“But I don’t want you to go!” Shivani protested, pouting.
Hinata smiled gently as she continued to put things into her bags. “We’re due back in Konoha in six months. We have to go all the way home and then finish up a few training things before we go back to Konoha.”
The other girl sniffed and leaned back against the wall. She was sitting on the bed opposite Hinata’s, the two of them crammed into one small room. It was the girl’s dormitory, meant to be a transition between people who were considered full warriors and therefore too old to live with their parents, but also too young to live completely on their own.
Hinata and Shivani had become roommates shortly after the election of the council, at Shivani’s insistence. Having not been killed in the fight, Shivani had decided that what was supposed to happen was that Sora was supposed to fall in love and marry her brother while she was supposed to fall in love and marry Naruto. That had become her version of “happily ever after”. It took several weeks of Hinata trying to explain things, and one one of Naruto’s explosions, to get it through her head that it just wasn’t going to happen. Naruto wasn’t interested in anyone but Hinata. Unfortunately, much to Sora’s annoyance, Shivani was still holding out that she and Raoul were made for each other. Nothing seemed to be able to sway her from that.
Still, after those few initial bumps, Hinata found that she and Shivani were fast friends. They had a number of things in common; both were members of the heads of their clans and both didn’t achieve as much as others thought they should. They also shared a love for tea and anything small and furry. It was something of a relief to Hinata to find someone else who was perfectly happy to have a little nest of mice under their bed.
“Hinaaataaa!” the girl whined. “What am I going to do without you? Who’s going to sneak down into the kitchen with me at midnight? Who’s going to help me dye my hair? Who’s going to walk halfway across the city with me for a cup of chai? I don’t want another roommate; I want you to stay!”
Hinata shook her head and put another folded lanagha into her bag. Shivani always tended to be slightly melodramatic. “I’m going to miss you too, but there are plenty of other girls to hang out with here; you just need to let them get to know them.”
She scowled. “They didn’t want to be my friend before I was the Lord of the Wind’s little sister.”
“They couldn’t without potentially angering the Lady; you know that. Give them a chance; a lot of the girls are very nice.”
Shivani sniffed. “You’re going to write?”
Hinata sighed and turned away from her packing to take both of Shivani’s hands in hers. “Of course I’m going to write.”
“You never write your family.”
“Because we’re in blackout. No one is supposed to know where we are.” And keeping that a secret had proven harder than they had originally thought. The sudden reappearance of Sora after almost two years of absence and only scattered reports for years before that was likely to cause a stir. Publicly, the Kaze refused to acknowledge that Sora was there, and insisted they had no idea of her whereabouts. Privately, Sora wore a Kaze uniform with a mini-skirt and made everyone call her Maya.
“Promise?” Shivani asked.
Hinata smiled. “I promise.”
Shivani crossed her arms and pouted harder. “She’s waiting to teach you all the neat stuff after you’ve left.”
Hinata didn’t reply. It was true; Sora did have some more advanced techniques that she was waiting to teach them after they had left the Kaze, simply because they were dangerous. Even with Raoul in charge, even with all the changes, even with them all living there for a year, Sora still didn’t trust the Kaze enough to teach them anything really high level.
Still, it wouldn’t have made much difference to Shivani. Much to her embarrassment, she had proven to not be very talented at ninjutsu or genjutsu, spoiling her plans to grow up to be just like Sora. It had not, however, prevented her from trying to dress just like Sora, as her current attire of mini-skirt and midriff-baring top proved. Sora had tried to put a stop to it, but Raoul insisted (with a grin) that he could not enforce a dress code on Shivani and not on Sora.
It was generally after one of these arguments that Sora would become fed up with the Kaze and the three of them would leave for awhile and travel around. They had seen more in the past year than they had in their entire lives. Hidden cities in dark, humid jungles, black sand beaches, and erupting volcanoes. Using the Kaze as a base camp, Sora had taken them all over, always careful to stay away from her old stomping ground.
Hinata looked back at her packing. Unfortunately, the fact of the matter was that because they never had to carry all their stuff at once, she had amassed an amazing amount of stuff from their trips. Cloths, tea, scrolls, things she was convinced Hanabi would love; all these came back in her bag and went into her closet, which was now full. Fortunately, Sora was the same way and had agreed to get a falcon to come carry it all back to the house.
She sighed. She still hadn’t gotten the hang of summoning anything big.
She had returned to contemplating how she was going to get everything into her bags when she heard Shivani’s voice behind her. “I…ummm…I’m going to go make some tea,” she said, hopping off her bed and heading towards the door. “Don’t worry, I won’t say a thing!” she whispered as she closed the door behind her.
Hinata looked at the closed door in puzzlement before she turned back to her packing. She went to move something onto Shivani’s bed and screamed. There, outside her window hanging upside down, was Naruto, grinning like a madman and pointing at the latch on the widow.
“Naruto!” she said in a stage whisper, running to let him in before anyone could see him hanging outside her window. He grinned at her and swung himself inside, landing gently on his feet. “Naruto, what are you doing here? You know you’re not allowed in the girl’s dorms!” she said, closing the window behind him.
He had grown a lot in the time they had been with the Kaze, as evidenced by the sheer number of uniforms he had gone through. He was, as Sora had predicted, tall now, and his face had lost a little of its characteristic roundness. Hanging out with other boys his age, or specifically, hanging out with other boys who practiced lots of taijutsu, Naruto had not only had plenty of training partners, but had also been introduced to weight-training, and he’d bulked up slightly, making him look a little older than he was.
His actions however, were just as childish as they had ever been.
He plopped himself down happily on her bed. “I figured you had a lot of stuff and I was going to offer to pack some of it in my bags. Hey…I remember this!” He picked up a game she had gotten on one of their trips south; a wooden board with a series of small hollows filled with stones. “You wanna play?” he asked.
Hinata sighed and rested her fingertips on her temples. The boy sitting in front of her had advanced a great deal in his training, helped rebuild the Kaze, and gotten through a number of tough scrapes with her and Sora in the last year, but he was still fond of pulling these little pranks, like sneaking into the girls dorm to visit her. It wasn’t that he had anything “inappropriate” that he wanted to do as much as he wanted to tick off his sister. Hinata had eventually decided that it was pointless to try and get him to stop.
Besides, she didn’t really mind when he snuck into her dorm room.
She sighed. “Naruto, we don’t have time. Someone could come in at any minute.” She continued to move around the room trying to finish packing, stretching to reach a shelf above her bed.
“Then I’ll leave when they come,” he said, moving behind her to help her get a box off of the shelf. He grabbed the box from her hands and then let it flop down onto the bed so that he could grab her around the waist and pull her back against him.
“Naruto,” she said, a slight amount of censure in her voice. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, rocking the two of them back and forth, his hands warm on her exposed midriff. He had developed a very strict sense of how it was okay to touch her and how it was not okay to touch her , based on observations he had made of the Kaze and frequent lectures from Sora. He had found that he liked to stay in contact with her, so much that at times it actually frustrated her. It was fine now, but what was going to happen when they got back to Leaf?
She sighed. What was going to happen when they got back to Leaf was becoming a more pressing question every day.
Feeling her unease, Naruto lifted his face from her neck. “What’s wrong?”
She sighed again, allowing herself to lean back against him and rest her head on his shoulder. “We’re not going to be able to do this back in Leaf.”
“Eh? Of course we will!”
She closed her eyes and shook her head. “No, we won’t. My father won’t allow it.”
“It doesn’t matter what your father says! He’s the one who’s got to change, not us!” he insisted, tightening his hold.
She turned her head into his shoulder. “I know. It’s just…” her voice trailed off.
“What?” he asked again.
“Everything is going to change when we get back to Leaf.” The comment just sort of hung in the air, neither of them willing to comment. They knew it was true, but they didn’t want to elaborate. The potential changes and problems were weighing heavily on their minds.
And right at the top was the fact that their mission had two parts, and only one had been completed. Neither of them knew whether Sora would be returning to Leaf with them.
She had integrated herself so well into their lives that it was almost impossible to imagine life without her. Sora was family in every sense of the word that mattered. For Naruto especially, the idea of returning to living alone in his one-room apartment in Leaf seemed bizarre, and almost unbearable.
“Have you talked to her about it?” Hinata asked, knowing that she didn’t have to clarify the subject.
He sighed and grumbled darkly. “I tried. She says she’s still thinking about it. Weighing the two of us against a village full of idiots and assholes,” he quoted, rolling his eyes.
“What about Hokage-sama?”
“Nee-chan says she qualifies as an idiot. Just not as big an idiot as most of the villagers.”
Hinata shook her head and tried to pull away. He held her closer. “Naruto, I have to pack.”
He groaned and let her go. She picked up a stack of lanaghas and a few books. “Can you pack those in your bags? It would be a huge help.”
He grinned and took the stack from her. “Sure, no problem. I can take-” he was interrupted by the sound of someone knocking before they swung the door open.
Sora popped her head in. “Hey, Hinata have you seen my brother?”
“Sora!” Shivani’s voice called out. Hinata looked over at her boyfriend, who, sure enough, had managed to transform into a perfect replica of her roommate. The girl smiled brightly and tilted her head slightly to one side, a common Shivani gesture. “He hasn’t been here. Hey, I think I’m making progress convincing Raoul to let me come with you!”
Sora glared at her. “You are not coming with us and that’s final.”
“But Sora!”
“No, no, NO, not another word out of you; this is not open for discussion! Hinata, if you see Naruto, tell him I’m looking for him, ‘kay?” Hinata nodded and Sora left the room.
She was halfway back down the hall when Shivani turned the corner, carrying a tray full of tea and mango. “Hi Sora!” she said brightly.
Sora stared at her for a second, before she whirled around and bolted back down the hall. Throwing open the door to Hinata’s room, she was relatively unsurprised to see the room had only a single occupant. She was about to demand where he went, when she noticed the open window. Rushing past Hinata (who just quietly continued packing), Sora leaned out the window to see Naruto running along the edge of the outer wall.
She fumed. “Damn it Naruto, just wait until I get my hands on you!” She climbed out of the window and started after him.
Hinata smiled and shook her head as Shivani poked her head in. She hoped some things would never change.
“I feel like I should be giving you some sort of sage advice,” Raoul said.
Naruto shrugged. “Eh, don’t worry about it.”
The two men kept watching the never-ending roll of the waves along the beach, standing on the outer wall. Raoul had taken Naruto under his wing somewhat during the rebuilding of the Kaze. He wanted to be Hokage, so it seemed to be a fairly good idea to give the boy an up close and personal look at government. He didn’t always pick up on things, like some of the subtleties of human emotion that were being played out around the conference table. But he always knew just how to get to the heart of the matter and sometimes, Raoul wondered who was learning more.
Rebuilding the Kaze had been even more of a challenge than they had originally thought. It was impossible to figure out exactly who knew what about the Lady’s treachery and they had yet to find a cause for the tower collapsing. Accusations flew about who had been too close to the Lady to be trusted, and who was simply after more power than they should have been. There were still some who thought that the introduction of jutsu to the Kaze repertoire was a sign of evil, and Naruto’s view of “Well, then you don’t have to use them” didn’t satisfy them.
Numbers had diminished at first, as some left and others were kicked out. But then, things had started to settle down and smooth out into something that was at least more like a healthy clan then there had been before. The elder Kaze who remembered what life was like before had started training the young. From there, they had formed old style partnerships and fighting units. And as everyone started to train again, some tentatively experimenting with ninjutsu or genjutsu, they had stared to feel unified once more.
But outside the walls, things were still as disjointed and disorderly as ever. And Raoul knew that his three guests from the East had had a number of close scrapes in their travels. All Sora would say was that someone nasty was searching for them and that they hadn’t found them yet. But if they were as bad as the three of them had supposed, Raoul wondered why they hadn’t been found yet. And how long was it going to be until it finally happened?
“Be careful out there,” Raoul said.
“Eh? I’m not going to let anything happen to the girls!” Naruto said indignantly.
“Good. But don’t get cocky. Try not to get in trouble if you can avoid it.”
“I’m always careful,” Naruto protested. Raoul just looked at him. “Okay, so I’m careful most of the time.”
Raoul shook his head. “Watch your back. We can’t even know what goes on within our own walls. Don’t be caught off guard.”
“You still worried about what happened to the Lady?” Naruto asked, puzzled.
Raoul sighed. “We still don’t know why that tower collapsed on her. We were never able to figure out exactly who was in that tower during your test.”
“Eh, don’t worry about that,” Naruto said. “If they come back, we’ll just kick their asses.”
“You can’t treat everything like that Naruto.”
“Like what?”
“Like everything is just going to work itself out in the end.”
“It doesn’t work itself out. I make it work!”
Raoul chuckled. “You can’t make everything work all the time.”
“I know that!” Naruto said, but Raoul could tell that he didn’t believe him. In Naruto’s heart, he honestly believed that he was going to be able to go back to Leaf and just fix everything. He was stronger than ever and he felt invincible. Nothing Raoul could say was going to change that.
“Sora make you put ‘positive attitude’ on your packing list again?”
Naruto grinned. “Yep.”
“You promise you are going to write?”
Hinata just barely kept herself from sighing. “Yes Shivani, I promise I am going to write.”
“And I can come visit you?”
“Yes you can come visit, just make sure you talk to your brother first.” The last thing she wanted was Shivani creating a fantasy around going to the East and then leaving on a whim without telling anyone.
“You have the presents I gave you?”
“Yes.”
“And the ones for your sister?”
“Yes.”
“And you have the-“
“Oye, Shivani!” Naruto yelled. “Stop pestering Hina-chan.”
The two girls turned to look at him and started laughing.
There were about six kids hanging off of Naruto, and a couple more standing a few feet away, having decided they were too old and dignified to make a scene. One particularly small girl who couldn’t have been more than three had lain herself across the top of his head and was clinging to his blond hair with her small fists. Others held onto his arms and legs, one dangling from around his neck. They were a group of students he had taught the basics of ninjutsu to and then led on a plot to terrorize every adult in the Kaze. Small children with the ability to transform when their parents couldn’t had proven not only be a problem, but one of the fastest ways to get the parents to do ninjutsu.
The kids were not thrilled about their ringleader going back home. He always came up with the best ideas, the best plans for really driving the adults crazy. Plus, whenever something went wrong, they had always been able to run to his girlfriend to help patch them up.
“Naruto no go!” yelled the little girl clinging to his hair.
“I gotta go,” he said, trying to pry the little girl off his head without hurting her. “I have to go back home.”
“This home! Stay!” the girl whined.
Naruto looked desperately at Hinata for help. She smiled, then walked over to remove the various children hanging off of him and detangle the little girl’s hands from his spiky blond hair. “Come on, sweetie, we have to go now.”
“Which sweetie?” the girl asked, causing Hinata to giggle and blush while Naruto grinned.
“Both of you,” Hinata said, putting the girl on her feet, while Naruto detached the other munchkins.
“All right kids; we have to leave sometime!” Sora yelled. “No point in putting it off!”
“Coming!” Hinata answered, bending down to scoop up her bag.
“If I get any really good prank ideas, I’ll mail ‘em to you,” Naruto whispered to the kids before he snatched up his own bag and jogged after Hinata, slipping one arm around her waist. They stopped next to Sora, who was standing in front of Shivani and Raoul.
“Well, I guess this is it,” Raoul said.
Naruto scuffed one foot on the ground. He hated goodbyes. He never knew what to say.
“Yep, time for us to run on home,” Sora said. She stuck her hand out and Raoul took it. “Thanks for letting us hang out here for a while.”
“I owe the three of you more than I can repay,” he said simply. They had done a great deal for the Kaze, and while they would never truly be a part of it, the clan would always bare their mark. It wasn’t sentimental or mushy; it was simply a statement of fact.
And since it was, there wasn’t any need to deny what they had done; simply a need to dismiss the debt. “Oye, don’t worry about it,” Naruto said, brushing aside the compliment. He shook Raoul’s hand as well, two grown men saying goodbye to each other.
Shivani was far more demonstrative. Having made sure Hinata knew just how much she was going to miss her, Shivani dove towards Sora, latching onto her like a leech. “I’m going to miss you!” she wailed.
“Ah! Get off of me!” Sora yelled, trying to pry Shivani from around her waist. “All right, that’s IT! We’re leaving NOW!” She turned and started walking away, Shivani still dangling from her waist.
Naruto and Hinata laughed and said one final goodbye to Raoul as they started to follow Sora. Shivani finally let go and ran towards them, jumping up to hug them both at the same time. “Come back!” she said, before dashing off again.
Following her with their eyes, they were surprised to see most of the Kaze standing there, waving goodbye. Their breaths caught in their throats, and moisture started to form in the bottom of Hinata’s eyes. Smiling, Naruto put his arm around Hinata’s waist and raised his free hand to wave back at them. Sniffling faintly, Hinata did the same, tucking her head slightly into Naruto’s shoulder.
“Would ya’ll hurry up?” Sora said crossly. Sentimental goodbyes were not her thing.
With one last wave to the clan, Naruto and Hinata turned to follow, still holding onto each other.
“So, do I get to learn the Fire Wall no Jutsu?” Naruto asked, pulling on Hinata’s hand to help her over a boulder. They were headed back over the mountains, knee deep in snow.
Sora rolled her eyes. “It’s not a terribly useful jutsu, and it takes a whole lot of charka.”
“But I want to learn it,” Naruto grumbled. “I have enough control now.”
“I’m not saying you can’t do it; I’m saying I don’t know why you want to learn it, dork.”
“Hey!” Naruto said indignantly. “It’s a cool technique!” His eyes narrowed. “I know why you don’t want to teach it to me! It’s because you can’t do it yourself, isn’t it?” he said triumphantly.
Sora sighed. “Again, why would I want to?” she said.
“HAHA”! I knew it! You can’t do it!” he laughed mercilessly, only to be caught full in the face by a snowball. He glared at his sister while she laughed at him, then let go of Hinata’s hand as he bent over.
“Naruto-kun?” she said worriedly as he scooped up the largest mass of snow he could and lobbed it at his sister.
Sora easily dodged it. “Is that the best you can do?” she asked, throwing another one at him.
Naruto’s eyes gleamed.
“Um, you guys, do you really think-” Hinata stopped trying as Naruto and Sora started to throw snow at each other as hard as they could. Sighing, she tried to find a place to stand where she wouldn’t get sucked in. Once they started something like this, there was no stopping them. She just hoped they didn’t break something.
Then out of the corner of her eye she saw two dark flashes against the white snow. Her brow creased. “Hey you guys,” she tried, but the two were hopelessly embattled with their snowball fight.
“Naruto-kun,” she tried louder, hoping to get at least his attention.
“Huh?” he looked up at her. “What is it?”
“I just saw-”
And then the snow began to move beneath their
feet.
Author’s Notes: I love writing Shivani. She’s
just to hyper.
Editor’s Notes: OK, first off, I need to apologize. I’ve basically gone into seclusion the past 2 weeks.
Now I need to clear something up. I, the editor, am Time Shifter. I am a male, and a Boy Scout, and I am the one who did the Eagle Project. DameWren, as the first word in her name suggests, is a girl, and therefore has not done an Eagle Project. There was apparently some confusion there, so to sum up -
Time Shifter male Boy Scout did Eagle Project
DameWren female not a Boy Scout no Eagle Project
With all that said, I apologize again for the
late update, and hope you enjoyed this chapter.