ROOT Headquarters
Danzo looked at a document not too pleased with what he was reading the answer was simple. In his hands was a bank report stating that all the funds from the Senju and Namikaze clan accounts had been transferred into an account that was out of his hands this had unknowingly put a wrench in his plans. In truth, Danzo has been secretly using both clan's fortunes to fund his ROOT Program and other secret projects. He wondered where his plan went wrong the plan being for Naruto to be beaten into submission and isolated from his peers. So when Danzo and his ROOT took him in, no one would question what had happened to the young blonde.
Of course, that had all changed after the boy's sixth birthday. Something had awakened in the child that day. But even he was blindsided by the Hokage making an early move that made him lose a sizeable amount of money. Of course, he had other sources to finance his operations and projects, But having Minato's and the Senju's bank accounts made it far more accessible. At this time a figure appeared "It seems like you are troubled Danzo-san." said a silver-haired figure wearing a lab coat entering his office. "it's none of your business, What are you doing here?" emotionlessly said Danzo. " With my research and your funds and resources like other scientists, it's going smoothly. Thought I have to wonder why you choose a few people." Said the figure before continuing. "I've never heard of them. While these other people are you sure about this" he said pulling out a scroll and making Danzo nod. "Yes, this will help Konoha in the long run." "Very well." said the figure, lighting a cigarette.
Outside the office, two guards stood on either side of the office both had tantos as they noticed a female with long blue hair with loops on the tips with pink streaks. Her eyes are turquoise blue uniquely having crescent moons wrapped around the dark irides that curve to the right. She was wearing the Root uniform her abilities to be unresistible to people "Halt what do you want" said the teen on the right with auburn hair and a blank mask the other teen had short spiky dull black hair "State Your business here." said the other. This caused the girl to remove her mask as she smiled saying "So why don't you show me" With a smile her ability to make her very presence who see her very presence makes all who see her, man or woman, except for blood relative, automatically infatuated with her to the point they cannot hurt her. This had the adverse consequences of making her overconfident, but she was shocked that her power failed. "You think beauty will make us fall You are wrong," said the other as he rushed forward his hand turned purple. Only to see a pair of Sharingan quickly turning back to see his partner was in a genjutsu with another female her red eyes making contact with his to his surprise four kunai appeared in the form of a circle as he was going to move he stopped as electricity only hearing a female with the Sharingan said "Lighting style: Lorentz gun" as another female appeared and quickly applied a paper sending a beam of energy at the auburn teen to dodge only to feel a palm strike to his surprised it was electrified. as another ROOT anbu appeared tied down by snakes. This was Mitsuki as they quickly applied some papers on them secretly with the kanji for loyalty.
"We're done. Let go. We have to put the listening and recording seals on to spy on Danzo," said Sumarie. As the door opened, the group quickly disguised themselves, only to notice Danzo leaving and giving orders as he left.
Went an hour later team seven.
The group soon arrived at a house that was behind a small forest, Tazuna had told them that thanks to her, Gato's men had not yet managed to reach his family, and the construct had said to them that he was very grateful for that fact since he did not want to imagine his daughter suffering something that had already happened to other women. Taking a key from his pocket, the builder opens the door and lets the entire Konoha group in. "Tsunami-chan, I'm back," Tazuna said as someone could be heard coming down the stairs. A slender, blue-haired woman, between 24 and 26 years old, was wearing a red-trimmed blouse, a blue skirt that reached almost to her feet, and a pair of black sandals, she had black eyes and tanned skin.
The woman, seeing the construct, approaches and hugs it. "Tou-san, are you okay? I was worried that something had happened to you," the woman said, to which Tazuna returned the hug. "Sorry to worry you, but look Tsunami, I've brought help" At that Tazuna pointed to team 7, and Naruto approached the one now identified as Tsunami. "Excuse me, Tsunami-san, do you have a room available?" Naruto asked politely. "Our sensei overexerted himself a few moments ago," the blonde explained briefly.
"Yes, there are some rooms upstairs where you can rest," said the woman looking at the blonde and then guiding him to the room where three futons were lying on the ground, in one of them the blonde clone left the silver-haired man lying down. Sasuke quickly took one of the beds and lay down on it since exhaustion had finally reached him-
For his part, Naruto left the room and descended the stairs, arriving at the living room, where he could see Sakura sitting on a sofa looking at a cup of tea that Tsunami had given her. The Blonde noticed the distressed expression on his partner, so he approached her. "Are you okay, Sakura-san?" the Blonde asked, bringing the pink-haired girl out of her thoughts. "Yes I am, it's just that…" Sakura just sighed as she put the cup of tea down on a small table before continuing. "I'm just frustrated, I tried to help heal Sasuke's wounds and he just rejected and insulted all my efforts," Haruno said as small tears began to form in her eyes. "I tried to get close to him and I only received rejections and insults from him over and over again," said the pink-haired girl as she began to sob.
Naruto could see tears starting to form around the pinkette's eyes. He knew that she was hurting on the inside from what had transpired a few hours ago. It was evident as the usual '-kun', was missing from the Uchiha's name. Gently reaching up, he wiped away the tears that were starting to form. Sakura was shocked by this gesture as she gazed up at the blonde who was looking into her eyes. At the proximity, she couldn't help but blush.
' Is he going to kiss me ?' the pink-haired Kunoichi thought not helping as her inner 'Kiss him, kiss him, kiss him!' Inner Sakura chanted, causing the pinkette to blush even more. She closed her eyes, only to open them when she felt the Blonde wiping away the tears that had escaped from his eyes.
"I know you're in love with him." He gently spoke, breaking her out of her trance-like state. "But unfortunately, you can't help those that don't want help. And to be honest, I don't think Sasuke will ever accept anyone's help. Currently, it seems all he cares about is himself and what others can give him."
Sakura could only nod her head in acknowledgment. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't bring herself to defend her love mostly because she knew that her blonde teammate wasn't trying to insult Sasuke. He was merely speaking the truth. They stayed in that position for 5 minutes Until the Blonde, sensing that his partner had calmed down, walked away, which annoyed Haruno at the sudden lack of warmth.
"Where are you going, Naruto?" Sakura asked, watching the Uzumaki head towards the door. "I'm just going to the town to gather some information and see the situation outside. It'll be better when Aniki wakes up that way we have a better perspective of what we are facing. You should get some rest as well, " said the Blonde as he left the place and headed towards the town surprising the pink-haired girl at his thoughtfulness.
Tazunas house A few hours later.
Naruto was returning to Tazuna's house after seeing the situation of the town which was even worse than he thought, the town was in decline, and the houses were deteriorated and destroyed, if that was not the case they were graffitied or had traces of burns. Naruto pushed aside the other thoughts and entered the house, only to see Tsunami starting to make dinner. "Oh you're back, Naruto-san, where did you go by the way?" Tsunami asked as she put on a white cooking apron. "I just went to gather some information," said the Hanyou as he stood next to the woman. "How can I help you with dinner?" asked the Blonde. "You don't have to worry about that I-" Tsunami tried to talk, but he interrupted her.
"I insist, I don't have much to do until my sensei recovers a little more," said Naruto rolling up his sleeves and starting to help the woman, in that Naruto helps her make dinner and in that Tsunami serves dinner. At that Tsunami climbs onto a small stool to place some containers on the highest shelves, at that Tsunami slips and falls backward, so she closes her eyes while waiting for the blow, one that never came. As she felt herself being caught in the air she looked up to see Naruto carrying her bridal style, causing her to blush.
"Are you okay, Tsunami-chan?" the Blonde asked, not noticing the affectionate nickname he used with the woman. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you very much, Naruto-kun," Tsunami said, not noticing the suffix she used with the Blonde. After Naruto put Tsunami down, he headed to call everyone to dinner, but Naruto couldn't see the small pink color that had appeared on Tsunami's cheeks, who put her hand on her heart.' It felt so warm, I hadn't felt this since Kaizen and not even with him was it this intense ' Tsunami felt her heart pounding.
15 minutes later
When everyone sat down at the table to eat Naruto saw a boy with a fisherman's hat and noticed certain features he had, the boy's name was Inari, concluding that he was Tsunami's son, dinner was quite calm, at the moment that the civilians left Tsunami to wash the dishes, Inari retired to his room and Tazuna went to drink in the living room. At that, Kakashi turns to his students.
"Well now that we were able to rest a little I will explain the situation," he said attracting the attention of the entire group "Zabuza is alive" This surprised everyone except Naruto. "But Kakashi-sensei, you checked Zabuza's vital signs yourself and said he was dead," Sakura commented. "Yes, but the hunter ninja's actions were what made me suspicious," continued the silver-haired man. "Naturally, a hunter ninja would have cut off his head and burned the body on the spot. He took the entire body," said the Jonin.
"So the senbons that hit him in the neck" the pink-haired woman theorized. "Yes, Sakura, senbons aren't very lethal unless you target specific points on the body," Kakashi explains. "However, they can also be used to produce a false death state, if they are healed in the right spots." "With this, the mission easily goes up to an A rank" Kakashi sighed. At that Sasuke smiles "Perfect, that bastard caught me off guard last time, but next time I will show him the power of the elite that I am"
This made the rest of the team roll their eyes, as it seemed the beating he received didn't change anything in the Uchiha's perspective. At that, they all sigh and head towards Kakashi. "So what do we do Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked. "From what we can see, Zabuza's wounds will take at least a week to heal, 10 days at most. During that time, we will improve training starting tomorrow. For now, rest." At that point, the team was about to retire to their rooms. "Naruto. I need to talk to you about something" the silver-haired man stated, while the Blonde just nodded. When the other two left the kitchen Kakashi looked at the jinchuriki "What did you find out?" asked Kakashi "It's worse than we thought" said Naruto with a frown he had found out that bandits who claimed to work as tax collectors that Gato had hired, needless to say, Naruto obtained valuable information when he stopped some kidnaper and tax collectors both on the locations where Gato's bases were and where they kept all the kidnapped people and the places where they sold people as slaves.
"This is going to be a bit difficult to deal with," he said looking at Naruto Kakashi's eyes smiled and ruffled his hair. "You've done a great job taking what we all taught you i'm proud of you the most," said Kakashi. "Yugao taught you well in kenjutsu. Now to what's important" said Kakashi "You want me to take care of the training of Sakura while you train Sasuke he's putting more pressure on you isn't it." Naruto asked. "Yes, here are the things she could try to improve i'll be secretly sending a clone to help you train. I'll be putting seals on them and I'll try to get them some training with their affinity. The other reason is I fear if Sasuke sees her progress he might arrack her something that I don't want to see. and make the council off my back for a bit I'll owe you a favor if you can do this" said Kakashi seriously. Naruto only nodded he wouldn't be surprised if Mikoto's son did that. Kakashi had used the first few months to study their psychology, habits, and training methods trying to make the best training regimen suited for each one of them while trying to reduce their weakness or make them aware.
Unknown location
In a dimly lit room, Zabuza was lying on a makeshift bed, when the same hunter appeared while removing one of the needles from the swordsman's neck, only for him to suddenly wake up. "Damn, that hurts," Zabuza said, still unable to move at all. "Why did you have to hit so hard, Haku," the mist shinobi complained, looking at the other person in the room. At that, the ninja takes off his mask revealing the individual who had black hair, almost perfect white skin, and brown eyes, which had a worried look on his face.
"If I had thrown it with less force, it wouldn't have worked," said the person now identified as Haku, removing the other needle from her master's neck. How do you feel, Zabuza-sama?" the brunette asked. "Sore. I didn't expect the boy to be so skilled," said the mercenary, closing his eyes for a moment and then opening them. Although I have the feeling that he was holding back." The swordsman's words left Haku speechless for a moment.
To then meditate on the words of the renegade Kiri. "He doesn't seem any older than me and it seemed like he wasn't trying hard in his fight," the fake hunter-ninja said as he began to heal the man's wounds. "If you are right," Zabuza said to show a smile "It is interesting, I hope to be able to fight him again," said the swordsman causing Haku also to form a smile. Haku knew that his master enjoyed a good fight, especially if it was a Kenjutsu fight, a trait he knew very well.
But then the two shinobi heard the door to the room open and Gato revealed, who was accompanied by two bodyguards. The little man looked at Zabuza with disgust. "You have the nerve to show your disgusting face after losing to Konoha ninjas," Gato said and then spat on the ground. "It seems that Kirigakure ninjas are very overrated," said the magnate with glasses. "They caught me off guard, next time I'll eliminate them," said the former Kiri shinobi looking at the small man.
"You have one last chance Zabuza, or I will have my men kill you," said Gato then looked at Haku and smiled "Although that way I could take your little partner for the amusement of my men," said the shoulder with glasses making his two bodyguards just smile and lick their lips. At that, Gato left the room, while both Zabuza and Haku were boiling with anger. "How I would like to kill this little bastard," said the swordsman while Haku just nodded, clenching his fists in anger. "He is not the only one, Zabuza-sama," Haku said, feeling a terrible disgust at the little man's words.
The next morning Tazuna House
After breakfast, Team 7 was in a clearing with several trees a few meters from Tazuna's house. Kakashi, who was still recovering from his chakra drain, sat in a chair as he watched his team begin some stretching exercises. "Alright Team 7, today we will have a different training," said Kakashi with a smile "Let's practice chakra control," said the silver-haired Jonin. "Again, Kakashi-sensei, that's a waste of time," Sasuke growled, to which Kakashi simply kept his smirk. "Tell me Sasuke, do you know how to climb a tree without using your hands?" Hatake asked, causing the Uchiha to open his eyes, and the team's Jonin approached one of the trees and began walking on the bark, surprising Sasuke. She frowned when she trained with them he taught her how to do this.
Kakashi notices this "I want to see how you've progressed you will also have to stick three leaves on your body and if one falls you'll have to start again this will help grow your chakra reserves and Naruto will be helping you as well with the next stage." said Kakashi with an eye smile surprising Sakura. " Naruto I would like for you to use Shadow clones on the tree and have them apply chakra just to make it more difficult for you," said Kakashi with Naruto nodding without much disagreement. "Use kunai to mark your place I'll give you more specialized training when you finish." with that Kakashi stayed as Naruto guided Sakura through a way she could do it. Seeing how Sakura had managed to complete the exercise a few times, he decided to move on to the next level.
"Very well, Sakura and Naruto go to the back where the lake is Naruto you have what I want you to train so go ahead I'll stay back to monitor and help Sasuke," said Kakashi to his two students nodded and left. ' Damn you, you'll see, I'll master this exercise and surpass you all because I'm an Uchiha,' thought the emo as he tried to climb the tree again, only to fall again after taking a couple of steps.
With Naruto and Sakura
When both members of Team 7 reached the seashore, they were able to appreciate the view for a few moments, as the place was clear and the waves seemed calm, as their eyes slowly rose and fell over the sand of the beach. Both Naruto and Sakura could smell the salty smell of the open sea, which certainly contrasted with the smell of nature and the city that was in Konoha. 'You know, this is almost like a date.' Inner Sakura gushed. 'Just the two of you, alone on a private beach. Just imagine him suddenly turning around and kissing you, dominating your mouth with his tongue as you feel up those muscles he has!' 'Sweet Kami, Inner!' Sakura blushed heavily at the onslaught of descriptions her inner self had provided. 'We are here to train, not ravage or be ravaged by Naruto-kun.' 'It's Naruto-Kun now, is it?' Inner teased, prompting her outer self to blush once more.
'...' 'Don't be like that Outer-chan, it's good you're being honest with yourself.' "Sakura-san, are you okay?" Naruto asked, snapping the pinkette out of her thoughts. "You kind of spaced out there." "Yeah, sorry." She apologized, clearly embarrassed. As if the blonde in front of her could hear her inner dialogue. "It's okay," He gave her a fox-like grin. "You can fantasize about me later. Let's get started." Immediately, Sakura went red from a deep blush that invaded her face. All the while her Inner Self was teasing her and threatening to unleash more details of what the two of them could do alone. If Naruto noticed, he said nothing as he rummaged through his pockets for a scroll Kakashi prepared.
"What's is it Naruto-kun," asked Sakura " Kakashi sensei told me to put on the same seal and get you used to it while we train in your taijutsu and your chakra affinities while he trains Sasuke," said Naruto surprising Sakura. "Seal what kind of seal is it," asked Sakura who was surprised to know Naruto knew fuinjutsu. "It's called a resistance seal, Like the name suggests it increases the resistance your whole body is confronted with you can use your chakra to moderate it to feel heavier or lighter. This seal helps you build up speed and strength. This will also test your reserves as we will set it to a bit heavier which will make you use your reserves to try and move like you used to." said Naruto surprising Sakura who looked a bit pale.
"So let's go I'll need your arm or back." Said Naruto as Sakura quickly nodded but felt embarrassed and a little awkward at Naruto seeing her small breasts. It took a few minutes as she started to feel heavier making it difficult for her to stand as she clenched her teeth. "Well first we'll practice a little conditioning so you get used to the seal, then we'll practice walking on water and when we're done you can deactivate the seal, but not before" declared the Uzumaki. "Why can't I practice walking on water for a while and when I get used to it, then I can use this stamp to do it again," the pink-haired girl questioned.
"No pain, no gain my dear Sakura," said Naruto remembering Ankos's words when she instructed him instead of Yugao or Kakashi. Getting rid of those thoughts as Sakura asked "Ummm Naruto-ku...." She stopped herself before she finished "You said Kakashi sensei wanted to know our affinities?" she asked naruto arched an eyebrow at the sudden shift in behavior, but shrugged it off "Yeah wanna find out yours" He asked as Sakura nodded. Naruto took out a piece of blank paper and handed it to Sakura who looked at it confused. "It's chakra paper send a little chakra," said Naruto.
"How would we know what my elements are?" she asked as she looked at the piece of paper she was handed. "Well, it's simple." He explained. "If you have a fire element, the paper will catch on fire and turn to ash. Wind, it will cut in half and some cases become shredded. Lightening will cause the paper to wrinkle. Earth, the paper will turn to dirt and crumble away. And finally, water will make the paper damp." Nodding in understanding Sakura started to send a little of her chakra which caused half the paper to crumble and the other side to become very damp. "Well that's interesting two opposite affinities yet they fit you perfectly," said Naruto as Sakura didn't look surprised. "What about yours," she asked a bit embarrassed. "Well," said Naruto "I have wind, water, earth, Lighting, and fire plus darkness with my bloodline." "You have Six?!" screamed Sakura shocked. "It's complex, but yes" he sighed. "While the darkness is from my bloodline, Water, Earth, Lighting and Wind are my own. And the fire that's a bit more difficult to explain as it is an S-ranked secret in the village and my bloodline."
Sakura frowned slightly as she pondered what Naruto could be involved in that required such a high-ranking secret to be placed around him. However, as curious as she was, she didn't push. She knew full well that divulging such a secret could sentence her to death, or worst case scenario, both of them. "Maybe later I will tell you about it." He frowned. "For now, let's start training." the Uzumaki instructed Sakura to begin, which at first seemed reluctant to do, but with a couple of words and threats of doubling the weight from the Hanyou, Haruno began her training/torture. Where at first she had difficulties with the exercise which ended with her falling into the water and getting wet, but with a wind and fire jutsu that Naruto used on her she managed to dry her clothes which allowed her to continue.
So little by little the pink-haired girl began to stay above water, but it would take another good while and a couple more dips for Sakura to begin walking on water. After 3 hours, Naruto could be seen carrying Sakura on his back while holding her legs so the girl wouldn't fall. Speaking of Sakura, the pink-haired genin was currently sleeping because she had used up a lot of her reserves on exercise."
But at that, Haruno's eyelids began to open. "Hey, where am I?" Sakura asked sleepily as she looked forward to where she met the red hair of the jinchuriki. "Ah you're awake, welcome back," Naruto said as he continued walking. "What happened to me?" Haruno questioned as she realized that her body was very tired and she was being carried by the Hanyou.
"You fainted from using too much chakra," said the Hanyou, then one of his hands went to the seal on his other forearm and took something out. "Take it," said the Uzumaki as he offered a black sphere to the girl. "What is this?" Sakura asked as she saw the black sphere the Uzumaki was offering her. "It's a chakra pill, it will help you recover your reserves," said the jinchuriki to which Sakura nodded, but when she chewed it her face almost spit out the pill.
"It tastes horrible," said the pink-haired woman with tears in her eyes as she tasted the bitterness of the pill. "Yes, unfortunately, they don't make them very appetizing, but don't spit it out," said Naruto, so against his own will he continued chewing the pill and then swallowed it, releasing a noticeable sound of disgust, which made the Blonde smile. "Don't worry, it happens to all of us the first time we swallow one of these," Naruto said as he shuddered slightly remembering his first experience.
But in less than a minute Sakura felt some of her tiredness go away and she felt more relaxed. "Better?" the Uzumaki asked, receiving a nod from Haruno. "It would be better if you rested. The pill may have helped you regain your energy, but it doesn't calm the fatigue your body has experienced," the Hanyou declared. "Ok, if you allow me I will use your back as my bed in this" Sakura said. "Go ahead," said the Blonde, making Sakura smile, which she couldn't see. For her part, Haruno settled herself as best she could on the Blonde's sword.
' This is very warm ' the girl thought a little blushing as she began to hear the jinchuriki's heartbeat ' Thank you for always helping me, Naruto-kun ' Sakura thought with a smile as she rested her cheek on the Uzumaki's back, slowly falling asleep with the Uzumaki's heartbeat.
Konoha Akimichi Restaurant
Something that Konoha knew very well was that for the Akimichis, food was something sacred, so it was not a surprise that a large part of the clan had their restaurants spread throughout the village and in which you could find quality food cooked by each one of them. And at this moment Team 8 was having lunch at one of those restaurants after having completed a D-rank mission. But right now they were training Hinata with a bow that she didn't know where she had gotten it from. "Damn it why are women so scary," said Kiba his head a centimeter away from an arrow. "indeed," said Shino who had formed a wall of his buts stopping two arrows. "What the hell Hinata?" yelled Kiba. " Don't touch my Cinnamon Rolls Only Naruto-kun can when he invites me" said Hinata. Kurenai could only sigh massaging the bridge of her nose. "Yeah yeah Naruto can handle you when he comes back." hurriedly says Kiba with Shino nodding.
After Hinata calmed down and paid the owner for the damage, Team 8 sat down with the two men on one side and the two women on the other, for obvious reasons, and placed their orders. While waiting for her food Hinata had taken out a book from her kunai holder and began to read it, where Kurenia could recognize it as the second edition of "Heart and Soul", a book that she loved. "Hinata, how did you get that book?" the Genjutsu teacher asked her student. "What is this? It was a gift Naruto-kun" said the Hyuga heiress to her teacher "Are you also interested in Kurenia-sensei?" asked Hinata. "I loved the first volume, but I haven't been able to get the second one because they sell out too quickly," said the Genjutsu queen with a sigh. "I've been told it's way better than that Icha's Icha crap" At that Kiba shuddered a little because he had a copy of the book in his kunai holder.
In wave country.
Kakashi shuddered as he grabbed his copy while Naruto sighed.
Back with Team eight
"From what I heard from my mother, it has an interesting story, as well as good character development," Shino said in a monotone. "If you want, I can lend it to you, Kurenia-sensei," Hinata offered while Kurenia was a little surprised. "Hinata-chan?" the red-eyed Jonin asked, receiving a nod from her student. "Thank you very much," Kurenai said as she took and put away the book.
After a few minutes the food arrived and the team began to eat, but for her part, Kurenai couldn't stop thinking about Hinata's words, she saw her as a little sister and she was honestly worried that she had spent too much time with Anko since she saw that she seemed to have an attitude that somewhat resembled the snake tamer. But hearing that she already had a partner surprised her quite a bit since the only people she had seen her interact with outside of her clan were Anko, with whom Hinata herself went with her to practice her Taijutsu, something curious because her student seemed to master the Taijutsu of her clan.
The other person was Naruto Uzumaki, this was because on more than one occasion the Hyuga heiress had told one thing or another that both of them did together, some training together, eating at the Uzumaki's apartment or the Hyuga complex, among other things. All this gave her the answer that Hinata had feelings for the Blonde and seemed to be Hinata's partner, something that if she was honest surprised her but this also worried her a little since her friend Anko was dating the Blonde. This upset her since she thought the Blonde was just taking advantage of her student while she was cheating on her friend, so she decided to chat with Hinata to clear everything up.
After an hour Team 8 was done and soon left the restaurant, Shino just bowed and thanked for the food and then retreated to his clan complex, Kiba was about to say something to Hinata, but with a look that said 'Tell me I don't like it and you die' she silenced him, so he just said goodbye to her and his sensei and ran off with Akamaru.
Seeing how Hinata was about to leave, Kurenai stopped her. "Hinata-chan can we talk for a minute?" the red-eyed woman asked. "Sure Kurenia-sensei, what do you need?" the Hyuga asked. "We need to talk about your partner," Kurenia said making the Hyuga heiress blink a little at what she had heard "It's Naruto Uzumaki, right" Yuhi declared. Hinata was about to deny it, but seeing how the red-eyed brunette was sending her a serious look, she decided to confess.
"Yes sensei," said Hinata somewhat resigned "My partner is Naruto-kun," said the Hyuga making the Genjutsu master frown. "I need you to finish him Hinata" Kurenia said firmly causing Hinata's eyes to widen in surprise. "B-But why Kurenai sensei?" asked the Hyuga heiress who was stunned by her teacher's words. "Why is he just taking advantage of you, this is because he is dating Anko, who in turn is cheating on her by dating you!" said Kurenai almost in a scream, when Hinata heard that her face relaxed to smile again at her jonin-sensei
"Ah, that was it," Hinata said, confusing Kurenai, who hadn't expected the heiress to react so calmly, not to mention that the tone and expression she used seemed to tell the Genjutsu teacher that her student already knew about that subject. "Did you already know that?" Kurenai asked with confusion clear on her face and upon receiving a nod from the Hyuga, the Genjutsu specialist was stunned for a few moments "Then, why didn't you cut it with him?!!" Kurenai shouted.
But even that act did not take away the smile that Hinata was showing it even seemed to have grown. "That's very easy to answer, Kurenai-sensei," Hinata said as she got closer to the brunette's ear. "Because I love him," the Hyuga said, then walked away from her sensei. Where the latter saw how the blue-haired girl was smiling while her cheeks showed a small, but tender blush, which caused a mental conflict in the Genjutsu specialist.
"But Hinata... he can't be with you and with Anko that's simply impossible," said Kurenai while biting her lips seeing how someone she considered a sister was doing something that she thought was wrong, and even when she told him so, it didn't seem like he was listening to her. It was just a little frustrating, for the red-eyed brunette. "Yes, there is and I think you know it or not sensei," said Hinata making Yuhi open her eyes at those words. "The CRA" Kurenai said in a whisper to which Hinata nodded "But it's still wrong if you do that you'll only be used as an object by him to make babies," said the Genjutsu master, which made Hinata angry, but she quickly put that aside.
"Sensei is not like you think," said the Hyuga as she began to back away "Naruto-kun will only agree to be with someone in the CRA as long as the other person agrees with all this and there is love involved," said Hinata surprising. "But-" Kurenai couldn't continue as she watched her student approach her and smile at her "But, he could hurt you," the Genjutsu teacher said, "Naruto-kun would never do something against our will,l" said Hinata while continuing to smile at Yuhi "And if he does, he told me that I could leave him at any time I want and if I'm not happy with that I can hit him and even if I want he would let me kill him" said the Hyuga. Which lowered its gaze remembering when Naruto told it that little detail.
Flashback to almost two years ago
both Naruto and Hinata were resting after the academy in Naruto's room"What did you just say?" the Hyuga asked as she looked at the jinchuriki. "It's like I said, if you decide to be by my side and at some point I hurt you in some way, if you feel the need to kill me I won't oppose it," said the Blonde as he took her hands and placed them over his heart."Even if I'm a Hanyou and can live longer than humans, if you decapitate me, pierce my brain,n or pierce my heart, I will die," Naruto said, and he looked her straight in the eyes. "Why are you telling me this?!" asked a surprised and scared Hinata upon hearing Uzumaki's words.
"Because if you're going to give me your heart, I want to know that you can trust me like I'll trust you with my life," the Blonde said as he moved his head to the side, causing Hinata to do the same. Where she saw how Uzumaki was looking at a photo he had of her, her sister, and her father, on a nightstand. "I never knew family love and the first time I met my father you know how that ended,d" said the Uzumaki, to which Hinata remembers how he told him about the first interaction that the jinchuriki had with the Yondaime Hokage "But now I know that I will never be able to truly experience it since in a way it is too late for that," said the jinchuriki.
Hinata didn't say anything as she paid attention to what the jinchuriki was going to say. "That's why I'm telling you this," Naruto said as he stared at the Hyuga. "Because I plan to earn your trust to make you happy, and if I fail, I will accept my punishment and my death if necessary," said the jinchuriki. Hinata hearing that simply approached the Blonde's face to kiss him, after a few moments Hinata stepped back and looked at the Uzumaki, who was somewhat surprised by what she did. Which was reflected in the blush on her face.
End of Flashback
Hinata could only touch her chest as she felt her heart beating faster at that memory. Kurenai, seeing her student's face, could only sigh. "Okay, I'll trust you, Hinata," said the Genjutsu master, giving in on the subject, but when she saw how the Hyuga was about to leave another doubt appeared in her head.
"Wait Hinata-chan, if you and him are dating why can't Kiba smell his scent on you?" Kurenai asked since if Hinata was dating the Blonde, Kiba should easily be able to smell the Blonde's scent. "That's why Naruto-Kun put a seal on me that suppresses his essence in my body," said the Hyuga "Since if he or another member of the Inuzuka clan smelled it, surely that information would reach the civil council and I think you can already imagine the problems that would bring for both me and him," said the heiress. To which Kurenia just nodded seeing the Blonde's situation and had to admit that the boy knew what he was doing, then she just sighed and looked at the sky.
"You sure are lucky, Hinata," Kurenai said as she saw how the Uzumaki protected his student, which made him gain a bit of his sympathy. "For having a man who takes care of you like that," Kurenai said as she said while comparing her student and her friend's boyfriend with her ex-boyfriend. Which was noticed by the Hyuga. "Thank you for understanding, Kurenai-sensei," said Hinata, and then wanted to play a little with her teacher, this was because she had caught a bit of Anko and Naruto's joking nature, so much time she spent with them, that and she wanted to at least lift her sensei's spirits a little with a little joke.
"And I can assure you that your chakra reserves are not the only thing big in your body," Hinata said and then jumped onto one of the rooftops to start running towards the Hyuga complex. Leaving Kurenia who at this moment's face was imitating the red of her eyes, to then remember the images she had after the talk with Anko a couple of days ago. Cutting off that line of thought she managed to recover, but she still had a slight blush on her cheeks. "I have to stop Anko from continuing to corrupt my student," Kurenai said to herself, so she headed to her apartment to rest.
Tazuna Hunt
After lunch, the Tsunami was finishing washing the dishes and was getting ready to go out to buy supplies, while Kakashi and his team were preparing to protect Tazuna on the bridge. But seeing how the woman seemed to be getting ready to leave, Hatake approached her and spoke to her.
"Excuse me Tsunami-san, but may I ask where you are going?" said the silver-haired man. "Ah, I'm just going shopping, as supplies are about to run out and I'm going to get some more," said the housewife. "Well in that case it would be wise for one of my students to protect her," Kakashi said and then looked at his group "Surely with our presence,e Gato will redouble his efforts to find your father," said the silver-haired man making Tazuna listen to him and shudder.
"Besides, one of Gato's thugs might recognize you as the builder's daughter and could kidnap you, follow you, or use you as a hostage so that Tazuna can come out and kill him," the silver-haired man said, causing the woman to shudder in fear at the thought. "Therefore," Hatake said looking at his team "Naruto I entrust you to escort Tsunami-san," said the copy ninja to which the Blonde nodded. "Because the loser has a solo mission!!" Sasuke shouted. "If anyone should have a solo mission it should be the elite, meaning" the Uchiha declared. "Because Naruto-kun has shown to be more reliable than you in our team practice!" screamed Sakura snapping at Sasuke for the first time shocking everyone.
"You think a little whore like you will be ever dignified to marry an elite like the Uchiha." Sasuke growled only to be stopped "Uchiha Sasuke!" Kakashi raised his voice "Are you going against your superior's orders? You've gone too far" said the silver-haired man while holding the Uchiha by the shirt, so that he would stare into his only eye "Don't forget who's in charge of this team and I will no doubt enforce it" said the Hatake to bring Sasuke closer to his face. At the same time, Sakura had burst into tears running upstairs. "Naruto go see how she is I'll go and see her later," Kakashi said his voice devoid of laziness. Naruto quickly departed up the stairs and knocked on the door of the room they were staying. Hearing a soft reply, he slowly opened the door and peeked in the door he noticed Sakura crying. As he gently calmed her down only for an idea to appear. "So it's Naruto-kun now?" He teased, eliciting a blush from her. "No, I was just...." she stammered, a little embarrassed. "It's okay. I don't mind." Naruto smiled, putting her at ease. "If you want to call me Naruto-kun, go ahead. Okay, Sakura-chan?" Hearing the -chan suffix at the end of her name caused her heart to flutter slightly and the sadness she had felt for what Sasuke said to be forgotten. Not trusting her voice, she only nodded.
'Finally! He is calling us Sakura-chan!' Inner gushed in pure bliss. 'And here you were stressing out that you let it slip that you called him Naruto-Kun!' 'Okay, I admit it. It feels good to have someone cute acknowledge and compliment me.' 'Only cute?" Inner smirked, 'Fine, drop-dead handsome, happy?' Sakura mentally replied. 'Too bad he is already with Anko.' Girl don't worry about that. I have a feeling that things will work out. So don't count him out just yet.' Inner cryptically replied. 'Trust me on this, I have a sixth sense for these kinds of things.' "Here maybe this can help you," said Naruto as he handed a book to her. Sakura's eyes widened as she said "Y-you have a spare one" said Sakura "What do you buy a bunch" "Nothing like that Anko likes those books just as much as she likes the Icha-Icha ones. I'll give you a hint though, it's right in front of you." The blonde hanyou smirked, waiting to see if she could figure it out." said Naruto blushing a little as he read some thanks to Kakashi and Anko's umm persuasion.
Sakura narrowed her eyes as she contemplated the hidden meaning of his words. Flipping the book over, she looked over the cover once more until her eyes landed on the author's name. 'N.U. Kitsune.' She furrowed her brow. Initially, she didn't think anything wrong with the name of the author. However, now something seemed off about it. Briefly, she allowed her eyes to wander up to the expecting face of Naruto.'Wait a second!' Her eyes widened. 'N.U. Kitsune. Naruto Uzumaki, Fox?" "You-you're the author!?" She stammered, desperately hoping she was correct in her suspicion. "Correct. I can see why you earned your spot for Kunoichi of the Year in our class. Able to figure it out with minimum resources to deduct from." He complimented the pinkette, earning him another blush from the girl. "Though, I do ask that you keep it a secret."
"I promise, Naruto-kun." She replied, tasting how his name with the affectionate suffix sounded on her lips. She liked it, as it felt natural for some reason. "But why hide your name?" "Well, I am not well-liked in the village. So anything with my name on it would automatically be taboo." He replied, causing the girl to frown. "It has to do with the S-ranked secret I mentioned earlier. Again, the hints are in front of you. If you figure it out, talk to me. Small loophole with the law."
"Anyways, I wanted to let you know that I am going with Tsunami-chan into town." He smiled. "Relax and enjoy the book." "Thank you, Naruto-kun." She smiled as she brought him into a hug. Surprising the blonde hanyou at the sudden show of affection. Smiling softly, he hugged her back before separating from her and leaving the room. 'You know you should have kissed him.' Inner chastised. Causing Sakura to mentally scowl.