DISCLAIMER: NO, I STILL DON'T OWN NARUTO! I WILL TRY FOREVER AND EVER! I WILL EITHER OWN IT IN THE LONG FUTURE OR DIE TRYING....probably and most likely, the latter. *sighs*

Time Is Running Out by Muse

Chapter 8: Stifling Emotions
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HITOMI's POV
I STAYED ALL night watching my brother train, exhausting his body until the very early hours of the morning. It was around three in the morning when he passed out. Obviously, I raced over and stopped his unconscious body from hitting the ground. Instead, I gently laid his body and let him rest in the freshly dew grass, condensation clearly coming from the cool mist that always lingers in the air.

From then, I perched myself on the tree he's been training with all night. I stayed awake, watching him of course, and working on my sensory skills. It was something I have been wanting to do. Clearly, I have the skill, but I need to broaden the range and practice it until I'm precise with it. I need to be able to tell the difference between animals and shinobi, I need to familiarize myself with chakra signatures, I just need to.

And by doing that, I had to stay calm and meditate.

Closing my eyes, I jumped to the floor and concentrated on my chakra and focused on my surroundings. If possible, it seemed like I was opening my mind even more, searching for any disturbance. After a while of focusing my chakra to my mind, I then focus it to my hands. With that in mind, I kneel before placing my palms on the ground.

Almost immediately, my mind opens to the different signatures. Behind my closed eyes, I see bodies of blue chakra, the closest being my sleeping brother. At most, they're undistinguished blurs, but with training I can assume that they'll turn to exact and finely acute figures. Sighing, I open my eyes and look at my surroundings. Focusing on my hearing, I pinpoint no disturbances.

Once again, I close my eyes and concentrate. Only this time instead of using my palms, I only use my index and middle fingers of my right hand and focus. Calming my breathing, I furrow my brows and push further into my concentration - widening my sensory radius.

It takes time, but when it does, I finally notice the large blur of chakra coming from the west. Opening my crimson eyes with alarm, I look towards the given direction. At first I see nothing, but as I narrow my gaze I see a silhouette of pink.

At first I think it's Sakura coming to fetch us, but when I see brown hair my idea falls to shambles. Cringing at the idea of leaving my sleeping brother vulnerable in his spot, I jump into the tree behind me and use our training to climb higher. Once I'm away from peering eyes, I hide my body against the trunk and lower my chakra signature.

The person, dressed in a thick pink kimono, or a thin yukata, is for sure a male. Well, I did peer at their chest and their face to distinguish their gender. The soft features and silky brown hair makes it very easy to mistake him as a female. Pressing myself closer to the tree, I peer over the side and watch as he nears my brother. Silently reaching down, I take a kunai from my pouch and tightly grasp it in my hand.

I tense when their hand reaches my brother's neck. The grip on my kunai tightens so much that I believe I'm going to snap the metal in half. However, my body relaxes when I watch the stranger shake my brother's shoulder, waking him.

"You'll catch a cold sleeping in a place like this," the person states.

My mind whirls at the familiarity. Furrowing my brows, I compare it to the voice of the masked kid. Maybe, my mind thinks. Though, my restless mind can just be connecting dots because I'm tired. However, there's also the fact that this person and the masked kid share the same color hair and the similar height.

It could all be coincidence, but there's no such thing when being a ninja. After all, deception is a key play to being a shinobi, and right now, if that person is the masked kid, he's clearly deceiving us with this look.

I stay in my spot, listening as they converse. It's mostly my brother who's talking about becoming stronger, sharing his dream to become Hokage, and how they both have people they care about. Like if they have something to protect, they'll become stronger.

My lips quirk up in an almost smile, but it immediately changes to a frown. When I protect something, I become completely merciless. Closing my eyes, the scenes of me ruthlessly killing the Mist Chunin flashes behind my eyelids, reminding me.

Eventually, their conversation comes to an ending point as they stand.

"You will become strong. Let's meet again somewhere," the stranger states, looking at my brother.

Choosing now to show myself, I jump from the tree to the ground. I notice the slight surprise on the stranger's face when I appear, now knowing that I was always in the trees during their conversation - listening. Walking to my brother's side, the person turns and walks away with a small smile.

"Oh, and I'm a boy," they say, making Naruto's jaw drop in shock.

"Don't worry, Nii-san, I thought he was a girl at first glance, too. Though, with further inspection, I found that he was a boy," I inform, making him jump in surprise.

"Mi-chan! When did you get here," he questions, and I mentally facepalm at his lack of observation.

I smirk, crossing my arms. "I got here last night. I stayed here watching you train and made sure nothing happened to you," I state, giving him a small smile.

"Nothing happened, believe it," he pouts, crossing his arms.

"Yes, I know. With the exception of chakra exhaustion, nothing happened. Though, you did improve on your chakra training," I say, nodding towards the slashed tree.

"Yosh! I might even beat that Sasuke-teme," he exclaims, raising his hands into determined fists.

I nod my head at his declaration, then glance up to see Sasuke walking towards us. Judging by his confused frown, I'd say he just crossed paths with the stranger.

"Well, now you could put your words into action," I tell him, nodding towards the incoming Sasuke. "I'm going back to the house. Good luck, brother."

Uncrossing my arms, I shove my hands into my short pockets and walk past the Uchiha. Sighing, I could finally feel the sleepless night catching up to me. If I had nights of full sleep, I wouldn't be so tired, but seeing as I only sleep for two to three hours a night, sometimes less - I'm actually pretty tired.

Reaching Tazuna's home doesn't take long as I finally walk through the front door. Upon, my arrival, the people sitting at the table - Tazuna, Kakashi, Tsunami, Inari, and Sakura - they all turn towards me.

"So, where's Naruto," Kakashi asks, as I take the seat across from him.

"Still training," I explain to him in a huff.

Kakashi chuckles at my vague answer. "How's his progress," he continues.

Throwing my sensei a glance, I wave my hand dismissively. "He's getting better. Greater distance from yesterday," I explain, monotonously.

"That's good. It won't take Naruto and Sasuke long until they finish their training," Kakashi nods, estimating their progress.

"Alright, if I'm needed, I'll be in Sakura and I's shared room, sleeping," I say, yawning as I wave them off.

= = = = =

THE NEXT MORNING CAME too quickly as Sakura, Kakashi, and I walk towards the training area. I walked behind them, listening to the bristles of grass as they were pressed under Kakashi's crutches. I could also smell the fresh scent of strawberries that belonged to Sakura's shampoo, stating that she took a shower earlier this morning. Sighing, I was content when I felt the warmth of the morning sun, today's temperature being cool, so it felt nice.

Darting my crimson gaze at the trees, I searched for my brother knowing that he spent last night training again. I wanted to go with him and stay watch, but he told me to stay. Saying that this was something he needed to do by himself. It somewhat stung, but I saw his point. Plus, I do tend to coddle him a bit too much.

If I want to see him become Hokage in the future, I need to start letting him do things on his own. Sure, I'll stay by his side, for support, but he'll do all the hard work. Besides, I have my own goals that I want to achieve. Which involves a lot of solitude, training, and traveling.

'But you won't be completely alone.'

'That's right! You'll have us everywhere you go!'

I frown at their voices. 'Great, how could I have forgotten about you two? How senseless of me.'

'Ooh! Someone's in a sassy mood today!'

'Not really, I just learned to go along with what you say. It's easier that way.'

'Clever girl. So, you mentioned traveling, where exactly are you planning to go?'

'To Uzushiogakure. At least, when I'm a bit older. If I'm to learn Fuinjutsu, I need to go to the source. After all, the Uzumaki clan once resided there before it's demise,' I muse, explaining my reason.

'Ah yes, to travel to a nation a that no longer exists, nothing but mere ruins, and to learn your given birthright - the art of sealing! The very reason why Uzushiogakure fell in the first place!'

I glare at the air, wishing that I can glare at the actual voice. 'Are you trying to be insensitive or are you just naturally like that?'

'Both?'

'Hah!'

'Ugh, you two are pathetic,' I mentally scoff before shutting them out.

We eventually come to a stop as we arrive our training spot. Glancing around, I find nothing but trees. Not my brother in his obnoxious orange suit or Sasuke with his overwhelming ego. Just trees, butchered with kunai marks.

Crossing my arms, I sigh. Stopping to stand next to Sakura, I watch as she and Kakashi take their time to glance around.

"Where's Naruto? He left again by himself last night. Hitomi, do you know where your brother is," Kakashi questions, looking at me.

I shake my head.

"He's missing breakfast. Plus, Sasuke went off on a walk and hasn't come back," Sakura states.

I roll my eyes, huffing. "Naruto can survive without breakfast. We don't normally eat breakfast anyways," I point out, glancing at her.

Sighing, I go to walk forward, but before I can begin a kunai stabs itself in the ground in front of us. Tensing, my hand automatically moves to my holster, but I stop myself from attacking as I look up instead. Narrowing my gaze, I merely glare at the sight of my brother. 

However, my gaze softens when I see him smiling. He's laughing in victory, glad with his progress. I can literally feel my hard expression melt into a discreet smile, my heart warming at his success.

He definitely doesn't need me watching over him anymore. He's becoming a ninja all by himself, I solemnly muse. And I'm happy for him.

Shaking myself from my thoughts, I watch as my brother throws himself backwards. My eyes widen with alarm, my heart stopping as I see him fall. Sakura's scream rings in my ears, but I ignore her. Preparing myself to catch his falling body, I'm immediately stopped when I hear my brother's laughing.

With a tight chest and a raging anger at the pit of my stomach, I glare murderously at my brother. My mind now realizing that he played a prank on us. I seethe silently as I stifle all my selective curse words, listening to Sakura as she expresses her equal anger.

"You scared me, you idiot," she yells, raising her fists.

Though, my heart somersaults when I watch his feet disconnect from the tree. My eyes widen once again, only this time I know that he's not playing a trick. With a curse leaving my lips, I race forward, stretching my arms out. I quicken my pace, prepared to catch him, or at least break his fall with my body.

Luckily for all of us, Sasuke comes as quick as lightning and takes a hold of Naruto's foot - saving him. Falling to the ground on my knees, I sigh simultaneously in relief and exhaustion as I calm my racing heart. Digging my fingers into the grass, I practically feel a weight off my shoulders.

That damn brother of mine is going to give me a heart attack! I swear he's going to be the death of me, I mentally yell in my head, to the heavens, and to anyone who can silently hear me.

My respect for Sasuke has officially gained a few more inches.

= = = = = =

LATER IN THE day, I sat in Kakashi's room watching as he did a set of two hundred push ups. Well, push ups with both Tazuna and Sakura sitting on him. Oh, and did I mention that he was only using his index finger to hold himself up? Well, he is.

Silently scoffing at his brazen way to show off and admittedly impressed, I go back to meditating. Focusing on broadening my chakra range, I train to make my sensor skills sharp and precise. Breathing in and out seems to be a key factor which tells me that I have to be calm when doing this, not like my usual hot temper.

"I wanted to ask you earlier, but why are you still here when I lied about the mission," Tazuna speaks up, breaking the silence.

I keep my eyes closed, but still listen.

"To abandon your duty is not courageous. Below the courageous there is nothing. These are the previous Hokage's words," Kakashi informs.

I feel my lips quirk up in a small smile when I realize which Hokage he's talking about. I still remember when I found out that the Fourth Hokage was Naruto and I's father.

*f l a s h b a c k (third pov)*

Hitomi Uzumaki, young at the age eight, sneaked into the Hokage tower with nothing better to do. Her twin brother was out and about playing with some new friends he made in the academy, causing mischief. She didn't mind being alone as long as he was having fun which he was.

Tip toeing through the halls of the mansion, she silently sneaked towards the file room. She knew the path like the back of her hand, already sneaking to the said room multiple times in the past. It was a favorite past time of hers, to learn about everything that she could her hands on. Was it restricted, yes. Did she care, not really.

Looking back and forward, Hitomi snapped her head for signs of people. When she found none, she proceeded stealthily until she reached the wooden door. Behind it were the files and records of every person in Konoha, that lived and passed. Her ongoing mission was to alphabetically make her way through each file. The last time she was here, she only got to someone called Namiase, Raido.

Entering the room, she closed the door behind her and turned on the light. Walking down the rows of shelves, Hitomi reached the  section where she last left off from. Reading the files, she glides her fingers over the manila folders until she reaches the continuing folder.

Namikaze, Minato.

Taking the folder with eager and curious eyes, she opens it and almost immediately drops it. Her red eyes widen at the profile picture - bright blond hair, sapphire eyes, and naturally sun toned skin. Her mouth parted in a breathless gasp, her heart stuttering at the uncanny similarities, her hands trembling as her vision blurs.

However, how shocked she is at the revelation, she continues reading.

Name: Minato Namikaze
Sex: Male
Age: 24
Birth: January 25
Height: 5'8" / 179.2 cm
Weight: 66.1 kg / 145.7 lbs
Blood Type: B
Ninja Registration: 006510
Academy Graduate: Age 10
Classification: Sage. Sensor Type
Affiliations: Konohagakure. Mount Myóboku.
Teams: Jiraiya. Minato
Students: Obito Uchiha. Kakashi Hatake. Rin Ohara
Spouse: Kushina Uzumaki
Rank: Hokage, Yondaime
Status: DECEASED

Hitomi read the details, her mind soaking the information like a sponge. The file continued to list his skills, his accomplishments, everything he did. Though, no matter what, her eyes went back to the last three details - spouse, rank, and status.

Closing the folder, she gripped on to it like a lifeline and skipped all the names until she reached the desired section of files. Fingers grazing the files, the young girl stopped as they landed on one name.

Uzumaki, Kushina.

Like the first file, she carefully, but eagerly opened the manila folder. When her red gaze landed on the profile picture, the girl practically sobbed at the sight of the woman. It didn't take a genius to connect the dots, not when she and her brother looked exactly like them.

These were her parents.

In that moment she was so happy that she didn't care about the punishment for looking at restricted files.

Children: Naruto Uzumaki. Hitomi Uzumaki.

* e n d f l a s h b a c k*

Of course, after that incident of breaking in to the room and being found by a Chunin, the old man of a Hokage made me vow to never tell my brother. I remember arguing at him, but he told me that I had to let Naruto figure out the news by himself like I did. He said that learning this information could potentially put is in even more danger, put him in more danger. I didn't like it, but I agreed.

I still don't like it, but if it keeps Naruto safe, I will keep my mouth shut. Maybe I'll tell him when he's a bit older and not as brash. I'll definitely tell him when he's older.

I glare, narrowing my closed eyes, definitely.

"That is the way of the shinobi," Kakashi continues. "Shinobis don't move because of money alone."

Opening my eyes, I stare at Kakashi as he wrings his hand, stretching his fingers.

It's almost time. If Kakashi sensei is already regaining his strength, then Zabuza is right there with him, I assess as the others continue to talk.

And I have feeling that the masked kid will be by his side in the next attack. Fool me once, shame on me, but fool me twice, they better run, I muse with a malicious smirk.

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AH! WELL, THAT WAS CHAPTER EIGHT! AND SO SORRY THAT IT TOOK ME A LONG TIME TO UPDATE! ALSO, I APOLOGIZE FOR THE SHORT CHAPTER!

SO, WHAT DID YOU LIKE?

I FEEL LIKE HITOMI IS TOO PROTECTIVE, OR IS IT JUST ENOUGH? I MEAN NARUTO IS HER ONLY FAMILY THAT SHE HAS.

OOOH, SHE'S GETTING SERIOUS WITH SENSORY TRAINING! IT'S A KEY POINT FOR THE FUTURE!

I LOVE HOW SHE RATES HER RESPECT BY INCHES, LOL. BUT AS THEY GO UP, THEY WILL ALSO GO DOWN, AND I FEEL SASUKE WILL TEETER ON HER SCALES A LOT!

OOH, DID YOU LIKE THE FLASHBACK? I WANTED YOU GUYS TO SEE HOW SHE GOT/GETS HER INFORMATION. I KNOWS IT'S HELLA EARLY, BUT I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE WAR SO I CAN WRITE THE FATHER-DAUGHTER SCENES UWU!

ALSO, OOP! SHE'S GETTING KILLER VIBES FOR THE BRIDGE FIGHT! I CAN'T WAIT FOR THAT EITHER!

ANYWAYS, DON'T FORGET TO COMMENT! VOTE! AND FAANNN!!!

SAYONARA, My awesome and very amazing readers(love you all)!!!

Total Word Count: 3,303