Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ After The Four-Tails! ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

After The Four-Tails!: Chapter 2



A/N: I know, I know, I SAID that I’d release the first three chapters of this fanfic in one big bundle-de-la-fanfic, but my computer has had problems as of late so I had to do a system restore which spun my computer into a life of masochism… It tried to slit its own serial ports… But then after I had it back in the land-o-the-living. I’d realized that it was already nearing the middle of February and that I wouldn’t make the deadline if I burned the midnight oil (Not to mention the one-o-clock, two-o-clock, AND three-o-clock oils.)

Other than that, life is good, now read on!

Dis-to-the-claimer!!!: I don’t own Naruto, the only original pieces of this fanfic are the plotline and the character Claus Niwa. (Of my own creation.) I don’t make profit from this fanfic, and I sure as hell don’t have a swimming pool full of Bacardi and Captain Morgan’s (… Yet…)


Naruto and Hinata were walking down main street lead by one of Tsunade's ninja slugs towards the Hokage tower. Hinata had to occasionally nudge Naruto to get him out of the trance he had been since they had both gotten dressed.

"What on earth are you daydreaming about?" She asked him in a giggly tone. On the inside of course, she knew EXACTLY what he was thinking about, and it made her blush to no end. 'I wonder if I gave him too much of a show?'

--- El Flasho-Backo ---

In the hospital room, Naruto was just putting on his orange jacket when he heard a small moan coming from the corner of the room Hinata was in.

"You okay?" He asked, turning around.

There he saw Hinata, with only half of her bra on, she was covering the other breast with her hand. "My strap popped." She said in a helpless voice. Naruto couldn't help but stare as she fidgeted with her bra. A few times she took her hand off of her chest and gave him a peek at her features. After about a half minute of trying to fix the rogue garment, she huffed in mock-frustration, determined to make Naruto re-think his “Sister” comment.

"Eh, Naruto-kun? Could you help?"

As Naruto walked across the room, he could feel his heart beating in his throat. Just as Hinata turned her back to him, his hands (Acting very much on their own accord.) went out to tie the strap back on. But every time he tied it, she gasped out: "It's too tight."

Once Hinata thought that Naruto had been uncomfortable for long enough, she simply tore the lacy restrictive ware off and tossed it in the trash bin. Keeping her back to him, she put on her tee-shirt and heavy coat (Which she now wore unzipped.) Then, in a burst of uncharacteristic adrenaline, she grabbed his arm and led him out of the room.

--- End of Le-Flashback ---

At the top of the stairs in the Hokage tower, the two met Jiraya, coming out of Tsunade's office wiping what looked like blood off of the side of his mouth with an angry expression on his face and a large bump on his head. "Of all the underhanded pranks!" He growled. He brushed past Naruto, not giving him time to spout one single "Ero-Senin".

The door was open, they walked in. Tsunade was sitting at her desk with an annoyed look on her face. She saw Naruto enter and settled into her seat, but confusion took over when she saw Hinata come in after him.

"Naruto, I thought it would be a few days before I saw you. You're still a master of surprises."

Naruto folded his arms and pouted. "Well duh, if you'd pay attention you old hag, you'd know that I NEVER loose my touch... OWW" He recoiled as a paperweight connected with his nose, leaving a slug shaped imprint.

Tsunade ignored both Hinata's look of shock and Naruto's short stream of curses and continued. "As I was SAYING, I wanted to talk to you about a training mission I'm planning to send you on." Naruto's face lit up at the mixture of the words "Training" and "Mission"

"It concerns someone previously from the Moon ninja village, he's been instrumental in our ANBU training for almost five years, and his abilities in stealth are almost unparalleled." Seeing Naruto's attention starting to slip at the mention of stealth, Tsunade altered the topic a bit. "He has expressed an interest in YOU, Naruto, as well as the Kyuubi No Kitsune you have with you."

Naruto once again perked up, "Will he be able to get the bastard on a leash for me?"

"No, not in so much a literal sense, but the ninja in question has once been a caretaker of one of the tailed greater demons. He reportedly gave the responsibility to one of his former apprentices, but the person in question has been abusing the power of the four tails and we need to stop that from continuing."

"So, I'm just forgetting about Sauske for the time being?"

"I'm afraid so."

Naruto resumed his pout and started muttering to himself. Hinata was lost in thought. And Tsunade was thinking of a way to make this all better. She snapped her fingers as a solution came into her head.

"How about I give you a bit of time to train with him before the mission? It'll be a valuable experience for the both of you, you'll get some better control over the fox Chakura, and he'll have some time to get used to your, uh, attitude."

That brought Naruto out of his slump a bit, "Is he powerful?"

"Not as powerful as Jiraya," Said Tsunade, "but he can teach you more. And besides, look me in the eyes ant tell me you aren't sick of traveling with that old pervert."

"But still, Ero-Senin could keep up with me; I'm used to his teaching."

"Well, Jiraya isn't coming with you."

"Why not? I'd rather be trained by one of the legendary three than some guy from Moon."

"Because, Jiraya is needed here."

"Oh lemme guess, there's a peeping contest and he's the favorite to win?"

"DAMMIT BRAT, WHEN I TELL YOU HE'S NEEDED HERE, YOU LISTEN!!!" Tsunade snapped, picking up a book and was in the process of lugging it at Naruto's head when Hinata burst out of her seat and ran in between the two.

"Stop!" She cried. She looked at both of them, so much hostility. "Tsunade-Sama says Jiraya is needed in the village." Her burst of confidence was dying. "A-And I think we need to listen to her, or something." She muttered as she got back into her seat.

Having regained her composure, Tsunade continued. "So, the Moon ninja will train you for a little time in the village, but you'll need a team. Remember, there is a point to this mission; it's not simply running around willy-nilly and training. The power of the four tails needs to be reigned in before it can do major damage."

Hinata piped in again, "Wait, j-just how long has the apprentice HAD the four tails? If it can do what Naruto-kun did during the chuunin exam to Neji, it'll be impossible to fight."

"The apprentice in question has had the four tails for about eight months, and won't have anywhere near the power that Naruto can derive from the nine-tails."

That seemed to ease Hinata's nerves, but Naruto had one more question. "How long do I have to wait until this guy from Moon shows up?"

As if in answer to his question, one of the bookcases behind the Hokage spoke. "Not long, Naruto." Then a lanky figure materialized out of the books, Naruto could tell from the deep scratch through the Moon headband the man wore that he was a missing Nin. A large sword with a shiny black-grey pommel stone was slung across his back and he wore baggy black and grey camouflage pants, his shirt looked the same at first, but it turned out to be jumbled black and grey shuriken silhouettes that made up the camo print. Everything about his head aside from his eyes was concealed by a facemask that covered his features from the neck up. (Don't know exactly what the hell to call it...)

"So, Hokage-Sama, is this who's tagging along?" He said as he gesticulated at Naruto and Hinata.

"The blond one yes," Said Tsunade, "But I'm not sure about the other."

Naruto looked up at the newcomer and grimaced. “If you’re the kind of person who wears a mask to cover your face for fun, reads hentai nonstop, and has no punctuality, I’m not interested in training under you.” This statement earned a quizzical stare from the man’s eyes.

“Naruto!” Yelped the Hokage. “You are not to talk that way to your superior.”

Scoffing at her sudden outburst, Naruto continued. “I don’t think I could take it training under a carbon copy of Kaka-Sensei, Baa-Chan.”
Tsunade chuckled, "Well now, that could make it easier right? You wouldn’t need any time to get acclimated to your new teacher." The smile faded from her face, "So, Claus, (Almost pronounced like cloud, just take out the 'd', and put in an 's'.) I can imagine you're tired, but you should take some time to get to know your new student."

"That won't be necessary Tsunade, I've been following him around since before that incident with the Uchiha boy. I can imagine I know how he acts by now. But right now, I have plans to meet a new friend of mine at the bath houses." He replied before melting into shadow, leaving a small note which read:

"Naruto,
Please take some time today to find a teammate or two, I wish you could take your friend Sakura, but I'm not on the best of terms with the Haruno clan. (A long story for a later date, trust me...) And believe me, it'd better be someone you won't mind living and breathing with for quite a spell. We need at least three people along, and the Hokage has instructed me to train you in the arts of stealth and patience which means long steak outs, and a lot of scenario training.

Have fun,
Claus Niwa

PS: I’ll see you at the team seven training grounds at nine in the evening. Meet me with your team there.”

"He's EXACTLY like Kaka-sensei." Naruto groaned as he finished reading the note. "And now I have to scour the village to find people who'll go on the mission with me."

Tsunade huffed, "Well I don't need your whining in here, you're both dismissed."

Naruto and Hinata made for the door, but Hinata turned back, "Um, Hokage-Sama, I need to talk to you, alone."

Tsunade nodded, "Fine by me, Naruto, you get going on that team."

"Alright, see you later Hinata." He said as he walked out the door.

Hinata sat back down in the chair, the trademark blush was fading from her face. She stammered out a few unintelligible syllables before Tsunade cleared her throat and made her continue.

“I was wondering, Hokage-Sama.” She was unsure of how to continue, it wasn’t easy to ask the most powerful ninja you know to do you a personal favor.

“Y-you see, I would like to go on this mission with Naruto-kun. And I’m sure I could be of use with my Byagugan and all.” Words began to elude her again.

Tsunade had caught the wind of her drift though. She smiled a warm smile and said plainly. “You want this mission because of Naruto, don’t you?”

Hinata nodded.

Another warm smile, but this one was followed up by a contorted sneer full of venom. “Good things don’t come to those who coast through life, go ask him yourself you lazy ditz.”

Hinata, quite taken aback, tried to pipe in. “B-b-but I don’t think that I could-“

“How long ago did he leave this office, Hinata?” Snapped the Hokage.

“I don’t know.”

“Barely a minute, that’s how long.” The Slug Master walked around her desk and put a hand on the top of Hinata’s head. “So you will have time to talk to him and get him to agree before he makes any steadfast decisions on who he takes. But believe me, you’d better not slack off and make those googly-grey eyes at him the whole time. It’s a mission.” She paused for a breath. “You’re going to ask him yourself. That is, if you want to go.” The look of anger faded, replaced by a slight frown.. “But you should talk to Shizune first… I shouldn’t tell you why, but you should just see her.”

Hinata pondered this for a moment. “What does your assistant have to do with me leaving on this mission?” She asked a little caught off guard by that last bit.

Not wanting to press the matter, Tsunade spoke swift. “Just talk to her about the mission, and about you AND Naruto together. Alright? It might… help.”


About ten minutes, and a long explanation of feelings and current situations later in the records room downstairs from the Hokage’s office. Hinata sat with Shizune at a desk in the center of the room. She felt intimidated by the room, it was a poorly lit, dusty circle of a room, high walls lined by bookshelves stuffed with old ninja stat scrolls, historical documents, mission logs, and other assorted literary riff-raff that had made its way onto the administration’s file list.

Shizune removed a pair of reading glasses and took a deep breath.

“Well Hinata, it’s like this.”


Author’s Notes: Yes, it’s a quasi-cliffy! MUHUHAHAHAHA!!!

…

…

Please don’t kill me! I’ll start working on chapter three so fast it won’t even be post haste, it’ll be PRE haste…

For the people who thought “Why isn’t Shizune in the story anymore?” All questions on that subject will be answered next chapter in a flashback/emotional heart-to-heart-girl-talk. (Which I might fuck up, being as I’m a guy. Maybe I’ll keep her in as a love interest or spanky-buddy? You don’t know, because you aren’t writing this!

Keep up the R&R, and thanks for reading.