Whispers In The Dark

Training Trip

Jiraiya looked at Naruto as the boy prepared for his journey with the Gama Sennin. He needed Naruto to get even stronger and expand his horizon. The boy had delayed as much as possible to prepare some things for Hinata. He had been cleaning his Hinata paraphernalia from his apartment and approached her with his keys, "Here,"

Hinata looked at his simple key and keychain set, "This is...?"

Naruto smiled, "I know your life at the compound is getting harder what with the elders trying to pressure Nee-san into allowing them put the Caged Bird Seal on you. So since I'm not in the house anyway, I thought I'll need someone to take care of my lilies and the sunflowers. So I thought; hey, Hinata-chan could use a sanctuary from her shitty old crones!" Hinata chuckled as she smacked his bicep gently.

He grinned, "So here...use the apartment. I don't know how long I'll be away for but you can use the space and make it your own," He cleared his throat, his voice has been breaking and he hated how lame he sounded at times around Hinata. She just giggled at his trouble before making his soothing teas.

Hinata looked at the key with wonder, "Are...are you sure?"

He nodded, "Yeah! Did you know that house have spirits? If you leave it alone for too long, it starts to deteriorate? You'll be my house guardian, won't you Hinata?"

Hinata blushed, "I-if...if you really don't mind me making a home out of it,"

Naruto thought about opening his door to a smiling Hinata waiting in his space and blushed, "Y-yeah! Sure! Overhaul the whole place and make it a princess fantasy if you wanted to! I don't mind, dattebayo!"

She giggled, "I'm not going to go that far! It's still your home, Naruto-kun,"

He leaned forward and whispered, "It's yours too if you want, Hinata,"

She jolted as his lips brushed the shell of her ear, making her blush deeper carmine as he pulled back with a sly smile. She noticed that he has been doing these random actions more and more often, causing a riot inside her heart and mind. Does he know what he's doing to her?

As she watched him turn to address Jiraiya, he pulled his sleeves back a little. The weather's colder but he kept pulling his sleeves back and her eyes will always go to those forearms. She noticed that he has this odd chain like marking all over them and ever since she first saw them, she will always trace her eyes all over them. He seemed to notice and let her study them whenever they rested from missions or training or just a slow day in general.

Naruto told her that Akkorokamui increased his body temperature that he's steaming under his clothes as his resonance with the blade grew higher. His temperature will return to normal soon but until then, he will be heating up randomly. Hinata didn't mind though. His forearms have this veins on them that grew prominent from his Kenjutsu training and age. Added with the chains wrapped all over them and Hinata was addicted to looking.

She will ignore her need to trace them.

He laughed, his lips stretching wide over his pearly whites. Hinata noticed as she spent more time around Naruto that he has really large incisors, comparable to an Inuzuka's. He has more fangs deeper in his mouth and she will always stare at them when he talked. Frankly, studying medicine with Tsunade, Hinata learned that males in general have larger teeth and sharper incisors but Naruto and Kiba's were on a whole other class of their own. She understands Kiba as his family's feral chakra evolved their body to appear more animalistic but she wondered where Naruto get his fangs from. Perhaps he gets them from someone in his mysterious family?

Hinata envied Naruto's lashes though. They're really long. There was a time during their childhood that she thought he's a girl at the beginning of her knowledge of him. A very boyish girl but Naruto's shenanigans quickly disabuse her of that musing. He's definitely a boy, a very boyish boy who got mad and bit another boy who teased his feminine face once.