Categories > Anime/Manga > Naruto > Helping Out
Author's Note: Sorry about all the time-traveling, but this is a year after the last chapter...
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Helping Out
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"Oh, Naruto, it's beautiful!" Hinata exclaimed, holding the necklace up to the light. He grinned.
"Happy birthday, Hinata."
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Neji stared blankly into space, in shock. He couldn't believe it.
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"So, when are you two going to get married?" Ino joked. "We'll have so much fun helping you plan your wedding!"
"Oh, I don't think we're going to get married for awhile now..." Hinata smiled uncertainly, blushing lightly.
"Oh, don't be surprised. Naruto's known to rush into things." Sakura nodded.
"Like Shikamaru."
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Although he felt terrible now, Neji knew that somewhere, wherever he was, Naruto felt a million times worse.
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"Now we're really the perfect team." Naruto grinned, hugging her with one arm. Hinata smiled, nodding.
"Yes we are."
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"Oh my god...you can't be serious." Sakura gasped, her eyes wide.
"How...?" Ino whimpered.
"I'm with her. How could that have happened?" Sasuke asked, his arms around his wife.
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"Neji...are you doing alright?"
"Of course I am. I'm doing even better knowing you're alright." Neji nodded, smiling slightly. "You're happy with him, right?"
"Yes. He's so sweet..."
---------------------
"The group has established themselves as a deadly group. They still haven't contacted us with their name or any other information." Tsunade said gravely. "But we suspect that it was the same group that murdered TenTen."
Neji left the room.
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"Naruto...you shouldn't train so hard." Hinata said, examining the bandages on his arm. "You could really hurt yourself."
"But how else am I going to become Hokage?" He asked with his usual grin.
---------------------
"And Naruto...?" Shino asked.
"Still unconscious and hospitalized." Tsunade looked down. "We don't know if he's going to make it."
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"Listen, my cousin is happy with you. But if you ever do anything to hurt her, I'll hurt you ten times worse."
"It's alright. I love her too much to ever hurt her."
---------------------
A falcon soared through the open window, dropped a scroll on the Hokage's desk and flapped back out.
"That bird was wearing a grass hitai-ate..." Sasuke noted darkly. Tsunade snatched up the scroll and started reading it.
"Well?" Shikamaru asked impatiently. "How bad is it?"
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"Hinata!"
"Kiba?" Hinata turned around to see her old teammate running up to her.
"Akamaru's a dad! His mate just had puppies!!" He said breathlessly, grinning excitedly.
"Oh, really? Kiba, that's great!"
"C'mon!" He grabbed her by the wrist and half-dragged, half-led her to his backyard, to Akamaru's dog house. Sure enough, a pretty female dog had four, tiny puppies nestled up beside her while Akamaru sat proudly behind them. Shino was watching the puppies from a little ways away.
"Aww, they're adorable!" Hinata exclaimed, gently stroking one.
---------------------
"I..." Tsunade let her voice trail off as she tossed the scroll to Shikamaru. Kiba intercepted it, scanning down the page.
"Oh god..." Shino and Sakura read over his shoulder. Kiba opened the scroll up completely, and a necklace fell out. It was the same one Naruto gave Hinata for her birthday that year.
---------------------
"I love planning weddings." Sakura commented serenely.
"Only because you've already had yours. I am so nervous...and it hasn't even started!" Ino exclaimed.
"Everything is going to go fine." Hinata reassured her.
"Hey, maybe Naruto will propose to you at the party afterwards." Sakura grinned, winking.
---------------------
"It says it's because the scroll wouldn't hold her hitai-ate..." Shino read, gingerly picking up the necklace.
"Poor Neji...he must be taking this pretty hard..." Sakura sighed sadly.
"What about Naruto when he wakes up?" Sasuke replied. "He's going to go demonic and try to kill everyone in sight."
Of course, only Sakura, Tsunade and himself knew the full truth of that comment.
---------------------
"Neji...I'm sorry..." Hinata whimpered, staring down at her feet.
He was taken aback. "Why?"
"I'm just so...happy with Naruto, and you must feel so lonely..." She sniffled loudly. "I'm sorry..."
"You shouldn't be. You should be happy."
"But...b-but I feel so guilty..." A few teardrops hit the ground by her feet.
"Don't. When you're happy, it makes me happier." Neji reassured her.
---------------------
"This is...terrible..." Ino whispered.
"To say the least." Tsunade agreed darkly. Sakura took the scroll and she and Sasuke read it for themselves.
"Those bastards. There's blood all over the scroll." Sasuke growled. Kiba sniffed it, looking confused.
"That's not Hinata's blood."
---------------------
"Aww, when can we adopt them?" Sakura cooed, looking at the puppies. Ino picked one up, setting it on her head like Akamaru used to.
"Well, probably in about a week." Kiba admitted. "But I'll be sad to see them go." Akamaru barked his agreement.
"Kiba...could I adopt one? I'd like to give one to Naruto for his birthday..." Hinata asked, stroking Akamaru.
"Oh, he would love that so much!" Sakura squealed. "Come to think of it, Naruto sort of acts like a dog himself. Loyal, loud, energetic..."
Hinata giggled.
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"She must have put up quite a fight to get that much of their blood on the scroll." Shino muttered.
"I'm going to hunt down those monsters!!" Kiba sniffed the scroll again like a bloodhound, but Tsunade snatched it away from him.
"You'll do nothing of the sort. We don't want to lose more ninja to them."
"Naruto's going to try to hunt them down. And Neji. And Kiba, once he gets home to get Akamaru. And probably every other ninja who ever knew her. You remember when Lee regained consciousness after the ambush?"
"I think we all remember that little episode." Tsunade said curtly. "You are all to go straight home, none of this avenging business. We will have an organized hunt of these rogues once we collect a bit more information."
---------------------
"AWESOME!!" Naruto yelped, staring at the puppy in pure glee.
"It's just a puppy..." Hinata smiled awkwardly, looking down at the wiggling mass of fur now on Naruto's head.
"I'll name her...Hinata! 'Cause I love her so much." Naruto pulled her into a one-armed hug and held up the puppy in the other.
"Naruto...it's a boy puppy."
"Hmm..." Naruto set the puppy down on the ground, staring at him. The poor puppy fell over, half-asleep before he hit the ground. "It seems pretty lazy, so I can't name it Lee or Sasuke..."
"Name him Shikamaru." Hinata giggled, smiling down at the two.
"Hey, good idea!" Naruto jumped up, scooping up the puppy. The canine gave a half-hearted whine of protest before falling asleep again.
"It was a joke, Naruto..."
---------------------
Ino glanced at Shikamaru, holding his gaze for a meaningful second before turning back to Tsunade. Unfortunately, it seemed, the Hokage noticed.
"Neither of you try anything." She warned.
Shino held a finger up, a bug perched upon it. He was apparently having a conversation with it, because pretty soon he let his hand fall back down and he turned to Tsunade. "Do you think someone's after Neji?"
"First TenTen, then Hinata. You may have a point." Sakura sniffed, nodding.
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Helping Out
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"Oh, Naruto, it's beautiful!" Hinata exclaimed, holding the necklace up to the light. He grinned.
"Happy birthday, Hinata."
---------------------
Neji stared blankly into space, in shock. He couldn't believe it.
---------------------
"So, when are you two going to get married?" Ino joked. "We'll have so much fun helping you plan your wedding!"
"Oh, I don't think we're going to get married for awhile now..." Hinata smiled uncertainly, blushing lightly.
"Oh, don't be surprised. Naruto's known to rush into things." Sakura nodded.
"Like Shikamaru."
---------------------
Although he felt terrible now, Neji knew that somewhere, wherever he was, Naruto felt a million times worse.
---------------------
"Now we're really the perfect team." Naruto grinned, hugging her with one arm. Hinata smiled, nodding.
"Yes we are."
---------------------
"Oh my god...you can't be serious." Sakura gasped, her eyes wide.
"How...?" Ino whimpered.
"I'm with her. How could that have happened?" Sasuke asked, his arms around his wife.
---------------------
"Neji...are you doing alright?"
"Of course I am. I'm doing even better knowing you're alright." Neji nodded, smiling slightly. "You're happy with him, right?"
"Yes. He's so sweet..."
---------------------
"The group has established themselves as a deadly group. They still haven't contacted us with their name or any other information." Tsunade said gravely. "But we suspect that it was the same group that murdered TenTen."
Neji left the room.
---------------------
"Naruto...you shouldn't train so hard." Hinata said, examining the bandages on his arm. "You could really hurt yourself."
"But how else am I going to become Hokage?" He asked with his usual grin.
---------------------
"And Naruto...?" Shino asked.
"Still unconscious and hospitalized." Tsunade looked down. "We don't know if he's going to make it."
---------------------
"Listen, my cousin is happy with you. But if you ever do anything to hurt her, I'll hurt you ten times worse."
"It's alright. I love her too much to ever hurt her."
---------------------
A falcon soared through the open window, dropped a scroll on the Hokage's desk and flapped back out.
"That bird was wearing a grass hitai-ate..." Sasuke noted darkly. Tsunade snatched up the scroll and started reading it.
"Well?" Shikamaru asked impatiently. "How bad is it?"
---------------------
"Hinata!"
"Kiba?" Hinata turned around to see her old teammate running up to her.
"Akamaru's a dad! His mate just had puppies!!" He said breathlessly, grinning excitedly.
"Oh, really? Kiba, that's great!"
"C'mon!" He grabbed her by the wrist and half-dragged, half-led her to his backyard, to Akamaru's dog house. Sure enough, a pretty female dog had four, tiny puppies nestled up beside her while Akamaru sat proudly behind them. Shino was watching the puppies from a little ways away.
"Aww, they're adorable!" Hinata exclaimed, gently stroking one.
---------------------
"I..." Tsunade let her voice trail off as she tossed the scroll to Shikamaru. Kiba intercepted it, scanning down the page.
"Oh god..." Shino and Sakura read over his shoulder. Kiba opened the scroll up completely, and a necklace fell out. It was the same one Naruto gave Hinata for her birthday that year.
---------------------
"I love planning weddings." Sakura commented serenely.
"Only because you've already had yours. I am so nervous...and it hasn't even started!" Ino exclaimed.
"Everything is going to go fine." Hinata reassured her.
"Hey, maybe Naruto will propose to you at the party afterwards." Sakura grinned, winking.
---------------------
"It says it's because the scroll wouldn't hold her hitai-ate..." Shino read, gingerly picking up the necklace.
"Poor Neji...he must be taking this pretty hard..." Sakura sighed sadly.
"What about Naruto when he wakes up?" Sasuke replied. "He's going to go demonic and try to kill everyone in sight."
Of course, only Sakura, Tsunade and himself knew the full truth of that comment.
---------------------
"Neji...I'm sorry..." Hinata whimpered, staring down at her feet.
He was taken aback. "Why?"
"I'm just so...happy with Naruto, and you must feel so lonely..." She sniffled loudly. "I'm sorry..."
"You shouldn't be. You should be happy."
"But...b-but I feel so guilty..." A few teardrops hit the ground by her feet.
"Don't. When you're happy, it makes me happier." Neji reassured her.
---------------------
"This is...terrible..." Ino whispered.
"To say the least." Tsunade agreed darkly. Sakura took the scroll and she and Sasuke read it for themselves.
"Those bastards. There's blood all over the scroll." Sasuke growled. Kiba sniffed it, looking confused.
"That's not Hinata's blood."
---------------------
"Aww, when can we adopt them?" Sakura cooed, looking at the puppies. Ino picked one up, setting it on her head like Akamaru used to.
"Well, probably in about a week." Kiba admitted. "But I'll be sad to see them go." Akamaru barked his agreement.
"Kiba...could I adopt one? I'd like to give one to Naruto for his birthday..." Hinata asked, stroking Akamaru.
"Oh, he would love that so much!" Sakura squealed. "Come to think of it, Naruto sort of acts like a dog himself. Loyal, loud, energetic..."
Hinata giggled.
---------------------
"She must have put up quite a fight to get that much of their blood on the scroll." Shino muttered.
"I'm going to hunt down those monsters!!" Kiba sniffed the scroll again like a bloodhound, but Tsunade snatched it away from him.
"You'll do nothing of the sort. We don't want to lose more ninja to them."
"Naruto's going to try to hunt them down. And Neji. And Kiba, once he gets home to get Akamaru. And probably every other ninja who ever knew her. You remember when Lee regained consciousness after the ambush?"
"I think we all remember that little episode." Tsunade said curtly. "You are all to go straight home, none of this avenging business. We will have an organized hunt of these rogues once we collect a bit more information."
---------------------
"AWESOME!!" Naruto yelped, staring at the puppy in pure glee.
"It's just a puppy..." Hinata smiled awkwardly, looking down at the wiggling mass of fur now on Naruto's head.
"I'll name her...Hinata! 'Cause I love her so much." Naruto pulled her into a one-armed hug and held up the puppy in the other.
"Naruto...it's a boy puppy."
"Hmm..." Naruto set the puppy down on the ground, staring at him. The poor puppy fell over, half-asleep before he hit the ground. "It seems pretty lazy, so I can't name it Lee or Sasuke..."
"Name him Shikamaru." Hinata giggled, smiling down at the two.
"Hey, good idea!" Naruto jumped up, scooping up the puppy. The canine gave a half-hearted whine of protest before falling asleep again.
"It was a joke, Naruto..."
---------------------
Ino glanced at Shikamaru, holding his gaze for a meaningful second before turning back to Tsunade. Unfortunately, it seemed, the Hokage noticed.
"Neither of you try anything." She warned.
Shino held a finger up, a bug perched upon it. He was apparently having a conversation with it, because pretty soon he let his hand fall back down and he turned to Tsunade. "Do you think someone's after Neji?"
"First TenTen, then Hinata. You may have a point." Sakura sniffed, nodding.
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