Time Away Chapter 1: Assignment
This is the sequel to Time Apart, so if you haven't read that yet, it is my hearty suggestion that you do. Additionally, Naruto does not belong to me.
Hinata flew through the trees as fast as her legs could propel her. She knew exactly where all three of her pursuers were, thanks to the power of her Byakagun, but it wasn't much comfort. If she couldn't see them, then she could at least fool herself into believing she was going to escape. Sadly, that didn't seem to be the case.
The tree branch that had been her spring board a mere moment ago was quickly filled with shurikens. She was getting used to the faint whistle as the objects flew through the air, mere inches from her face, never hitting their mark. She could thank the Byakagun for that as well. Landing on another branch, she decided to try and make her stand. Right before her next jump, Hinata released a swift burst of chakra from her feet, cutting the branch deeply. Upon her next landing, she reached into her pouch to grab a kunai. Swiftly turning around, Hinata caught the vision of one of her pursuers crashing to the forest floor. She used the Kunai to block the incoming shurikens and got ready for a close quarters battle.
She wasn't disappointed. Within seconds, they were on her, all aggression. It took all she had just to block their attacks, let alone try and fight back realistically. She was the Hyuuga clan heiress. She should not be beaten in taijutsu by just any ordinary ninja. As she was pushed back to a thinner part of the tree she fought on, she reflected that her opponents were not ordinary ninjas. Hinata let a small grunt of pain slip out as she blocked a particularly savage blow with her arms. As the next one came in from the other direction, she threw herself over the side while using her chakra to stick her feet to the tree. As a result, her feet were glued to the bottom of the branch, while her body continued to swing around from the inertia of the dodge.
Luckily, this caught her opponent off guard, and she was able to slide her kunai through the back of both of his feet. He disappeared into a puff of smoke, while Hinata quickly placed an exploding tag on the bottom of the branch. Releasing her chakra, she sailed toward the ground in a graceful flip. The tag exploded as soon as she landed. Wasting no time, she was on the run again from her pursuer, straining her body to its limits. With her target in sight, she didn't have time to wonder why her Byakagun wasn't picking up her final pursuer. The answer waited for her within arms reach of the target.
With a rumble, the earth in front of her opened up, and within seconds Hinata was pinned to the ground, with the feel of cold steel on her neck.
"Dammit!" she cursed, "I almost made it."
"How many times have I told you, never forget to check underground for possible attackers?" Naruto chided, putting his Kunai back in his pouch, and rolling off of Hinata.
"I know, I'm sorry," was the girl's reply, "I was giddy because I got so close this time." Naruto extended his hand to help her up out of the dirt. She grabbed it happily, and, once standing, didn't let it go.
"You have definitely improved in the past year. I'm glad that I was quick enough to use a replacement technique with my clone to get out of the way from that upside down flying Hinata foot slash of doom. Otherwise, I wouldn't be walking for a week!" Naruto said as they walked back towards the village. "I don't think you or Lee will have any problems with the Jounin exam this year."
"I hope you are right," she said, squeezing his hand. In the past year together, Hinata had managed to break away slightly from her shyness in regards to Naruto. She felt comfortable with him, and that helped a lot.
"I will walk you back to the Hyuuga mansion, then I have got to go to a meeting with Tsunade," he said.
"Another mission?" she asked. Their particular team had been assigned to more missions that most, due to their extraordinary success rate. Having killed Orochimaru, Naruto was regarded by most of the city as a hero now. Even though his team consisted of two chuunin and an irate demon bound in the body of a tiny fox, they always returned successful and usually unhurt.
"Probably," he answered. They walked in silence for a little while, enjoying the morning. When they reached the Hyuuga clan gates, Naruto stopped. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and then said, "I will see you tonight at your birthday celebration. I've been working with Kit on a present for you that I hope you will really enjoy."
Hinata smiled, her curiosity sufficiently piqued, and walked into the house. She shouted back, "See you tonight!" as she entered the gates.
Tsunade sighed as she waited for Naruto to show up. He was usually punctual, but she noticed he was almost always late for an early morning meeting. She had finally asked Rock Lee about it, and he had told her that Naruto makes everyone get up at four in the morning to do morning warm ups. Then, he alternates running one of them through a training course that he concocted. She would complain, if both Hinata and Lee hadn't shown amazing improvement over the last year.
She was pleased when she heard the expected knock on the door. "Come in," she said. She was not surprised to see Naruto walk through the door, his hair wet from a recent shower. Kit trailed at his heels, as usual.
"Good morning," he said, crossing the room and sitting down. Kit hopped up into the chair next to him.
"You are late," Tsunade growled.
"Sorry about that, training ran a little late this morning," he said. "I didn't want to show up for a meeting filthy." He flashed a smile. "What's going on, another mission?" he asked.
The answer came from across the room as a gruff male voice said, "This is your finest assassin? How pathetic."
Naruto wasted no time with his rebuttal. "I am not an assassin, and if you doubt my skills then I can demonstrate them."
"Gentlemen!" Tsunade said forcefully.
"Respectfully, I came with orders to purchase the skills of your best assassin. If this man is not him, then you have misunderstood my mission," the man said, stepping into full view. He was outfitted in full samurai war gear, his helmet placed under his arm.
"If the mission is as you reported it, any one of my Genin could accomplish it. A non-ninja target would be child's play for anyone in this village to take care of. You asked for the best person for the job, and this man and his team are it. You will take their services, or you will return to your master empty handed, do you understand that?" Tsunade asked.
"Forgive me for offending you," the man said, bowing slightly to Tsunade. He turned to face Naruto. "I am Kitano Harashi, and the Kitano family has need of your services."
Naruto returned the man's bow slowly, "I am Uzumaki Naruto, and this is my pet fox Kit," he said, and then turned to Tsunade. "What is this about? Why is my team up for an assassination mission, isn't that ANBU's job?"
"Kitano, if you would please leave us while we discuss the mission. My assistants can escort you to a place for you to stay tonight, before your mission leaves in the morning," Tsunade said. Kitano nodded and walked out the door.
Once the samurai was out of earshot, Kit let loose. "I am so tired of being introduced as your pet fox. Am I not a member of your team? I understand that you can't introduce me as Lord Kyuubi, master demon, but, surely, you can come up with something a little more dignified than pet?"
"Shut up," Naruto and Tsunade said at the same time, dismissing his complaints. They were used to his indignant outbursts. When he realized that they weren't going to answer him, he settled down and got serious.
"Okay, fine, why are we going on an assassination mission a genin could accomplish? It is a waste of our talents," the fox said.
"I will decide what is a waste of your talents," Tsunade answered. "And it is precisely because of your talents that you are going," she said, pointing at Kit.
"What does assassinating someone have to do with Kit?" Naruto asked.
"Well it isn't the assassination really, it's where it will take place. Harashi is from Swan country. Before you interrupt me to tell me you have never heard of it Naruto, the reason is because it is an island far off the coast. Being so well traveled in his youth, I was hoping that Kit might know a lot about it. Including being able to speak their language," Tsunade said.
Kit was quiet for a moment before answering. "If it is where I think it is, then yes, I should know quite a bit about it. The place I knew wasn't called Swan country though."
"Well, you will still have a better chance than anyone else we have. From what Harashi has told me, the Kitano family is the ruling family on the island. They follow a strict code of honor that doesn't include assassinations. However, a minor family has started a rebellion that is tearing the island apart. Lord Kitano has tried to call out the leader of this rebellion, but the other man refuses to meet him in combat, preferring instead to raid the villages. He wants us to track him down and kill him," she said, finishing the briefing.
"So you want us to go because Kit will know the land?" Naruto asked.
"Exactly, and, perhaps, the language as well. Kit's extensive knowledge will be more useful on this mission than even the most skilled assassin in Konoha." Tsunade said. "You leave in the morning. This will be classified as an A class mission, even though the target is non-ninja, because of the circumstances. Oh, and one last thing. You will need to be very secretive about what you are doing, so Lord Kitano's honor is not besmirched in the eyes of his subjects. Dismissed."
"Sounds fun," Naruto grumbled as he walked outside. "Let's get back to my house and get everything ready for Hinata."
Naruto no longer lived in the tiny apartment that he had called home during his childhood. After completing the mission against Orochimaru, and finishing several A class missions after that, he had saved enough money to buy his own place. It wasn't much, but it screamed birthday right now. He had spent the better part of the day preparing, and he had used Kage Bunshins to help. Satisfied that the decorations would please her, Naruto waited for the guests to arrive.
The party itself was the best Hinata had ever had. Her birthday up until now had consisted of a family affair. Stuffy Hyuuga clan nobles drinking tea and wishing the heir of the clan well, while secretly wishing for her to die during a mission so a more capable heir could step up. While that had happened this year, she had managed to sneak away fairly quickly to show up to Naruto's party.
Neji, Kiba, Shino, Lee, Naruto, and Kit were all there. Kit had told Naruto how people used to celebrate birthdays in the western style, and so there was cake and presents. She only regretted that she had to wait seventeen years for such a perfect birthday. After it was all over, and the guests had left, it was just Naruto, her, and of course, Kit.
"So what is this present you two have been working on?" she asked when she couldn't stand it any longer.
"Well, you know how you said you always wanted to be by my side?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah…" was Hinata's response.
"Well Kit and I came up with the next best thing. Here, lift up your shirt," he said reaching for her.
"Woah there!" she said, skirting away. She trusted him, but that had come out of nowhere.
"Not for that!" he said, blushing. "Just lift it up a little bit. Trust me." Slowly, she complied. "Now, channel some of your chakra to your naval area."
"Okay," she said, wondering what was going on. Naruto made some quick hand seals and slammed his palm into her stomach. There was a burning pain for a moment, and her ears were ringing. When her hearing returned, Naruto was frantic.
"Are you ok? Oh my god, it wasn't supposed to hurt that much!" he said.
"I'm ok, it's fine," she said. Looking down at the place where he had touched her, she saw a small tattoo shaped like a fox. "What is this all about?" she asked.
Can you hear me? was Naruto's answer.
"Of course I can, why wouldn't I be able to?" she said. She looked up at his face.
Pay closer attention, don't you notice anything strange? Naruto said with a smile. Except for the fact that his mouth didn't move.
Hinata was stunned. "H-how?"
"Kit figured it out first. We were trying to figure out how to communicate with each other while in a crowd or something. We started thinking that if we could send chakra along our link, why not something else. So we started doing some experiments with different seals, until we found one that worked," he said, lifting Kit off the ground. There was an identical seal on his stomach.
"Can I communicate back to you?" Hinata asked.
"Yes, just channel chakra to the tattoo and speak clearly in your mind. It should send it along the chakra link to me," Naruto said.
Like this? Hinata's voice said in Naruto's mind.
Exactly. It should work no matter how far apart we are, he said. However, it does drain chakra. For me it isn't a big deal since I have so much, but if you were using your Byakagun while carrying on a conversation with me, you might start feeling a little drained.
"Naruto …" Hinata started. "Thank you. I couldn't have asked for a better gift." She leaned up and gave him a kiss. "I had better get back. My father is going to be angry with me for slipping out so quickly. He still doesn't approve of you."
"He won't ever approve of me. Some people don't change. When I am Hokage though, he will have to listen to me," Naruto said with a smile.
Hiashi was practicing his forms in the dojo, when his daughter returned from her party. He could have noticed any number of things about her that were different that usual. The way that she walked in with a happy bounce in her step and a smile on her face. The subtle way that she hummed to herself, so different from the daughter he had a few years ago. He could have noticed the grace with which she moved, poised for action at a subconscious level. However, he did notice the slight trail of red chakra that was firmly attached to her stomach.
If he had not been practicing with his Byakagun on, he would have missed it. If he had been of any other family line, he would have missed it. As fate would have it, he did have his Byakagun on, and he was a Hyuuga. There was only one thing he knew of that had that kind of chakra. The demon boy, Naruto must have done something to his daughter. Undoubtedly, she had let him do it. She probably wanted him to.
This was the last straw.
Hiashi crossed the room and blocked her way. He practically spat out, "What has that demon done to you this time?"
Hinata looked up into her fathers eyes. "He is not a demon, and he hasn't done anything to me," she said. Her answer was replied to with a stinging slap to the face.
"Do not lie to me girl! The whole clan can see your shame now!" her father said with barely contained rage. Lifting her shirt up slightly with his finger, he saw the fox tattoo. "You mark yourself with his symbol. I can no longer tolerate the shame you bring on this house by consorting with that boy." Hiashi shouted for some other clan members, who walked into the room.
Hinata was frantic when Hiashi ordered the two men to hold her. "With these two as my witness, I denounce you as heir to the Hyuuga clan. Hanabi will now be my heir, and you will be marked for the branch family," Hiashi said. Hinata gasped. That meant that the seal was going to be placed on her. With nothing but a gesture, any head family member could see her dead. "Carry her to the other room and prepare for the sealing."
Naruto! Hinata's voice screamed in his head. Naruto bolted up from where he had been laying down, drawing Kit's attention. Please help me! They are going to mark me! Naruto could feel the frantic and overwhelming fear in her mind-voice. Anger began to boil up inside him.
I'm coming, Naruto sent back.
"Naruto, what's going on?" Kit asked.
"Hiashi is doing something terrible to Hinata. I am going to kill him," Naruto replied, his whiskers turning jagged and harsh.
"Not that I don't approve, but is that wise?" Kit asked. Naruto was already sprinting towards his window.
"Get Tsunade and Neji, bring them to the Hyuuga clan mansion," Naruto said, turning to face Kit. His eyes had turned completely red, and small fangs had sprouted from his mouth.
"Don't do anything rash. I would hate to see us executed," Kit yelled after him as he crashed through his window and disappeared into the night. Kit jumped out after him and headed toward the Hokage's residence. "He makes me so proud when he's angry."
Kitano Harashi was looking out the window of his room into the peaceful Konoha night, pondering the fate that awaited him on his return to Swan country. He had dishonored himself and his master by coming here to hire assassins. There was no other path for him to follow upon returning, other than seppuku. It would be his final slap in the face against the master that he dared not disobey. If he was lucky, then the people might see the events that would unfold, and know why he had done this terrible, final act. It was not the warrior's death he had hoped for, but it would do.
It was at about this time that his window was filled with the profile of a man he recognized from earlier that day. There were some differences of course. For one, the whiskers that he had assumed were tattoos had changed. Also, the eye color was different and the man was sporting some rather intimidating fangs. In another instant, he was gone, leaping forward into the night. Realizing that the man who would soon be traveling with him was obviously leaping through the rooftops with some terrible purpose, Kitano did what anyone would have done. He followed him.
Naruto landed with a dull thud in front of the Hyuuga mansion. The two guards standing at the entrance glanced at each other before getting the courage to stand in his way. They were no fools. They knew who he was and what power he had. Everyone in Konoha knew that he was the man who had felled Orochimaru. Everyone over the age of forty knew that he was the one who housed the most powerful demon known to man, the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Still, somehow they found the courage to stand in his way.
"I am here for Hinata. Get out of my way! This is your only warning!" Naruto said, never breaking stride
"Respectfully sir, you can't go—," the man's objections were silenced when Naruto sent a blast of chakra into the man's stomach, sending him flying. The guard hit the wall with a thud and slid down to the ground, unconscious. The other guard launched himself into a desperate attack. It lasted about two seconds, Naruto didn't have time to spar with someone.
Hiashi heard the ruckus coming from the other end of the house, and knew that his clan was under attack. He had seen the chakra trail to Naruto flash when he had told Hinata that she would be marked for the branch family. Finally, Naruto had moved against his clan, and he had all the proof he needed to have him executed, or banished. Feeling no remorse, he started to make the hand seals required to perform the sealing. Hinata squirmed under the firm grip of the two elders that held her.
Luckily, Naruto chose that moment to throw another Hyuuga clan warrior through the door. Everyone in the room dropped what they were doing to lay eyes upon the crazed man in front of them. Naruto was covered in blood, presumably his own. There were several kunais and shurikens embedded in his body. Swirling around him was a powerful red chakra that Hinata had only seen without her Byakagun once before.
"Release her!" he said. His voice a powerful distortion of what it usually sounded like.
"How dare you attack my clan, and meddle in our business. Anyone could see that what stands before me now is a possessed demon. You should have been put down at birth like I suggested," Hiashi said. Naruto growled in response and stepped forward, but still did not attack.
"I warned you before, Hinata is under my protection!" Naruto said. "You knew this would happen."
"I thought the demon warned me? You are one and the same, and I have always known it," Hiasha spat back. "I may die fighting you, but I can only hope that Konoha has the sense to rise up against you now." He dropped into a fighting stance.
"Stop this nonsense at once!" Tsunade shouted stepping into the room. "Naruto, stand down!" Naruto visibly attempted to calm himself, but the power of his chakra still whipped clothes around like a strong wind. "Hinata is safe, now stand down." That seemed to have more of an effect. Slowly Naruto returned to normal.
Hinata ran from where she had been to Naruto, tears streaming from her face. "What have I done?" she whispered, pulling the weapons out of Naruto's body.
"Hokage, this man has attacked my clan without provocation. I demand that he be executed," Hiashi said.
"None of your clan members are dead, and the repairs to your mansion will come directly from Naruto's pay," the Hokage said. Turning to Naruto she said, "That was very stupid."
"He was going to mark Hinata for the branch family. The heiress of the Hyuuga clan asked for my help, so it was not unprovoked," Naruto spat.
"She is no longer the heiress. Hanabi is. The workings of my clan are none of your business. My demand stands Hokage-sama, your favoritism is becoming blatant. His actions are slightly less offensive that Itachi's, and only because he was not as effective," Hiashi answered.
"If I had wanted to kill everyone in your clan, I would have! I was only here to protect Hinata from your unprovoked attack," Naruto said. He looked like he was about to say something else, when Kitano Harashi walked around the corner.
"You must forgive me. My command of your language isn't complete," the samurai said.
"Kitano-san! What are you doing here?" Tsunade said.
"I saw the gentlemen there land on my window. Since he is leaving on a mission with me tomorrow, I thought I would follow to see what he was doing. I now have no doubts that he is the man for the job," Harashi said.
"Anyone in this village could do your mission," Tsunade said, for the millionth time.
"That may be, but Uzumaki-san has demonstrated to me something more priceless than the most talented ninja. If I understand the situation, he risked death by fighting through an entire clan because he sensed danger to his woman. He did what his honor demanded he do, with no concern for personal safety. He then refrained from using lethal force against opponents who wanted him dead. He is an honorable man," Kitano finished with a deep bow to Naruto.
"Hokage-sama," Hiashi started.
"Enough," Tsunade said, cutting him off. "Let me be clear with you Hyuuga Hiashi. I don't like you. I don't like the way you run your clan, and I don't like the way you treat your daughter. You don't want her to be your heir, fine, but I will not allow you to have the power to end her life with a hand gesture. Now, Naruto and his team are going on an extended mission tomorrow morning. When they return, Naruto will be punished for what he has done. Hinata will be living with me, until further arrangements can be made. Touch her, and I will bring your whole clan down, do you understand?" she said.
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
"You two!" she said, pointing to Naruto and Hinata. "My office. Now!" The two walked out of the room. "Kitano, please return to your room. Your mission will leave as scheduled tomorrow morning. I apologize for you having to see this."
"It was my pleasure, Hokage-sama," Kitano said.
Neji stood outside the Hyuuga clan mansion next to Kit. He was shocked. He only knew of a few people who would be capable of just walking into the Hyuuga clan mansion when they felt like it. He could think of only one who might have a reason to be there, and a pet fox.
Naruto stumbled out of the building along with Hinata. Kit ran up to him and seemed to look over his wounds, nod, and then start trailing along behind him.
"What happened?" Neji asked.
"I am no longer the heir of the Hyuuga clan. They were going to mark me for the branch family," Hinata said. "Naruto came to stop them, and now we are in trouble."
Neji nodded, "I assumed it was something like that. That bastard Hiashi. His hatred of Naruto is clouding his judgement. Everyone in Konoha has seen your improvement since you have been with Naruto, and I don't know of anyone that doesn't approve of your being together other than him. What brought it on?"
"Use your Byakagun," Hinata said. "You will see."
Neji complied, seeing the trail of distinctive chakra run from Naruto's naval to hers. "What is that?"
"A new seal me and … well a new seal I came up with anyway. It allows us to communicate silently," Naruto said.
I love how you take credit for everything I do, Kit said in Naruto's mind.
Well most people don't know my pet is actually you, so I can't go saying you did it now can I? Naruto replied.
"You are connected to the fox as well?" Neji asked.
Shit, I forgot he can see chakra, Naruto thought to himself. "Yeah," Naruto said.
Neji was silent for a moment before responding. "I understand. If the Hyuuga clan sees this, then they may suspect that your fox is more than he is. You should be careful."
"I will. Now that they all hate me for tearing up their house, I'm sure they will have it in for me," Naruto said. Hinata wiped a tear from her face.
"This is all my fault. I should have just let them do it, and then we wouldn't have this problem," she said. Naruto and Neji responded as one.
"No!" Neji continued to explain, "If Hiashia had marked you for the branch family, then he would have an absolute hold over Naruto. With a hand gesture he could take your life, and so Naruto would be forced to do whatever Hiashi wanted. It's the same reason I couldn't come in to help Naruto. They would have killed me instantly for rebelling against the head family."
"We are leaving on a long mission tomorrow morning," Naruto said as they neared the Hokage's office. "Do us a favor and keep your eye on Hiashi. I have a feeling he will have something waiting for me when I return. If he spins tonights events right, with me not here to defend myself, I could be coming home to another lynch mob."
"Lets hope not," Neji said. "I will do my best to make sure that doesn't happen." Naruto and Hinata said goodbye as Neji leaped off into the night, to do whatever it was that the ANBU commander did at night.
Naruto gave a light knock at the Hokage's office door. In moments, Shizune opened the door. "Come on in. Let's get you cleaned up before the Hokage gets back."
Authors Note: Well here we have the beginning of the sequel to Time Apart. I hope you all will enjoy this story as much as the last one I wrote. Please remember to leave a review to let me know what you think. Additionally, feel free to read my one shot Warhammer fiction that has 0 reviews
Again this fic will be edited by my lovely wife, so props to her for the (hopefully) very few grammar mistakes.