Brothers Then, Brothers Now

Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto.

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“Do you think they’ll be alright for a whole week or more?” Sasuke sighed as Sakura whispered the question going through his and Naruto’s minds as well. Would the missing-nin be alright? He had left a lot of food behind when they set out on the C-rank mission, so he knew they would be fine there. Itachi was with them and they were smart enough not to get caught so he would assume that they were fine in that area too. But still...

Even after his brother revealed his blackmail material, Sasuke couldn’t help but worry. Kakashi had almost caught them training a couple times since he nearly followed Naruto and Sakura the day she found out about his roommates, and probably already knew, he just didn’t say anything. Kakashi was loyal to Konoha, and though it was something Sasuke admired about him, it still worried him that their teacher may tell the Hokage.

“They’ll be fine, Sakura.” I hope…

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“N-Naruto-k-kun? Sasuke-s-san?” The Hyuuga heiress knocked on the door to the Uchiha manor hesitantly, hoping that she wasn’t making a fool out of herself by coming here; she had just wanted to get away from the other Hyuuga for a while. She gulped nervously and opened the door, wondering why they had left it unlocked. Naruto all but lived in the manor now and most of his things were there. “Naruto-k-kun? S-Sasuke-san?”

“You really shouldn’t stutter so much; it makes everyone think that you’re weak, un.” Hinata whirled around and gasped at the blonde grinning at her, he was a lot like Naruto. “You must be Hinata, un.” He laughed slightly at her fearful surprise. “Naruto-baka told me about you, un. My name’s Deidara, un.”

Pale eyes grew wider in terrified shock. “D-Deid-d-dara of A-Akat-suki?” Her voice came out in a squeak.

“We are no longer part of Akatsuki, and you shouldn’t call Naruto a baka when you yourself are one, Deidara.” Hinata whirled around again to face a boy with red hair standing in the doorway, he reminded her of the Kazekage, Gaara. “We are currently here to help Sasuke and Naruto, Sakura as well, on occasion.” He bowed politely to her. “I am Akasuna-no-Sasori. Naruto speaks highly of you, Hinata-sama.”

Her face became red at the last part and she twiddled her fingers, though she was still scared. “Both of our otouto are on a mission as of now, Hinata-san, but you may remain here as long as you like.” A dark-haired male walked out of the shadows and nodded to her respectfully. “I am Uchiha Itachi.”

Hinata was shaking in fear now. There were three extremely powerful missing-nin before her, all of whom happened to be extremely attractive. Once she realized where her thoughts had taken her, all the color that had rushed to her face at Sasori’s comment drained from it completely, leaving her as pale as a sheet.

“Hinata-chan?” Deidara appeared in front of her with a worried expression on his face. “Are you alright? You’re really pale, un.”

She shakily nodded her head and tried to back away, the familiarity was making her really uncomfortable. Itachi narrowed his eyes slightly and stepped forward. “Hinata-san, you wish to become stronger so you can reunite your clan, correct?” An even shakier nod was his response and his eyes softened slightly. “If you wish, we may train you for the time-being, seeing as Naruto and Sasuke are away; perhaps, even after they return, we can continue.”

The heiress’ eyes were filled with awe as she looked at the elder shinobi. Sasori nodded his agreement and Deidara was grinning. A small smile appeared on her face as she looked to the floor. Even if they were missing-nin, it was an honor to be seen as worthy to train under them - they were three of the most powerful shinobi alive. “A-arig-gatou…”

Deidara grinned even more. “Lesson One: No more stuttering, un!”

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Hinata looked at Itachi apologetically when he scowled. She had just told him that her clan didn’t approve of any other fighting style than their own. It wasn’t a rule that she was fond of, she liked learning new things. Finally, Itachi sighed. “Then we’re going to have to break that rule.”

The Hyuuga’s eyes widened in shock. “N-nani?” A flick to the head from the blonde beside her reprimanded her for the slight stutter. In her opinion, that was the only thing she had improved in the past week; when she had spoken to her father without stuttering once, she had seen the shock in nearly everyone’s eyes and the flash of approval in his. When she had seen Deidara the next day, she had promptly glomped him, smiling happily.

“Hinata,” she looked back up to meet Itachi’s unwavering gaze. “You will not have to use any of what we teach you, however, we do expect you to take what you learn and meld it with the Hyuuga style, modifying it and making it work more efficiently.” His eyes darkened slightly with memories. “There may be a day when someone finds a weakness in the style or finds a way to counter it; if that happens, you will be able to use what you have learned to fix it.”

Hinata nodded and let them begin guiding her through the moves of a different style, her mind already working on ways to adapt it to the Jyuuken.

She enjoyed being with the three of them; they didn’t care that she was shy and self-conscious, though Deidara was working on building her confidence to a more appropriate level. Itachi never degraded her and was patient with her as he explained how a jutsu worked. And Sasori was quiet and respectful and would help her with her family issues, and she had several.

She was looking forward to seeing Naruto again since he was coming back with the others in a few days, but she would miss being able to be with her teachers one-on-one.

“Great job, Hina-chan! You’re a quick learner, un!” The heiress laughed as Deidara grinned and hugged her while the other two watched them with amusement.

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Team 7 sat at a table in a restaurant on the way back to Konoha, eating their meal quietly, well, as quietly as you could with Naruto slurping down everything. Kakashi watched his genin and waited until they all had food or their drink in their mouths. “So… when were you going to tell me that there were three missing-nin at the manor?” He laughed as all of them choked and began coughing.

Seeing Sasuke’s worried eyes turn to him, the Copy-nin couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t worry; no one will hear about them from me. Those who betray their friends are worse than trash, remember?”

The three genin sighed in relief and Sasuke smiled his thanks. The scarecrow merely gave them an eyes smile before pulling out his little orange book, giggling occasionally, causing them all to sweat-drop.

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Hinata sat at the dinner table quietly, as always. She had pretty much been forced to spar with Neji by her father, and though he didn’t try to kill her this time, the branch member hadn’t help back in the slightest. She had to hide her smile as she remembered their shocked faces when she was able to pin her cousin.

Neji had been shocked but smiled at her as he surrendered, pride in his eyes. Hanabi had looked at her in awe and asked if she could teach her. Hiashi had remained silent, nodding his head only once before walking away without a second glance.

After showering, Hinata had practically flown to the Uchiha compound and glomped her teachers, smiling happily. They had congratulated her, Deidara picking her up and spinning her around in joy, and invited her to dinner the next evening since the others would be back. Speaking of which… “I will be dining at a friend’s tomorrow evening, so I will not be here; I apologize for any inconvenience, Otou-sama.”

Hiashi glanced at her before returning to his meal. Neji looked at her worriedly for a moment before giving her a small smile. Hanabi was surprised that she was spending more time away, but she was happy for her onee-chan all the same.

Finishing, she excused herself quietly and went to her room. She couldn’t wait for tomorrow to see the others and show them how much she had improved, but… her eyes saddened as she thought about what their return would mean. She wouldn’t be able to train with them anymore – she was too far below Sasuke’s and Naruto’s level. She sighed and buried her face in her pillow. It was nice while it lasted.

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AN: I liked this chapter, and I hoped the rest of you did as well. I told you there would be a lot of Hinata in there. Please review and tell me what you think.

Okay, I will NOT be updating ANYTHING for the next month or so, gomen nazai. I might type the stuff up, but I won't be writing anything else, because I am participating in 'National Novel Writing Month,' which is November. It's pretty much where you have to write a story with 50,000 words by the end of the month. If you want anymore info, go to www . na no wri mo . org just take out the spaces. Wish me luck!