Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ People Lie ❯ People Lie: three ( Chapter 3 )

o/~

 

 

Her father was furious, of course. For three weeks solid, he had her training from the moment she got out of the academy until she passed out from exhaustion. Of course, much of the training involved him or her little sister beating the crap out of Hinata.

 

Perversely, Hinata knew her father would actually be pleased with the strides she'd made. But she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

 

A plan had formed in her mind.

 

She was going to get through this. She was going to suffer every closure of her tenketsu, every juken strike, every four hour session stabbing two fingered strikes into the carefully labeled tatami target dummy that had to be replaced twice daily, training sessions that left her arms feeling like jelly and her head swimming.

 

She was going to take the look on her little sister's face, the little sister she adored, the look that told her how disappointed she was in her big sister.

 

And when she got through it, she was going to see Naruto again. She had seen failure. Now she wanted to see Naruto win.

 

She wanted to be there with him. She didn't even bother to try and repair the damage her fight with Ino had done to her reputation. All of that was cast behind her now. She just wanted to be stronger, so she could keep up with Naruto.

 

He had the skills. She'd fought him personally. He truly was one of the best in the class. She wanted to say the best, but even Naruto had impressed upon her that he didn't truly know how he compared in skill to, say, Sasuke, he just knew he'd win any initial confrontation with anyone of their level.

 

So Hinata was going to get stronger, too. And just like Naruto, she was going to hide her skill, even from her own father, who in her eyes, was a pale substitute for Naruto, who cared about her.

 

One day, Naruto would look at her with respect. One day, he would have love and tenderness in his eyes. She would give herself to him, and he would accept, and it would be glorious. One day, she'd be his wife. For now, she contented herself with being his girl.

 

So she performed spear point strikes on the training dummies until her fingernails tore off from the constant impact with the densely packed reeds. She pushed her body to the limits as she slid away from incoming attacks, often deliberately just a little too slow to avoid being hit. She threw herself into training with everything Naruto had demanded of her, but with Naruto, she gave it to him willingly.

 

With her father, she slid it under his nose.

 

The thing that really got to her, though, the thing that made her eyes hard and cold like Naruto's, but only when she was on her knees on the dojo floor, gasping for air, her gaze averted down so no one could see, that thing was that her father, of all people, should be able to see through it. She wasn't as practiced at hiding herself away as Naruto was, and she avoided blows she shouldn't have been able to at her supposed skill level. There'd be a brief flicker of approval when she really went all out, and she hated it, and would let a simple strike leave her curled up and quivering in pain on the floor, just so she could see the disappointment in his face again. Her father should have known she was faking, but he'd already resigned himself that his oldest daughter was a failure.

 

Getting beat by a nobody like a Yamanaka was simply proof in his eyes.

 

Well she'd show him. She wasn't his failure.

 

She was Naruto's.

 

 

o/~

 

 

“You want me to what?” he asked.

 

“I want everyone in the class to acknowledge you,” Hinata replied.

 

Naruto was mentally kicking himself for being caught verbally unprepared by such an odd statement from Hinata, but that paled in comparison to the magnitude of what Hinata was asking. He paused in their get together sparring session to think.

 

“You taught me to stop being afraid of losing. You taught me that it's not about your place in the class, it's what you can do.” She had also paused, giving him time to think. “But you said what you have is a guaranteed first strike. I know you can beat anyone in our class. I just want everyone else to know it.”

 

He raised one eyebrow at her. “Why?”

 

Hinata grew agitated. “Because they disrespect you!” she blurted. “They think you're a joke! You're not! You're NOT!”

 

“Don't you mean that they see you as a joke, now?” he replied calmly.

 

Hinata shook her head furiously. “No, I don't care about that. But you deserve to be seen as the best!”

 

The best, huh? What would it be like, to be like Sasuke? Hated by nearly every boy in class? Fawned about by little girls with the most ridiculous crushes? But no, pretty much everyone would hate him for suckering them so completely, and again for having the gall to beat their precious Sasuke. He'd be unveiled. Rivals would spring up out of nowhere.

 

No, better to stay anonymous.

 

Naruto shook his head. “No, Hinata, revealing myself would be pointless. We are shinobi, we keep secrets. Even from each other.”

 

“But your grades! You're still getting low scores,” she protested. “What if they decide that you're not good enough to graduate, even though you're so skilled?”

 

Naruto smiled slightly and nodded. “You're right, but you don't have to worry about that. The right people know. They won't fail me.”

 

“But-“

 

“No, Hinata,” he interrupted darkly. Her insistence had dropped past cute and into rebellion in an instant.

 

Her mouth shut with an audible click of teeth, and she realized she had overstepped her bounds.

 

“I-I-I'm sorry, N-Naruto!” she gasped. “I-I just wanted-“ Her words choked off as her throat grew tight. His expression scared her.

 

He gave her a measured look, leaving her trembling. After a long, long moment, he reached out and put his hand on her shoulder.

 

She tried hard not to flinch, but couldn't quite stop a single shudder, which she was sure he noticed.

 

“We'll wait. We'll bide our time. You'll show what you can do when the time is right.” His eyes bored into hers.

 

She gave him a hesitant, quivering nod.

 

And for another long minute, he looked at her, almost as if he was trying to decide something. She'd have been afraid, but she knew him. She could see he was thinking about her, and even if he was angry, he was thinking about her.

 

Finally, he spoke up once more. “Hinata, I'm your friend, right?”

 

“Yes!” she exclaimed quietly.

 

“And you are my friend,” he said thoughtfully.

 

She nodded firmly. She didn't know where he was going with this, but she agreed.

 

“…there's someone I'd like to meet you.”

 

 

o/~

 

 

Hinata was a Hyuga. That meant she didn't have to keep glancing sideways at her companion as they walked the streets of Konoha, she could see her perfectly well out of the corner of her eye, even without activating the byakugan.

 

Naruko was an entirely new creature.

 

She walked boldly and confidently, jutting her chest out and swaying her hips with an easy confidence Hinata had never possessed. She smiled at everyone they passed, and everyone smiled back. People waved, and she waved back. Some people even seemed to know her, and once she exchanged brief greetings with a shopkeeper selling fresh produce.

 

Only one person knew Hinata by name, and that was Mizuki, their academy instructor. He paused to say hi, and gave Naruko several interested looks as they exchanged easy greetings before Naruko begged forgiveness and lead Hinata away. Mizuki, a chunin, had no idea that the lovely young girl was really one of his own male students. Hinata was impressed.

 

Even as a girl, Naruto was greater than she was.

 

The thought didn't bother her. But Hinata was still surprised at Naruto's solution to his self imposed restriction on being seen with her in public. Hinata had actually wanted him with her anyway, but he'd insisted that her reputation was a valuable commodity and not to be squandered on unnecessary things like being seen together.

 

Whatever that meant. Sometimes Naruto said things so profound they mystified her.

 

And… Naruto laughed and joked with her. Like young girls did with each other all the time. Except Hinata, who had never really done things like that. But she soon found herself drawn into easy banter, somehow managing to hold up her end of the conversation while Naruto deliberately rambled on about the best places to get ramen in Konoha.

 

Their journey carried them approximately a third of the way into Konoha, not far at all, to a nondescript apartment building two streets away from a main road. Most of the residents of the place were older, married couples with decades together that had lived in Konoha all of their lives, who hadn't bought real houses for various reasons.

 

“He likes this place because of that, you know,” Naruko said cheerfully. “Every single civilian living in this building has a long history here, with few trips outside Konoha and none outside the Fire country at all. A few shinobi live here, too, mostly administrative types. Quiet, serious types, the backbone of our infrastructure. Everyone who lives here is easily monitored for loyalty and has very routine schedules. It makes them easier to keep an eye on.”

 

Hinata nodded. “It sounds like this person takes security seriously.” Paranoia, of course, being a silly way of describing what was a very real issue for ninja.

 

“He's very important in a not very well liked section of Konoha's shinobi,” Naruto replied with evident pride. “He was the first person to ever… well…,” Naruto said thoughtfully as he thought, “acknowledge me.” The door to the entrance hall was not locked, but Hinata caught glimpses of several eyes peeking at them, and knew that a number of people hidden behind curtains and blinds had noted their arrival.

 

“These people stick together,” Naruto said aloud, noticing Hinata's darting glances as she somehow followed the furtive activity going on all around them. “The arrival of two cute girls who have never been seen before but seem to know where they are going will provide gossip and speculation for weeks.”

 

“But why would anyone want to live around gossips?” Hinata wondered.

 

Naruto shrugged, the motion setting her pigtails waving. “Most are just civilians. The ones who aren't gossip in ways that keep the important stuff private. Or so I'm told. I haven't learned long term infiltration techniques yet.”

 

“You probably won't get a chance for quite a few years, either,” a voice said from behind them both. “Your talents as a fighter mean you're not likely to ever be picked for a lengthy infiltration. Even if you do seem proficient with the appropriate jutsu.”

 

Hinata squeaked and whirled. But there was no one there. She glanced at Naruto, but the blonde girl was also glancing around, trying to spot the voice's owner, apparently also without success.

 

“Hinata,” Naruto said quietly.

 

Nodding, she formed seals. “Byakugan!”

 

The world exploded, and she perceived everything at once. Hyuga vision was unique, with a much wider field of vision and the ability to focus on any part of it with perfect clarity. After channeling chakra to the eyes, however, the field of vision wrapped around their entire body, and she gained the ability to focus on more than one thing in more than one place, at a time. It took only a few seconds to spot the chakra, and only a little more concentration to see the entire man, wrapped in chakra which obscured him, as he stood casually to one side of the hall. Hinata spun in place, looking in the opposite direction, more at Naruto, if one was to judge by which way her eyes looked. Her hands blocked from the stranger by her own body, she crooked a finger into a hook, pointing at him through her body.

 

Naruto nodded, then dropped his transformation, becoming a boy once more. “Hello, Ibiki-san,” he said formally, directing his words at the empty air. “I have brought someone I'd like you to meet.”

 

The man was just suddenly there, but of course he'd been there all the time. “Hello, Naruto-kun. It's been a while. Why don't you and your… friend, come into my apartment. I have tea.”

 

 

“Thank you for the tea, Ibiki-san,” Hinata said politely, easily falling into the formal manner he and Naruto used with each other.

 

“You are welcome, Hyuga-san,” he replied, sitting down at his table with the two of them after having poured the tea. “I'm glad you came. I have been hoping Naruto would find someone appropriate to become friends with for quite some time, now.”

 

Hinata blushed faintly. “It is an honor, Sir.”

 

Ibiki turned to Naruto, who looked faintly uncomfortable, at least to someone who knew him as well as Ibiki.

 

“I thought a lot about what you said,” Naruto blurted.

 

Ibiki raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, keeping his face that same silent, cool visage that broke countless numbers of his guests.

 

Quickly schooling his expression to hide his nervousness, Naruto declined to continue, turning instead to his guest. “Hinata-chan, you asked a question earlier about my real abilities. Ibiki-san knows what I can do better than I do. Please explain what I have advised about your father and sister.”

 

Giving him a doubtful look, she nevertheless sipped her excellent tea and cleared her throat nervously. Ibiki gave her an encouraging smile, though the effect was ruined by his horrifically scarred face. But despite her misgivings about spilling such a private issue with someone she'd just met, Ibiki was someone who awed even Naruto. She didn't know exactly who he was, but he must be special.

 

So she explained her difficulty with the Hyuga family training. How her little sister, despite her age, was able to defeat, and indeed hurt her, in sparring sessions. And how her father had dismissed her as a failure.

 

Ibiki didn't offer any sort of comment while he listened, and Hinata found herself admitting more and more, though nothing she hadn't told Naruto. In fact, the scarred man listened to her with the same quiet intensity that Naruto did. She could see that he was special to Naruto.

 

She outlined Naruto's plan for her to gain ascendancy amongst her family, hiding her abilities until she was overwhelmingly stronger than those thought of as her betters. Then, after displaying her true prowess, her father would be humbled by her deception, and the upset amongst her family hierarchy would give her plenty of opportunities to secure her place.

 

Ibiki sipped at his own tea. “That is indeed a plan Naruto would advise. He is quite fond of deception tactics designed to make the enemy underestimate you.”

 

Naruto winced. “Yes, though I believe those tactics are the most appropriate in both mine and Hinata-chan's situations.”

 

“Why?”

 

“We've discussed my situation before-“ Naruto began, but was interrupted.

 

“Elaborate for your friend.”

 

Naruto paused, then took a deep breath and looked at Hinata. “In my situation, the villager and many ninja are hostile for an unknown reason. I do not understand why. However, since hostility seemed more pronounced after my early successes, I decided to fake being a failure so that hostility was diluted to simple contempt, which allowed me greater freedom of movement. Once I have attained enough skill, personal opinions of the majority of the village will be outweighed by my usefulness, and I will gain influence accordingly.”

 

Ibiki smiled cryptically. “And do you think you have gained enough skill?”

 

“No,” Naruto replied simply.

 

“Oh? How much farther do you have to go?” Ibiki wanted to know.

 

“I am closer than I was.” He didn't elaborate farther.

 

“Do you agree, Hyuga-san?” Ibiki asked, turning back to Hinata.

 

Hinata bobbed her head assent. “Naruto has gotten very strong. I believe him to be the best of our class.”

 

“Despite his grades?”

 

“Despite his grades.”

 

“And do you think he is not yet strong enough to gain the respect of his peers, despite the aforementioned unexplained hostility?” His eyes seemed to bore into hers, and despite the Hyuga being masters of penetrating stares, Hinata hesitated.

 

That was all the answer Ibiki needed, and Naruto frowned slightly.

 

“Ah, so, Naruto, explain your reasoning for the advice you offered,” Ibiki continued, as if Hinata had answered.

 

“Much like my own situation, Hinata is held in contempt by her clan,” Naruto replied, as if he'd been waiting for the question. “Despite her obvious potential, and despite being easily the strongest kunoichi in the academy, her standing in her own family has suffered to the point it affected her perception of herself. Such irrational treatment despite training claimed to help her meet her potential has marked her family as an opponent, an enemy. Since the perception of her, again, much like my own image, is of a weakling, if she improves slowly she may gain some notice but will never shed the reputation of being a failure. Only a surprise, crushing victory that leaves everyone in awe will destroy her stigma. As there are no fast routes to skill, only by hiding her true abilities can she give the impression of sudden power, leaving her enemies unsure exactly how long she's hidden her agenda. From underestimation to wary overestimation almost instantly. And with no clear idea of her complete abilities and a certain indication of her power, her family must give her deferential treatment.”

 

“Wordy, but clear enough,” Ibiki said with mild amusement.

 

Naruto flushed.

 

“Well, that's a valid approach,” he continued, looking again to Hinata. “So do you believe you have the ability to pull off the awe inspiring victory the plan requires?”

 

“I do,” she said clearly.

 

“You do?”

 

“Yes, I do.” Because Naruto says I do.

 

Toying absently with his empty teacup, he turned back to Naruto. “And you, Naruto. You have hidden your abilities very well. But you realize that the flaw in your plan is your grades, right? It is fine to fool your peers, but playing the fool to your teachers is not necessarily an appropriate ploy.”

 

“Iruka-sensei knows. I do not believe he will judge me from my grades. I could pass the final exam now, at any rate.”

 

Ibiki shook his head. “You assume that the grades do not matter, given that the exam guarantees graduation. That is not entirely the case.”

 

Naruto looked concerned. “Really? I thought that the grades were just used to show a shinobi's potential for future assignments. Iruka-sensei has seen me fight, spy, and infiltrate. He knows I know seals and sealing. The only other skill I seem to have real aptitude for isn't something they train for in the academy.”

 

“Well, Hyuga-san, it has been a pleasure to meet you,” Ibiki said without preamble. “I would like to chat further, but I'm afraid I have a pressing assignment at work it's time I got back to.”

 

Hinata blinked, surprised for several moments. Wasn't he going to explain what he'd said to Naruto? “Oh, well, uh, okay. Thank you for having me.” She winced at her own hesitant words. He kept jumping conversational tracks, as if he were deliberately keeping her off balance.

 

She rose when Naruto rose, and followed him as they were escorted to the door.

 

“By the way, Hyuga-san, has Naruto told you what I do?” he asked.

 

She shook her head. “No, Ibiki-san. He says you have a very important job, and that is all. I have not asked further.”

 

“Would you like to know?” He looked slightly expectant.

 

She nodded.

 

“I am the head of ANBU's torture and interrogation squad. One day, you should get Naruto to tell you the story of how we met. You might want to know what you're getting into if you're going to become friends with Naruto.”

 

 

o/~

 

 

“You wanted to speak with me, Mizuki-sensei?” Naruto asked, using his public voice. They were in the teacher's office after school, and Iruka wasn't present, having other business elsewhere. He looked at the older man interestedly. Mizuki was one of the people who knew he hid his true skill, and had been present for some of Iruka's informal tutoring sessions where he tried to gauge Naruto's abilities.

 

Mizuki tapped the edges of a stack of papers until they made a neat pile, then lay them on his desk in a tray. “I have a special assignment for you, Naruto.”

 

Naruto nodded brightly. He liked special assignments. Some of them were hard as hell, but he'd learned valuable information from every special assignment he'd ever been given. And he'd never given up, he'd completed them all. Ibiki wasn't completely satisfied with the results of his mission to make friends, but at least he was talking to him again.

 

“Your grades are horrible, Naruto. You know that. I don't know if you are aware of it or not, but grades have a lot to do with your final assignments as a shinobi, not just passing the academy. Students particularly gifted at math are training in business, finance, or cryptography. Students with tracking skills often get assigned to teams designed to make maximum use of those skills. And grades are our way of determining those skills.”

 

“You know I've deliberately failed those tests, though.”

 

Mizuki nodded. “Yes, we're aware that you're much more than you appear to be. If we had a column in our grade books for `deceiving and manipulating classmates, teachers, and all of Konoha', well, I'd be the first to mark down an `A'.”

 

Naruto allowed himself a small grin.

 

Mizuki grinned back, although his was a great deal more rueful. “I'll admit it, kid, you're the best I've ever seen at infiltration your age. You even had me fooled for the longest time.” He paused. “But, you're so good, no one who hasn't seen your abilities would believe it. And teacher recommendations only go so far. Any jonin looking to take a genin team will look at grades first. And yours are so bad most of them are going to just look right over you.”

 

Ah. That was what Ibiki had meant. Naruto was glad to finally have that bit of information. Getting anything out of Ibiki was like hunting tiger mushrooms. Easiest just to find someone else to give it to you.

 

“So, because you deserve better than that, it's been decided to give you a special make up test, to show what you can really do. This will ensure you get picked by a jonin-sensei based off your real skills, so you need to do your best.” He gave Naruto a cryptic smile. “But you shouldn't have any trouble. After all, this is a solo mission, and your goal is to be unobserved. No one to break cover to.”

 

Naruto frowned. That sounded a bit condescending.

 

Mizuki noticed his expression, then hastened to explain. “You're getting a mission based on a simple mission type. Locate and retrieve. There is a scroll of powerful jutsu in the Hokage tower, that is your target. Your goal is to sneak in, get the scroll, verify that it does contain jutsu, get out, and return it to me. For the purposes of this mission I will be a sleeper agent, going about my daily life. Your primary goal is to get the scroll to me without compromising my identity. Your secondary goal is to avoid compromising your identity. Should you be chased, do not lead pursuers to my location until you have avoided them.”

 

Naruto looked actually eager for the first time Mizuki had ever seen.

 

“Where should I meet you?”

 

“I will be waiting for you at training ground six at one in the morning. You have all evening and half of the night to complete your task.”

 

“This is a difficult mission,” Naruto said thoughtfully. “What support do I have?”

 

“It is a difficult mission. You don't think you make up for years of barely passing grades with just an essay, do you?” Mizuki replied sarcastically. “You have no support. Think of it this way, this mission is the result of a long series of near failures. Your only hope to make up for it is to complete your mission with distinction. No backup. No support but what you can create on your own.” He gave the blond a cruel smile. “Of course, if you really aren't that good, I guess we can-“

 

“No!” Naruto all but shouted. “I just wanted to be clear on the situation. I can do this.” His eyes positively blazed. “I will do this. Now tell me about the scroll. Where is it and what does it look like.”

 

 

o/~

 

 

“Naru…ko!” Hinata called, running quickly over to the blonde girl carrying two shopping bags.

 

Naruto looked up, surprised for a moment. He'd been so busy planning tonight's raid she hadn't noticed her approach. “Oh, hi, Hinata-chan. What are you doing?” she said brightly.

 

“Coming to find you,” she replied, falling into step beside her. “My father is busy today, so I got some extra free time. What are you doing? Shopping?”

 

“Oh.” Naruto considered that for a moment, thought about his mission, then decided it couldn't hurt. “Guess what, Hinata, I've got a mission!” she said, her voice breathy with excitement. “I bought some clothes to help with the mission.”

 

“A mission? What kind?” Hinata asked.

 

“It's like homework, Mizuki-sensei gave me a special assignment to make up for all the bad grades I made.” She paused and scratched her jaw. “It's actually really hard,” she admitted, before brightening. “I love it!”

 

Hinata smiled at Naruto's enthusiasm. He was usually so serious, but now that he had something to do, he was as bright and happy as he always was pranking people in class. “Really? That's great, Naruko!” she enthused. “What are you supposed to do?”

 

Naruto glanced around at the people on the street, then motioned for Hinata to follow. They soon found themselves on a rooftop overlooking a deserted alley. Rooftops were sort of cliche as clandestine meeting places, but this wasn't exactly high security.

 

“I'm supposed to steal a scroll from the Hokage's library,” he began quietly. “It's full of some really amazing jutsu, or so I was told. I can't wait to see it, I've been wanting to get a look in that library since I was a kid!”

 

“Wow,” Hinata replied. “Can you read the scroll?”

 

“Yeah!” Naruto replied happily. “I'm supposed to read and verify it's got jutsu in it, and take it back to Mizuki-sensei by one in the morning.”

 

“Where at?” She hesitated, then couldn't resist asking. “And can you have a partner?” Her. A partner with Naruto. It was everything she dreamed of.

 

“Training ground six. But no, sorry, this is a solo mission,” he said apologetically, and Hinata was struck by the difference it made for him to have an important assignment. He'd never been so… friendly. So alive.

 

“I wish I could have you, too,” he continued, and Hinata nearly fainted. He wanted to have her with him? “I could really use a backup to distract the guards, and a big part of the mission is making sure that no one follows me back to Mizuki-sensei. You'd be my first pick for that. But I have to do it on my own.”

 

“Oh.” Hinata was disappointed. But it still cheered her up that he wanted her there, even if she couldn't be. “So how are you going to do it? Isn't the Hokage tower really well guarded?”

 

Naruto nodded ruefully. “Yeah, it's a hell of a problem. I mean, I could probably just walk in like I am, they let in unscheduled appointments sometimes, but I don't think that'd work if this was a real mission. So I'm going to transform into one of the assistants and sneak in.”

 

“But why the clothes?”

 

“Hensou no jutsu, it's how I turn into a girl,” Naruto replied, reaching in a bag and pulling some clothes out for Hinata to see. “It's harder to detect than a henge, but it doesn't change your clothes, so I have to get others.” She swayed her hips provocatively, looking down at herself. “I don't think they know that I know this sexy jutsu, all I should know is the henge, so if they're looking for someone they know is henged, I can slip by them by exploiting what they think they know.”

 

Hinata blinked, tried to follow, then shook her head. “That sounds really complicated, Naruto.”

 

He shrugged. “It's not, really. I've already picked one of the administrative workers there, I've got clothes just like hers, I'll change my appearance so I look just like her, and I should be able to sneak in just fine.”

 

“What about getting out with the scroll?”

 

Naruto winced. “Okay, that, I'm still working on.”

 

 

o/~

 

 

Hinata wandered the streets aimlessly, sticking close to the tower. She was excited, for Naruto, bored, because Naruto wasn't with her, and happy, because she wasn't stuck in the Hyuga compound all evening again. What a great day.

 

She cheered silently when the tower suddenly burst into a silent buzz of activity, masked ninja flickering in and out so fast she honestly couldn't follow some of them.

 

That only meant one thing. Naruto must have succeeded.

 

Surprisingly, a stern voice ANBU in a frowning lizard mask appeared in front of her almost immediately.

 

“State your name and affiliation,” the cold voice demanded.

 

Hinata shivered at the restrained killing intent. Whoever this person was behind the mask, they were not happy. “A-ano, Hinata Hyuga. I'm an academy student,” she said hesitantly.

 

“Do know Naruto Uzumaki?”

 

A wave of disappointment washed over her. Naruto had been discovered. “Y-yes, I know Naruto-kun,” she replied. “We're in the same class in the academy.”

 

“Have you seen Naruto Uzumaki?”

 

She nodded, and in an instant a hand as hard a steel gripped her arm.

 

“Where is he?”

 

Hinata froze. “I-I-I…”

 

“Hey, that's one of my students!” came a call from the street behind them.

 

They both turned to see Mizuki and Iruka running towards them.

 

“She claims to have seen Naruto Uzumaki,” the cold voice stated, as if that explained everything.

 

Iruka looked at her with concern. “Is that true, Hinata? Where did you see him?”

 

Oh no! She was NOT going to blow Naruto's assignment after he'd trusted her enough to tell her about it.

 

“Ah, ah, at… school…” she said meekly. She wasn't sure, but she thought that the ANBU frowned at her. Without using her byakugan, she couldn't be sure, and she was willing to bet that he'd take that as a sign of hostile intent.

 

“She is prevaricating,” the ANBU stated emotionlessly.

 

“She's shy,” Iruka countered. “You're scaring the hell out of her, let her go. And what's this about Naruto? What's he done this time?”

 

What's he done? Hinata wondered. That was a strange question.

 

“Naruto Uzumaki has stolen a valuable scroll of kinjutsu from the Hokage's library. Currently, all available ANBU are out looking for him, with orders to bring the scroll back at any cost.”

 

“At any cost!?” Iruka exclaimed. “You're going to kill him?”

 

“Only if it becomes necessary. If possible, he will be captured and turned over to Ibiki.”

 

Hinata's blood ran cold. This didn't sound like any sort of special assignment she'd ever heard of. Even if it was crafted just for Naruto, the ANBU sounded like he meant it. They were really going to go after Naruto with deadly force. And from the way Ibiki had been mentioned, she didn't think Naruto was just going to be given a lecture.

 

“I always knew that kid was no good,” Mizuki spat. “I know you liked him, Iruka, but no one who hides his skills away from everyone like that can be trusted.”

 

Iruka rounded on his fellow teacher. “Don't tell me you honestly believe he's a sleeper agent! He's been checked out, by EVERYONE!”

 

Mizuki shrugged. “And yet he stole a scroll of kinjutsu. I tell you Iruka, just because he's not an agent doesn't mean he's not the enemy, what with-“ his teeth snapped together with an audible click and his eyes widened at what he'd nearly said in front of a child.

 

What?! WHAT?! Hinata wanted to scream, so upset she was trembling.

 

Iruka noticed and crouched beside her. “Hey, Hinata-chan, why don't you go back home. I'm sure everything will turn out all right. But right now, the streets aren't the place to be, okay?”

 

Nodding dumbly, Hinata stumbled away when the ANBU released her arm. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Naruto had been noticed, but gotten away anyway. But now ANBU were hunting him with deadly intent and their teachers weren't saying anything about an assignment to steal the scroll.

 

It just wasn't right!

 

“Naruto,” she whispered. Naruto needed to know this. Naruto would know what to do.

 

Activating her byakugan, she scanned her surroundings for any pursuers as she carefully slipped through the streets of Konoha, heading for training ground six.

 

She'd never moved so fast before, but she'd never been so scared. She practically flew through the woods, her short hair ruffling like mad in the breeze of her passage. It didn't take all that long before she arrived at the training ground, but Naruto was conspicuously absent. Even the byakugan couldn't find him.

 

“Naruto?” she called quietly, slipping through the trees surrounding the area. There was no answer. Afraid to call louder, she resigned herself to the fact that he wasn't there. But she had no chance at all of finding him if he was hiding elsewhere. She'd just have to hope he managed to avoid ANBU long enough to make it there.

 

Concealing herself to the best of her ability a good ways away from the clearing, she gave the area one last scan with her byakugan, then stayed still to conserve chakra. It was going to be a long wait.

 

 

o/~

 

 

“Wow… This jutsu is amazing,” Naruto exclaimed quietly to himself, so caught up in reading the scroll he momentarily forgot he was hiding. Chagrined, he popped his head above the thick camouflage cloth and glanced around nervously. It had gotten dark while he'd read, and he hadn't noticed because he'd been reading by the light of a tiny pocket flashlight, beneath the concealing cloth.

 

Today was the best day ever. A fascinating mission, difficult, but possible, and he'd pulled it off and gotten out without being caught! And now, he had this scroll of the most incredible jutsu he'd ever heard of to study!

 

Unfortunately, nothing really made much sense. Most of it was variations on jutsu he'd never heard of, and while he could read the instructions, they were useless if you didn't know the originals. The flaming mud katon/doton jutsu looked like a really powerful offense, but he didn't know ANY katon or doton jutsu, much less the A ranks he needed.

 

But there were so many techniques, although most of them were sealing jutsu. Here was one for sealing someone's soul, although the warnings that it invariably meant death for the user made him skip it over in favor of learning something more useful. Here was another, which he found considerably more interesting, how to create scrolls that could summon people or animals. And another was a description of how contract summoning techniques could be modified by changing the seals so that only part of the animal was summoned. The example used was toads, and Naruto could see how summoning just the extendable, sticky tongue of a giant toad would make a useful and unpredictable weapon. But he didn't have a summoning contract, so the point was kind of moot. He didn't spend much time reading the jutsus after he realized that he wouldn't be able to use them.

 

But the best one he'd found was the first one on the scroll. Kage bushin no jutsu. A real clone who could fight and act and camouflage you while you fought? That was so perfect it might have been made for just him. And he could actually learn it! Dismissing everything else the scroll offered, Naruto had fell to studying with a will.

 

And, with a start, he realized it was almost time to meet Mizuki. With regret, knowing that the scroll still had much to offer, he rolled it back up and hung it on a cord behind his back. The mission was what was important, after all.

 

Slowly and carefully, he picked his way through the blackness of the forest, making his way to training ground six.

 

There was no one there. Good. He was early, anyway. It'd give him another few minutes to read over the other jutsu. He had just sat down at the edge of the woods when a faint call reached his ears.

 

“What? Hinata?” he asked, replied. “What are you doing here?”

 

“Naruto!” she hissed, her agitation making her louder than she wanted to be. “Something isn't right! I came to find you!”

 

His blood ran cold, and for a moment everything dwindled to a point. Something wasn't right.

 

“I was near the Hokage tower when they discovered that you'd stolen the scroll,” she explained, creeping close to him silently in the darkness.

 

“What?!” he exclaimed. “Me? They knew who I was?”

 

“They asked for you by name,” she confirmed. “An ANBU started questioning me, when Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei showed up. ANBU are looking for you, and they'll use deadly force if you resist! And if they catch you, they're going to give you to Ibiki-san!”

 

Naruto's breath caught in his throat. “Looks like resisting is the best option, then,” he said faintly.

 

Her heart broke to see Naruto so off balance, but he had to know.

 

“Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei didn't say anything about your mission! They even said you were an enemy of Konoha!”

 

Betrayed.

 

Lied to.

 

Manipulated.

 

“Naruto! Naruto!” she hissed frantically, shaking him roughly. “Someone's coming!”

 

With a start, Naruto realized he had missed the last several minutes, caught up in a murderous rage. Shrugging off Hinata's hand, he stalked into the clearing just as the other man arrived.

 

“Naruto-kun!” the man called.

 

Every word, every syllable out of the man's mouth grated on Naruto's nerves.

 

“Good job! I do believe you've passed!” Mizuki added, walking closer, seemingly unconcerned. The fact that the man was still breathing was an affront to Naruto's sensitivities.

 

“You lied to me,” Naruto said quietly.

 

“Eh?” He stopped, looking at the boy.

 

“You lied to me,” Naruto repeated, louder. “You lied, and you betrayed me!”

 

The last came out high pitched, almost like a whine.

 

Mizuki jumped back, warily. “Figured it out, huh? Not bad.” He smiled cruelly. “But not good enough to pass. You're entirely too late now.”

 

“WHY?” Naruto cried, his voice anguished. “Why would you and Iruka-sensei do this?! I trusted you! I TRUSTED YOU!” he wailed.

 

Mizuki laughed. “For a smart ass, you're pretty dumb, ain't you? I wanted the scroll, obviously. So I conned you into getting it for me. Easy.” He chuckled again. “All I had to do was dangle a `special' assignment in front of you and you jumped in head first. You may be pretty smart, kid, but you're so wrapped up in how intelligent you are that you forgot something.”

 

Naruto was trembling, and one hand slowly felt its way behind his back, reaching for the hilt of his poisoned wakizashi.

 

Mizuki gave him a look of pure contempt. “This is a ninja village. You think you're the only one hiding something? Fool. And now, since you've brought me the scroll, managed to get all the blame placed on yourself, and are now all alone here in the woods, just like you are the rest of the time. I'll kill you, take the scroll, and anyone finding your corpse will decide that you passed it on to enemy ninja, but were betrayed and killed to tie up loose ends.” He smirked, pulling a huge shuriken from a bundle on his back. “Maybe you could learn something from your sensei, if you paid attention once in a while. Now DIE!” He hurled the shuriken at Naruto's torso.

 

Naruto dived to the side, then sprang at his hated enemy, his dripping blade hidden in the darkness as he lunged, trying to bury it in Mizuki's throat.

 

Mizuki slapped his hand aside, and his follow up punch bounced off the wide blade of another shuriken the chunin readied. He slashed with the oversized blade in return, overpowering Naruto's block and scoring a slight cut on his forearm.

 

Naruto's counter kick slapped satisfyingly into Mizuki's thigh, but did little real damage as Naruto scrambled backwards, throwing a handful of regular shuriken at the chunin, who blocked easily with his huge version.

 

Mizuki whirled his arm, throwing the shuriken at Naruto, who again dodged hastily, but didn't ready another one instantly.

 

Naruto charged, then jumped high for all he was worth as the blade, guided by a wire, looped through the air and returned, nearly taking his leg off as it passed. Mizuki caught it easily, then held it high as Naruto fell towards him, his curved blade ringing against the thick steel.

 

And Mizuki lashed out with an elbow, catching Naruto in the ribs, sending him flying and causing him to lose grip on his blade.

 

“Too bad you never fought like that in class, eh, Naruto?” Mizuki said conversationally, catching the hilt of the tumbling knife. “What the hell? Is this poison?” he exclaimed once the smell of the thick gum on the blade hit his nose. “You do have surprises up your sleeve, don't you? What else you got?”

 

Naruto gasped for breath, holding his stomach for a moment as he climbed to his feet. He eyed the chunin warily. “Yeah, I have a few left. Tell me what you think of this one.” He formed a seal. “Kage bushin no jut-urk!” He stared at the hilt of the knife, driven into his chest just below his collarbone.

 

“One last lesson, kid,” Mizuki said, readying his shuriken. “Don't give away your intentions in a fight. If you'd acted normal when I first showed up, you might have had a chance at me when I took the scroll.”

 

Naruto twitched violently and fell to his knees, feeling the poison of the tiger mushroom coursing through his body. Cramps seized his stomach, and bile spilled from his mouth, though he didn't have the muscle control to vomit. A scream built in his throat, but it came out as only a high moan.

 

Mizuki stared at him dispassionately. “Figures an evil little bastard like you would pick a nasty poison. I bet that hurts.”

 

“Uuuuaaaahhhhh…” Naruto moaned his arms and legs twitching violently as he hugged his stomach and writhed on the ground.

 

Mizuki chuckled. “This is actually kind of entertaining. I bet there are a lot of people in the village that would like to see you like this, demon.” He chuckled. “To think, I'd be the one to actually kill the Kyubi no Kitsune.” He cocked one ear at the boy moaning in agony. “Oh, what's that? Something else you never figured out? Why everyone hates you? It's because you've got the nine tailed fox in you, kid. You're evil. You're a demon. No one's ever figured out why the Hokage let you live.”

 

Naruto gasped something and squirmed on the ground.

 

Mizuki bent lower. “Huh? What's that, kid? What are your dying words?”

 

The blade of the second wakizashi wasn't poisoned, but it was over a foot of razor sharp steel, and it went in, and out, of Mizuki's calf like it was butter. An involuntary, full body twitch twisted the blade, and Mizuki's hasty hop away caused it to tear through the muscle and fly out of Naruto's hands at the same time.

 

“AHHH! You little demon! I'll kill you!” Mizuki snarled, crouching twenty feet away as he checked the damage. His chunin vest produced a cloth bandage which he quickly wrapped around the wound, which bled badly.

 

“I said,” Naruto gasped, struggling to his knees for a brief moment before falling over again, “kill before you gloat.”

 

“Naruto!”came a new voice, and everyone glanced to see Iruka running in at full tilt. “Mizuki!”

 

“Hi, Iruka,” Mizuki said, his voice full of false cheer. “It's a nice night to kill a demon, isn't it?” He hurled the shuriken.

 

No thoughts went through Iruka's head. There was no time to think. One of his students was in danger. There was no time for anything.

 

The point of the huge shuriken sank into flesh with a crackle of bone and gristle. Iruka fell forward with a soft cry.

 

Naruto stared into Iruka's eyes in horror.

 

“You're not a demon,” Iruka said gently, blood beginning to trickle from his mouth. His scar, far from making him look ugly or cruel, seemed almost saintly.

 

“Damn, Iruka, sacrificing yourself for that thing?” Mizuki said, hobbling forward with his last shuriken. “But you always did have a soft spot for the little demon. Ah, well. At least you can die together.” He raised his weapon, and there was a sound, like a quiet eruption somewhere muffled. An explosion in flesh. And another, right on top of the first. And another, a rapid sequence of sound and chakra, like someone was beating a drum at a furious pace. Mizuki stiffened, and blood fountained from his mouth.

 

He keeled over without a sound.

 

Behind him, Hinata stood, one foot forward, one hand still extended in the final strike of her family's juken style, not even breathing heavily.

 

Iruka gaped, then looked at Naruto, who was still grimacing in pain and twitching.

 

“I… I thought you were like Mizuki-sensei,” Naruto gasped. “I thought you had lied to me, too.”

 

“No, Naruto. Some people you can trust.” He glanced up at Hinata, who was approaching warily, her eyes hard. “But I guess you've finally learned that lesson, as well.”

 

His brow crinkled, and he rolled slowly off his student. “Now, will someone please explain what was going on?”

 

 

End/~

 

 

Naruto strode firmly onto the school grounds, following the milling, chatting students. Hinata was waiting for him, leaned against the wall close to the entrance. She straightened as he approached, looking at him expectantly.

 

He gave her a curt nod, and she nodded back. She fell into step behind him as he made his way into the building to their classroom.

 

 

 

 

Author's note: This is the beginning of a longer work, but this seemed like a good place to end the story arc. Where will it go? Well, I have some ideas. I'll tell you where it won't go, however. This isn't going to be just another retelling of the initial Naruto storyline with a slightly changed overpowered Naruto. It's been done. A lot. This version of Naruto isn't normal. He's got a lot of wrong ideas, even now. And because he's so private, the people he respects, people he actually would listen to, don't know how wrong the assumptions he's made are. Hinata isn't his friend. She's a follower, which is why I used her instead of Sakura. Sakura would make a follower, easily, but only for Sasuke, without changes I didn't want to make. Plus, we've seen the standard storyline too many times. I'm going to change it up a bit. Maybe Naruto will learn the things he needs to know. But it won't be an easy road. That would be boring.

 

I hope you like it! Or at least, give it a chance.

 

-Nugar

Nugarwrites dot livejournal dot com

Nugarwrites at gmail dot com