The next morning found the ninja teams rested and nearly ready for action. Although Hinata felt better her body was still stiff and even Sasuke was feeling it but didn't want to let it show. Kakashi was said he wanted to sleep in a bit more to recover from using his sharingan although Kurenai wasn't sure it was because he just wanted to be lazy. She was still having a hard time trying to see through the man when he was putting on an act or if he was serious of not. So eventually they made their way down to the kitchen, it was a tight fit but they all managed somehow to find a place at the table.
Tsunami had done the best she could for all of them, but with the village in such a poor state finding enough decent food was hard. A lot of the food that you could buy there was little of it, over priced and not in the best condition either. But she never let it show after all she had to keep up hope even in the most hopeless of times. That was why her father was building the bridge, to change things for the better. She looked to see the young children were doing their best to eat and not say anything about the food.
Although she did wonder how the short one in the mask seemed to be eating with his mask on, the others around him kept looking as well but you never saw him take off the mask. Then he noticed her little boy, Inari. He was looking down not looking at the guests it broke her heart to see her precious little boy like that. Although she was hurting as well, after his biological father had died it was hard to go on. But then Kaiza came into her life and she learned to love again, he had been such a great man and a greater father to Inari. Then she lost yet another husband to that man Gato, he took one of the best things out of their life and made her child watch as well as the village as he tortured and murdered him.
She still cried herself to sleep at night when no one was looking it just hurt so much not to have him around. Sometimes it was easier to ignore the past and the pain with it but she had loved him so much it was too much to just forget he ever lived. She went back to putting away the dishes so no one would see the tear falling from her face.
"I'm telling you guys we're going to make sure that bridge gets built!" Naruto proclaimed, after seeing the entire town the genins were motivated to help this place out. This was the kind of thing that Naruto had hoped he would do, saving people and protecting the innocent. He knew that not all ninja jobs were like that but that was why he liked this so much.
Akamaru barked out something.
"Yeah I agree boy," Kiba grinned. "This place could use the help."
Shino nodded too, "Even though out mission is to protect our client, the end result of his work is a good bonus that comes with our work. I must admit that seeing the condition in this village I can say that letting such a force to run rampant would only spread, eventually if he's not stopped he could bring his practices into the Fire Country and many others."
"So you want to stop him too huh?" Kiba smirked. Normally Shino was very logical and put his emotions aside but he guessed that even all of the suffering of this village had to get through to his teammate.
Shino gave him a pointed look, "When dealing with a cancer you should cut it out before it spreads and from what I can see this Gato person is the definition of a cancer."
Kiba gave him a weirded out look, "Man...that was pretty cold."
"We'll he's got the right idea," Naruto smiled, "We protect the old man and if that Gato jerk shows up we just kick his ass!"
"Yeah and I'm sure the village will be better off," Sakura said.
'Hell yeah! We'll kick his ass and any of his followers and any other ninja he has, shannaro!' Inner Sakura shouted out fisting her hand into the air in Sakura's mind.
"Why do you even bother," Inari said quietly looking at the table.
"Huh?" Naruto asked, he had forgotten that the kid was even there. He had been so quiet when they first had met.
"You'll all just die anyway!" Inari shouted out at them. "No one can beat him and you'll all just die too, you should just leave!"
"What the hell do you mean by that!" Kiba shouted at the kid.
"Yeah!" Naruto shouted back at the boy.
"I said you'll all just die! What's not to get?" Inari said.
"Like hell!" Naruto stood up slamming his hands onto the table.
"What makes you so special?" Inari said locking his eyes onto Naruto's.
"I'm Naruto Hatake!" Naruto said proudly. "I'm the son of Kakashi Hatake the Copy Ninja of Konoha, grandson of the famous White Fang, Sakumo Hatake. I'm going to be the future Hokage of the village and make my family proud of who I am, I never give up, I never go back on my word either. That's who I am!"
"So what?" Inari said back. "Gato will kill you all and even your dad!"
That was going too far for Naruto, he could take things said about him he had been doing that all his life. But when people said things about his friends or his family that was going too far, he reached over and grabbed the boy by his collar and he could see the sudden shock and fear in the boy's eyes.
"Don't you ever say anything like that to me again!" He growled out. "My dad is one of the best ninja in the world and there is no way some weak punk like Gato can hurt him, he had to go an hire an A Class missing nin to do his dirty work and we sent him running!"
Although Naruto knew that it hadn't been that easy and both Kurenai and Kakashi had to go all out just to stay alive against him but that wasn't the point. When push came to shove they beat him, that Haku boy, and those two brothers earlier on their way here. No matter what this guy threw at them they were not backing down from this mission.
"Naruto," came the cold command of Kurenai. He looked over at the jonin as she was giving him a look that told him to put an end to this. Naruto sighed and released the boy and sat down glaring at the table a shadow covering his eyes. Inari ran off somewhere else as Hinata looked at her best friend worried, she had only rarely seen Naruto act like that and only when it was in the defence of those close to him.
"Man what's with the kid?" Kiba muttered looking in the direction that Inari ran off to.
"Don't let my grandson get to you, it's just hard with what happened," Tazuna sighed taking a drink.
"Why what happened?" Sakura asked him but the old man didn't answer.
"If this is important should you tell but if it's not then you don't have to," Kurenai told the old man. She could tell from how tense the daughter was and the look on the old man's face that this was a hard subject.
Tazuna thought about it and sighed, "It's not a pretty story but it's how the village lost its hope to Gato."
He told them how things had used to be, he spoke of the old days with a light in his eyes. He told of how his daughter had met a good fisherman, he was like life itself and to Inari he was a hero to the boy. Then the man Gato came and slowly started to put a strangle hold onto the village, the only one that would stand up to him was Kaiza. But Gato's men were too many and they beaten him and had dragged him to be executed in front of the whole village. Inari had watched his father, his hero being brutalized and then killed in front of him. After that day all hope in the village died. Gato had taken the best of them and it had crushed their spirits.
Hearing the story they could only sympathize with them even more. Sakura and Hinata were near tears at the thought of something like this happening Kiba had his fists clenched tightly into balls as Akamaru let out a small growl at the emotions running in the room. Shino didn't look like he was reacting but Kiba had known him long enough to pick up on the subtle way he was sitting that he could see that Shino didn't like the sounds of what happened either.
Sasuke looked away although there was a small part that kept thinking back to his clan the night his brother killed them all, he had seen that happen as well although the boy having only one parent die was nothing in comparison, Sasuke still knew a bit of what the boy was going through. He had seen the anger and pain in there the only thing that Inari didn't have was that hatred that Sasuke had in him. The boy's pain had crippled him while Sasuke knew that his own hatred kept him going.
"Well then maybe we should use this moment to help motivate your training then."
Everyone looked to see Kakashi resting up against the doorway to the kitchen. He had heard the story himself and with this he could use it to motivate them a bit more. He just wished that they could do more training then what he had in store for them but time wasn't on their side.
-Later-
After some asking, Kakashi was able to find the perfect place for their next step of the training. It was good that both students had learned how to walk on trees but now they needed to take that to the next step. They would have to learn how to fight on water if it was needed given that they could easily be attacked near it, also it would help them to conserve the chakra they use and increase their capacity for it. Maybe even sharpen their fighting skills a bit but fight now it was one thing at a time.
They came to a large river it was thankfully a gentle one which was good as trying this on a ragging river wouldn't be the smartest thing.
"Alright then since you all know tree walking we'll be doing the more advanced version of that today," Kakashi said in a happy tone. "With this it will improve chakra control as well as increase it as well. Plus you'll be able to fight on more surfaces."
"You mean like how you and Kurenai-sensei were when fighting earlier on that lake?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi nodded, "just like that, only this is much more difficult to do. All of you will have to spread out your chakra but unlike on a tree you can't keep it steady. For a surface like what, where the surface is in constant change you have to constantly adapt."
"That sounds kind of hard," Kiba muttered as he remembered how hard the tree walking was.
"It is a first," Kurenai told them, "But with practice you'll eventually get to the point where you'll be able to do it without even thinking."
"Alright then let's get this started," Naruto smirked as he started to run for the water.
Kakashi sighed, "Naruto, just remember to stay in the shallow end at first until you get the hang of it. In fact that goes for the rest of you."
The genin and one ninja dog went to the water to start on their training as Kakashi and Kurenai watched.
"I wish we had more time," she told the other jonin.
Kakashi nodded to Kurenai's point but it was the best they could do at the moment. "I'm more worried about the next battle. If Haku lives he'll be very injured and we don't know how many more ninja that Gato has hired. Although I don't think there could be more, as someone like Zabuza doesn't come cheap. But we should be prepared in any case."
They continued to watch as they gave out certain advice to their students on how to get a better handle on things. Shino and Sasuke were doing fairly well, although Kiba and Naruto were having the most trouble. It was Hinata and Sakura that were doing the best so far but given they had the best control out of them all they weren't all that surprised. Both jonin continued on with the training for the entire day until it was getting late and by sunset called it a day.
-Later that Night-
Hinata had left everyone behind as she made her way to the river that she had seen earlier in the day. She needed to train more even though Kurenai and Kakashi had said she was improving she felt it wasn't enough. She needed to be stronger and it was time to try and continue on with the training that she had been doing in secret for awhile now. Ever since that day she copied down those water jutsu moves from that scroll she had helped Naruto to steal, she had been sneaking in elemental training. She had kept trying to mold water when she could. Sometimes it was after missions and training she would do this.
It was very tiring at times, since she had training with her team, D Class missions and then training with her family in her fighting style. After those times she was so tired but still she tried to push herself. She even had to sneak in a few soldier pills at times to get through the day, although he was careful not to overdue it. If people found out how hard she was pushing herself then they might get worried but some days she did take it easy.
But that battle on the bridge she hadn't done much, and she had worried Naruto a lot as well. She had been a bit thankful that they had been so busy that they hadn't had a chance to talk, she was worried about what to say to him. She was so embarrassed about what she had nearly said to him when she had thought that she was dying. But now she wasn't sure if she could admit it a second time, all the old fears and doubts came back to plague her.
She pushed those aside, she had to continue her training now and not focus on her feelings for Naruto. She needed to be stronger this time around and it was time to learn how. She placed a hand in the water and could feel how cold it was. She quickly scanned the area with her eyes and so far there was no one near her which was good, the last thing she wanted was someone to catch what she was going to do.
She was going to have to train in water and given the cold she would get sick easily. So she sighed and started to take off her clothing and placing them neatly on a nearby rock.
Hinata wasn't the only one that wanted some extra training that night either.
Just out of range of her eyes, Naruto had the same idea as her. To too felt like he should have been stronger on that fight he couldn't even had done any of his wind jutsus in that battle, if he had used the wind armor then the senbons would have gone off him and hit Sasuke or Hinata. Plus it was still not perfected as well, he could get it around his hand and arms really good but when it came to a full body protection it was unstable. Then there was the wind slash, but that too wasn't strong enough. He could hit a person and cut them but that move was supposed to cut through solid rock, even metal at times.
So after dinner he had ran out to the woods again only this time for some elemental training. He started off with making shadow clones to help him in this. He told five to start with chakra control exercises with running up and down the trees, as ten were to try using that method he got showed by Asuma once on how to cut a leaf with that kind of chakra. Five were to keep using wind armor until they were so exhausted that they dispelled from lack of chakra. Another five were doing the same with the wind blade too.
For him, he was going to try and get his grandfather's sword to start working. Like he had told his dad, when he used the demon's power he saw the blade turn red but he wanted to do it on his own. The Fox's chakra was hard for him to control not only the power itself but he knew that he was a bit out of control too. He looked at the family sword in the moonlight as his clones were training, this sword belonged to a great ninja that even though he knew the full story, he was still proud of the elder Hatake. He couldn't look down on anyone that didn't abandon their friends.
'I promise you grandpa, I'll use your blade to make you proud,' Naruto thought as he started with a few warm ups with the blade.
After an hour Naruto was out of clones as they had all tired themselves out of existence. Thankfully they didn't all dispel at the same time, but now he was feeling one of the after effects of it. He decided that he needed a drink but when he went to get one from a canteen he had he found it dry.
"Damn it...must of used the last of it up," He muttered to himself. It was a long walk back to the house and he didn't like going back thirsty. Then he remembered the river they trained on, it looked clean enough so he figured he might as well get a drink from there. He eventually found it, although he had gotten turned around a few times, he never was good with directions in the day and at night it was even worse as it was harder to spot landmarks.
But when he heard the sounds of a river he just followed that. When he got to it the moon was covered by a cloud so he eased his way not wanting to fall in and get wet. He found a few large rocks and the sound was very close so he got on one of them and reached down over the other side and felt the cold water there. He grinned as he put his canteen down to get it filled when he noticed another sound there on the river.
He tensed wondering if it was those ninja again or Gato and his people. He stayed still not even moving to give away his location waiting for the moon to get back out again. The clouds slowly moved away from the moon and in its light he paused. His eyes widened at the sight he was looking at, there on the river itself there seemed to be someone who looked like they were dancing. The movements were so fluid and graceful, and from the figure it was definitely a girl, a very well developed one with a great figure too.
He gulped as his mouth was dry for another reason it was like a vision before him. She was so amazing, it was also then that he noticed that the girl had no clothing on! He felt a nose bleed starting up but he couldn't look away. The moonlight showed off parts of her skin and he could tell that she didn't have anything on, he hadn't seen any of the really 'naughty' parts but he had seen enough.
'I...I shouldn't be staring should I?' He thought to himself feeling his heart hammering in his chest. 'I mean, yeah I looked at my dad's books from time to time, and yeah I got that Sexy Jutsu and know all that stuff but...something seems like I should watch this...oh god, she's just so hot though.'
He tried not to groan at that thought he wanted to see her face to see if she was just as pretty as the rest of her. He wanted to know who this water nymph was. After he gave up on Sakura he realized that he didn't have his sights set on anyone else but this girl was just amazing. He never looked at Sakura the same way he was looking at her, was this girl someone from the village? But then how was she on the water like that? Was she a spirit or maybe some traveling nin from another village?
He had to know and he got up to talk to her, it was a calculated risk given her lack of clothing but he really needed to know who she was. He just about opened his mouth when he slipped on some moss that had been on the stone. He yelled out as he crashed fact first into the water, after some thrashing about he got to his knees and coughed a few times.
"Sorry about that, I just wanted to know who you...were?" Naruto blinked a few times looking up to see no one there. "What the!?"
He got up and looked around but couldn't see anyone. It had to have been real right? He hadn't hallucinated or anything had he? He looked around for a bit but found no sign of the mystery girl. He was also feeling very cold now as the water was soaking him. With a sigh and a heavy heart he made his way back to the house. All the way there he couldn't get that girl out of his mind, he wanted to know so bad. He quickly took a change of clothing and put his wet ones out on a clothes line to dry off and went to sleep. He was so tired that he fell asleep almost instantly, but his dreams were haunted by that beautiful dancer on the waters.
Not long after he had fell asleep, Hinata had made her way back to the home as she nervously dried off a bit and went to sleep as well hoping that whoever had seen her on that river hadn't gotten a look at her face. She was so embarrassed that someone had caught her, she had quickly hid as soon as she heard the splash and had waited for that person to leave. She groaned hoping that no one would know of her little embarrassment in the morning.
The next morning Naruto woke up and went to breakfast lost in thought. All he could think about was that girl he saw in the water, hell he had even dreamed about her last night. She was constantly running through his mind, he had to know who it was. The others were starting to notice how quiet Naruto was all throughout breakfast, those that knew him well knew that there was something going on with him but they weren't sure what. Kakashi gave his son a glance seeing the look on his face, he was sure that Naruto wasn't angry or anything, he actually looked very deep in thought.
Naruto had eaten without saying a word, Hinata had offered to help Tsunami out with the dishes as there was so many of them it was only proper. She cast a worried look over at Naruto as well, she was worried about him and wondered what had happened to make him so silent.
While his friends were trying to figure out how to approach him, the young blonde suddenly looked up at the old bridge builder. "Hey, old man!"
"Yeah what do you want shorty?" Tazuna asked him.
"Are there any female ninjas in the village or heard of any passing by?" The masked genin asked.
"Huh!? Why the hell would you ask that?" He asked the boy.
"Cause I think I saw one last night at the river." He told him while everyone stopped to listen in.
Although one was rigid from pure shock as Hinata's eyes widen so large that they looked like they would fall out of her head. Her heart was hammering in her chest as last night came rushing back to her and to the mysterious person that had seen her. But had that person been Naruto all along? Her face was growing very red at the moment and she felt like she wanted to crawl under a rock and die.
"You think you saw a kunoichi?" Kakashi asked him thinking that maybe Gato did have another ninja up his sleeve.
"Yeah I mean who else can move on water," Naruto told him.
"Wait, weren't we all supposed to be asleep last night?" Sakura asked remembering that they all went to bed at roughly the same time.
"Uh..." Naruto forgot about his little midnight training session and seeing the look he was getting from his dad he knew better than to not lie. Besides, he sucked at lying it was just a skill he was never very good at when it came to himself. With his pranks he could do it but when it was to get himself out of trouble, not so much.
"I think you better start from the beginning," Kakashi told him in an even tone.
Naruto ended up confessing to sneaking out for some extra training. He didn't really go into how much he was training only he was brushing up on his skills. He got to the point where he had gotten thirsty and had gone for some water and that's when he saw that girl.
"She was just dancing on the water," Naruto said in a dreamy like way thinking back. "I mean she was so graceful."
"Did you get a good look at her?" Kiba asked getting more interested in the story now.
"Well I didn't see her face unfortunately," Naruto said disappointed about that. "But man she had one hell of a figure, I mean great legs, hour glass figure that was starting to show and she was very well developed."
"What, was she naked or something?" Kiba laughed at how much he seemed to get.
"Oh yeah she was," Naruto grinned behind his mask.
This caused several reactions, Kiba's mouth hung open in shock, Kakashi gave out a perverted giggle like he was reading his books, Sakura and Kurenai were the only ones not really amused as Tsunami decided to cover her child's ears from this, the boy was too young to hear this kind of stuff. Tazuna although seemed interested in the story, Shino and Sasuke didn't really have much reaction but it was Hinata who no one could see and it was a good thing she thought.
If she wanted to crawl under a rock and die before she really wanted to do it now.
"You serious!?" Kiba asked him.
"Hell yeah," Naruto told his friend, "I mean she was amazing, I've never seen a girl like her before. I just wish I knew who she was I can't get her out of my mind."
"So then what happened?" Kakashi asked smirking.
"I...uh...fell into the water," Naruto muttered. "When I came back up she was gone."
There was pure silence in the room at that before Kiba hit Naruto on the head.
"What the hell was that for!?" Naruto shouted at him.
"You idiot, you most likely hit your head and it was all just a dream," Kiba told him.
"There's no way such a pretty girl was a dream," Naruto told him. "Besides usually the girls in my dreams I can see their faces so this had to be real."
"Yeah whatever," Kiba said getting up feeling bored now, "Come on Akamaru let's go for a walk before training."
Everyone else started to get up and leave as well, while Naruto was insisting that it really did happen. Hinata breathed out a sigh of relief at that, she was mortified that Naruto had seen her naked while training last night, but there was a part of her that secretly liked with how much he seemed attracted to her body. But then why didn't he notice her before now? She looked down at the coat she always wore, it was bulky and hid her form, she never was very comfortable with her physical body thinking she was very plain looking, but then she thought back to just how much Naruto was going on about her and it made her starting to wonder.
-Later that day-
It had been another long training day for Naruto, more water walking but the teams were also training in working together as well. Mainly they would be paired into twos from each team and mixed up so that they could get a decent idea of how each other person fought. After all that and a little side training as well he was feeling tired. Plus Naruto was still thinking about that girl he had seen last night. He couldn't get that image out of his mind and it was starting to drive him up the wall, he couldn't think that he had just imagined it like Kiba had said.
So lately when he was in the village he kept looking at the girls trying to see if they matched what he saw. So far there wasn't any matches and it had another effects too, mainly girl's blushing with how he was looking at them to other's ending up slapping him thinking he was being a pervert by checking them out for some reason.
At any rate he was tired and parts of his face felt sore too from a few slaps, he was thankful for the mask at this point as they hid the red marks he was feeling on his skin. At any rate he was just going to the guest room he shared with the male members when he stopped hearing someone crying. He moved silently over to the door and opened it lightly. What Naruto saw was the little boy Inari who was holding something and crying. Ever since the teams had gotten here, the boy had been a major pain but at the moment he couldn't help but feel something for the boy.
He silently walked up behind the boy it wasn't hard to with the kid. He looked over the boy's shoulder and noticed it was a picture of him with a man both were smiling and looked happy. Naruto had seen all the pictures in the house with a certain figure cut out of them and he guessed that was the missing person in the photos.
"So that's your dad huh?" Naruto said scaring Inari.
The younger boy jumped and tried to hide the picture but Naruto was quicker and took it as he looked at it more closely.
"Give that back!" Inari yelled at him.
"Why? So you can hide it away and pretend he never existed like it seems everyone else in this village has?"
"Shut up, you don't know anything. You come into this country saying you'll change things but you can't, no one can."
Naruto didn't say anything as he went to looking at the picture, "He looks like a good person, you both look really happy in this. Somehow I doubt he would want to see you crying like this."
Inari snatched back the photo, "You don't know anything."
"You keep saying that but you're wrong," Naruto said to him as he gave a quick look behind him. He knew that he shouldn't say anything but the boy needed to know that he did understand him in a way.
"You see," Naruto said looking at the boy, "I know what it's like to loose family."
Inari looked at him for a moment, "You're mom?"
Inari figured that since Kakashi was his father it would have to be his mother but he still didn't understand why Naruto thought that he could understand him. Inari's father had been seen as a hero to the village but then Inari's hero had been murdered right in front of him.
"I lost both my birth parents," Naruto said him and he could see the surprise and confusion in the younger boy's face. "Kakashi adopted me, all I have of my parents are their names, a picture and something else."
"My mother died giving birth to me and my father, he died protecting our village. He was looked at as the great hero for our village too."
"Yeah but he died, heroes don't die," Inari said.
"Who says they don't die?" Naruto asked him. "In my village there is a monument to all the heroes of the village who died. They're mortal just like everyone else but it's what they do that makes them heroes. My father died protecting our village, he stood up against a...monster that was attacking our village and only he was the one that could kill it."
Naruto knew that he couldn't say exactly what happened but he could get it as close as he could. It was strange this was the first he really talked about what his father had done. He talked with Kakashi a few times about it but usually he only asked what his birth parents had been like. He never really talked about how his father had given up his life and his soul to seal a demon in his own son. It was kind of sad, since even in death Naruto would never know his father as Minato's soul was forever in the Shinigami's stomach. In a way it was like laying down a weight that he hadn't even known had been on his shoulders.
"My father did die, but what he did lasts forever. If he hadn't done what he had done my village wouldn't even be here. His actions saved many lives and my village will continue to live on because of it too, that's what makes a hero sometime. It's the sacrifices that a hero makes for those that he loves, those that are important to him even in the face of death."
"You father died for his village, the only thing that's different is that the village let him die for nothing. Your father acted like a hero and this place threw him away like he meant nothing." Naruto said seriously and Inari looked up at him as though he had been hit across the face.
"He must have loved you, he fought for you, your mom, your grandfather and for everyone in this village but what pisses me off is how this whole village just let it be for nothing. He gave everything for this village and they gave nothing back. But you know what? I may not know him but I won't let his sacrifice be for nothing and neither will anyone else whose with me."
Inari didn't say anything as he just looked at the picture of his father.
Naruto turned around to go out of the room but stopped for a brief moment, "Maybe it's time to stop being a cry baby and start fighting back."
Naruto decided to get some air after his talk with Inari, so he went to the roof but he was surprised to find someone already there, sitting on the top looking over the water as the sun was setting. He walked over to the person and sat down gently.
"Hey there Hinata-chan," He said quietly.
The girl nearly jumped surprised, "Oh, Naruto-kun I didn't notice you."
"Heh, well it has been a bit busy lately," He grinned at her as he looked back to the setting sun. "It's kind of nice."
Hinata gave a small smile and nodded as she looked at the setting sun.
"You remember that time we sat on your porch when we were kids? I think it was after your birthday and we were drinking something that your mom made," Naruto said all of a sudden remembering that day. They sat just like they are now, only drinking as they watched the sun set that day.
Hinata thought back and smiled at the memory, she too remembered that day. Those were simpler times back when her mother was still alive and she and Naruto played together nearly every day and when to school together. She missed those days, and most of all she missed how they had been together all those times. Ever since they were put on genin teams she hadn't seen as much of him, in fact this mission they were on was the most they had spent together in a very long time.
"I was thinking," Naruto said getting Hinata's attention, "Things aren't the same as we were before we made genin. I know my dad and the other adults told me the differences in how ninja missions were but until...until I thought you were dead the reality never set in."
"I thought I lost you and it really hurt," Naruto looked at the setting sun lost in his own thoughts. "All I was thinking about was that I wouldn't see you again and I kept thinking back to all the great times we had. I remember the first time we met in the park and you were hiding behind your mom's legs."
"N-Naruto-kun," Hinata said embarrassed at that.
Naruto chuckled, "Sorry but it was really funny, I'm glad you're not so shy anymore. But anyways, you're my closet friend I have and I don't want to lose you Hinata-chan."
Hinata blushed as she smiled a bit looking at her hands as she fiddled with her fingers. It was nice to hear how much she meant to him, although she did wish she meant a bit more but for her knowing how important she was made her feel happy.
"So...what were you going to say to me earlier?" Naruto asked her remembering when he had thought she was dying. "Back when, Haku put all those senbon needles into you?"
Hinata nearly jumped as she went wide eyed and blushed madly red, she had forgotten all about that. She had nearly confessed her true feelings for him and now he was asking her for what she hadn't finished. She was starting to panic now, she couldn't just tell him how she felt, she knew that he thought of her as his best friend and it might freak him out. Plus after all these years she was still so very shy.
"Hinata?" He asked moving his face right in front of hers they were now mere inches from each other's faces and Hinata's entire face turned a deep red. "Are you okay?"
He placed his hand on her forehead to see if she was running a fever, she did feel a little warm. Hinata on the other hand had something snap, she couldn't take it and the pressure to tell him and not tell him broke. She pulled back but too much and went falling, Naruto quickly grabbed her but her weight pulled him with her. Thankfully they were on a small flat patch of the roof so they didn't fall over the side. But what happened now was that Hinata had instinctively pulled on Naruto for support.
Naruto came forward and landed on top of her but that wasn't all, like what happened with Sasuke, Naruto's mouth landed on Hinata's. Both young teens lay there completely shocked, Naruto couldn't believe what he had just done. His mouth although was covered by his mask, didn't mean that he was technically kissing his best friend.
Hinata's mind was nearly gone at this point, for so long she had had fantasies of this moment. Of Naruto over her and kissing her just like this, well not exactly but this was the closest she had ever come to living out one of her dreams. She half closed her eyes wishing that this moment would never stop, her hands tightened a bit more on his clothing. She was feeling so light headed and happy at this moment.
Naruto finally jerked back looking down at her shocked and scared, "Oh man I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that!"
Naruto blinked a few times when Hinata didn't say anything. "Uh...Hinata-chan, are you okay?"
Looking down he could see that Hinata had her eyes closed she had on a light blush on her cheeks and a smile on her face. She was mumbling something that he couldn't make out as well. He knew that Hinata had fainting spells for the longest time, and a part of him was hoping that she wouldn't get mad at him for accidentally kissing her like that.
"Well this is new," Kakashi said from behind them making Naruto jumped in shock. "I came up to get you two and here you are, since when did you two become an item?"
"We're not!" Naruto said although he was blushing under his mask. "I just fell on her!"
Kakashi had a look on his face that clearly said he didn't believe it, "Uh huh, well just remember the hints from my books but nothing with the adult stuff. You two aren't old enough for that and I'm too young to be a grandfather and her father will kill you if you tried anything."
"We're not doing anything!" Naruto shouted at him.
Kakashi just gave that perverted giggle of his, "Oh sure, but you might want to hurry. I don't think Kurenai will enjoy this scene as much as me, you know she feels about Hinata."
Naruto paled at the thought of what Kurenai would do to him if she thought he was taking advantage of Hinata like this. He had learned very early on that women were scary when mad and especially those trained as a ninja, that opened up all kinds of doors. He looked down at Hinata and sighed, he would have to carry her down and try and sneak her into one of the rooms. He really didn't want anyone to notice because he would have to answer a lot of uncomfortable questions.
He picked her up bridal style and he looked down at her peaceful face, he hoped that she wouldn't be pissed at him when she woke up. Then to his surprised she shifted in his arms and buried herself into his chest. He felt himself blush deep red and tried not to think of how soft her lips seemed through his mask and wondered how they felt without it.
He shook his head, 'Bad thoughts, this is Hinata you're friend since you were kids. You do not think of your best friend in that way.'
At least that's what he kept telling himself while he carried her off the roof.
-Gato's Hideout-
Gato wasn't a patient man, he wasn't a lot of things actually but patience was something he had lacked for a long time. It had been a week and he was getting sick and tired of his hired ninja playing nurse made to that little boy of his. He didn't understand why the man was wasting so much time and effort, the boy had barely woken up at all and with all the money the ninja was spending on doctors and medicine he was starting to think that this ninja was too expensive.
Beside the huge fee he had already partially paid for, the medical bills that Zabuza was putting on his bill to Gato was nearly equal to the second half of the payment that they had agreed to for this job. It was looking like his investment of the ninja wasn't paying off.
He walked into the room that Zabuza had taken over since his return a week ago, Gato also walked in with a few of his hired men as well just in case.
"What the hell are you still doing here?" Gato demanded seeing the ex-mist ninja at the boy's side. "You should have killed that old man days ago but here you are still caring for this weakling?"
Zabuza turned his head and the look he gave Gato made the small man take a small step back and made his guards slightly reach for their weapons. Although Zabuza's massive sword was leaning against a wall the man's reputation did warrant them to be careful.
Gato recovered himself and moved to the other side of the bed to keep out of the man's reach. He looked at the still form on the bed in contempt. "This is costing me too much money and time, I thought you were some hard core killer so why are you babying this failure? Just kill the kid and get rid of him and kill the old man, is that so hard?"
Zabuza glared at the shorter man, "Haku is mine to do with as I please, if he is to die that will be up to me and not up to you. As for the old man, he's got two teams protecting him and even someone of my skills fighting two jonins isn't easy. Especially when one of them is a legend like me, and I had Haku the last time I faced them so now I'm at a greater disadvantage. I'll deal with it when I'm good and ready and when I have it planned out."
Then Zabuza stood up as he towered over Gato, "Now get the hell out of here before I decided that you're too annoying to keep that tongue of yours."
Gato flinched as he quickly walked to his men and they exited the room. Gato was fuming now, no one talked to him like that. The man was just some pathetic ninja that was on the run, while Gato was on his way up in the world. Scum like Zabuza should know their place in the world.
"Boss?" one of the men asked seeing their employer's face.
"It seems that if you want something done right I'll have to do it another way." Gato said. "I hired those ninja to help get rid of that old man when I heard he went to Konoha. But so far it seems that ninja are overrated. I already have that town in the grip of my hand so maybe it's time to remind them of that."
He turned to one of the men, "I want you to start hiring to any man that can carry a sword for a special job. Get as many as you can for the usual prices and bring them here, I want the most brutal ones you can get. We're going to bring in an army to that town and wipe those ninja out and the old man as well. Then we'll ensure that the town remembers why they should fear me."
Gato then looked to the other man on his other side, "I'm going to get more men here and when I come back we're going to get rid of that trash in there and his boy. I'm tired of this and he's out lived his usefulness."
"Right boss," he man said.
What they didn't know was that Zabuza was against the door and he heard every word. His eyes narrowed as it seemed that he now needed new plan before Gato's men came back. He wasn't really too worried about himself but in the confines of this room he couldn't protect Haku that well. He knew that Haku was still recovering and moving him could be very bad for him but he had no choice. They couldn't stay here but where to go?
After thinking about it there was only one way, he hated it but it looked like he was going to have to swallow his pride, at least for Haku he would