Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Final Straw ❯ Crack in the Mask pt. 2 ( Chapter 3 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Kuroi-Yasha: Hello all, I'm sorry this took so long for those that actually enjoy reading this, however life is busy and as such I have very limited time. The next chapter should be quicker, but only slightly so. Thanks to my new beta YashaReader for his help. Now onwards!

Final Straw

By: Kuroi-Yasha

Chapter 3: Crack in the mask pt.2

(No song this time. Sorry.)

“Come on Shikamaru!!! You have to at least put some effort into the game! Who ever heard of a enemy nin that doesn't at least try to get away?!”

“This is just a pain you know that Ino?”

“Come on Shika.”

“Alright, alright. Troublesome friends...”

Laughter filled the small park as the children began to run about. They were none older than eight, yet they were already playing games that resembled the career they wished to engage in very soon.

Such was the scene when a small blue haired girl arrived. Her face bore a small blush just at the concept of interacting in some way with children her own age that were outside of the clan. Normally such a request from her to be allowed to interact with the less “noble” clans of Konoha would have been denied before she had even finished stuttering the request, but today her mother had given her a rare opportunity to go to the park and play since things between her and her cousin, the only child in the clan near her age that she was allowed to interact with, had become more tense and steadily more aggressive.

So, because of said friction here she was, about to have her first ever encounter with her peers. The branch member that escorted her gave her a gentle smile as the elder man gave the shy heiress a small push in the children's directions before he turned and made his way to converse with the fellow adults and possibly former team mates.

Slowly she began to make her way towards the children. It wasn't that she was afraid… scratch that, she was terrified of them! Most specifically what they would do or how they would react when she spoke to them. Before she realized it, she was within speaking distance of the group. As she opened her mouth to speak to them, she found however that she was forced to close it when the group of children stopped and turned in the opposite direction she was in.

“Man, it's troublesome, but my mom told me that I'm not allowed to play with you. Gomen.”

“Yeah, likewise with me. I'm sorry.”

“Yup, my parents told me the same. They said not to be mean to you, but I'm not allowed to 'associate' or whatever with you.”

Tears began to gather in the corners of her eyes as she lowered her small head at their words. Was she really that bad that they had to turn away from her just to be able to reject her? Was she really that…

“H-heh… t-that's a-alright.”

The words spoken broke her out of her rut however as she looked up to see that the children had separated enough for her to see who they were talking to. Strangely enough she could see a young boy not much older than their selves. However a small blush adorned her cheeks again as she gazed upon his golden locks, though untidy, that gave him a very handsome look with his blue eyes shining in the light from the unshed tears that enhanced the azure color. His most prominent features however were the three small markings on both his cheeks; they reminded her almost of whisker marks. 'Like a koneko… or a kitsune.'

Her thoughts however were once again interrupted as the light haired boy turned and walked away from the group. Said group watched him go sadly as they stood motionless.

“I think I'm just gonna head home. This was all much too troublesome.” The pineapple headed child spoke dully.

“Yeah, I feel really bad for what we did.” The plump red head replied, reflexively pulling out a bag of sweets.

“We had to though… didn't we?” The other blond questioned as she began walking away with her friends.

If they answered she didn't hear them as she slowly approached the blond child as he sat beneath the slide in the playground. She knew he was crying when she noticed the shaking of his body from the quiet sobs; she'd done that herself many times after her confrontations with her cousin reduced her to tears. And as such she knew that she always felt better when her mother hugged her. So temporarily forgetting her shyness she knelt behind the crying boy and slowly wrapped her small arms around him.

His reaction wasn't what she expected as he nearly jumped from her embrace in shock before he realized he was in no danger from a child his own age. He didn't relax; however, he did stop crying so she would take that as a good sign. She smiled nervously at him, her shyness returning in full force as she realized that she had hugged a stranger and a cute boy at that. The blush that stained her face was much more intense than her previous ones and she began to feel light headed as the situation became clearer and clearer. She was brought back to reality however when the boy spoke to her.

“A-ano… Who are you?”

His question brought her back to reality as she realized she must seem incredibly rude. Straightening quickly she bowed to him before she stuttered her reply.

“G-G-Gomen N-Nasai. A-ano. M-my N-N-Name i-is H-Hyuu-g-ga H-H-Hinat-ta.”

Slowly the boy began to smile, as he turned looked at her, “Heh, that's alright.” He spoke clearly and confidently, his voice sounding not quite melodic, but not normal in a sense. She immediately knew that she enjoyed hearing his voice. Slowly standing the boy's smile grew wider and took on a fox-like deviousness, “Gomen,” he began as he held out his hand to help her, which she graciously (but shyly) accepted, “I didn't mean to be seen like that...” His voice took on a softer tone as he spoke, his eyes gathering the sorrow that he felt for all to see. For some unknown reason, she felt her heart give a small painful throb at his words and the ache in his voice, however she turned up to look him in the eyes before she spoke with determination, “I-if it h-helps...” she began as the blond looked at her, “T-they looked r-really s-sad about w-what t-they had done.”

Slowly, as the words she had spoken became clear to him, he began to smile again. His smile was so joyful that she could feel her own heart soar just by looking at him; she could not, and certainly would not, stop the smile that slowly came across her own face.

“Arigato Hinata-chan.”

The thanks and the suffix used caused a blush to stain her pale porcelain cheeks giving them a rosy hue. “I-it w-was n-nothing spe-cial.” she muttered as she began to press her fingertips together. The blond haired youth continued to smile nonetheless as he walked out from under the slide. “It meant a lot to me, so it just seemed fair.” Slowly he began to walk away from the blue haired heiress as he made his way for the woods. Realizing what was going to happen she mustered all her courage in order to call out to him, “M-matte K-kurasai!”

Slowly the blond turned to her as the blush returned to her with a vengeance, “A-ano. W-would y-you l-like t-to p-p-play w-with m-me?” The last part she almost completely muttered, however by some miracle the blond still heard her. The shock on his face made her regret what she'd said, “G-gomen, I w-was only... y-you don't have t-to...” She was silenced however as tears began to flow down the boys eyes. For a moment she was truly terrified that she had somehow deeply offended him. Those thoughts however where banished instantly when the same smile lit his face. “H-hai! I'd love to play with you Hinata-chan!” Quickly the boy ran back over to her and, to her surprise (and glee), hugged her tightly. Her blush stayed with her through out the hug after she'd been released, that however did not stop the smile that graced her features. “O-okay t-then, lets play. Ano...” She stopped suddenly when she realized she didn't know his name. Realization came upon the blonde's face as he smiled at her.

“Heh, silly me! I forgot to tell you my name.” He smiled again as his azure orbs filled with happiness bore into her.

“My name is...”

BBBRRRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGGG

~-~-~-~-

Pupil less orbs shot open as she quickly proceeded to mercilessly crush the offending object that had awoken her from her dream. 'Kuso! That's the fifth one.' Sighing she sat up from her rather plush bed; being the heiress had its perks. Quickly going through some light stretches to chase away the haze of sleep that currently still had a hold of her; she rose from her bed and made her way to her personal bathroom. After going thru her daily morning routines, she quickly dressed herself in her usual dark attire. The top that she wore was almost form fitting, doing nothing to hide her growing feminine curves, over it was a simple fishnet of chakra reinforced material that became as hard as steel when needed but remained comfortably soft all the while. She wore simple black ninja pants, tight enough to give her a sense of femininity, while being loose enough that she could easily use the flexibility that made her the best kunoichi since her own sensei Yuuhi Kurenai and/or Special Jounin Anko Mitarashi had attended the academy. Her rituals being done she walked out of her room and made her way to the dining room.

The Hyuuga manor was not an easy place to navigate thru, what with it being nearly half an acre large plus the gardens and personal training grounds taking up another acre and a half it indeed gave onlookers a look what the Hyuuga saw about themselves, a clan of honor, nobility, and power. 'It also shows how arrogant and blind most of us are despite having all seeing eyes.' Arriving quickly in the dining room she saw a servant of the branch house already setting her regular breakfast meal. Giving the servant a gentle smile she took her seat at the table as the servant poured her a cup of fresh tea.

“Is there anything more you require Hinata-sama?”

“No, thank you. However, would you please inform my father that I shall be late for dinner tonight seeing as I have an extended team training session?”

“Hai Hinata-sama. I shall inform Hiashi-sama as soon as possible.”

Nodding to the servant she quickly finished her tea as she took the last piece of her breakfast in her hand and proceeded to walk towards the main entrance. Along the way she greeted all the servants warmly, and in turn received warm greetings, she was also unfortunate enough to run into a few elders to which she gave stiff, but formal greetings and much as with the servants received the same in exchange. The elders disliked her as much as she disliked them. After her mother's death she had become aware of how the elders manipulated her father into things that benefited them and not the clan; it was that very reason she began learning the inner clan workings and had become the spitting image of her mother, both in the compassion for those that were deemed by her own clan as beneath her and in her fierce opposition of the elders and their strict `traditional' methods. In short she became everything they hated, and she was glad to make their lives that much more difficult. Due to this she had earned the respect and support of the Branch Family of the Hyuuga with the exception of her vengeful cousin Hyuuga Neji; though even he was forced to grudgingly follow her commands after his thorough defeat at her hands one year ago with monthly defeats to reinforce the message.

Yes, there was no doubt that Hyuuga Hinata was strong.

“My name is…”

Yet despite all her strength.

“My name is…”

Despite her endless cunning.

“My name is…”

Despite everything, she was not able to remember.

“My name is…”

It drove her mad.

“My name is…”

His blond hair, and his crystalline azure eyes.

“My name is…”

His full-blown grin with all its mischievousness and his whisker like cheek markings.

“My name is…”

“MY NAME IS WHAT DAMN IT!!!?”

She cursed as she brought her fist down on the unfortunate tree before her, completely decimating it as it splintered and broke filling the air with its wooden threads before its top came tumbling down, taking another tree with it. Her breathing was harsh and erratic as she struggled to recompose herself. She had been having the same dream for weeks and it bothered her to no end. She knew that it was more than just a dream; she knew she was trying to remember something that had been blocked out of her memories, something important… someone important.

“My name is…”

“You know if you keep shouting nonsense to yourself and destroying trees people are gonna begin wondering...” he was saying before being interrupted.

“What do you want turd? It's way too early for me to be having to deal with you.”

“That's not nice Hin. Besides we're on the same team so you have to see me regardless.”

“Unfortunately so…”

Sighing the blue haired heiress slowly drew herself up as she turned to face her brown haired teammate.

“So what do you want?”

“Just the usual.” The brown haired ninken answered as he took his fighting stance, “Today's the day Hin.”

She raised an eyebrow at his statement, “What? Are you finally admitting that you're gay? If so, I already figured it out.”

A slight growl was the only response and caused a small smirk to adorn her face, she loved teasing the ninken. She enjoyed it almost as much as she enjoyed beating him to the ground. Almost.

At her smirk he rushed, attempting to catch her off guard as he aimed a punch at her face. Raising her eyebrow at the attack she merely stepped to the side and brought her arm up to catch his and pulled on his offending appendage as she planted her left leg in front of his and proceeded to flip the young man onto the ground rather quickly and painfully.

“Not using Akamaru today? Are you sure I didn't damage something in your brain yesterday? You barely scratch me with him, what makes you think you can beat me by yourself?” She taunted/questioned the young man as he rose to his feet. “Keh, I'm just getting started Hin. I'll beat you using my own strength and then you'll be forced go out with me.”

Again she sighed, this time in exasperation. Ever since the academy the brown haired Inuzuka heir had been trying to get her to date her and had rejected him time and time again, stating that she would only date someone that was stronger than her. And so it had begun, ever since she'd said those fateful words she was issued numerous challenges each day from would be suitors. And like she said, she'd taken them down, one after the other, after the other, after the other... Most had given up, accepting the fact that they could not defeat the heiress. Inuzuka Kiba however was not among them, and seemed hell bent on beating her. Not that he'd ever come close. This time would be no different.

“I'll end this now for both our sakes.” She declared as she assumed her Jyuuken stance. The Inuzuka heir scoffed as he quickly went into his own family stance before charging her once again. As soon as he was within five feet of her, she slunk down gracefully as she moved past his poor defense and brought a palmed strike to his stomach, effectively winding him before she spun on her heel and delivered two more strikes, one to each shoulder, and rendering his arms useless before she spun again and brought her palm up to strike his heart and finish the fight. Cringing, the Inuzuka heir closed his eyes, fully expecting to feel pain that would render him either dead or unconscious. Surprisingly, or rather not, he found the Hyuuga girl's palm millimeters from his chest and right over his heart.

“You lose Kiba.”

Slowly Hinata turned to the voice, her pupil less lavender eyes focusing on the coated figure of her other teammate. Raising her hand in a small wave, she sent a smile to the Aburame heir. “Ohayo Shino-kun.” she called lightly. The dark haired nin nodded slightly to her as he brought his hand up and adjusted his sunglasses. “Ohayo Hinata-sama.” She gave a small frown at his address to her, but didn't respond. “Despite how entertaining it was watching you humble our other team member…” The blue haired heiress gave a sheepish chuckle and a slight blush adorned her cheeks, “I was sent to inform the both of you that Kurenai-sensei has asked us to meet her in front of the Hokage Tower to receive a mission for today.” Nodding, the blue haired heiress and the sunglass-wearing heir began walking towards the city.

“OI!! WHAT ABOUT ME!? MAAATTTEE! (WAIT)”

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

That had been a little less than a week ago. Currently Team 8 was approaching the small country known as Wave. Originally they were suppose to go on a mission of escort to Kirigakure but an emergency S.O.S. from Team 7 had placed them under the temporary command of a Special Jounin named Katsuragi Yume while Kurenai continued with the original mission.

“How much further is this damn village?”

“TURD! WATCH YOUR MOUTH!”

“But Hin, we've been traveling for almost a week on land and almost four hours on this boat!”

The remaining member of the team sighed as he quietly apologized to their current sensei for his team's behavior. The brunette smiled softly at the team, 'Just like my old team…' Shaking off such thoughts, the hazel-eyed medic turned her attention towards the landscape which slowly began to come into focus. 'Almost there, just a little longer Naruto.'

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Uchiha Sasuke was not happy. This was not uncommon. The reason he was not happy was not unexpected either.

“SASUKE-KUN!”

A shudder went down the avenger's spine as the shrill voice of his banshee of a teammate called for him for the hundredth time that day.

“One hundred and eleven actually.”

The sudden arrival of his sensei to his left nearly knocked the young Uchiha prodigy from his sanctuary within the branches of the tree just outside the house of their current charge.

“S-sensei.”

“Yo.”

A tumbleweed rolled by. A sweat drop formed behind the head of the chicken butt, Sasuke, as his teacher released a perverted giggle as he turned the page of his little orange book.

“Is something the matter Kakashi?”

His question earned him a blank stare from his gray haired sensei.

“Eto, who are you?”

“N-not funny sensei.”

“Ne Sasuke-kun. Just because Sakura-chan annoys you doesn't mean you should ignore her and avoid her at all costs.”

“Keh, why shouldn't I? She's a burden and a nuisance.”

“Because if you do she'll bother me all day, and an injured man needs his rest.”

“Funny, you don't look injured.”

“I'm very good at covering my weaknesses; it's one of my endearing traits and skills.”

“Really? And what pray tell are your others?”

“My good looks, gray hair and my mad dance skills.”

“I'm sorry I asked.”

With a snap the gray haired Jounin closed his book as he turned to his prized pupil.

“Sasuke.”

The earlier conversation forgotten as the seriousness in his sensei's voice drew his full attention.

“Zabuza is still alive and I'm certain that the Hunter-nin is in league with him. As such I'll need you to be ready to face Zabuza's assistant while I take care of Zabuza himself. To help, I called for back up the day after we were attacked and they should be here within the day. I want you to work together with them to defeat him. No Sasuke you can't beat him on your own because he might even be evenly matched with me.”

Sasuke paled at the concept of having to fight someone like his sensei. He was by no means weak, but his sensei had utterly defeated him in their spars, and those had been fights where he didn't face any danger. Clenching his hands, Sasuke stared out into the ocean as a boat began to appear, “Hai sensei. I'll work with them.”

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

“I won't work with them.”

“Sasuke.”

“No.”

“Sasuke-kun!”

The dark haired Uchiha walked out of the house ignoring the sounds of his name coming from his sensei and teammate. Sighing the scarecrow-like Jounin rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he gave a slight bow to the temporary sensei of Team Eight.

“Gomen Katsuragi-san. Sasuke-kun isn't exactly, social?”

The fair-haired woman shook her head as she returned the bow. “Its perfectly alright Hatake-sempai. I didn't expect much co-operation between the teams due to the… incident.” Hatake narrowed his eye, “Yes, I'd forgotten about how some of the members of this team were involved in the background.”

The Hyuuga heiress quietly listened to the exchange between the two adults. 'What are they talking about? I've never been involved with Uchiha Sasuke; not since the Academy.'

“…ruto-kun! Ie! Otou-san they can't! He didn't do anything! They can't kill him!”

She stumbled backwards as the sudden memory invaded her consciousness. 'N-nani?'

“Hinata you must control yourself! Your behavior is very unbecoming of an heiress!”

“IE!! OTOU-SAN!! I DON'T CARE!! HE'S GOING TO BE KILLED!!”

“Hinata! Restrain her!”

Hinata collapsed to her knees as she brought her hands to her head, a small whimper escaping her lips as tears began to form in the corners of her eyes.

“No…”

“…RUTO-KUN!!”

“No… No…”

“Hinata-san are you alright?”

“RESTRAIN HER NOW!!”

“NO!! LET ME GO!! ...ARUTO-KUN!!”

“No, no, no… I-it h-hurts…”

“Hinata-sama!”

“Hinata-chan!”

“Hina!”

“Forgive me Hinata. Ninpou: OmoideFuuin (Ninja Art: Memory Seal)”

“IIIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!!”

The shrill scream that shot from the pale girl's lips sent chills of fright down the spines of all those present. Slowly the blue haired heiress' eyes began to focus as she observed her surroundings.

The slamming of the door as it was forced opened caused all except the dazed heiress to jump. There slightly winded, with a worried expression stood Uchiha Sasuke.

“What happened?! I heard a scream and…”

He never got to finish as a feral scream escaped the pale girl's lips as she charged the Uchiha. Shocked and caught off guard no one could react as the Hyuuga heiress's fist connected with the Uchiha's face with a sickening crunch that sent him reeling. Before she could follow up on her attack however she found herself being restrained by the gray haired Jounin as everyone else rushed forward to either help the fallen Uchiha or help calm the Hyuuga girl.

“LET ME GO!! LET ME GO GOD DAMN YOU!! I'LL KILL HIM!! I'LL KILL THE FUCKING UCHIHA IF IT'S THE LAST THING I FUCKING DO!! LET ME GO!! LET ME GOOO!!!”

All that everyone could do was stare at the enraged young girl. Those who knew her were frightened and beyond shocked at what they were seeing while those who didn't were even more shocked due to the fact that what little they knew of the young heiress didn't match what they were seeing.

“Hinata! Calm down!”

“NO I'LL KILL HIM!! LET ME GO!! HE KILLED HIM!! IT'S ALL HIS FAULT!!”

“HINATA STOP!”

As if a spell had been broken the girl suddenly stopped fighting against the hold as she began to sob. Releasing her, Kakashi watched sadly as the young girl crumpled upon contact with the ground and continued to sob uncontrollably. Everyone could only watch as the once proud and strong girl lay broken pathetically on the ground, sobbing for the death of someone who was unknown to them. Slowly the chestnut haired woman approached the sobbing girl.

“Hinata-sama. Who did Sasuke-san kill?”

She remembered now.

“Hinata?”

“My name is…”

His blond hair, and his crystalline azure eyes.

“Hinata-sama?”

“It was him… all because he beat us…”

A chill went down Yume's spine. 'No, it couldn't be. He told me she was sealed.'

“My name is…”

“Who Hinata-sama? You have to tell me.”

His full-blown grin, with all its mischievousness and his whisker like cheek markings.

She knew now. She'd nearly run away from her home to try and help him. She'd been terrified. They couldn't do that to him, not to the kind boy with the smile made her heart flutter.

“Hinata-sama! Answer me!”

Not the same boy whose courage and determination made her not want to give up. His belief and faith made her believe in him despite whatever odds were against him.

“It was him. The boy with the blond hair…”

Yume gasped. Kakashi's one visible eye grew in shock.

“…his azure eyes, wide grin…”

Hinata looked up as her eyes focused on Uchiha Sasuke's figure, “…and his whisker like marks on both cheeks.”

“My name is…”

“His name was…”

“My name is…”

“Uzumaki Naruto.”

Kuroi-Yasha: Well, that's chapter three. Sorry for the wait, but I've been kinda busy. I'd like to thank my beta YashaReader for making this chapter smooth. I'd also like to thank all those that reviewed. Next chapter will be up in about month.

Thanks to:

YashaReader (MM)

NiebieskiLis (FF)

Kyuubi123 (FF)

WolfLord04 (FF)

Josh (AFF)

Perpetual159 (AFF)