Get Over It

Beta'ed by Lyndsey-Marie.

Thanks for reading *huggles*and hypnotic, yeah I remembered your name from before. Glad to see you again. Sorry for such a slow update *boinks head* XD

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Chapter 3: Closer To You
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(Flashback to 5 years ago)


"Naruto!Naruto!I know you're in there. Please answer me!" Sakura called knocking on the door to his apartment.

"Sakura, I can't see a thing through the widow. He must have pulled the curtains down." Said Lee after checking the windows.

"Um...do you think he's alive in there?" Asked Kiba, while Akamaru barked in agreement with his master.

"Kiba! Shut up. Don't say such a stupid thing!" Ino pinched Kiba in the arm making the boy yelp in pain.

"Sheesh. This is so troublesome." Shikamaru leaned on the wall and looked to the sky.

"Oy, Chouji. This is getting crowded here. You go wait downstairs will you?" Ino said getting a little annoyed with the cramped space.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Naruto! Please open up. We're all worried about you, even Iruka-sensei's worried about you. You haven't come out of your room for almost two weeks now." Pleaded Sakura, tears forming in her eyes.

"Don't cry Sakura. I'm sure he's fine. Maybe he needed time to be by himself." Lee held her shoulders reassuringly.

"A...ano...is Na...Naruto-kun alright?" Hinata asked Sakura with a concerned look.

"I don't know. I hope so. He has been like this ever since Tsunade-sama forced him to give up searching for Sasuke-kun." Said Sakura in a sad voice.

Neji, who had been watching this the whole time suddenly stepped forward until he was in front of Naruto's door. His face held a look of determination.

"Neji-kun?" Sakura wondered what the Hyuuga boy was going to do.

"Minna. Let's just wait downstairs. Neji will take care of it." Lee ushered his friends down the stairs. He looked at Neji, raised his thumb and smiled worthy of Gai-sensei's pose. "We'll leave this to you, Neji."

"Mmm. Wakatta."

Without a word, Neji proceed to kick the door, sending it crashing inside Naruto's room.

"Er. Crashing the door wasn't what I had in mind, Neji." Said the thick eye browed boy, sweat dripping down his face.

The Hyuuga boy walked into Naruto's apartment. The room was dark and smelt of mould. Papers and trash were scattered on the floor and the sink was filled with dirty dishes and cups. As Neji proceeded to walk further into the room, the darker it got. He activated his Byakugan and noticed a familiar chakra. NARUTO. He walked carefully passing cups of ramen littering the floor and finally made it to where Naruto was.

"Naruto!" The Hyuuga called to the bundled figure in bed. Piles of blankets were bunched up on the bed making it look like a burrow.

"Damn it! Get up."

"..."

Neji was slightly irritated at the still figure. 'This has to end now.' He thought. He pulled the curtains apart and opened the window, letting in the fresh air and the sun's warm light into the room. Neji then grabbed a hold of the blankets and heaved them off of the figure in bed.

"You look like hell." Said Neji looking up to the blonde's face. A face, weary and blank. A face devoid of emotion like some empty shell. A sharp contrast to the bundle of sunshine that used to be Naruto.

"Damn it! Answer me!" Neji grabbed hold of Naruto's shirt and yanked the blonde off the bed. He brought his face right up to Naruto's, his white eyes searching for signs of emotion from the empty blue pools.


"Why aren't you saying anything?" Said Neji

"..."

"Shit! This isn't like you!" The Hyuuga boy punched the blonde in the face sending the boy slamming against the bed.

"Leave me alone Neji." A hoarse voice came from the blonde boy. "Just leave me be."

"I can't!"

"WHY CAN'T YOU!? JUST LEAVE! GO! I DON'T WANT YOU HERE!" Naruto suddenly yelled at Neji, looking up into his eyes.

Neji saw pain and frustration in those eyes. He knelt in front of the blonde.

"I can't because I care about you, silly." Said Neji, smiling softly. "I can't leave you like this because it kills me to see you looking so pitiful and lost."

Naruto looked down. Strands of tousled blonde hair covering his eyes.

"I'm a failure, Neji. I failed to bring back Sasuke." Drops of tears trickled down his cheeks and onto the floor. "I promised Sakura-chan that I would. And I let everyone down. I let the whole Village down."

Neji's heart felt the ache and pain inside of Naruto. He didn’t know how to comfort the boy and settled for squeezing the boy’s shoulder instead. The blonde boy suddenly flung his arms around the him, crying hard into Neji’s chest.

This surprised the Hyuuga prodigy but he slowly held the crying boy tightly, running his arm up and down Naruto's back in an effort to soothe him. For about a half an hour both boys sat there on the floor embracing each other in silence. Soon he heard the blonde's crying become subdued and Naruto started hiccupping.

"I'm okay *hic* now, Neji." Said Naruto, wiping tears from his eyes.

"Are you sure?" asked the Hyuuga boy wiping another escaped tears from the blonde.

"*Hic* Yeah. I think *Hic* so. Really." Naruto seemed to calm down a bit and was trying to fight off his hiccups- with failed attempts. This brought a smile on Neji's face and he thought that Naruto looked rather cute at the moment.

"Naruto, do you want a handkerchief?" The white-eyed boy offered the blonde.

"No. I'm fine really.*Hic*. See." Naruto brought his face up, his baby blue eyes no longer emotionless and empty.

"Alright. I can see that." Neji smiled at the boy. "The others are waiting for you, do you know that?"

"..."

"Want to go meet them?" Asked Neji.

"I can't face them, Neji"

"Why not."

"I'm ashamed."

"What's there to be ashamed off?"

"I failed to..."

Neji put a finger on the blonde's lip, shutting him up. "Naruto, no one blames you. Don't think to carry the whole burden yourself. Bringing Sasuke back was not your responsibility alone. It was everyone’s responsibility, remember?"

"..." Naruto didn’t seem to be able to find any words to say.

"Come on." Said Neji, standing up, his hand reaching out to the blonde.

"But..."

"No buts. Come on." The Hyuuga boy grabbed hold of Naruto's arm and proceed to drag him out.

Naruto winced at the bright sky in front of him. He had been in his room too long, and the sunshine felt good on his skin.

Suddenly a pink haired girl ran towards him and hugged him tightly.

"Sakura-chan?"

"Naruto no baka!" Sakura started to cry. "You had us worry, you know."

"Sakura-chan. Gomen, ne?" Said the blonde as he tried to calm down Sakura.

"My, my Wide Forehead, why are you crying now?" Said Ino

"Shut up, Ino Pig!" Said Sakura, trying to cover her embarrassment as she dried her tears with her hands.

"Nani!?" Said Ino a bit pissed off.

Naruto suddenly burst out laughing. Everyone stared at the blonde boy in surprised. Even Sakura and Ino seemed to forget about their quarrel.

"Gomen. Gomen. It was kind of funny, Sakura, Ino." Said the blonde smiling, scratching his head.

At that time a great burden seemed to be lifted off of everyone's shoulders. They couldn't help but smile at the golden haired boy in front of them.

His smile and laughter was so infectious that even the grumpy, and ever so lazy Shikamaru smiled as he said "Che. Can’t you stay out of trouble for once, Naruto."


*****

(Back to current time of story)


The Godaime was having a one hell of a headache today. There were a lot of questions on her mind, and yet so little answers. First there was the mysterious nightly intruders reported by Hyuuga Neji (with Uzumaki Naruto as witness) then there was a case of two bodies, badly disfigured and beyond recognition, found by the group of hunter-nin. There was no evidence that those two separate events were related, yet the blonde woman had this nagging feeling that they somehow did.

‘What to do?’ Thinking hard, the Slug sannin came up with a solution. ‘Whenever in doubt, search for answers.’ After all that was what the Third used to say. The Fifth eyed Hatake Kakashi and his comrades; Maito Gai and Sarutobi Asuma.


“Kakashi. You and Gai are to dispatch immediately for Stone Country. I want you to gather as much information as you can on any suspicious activities and such that might be related to our Village.”

“Hmm. That place’s full of shady characters. Crooks, criminals, outlaws, you name it they got it,” said Asuma looking at Kakashi and Gai.

“That’s the point. There’s bound to be some clues there.” Stated the Godaime. “This mission is an A class mission. Retrieval of information, secretly or otherwise, is always life threatening. Please be careful both of you.”

“Yes, Hokage-sama” Bowed the men and disappeared with a poof in the blink of an eye..


“Asuma, I want you to tighten the security in Konoha and the surrounding areas. A group of chuunins and jounins will be assigned to you. So use them as you see fit. Post additional guards especially for night patrols.”

“Hai, Hokage-sama.”

‘And where the hell is that perverted man when you need him?,’ thought the Godaime to herself. She needed all the help that she could get.

******

Moonlight beams lit the darkness of the room through the open window of a two-story building. A dull light coming out of the only available lamppost there lit the sign above the door that read “The Red Thorn”. Sounds of creaking and moans could be heard coming out of the dark room, disturbing the silence of the night.

"Argh!...Umm...Ah!...Faster Uchiha-san!...H~harder!!!." The male voice was full of urgency, need, and ragged breathing as his small body was filled with his partner’s shaft, thrusting in and out of him. The bed creaked violently in protest at the hard thrusting motions of the taller man. He leaned above the smaller male, digging his nails into the soft inner flesh of the legs and pushed them further apart roughly against the mattress.

"AH!! UCH~CHI~HA~SAN!!!UMMM!!!...AH!!!...ARGH!!!" The smaller man moaned and gasped as he felt the hard length of flesh buried deeper inside him. Beads of sweat trickled down his face and he found it harder to breath as each time the thrusts became harder and faster, always hitting that bundle of nerves inside of him.

The smaller male suddenly arched his back, his whole body tensed, and then he came, spurting his seeds onto their abdomens as the he felt heat inside him burst, sending waves of pleasure through out his body. The taller man above felt the tight muscles around him squeezing his throbbing member, he gave a few more thrusts before he too came, pouring hot white liquid into the tight ass.

For a moment both men were silent as their harsh breathing returned to normal. Neither moved until the taller man slid his soft member out of the wet hole and got up from the bed. He cleaned himself up before putting on his pants, causing his partner in bed to frown.

"Mmm...Uchiha-san...it's too early to leave. Why don't you stay here for tonight?" Pouted the smaller male as he leaned on his side seductively at the taller man. The man in question turned his dark, gaze to the male in the bed as he began to button his shirt.

"Here's the money," said the taller man in a cold tone as he threw a bag of coins at the male in bed.

"When will you be here next time, Uchiha-san?" The smaller man leaned back against the headboard allowing the moonlight to exposed a pretty fair-haired man, looking at the dark-haired male, with inviting blue-eyes.

The taller man turned his back. He grabbed hold of his black cloak and walked out of the room without saying a word, shutting the door behind him.

The blonde man in bed sighed as he took the bag of coins that had been thrown on the bed. Among his patrons, this Uchiha-san was the most mysterious of them all. He hardly spoke anything, didn't bother to make conversation, and his face never showed any signs of emotions at all. He didn't even grunt or scream out as he orgasm. The fair-haired man smiled to himself. Of course he himself had screamed out loud enough for the both of them as he reached the peak of sexual excitement.

The blonde man had nothing to complain about his silent patron. At least Uchiha-san was more handsome: a bit pale, but handsome nonetheless, than some of the fat old men he used to get and he paid well too. The smaller man purred in content like a cat well fed. Yes. He had nothing to complain about at all, when the dark-haired man was so damn good in bed.

He got up and put on his silk robe. He smiled and greeted his next patron, as the door opened once again. Another rich, fat man. He smiled invitingly, pulling the man to the bed and sliding the robe off provocatively. Being a creature of the night left no room for complaints. As long as there's money, he would be willing to part his legs for any man.

******

The tall, clocked figure stepped out of the Red Thorn and strode into the cool night. Tilting his head up he could see a sea of stars glittering into the night sky. he man grunted in approval of the clear weather that evening as the days before had been unusually wet and dreary.

The man made his way to the inn not further up from the brothel he had visited. He turned to a small path that leads through the forest before reaching a rocky slope where the inn was located. Beyond that mountain slope was the Fire Country’s territory, which he’d prefer not to enter and avoided whenever possible.

The man strained his ears, listening to the areas surrounding him. There was pure silence, not even the sound of insects or hooting of owls could be heard. He pretended to walk as if nothing had happened but then disappeared in a flash behind a tree nearby, only to reappear with a kunai gripped in his right hand, positioned at the throat of a white-haired man in spectacles.

“I see you’ve found me,“ commented the white-haired man in a mock tone, “How so like you, Uchiha Sasuke. No wonder Orochimaru-sama favours you.”

“What the hell do you want, Kabuto?,” Sasuke asked in a cold tone behind the man, his kunai still at the man’s throat. “Did Orochimaru send you to keep an eye on me?”

“Keh. Really Sasuke-kun, you should be more respectable when referring Orochimaru-sama. He is after all your master.”

Sasuke gripped the kunai tighter, the cold blade touching Kabuto’s soft throat. “Don’t play with me or you’ll have a sore throat by morning, “ He said pressing the kunai into the skin, grazing it a little.

“Orochimaru-sama just wants me to look out for you that’s all, Sasuke-kun. He wouldn’t want anything to happen to you, now would he?, “ said the medic-nin sneeringly.


“Che,” The dark haired man stepped back and put his kunai back into its holster. He leaned his back against a tree and crossed his arms. “Always the lapdog aren’t you Kabuto, don’t you have something better to do, like lick Orochimaru’s ass or something?” said Sasuke with a smirk. He felt satisfied at seeing the white-haired man’s angered face at the statement he’d made, as Kabuto resisted to take out his kunai and launch at the him.

However the medic-nin thought otherwise and settled instead to smile at Sasuke as if the statement didn’t affect him.

“Do you think you have the rights to even say that, Sasuke-kun? Spending your time fucking to pass the time away, “ said the medic-nin mockingly.

“…” Sasuke glared at the man his hand itching to grab his kunai.

“Was fucking the blonde whore satisfying to you? Or did he remind you of Naru…”

It happened so fast that Kabuto didn’t even see Sasuke coming right at him, pushing him to the ground. The dark haired man fisted the front of the medic-nin’s shirt while his other hand held a kunai drawn out over his throat. Kabuto could feel the Uchiha’s heavy breathing and onyx eyes turned crimson. The red eyes had a look of wild rage. The medic-nin almost held his breath as he felt the blade slicing slightly at his skin.

“You. Get out from my sight. Or I’ll kill you. Do you understand me?” asked Sasuke in a chilling whisper.

Kabuto nodded. He had better retreat for now. Fighting with Sasuke was not a good option right now. He might not even be able to survive.

******

‘Ummm. It’s so good to be back.’ Naruto breathed in deep, taking in the familiar smell of Konoha, a mixture of spring and summer. He was eager to finish his mission in Tea Country and had come back home as soon as possible. Being one week away from Ichiraku’s Ramen had almost driven him crazy!

The blonde man walked along the busy streets of Konoha, stopping to buy some groceries or anything edible that caught his eyes. When he had been a genin he couldn’t afford to spend away as he’d like to. After all, payments for D rank missions were not that high, although sometimes he was lucky to get assigned to C rank missions, which was rare enough. Unlike other children of his age, he had to save up to pay his rent, clothing (not that he’d bothered to add to his collection of bright orange jumpsuits), and of course instant ramen. After all unlike other children he didn’t have parents to give him money whenever he wanted it.

Ever since he’d become a jounin he hadn’t needed to worry about money, and then there was also extra allowances and hazard pay for being in ANBU. However, old habits die hard and the blonde preferred to save his money in banks rather than to spend it lavishly on unwanted needs. Watching his money grow extra zeros was far more interesting than spending it. Yes. Life was good, so far at least, and he had a nice tidy sum for early retirement should he decided to.

People stared at him as he passed by. The Kyuubi holder chuckled to himself because they must be surprised at his blonde hair, which happened to be black at the moment. He had dyed his fair locks for his previous mission (or rather because he lost a bet to the old hag who tricked him into dying his hair). The old hag even jokingly pointed out that yellow was just as loud as the orange jumper suit that he used to wear when he was a kid, which, thankfully, he had grown out of it by the time he had reached 17.

The blonde decided to pay Iruka a visit and maybe eat something there, as he knew Iruka would always insist that he stay for dinner. Iruka’s cooking was something that he’d always enjoyed.

“Konichiwa! Anybody home!?” Naruto knocked on the door.

“Hai! Come in. The door’s not locked.” A voice called.

Naruto entered the house, took his shoes off and grabbed hold of a pair of slippers. He peered inside the living room.

“Sensei?”

“Here, Naruto. I’m in the kitchen.”

“Hmmm. Smells nice. Are you making curry?” The blonde peeped into the pot, which Iruka was stirring.

“Yup. How was the mission?” Iruka asked with interest.

“A success. As usual.” Grinned the blonde, putting his groceries on the table.

“I heard that you had to dye your hair black for the mission.”

Naruto ruffled his blonde-hair-turned-black. “Yeah, actually I lost a bet to Tsunade. So she made me do it or else she wouldn’t let me go.”

“Oh. Do you want to take a bath before dinner? There’s still hot water left .” The chuunin said. “You might want to get that dye off.”

“Sure. I think I need one.” Naruto made his way to the bathroom. He took off his jounin uniform and folded it neatly in the basket there, deciding to wash it later. The blonde dipped in one leg in the tub at a time before submerging all of his body into the warm water.

“Argh…this is heaven.” He sighed as he leaned his back to the tub to relax. Naruto closed his eyes to let his tired body enjoy the warm, soothing sensation of the water.

A pair of hands began to scrub his chest.

‘Umm... That’s nice.’ The blonde purred in content. ‘Wait a minute. Who’s scrubbing me?’ He raised both of his free hands and looked down at the pair of hands scrubbing his chest. He felt the hair raise at the back of his neck as he suddenly became aware of a hot breath behind him and then a kiss was planted at his nape.

Naruto turned around slowly in surprised and found a silver white haired man in front of him, naked. The blonde’s left eye twitched as he stared at the intruder and the man in turn stared back at Naruto clearly surprised to see him.

*****

Iruka was about to taste his curry when there was a knock on the door. He opened it to find Kiba, Akamaru, Shikamaru and Neji. They wanted to ask if Naruto was around and whether he’d like to join them for a drink. While Iruka was in the process of insisting that they stay for dinner a loud shriek could be heard coming out of the bathroom; followed by crashing sounds. The chuunin, followed by the others, ran to the bathroom when the door suddenly opened and a very wet and red faced Naruto dashed out.

“HENTAI!!” The blonde yelled, his breathing loud and harsh, as he pointed his finger to Kakashi who had just appeared from the bathroom.

”Hey! It was a mistake.” Kakashi said as he held up his hand in defence. “I thought it was Iruka. From the back you looked like him since your hair’s black”

“HENTAI! YOU WERE FEELING ME UP! YOU OLD PERVERT!” The blonde gave white haired jounin a death glare.

“Ouch!” Yelped Kakashi in pain, rubbing his head. His chuunin lover had clobbered him with the ladle he was carrying.

“WHY DON’T YOU LEARN SOME RESTRAINT FOR ONCE!” Iruka shouted at his lover, his face red in anger and embarrassment.

“Man…Naruto…” Said Kiba his face slightly red.

“WHAT!?” Naruto was still angry with Kakashi. He’d like nothing more than to punch the pervert’s gut with his Rasengan.

“Err…you’re still naked,” Kiba bluntly point out. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and mumbled ‘Mendokse’ while Neji turned his back to Naruto as he felt a certain part of his lower body began to respond at the sight of the blonde’s naked body. The last thing the Hyuuga prodigy wanted was an erection in Iruka’s house.

Naruto became aware of his sudden nakedness in front of his friends and wished that the ground beneath him would open up and swallow him right at that instance. He never felt so embarrassed in his life. He stomped out of the living room in as much dignified fashion as he could muster; naked and all, cursing the genius Copy Ninja.

*****

Somewhere up a tree, a pair of eyes was watching the commotion in Iruka/Kakashi’s house.

“Hohoho…this is interesting.” Said the man jotting something down in a small notebook. The man grinned. “Don’t be mad at me, kid. It’s your fault that you refused to do the Sexy No Jutsu like I told you.“ He brought a pair binoculars up and continued to watched the angry, naked blonde stomp out of the room. “Ah…looks like I collected some nice information today.”. The man gave another chuckle, a devious gleam in his eyes.

*****

“Here’s the tea, Hinata-sama,” said the Hyuuga household servant girl, Ai. She bowed down after pouring some tea into two porcelain tea cups, putting one in front of Hinata and the other in front of her cousin, Neji.


“Thank you, Ai,” replied the small dark haired woman. The girl, Ai, smiled and bowed again, before she left the room, sliding the door after her.


Hinata sipped the tea, inhaling the scent of freshly brewed fine green tea leaves. Her tall cousin did so too and for a while the two just sat in silence enjoying the serene afternoon. Though the two cousins lived in the same house they hardly saw each other much as both tend to have their own responsibilities.

Ever since Hinata’s father, Hyuuga Hiashi, had died of illness, the huge responsibility as clan leader was shouldered to Hinata. At that time she was only 17 and didn’t expect to be the clan leader for quite a while.

Neji watched the calm and composed petite woman before him. She was still as soft spoken and ladylike as she used to be when they were children, however; she had grown out of her childish stuttering and timid ways. Perhaps having the clan’s responsibility handed down to her when she was young had matured her much. Neji was glad that Hinata managed to handle the Hyuuga clan well. In fact, a lot of changes had been brought by Hinata that further prospered the clan and the village as well.

“Hinata-sama, how was the delegation to the Sunagakure?” asked Neji with interest. His cousin had lead a group of Konoha nobles and other clan leaders to a meeting in the Sand Village that lasted for one week. Obviously the Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara, was in a pleasant mood, hosting the meeting at his place, with other countries as well invited to attend.


“Everything went well, Neji-niisan,” replied the petite young woman with a smile, “Please Neji-niisan, don’t be so polite. Just Hinata would do, after all we are family, and I think of you as a big brother. So using a formal prefix seems odd to me”


“But it doesn’t seem proper for me, Hinata-sama. I don’t want to be disrespectable or anything” said Neji looking perplexed. He had always thought Hinata as his own sister but sometimes customs were hard to break.

Hinata gave a soft laugh. “Niisan, sometimes you think too much about what others think. All right, as the current clan leader, I, Hyuuga Hinata order you to call me, just by plain Hinata. And no prefix is needed.” Hinata smiled with a twinkle in her eyes at her cousin.


Neji laughed at the playful banter and bow in mock pretence, ”Hai, oh great Hinata-sama. Your wish is my command.”


The two cousins suddenly laughed out loud at the funny scenario. Hinata was glad that Neji was becoming more and more comfortable with her. Though it did take sometime for Neji to shred off his politeness and all. Maybe his slow change of behaviour was due to a certain blonde haired imp she knew.


“ How are things with you and Naruto? “ Hinata suddenly asked, causing her cousin to cough while drinking his tea. The small young woman smiled at her cousin’s slight blush.


“Eh? Naruto’s fine. He was assigned to a mission a week ago.” Somehow Neji had a feeling that his cousin was far more observant and sharp minded than she appeared to be. He knew that Hinata had had a crush on Naruto when she was young, but somehow the feelings turned into a more sisterly affection for the blonde instead.


“Hmmm. I haven’t seen him for such along time. Please say hello to Naruto for me. Perhaps you could invite him for tea someday, Neji-niisan.”


“Alright, I’ll do that, Hinata-sa…Hinata,” said Neji almost forgetting to call Hinata just by her name.


The door slide open and the servant girl, Ai, bowed down. “Excuse me Hinata-sama for interrupting you. Someone asked me to bring this letter to you. He said it was urgent.”


Neji saw the girl hand out a small slip of paper to his cousin. Hinata unfolded the paper, her eyes browsing through the contents of the letter.


“Thank you, Ai. You may go.” Hinata stood up. “I’m sorry but please excuse me, Neji-niisan. There are some matters that I need to attend to.”

‘Wonder what could it be?' thought Neji,


******


“Are you sure, Shino?” asked Hinata as she watched her friend, Aburame Shino gazing into the microscope on top of his working table.

“There’s no mistaking it, Hinata. The sample that you gave me the last time was an insect alright. It’s so tiny that you’d need a microscope to see it properly. Here.” Shino beckoned her to see the bug for herself.

Shino puts his hands in the pockets of his white hooded jacket he wore over a black high collared buttoned shirt he wore, as he watched Hinata.

“The smallest insect known is a fairyfly, scientifically known as Megaphragma caribea(1). It is a parasitic wasp that lives in humid climates. This wasp measures 0.007 inches long and is small enough to fly through the eye of a needle.” Hinata turned to look at Shino but saw her own reflections staring back at her from the pair of sunglasses he normally wore.


“Where would you find it’s habitat, specifically?” asked Hinata.


“I would say somewhere where it’s hot and humid. That would be western border of Fire Country. Nearing Rain Country.”


Hinata nodded in agreement. “Thanks, Shino. You’ve been a great help.”

******

Hinata had gone back to her room to make some preparations. She needed to head to the western border immediately. And that would mean she wouldn’t be home for four days at the very least. She left word to Sumi, the head housekeeper that she had a sudden mission from the Godaime.


Hinata had put on the standard hunter-nin uniform, strapping on the kunai and shuriken holsters as well as the sword on her back. She decided to put on a grey cloak, as the weather would probably be wet. Making sure she had everything ready she covered her face with the painted mask, before disappearing into thin air.


She reappeared before a group of three men and one woman- hunter-nins in equally grey cloaks and painted masks somewhere outside of Konoha’s Gate.


“Are all the preparations ready?” Hinata asked to group before her.


“Yes, Captain. Everything is going according to plan,” One of the male hunter-nin's by the name of Kai said.


“Alright. Let’s go! Be on guard,” she said in a firm voice. Hinata looked through her group. “Don’t let them know of our presence, understood!?”


“Yes, Captain!!!” Satisfied with the answer, Hinata nodded before she and her group disappeared.

*****

A pair of eyelids fluttered open, revealing cerulean eyes. The occupant in bed blinked at the bright sunlight glaring into his room. For the moment the blonde man was still in a daze when his eyes caught onto the hands on the clock near his bed ~ 10.30am.


“KYAAAA!!!OH MY GOD!!! I’M LATE!!!THE OLD HAG IS GOING TO KILL ME FOR THIS!!! WASN’T THE MEEETING AT 8.00 ?!” Uzumaki Naruto dashed out of bed, tripping his way to the bathroom. A few minutes later, after much clanking and racket in the bathroom he’d managed to find clean silk orange boxers to wear before putting on his jounin uniform.


Thinking that as he was already late it wouldn’t make much of a difference if he got there faster or not since Tsunade would still lecture him anyway. Thus Naruto decided to walk on his way to the Hokage Building, and maybe take a bite before arriving there. Well, if he was going to be lectured at, at least his stomach should be full.

‘Strange. Why are people staring at me? I mean. It’s not like I’m not used to it, but this is abnormal.’ The blonde man began to notice that a lot of people began to stop what they were doing to stare at him and whisper, especially the female population of Konoha. ‘Do I have something on my face?’


Naruto eyed a group of teenage girls as he passed by and saw them ogling at him, giggling and whispering to each other.


‘Now, this is getting creepy!’ Thought the Kyuubi holder perplexed at what was going on. He stopped by Ichiraku’s Ramen and ordered the usual pork ramen. The owner and his assistant, a girl called Reika was blushing slightly as he began to slurp his ramen.


‘O~kay. Why are they blushing? And since there’s only me here. Then that means they’re blushing at me.’ Having people looking at you while you’re slurping ramen was so unnerving, that the blonde didn’t quite enjoyed it as he usually did. Naruto quickly finished his ramen and paid the girl.


“Thanks for the ramen.” Said Naruto.


“N~no. Thank you!” The girl smiled brightly. “Oh can I have you’re autograph? Too bad I don’t have the book with me!” She handed him a paper.


“Err…r~right….sure.” Still dumbfound, the blonde signed the paper.” Here.”


“KYAAA!! I GOT HIS AUTOGRAPH!!! MY FRIENDS ARE SO GOING TO BE JEALOUS OF ME!” The girl practically bounced ecstatically.


‘That’s it. I must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.’ Thought Naruto leaving the shop hastily.


‘Creepy…creepy…creepy…this is way creepier than the old hag pretending to look like she’s 20 years younger than her age.’


‘Wait a minute what’s that?’ Naruto’s eyes caught hold of a large coloured poster outside of Renji’s Bookstore.


’COME AND GET THE LATEST COPY OF THE POPULAR SERIES ~ COME COME PARADISE2 TITLED: “THE HIDDEN JUTSU - THE SECRET LIVE OF A YOUNG SHINOBI!” BY THE FAMOUS JIRAIYA-SAMA! WHILE STOCK LAST!’


“What the heck? Hey…how come my picture’s in the front cover?” Shocked, the blonde grabbed a copy, ignoring a group of girls screaming “KYAAA” around him.


Naruto’s face turned from deathly pale one moment to a shocking crimson as he flipped through the pages of the graphic novel. His eyes twitched when he saw pictures of him and other men buck naked in about various positions of…of..*gulp* Naruto didn’t ever dare to mention.


Yup, the blonde decided that he had indeed woken up on the wrong side of the bed as he cursed and yelled the name “ERO-SENNINNN!!!!” and stomped away muttering “pervert” and “old lecher”. The Toad Sannin is going to be absolutely dead when he finds him.

******

Tsunade eyed the burly, fuzzy haired man before her. As always her old friend hadn't changed a bit. He still had that air of carelessness and freedom about him. The air of a man who had nothing to worry about. She frowned, a bit annoyed. Unlike him, she’d been having a major headache the whole week, and her moods were less pleasing than usual. Even Shizune, her personal assistant and first student, was careful not to upset her.


“I see you’re back again. When did you arrive?,” said the Godaime, her chin resting on her hands.


“Ooo…Been here for a past few days. I had some ‘things’ to settle here and there.” The man in question was standing with his back leaning against the wall.


“Really, Jiraiya you should at least let us know where you are.” The blonde woman looking irritated at the Toad Sannin. “The Elders have been bugging me to get a hold of you.”


“Che. The Elders would like nothing more than to have me tied up, Tsunade. You know how I am.” He walked up to her then decided that the window behind her was far more interesting than facing the irritated blonde woman. After all she could be scary at times, even if she was a beauty.


“Hmph. I don’t have the leisure to send people looking for you. Not while we need as many hands we can get right now.” She turned, her hazel brown eyes following the Toad sannin.


“So. What does this have to do with me?” Jiraiya said looking out of the window of the Godaime’s office. He watched in interest at the people walking below.


“Someone’s after the scroll.”


“…”


“Well?,” asked Tsunade rapping her fingers on the desk.


“Well what?”


“Don’t you have anything to say about this?”


“About what?” The white haired man said looking confused, or pretending to look so.


“THE scroll, damn it!,” the blonde woman said angrily banging her fist on her desk. “I don’t have time for games, you know?”


“Calm, down,” said her old friend, “I was only joking. Sheesh, try to loosen up a bit, will you.” The Toad sannin felt sorry for the desk. ‘Poor desk. She probably cracked you up real good with that freaky strength of hers.’

“Alright, what do you want to know?” He asked soberly.


“What do you know of the one scroll that has been locked, and sealed in the Central Room.”


“The one sealed by the Yondaime, you mean?”


“Yes.” She waited in anticipation at what Jiraiya have to say.


“Oh nothing much except that it can control the Nine-tailed Demon”


“WHAT!” The blonde woman almost jumped out of her seat. “Control? You mean seal the Kyuubi?”


“No. To seal the Demon Fox you’d need a container, a newborn child. Which was Naruto’s case. However, sealing it doesn’t mean you could control it. You only just cut off its ability, limiting its movement, thus preventing it from doing as it pleases, like killing and destroying villages. It is after all nothing more than a mere conscious or spirit sharing the body of another.” Jiraiya watched the blonde woman digesting that piece of information. He waited to see what she had to say.


“So how can this one scroll control the Kyuubi no Yoko?”


“Actually it’s not the scroll itself. More a like what the scroll is sealing, “ said Jiraiya. He could see Tsunade more confused look.


“There’s a legend3 that tells of a round or pear-shaped ball sometimes called the hoshi no tama or star ball, containing some amount of the kitsune’s power. This so-called hoshi no tama was supposedly guarded by the Kyuubi no Yoko, itself. The legend also states that those who manage to obtain the star ball could obtain the kitsune’s power. Meaning they could control it to do it’s bidding as long as the ball is in their hands.”


“Damn!,” said the Godaime. “You’re saying that THE hoshi no tama is sealed inside that scroll?” Tsunade looked at Jiraiya, shocked at the news.


“I’m afraid so.”


“Who do you think is after the scroll? The Akatsuki?”


“Could be. But I’m not sure, really,” said Jiraiya with a shrug.


“The last time we’ve heard from them was five years ago. They’ve been laying low ever since.” Tsunade rubbed her forehead, she needed to take a painkiller or something. The headaches becoming unbearable. Shizune even told her to rest a bit. But she couldn’t. Not with all these things going on now. And now they could even be dealing with the Akatsuki.


“You okay?” Jiraiya watched Tsunade. The blonde looked dead tired and a bit pale.


“No. I’m not okay. I’m having a blasted headache. And there’s so much that needs to be done.”


“Look. You should really rest for the night, okay?,” said Jiraiya.


“I’m worried about Naruto,” Tsunade blurted out what was currently worrying her.


“Leave him to me, you don’t have to worry about the brat, just get some rest.”


“You’re being thoughtful today, which is unlike you,” pointed out Tsunade as she eyed her old friend suspiciously. “What’s the catch?”


“What do you mean? We are old friends aren’t we? Why shouldn’t old friends help out eh?” Jiraiya looked at the Godaime innocently.


“Jiraiya. Tell me what did you do this time, honestly?,” The blonde woman said in a weary tone. Jiraiya looked a bit restless all of a sudden.


“RASENGAN!!!” Suddenly the door to the Godaime’s office flung or rather burst open, hinges and pieces of woods flew everywhere, messing the inside of Tsunade’s room.


Tsunade, her eyes wide with shocked then began to frown at the one behind the door. Or where the door used to be.


“UZUMAKI NARUTO! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, BRAT!!!,”


“GIVE.HIM.TO.ME!!!,” said the blonde man pointing to the Toad sannin who happened to hide behind her back.


“What!?,” asked the Godaime as she turned to her glare at Jiraiya, “Well!?”


“Hehehe…Naruto glad to see your fine, today,” said Jiraiya lamely.


Naruto was about to leap at the Toad Sannin had not the Godaime stepped in between them. She could see the brat was seriously going to kill Jiraiya and she didn’t want any more mess in her room.


“LET ME AT HIM! LET ME! I’M GOING TO KILL THAT OLD PERVERT. STEP AWAY OLD HAG!!!”


“Now, now, Naruto. You should calm down first,” said the white haired man.


“I’LL KILL YOU FIRST THEN I’LL CALM DOWN!”


The throbbing in Tsunade’s head felt worsen at all the loud noise and commotion. She could feel her patience wearing thin. The blonde woman gritted her teeth, a sharp vein could be seen popping out of her forehead.


“SHUT THE HELL UP!!!” The Godaime brought her fist banging to the wall, causing a large crack, effectively shutting both the men up. ‘Damn. The Elders are going to question me later when the bills arrived.’


******


“WHY DO I HAVE TO GO AND FIX SOME OLD LADY’S RESTHOUSE? I’M NOT SOME ODD JOB MAN, DAMN IT! GO FIND A CARPENTER OR SOMETHING!” Yelled a certain blonde man, his eyes turning a dark shade of blue, to the current Hokage. “THIS IS NOT A MISSION, OLD HAG! YOU’RE JUST TRYING TO GET BACK AT ME FOR WHAT I DID YESTERDAY, AREN’T YOU!? THE OTHERS GET TO GO OUT OF THE COUNTRY AND YET HERE I AM, STUCK, DOING MENIAL TASKS FOR YOUR PLEASURE!”


Tsunade sighed, she was prepared for the typical outburst of defiance the blonde brat always showed. She put on her best stern face mode and glared at the angry blonde.


“I’ve nothing more to say to you, brat! Neji you may go. And take him with you.”


“WHAT?! HEY! YOU CAN’T JUST TELL ME TO GO. I’M NOT DONE TALKING YET.” Naruto practically screeched at the Godaime.


Neji tried to grab hold of Naruto but the blonde refused to budge.


‘Damn, he’s being stubborn as usual.’ Neji thought.


“Let go, Neji! I’m not getting out until the old hag listens to what I have to say.” Naruto said through clenched teeth. “Hey! Let go! What are doing!”


Neji swung the angry blonde over his shoulder and manage to somewhat bow to the Hokage.


“STOP! NEJI! YOU IDIOT! PUT ME DOWN!” Screamed the blonde his face red with embarrassment as he pounded his fist on the taller man’s back to put his down.


“Shut up Naruto.” Neji squeezed the blonde’s butt, which brought a yelp from the blonde shutting him up for a while.


“NEJI! BAKA! DON’T TOUCH MY ASS, DAMN IT!” Naruto’s flush seemed to spread over his neck and ears.


Neji walked out the door with a slight smirk on his face and a furious blonde over his shoulder.


Tsunade had watched this whole process with amusement in her eyes. She then laughed out loud unable to contain her laughter any longer . ‘Oh. That was priceless.’ She said to herself wiping a tear from her eye, remembering the embarrassment the brat had to suffer being thrown like a sack of potatoes. ‘To bad she hadn’t brought a camera though.’


******

The tensai of the Hyuuga Clan, Hyuuga Neji decided that he needed to be in more “control” of his actions when it came to dealing with a certain blonde man. His patience was wearing thin, and the art of courtship and wooing itself was by far too tiring and time consuming, which at the moment he lacked. The Hyuuga prodigy didn’t know how long he could last and he was getting weary both physically and mentally. He needed some sort of plan that could be turned into action and the sooner the better.


But, at this moment for all his genius mind, he wasn’t able to find one except to ravish the blonde right in front of him and think about the consequences later. After all actions speak louder than words. However, Neji was thankful that patience was one of a Hyuuga’s best traits and he was still able to gain control of his mind and body (at least for the time being, that is), so sighing to himself yet again he decided to stretch further his patience to see how long it could last.

It didn’t help much the blonde was, at that very moment, in the same room with him, all alone, busying himself (or rather pretending to be busy) in an attempt to avoid making any contact with him verbally or physically. Naruto was ignoring his presence, pretending he was some part of furniture in the room, which irked him a little. And a Hyuuga never gets annoyed easily by something so trifle as that, well, with the exception of this little blonde. The Kyuubi holder was doing exceptionally well in getting under his skin today.

“You’ve been avoiding me.” Pale eyes followed Naruto as he bent down to pick up a book he had accidentally dropped just now, giving Hyuuga Neji as very nice view of the blonde’s firm ass. The taller man’s face flushed slightly as he felt blood rush to his face as well as to a certain lower body part of his.

“No. I haven’t.” A rather short sentence coming out the person who was known for talking too much. The blonde proceeded to climb up a chair, reaching as far as he could to sort out the books on the top shelves. While the same pair of pale eyes watched his slender form, taking in the flat stomach straining under the uniform.


‘Great.’ Thought the Hyuuga with a smirk. ‘I’m having lewd thoughts about him and he’s oblivious to it all.’


Naruto, blissfully unaware of what was going on in the Neji's overactive mind sat down to finish off the report from yesterday’s so called "mission” he had been forced to do with Neji. Besides, it was his turn to clean up the room. he “operation room” as they called it was where jounins would gather for discussions or to finish off reports whenever there were no missions. It was quite a spacious room with a navy blue leather sofa set including a matching coffee table. Fitted wooden cupboards and shelves lined up the walls, and rows of desks faced the windows.

“Oh. Really. Pouting all the way to the rest house and back without saying a word to me. If that isn’t avoiding then what is it?” Said Neji in an incredulous tone, staring at those pouty lips in question, as he sat down on the couch.


“Can you just leave it? I don’t feel like talking.” Naruto said.


“Are you mad because I pinched your butt?” Said Neji in a teasing voice.


Naruto’s face flushed slightly as he remembered yesterday’s event. He was thinking that Neji’s behaviour for the past few days was rather out of the ordinary, and he had been having a weird feeling that those pale eyes of Neji’s had been following his every move in the room. Naruto shivered at the thought of those eyes watching him and scrutinizing his whole entire body, like some insect under a microscope.


Neji smirked at the blonde’s sudden pink face.


“Look. Neji. I’m prepared to forget about yesterday. But you are not! I repeat; do not touch your male friend’s behind! Ok?!” Naruto said to Neji, his delicate eyebrows knitted in a frown.


“I can’t promise you that.” Neji said nonchalantly.


“What!?”


Neji walked closer to where Naruto was while the blonde took a step behind. Each time the Hyuuga prodigy advanced forward the blue-eyed man would retreat backwards until Naruto felt his back touch the wall.


“I said, I can’t promise you that, Kitten.” Neji had put both his hands on the wall, trapping the blonde.


******

End of Chapter 3. Previously there was more but I cut it out XD Actually...I'm re-writing 'that' part so that's why ><: