on the couch opposite from Kakashi, eyeing him warily as the other closed his book. 

"You're not very good at lying." Kakashi drawled, and Hikaru internally cursed. He'd already known that he would be scolded the minute that he walked in, but this intervention was not what he expected.

Dark hallways upon dark hallways. Hikaru shivered, before walking into a room. He waited for awhile, leaned against a nearby wall, hair too bright for the overwhelming darkness lit only by a lantern in the corner. 

A pair of pale hands handed him a mask, a regular-grade tanto, and some standard ANBU armor and Hikaru accepted it with a shaky thanks. He walked down another hallway, walking into a room filled with people changing into ANBU gear.

Hikaru needed to leave. 

His limbs were shaking, and his breath was picking up slightly, his heart pounding in his chest. He'd somewhat come to think of his apartment as a safe place, but if Kakashi just kept showing up-

"Hey, Hikaru-san." Kakashi said in the suddenly strained silence. "Do you want to stop by Ichikaru's?"

A public place. Hikaru couldn't let the tension escape from his body, not quite yet calmed but he would still go. A public place meant that Kakashi wouldn't scold him, which was good because Hikaru was bordering on either not being seen again or boarding up his apartment and never leaving. 

He nodded. "Sure."

___

Hikaru walked by Team Seven's training grounds, before stopping and turning back. Everything was a little surreal, but it wasn't like he could help it. He couldn't talk about it without annoying someone, not to mention that he didn't trust anybody here. 

He walked towards the post that Naruto was currently kicking- Sasuke and Sakura nearby being trained by Kakashi, while Hikaru had been roped into teaching Naruto some wind jutsu. 

"Naruto!" Hikaru called, watching the blond look up, bright blue eyes landing on Hikaru with a hint of excitement. "Come over here- I don't want you accidentally destroying anything."

Naruto nodded, before scampering over like a puppy. Hikaru had thought of some low ranked ninjutsu that he could teach Naruto- and he'd thought of two: Gale Surge and Retrieving Wind Technique, both of them E-Ranked. He thought they would be useful during the Chunin Exams. 

"So, Naruto, I'm going to teach you two jutsu: Gale Surge and Retrieving Wind Technique." Hikaru started. 

"What do they do? I'm gonna be great at them, dattebayo!" Naruto cheered, stars in his eyes and holding out his thumb. Hikaru wanted to smile at the action but he knew that it would only fall short.

"Gale Surge pushes objects away from you, while Retrieving Wind Techinque pulls closer objects towards you." Hikaru quickly explained, before slowly starting on a handsign. "These are the handsigns for Gale Surge- only put a little chakra into it, as little as you can. Like with the leaf."