Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Mokushita Hyuuga ❯ Chapter 12
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Moghedian 
Disclaimer: Naruto and all related characters belong to Kishimoto, not me.
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 11.13.2006 | Updated On: 02.11.2007 | Pages: 4 | Words: 4.9K | Visits: 746 | Status: Work In Progress
Disclaimer: Naruto and all related characters belong to Kishimoto, not me.
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 11.13.2006 | Updated On: 02.11.2007 | Pages: 4 | Words: 4.9K | Visits: 746 | Status: Work In Progress
Chapter 12
"What's this about my dear Hinata?" A deep voice broke the moment. Hanabi's breath caught in her throat, but she coughed to cover it up. Hinata's outstretched hand shot back to her lap as she stared at the newcomer.
The man, he was tall, and stood straight and proper. His pale eyes held both sadness and weariness. The man put his hand on Hanabi's shoulder and squeezed it slightly. Hanabi stopped her sobbing and grimly smiled up at him.
Hinata's mind was blank as she watched this...this man, the one she used to call 'father' touch her little sister with kindness and loving care. As the world started moving again, Hinata's mind nearly audibly snapped. Her fists were tangled on the ends of her jacket, and her knuckles started to creak under the extreme pressure.
"Kasumi-san? Are you ok?" A voice asked. Hinata's body visably deflated. Looking up, Hinata looked her sister right into her pale eyes and said,
"I'm sorry, I was just thinking of all the injustice that Naruto-san must have endured. It was wrenching my heart. But I am afraid I must leave. I just remember that I had...something to do. Thank you for your hospitality, Hanabi-sama." Hinata stood up, and gave her sister a shaky bow.
Sliding open the door to the yard, Hinata had to restrain herself from running.
Back at the Hyuuga household, Hiashi had taken Hinata's place and Hanabi had poured him his own cup of tea.
"That girl...who is she, daughter?" He said.
"Kasumi. She never gave me her family name, but I never asked. I invited her to tea because she passes the manor often on her way to her job." Hanabi said. 'Kasumi's' actions were troubling. She wasn't quite sure, but Hanabi thought she felt a tightly reigned killing intent as soon as her father walked into the room.
"I wonder if I did anything to offend the girl...my, I would like to invite her to tea again. She looks awfully like Hinata." Hiashi said, trailing off into his own little world. Hanabi sighed. Hiashi was sick with something, she was sure, but the doctors just said that it was old age and stress. After all, he had watched his daughter kill her lover, lost her to his trusted nephew, and then was removed as the clan leader later that same week.
Hanabi thought back to that time of chaos, and had to fight another sobbing fit.
Hinata slowly dragged her feet along the ground, not knowing or caring where she ended up. She was too deep in her thoughts. It wasn't untill she tripped on a loose stone that she snapped out of her thoughts.
Looking up, as she was face down on the ground, Hinata saw that she had walked to the cenograph. Clambering to her feet, she stumbled the few feet that separated her from the actual stone. Sitting down beside it, Hinata ran her fingers over Naruto's name, and then her own.
"Why...? Why did you have to leave me? It's...It's not fair!" almost yelling the last part, Hinata looked around to make sure that no one was around, before focusing back on the cenograph.
Hinata stared the stone for a long time before her legs started to protest from lack of movement. With a dejected sigh, Hinata sat down with her back to the stone and shook her legs out. Wincing when it resulted in a major case of pins and needles.
Shivering slightly, Hinata wished that she had brought her thicker jacket. The one she was wearing was very thin, and practically useless for a November night. Wrapping her arms around herself, and fighting a yawn, she mentally decided to stay a few minutes longer before leaving to her small and warm apartment.
Hinata stretched her arm out and looked up at the sky. The first pink streaks of the sun were starting to show, and the early birds were chirping.
Wait, sun? Hinata blinked and looked around. She must have fallen asleep.
"Hinata-chan?" a voice said, coming from the path she had come from earlier. Hinata snapped her head up and saw that a man in a jounin outfit with grey hair and a mask covering his face.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata said, eyeing his orange book. Kakashi put his book away and walked up to Hinata, and offered her a hand. Hinata took it and Kakashi hoisted her up.
"Isn't it a little cold out to be spending the night at the cenograph?" He said, his only visable brow lifting in suspicion. Hinata blushed slightly and turned to the cenograph.
"I..er..." Hinata started, surprising herself by stuttering. Kakashi made a movement that gestured her to finish and Hinata sighed.
"I had tea with Hanabi yesturday. Mistake. That man walked in." Hinata said, her fisted hands tightened even more.
"You're Otou-sama?" Kakashi confirmed. Hinata nodded. "Ah." He said, after a moment.
Kakashi and Hinata stood together staring at the memorial stone for a while before Hinata broke the silence.
"What time is it?" She said, rubbing her arms. Kakashi looked at the sun breifly and said,
"After 6, before 7. Maybe around 6:30." Hinata nodded in response.
Hinata sensed the hesitation in Kakashi a few seconds before he spoke again.
"I take it you are here to be comforted by Naruto's spirit." Hinata nodded and sniffled quietly.
"A-ano...Kakashi-sensei, who are you here for? And don't you have a genin team to test?" Hinata said, glad that the subject changed off of Naruto.
"Mmm. My teammates, Obito and Rin-chan. I visit them everymorning. It's a secret, so don't tell anyone, but that's why I am late all the time. I'm usually here, getting lost on the road of life." Hinata nodded, glad to be a confidante.
"Hinata-chan, would you like to watch the bell test? No doubt Naruto told you all about it, but I thought you might be intrested in how your son is faring." Hinata grinned.
"I'de love to. What are the chances of them failing?" she said, still facing the cenograph.
"Ha, not very high. It seemed yesturday that all three were already friends, or fast on the way of becoming." Kakashi's eye looked up towards the sky again, before saying,
"Well I suppose we've kept them waiting long enough."
"Uggh, where is Kakashi-sensei? He's 2 hours late!" Sasami complained. Kouden joined in her rantings and preachings while Shiro just sat on the railing smirking. He was the only one who didn't jump ten feet into the air when Kakashi appeared in front of them in a swirl of smoke and leaves.
"YOU'RE LATE!" Both Sasami and Kouden screamed at the same time.
"Heheh, sorry, got lost on the road to life." Kakashi said, scratching the back of his head.
"Liar!" Sasami said, almost shouting. Kouden grunted. His green eyes widened when he saw the figure behind Kakashi.
"Kasumi-nechan? What are you doing here?" He said, while Hinata was coughing from the overuse of smoke bombs.
"Ah, I'm-cough- supervising Kakashi-san today." Hinata said, delighted at the lie that came off the top of her head.
"Supervising? What did Kakashi-sensei do?" Shiro said, Hinata directed her gaze on the older boy.
"Kakashi-san just quit ANBU for the second time. I'm here to make sure that he's really doing what he said he was going to do. Don't mind me, I'll just be watching." A sinister smile and a cold gaze later, Shiro was shuddering and trying to hide behind Sasami without being too obvious.
Kouden made a humming noise before speaking again.
"So what, are you like ANBU yourself? I mean, who else would supervise Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata turned her gaze to her blonde son. The corner of her mouth twitching.
"Yea...something like that. Anyway, just go and pass the test." Hinata said, gesturing them all to go away, as she used to chakra to leap on top of the pole she had been leaning against. Crossing her legs, she propped her head up on her hands.
Scratching the back of his head, Kakashi grinned under his mask and turned back to his new students.
"Good, now that that's out of the way, I'll explain the rules of this test. You have until noon to take these bells," Kakshi produced a pair of silver bells, "away from me. The one who doesnt get a bell, doesnt get a lunch." at them mention of food, Sasami and Shiro's stomachs both growled. Kouden just blinked. He followed Sakura's advice and stuffed his face at breakfast. Sasami narrowed her brown eyes at him.
"If you want a bell, you have to attack like you want to kill me, no holding back. Ok, when I say go..." Kakashi said, holding his arm out in front of him. Bringing it down, he gave the signal and his three students lept away into the bushes.
Thik, thik, thik-"Gah! Kasumi-chan stop throwing rocks at me or I'll chidori your ass, regardless of your status." Kakashi said, whirling around angrily at the black haired woman watching him from the pole. Hinata just giggled before sitting back and activating her byakugan. Not a second later, she had her eyes focused on her son.
"Gah, stupid branch, now I'm gonna have to get Tenten-ne-chan to sew it!" Kouden said, fingering a new hole in his orange hoodie. A rustle from behind him, made Kouden swivel around into a basic jyuuken stance.
Kouden sighed in releif as he saw that it was his pink haired friend. She had a sly look on her face as she made her way over to Kouden.
"Kouden, what are we gonna do? How do you suppose we can get those bells away from him?" She whispered. Kouden put his hand on his chin, and said,
"We need to find Shiro first. I have a plan."
"Too late. Found you first." a voice from behind Sasami said. Once again, stepping into jyuuken, he noted that Sasami stepped into her odd pressure point stance. Both children visably relaxed when their third teammate stepped into veiw.
"Kami-sama! Shiro-kun, don't scare us like that!" Sasami said.
"Ok, you guys, I paid a visit to Sakura-ne-chan yesturday, and when I told her that we had to do the test today, she told me, teamwork. She said even if we fail to get bells, if we work as a team, we pass. So lets just synchronize our moves, and take him on all at once." Kouden said, crouching to the ground, and sketched a rough stick figure of Kakashi in the dirt.
"Ha. I think you have another winning team here, Kakashi-sensei." Hinata said, releasing her chakra, Kakashi waited untill the last vein calmed down before bothering to speak.
"Mmm? Why do you say that?"
"All three of them are sitting together, planning on ambushing you as a team. I caught a bit of what Kouden said, by reading his lips, and it seems that Sakura-san told him something." Kakashi coughed and pulled out his orange book. Hinata rolled her eyes and flicked another pebble at Kakashi, and giggled at the sudden killer intent that rolled off the older man.
Ten minutes passed before Kouden gave the signal for his teammates to attack. A thick fog rolled in and covered the clearing that Kakashi was standing in. Kakashi just looked around and stuck his book in his pocket, sighing.
Kouden sat beside Shiro, who was finishing the long series of seals required to produce the fog, and watched as Sasami crept as low to the ground as she could, setting up a series of wire traps connected via kunai.
When Shiro finished, he let his hands drop to the ground, and started to pant slightly.
"You ok? That looked like it took alot of chakra." Kouden whispered. Shiro just raised his hand and said,
"Just give me a minute, and I'll be fine. I'm just glad it worked. I only started to get it right last week." Kouden nodded, and waited as Sasami placed the last few Kunai, and crept over to their hiding place.
"Traps are ready, are we?" She said, whispering so low, Kouden had to read her lips. He looked at Shiro, who nodded.
"Ok, form one. Shiro, you do the genjutsu, and Sasami, you poke his legs with what ever you do. I got his arms." Both genin nodded and jumped up out of his sight.
Meanwhile, Kakashi was waiting in the middled of the mist. His eye was half closed with boredom, and occasional annoyance as Hinata continued to flick pebbles at him. He heard her giggle everytime he let out killer intent, and had finally just gave up.
Crack! Kakashi perked up. That wasn't Hinata. The small noise came from his right, and Kakashi fell into a basic taijutsu stance as he saw moving in the mist. Cracking a grin, he nearly sighed at their attempt to sneak up on him.
"Yaaaww!" The figure said, bursting out of the mist. He had bright blonde hair, and green eyes that seemed paler than the day before.
"Way to be quiet, Kouden-kun." Kakashi said, but his grin slipped as he saw the still grinning blonde flick his fingers. Instantly, he was surrounded by at least 20 more blondes.
"Buunshin? Well, that will be easy to take care of." Kakashi said, as he rushed one. Slicing it with a kunai from his back pouch, the buunshin didn't even dodge.
But instead of the usual puff of smoke that accompanied killing these fakes, Kakashi found that his hand was stuck inside of it. The orange of his hoodie started to...leak, for lack of a better word, onto Kakashi, giving the appearance of it swallowing him.
Kakashi's frow burrowed as he ripped his arm free of the unusual buunshin, splattering orange on the ground and the front of his green flak vest. Spinning around to face the other advancing Kouden copies, he saw that they were all advancing on him, evil grins plastered across their faces.
Each one, as Kakashi soon found out, was stickier than the last, and Kakashi soon found himself fending three of them off, while trying to throw a 4th one off of his back. A 5th one, kicked his ankle out, and Kakashi was forced to his knee, when he felt a light poke on the back of his calf. And then another one on his left elbow. Frantically looking around, Kakashi saw that the only things there were the sticky buunshins, and they weren't near the poked places.
More poking ensued as a now struggling Kakashi whirled around. Raising his hands to his chest, he found that he had to struggle to get them up, and that his legs felt like jelly.
"Kai!" He yelled with more force that he intended. A plik sound later, and Kakashi felt the weak winter sun on his eyelids.
Opening them, he saw his three student infront of him. Shiro was on his knees, head down, and visably panting. Kouden was standing, barely, and Sasami was right beside him. Looking better than both her companions. But what made Kakashi open his eye as wide as it would go, was that in both Shiro and Sasami's hand, held a bell.
Looking at his waist, he patted it to make sure they were really gone. Looking back up, Sasami and Kouden sported a large grin.
Eeeeeeeeee! The buzzer for noon went off and Kouden promptly sat down.
"Wow." A voice said, from over Kakashi's shoulder. Turning back, Kakashi saw Hinata smirking, in her hand held a handful of pebbles, just wanting to be thrown at Kakashi.
All and All, my Kouden-kun ended up tied to log. He after all, didn't get a bell, but only after throwing a hissy fit, did Kakashi-sensei congradulate them on getting a bell. There were the only team to ever do so. Me and Kakashi watched from a nearby tree as Shiro and Sasami both tried to feed him, and then proceed to jump ten feet in the air when Kakashi-sensei rushed at them, just to tell them they all passed.
Heh heh, Sasami was so happy, she kissed Kouden right on the lips, and then nearly fainted as her face turned 8 shades of red. I fell out of the nearby tree laughing at my struggling son. Shiro ended up carrying her back to the town, as a still blushing Kouden followed.
Kakashi-sensei had a few select words with me about the pebbles, before he poofed away, and I just laughed as I walked home to get ready for work. Oh Naruto, you would be so proud of your son. I miss you so much. My heart is still as raw as the day you left, but I've decided that I have a few places to see, and a few things to do before I join you.
Love, Uzumaki Hinata.
Placing her almost full diary down, Hinata tapped the edge of her pencil against her lip, and looked at the clock. Hinata's eyes widened. It was ten to 5, she was going to be late for work!
"Wahh!" She said, throwing her jacket on, Hinata decided to risk roof jumping today, as it would take 20 minutes to run through the city.
After avoiding most people, Hinata arrived quietly in the alleyway beside the Barbeque place. Taking a few seconds to straighten her hair, Hinata walked into the restaurant and glanced at the clock. She was a minute late.
"Konban wa, Kasumi-san!" Her friend and co-worker called out.
"Ah! Kasumi-san! How are you?" Another voice called, this time from a table. It was Ino, but instead of being with her team, she was with Sakura. Slipping her apron over head behind the counter, Hinata replied,
"Ah! Ino-san, Sakura-san, I'm fine. How are you?" Grabbing a notebook she approached their table.
"Oh, I'm fine. And...can I get a plate of umm...Kami-sama, just make it a peice of cheesecake. Ugh, I hope I'm not pregnant again." Ino said, sliding her chin to the table. Hinata grinned and wrote her order down.
"And what would you like?" She said to Sakura. Sakura looked at Ino before saying,
"Uh...the same. But can you put a few pickles on the side? Oh! Kasumi-san! Has Ino blabbed yet? I'm expecting!" she said, patting her flat stomach. Hinata wrote down her order and said,
"Oh! My! Congradulations to both you and Uchiha-san." Hinata bowed slightly before dropping her paper off in the kitchen, and loading her arms full of other orders.
3 hours later found Sakura and Ino still talking at their table, ordering the occasional drink, non alcholic on Sakura's case, and Hinata was sitting at a table in the corner, taking a 5 minute break, sipping on a milkshake.
"Hmm...Sakura...did you ever notice something about Ka...Kasumi-san!" Ino said, slurring her words almost unnoticably. Sakura frowned and said,
"No...not really, I heard that she is close friends with Neji-san though." Ino sighed and stole another glance at Hinata, who was busy leafing through the dessert flier.
"You remember that girl we told Naruto's story to? The one that Sasuke scared away? Did we ever find her?" Sakura paused a second before answering.
"Uh...yea, I think. And no, I dont think we ever found her. Why?"
"She acted like Kasumi-san acts sometimes. Hmm...Hey, Sakura, should I try to get into Kasumi's mind?" Ino said, grinning evily on the table.
"Ino! That's an invasion of privacy! Don't do it!" Sakura said, her fist twitching.
"Oh? Oh! I can't hear you! What was that? Oh! Oh no! My hand is slipping into the seals! There!" Ino said, as Sakura flustered.
Thunk. Ino's head hit the table, and made the glasses rattle as Sakura sighed very loudly.
Hinata's eyes were drawn to a dull thunk coming from Ino's table as she saw that her friend had passed out. Probably too much to drin-- Hinata's thought was cut off as she lost conciousness.
Floating in the dark nothingness, Ino's subconcious looked around.
Her mind. I need to see her memories! Ino thought. The void flickered and Ino landed on her butt in a large library. The lighting was dimmed, and the walls were lined with rows of scrolls.
"Ah! I haven't seen a library-like mind yet!" Ino exclaimed. All of the minds Ino had been in, while she was picking through their memories, had a look to them that represented them. Sakura's, for example, was a large room with mirrors, and her memories were small photos hastily taped to the walls, whereas Shikamaru's mind was a large office, and his memories were files in filing cabinets. Ino had laughed when she first went into his mind. They were alphabetically ordered too.
Walking up to one, Ino ran her finger over one of the scrolls before pulling it out. Opening it, Ino saw that instead of writing, she found herself looking through the eyes of 'Kasumi'.
Waking up, Kasumi pushed the blanket off of her. Looking out the gigantic window that covered her wall, Kasumi sighed. She grabbed an apple and quickly got dressed. Putting a jacket on, Kasumi opened her door and left.
"No. That one is too recent." Ino said, as she checked the tag that was hanging off the end.
"Ah, this was yesturday. Let's see, we need, years, not days." Ino said aloud. Walking to the end of the row, Ino saw that the shelves had dates written on them. She was looking in this past year, she needed a few years back.
Walking past 6 shelves, Ino picked up a random scroll and opened it.
"Kaa-san, look! I got my eyes to work!" A small voice said. The view turned towards the voice and revealed that it belonged to a small blonde boy. His large pale eyes were looking up, seemingly at Ino, but the veins that had popped out all around them, made the little boy look like a killer. Ino shuddered.
"Kou-chan! I'm so proud, I'm sure your Otou-sama would be very happy too!" the voice that Ino identified as Kasumi said.
The memory ended, and left Ino standing there, holding the scroll with a confused look on her face. That little boy had the byakugan! Was Kasumi's deceased husband a Hyuuga?
Ino grabbed another scroll, but it only showed Kasumi picking vegtables. Putting the scroll back, Ino walked down the aisle again, reading the years off as she passed them.
"Hmm. This is...11 years ago. Lets try here." randomly plucking a scroll, Ino glanced at the tag. It was from august. Opening the scroll, Ino hoped to see something intresting.
The veiw looked down at her hands, which where atop a large belly. She felt a kick and squealed quietly. Rubbing her belly a little bit, the veiw looked up into a mirror. A smile graced the face of a pretty white eyed, blue haired girl.
Tonk. Ino dropped the scroll.
"Oh. Oh Kami-sama. This can't be right! This...this is...Hinata! Ahhh...." Ino finally got out as her mind blanked. Ino picked up the scroll and placed it back. Walking down the row, she almost made it to the end, when a bright red scroll caught her eyes.
Completely forgetting that she was in her dead friend's mind, Ino picked up the scroll, which was strangely warm to the touch, and opened it.
"You stupid slut! You whore! I can't beleive this!" A tall man with dark hair yelled, his pale eyes were surrounded by veins, and the killer intent that leaked off him tried to suffocate Ino.
"Otou-sama, please! You didn't let me explain!" A voice, Hinata, said, raising her hands to defend against the mind numbing slap she was about to receive.
"It's bad enough that you were even seeing that...that...That DEMON! And now this?" Hiashi yelled. Hinata cringed. Wiping the tears that had fallen down her face, Hinata stood up tall.
"I won't have it! I'm tired of you calling Naruto-kun a demon! What did he ever do to you!" Hinata yelled, her voice pathetically small. Hiashi narrowed his white eyes.
"You whore!" He yelled, and using jyuuken, aimed a strike at her stomach. Hinata saw this coming, but unable to get out the way, moved so it hit her shoulder. Hinata cried out in pain as she stumbled backwards off the porch-like pathway that ran around her house, onto her back in the snow.
"Otou-sama...please..." Hinata said, holding her shoulder.
"Get up." Hiashi said, stepping off the porch into the snow, a few feet from where Hinata was lying. Hinata got up and faced her father. Ready to take the jyuuken stance, even though she knew she had no chance against her father.
"You should have been marked a branch member at birth. You are weak, useless, and have no right to the title as heir. Die." Hiashi said, and pulling his wakizashi(short version of the katana) out from its sheath at his belt. Hinata eyes widened as she saw her father reinforce it was chakra.
Hinata shut her eyes tight. No use trying to move, no matter where he hit her, this jyuuken blade would be deadly. Hinata's last thought was that she wished she could had said good bye to Naruto, one last time.
Ino's hands were shaking with anger and anticipation. The scroll was blank, but she heard a grunt.
Hinata's eyes stayed closed for a few seconds more until she heard her name.
"Hi...nata...ch-chan..." Hinata's eyes flew open, and she almost threw up. There, standing right infront of her, was Naruto. He had his hands on her shoulders, and his blue eyes were wide. His mouth was curved in a grin. Hinata glanced down. Sticking a full inch out of his chest, was the tip of Hiashi's wakazashi.
Naruto's entire front was covered in blood. Letting out a small sqeak, Naruto's weight suddenly pressed down onto her, as Hiashi pulled the blade out of Naruto. Smirking, He stepped back and watched his daughter.
"Na-naruto-kun?" Hinata said, shaking him slightly. She took a step back, and slipped in the snow. Naruto slid down out of her arms, and onto the now red stained snow.
Hinata looked at her hand and saw that it was red. She fell to her knees, and stared at her other hand, red too. Her eyes were unfocused as she shook the body of her blonde boyfriend.
"Naruto-kun! Naruto! Naruto!!!" she yelled. Stopping to wipe the tears from her face, Hinata saw that it was snowing. She watched a snowflake slowly drift down, and land on Naruto's cheek. His usually bright blue eyes, already starting to dull.
Hinata's hands started to shake. She looked at her father, who was still staring at her, a bloodly smirk decorated his face.
"YAAAAAAAAAAA--"
Ino threw the scroll away from her, and performed the seals to release her mind. When Ino next opened her eyes the first thing she saw was Sakura's pink hair.
Ino's mind rushed back at her, and with only a slight twitch as a warning, Ino scrambled to the washroom as fast as she could, barely making it to a stall before she threw up.
End Chapter 12
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The mystery has been solved!Sorry for not updating thursday, I was on a vacation and forgot to email myself the files.
But I will be updating every monday and thursday until further notice.
Thanks for reading, and to those who reveiw, thanks for reveiwing.
"What's this about my dear Hinata?" A deep voice broke the moment. Hanabi's breath caught in her throat, but she coughed to cover it up. Hinata's outstretched hand shot back to her lap as she stared at the newcomer.
The man, he was tall, and stood straight and proper. His pale eyes held both sadness and weariness. The man put his hand on Hanabi's shoulder and squeezed it slightly. Hanabi stopped her sobbing and grimly smiled up at him.
Hinata's mind was blank as she watched this...this man, the one she used to call 'father' touch her little sister with kindness and loving care. As the world started moving again, Hinata's mind nearly audibly snapped. Her fists were tangled on the ends of her jacket, and her knuckles started to creak under the extreme pressure.
"Kasumi-san? Are you ok?" A voice asked. Hinata's body visably deflated. Looking up, Hinata looked her sister right into her pale eyes and said,
"I'm sorry, I was just thinking of all the injustice that Naruto-san must have endured. It was wrenching my heart. But I am afraid I must leave. I just remember that I had...something to do. Thank you for your hospitality, Hanabi-sama." Hinata stood up, and gave her sister a shaky bow.
Sliding open the door to the yard, Hinata had to restrain herself from running.
Back at the Hyuuga household, Hiashi had taken Hinata's place and Hanabi had poured him his own cup of tea.
"That girl...who is she, daughter?" He said.
"Kasumi. She never gave me her family name, but I never asked. I invited her to tea because she passes the manor often on her way to her job." Hanabi said. 'Kasumi's' actions were troubling. She wasn't quite sure, but Hanabi thought she felt a tightly reigned killing intent as soon as her father walked into the room.
"I wonder if I did anything to offend the girl...my, I would like to invite her to tea again. She looks awfully like Hinata." Hiashi said, trailing off into his own little world. Hanabi sighed. Hiashi was sick with something, she was sure, but the doctors just said that it was old age and stress. After all, he had watched his daughter kill her lover, lost her to his trusted nephew, and then was removed as the clan leader later that same week.
Hanabi thought back to that time of chaos, and had to fight another sobbing fit.
Hinata slowly dragged her feet along the ground, not knowing or caring where she ended up. She was too deep in her thoughts. It wasn't untill she tripped on a loose stone that she snapped out of her thoughts.
Looking up, as she was face down on the ground, Hinata saw that she had walked to the cenograph. Clambering to her feet, she stumbled the few feet that separated her from the actual stone. Sitting down beside it, Hinata ran her fingers over Naruto's name, and then her own.
"Why...? Why did you have to leave me? It's...It's not fair!" almost yelling the last part, Hinata looked around to make sure that no one was around, before focusing back on the cenograph.
Hinata stared the stone for a long time before her legs started to protest from lack of movement. With a dejected sigh, Hinata sat down with her back to the stone and shook her legs out. Wincing when it resulted in a major case of pins and needles.
Shivering slightly, Hinata wished that she had brought her thicker jacket. The one she was wearing was very thin, and practically useless for a November night. Wrapping her arms around herself, and fighting a yawn, she mentally decided to stay a few minutes longer before leaving to her small and warm apartment.
Hinata stretched her arm out and looked up at the sky. The first pink streaks of the sun were starting to show, and the early birds were chirping.
Wait, sun? Hinata blinked and looked around. She must have fallen asleep.
"Hinata-chan?" a voice said, coming from the path she had come from earlier. Hinata snapped her head up and saw that a man in a jounin outfit with grey hair and a mask covering his face.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata said, eyeing his orange book. Kakashi put his book away and walked up to Hinata, and offered her a hand. Hinata took it and Kakashi hoisted her up.
"Isn't it a little cold out to be spending the night at the cenograph?" He said, his only visable brow lifting in suspicion. Hinata blushed slightly and turned to the cenograph.
"I..er..." Hinata started, surprising herself by stuttering. Kakashi made a movement that gestured her to finish and Hinata sighed.
"I had tea with Hanabi yesturday. Mistake. That man walked in." Hinata said, her fisted hands tightened even more.
"You're Otou-sama?" Kakashi confirmed. Hinata nodded. "Ah." He said, after a moment.
Kakashi and Hinata stood together staring at the memorial stone for a while before Hinata broke the silence.
"What time is it?" She said, rubbing her arms. Kakashi looked at the sun breifly and said,
"After 6, before 7. Maybe around 6:30." Hinata nodded in response.
Hinata sensed the hesitation in Kakashi a few seconds before he spoke again.
"I take it you are here to be comforted by Naruto's spirit." Hinata nodded and sniffled quietly.
"A-ano...Kakashi-sensei, who are you here for? And don't you have a genin team to test?" Hinata said, glad that the subject changed off of Naruto.
"Mmm. My teammates, Obito and Rin-chan. I visit them everymorning. It's a secret, so don't tell anyone, but that's why I am late all the time. I'm usually here, getting lost on the road of life." Hinata nodded, glad to be a confidante.
"Hinata-chan, would you like to watch the bell test? No doubt Naruto told you all about it, but I thought you might be intrested in how your son is faring." Hinata grinned.
"I'de love to. What are the chances of them failing?" she said, still facing the cenograph.
"Ha, not very high. It seemed yesturday that all three were already friends, or fast on the way of becoming." Kakashi's eye looked up towards the sky again, before saying,
"Well I suppose we've kept them waiting long enough."
"Uggh, where is Kakashi-sensei? He's 2 hours late!" Sasami complained. Kouden joined in her rantings and preachings while Shiro just sat on the railing smirking. He was the only one who didn't jump ten feet into the air when Kakashi appeared in front of them in a swirl of smoke and leaves.
"YOU'RE LATE!" Both Sasami and Kouden screamed at the same time.
"Heheh, sorry, got lost on the road to life." Kakashi said, scratching the back of his head.
"Liar!" Sasami said, almost shouting. Kouden grunted. His green eyes widened when he saw the figure behind Kakashi.
"Kasumi-nechan? What are you doing here?" He said, while Hinata was coughing from the overuse of smoke bombs.
"Ah, I'm-cough- supervising Kakashi-san today." Hinata said, delighted at the lie that came off the top of her head.
"Supervising? What did Kakashi-sensei do?" Shiro said, Hinata directed her gaze on the older boy.
"Kakashi-san just quit ANBU for the second time. I'm here to make sure that he's really doing what he said he was going to do. Don't mind me, I'll just be watching." A sinister smile and a cold gaze later, Shiro was shuddering and trying to hide behind Sasami without being too obvious.
Kouden made a humming noise before speaking again.
"So what, are you like ANBU yourself? I mean, who else would supervise Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata turned her gaze to her blonde son. The corner of her mouth twitching.
"Yea...something like that. Anyway, just go and pass the test." Hinata said, gesturing them all to go away, as she used to chakra to leap on top of the pole she had been leaning against. Crossing her legs, she propped her head up on her hands.
Scratching the back of his head, Kakashi grinned under his mask and turned back to his new students.
"Good, now that that's out of the way, I'll explain the rules of this test. You have until noon to take these bells," Kakshi produced a pair of silver bells, "away from me. The one who doesnt get a bell, doesnt get a lunch." at them mention of food, Sasami and Shiro's stomachs both growled. Kouden just blinked. He followed Sakura's advice and stuffed his face at breakfast. Sasami narrowed her brown eyes at him.
"If you want a bell, you have to attack like you want to kill me, no holding back. Ok, when I say go..." Kakashi said, holding his arm out in front of him. Bringing it down, he gave the signal and his three students lept away into the bushes.
Thik, thik, thik-"Gah! Kasumi-chan stop throwing rocks at me or I'll chidori your ass, regardless of your status." Kakashi said, whirling around angrily at the black haired woman watching him from the pole. Hinata just giggled before sitting back and activating her byakugan. Not a second later, she had her eyes focused on her son.
"Gah, stupid branch, now I'm gonna have to get Tenten-ne-chan to sew it!" Kouden said, fingering a new hole in his orange hoodie. A rustle from behind him, made Kouden swivel around into a basic jyuuken stance.
Kouden sighed in releif as he saw that it was his pink haired friend. She had a sly look on her face as she made her way over to Kouden.
"Kouden, what are we gonna do? How do you suppose we can get those bells away from him?" She whispered. Kouden put his hand on his chin, and said,
"We need to find Shiro first. I have a plan."
"Too late. Found you first." a voice from behind Sasami said. Once again, stepping into jyuuken, he noted that Sasami stepped into her odd pressure point stance. Both children visably relaxed when their third teammate stepped into veiw.
"Kami-sama! Shiro-kun, don't scare us like that!" Sasami said.
"Ok, you guys, I paid a visit to Sakura-ne-chan yesturday, and when I told her that we had to do the test today, she told me, teamwork. She said even if we fail to get bells, if we work as a team, we pass. So lets just synchronize our moves, and take him on all at once." Kouden said, crouching to the ground, and sketched a rough stick figure of Kakashi in the dirt.
"Ha. I think you have another winning team here, Kakashi-sensei." Hinata said, releasing her chakra, Kakashi waited untill the last vein calmed down before bothering to speak.
"Mmm? Why do you say that?"
"All three of them are sitting together, planning on ambushing you as a team. I caught a bit of what Kouden said, by reading his lips, and it seems that Sakura-san told him something." Kakashi coughed and pulled out his orange book. Hinata rolled her eyes and flicked another pebble at Kakashi, and giggled at the sudden killer intent that rolled off the older man.
Ten minutes passed before Kouden gave the signal for his teammates to attack. A thick fog rolled in and covered the clearing that Kakashi was standing in. Kakashi just looked around and stuck his book in his pocket, sighing.
Kouden sat beside Shiro, who was finishing the long series of seals required to produce the fog, and watched as Sasami crept as low to the ground as she could, setting up a series of wire traps connected via kunai.
When Shiro finished, he let his hands drop to the ground, and started to pant slightly.
"You ok? That looked like it took alot of chakra." Kouden whispered. Shiro just raised his hand and said,
"Just give me a minute, and I'll be fine. I'm just glad it worked. I only started to get it right last week." Kouden nodded, and waited as Sasami placed the last few Kunai, and crept over to their hiding place.
"Traps are ready, are we?" She said, whispering so low, Kouden had to read her lips. He looked at Shiro, who nodded.
"Ok, form one. Shiro, you do the genjutsu, and Sasami, you poke his legs with what ever you do. I got his arms." Both genin nodded and jumped up out of his sight.
Meanwhile, Kakashi was waiting in the middled of the mist. His eye was half closed with boredom, and occasional annoyance as Hinata continued to flick pebbles at him. He heard her giggle everytime he let out killer intent, and had finally just gave up.
Crack! Kakashi perked up. That wasn't Hinata. The small noise came from his right, and Kakashi fell into a basic taijutsu stance as he saw moving in the mist. Cracking a grin, he nearly sighed at their attempt to sneak up on him.
"Yaaaww!" The figure said, bursting out of the mist. He had bright blonde hair, and green eyes that seemed paler than the day before.
"Way to be quiet, Kouden-kun." Kakashi said, but his grin slipped as he saw the still grinning blonde flick his fingers. Instantly, he was surrounded by at least 20 more blondes.
"Buunshin? Well, that will be easy to take care of." Kakashi said, as he rushed one. Slicing it with a kunai from his back pouch, the buunshin didn't even dodge.
But instead of the usual puff of smoke that accompanied killing these fakes, Kakashi found that his hand was stuck inside of it. The orange of his hoodie started to...leak, for lack of a better word, onto Kakashi, giving the appearance of it swallowing him.
Kakashi's frow burrowed as he ripped his arm free of the unusual buunshin, splattering orange on the ground and the front of his green flak vest. Spinning around to face the other advancing Kouden copies, he saw that they were all advancing on him, evil grins plastered across their faces.
Each one, as Kakashi soon found out, was stickier than the last, and Kakashi soon found himself fending three of them off, while trying to throw a 4th one off of his back. A 5th one, kicked his ankle out, and Kakashi was forced to his knee, when he felt a light poke on the back of his calf. And then another one on his left elbow. Frantically looking around, Kakashi saw that the only things there were the sticky buunshins, and they weren't near the poked places.
More poking ensued as a now struggling Kakashi whirled around. Raising his hands to his chest, he found that he had to struggle to get them up, and that his legs felt like jelly.
"Kai!" He yelled with more force that he intended. A plik sound later, and Kakashi felt the weak winter sun on his eyelids.
Opening them, he saw his three student infront of him. Shiro was on his knees, head down, and visably panting. Kouden was standing, barely, and Sasami was right beside him. Looking better than both her companions. But what made Kakashi open his eye as wide as it would go, was that in both Shiro and Sasami's hand, held a bell.
Looking at his waist, he patted it to make sure they were really gone. Looking back up, Sasami and Kouden sported a large grin.
Eeeeeeeeee! The buzzer for noon went off and Kouden promptly sat down.
"Wow." A voice said, from over Kakashi's shoulder. Turning back, Kakashi saw Hinata smirking, in her hand held a handful of pebbles, just wanting to be thrown at Kakashi.
All and All, my Kouden-kun ended up tied to log. He after all, didn't get a bell, but only after throwing a hissy fit, did Kakashi-sensei congradulate them on getting a bell. There were the only team to ever do so. Me and Kakashi watched from a nearby tree as Shiro and Sasami both tried to feed him, and then proceed to jump ten feet in the air when Kakashi-sensei rushed at them, just to tell them they all passed.
Heh heh, Sasami was so happy, she kissed Kouden right on the lips, and then nearly fainted as her face turned 8 shades of red. I fell out of the nearby tree laughing at my struggling son. Shiro ended up carrying her back to the town, as a still blushing Kouden followed.
Kakashi-sensei had a few select words with me about the pebbles, before he poofed away, and I just laughed as I walked home to get ready for work. Oh Naruto, you would be so proud of your son. I miss you so much. My heart is still as raw as the day you left, but I've decided that I have a few places to see, and a few things to do before I join you.
Love, Uzumaki Hinata.
Placing her almost full diary down, Hinata tapped the edge of her pencil against her lip, and looked at the clock. Hinata's eyes widened. It was ten to 5, she was going to be late for work!
"Wahh!" She said, throwing her jacket on, Hinata decided to risk roof jumping today, as it would take 20 minutes to run through the city.
After avoiding most people, Hinata arrived quietly in the alleyway beside the Barbeque place. Taking a few seconds to straighten her hair, Hinata walked into the restaurant and glanced at the clock. She was a minute late.
"Konban wa, Kasumi-san!" Her friend and co-worker called out.
"Ah! Kasumi-san! How are you?" Another voice called, this time from a table. It was Ino, but instead of being with her team, she was with Sakura. Slipping her apron over head behind the counter, Hinata replied,
"Ah! Ino-san, Sakura-san, I'm fine. How are you?" Grabbing a notebook she approached their table.
"Oh, I'm fine. And...can I get a plate of umm...Kami-sama, just make it a peice of cheesecake. Ugh, I hope I'm not pregnant again." Ino said, sliding her chin to the table. Hinata grinned and wrote her order down.
"And what would you like?" She said to Sakura. Sakura looked at Ino before saying,
"Uh...the same. But can you put a few pickles on the side? Oh! Kasumi-san! Has Ino blabbed yet? I'm expecting!" she said, patting her flat stomach. Hinata wrote down her order and said,
"Oh! My! Congradulations to both you and Uchiha-san." Hinata bowed slightly before dropping her paper off in the kitchen, and loading her arms full of other orders.
3 hours later found Sakura and Ino still talking at their table, ordering the occasional drink, non alcholic on Sakura's case, and Hinata was sitting at a table in the corner, taking a 5 minute break, sipping on a milkshake.
"Hmm...Sakura...did you ever notice something about Ka...Kasumi-san!" Ino said, slurring her words almost unnoticably. Sakura frowned and said,
"No...not really, I heard that she is close friends with Neji-san though." Ino sighed and stole another glance at Hinata, who was busy leafing through the dessert flier.
"You remember that girl we told Naruto's story to? The one that Sasuke scared away? Did we ever find her?" Sakura paused a second before answering.
"Uh...yea, I think. And no, I dont think we ever found her. Why?"
"She acted like Kasumi-san acts sometimes. Hmm...Hey, Sakura, should I try to get into Kasumi's mind?" Ino said, grinning evily on the table.
"Ino! That's an invasion of privacy! Don't do it!" Sakura said, her fist twitching.
"Oh? Oh! I can't hear you! What was that? Oh! Oh no! My hand is slipping into the seals! There!" Ino said, as Sakura flustered.
Thunk. Ino's head hit the table, and made the glasses rattle as Sakura sighed very loudly.
Hinata's eyes were drawn to a dull thunk coming from Ino's table as she saw that her friend had passed out. Probably too much to drin-- Hinata's thought was cut off as she lost conciousness.
Floating in the dark nothingness, Ino's subconcious looked around.
Her mind. I need to see her memories! Ino thought. The void flickered and Ino landed on her butt in a large library. The lighting was dimmed, and the walls were lined with rows of scrolls.
"Ah! I haven't seen a library-like mind yet!" Ino exclaimed. All of the minds Ino had been in, while she was picking through their memories, had a look to them that represented them. Sakura's, for example, was a large room with mirrors, and her memories were small photos hastily taped to the walls, whereas Shikamaru's mind was a large office, and his memories were files in filing cabinets. Ino had laughed when she first went into his mind. They were alphabetically ordered too.
Walking up to one, Ino ran her finger over one of the scrolls before pulling it out. Opening it, Ino saw that instead of writing, she found herself looking through the eyes of 'Kasumi'.
Waking up, Kasumi pushed the blanket off of her. Looking out the gigantic window that covered her wall, Kasumi sighed. She grabbed an apple and quickly got dressed. Putting a jacket on, Kasumi opened her door and left.
"No. That one is too recent." Ino said, as she checked the tag that was hanging off the end.
"Ah, this was yesturday. Let's see, we need, years, not days." Ino said aloud. Walking to the end of the row, Ino saw that the shelves had dates written on them. She was looking in this past year, she needed a few years back.
Walking past 6 shelves, Ino picked up a random scroll and opened it.
"Kaa-san, look! I got my eyes to work!" A small voice said. The view turned towards the voice and revealed that it belonged to a small blonde boy. His large pale eyes were looking up, seemingly at Ino, but the veins that had popped out all around them, made the little boy look like a killer. Ino shuddered.
"Kou-chan! I'm so proud, I'm sure your Otou-sama would be very happy too!" the voice that Ino identified as Kasumi said.
The memory ended, and left Ino standing there, holding the scroll with a confused look on her face. That little boy had the byakugan! Was Kasumi's deceased husband a Hyuuga?
Ino grabbed another scroll, but it only showed Kasumi picking vegtables. Putting the scroll back, Ino walked down the aisle again, reading the years off as she passed them.
"Hmm. This is...11 years ago. Lets try here." randomly plucking a scroll, Ino glanced at the tag. It was from august. Opening the scroll, Ino hoped to see something intresting.
The veiw looked down at her hands, which where atop a large belly. She felt a kick and squealed quietly. Rubbing her belly a little bit, the veiw looked up into a mirror. A smile graced the face of a pretty white eyed, blue haired girl.
Tonk. Ino dropped the scroll.
"Oh. Oh Kami-sama. This can't be right! This...this is...Hinata! Ahhh...." Ino finally got out as her mind blanked. Ino picked up the scroll and placed it back. Walking down the row, she almost made it to the end, when a bright red scroll caught her eyes.
Completely forgetting that she was in her dead friend's mind, Ino picked up the scroll, which was strangely warm to the touch, and opened it.
"You stupid slut! You whore! I can't beleive this!" A tall man with dark hair yelled, his pale eyes were surrounded by veins, and the killer intent that leaked off him tried to suffocate Ino.
"Otou-sama, please! You didn't let me explain!" A voice, Hinata, said, raising her hands to defend against the mind numbing slap she was about to receive.
"It's bad enough that you were even seeing that...that...That DEMON! And now this?" Hiashi yelled. Hinata cringed. Wiping the tears that had fallen down her face, Hinata stood up tall.
"I won't have it! I'm tired of you calling Naruto-kun a demon! What did he ever do to you!" Hinata yelled, her voice pathetically small. Hiashi narrowed his white eyes.
"You whore!" He yelled, and using jyuuken, aimed a strike at her stomach. Hinata saw this coming, but unable to get out the way, moved so it hit her shoulder. Hinata cried out in pain as she stumbled backwards off the porch-like pathway that ran around her house, onto her back in the snow.
"Otou-sama...please..." Hinata said, holding her shoulder.
"Get up." Hiashi said, stepping off the porch into the snow, a few feet from where Hinata was lying. Hinata got up and faced her father. Ready to take the jyuuken stance, even though she knew she had no chance against her father.
"You should have been marked a branch member at birth. You are weak, useless, and have no right to the title as heir. Die." Hiashi said, and pulling his wakizashi(short version of the katana) out from its sheath at his belt. Hinata eyes widened as she saw her father reinforce it was chakra.
Hinata shut her eyes tight. No use trying to move, no matter where he hit her, this jyuuken blade would be deadly. Hinata's last thought was that she wished she could had said good bye to Naruto, one last time.
Ino's hands were shaking with anger and anticipation. The scroll was blank, but she heard a grunt.
Hinata's eyes stayed closed for a few seconds more until she heard her name.
"Hi...nata...ch-chan..." Hinata's eyes flew open, and she almost threw up. There, standing right infront of her, was Naruto. He had his hands on her shoulders, and his blue eyes were wide. His mouth was curved in a grin. Hinata glanced down. Sticking a full inch out of his chest, was the tip of Hiashi's wakazashi.
Naruto's entire front was covered in blood. Letting out a small sqeak, Naruto's weight suddenly pressed down onto her, as Hiashi pulled the blade out of Naruto. Smirking, He stepped back and watched his daughter.
"Na-naruto-kun?" Hinata said, shaking him slightly. She took a step back, and slipped in the snow. Naruto slid down out of her arms, and onto the now red stained snow.
Hinata looked at her hand and saw that it was red. She fell to her knees, and stared at her other hand, red too. Her eyes were unfocused as she shook the body of her blonde boyfriend.
"Naruto-kun! Naruto! Naruto!!!" she yelled. Stopping to wipe the tears from her face, Hinata saw that it was snowing. She watched a snowflake slowly drift down, and land on Naruto's cheek. His usually bright blue eyes, already starting to dull.
Hinata's hands started to shake. She looked at her father, who was still staring at her, a bloodly smirk decorated his face.
"YAAAAAAAAAAA--"
Ino threw the scroll away from her, and performed the seals to release her mind. When Ino next opened her eyes the first thing she saw was Sakura's pink hair.
Ino's mind rushed back at her, and with only a slight twitch as a warning, Ino scrambled to the washroom as fast as she could, barely making it to a stall before she threw up.
End Chapter 12
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The mystery has been solved!Sorry for not updating thursday, I was on a vacation and forgot to email myself the files.
But I will be updating every monday and thursday until further notice.
Thanks for reading, and to those who reveiw, thanks for reveiwing.