She was familiar with the legends and stories about it all, and how one day the head of the Senju Clan had taken the head of the Uchiha Clan aside and basically said "Hey, wouldn't it be great if we could kick back, have a few drinks, and NOT be trying to stab each other in the back all the time?"
Well, that probably wasn't exactly how it went down, but the basic idea was the same.
Since then, there were the ninja villages that followed Konoha's example. Why? Because it WORKED. Instead of having no permanent bases, constantly trying for advantage over the others, and getting knived in the back, one had the Hidden Village system. Which had permanent bases that were constantly trying for advantages over the others, getting knived in the back but more frequently in the front, and so on. As well as rules that kept the civilian population off the 'primary target' list. Which a lot of civilians would have appreciated more if it weren't for the missing-nin and bandits and other people who frequently ignored rules like that.
Her family relied on their byakugan and their jyuuken, disdaining other tools. If you fought a Hyuga, you knew what you were getting into. Which was a point of pride with the Hyuga clan.
Hinata wasn't the most skilled of warriors in her family technique though, wasn't exactly prideful, and her only concern with a new weapon or technique was how much of a problem her father was going to make out of it Part of her problem was that she was not the most self-confident of individuals. Part of her problem was that she was a ninja who lacked a desire to kill. She might have to kill on a mission, she WOULD kill if it would save a life, but it would be difficult for her. She'd hate doing it, and saw that as a confirmation of her father's label of being weak.
The scroll being offered her by her fiance, whom she had a crush on, was something entirely different. On the face of it, the path of a medic-nin was a step down from the warrior-leader her father wanted her to be. That it might suit her nature better was beside the point.
On the other hand, because it WAS her fiance offering it to her, she could hardly refuse could she? You had to make allowances for such a thing, right? It was only proper.
"T-t-thank you," mumbled Hinata, blushing some more, fidgeting, and managing a shy smile while meeting Naruto's eyes out of the corner of her own.
"Hey, if you need any help with that, just ask," said Naruto with a smile.
Hinata was sure her little heart was going to burst from the sudden overdose of Warm And Fuzzy Feelings swelling up in her. Either that or her heart was just going to melt down into a little red puddle. She figured 50/50 odds. Better to turn her attention to the subject at hand.
"Is this... jutsu?" asked Hinata, unfurling the scroll a little.
"Yeah, one of my friends around here has access to this really big library," explained Naruto. "So I asked about getting some of this for you."
"O-o-oh," squeaked Hinata. Naruto-kun talks to his friends about me?!
"Yeah, uhm, so this is part of what that agreement indicates is a 'hijutsu' but since you're my fiancee it should be okay, right?" asked Naruto.
Hinata's eyes snapped to Naruto in mid-fidget. Family or clan techniques? Shared with me? Then... he's really okay with the engagement?! But how? Does that mean, could it be...
"Oh, there's something," said Naruto, pointing. "This is an outfitter's supply store. I used to come here all the time. You got anything for ranged combat?"
"N-no," said a self-conscious Hinata, thinking maybe that Naruto would realize how pathetic she really was when he found out she didn't have anything like that beyond basic kunai skills.
"Well, here's something that might help," said Naruto, taking her hand and leading her towards the display he'd spotted.
Hinata was sure her face had just discovered an entirely new shade of red. Naruto's hand is so warm and his skin is so rough, but his hands are... oh no, I'm going to faint! I mustn't faint!
"Here we go," said Naruto. "I got a little of the local money saved up. I can get one of these for you. How well can you use a bow?"
Bracelets?! He's taken me to look at jewelry?! It's too soon! Too fast! I - I - I'm not ready for this?!
"Hinata?" asked Naruto. "Are you okay? You look pretty..." Oh crap, I can't say she looks pretty out of it. She'll get mad. Sakura sure would.
Hinata's eyes snapped to Naruto again. H-h-he called me pretty?! Her eyes proceeded to roll up into her head.
Naruto managed to catch her on the way down. "Hinata?!"
Kurenai Yuhi appeared from apparently nowhere, smirking at nothing in particular. "Naruto. Why don't you carry your fiancee to our rooms? She's obviously feeling a little overwhelmed by events."
"Right," said Naruto, not understanding this at all. "Is she okay?"
"I don't think it's serious with that smile on her face like that," said Kurenai. "Probably she's just tired and spent too much time practicing her family style. I've heard that the training there is pretty harsh."
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Mon, 03 May 2010 17:36)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.