Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Lacking Sight ❯ Loathing (Part Two) ( Chapter 13 )

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

The second garden of the Hyuuga compound, bathed in evening twilight, was tranquil, secure, and beautiful. The small waterwheel turned and turned again, generating its repetitive wooden clunk accompanied by the low, continuous splash of water. Put together with the symphonic ringing of the wind chimes in the summer breeze, the ambiance was very calming. Orange light from the setting sun illuminated the clouds on the horizon, reflecting off of the greenery and completing the peaceful serenity of the place.
Nearer to the village, however, hovering over the shops and the houses and the government buildings remained the ominous black clouds that had been there since the day had dawned. They still had not released a single drop of precipitation. It seemed as though they might be waiting for some unheard signal from a distant god or demon, whose plans of mayhem–or divine justice, depending on the nature of the deity–did not yet call for the storm to strike. These dark were, with one other exception, the only thing that disturbed the peace of the evening.
The other exception sat contemplatively on at one end of the garden, from which one could look upon the whole of the tranquil scene with a solid, protective wall of hedge behind him, shielding him from the world, locking him in the moment. But he did not look over the garden; he looked within himself. Though the hedges could keep him safe from the cares of the outside world, there was no escape from the baggage that rode on his person, fixed firmly in his mind.
He thought of his old friend's return, about how her fellows had been so volatile to her, and what this all symbolized. Was it an omen, a reflection of bigger, more terrible events yet to transpire? Would there be retribution upon Haruka for her father's mistake, or could it be revenge against the Branch for their mistreatment of Haruka?
“Haruka,” he said softly, “You had nothing to do with your father's cowardly retreat or the slaughter that followed. But I can do nothing to stopper the anger of the Branch. They...”
“Are beyond your control?” suggested a voice above and behind him. “Too steeped in their fury to be held in thrall by a command? Could it be, Hyuuga Hiashi, that you are not as much the head of your clan as you once believed you were?”
Hiashi did not need to look to know who the speaker was. “So,” he said calmly, “You've returned with her, have you? Then the rumors were truth.”
Keisuke climbed down the hedge, being careful not to lose his hold and crash into some unseen piece of garden art on the ground below. When he had touched down, he ambled around clumsily, looking for something to rest upon. Finding a rock by the pond near Hiashi, he plopped down upon it with a relieved sigh. Hiashi noted that the blind man was moving rather less easily than the last time they had met, but chose not to make a comment.
Keisuke, firmly situated, answered, “Rumors? If you'd known I was on my way, Hiashi, then I would have expected you to do something about it. Especially after the flashy pursuit force you sent last time...”
“I prefer not to act on unconfirmed rumors,” Hiashi said, still not looking at him. This was honest truth; if he had believed half of the rumors that he had heard, then he would have been forced to disown Hinata several times over by now.
Keisuke shrugged. “Will you do anything now? It's the perfect chance; I am even more blind than normal and without my primary defense.”
Hiashi considered for a moment, then said, “No. Not until I can guess your real motives. I had thought that you sought our destruction before, yet you fled and did not return... until now.”
The Hyuuga head turned to face his visitor. “This time you come alone, and in weakness...yet your clumsy movements mask a sense of confidence that you did not have when you met me the first time. Perhaps you had no ill intentions before, but your aura... You are plotting something...”
He paused as Keisuke gave him a toothy smile, and Hiashi thought he caught a low chuckle.
He came to another realization. “You come to me unconcerned in your weakened state because you believe that you have already won.”
The smile on Keisuke's mouth was bordering on satanic as Hiashi said this. “Not quite,” said the blind man. “But you're right... I am very confident. It's already begun...”
“What has?” Hiashi demanded, rising to his feet.
“When Haruka joined us,” Keisuke said, seeming to ignore Hiashi's question, “She explained that you had thought me some imitation, a hooligan masquerading as your ancient ancestor, Keisuke of the Grave, trying to provoke superstition. When she found us and wrote you about the Rokujuuyon Reiude, your theory became far more advanced.”
Hiashi stared in surprise. “So, Haruka was in league with you, after all.”
“Yes,” Keisuke replied. “She has explained that you feared me, not for the Reiude itself–although it is a potent counter to the tenketsu manipulation that your clan employs–but because the last person who possessed that ability tried to, and nearly did, incite a revolution within your ranks. You know the man of which I speak... he would have married your elder sister, if she had not been butchered by the Rotting Blood.”
Hiashi stood stock-still, old memory flashing in his eyes. Keisuke was correct... the man who had walked, tortured and ragged and bleeding, into Konoha with Hiashi's older sister in his arms had possessed the Rokujuuyon Reiude, though at that point he had barely discovered the most basic of its uses. And he had been about to marry Hiashi's sister, against the wishes of all the elders and leaders in the clan, who had tried endless measures to stop him. Had she lived, the man would have been in a position to influence the clan...
Hiashi didn't want to remember. The sad day fixed itself firmly in his mind, however, and he grew pale, his silver-white eyes reflecting inner turmoil. And still Keisuke spoke...
“You believed that I was the offspring of this man, come in the semblance of your long-dead ancestor to finish the work that his father began... thus undoing the work that Keisuke's runaway son–your Clan's founder–completed. It was a good theory, I will admit.”
Hiashi found his voice, sped forward, and grabbed the blind man by the shirt, lifted him up off the rock. “So, you are his unacknowledged son... and you plan to use Haruka to...”
He stopped, suddenly finding himself the subject of a blind gaze that he would have expected after kicking Keisuke's dog. “I would sooner become your willing slave than become one with that woman... besides, Haruka is no safer here than I am, so I wouldn't have any influence from that. As to being the son of your late sister's fiancée...”
The gaze turned into one of regret. “There have been many times when I've wished it were, but my father was not Uzumaki . Unlikely as it seems, I am the true Keisuke of the Grave.”
“You lie,” Hiashi said, the turmoil cresting within. “The father of the first Hyuuga is a frozen corpse, entombed in the farthest corner of the world. I know... My brother, Hizashi, found the sealed tomb, and we ourselves removed it from beneath this estate and brought it there!”
Keisuke chuckled, despite being manhandled by his distant descendant. “So even then, when I was still a human Popsicle, you feared me... You say that it is not possible for me to be alive, yet you removed me from here because you thought that it just might be true!”
Hiashi shook his head. This man was infuriating him. He'd have to deal with him before he lost control and did something drastic...
“But you don't have to fear me any more, Hiashi. There's no way that I, skilled as I am with the Reiude, can change your barbaric Clan system by myself. I am not an Uzumaki, who carries both the power and the opportunity to get inside your house and alter it from within. That honor has been granted to another... and I, as well as Haruka, will see that he gives you another reason to be afraid. And it seems as though your out-of-control Branch house might help us, too.”
Hiashi was about to deliver his Jyuuken to the man's heart, when Keisuke puffed into smoke in his hands. Deceived, he thought. He did not return to his rock, but stood at that spot for several minutes, contemplating what it was that he had just heard.
Is it truly possible? He asked no one. Even though Hizashi and I moved his tomb where nobody should have been able to follow... Has Haka no Keisuke really returned? Is Haruka, in fact, his ally against the clan?
“Hiashi-sama,” came the call of an attendant, “A message from your friend, Haruka...”
Hiashi accepted the letter from him and tore it open immediately.
Hiashi,
I am sorry. I know that you would have helped me if you could have. But the Branch members have shown that they will not relent, thus explaining why you cannot help... and also why I must side with Keisuke and with Naruto.
Knowing my father's mistake, and how–through the House system–it cost our Clan dearly, I cannot rest until I have redeemed him... and through redeeming him, redeemed myself. I want to tear down the walls and heal the rift between the two Houses, in the hope that my father's guilt will be forgotten amid my success and the new Hyuuga unity. I want to live peacefully amidst my Clansfolk again, and I know that Keisuke's plan can make it happen.
This is not merely a notice of my defection... it is also a plea for your understanding and, hopefully, your help. I know that you take your responsibility to protect the Hyuuga secrets seriously. I know that there is much pressure upon you from the elder Hyuuga already because of the acceptance of a “weak girl” as your heir, and that to push your luck by helping us will risk all that you have obtained in your leadership... But is it worth putting a curse upon our own brethren, forcing them to take hits for our leaders? Is it worth having more than half of us live in fear, afraid to speak against the system for fear of instant death through the seals on their foreheads, afraid of being chosen as a martyr for the Byakugan? Is it worth making people like myself and Neji doubt the worth of our own fathers?
Keisuke will force you to take a side soon. I ask you to consider before you take the wrong one.
Hiashi crumpled the letter and thrust it roughly back into the attendant's hands. “I apologize, Haruka,” he said. “I chose my side when I accepted the leadership of this Clan.”
Then he looked toward the pond, searching within the waters and the waning sunlight reflected upon it for some glimpse of the future, of what was to become of the fragile stability that the Hyuuga painstakingly maintained.
Hinata... he thought. They plan to use her against me, against the Clan system. And they will use Uzumaki Naruto to do it. That demon child... so at least some of the rumors I have heard about them are true...
He grimaced, thinking of what might result from the chaos ahead. He had only recently accepted Hinata as his daughter; he did not want to lose her so soon afterward, especially not to the unstable container of Kyuubi. A jinchuuriki under the manipulative guidance of the Great Father of the first Hyuuga...
No, he reassured himself, it cannot be possible. The Great Father is most assuredly dead, and Hinata knows better than to court a young man without my permission. Haruka must have been brainwashed, hypnotized, or coerced in some way... I will find out what it is.
For the first time since they had settled over the village, lightning thundered within the black clouds above.
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“Na-Naruto-kun!”
Hinata's breath caught in her chest, and the heat rose unbidden to her head. Fortunately, her door was closed and locked; it would not do to have anybody walk into her chamber and see the suspicious red face or the photo that had caused it.
The photo in question–along with the several others that had been in the envelope–now lay before her on her bed, illuminated by the soft lamplight. It depicted Naruto in all his shinobi glory... and in very little else. Most of the others were similar images, though taken in different places.
Naruto with his shirt torn to shreds, unleashing the Rasengan upon an off-guard foe in an arena challenge... Naruto in a contest of strength, heaving a heavy barrel on his back and running to the finish line dressed only in boxer shorts decorated with blue sky and orange suns... Naruto meditating with Keisuke in a waterfall, covering himself with only his nine shining chakra “tails...” Naruto passed out in a dumpster, naked, with a ramen bowl over his delicates.
Where this last one had come from, Hinata didn't think she wanted to ask, but other than that, the pictures were masterfully and tastefully taken. Haruka's words came back to her...
“If you're going to pass up the chance, I suppose I can at least offer you some consolation...”
As if this would help anyone forget a crush! These pictures were like an advertisement! Holding in her trembling hand the well-defined abdomen, the hard and muscular thighs, the compact yet powerful biceps, and the tanned skin bearing the occasional battle-scar, which was worn proudly like a badge of honor, Hinata knew she was going to be having very wild dreams tonight... wild and explicit.
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Hyuuga Hanabi's thoughts and feelings about her older sister had never been stable. Rather, they were dynamic, changing with time as Hinata did. When Hanabi first learned to think as a sentient human being, she looked up to Hinata, who was a kind and soft-spoken, likable person. In those early days, the two sisters had shared a powerful, loving family bond. When their father began to express his disappointment at his older daughter's “weakness” and begun focusing more on Hanabi's training, the youngest Hyuuga had watched her sister retreat into her own sad world, and had mixed feelings. Part of her pitied her beloved older sibling, wanted to reach out to her, help her out of the darkness. The other part of her felt elated at her superior ability, at how she was the one that father always paid attention to now. It was this latter part that took precedence in this era, as Hiashi had awarded her little time away from her training; he seemed to be trying to correct his mistakes with his new apprentice.
Now that Hinata was in the spotlight again, and steadily improving on her way to the seat of power, Hanabi felt pressure to keep up. But also, she had noticed the change in her sister's attitude, the new positive, progressive drive that she had obtained. This drive brought Hinata into the height of her ability... and made Hanabi both jealous of and happy for her. They still rarely spoke to each other–both of them had extremely tight training schedules and missions still–and addressed each other stiffly and formally when they did meet, but no longer did Hinata cringe in fear and sadness in her presence, nor did Hanabi draw herself up haughtily and look upon her with pity when she passed. In short, their relationship was one of neutrality and understanding, thought with little actual contact.
But each one cared enough for the other to know when something was amiss. Thus Hanabi, as generally the earliest riser in the house, knew that not all was in line when she heard Hinata hurriedly packing her gear within her room. Normally, her elder sister would have just finished her morning exercises with their cousin, Neji, and gone to breakfast. Yet today she had not.
Probably a mission, Hanabi thought. Something, however, did not seem to be right, and Hanabi just couldn't put a finger on what it was. She pondered a moment, then decided that it had been a while since they had spoken anyway, and opened the door.
Hanabi noticed with interest that Hinata, surprised at her unannounced entrance, looked around like a frightened deer and hurriedly closed her bedside drawer. Then, seeing that it was only her sister, she relaxed and turned to greet her.
“Ohayo Gozimasu, Hanabi-nee-san.”
“Ohayo, Oneesan,” returned Hanabi. “You'll be leaving on a mission today?”
“Ah... no. Not exactly. It is more like a... a favor that I am doing, for a very good friend,” Hinata said.
Hanabi considered, then decided it was believable. Hinata was popular these days, and had many friends in the village, not all of whom were shinobi, and Hinata was the type of kind person who would lend a hand to less able villagers if she was asked. Hanabi herself had never seen Hinata gear herself up for such a favor, but then Hanabi rarely saw her in any circumstance, so perhaps this was a more regular occurrence than she surmised. Hanabi warmed inwardly; she always had admired her sister's capacity for kindness, which had persisted even in the days when Hinata was in more need of help than any of the people she gave it to.
“I see,” she said, then turned away. “Well, I don't want to be in your way, Oneesan, and I have my own schedule to follow... so, I will take my leave.”
Hinata raised herself up, secured her pack to her shoulders, and moved for the door herself. She smiled cheerily at Hanabi, bid her good day and good luck, and left. Hanabi began moving off to the yard for her first solitary practice session.
Then she had a thought: What was Oneesan hiding in that drawer? If it was something to do with this “favor,” wouldn't she have taken it with her? Curious, Hanabi retraced her steps and re-entered her older sister's room, crossed the floor to the other side of her bed, and opened the drawer. Squinting to see the contents in the dim light, she turned on the bedside lamp...
And almost had her jaw hit the floor. She lifted the photographs from the drawer and flipped through them, astonished. Looking at each one, her face steadily became more colorful. Oneesan! She was keeping this from us for how long! She stood in place for a long time, looking at the pictures over and over, cogs spinning rapidly in her brain, trying to understand.
“Oneesan...” she breathed. Then the cogs hit a snag and she wondered aloud, “Does Father know?”
A deep voice behind her asked, “Do I know what, Hanabi?”
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“YOU'RE LAAAATE!”
“Yeah, well... I had to spend the morning convincing Gai that he was a shinobi again,” explained Kakashi. It wasn't far from the truth; Gai had, apparently, taken quite a liking to his “dynamic” alter ego–the civilian who had been rescued by Keisuke–and Kakashi had spent his morning trying to evade him so that he could go and buy Jiraiya's latest novel in peace before coming to the meeting spot.
“Liar!” yelled Sakura.
“What a load of crap!” Naruto exclaimed. “Just because Ero-Sennin has time to write again doesn't mean you have an excuse make us wait two hours! What if Sas... that bastard's already packed up and left? What would you say then, huh?”
Kakashi looked upon his two former students with a great smile on his masked face. It was the closest they had been to the good old days in almost three years; Naruto and Sakura berating him for tardiness, united in the first show of teamwork in old team seven in ages, and the third member of the group regarding the exchange silently, without getting involved. Granted, Hinata didn't perfectly fill the role of the quiet, brooding, superiority-complexing Uchiha, but she was most definitely better than nothing... and both Naruto and Sakura got along very well with her, which would certainly not be bad for their teamwork in this unofficial mission.
“Now remember, we don't even know if he's there, or even if he ever was... so said your tragic double,” reminded the Jounin. “All we are doing is going in, finding out what we can, and getting out... we want to avoid combat if at all possible. I have a map of the facility from ANBU records; this should be a quick and clean operation, if we don't run into any snags.”
“Hmph,” grunted Naruto, folding his arms and looking sternly at him. “Still not an excuse for wasting our time.”
Kakashi, too happy to have his team back to be exasperated, motioned for them to follow him, then took off running into the forest.
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“It's dark,” said Sakura, stepping down into the dank corridor from the hidden entrance. “Should we light our gas torches?”
“Sakura, that might be risky if anyone's home,” said Naruto. “If he is here, I don't want the bastard to know we're coming until we're on top of him, ready to bash his face in.”
“That's probably right,” she replied, impressed that Naruto was actually considering stealth as his first option rather than opting to charge in with all guns blazing, then hiding only when at a clear disadvantage. “But even with the map, it will be difficult to find anything if we can't see.”
“Ano... I might be able to help,” said Hinata. Practice had improved her mastery of the Byakugan to the point where she could see fairly well even in the very faintest of light. Except in a sealed room with no light at all, Hinata was never blinded. The light from the entrance would be sufficient for a long ways into the dungeon. She focused her chakra and snapped on her doujutsu. “Byakugan.”
“Oh, you can see even when it's this dark, Hinata?” said Naruto. “Amazing!” Luckily, it was too dark for Naruto to see, or he might have worried that she was growing ill because of her near-luminous red face.
“Ah, I see,” said Sakura, “So you can help Kakashi-sensei navigate this place for us, huh, Hinata-chan?”
“A good thing, since it would be bad for me to try to use my Sharingan and waste my chakra,” remarked Kakashi. “Well, you lead the way then, Hinata.”
“Hai, I will.” Pleased to be of such help to her two friends, Hinata took the map and began leading them on, silently as possible, to the heart of the once-abandoned lair. All of the members of the team moved without sound and, knowing the great importance of the mission, with a great tensity.
Their old comrade grew closer with each step they took.
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“It's empty,” Hinata said, breaking the long silence. They had reached the door to the main laboratory, and Hinata had peered as far through it as she could, checking for any sign of activity.
“Stay frosty,” said Kakashi. “It may not be entirely abandoned, and if it is, it may still be trapped.”
“I got it, Sensei,” said Naruto. He pushed on the heavy door, but it did not budge. He tried again, harder, still to no avail. He cocked his ear in Kakashi's direction. “Should I?”
Kakashi pondered, then asked, “Hinata, you're sure there's nothing alive in there?”
“Hai, Kakashi-sensei.”
He sighed. This would give away their cover, but they wouldn't learn anything otherwise. “Do it, Naruto.”
The swirling ball of chakra took form in Naruto's hand, filling the stone hallway with its flickering blue light. With a hard forward thrust, the blond brought its force to bear on the heavy door.
“Rasengan!”
Sakura, Kakashi, and Hinata took cover behind Naruto as the door was ground to pieces, sending stone chips flying everywhere. When the dust cleared, all was as quiet; no alarms sounded, no warning lights blared, no punji trap dropped from the ceiling to skewer them, and nothing exploded. It was as silent as a tomb.
“Well,” Kakashi said, “If there is anyone here, they'll know about us by now.”
Sakura lit a torch. “Well if that's the case, then we ought to look around quickly, before they get here.”
Hinata and Kakashi also lit their gas torches, and Naruto called forth his Nine Tails of Light, illuminating the chamber in soft blue. As he strode into the room, he put them before himself, waving them through the air, along the ground, the ceiling, and the walls, testing for traps everywhere he went. “Seems safe enough,” he said. The others followed, and they began to take stock of their surroundings.
The room was fairly small, certainly not a place to breed hundreds of Naruto clones. On the main table, however, there was the corpse of a pale-skinned young man with dark hair–the spitting image of N-0234 as Naruto had last seen him. The body was strapped to the table and spread-eagled, an expression of agony on its face. Apparently, the clone had died in a final test of the product's durability.
On the walls, there were many charts, bearing statistics for this sample or that, measuring results for changes in one variable or another, a single chart for every week of experimentation. They went back at least for twelve weeks.
“So, Sasuke had been plotting his clone assault for at least three months before it actually hit,” Kakashi mused. “I wonder what purpose it had...”
“Other than to cause chaos and confusion in the village?” Sakura asked. “I don't know. Maybe Orochimaru wanted to see how strong we truly are...”
“Or maybe,” Hinata put in, “In the confusion, they were trying to complete some other objective?”
“That makes a little sense,” said Naruto thoughtfully, “But I haven't gotten wind of anyone or anything important dead or missing... Oh! Maybe it was a diversion so that they could infiltrate our secret places, and just set up for their next move?”
Kakashi nodded. “A logical explanation, Naruto. There are many places in Konoha that one could hide, and not all of them are known to our people. Getting to some of these places–like clan compounds, concealed basements in shops, et cetera–while the shinobi patrols are unhindered might indeed be difficult for more than one person. Perhaps whatever scheme is in the making requires that multiple agents be in place in multiple positions...”
“Wow... you figured that out on your own, Naruto?” Sakura asked. The new Naruto was making a better and better impression on her.
“Hehe. I didn't hang around such smart people like Keisuke-nii-san and Haruka-nee-chan for two years without profit, you know.” Naruto beamed at her. Then, for no conscious reason, he turned and beamed at Hinata.
“Ah,” she said, seeing the almost-expectant look on his face, “Yes, it was very clever of you, Naruto-kun...” For some reason, Naruto felt very satisfied at that comment. He'd felt satisfied at having Sakura's acknowledgment, but this seemed to boost his ego even more.
“At any rate,” Kakashi continued, “It doesn't look like Sasuke is here. Probably he or one of his officers used to be, coordinating the attack. But it seems abandoned now... they have no more use for the Naruto clones.”
Naruto hung his head. “Damn it,” he said. “I thought for sure we'd find some clue to where he's hiding...”
“Don't give up, Naruto,” said Sakura, “There's got to be some evidence somewhere. We're just looking in the wrong place.” Her face was set in grave determination. She had waited long enough, and this, at least, was some progress.
“That's right, Naruto-kun,” said Hinata encouragingly, “I'm sure there are plenty of clues in the village, hiding under our noses. I... I can help you find them!”
Naruto's head perked back up, looking less pained. “Yeah, I guess so. Thanks, Sakura. Thank you, Hinata.”
“I'll stay here, do a little more sniffing around,” Kakashi said. “Kuchiyose no Jutsu!” A pack of nin-dogs materialized in the dark room, and their noses twitched, already picking up the strange and unfamiliar scents in the air. “You guys head back up to the surface. There isn't much left you can do here.”
Naruto's face betrayed one last pang of frustration, then settled into its usual confident, determined expression. “All right, Kakashi-sensei. Let us know if you find anything weird.”
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Outside the entrance to the facility, the three teenage shinobi discussed their next move.
“If you're right, Naruto, then he could be anywhere in the village right now,” sighed Sakura. This meant a lot of searching to do, more searching than they could accomplish in a day without arousing suspicion.
“It's all right. We'll definitely find him. I can get Keisuke and Haruka to lend us their help, and maybe Ero-Sennin if he's still in town. Plus, we have Hinata's help; that'll speed up the searching a lot.”
“Naruto-kun,” said Hinata, proud that she could be so useful to them, “I'll do everything I can. My best effort!”
Naruto gave her his trademark fox-like grin, saying, “I know, Hinata. We all will, for that dumb bastard's sake.”
“For now,” Sakura suggested, “We should split up and look casually around different areas in the village. It would be too suspicious if we all walked around together with our eyes peeled wide.”
“Yes,” put in Hinata, “That is probably a good idea...” She stopped when she saw the gleam in Sakura's eye. She knew what was coming; she could recognize that sadistic look anywhere.
“Then, Hinata,” said Sakura in a voice that was almost sickeningly sweet, “Why don't you take Naruto and go look in the center part of the village. You might meet up with Keisuke-san there, too, and give him the news.”
Hinata reacted predictably. Light blushing, deer-in-the-headlights eyes, hesitation to respond... It was a hesitation that invited interruption.
“Unfortunately,” said a voice from behind them, “Hinata-sama must decline, as she will be coming with us.”
The voice belonged to a Hyuuga Branch member, one of three who had silently appeared at their backs. He regarded them with a straight face, critical silver eyes, and an authoritative posture. His voice had a commanding timbre, and the regal-looking robes that he wore enhanced the image of authority.
Naruto, having never been one to heed authority just because the possessor wore fancy clothes, replied in his standard manner: With a question. “Eh? Why not?”
The Branch House Captain shifted his gaze to the Kyuubi's jailer, and that gaze turned cold. He looked at Naruto with a glare that said, Get out of the way, little fox devil. Naruto recognized the look and glared back with eyes that read, Make me, big talker. You don't scare me!
The Captain answered in a tone equally calm as before, “Hinata-sama has urgent business to attend to at home. Hiashi-sama's orders.”
Hinata stepped forward. “Thank you, Captain Hiroto. Please tell my father that I will return shortly.”
“I'm afraid, Hinata-sama, that is not possible,” replied the Captain sternly. “Hiashi-sama sent us with orders to return with you at once, and to accept no other response than total cooperation.”
“Oh,” Hinata said simply. Then she asked, “Why?”
“We will leave now, Hinata-sama,” said Captain Hiroto, ignoring the question. He clasped Hinata's arm and lurched forward. Hinata gave a small yelp and struggled in his grip.
“Hey!” Naruto shouted, causing him to turn to him again. “Is that any way to treat your future leader? I don't think so!”
Seeing the menacing glare in Hiroto's eyes, Sakura nudged her teammate. “Hey, Naruto, don't you think it would be safer not to bother with those Hyuuga? They look like they mean business...”
“So what?” Naruto retorted angrily, “They waltz in, all high-and-mighty, boss around their next ruler, and just yank her off like that without telling her why? Sorry, but that doesn't fly with me. They don't respect their own superiors, so why should I respect them?”
Hinata's face was pale with fear. They were Branch Housers, but Hiroto's team was the best among them; Hiashi's elite guard, each one the equal of any three Jounin-level ninja in the village. Only the ANBU were tougher, and Hiroto was on par with them.
“Naruto-kun,” she said, “It's all right, really...”
“No, it's not! It's obvious you don't want to go with them, at least not without being told why! You have a right to know why you're being called off, and the right to get there on your own two feet rather than being dragged around like a rag doll!” Naruto spat on the ground, a show of open defiance against the Branch Captain.
A long, tense moment passed where the two stared each other down, Naruto's iron will clashing with the cold confidence and power of Hiroto. Finally, the Captain half-flung Hinata back toward her friends. “Are you satisfied now, young devil?”
“Hell no,” said Naruto. “Now you need to apologize for mistreating your superior.”
“She is not my commander yet, boy.” Hiroto's gaze was cold steel piercing into Naruto's heart.
“Doesn't matter,” replied Naruto, “Even if she isn't she's still human; nobody deserves to be handled like that.”
Hinata flushed, both in admiration for the blond shinobi and out of fear for his life. Hiroto's patience only went so far, and she had seen him severely injure Jounin-level shinobi, nearly to the point of death, when he was angered.
“Naruto-kun...”
“Naruto...”
&# 8220;Sakura, Hinata, you leave this jerk to me. Nobody's going to treat my friend like that and go unpunished. Not while I'm alive.”
Hiroto stood silent for a few seconds, then motioned for his subordinates to back down. They did so, hesitantly. One of them looked at him nervously.
“Captain?”
“Stay back,” he replied. “I don't need your corpse piled on top of the brat's here by accident.” He slid easily into his Jyuuken stance, facing Naruto with hate in his eyes. “You will have your wish, boy. Defend yourself... if you can.”
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO End Chapter Twelve OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO