Chapter 57: Chapter 55 Dinner at Hyuga house
Naruto groaned as he tried to put on his best clothing, he still felt a little tired from all the training he had today but he did promise Hinata that he would be there. He just wished he had more of a break, plus he hated the formal clothing. They looked a lot like Hyuga wear with some slight alterations of course, but still, he was never comfortable in them. The only reason he had these was because his dad felt that if he ever needed them, they would come in handy. He hated it when his dad was right about this kind of stuff. He also had to pull off his mask as he stuffed it inside of a pocket.
He felt naked without it but he felt that it wouldn't go over well. He decided to wear it to the Hyuga compound but pull it off when he got inside. Besides he used to run around without one there before, even if it was when he had been a little kid. He sighed as he got ready, this was for his girlfriend, at least that's what he kept telling himself. Besides, he shouldn't be too nervous.
His mind went back to the training, so far it hadn't been too bad although summoning was a lot harder than his dad made it look. He had spent the entire time trying to summon, at first he got nothing but legless tadpoles, then tadpoles with legs, the best he did was when he summoned a mall red toad called, Gamakichi. The guy was kind of a pain in the ass, but at least he was smarter than the only other toad he had managed to summon. Apparently the younger search brother to Gamakichi, a yellow one named Gamatatsu. Now, Naruto knew that he wasn't what you called 'book smart' but even to him, he could tell that Gamatatsu, although much nicer than his search brother, was a bit on the slow side.
Plus the two kept demanding snacks of all things.
He really wanted to call up one of those cool battle toads that Jiraiya could do. Those would be great in battle and would really help out when he fought that guy in the match. Well he still had twenty-nine days left to get to that point and he wasn't going to stop until he could get a huge toad.
Anyways he had better hurry or else he was going to be running late. He quickly made his way to the Hyuga compound, taking the shortcut of jumping over buildings but since the compound didn't have any high building anywhere near it, he had to walk the last leg. He kept his mask on when he got to the gate guards, he bet that if he showed up without they might not know who he was. They usually saw him with the mask anyway. They let him in easily enough as he was expected, and when he was in he was led to the main house. He pulled off his mask and placed it in a pocket, he really felt weird walking out in the open without it, even here.
It was Neji that met up with him, the older boy was in traditional Hyuga garb. It was the first time that he had seen Neji dressed up like this, he looked like any other Hyuga, even the headband was changed from his forehead protector to a silk band to cover the mark hidden under it. After years of knowing this clan, Naruto knew all about that seal that was placed on the Branch members. Personally he hated that thing and felt it was stupid. No other clan had that, or a cast system like they had. But it wasn't his place, at least yet. When he became Hokage he planned to try and change things.
"Hey Neji, how are things?" Naruto asked the other boy.
"Fine," Neji said simply as he led him on.
"So…how's Tenten?" Naruto asked wondering how the girl was. He caught Neji's head snap up slightly and was that a slight blush? Maybe something had happened between the two, he knew that there was something between the two members of Team Gai. Maybe he could squeeze a little information out of him during dinner. This might be fun after all.
"She's doing better; she'll be helping me train for the last exam." He told him.
Naruto whistled, "Man you're lucky. Spending all that time alone with a pretty girl, just the two of you. Kind of makes me wish that me and Hinata-chan were-"
"Finish that sentence in any perverted way with my cousin and you'll find all your chakra paths shut down." Neji said with a slight tick on his skull. Although he accepted Naruto and Hinata's relationship, that didn't meant he wanted to hear about certain private things. Plus as long as he treated her with respect and didn't take things too far, he could live with it.
Naruto knew that Neji couldn't permanently do what he said, but he was sure the older boy would try and it would hurt. So he kept his mouth shut as he was led into the main dinning hall. He had only seen it but never actually ate here before. It was a large rectangular room, with a long table on it. You were to sit on cushions and he was led to one of them. He sat down as Neji took a spot further down the table. Moments later Neji's father, Hizashi came in and nodded to Naruto slightly as he took a spot across his son. From the looks of it, it was customary to have any Branch members sit at the far end of the table, it was just another little thing the Main house did to keep the Branch members in their place. Naruto put that as yet another reason he heated the caste system.
Then the large double doors opened up as Hiashi walked in first, looking at poised and noble as he usually did. Naruto wondered how much training it took to get a person to look that stiff and proper all the time? Most likely years growing up in this environment did that, he was glad that Hinata wasn't that stiff. Speaking of with the Hyuga sisters were up first, he noticed that they were in more fashionable attire. Hanabi he noticed was looking her best but it was Hinata that drew his attention.
She was in fancy blue robes with a waist band and he could see how it gave her a slight hourglass figure. He was certain that she would later grow into that figure even more but he was happy with it all the same. Her face had a slight makeup job done on it, he had never seen her in makeup. It made her look more like royalty when he looked at her. Slight eyeliner, with a light red lips and blush added to her cheeks. She caught him staring and the blushed cheeks didn't need the makeup to make them seem rosy anymore.
They all took their seats as other Branch members came in to serve the dinner. It was a lot fancier than the kind of stuff Naruto was used to but he tried his best to use his good table manners. His dad taught him them in case he might actually need them at some point. So far the dinner didn't seem to be anything to worry about, pleasant conversations about the training and the upcoming chunin exams mainly.
Naruto felt a bit more relaxed by the time the meal ended but it was then that Hiashi seemed to get even more serious, which Naruto thought couldn't even be possible.
"Naruto, as I understand it you are now dating my eldest daughter," Hiashi simply said. He never liked to dance around a subject and it was time to get things out in the open. He noticed Hinata blush a bit from being put on the spot but he went on.
"As you know, you have been a friend of his clan for years. But a friend and courting not only a main family member, but my own daughter are two separate things. Given my daughter's station it is not a simple manner. Although she hasn't had a suitor picked out by the clan elders, if you wish to continue to see my daughter romantically you'll need to win their approval."
"What!? You mean I got to win over some old guys just to date my girlfriend!" Naruto didn't like the sound of this at all.
He also missing everyone other than Hiashi wince, Naruto was the least diplomatic person in the world it would seem. Then again not many would yell at the head of the Hyuga clan but this wasn't the best way to deal with the problem.
"Not for the time being," Hiashi mentally sighed. "She's too young to be betrothed but when she reaches that age then you will have to win the respect of the Elders." Which Hiashi knew wouldn't be easy. Marriage outside of the clan wasn't common, let alone to the heir of the clan.
"So then I'll do just that!" Naruto never did like people telling him what he could and couldn't do, but there was no way someone was going to tell him he couldn't see Hinata.
"Naruto what are your intentions towards my daughter?" Hiashi said very slowly and very seriously.
Naruto was a little taken aback by switch in topic. "Uh...well she's my girlfriend what else is there to it?"
"What I mean is what do you plan for with her?" Hiashi told him. "Is this merely just a fling or do your feelings run a lot deeper?"
Naruto blushed as he wasn't sure, after all he had only just started to date her. "W-Well, I really, really like her. I mean she's been in my life for so long I can't really see her not in it. She's one of my precious people to me."
Hinata could only look in wide eyed adoration at Naruto's words they made her feel happy to hear such things from Naruto.
Hiashi thought about what the boy had said, it would seem that although young, the boy's feelings were starting to be strong. If he seriously wanted to pursue his oldest child then he would need that strength. Even as children, his wife thought they might end up together and she had always been a wise woman. But they both had known the kind of things that Naruto would face if he did want to have a relationship with Hinata.
"If you do care for my daughter then you have better become someone that no one could turn away," Hiashi told him. "If not then it's best you only stay friends at least for her sake."
"Her sake?" Naruto asked confused looking at the others. Hinata and Hanabi seemed to be confused but the others did seem to know what the clan head was talking about.
"You the elders don't approve of you, and you continue to see her then Hinata will be punished," Hiashi needed for them all to understand the full consequences. "She would have the seal placed onto her and put into the branch family by going against the elders. Also if you two still see each other she could face excommunication."
Hinata got very pale at that as Hanabi and Neji gave her worried looks. Excommunication was the worse search fate for any Hyuga. Not only were they to be branded with the seal if they didn't have it, they would be considered 'dead' to the clan. They would be kicked out of the compound and all Hyuga were to never speak to that person or even acknowledge them ever again. Hinata knew that she would never be able to see her family again, even if she saw Hanabi on the street, Hanabi would be forced to ignore her older sister or face punishment as well.
And to those that broke the excommunication, they too could end up facing the same search fate.
Naruto didn't know what he meant, so Hizashi explained it all to Naruto. Naruto had never known about that and he could see Hinata's worried face. Naruto sat silently as he thought about it all, if he really wanted to date Hinata he would have to really prove himself. He would have to train and become very strong, he already planned on being Hokage. The question was, could he become that before Hinata was old enough? Plus what if he didn't, then what would he do? He knew how important family was and he couldn't let Hinata give up on hers.
Naruto looked very solemn when he looked Hiashi in the eyes, "I will prove to those old men that I'm the one for Hinata-chan, I promise that."
"And if you can't?" Hiashi asked him sternly.
Naruto looked at her and then down at the table, "I can't ask her to give up her family..."
Hiashi nodded his head as he looked to see the worried look on his daughter's face, he didn't like this but he had responsibilities and that took over the responsibility of being a father at times. "Then if by that time you can't appease the elders, then you must give up any romantic relationship with Hinata. I won't ask you to never see her again but nothing more than friendship."
The rest of dinner was very quiet after that.
-Elsewhere-
There were many hotels in Konoha, from visiting merchants, to VIPs coming to the village. It was also that each hotel was given a room to a different genin team when the chunin exams were being held. The rooms were paid by the village as the other villages' teams were guests after all. But it was also ensured that no hotel would have more than one team. There had been incidents in the past where one team would try and eliminate competition so for security reasons it was to split up the rooms available.
In this case, the current one where Baki and his team used was in the central area of the village. Baki had already talked with Kankuro about his loss, it was disappointing to see that not all of them were going into the finals. But then again, that boy in green had some impressive skills he got the feeling there was much more he hadn't seen. In fact some of the Konoha team had been surprising, although Gaara's attention had been on that masked blonde kid.
Gaara had actually asked (tell demanded without threat of violence actually) to know more about the boy. Someone had caught the young red head's attention. Baki pitied that boy, if Gaara thought you were interesting it meant your death sentence. But he had other concerns now he was to meet his contact inside the village. When he first met the boy he had been surprised at first that a young Leaf genin would be a spy and traitor but after that first meeting he saw through the façade. The boy was anything but a boy, behind that pleasant mask he wore, was a very dangerous person.
Baki wasn't sure if the boy was even really a genin the young ninja was too good and too skilled with calm nerves of iron. It was bit unsettling actually, being in his presence but Baki left his hotel to meet up with his contact. Although he hadn't even noticed the shadow he had picked up.
Baki made it to the balcony and waited, he didn't have to wait long before the white haired boy named Kabuto showed up, silently as ever.
"I take it there are no problems?" Baki asked the young man.
He smiled but there was little humour in that smile, it was the kind that actually put the veteran ninja on ease actually. "Of course, we're ready to start slowly having your people and mine infiltrating the village. I've set up safe areas and fake papers to get them past the gate, but they must keep a low profile. Also the staging areas are already set up, but we'll wait until the day before to move the men into position."
Baki had to admit that when he first heard the plan it was a daring one. So much could go wrong but it was also genius, using the chunin exams as a cover to have two forces invade a village. But he was worried, using the exams in such a way would ruin their village's reputation. The chunin exams were a sacred thing and to use them like this, no one would trust Suna or Oto for exams for generations. It would cause many problems in the future. But it was his Kazekage's orders and he would obey, even if this whole affair didn't make sense to him. The Leaf had been their allies for years, true it was a tenuous alliance, originally for mutual support but it was still an alliance. Which made everything worse, breaking an alliance with their plan, yes no one would trust Suna and their reputation would suffer for it all.
"You're master Orochimaru, is a very dangerous man but his plan leaves a bad taste in my mouth."
"He finds it more practical deal with events in the most practical manner, even if it's brutal, treacherous or viewed as 'distasteful' by others," Kabuto smirked as he adjusted his glasses. "But you shouldn't throw that name around, especially in this village. You'll never know who is listening." He cast his gaze to a shadowy area and Baki made a slight move to see with his peripheral vision. Baki then caught the movement of someone fleeing the shadows.
Baki sore in his head, he was certain he had slipped away unnoticed. He had been complacent and now it cost him, since it was his mistake it was his duty to correct that. "I'll handle him; you better leave before someone else shows up."
"Very well," Kabuto smirked as he watched Baki leave after the Leaf spy.
-Hinata's Room-
Naruto and Hinata finally had a moment to themselves, they were in her room and it hadn't changed much since he last saw it. Although the bunny cage was new given her new pet, Haku. He remembered a response he got from Wave when he told Haku what Hinata, named the rabbit. He was flattered that she had done so and was glad to hear how things were going. Haku was also doing much better, although they still couldn't mention certain names just in case. Sure the ninja that delivered mail were totally neutral but that didn't mean they couldn't be ambushed.
But still it was nice to hear how things were getting along over there. Although now he felt a lot more relaxed, he hoped he didn't have to go through something like that again anytime soon. They hadn't said anything about the deal that was made over dinner, they just wanted to enjoy their time together. Because they both knew, that they were both thinking that their time together would be very limited.
Naruto then noticed Hinata sigh as she sat on her bed and her shoulders looked like they were bothering her. She kept rolling them now and she was trying not to move her arms he noticed.
"Hey, are you okay Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked as he sat down with her.
"O-oh it's nothing, just training with Kurenai-sensei and Anko-sensei is being tough." He laughed it off or tried to. Truth was she was sore all over from just the first day, she knew that Kurenai could be tough but Anko was more strict.
"Huh, I thought Aunty Anko was training Sakura-chan?"
"Oh that's right you didn't know," Hinata told him how Kurenai and Anko had decided to train the two of them together. She went in on her training, to the running with the weights on, to then sparing, and then Kurenai was having them train in genjutsu. Mainly to see past them, thanks to her eyes she had a bit of an advantage. With simple ones she managed great, that is as long as her own visual nervous system wasn't affected, although Sakura was surprisingly adapt at them too.
"Wow that's great, you'll both get really stronger. I can't wait to see how you both are at the end of a month," he praised her causing her to blush. Then he got an idea, he led her to the center of the bed as she was wondering what he was planning.
Of course all kinds of ideas were running through her mind, after all she was alone with the boy she cared for, in her room, and on her bed. So many possibilities, but he wouldn't dare try something so bold while her own family was in the same building would he?
"Here just relax a bit okay?" He said as he got behind her and she felt his hands on her shoulders. She turned as red as a tomato as he did this, then he gently started to work the muscles in her neck and shoulders. It hurt a bit but he was gentle and soon it felt nice, she closed her eyes as she enjoyed the sensation.
Naruto had to admit that he was thankful for being able to do this, he had read this kind of thing but to do it in real life was even better. Plus with such short hair she really had a cute back neck, he wanted to move in close and plant a kiss on it. Maybe later, he grinned to himself. At any rate he was proud that she was continue to train so hard, he knew she would be great one day if she kept this up. He thought about how they first met, how afraid and timid she had been. She was still shy but she had grown since then, they both had actually.
He couldn't help but chuckle at how things had turned out.
"W-what's so funny?" she asked.
"Nothing, just thinking about how things have turned out, I mean you were my first friend, my best friend and now my girlfriend." He smiled as he remembered their life together up till this point. "You know I've been meaning to ask, when did you start to like me more as a friend?"
Hinata felt her cheeks heat up and was glad he couldn't see her face. "I-I think since we were little."
"What!? That long!? Why didn't you say anything to me?" He wanted to know why she had held such feelings for him secret for all this time.
"I-I-I was just afraid to lose you as a friend," Hinata said. "W-when did you start to feel different towards me?"
"Oh that's easy when we had that get together with everyone at the lake after our mission in Wave." Naruto still remembered how she looked in that swim suit.
"Really?" She was surprised by that, she didn't think she had done anything to really get his attention that day. It wasn't like she wore a flashy suit like the other girls or had done anything out of the ordinary.
Naruto was lost on thought about that day, "Yeah when I saw you dancing on the water with the others playing tag I realised you were the girl I had been thinking about since I saw her in Wave that one night when-" He cut himself off as he realised his mistake. He had been so lost in the memory he hadn't realized that he shouldn't have said that part.
Hinata listened but was confused, 'Girl in wave, but there was no girl in Wave. Well he mentioned seeing that girl dance on the water and…OH NO!'
Hinata knew what he meant now, how he had seen her in a late night training session on the water. She had stripped down to prevent her clothing from getting wet but he hadn't known it had been her. That meant that he had not only seen her naked but had realized it had been her! She pulled away and turned to face him, her face was all red but this time from embarrassment. In fact she felt like she wanted to crawl under a rock and die from embarrassment.
"I-I didn't really see anything, and I didn't do it on purpose!" Naruto tried to think of what to say, what could you say to something like that? Then he noticed that she hadn't moved, not even her face. He waved a hand in front of her eyes but nothing happened. "Uh...Hinata-chan?"
The next thing he knew she once again fainted, only this time forward. He missed catching her with his hands as her head landed right into his crotch. Well more of her forehead did as he gave loud grunt of pain. "Ow! That hurt Hinata-chan!"
Unfortunately that wasn't all the bad luck he had, Hiashi was walking by the room to check up on them. Of course he trusted his daughter, but still he was father. He also wanted to see how Naruto was taking the news, the boy would one day have to prove himself worthy in the eyes of the elders if he planned to keep their relationship going with his daughter. That was when he heard and groan from Naruto and something about his daughter. He pulled open the door to see what was going out and froze. There on her bed, his daughter was bent forward, her head between the boy's legs as it looked to Hiashi that he was doing something very inappropriate with her.
"Naruto Hatake," Hiashi said coldly as the boy looked up in surprise. "You dare take such liberties with my eldest daughter?"
Naruto blinked in confusion until he looked down and noticed how things looked. He got a slight nosebleed at the thought but quickly realized that her father looked livid. Not surprising, he walked in on what looked like Hinata was doing something too adult with him, right after he said they might not be a couple later on. So Naruto quickly looked at his options, and did what any sensible boy in this situation would do. He quickly got up and jumped out of Hinata's (thankfully) open window. Hiashi however was quick to follow, as anyone still up and around would for many years remember the night the clan head was chasing around the blonde boy, with cursing the boy with thousands of ways to die while the boy proclaimed his innocence the entire time.
-Village rooftops-
Hayate didn't know how much longer he could keep this cat and mouse game up. He had to report what he had heart but that Suna ninja was a smart one. He kept him from getting close to an escape route. Hayate could just yell for help but he was currently hiding in the shadows and that would alert the ninja to his location. Then he might end up dead and they would only find his corpse. He didn't really mind dying, although he knew his girlfriend would take it hard. She may be an ANBU and tough but she was still a women. The thought of her made him hope he could get out of this, he didn't want to meet her in the next world if he got himself killed.
So far he had been lucky and sticking to hiding and running, but he knew sooner or later that guy would find him. Where was a Jonin, or ANBU when you really needed them? If the old Uchiha police force had still been around at least they would have a decent patrols at night for him to run into. If he got out of this alive he would seriously think about suggesting a higher night time patrol. Well he couldn't go into some civilian's home, they wouldn't stand a chance and he couldn't have hostages used against him. All the people he knew didn't live close by of all his rotten luck.
Hayate however couldn't wait any longer, he saw a rooftop that could take him to the back alleys, he might get more luck on the ground. Problem was, it was in open space. It took him a few moments but he decided to risk it. Hayate jumped out and pushed his muscles as fast as they would go, he was only ten feet away from the drop into the alley. For a moment he had hoped that he would make it, but the whistling sound of a kunai made him stop. Several of the ninja weapons landed in his path and he cursed.
He pulled the katana that he carried as he turned to face his opponent.
Baki stood there looking at the younger man, there was a fierce determination in his eyes and he had to admit, the man never gave up. He could respect that, but respect or not he had a mission to do.
"I applaud you boy, you gave me a good chase but it ends here," Baki told him.
"You act like it's already over," Hayate said as he rushed forward. "Leaf style: Dance of the Crescent Moon!"
Baki watched at the young man jumped up and then split into two parts, he was wondering which was the real one and which was the illusion but then he sensed a third motion above him. The two were both fakes he suddenly realized as the real Hayate came from the sky. The blade hit into Baki's protective vest thankfully and the light armour managed to catch the sword.
"Impressive," Baki smiled at the boy. "To be able to pull off a move like that at your age is very impressive. But now it's my turn, you should have aimed for my head or cut off a limb instead of going for my armour."
Hayate tried to pull his blade free but it was stuck, the armour looked light but it was thicker than he anticipated. He tried to move but he saw the Suna ninja's hand have a slight distortion around it. It was a wind attack of that he was sure. He knew how dangerous wind attacks could be but it was already too late, at this range he couldn't dodge it, and he didn't have any skills to block.
"Wind Style: Wind Razors" Baki said as many different blades made of wind sliced into Hayate's body.
Baki looked down at the bleeding man, he had to admit that the man had skills but not good enough to defeat him. From the wounds Baki could see that the man would bleed to death but he couldn't let the slim possibility that the man might survive long enough to warn others. He pulled out a kunai ready to finish it off when he heard a noise approaching him.
"Get back here!" A male voice was heard.
"I'm telling you it's all a misunderstanding!" A boy's voice was heard.
Baki cursed his luck, they were coming right this way too. He slipped into the shadows if he had to he might have to deal with them as well. Three bodies in one night wouldn't be good, it would really alert the village that something was wrong with that many dead.
Naruto had been running with everything he had, it hadn't been his fault but was Hinata's father going to listen to him? Hell no! He was going to kill him! So Naruto had no choice but to run, now he had run before from people chasing him, usually from his pranks but in all honestly those didn't have Hiashi's reasons to catch him. For a guy that spent most of his time overseeing a clan, he was in great shape. That was bad news for Naruto, and even worse how could he hide? Those eyes of Hiashi's were better than Hinata or Neji, unless he could think of something he was truly screwed.
He risked a glance behind him as they ran over the rooftops, to check to see how far away the man was, not far enough away for Naruto's comfort. Unfortunately this was a bad move to make, he hadn't been watching his step as he stumbled on something and crashed to a halt on the rooftop he was currently on. He knew he was dead now, the Hyuga leader would catch him now that he had stopped. He sighed and he pushed himself around to face his fate when he froze.
There was enough light to see what, or more to that matter, who he had tripped over. It was the guy from the last part of the exam, but he was all cut up and bleeding all over the place. He had forgotten all about Hiashi when the man landed. Hiashi was going to punish the boy right there until he noticed that Naruto was over the body of a fellow Leaf ninja. As a man of priorities he knew which would come first, but he gave Naruto a hard look, he would deal with the boy later.
"Naruto get help and fast, he won't make it without immediate medical attention." He said as he bent down and using his own robes, started to fashion bandages. He didn't know much other then the basic first aid for field dressings but he hoped it would be enough to give the man some more time. Naruto didn't even blink an eye as he quickly went for help.
Baki saw all of this and scowled, it was just bad luck for him. He could see that the man was a Hyuga even in the low light, but from the robes he guessed main house, plus the fact the forehead was bare. That usually meant the better Hyuga fighters but he wasn't sure if he should stay or leave. He needed to finish off the Leaf ninja but he heard how the Hyuga could see all around them and through objects. The boy was also going to help, he couldn't get the boy as he couldn't leave the target and the target was now protected. In a long fight more people would come and he would be exposed.
He took stock of the situation; the Leaf ninja was unconscious and still might not survive. He decided to pull back and let the Leaf spy handle things. If the man lived then the spy could infiltrate the hospital easier than he could and finish the job. He slipped away quietly to avoid the Hyuga using his bloodline to spot him.
Next up Chapter 56: Fate of Hayate
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