AN: Eheheh....Hi everyone. Sorry about disappearing of the face of the internet again. This is the first of at least three slightly AU NarutoHinata oneshots that were inspired by the song, Moondance by Van Morrison. The idea of a moondance will be explained in the next oneshot, which I haven't exactly started writing. But I plan to. Like, right when my beta gets back online. Which should be soon.
Naruto perched loosely on the tree's branch on all fours, absently noting that every muscle not involved in keeping him perfectly balanced was loose. Shifting his weight onto his heels, the fox container reached into his pocket and grabbed his weapons. Lazy crimson eyes tracked the guards' progress, mentally ticking off the seconds till there was the crucial pause. He flicked three of his small, stone projectiles at the target window and listened for any response, ears twitching slightly. A few seconds later, one corner of his mouth pulled to one side in a pleased smirk, revealing one rather large fang that almost extended past his lips.
He shifted his weight in excitement as he watched a familiar figure shift in her sleep, sleepy eyes drifting open to glance out the window. Those same eyes widened when they spotted him and the figure hurried over to her window, throwing it open and sending a half incredulous glare in Naruto's direction. Before she could say anything, Naruto made a tremendous leap from the tree branch he was resting on and landing on the roof with barely a sound. He quickly slunk to the roof's edge and hung over the edge easily, ignoring his target's muffled cry as he dropped, only to grab her windowsill and pull himself up onto the sturdy ledge easily, eyes dancing as one Hyuuga Hinata gaped at him.
---
"N-Naruto-kun, w-what are you doing here?!" She asked in a strangled whisper, taking in her comrade's altered appearance. The crimson eyes and near-fangs would've frightened her unconditionally if she didn't know the source of the changes. But still, Naruto rarely allowed youki to mix with his own chakra outside of battle and even then… Still, the excitement and an almost feral glee shining in the red eyes, paired with the twitching of his nose and infinitesimal jerks of his head as his ears trained on different sounds made her feel uneasy. Strangely enough, as the blonde shifted his weight and held out one clawed hand, Hinata could feel her reservations slipping away.
"Oh it's a marvelous night for a moondance," Naruto almost sang in a strange tone, beckoning slightly for Hinata to take his hand. She did so, almost in a trance like way, lavender eyes glazed over slightly. He silently held out a clawed hand and she unblinkingly let placed her small hand in his larger, rougher and warmer palm. Sharp tipped fingers gently encased her hand and Hinata allowed herself to be tugged out of her room and on to the roof where they both stood for a moment, Hinata shivering slightly as a nighttime zephyr blew past, glancing at her crush.
Naruto's eyes were busy, tracking the guards' progress again, muscles tensing in anticipation, gently squeezing Hinata's hand before jumping. A thrill of delight rushed through him as he felt Hinata follow in an instant, landing neatly next to him on the bough that had gained him entrance to the Hyuuga compound. Glancing at her, he grinned and purred before leading the way to the ground, using claws and traction just as much as chakra. Hinata followed silently, her concerns still nowhere to be found.
As soon as her feet touched dusty earth, Naruto smiled predatorily before circling her three times before leaping up on to the nearest roof. He hummed a bar of music as he loped agilely about the hodge-podge architecture of his home, pleased that Hinata followed him easily as he led the way in the moondark village. Every so often they would stop for a moment and Naruto would silently point out certain aspects of the village, highlighted in soft shades of moonlight- normally harsh lines softened by darkness or a flower bush with blooming buds. Once they even stopped to observe an owl snare a young rabbit; Naruto reacting to the successful catch with a pleased growl as he watched the owl labor upwards to a nearby tree to eat its catch.
Finally the pair found themselves atop the Hokage Mountain, looking out over the entire village. Naruto sat back on his hunches, a proprietary smile quirking his lips as he observed his village, sleeping peacefully. Hinata glanced down at him and smiled as well, feeling the contentedness radiating from her crush. She was about to suggest that they go somewhere else, when she saw Naruto stand up and tug on the short sleeve of her pajama top. Glancing at him, curious, she was startled when a claw tapped her nose lightly before Naruto launched himself towards the trail that led down the mountain side.
"Tag! You're it!" he called out behind him, glancing behind to see Hinata stand there in shock for a second before shooting after him, a determined gleam deepening her eyes to a darker lavender. Facing forward again, Naruto drew back his lip over his fangs in a pleased grin before throwing his body sideways, off the trail, only to cling to the Cliffside with chakra, speed increasing as gravity pressed down on him weightily.
Naruto skidded to a halt atop Hokage Tower, panting slightly as he straightened into a bipedal stance, turning to grin happily at his companion who had landed behind him and was panting far more heavily. Hinata smiled weakly at him before closing her eyes and took a deep breath, mostly likely to slow her pounding heart. Naruto cocked his head for a moment, hearing something wrong with Hinata's heart. He closed his eyes to focus his hearing better. Yes...He could hear a jerky pause on the second half of her heartbeat. Opening his eyes, he saw Hinata standing normally, a worried expression on her face.
"Naruto-kun…?" She muttered, her hands instinctively coming up to poke her index fingers together. Before they could connect for the first poke, Naruto's hands were clamped around her wrists. He frowned slightly at her, still hearing the aberration in her pulse, less pronounced now that her pulse had slowed.
"There's…there's something up with your heart," he muttered. Hinata flushed for a moment before paling. Realizing he had worried her, the demon container smiled a little. "It's nothing bad, nothing that baa-chan couldn't fix. It's just a little a-" he stopped suddenly, his eyes focusing on some point behind Hinata's head. His hands went slack on her wrists, barely noticing as Hinata turned to see what he was seeing.
---
"Naruto-kun? What's w-wrong, it's only the sun…rising…" Hinata paled dramatically, remembering that her father was an early riser. She turned back to her crush, only to stop and stare in fascination. As the sun hit Naruto's skin, she watched as he changed back to his usual appearance. The claws on his feet and hands melted back to clipped fingernails, the fangs shrinking back to their almost-normal size as his whisker scars faded to thin lines. Last to change were his eyes and hair, the blonde spikes smoothing back to their normal shape as his eyes faded from a burgundy crimson to a deep purple, to a lighter purple before finally resuming their natural color of deep cerulean blue. He stood there for a moment before blinking and looking at Hinata with a small smile on his lips.
"Oh can't I just have one more moondance with you…." He half-sang to himself before really focusing on his worried guest. He looked at her to the sun and back to her, his face paling. "Oh shiiiiiit," he groaned. "Your dad is going to fuckin' maim me if he finds out you were with me during one of my moondances…" Without further explanation, he grabbed at Hinata's wrist and they leapt from the Hokage Tower, bouncing rapidly from roof to roof in a desperate attempt to return Hinata to her home before her emotionally constipated family found out that she was gone.
Naruto and Hinata glanced at each other before Naruto nodded silently. Both teens quickly leaped from their respective tree branches to the roof above Hinata's room, letting out silent sighs of relief as the Hyuuga guards didn't react in any way. Naruto grinned easily at Hinata who smiled somewhat hesitantly back before pointing down. Naruto nodded and they both slowly applied chakra to their feet and inched down the wall to Hinata's windowsill, still open to the cool dawn breeze. Hinata quickly swung inside her window and turned to face Naruto who crouched easily on the windowsill. They stared at each other for a moment before Naruto looked down at his dirty, bare feet with a slight chuckle.
"Guess we got you back in time after all," he grinned briefly. Hinata nodded silently, a smile curving her lips. Naruto rubbed the back of his neck briefly before muttering under his breath, "Sorry if I scared you but it's just something that happens…"
---
Hinata shook her head violently, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder, causing the jinchuuriki to look at her cautiously. "I…I e-enjoyed it Naruto-kun." She was rewarded with her efforts with a smile.
Naruto glanced towards the rising sun and sighed. "I gotta go take care of something," he muttered under his breath. Hinata nodded, about to say something when she saw Naruto lean forward. She could feel his warm breath on her cheek and-
"Ahem."
Both teens leaped back as if they had been burned by a jutsu, flushing rapidly. Naruto could feel his balance shifting backward and barely had time to yelp when she found himself hanging in mid-air. He blinked once and gulped as he noticed who was keeping him from falling, albeit by the scruff of his sleeping shirt. His legs instinctively curled towards his chest and his shoulders hunched as he gave, what he hoped, was an ingratiating smile. "Eheh…Ohayo gozaimasu Hiashi-sama."
Hiashi said nothing for a moment, pinning the jinchuuriki with a steely glare before depositing him on the windowsill. "Uzumaki," he began icily and was rewarded with a cringing Naruto. "I believe you have a report to make to Hokage-sama."
---
Naruto felt his insides freeze as Hiashi opened his mouth to speak, mentally preparing to be Jyuuken-ed to within an inch of his life and forbidden to see Hinata again or set foot near the Hyuuga compound. He blinked when the austere clan head merely reminded him of his morning duty, mouth falling open. "I uh, yeah, I really should get going, baa-chan is going to be pissed. It was nice meeting you Hiashi-sama-sir pleasedon'tkillme, I'll see you later Hinata-chan!"
Words tumbled out of Naruto's mouth as he made a feeble excuse of a goodbye and disappeared from Hinata's windowsill, jumping to the ever useful tree branch and quickly making his way towards Hokage Tower. He risked only one glance over his shoulder as he sped away, his stomach tightening as he spotted Hiashi still at the window and watching him with Byakugan activated.
---
Hinata felt her stomach drop to her feet as her father from watching Naruto speed away. About to apologize frantically for leaving the compound in the middle of the night without informing the night guard, the girl was shocked to see a small smile on her otou-sama's face as he let out a quiet chuckle. She did her best not to do what Kiba had called her "deer-in-the-headlights" expression and waited nervously for her father to say something.
He merely looked at her, that small smile still in place and asked, "Did you enjoy your moondance?" before leaving her bedroom. She let her legs give out and flopped on her bed for a moment, thoughts whirling before clarifying into one question.
"What's a moondance?!"
AN: xD Ah, poor Hinata. And those readers of you who haven't exactly grasped the moondance concept- don't worry all will be explained. I realize Hiashi might be a little OOC but there wouldn't be much of a story if Naruto and Hinata weren't allowed to be in the same room together or if Naruto did get killed. What I also forgot to mention is that Naruto and Hinata are about seventeen in this story and both Chuunin.
Preview:
Hinata spotted Sakura at a nearby dango stand and sped up her pace until she was at Sakura's side as the girl recieved her order of dango. The healer turned to greet her but had barely got the first bite of dango in her mouth when Hinata latched onto her arm with a desperate strength. "Sakura! What's a moondance?!"
The Hyuuga was rewarded with Sakura's eyes widening as she nearly choked on the sweet bun. Forcing down the stubborn bite, Sakura attempted to pry Hinata's fingers free while asking in a harsh, shocked whisper. "Moondance? As in one of Naruto's moondance, moondance?!"