DID YOU MISS ME, NARUTO-KUN?

A man in a green flak jacket walked out from the Hokage's office, accompanied by two individuals walking beside him. One of them was an Uchiha, and the other was a random ninja. However, the man held his head high.

In two days, he was going on another mission, and during that time frame, he could rest and spend time with his family.

"Why did you behave like you are better than us?" the Uchiha spoke to his friend.

The other random man stayed quiet; he didn't want to meddle between two clans.

"Because I am better," he simply replied.

.

"You..." the Uchiha pointed his finger towards him, accusing him of being too arrogant.

"Look at you; you didn't even awaken your Sharingan. How could you call yourself an Uchiha?" he said while activating his own Byakugan.

The Uchiha didn't have anything to say, but nonetheless, he couldn't let his rival clan win, so he yelled, "I will awaken them, and then I will show you."

"Haha, I am waiting for that day, Isamu," he said with a laugh. It was not like he wanted to be arrogant, but this arrogance flowed in his blood.

"So what are we gonna do in two days? If we want, we could hang out," the third person on the team said.

"Who wants to hang out with losers like you? I will spend my time with my wife," the Hyuga man said with a smile.

.

"Me too. You're not the only one with a wife, Ranmaru," the Uchiha said, leaving the third teammate defeated.

After chatting with them, Ranmaru headed towards his clan. His life was normal; he was a Jonin, had a steady source of income, and had a family. In addition to the money he earned from missions, the clan provided him with more money annually.

He soon arrived at the door of his home and rang the doorbell. Hearing the noise of footsteps, a smile appeared on his face.

"Welcome home," his wife greeted him with a smile.

However, his smile soon crumbled when she spoke, "The main house wanted to see you in the meeting room."

.

'Main house,' sweat beads started to appear on his face. He began to rack his mind, trying to recall if he had made any mistakes, but he couldn't find anything.

They rarely interfered with their daily lives; only when something important was about to happen did they call branch house members.

Did he hate them? No. Without them, they would be subjected to the influence of other clans or the village; it was a known fact in the clan.

His life of comfort would vanish, and he would have to fight for the survival of himself and his family.

.

He quickly washed his face and walked towards the meeting room. With every step he took, he became more nervous.

The two guards that were guarding the meeting room looked at him and opened the gate. "Go in, they are waiting for you," one of them said.

As soon as he took steps inside the dimly lit room, the door behind him closed with a creak.

.

He could feel the tension in the air. He looked around and saw five elders with their trusted bodyguards, who had been trained by them from birth.

'I wonder if I could become their personal bodyguard,' he thought. These guards had many special privileges, such as training by the main house, living with them, etc.

.

Then, he looked at the clan head who was sitting on the other side of the table, and opposite him was the next clan head.

He had watched her daily spars with her brother, and this was one of his favorite hobbies.

He also wanted to brag that their clan also had monsters, like those cursed Uchiha who always brag about Itachi, Shisui, and Sasuke, but the clan head had forbidden sharing this information.

.

The table was rectangular in shape, with two elders on one side and three on the other. The clan head was at the front, and Hinata sat opposite her father.

He was sure that a verbal battle had just occurred a few minutes ago; this was clearly written on their faces. The table had some cracks on it, and the water glasses were also cracked.

.

'I just wanted to get out of this room.'

"Clan head, you called me," he said respectfully, kneeling on one knee.

"Yes," Hiashi said while indicating for him to stand up.

"Tell us what mission Hokage gave you," this time Hinata spoke, her white eyes piercing his. Looking back into her eyes, he felt uneasy, so he lowered his head.

.

He knew it was against the village rules; no one was allowed to disclose mission details to anyone. If the Hokage found out, he would be executed for treason. However, to the clan members, the clan head came first.

"We are going to escort a group of merchants to the Land of Hot Springs in two days, with my two other teammates… The merchant group contains three carriages and five people," he shared all the details of his mission.

"Didn't I tell you, Father, it will be easy this way," Hinata said with a smile, to which Hiashi just sighed.

.

Her gaze landed on him. She raised her hand, and numerous silk-like chakra strings started to appear, weaving together to create a mask.

She then called him to come in front of her and placed the mask on his face. The mask adhered to his face like a second skin.

.

"From now on, you are dead in Hokage's eyes. This will be your new identity and worry not about anything. Just serve in the clan, and your soon-to-be-born child will be trained as a new bodyguard for the main house," she declared, determining his fate in a matter of seconds.

.

"Yes, Lady Hinata," he respectfully bowed. To be honest, he was happy. He didn't have to go on dangerous missions; he could live his life happily, and his child's future was bright.

To him, the main house was very generous. Not everyone wanted to go and endanger their lives. Not everyone had a hero syndrome to save the princess; some just wanted to live happily, and he was one of them.

.

"You are dismissed," Hiashi said, and he left with a new identity.

Hinata raised her hand again, and a new mask started to appear in her hand, identical to the one the man who just left wore.

"Ritsu… come," she said, placing the mask on his face, transforming him into the new Ranmaru.

"You will be the one going on the mission," she said, to which he just nodded.

.

"Why go to such lengths? If you want to go outside the village, you can go with the elders," Hiashi spoke.

In this meeting, many things were discussed, such as the Kumo incident, the Hokage suspecting Hinata, the Hokage wanting to weaken their clan, and many more things.

"You are not seeing the big picture, Hiashi," one of the smart elders said, approving Hinata.

"Have you thought about a mission where only a Hyuga dies and his teammates escape safely? What will people think?" another elder spoke.

.

"Now I get it," Hiashi said after thinking about the whole scenario.

Their meeting continued for some time.

---

*

"Mother, I'm going to play outside today," I said while adjusting my clothes.

"Are you sure? You never go outside. Want me to accompany you?" she asked with a smile.

"No, Mother, those two are with me, so there won't be any problem. I'll come back before night, and maybe I could make some friends," I said while packing a lot of food.

I'll be going for at least a month, and before that, I want to visit My Naruto and teach him new things. 'I can't make him so desperate, can I?'

.

"Don't say mean words to your new friends. Always smile at them, don't let them feel uncomfortable around you, and yes, don't break their toys if they have any. And listen to them…" My mother started to lecture me on how to make friends, which I thoroughly ignored.

.

"Yes, mother… I will do as you say," I said excitedly.

"That's my girl," she said, and with a warm hug, she sent me out of the clan gates.

As soon as I was out of the clan, I activated my Byakugan and scanned the area around 1 kilometer.

"There they are," I said, and a smile formed on my face just like my mother said.

.

Ren and Ritsu were in the shadows; I had told them not to come out.

With a happy smile, I walked towards the park where most of the children played together. I looked in a specific direction where four children were playing.

'So their parents had taught them about the trio,'

'Oh, and she also met her,' I thought and walked towards them.

.

I looked at the blond girl, "C-can I play with you?" I said in a shy voice.

She looked at me for a moment and smiled, "Of course, you can play with us. My name is Ino Yamanaka," she introduced herself.

"Thank you," I said.

"Shikamaru, Choji, introduce yourself to our new friend," she said to them.

"Hello, my name is Shikamaru, and this is Choji," he said, pointing towards the boy who was eating.

"And this is Sakura," Ino said, introducing the pink-haired girl.

"My name is Hinata," I also introduced myself while fidgeting my fingers.

.

"I haven't seen you before," Shikamaru asked.

"Well, actually, this is my first time outside my house. My mother doesn't allow me to go outside,'' I said, although my mother always encourages me to go outside.

"Oh, I see," he said.

Soon, all of us started to play with snowballs and some toys that they had brought. They started to become comfortable around me. and in just 30 minutes we were happy chatting. 

.

'This is boring, let's make it fun,' I thought, grabbing a snowball and hitting Sakura on the forehead.

"Haha, you should have dodged that," I laughed at her.

She quickly stood up and tried to do the same but I dodged with ease.

"Haha, you can't even hit me," I said while hitting Ino on the face with a snowball.

"Haha, you're not different from your friend."

.

She tried to do the same thing, which I caught with my hand, again I threw the snowball at her, hitting her face once more.

"You hit me in the face," she said and started to become angry.

"So what, wanna cry…" I grabbed another snowball, hit Choji's face, and stole his chips.

.

"Hey, give me my chips back," he said, running towards me.

"Catch me if you can,'' I said while eating his potato chips, which angered him very much.

"Haha… why are you so fat? Girls don't like fat boys…" I said with a smirk, which angered him more. And accidentally, I put my foot on Sakura's toy.

*crack*

It broke with a cracking sound. "Oops… sorry for that," I said in an apologetic tone, which by no means was apologetic.

"You broke my toy…" Sakura yelled at me and ran towards me with her fist ready to hit me.

"I said sorry, didn't I," I said with a laugh while running away from her.

.

"Ahh… these chips are good, no wonder you are so fat," I ate some more chips as I taunted Choji.

"You freak, give me my chips," his face turned red in anger.

"Haha.. Look," I tilted the packet, and chips started to fall on the ground one by one, making him even angrier.

.

A snowball hit my back, which I let hit me. I ran away from Choji and looked at the pink-haired girl, a smile forming on my face, and a new snowball was in my hand.

I hit her forehead again, "Haha… why does my snowball always hit your forehead? Oh, I see now… you have a big forehead. Haha, boys don't like girls with a big forehead."

I could see tears in her eyes. 'Did she just cry like this?' 'Ohh. Whatever, I am having my fun.'

.

Ino looked at her friend's crying face, "You freak with white eyes, why are you bullying us," she yelled.

"Is that supposed to be an insult," I chuckled, hitting her with another snowball.

'This is really refreshing from all that training and schemes; I should pay a weekly visit to them.'

.

When the snowball hit her, she also started to cry. I walked towards them with a smile, just like my mother said. But I don't know why they felt uncomfortable with my smile.

"Don't come near us, go away, you freak. No one wants to play with you; you are a bad girl," Ino said, and I just laughed.

"Hey, where's your other friend?" I asked. When they looked around, they didn't find Shikamaru, and Choji was crying over fallen chips.

.

"Shikamaru…" Ino yelled for help, but he didn't come out; he was hiding behind a rock.

"No one is going to save you," I said while making two more snowballs in my hands, hitting both of them.

They just cried, and I laughed.

.

"I had fun with you guys. I will visit you next week, so bring your toys," I said to them.

"I will tell Mom that I made new friends," I mumbled.

And after saying goodbyes with a snowball to their faces, I walked away from the park.

'I hope I will find them next time I visit the park.'

---

Avoiding all the patrolling ANBU and Jonins I entered the forest, this forest was actually part of the village.

I looked at Naruto who was sitting on the bank of a small river, a coin in his hand and he tried to cut it.

His face looks so determined, and innocent when he does it.

'oh… my Naruto… how can you be so adorable and cute…"

.

Appearing behind him, I whispered in his ear, "DID YOU MISS ME, NARUTO-KUN" 

.

.

--

And of the chapter. how do you like it? tell your thoughts in the comments.. 

. 

did you also miss our boy Naruto-kun?