#❛ ᴗ ❛

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Ch.7: Of burdens and duties (4)

Naruto tries to look like he is not bored out of his mind. But they sure are testing his patience. To go see a lord he already forgot his name when he’s free, to consider sponsoring a new trade route Naruto had already discarded with the council, to lend his power to suppress an uprising someplace he didn’t care to remember. 

    His father’s hand touching his shoulder almost made him whine in relief. 

    “I’m afraid I need Lord Naruto for a while, if you’ll excuse me.” His father actually looks apologetic, and Naruto almost wants to congratulate him for being such a good actor. Do whatever you need to do, just get me out of here, he thinks.

    And although the lords and ladies surrounding Naruto complain and whine about his father taking him, Minato takes him away amids excuses and apologetic glances everyone else buys. 

    They are out of earshot when Naruto sighs and thanks his father for his timing, “I was dying of boredom.”

    His father snickers, “Thought it was time for you to get stressed out.”

    “Hinata?”

    “With Lord Gaara.”

    Naruto raises an eyebrow at him, but doesn’t press further. He’s going to her right now to make sure she’s all right anyway. 

    There are some people who look at him and make as if getting closer, but Naruto raises a hand in apology and keeps on walking. He has already spent a good amount of time with them, let him leave, jeez. 

    Temari is the first one to notice him, and she gives him a nod before moving her body to give him a clearer view. Sai is looking around, sitting right beside Hinata. She is sitting straight, all poise and elegance, and her attention is on Gaara, who’s talking and moving his fingers as if counting.

    He comes closer, keeping his eyes on her. Kankuro turns then, Sai glances over him and Gaara raises his head as he realizes his siblings’ attention is elsewhere. Then Hinata looks away from Gaara, follows his line of sight and looks at him. 

    Her shoulders drop in relief, her eyes widen and Naruto has to stop himself from gathering her up in his arms and crushing her against him. Sai stands up the moment he’s close enough and Naruto sits beside her. She stays unmoving and Naruto searches for her hands before bringing it to his thigh. Hinata gives him a small smile and as he rubs circles over her skin she squeezes back.

    Gaara resumes his talking when Hinata looks back at him. 

    “So,” he continues, “only in attendance today are the One-Tail, the Five-Tail, Six-Tail and the Nine-Tail.” His fingers come down as he remembers. “The Four-Tail is allegedly dying-”

    “Which him not coming today kind of fans the flames of that rumor,” Kankuro shrugs and Temari nods along. 

    “And reports have been coming in that the Two-Tail has been sealed already but they are giving time to their Beast Tamer to acclimate.” 

    Hinata frowns, “T-the others… w-where are the o-other B-beasts?”

    “In the wild,” chimes in Naruto, “being restrained by the clans who want a claim on them.”

    “W-who?”

    Naruto shrugs, “We can’t know unless someone comes forward and claims their stake, but so far no one has done so. We don’t know where they are either.” His tone is matter of fact and his stance tells Hinata he doesn’t mind the situation one bit. 

    She keeps her worries to herself. If it’s not enough to worry a Beast Tamer, then surely they were unfounded. But Naruto presses on her hand, grabbing her attention.

    “Anything else?”

    “Ah, w-well. Isn’t it d-d-angerous?” 

    “Oh, well, if the Beasts were roaming freely then sure, and we Beast Tamers would have to step up and contain it. But since they are out there doing nothing, it’s better for us not to waste resources on that. They are being taken care of, and eventually a new Beast Tamer will appear.”

    “H-have you h-had to?”

    Naruto cocks his head to the side in confusion.

    “T-take care of a w-wild B-beast.”

    “Oh, no,” he says, “not in our generation. That kind of thing happened like three generations prior, when we were starting to seal them in ourselves.”

    Hinata nods, as now everything starts to come together with the knowledge she had of Beast Tamers before becoming the wife of one. Before the Beasts were sealed in humans the clans either drew them off into the wild and far away from them or tried to seal them in places. A mountain, a cave, a forest. Only when they started sealing them within themselves to draw from their power did the Beast Tamers came into reality.

Hinata wonders, steals a glance at Naruto  who is starting a conversation with Lord Gaara. Would it be so bad to let the Nine-Tail out into the wild again? Tied to a forest far away from everyone? That way Naruto…

    He brings her out of her thoughts as he scoots closer to her and lays their intertwined hands over her thigh now, Hinata feels herself blushing and notices immediately the mischievous smirk on Naruto’s face. 

    He is enjoying this.

⁂⁂⁂

Hinata spends the rest of the day by Naruto’s side. Like his father did before, when people don’t accept Naruto’s hand wave and leave, he walks to them, away from the group and comes back immediately after. 

Lord Gaara and his entourage left a while ago, as soon as the demonstrations started. Each Beast Tamer sits in a specified area around the arena, at the highest part of the structure, in order of the number of tails of their respective Beasts. Lord Naruto sits at one of the edges and Lord Gaara is right in front of his line of sight. 

Naruto relaxes the moment the show starts, and it’s obvious why. The area the Beast Tamers sit at is off-limits to anyone but the people sanctioned by them, and a quick glance around tells Hinata that the Beast Tamers only keep their guards and a selected handful of other people. Many of the lords Naruto talked with before were not in here and new faces were presented before Hinata with a whole new attitude. 

These people he liked, she realized, and by the way they conducted themselves the feeling was mutual. 

Most of the lords and ladies that came to Naruto before sit under them, in the next level. Still substantially high up, but incapable of bothering the Beast Tamers. Not that they seem to mind, as they are now enthralled in the fights under them. With their hands intertwined and grabbing their clothes in suspense, Hinata sees some of them groaning in frustration while others clap in glee at the results. 

Naruto sits with his hand on her thigh, and he glances back at her every once in a while. Rubs his thumb over her clothes, offers drinks and food Hinata ends up refusing after a while. 

Sai sits right beside her, on her other side, and Sakura has come sit next to Naruto instead of Shino. They comment on the fights and some of the lords and ladies they met before and Sakura’s laugh fills the room in intervals. 

Hinata snickers at some of their comments, harsh and way too honest, and whenever she sits there, confused since she’s missing information, either Sakura or Naruto lean to her and add an explanation. 

There are few instances in which Hinata had the fortune of visiting a festival before. All of them under the eyes of the Hyuga. The places were beautiful and the people were happy and Hinata could only watch. Her stutter made her keep her mouth quiet and it meant she could never join in anything worth doing. 

Naruto presses his hand on her leg, inches closer to the edge of his seat as the fight reaches its climax. One of the fighters uses a flashy fire technique that engulfs half the arena and the people watching hold their breaths as they expect to see the opponent laying on the ground. But he’s cocooned inside walls he raised from the ground, and he dashes forward immediately after. His enemy yields the moment he sees him running towards him. 

And Naruto laughs in joy. “Did you see that?” He asks, and Hinata can feel his eyes on her. She smiles and can’t control the feeling that overcomes her as Naruto looks at her expecting a reaction. Whatever it may be. 

She takes her time, as usual, but she doesn’t worry, because she knows he will wait. “Went all or n-nothing on that last one, d-didn’t he?”

Naruto’s energy is contagious, and Hinata can’t remember a time in which she was so mesmerized in fighting before. He nods along and shrugs, “You always gotta keep your chakra supply in check.”

“Like you’ve ever had to worry about that,” jabs Sakura, and Naruto turns to her with mock hurt on his face. 

“I’ll let you know I am very conscientious about my own chakra, thank you very much.”

Lord Minato rarely comments and spends his time quiet and attentive behind his son, but this time he inches forward, right between Hinata and Naruto, and he says, “You are very welcome, son, thank you very much.”

Naruto turns to him and looks as if he’s been betrayed in the worst way possible. Sakura keeps on pestering him, now that Lord Minato has joined in, and Naruto waves them away frowning as if he’s pissed, but he snickers the second after, and he can’t help but laugh as he attempts to defend his position with weak arguments. 

Even Sai chimes in, and Hinata can feel herself relishing this ambience, this situation. She is enjoying herself. And she brings her hand to her mouth in an attempt to hide the laugh that threatens to spill forth. 

The tremor that rattles their room is enough for the conversation to die out immediately and for everyone to stand alert. Naruto grabs her arm and brings her closer to him. 

The sound comes to them from the farthest corner of the arena. The people standing in attention stare at the direction where the sound came from and Hinata can feel Naruto’s hand trembling as they realize that it’s-

“Gaara,” Naruto whispers and he squints his eyes as if that’s enough for him to be able to see between the people and the cloud of dirt that stands between them. 

“The structure gave away?” Ventures Sakura, and they all remain quiet, still ready for action, aware of their surroundings and everything around them. 

The screams are still far away, but it’s enough for Naruto to grab Hinata and start walking away from the windows. His eyes still glued to the commotion, glancing around every now and then to make sure that whatever was there was not yet here. 

“An attack?” Lord Minato looks dumbfounded, and the lords and ladies inside the room whisper around them with the same tone. Nobody aside from Naruto and Sai have moved and it’s clear nobody yet believes there is even a chance for an attack to be happening. 

“Everyone, gather your things, your guards and leave this place immediately.” Naruto’s voice resonates within the room, and he breaks the spell. Everyone begins to stand, looking more and more worried by the second. 

And then Gaara’s One-Tail comes into view, and Naruto can feel a shiver run down his spine. “What the fuck…" 

The Beast roars to the sky. His weight is too much for the wood and metal structure under him, which is why every move he makes make the place collapse. The Beast’s body is like a gigantic bear made out of sand, with purple linings running through its body like veins. His yellow eyes are surrounded by black and they lock on the people under him. 

Naruto has trouble breathing. He wishes to go and help, make Gaara regain control, but there are so many things yet he doesn’t know. He can’t put Hinata at risk due to his carelessness.

"I’m going to help,” his father states and then runs towards the window. 

“Sakura!,” Naruto shouts, trying to reign control of the situation and start giving the orders they desperately need. But Sakura is already on his father’s heels.

Minato throws a kunai in front of him, breaking the glass before jumping out, with Sakura at his back. They disappear into the sea of people who have already started to leave the premises as fast as they can, making the dire situation even worse. Naruto follows his father’s back for a second before losing them completely. And then he turns around and brings Hinata to his side, his arm around her shoulders.

“We need to leave,” he orders. Hinata trembles under him and his brain starts working with one goal in mind: getting her out of here.

“Shino, you guide us out of here. Sai, at my back." 

Shino’s bugs are already buzzing and flying around them and he starts moving immediately after receiving the instruction. Naruto feels Sai glued to their backs and he allows himself a second of relief before moving. 

The people pile upon each other in a desperate attempt to escape, but it only makes it harder to do so. Naruto understands Shino’s instructions without the need to voice it. He crouches, places his arm behind Hinata’s legs and raises her into his arms.

She brings her arms around him as a reflex, her eyes wide and filled with worry.

"It’s gonna be all right,” he whispers against her head, “it’s going to be all right. I got you.”

They jump in between the people. Like many others lords and ladies are doing as well, being carried in the arms of the guards they brought. They keep away from each other, still too worried about the source of the attack. 

The One-Tail stops roaring and Naruto feels himself stand straighter. He knows this pattern. He looks at the monster and sees it breathing in.

“Take cover!!” He yells, hoping Shino and Sai hear him. He falls to the floor, covers Hinata with his body and raises his hand in front of him, letting the chakra of the Beast pour out. 

The One-Tail shoots out balls of pressured air to the people. In no order. The ground trembles, the arena starts falling apart wherever the attack touches and then it stops. 

Naruto lets his chakra die out and looks around. There are people splayed out in ways that no living being could withstand, and he brings Hinata closer to him. The arena still stands, but it’s a matter of time before the One-Tail pounds it to the ground. 

“Shino! Sai!" 

Sai jumps next to him, with his scroll on his hand and a bleeding gash at the side of his head. Shino is nowhere to be found. "He’ll find us,” he tells Sai, who only nods before following again. Shino specializes in tracking, if anyone will be able to find them after being separated will be him… or so Naruto wants to believe. 

The screams and now wails of pain fill the air and Naruto feels his senses heightened due to the danger around them. Which is why he stops before the One-Tail even stops screaming. 

The Beast gives out an interrupted yell before disappearing under a flash of light. 

His father did it. 

He did it. 

Gaara is okay.

He doesn’t realize he’s trembling until Hinata brings her head out of his neck and he puts her on the ground, cups her cheek. His fingers can’t stop spasming. “Are you hurt?”

Hinata shakes her head no and hugs him, rubbing her head against his chest. Naruto can’t help the sigh of relief that leaves his body. 

He has to go check on Gaara. 

He reaches the ground with Hinata in his arms first. Whatever happened to Gaara can happen again and it’s best for Hinata to get out of here. 

Sai will take her. Naruto looks around, hoping to see Shino or Sakura coming to him, but only the people jumping down from the stands are running around. The guards with their clients under their arms, looking around in search of danger while they move as fast as they can. There are whimpers and wails of agony around them, but the thunderous racket from before gave way to a sort of calm that only makes Naruto more nervous. 

His father must be with Gaara, tending to him. He will not come back until Gaara is fine, and he’s grateful for it. But that means that Sakura won’t leave his side either and if Shino doesn’t come back soon only Sai will be there to protect Hinata. And taking the current events into consideration, Naruto fails to feel comfortable without sending at least two guards with her. 

He takes too much time thinking. It’s the first thing that comes to mind as the tremors come back again and the noise escalates around them. It’s terrifying, the sight before him. Aside from Gaara’s, he has never seen another Beast on the loose. Wouldn’t even think he would ever do so in his lifetime. And yet…

The Five-Tails stands now before him, a horse-like Beast with white fur extending from its face to its five tails. The stands are already in shambles so the moment it appears, his hoofs start stomping in an attempt to stabilize itself. 

The wave of dust and air that moves to them leaves Naruto with no time at all, and his only reaction is to cocoon Hinata in his arms and throw himself to the ground, hoping no debris falls to them. 

The second the trembling settles they are running away. Naruto coughs as the particles latch to his lungs and he worries whether Hinata is having a hard time breathing as well, but he refuses to stop now. First they need to get out of here.

The dust makes everything harder to see and Sai tries his best to make a way for him to go through, moving people out of their way. They move faster than almost everyone on the ground and yet they are still inside when that distinct trembling happens again. 

Naruto knows what’s happening before he even turns around. Somehow, his senses catch onto his surroundings before his brain can have a chance. He puts Hinata on the ground, looks for her face.

There are tears going down her cheeks and he doesn’t know whether it’s because she’s scared or because the dirt around her is irritating her eyes. 

It doesn’t really matter.

He raises her head, cups her cheeks with his hands while his thumbs wipe her tears. She locks eyes with him, “Stay close to Sai.” 

Hinata frowns at him, confused, but  Naruto doesn’t have the time to explain, so he pushes her towards her guard, who is already right behind her.

Naruto smirks, he catches on quick. 

Sai, like never before, latches onto Hinata’s wrist and mid-section to keep her from moving, as she tries to reach for him. “My lord-” she calls, but Naruto walks backwards with growing intensity. 

He catches her struggling with Sai, who remains still as a statue. And as if on cue, the Six-Tails gurgles to the sky. Slimy and gooey, the slug-like Beast stands behind him too. Naruto can’t find any explanation for what’s happening. He just fears-

“Naruto!!” Hinata cries and Naruto can feel his heart squeezing. He forces himself to keep on walking. Not now. She has to leave and he has to put distance between them. 

Whatever is happening, it’s targeting Beast Tamers. And if there is any pattern to this.

-he fears he’s next.