Naruto Shippuuden: The Hitch Arc

Naruto Shippuuden: The Hitch Arc



Chapter 2



Disclaimer: Unfortunately I have failed in my attempt at taking over the Naruto series, as a result, “they” still own it and I, am on the run.



Authors Notes: So, Chapter 2 eh? Anyways, sorry for the delay, I’ve been a tad busy, as I expected (read AN in the summary chapter). Thanks for the reviews, though seriously, if you want a certain something to happen, do tell; leave a review I may just include it in the next chapter, or one following. Also, I’ll do my best to make the chapters longer, unfortunately, due to time constraints, I do my best to provide moderate length chapters and in a fairly decent update rate. Sorry ^^



Also, to answer a few questions, yes, they are around 15-16 years of age as it does take place in the Shippuuden universe. Coincidently, I’m excluding Sai simply because it’s convenient, let’s say he’s out on a mission, and Sasuke, well, who knows what he’s doing. Yes, I am hinting to a bit of Shikamaru/Temari, however, that will likely be in another story.



Also, for future reference, I am planning another lemon fiction featuring Shikamaru and Temari as the couple. However, if both universes (this current story and the upcoming story) are linked, or if the Shikamaru/Temari fiction is a type of sequel is undetermined, though likely.



Also, leave a review saying if you’d enjoy a Hanabi/Konohamaru fiction, I don’t know why, but it would be a cute couple, and most likely accepted, given he’s like, the Grandson of the Third. :O



Now, without further ado, on with the fic!



~



“...and then I walked in on her changing.”



Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, ‘Let me guess, you saw her naked right?”



Naruto looked down, a slight blush gracing his features, “Yeah...”



“How much did you see, and,” he paused, mulling the second half of his question over for a moment, “how long did you stare?”



“I’m not a pervert!” Naruto responded indignantly.



“No but you’re a guy so, answer the question or, our ‘mission’ ends here.”



Naruto rubbed the back of his head nervously, “I saw everything, I mean, all of her.” He told him, “and I’m not sure exactly how long, but it was a few seconds, maybe, but I was really surprised, I didn’t know what to do! It was all in shock, it’s not like I wanted to see her like that intentionally, I mean, it was nice, but- I mean, I didn’t mean to do it, honest!”



Shikamaru raised his arms in front of himself, signaling for Naruto to stop rambling and sighed once the blonde shut up. “So, now she’s avoiding you, right?”



Naruto nodded, “Yes.”



“And what is it you expect me to do about it?”



“Well,” Naruto began, “I want her to talk to me again, and,” he paused, “I want to ask her out.”



“Do you realize how cliché the last part sounds?” Shikamaru asked with a frown.



“Well, yeah.”



“So, why then?”



“Because.”



“Because?”



“Because, two years ago, I think I saw her naked too.”



Shikamaru resisted the urge to slam his head down on the counter. “You ‘think’?”



Naruto folded his arms across his chest and nodded, "Yeah, I thought it was a really good dream, but after this time, I think it really was her. I’ve dreamt about her in place of the silhouette for the last two nights. It just fits y’know? It has to be her.”



At that moment their order came up and as Shikamaru watched Naruto down his meal, he sighed to himself, “How troublesome.”



This situation really was that, troublesome. He wasn’t sure what the best plan of action was for this sort of situation, nothing in his shinobi career had prepared him for matchmaking. Not that it probably mattered in any case; no one could set Uzumaki Naruto with anyone. Not that he was a horrible guy or anything, and despite being mildly annoying he had good traits, the only problem was that he was simply, hopeless. Naruto was indeed the perfect embodiment of the word, and there wasn’t any sort of actual reason as to why he was, aside from the general and unanimous feeling one would get upon meeting him. Factor in his current predicament, his obvious surrender to his hormones, and his impulsiveness and anyone would get discouraged. However, Shikamaru feared motherly intervention, and he knew his dad would make due on any threat made out of sheer principle and of course, pure sadistic enjoyment.



“Well, I don’t have much of a choice, I guess.” Shikamaru muttered to himself and sighed once more.



It hadn’t taken them long to finish their lunch, and out of courtesy to the establishment, they opted to change their location for planning their next move. After a bit of deliberating, they finally decided on Naruto’s apartment. It wasn’t a long ways away, though it did take them rather close to the Yamanaka flow shop and, unfortunately for them, their passing by didn’t go unnoticed by a certain pale blonde.



“Jeez, you walk on by without even saying hello? I thought we were teammates Shikamaru-kun.” Ino said with a half pout, standing in the doorway of her families flower shop. “And hello there, Naruto.”



Shikamaru simply sighed regarding his former teammate impassively, “Don’t need any flowers,” he informed her and prepared to continue on his way.



“Oh? Then how about you Naruto?” She inquired obviously bored otherwise she wouldn’t have been making such an effort to converse with the two.



Naruto bit his lip, contemplating the idea, after all girls did like flowers, and he was sure Hinata did. Though which types and how exactly would he get them to her? “Well, I don’t really know...” he began, only to be saved by Shikamaru.



“We don’t have the time,” he insisted and motioned for Naruto to follow suit.



Naruto stared at him blankly for a moment before nodding, in agreement, “Uh, yeah, right, not today Ino-chan, but sometime soon alright?” he told her.



“Bye Ino.” Shikamaru told her with a wave, Naruto following close behind him, leaving a bored and somewhat perplexed Ino behind.



After they’d gotten out of earshot of Ino, Shikamaru spoke up, “We can’t have anyone know what’s going on, if word spreads and Hinata hears you’re finished. Ino and the other girls definitely can’t know. Women are troublesome when they talk to each other, if they find out, we’re cooked.” In his head he made a silent affirmation that women were indeed troublesome.



Understanding, Naruto nodded, “Right.”



Shortly thereafter the two shinobi had finally arrived at Naruto’s apartment.



“So, what are we going to do Shikamaru?” asked Naruto, his tone laced with his natural impatience.



"I think we need to get things done quickly," He began, and “we most likely only have one chance. But, things need to go perfectly, I mean, we can’t have her run away like she did to you before. With that said, I think we have until tomorrow to plan and prepare ourselves.” Shikamaru sighed, “But, we have several issues, first and foremost, our methods, what are we going to do, and how to get her out of her house. I don’t doubt she’ll be pretty reluctant to leave that place for a little while. Feh, how troublesome...”



Naruto furrowed his brows and made a sort of a whining sound, “Jeez, I’m no good at this sort of thing,” he complained, “But, maybe you could tell her Hokage-sama has a message for her and she needs to go see her right away!” he suggested.



Shikamaru shook his head, “Such a lame tactic won’t work dummy, plus the Hokage wouldn’t call a Hyuuga down to her office for a simple ‘message’, we need something more believable, and not as obvious.”



“Well, what then?”



“I’m thinking, just wait.”



Naruto pouted and began to poke at the floor mat, impatient as ever. Shikamaru simply ignored it, working out the details in his head. Luckily for him, Ino had been his teammate, and there were often times when she refused to quit ranting, as such, the only thing left for him was to tune her out. It was a useful trick especially once he became a teacher at the academy, after all, little kids, especially ones like Konohamaru, were particularly loud. Then there was Temari, though, for some reason, on her, the little trick didn’t go unnoticed, and often she’d go out of her way and utilize it as an excuse to smash him over the back of his head with her ridiculously large fan.



“Well?”



“Alright, I have an idea, though, it’s gonna be tough, and you need to do everything I tell you, and I mean everything.”



Naruto nodded and proceeded to give Shikamaru his full, impatient attention.



“First we...”



**



Back at the Yamanaka flower shop, Ino was just finishing her end of day duties when a certain pink haired Kunoichi showed up at her shops door.



“Hey Ino, how’s it going?”



Ino frowned, sighing as she pointed at the clock, “I’m a Chuunin doing menial work at a flower shop on low season, and I’m damn bored.” It’d been a long time since the two had deigned to insult each other, most likely due to the fact that their long-time crush over the younger of the rogue Uchiha’s had practically diminished, at least in Ino.



“Wow, I feel sorry for you, the last thing I’d want to do is work on a day off.” Sakura told her empathetically, “Oh, have you seen Naruto? Tsunade wanted me to tell him that his and Hinata’s payment for their last mission are ready at her office.”



“As a matter of fact, Naruto was hanging out with Shikamaru earlier, though they didn’t say where they were going to.” Ino told her as a matter of factly, “Though, they were acting suspicious, Naruto was extra stupid, or at least severely spacey, it was a little weird.”



Suspicious? Weird? A few silent alarms rang out in Sakura’s head and she frowned, “Thanks Ino, I guess I’ll go try and find them.”



“Oh, I’m off in 5 minutes, mind if I tag along? I’ll even treat you to dinner after.” Ino offered seriously bored.



“Sure, after we deliver that message we can catch a movie or something too.”



“Great” Ino agreed and proceeded to finish off her closing duties.



Not too long after Ino had locked up her shop and Sakura had decided to simply leave a note at Naruto’s apartment (assuming he wasn’t there, if he was, all the better), he had to get it at some point after all. The last thing Sakura wanted to do was to spend her time chasing around after the blonde, not that she heavily disliked him, but for such a menial message, she’d rather avoid it.



Ino had just finished her explanation of her day to Sakura before the two Kunoichi rounded a corner and arrived in front of Naruto’s apartment building.



Ino was somewhat surprised, “Wow, he was closer than I’d thought. I don’t know why, I kind of pictured him living on the outskirts of town, y’know, by the cheaper houses.” She commented pensively, “Is it true he’s lived alone all this time?”



Sakura nodded, “That’s what he told me, since he was five and left the orphanage.”



“Wow, I kind of feel bad for him.”



“Yeah, me too, though, it looks like he’s home, so maybe we should go up and deliver the message.” Suggested Sakura as she realized they’d been gawking for some time now, it’d be bad if one of Naruto’s neighbors noticed them doing such a thing in front of their homes.



They climbed the old stairs quickly, eventually making their way to the room Naruto had told Sakura was his. Truth be told, this was only her fourth time visiting his home, and she it her lip a bit in guilt as she realized just how little time she’d spent with her teammate.



Suddenly a loud shout originating from Naruto echoed loudly throughout the apartment building. “WHAT!? THERE’S NO WAY I CAN BE THAT BOLD!”



“Oiy, Naruto, don’t yell you’ll let everyone in on the plan, baka!” Shikamaru’s voice came, quieter, but still audible in the hall way.





“But, but, but, I can’t just do THAT to Hinata-chan!”



Sakura felt herself blush as she leaned against his door, Ino doing the same thing without word or question.



Was he talking about me? Sakura wondered to herself, readily willing to beat the crap out of Shikamaru if Naruto were to ever try any thing, from the sounds of it, it was his idea in the first place.



“What the hell is Shikamaru doing giving out advice?” Ino questioned out loud as she continued to eavesdrop.



“Well,” Shikamaru began, “What else do you think you’re going to do after we get her there? Trust me, women like romantic things like that, especially if they already like you, at least even a little.”



“Alright then,” Naruto conceded, “If you say so.”



Sakura shook Ino’s shoulder, “We have to go!”



“Why?” Ino asked grumpily, as if she’d just woken up, “What if we miss the good parts?”



“It’s a private conversation!”



“I know you know, that I know, that you want to know who he’s talking about.” Ino reasoned, “And for all we know, he could be talking about either of us.”



Shikamaru’s voice cut in and the girls froze in place, terrified as the apartment door opened, “So, remember the plan Naruto, and remember to be at Ich-“ he stopped mid sentence as he stared down at the two Kunoichi huddled together in front of him. “What are you two doing here!?”



“Huh? Who’s ther- Sakura-chan!?”



Sakura blinked, stepping back slightly, “I- uh, just stopped by to give you a message from Hokage-sama. Right, your pay and,” he paused, sudden realization hitting her as the name came out, “Hinata’s pay from the last mission is at the front, go get it when you have the time.” She nudged Ino in the ribs, urging her to speak as well.



“And I’m just here to, uh, deliver the message too, but... we’re gonna go to the movies now. BYE!” Ino then grabbed Sakura by the arm and charged out of the building in a hurry, shouting out: “We’re late!” as an after thought.



As the two fled, Shikamaru let out a heavy sigh, “Shit.” He muttered.



Naruto looked confused, “What?”



“They know something...” he told Naruto ominously, “I’m sure of it they were acting too weird, even for Ino.”



“But that means...”



“We’re moving tonight.”



“Tonight!?”



“We don’t have a choice; we’re going to infiltrate the Hyuuga grounds.”



**



“Hinata-chan.” Sakura breathed out, voice coated in surprise and when Ino looked over at her with a dazed expression she elaborated, “The one Naruto likes, it’s Hinata-chan.”



Ino’s eyes were nearly bursting from her sockets, “I heard.”



“Naruto likes Hinata-chan.”



“I can’t believe it.”



“Hinata-chans dream come true!”



“We have to tell her.”



“It’s our duty as women.” Sakura agreed.



Ino nodded, “She’d do the same for us.”



“Of course she would. We have to tell her NOW.”



“Let’s go.”



~



Woot, Chapter 2 COMPLETE!



Last minute explanations time. Yes, the details of the plan are secret, and they will be revealed the next chapter. Why Ino and Sakura are going to tell her? Well, because I’m basing their reactions like my sisters (both younger) would react. And, actually have reacted. They called up the person in subject (In this case Hinata) and spilled the beans on who was A) “in love with them” B) going to ask them out, or C) break up with them.



I assume it’s an unwritten code amongst women, if I’m wrong, whatever, my fic, my theory!



Again, sorry for the delay!