Critical Moments-Volume 1

V

Chapter Five

Snow crunched under Naruto's boots as they approached the snow-encrusted Hyūga Compound. The building stood imposing and unfriendly in one of the more exclusive neighborhoods of Konoha. The gate guard took their invitations and their IDs, verified they were who they said they were, and returned their documents without so much as a smile. As uncomfortable as taking the silver bullet might have been, Naruto thought seeing his godmother at the hospital would have been preferable to the greeting they received from the guard.

Naruto began to wish he'd insisted on Mom taking him to Granny Tsunade once inside the party. Everyone in the main hall was an adult, and even the central courtyard, decorated for the birthday and winter holidays, was full of adults – not one kid in sight. I should have listened to Sasuke and Itatchi and licked my palms and not gone for the fake chicken pox routine. Sadly, Mom seemed too smart to fall for any of their tricks. If he didn't know better, he'd swear she'd used them all before.

"Kushina, Naruto, Kakashi!" Akemi Hyūga approached with her arms spread wide. Auntie Akemi wore a dark-blue robe tied with shiny black silk sash across the waist. She wrapped Mom and Kakashi in a massive hug. She then approached him, "Oh my, Naruto," she pinched his cheek gently, "each year I swear you get more and more handsome!" She knelt down to hug him.

"Auntie Akemi!" Naruto whined, "I'm getting too big for hugs!"

"Oh, you're never too big for hugs!" she released him. "Oh, Hinata! Neji! Naruto is here!!!" she hollered cheerfully over the hum of meaningless background conversations.

Hinata's father, Hinata, and her cousin Neji approached. Neji smiled with soft features. His robes were white with a scarlet belt tied immaculately at the waist. He looked like a model Naruto had seen in one of mom's clothing catalogs. Hinata was tucked behind her father, clinging to him like he was a shield. She looked uncomfortable, almost scared. Naruto didn't blame her. The rest of the party were all stuffy-looking grownups; the next youngest person here was an academy graduate, at least twelve or thirteen. No kid would want this kind of a birthday party. In a small way, he understood why his mom was dropping him off here. Hinata needed a friend. "Hi," he said shyly with a wave.

Hinata's eyes widened, and she bowed politely toward him. For the first time, he really looked into her pale purple Byakugan eyes. After not seeing her for a year, the eyes no longer made him scared. The rest of her face was soft, friendly. Kakashi had always told him that the eyes were the window to the soul, but the rest of the face was window to someone's true intentions. Uncle Hiashi looked stern the way Dad did the few times he acted out or got in trouble pulling pranks with Sasuke. Auntie Akemi looked soft and curious – like she was thinking of something far away.

Mom on the other hand looked like she was trying to hide something, something that was making her sad. "Mommy," he said, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine sweetheart," she said as she knelt to him. "Uncle Kakashi and I have to go like we talked about, but we will be back." She smiled, trying to hide something he couldn't identify, "And I will be sure that Daddy is with us!" Without warning, she wrapped him in a tight hug, "You be on your best behavior while we're gone, and you have fun with Hinata and Neji! I love you, so, so much!" She gently rocked him back and forth. She released him, and she and Kakashi left him.

As much as it normally felt good to hug mom, something about this made him feel scared. Naruto started to regret the training Kakashi had started with him since his birthday a little over a month ago. Kakashi called it "anti-kidnapping training." Kakashi would quiz him on things that made no sense – ways to spot a police officer versus someone pretending to be one, how to escape having your hands tied, how to spot someone following you in a crowd, and so much more.