NaruHina – Proof
Chapter 1
"Hinata-sama. Tsunade-sama has called you to her office. I expect it's a mission." Neji Hyuuga poked his head into his cousin's room to deliver this news.
"Ah, yes. I'll be right there." Hinata replied. The Hyuuga main branch heiress was laying on her bed in her pajamas reading manga and listening to music. She looked much more laid back than she usually did as a ninja. Hinata got up and got dressed.
It was early on a Sunday morning so no one was up except the usuals: Kiba and Akamaru Inuzuka on one of their morning walks, Ino Yamanaka opening up her family's flower shop, and Maito Gai and Rock Lee running 500 laps around the village.
"I wonder who else had the patience to get up this early." Hinata laughed to herself, wondering who her teammate was this time. She felt that she had some time, so Hinata stopped to pick up a couple cinnamon rolls for breakfast, which she happily munched on during her trip to the Hokage's office.
When Hinata arrived at her destination, she found that she was alone in the office, besides the Hokage and Tonton, Shizune's pig, who was sleeping on the floor in a beam of sun.
"Tsunade-sama. I'm here." She said timidly. The Fifth Hokage Lady Tsunade looked up from her papers.
"You're twenty minutes late." The Fifth replied.
"S-sorry," Hinata bowed, "A-am I alone on this mission?" Tsunade sighed,
"No, you're not. You've got one teammate, but he's even later." Hinata expected it was Shikamaru Nara or maybe even Chouji Akimichi, as being late was in both of their natures. She decided to ask who it was anyway, but was interrupted when Sakura Haruno burst through the door dragging Naruto Uzumaki by the collar. Sakura cast a look at Hinata, which frightened the Hyuuga a little, but Sakura was simply identifying her.
"Here's your teammate. I swear, every other time Naruto has a mission I have to drag him out of bed. Do me a favor and go hard on him, will you?" Sakura threw her load on the floor. He was still asleep. Sakura stomped out of the room muttering something about irresponsibility.
"N-Naruto-kun." Hinata shook the orange ninja for him to get up. He slowly opened his eyes.
"The Hokage's office? How did I get here?" Naruto asked.
"Sakura-chan brought, or really threw you in here. W-we have a mission." Hinata explained.
"Aw, this early? You should really give missions later in the day, Granny Tsunade." Naruto complained.
"That's not how I choose to run the Leaf Village, Naruto. Now pay attention so I can explain your mission," Tsunade cleared her throat, "A client from the Land of Roses has sent Konohagakure a challenge." Simply the word 'challenge' got Naruto interested.
"Alright! Something that'll actually be fun!" he exclaimed. Tsunade threw a scroll at Naruto's face. The scroll made contact and knocked Naruto to the ground. Hinata couldn't help but let out a small giggle.
"Let me finish, Naruto. We are to send one male ninja and one female ninja to the Land of Roses and have them find their way through something they affectionately call 'The Lovers' Labyrinth'." Hinata gasped and blushed. A mission with Naruto through something called 'The Lovers' Labyrinth? Exactly what kind of mission is this? She thought to herself. "You two are going to be the ones we send through the maze. Your job is to find their famed 'Lovers' Blue Rose' at the center of the maze and bring it back to the Leaf. The client said if we are successful, he and his country will acknowledge Konoha as a place of pure heart and true love, and we'd like such a peaceful image so that we can avoid wars. The Land of Roses is a large distance away, so pack well, and good luck." The Fifth finished.
"Yeah, that's great and all, but why are we being sent?" Naruto asked.
"The honest reason is that we have no one else available. I've got every ninja in Konoha on some mission sometime today. I have a personal reason, too, but I'll keep that to myself." Tsunade winked.
"Whatever. I shouldn't have to waste my time and energy on this boring type of search and find kind of thing. It's probably a C-Rank mission at best." Naruto snorted. He and Hinata began to walk out of the room to prepare for their assignment.
"Don't take it so lightly." Tsunade stopped them before they exited. "It is a C-Rank mission for now, but once you get underway it could easily escalate to B or even A-Rank difficulty. That's another reason I'm sending you, Naruto. I would have Kiba assist Hinata for this one, but you may need to protect Hinata with everything you've got, and I can't have Kiba prioritizing Akamaru and her." Hinata looked down. She didn't like being the one that had to be protected. In fact, she wanted to be the one protecting. She wanted to show everyone that she was just as strong as any of her friends, and suddenly showed an expression of pride on her face. Naruto noticed this and his opinion about the mission instantly changed.
"I like that look on your face, Hinata-chan. Maybe this will be fun, after all!"
About an hour later, Naruto and Hinata met at Konoha's main gate. Both had large backpacks on with enough equipment to last a week or so.
"Are you ready, Hinata?" Naruto asked.
"Y-yeah, let's go." The Hyuuga replied. The two ninja walked in relative silence for a couple miles. Hinata was subconsciously humming one of her favorite songs.
"Hey, Hinata." Naruto snapped her out of her trance.
"Huh? W-what is it?" Hinata was surprised.
"What's that song you're humming? I kind of like it." Said Naruto.
"Oh, I didn't know I was… It's called 'Soumeikyoku no Yuukaku'." Hinata answered.
"Oh, cool. Does it have words?"
"Um, yes."
"Could you sing, then? I'm sure it will sound even better than humming." Hinata blushed. Naruto-kun just asked me to sing for him! What am I supposed to do? She thought.
"Ah, no, you don't want me to sing. I-I'm not that good, to be honest…" Hinata tried to get out of it.
"That's nonsense! I heard your humming and that was good. How bad can your voice be?" Naruto assured her.
"O-Ok. I guess if it's only to you." Hinata opened her mouth:
Soumeikyoku no Yuukaku (The Orchid's Sonata)
"Ahh, as the wind blows through the field
All but the orchid falls
Ahh, the rain makes trees grow
To block the orchid's sun
But the orchid raises a hill
On top the flower had won
When the grass turns the orchid's blue
And makes the orchid bland
The orchid blazes crimson red
The flower wins again
I want to be the orchid
Delicate but strong
So I can say to everyone
Ahh, I'm ready to prove you wrong"
Hinata finished. She noticed Naruto's mouth agape and his eyes wide, staring at her. She quickly looked away.
"I'm sorry, my voice isn't that great and the song is really childish and embarrassing and—"
"Are you kidding, Hinata?" Naruto threw his hands up excitedly, "That should totally be your theme song or something!"
"R-Really? Why?" Naruto looked to the sky, as if recalling something.
"Well you've said before that no one really appreciates you, and that you've always been weak and never stood out. I think that song shows how you feel, y'know? Your voice is really incredible, too." He explained.
"Th-thank you, Naruto-kun." Hinata bowed.
"You don't need to be so formal about it! Hey! I've got an idea," Naruto jumped in front of Hinata and spread his arms excitedly, which stopped Hinata. "How about I give you all of the credit for completing this mission? Tsunade said it was important and if everyone knows you did it, that would show them all how strong you really are!"
"B-but lying… that wouldn't be good. I'd rather prove my worth some other way—Naruto, watch out!" Naruto was walking backwards when Hinata suddenly halted him from falling straight over a cliff. Rocks tumbled down where Naruto stopped abruptly.
"Whoa, thanks, Hinata. I would have been done for if you didn't yell right then." Naruto was thanking Hinata, but she seemed fixated on something beyond the cliff. He turned to see what is was, and then his eyes got as wide as the Hyuuga's.
"This must be… the Land of Roses." Said Hinata.
A vast expanse of flowers carpeted almost all of the hills below the cliff. As the country's name suggested, most of them were roses of all different colors. Other wildflowers and blooms you would normally see in a bouquet grew freely among them. Even the few trees that were there were full of colorful foliage and a constant breeze brought the entire view to life. The two ninja looked for a way down, but there was none in sight.
"How are we supposed to get down there, then?" Hinata asked. Suddenly Naruto took her hand; she squeaked.
"We'll jump!" Before Hinata could protest about the impending doom of a one-hundred foot drop, the unpredictable ninja took both of them over the edge. Hinata screamed and closed her eyes and felt a falling sensation for a short moment, but then she felt she and Naruto land on something soft. Slowly, Hinata opened her eyes.
"Whoa, awesome!" Naruto exclaimed. He was standing up, but on what? They were clearly still airborne. Hinata moved her hand, and found she was in a large pile of flower petals—more of a cloud of petals, actually. She and Naruto were being carried down on a platform of flower petals.
"No way." Hinata gasped. While Naruto, stood up, pretending to command the two ninja's strange vessel like a ship, Hinata simply sat on her knees and enjoyed the ride. Eventually they reached the ground in a patch of daisies.
"It's beautiful." Said Hinata.
"It smells nice, too." Naruto added. Wind blew all kinds of petals about. One of the gusts stirred up a group of peach blossoms in an oddly tornado-like fashion. Even more strangely, a lady materialized in the center of them.
"That was very bold of you two, taking that jump, there." The lady surprised Naruto and Hinata. She was in a sun dress and hat; both peach colored, and had long, flowing light-lavender hair. Her eyes were a sky blue and were very calm, which eased Hinata and Naruto's surprise. If all of that wasn't shocking enough, a ninja headband was tied around her neck, with a lotus flower as the symbol on the plate.
"You must be Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuuga." She said after a moment of silence. They nodded.
"I am Momo Kusabana. Welcome to Hanagakure."