When the team arrived at the town, Kurenai gave Kiba a piece of cloth that seemed to have been torn from someone's clothing.
"This is what the target was wearing on the day, see if you can find any similar traces around the town" Kurenai said
"On it!" Kiba smiled
He had Akamaru smell the cloth first, then he also took a whiff.
"Urgh, it stinks"
"Arf"
The two winced at the smell, suddenly, Kiba regretted saying he can also help with finding the thief....
"Kiba, I believe you can do it" Naruto said with an encouraging smile
"O-Of course I can" Kiba smiled back before running off
"Too easy" Naruto muttered after Kiba left
"Naruto...sometimes you're really mean" Hinata said
"Wow, did it take you this long to figure it out? I'm the guy who made half the village itch for months because of my pettiness, using a good buddy during a mission is considered light work" Naruto shrugged
Kurenai's eyes widened
"That was you!?" She gnashed her teeth
"Do you have any idea how it was like to have that itch for so long!" Kurenai's eyes blazed with anger
"Uh, you got caught in it? I mean*Cough*, what? What me? I didn't do nothin, don't go blaming innocent people, my big sister is the Hokage, I'll have you locked up for framing me" Naruto said with a straight face
"Big...sister?" Kurenai's lips twitched, how big is the age gap between the two of them!? And he is calling her big sister!?
And he just admitted to being the culprit of the 'itching' incident! Now he's saying he's being framed by her!? How thick is his skin to be like this!
His shamelessness is simply unparallel! Even Hinata was taken aback with how shameless he was acting...
"Naruto, you...urgh, never mind, go with Hinata to look for clues" Kurenai sighed
"Yes sensei" Naruto replied nonchalantly
"Just me and Naruto?" Hinata muttered as a smile crept onto her face, she placed her hands over the sides of her cheeks and silently giggled.
'And they say my smile is creepy' Naruto noticed that smile for a split second before Hinata hid it away, but that split second was all he needed to see...
The team split up there, with Kurenai going to look for Kiba, while Naruto searched with Hinata.
"Say, what do you think of Haku-nii?" Naruto asked
Hinata glanced over
"He's a nice person" She replied
"Oh"
'Just a nice person, huh? I guess it's understandable, but nii-san seems to have feelings for Hinata...I can't exactly help him in any way except try to get Hinata to hate me, but that just feels wrong' Naruto sighed in his heart
He tried to think of ways to get Hinata to stop liking him, but her determination was just too unexpecting. He helped her once as a kid, and that one time is enough to turn her into who she is today, it really didn't make sense to him.
Hinata's gaze flashed with a hint of bitterness when she realised Naruto was thinking of something else.
'He probably doesn't even remember why I liked him in the first place, he likely thinks it's because he saved me back then...' She stared at him silently, and without her own notice, her expression slowly changed.
"Right, Hinata, you-uwa! Woah, that's a crazy scary face you're making, awesome" Naruto gave her a thumbs up after his little jump scare.
'Scary?' Hinata was taken aback, was her expression just now that scary? It actually made him jump!
"Am I scary? And why did you say awesome?" Hinata was perplexed by his following response as well, if he called her scary, why did he say awesome?
Naruto laughed
"Don't mind it too much, you're a strong person Hinata, keep it up" Naruto replied
He then looked around
"Of the three towns, this one is the one where he is most likely to appear in" Naruto said
Hinata paused a little when she thought back on the mission
"Um...Naruto, did Kurenai sensei...tell us what the target looks like?" Hinata asked
"....you can't be serious...." Naruto's expression paled
"Th-Then...if he's in a different town, then my clones won't be able to identify him" Naruto muttered with a dark expression.
He tapped his arm
"We need to find Kurenai sensei as soon as possible, I need to update the knowledge my clones have, or we may very well miss the target" Naruto said
"Alright" Hinata nodded
She jumped onto a building, and activated her byakugan. Her eyes swept past the town, searching for the familiar chakra signatures of Kurenai.
"Found her yet?" Naruto jumped up next to Hinata and asked
Hinata shook her head
"The town is too big, and the chakra signatures are getting mixed up with so many people, I can't identify her" She replied
Naruto rubbed his chin
"You keep looking for her, when you find her, throw this kunai, I'll keep a watch in case the target makes any obvious moves" Naruto said as he passed her a kunai
"Alright"
Hinata then ran off in another direction to search for Kurenai, while Naruto tried to see if anyone made any suspicious moves.
As Hinata made her way through the town, her eyes caught something off....
'Someone...is underneath us?' She noticed that there was a chakra signature underground, and immediately found it to be suspicious.
The signature was moving very fast, so she began to follow it. In her hand, she clenched the kunai that Naruto had given her.
'If this is the target...' She tucked the kunai away as she followed, keeping a slight distance so she wouldn't be noticed.
The person underground moved through the town rapidly, and gradually stopped near an alley where they emerged from the ground warily. First, it was only the person's eyes that swept the area, and only after making sure it was clear, did the person exit the ground completely.
'Earth escape jutsu, with how proficient he is, he is likely to be the target' Hinata thought as she watched him from afar.
The man was heavily covered in black clothing, and she noticed that a part of it was torn...much like the piece Kurenai showed Kiba. His clothes were dense, showing only his two glaring eyes that slowly adjusted to the light.
'From his reaction, he's been underground for a while, now is ideal to attack'
She silently approached him from above, making as little sound as possible until she was right above the man who sat down to rest. She could hear his breathing, it was heavy...
'He's tired'
Her palm was slowly coated with chakra as a sharp glimmer appeared in her eyes
*Bang*
With a massive burst of speed, she leapt down from above with eyes filled with ferocity.
The man was stunned, but he reacted quickly and made a hand sign.
A wall of earth rose from the ground, blocking Hinata's path towards him. He didn't hesitate to then turn around and attempt to sink back into the ground, when the wall behind him suddenly crumbled.
Standing behind him was Hinata, her palms covered with tiny specks of dirt and rocks from shattering the earth wall, her sharp gaze made the man shudder.
'A kid? There's no way!' He gasped in his heart
She was simply too terrifying looking!
He then saw her smirk at him, one that made a shiver run down his spine, the look of a predator...
*Gulp*
Sweat rolled down his face, and he knew he had to run.
"Earth bullet" He said as he made another hand sign
Hinata readied herself, but the earth bullets never came, rather, the man began sinking into the ground!
'As if I'll fight' He huffed in his heart as he escaped underground
*Bang*
!!!!!!
The earth beside him suddenly burst open as sunlight poured in. What happened? He couldn't understand, but the next moment, a small pair of hands reached in and grabbed his collar before yanking him back out.
He was thrown against the wall
"Wh-Who are you, I didn't wrong you in any way, why are you attacking me?" He coughed
Hinata cracked her knuckles as she walked over
"Hand over the scroll" Hinata said in a low voice
"What scroll?" The man's heart rate increased
'How did they catch up already?'
Hinata smiled at him as she grabbed him by the collar and tossed him to the side, causing more pain. She then sat him up and punched his face, knocking him out cold.
"Now, let's test it out" She muttered
She pointed her fingers towards him, her hand flattened, and around her hand, chakra began condensing. The chakra began to spin, very much like how her rotation would work, however, unlike the circular defensive formation, the chakra began to sharpen slowly.
A drill....
If Naruto was here, he'd be stupefied, because Hinata had just turned a defensive method of the Hyuga clan into an offensive ability! The powerful rotational force on her hand sharpened, and slowly became more narrow.
"Eight trigrams" She muttered, and slammed the sharpened drill at the man's chakra points, delivering a shock of chakra into his body, waking him up immediately.
The man's eyes shot open from the pain, and let out a heart-wrenching scream. The feeling of having his body physically pierced, as well as the internal injuries caused by the eight trigrams strike caused so much pain he almost fainted again.
"Seems like it worked" Hinata's gaze was cold, but filled with satisfaction.
Satisfied that her new technique had worked...
"Pl-Please, let me go" The man burst into tears as he held a hand over his chest.
She had attacked his chakra point, though it didn't seal it as she only struck one, it was incredibly painful.
"Don't worry, just hand over the scroll" Hinata smiled
"I-It's in my sleeve, take it, just let me go" He begged
"That's a good boy" Hinata chuckled, she reached out one hand and placed it on the side of his cheeks.
"Y-You promised, you'll let me go" He stuttered
"I did, didn't I?" Hinata simply just smiled
"So I will, after all, I'm not one to break my promises" She said
"Y-Yeah" The man nodded
*Bang*
Right when he nodded, her hand struck at his neck, and knocked him out cold. When he fell to the ground, her smile widened.
"H-Heh....I'm...smiling?"
'When he begged me earlier....it felt....good' She couldn't control the smile that was rising on her face as she placed her hands on her cheeks.
"H-Hehehe" She giggled to herself, then glanced at the fainted man.
She removed the cloth covering his face, and saw his terrified, sweat covered face. It made her heart beat faster.
"No, I can't have Naruto seeing me like this, not like this Hinata" She patted her cheeks and her smile slowly returned to normal.
"Yeah...let's get this mission done and over with" She muttered
She took out the kunai Naruto gave her, and threw it on the ground. The moment she threw it, Naruto appeared in a golden flash and looked around.
"Where's Kurenai sensei?" He asked
"Dunno, but I think I found the target" Hinata replied as she pointed at the man who was on the ground.
Naruto shifted his eyes over, and upon seeing the man, he gulped...
'Damn...what did she do to him? He looks terrified....that's some hardcore stuff' He thought
"He said the scroll is in his sleeve, I didn't check yet" Hinata added
"You only left for how long? Man, Hinata, you're crazy good at this" Naruto knelt over and ripped the man's sleeve, which revealed a scroll.
'Now, time for some juicy history lessons' He giggled to himself and opened the scroll
However, before he could open it completely, a fair hand grabbed it and closed the scroll.
"....sensei, just one peak" Naruto said
Behind him, was Kurenai, as well as Kiba and Akamaru. Akamaru was sniffing the unconscious man and barking, indicating that the target was found, while Kiba and Hinata were curious about what was on the scroll.
"No" Kurenai denied
"Come on, then how about we have Hinata read it? She caught him after all" Naruto said
"Absolutely not, no one is to read it" She said sternly and grabbed the scroll
Naruto sighed, but then he turned around
"Amazing work Hinata, you caught the target quite quickly" Naruto grinned
"Mn" Hinata nodded with a faint smile
"Wow, you found him faster than me, how'd you do it?" Kiba asked
"I-I just found him through the byakugan, he was using the earth escape jutsu, which seemed suspicious, so I followed him" She replied
Naruto rubbed his chin
"Wow, he escaped Konoha, so I thought he'd be a mastermind, but he used the earth escape in town? Also, what is up with that hole in his chest" Naruto pointed at the man's injury and asked
"That...not sure" Hinata replied with a clueless expression
Naruto knelt down once more and inspected the injury
"The injury is odd, it's very concentrated, there are residue chakra that doesn't belong to him, and the injury itself seems to be from a sharp object that was spinning at high speed" Naruto muttered
When Naruto analysed it, Hinata's heart skipped a beat, because what he said is everything she had done to achieve that result.
Naruto glanced at Hinata from the corner of his eyes, and noticed how she flinched when he brought it up.
'Rotation, but it's used differently from what I've seen, perhaps she concentrated it on just a finger or a hand, and using the high speed rotation and the byakugan, she struck his chakra point' Naruto rubbedhis chin
'The concept is amazing, if she replaces the eight trigrams palm with this instead, she will leave an opponent completely incapacitated, of course, that's if she is able to reach them' Naruto stared at the injury in awe.
"Hinata, as I said before...you're damn awesome" Naruto muttered silently
"Did you say something?" Hinata asked
"Nothing" Naruto smiled
Hinata didn't realise, but in Naruto's eyes, there was a glimmer similar to when he talks to Orochimaru. The gaze of a researcher...
Hinata's jutsu was considered new to him, and he honestly wanted to help her develop it, but it came at a concern. Hinata's feelings for him is the biggest worry he has, and he wants to draw a clear line.
However, the jutsu she developed is simply too unique and intriguing, so much that it feels like he needs to help her develop it...
As he was thinking, it clicked...
'Haku-nii can do it for me'
His face was then brimming with a smile
"Since we finished our mission, let's head back" Naruto stretched his arms
"Mn, we should be able to get back in a day, but it's getting late, perhaps we should stay the night here" Kurenai replied
"Urgh, sounds like a pain, I still need to head back and tell Ino I'm done with my mission" Naruto said
Kurenai's lips twitched
'Don't get angry, they're just kids, even if you've been single all this time and got outdone by a thirteen year old kid, don't get jealous' She clenched her fists and thought to herself
She then took in a deep breath to calm down
"Well, nothing we can do about it" She said
"Nah, I'm teleporting home" Naruto replied
"..."
"Let me tag along" Kiba ran over and said
"Arf" Akamaru barked as his tail wagged quickly
"A hundred thousand ryo" Naruto reached out one hand and said with a serious expression
"..."
Kiba's expression stiffened, wondering if he heard right
"Y-You're joking, right?" He laughed awkwardly
"Did I stutter?" Naruto responded
"..." Kiba didn't even know how to react, Naruto wants him to pay a hundred thousand ryo for teleporting them back!?
Naruto smiled
"I'm joking" He said
The moment he said that, Kiba's expression brightened
"So it was a joke, you had me fooled for a second" Kiba laughed as he patted Naruto's back
"Yeah...it's a hundred thousand per entity, so Akamaru will add another hundred thousand" Naruto said with a smile
"...are you picking a fight!?" Kiba's fists clenched as he glared at Naruto
Naruto smiled
"Even the Hokage had to pay me when she asked me to help teleport her back to the village, are you saying you're above the Hokage?" Naruto asked with a playful grin
"Guh, y-you're serious?" Kiba asked
"Of course, she even had to pay for Shizune, her assistant" Naruto nodded
"....uh...I-I'll just walk home" Kiba fiddled with his fingers, in the end, he's still a kid.
After being intimidated by Naruto, saying that even the Hokage paid, he no longer had the courage to ask for it. Kurenai rolled her eyes at this, she knew how close Naruto and Tsunade were, so even if she did pay him, it was because they were close.
If anyone else asked her to pay, they might be buried already.
"Enough joking around, just teleport us back to the village" Kurenai said
"Pfft, he's too fun to mess with" Naruto replied
He then reached out a hand
"Well, grab on"
Kiba lifted a brow
"Was what you said earlier a joke???" He questioned
"Nah, that was serious, the Hokage did pay me to teleport her" Naruto replied
"..." Kiba gulped, realising that he had greatly underestimated Naruto...it seems his influence in this village was greater than expected.
Shortly after, the four of them returned to the village with Naruto's help, and entered the Hokage's office.
"Hokage-sama, we have completed the mission" Kurenai said as she placed the scroll on the table
"Good work" Tsunade replied, though she didn't really seem happy.
With another mission complete, it means it's another paperwork she has to go through. She let out a faint sigh and continued to work through it.
"Seeing that you're busy, I'll be off now~" Naruto smiled and quickly teleported away
Seeing that Naruto ran off already, Hinata looked a little regretful.
'Perhaps I shouldn't have completed the mission so quick, he were together for barely a day' She thought to herself
Meanwhile, Naruto returned home and went to Haku's room immediately. He knocked on the door, and waited.
"What do you want" Haku opened the door and asked
"Mind if you do me a favour? If it works out, you'll also benefit from it" Naruto rubbed his hand and grinned
"Stop smiling like that, it's honestly disgusting" Haku said honestly
"Wow, I'm here with good intentions, and you say that to me?" Naruto's lips twitched
"Your so called 'good intentions' has only ever been to benefit yourself" Haku crossed his arms and replied
But then he smiled
"Of course, if you call me onii-sama, I'll agree to whatever request you may have" He added
"Haku-nii, calling you this has already been my limit, don't expect much" Naruto rolled his eyes
"Pfft, well, I'll at least hear you out" He leaned against the doorframe and said
Naruto sighed, why did Haku become so much harder to deal with after he stopped hating him? It is honestly baffling to think about.
"I went on a mission just now with Hinata, and she came up with an interesting jutsu" Naruto said
"What? You want to take it for yourself?" Haku lifted a brow and asked
"It is done so through her clan jutsu, so even if I know how to do it, I won't be able to, what I want you to do is help her improve it" Naruto said
"Why not do it yourself? And what do you get out of this?" Haku asked
Naruto chuckled
"I get two things, first, the creation of a new jutsu is always too fascinating to miss out on, so I want her to develop it to the best of her abilities, and two, I have you do it so she will spend less time with me, if I help her with this matter, her feelings for me will never fade" Naruto replied
Haku nodded
"I see, but how will I help her develop it?" He asked
"I will give you tips on it, and you just need to be the one to explain it to her" Naruto replied
"Hm, tempting offer...but what if I say no~" Haku grinned
"Well, then I'll just need to ask one of her team members to help her" Naruto shrugged nonchalantly
Haku paused for a moment
"But since you asked so nicely, I'll do it" He coughed
"Now that's more like it" Naruto laughed
He took out a note and wrote down his thoughts on the jutsu from his observation of the injuries on the target. He then passed it to Haku before giving him a warning.
"Don't just tell her about it, make sure she reveals the jutsu to you before you start helping her, as of now, I seem to be the only one who knows of this, possibly Neji, so if you just ask her about it, she will immediately link it back to me" Naruto said
"Alright" Haku nodded
Naruto patted Haku's back
"Haku-nii, have more faith in yourself" He grinned
"I always do" Haku replied calmly
"Do you though?" Naruto chuckled, Haku may seem confident, but when Hinata is brought up, that confidence seems to waver.
He noticed that Haku seems to see Hinata a little like an idol, where the two of them are on two different standpoints, so he wanted him to change that view. As amazing as a person Hinata is, he didn't want Haku to feel that way.
Haku however, didn't seem to understand what Naruto meant, and shrugged it off.
"She should be coming today as well, I heard Neji's team went on another mission" Naruto added
Haku gave Naruto a nod
"Thanks" He smiled
"Hah, you owe me one" Naruto punched Haku's shoulder lightly
"I'm off to find Ino, you have fun later" Naruto winked before teleporting away.
With Naruto gone, the house became silent once more. Haku looked down at the note Naruto left him, and let out a faint laughter.
"A brother, huh? Even after all this time, I still find it to be a little unrealistic...mum, I'm happy now" He looked up and muttered
Inside another room, Zabuza was seated on his bed. He heard everything Haku said, and a gentle smile appeared on his face.
He then remembered what the future Sasuke had told him...
"We both would have died....thanks kid" He chuckled
A new life brought by an unexpected child, and a fresh new start in another village. Even he finds it to be quite unrealistic, to go from being a rogue missing nin, to being an official Chunin in Konoha...even if the methods used were a tad underhanded.
"Who knew bribes can get you so far..."
-On the streets-
Naruto saw a snack shop on the way, and decided to buy some snacks for Ino and her family before going over. He disguised himself like usual before stepping in.
"Boss, I'll take one of the strawberry tart, ah, make it two, hm, and one of your top five desserts" Naruto said
"Right away" The man running the store smiled and packed a large amount of food into a bag before passing it to Naruto
Naruto gave him the payment before leaving
He then teleported to the front door of the flower shop, and walked through. Though he had forgotten to remove his transformation jutsu.
"Welcome" Kiku was at the counter, and greeted Naruto with a warm smile, not knowing it was him
"Hello Kiku-san, can I ask where Ino is?" Naruto asked
"H-Huh? Sorry, who are you?" Kiku revealed a faint frown when Naruto asked about Ino when she didn't even recognise him
Naruto quickly remembered he had transformed earlier to avoid being recognised by the shop owner.
"Ah, sorry, one second" He undid the transformation
"Oh, Naruto? Why did you disguise yourself, I couldn't even recognise you" Kiku let out a relieved breath when she realised who it was
At that moment, Inoichi walked through the back door, and noticed Naruto
"You're here?" Inoichi lifted a brow and said
"Well, I just came back from a mission, I've gotta tell Ino I'm back, no?" Naruto grinned
Inoichi let out a faint sigh
"She's in the back yard, training" He replied
"Thanks Inoichi-san, ah, I brought some gifts" Naruto said as he pulled out a small bag
Inside were some desserts and snacks that be bought on the way here.
"Aw, what a good child you are" Kiku smiled
Naruto left the bag on the table, but before he left, Kiku stopped him
"Before that, mind if I asked why you were disguised?" She asked
"DIsguised?" Inoichi lifted a brow, confused
"Uh...can I not answer?" Naruto laughed awkwardly
Kiku chuckled
"Of course....I'll just ask Ino about it later, I'm sure that even if she doesn't know why, she will ask you about it" Kiku smiled innocently
"...wow, Kiku-san, I didn't know you were this devious" Naruto's lips twitched, because her strategy will definitely work on him!
He sighed
"Fine...I can't buy anything in the village without being disguised, or they'll kick up a fuss and refuse me at the door" Naruto said as he scratched the back of his neck.
His gaze shifted to the side, feeling a bit awkward as he spoke
!!!!!
Kiku's smile froze, and Inoichi's hands tightened in response. He knew that the village was still very resentful towards Naruto, but to think it was to this extent.
Kiku on the other hand, glanced at the desserts, then at Naruto.
She reached out a hand and gently patted Naruto's head
"Go find Ino now, she'll be happy to see you" She said gently
"Kay" Naruto nodded and headed for the back door. Before he walked through, he glanced back and saw Kiku's dark expression, along with Inoichi's frown.
He then turned back and headed to the back yard to find Ino.
After he left, Kiku let out a deep sigh
"Did you know this was happening?" She asked
"Somewhat, but not to this extent" Inoichi replied
"Just what did that boy do to deserve this? He needs to hide himself just to buy some desserts? This isn't fair" Kiku said angrily
Inoichi patted her back
"The village's resentment runs deep, and they have nowhere to let it out, resulting in it all being directed towards the boy who they think is the demon fox's incarnation" He sighed
"Back then, I tried to stop the rumour from spreading, but by then, the village all believed it, and isolated him completely" he muttered
Kiku leaned on his arm
"Then...will this keep happening? Naruto did nothing wrong"
"It won't, because people are slowly recognising that strange charm Naruto has, he may not know, but some citizens are slowly coming around to him" Inoichi chuckled
"Really?" Kiku looked up in surprise
"After Tsunade became Hokage, she spread a rumour that Naruto was the one who persuaded her to join, which is the truth in fact, though many doubt it, those who believes it are favouring Naruto slowly" He replied
Kiku smiled
"That's good..."
"Mn, I'll try my best as well, until then, just let the kid work his charm on the rest of the village, I'm sure they'll come around someday" He said
Kiku giggled
"Like how he charmed you as well?"
"What are you on about?" Inoichi said with a frown
"You're coming around to him yourself, no?" Kiku smiled
"That...it's only because you asked me to" He huffed
"Hahaha, yeah, if that's what you think" Kiku grinned