Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Mokushita Hyuuga ❯ Chapter 23
[ 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: 01.25.2007 | Updated On: 02.11.2007 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.8K | Visits: 533 | Status: Completed
Disclaimer: Naruto and all related characters belong to Kishimoto, not me.
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 01.25.2007 | Updated On: 02.11.2007 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.8K | Visits: 533 | Status: Completed
Chapter 23
Flopping down onto the futon in the small living room of her new, larger apartment, Hinata let out a long drawling sigh. Her hands hurt, and they twitched every so often. Rolling over, the door to the apartment opened again, and Katoki entered. Glancing at Hinata, he said with a sly grin,
"Hmm? Hinata-chan looks tired." Hinata stuck her tongue out at him.
"Do I? It's mainly Katoki-kun's fault." Katoki managed to look offended as he over acted a small scene of heart ache. Putting the back of his hand to his forehead, he said in a sugary voice,
"Oh! Oh! The pain! My heart has broken from your accusations! It wasn't my fault that that stupid sound nin managed to spear me through the arm." Glancing at his arm, he saw the small pink area where the javalin had gone through. Hinata had had to heal him on the spot, as it had managed to sever an artery. After two days straight of running through some very cold rain, she nearly passed out from exhaustion. He pretty much carried her into the Raikage's office, who was very put out with the news of the upcoming war.
"Katoki, can you do the wash? I got blood all over my uniform." Katoki laughed and took the blood spattered beige vest from, her outstreched arms. She had to kill all of the sound nin that had attacked, thanks to Katoki's injured arm.
"What happened to 'kun', my dear Hinata-chan?" Hinata looked up at him, a smile not decorating her face.
"Please, dont call me 'my dear'. That man used it in his speech before he killed my husband." Katoki gulped and hurried out the door, his arms full of laundry, most of which was covered in blood.
Hinata sighed again and stared at the waterstain on the ceiling. Letting her thought wander again about Katoki and Kouden and other things, Hinata jolted sharply when she head a shout from the hall of their apartment.
Flinging the door open, she glanced around and saw that down at the end of her hall, near the stairs, was Katoki. The bloody laundry was spilled around him, and he was curled up and holding his head.
Rushing past the few onlookers who had opened their doors, Hinata quickly grabbed his hands.
"Katoki-kun! Can you hear me?" Katoki nodded his head, still groaning loudly. "Can you stand?" Katoki faltered, but got to one knee. Just as Hinata finally managed to help him up, another wave of pain crashed down on Katoki and he yelled louder, falling to his knees. Hinata held him upright and struggled to get him to his knees.
"Can I help in anyway, miss?" Some one behind Hinata said. Glancing back quickly, she saw that the man was a citizen, but he was very large.
"P-please, can you help me t-take him to the hospital?" The man nodded and hoisted the now mostly unconcious Katoki onto his shoulder. Hinata quickly gathered the bloody clothes and deposited them in her apartment, ignoring the slightly disgusted stares of another onlooker.
Opening his eyes, Katoki groaned and closed them, immediately regretting that he did. The room was blinding white. Slowly cracking his eyes open and looking down he saw that he had a nub over his index finger than blinked red every once in a while. Sighing, he was slightly surprised to see a sleeping Hinata on his leg. He was just about to jostle her when he had the oddest sensation. He felt like he was dreaming, but he knew he was awake.
He's strong...grass tickled his nose as he smelled. Looking up, his vision felt shaky, but more defined, and his throat felt raspy, like he had been shouting for hours. Swinging his head around and up, his vision still shaky, he could almost make out the taller figure that stood a few metres away. He felt a sharp pang of anger, confusion and joy pass through his stomach.
"Bah! No way! Hinata-chan!" Katoki said, shaking his leg. Hinata looked up and blinked tiredly. Seeing Katoki awake, she instantly brightened and said,
"Katoki-kun! Are you ok? You had another episode in the hall." Katoki blinked, and waved his hand.
"Hinata-chan, I remembered!" Hinata nodded slowly.
"Yes, you should, you responded to me." Hinata was confused, she didn't know why he was so worked up.
"No! No, I got a memory! From my childhood! A full and complete one! Not just a sound, or a smell, like usual." Hinata blinked.
"Oh! That's great! What was the memory? Er...if you dont mind me asking." Katoki paused and said,
"Well, I guess it's actually not that great of one. I was laying down on the grass...I think I had just been knocked down. I was confused and angry...and I think happy?" Hinata's mouth twitched.
"Wow...were you hurt?" Katoki shrugged and shook his head, Hinata felt her face heat up.
Flipping the blanket off of his legs, Katoki sighed when he saw that he was clad in patient scrubs. Taking the nub off of his finger, careful as to not set it off, Katoki swung off the bed and stood up.
"Katoki-kun! What are you doing?" Hinata almost hissed. Katoki grinned and said,
"Where are my clothes?" Hinata's face went blank and a soft smile graced her lips. Reaching behind her, Hinata handed Katoki a pile of clean clothes. Katoki's face was stil for a second before he took the pile.
"These are clean, how long was I out?" Hinata smiled again.
"When I had fallen asleep, you had been out for 4 hours. It's 7pm now. I'de say, about 6 hours, give or take." Katoki grimaced.
Hooking his fingers under the white hem of his shirt, he started to pull up when Hinata stiffened, blushed and turned around. Katoki laughed.
"What are you doing?" Hinata coughed and said, still not facing him,
"I've known you for little over a month. I don't think I should watch you dress. I will leave and see if I can grab something to eat from the cafeteria. Dont leave." Katoki laughed again, and Hinata caught a glimpse of the bottom of the scar that was splayed across Katoki's chest.
When Hinata returned with a small tray of snack food and sandwiches, she looked around and saw that Katoki had vacated. Sighing, she looked up and nearly screamed.
Sitting, upsidedown on the ceiling was Katoki. He was scratching something into the tiles. Hinata looked closer and saw that it was a talley mark.
Dropping down, Katoki stole a sandwich and gulped it down.
"What were you doing?" Hinata asked. Katoki shrugged.
"I talley how many times i've been in each room. I'm weird like that. According to this, this is my third visit to this room in particular. I have a room somewhere with 11 talleys. It's a habit I got when I first got here."
"So you were in the hospital alot?" Katoki grinned and nodded. Flicking dust off the shoulder of his black sleeveless shirt, Katoki motioned that they exit the room. Hinata inclined her head and walked through the door.
Walking through the lobby, Katoki gave a sly wink to a nurse with short periwinkle hair. The nurse started and blushed before nodded and writing something on a clipboard. Hinata found herself getting angry but calmed herself as no one tried to stop them from leaving. Sighing she let Katoki lead her to their apartment.
Raising his hand against the blinding sun, Shiro looked upon the massive waterfall that he was somehow supposed to cross. Standing and anaylzing his options for a good ten minutes, Shiro was so involved in thinking that he didn't even notice the two figures coming up behind him untill they called out.
"Oi! Who are you?" Shiro jumped. Turning he saw two kunoichi, one was very tall, almost as tall as Uchiha Sasuke, and had murky green colour hair that lay in waves to her chin. The other kunoichi was short and resembled what a female Kakashi would look like. Shiro almost laughed. The Kakashi-like Kunoichi tossed her silver hair and stared at Shiro.
"Uhn, Oketsu Shiro. I am a chuunin of Konohagakure, I was sent on a mission to deliver this to Jiraya-sama in the Village hidden in the waterfall." The shorter of the shinobi said,
"How do we know you aren't lying?" Shiro almost laughed again. She even sounded like Kakashi. Rumaging around in his sack, he pulled out the scroll that Tsunade had given him and handed it to the taller kunoichi.
She opened it, read it quickly and showed the silver haired woman. They both nodded and said in unison,
"Follow us please." Shiro nodded and did as they asked.
Ten minutes later, Shiro found himself standing underneath the roaring waterfall inside the entrance to the village. He never would have guessed the entrance to not even be by the waterfall. The Kunoichi turned to him and said,
"I leave your search to you, but do not cause any trouble, young chuunin. You are our guest, and we must take responsibilty of you." Shiro nodded and tucked a strand of his long bangs behind his ears.
Going inside the first tavern he saw, Shiro walked up to the receptionist and said,
"Sumimasen, but have you seen an old man with white hair and a blonde kid with a stupid face?" The receptionist shook her head, and Shiro continued on his search for Kouden, not realizing the irony in his words.
Three hours and no luck later, Shiro was ready to give up when he heard a familiar yelling coming from around the corner. Peeking around, he saw Kouden yelling at the man Shiro presumed to be Jiraiya, while sitting on a frog that was Jiraiya's height.
"Stop staring at the girls and teach me, Ero-sennin!" Kouden yelled, pointing his finger. Jiraiya pointed his finger and stomped his foot before yelling back,
"I told you not to call me that! I've been helping you for 2 years and you still can't summon anyone bigger than Gamatan!" The frog gave a grunt and shifted his legs.
"I could if you helped me!" Kouden shouted, even louder than before, if it seemed possible.
"You're father did it in a month!" Shiro froze. What? Stepping from around the corner as soon as his face got under control, Shiro noted how fast the colour drained out of Kouden's face.
"Jiraiya-sama, I have the scroll that you sent for." Jiraiya smiled and tottered over to Shiro. Shiro handed it over and the old man said,
"Now, Kouden-baka. If you hadn't of been so thick, you would have noticed that your friend has been eavesdropping on us for a few minutes now. I'm going to the bar to drink my student's failures away." Kouden paled again, making his white eyes seem a light purple, versus the colourless they were before. Shiro took a doubletake.
"Why are your eyes white?" Kouden blinked and then put his hand behind his head and laughed.
"Ahhh, I guess they were still green when I left." Shiro nodded. Kouden grimaced again and said,
"How much did you hear?" Shiro hesitated before saying,
"Since, 'Ero-sennin'." Kouden flinched. Taking a breath, he patted Gamatan and said,
"You can leave if you want." The giant frog nodded and grinned before disapearing in a puff of smoke, leaving Kouden standing on the pavement.
"Oh? You got new clothes?" Kouden grinned. He now sported an orange jacket that bore the flame of the Hyuuga on one sleeve and the flack vest swirl on the other. The jacket was covered by a green flack vest identical to Shiro's. His pants were standard black leggings that were also identicle to Shiro's.
"I'm a chuunin too! I took the test in Kirigakure with Sakana-nechan and Renji. Ranji had passed already and I got permission from Tsunade-baa-chan." Shiro gave a small grin, but continued to stare at Kouden. Kouden shifted uneasily and averted his eyes before saying,
"Just ask. I'll answer if I can." Shiro hesitated, and Kouden sat down on the pavement.
"So, I take it your kekkei genkai has finally come out?" Kouden looked up at Shiro. A grimace decorated his face. Shaking his head, Kouden sighed and said,
"I suppose I should just tell you then. Sasami-chan knows, you deserve to know as well. Shiro, I've had a bloodline since I was born. I first activated it when I was 6, and the only reason my eyes were green, was because of a very useful partial henge that Kaa-san taught me." Shiro flinched.
"Kaa-san? That man mentioned your father, does that mean you finally found out who your parents are?" Kouden blinked and sighed again.
"I've never not known. The reason why I was given to Neji-ni-san, was because he was the only person who knew Kaa-san was alive. He was also someone who could teach me how to use the full extent of my eyes. As for Tou-sama? I've known who he was all along. But he died before I was born." Shiro sat down, his blue eyes wide and disbelieving. A few moments of silence followed before Shiro decided to speak up.
"So...Who are your parents?" Kouden looked up at the sky, and said,
"What clan do I look like I belong too?" Shiro frowned. Staring at his younger teamate, he said,
"With those eyes, you look like a Hyuuga...ahh..." Kouden smiled weakly.
"Yes. I am a Hyuuga. I am actually related to Aiko-chan by blood, but she doesn't know. As far as I know, only Ero-sennin, Shika-ni-san, Kakashi-sensei, and Neji-ni-san know who I really am."
"What about your mother? Was she the Hyuuga, or was it your father?" Kouden grimaced.
"Kaa-san was the Hyuuga. But she's dead. She died a few years ago, a few months after I joined academy." Shiro's mouth hung open for a moment before he said with a small laugh,
"At least you aren't lying about being an orphan anymore." Kouden gave a small laugh, and looked at the ground again.
"Can I ask their names? Oh! I just remembered! When we first became genin, and you gave your name, you almost said something before 'Hyuuga'. What was it? Was it your real surname?" Kouden grinned and looked at Shiro.
"Shiro, are you sure you want to know? If any of this leaks out to the wrong person, I would never have a private life again." Shiro frowned.
"Why? Were they famous?" Kouden smiled his wide smile and said,
"Yea, pretty much. I mean, we even learned about Tou-sama in academy!"
"Kouden, stop teasing me. Just spill it!" Kouden laughed at the display of emotion Shiro was showing, and said,
"Hinata. Kaa-san's name was Hinata, Hyuuga Hinata." Shiro's eyes bugged out.
"No way! She died before you were born!" Kouden nodded and said,
"Yea, nine months before I was born." Shiro blinked again and said,
"Ah, that makes much more sense. But your father...Oh...No way!" Kouden grinned.
"Oh yes way. My real name? Its Uzumaki Kouden. Not only am I the hero of Konohagakure's only child, but I recently found out that I'm heir to the entire Hyuuga clan. By law, I have more right than my Aunt Hanabi to her position."
To say that Shiro was stunned is an understatement. Putting a hand on his forehead, Shiro pushed back his black hair and said in a low voice,
"Doesnt that mean that you are a prince? I mean, not only are you a clan heir, but you are the clan heir of the most prestigeous clan in Konoha! Not to mention that your father, being who he is...Kouden, my friend, you have very good breeding. I thought I was special because I have the same blood in me as Sasuke-sensei, you beat me right out." Kouden laughed loudly.
"Breeding? I think you've been spending too much time with Aiko-chan and Noneko-chan." Shiro blushed and Kouden laughed even harder. Wiping a tear from his eye, Kouden's face suddenly went serious. Only the twinkle of mirth in his eye gave his true feelings away.
"But on a heavier tune, you can't tell anyone! Not even Sasami-chan knows who my parents really are. She thinks that Kaa-san was just an escaped branch member. She doesn't have a clue about Tou-sama." Shiro nodded and Kouden grinned again.
"Want to get some ramen? I found a shop nearby when Ero-sennin was peeping on girls again." Shiro laughed and stood up. Both he and Kouden wore grins as they made their way to the ramen shop, in hopes of getting there before the dinner rush.
Tatari winced as she watched Satoshi get chewed out by their leader's right hand man...or woman. She still wasn't sure. Satoshi, on the other hand, just sat there and looked the cloaked figure straight in the eye.
Tatari knew that she had a lot of work ahead of them. His target, a young boy from Kumogakure, had been killed in a raid, and they had limited time to find a new one.
3 months, the leader had said. The jutsu was finished, and the absolute deadline was 3 months. Any longer and everything would fail, and Tatari realized that Satoshi would most likely be killed.
Raising her hand to her chest under her cloak, she tried to push away the fear that gathered and tried to tie her heart in knots.
"You, Tatari, shall accompany Satoshi to Kumo and guard the girl. From what I have collected, she is the new Hoku-hime, correct?" Tatari started and nodded her head. "Then you shall guard her with your life until she is needed. Understood?"
"Understood." The hooded figure gave a curt nod and turned to face Kasumi. Tatari stared for a minute at the cloak that covered the hooded figure. It had brownish-grey trim and the symbol of Iwagakure on her left shoulder. What was catching Tatari's intrest, was the figure's hands. Everytime they darted out from the cloak, Tatari got a glance at what was underneath.
Trying to look without making it obvious was the top priority, but the read head almost gasped when she spotted what she was looking for. Looking over at Satoshi, he had a small grin on his face, a sign that he noticed too, and probably well before Tatari. Wrinkling her nose, Tatari waited until the hooded figure disapeared, and said to her partner,
"She's woman alright. Kinda fat though." Satoshi gave in and chuckled. Tatari turned to him.
"What? Since when do you know how to laugh?" Satoshi ignored the comment and said,
"She's not fat. She's with child." Green eyes widening, Tatari's mouth formed an 'o'.
"Now that you mention it...that 3 month deadline, do you think that is when she is expecting? Do you think the jutsu has to do with her baby?" Tatari gasped with obvious horror and said, "Do you think what Leader-sama's plan is, is to kill the baby? That's horrible!" the tall sandy-haired man sighed and said,
"I doubt we will end up killing the baby. Although I'm fairly sure it has something to do with the plan. Leader-sama never mentioned anything about a baby in the version he gave us." Tatari nodded and sighed.
"I'm glad that Leader-sama has this hideout here. It's fairly close to the Lightning country. Actually, I think some of the people on your target list are in the Hoku region. Shall we rest and be on our way?" Satoshi only bowed his head before puffing away in the a swirl of smoke and dirt.
Turning her head she stuck her tongue out at Kasumi and waited until the younger girl huffed up before following her tall partner.
Sneezing, a pink haired girl frowned and looked around. Sighing, she fingered the edge of her brown and white kimono.
"Hime-sama? Is everything alright?" Sasami turned her head and let her gaze linger on the tall woman behind her. She had dark skin, and had black, shoulder lenth hair. Her dress was unlike that of the other ladies in waiting. Falling to just below her knees, it was white in colour, save the blue dragon emblazed along her hip. Sleeveless, Sasami's eyes were drawn, yet again, to the red swirl on her arm, indicating that she was ANBU.
"Souma-sensei, I'm fine. Just bored. I mean, can't we go train? I dont want to sit here all day." Souma's face was usually serious, but for some reason, she developed a soft spot for the young queen. Resting her hand on Sasami's shoulder, Souma smiled warmly and said,
"Hime-sama, I know how much you like to train, but you aren't some genin anymore. You are queen of your entire district!" Sasami nodded and looked away. Souma gazed at her student and sighed. Leaning closer, Souma whispered into Sasami's ear,
"I'll see if I can get you off of the throne earlier today." Sasami blushed a bit and smiled widely.
"Arigatou gozaimasu, Sensei!" Souma gave a large grin and walked away, straightening her odd dress as she walked.
End Chapter 23
Flopping down onto the futon in the small living room of her new, larger apartment, Hinata let out a long drawling sigh. Her hands hurt, and they twitched every so often. Rolling over, the door to the apartment opened again, and Katoki entered. Glancing at Hinata, he said with a sly grin,
"Hmm? Hinata-chan looks tired." Hinata stuck her tongue out at him.
"Do I? It's mainly Katoki-kun's fault." Katoki managed to look offended as he over acted a small scene of heart ache. Putting the back of his hand to his forehead, he said in a sugary voice,
"Oh! Oh! The pain! My heart has broken from your accusations! It wasn't my fault that that stupid sound nin managed to spear me through the arm." Glancing at his arm, he saw the small pink area where the javalin had gone through. Hinata had had to heal him on the spot, as it had managed to sever an artery. After two days straight of running through some very cold rain, she nearly passed out from exhaustion. He pretty much carried her into the Raikage's office, who was very put out with the news of the upcoming war.
"Katoki, can you do the wash? I got blood all over my uniform." Katoki laughed and took the blood spattered beige vest from, her outstreched arms. She had to kill all of the sound nin that had attacked, thanks to Katoki's injured arm.
"What happened to 'kun', my dear Hinata-chan?" Hinata looked up at him, a smile not decorating her face.
"Please, dont call me 'my dear'. That man used it in his speech before he killed my husband." Katoki gulped and hurried out the door, his arms full of laundry, most of which was covered in blood.
Hinata sighed again and stared at the waterstain on the ceiling. Letting her thought wander again about Katoki and Kouden and other things, Hinata jolted sharply when she head a shout from the hall of their apartment.
Flinging the door open, she glanced around and saw that down at the end of her hall, near the stairs, was Katoki. The bloody laundry was spilled around him, and he was curled up and holding his head.
Rushing past the few onlookers who had opened their doors, Hinata quickly grabbed his hands.
"Katoki-kun! Can you hear me?" Katoki nodded his head, still groaning loudly. "Can you stand?" Katoki faltered, but got to one knee. Just as Hinata finally managed to help him up, another wave of pain crashed down on Katoki and he yelled louder, falling to his knees. Hinata held him upright and struggled to get him to his knees.
"Can I help in anyway, miss?" Some one behind Hinata said. Glancing back quickly, she saw that the man was a citizen, but he was very large.
"P-please, can you help me t-take him to the hospital?" The man nodded and hoisted the now mostly unconcious Katoki onto his shoulder. Hinata quickly gathered the bloody clothes and deposited them in her apartment, ignoring the slightly disgusted stares of another onlooker.
Opening his eyes, Katoki groaned and closed them, immediately regretting that he did. The room was blinding white. Slowly cracking his eyes open and looking down he saw that he had a nub over his index finger than blinked red every once in a while. Sighing, he was slightly surprised to see a sleeping Hinata on his leg. He was just about to jostle her when he had the oddest sensation. He felt like he was dreaming, but he knew he was awake.
He's strong...grass tickled his nose as he smelled. Looking up, his vision felt shaky, but more defined, and his throat felt raspy, like he had been shouting for hours. Swinging his head around and up, his vision still shaky, he could almost make out the taller figure that stood a few metres away. He felt a sharp pang of anger, confusion and joy pass through his stomach.
"Bah! No way! Hinata-chan!" Katoki said, shaking his leg. Hinata looked up and blinked tiredly. Seeing Katoki awake, she instantly brightened and said,
"Katoki-kun! Are you ok? You had another episode in the hall." Katoki blinked, and waved his hand.
"Hinata-chan, I remembered!" Hinata nodded slowly.
"Yes, you should, you responded to me." Hinata was confused, she didn't know why he was so worked up.
"No! No, I got a memory! From my childhood! A full and complete one! Not just a sound, or a smell, like usual." Hinata blinked.
"Oh! That's great! What was the memory? Er...if you dont mind me asking." Katoki paused and said,
"Well, I guess it's actually not that great of one. I was laying down on the grass...I think I had just been knocked down. I was confused and angry...and I think happy?" Hinata's mouth twitched.
"Wow...were you hurt?" Katoki shrugged and shook his head, Hinata felt her face heat up.
Flipping the blanket off of his legs, Katoki sighed when he saw that he was clad in patient scrubs. Taking the nub off of his finger, careful as to not set it off, Katoki swung off the bed and stood up.
"Katoki-kun! What are you doing?" Hinata almost hissed. Katoki grinned and said,
"Where are my clothes?" Hinata's face went blank and a soft smile graced her lips. Reaching behind her, Hinata handed Katoki a pile of clean clothes. Katoki's face was stil for a second before he took the pile.
"These are clean, how long was I out?" Hinata smiled again.
"When I had fallen asleep, you had been out for 4 hours. It's 7pm now. I'de say, about 6 hours, give or take." Katoki grimaced.
Hooking his fingers under the white hem of his shirt, he started to pull up when Hinata stiffened, blushed and turned around. Katoki laughed.
"What are you doing?" Hinata coughed and said, still not facing him,
"I've known you for little over a month. I don't think I should watch you dress. I will leave and see if I can grab something to eat from the cafeteria. Dont leave." Katoki laughed again, and Hinata caught a glimpse of the bottom of the scar that was splayed across Katoki's chest.
When Hinata returned with a small tray of snack food and sandwiches, she looked around and saw that Katoki had vacated. Sighing, she looked up and nearly screamed.
Sitting, upsidedown on the ceiling was Katoki. He was scratching something into the tiles. Hinata looked closer and saw that it was a talley mark.
Dropping down, Katoki stole a sandwich and gulped it down.
"What were you doing?" Hinata asked. Katoki shrugged.
"I talley how many times i've been in each room. I'm weird like that. According to this, this is my third visit to this room in particular. I have a room somewhere with 11 talleys. It's a habit I got when I first got here."
"So you were in the hospital alot?" Katoki grinned and nodded. Flicking dust off the shoulder of his black sleeveless shirt, Katoki motioned that they exit the room. Hinata inclined her head and walked through the door.
Walking through the lobby, Katoki gave a sly wink to a nurse with short periwinkle hair. The nurse started and blushed before nodded and writing something on a clipboard. Hinata found herself getting angry but calmed herself as no one tried to stop them from leaving. Sighing she let Katoki lead her to their apartment.
Raising his hand against the blinding sun, Shiro looked upon the massive waterfall that he was somehow supposed to cross. Standing and anaylzing his options for a good ten minutes, Shiro was so involved in thinking that he didn't even notice the two figures coming up behind him untill they called out.
"Oi! Who are you?" Shiro jumped. Turning he saw two kunoichi, one was very tall, almost as tall as Uchiha Sasuke, and had murky green colour hair that lay in waves to her chin. The other kunoichi was short and resembled what a female Kakashi would look like. Shiro almost laughed. The Kakashi-like Kunoichi tossed her silver hair and stared at Shiro.
"Uhn, Oketsu Shiro. I am a chuunin of Konohagakure, I was sent on a mission to deliver this to Jiraya-sama in the Village hidden in the waterfall." The shorter of the shinobi said,
"How do we know you aren't lying?" Shiro almost laughed again. She even sounded like Kakashi. Rumaging around in his sack, he pulled out the scroll that Tsunade had given him and handed it to the taller kunoichi.
She opened it, read it quickly and showed the silver haired woman. They both nodded and said in unison,
"Follow us please." Shiro nodded and did as they asked.
Ten minutes later, Shiro found himself standing underneath the roaring waterfall inside the entrance to the village. He never would have guessed the entrance to not even be by the waterfall. The Kunoichi turned to him and said,
"I leave your search to you, but do not cause any trouble, young chuunin. You are our guest, and we must take responsibilty of you." Shiro nodded and tucked a strand of his long bangs behind his ears.
Going inside the first tavern he saw, Shiro walked up to the receptionist and said,
"Sumimasen, but have you seen an old man with white hair and a blonde kid with a stupid face?" The receptionist shook her head, and Shiro continued on his search for Kouden, not realizing the irony in his words.
Three hours and no luck later, Shiro was ready to give up when he heard a familiar yelling coming from around the corner. Peeking around, he saw Kouden yelling at the man Shiro presumed to be Jiraiya, while sitting on a frog that was Jiraiya's height.
"Stop staring at the girls and teach me, Ero-sennin!" Kouden yelled, pointing his finger. Jiraiya pointed his finger and stomped his foot before yelling back,
"I told you not to call me that! I've been helping you for 2 years and you still can't summon anyone bigger than Gamatan!" The frog gave a grunt and shifted his legs.
"I could if you helped me!" Kouden shouted, even louder than before, if it seemed possible.
"You're father did it in a month!" Shiro froze. What? Stepping from around the corner as soon as his face got under control, Shiro noted how fast the colour drained out of Kouden's face.
"Jiraiya-sama, I have the scroll that you sent for." Jiraiya smiled and tottered over to Shiro. Shiro handed it over and the old man said,
"Now, Kouden-baka. If you hadn't of been so thick, you would have noticed that your friend has been eavesdropping on us for a few minutes now. I'm going to the bar to drink my student's failures away." Kouden paled again, making his white eyes seem a light purple, versus the colourless they were before. Shiro took a doubletake.
"Why are your eyes white?" Kouden blinked and then put his hand behind his head and laughed.
"Ahhh, I guess they were still green when I left." Shiro nodded. Kouden grimaced again and said,
"How much did you hear?" Shiro hesitated before saying,
"Since, 'Ero-sennin'." Kouden flinched. Taking a breath, he patted Gamatan and said,
"You can leave if you want." The giant frog nodded and grinned before disapearing in a puff of smoke, leaving Kouden standing on the pavement.
"Oh? You got new clothes?" Kouden grinned. He now sported an orange jacket that bore the flame of the Hyuuga on one sleeve and the flack vest swirl on the other. The jacket was covered by a green flack vest identical to Shiro's. His pants were standard black leggings that were also identicle to Shiro's.
"I'm a chuunin too! I took the test in Kirigakure with Sakana-nechan and Renji. Ranji had passed already and I got permission from Tsunade-baa-chan." Shiro gave a small grin, but continued to stare at Kouden. Kouden shifted uneasily and averted his eyes before saying,
"Just ask. I'll answer if I can." Shiro hesitated, and Kouden sat down on the pavement.
"So, I take it your kekkei genkai has finally come out?" Kouden looked up at Shiro. A grimace decorated his face. Shaking his head, Kouden sighed and said,
"I suppose I should just tell you then. Sasami-chan knows, you deserve to know as well. Shiro, I've had a bloodline since I was born. I first activated it when I was 6, and the only reason my eyes were green, was because of a very useful partial henge that Kaa-san taught me." Shiro flinched.
"Kaa-san? That man mentioned your father, does that mean you finally found out who your parents are?" Kouden blinked and sighed again.
"I've never not known. The reason why I was given to Neji-ni-san, was because he was the only person who knew Kaa-san was alive. He was also someone who could teach me how to use the full extent of my eyes. As for Tou-sama? I've known who he was all along. But he died before I was born." Shiro sat down, his blue eyes wide and disbelieving. A few moments of silence followed before Shiro decided to speak up.
"So...Who are your parents?" Kouden looked up at the sky, and said,
"What clan do I look like I belong too?" Shiro frowned. Staring at his younger teamate, he said,
"With those eyes, you look like a Hyuuga...ahh..." Kouden smiled weakly.
"Yes. I am a Hyuuga. I am actually related to Aiko-chan by blood, but she doesn't know. As far as I know, only Ero-sennin, Shika-ni-san, Kakashi-sensei, and Neji-ni-san know who I really am."
"What about your mother? Was she the Hyuuga, or was it your father?" Kouden grimaced.
"Kaa-san was the Hyuuga. But she's dead. She died a few years ago, a few months after I joined academy." Shiro's mouth hung open for a moment before he said with a small laugh,
"At least you aren't lying about being an orphan anymore." Kouden gave a small laugh, and looked at the ground again.
"Can I ask their names? Oh! I just remembered! When we first became genin, and you gave your name, you almost said something before 'Hyuuga'. What was it? Was it your real surname?" Kouden grinned and looked at Shiro.
"Shiro, are you sure you want to know? If any of this leaks out to the wrong person, I would never have a private life again." Shiro frowned.
"Why? Were they famous?" Kouden smiled his wide smile and said,
"Yea, pretty much. I mean, we even learned about Tou-sama in academy!"
"Kouden, stop teasing me. Just spill it!" Kouden laughed at the display of emotion Shiro was showing, and said,
"Hinata. Kaa-san's name was Hinata, Hyuuga Hinata." Shiro's eyes bugged out.
"No way! She died before you were born!" Kouden nodded and said,
"Yea, nine months before I was born." Shiro blinked again and said,
"Ah, that makes much more sense. But your father...Oh...No way!" Kouden grinned.
"Oh yes way. My real name? Its Uzumaki Kouden. Not only am I the hero of Konohagakure's only child, but I recently found out that I'm heir to the entire Hyuuga clan. By law, I have more right than my Aunt Hanabi to her position."
To say that Shiro was stunned is an understatement. Putting a hand on his forehead, Shiro pushed back his black hair and said in a low voice,
"Doesnt that mean that you are a prince? I mean, not only are you a clan heir, but you are the clan heir of the most prestigeous clan in Konoha! Not to mention that your father, being who he is...Kouden, my friend, you have very good breeding. I thought I was special because I have the same blood in me as Sasuke-sensei, you beat me right out." Kouden laughed loudly.
"Breeding? I think you've been spending too much time with Aiko-chan and Noneko-chan." Shiro blushed and Kouden laughed even harder. Wiping a tear from his eye, Kouden's face suddenly went serious. Only the twinkle of mirth in his eye gave his true feelings away.
"But on a heavier tune, you can't tell anyone! Not even Sasami-chan knows who my parents really are. She thinks that Kaa-san was just an escaped branch member. She doesn't have a clue about Tou-sama." Shiro nodded and Kouden grinned again.
"Want to get some ramen? I found a shop nearby when Ero-sennin was peeping on girls again." Shiro laughed and stood up. Both he and Kouden wore grins as they made their way to the ramen shop, in hopes of getting there before the dinner rush.
Tatari winced as she watched Satoshi get chewed out by their leader's right hand man...or woman. She still wasn't sure. Satoshi, on the other hand, just sat there and looked the cloaked figure straight in the eye.
Tatari knew that she had a lot of work ahead of them. His target, a young boy from Kumogakure, had been killed in a raid, and they had limited time to find a new one.
3 months, the leader had said. The jutsu was finished, and the absolute deadline was 3 months. Any longer and everything would fail, and Tatari realized that Satoshi would most likely be killed.
Raising her hand to her chest under her cloak, she tried to push away the fear that gathered and tried to tie her heart in knots.
"You, Tatari, shall accompany Satoshi to Kumo and guard the girl. From what I have collected, she is the new Hoku-hime, correct?" Tatari started and nodded her head. "Then you shall guard her with your life until she is needed. Understood?"
"Understood." The hooded figure gave a curt nod and turned to face Kasumi. Tatari stared for a minute at the cloak that covered the hooded figure. It had brownish-grey trim and the symbol of Iwagakure on her left shoulder. What was catching Tatari's intrest, was the figure's hands. Everytime they darted out from the cloak, Tatari got a glance at what was underneath.
Trying to look without making it obvious was the top priority, but the read head almost gasped when she spotted what she was looking for. Looking over at Satoshi, he had a small grin on his face, a sign that he noticed too, and probably well before Tatari. Wrinkling her nose, Tatari waited until the hooded figure disapeared, and said to her partner,
"She's woman alright. Kinda fat though." Satoshi gave in and chuckled. Tatari turned to him.
"What? Since when do you know how to laugh?" Satoshi ignored the comment and said,
"She's not fat. She's with child." Green eyes widening, Tatari's mouth formed an 'o'.
"Now that you mention it...that 3 month deadline, do you think that is when she is expecting? Do you think the jutsu has to do with her baby?" Tatari gasped with obvious horror and said, "Do you think what Leader-sama's plan is, is to kill the baby? That's horrible!" the tall sandy-haired man sighed and said,
"I doubt we will end up killing the baby. Although I'm fairly sure it has something to do with the plan. Leader-sama never mentioned anything about a baby in the version he gave us." Tatari nodded and sighed.
"I'm glad that Leader-sama has this hideout here. It's fairly close to the Lightning country. Actually, I think some of the people on your target list are in the Hoku region. Shall we rest and be on our way?" Satoshi only bowed his head before puffing away in the a swirl of smoke and dirt.
Turning her head she stuck her tongue out at Kasumi and waited until the younger girl huffed up before following her tall partner.
Sneezing, a pink haired girl frowned and looked around. Sighing, she fingered the edge of her brown and white kimono.
"Hime-sama? Is everything alright?" Sasami turned her head and let her gaze linger on the tall woman behind her. She had dark skin, and had black, shoulder lenth hair. Her dress was unlike that of the other ladies in waiting. Falling to just below her knees, it was white in colour, save the blue dragon emblazed along her hip. Sleeveless, Sasami's eyes were drawn, yet again, to the red swirl on her arm, indicating that she was ANBU.
"Souma-sensei, I'm fine. Just bored. I mean, can't we go train? I dont want to sit here all day." Souma's face was usually serious, but for some reason, she developed a soft spot for the young queen. Resting her hand on Sasami's shoulder, Souma smiled warmly and said,
"Hime-sama, I know how much you like to train, but you aren't some genin anymore. You are queen of your entire district!" Sasami nodded and looked away. Souma gazed at her student and sighed. Leaning closer, Souma whispered into Sasami's ear,
"I'll see if I can get you off of the throne earlier today." Sasami blushed a bit and smiled widely.
"Arigatou gozaimasu, Sensei!" Souma gave a large grin and walked away, straightening her odd dress as she walked.
End Chapter 23