With a pained groan, Naruto dropped on to one of the stools at Ichiraku Ramen. Hinata was more delicate, but just as tired as she too sat.
"Hey, old man, give me an extra-large miso ramen with extra pork," the teen waved at Teuchi as he shouted his order.
"Coming right up, Naruto," the cook nodded, "What can I get for you, miss Hinata?"
"Oh, just a small diet seafood bowl, please."
As they waited, he grabbed his shoulder and started to massage his sore muscles.
"Man, Grandma Tsunade sure is a slave driver," he grunted, "I wonder how Sakura puts up with her."
"She's not so bad," Hinata countered, "She's just trying to make sure we learn the techniques, and are strong enough to survive."
Naruto made an annoyed face, and opened his mouth to argue. But then he noticed the look of pain she was trying to hide. She was also holding her left arm strangely. He realized both the physical exertion and the draining of her chakra made the training much harder for the Kunoichi. He stood up and stepped so he was behind her left side. She almost jumped when he reached up and began gently kneading the muscles in her shoulder. Though she turned bright red, the hurting also eased from her eyes and her posture grew more relaxed. The Genin knew he was being too familiar, especially given the circumstances, but he was more concerned with helping her.
"You know, Hinata," he said softly, "if she is pushing too hard, you should let Tsunade know. She wouldn't want you to get hurt. Or if you can't tell her, you can talk to me."
Hinata's eyes grew misty, but she was spared having to respond as two bowls were plopped down in front of them.
"Is your arm better?" Naruto asked, continued to rub even though his mind had obviously shifted focus to the food.
"Yes, much. Thank you. Please, go ahead and eat." She lightly pulled away as she broke her chopsticks apart. Naruto sat back down and after mumbling a traditional thanks, dug in. For the next few minutes they sat in silence, simply enjoying the food and each other's presence. Then the blond teen spoke again.
"Hinata, I'm going to ask you a question. But it's kinda personal, so feel free to not answer, or even slap me again and tell I'm totally out of line."
The girl pushed away her now empty bowl, obviously apprehensive. But she nodded and said, "Alright, what is it?"
"Well, it's just that everyone knows about your dad. But I was wondering if you could tell me about your mom?"
"M...My mother?" Hinata repeated as if unsure what she heard.
"Yeah, what was she like? Was she a ninja?"
"My mother..." she paused, considering what to say, "No, she was not a ninja. She was a baker. In fact, the clan elders tried to prevent my father from marrying her. They said because she was not a ninja, she would weaken the bloodline." She flinched at that, showing the heartache of having been called the fulfillment of that prophecy, "Uncle Hizashi told Neji that my father refused to accept the decision, and went so far as to threaten to abandon the Hyuga Clan and reveal our secrets if they did not let him marry. He loved her more than anything else."
"Where is she now?" he pressed slightly as she trailed off, "Is she..."
"Yes. Neji told you that I was almost taken by a Cloud Ninja, and that my father killed the kidnapper. What he did not know, is that when the spy came to take me, my mother was present. She tried to fight him off, and he stabbed her. That was the real reason my father slaughtered that shinobi. Not because I was being kidnapped, but because the man had killed father's true love."
Hinata wiped a drop around her left eye and continued. "That was when our relationship fell apart. Things had always been strained because I was so timid and clumsy. But afterwards, he seemed to blame me for my mother's death. At one point he told me if I had been brave enough to cry out, he might have arrived in time to save us both."
"That jerk," Naruto slammed his fist on the counter, "How dare he say that to you, his own daughter!"
She shook her head vehemently, "He apologized for that, and other things. He finally realized he had been wrongly directing all of his anger and regret towards me. And he figured that out because of you and Neji."
Naruto settled down, and cautiously asked, "Do you remember her?"
"Yes," she said again, "Sometimes it's hard to remember specific events, but I can still see her smile, smell her scent of fresh bread and cake, and hear her laugh. She was very beautiful, and kind."
"Just like her daughter," Naruto mused matter-of-factly. Hinata blinked widely, then smiled and blushed slightly at the compliment.
"What about you?" the Hyuga's heir turned the conversation back on her training partner, "I know you are an orphan, but do you know anything about your parents?"
"I've looked some stuff up in the archives," the boisterous Genin turned introspective, "My mother was Yukihana Uzumaki, a Leaf Genin."
He frowned and rubbed his face at that, "In fact it's kinda strange. Her skill report was the opposite of mine. B-Rank or better for everything, and a list of Ninjutsu and Genjutsu as long as your arm. I checked through all the records, and the only ninja I could find with better overall rankings where the Third and Fourth Hokages, and the three Sannin. She should have been a Jonin, or at least a Chunin. She ... she died the night the Kyubi attacked the village."
Then he grew depressed. "My birth certificate doesn't list my father's name. It makes me imagine all sorts of strange things. Was he someone married and powerful, who forced his poor ninja mistress not to give up his name? Or did she just have so many boyfriends she didn't know who my father was?"
She looked sad for him, and touched his hand gently.
"I'm sure it was nothing like that," he tried to downplay it, "But when you don't know something, it can be hard not to imagine the worst, right?"
He stood up suddenly.
"I've got a scouting mission tomorrow, so I better turn in early. But we should be back in three days, so I'll see you then, OK, Hinata."
"What?" she was roused from her trance by his statement, "Right. Good luck, Naruto."
The young man dropped enough money to cover the tab; and then hurried off, carefully hiding his face.
The next morning the gentle woman was still troubled. Her family life was far from ideal, but she had never known Naruto's history was such a blank. By the time she had finished eating breakfast, she resolved to do something about it.
"He already looked in the archives," she remembered aloud, drawing a curious glance from her younger sister, "So where else could I get information... I know!"
Hanabi continued to view Hinata as an oddity even as the elder sister ran from the room.
"Lady Tsunade," Hinata burst into the Hokage's office a few short minutes later. Two other Leaf Ninja trailed closely behind her, panting.
"Lord Hokage, we tried to stop her..." the taller of the pair started, but she raised her hand to silence them.
"Raido, Genma, you can go. I will see Hinata." Tsunade informed her guards.
"What can I do for you?" the medical Sannin asked her student.
"I wanted to ask you if you knew anything about Yukihana Uzumaki," the Chunin Kunoichi stated.
"Naruto's mother?" Tsunade asked sharply, fixing the girl with a harsh stare.
"Um... yes," Hinata grew uncomfortable under her superior's gaze.
"Naruto and I were talking yesterday night, about our families," anxious, she began to explain quickly, "And he told me his father isn't listed on his birth certificate, and he worried his mother might have had an improper relationship or even been... wanton..."
The last word was difficult for Hinata to say, but apparently harder for Tsunade to hear. The Hokage's eyes burned with both anger and sadness. The timid ninja let out a squeak when she saw the expression, and took half a step back.
"And I was hoping you could tell me something so I could put his mind at ease," the pale beauty forced out without pause. Tsunade took a deep breath to regain control.
"I know who Naruto's father was," she answered the request carefully, "Not many people did, but Yukihana Uzumaki was someone I considered a friend, despite our age difference. Yukihana had her reasons for keeping it a secret, and those of us who know have chosen to honor her wishes until it is either the time is right, or it becomes necessary to tell Naruto."
"But why?" Hinata interjected.
"If I tell you that, you might be able to figure out this secret. And I don't trust you not to tell him," she smirked as the girl looked down and wrung her hands.
Then the Hokage's face softened in fond memory, "But you can tell the knucklehead this: Yukihana Uzumaki was a loyal, virtuous woman, and a truly outstanding shinobi. She only ever had eyes for one man, and she loved him with all her heart and soul. And it was her great fortune that he returned her feelings. But she was also odd about change. He proposed to her at least once before I left the village, but she refused. And even though they spent every night together, she refused to move in with him. And in a village of gossiping ninja, they did a remarkable job of keeping their privacy."
Hinata smiled happily at the information.
"But if you really want a story to pass on about Yukihana, there is someone else you need to talk to..."
Later that evening, Hinata entered the tavern with great uncertainty. Every eye turned to look at her, and the dull roar died instantly. It was not every day an under-aged princess walked into the bar, and suddenly all but the most drunk or brazen of the Konoha citizens were uncomfortable.
Spotting her target, Hinata began to make her way across the crowded room. It was easier than she expected, as most of the patrons were quite anxious to move out of her path.
"Mr. Akimichi, Mr. Nara, Mr. Yamanaka," she stated both in greeting and to get their attention.
"Hello, Hinata," Inoichi Yamanaka seemed the least put off by this unusual interruption, and smiled openly at the young woman, "Is there something we can do for you?"
"Yes," she was put at ease by his sincerity, "Lady Tsunade said you could tell me about Yukihana Uzumaki."
Shikaku Nara choked at that, spitting sake all over the bar. Choza Akimichi grabbed a half-dozen skewers from the plate in front of him, and began to rapidly suck the dango from them. Ino's father's face clouded over, and he turned away from the girl.
"Another bottle," the blond Jonin flagged down the barman, "on second thought better make it two."
"I'm sorry," she was confused by their reactions, "Did I say something wrong?"
"That woman," Shikamaru's father croaked, "We owe her a debt we can never repay."
"A debt we have only expanded," Choji's father paused his gorging to say angrily.
"Here we go again," Shikaku groaned.
"Yukihana saved our lives," the lazy remark sparked the large Jonin's ire, "And we've treated her son as badly as anyone else in this village."
"I wouldn't say..." Inoichi started, but Choza interrupted him.
"Did we ever tell anyone to lay off the kid? Did we tell our own children to be nice to him?" then his near shout dropped to a whisper, "Did we ever tell Naruto what a great person, a great ninja, his mother was?"
Re-opening old wounds didn't sit well with Hinata, but she thought up a way to be of assistance.
"You could tell me about her," she offered, "And I can pass it on to Naruto. I'm sure both mother and son would appreciate that."
The trio exchanged glances, and then lead Hinata over to a booth for more privacy.
"We had just become Chunin," Shikaku started, "And we were so full of ourselves. Until the night disaster came to the village..."
"Damn it, it's still coming this way," Choza whispered harshly, "Shika can't you pin it down?"
"No," the deer-herder shook his head, "Its charka is disrupting my Shadow Jutsu. It's such a hassle."
"I know what you mean," Inoichi added, "I tried to Mind Transfer into it. It was like running face first into a brick wall, painted with all my worst nightmares. What about you, Cho?"
The big ninja grimaced, "I'm too hungry to do anything."
"What about you two?" Yamanaka looked at the two Jonin they had encountered. The slight Kunoichi shook her head.
"I hit that demon a dozen times," Ryu indicated the giant club she carried, a device half again her height and close to three time her weight, "And it didn't even notice. Now I barely have enough Chakra to carry this..."
"I hit it with my best Fire Jutsu," Ken offered when his wife trailed off, "And I think it laughed at me."
"Shh!" Akimichi hissed. A loud crunch echoed as the giant beast landed lightly, only twenty feet from them. They heard a scream of human pain, which went silent in a sickening chomp. The five shinobi backed away as quietly as they could, as the Kyubi sniffed the air. As it turned to face them, they could both feel and smell its fetid breath. With a vicious chuckle, the demon started stalking towards them.
"Crap, run," Choza shouted, but before the quintet could escape, the fox's tails flashed and barricade of torn up trees landed behind them, blocking their path. With its prey trapped, the Kyubi lunged forward. Both Inoichi and Shikaku desperately hurtled kunai into the exposed soft tissues of the monster's mouth, but the demon did not flinch or pause.
"Fuuton: Cyclone Spikes Jutsu!" a high, clear voice proclaimed above them. A shadow appeared over the Kyubi, and gestured as if to throw blades. But instead the shinobi released eleven green charka cones, which dug into the demon's neck. The creature's head snapped up with a growl of annoyance, mere inches from swallowing Choza and Ryu.
The Kunoichi with pale blue hair landed in a tree, facing the monster. She looked down at her comrades and shouted, "RUN!"
"Isn't that?" Shika asked.
"Yes," Cho confirmed.
"Didn't she just?" the lazy genius continued.
"Yes."
"Doton: Stone Claws Jutsu," Yukihana Uzumaki shouted completing a set of hand seals. Five talons of rock and dirt erupted from the earth. Two each secured the demon's forelimbs, and the remaining grabbed its right rear leg. The vulpine struggled to reach her, and when it could not, began tearing into the manifested claws with its teeth.
"What are you waiting for?" she yelled at them once more, even as her hands started moving again, "Get out of there!"
"Lady doesn't have to tell me three times," Ken said, climbing the wooden wall. The other ninja followed suit, but the Ino-Shika-Cho trio stopped at the top to watch the Genin's next move.
"Katon: Abyss Flare Jutsu!" She grabbed her right wrist with her left hand to brace, even as a column of purple flames blasted into the demon. This time when the Kyubi roared, it was a bellow of pure pain. In its rage it finally managed to rip free, and its left claw flew up and struck the young woman. She tumbled into the sky from the impact, and the men did not see what happened to her.
"Let's go," Ryu shouted back to them, and the Chunin dove off the rampart away from their opponent.
After running for a few minutes, the shinobi slowed when they realized the creature was not following them.
"What happened?" Ken asked anxiously.
"Not sure," Nara said, "It looked like the Kyubi hit her. I didn't see a substitution."
"She shouldn't have been out here," Inoichi said angrily, "She only gave birth two days ago."
"It's a good thing for you I'm a fast healer." The other five Leaf warriors jumped when Yukihana Uzumaki appeared in their midst.
"Yuki! Are you ok?" Inoichi looked at her carefully.
"I'm fine. It barely scratched me."
"What are you doing here?" Choza demanded, worried.
"Besides saving you?" her green eyes sparkled mischievously, and she put her hands behind her head. When none of them smiled, she sobered.
"Listen, this thing destroyed the entire Hidden Lake Village a couple weeks again," she lectured them, despite being both the youngest and the lowest rank, "We need every ninja we can get."
Ken nodded, and asked, "Now what?"
"The Fourth has a plan," she told them, taking out two weapons scrolls. She handed one to Ken and the other to Shikaku.
"The Hokage needs time, so he can finish the Jutsu. When he gives the signal, we have to hit the demon with as many of these kunai as we can. Until then, we have to distract the Kyubi. Keep it away from the village, and the Fourth. But don't be a hero, and don't try to hurt it. Get its attention and stay alive."
"I need you five to spread out. Distribute the orders and the weapons to everyone you can find."
Her task complete, the skilled Kunoichi disappeared. A few seconds later, the nine-tail fox howled in pain again.
"You heard her," Ryu made them focus, "Ken and I will go north, you three go south."
Twenty minutes later, the flare went up, and Ino-Shika-Cho converged on the demon. Dozens of Leaf ninja charged the Kyubi from all sides, peppering the calamity made flesh with scroll bound blades. But nothing happened.
"Its not working!" Ino shouted.
"Maybe we didn't have enough kunai," Shika speculated.
"Look," Cho pointed.
Yukihana Uzumaki had appeared in the air above the fox. Her green eyes glowed brightly under the effect of some sort of Genjutsu.
"There," despite the distance, her voice carried to them. She drew back her arm, and drilled a kunai into the fox's skull next to its right ear. Instantly, her kunai and seven others began to glow vividly against the night. A seal expanded around the demon, and after it had engulfed the creature, the Kyubi vanished.
"Good," Yukihana exhaled, then her eyes lost their glow and she started to fall, "I'm sorry... Naruto."
"Yukihana," the trio shouted in unison. They moved quickly, and Choza caught the Kunoichi before she hit the ground. They all saw the blood leaking from the front of her snow-white shozoku.
"Quick, we have to get her to a medic," Shika directed his comrades.
"The doctors told us those 'scratches' tore a third of the way through her body, and damaged her liver and right lung," Inoichi concluded, "If she had sought healing right away, she almost certainly would have lived. Instead she held her insides together with her own Chakra so she could keep fighting."
Hinata nodded, trembling slightly, but not crying. Then they all realized the entire bar was silent, that everyone was listening to them recount the tale.
The teen Kunoichi stood slowly, and then bowed deeply to them.
"Thank you for telling me," she told them, "Naruto's mother was truly a remarkable woman. I will make sure he knows that."
Bowing again quickly, she walked out of the tavern. As she exited, the normal noise resumed.
"That was hard," Inoichi said.
"Yeah, but I feel better," Shikaku acknowledged.
"Hey, good morning, Hinata," Naruto was in good spirits as the young woman ran up to him. Then he looked confused at her palpable excitement.
"What's up?" he asked.
"I have something to tell you," Hinata said, and then she began to relay what she had learned.