Hinata returned not long after, her hands full - a bundle of greens tied with vines, a few to be roasted fish skewered on sticks, and some foraged roots wrapped in leaves. She was humming softly, the melody almost inaudible.
Naruto had already gotten the fire going again. When she saw the flames, she smiled - a small, private thing, as if proud of him for something simple.
"You're up," she said gently.
"Yeah," Naruto replied, scratching his cheek. "Didn't wanna sleep all day like some lazy lord or something."
Hinata chuckled under her breath. "You needed rest... but I'm glad you're awake."
She knelt beside the fire, laying the food down neatly. Her hands moved in rhythm - clean, precise, graceful even in small motions.
Naruto watched her for a moment. He didn't mean to stare, but there was something about how she fit in the morning light - like she wasn't shy anymore, just...
there no no she was shy...he just had become hers at least Naruto liked to think about it like that.
"So, uh," he said, awkwardly grabbing the fish to roast them. "You really fished these yourself? This fast?"
"Mm-hm. Not really i hunted them with my eyes i herded them to a net and pulled it up after" Hinata said her tone was humble as always.
Naruto nodded a bit childishly. As he put the stick'ed fish on fire to be cooked.
They ate in silence for a while after that - the comfortable kind. The fire crackled, birds began to chatter again, and the world felt small and safe for once.
When they finished, Hinata began cleaning the fishbones and ashes and dumped them in the mud stove that away the soil would get it's turn to eat
while Naruto packed his tent. Then they started heading back toward the village - the path winding through trees painted gold by the sun.
"Oh dam i gotta refill the feeders for my plants" Naruto said out loud
Hinata blinked at him, surprised but smiling."You like gardening?"
Naruto shrugged, kicking at a pebble."yeah they're great listeners you know"
"Oh Naruto..." Hinata's guilt increased even more.
"Yeah i know....i have my own plants too" Hinata's voice was light but Naruto heard her all the same.
Hinata tilted her head. "What kind of plants do you have?" Swiftly changing the topic back to the plants.
"Uh... dunno. Green one? One's named Mr.ukki though "he said, rubbing his neck.
Hinata giggled softly - the sound light, not nervous "let's stop to fill his feeder before Mr.ukki becomes even more ukki"
(Ukki translates to depressed)
Naruto grinned. "You sure you wanna come over ? Like not that I mind but you know you did stay the night with me shouldn't your parents and clan be worrying about you- I just don't want ya getting in trouble"
Hinata's steps faltered just for a second, her breath catching - but then she smiled, steady and quiet." It's fine..Naruto we were in my father's bykugan range so to him we were merely a few minutes away under his watchful eye"
she of course didn't bother telling the whole truth- that she wasn't really all that important to her own dad and clan-he didn't need to be worried for her.
"Let's get your plants cared for as soon as possible so we can meet the lord 3rd before he sends his ANBUs to us."
"Yeah" Naruto looked at her.
"She's so confusing...last night she gave me that sex education talk then this morning she talked about helping me more when she thought i was sleeping...is it bad that I kinda like that ?" Naruto thought fondly of her.
Hinata's fingers fidgeted with her sleeves as they passed the market street. The early stalls were opening, some 27×7 open shops were changing shifts , a blessing for ninjas on missions.
the air thick with steam buns and grilled dango. Along with the Vendors Muttering about Naruto's actions against Sakura. The muttering increased as Naruto and Hinata passed by...
"-Wouldddd you Loooook at THAT! Black sheep of the Hyuga clan is with our neighbourhood pest...this early in the morning?-"
"-Hmmm looks like he offered his body to her for intel on how to defeat Neji...-"
"-Isn't that a bit too much ? Dude like who would be desperate enough for that pest? Probably become her pet for a time or something kinky like that you know it's always the quiet ones and all-"
"-Hmmmm... Who knows and who cares!-"
A third voice joined them.
"-Where are they coming from? It's chunin exams time i doubt that brat would go on a mission-"
"-Probably the Hyuga clan compound-"
A fourth voice rang a feminine one"--do you think she's the reason why he hit Sakura like that ? That girl had her teeth all messed up and all.-"
The first man laughed "-yeahhhh that stant was so funny she literally flew away like a fly-"
"-Agreed-"
"-And I was looking forward to seeing him get beaten by that Sakura" another woman said.
"-You know it makes me wonder if next he'll raise his hands against us... And please pay in round number guys why do you wanna make my job harder Tadashi don't you dare pay your tab with coins like before!-"
said man said"-economy's tuff man-"
Naruto and Hinata faintly but clearly heard the banter as they walked past that takoyaki shop.
"You wanna get something Hinata?" Naruto asked a tick mark throbbing at his forehead with suppressed rage.
The fact that he now understood their sexual remakes now. made each line worse. The fact that they can punish Hinata for just walking with him...from their point of view...
Naruto kept his hands in his pockets as they walked, his nails digging into his palms.
"No... let's not. I don't trust them with our food. Who knows what they'd do to it." Hinata said her voice was soft as always.
"You're not gonna ask about me punching Sakura" Naruto asked - a gamble really but now she knows about it undoubtedly...it was better to face it head on.
"What is there to ask? You defended yourself right?" Hinata's voice had trust to the level he had never heard from anyone before.
"Yeah-h" Naruto said a little unsure of what to say he expected to be questioned not assuming the best which was true since that is what happened-still it was weird.
Hinata stayed close but didn't speak - she didn't need to. They both knew the silence wasn't awkward. It was armor.
______________________________________
By the time they reached his apartment, the day had almost bloomed. The air smelled of cool dust and faint ramen from the streets. Naruto's place where the entrance of his apartment was, as usual, half-chaos - tools, scrolls, and laundry everywhere public waste people herded on his property.
She could see with her eyes without her bykugan the mess in the apartment as well . A few empty instant ramen cups sat near the window, and a small group of wilting plants lined the sill.
Hinata didn't comment. She just smiled and rolled up her sleeves.
Naruto noticed.
"Quick !make divert her attention to the task before she starts pitting you even more Naruto"Naruto thought panicking
and muttered, "You don't gotta clean , y'know. We were, uh... actually gonna water the plants remember!"
He picked up an old plastic bucket and held it up triumphantly. "See this? Makeshift drip-feeder filler 3000!"
"Seriously Naruto what the hell kind of lame.name.was.THAT. I'm glad Sasuke won't know about this .
"the bastard would be so pleased with himself" Naruto mentally cursed himself.
It was weird for him not even his own teammate had known about his gardening skills. And he was basically using it to stop her from cleaning his house...it was weird and warm.
Hinata tilted her head, watching him for a bit and wondering where he could have gotten naming skills like that.
Naruto put the bucket under the faucet to fill with water. The silence was a bit awkward with Naruto whistling and putting his thumb over the faucet's exit to increase pressure.
Hinata only watched him calmly. As Naruto fumbled with his keys outside his door.
Her mind was far from calm though now her body was almost back to normal she still couldn't believe it she had nearly taken him last night.
Her head was filled with faint whispers of older female voices... still wanting her to take him regardless of consequences.
"Hinata come in !" Naruto's voice snapped her back to reality as he opened the door to his apartment bucket now in hand.
The apartment complex was quiet - a little too quiet. Old wood creaked beneath their sandals.
Click.
The door opened to that familiar smell - old wood, cheap instant noodles, and something faintly green.
Inside, the air smelled faintly of earth and sunlight. The tablecloth was crooked, a single chair out of place, and a faint layer of dust framed the light pouring from the window.
And then she saw them.
"...You weren't joking," she said softly.
Naruto tilted his head. "Huh?"
"The plants. You really do have a whole little family."
Naruto grinned sheepishly, setting down the bucket near the window.
"Yeah, these guys keep me company, y'know? They don't talk back, they don't yell... and they don't throw stuff at my head."
Along the windowsill stood a big bottle, each inverted over a small pot - Naruto's improvised feeders, dripping water into the soil in slow, rhythmic beats it was held up by a net of rope tied like a harness around the bottle's neck
He bent a little by the window and lifted a near-empty bottle tied upside-down over a small pothos - Mr. Ukki, his longest companion. The bottle's neck dripped one last tired drop.
"Hang in there, buddy," he said, carefully unscrewing it.
Hinata knelt beside him, fingers brushing against the rim of the pot. The soil was bone dry.
"You made this system yourself?"
Naruto grinned proudly. "Yup! Well technically I learned from the closet perv actually- he said that his parents used to do this when they were on long term missions, can you believe it?! This is what he taught me the whole day, like seriously am I supposed to defeat Neji by growing plants ? Didn't even practice making it...he taught me the theory behind it..."
Hinata smiled softly. She felt her rage shimmering what the fuck was Ebisu doing? Neji would absolutely kill Naruto at this rate...another failure clearly...
"Though I'll admit it has made me lazy that's why I have these big ass bottles" Naruto said as he grinned sheepishly.
Hinata giggled, forgetting her earlier thoughts in Naruto's Naruto-ness for a moment.
"I'll refill that bottle, so we get to hokage's office as soon as possible" she offered, while pointing at the tall potted plant on the floor then she pointed to the jug on his table "can I use that ? To water that one?"
"Yeah sure" he replied
She stood up taking the jug , her sleeves rolled up, the movement so natural that Naruto froze for a second. There was something weirdly home-like about seeing her move around in his kitchen.
She filled the jug from the old bucket.
"By the way Hinata that's the boss leaf he protects Mr. Ukki from becoming emo like Sasuke"
Hinata almost laughed out loud in the most unlady-like manner , her cheeks filled with air as she giggled causing Naruto to laugh out loud.
Hinata held the jug for life as she tried to calm down then after calming down she asked "How many more plants do you have in ..here Naruto?" Hinata asked as she lifted the bottle to fill it, twisted it open.
"Just one more at the side of my bed. He's named night guardian. I bet he'd be happy to meet you too," Naruto said as he finished filling the ukki's bottle.
"Night guardian? As in that Anime and Manga shows the protagonist's Summon?" Hinata inquired.
"Yeah that- you know about it !?" Naruto was overjoyed.
"Kids in the clan play pretend to be the protagonist though I never got time to read or watch it,"Hinata said bashfully.
Naruto grinned, leaning against the table.
"Well, you're missing out. He's awesome - protects people even when they don't like him much. Guess I kinda get him."
Hinata smiled. "I think... you'd make a good Night Guardian yourself."
Naruto blinked, unsure what to do with that.
"Uh... thanks?"
"Huh! I just realised something you were right about the family comment we're four people- beings livin' in this house 3 plants and me a man! Like your average nuclear family!" He grinned at her.
Hinata blinked at him, her lips parting in surprise - then curving into a soft, helpless smile.
"Nuclear family..." she echoed under her breath, as if tasting the words.
For a heartbeat, the room felt too quiet. The sunlight on the window caught dust motes in slow dance; the faint drip of the bottle ticked like a clock. Naruto had no idea what he'd just said - but for her, it landed somewhere deep.
Because it was a home, wasn't it? Messy, imperfect, but warm. A boy and his little green companions - things that survived because he cared enough to keep them alive.
She looked at him - really looked - at the boy everyone overlooked, who somehow managed to build his own tiny world out of scraps and stubbornness.
Of course she knew his pain now but this genjutsu (illusion) of a family. Only told her how much suffering had drowned him in...she silently prayed it wasn't too late to be the lifeguard and pull him back ashore.
Her cheeks warmed as a genjutsu of her own surfaced in her mind, one with Naruto and her living together with few children around them, no hate filled words, no bitter stares, nothing just him and her with their kids.
Her eyes began to water up.. her nose twitched as she blinked tears away before they even formed. Of course she wasn't about to cry in front of Naruto about her fantasy...she didn't deserve him after all.
"You really do make this place feel alive, Naruto," she said quietly, almost to herself.
"Huh?" Naruto blinked, confused but grinning anyway. "Heh, guess I'm just that awesome."
Hinata laughed softly, shaking her head. "Yeah... I guess you are."
And as he went to check the last feeder by his bed, Hinata lingered by the window, fingers brushing the leaves of Mr. Ukki before she followed behind him to feed the night Guardian as well.
Inside Naruto's bedroom.
Naruto crouched by the bedside, tugging the curtains aside just enough for light to spill on the last pot.
"There he is-! The Night Guardian."
Hinata stepped closer, her curiosity soft as she leaned in.
The plant was a small snake plant, dark green with pale stripes, its leaves tall and proud even in the dim light. The bottle above it was nearly empty, but the soil was still damp - clearly, Naruto had watered this one more recently.
"He's the one that never gives up," Naruto said with a grin, twisting the cap off the bottle. "Even when I forget to feed him for a while, he just... stands tall, like he's waiting for me to get my act together."
Hinata knelt beside him. Her fingers brushed a leaf gently.
"Wow she's... gentle. She's so gentle with him. I've never seen anyone touch something of mine that carefully... almost like she owns it too" Naruto thought as he saw her actions.
"It's strong," she murmured. Her eyes activated for a second"Even its roots look steady."
"Yeah," Naruto said, sitting cross-legged beside the bed. "That's why I called him Night Guardian. He kinda reminds me of that manga guy - always standing watch when everyone's asleep. Makes me feel like the room's not empty, y'know?"
He laughed a little, but it wasn't loud. It carried something soft, almost fragile.
"I talk to him sometimes. I know it's dumb, but... when it gets really quiet, I tell him stuff. Like, 'Hey, Guardian, you think I'll ever get to be the Hokage and then the Konoha citizens won't hate me?'"
Hinata's heart tightened. She smiled gently, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I don't think that's dumb, Naruto. I think... you just wanted someone to listen. Like we did last night.."
Naruto turned to her, surprised - not used to being understood so easily.
Her eyes didn't flinch, didn't pity. They just saw him.
"Yeah... maybe," he said quietly. Then he grinned again, shaking his head. "Anyway! Can't have the Guardian getting thirsty - or he'll fire me as his summoner."
Hinata giggled softly as Naruto poured the water, careful and steady.
The soil darkened slowly, the smell of wet earth rising between them.
For a moment, everything was still. The morning sun through the window framed them both - a boy feeding a plant, a girl watching like it meant more than anything.
Then Hinata straightened, dusting off her knees.
"We should go," she said gently. "Before the Hokage sends someone after us."
Naruto blinked, looking around his tiny home - the crooked tablecloth, the ramen cups, his little green family, and the quiet that didn't feel so lonely anymore.
"Yeah," he said softly. "Guess we should."
As they stepped outside, the sun was climbing higher, warming the cracked streets of Konoha.
Naruto locked the door and gave one last grin toward the window.
"Guard the place, guys. We'll- well I'll be back." Naruto said hoping Hinata wouldn't question his hope of her coming back to his place.
Hinata glanced at him from the corner of her eye - that small, unguarded smile of his still lingering in her mind.
"He expects me to come home with him...oh Naruto how much have you been starving for basic care...that you want me to be with you someone you are too good for.."Hinata thought
Of course unlike everyone else in her position she didn't take Naruto's words in a sexual way..it only fueled her guilt... for not being for him all this time.
I was too selfless...so selfless that it looks selfish now...did I stay away from him because I didn't deserve him or did I stay away from him because I wanted to take the easy way out...and not work on myself to be a person deserving of him? "Hinata thought as they walked toward the Hokage's tower, side by side.
She couldn't help thinking that maybe, just maybe, he was the real guardian - the one who made even lonely rooms feel alive.
______________________________________
The Hokage Tower was always busy in the mornings - chunin rushing with papers, ANBU flickering on rooftops, civilians arguing about mission pay along with the distant sound of ninja in training at the academy.
But today... The air felt heavier.
Hinata walked beside Naruto, closely but calmly, hands folded in front of her and eyes locked on Naruto not staring like he did something wrong, just aware of his position.
Naruto kept glancing at her like he was worried she'd disappear.
They reached the last flight of stairs.
Naruto swallowed.
Hinata noticed.
Of course she noticed.
"You okay?" she asked softly.
Naruto grinned too quickly.
"Yeah! Just... y'know... old man gets cranky early."
Hinata nodded, but her eyes lowered a tiny bit. She knew what that meant:
He's scared of authority figures.
He always has been perhaps out of respect for the power they held under his act of bravado.
But now he was realizing why you shouldn't trust politicians... And rightfully so.
She wanted to reach out, but instead she straightened her posture and moved a little closer to him- an unspoken I'm here.
Naruto raised his fist to knock.
Before he touched the door-
"Enter." said a voice they both didn't know.
Naruto stiffened.
Hinata hesitated... but followed.
The usual secretary was gone, replaced by another masked teen with long brown hair.
Hinata's breath caught for a moment.
Naruto froze completely.
The ANBU didn't move, didn't speak - but his presence filled the entrance like a second doorway.
Hinata bowed immediately.
Naruto... did not.
His shoulders locked.
ANBU meant danger.
ANBU meant someone had messed up.
ANBU meant Hokage meant business, no more grandfatherly act.
"Contain the fox br-" a whisper in subconscious
Hinata stepped a little closer, feeling him tense fully beside her.
The ANBU's voice - calm, clipped - cut through the air
"Hokage-sama is expecting you. Uzumaki Naruto and you as well Hyuga Hinata"
Naruto swallowed again.
"Uh... cool. Great. Totally fine."
Hinata shot him a worried look.
The ANBU stepped aside with silent, gliding precision the assistant- a chunin didn't even bother looking at them, perhaps too busy with the papers in his hands or on his task.
Naruto could never get used to the fact that the job was good. It was ordinary, too mechanical with no creativity or validation. For a long time only the hokages were remembered and praised. Worshipped even.
"His chakra feels a lot like Naruto's what the hell is going on"Hinata thought since she stayed a lot with Naruto now her senses were attuned to his chakra.
A new puzzle arose : Charka being similar chakra indicated kinship
No two persons chakra can ever be the same ever everyone's chakra is very unique to everyone
Brown hair... Heh perhaps Naruto got the less dominant gene perhaps Naruto was related to this ANBU.
Naruto's own thoughts weren't so positive either with him being a sensory nin however to him ANBU's chakra felt uncanny like it should not belong to that guy like the chakra was merely contained in him like the nines in him
something inside Naruto and Hinata whispered:
Why is an ANBU standing guard here? Why today? Did I do something wrong? Did Hinata / Naruto get in trouble because of me-?
He forced a grin.
"Let's... go."
Hinata followed him in.
inside the Hokage's Chamber
The office was half-lit, sunlight slicing across the floor in long, angled strips.
Hiruzen sat behind his desk, pipe resting in his hand - unreadable, exhausted, ancient.
He wasn't wearing his smile.
Not even the faint one he usually gave Naruto when he entered.
Naruto's bravado slipped an inch.
Hinata saw every millimeter of it.
Hiruzen's eyes drifted from Naruto... to Hinata... then toward the ANBU behind them.
"Thank you, Tenzo," Hiruzen said without looking.
The masked teen - Tenzo - bowed slightly and closed the door.
His footsteps were so soft Naruto almost didn't hear them.
Almost.
Then silence.
A thick, heavy silence.
Like the room was waiting for something.
Hiruzen finally exhaled, smoke trailing from the pipe.
"Good morning... Naruto. Lady Hinata."
Naruto raised a shaky hand.
"M-Morning old man- I mean, uh- Hokage-sama!"
Hinata bowed deeply, her voice steady despite the tension:
"Good morning, Hokage-sama."
But Hiruzen didn't answer immediately.
He studied them.
He really studied them.
Hinata's slightly wrinkled sleeves.
Naruto's tired eyes are yet virile.
The faint scent of forest soil still clinging to them both.
The fact that Naruto stood a half-step closer to Hinata than usual.
And Hinata stood a half-step closer to Naruto than expected.
Hiruzen's fingers tapped the pipe.
Once.
Twice.
"So where do we even start? Let's start with 'How does one achieve the kind of glow up you have gotten ? I mean look at you two...you look brand new" Hiruzen said with his finger touching his desk chakra leaking faintly on it a sealing tag materialized under his finger
the seals did their thing the room flashed once with kanjis
Naruto was confused by the question while Hinata's stomach twisted.
"Hinata you go first for the answer what is the technique you were speaking to Naruto about..last night"
Hiruzen spoke.
"So he was watching us even then" thought Naruto and Hinata
Hinata inhaled sharply and said "then you must know it's a clan secret for now.. I'm sure my father will tell you about the experimental treatment."
Naruto's hands curled into fists.
He felt more guilty for not telling her the truth...that he's just a clone, the real Naruto was in waves, the land of waves.
Hiruzen's expression didn't change, but his voice dropped to a level only shinobi would catch.
"Noted..Now mind telling me... you ...Naruto what stuff about yourself have been finding out and how"
Naruto flinched at a fallen tree.
He couldn't exactly hide what he'd done but he'd be damned if he didn't. He was Naruto Uzumaki after all.
Hiruzen continued
"Most of all...i would like to know where you got this information ?"
Naruto's heart stopped.
Hinata turned to him immediately, worry etched into her face.
Hiruzen leaned back, pipe smoldering.
"Naruto," he said slowly, "look at me."
Naruto stiffly raised his head.
Hiruzen's eyes were sharp - not grandfatherly.
Not kind.
Just Hokage.
Naruto stayed standing.
Hiruzen waited.
Naruto swallowed.
"So, uh... those questions you asked? Kinda... weird, right? Like- super weird! Why not ask about my awesome plants instead?"
"Uzumaki Naruto."
Hiruzen's voice had the softness of a sword sliding from its sheath.
Naruto froze.
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed like a man who had spent decades reading lies off the battlefield.
"You are evading every question."
Naruto forced a laugh.
"Me? Evading? Nahhh-"
Hiruzen lifted his finger from the seal. The effect was instant. The room glowed and dimmed again now the room was unsealed.
"Tenzo." Hiruzen spoke.
Hiruzen didn't raise his voice.
"Restrain him well."
Naruto's blood ran cold.
"W-What?! OLD MAN WAIT-!"
Hinata's voice exploded outside the door.
"HOKAGE-SAMA-PLEASE-!!"
The door slid open instantly.
Before Naruto and Hinata could react they both heard Wood Style: Wood Locking Bind. From outside.
Wood erupted from the floor like serpents, wrapping around Naruto's chest, arms, legs-
But-
But-
Something happened NO ONE expected.
Not even Naruto.
The moment the wood touched his body...
Naruto felt it.
His chakra PULLED. No it was him, not just his chakra.
Tenzo stepped in silently.
Naruto's stomach dropped.
Tenzo's mask tilted downward, focusing on Naruto.
"I'm sorry, kiddo you brought this on yourself."
His hands flashed through a hand seal.
The wood around him obeyed Tenzo and clashed against Naruto's body even more
"Why does my chakra feel weird why does my wood style feel like it's running away from me" Tenzo thought before focusing on his jutsu- obeying his leader's orders
Hinata's hands clenched in front of her chest.
Naruto opened his mouth to say something-
But Hiruzen's tone cut through him like a kunai through paper:
"Do not lie to me. Not today."
Naruto's mouth snapped shut.
Hinata shifted closer - as if to shield him from the weight of that voice she wasn't unsure she should read to fight her leader or not but only for a second she didn't activate her jiuken but took a stand.
Hiruzen took in that movement... and something softened perhaps. Only a fraction then he.
Then his eyes hardened again with the force of a veteran shinobi addressing a threat no matter how small, how impossible.
"Hyūga Hinata," he said quietly, "step back."
Her breath hitched.
She didn't move.
Tenzo's head tilted slightly - even behind the mask Naruto, Hinata, and Hiruzen felt his surprise.
Hiruzen repeated, this time each syllable edged with chakra
"Step. Back."
Hinata shook - but she didn't move.
Naruto felt something crack inside him.
"Hinata-" he said, voice barely holding, "please. Don't get hurt for me."
His chakra flickered.
Tenzo stiffened again.
There it was-
that pull.
That wrongness.
That hunger.
"This isn't the nine tails is it?...bijus are weak to wood style" Tenzo thought
Usually it was the opposite wood style that would restrain anyone by absorbing and suppressing their chakra but somehow here it was the opposite.
A chakra signature that wasn't chakra but gravity, sucking in the wood binding him like water down a drain.
The wood shuddered.
Hiruzen's eyes widened.
Tenzo placed both hands on the floor, forcing more wood to surge out-far more than normal.
"Wood Style: Binding Field!"
But the second the new wood touched Naruto-
Tenzo jerked like he had been electrocuted he felt like every hashirama cell in his body was running away from he, felt himself, being separated from the foreign cells a part of him really wanted to let it go but another didn't with these cells he was a great asset to the village.
"WHAT-IS HAPPENING?!"
His breath hitched.
Hinata gasped.
Hiruzen's pipe slipped from his hand, clattering to the desk.
Naruto wasn't doing anything.
Not physically.
Not consciously.
He was just... absorbing!?.
The wood splintered, wilted, curled like dying vines.
Tenzo stumbled backward, clutching his wrist.
"That shouldn't be possible," he whispered, shaken for the first time. "That ability- how- what the- is this the power of the nine tails?"
Hiruzen rose from his seat.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
A predator acknowledging another predator.
"Uzumaki Naruto," he said again, "what are you? How did you become this"
Naruto's throat clicked.
Hinata swallowed, took another small step toward him instead of obeying.
Naruto felt Hinata's presence right next to him, her chakra steadying him, grounding him.
He smiled.
Soft.
Apologetic.
And then-
His eyes changed.
From confusion.
To resolve.
To mischief.
The room pulsed with faint smoke..... from Naruto's body....as the wood style was trying to suppress "Naruto's"
Chakra , chakra which he made off.
Hiruzen recognized it instantly, this was when Naruto would do something stupidly genius or had done.
"WHAT-NO?!" he said, stepping forward.
But it was too late.
Naruto's grin widened.
"Sorry not sorry, old man this all happened because of YOU" Naruto turned his head to Hinata "BYE-BYE, HINATA!! please come watch the real me beat the shit outta neji and everyone else! Till then see ya! Take care of my plants ! You'll find the key soon enough"
Then Naruto rammed his head into one of the wooden spikes on the wooden construct which were supposed to suppress and absorb his chakra.
Everyone's eyes were filled with the sight of Naruto's brains and blood for a second. But before anyone could process it all
it all busted with...
A Poof.
The clone's brain matter busted into white smoke along with "Naruto's" whole body leaving only undigested food & water along with other bodily fluids plus keys to his apartment which fell with a metallic sound.
The wood bindings collapsed into itself.
Tenzo staggered again, staring at his palms from which hands had sprouted partly made of wood and flesh.
He then realised he was carrying more weight on his back...it felt like a corpse...very human shaped. Tiny human shaped.
Hinata froze, staring into the fading smoke.
Hiruzen stood utterly still.
The only sound was the faint rustle of dust settling on the floor.
Then the Hokage exhaled, a long, weary breath that seemed to age him ten thousand additional years.
"TENZO," he said quietly.
"Yes, sir-"
"Find him."
Tenzo hesitated.
"What did he do to me? Hokage-sama-what kind of child is he?" Tenzo's mind flashed a few minutes ago and he remembered he had clapped his hands in the snake seal last time before these sprouted on them.
Hiruzen stared at the mess then looked at Tenzo's palm-hands.
He turned to Hinata "miss Hyuga please look at him with your eyes"
Hinata didn't hesitate it was an order after all, one she didn't have a moral dilemma about also the fact she disobeyed him just now made it sure that she'd do whatever he wills to reduce her punishment as much as possible.
She nodded letting her senses spread like any sensory nin.
Her previous sensing of him will be her base line before whatever Naruto did to this ANBU's body felt at war with itself cold war now clearly...one side had won
Her vision flashed with the negative colour vision of bykugan as she looked at the ANBU's body. Her heart would've stopped if she wasn't a ninja if the ANBU had a baby shaped tumor ? Lump ? Void of any attachments to his body ready to be removed.
It was made of losing.. Side of the war in his own body...or perhaps they were free.
The lump looked familiar to Hinata oddly...it looked like a bizarre mix of a wooden statue and a living human.
the ANBU didn't feel like Naruto unlike before where she almost asked if by any chance he was Naruto's uncle or something but now she wasn't sure it was like only some of his parts were which is possible he could've been given the body parts of Naruto's relatives.
Then there were the palm-hands of this ANBU...those were like the baby statue made of wood and flesh as well.
The chakra of the remaining losing part was visible to her bykugan it was fascinating seeing the dull golden coloured chakra try spread throughout his body they were spread out thin like 5 cells per inch
Which is very much less than the winning faction now she regretted a bit not using her bykugan on him before Naruto's handy work.
She realised something only his losing faction seemed to be related to Naruto. Perhaps he got a few cells from Naruto's relatives after all it is possible that cells from body parts were passed around his body.
Did the Hokage use Naruto's family as spare parts for his nins ?
"At this moment, Tenzo," Hiruzen said, voice low, "I'm no longer certain he's a human at all now." As he picked up his pipe.
"Hokage-sama if he wasn't my Naruto why would he keep his promise to beat elder brother Neji" Hinata's small, trembling voice cut through the heavy silence.
She wanted to say "...he didn't run, you made him run." But knew her place before the two.
Her eyes glistened.
"He didn't resist that much. He didn't fight. He didn't hurt anyone why do all of you all try to force him into acting like you want."she added in her mind
They both looked at her. "Hinata Hyuga, do you know anything where Naruto might be?" Hiruzen said ignoring the
They both looked at her. "Hinata Hyuga, do you know any place..where Naruto might be?!" Hiruzen said, ignoring the mess on the floor.
She looked at the mess on the floor, hands clasped tightly.
"He was scared," she thought. "And you all cornered him, always did."
"I don't know but I can try"
Hiruzen inhaled sharply, clearly frustrated.
"Hinata Hyuga, I assign you into a new team till this matter is sorted out. Get to packing you'll be hunting a fox...in a few hours.." He ordered his voice steel.
Making Hinata flinch at 'fox' & 'hunt'.
Hiruzen turned to Tenzo "Get me Tsume Inuzuka and Yugao Uzuki..NOW."
Tenzo looked away as he began to leave the room to obey his lord, His memories from back then were resurfacing.
He looked at Hiruzen's hands and the language of ANBU communicated through hands.
Translation : "Get Tsume here without telling her anything as soon as possible" Tenzo left without a word.
Hinata wiped her eyes once, straightened her back, and bowed perfectly.
"Hokage-sama...with your permission...I would like to look for him too and I will find him..believe it." She said her voice was still Hinata-like...more clearer.
"Here" Hiruzen said as he threw her a silver coin with Hyuga insignia etched into it "show Hayashi this, He'll understand and let you take whatever you'll need to..make everything count"
Hinata's eyes went wide as she caught the coin.
The coins were Hokage's tokens for clans the precious the mental it was made of the risker the favour clans who got it can ask.. silver meant state 1 level requesting power one time use but worth it her father could ask for some forbidden jutsus or ask a single law in favour of Hyuga clan.
Gold meant 5 state level requesting power each time Hokage would remove a part of it to be resmelted.
Platinum meant 50 state level requesting power each time Hokage would remove a part of it to be resmelted. Every coin was divided like : silver coin divided into five 5 equal parts like a chocolate bar made in the shape of a coin, the gold coin into 50 and platinum into 500.
It was never actually used until... now.
Hinata left without a word after bowing and picking up Naruto's house keys from the floor which was dropped from his clone.
The room was empty now.
No Hinata.
No Tenzo
No hopeful lies.
No clone pretending everything was fine.
The pipe trembled in his hand.
Hiruzen whispered to himself:
"Hashirama sensei what would you have done.. if you saw this"
He leaned back.
Old.
Tired.
Afraid.
"Forgive me, Minato... your son is slipping out of my hands."
He remembered Naruto's baby laugh.
He remembered a thousand funerals.
And he murmured
"forgive me Minato.... Kushina for what I'll need to do to your son... for the greater good of Konoha..."
Hiruzen looked at the coins in his drawer. These coins were supposed to be bait for every clan to try to get them to do their best at everything, a false hope and now he was actually using them.
There was a reason it gave requesting powers not requests. No government is foolish enough to actually give people requests.. if the Hokage didn't like the request the person could just be killed or worse.
It was really funny.
__________________________________
Tenzo landed silently on the Inuzuka compound gate.
He hated this mission already.
The moment he stepped inside, he was hit by that wild, heavy Inuzuka chakra-hot, restless, instinctive like a caged animal- a result of every Inuzuka human or dog training so much.
Tsume turned toward him with raised brows, one fang showing. Having just shunshined there.
"ANBU in my house? What, did Akamaru chew on Daimyo's cat again?" Tsume snorted.
Tenzo didn't smile even if he had, she wouldn't see it the courtesy of his mask.
"Hokage-sama has summoned you. Personally."
That actually made Tsume freeze.
Personally, I was never good. It could be good for her and her clan but not so much if Hokage wanted her to make someone say stop breathing so not much for them.
"Both of us?" She asked to at least see if she would go with him on a mission. Usually Tenzo wasn't on messenger duty.
"no, I have to get another person and do not take anyone else, not even Kuromaru," Tenzo said.
Tsume clicked her tongue. "Why do I feel like I'll get some good pay for whatever mission is about to be given to me"
Tenzo's silence answered for him.
Tsume grinned at that.
Tsume crossed her arms.
"Go now I'll be there"
Tenzo shunshined away.
______________________________________
Tenzo landed near the Memorial Stone without a sound.
But the silence here felt different.
Not tactical.
Not ANBU-training quiet.
It was grieving quietly.
Yugao sat in front of the stone, body still, back straight - the posture of someone holding herself together only through discipline. Her mask lay in her lap, her hand resting on Hayate's engraved name as if warming it.
Her hair was down, unkempt.
Her sword rested at her side.
Her eyes were glowing with grief so sharp it could carve mountains.
Tenzo hesitated.
He wasn't good with... this.
He preferred missions, orders, structure - the kind where emotions had no room.
Not broken people.
Not heartbreak.
Not the unbearable loneliness of someone who had just buried the man she loved.
Not a dream which could have been a reality if the time was given a little more.
He stepped forward anyway.
"Yugao." he addressed the widow without a marriage
His voice was flat - ANBU-flat - but softer than normal, as much as he could manage. After all psychology 101 doesn't seed emotions, human nature was a weirdly funny thing.
She didn't look at him at first.
Just blinked once, slowly, like a person waking from a nightmare.
"Tenzo," she whispered, voice hoarse from crying as she tried to hide. "If this is another report on his autopsy-"
"No." He cut her off immediately.
That was enough to make her finally look up.
And her eyes were sharp.
Red.
Tired.
Dangerous.
"If it's a mission," she said, "I fear...I'm not in mental condition for one."
"Hokage-sama has summoned you," Tenzo said. "Personally."
Yugao froze.
That word again.
Personally.
Her fingers curled over Hayate's name.
"Is it related to... his killer?" she asked, voice trembling at the wrong moment.
"No," Tenzo said. "It's about... Naruto Uzumaki."
Yugao blinked hard, the transition making no sense.
"Naruto?" she repeated, confused. "Why would-"
"Something happened," Tenzo said. "He... slipped ANBU capture. He demonstrated unknown abilities. And he might be... even... More dangerous...now "
He omitted the parts that were lies.
He omitted the parts that were truths.
He omitted everything, really.
Yugao stood shakily, gripping her sword sheath with white knuckles.
"...Naruto isn't a child," she murmured. "you people should've at least broken his legs or something...He wouldn't be hurt for long after all bones heal you know..."
Her voice broke on the last word.
"Unlike hearts"
Tenzo's eyes softened behind the mask, though nothing was visible.
He knew that type of pain.
He knew that type of denial.
He stepped slightly closer.
"Hokage-sama wants you for an emergency team. You, Tsume Inuzuka, and... Hinata Hyūga."
Yugao frowned. "Hinata? Hmmm interesting" she thought.
"Guess we will work with a rookie now" she muttered
The grief in her eyes flickered into something else.
Worry.
Fear.
"Is the seal on the boy alright?" she whispered.
The question hit Tenzo harder than she intended.
Because the truth was:
He didn't know.
So Tenzo said nothing.
"I wonder what kind of negative effects it might be having on that boy you know mentally..."
Again Tenzo found himself silent because he didn't know.
And Hiruzen probably didn't care as long as the village was safe.
"You'll get briefed at the tower," he said.
Yugao looked back at Hayate's name one last time.
She whispered something so quietly even Tenzo couldn't hear it.
A goodbye.
A promise.
A prayer.
Then she slid her mask back on.
"Lead the way."
Tenzo nodded and turned.
And as they shunshined away, he couldn't help but think "I wonder what's about to happen to others. When they find out this mess more precisely what will you do Kakashi as his teacher"
______________________________________
Tsume moved to the Hokage tower smiling at aspiring kunoichis who bowed at her.
Soon she arrived at Hokage's office.
Ignoring the assistant as all clan heads did.
She didn't bother knocking.
She stepped into the Hokage's office like someone entering a negotiation, not a summons.
Hiruzen didn't look up immediately.
He was standing by the window, pipe unlit in his fingers, Konoha spread beneath him like a living map - clans, bloodlines, leverage.
"You called," Tsume said. No honorifics. No bow.
Hiruzen smiled faintly.
"Still direct," he murmured. "That hasn't changed."
Tsume snorted.
"Cut the nostalgia. ANBU doesn't fetch clan heads personally unless you want something ugly done ."
Hiruzen finally turned and shunshined to his desk, activating the seal again.
For a moment, they just looked at each other - two veterans who had buried too many people to pretend innocence still existed.
"I need your instincts," Hiruzen said.
Tsume's eyes narrowed.
"My instincts don't come cheap."
"I know."
He walked back to his desk and opened a drawer.
The sound of metal sliding against wood was soft. And filled with weight.
Deliberate.
He placed the coin on the table between them.
Platinum.
Tsume's vertical pupils shrank.
The room felt smaller.
"...You're joking," she said slowly.
Hiruzen didn't respond.
Her jaw tightened.
"A platinum favor?" she said. "You don't give those. You threaten.. with them."
"This is not a threat, not for you at least," Hiruzen said quietly.
Tsume laughed - sharp, humorless.
"Then someone's life is already forfeit."
Hiruzen's gaze hardened.
"No," he said. "Not yet. And the opposite actually"
That answer disturbed her more.
Tsume stepped closer, eyes never leaving the coin.
"Who?" she asked.
Hiruzen exhaled.
"Uzumaki Naruto."
The name smelled bad.
Tsume leaned back, folding her arms.
"...The rookie... the same one with whom you play grandpa-neglected grandson?" she scoffed. "That's what this is about? The loud brat? What did The poor jinchūriki do now"
Hiruzen's voice dropped.
"The jinchūriki. Has left the village for who knows how long...we were tricked via a shadow clone."
Tsume's mirth vanished instantly.
She looked at the coin again.
Then back at him.
"You don't use me for containment," she said. "That's ANBU work. That's sealing corps. That's-"
"I need something ANBU can't do," Hiruzen interrupted.
Silence.
Tsume's nose twitched unconsciously - a predator's tale.
"...You want him shaken that bad..," she said.
Hiruzen didn't deny it.
"A lot more than that...I want to make him...replaceable before he realises he can blackmail us...just by holding himself hostage"
Tsume's pupils went wide. She knows what he's asking for.
"He's slipping," Hiruzen continued. "He no longer trusts the village. Authority no longer anchors him. And if he leaves completely..."
He didn't finish.
He didn't need to.
Tsume clicked her tongue.
"Took him long enough...now that self defence against Sakura Haruno makes even more sense"she said.
Hiruzen's eyes widened as he started to make connections.
Tsume continued "So you want fear," "Confusion. Pain that doesn't leave your fingerprints. And most importantly from someone who has won his trust recently that being me.. I knew you heard my getting pregnant from holding hand joke"
Hiruzen laughed "ah yes funny one"
Her eyes sharpened.
"Moreover...You want him to run... but not too far. More importantly You want him to return to you"
Hiruzen met her gaze evenly.
"I want him to remember where safety is."
Tsume stared at him for a long moment.
Then she laughed again - lower this time.
"Dirty," she said. "Even for you."
Hiruzen's expression didn't change.
"I keep this village alive on dirty choices."
Tsume reached out - not touching the coin yet.
"And if I say no?"
Hiruzen leaned back.
"Then I find someone less principled...to accompany Yūgao Uzuki "
That made her smile.
"...You really are desperate. And you want to restore the Uzumaki clan just as desperately.."
"You know how matters related to jinjuraiki are."
She nodded..& Finally, She picked up the coin.
Its weight was wrong - too heavy, like it carried memory.
"And the story?" she asked.
Hiruzen's eyes flickered.
"An accident," he said. "A lapse. A moment where instincts overruled restraint."
Tsume's lips curled.
"Convenient."
"You'll have discretion," Hiruzen added. "Limits."
Tsume tilted her head and she knew he didn't mean Naruto.
"You don't get to pretend this is mercy," she said. "Whatever you're planning - it'll leave scars. Not to mention you did say that Yugao will be participating as well...you're literally doubling his sufferings"
Hiruzen looked away.
"Scars heal, and no ,Yūgao will be actively participating... Well it would not look like she is to him she will be using a genjutsu to look like you" he said.
Tsume watched him carefully.
"...Some don't" she replied.
"And so you want a secret Uzumaki as well ? One out in the open through me and one in the shadows through Uzuki ?" She clapped slowly.
"You are truly worthy of that position my lord."
Hiruzen didn't say much, just looked pleased.
"The fox hunt will be formed in two hours, gather your stuff, rest if you want to get...and Hinata will be on your team... For this A rank mission your and Uzuki's mission is a S rank.."
Tsume howled.
She turned toward the door, the coin already disappearing into her pocket.
"I'll play your game," she said. "But understand this, Hokage."
She paused.
"If the boy survives me... he won't forget who broke him. Don't you dare even think about making my future kid like Naruto. You might be the reason he will be born but he will be my blood."
The door slid shut behind her.
Hiruzen remained still.
Alone.
He stared at the empty space where the coin had been.
And whispered, so quietly even the walls wouldn't hear
"Sentiment has never protected a village. Only sacrifices do"
______________________________________
Tsume pushed open the tower doors and stepped into sunlight.
Her mood had shifted.
Not lighter - sharper.
The smile she wore was the kind that unsettled people who understood predators: relaxed, confident, utterly unburdened.
Young shinobi along the walkway stiffened as she passed. Some bowed. Some didn't realize they were holding their breath until she was already gone.
At the base of the steps, someone stood waiting.
Yūgao Uzuki.
ANBU cloak is gone. Standard jonin attire instead. Sword at her back, wrapped and sealed - ceremonial, not drawn. Her posture was flawless, but her eyes were... hollowed. As if something vital had been removed and the body hadn't quite realized it yet.
Tsume clocked it instantly.
The way grief hadn't softened yet - it had hardened.
Their eyes met.
Tsume stopped.
"Well," Tsume said lightly, tilting her head. "If it isn't the widow."
Yūgao didn't flinch. That, more than anything, confirmed it.
"...Inuzuka-san," she replied. Flat. Respectful. Empty.
Tsume stepped closer, close enough to smell steel and incense and something sour underneath - loss that hadn't finished fermenting.
"Relax," Tsume said with a grin. "If I meant it cruelly, you'd know."
Yūgao studied her face, searching for the joke that never came.
"Are you joining the mission?" Yūgao asked.
Tsume's smile widened.
"So you've been told something."
"Enough," Yūgao said. "Not much more."
Tsume hummed, as if considering whether to be honest.
Then she leaned in slightly.
"Here's some free advice," she said softly. "What we're about to do...try to enjoy it... nothing much we can do.. you know like our training remember?"
"Your likes and dislikes are what the village likes and dislikes."
Yūgao's fingers twitched once at her side as she repeated the words which were once said by Hiruzen at the time of war.
Before she could respond, Tsume straightened and waved lazily.
"Good luck, Uzuki," she said, already turning away. "Try not to get attached."
The words hit a fraction too late.
By the time Yūgao looked up, Tsume was gone - vanishing into the village like she'd never been there at all.
Yūgao stood still for several seconds.
Then she exhaled.
Once.
And went inside.
Yūgao stepped into the dim confines of the Hokage's tower, the heavy doors closing behind her with a thud that echoed like a sealing jutsu.
The air inside was thick with the scent of old scrolls and incense, a stark contrast to the sunlit courtyard she'd left. She moved down the corridor, her footsteps measured, though her mind raced with the hollow weight of Tsume's parting words.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, waited in his office, seated behind a massive desk cluttered with maps and reports.
His face, lined with the burdens of leadership, was as impassive as ever, but his eyes held a glint of something sharper-calculation, perhaps, or resignation. He gestured for her to sit, but Yūgao remained standing, her hand resting lightly on the hilt of her sword.
"Yūgao," he began, his voice steady, carrying the authority of years spent commanding shinobi through wars and secrets.
"I won't waste time with pleasantries. You've been selected for a critical mission. Three objectives, escalating in... delicacy."
She nodded once, her expression unreadable, though inside, the hollowness Tsume had noted seemed to deepen.
"First," Hiruzen continued, unfolding a scroll on his desk, "locate Naruto Uzumaki. He's gone rogue now-wandering, defiant, as he always does. Use any means necessary, but discretion is key. We can't afford to alert the other villages."
Yūgao absorbed this, her mind flashing to memories of Naruto's brash energy, now twisted into something they needed to control.
"Second," he said, his tone dropping lower, "bring him back forcefully. If he resists, subdue him. You have tools & sealing techniques, restraining seals . Make it clear that his value to the village isn't optional. He's the Jinchuriki...his power belongs to us."
Her fingers twitched again, but she said nothing. The word "forcefully" hung in the air like a threat for someone who wasn't with them. But to her it was permission... which meant for her that she won't need to be the carrot she was the stick.
Hiruzen's gaze hardened as he moved to the third point, his voice turning grave, almost conspiratorial. "And the S-rank objective... this one stays between us. Once you have him, you'll coordinate with Tsume Inuzuka. We need to ensure the Uzumaki bloodline doesn't end with him. Rape him-with Tsume's assistance. It's a necessary evil. Extract his seed, force a lineage. If we can produce offspring, we make Naruto replaceable. Train those children as the next Jinchuriki. The village's survival demands it. One host can fail; a line ensures continuity."
Yūgao's breath caught, the word slamming into her like a chakra-enhanced punch. Her mind recoiled, but years of conditioning kept her face neutral. Images flashed unbidden: Naruto's face, young and defiant; Tsume's predatory grin from earlier.
The thought of violating him, of turning that act into a tool for the village's machinations, made her stomach twist, but she pushed it down. Like always. "Your likes and dislikes are what the village likes and dislikes," the old words echoed in her head.
Hiruzen paused, studying her. "You're the right one for this, Yūgao. Your... detachment will serve us well. Tsume will handle the physical aspects; you ensure it goes smoothly. No traces, no witnesses of you being involved."
She finally spoke, her voice flat. "Understood, Hokage-sama."
"So Tsume is gonna take light while I will be her shadow. Her child will be an accident while mine will be a deliberate one and will be explained later. As another accident lo probably."she thought.
He nodded, rolling up the scroll. "Prepare. You'll leave in 2 hours. Remember, the village comes first."
As Yūgao turned to leave, the weight of the briefing settled over her like a shroud.
Outside, the sunlight seemed mocking now, and she wondered briefly if Tsume had known all along. The mission was set; there was no turning back.
______________________________________
Hinata had barely crossed the threshold of the Hyūga compound when she felt it.
That pressure. That awareness.
Her father didn't need Byakugan to know when his daughter came home shaken. He had been expecting her.
"Hinata."
His voice came not from the shadows, but from the open doorway of his study. Light spilled out, cutting a sharp rectangle across the polished floor. He stood within it, framed like a portrait of perfect authority. Not waiting. Summoning.
She stopped instantly and bowed, deeper than usual, the keys to Naruto's apartment, a cold, guilty weight in her pocket. "Father."
"Inside." He turned, robes whispering, and moved behind his massive desk. The same desk where, not long ago, he had laid out his trap for her and Naruto to Kuku.
The study was austere. A scroll rack, a low table with a Go board frozen mid-game, and the lingering scent of ink and sealed parchment. Hiashi did not sit. He stood, hands clasped behind his back, and looked at her as if she were a scroll he had already read but needed to verify.
"You were with Uzumaki Naruto the whole night." A statement, carved from ice.
Hinata's fingers tightened in her sleeves. "...Yes."
"How did it go ? I hope you didn't do anything he didn't want.." he asked, his tone deceptively mild. The same question he'd posed to Kuku. But this time, the subtext was a razor. Did the seal work? Did you fall into the sin I programmed for you? Did you, my weak daughter, finally become useful?
Hinata remembered the whispers in her mind last night, the heat, the nearly overwhelming pull. The guilt of it choked her. "Good for mostly.."
"A little," she whispered even more silently, the confession burning her throat. She had wanted him. The seal had magnified it, but the seed was hers.
Hiashi's eyes-those all-seeing, emotionless wells-did not change. But a fraction of tension left his shoulders. Phase one confirmed.
"You left with him last night. You returned with him this morning. You went before the Hokage." He cataloged her movements as evidence. "And now you are here, holding the Hokage's leash." His gaze dropped pointedly to her clenched fist.
Hinata slowly uncurled her fingers, revealing the silver coin. The Hyūga crest glinted, a symbol of her clan's power now used as a bribe for her complicity.
Hiashi did not reach for it. A faint, almost imperceptible smirk touched his lips-the same "Hyuga-ly chuckle" he'd given Kuku. It was the look of a man seeing his pieces move exactly as predicted.
"50..state favors. For you." He let the absurdity hang. "The Hokage is desperate. The jinchūriki has slipped his cage, and he believes my... emotionally compromised daughter... is the best lure to reel him back in." He paused, letting the word 'lure' sink in. "He is not entirely wrong."
Hinata felt the world tilt. Her father's calm was more terrifying than any anger. He knew. He knew about the mission, about Naruto's escape. He had anticipated it.
"I hope that you'll use these favors for the sake of the clan.." Hayashi told her. it wasn't a suggestion it was an order.
"He assigned me to a team," she said, fighting to keep her voice steady. "To find him."
"To retrieve him," Hiashi corrected, his voice dropping into a conspiratorial register that mirrored the one he'd used with Kuku. "And then? What happens when the fox is back in its den, Hinata? Do you think they will simply pat his head and give him ramen?"
The image of the wood-binding, of Tenzo's shock, of Hiruzen's Hokage-face-it flashed before her. Safety was an illusion. The village was the cage.
"I... I will protect him," she said, the defiance of a fragile sprout in the frozen ground.
"You will try only alone. But if you listen to me- to the clan you will protect him," Hayashi agreed, and the way he said it made her blood run cold.
"You will protect him for this clan too. You will be the gentle hand that steadies the weapon, the voice that soothes the beast .whenever need be. You will make him trust you. You will make him need you. And in doing so, you will have to bind the Nine-Tails to the Hyūga to protect Naruto...."
He finally moved, circling the desk to stand before her. He was not tall, but he seemed to tower, filled with the cold grandeur of his ancestral plot.
"The Hokage plays his short game-containment, fear, replacement." Hiashi's lip curled. "We play the long game. Bloodlines. Legacy. Protection for him and you."
He leaned in, his voice a whisper meant only for her, though the walls of the Hyūga compound had heard worse secrets. "The blood you carry is not a curse, daughter. It is a key. It will open him to you. And through us, he'll be secured for you."
Hinata stared, the horror dawning fully at what he was saying.
"You... want to use me to get him.. in chains.," she breathed, the betrayal so profound it felt like a vacuum in her chest the fact that he was saying it so openly was more concerning. He really was trying to bait her with Naruto so openly.
"if the chains protect him...what harm is there ? I have elevated you," Hayashi stated, devoid of apology.
"From a weakness to an asset. From the clan's disappointment to its future vessel of ultimate power. When the time comes, and you share his cage-as you will believe is your penance-you will not be a prisoner. You will be a warden.The dream of every clan will be Hyūga reality. Most of all Hinata your dream will be a reality with Naruto safe and by your side think about it daughter."
He stepped back, his face smoothing into its customary impassive mask. The moment of revelation was over. The transaction was complete.
"Take what you need from the armory," he said, businesslike. "The coin is yours to wield for the mission. Remember your true objective: bring him back. Into our care. The Hokage's hunters will deliver him to the slaughterhouse. You will deliver him to your sanctuary.. shall you obey me."
He turned his back, a dismissal more absolute than any command.
"Do not fail. The clan's future rests on your... performance."
Hinata stood paralyzed, The silence of the Hyūga compound pressed in on her, colder and heavier than any winter. Hinata stood in the corridor long after her father's door had sealed her out, the ghost of his words clinging to her skin like frost.
"Your sanctuary" Hiashi's words echoed in her mind.she'd be lying if she said she didn't feel good when he said that. A place with just him and her but again baits were supposed to be alluring.
Your dream.
Your performance.
Her fingers closed around the silver coin. Fifty state favors. Not a reward. A leash. A price tag for her soul, paid in advance by the Hokage and cashed in by her father.The keys to Naruto's apartment felt like the keys to his cell. Her love felt like a sin her father had installed. Her mission was a betrayal wrapped in a rescue.
She turned, her sandals silent on the polished wood. She did not walk toward her room. She walked toward the armory, her mind not racing, but crystallizing. The paralyzing horror was hardening into something else: a cold, sharp clarity.
She had her own plan now. But the fact that everyone could be counting on her to have a plan made it difficult for to make a plan which will take them by suprise...
The corridor stretched before her, a gauntlet of polished wood and watchful silence. Hinata's fingers didn't just close around the coin; she counted its weight in her mind. Fifty favors. A piece for a law, a piece for a land grant, a piece for a secret technique... a piece for a marriage contract.
Your sanctuary. The words echoed, but now they sparked a different fire. Not just a gilded cage, but a legal, recognized, unbreakable bond. In the world of shinobi, a marriage contract wasn't just romance; it was a treaty. It conferred rights, protections, and-most importantly-it changed who had jurisdiction.
Her father wanted to use the clan to secure Naruto. The Hokage wanted to use fear to secure the weapon. But what if... she secured him first? Not with chains of chakra or cages of guilt, but with the strongest contract Konoha's bureaucracy could produce.
A wild, terrifying logic unfolded.
If she cashed in a favor-a significant piece of the silver coin-to have the Hokage officially sanction her marriage to Naruto Uzumaki, several things would happen instantly
She could ask for Naruto to be wed to her as favour the cost of a piece from her coin.
The cost? Everything. She would be burning a colossal political favor not for the clan, but against it. She would be binding herself to Naruto in the eyes of the world, using the very system that sought to trap him. She would be making herself a permanent, visible target for her father's wrath and the Hokage's displeasure.
And Naruto... what would he think? He might see it as the ultimate betrayal-another cage, just with a prettier name. She'd be forcing a vow on him without his consent, mirroring the very sins committed against them.
That's where the real gamble lay. Could she make him understand? Could she look into those blue eyes, after using a Hokage mandate to claim him before they can, and say: "This is not to own you. This is to give us a weapon. The law is our kunai now."
"Naruto, will you forgive me ? If it came to this ?"
As she entered The Hyūga Armory.
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The Hyūga Armory was not a single room, but a sealed wing deep within the compound's heart, guarded by chakra barriers and the silent judgment of ancestral portraits. The armory master, an elderly branch-house member with eyes milky from decades of cataloging violence, did not look up as she entered.
"Main-house daughter," he intoned, voice like rustling scrolls. "Mission gear?"
"Standard field pack. Light armor. Rations for two weeks." Her own voice surprised her-steady, devoid of its usual tremble.
He moved with efficient gloom, assembling items onto the worn counter. A standard-issue kunai holster, a roll of bandages, soldier pills, a water canteen.
Hinata's Byakugan pulsed to life without a hand sign, a quiet, inner activation. The world bloomed into veins of chakra and structure. She saw the old man's placid, resigned chakra flow. She saw the hidden seals on the walls, the potent, forbidden weapons locked behind barriers keyed only to the Main House blood.
She saw her own chakra, and the faint, insidious shimmer woven through it-the seal. Her father's key. It hummed now, a low, sympathetic thrum, as if excited by her purpose.
"Anything else?" the master asked, his blind eyes somehow resting on her.
Her gaze swept the room. "Chakra conductive wire. Twenty meters. Explosive tags, grade three. One set of advanced lightning and yin style scrolls with" She paused, her eyes locking onto a small, unremarkable case on a high shelf "That."
The old man's head tilted. "That is not a standard issue. It requires clan-head approval."
Hinata said "I have the Hokage's approval for mission-critical resources. This is critical."
For a long moment, he was still. Then, with a sigh that seemed to carry the weight of the entire branch house, he shuffled to a ladder and retrieved the case. He placed it before her. It was cold, made of a dull grey metal she didn't recognize.
"It is called the 'beginner's guide to seals by your grandfather'." he murmured, as if the name itself was dangerous. "Not that I can say much, you know it all... I believe"
"Yes Perfect, add basic yin style scrolls too and some tasteless sleeping drugs , numbing drugs , vomiting drugs etc and don't forget the clan's scent eraser "Hinata said, and took it to seal it.
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Back in the sterile silence of her assigned apartment's room , she laid out her arsenal. The standard gear she packed with methodical precision.
She changed into her mission gear, the familiar fabric feeling like a stranger's skin. She secured the silver coin in a hidden pouch-not a tool, but evidence. A promise to herself of what she was fighting against.
Finally, she picked up Naruto's keys from her nightstand. The metal was warm from her pocket. She thought of Mr. Ukki, of Night Guardian, of the quiet, sun-dusted peace of his empty apartment. A sanctuary that existed only in absence.
She would not deliver him to a sanctuary. She would help him build a new one, somewhere far from leashes and cages and fathers who saw love as a sin to be installed.
Hinata Hyūga took a deep breath, the last breath of a dutiful daughter. She exhaled, and became something else.
A traitor to her clan.
A rogue agent in the Hokage's hunt.
A guardian of a single,bright, impossible dream.
She slipped out into the gathering dusk, toward the rendezvous point where Tsume and Yūgao waited. The hunters were assembling.
And among them, a human in shinobi's clothing began her silent, solitary war.
She could feel the chakra spike of kuku's bykugan being turned on as she passed the gates of her clan's compound.
__________________________________
Tsume's footsteps echoed down the corridor as she left the Hokage's office after talking with Yūgao, the weight of the platinum coin burning in her pocket like a brand. She didn't bother with the assistant on her way out-hell, she barely registered the bowed heads and murmured respect from the guards. Her mind was already racing, piecing together the mess Hiruzen had just dumped in her lap.
A fox hunt. For Naruto Uzumaki. The brat with the demon sealed inside him, the one who'd been nothing but a whirlwind of chaos and potential since day one.
"Ok Tsume.. let's not use words like...potential for the person you are going to do this...I hope Inoichi didn't hear that.. no need to give Hiruzen more ammo" she mentally ranted.
And now, Hiruzen wanted her to be the one to twist that knife. Not just any knife-a fucking serrated one, designed to leave him bleeding out emotionally while making sure he crawled back to the village on his hands and knees.
She snarled under her breath as she stepped into the sunlight, the village bustling around her like it always did, oblivious to the shadows creeping in. "Bastard," she muttered, thinking of Hiruzen's calm facade. He was playing a long game, as always, but this? This was personal. Using her, using Yūgao Uzuki under a genjutsu to double the deception-it was clever, ruthless, and straight out of the old man's playbook.
Two hours. That's all she had to gather her shit, rally her team, and get Hinata Hyūga involved. The girl was sharp, with those Byakugan eyes that could spot a lie from a mile away, but Tsume wondered how she'd handle this. Hinata had a soft spot for Naruto-everyone knew it. Hell, the way she looked at him during training sessions was practically a neon sign. Was Hiruzen banking on that? Using her as another layer of manipulation?
Tsume shook her head, her clan tattoo itching under hers. She headed straight for her compound, but before that she, like any shinobi, needed to get more information about their victims and like any great tracker needed to get his scent.
So Tsume didn't go straight to her compound. A good hunter never relied on a single source. She trusted her own nose and her own instincts first. The fox's den was her first stop.
And she was the alpha predator so she needed to know her prey.
She moved with purpose, and stealth she's a ninja after all even if she's a clan head the less people knew about the mission the better though of course best stealth was not trying to be stealthy well not appearing to be actually,
through the busy streets. Anyone who saw her would see the Clan Head on official business, a scowl on her face. No one would question it.
Naruto Uzumaki's apartment was in a shabby-but-clean complex on the village's less fashionable side. The lock on his door was pathetic. A twist of chakra-enhanced strength and it would give with a soft snap. But she didn't.
But before that she took out a yellow ball. Basically it is the scent eraser mixed with a smoke bomb to make it easy to apply. She cursed the ball in hand and mist ate it as soon as she did. She acted like she was showering in that mist so that the scent eraser went in good.
in places where the human body produced the most Pheromones like her armpits, groin and what not.With that done.
So she used her Yang style to make a key. Without a single hand sign her hand transformed into a dog's paw. Whose claw she used to pick the lock.
bother being subtle. Time was the one luxury she didn't have but that didn't mean she could be sloppy.
The smell hit her the moment she stepped inside. Cheap instant ramen, unwashed citrus soap, boy-sweat, and underneath it all, that unique Pheromones .It was stronger here, layered into the very walls in different quantities.
Then a fresh. one this morning Floral soap. Clean cotton. A delicate, feminine sweat with a hint of lavender and anxiety.
Hinata.
She considered informing the Hokage about this. But he probably knew. Deciding to focus on Naruto's scent alone.
She immediately began sniffing along the baseboards and walls. Gathering information like while he was here what he did in short she was getting his behaviour patterns. Thanks to the fact she had used her clan's scent eraser she won't be contaminating this place with her scent or Pheromones.
She let her mind picture him using her nose as the source of information.
Her mind reconstructed Naruto coming home late after training perhaps? She made a mental note to check his training spots too.
She walked over to the wall and gave it a scratch. After which she brought the claw to her nose and took a sniff.
She knew he came late because of the low carbon build up - it's higher during the night so it being low suggested the house was locked up most of the time.
She looked around imagining him eating on the table, the smell of bread and butter with milk. She could tell he didn't care enough to wash the glass of milk enough as it smelled very potently of milk. And the older smell of ramen. Different types.
She walked to the next room to see his bathroom. And the laundry area.
She went into the bathroom and his smell was strong there.
The bathroom was a small, tiled space that told a story of hurried routines. Tsume's nose flared, parsing the layers.
Old soap, the sharp bite of cheap toothpaste, the mineral tang of hard water. And him. His scent was strongest here, pooled in the damp air, soaked into the thin towel on the rack. It was a naked scent, stripped of the ramen and street dust. Just skin, sweat, youth, and that undeniable, wild undercurrent of puberty.
She could imagine him bathing there. In front her.
She licked her lips unconsciously.
She moved exploring the bathroom.
She leaned over the sink, her face close to his towel. She noticed there were two towels, one to wash the face which hangs near the sink, the other one at a little more distance, definitely used for a full body.
She took the shorter towel and buried her face in it.She inhaled slowly, deeply, letting the molecules paint a picture.
A boy, tired, washing training grime from his face. Then she flipped the towel now burying her on the other side. Again she inhaled slowly, deeply, letting the molecules paint a picture.
A boy, tired, wiping the water away from his face. And so she sniffed a little more the smell was now arousing her even more.
Nonetheless the data was immediate and overwhelming: cortisol traces (stress), elevated norepinephrine (hypervigilance), and beneath it, the faint, complex signature of Uzumaki vitality, a spicy, resilient note like sun-warmed bark.
Her hands roamed her body. Then stopped.
"Don't get distracted," Tsume grunted. She shook her head of thoughts which should never be seen by another soul.
the command to herself a mental growl. This was intelligence gathering, after all Naruto wasn't here.
She exited the washroom.
She moved through the small space with a predator's efficiency. The main room was a mess, but the kind of mess told a story. Not sloth, but a life lived in bursts. Training scrolls piled next to empty cups. A single, well-tended pothos plant on the windowsill caught her eye. Huh. The brat had a green thumb.
Her target was the bedroom. The bed was unmade. The laundry basket in the corner was her objective.
But first, she circled the bed. Her nose skimmed the pillow.
She upended it without ceremony. Clothes spilled out-the garish orange jumpsuit, a few faded t-shirts, socks. And there, at the very bottom, a pair of dark blue boxer briefs, clean but clearly worn. Perfect. The most intimate article, saturated with scent.
As she reached for them, her knuckles brushed against something else in the pile. A smaller, softer scrap of fabric. She fished it out.
A pair And two underwear white worn and Dirty.. Simple, white cotton. They carried a completely different type of scent-no soap, no faint floral hint, pure musk. Naruto's musk.
Tsume's eyes narrowed. She held them up, getting a sniff.Tsume didn't just sniff it. She drank the scent in. Her nostrils flared wide, her eyes sliding half-shut. The data was a flood: cortisol (stress, yes, but fading), adrenaline metabolites (recent exertion, probably the clone's run), testosterone (healthy, vigorous), and something else, something complex and wild that made the back of her teeth ache-the Fox, or the boy, or the terrifying, vibrant alloy of both.
It was the most intimate portrait she could get without laying hands on him.
Her earlier distraction in the bathroom was a gentle ripple compared to this riptide. A low, involuntary sound vibrated in her chest, not quite a growl, not quite a hum. It was the sound of a predator finding a trail so fresh it was still hot.
Even though this garment was last worn a week ago according to her nose. These were probably the pair of underwear he had worn when in the forest of death.
For a long moment, she just stood there in the silence with her hands roamed her body, in the sun-dusted bedroom of a tool who thought he'd escaped, holding the proof of his most private self. The blue briefs were a tool. These were... something else. A claim. A trailer. A sample.
Her staying single till now had finally caught up with her. Memories of her runaway husband flashed through her mind. Her ache for the touch of a man had resurfaced harder than ever.
She squeezed the underwear in her dried genetic material and made sounds like foam being crushed.
In truth Tsume had known this would happen . Her secondary goal to come here was the very same advice she had given to Yūgao. Tsume was far from a hypocrite.
"Try to enjoy what we are about to do" her own words echoed.
With ruthless efficiency, she bagged the garments separately. The blue briefs stayed but one of the white underwear went into the standard, sterile pouch-the official scent article. The other white one, the more dirty one, she sealed in a different pouch, one of opaque black cloth. This wasn't for everyone to see a backup and . This was for herself.
She sealed the evidence bag in a scroll. The scroll was a mission scroll and it had things related to missions.
While she sealed the opaque black cloth bag in one of her for personal use scroll.
She took one last, sweeping look around the bedroom. The tangled sheets now told a different story. Not just of a boy's lonely sleep, but of a space she had now violated on a molecular level. She knew his stress, his vitality, his sweat. She had a piece of him in her pack.
The plants on the windowsill seemed to watch her, green and accusing.
She left the way she came, locking the door with a click of her Yang-style claw. The afternoon sun hit her face, but it felt cold after the rich, dark scent-cave of his apartment.
As she loped toward the Inuzuka compound, the Inuzuka district was alive with the sounds of barking dogs and sparring pups. Her own ninken, Kuromaru, was waiting at the gate, his massive form blocking the path like a furry wall.
"About time," he growled, his voice a deep rumble in her mind through their bond. "Smell trouble on you. What's the old man want?"
She didn't answer at first, just scratched behind his ear roughly, the way he liked. "Mission. S-rank, but don't let that fool you-it's a shitshow waiting to happen."
Kuromaru sniffed the air, his eyes narrowing.
"You stink of the old man's fear," he rumbled, his voice a gravelly baritone in her mind. "And fox. Bright fox, scared fox. It's a messy scent."
"It's a messy job," Tsume grunted, heading for the chemical locker.
"A hunt?" Kuromaru got to his feet, padding after her. His nose worked the air. "Not just a hunt. Your blood is up, but it's sour. Not the good kind of up."
"Yeah," she admitted, heading inside to grab her gear. "Hiruzen's got me on a leash for this one. Wants us to track him down, shake him up good. Make him remember why he needs this damn village."
The dog let out a low whine, not in sympathy, but in understanding. "And the metal thingy? I smell platinum."
She pulled it out, letting it glint in the light. "Bribe. Or blackmail, depending on how you look at it. He's offering me a lot of favors, but we both know it's tied to something bigger. Something about restoring the Uzumaki line-through me, apparently. And Yūgao's in it too, disguised as me. Fucking genius, right? trauma Once, double the gain."
Kuromaru huffed. "You're not one to back down. But this... it's dirty for you isn't it."
"Yes..but Dirty keeps us alive," she shot back, echoing Hiruzen's words without meaning to. She strapped on her armor, checked her kunai, and grabbed a few vials of poisons , sleeping drugs, numbing drugs , and scent killers along with what they had dubbed in the clan "the spring potion" -just in case.
The dog barked when his eyes fell on what she had just taken "wow you're playing on having a orgy or something?" Kuromaru asked.
"Only if Hinata acts too much like Mrs. Uzumaki" Tsume replied
It was the best strategy... simply efficient.
"Gather the pack, inform Hana that she's in charge, tell Kiba to clean his room, then find me. I'll be meeting Hinata at Hokage's office within two hours. And keep this quiet-no one else needs to know the full plan."
As she finished packing, her thoughts drifted to Naruto. The fresh genin was a pain in the ass, sure, but he'd earned his stripes. Beating up Sakura? That wasn't self-defense well it was but still people could take it as the fox inside him stirring, pushing back against the chains.
And now he was out there, alone, probably thinking he could handle whatever the world threw at him. Hiruzen was right-he was slipping, becoming a wildcard. But breaking him? Making him "replaceable"? That sat wrong in her gut.
Still, she pocketed the coin and headed out, Kuromaru at her side. The hunt was on, and Tsume Inuzuka never failed a mission. Not even one that tasted like ash in her mouth.
"Nice, I wonder how much you would enjoy him,"Kuromaru said. There was no judgment in his tone. It was a tactical analysis. Factual even.
Tsume knew where he was coming from. He was an animal after all, right and wrong didn't apply to them. That was the first lesson they were taught when they first met with their ninken.
A reality every animal owner must accept even more for those owners whose animals can rip apart Chunins just by playing too much.
"You bet, I would enjoy him more than that, I can't wait for reactions...you know how people are gonna react Hehe" Tsume said without missing a beat she was the leader after can't exactly be weak in front of her subjects. She was the matriarch of her clan after all.
"Hnn. Human things." Kuromaru dismissed the complexity with a snort. "Too many layers. The hunt is simple: Find. Trap. Secure. If breeding is part of 'Secure,' then it is part of the hunt." He looked at the vial again. "This will help. A confused animal is easier to breed. This is a good tool for this hunt."
He said it the same way he'd say a sharp nose is good for tracking.
The sheer, uncomplicated rightness of his assessment was a cold splash of water. He had pared the monstrous plan down to its bare elements: Objective. Strategy. Tool.
Just as she expected from him. With that she separated from her ninken. The sooner she gets back to Hokage's office the better.