I Think I

Chapter 5:A New Name and a New Symbol

Iruka arrived home from his job at the Missions Room to find that Naruto had not arrived, and Hinata was on the verge of going out to look for her.

"It's been almost an hour!" worried Ayame.

Iruka frowned. "Naruto is never late."

"Which is why we're worried," Hinata said quietly. She'd gotten over her stutter, and blushed less. Naruto had helped her with that as they trained together, sometimes with Neji.

Iruka frowned again, and rubbed the scar on the bridge of his nose. His wife, Ayame – the daughter of Teuchi the owner of Ichiraku Ramen – bit her lip.

"I hope nothing happened to her, seeing as yesterday was...," she trailed off nervously.

"Yesterday?" asked Inuzuka Hana, Kiba's older sister. "What's the significance of yesterday?"

Iruka's eyes widened a little. "The festival. I hope no one got to her –"

Hana swore under her breath. "I forgot about her birthday!"

The brown-haired man made his way to the door, saying, "I'll go look for her."

Halfway across the hall, though, a loud knock sounded on the door. Iruka rushed to the door and yanked it open to show a sheepish Naruto standing there in a simple loose long-sleeved orange t-shirt and grey long pants.

"Sorry I'm late," she said. "Got carried away doing laundry." Which was true – she'd been washing her bloodied sheets and clothes. She had woken up at noon, sore all over, and had to take a long bathe to get rid of the stench that seemed to stick to her skin, and then she had done her laundry.

Iruka placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her in, shutting the door behind her. He didn't notice her wince at his grasp. "You made us worried, Naruto! How could you forget about something as important as this?" he chided her. She just laughed sheepishly, murmuring a "Sumimasen, sensei."

Ayame and Hana latched on to her and propelled her into the spare bedroom in the house, dragged Hinata in, and kicked Iruka out when he tried to make sure Naruto was alright. They locked the door the moment the tried to enter again.

"Change into this, Naruto-kun," Hinata said, holding up a bundle of white and orange cloth. She handed the white cloth to Naruto first.

Taking it from the Hyuuga, the blonde found it was a white under-kimono. She grimaced a little, not being overly fond of women's kimonos. Biting her lip, she draped the under-kimono over Hinata's head, making her splutter and Hana laugh, and shucked off her t-shirt and pants. She was used to being naked with other boys when she had been a boy, so she hadn't any qualms about undressing in front of girls.

"What's the matter, Hinata-chan?" she teased when she noticed her friend blushing. "You have everything I have."

Hana laughed again. Ayame caught sight of something sparkling brilliantly on Naruto's wrist. "Wow!" she exclaimed. "That is a beautiful bracelet, Naruto!"

The other girls oohed and aahed at it, and Hana caught Naruto's wrist and dragged her closer to examine the bracelet.

"My best friend gave it to me for my birthday," she explained, a small, fond smile on her face. Hinata noticed something else on the Naruto's arms. And it seemed they weren't only on the arms. She quickly dispelled the weak genjutsu covering them.

"Naruto? Are those bruises? And scabs?!" she asked, coming closer to the blonde, who was dressed in only her bra and panties. Naruto quickly moved away from the woman.

"They're nothing, really, Hinata-chan," she said quickly. A little too quickly, it seemed, because Hana frowned and pulled her even nearer.

"Those are fresh, Naruto. Even for someone who heals as fast as you, I can tell they're fresh wounds. What happened?" she asked, gripping the blonde's shoulder to prevent her from moving away, then quickly releasing her grasp as Naruto winced. Hana noticed bruises and scabs along her arms as well.