Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Cliche Guide to a Classic Romance ❯ The Annoying Competition ( Chapter 24 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Hinata wasn't the most on-guard person of the village. She knew that. So if someone wanted to follow her around she wouldn't notice unless she had her byaakugan activated. That was probably why she was placed on the same team with Shino, who was observant and alert and Kiba who could hear and smell almost as well as Akamaru.
However how could she not notice the person who had been following her around the village for the past couple hours at a close distance and who had no intention of hiding themselves. Every time she stopped he would stop, lean against whatever was close to him and smile like he wasn't up to anything.
She wasn't afraid, he didn't seem to be a threat, a normal civilian boy who just so happened to be following her. The reason why he was following her was a mystery though She couldn't remember seeing his face around the village at all, but he did look familiar.
Grabbing her bag from the vendor she gave the man what she hoped was a stern look before walking away straight into the crowded streets that she usually tried to avoid.
That was a small mistake, since now she couldn't pinpoint his footsteps. She couldn't tell what direction he was in or how far away he was. But, maybe he couldn't find her either. She doubted it though, she had made plenty of attempts to lose him all morning, ending in failure. How he found her after she had ducked in an alley and concealed herself on a rooftop until he was out of sight she had no idea. She had even hid inside Ichiraku's until he was gone, but after a few minutes of walking around he would appear again.
She wasn't one who was easily angered, but she was starting to feel the beginning symptoms of the emotion. She was slightly annoyed at the man for following her, if he had an issue or a question why didn't he just confront her and ask.
Making her way to the other side of the populated streets she scanned the crowed behind her, searching for that guy. When she didn't find him she wove her way out of the crowed and back on her original path, heading home.
Shifting the bags in her hands she wondered if Naruto ever noticed her following him or if he got annoyed by it. Perhaps he noticed, but was more curious as to why she was following him then angry that she was. Probably both.
Naruto was bored.
Very, very bored. He wanted to hang out with Hinata more but she had to run errands for her father this morning. Kiba and Shino went out to train sometime before the crack of dawn and Lee, Neji and Tenten were on a mission. Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji were all at Ino's father's shop helping out for the big sale that they were throwing.
At least Sakura didn't have anything to do, but all she would talk about was how immature Kiba was and kept on bugging him about where they were yesterday.
Sighing Naruto gave a quick look around the streets, wondering if he could escape from Sakura's persistent inquiries of the date. However if he did manage to get away he would no long have anyone to socialize with until Hinata was free. If she ever got free.
"Sakura, I'm not telling you!" Naruto yelled, angry but his voice was mixed with a pleading tone, he was practically begging her to stop questioning him. "Stop asking where we were."
Sakura huffed, not liking the fact that she was excluded from Hinata and Naruto's secret getaway. It wasn't fair that Shino and Kiba knew and she didn't.
She stayed silent for a moment, pouting, arms crossed, walking a slightly hunched over. Suddenly she lit up, "Will you at least tell me how it went?" Maybe if they started talking about it, the location would slip or she would get clues to where it was.
Naruto looked at her from the corner of his eye, cautiously. "It went fine."
"That's it?" She asked defeated and angry again. "You didn't talk about anything in particular or hold hands or kiss or anything. . . want to know, Naruto!" She shouted standing in front of him, stopping him from walking any further.
Naruto stopped and blinked at her lack of control. Smirking, he placed his hands behind his head and looked up at the sky. "Too bad Kiba and Shino are out training, you could probably ask them. Kiba might brake down if you throw enough kunai at him." He stated simply, chancing a glance back at Sakura.
Her eye was twitching, her hands were balled up into fist and he was pretty sure the only reason he was unharmed was because, she was trying to make up for her outburst yesterday. However what caught his attention was the blush that, painted itself on her face.
The blondes smirk turned into a grin. "Sakura's blushing!" He shouted out to noone, laughing as her blush darkened.
The girl glared at her friend and tried her best not to wrap her clench fist around his throat and shake him. "Shut up, Naruto!" She hissed at him. She wasn't sure why she was lowering her voice so drastically. She shouldn't have gotten this embarrassed over a small outburst. It wasn't like it was the first time she had lashed out. "Me losing my temper has nothing to do with you and Hinata!" She snapped, this time making sure her voice was normal.
"Of course it does. You wouldn't of lost your temper if you and Kiba never got in that fight. Which happened because you were chasing him around town trying to find out where we were."
"Well if you hadn't left the village without telling me where you were going, I wouldn't have gotten into that argument!"
"The point was to get away from you guys. That's why we left!"
"Well maybe if you didn't I wouldn't have to pursue Kiba for the answers everyti-!" She paused at her own words and stared ahead blankly.
Naruto, seeing her expression replayed the words over in his own mind and let them sink in for a minute before speaking again, this time his amusement was obvious. "Um. . .Sakura. . ."
"Shut up, I Know." she growled crossing her arms again. The conversation was going nowhere, no matter what Naruto kept bringing up her incident with Kiba. Stupid, Naruto, the guy wasn't even relevant to the point of the conversation.
Still smiling, Naruto wonder whether or not, Sakura, really knew. The way she phrased her remark, he felt like laughing at her. 'Pursue Kiba'?. That was a funny thought.
Naruto could picture the two holding hands on a walk then, one saying something stupid and ending up with a with a severely bruised if not broken hand. Or maybe they would be eating at a nice place and suddenly Kiba did something unacceptable to the girls standards and Sakura would force feed him his dinner and try to drown him with the drink he ordered. Actually would probably end up fighting over where to go and wouldn't even make it out the front door because of the disagreement. Both of them were headstrong and had to be in control, although if they compromised they would be able to work something out. But that meant they would have to swallow their pride.
Their relationship would be doomed.
"What's that guy doing?" Sakura muttered elbowing Naruto in the stomach with little force, just enough to make him jump in surprise. The boy had spaced out pretty good.
Naruto ignored his pain and looked out into the crowd, he just looked over it a minute ago, he didn't see anything abnormal. Just a bunch of people running around trying to get a bit of last minute shopping done. Some carts being set up randomly around town. Every now and then you would see an old weirdo looking around muttering to himself and cursing the heavens because they couldn't find the right store.
Sakura showed the boy a little mercy and tilted her head to one of the shops that was shaded by a bigger building. "That guy, he looks like he's looking for something. The store with the painted sign."
He saw a guy looking around observantly, searching for something. The guy look familiar, Naruto was sure he had seen him before. It took a few seconds for it to register but as soon as it did a glared at the un-welcomed visitor guy. "It's that guy who was looking at Hinata ". He mutter venomously, hoping the guy would back down from his glare. Apparently he didn't have such luck, the other male was too self-assured.
Looking back and forth between the two she saw the glaring match and, with a sly smile plant on her face she looked over at Naruto trying not to look to sneaky. Not that he was looking at her anyway. "Who is he?"
"I don't know just some stupid stock boy from the town we visited yesterday. . ." Naruto didn't like the guy being here, what reason did a guy like that have being in there village?
Everything about the guy infuriated him from the way he was giving him that evil smile to the way he was just standing there like he was allowed to be there. The guy hadn't even spoken a word to him even if he did it wouldn't end nicely.
He really didn't like him being in the same village as Hinata. He didn't like him breathing the same air as Hinata. The guy was definitely looking for her, bu what could he do. The guy hadn't done anything yet and as long as he had permission he was allowed in the village. Naruto felt like going to check on Hinata, but what if the guy followed him? He'd be leading him right to her.
Naruto was starting to fidget a little, his feet either scraping against the dirt. Like he was unsure if he should move or not. His hands looking like they were ready incase the boy tried to attack. The only thing that didn't move were his eyes, which were still giving the boy a death glare. Sakura thought they looked like two animals challenging each other to a fight.
"Sakura, What do we do?" Naruto asked in a low voice barely moving his mouth as he spoke.
The pink haired girl blinked, her attention being pulled away from how many towns were within a days travel and how to locate which one and, being pushed into the current situation. We? He was asking her? "What do you mean?" How was she supposed to know. Contrary to popular belief, thanks to Kiba, she wasn't a guy. She didn't know how guys solved their problems with male rivals, she had only seen Naruto and Sasuke fight all the time but that was more of a bonding thing. These two were fighting over Hinata.
"Should I go check on Hinata?"
Sakura for a second wanted to hug the blond. It was adorable. He was jealous and worried about her. Perhaps more on the jealous side though. " I think Hinata will be fine."
"Yeah, but he-"
"Naruto. Just trust Hinata. Your jealously will just get you into trouble, and besides the boys a civilian, your really not allowed to touch him." She scolded, placing her hands on her hips.
Naruto gave her a quick glance before looking back at the other male. She had a point, he could take that guy down with one and if he had to, Hinata could do the same for that matter. She could probably have this guy in tears before he laid a hand on her. Naruto mentally smirked at the image. However, if he did, he could get into a lot of trouble and probably be completely destroyed by Tsunade.
He still wanted to check on Hinata.
"We're going anyway." He ordered grabbing her arm and heading towards Hinata's house.
Okay maybe he was overreacting and being a little protective over her, but what else was he supposed to do? Stand back while that jerk tried to win her over and remove him from the picture? Hell no. That guy was irritating beyond belief and he might not physically pose a threat but, he was still a threat.
Besides, Hinata, didn't belong with him. Even Hinata, knew that. She wouldn't leave him and go with the other guy for anything. Would she?
No she told him herself that she had only ever liked him, she had proof of that in her bag. She had three years worth of work in the form of their names written together decorated with fancy doodles. The talks they had yesterday, about how she was more then willing to wait for him to clear his mind, sort out his own feelings and how he would learn about how these relationships really worked at a more steady pace. She wasn't about to just throw him away for that new guy.
So why did he want to see her so bad. He knew he could trust her, she could defend herself even if she couldn't, being in her own village anyone of their teammates or allies would immediately help her, or anyone for that matter, if they saw anything going on. If Hinata was home there would be no way he would even be able to get near her. So why did he need to see her?
Sakura looked at the blond who was dragging her along, looking determined. She didn't see the point of seeking Hinata out. That guy wouldn't gain any interest from the girl, if anything she would probably be as oblivious as Naruto is when someone flirts with him. Even so she was to dedicated to the boy to even look at another guy.
Rolling her eyes she followed him, wondering why people let her drag them around if it made there wrist feel like a stress relief ball.
"Father, I got everything on the list and I stopped by the shop. They said that your package will arrive in a couple days." Hinata said as she placed the bags on the table and looked at her father, who just nodded.
Hinata quickly put everything away and then started putting a pot of tea on. "H-how were things around here this morning?" She asked quietly, ever since the mission there father had been more silent then normal and she wondered if maybe it had to do with Naruto.
"I got a letter from Takara. . ." She tried again. Still nothing and she really was getting worried. "Father. . ."
"What did it say?" He asked quickly not looking up from the paper in front of him.
Hinata was dumbstruck for a second by her fathers quick evasion of what he knew she was trying to ask. Dodging questions and changing subjects wasn't normal for her father. But, what would be on his mind that he would be trying to avoid?
"Hinata."
His stern voice caught her attention again and she quickly regained her composure. "I-It said that the woman that attacked us was her aunt, Minna's mother. That she was living with Minna and her fiancé since her father died recently. But while she was staying there she heard their plans to steal the scroll. Someone was offering a lot of money for it. When they found out she knew they decided they would use her to get a ransom out of their grandfather." Hinata paused a few seconds to sit down by her father. "Takara's parents left her a lot of money and her grandfather was the head of their village. So the ransom. . . ."
Hiashi looked at his daughter watching her wring her hands nervously. As a father he wanted to comfort her, but as the head of the family he wanted her to learn to keep those types of emotions hidden. "So they decide to not only steal our scroll and sell it but to kidnap and hold their own family member captive for money. "
"Y-yes, And Minna's mother was in jail until they broke her out so they could use her as a distraction and as a protector. She was in one of the top high security prisons. Mass murder and illegal studies on the human body. Specifically, because of an injection that she made that shut down the part of your mind that let you feel pain but, it had a. . .side effect. She couldn't stop taking it, because it would have killed her. After a while it started to effect her state of mind and she turned violent. She never got a chance to find an antidote for it."
"I see. . ."
She looked at him as he went back to his paper, seemingly uninterested. She thought that he would have wanted to hear the information about what had happened and why it happened. He just seemed more keen on avoiding her. She wanted to tell him about the guy that had been following her earlier, but he didn't seem to be in the mood to listen right now.
Looking down at her hands she placed the in her lap, trying desperately to keep them still. "Is there anything else you need from town?"
Still refusing to look at her, he stood up. "No, but you should go work on your technique for a while. I'll let you know if something comes up."
Watching her father walk out of the room she sat frozen in place. Was he mad at her? Of course she knew that he wasn't pleased with her getting captured. But was he really that disappointed in her. Naruto and her friends saw her quick movements at the time brave, but maybe her father saw them as reckless. She put her life in danger, purposely without thinking about the consequences. All she had thought about was making sure he was safe, she didn't think about a strategy she saw the attack coming towards him and panicked.
She hadn't thought like a ninja at the time. She hadn't really thought at all.
Standing up, she went to grab the pot off the stove and sat it on the counter. Was she was back to square one with her father, completely. Or was he just angry for now. Did he think of her as weak again because of her mistake or did he loose all faith in her.
Her thoughts distracted her as she went out into the yard to train. Maybe if she trained hard enough her father would know it was just a mistake that she had made, that she wasn't still weak.
Naruto and Sakura stopped just outside the Hyuuga place. He had long since let go of her wrist after many death threats and insults.
He could see a small figure out in the yard, he knew right away, by the way that it moved, that it was Hinata. He was happy to see her well enough to be training again. The wounds she had gotten during the mission weren't little, the medics had a hard time healing them properly.
He, silently, moved closer watching her attack the invisible enemy with more concentration then was actually needed. Her movements sometime looked like a dance, the way she would spin to kick or how her hands would move fluidly when she worked with her chakra.
"Hey. Are you going down or what?" Sakura asked seeming highly amused by something.
Naruto nodded, not really paying attention until he was being pulled down into the yard by the girl. If he had been paying more attention he would have shook his head no. He only wanted to see if she was okay, he didn't want to bug her. He did that in the morning before she informed him that she had things she needed to take care of at her home before she could go anywhere. Which was a very disappointing conversation.
Now she was looking at him, confused, but smiling and he didn't know what to say. Good thing Sakura was there with him.
"I thought you had errands today. Why are you training by yourself? Couldn't you have gone with Shino and Kiba wouldn't that have made more progress?" She asked the girl as she surveyed the yard. Taking in every detail of damage it had taken from previous training sessions, from the hole infested trees to the missing patches of green.
Hinata's smile faded and she shook her head looking down at her feet. "I was but father told me that he wanted me to work on my technique. . ."She trailed off, once again thinking about her fathers distant behavior.
Naruto was now the one who was confused. He knew the girl was sensitive but, getting upset because her father told her she needed to train more? In the line of work she chose, of course she needed to train more. She always would, they all would. So, did he miss something.
"I'm sure he didn't mean it like that, Hinata." Sakura stated in a sympathetic tone, trying to offer the other girl a little bit of comfort. But it wasn't any use and the heiress just went silent.
And now the blond was positive he missed something. "Mean it like what? All he wants her to do is train a little, what is wrong with that?"
Hinata kept her gaze on the grassy floor. She didn't blame Naruto for his words, he hadn't caught on, probably wouldn't until it was out in the open. But, she didn't know if she could tell him that she was still so weak. That she was still incapable of being a good ninja. What would he think.
"Naruto! Just how dense are you. Do you actually have a brain in that thick skull of yours at all?" Sakura shouted at him from her spot by a decently grown tree, that was currently housing a species of bird they couldn't identify, in a wooden bird house.
The blonde gave her a sour look. He probably didn't have any brains left after she had taken up the hobby of abusing him since they were twelve. "What are you talking about?" He asked looking away from her and to the depressed girl looked like she wanted to cry.
Sakura walked over to him glaring. "Naruto, you are completely clueless when it comes to her family issues aren't you." She hissed.
He could see she was annoyed with him, but what did her family issues have to due with training? "Sakura, just tell me what's going on." he pleaded, hoping it didn't actually sound like a plea. Though if it would help him figure out what was going on with Hinata he didn't mind. Besides, both him and Sakura both knew that if she didn't tell him, then it would be days before he figured it out.
Sakura sighed, exasperated. "Naruto" She sighed out his name in an exasperated tone, trying to look stern. Though looking at his clueless face was like a one way ticket to folding in a game of poker. It was hopeless the boy would take to long to figure it out on his own.
"She thinks her father is telling her to train because he thinks she's weak." she whispered so Hinata wouldn't hear the words. She didn't want Hinata getting upset over it. Not that the girl wasn't freaking out over already.
Naruto blinked and glanced over at Hinata. "That's not true he doesn't think that!" He shouted, instantly wishing he hadn't. She jumped, startled from the outburst and now looking at him with surprised eyes.
She didn't want to look at him. She hadn't planned to look up at all, but she couldn't help but give her full attention to the blond at his loud exclamation. The question of wether or not he knew how loud he could get sometimes ghosted threw her mind fleetingly.
More important however was what she should say to him. She didn't have a response that wouldn't cause him to get even more upset. He would just disagree with her anyway, and her telling him different would only cause an argument between them which, she didn't have the heart to follow through with. She didn't even have enough courage to speak up and tell him he was wrong anyway, he seemed so confident that he was right.
So she just stood there, not knowing what to do.
However the other female had never felt the urge to knock her teammate across the horizon so strongly in her life. Why was he just standing there. The least he could do was elaborate on why he didn't think Hinata's father was reconsidering his daughters strength.
He had originally came here just to see if Hinata was okay. He wasn't even going to talk to her, just take a quick look to see if she was unharmed and yes maybe he was still worried that the guy had talked to her. What guy wouldn't get a little worried when some other guy was practically stalking their girl? He just wasn't expecting to actually talk to her. Of course he wanted to but she told him she had chores and errands and then started explaining some complicated stuff and after that he couldn't of spaced out. But he could help it, at least he tried to stay focused.
Another thing he wasn't expecting was this, Hinata, clearly upset and once again her self-esteem was dropping. He wanted to help her, but he couldn't prove that her dad did think she was worthless and he would hug her but with them being fully aware and Sakura standing there, he had a feeling it would get a little awkward. She was the only one there other then them. It would be weird.
He walked over to her slowly. It was only a few feet away. Her being by a piece of training equipment, it was just habit to stand back a distance. "Hinata. . .I'm positive that's not why your father told you to work on your abilities."
His voice was still loud but, he wasn't yelling and for that Hinata was grateful. "But. . .Why would he?" She asked bringing her hands in front of her and pushing her finger together. She started trying to figure out another reason in her own mind, hoping he was right.
Naruto, wondered himself why the man had told her to train, maybe she just it the wrong way or maybe he just wanted her to get stronger. The last mission she was on she almost didn't make it back, that had troubled him a bit It had showed down in the tunnels when the man had snapped at him. He just probably didn't want to seem like he was being paranoid.
"I bet he's just worried about you." He spoke up, grabbing her hands to stop the constant movement. He never understood why she did that. He did know that it meant she was uncomfortable about something.
Why would her father be worried about her? She wasn't in danger and nobody was threatening them, so him being worried would be unnecessary. Where was Naruto even getting his evidence from or was he just guessing on what the reason actually was?
Defeated Hinata looked down again, this time looking at their hands. "M-maybe you're right. . ."
Naruto knew she was still unsure but he had the feeling that he wouldn't get it through to her by yelling it at her. He just smiled as he spoke. "Well, if you want, when Kiba and Shino aren't around Sakura and I could help you train. I'll help you with whatever you need help with and Sakura is awesome with chakra control. And we can all spar together, It'll be fun!"
She thought about it for a minute. It wasn't like she would accomplish much training alone. And her other teammates weren't always available, either missions or doing chores for their families. Naruto, sadly, didn't have a family to keep him busy, he'd almost always be there, and sakura was usually with him. They were also two of the strongest people she knew, they could really help her.
". . .I-if it's really okay with you and Sakura ." She replied, looking back up and over to Sakura who gave her a huge smile.
"Of course, I'd be happy to help!" She chirped. Her answer caused Hinata to give a small smile of gratitude back to the girl.
Grinning, Naruto separated the girls hand still holding them in his own and, started swinging them idly. He was happy that the meek girls spirits had been lifted somewhat. That meant the topic of her father was dying, Maybe now was a good time to change the subject completely. "So, Hinata." he started, pausing as both girls looked at him curiously, "Talk to any one strange today?"
"Huh?" She wondered where such a random question would com from. She hadn't talked to any one but her father and the store clerks. But maybe she could tell him about that guy that was following her this morning.
The blond shook his head the grin faded in to a small barely noticeable smirk. "Never-mind" He said with childish mischief in his voice and swinging their arms with a bit more energy.
Sakura took in a deep breath, resisting the urge to harm her friend in anyway. You could always Naruto to ruin a nice moment with stupid comment.