Chapter 60: Rebound

Since Hinata had already told Naruto that they wouldn’t be able to see each other until the start of the Chunin Exams, Wu consented when she asked if she could stay in the Senju Clan Compound. He knew Tsunade would say yes, but instead of immediately taking Hinata over to get her settled in, Wu waited until she had calmed down before suggesting, “We should train. I’ve actually been worried about-”

Without waiting for Wu to finish, Hinata unzipped her inordinately baggy hoodie to reveal the upper half of a dark blue, near skin-tight ‘wingsuit.’ This was one of the reasons Naruto had asked her to cover, as, due to the innovations in her fighting style, Hinata wore clothing that allowed her to be as aerodynamic as possible.

After discarding her hoodie like a butterfly shedding its cocoon, Hinata hesitated briefly, a faint red hue coloring her cheeks before she stripped out of her pants. It was nothing Wu hadn’t seen before, but as it had been a long time, Hinata felt self-conscious about the condition of her body.

Though he noted that Hinata’s breasts and bottom had swelled quite a bit in a mere five months, Wu didn’t comment on them. Instead, he gave an approving nod, divesting the dark-haired bluenette of her nervousness by noting, “It’s clear you’ve been keeping up with your physical conditioning. Good job, Hinata.”

Exhibiting a smile she hadn’t shown in a long time, Hinata’s eyes narrowed slightly, her back straightening as she responded with an adorable, “Nn~!” Then, for the better part of seven hours, the two just trained together, the intensity of their training drastically exceeding what Hinata had displayed during their previous spars…

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“Haaaa….haaaaa….haaaaa…”

Despite completely exhausting herself, Hinata had a contented smile on her face as she stared listlessly up at the sky with her forearm resting on her forehead. She hadn’t been able to go all out against Naruto because she was worried about damaging his self-esteem. She trained pretty hard in secret, but there was nothing quite as ‘liberating’ as giving it her all in a fight and still losing.

Liberating the red-faced girl from her reverie, Wu remarked, “Not to put a damper on things, but how do you want to go about this? We could have delayed things almost indefinitely before, but now that I’m married, your Clan will want to move forward with the engagement as fast as possible. They may even ask us to forgo the wedding ceremony outright, citing that they wouldn’t want to ’embarrass’ Tsunade by making things too public…”

Though Wu’s reminder did put a slight damper on her spirits, Hinata didn’t lose her smile. Her father had approached her shortly after Wu’s marriage to Tsunade, informing her that it didn’t annul their engagement. She had been mulling things over since that very revelation, so she only hesitated for a brief moment before pressing the tips of her index fingers together, a callback to the moment they had been engaged, answering, “I’m…not unwilling…”

Realizing what she had done, Wu’s eyes narrowed in amusement as he said, “You really have put some thought into this, haven’t you? I’ve always known you were adorable, but damn…”

Blushing up to her ears, Hinata attempted to conceal her embarrassment by rolling away from Wu. The former was sitting up, but she was still lying on the grass, so it seemed like the most sensible thing to do. At least until Wu remarked, “This is a view I can get used to…”

As Hinata’s custom-made wingsuit conformed to her body, Wu was given quite an eyeful. His remark was also calm, confident, and contained a hint of teasing, so Hinata didn’t feel pressured. Whenever Naruto made similar remarks, he always had a greedy, desirous look and a hint of desperation in his tone…

Turning back to steal a glance over her shoulder, Hinata found Wu staring ‘at’ her with a relaxed smile on his face. He may have been staring at her ass moments prior, but the moment she turned to face him, his gaze was fixed squarely on her face, his look attentive as if to imply he was waiting to hear what she had to say. Another stark contrast to Naruto, who never stopped talking about himself unless she appeared depressed or outright asked if she could speak…

After waiting for several seconds, Wu’s expression and tone softened as he pointed out, “You’re thinking about him…”

Instead of refuting the claim, Hinata nodded her head and replied, “Yes. But I’m primarily thinking about how ‘different’ the two of you are…I feel partially…well, more like fully responsible for Naruto-kun’s behavior. I’m almost positive that the way I was acting before we started dating gave him certain…expectations. Once we graduated, and things didn’t progress as ‘quickly’ as he was expecting…I think he became desperate…”

Nodding his head, Wu replied, “That is definitely the case…however, while Naruto has a fairly compelling reason to be resentful toward the world, it was wrong for him to view you as an outlet to ‘unload’ his burdens. These next few weeks, months, and potentially even years are going to be rough for both of you. But don’t worry. So long as he doesn’t completely lose his shit and do something irredeemable, I’m fairly certain I can do something about it…”

Blinking in surprise, Hinata sat up and asked, “Really? Can you truly help Naruto-kun…?” in a hopeful tone.

Shrugging his shoulders, albeit only slightly, Wu replied, “I will try, but it ultimately depends on him. I noticed Naruto had ‘matured’ a bit after his mission to the Land of Waves. He doesn’t lack empathy for other people, so if I can introduce him to someone that ‘needs’ him, I believe they could help each other…”

As Wu spoke, the image of a young Kunoichi with remarkably red hair and slightly darker eyes appeared in his mind. He had investigated each of the Genin that would be participating in the exams, and one stood out like the sorest of thumbs. Not just due to her ridiculously red hair, but because of her monstrous Chakra reserves…

Since he was already formulating his plans around ‘accompanying’ Hinata during the Chunin Exams, Wu felt no reservations about revealing, “There is a Kunoichi from Kuso participating in the exams that is almost certainly a member of the Uzumaki Clan. They concealed her surname, but even a blind person would be able to see how ludicrously red her hair is…”

Shaking his head, Wu added, “Even if she isn’t a member of the Uzumaki Clan, her circumstances would make just about anyone’s blood boil. If we informed Naruto that she is a distant relative, he might ‘literally’ tear apart the people on her Team…”

Though she was afraid to ask, Hinata did precisely that, asking, “What is her situation like…?” in a trepidatious tone.

Demonstrating with his left arm, though not actually biting, Wu revealed, “Those fucking monsters use her as a backup Chakra reserve. They bite into her skin and literally suck the Chakra out of her along with her blood. Some of the bite marks on her body…forget it. Though I’m certain you can imagine, it’s better that you don’t hear the specifics…”

As Wu’s words just made her imagination run even wilder, a genuinely pained expression appeared on Hinata’s face, complete with nascent tears in her eyes as she asked, “How could anyone be so cruel? Please tell me she’s at least older than we are…”

Shaking his head, Wu revealed, “According to her registration, she is from the same age group as us. When you consider that some of the scars on her body are ‘very’ old…let’s just say, even if Naruto doesn’t take action, I will. And no, I will not show mercy to those bastards…”

Though she could only imagine how bad the girl’s situation was, Hinata didn’t attempt to deter Wu’s ‘justice.’ She had never fully grown out of her innate gentleness, but she had long overcome her fears of hurting others. Some people, such as the bandits her Team had discovered keeping both women and children locked away in a cave, deserved to die…

Seeing the ‘resolution’ in Hinata’s eyes, Wu extended his hand to pat her head for the first time in months. His actions briefly surprised her, but she quickly regained a smile and admitted, “I missed this…not just the petting, but being able to spend time together…”

Nodding his head, Wu gave a casual, “Same…” before getting marginally more sincere as he added, “My missions may take me out of the village in the future, but, once we’re married, I swear to never make you feel alone or devalued when I’m around. I know you’re aware of much I appreciate you, but I won’t relent until you feel it in your soul, not just your body and mind…”

Though she was reeling due to the rather drastic change in topic, Hinata’s face became bright red in response to Wu’s forceful yet incredibly moving statement. He exuded confidence from every pore of his being, and as far as she was aware, he had never once lied to her. Thus, even though she felt like her world had been flipped over multiple times in just a single day, Hinata managed a genuine, heartfelt smile as she wiped away a tear from her narrowed eyes and hummed a happy, “Nn~!” In response, Wu moved his hand from her head to the side of her face, his thumb tracing the bone of her cheek as he brought his face closer…a motion Hinata didn’t hesitate to mirror…

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After the previous incident with Tsunade, Wu practically dashed over to the Higurashi Tool Shop to inform Tenten of what had transpired. He felt a little guilty, as her entire reason for returning home was to focus her mind, but he also knew she would feel even greater exasperation if he didn’t tell her immediately.

Somewhat surprisingly, Tenten wasn’t surprised by Wu’s revelation. It was apparent to her, all of the girls, and even most of the guys in their circle of friends that the relationship between Naruto and Hinata was poisonous to them both. Wu had also informed her about his engagement to Hinata, so Tenten had already prepared herself for the ‘inevitable’ moment in which everything came to a head.

The one thing Tenten ‘was’ surprised about was that Wu already had a ‘rebound girl’ lined up for Naruto. However, when she heard the specifics, she was actually a little angry at him for not helping the girl earlier. With Wu’s relationship with Hiruzen and his status as the incumbent Lord of the Senju Clan, she was ‘certain’ he could have done something about the girl named Karin’s situation. The Uzumaki Clan was, at one point in time, the most dependable ally of Konoha. There was a massive memorial for the Clan near the center of the village, so if Karin truly was a member of the defunct Uzumaki Clan and was being mistreated in such a way, there was no reason for Konoha ‘not’ to grant her asylum.

Fortunately for Wu, he already had an excuse prepared, citing that there was no ‘guarantee’ the girl was from the Uzumaki Clan. If they attempted to grant her asylum and it turned out she was just an exceptionally gifted young Kunoichi, Konoha would be accused of poaching talent from allied or, at the very least, neutral nations. While it ultimately wouldn’t matter if they offended a tiny village like Kusa, the Shinobi Nations were merely the ‘underside’ of society. The various Lands were ruled by the Daimyo, so it could cause a lot of problems for Konoha if the Fire Daimyo found himself under pressure from his fellow Lords. Simply put, while helping Karin was the right thing to do from a moral standpoint, it was a potentially massive mistake from a political one…

Explained even simpler, politics sucked…

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(A/N: Thoughts? Me brain empty.)