Katsuaki
By Areku1993
"We're all secure for the night!"
The girl flashed a grin and disappeared into her bedroom. "Okay, mom! Good night!"
But the night was anything but good.
The girl was none other than Katsuaki Hyuuga, from the main branch of the Hyuuga clan. However, Katsuaki wasn't a ninja, but she possessed byakugen. It wasn't nearly as advanced as Neji's, or even Hinata's for that matter, but it was still byakugen. apparently someone else thought so, too.
About half way through the night, the long black haired Hyuuga girl heard a crash in her living room. Her door was thrust open, and in entered a ninja clad in black with a katana in each hand. Katsuaki tumbled out of bed and stood up, trembling. She was no ninja. She didn't know anything about fighting.
When one of the katanas swiveled in the ninja's hand to point at her, she screamed and flung herself out a window. Landing safely on the ground about five feet below, she took off at a run.
"Naruto, I love you..."
Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Really, Sakura?"
Sakura nodded and smiled, leaning forward. "If you love me back, kiss me and we can rub it in that Sasuke bastard's face!"
"All right!"
Slap, slap, slap.
"Sakura?"
Naruto's eyes flickered open and he sat up in bed. He rubbed his eyes and sighed. What woke him up? It was hot tonight, so he left his window open. He could hear slapping noises on the pavement below. What time was it? He looked at the clock. Four in the morning. What were those noises? Couldn't be rain. He stood up and adjusted his nightcap, yawning and looking out the window.
Katsuaki was running by his building, pursued closely by the ninja from her room. She was running on fear-induced energy, and that energy was running out. The ninja was gaining on her, and she had full understanding that she would either A, die, or B, get kidnapped.
But huzzah.
A kunai whizzed out from a window, thudding into the ninja's shoulder, surprising him and making him topple over with surprise. Naruto leapt out of his window and landed on the pavement near Katsuaki, holding a hand towards her. "Come on!"
Katsuaki took his hand and was practically dragged off. Minutes later, she sat in Naruto's apartment, her legs curled to her chest, trembling uncontrollably.
Naruto set down a mug of cocoa. It was what everybody did in the movies, and he was glad that Katsuaki accepted it gratefully. She brought it to her lips and took a sip, trying to set it back down. But the mug slipped from her shivering fingers and smashed on the floor.
"I'm sorry..." She muttered. Her eyes lifted to look at Naruto. "They won't come back, right?"
"That depends on what they want." Naruto replied. He stood up and grabbed a rag to clean up the spilled cocoa. "Any idea?"
"No..."
"What's your name? Are you a ninja? How old are you?"
"I'm not a ninja... And my name? Katsuaki Hyuuga. I'm sixteen."
Naruto blinked. So she was his age. "Hyuuga? So you know Hinata and Neji, right?"
"They're my cousins. I don't see them a lot, so I'm afriad I don't know much about you..."
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! People think I'm a loser, but soon I'll become the greatest Hokage and finally get the respect I deserve!"
"Naruto?" Katsuaki furrowed her brow. "Oh, right. Neji says you're a loser, but my mom says that you deserve respect."
"Your mom?"
"Uh huh. My mom says that anyone who fights for our village deserves respect." Katsuaki smiled. "What about your parents?"
Naruto looked at the floor. "I never knew any of my parents." He immediately put on a grin. "But that doesn't bother me!"
Katsuaki looked at him with a sad expression. Then, a thought occured to her. "Naruto? Have you ever heard of a medical jutsu that can take someone's eye and then replace it with another one?"
Naruto scratched his head. "Eh? I don't think so... Oh! Yeah! Kakashi sensei! He said something about that."
"I have byakugen. It's not nearly as good as Neji's, or Hinata's, but it's still byakugen. It could be trained to be even better than Neji's, with enough time and devotion. I think, because I'm the most helpless, whoever wants byakugen has come after me."
"HELPLESS!"
Katsuaki flinched. "...What?"
Naruto moved his arms and hands to emphasize. "DID YOU SEE HOW FAST YOU WERE RUNNING? You were like WOOSH!"
Katsuaki sweatdropped. "Um... Yeah... Well, I'll go home tomorrow, and you won't have to worry anymore. I'll get someone to help me out. Neji, maybe."
Naruto stood up. "Come on, I know the PERFECT person to guard you!"
Katsuaki just blinked.
"HEY WAKE UP!"
"GAHH!"
Kakashi fell out of bed, glaring at the clock. He tied on his mask and head protector and banged his head on his mattress. "Naruto! It's almost five in the morning! You should be getting ready for training!"
"NOW WE KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING WHEN YOU'RE 'LOST ON THE ROAD OF LIFE!'" Naruto's voice came through the door. "OPEN THE DOOR! IT'S IMPORTANT! AND I HOPE YOUR NOT NAKED!"
Kakashi heard a giggle, and a muffled, "Hey, shut up, he'll hear you!"
Sighing, the jounin stood up and opened his door, rubbing his eye. Naruto was doing the exact same thing, in his pajamas and nightcap. A black haired girl's face popped over his shoulder. "Hi."
Kakashi blinked. "Eh."
"This is Katsuaki, Katsuaki Hyuuga. This ninja guy was chasing her and I saved her, but now she needs someone to protect her. You know how you got YOUR eye? Well, Katsuaki thinks someone wants to do the same thing with her byakugen."
Kakashi sighed. "If Katsuaki is a true ninja, she should be able to take care of herself."
"I'm not a ninja." Katsuaki replied. "Just because I'm a Hyuuga doesn't mean I have to be a ninja, Kakashi."
"But she can run REAL fast!" Once again, Naruto moved his arms and hands to emphasize. "She was like WOOSH!"
Kakashi and Katsuaki sweatdropped.
"Well anyway, could you watch her for a while, Kakashi sensei? She could be in danger..."
"Konoha ninjas only cater to people who are paying for missions..." Kakashi turned away briefly, scratching his hair. "It'd be against the rules...
When he turned around, Katsuaki flashed several pieces of paper in his face. "Is this enough?"
Kakashi blinked. "Where did..." He looked around, his eyes falling on a jar near the door. He kept some money in there for emergencies, and the jar was empty. He snatched it back and stuffed it back in the jar. "Don't do that..."
"Whatever ever happened to your 'I'll never let my comrades die' slogan?" Naruto demanded.
"Well, number one, Katsuaki is not one of my comrades. Two, I don't even think she has byakugen, or is of the Hyuuga clan to boot." Kakashi replied, sitting back down on his bed.
"Nice sharingan."
Kakashi blinked. Katsuaki's eyes were white and the veins were visible on her temples. She pointed at his left eye. "But only one? Hm. Strange, you know. Only one eye is sharingan while the other one is perfectly normal. Why's that, Kakashi?"
Kakashi began to reply, but Katsuaki interrupted him. "Oh, wait, of course. The scar across your eye... A good friend, an Uchiha friend by the sharingan, tranferred his eye to yours when you lost it. Medical jutsu?"
Kakashi nodded slowly while Katsuaki turned off her byakugen. "I don't want to push you guys into anything," She said. "As much as I would like this protection, if you don't feel like doing it you don't have to. If I suddenly just disappear Neji and Hinata would go nuts trying to find me, so I don't think I have to worry."
Katsuaki turned, but made a small gasp when Kakashi's hand thumped down on her shoulder. "Just because it's against the rules doesn't mean I won't help protect you, Katsuaki."