Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Twice Shy - Story Completion ❯ The Nature of Orange ( Chapter 12 )

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

If you're old enough to kill, you're old enough to drink! In Konoha anyways D:

Edit 2 - Before anyone mentions it, yes, it's NINE tails that Dame used. Here's the direct passage from the fic, chapter 33:

"Hinata rushed in, trying to get in close enough to stop some of the flow of chakra and at least lessen the affect of the Kyuubi chakra on his system. If she could close down just a few of the chakra holes, partially shutting him down, then she stood a chance of calming him down. But trying to get through all nine of the tails without getting hit was next to impossible. If she hadn�t had her Byakugan she never would have been able to do it; only someone who could see in almost all directions would be able to see the tails sweeping in behind her."

Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 05.11.2009 | Updated On: 05.11.2009 | Pages: 10 | Words: 11.6K | Visits: 440 | Status: Completed

Twice Shy - A Continuation

By eternalshiva

DameWren has given permission to anyone that wants to continue her wonderful fic Two Halves which I intend to do. I greatly appreciate any feedback / comments.

AN - Sorry for the delay on this, I had writer's block ^^; It was my birthday on Tuesday :P Also chapter 13 has been started, I'm hoping to have it ready for HH by Friday. If you're not up-to-date on the manga, there are some spoilers ahead. Oh, chapter 12 is the celebration on breaking 100,000 words and 20,000 hits on the fanfiction dot net site :) Thank you everyone for the support and help!

Thank you Hinata's Husband for the beta, I appreciate all the hard work you do.

Disclaimer -

I do not make any monies off this fanfic. Naruto is copyright of Masashi Kishimoto. Sora, Yasu, Miki, Nori, Dango, Kaze Clan, and Shivani are all copy right of DameWren.

Chapter 12

The Nature of Orange

Dusk settled over the village, while most of the residents took the opportunity to celebrate the promotions. Festivities could be heard throughout the streets. Hinata hummed to some of the more familiar music playing while walking slowly next to Naruto, heading towards Ino's place. Their friends had discovered Naruto's actual birthday and decided to combine both events together, even though it was a few days late. She gave him a quick glance and noticed his lips were pouting, his face dejected.

“What's the matter?” she put her hand on his arm, dragging him out of his thoughts. He glanced her way a moment before returning to his pout and thought about how to answer her. He had in fact decided, over several hours of contemplation, that his current colour scheme was nauseating.

“Well, you tell me.” he said with his usual gusto.

Hinata raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips as he stopped walking and tried on his jacket for the third time. He started to doubt he looked as awesome as he felt when Hinata narrowed her eyes and her brow knitted together as though she was struggling with something.

“You know, saying “it's ugly” would be a lot less stressful for me than watching you trying to avoid hurting my feelings.” He said flatly. She started to laugh, long and hard. She'd been caught and as a result, he sighed. This soon changed into an exasperated groan when he noticed tears of laughter forming shamelessly at the edge of her eyes.

“Ok, ok. Sheesh.” His lips tighten in irritation while his girlfriend tried to get herself under control. “We'll go looking around tomorrow for some less nauseating colours... although I really like this outfit.” He pouted again and tugged at his black and orange jacket, she almost felt sorry for him.

“I'm sure you can somehow incorporate them into the jacket, Naruto-kun.” He glanced at her while she tried to comfort his obvious distress but he continued to pout. 'He's being quite childish.' she thought with a smile before continuing on with her walk. Naruto quickly scrambled to catch up to her, still pouting. He made a grab for her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. He smiled smugly at the light pink blush creeping on her cheek as a result of the physical contact.

He loved her so damned much, when had he fallen so deeply for her?

“What else were you worrying about?” he asked out of the blue.

“W-what do you mean?” her eyes had gone wide, her blush increasing. Naruto raised an eyebrow in wonder at her embarrassment and smirked. He had a bit of an idea what had been bothering her since it was something that he'd also been thinking about, in fact he'd been thinking about it so much, it was borderline obsession. Their recent trysts and experimentation had opened a door to a part of their relationship that he was more than curious to explore. In fact he was getting a little bit addicted to it.

“Well, you said `other things'.” He made air quotes with his one free hand, his eyes never leaving her face while she tried, and failed, to avert his attentive stare. She could have sworn he already knew what she wanted to say but he had to drag it out of her. She held back a groan that threatened to make her lose her tenuous grip on her composure.

“Umm, well...” this was embarrassing. He stopped walking and let her own momentum pull her back, forcing her to turn towards him. She gave him a quizzical look and bit her lip. He gave her a soft smile, his eyes were intensely curious and she could feel her resolve to avoid the subject falter a little. Well, scratch that, it was near non-existent.

“What is it?” He spoke nearly in a whisper, slowly and meticulously drawing her into a daze. She idly thought that the combination of the sun setting behind him and his blond hair blending in with the autumn sky gave his eyes a luminous glow; it was mesmerising. She blinked when his hand caressed her cheek.

`He's enjoying himself,' she mused as it dawned on her was that he was well aware of the fact that he had her in a stumped condition. Her heart had begun a race against her blush unconsciously and she wasn't sure which was winning.

“Well, i-it was about me mostly.” She started, her gaze tried to break from his but he had her ensnared, a willing prisoner in a trap made of azure blue and her chains were his arms.

“Is it something that involves me?” he smirked mischievously. She nodded shyly finding it hard to ignore the twinkle in his eye and fighting the urge to twiddle her index fingers together.

“Does it have something to do with what happened at the hospital?” he grinned as his voice dropped an octave, the sound of his deeper voice purred out the question like rich velvet, which only made her blush glow. He loved it, every single shade she showed on those cheeks; it was a map for him to see how he deeply affected her, how much she loved him. It was his visual proof that she was always thinking of him.

She quickly nodded, gathering her wits and finally managing to look away. She could hear the faint sound of blood rushing through her ears. She hated how she couldn't control her physical reaction to him after all these years. She didn't know that it was his favourite part of her personality. He leaned in slowly and she tipped her head back expectantly, her mouth slightly opened. His lips curled lazily into a smile as he stole a kiss from his maiden and pulled her closer. Her eyes closed slowly but he kept his open, watching her as he deepened it.

“Does it involve something similar to this?” he asked when they momentarily broke for a breath, his lips lingering with feather touches before dipping in again, greedily swallowing her. She nodded meekly, submitting to his ministration. Her arms slipped around him and her small hands grabbed onto his back, the material of his jacket bunching in her grip. He let out a small approving groan into her mouth which caused her to peek very carefully from under her lids.

“Naruto-kun?” her whisper made his toes curl and he was somehow very acutely aware of her warm breath against the skin of his neck. She gazed at him, half lidded with something he'd never seen on her face before. He was a bit taken back by the open display of want for him. As a result, he debated quickly between going to the party and upsetting his friends by taking Hinata back to his apartment.

He had the sudden need to explore what it was exactly that gave her this appreciative look on her face. To see how far she'd let him go with his adventurous spirit. He moved in close to her ear and nipped her earlobe, then purred out a breathy whisper as she bit her lip, her eyes nearly rolling from the sensation of goose bumps forming along her neck when his teeth nibbled her ear and moved down her neck.

“Does it involve se-“

“Get a room.”

Sakura's voice dispelled the mood between the two. Hinata gasped in surprise and Naruto grumbled bitterly before drawing his face away from what was his, glaring at the source of interruption. He refused to let go of Hinata as she tried to back away in an attempt to salvage a little dignity and straighten out of his very intimate grasp.

Sakura had a mixed look of amusement and disgust on her face, as though she had caught her parents kissing in the kitchen. Ino, on the other hand, was wide-eyed and blushing lightly at the intimate display, obviously surprised to see the two so close.

“I didn't know you two hooked up!” she was feeling entirely out of the loop and was a little upset that the she, the self-proclaimed queen of gossip, hadn't heard a whisper of this. Hinata raised an eyebrow and wondered if Ino hadn't been at the inauguration ceremonies, Naruto had practically made out with her on stage.

“Sakura! How dare you not tell me!” she poked the pink-haired kunoichi on the arm quite painfully. Sakura winced and ignored the sharp nail biting into her skin. She glared at her friend when she noticed the half moon shape left imbedded there.

“I wasn't allowed to!” she grumbled out, her free hand shooed the other girl away before rubbing the achy spot on her arm.

Naruto continued to silently complain at the interruption but he finally let Hinata go reluctantly. She was blushing out of embarrassment but, being the tease he normally is, Naruto leaned down close to her ear and whispered something that made her `eep'. The girls stopped arguing for a minute to see Hinata walk quickly away from Naruto, who was shamelessly grinning.

“So, Sakura-chan. What did you get me for my birthday?” he inquired as he approached her, putting one arm around her shoulders and pulling her in for a quick hug. She grumbled before returning the affectionate move and letting go.

“Hn, like I'd tell you.” Sakura narrowed her eyes at him before she looked over towards Hinata, who had grabbed Ino by the arm in her haste to get away from her perverted boyfriend, walking ahead of them.

“You, little missy, have been keeping things from me.” Ino pouted. Hinata gave her a shy smile and glanced quickly back to Naruto. He was watching her with a lop-sided grin, half listening to Sakura rambling on about their upcoming mission to Sunagakure. This caught his attention and Hinata heard a distinct loud sound of mixed objection and curiosity come out of his mouth.

Ino began an onslaught of questions that seemed a bit personal on her and Naruto's relationship, she shyly replied but she wasn't really listening. Her mind was elsewhere. Her ears were still burning from his whispered promise. She wondered what he had meant when he quickly said he would get her secret conversation with Kurenai out of her by any means possible. She could feel his eyes on her lower backside and she blushed, furiously.

“Ah, Hinata! Why are you so red?” Ino said loudly. Naruto began to laugh at her expense and Sakura groaned, tempted to hit him. Hinata began to wonder how she got herself in this particular situation so willingly and when she should schedule a surgery to remove her offending cheeks.

* * *

The sake was flowing freely that night, bonding the friends from their long separation again. Naruto and Hinata had eagerly opened every single gift, and Naruto had made a pig of himself with the birthday cake. Once the sake had been put out on the table, Gaara had taken his leave since he was still on official duty but he did however request a raincheck to which Naruto happily agreed.

Tenten had sternly told Lee that he was not to drink under any circumstances. He complained but Neji's reminder about what had happened the last time he had a sip of sake seemed to calm him. He declared himself the bartender for the evening and with loud, exuberant claims of burning youth, proceeded to pour generous portions for everyone.

Enthusiastically, Kiba shouted a drinking challenge to Temari who declined with regret before taking her leave as well, following her brother out the door. Hinata sighed as Kiba challenged Naruto to the impromptu contest. He scoffed at Kiba's taunts and chicken sounds. He wasn't one to be called a chicken or turn away from a challenge so Naruto then proceeded to drink the dog ninja under the table. Shino only adjusted his glasses as Naruto laughed without restraint once Kiba dropped heavily to the floor, only partially conscious. The blond got up from his seat at the table, stepped over Kiba and unsteadily made his way towards Hinata, who was speaking with the girls in the much larger living room, sipping her own drink.

Sakura had imbibed a considerable amount. She was using the excuse that she did not have to work the next day and that she was in good company. She hooked her arm over Hinata's shoulders and whispered something in her ear that made the clan leader blush and giggle. Naruto observed the spreading rouge and felt a pang of jealousy. He was the only one allowed to make her turn pretty colours. Hinata had taken a drink or two but was far from inebriated. She wasn't much into drinking but she wasn't one to turn it down if it was for a good reason.

“Naruto.” Sakura pointed at her friend as she stood up from the couch, dragging Hinata with her. Sakura had noticed his pout when she had whispered a few suggestions to Hinata about convincing her boyfriend to cross the bedroom line. She rolled her eyes at him when he pointed to himself and looked behind, his face confused.

“Yes, you. Dobe.” she said in a very Sasuke-like fashion. He raised an eyebrow in confusion at the term coming out of her mouth since it was a Sasuke-only insult, he started to wonder if his friend had transformed into Sakura.

“What?” he managed to get out before he used his very sharp and elite ninja skills to stumble over the edge of the carpet and fall towards the girls, effectively knocking them over onto the floor. Hinata let out a surprised yelp when he collapsed on top of them and Sakura swore up a storm at his clumsiness. He had managed to save himself thanks to the girls' soft bodies.

`Nope, that's not a henge.' He thought, amused slightly at Sakura's expression.

“Ah, sorry.” He slowly apologised but it dawned on him Hinata was now trapped under him. Ignoring Sakura's objections he bent his head down and teased Hinata's lips with his own, grinning like a cat standing before a fresh saucer of milk. She pushed his face away, embarrassed that he would pick that specific moment to be affectionate, considering she was entangled with Sakura under his drunken weight.

“Oh for god sake, Naruto.” Sakura hissed out with disgust and kicked out her legs. She didn't want to be this up-close and personal with her friend when he was trying to suck face with his girlfriend. Her sudden kick forced him to roll off Hinata but he held on to her wrists as he fell over, pulling her with him. He let out a lustful growl as Hinata's body unwillingly moulded to him and she let out a groan at the force of the fall against him. She was beginning to feel nauseated from the movement and tried to steady herself against his chest. Of course, Naruto had mistaken that sound for something else and he growled again to her dismay.

“Did Naruto just let out a growl?” Ino asked watching the three on the floor. Her mind was a bit hazy and she took a closer look at his face while he tried to convince Hinata to kiss him. Tenten grinned at the remark since she had found that odd as well.

“I do believe so, Ino-chan!” shouted Lee over the music. Neji only sighed and shook his head at the open display of affection with which Naruto was showering his cousin. At any other time, this would have been undignified behaviour for the consort of the Hyuuga Clan Leader. Ino swayed a little on her feet as she glanced towards Lee and refocused her attention on Naruto, curious.

“Hey Naruto? Ever noticed your cheek scars look like fox whiskers?” she slurred out, Hinata had frozen at the comment but Naruto ignored the blond kunoichi, not listening since he was focused entirely on trying to solve the mystery as to why it was so hard to capture some very elusive lips. Didn't they know he had a warrant for them?

Sakura, on the other hand, had untangled herself and happily opened her mouth with intoxication-enhanced perkiness.

“That's a side effect of being the Kyuubi vessel, you know. Should see them when he gets really m-”

Naruto froze.

Sakura slapped a hand on her mouth.

Ino, Tenten and Lee blinked, Hinata groaned, and Neji shook his head in disbelief, again. The music had been in the process of a mid-track change and her loud voice had rung throughout the apartment, unmercifully. Everyone who wasn't in the living room, turned to Naruto.

“Sakura-chan...” he said darkly as he sobered up quickly from the adrenaline released in his body. He could feel a mixed sense of dread and panic in the pit of his stomach. She grinned sheepishly and watched as her friend got up unsteadily, his eyes darting from one person to the next. He clutched Hinata's hand in his own, trying to find comfort.

“The... the Kyuubi vessel?” Ino repeated. Her muddled, booze-infested brain was having trouble processing that particular tidbit of information. Naruto tried to move but Hinata was keeping him there, forcing him to see what his friends would say. A fleeting thought of the irony of the situation crossed his mind. Hinata was forcing him to face his own problems while he had berated her this morning for avoiding the same issue with her family.

`Life has a funny way of doing things' he thought, miserably.

“Oh.” Her voice didn't hide the disappointment very well as Ino plopped down on the adjacent couch and took another sip of her sake. She eyed Naruto up and down, almost greedily, and sighed.

“Of course Hinata had to bag the guy with the stamina of a demon. Some girls have all the luck.” She pouted jealously while Tenten burst out laughing at her friend's comment.

“Yosh! This explains how you rarely tire when we spar, Naruto-kun!” Lee shouted excitedly. The revelation hadn't even fazed him. In fact, he seemed excited at the prospect of finding a sparring partner that could really keep up with him.

Kiba rolled over on the floor, waking up from his daze and grinned at Naruto, not truly caring about the information. He had always known something was off about the blond but had accepted the difference in chakra a long time ago. Although he was a bit irked that he would never be able to out-power him. That Kage Bushin was a one man army with Naruto's never ending chakra pool, there was no way he could ever compete with that.

Shino pulled his teammate off the floor and gave Naruto a glance. He felt compelled to say something since the blond looked like he was getting ready to bolt out of the room but, he couldn't really find the words. He had already guessed Naruto's secret thanks to his bugs' ability to absorb chakra. They had never been able to affect him when they sparred long ago as children. His bugs would feed off him and they would often fall off from filling up. He merely nodded in acknowledgement toward his friend.

Chouji continued to eat his food and glanced up from his plate, everyone had their secrets and he liked the blond so the revelation didn't change anything for him. True to form, Chouji smiled at him and let out a burp while humming to the music that had picked up again.

“Another round, Naruto!” Kiba challenged him again and the blond was taken aback at the easy acceptance from his friends. Hinata smiled at him and he sighed in relief. Letting go of her hand, he kissed her on the lips and was glad that the tension had been dispelled as soon as it had begun.

“I'll take your challenge and raise you two more rounds!” he shouted at Kiba who growled in approval and raised his empty glass towards him. Naruto sat down at the table and took out the sixth bottle of sake. Shino decided to join them as well - to their surprise - which extracted more shouts of challenge from the two already quite inebriated males. Somehow they decided that taunting the bug shinobi with chicken sounds was a good idea.

Shino responded by adjusting his dark glasses and pulling up his sleeves, tapped the spot in front of him as a sign he accepted their verbal abuse and silently demanded a glass of sake. The two other shinobi were quite vocal with their disgust when the exposed bugs crawled up his arms and hid higher up into the thick jacket, scattering from the lighted areas of flesh. Shino took no offense, it would seem, since their sounds were laced with laughter and the occasional jokes only a drunk would find hilarious. Had Hinata not known better, she could have sworn Shino was smirking behind the collar of his coat.

Chouji glanced up again from his corner, let out a chuckle as Lee named himself the referee at the drinking contest. His shouts of “GO!” had the three friends slamming down the hot sake. Naruto grimaced at the foreign taste and Kiba laughed at him, the blond was used to less spicy drinks. This made Chouji chuckle again and he continued eating while Ino made her way to him and sat down closely, delving into a bit of interesting gossip about Shikamaru and Temari's latest relationship fallout.

“Well, that went better than anticipated.” Hinata spoke slowly, her hand on Sakura's shoulder.

“Yeah, but I get the feeling Naruto's gonna be pissed with me tomorrow.” the girl slurred out while sighing, feeling guilt rise from the depth of her stomach. Hinata only smiled and felt a little sorry for her and absentmindedly took a small sip from her own glass of lukewarm sake.

* * *

Itachi searched the old battle grounds but there was no trace of his partner's ring. This only meant one thing: It was with the sword. He pinched the bridge of his nose, deep in thought as he recalled the battle.

The tails shot out again, this time to wrap around Kisame's sword arm. The deep red colour pulsed through the chakra body again and then the tails retracted, taking with them Kisame's arm, ripped out at the socket. Kisame screamed in pain, his opposite hand reaching up to hold the bloody stump. Naruto flung the arm away, sending it and the sword flying into a nearby field.

He focused his attention on the field, his memories jumbling together. The man's corpse had been taken away by Naruto while his wife suffered in the despair genjutsu he had used at the last minute. She had been a fearsome opponent. The sword had disappeared after they had re-summoned the beast. He looked up in the general direction the falcon had taken off, toward the mountains. He narrowed his eyes and pulled to the surface every detail of that day.

He had to find that ring. He set his goal on the mountains to the east, then picked up his gear and began to walk.

* * *

“The teams are being reshuffled.” Tsunade looked over the papers on her desk. Kakashi passively looked at her as another shinobi stood next to him. His old classmate and ex-ANBU team mate, Tenzou.

“Sakura is now a full time ninja medic within the Konoha Hospital and has been relieved from Team Seven as a result. Sasuke, with his current range of injuries will be out of commission until he is returned to Konoha by Sora.” She pressed the papers against the desk, her fingers pressing out the newly formed wrinkles before continuing.

“As a result of these changes, and the recent exams, Hinata and Naruto will remain together as their special partner training dictates.”

Kakashi nodded in understanding. From what he had been told, they were still capable of fighting individually but as a team, they were more formidable, more lethal. This was the only logical conclusion. Tsunade closed her eyes and took in a slow breath. Tenzou stood in place, waiting to hear as to why he was needed.

“Tenzou, you have the special genetic ability to repress the bijuu inside of Naruto.” She laid her eyes on him and he nodded. Orochimaru had experimented on him as a child and infused his cells with those of the first Hokage, one of the few who had the genetic capability to control the bijuu. He was the best choice in their arsenal to teach the boy control.

“Kakashi, I am leaving you to train the new team. This will encompass the ability to transform into the demon at will but retain consciousness, teaching Naruto how to learn to control the bijuu's power. He loses all mental stability when the fox takes over him and his chakra can't stay in control of the beast. He needs guidance on learning to keep the demon in check.” Tsunade pointed to a small stack of rolled up scrolls on her desk before continuing. “Jiraiya has left the basic training he wishes for you two to begin until he is able to return and take over with his own more specialized training with the two.”

“Training with both Naruto and Hinata?” Kakashi was a little confused.

“Why does the girl have to go through the training as well? She does not have a bijuu.” Tenzou voiced the unspoken question.

Tsunade nodded, expecting that.

“Yes, Hinata is to train the Byakuugan, in combination with the Jyuuken, to read the Kyuubi's chakra and to anticipate when Naruto will need help to control the flow, the full extent of power he is able to release as the Jinchuuriki.” She paused, thinking about the other important underlying element of this training. “She will also have to learn how to overcome her current fear of the beast that grew out of her injuries.”

“Her injuries?” Tenzou cut in, alarmed. There had been no report from ANBU that the vessel had broken the seal and transformed, let alone injured the current clan leader of the Hyuuga.

“Yes, during a battle against the Akatsuki about a year ago, Naruto managed to release all nine tails.” She emphasized the last word slowly, letting the weight of the situation settle over the two jounin. “During that attack, he injured Hinata as she tried to bring him back from the transformation. This caused Naruto to fear his own power and I suspect it has caused Hinata to subconsciously fear him.”

Kakashi and Tenzou blinked. Nine tails released? In a battle against the Akatsuki?

“Why was this never reported, Tsunade-sama?” Kakashi inquired, a bit startled that his own student had managed to lose control like that. Tsunade snorted and narrowed her eyes, flicked her wrist in dismissal.

“Sora was not very detailed in her report at the time, but this issue has already been settled and filed in Naruto's ninja record.” She cleared her throat with a small cough before bringing their attention back to the matter at hand: the training.

“When Naruto is unable to control himself as the Kyuubi, Hinata will help him recover his mind in that transformation. She will be his own personal fail-safe and we need her to not freeze up during an episode or he could easily destroy everything and everyone in sight.”

Kakashi nodded. It made sense. The Hyuuga were experts in chakra and control of the flow of it. It wasn't impossible for her to learn how to properly control the release of the bijuu's chakra with very precise training. If anything, she would be the one that Naruto would allow to be close enough to shut him down if he were to break out again.

“Due to the delicate training, I am assigning you two to this task. I will be keeping Sasuke as the official third member but he will be kept on inactive duty until further notice. I may reassign him once his injuries and mental stability have been evaluated.”

“Why not reassign him now?” Tenzou asked. Kakashi and Tsunade shared a glance - that information was not known outside of the Sharigan users and the Hokage.

“He is the other fail-safe in case Hinata cannot control the nine-tails.” Her tone indicated that she would not divulge anything further. Tenzou noticed Kakashi's faint nod and decided that he was deliberately being kept out of the loop with this specific piece of information. He shrugged.

Since the two shinobi had remained quiet, she assumed that there were no more questions and handed them the small stack of scrolls left by her own teammate and nodded, dismissing them.

* * *

Sora was feeling very restless lately. There was something going on in the outside world, she could feel it in her gut. But she couldn't quite put her finger on exactly what it was. She pressed her lips together in irritation as Yasu laid down another full house on the kitchen table and grinned at her.

“I do believe I've beaten you again.”

Sora narrowed her eyes and folded her cards, sighing. She'd been on a very bad losing streak lately.

“It's not like you to lose.” Her friend commented as she shuffled the deck of cards.

“Pure luck. I won't let it happen again.”

The white-haired woman looked over to Sasuke, who was lying on a makeshift bed in the kitchen and gave him an inviting look to join the next game. He shook his head and pointed at the book he was reading. Their silent conversation did not go unnoticed by Sora.

“I... seriously hate that.” She remarked. The two ignored her.

She fumed a little inside. She didn't know how these two had managed to connect so closely over the last few weeks. It was already to the point where they could communicate without talking.

Sasuke glanced at his hosts and smirked, knowing full well he had irritated Sora. He returned to the book he had been eagerly reading all day: Techniques for the Fire Element User. This house had an immense collection on jutsu he had never even heard of. Once Sora had told him that Naruto and Hinata had studied and learned every single jutsu in this library, he had been floored. Then when he realized how much further his friend had developed beyond him, he had taken the silent challenge offered by Sora.

He would not be left behind again.

Yasu continued to shuffle the deck. Sasuke read his fourth book of the day and Miki had been in bed for nearly an hour before Sora frowned. She recognized the look and paused in her shuffle.

“What is it?”

Sora's frown deepened as she closed her eyes and expanded her net of sensors surrounding their empty village. A small, near undetectable wave bounced across the net. She ignored it at first, thinking it was a bug or maybe a bird passing through the field, but what drew her attention was the familiar chakra that struck the shield at the same time.

“Oh no.” She whispered. Her face blanched and Yasu grew instantly worried. She got up and quickly made her way to Miki's room. Sasuke felt the change in atmosphere and looked up from his reading, curious.

“We need to go.” Sora announced suddenly. Her voice was stern and left no room for questions.

Sasuke had barely the time to register what Sora had said when he heard a distinctive boom echo far away, startling him. It became quite clear as the house shook that someone was trying to breach the barrier, trying to enter their hidden haven.

“We need to go now.” He felt her iron grin painfully squeeze his arms as she threw him over her shoulder, his broken leg sticking out straight, making their quick escape awkward. He ignored the jab of pain as she began to trot toward their sleeping quarters.

She didn't expect Yasu to hide, as the woman had sworn to never leave Nori's grave. Sora threw Sasuke onto his bed and told him to gather up his gear, light items since she would be carrying him for a bit and took off towards the memorial chamber for Nori. Yasu was nowhere to be seen.

“We don't have time for this Yasu!” she shouted, another loud explosion shook the foundation of the house. She bit her lip as Miki whined in the next room. The memory of her friend's promise to her dead husband haunted her.

Yasu refused to go down off of the mountain. She explained to them that she was never going to leave the house and Nori's ashes, buried deep into the side of the mountain. She intended to stay by his side for the rest of her life. Sora tried to explain to her that it was not what Nori would have wanted nor what was best for Miki, but Yasu wouldn't listen.

“Yasu!” she shouted just as Miki cried again. Sora made her way to the child's room and gathered her into her arms. She was getting angry at her friend. She rushed to Sasuke's room and dropped the little girl onto his lap. He gave her a confused look. Ignoring it she announced that she was going to search out the white-haired woman. Sasuke had begun to protest but Sora had already left the room. Another shockwave rocked the house. Miki grabbed the front of his shirt, calling for her mother.

`Where did you go?' Sora thought frantically. She headed towards the burial grounds and found Yasu, digging out her husband's ashes.

“What are you doing? We don't have time for this, the Uchiha is here!” she shouted, her voice laced with panic. She was still suffering some of the effects of that damnable eye limit, she wasn't ready to fight him.

“I have to get him!” Yasu shouted while digging. “I can't leave him!”

Sora decided then that her friend's logic had flown out the window and she was officially insane.

“He's not going anywhere! For god sake Yasu, we need to leave NOW. Miki can't grow up without a mother!”

That seemed to have sobered up Yasu, her eyes focused on Sora for a moment. The sound of metal against metal dispelled the atmosphere. Yasu shouted in relief as her husband's ashes were finally pulled out of the ground.

“Ok, lets go.” She looked up towards her highly irritated friend.

“What are we waiting for?” she retorted. “We don't have time to wait around!”

The irony wasn't lost on Sora and she pulled her friend out of the hole into which she had dug herself.

* * *

Two spinning sharigan looked over the initial damage caused by the exploding tags. His eyes had recorded the subtle flickers in the barrier and registered the pattern. `This jutsu is breakable.' Itachi thought has he resumed his assault. `Only a few more should do it.'

* * *

Hinata struggled to support Naruto's dead weight against her while her two friends laughed it up behind her. They had no pity for her as she tried to put him to bed. Their celebration had gone well into the early morning and she was exhausted, looking forward to snuggling him in bed. But things were not going as she expected.

“Hina-chan.” He whispered in her ear, she was a little distracted by the quick lick he gave her ear but his next move brought he back to reality. She felt his hand squeeze her right breast.

She had been so shocked at the sudden grab that she yelped, releasing her boyfriend who then fell to the ground with a loud thump. He grinned at her and then mumbled something inaudible. She figured he was either apologising or saying something lewd to her in regard to her assets. She narrowed her eyes at him, unimpressed and thought about using the binding jutsu but he rolled over on the floor and promptly fell asleep.

She sighed and pulled off a blanket from their guest bed, threw it unceremoniously over him and huffed, muttering under her breath on something about shinobi, drinking, and perverts. Ino and Sakura had begun to laugh again at Hinata's display, this time tears were spilled at her expense. The clan leader blushed furiously, ignoring the jabs from her friends but she giggled as well, it was hard not to.

* * *

His morning hadn't started very well.

Not only had he awoken cuddled up to Kiba on the floor of Ino's apartment with a massive headache, the gang had been summoned to the Hokage's office first thing in the morning. Every single one of them, except for Lee and Hinata, were hung over, miserable and swearing to lay off the sake for at least a week.

“What do you want, Obaa-sama?” He gave her a long innocent look as he stretched out, nursing his headache. Hianta gave him a nervous glance and wondered how long Naruto would be in the hospital if Tsunade took offence to his teasing.

“You...” she glared at him but decided to not let his comment get to her. “Why aren't you wearing your vest?” she eyed the boy, he fidgeted.

“It's in the middle of getting adjusted.” He lifted his chin in a rebellious act. Tsunade narrowed her eyes.

“Adjusted?”

“Yes. It's getting Narutofied.” He glanced at her while emphasising the last word slowly, gauging her reaction. He smirked.

Tsunade groaned. That meant he was putting some god-awful colour modification on it. He was going to be the end of her. She dismissed the aggravating mental image of an orange chuunin vest and focused on the current issue.

“You have been reassigned.” She announced to Naruto and Hinata.

Sakura smiled, having known this was coming. She had been told a few days earlier about the change in team status. She hadn't been permitted to tell anyone how she had been raised to a full time medic nin as well since it would indicate their team was no more. She was sad to see it officially break up but at the same time she was proud of knowing full well that it was thanks to their trio that she had managed to get to where she was now.

“Breaking up Team Seven?” Naruto complained, then gave Sakura a heart-broken look as she sighed, rolling her eyes. He was way too attached to things sometimes.

“It's not like we're dead, Naruto.” She laughed when he let out a sigh.

“But... It's Team Seven.” He continued to argue. Tsunade slammed her hand on the table to shut them up. She wasn't in the mood to listen to Naruto complain.

“You are still in Team Seven Naruto. Sakura has been dismissed due to her full medic nin status. She will be in charge of her own trainees at the hospital, which includes Ino. Hinata, you may want to consider some basic training as well in the field considering who your team-mate is.”

The kunoichi nodded, blushing lightly at the implication that her boyfriend was a clumsy oaf. It was true, he injured himself on a regular basis with his “hit them now, ask questions later” style of fighting. It wouldn't hurt to learn the basics to help his survival.

“Also, you two will be going under special training with Kakashi and Tenzou when you return.” Naruto frowned, not recognizing the last name mentioned.

“Who's Tenzou?”

“Your new sensei.” Tsunade answered, Naruto didn't miss the sarcastic tone and shot her a heavy-lidded stare. He was not amused.

“What about Sasuke?” He ignored her tone and decided to be the bigger man, trying to avoid irritating her more than was required. He wanted to go back to bed and sleep this headache off.

“He will still be part of the team, but his current injuries will have him off active duty until he returns.”

Naruto nodded, satisfied for now with her answers.

“What does the special training entail?” Hinata asked quietly, trying to bring them back to the original topic. Tsunade shook her head slightly, refusing to answer her question.

“I will not discuss it now as there are others present who are not privy to the information.” She gave her a sympathetic look. The others in the room didn't say anything but gave each other a knowing look, this was obviously about the Kyuubi but according to village law, they were not allowed to know so they said nothing. Naruto was still confused.

“Now,” Tsunade focused on the rest of the people in the room, “I will be assigning you two and two more shinobi of your choice to accompany the Kazekage back to Suna. He requested an escort.” She smiled slightly, knowing full well that Naruto had been antsy for a mission.

“Woot!” Naruto shouted in excitement, their first mission as chuunin and it was a fairly easy one.

“You will be leaving later this afternoon, please prepare accordingly and meet at the North gate at four o'clock. Gaara will be waiting for you. Dismissed.”

Naruto sighed and his shoulders fell in resignation.

`So much for that nap.'

* * *

Asuma coughed, blood dripping out of his mouth. His stomach was sliced open deeply, his intestines were falling out, his liver was badly injured, and his lungs made a terrible shallow sound as he tried to take a drag on his cigarette. His heart beat erratically since Hidan had run it through already with his odd jutsu.

He felt a solid weight in his gut, knowing full well that this was the end. Shikamaru hadn't been able to figure out in time how to beat the Akatsuki member, a follower of Jashin. An intriguing death god and complicated religion Asuma mused. He didn't know much about it but he had just finished the crash course and he had a little bit more respect for their followers, you really had to be dedicated to pull this off.

Shikamaru openly wept as the clouds opened up above them, his teacher had been defeated and his killers had vanished. Asuma closed his eyes, apologising silently to Kurenai for breaking his promise. He would not be there for their child, he could not be there when she would need him the most.

Shikamaru wouldn't stop apologising for his failure, his inability to save his master. Asuma waved it off, knowing full well that the next encounter would be Hidan's last. Even now, he knew that Shikamaru had all the information he needed to defeat the Akatsuki member, he was just too lost in his own sorrow to think things through.

The boy listened as his teacher spoke about the will of the fire, the importance of protecting those who are precious to the will and how he was always a little too late in understanding the bigger picture. Taking the last drag out of his cigarette, he smiled at Shikamaru, his eyes closed slowly and he let out another sigh, wondering when his end would finally take him out of his misery.

He didn't hear his pupil's sorrowful cries in the rain once his eyes closed. All he could see was his father with a hand extended toward him, inviting him.

* * *

R & R please! :3

References:

DameWren's chapters 33 and 35 for the flashbacks (in that order).

The colour orange:

I find this definition interesting when applying it to Naruto. Kishi fascinates me with his double hidden meanings, this being one of them. This is also a hint as to where I am developing my specific Naruto towards.

The significance of orange as the colour for Hindu swamis is commonly thought to be connected to the idea that orange symbolizes fire, it signifies courage, sacrifice and the spirit of renunciation. It is used to symbolically represent the second (Swadhisthana) chakra. Located at the groin, it represents sexual energy and is a chakra shaped like a six-petal lotus. These six petals match the verities of affection, pitilessness, and feeling of all-destructiveness, delusion, disdain and suspicion. Swadhisthana is associated with the unconscious and with emotion. It contains unconscious desires, especially sexual desire.

Orange is associated with intellectual ambition or stubbornness. It is a power colour. It is one of the healing colours and is said to increase the craving for food. It also stimulates enthusiasm and creativity. Orange means vitality with endurance.

People who like orange are usually thoughtful and sincere. It is associated with the benign warmth of the sun. A dynamic colour to be sure, orange offers a more thoughtful control. Curiosity is a driving characteristic of orange, and with it comes exploration of new things.

Also to note, North America uses the colour Orange to designate DANGER and some frogs have bright orange markings to demonstrate they are poisonous.

Naruto in a nutshell D: