Chapter 14: Plans and Preparation

Shikaku sat back in his chair and took a moment relax, watching the others begin to file out of the room. Overall the meeting had gone about as well as could be expected: incomprehension and fear that the village would soon come under attack during the Chunin Exam, insistence that the Leaf should immediately attack the Sand and burn the village to the ground by some of the more hawkish members present, and general skepticism towards the two chunin who had supposedly discovered the information in the first place. All things considered though, it could have gone worse. The Hokage was right to keep the meeting small – it might limit their ability to prepare, but at least any plans they did make weren't likely to be leaked.

Sora was the last to leave, his wife having left just moments before. He seemed to sense Shikaku's curiosity, pausing to look at the commander as he stood in the doorway.

"Sora?" Naomi called, "Hurry up, we're going to be late."

"I'm coming," Sora said. The man gave Shikaku one final glance, then left.

Sarutobi began to gather up various papers and reports. "So?" he asked.

"So what?"

"You always have something to say. I imagine today is no different."

The corner of Shikaku's mouth twitched upward in amusement. "Even if everything goes smoothly and we win, this is going to be a huge mess."

"Helpful as always, I see."

"I'm only stating the obvious," he pointed out.

Sarutobi sighed, "I know." He finished cleaning his desk and met Shikaku's eyes. "You know that wasn't all I was asking about though."

"You mean the two new ninja you let into the village and whose paperwork you forged?"

To his credit, Hiruzen didn't even bother to deny it. In fact, he'd probably been expecting Shikaku to discover that much. The Hokage raised an eyebrow expectantly.

Shikaku shrugged, "I'm the Jonin commander. I make it my business to keep track of any shinobi in the village. Especially when my Hokage first describes them as 'the two who managed to put all my guards under a genjutsu, place a seal over my office and would have been the strongest assassins I'd have faced in years if they'd attacked me.'"

"Fair enough. I assume you corrected whatever holes you found in the Uzumaki's paper trail?"

"Of course," Shikaku confirmed. "I'm the only one who noticed anything was wrong with it."

"Good. Thank you, Shikaku. Please keep an eye out to make sure it stays that way. As for their entrance, of sorts, just be glad that it was someone friendly who exposed holes in our security."

"That's the issue though, Hiruzen. How can you be so sure those two are friends of the village? Hell, if you had mentioned those details to anyone else who came to this meeting, there would have been calls for imprisonment at the very least."

"Which is one of the reasons why you're the only person I've told. Even if I hadn't, we both know you'd have come to me asking about them for some reason or another."

"Probably," Shikaku admitted, "but that still doesn't answer my question: why do you trust them? I know you; you wouldn't forge documents and streamline the immigration process for someone who's just broken into your office. You aren't that trusting."

"Technically they didn't break into my office."

Shikaku gave him a look.

The old man pushed himself out of his seat and turned to stare down at the village out of the window. "It's not every day an S-class ninja asks to join your village with no strings attached. That day I got two. I made an exception."

"S-class?" Shikaku shook his head, "It doesn't matter; I'll take your word for it. Anyway, that's because that never happens. Someone like that comes along? There's always a catch. Besides, even if there wasn't, them being stronger should make you more cautious, not generous. And that's not even taking into consideration whatever connection they had with Orochimaru that let them conveniently discover invasion plans. You don't honestly think that explanation will be enough to convince me, do you?"

Sarutobi looked back, the ghost of a smile on his face. "I suppose not, but you can't blame me for trying, can you? Still, you never really answered my question; tell me, what was your impression of those two?"

Shikaku considered him carefully. "Strong," he said at last. "I could tell that much even before you said they were S-class. Clever and hard to read too…the woman especially. Except for one thing. It was just a feeling, so I don't think anyone else noticed, but something about the way she seemed to look at Hiashi during the meeting still seems off to me. I just can't pin down exactly what it was…Anyway, there's something different about those two, Hiruzen. I can tell that much, even without you giving me the specifics. The others suspect something too, they have to. You've put so much trust in them so quickly that it's almost painfully obvious there's a secret you're hiding. Having the correct paperwork won't solve that."

"I know, but I can't see much of a way to avoid that." The Hokage seemed to hesitate for a moment, then said, "And to your earlier question, Shikaku, well, I must admit I can't explain my exact reasons for trusting them. Not right now," he shook his head. "Suffice it to say though, that there truly aren't any conditions attached to their help. We both can trust them. I'd stake the future of the village on it."

Shikaku was surprised by the answer. Strong words, coming from Hiruzen, he thought, whatever explanation he's hiding from me must be damn convincing. Then a cold, sinking, sensation settled in his gut as a realization came to him. "That…wasn't just a figure of speech, was it?"

Hiruzen turned away to stare back out of the window.

"Orochimaru's attack on the village…tell me the truth, Hiruzen, is that even the main threat we have to worry about."

Again, Sarutobi didn't answer.

Shikaku cursed softly. "Of course not. What happened to living out your twilight years in peace? Just how many more crises are you planning on making me deal with, old man?"

The Hokage chuckled dryly, "I apologize that you'll be forced to do some actual work, Shikaku. just try to focus on the invasion for now. After that, you'll have plenty of time to worry about…about the future."

"Right, right. I'll make sure the correct preparations are made. I'm not certain exactly how much I can get done without drawing any attention, but I'll do what I can."

Shikaku began to leave, but a thought occurred to him and he stopped in front of the door. "Hiruzen?" he asked. "You said I'll have time to worry about the future after the invasion. Don't you mean we?"

There was a tense minute of silence before the Hokage finally said, "Goodbye, Shikaku. Don't forget to keep me updated."

Shikaku nodded, then finally left the room, closing the door lightly behind him. He sighed, "This is going to be such a pain," he muttered.

The man began to make his way towards his own office. He considered investigating the Uzumakis on his own, then quickly discarded the idea. If Hiruzen trusted Sora and Naomi that much, then the least Shikaku could do was give them some breathing room. He'd leave the pair their secrets, at least for the time being. Besides, now wasn't the time for Shikaku to satisfy his curiosity. If there was to be a battle soon, then he had plans to make.

Kakashi watched as wind slowly began to wrap itself around Asuma's knife, a look of intense concentration on the man's face.

"Don't try to hold it there," Sora advised, "You won't be able to control it very well. Just use your chakra to guide it the wind onto the blade, then release it towards target."

Asuma slashed his blade, releasing the pent up wind and shooting it outward and into a nearby tree, leaving a large gash where the attack had hit.

Sora grinned, "Not bad for a first try."

Asuma frowned, "That was...surprisingly easy."

"I know, right? Everyone is always so focused on either ignoring wind completely and just channeling chakra into a blade, or struggling to control it enough for them to be able to blast huge gusts of wind at their opponent." Sora took out one of his own knives and channeled a bit of wind around it. "Both have their uses, but people rarely think to try something in the middle: give the wind a little push to help direct its path, without trying to control it fully. For this sort of thing, chakra blades are about the best anyone can manage in a real fight, but you'd be surprised how useful this one technique can be."

"I'd never thought about trying to work with wind chakra that way," Asuma admitted, "but it makes sense. I guess it's not that surprising there's so little diversity among wind techniques though. Since there are barely any ninja with the affinity in the first place, there aren't that many people to experiment with it. Well, not that many who would share what they've learned at least," he added. "Actually, before you moved into Konoha, I didn't even know anyone else in the village who had it."

"Really?" Sora asked. "Who taught you then?"

"No one. I just used some of the older scrolls in the library for the basics and taught myself the rest."

"The same as me then." Sora hesitated for a second and seemed to get a faraway look in his eyes. "Well, almost the same. Someone did give me a short lesson when I first learned my affinity..." The man looked back at Asuma. "Anyway, I'm honored to help, Asuma-san! It's the least I can do. Was there anything else you were curious about?"

"You've helped me more than enough, Sora-san," Asuma chuckled, "Unless of course you wanted to teach me that ridiculous wind movement technique of yours."

Sora paused, thinking for a moment, then shrugged in helplessness, "I don't think I could teach it to you even if I wanted to. Even Naomi only sort of understands it and I've tried to explain it to her a bunch of times." Suddenly a gust of wind blasted around them, and within the blink of an eye Sora had moved a meter to the side. "You just sort of…ride the wind?" he tried.

Asuma raised a hand, "Relax, I was just joking. I'm happy that you were generous enough to show me what you already have."

"Generous, huh?" Sora murmured. "I'd almost forgotten how it was."

Kakashi frowned. That's how it's always been though. Even among those in the Leaf, most people have always been careful about sharing their more advanced techniques with others.

"Well if you ever want to talk technique again, just let me know. That's the best thing about the wind nature," Sora mused, raising a hand. "You can pull off almost anything you can think of, so long as you have the control and chakra reserves to handle it."

A slight breeze began to pick up around them. The wind shifted, moving in Sora's direction.

Asuma whistled. "Damn."

Kakashi looked closely and realized that the air seemed to cling around Sora's hand, almost like a second skin. After a few moments, Sora let out a deep breath and the wind dissipated.

"Did you just...?" Kakashi ventured.

"He controlled the wind and wrapped if around his hand," Asuma confirmed. "It's definitely more than I'm capable of."

Sora waved him off, already looking a little fatigued. "It's less impressive than you think. It takes an insane amount of chakra to do even that much, so it's not all that useful in a fight." He grinned, "I always thought it looked cool, though."

"That's too bad. If you were able to control wind like that in combat…" Asuma shook his head. "Well I know I wouldn't want to be the one to fight you." He glanced over at Kakashi, "Have you ever seen anything like that before?"

Kakashi shrugged, "Not really. The closest I can think of are the rumors about the Raikage's lightning armor. Lightning alone would be hard enough to control to that degree, but wind..."

Sora smirked, "Says the man with the magic eye? I'd say the ability to just steal people's techniques is better than some parlor trick."

"Well I am the Copy Ninja. That's sort of what I do."

His friend rolled his eyes. "I always thought that was a terrible nickname."

"And I'm assuming you have an amazing one that you're just dying to share."

A smile slid onto Sora's face, "I thought you'd never ask—"

Suddenly a voice boomed from across the clearing. "Kakashi! Asuma! We're training your students over here! When exactly were you idiots planning to be responsible and do your jobs?!"

Kakashi looked over to see Kurenai glaring at their small group. He blinked, momentarily stunned, "Oh right, the training. I forgot."

"This was your idea Kakashi, how could you forget about it?" Sora chided.

"Don't bother, Sora-san," Asuma rubbed his eyes. "The rest of us gave up on using logic with Kakashi years ago. Let's just go before she gets any angrier," he advised, beginning to walk over.

"Asuma was the one who wanted to walk off and learn wind techniques," Kakashi reminded them, "I just came to watch."

Asuma shook his head. "What did we miss, Kurenai?" he asked as they arrived.

Kurenai raised an eyebrow at the man with a look of exasperation, but after realizing that he honestly didn't know the situation, she just sighed. She swept her arm in the direction of the clearing that Asuma, Kakashi, and her own students had been training in. It hadn't been going well.

The teachers had agreed to have all nine of their students spar with either a single one of them, or the Uzumakis, who would take the fight relatively seriously. The plan had been to teach them how to react in a situation similar to the one Kakashi's own students had faced during their trip to Wave. Currently they were up against Naomi in their third fight of the day. Unfortunately, it didn't look like any of the students had realized that the true point of the exercise was to try to work together to run away and survive, not to try and win.

And if half rumors I've heard about the Kazekage's children are true, Kakashi noted, then my students will need to learn to swallow their pride. Especially Naruto and Sasuke.

Naomi's turn was taking the longest by far, but only because she seemed completely disinterested in actually trying to end the session. The woman was lounging against a tree, occasionally making hand signs as she watched an odd sort of chaos play out in front of her. With the exception of Hinata, who was sprawled at Naomi's feet, the genin all seemed to be caught within her genjutsu. Some of them ran around with looks of terror on their faces, while others kept attacking empty air. The only one who didn't look bothered was Shikamaru, who was lying in the grass with his eyes closed, though Kakashi couldn't tell if he had managed to break the genjutsu or was just trying to ignore it.

"Hinata escaped the genjutu relatively quickly thanks to the Byakugan," Kurenai explained. "With so many other illusions to control, I doubt Naomi-san could be bothered wasting energy on trying to hinder her very much. But then Hinata tried to stop Naomi-san from maintaining illusions by attacking her; you can see how well that went."

Asuma grimaced. "It's too bad Gai didn't come. Maybe this would have gone better with his students helping them."

"Maybe. But it makes sense for Gai to train his team alone. His students have more experience, so he's training them to actually pass the Chunin Exams," Kakashi said. "After that mess in Wave, I think it's more important for mine to just learn how to survive without me there to protect them."

"That's a nice sentiment, Kakashi-san," Naomi's voice cut in from across the clearing. "However…" she made a quick succession of hand seals and the sky suddenly darkened. Fires sprang up all around the woods, blazing in the trees and burning the fields to ash. Where the students were grouped, a swirling inferno surrounded them on all sides, while winged monsters made of living flame swooped down to attack them. "Unless your idea of survival includes them being trapped in nightmarish illusions until their enemies get bored of toying with them, I don't think they're getting much out of this exercise right now."

"Well I guess that explains why they're panicking so much," Kakashi noted.

"I'm surprised none of the others have broken out of it yet," Asuma noted. "I know they don't have much experience with genjutsu, but it has been awhile…"

"A few tried," Naomi said, "but I'm probably one of the best genjutsu users you'll ever meet. There's no way a normal genin would be able to break through my illusions by themselves. Besides, as you can see, I've been keeping them distracted." The woman looked over at Kurenai, who nodded back at her. "But I suppose that this is more than enough for now," she decided.

Naomi lazily held up a hand and snapped her fingers. After a moment, the illusions melted away.

A few of the genin tensed, as if expecting some sort of trick, then relaxed.

"I guess that means—" Naomi was cut off as Kiba charged towards her, Naruto creating a group of shadow clones as he followed right behind him.

The woman effortlessly sidestepped Kiba's wild attack, dropping him with a quick blow to the stomach. She pivoted, grabbing the first Naruto to reach her, then tossed him into the rest of the group, dispersing them all into clouds of smoke. Naomi, immediately deducing the boys ploy, turned and grabbed the real Naruto, who was trying to sneak up on her. Spinning around, she threw him into Kiba before he could recover. The boys flew across the clearing, slammed into a tree and slumped to the ground in a tangled heap.

"—I win," Naomi finished, dusting off her hands. She eyed the remaining six genin, "Unless someone else wants to try?"

None of them spoke.

"Good."

Kakashi glanced over at the groaning Naruto and Kiba, grimacing. "You didn't actually expect that to work, did you?"

"I thought she'd finally run out of chakra," Naruto admitted.

"In a real fight a stupid illusion wouldn't beat me. We would've won if she hadn't kept using cheap tricks," Kiba complained.

Naomi raised an eyebrow, "First of all, there's no such thing as cheating in a fight, either you win, or you don't; trying to fight fairly will only get you killed. Second, don't underestimate genjutsu illusions; you'd be surprised how little reality seems to matter when it feels like your skin feels like its melting. Be happy the worst you got were some monsters. And third," she gave Kiba a flat look, "even if I hadn't used genjutsu, you still would have lost. There would have just been more bruises."

"Basically, she's saying you're both idiots," a voice drawled. Shikamaru climbed to his feet and stretched.

"What?!" Kiba and Naruto yelled, beginning to argue.

Naomi ignored their bickering, kneeling to check on Hinata while Kurenai dragged Asuma along to lecture the students on how to better deal with genjutsu.

Yet another show of genjutsu, Kakashi mused. Naomi-san's good, I'll give her that, but for someone who's supposed to be a taijutsu specialist, she doesn't seem to use taijutsu very much. Maybe it's not something she wants to show us or maybe I'm just overthinking things. He glanced over at Sora, Considering the situation that forced Sora to use the rasengan, I doubt I'll get an answer anytime soon. Not that I have the time to worry about it right now anyway. He sighed.

"Not going as well as you'd hoped, is it?" Sora noted once everyone was out of earshot.

Kakashi shook his head. "I'd expected them to try to win the first match, maybe the second, but this is getting ridiculous. I'd hoped getting beaten into the ground a few times would be a convincing way to teach them that it's acceptable to retreat sometimes, but I suppose we'll have to spell it out for them. My students at the very least should have learned that lesson from their experience in Wave."

"It's only natural, they are going to take the Chunin Exams in a couple weeks. Of course they want to pass."

"Maybe giving them the choice to take the exam was a mistake," Kakashi wondered.

His friend shrugged, "Well there's no taking it back now; you won't be able to stop Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun at any rate. Besides, who knows how many more chances they'll have to do something like this? I've heard the test can be dangerous, but compared to the real world…" he trailed off. "I just get the feeling that guy we ran into in Wave isn't going to be the last strong opponent any of us face."

"And they can use all the experience they can get for when that time comes, I know," Kakashi finished, "It looks like all we can do for now is keep preparing them." And hope that'll be enough to keep them all alive.

Kakashi paused. "So," he began, switching topics. "What are you and Naomi-san fighting about?"

Sora tensed, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You've barely said a word to each other the entire afternoon…" he added.

"You're imagining things."

"Want my advice?"

"No."

Kakashi shrugged, "It's almost a little strange. From what I've seen, you two hardly ever get worked up about anything. It's like the things regular people worry about barely even register for you. Makes me wonder what happened in the past that you're always lying about for you to be that way."

Sora flashed him a look of warning.

He chuckled, "My point is: whatever you're fighting about, just try to remember Naomi-san is only trying to do what she thinks is best, just like you are."

"I know that, but…thanks. I appreciate the thought." Sora shook his head, "Not that we're fighting."

"Of course not."

"You'd better be careful, Kakashi. Keep talking like this and people might start to think you're capable of being reasonable sometimes."

"Who? Me?" Kakashi asked innocently. The man reached into his satchel and pulled out a book. "Never."

Hinata slowly trudged in the direction of her home. She had just finished listening to Kurenai go over everything that she and her team had done wrong during their training exercise; it had been a long lecture. She groaned, rubbing her throbbing jaw that still ached from where Naomi had hit her earlier. Hinata knew that her teacher meant well, but it seemed pointless to her; all that their latest exercise seemed to do was reinforce that fact that she wasn't ready for the Chunin Exam. She felt like she'd been practically useless the entire time. Even against Naomi's genjutsu, where everyone should have been able to rely on her, she had failed, getting knocked out of the fight almost immediately. Hinata didn't know which was worse: how disappointed she was in herself or how embarrassed she felt at her failure.

I wish Naruto didn't have to see me like that, the girl thought morosely.

As she turned a corner, she froze, eyes widening, as she noticed Naruto walking along happily with Sora and Naomi. A small squeak escaped her lips before she scampered backwards and out of sight.

"What are they doing here?"

Hinata peeked around the corner again, watching them for a few long moments. She felt the tug of longing, Maybe I should talk to them? She wondered. No, I've already made enough of a fool out of myself in front of Naruto-kun for one day. Sighing, the girl closed her eyes, "I'd better go home before Naruto-kun notices me; he'd think I was weird, watching him like this…not that this would be the first time…"

She opened her eyes, taking one last look at the scene, then frowned. "Wait, wasn't—"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about that," a voice called out from above. Hinata jumped, stumbling back in surprise, looking up to see Naomi grinning from her perch on an awning. "That boy is, if nothing else, rather oblivious to his surroundings."

"N-Naomi-san!" the girl stammered. "I w-wasn't, uh, wasn't expecting to see you here."

"Not a problem," Naomi slid down in front of her. "Naturally, I'm certain you were just about to come over to say hi. It is the polite thing to do, after all. I was just so excited to see you, I couldn't help but come over first."

"Y-yes, naturally," she glanced around, desperately searching for an escape. "Unfortunately, my father is expecting me for training, so if you would please excuse me…" Hinata trailed off, turning to walk away. Just as she took her first step, she felt something tugging at the hood of her coat.

"I'm certain Hiashi-sama won't mind too much, today is your day off from training, after all. You must have forgotten what day it was, an honest mistake."

She turned back to face the woman, futilely trying to mask her embarrassment, "How di—" Hinata shook her head. "I m-mean, of course, my mistake."

Naomi's smile softened, "Part of being a ninja is knowledge and secrets; I know more than you might guess, Hinata-san."

Even without Naomi saying it, Hinata knew there was truth to the woman's words. It was more than simple knowledge, however, Hinata sensed understanding. Understanding of her fears and of the weight on her shoulders. When Hinata spoke to Kurenai, she felt an empathy and kindness that she appreciated beyond words. But her teacher could never truly understand the expectations of her father and clan, expectations she felt were constantly crushing her into the ground. Naomi though…somehow Naomi understood. Hinata wasn't quite sure why, but she was certain of that much.

There was something that bothered her though. While the woman always seemed pleasant and courteous, Hinata couldn't shake off the notion that there was something lurking behind her amiable demeanor, something the girl couldn't quite discern. It was almost as if just the sight of Hinata bothered Naomi; sometimes the girl sensed a hint of frustration, similar to what she had come to expect from her father when he expressed disappointment in her strength. Mostly though, Hinata thought she felt sadness, perhaps even a little envy, from the woman. Or maybe it's just my imagination, Hinata thought, she has been kinder to me than I deserve.

Naomi cocked her head to the side, "Though I'll admit I don't know why you're staring at me like that."

Embarrassed once again, Hinata waved her hands in front of her in apology, "I'm sorry, Naomi-san, I was just lost in thought."

Naomi winked at her, "Ahh, well I can guess what you were thinking about. Or perhaps I should say who you were thinking about," she said, glancing in the direction of where Naruto was.

Hinata felt her face begin to turn red, "No! I wasn't…w-what do y-you mean? I d-don't know what you're t-talking about!" the girl sputtered.

"You're rather unconvincing, you do know that?"

Hinata tried to form a response, but couldn't find the words. Giving up, she let out a long sigh. "Am I really that obvious?"

Naomi was visibly trying, and failing, to stifle a laugh, "Yes. Yes you are."

"Naruto must think I'm a freak then…"

"Oh, he doesn't know."

"But you just said—"

"I said you were obvious. That doesn't mean Naruto-kun isn't a fool. As I said, he is rather oblivious."

The girl felt a twinge of anger at the comment, "No he's not! He's kind a-and the bravest person I've ever met!" Hinata's eyes widened at her outburst; hurriedly she covered up her mouth, "I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean…"

Naomi gently placed a hand on the girl's head, playfully ruffling her hair. "Never apologize for speaking your mind. But you misunderstand; I didn't mean that as an insult. Even so, that does not mean that Naruto-kun isn't a bit of a fool."

Hinata started to open her mouth to protest, but Naomi silenced her with a hand.

"No person is perfect. My husband…he is reckless, lacks common sense, and drives me crazy with his stubbornness," the woman beamed at her, "but he's also undyingly loyal, would do anything to protect people, is a genius fighter and can befriend practically anyone. He is, without a doubt the best person I have and will ever meet. What you must understand, Hinata-san, is that love requires you to understand and accept a person, faults and all. Without that, what you're left with is infatuation, or worse, idolization." She poked Hinata in the forehead, "And since you barely even know Naruto-kun, what you're experiencing right now is better defined as a crush, not love."

The girl swatted Naomi's hand away, feeling angry and a little betrayed, "You're wrong," she choked out, "I-I do know Naruto-kun and I love him. He makes me want to be a better person," she huffed, "…I do love him…don't I…?"

Naomi rubbed her eyes, "No, no, I'm sorry, I'm not saying this well, am I? I didn't mean—I'm not trying to upset you or belittle your feelings. The point is that love comes with time and knowing a person. And like I said, whether you want to admit it or not, you barely know Naruto-kun. So why don't you try doing something about that? God knows he'll never notice otherwise."

Hinata was taken aback, she wasn't used to receiving advice like this, even from Kurenai. The girl still wasn't sure she agreed with the older woman's statements, but she understood now that she was trying to help. And Hinata did want to spend more time with Naruto. But it's so hard, she felt herself retreating into the safety of her shell. Pressing her fingers together, she said, "I don't know…what if he doesn't like me?"

Naomi rolled her eyes, "As adorable as your insecurities are, I need you to recognize that they're holding you back, and not just from your relationships. Your lack of confidence will only get in your way; better to solve it now than when your team needs you on the battlefield."

"I wish…I wish I could be as strong as you are," as soon as Hinata saw the dark cloud that overtook Naomi's expression, she regretted her words.

"No. No, you don't," Naomi paused for a long moment. "Sensei…she once told me that power…power came at a price. And she was right. The price she paid…" the woman shook her head, "For most people, they simply think of this in terms of jutsu, techniques, chakra…all of that is true, but there's more to it than that. Time, work, there are any number of prices one might pay; some worse than others. My price was experience. My pain, my losses…my friends…my family…Trust me when I tell you it wasn't worth it. I would gladly give up all of my ability and skill to see my little sister one last time."

She didn't know what to say. In that moment, the woman looked more exhausted than Hinata had ever seen her. She knew Naomi wouldn't appreciate an apology, so she remained silent.

Finally, the woman smiled tightly, masking her emotions once more as she looked Hinata straight in the eye. "But that's enough about my demons. The reason I'm telling you these things is because, believe it or not, I was just like you when I was younger. Don't waste years fearing what might happen every time you make a move, because if you don't try at all, you're guaranteed to fail. If you can learn to put a little faith in yourself," Naomi said, her smile gaining a little warmth, "then perhaps you can become stronger and find a little bit of happiness for yourself. Besides," Naomi glanced away sheepishly, "I also happen think you'd be a cute couple…"

"I don't think I really believe you were as bad as me…and I don't know if I agree with everything else you said, but…" Hinata returned the woman's smile for the first time, "Thank you. For believing in me. maybe…maybe I should try. At least try talking to Naruto, that is."

"That's all I ask." A hint of mischief appeared in Naomi's eye and she grabbed Hinata's hand, "Well then, now that that's decided, you can start by coming to dinner with us!" she declared.

"…Huh?"

"It'll be fun! just think of it like a date. Oh, and remind me to work stealth into our next training session, your eavesdropping skills are terrible."

"D-Did you just say a d-d-d-d-date?!" Hinata felt her cheeks burning, "I d-didn't agree to that!"

"I'm just joking," Naomi assured her.

"Oh, okay, well that's—"

"It's more like a double date," she teased, beginning to drag Hinata into the street, "There are four of us after all."

Hinata desperately began trying to pull her hand out of Naomi's grasp, "Y-You're kidding, right?! Please tell me you're kidding!"

"Who knows?" the woman shrugged, "You'll just have to come and see for yourself, I suppose."

"A-Actually, I think I've ch-changed my mind. It's late, so I should probably be getting home. Er, can you let go now please? N-Naomi-san? This isn't very nice! Naomi-san?!"

Naomi casually began humming a tune, "What was that? You're starving? Perfect, me too."

"Naomi-san!"

Author's Note:

So, yeahhhhhh, definitely didn't plan on taking that long to update, unfortunately life's been busy and hobbies as time consuming as writing always seem to fall by the wayside and they're really hard to get back on top of at least for me, even when I have a chapter sitting half finished on your desktop all the time. But hey, haven't abandoned this story, so that's nice!

I'll admit this chapter is slower and less action-filled then I'd have liked, especially considering how long it's been since I'd last updated, but my original plan had been to do some world building (for sensible things such as preparing for Orochimaru having an invasion and training students for their lethal life or death promotional test) before the Chunin Exam tests proper got underway (which are, according to my notes at least, going to be very action heavy, especially with concerns to the invasion). Besides, that scene with the joint training and the joke about the double date are some of the first ideas I had when writing this story, so it's nice to finally have a place for them after all this time. I've been picking at chapter 15 while I've been finishing this one up (as well as a couple other scenes even further along), so hopefully that word document will be sitting on my desktop for just tad bit less time Anyway, hope everyone is having a good 2017 so far!