Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Seeds of Fire ❯ Chapter 2

Seeds of Fire

Chapter Two

Alzrius

 

Disclaimer: None of the characters here are mine, but I'm using them anyway! And you'll never catch me!

 

Thoughts are in italics.

 

 

 

“Breed me.”

 

“Wh-WHAT?!” If Naruto had been freaked before, he was downright panicked now.

 

“Breed me, Naruto-kun,” Hanabi repeated. “I can produce many healthy children, so-“

 

Naruto had heard enough. None of the fights he'd ever been in in his entire life had scared him as much as this conversation was right now. Desperate to get away, he rapidly performed a series of hand seals and shouted, “Kawarimi no jutsu!”

 

Hanabi blinked once as she found herself hugging her bed pillow instead of Naruto. Turning around, she frowned as she noticed him now crouched on the head of her bed, glancing around rapidly. “Naruto-kun…” Her voice was no longer (what she thought was) a sexy purr, instead reflecting the mixture of annoyance and exasperation she felt.

 

A small part of Naruto's mind idly noted that he'd botched that jutsu rather badly, since it was meant to be done silently and without drawing notice. The much larger portion of his brain, however, was trying to juggle the tasks of finding a way to get the hell out of there, and not touch, or even look at, Hanabi's naked body. Both of which were going to be difficult, as she was now between him and the door…and had just thrown away the pillow she'd been left holding, once again putting her body on display for him. He didn't have anymore time to think, however, as a knock at the door made him yelp and leap up. “Naruto-kun? Hanabi-chan? What's going on in there?” Shizune hadn't stopped speaking before she started to open the door.

 

That was the last straw for Naruto's panicked mind. Just the thought of a grownup catching him with a naked little girl was enough to make him completely throw caution to the wind in favor of escape. Leaping at the room's sole window, he ripped the curtains apart, pushed the window open so hard it nearly broke, and threw himself out of it with all the strength he could muster, not caring for an instant if anyone saw him vaulting out of a fourth-story window.

 

Shizune, having entered just in time to see the end of Naruto's wild flight, looked on with wide eyes, which got even wider as she noticed the naked child glaring at the now-empty window. Completely stunned, the medical ninja managed to vocalize the first thought that crossed her mind. “What the hell is going on???”

 

* * * * *

 

“You told him to WHAT?!”

 

After Naruto had fled the apartment, Shizune had told Hanabi to get dressed and then explain what had happened. After putting dinner literally on the back-burner while the Hyuuga heiress put her clothes back on, the two women were now sitting at the small table in the middle of the apartment, where Hanabi had unabashedly confessed to what she'd said.

 

“To breed me.” Hanabi's face was once again the perfect expressionless mask that so many of her clan wore. Or rather, it was almost expressionless, as she couldn't completely hide her growing annoyance of how Shizune seemed to be following Naruto's example and descending in hysterics. “I wanted him to have sex with me and get me pregnant.”

 

For Shizune, the sheer number of things that were wrong with what Hanabi had just said were so numerous that when she tried to articulate them a moment later, she unsuccessfully tried to say them all at once, resulting in her spewing nearly thirty second's worth of gibberish.

 

When her brain finally caught up with her mouth, and she realized that “Naruto babies protection love hormones young adoption instincts molesting abortion statutory marriage puberty diseases UNDERAGE!!!” was in fact not an actual sentence, she finally managed to calm herself down somewhat…enough so that she no longer looked like she was about to hyperventilate herself into unconsciousness, at least.

 

Finally managing to collect herself, Shizune tried again. “Hanabi-chan, you're too young to have sex, let alone have a baby!”

 

“No I'm not. I'm eleven years old, and I've been menstruating since I was nine, meaning that I'm fertile and able to bear children.” There wasn't any heat in Hanabi's voice, just cold logic, still wearing a slightly irked expression.

 

“Hanabi…” The degree to which Shizune felt uncomfortable having this conversation was immeasurable. Was this what it was like for all members of the Hyuuga clan when they had to give their kids “the talk?”

 

“Listen, having sex is a huge step in a girl's life, and becoming a mother is even larger. It's becoming completely responsible for someone else's life, and it means putting that life ahead of your own, twenty-four hours a day for as long as you live. It's more responsibility than most adults can handle, let alone children. To say nothing of how difficult a pregnancy would be at your age! And that it's illegal for him to do that with you!”

 

“I understand.”

 

“And furthermore it…wait, you do?” Shizune could almost feel the sense of hope rising in her, and started to mentally pat herself on the back. She wasn't such an excellent medical ninja for nothing!

 

“I just don't care.” Shizune slumped over, hitting her head on the table as Hanabi's words destroyed her sense of self-satisfaction.

 

“Hanabi-chan, listen-“

 

“No, you listen. I'm a Konoha ninja, just like you, and because of that, the only thing I care about is restoring Konoha.” Hanabi was still speaking in the same soft tones, but now the iron was audible in her voice, and her pale eyes seemed to almost glow with determination.

 

“You heard what Naruto-kun told us, Shizune-oneechan. We need to raise an army and destroy the Sound Country for what they did to us. Only then can we restore our village.” Hanabi paused to give Shizune a penetrating look. “Have you thought about where we're supposed to get this army from, oneechan?”

 

Shizune shifted as her discomfort grew, knowing where this conversation was heading. “I wasn't…I mean…”

 

“We haven't seen any of our people since we came here. And I've heard you telling Naruto time and again that it'd be a fool's errand to go searching for them, since we don't know where to look and it'd just call attention to us. We don't have enough money to hire mercenaries, and the other ninja villages won't attack an established power on behalf of a defeated village.”

 

Shizune looked down, unable to refute any of that. She'd been thinking about this as well, and knew how bleak things looked regarding Konoha's future resurrection. Hanabi continued, “And even if we did find other Konoha shinobi, would it be enough? The jounins and ANBU stayed behind, which means they probably all died. And it's foolish to think that everyone who fled survived either.”

 

“Shizune, the only way we're ever going to have enough people to strike back against the Sound is if we have children, lots and lots of children. We'll have many, and train them to be excellent ninjas, and send them out to find other survivors, whom I can guarantee you will be doing the same thing. Then, we'll lead them into battle, and reclaim our home.”

 

“It's not that simple. You can't just expect to start squeezing out kids one after another and make an army that way.” Shizune could hear the desperation in her voice, but even she didn't know if it was to try and convince Hanabi that she was wrong, or convince herself that Hanabi was wrong. Shizune had thought a lot about Tsunade's last words, once Naruto had confided in his housemates, and she'd eventually reached the same conclusion that Hanabi was espousing now. Unlike the young Hyuuga, however, Shizune didn't quite feel ready to stop searching for alternatives yet.

 

“It is that simple. I'm a woman of Konoha, and this is my duty. For that matter, it's your duty too, and I haven't seen you trying to warm his bed.”

 

Feeling her face turn red, Shizune couldn't help but wonder just where Hanabi had even learned expressions like that. Were kids becoming perverted at a younger age these days, or was Hanabi just trying hard? Realizing that Hanabi was actually waiting for an answer to her last remark, Shizune fell back to a tried-but-true tactic she'd used whenever Tsunade had said something that was impossible to respond to: ignore it and change the subject. “Hanabi, I'm not saying your idea isn't a viable one, it's just that you and Naruto aren't ready for this. If you could wait just three years, maybe then-“

 

“'Three years'?” Hanabi cut her off, her voice becoming even colder. “'Three years'? All that will happen in three years is that we'll all become three years older. I can have four children in three years, Shizune! This is going to take decades, and we need to start now!”

 

“Well Naruto-kun didn't seem so eager to start now, did he?!” Shizune felt bad about the way she snapped at the girl, but the frustration she'd been feeling this entire time had finally reached its peak. She hated that she was losing an argument about sex to an eleven year-old, and she hated even more than it was because said eleven year-old was right and she was wrong, driving her to lash out at Hanabi to make her shut up. “He ran away from you like you burned him!”

 

“I thought he'd find me attractive!” Shizune's words had finally hit a sore point, and now it was Hanabi's turn to start yelling. “I thought men liked girls like me!”

 

Silence reigned in the apartment in the wake of the youngest Hyuuga's outburst for several moments. Hanabi was looking down, her hands clenched into fists and an upset look on her face. For the first time it occurred to Shizune that Hanabi's feelings had probably been hurt by the full-on rejection Naruto had given to her clumsy advances. After all, no girl liked to feel unattractive.

 

“Hanabi-chan, what did…I mean, why would…” Shizune stumbled over the question, trying not to give Hanabi a backhanded insult in asking why she thought that. Her voice died away as Hanabi wordlessly got up and went back to her room. Shizune had just enough time to start feeling guilty for how she'd treated the girl, when Hanabi came back and plunked several books on the table.

 

“Because of these. I know men like big boobs and long legs, but I was doing some research on how to…be sexy,” her voice turned into a mumble as she hurried over the last two words, embarrassed despite herself, “and I found these. So I know that men must like girls like me also, right?”

 

Curious, Shizune picked up the first book, then balked as she read the title. “'Daughters of Lust'?! This is a lolicon manga!!!”

 

“I got some novels too.”

 

Horrified, Shizune looked through the rest of the pile, her voice slowly rising to an outraged shriek as she read the titles. “'Grade School Vixens'?! `Naughty Ninja-Girls in Training?!' `LOLI LOLI PARADISE'?!?!”

 

“That last one was particularly helpful. It said that letting him know that I wanted to be `knocked up' was a great way to-“

 

Hanabi trailed off as Shizune slammed the books down with a growl. She silently swore that if Jiraiya had survived the destruction of Konoha, and she ran into him again, she'd make him wish he'd died there! “You aren't old enough to be reading these yet! How did you even buy these in the first place?! You're not even supposed to leave the house!”

 

Becoming slightly upset again, Hanabi frowned at the older woman. “Relax, I put the eye drops in.”

 

Before arriving in the Stone Country, it had become necessary to address the problem of Hanabi's eyes. The unusual color would make her stand out, and clearly mark her as carrying the Hyuuga bloodline limit of byakugan, making her a target for ninjas everywhere.

 

Naruto had wanted to teach Hanabi how to use the henge no jutsu to disguise herself, but Shizune had overruled him. After all, any skilled shinobi would be able to detect a henge, and then they'd automatically be suspicious about why such a young girl was disguising herself to begin with, which would defeat the point.

 

Instead, Shizune had concocted a substance to temporarily dye Hanabi's eyes. The mixture she'd used was a black poison she'd had on her when they'd fled Konoha. It was usually used to permanently blind enemies by throwing it in their eyes. By using an extremely watered-down version, Shizune had been able to put a drop on each of Hanabi's eyes, the substance coloring them black without damaging her sight. It naturally faded over a day though, and Shizune hadn't been able to acquire more of that particular poison yet, so Hanabi had been forced to ration the little she'd been given.

 

“Even so, you shouldn't have left without telling either of us, and you especially shouldn't have bought these smutty books! I can't believe the bookshop owners were willing to sell these to a little girl!”

 

“I stole them,” explained Hanabi, a mild frown still marking the extent to which Shizune's outburst bothered her. “It would have been wasteful to spend our money on this. Besides, this is a part of my mission for Konoha, so it wasn't wrong.”

 

One eyebrow twitching madly, Shizune bit her tongue to keep from castigating the girl again. Instead, she busied herself with putting the books on the highest shelf in the room, ignoring that that would probably be no barrier at all for the resourceful Hanabi.

 

“Shizune-oneechan.” The medical ninja took a deep breath before she turned back to the younger girl.

 

“Yes?”

 

“The books didn't work. Naruto-kun didn't want to breed with me.” Hanabi couldn't meet Shizune's eyes as she spoke, slightly ashamed that her first real mission for Konoha had, so far, been a failure.

 

Shizune opened her mouth to respond, but before she could Hanabi looked up and spoke again. “Shizune-oneechan, I need you to train me.”

 

“Train you?” Realizing that she'd long since lost any vestige of control over this conversation, Shizune could only guess at what Hanabi was talking about now. “Train you in what?”

 

“In the womanly arts of seduction.”

 

Author's Notes: In trying to update this second chapter, I accidently deleted, and then reuploaded, the first chapter. D'oh! Sorry!