Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any associated characters.

A/N: Welcome to chapter one of Holding on for Deer Life

Rated T, there may come a rating bump in the future, I will provide ample warning if forced to bump the rating in a future chapter.

Thanks to Solvdrage for beta'ing the chapter. Helping me tune some dialog and being a soundboard when I was coming up with the concept.

Chapter 1: Two Naras and a Broken Girl

Morning - Orientation day, back garden on the edge of the clan forest, Nara Residence

Shikamaru blocked the fist that was making its way towards his face, with an almost lazy slap on the arm the fist was connected to. He needed to disengage and fast. His brother was smiling, that was never a good sign. He needed to put some distance between them, he was at a disadvantage in close range and if he gave his brother enough time like that, he would lose.

Shikaku was watching his kids fight from the shade of the porch. He had watched the daily ritual as many days as he could over the last 6 years since they had entered the Academy. It had been hard to get Shikamaru to agree to it. He had threatened the boy. The loser would have to help their mother with the daily chores; if you didn't fight you would lose by default. It had kept the lazy boy active enough that he was doing okay taijutsu in the Academy. Naruto reveled in anything that involved in moving around. He smiled at the two opposites he had in his sons.

"Don't suppose I could get you to throw the fight, I really don't want to help with the antlers today." Shikamaru knew it would be a lost cause, but he might as well try.

"Oh sure! Because I would love to sit still all morning." Naruto snapped out a kick, catching Shikamaru in the stomach, crumbling him to a heap on the ground for a while afterwards.

It did not hurt for more than a minute afterwards, but it would be too much work to get up again, instead he turned his head slightly to look at his brother, who were pounding on a training post. "Naruto, what do you think of our new teammate?"

Naruto stopped hitting the log and turned to his brother with a confused look on his face. "What, uh, what do you mean? We won't know the teams until we're at orientation this afternoon."

Shikamaru smirked; it was one of his great pleasures in life, next to lying still. Making his brother wonder how he would know things.

"Obviously we're going to be placed under Yūhi Kurenai and her daughter would be our teammate."

Naruto frowned in concentration for a moment while holding his gaze steady on his brother. He shrugged and turned back to the hitting the post. The ass would prove to be right as usual and wouldn't ever tell him how he knew.

Shikamaru just kept lying on the ground until his mother finally came out and dragged him in to help her.

Shikaku, a little over 12 years ago, that fateful night for Konohagakure

Shikaku was sitting in the Hokage's office; he had been present when Hiruzen had entered the tower with an ANBU in tow. Hiruzen was sitting across the table from him, wearing his battle gear and looking very tired.

"I'm sure you have heard by now, the Yondaime has been killed." Hiruzen tried to light his pipe, remembering the baby in the arms of the ANBU standing next to him; he put the pipe back down. "The Kyuubi has been sealed in his son. His last wish was that the child would be acknowledged by everyone as their savior."

Shikaku studied the man, mulling over the information. The Yondaime had a child, he hadn't heard about this. It must have been with Kushina, the two had always been around each other. He had assumed she had been on a long-term mission; it had been to hide the pregnancy. The news that the hero of the third war had a child was certainly something that would do well to stay hidden. One country's heroes were another's villains after all.

Shikaku straightened in his seat, he needed to stop what was about to happen.

Shikaku stood outside the office a long while later. He was rubbing his temples, how was he going to explain this to his wife. She had given birth to their first child a month ago, and now he had managed to adopt another. 'Hopefully the child won't cause a lot of trouble.'

He would keep the little Naruto safe; he had spent over two hours getting the reinstated Hokage to avoid disclosing that the Kyuubi had been sealed into him. Only he, the Hokage and a select few ANBU would knew the truth. This would give him a chance to experience a normal childhood.

Kurenai, small apartment, 2 years before graduation day

Her eyebrow knit in worry as she looked at the small girl sitting on her sofa, their sofa now. The girl seemed to have collapsed in on herself, staring into the living room, staring but seeing nothing. Kurenai's eyes softening while regarded the girl, she wasn't crying. She probably didn't have any tears left, hollow inside from the events from the past couple of weeks.

Kurenai had made the right decision and she knew it. If she hadn't acted as she did the girl might as well have been dead, and probably would have been in a few years either by her own hand, or by simply wasting away.

She sat down on the couch next to the girl and drew her into a hug; the girl has started trembling in her arms, while she whispered words of comfort to the broken girl. The words of Hiashi echoing through her mind from when she had gone to the Hyūga compound, the Hokage had accompanied her to oversee the adoption request. "Do what you want, she is no daughter of mine" His words had been dripping with loathing and disgust.

It had been only ten days since the girl had shown up on her doorstep inconsolable, forehead marred by that green atrocity of a seal, having run away from the compound.

Hiruzen, a week earlier, his office

Across from him sat a distressed and very angry woman, her red eyes livid. Hiruzen took a drag on his pipe while studying the woman; she was showing a remarkable amount of restraint. Hiruzen's eyes dropped to the paper on his table, letting out an inaudible sigh. "So they branded her?" More a statement than an actual question. Hiruzen was furious as well, but he couldn't show it, the Hokage was not to interfere with internal clan matters. He was starting to regard the Hyūga as the lowest of low. They had become increasingly more arrogant in the last decade, ordering the head of the main branch to take his brothers place after the abduction debacle, and now branding the girl before she was of age. The Hyūga it seemed had lost the Will of Fire.

Hiruzen held up the adoption request, smiling a little. He had expected her to be in uproar, but wanting to adopt her spoke volume to the woman's integrity. He then noticed a second paper hiding behind the adoption request.

Taking the paper and giving it a read through with his eyebrow knitted together. "You're requesting to be removed from active duty?"

Kurenai nodded slowly. "She has never been on her own. I cannot go on missions outside the village while taking care of her. Not to mention she is so fragile that going on a mission outside of the village would give her an even bigger sense of abandonment."

Hiruzen nodded. "It is rather sudden that you withdraw from the regular forces, having only just been promoted to Tokubetsu Jōnin two months ago? Wh-"

Kurenai cut in. "I intend to spend time improving myself enough to attain full Jōnin, within the next two years."

The statement had taken Hiruzen off guard. "That is the depth of your conviction?"

Kurenai nodded. "It is."

Hiruzen smiled at the young woman sitting in front of him, aiming to become a jōnin so she could lead a team with her hopefully adoptive daughter on. It seemed that there were still members of the village with a strong will of fire. He hadn't seen that kind of conviction to do what is right since Shikaku that night ten years ago. "If I may come with another suggestion. There is a teacher's position available for kunoichi classes at the Academy. Since it is only taught to four grades you would have plenty of time to train on the side. It would also provide extra income."

Kurenai nodded gratefully. While she could live off the money, she had saved over the last 5 years from doing high rank infiltration missions. It would help now that she would be taking care of Hinata.

Hiruzen gave her a smile. "Also in six months, my son will be done with his contract with the Twelve Guardians, he will be returning to the village, as you know he was still a chūnin when he left to join them. Being a combat specialist, he will need to shore up some of his knowledge of ninjutsu and genjutsu to become a jōnin. Seeing as the two of you need help in an area the other is an expert in perhaps you could be working together to become jōnin?"

Kurenai wasn't one to turn down help; she could use it if she were to become a jōnin in just two years. She hadn't seen Asuma in over five years, it would be nice to see her former class mate again.

They had finalized the papers, and the Hokage taking a special interest in the case had come with her to the Hyūga compound to present the case and persuade the clan head to relinquish parental rights to Hinata.

Kurenai, 29 days before graduation, Shinobi Academy

A streak of orange passed by her quickly in the hall, further down the hall a man with a scar on his face came sprinting around the corner. "NARUTOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Kurenai held up a hand as Iruka came sprinting towards her to hunt down the orange menace. "Umino-sensei, you have a moment?"

Iruka stopped in front of her, the prankster was already far ahead of him and he wasn't sure he'd be able to follow him once they hit the staircases, the clones made it hard to follow the kid as soon as there were branching paths. "Yūhi-sensei, congratulations of your promotion to jōnin." He smiled at the slightly older woman. "Can I help you with something?"

Kurenai flashed a smile back, she was very proud of managing to improve enough to become a jōnin before Hinata graduated. "Thank you Umino-sensei." Pausing for a moment before continuing. "I was hoping you could help me. In a month after the graduation, I will be heading up a genin team. I was hoping you could help me figure out what other genin, I should request to be placed on my team besides Hinata."

Iruka frowned for a moment. "Follow me to the classroom we'll have a look at the list of students."

Kurenai looked at the classroom with wide eyes as soon as she had entered. Everything was covered in orange chalk dust, she quirked an eyebrow at the other teacher.

"Yeah, it's that damn Nara kid, Naruto. He is completely impossible to handle. They taught him Kage Bunshin for some reason. Now even if you catch him doing something, if he manages to slip your grasp, you can forget about getting a hold of him, he will literally run in eight different directions." Iruka let out a heavy sigh. He went over to the table and pulled out a drawer with an attendance list. "Hmm" Looking at the list in deep thought while walking to the table where Kurenai was now sitting.

Kurenai was looking down at the 30 some names on the list. "I don't see how I am to pick anyone from that list."

Iruka was scratching a little at his scar. "Well let's see. Out of the 34 students that will be eligible to graduate this spring, beside your daughter I only expect these eight to pass the final exam." He gestured down on the paper indicating mostly clan heirs and a single girl from a civilian family. "The others will, over the summer, receive remedial lessons to be able to graduate together with the next batch in the fall."

Kurenai looked down at the paper, two out of eight, that certainly narrowed the choices down a lot. Finding two that would work on a team with her daughter was another matter entirely however. Hinata had over the last two years withdrawn into herself; she didn't trust anyone and rarely spoke. Afraid of upsetting someone so she would get hurt again. Kurenai cursed the Hyūga every single day. She used to be a shy but happy girl whenever they were outside of the compound. "I only really know the kunoichi on that list."

"With the boy to girl ratio, we are probably looking at two boys one girl per team. Let us see..." Irukas voice trailed off for a moment. "How about the Uchiha? Hmm no, that won't do, he doesn't work well with others. It's hard enough to get her to participate in class; she would be useless with someone like Sasuke that looks down on everyone."

Kurenai nodded in agreement, it wouldn't do to make a team with someone who would crush her remaining shred of self-worth.

"I would suggest Akimichi Chōji, but he has to be on a team with Yamanaka Ino because he needs someone to boss him around until he starts taking some initiative on his own. That only leaves us with two choices, Kiba and Shino or the Nara brothers. While both would work, as much as it pains me to force the Nara brothers on anyone, they would probably be the best." Iruka looked at the woman who seemed in deep thought.

"Tell me about them."

Iruka gestured at the classroom. "This is the work of the younger brother Naruto; he is the one with the orange outfit and the blonde hair you might have seen sprinting down the corridors at regular intervals. He is boisterous and hyperactive. Quite the prankster as you might see. His brother Shikamaru is the laziest person you will ever meet, but he is too clever by far and will accomplish anything he is set to with the minimum amount of effort needed. He smart enough that he can match his brothers test scores perfectly. Not just perfectly but the exact same answers. We suspected cheating back a year ago and had them take the test in separate rooms. Still the same answers to all the questions. I asked him about it and he said that he had to do as well as his brother or his mother would get on his case and he found that too troublesome."

He sighed. "He is smart enough that he should be top of his class, but instead emulates his brother, he is the hardest working lazy person I've ever seen."

Kurenai mulled the information over for a second. "That Naruto pulling pranks on people doesn't that make him quite the bully? I don't see how it's good to put him on the team with my daughter."

"He definitely isn't a bully. He has too much energy and likes to be the center of attention, so he pulls pranks on specific people, mainly me and the Uchiha kid." Iruka winced a little; as he recalled all the stuff, he had been the target of the last three years, he had been teaching the class

Iruka sat frowning for a moment, he knew that Naruto had as the only one been cheering for Hinata during their taijutsu classes, no one else took much notice of the girl that never spoke unless spoken to. "I think it might be better to show you, come by their taijutsu class tomorrow. While Hinata normally only spar against teachers due to her incredibly dangerous fighting style, I think we should arrange for her to fight Naruto."

Kurenai shot the scarred man a calculating look, then shrugged. The man was the most competent and insightful teacher she had ever met. She might as well go along with whatever he had planned, if it could help her make the decision. She wasn't quite sure how a show of strength would help in that regard. As the only one to make specific requests this year, Asuma and Kakashi-san didn't hold any specific interests in the graduating class, her request would likely be fulfilled.

Genin class, 28 days before graduation, taijutsu training ground behind the Shinobi Academy

Hinata wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear; everyone was looking at her, as she made her way towards the sparring ring. She never sparred against other students, why did she have to do so today. Why did she have to fight him of all people?

She looked at the blonde boy standing in the ring already, his blue eyes twinkling as he smiled at her. Why did she have to fight the only one that didn't hate her, the only one that wasn't talking about her behind her back, the only one that cheered for her when she sparred with Mizuki-san.

Shikamaru was leaning against a tree, he was happy it wasn't a regular session today. Apparently, they would have an exhibit match today.

The graduation day was rapidly approaching; Shikamaru was enjoying the peace before the lazy school days would be over. He wondered who they be put on team with, obviously he would be put on the same team as his brother. The third member would probably be a girl. He grimaced at the thought of being on team with Ino. No offence to the girl, they had grown up with Ino and Chōji, he considered both his best friends. Putting Naruto and Ino is constant contact would be a recipe for disaster however. Both hotheaded they had spent many days dealing with the constant bickering and fighting. He had actually thought that once they got older the two would probably end up dating. It had completely thrown him off when they two months ago had gone to visit Chōji, only to catch him and Ino kissing behind a tree in their garden. He couldn't help but smile at the facial expressions and the gigantic blushes on both their faces when they became aware that both his brother and himself was watching them.

He was pulled from his reverie when his brother's name was called out. This was going to be an exhibit match between the top students then, waiting for the call for the Uchiha. He was caught off guard as Yūhi Hinata was called up. 'Huh' then he noticed that Yūhi-sensei was leaning against a fence on the other side of the training ground.

He watched as the girl was making her way through the crowd of students. She looked like she was going to her execution. Naruto was standing grinning like always; he shook his head at his brother. Hoping he wouldn't hurt the girl, she seemed so fragile. He wasn't aware of all the details, but he remembered how angry his father had been about the Hyūga clan two years and that it was why her family name was now Yūhi.

Shikamaru looked over to Kurenai, catching her looking at him. She averted her gaze towards the sparring ring, surprisingly not to look at her adoptive daughter that was still walking up to it, but to look at Naruto. He frowned in thought for a moment, not completely sure what to make of it yet, instead turning his head to watch the sparring ring, now that Hinata had finally shuffled up to it.

Hinata was a having a hard time controlling herself to keep from trembling. There was only one word to describe her state of mind, terror, pure undiluted terror. She was afraid, afraid of fighting him. Afraid of his smile, she so wanted to believe that it was genuine, but a large part of her mind was screaming at her that it was a facade, to make her put her guard down so he too could hurt her. In general, she was afraid of him beating her as her father had done. If she hurt him, he would strike her down in anger, but if she lost the fight it would be like with her father, he would hurt her for disappointing him, for being weak.

Seeing Naruto putting his hand up in the Tairitsu no In it was all Hinata could do to not let out a small squeak in fear. Putting up the seal herself then quickly settling in her stance so he couldn't rush her. Naruto just stood and grinned at her, waiting for her to make the first move.

Shikamaru was looking at the fight in interest, the girl was moving much faster than he had expected. Naruto was fairly fast, but he relied mostly on his strength and it was turning out to be an interesting fight. Neither had landed a blow so far, it was mostly short engagements of four to five blows exchanged as they jumped back before trying again. Shikamaru frowned; he had just seen a blow that should have hit. Hinata was holding back, it was almost like she was afraid of hitting Naruto. He smirked this would prove to be the perfect time for getting back at his brother for yesterday.

"Oi, Naruto!" He yelled at his brother. Causing him to be momentarily distracted as he had stepped forward to attack.

Hinata watched in horror as one of her Jūken strikes went completely past the guard of her sparring partner, nailing him in the stomach.

Naruto crumbled to the ground in pain. Hinata went completely still, this was it, he was going to hate her, and then the pain would start.

Naruto's face distorted in pain for a moment, and then suddenly he started smiling. He got up and looked at the frozen girl. In an energetic tone that should have been impossible to manage with the pain he had just experienced, he said. "What was that? That was AWESOME. I've never seen anything like it, how do you do that? Huh? Huh?" There was no reaction from the girl. Naruto frowned while looking at the girl.

Hinata was reeling. That was not the expected reaction. Her inner voice was screaming that it was a trap so he could hit her. Her eyes widened in fear as he stepped closer to her, those blue eyes locked to hers in with a searching look. She flinched a little when he reached out with his left hand, grabbing her right. Warm fingers folding hers into the Wakai no In, holding his own hand up locking their seals together as was tradition for sparring matches. A huge grin plastered on his face as he then released her hand, instead grabbing her wrist holding her arm up proclaiming her the winner and all-round awesome.

Hinata was too stunned to do anything and just stood there for a minute before regaining her composure and exiting the ring.

Shikamaru watched the antics of his brother with an amused expression, and then shook his head, only Naruto. He looked over at Kurenai; she was smiling and nodding a little, as if she had just made up her mind about something. It then dawned on him what this had really been about; he gave the Jōnin a smile and a small nod, before making his way over to the sparring ring, to talk with his brother about the fight.

Present day, post-graduation orientation meeting

The Nara brothers entered into the classroom, Shikamaru was trying to convince his brother to lose on purpose in the next spar. He had been doing all the chores for over a week now. He scanned the room as they entered, leaning over to his brother to whisper something to him, pointing to the back of a class.

The two split up trailing up on both sides of the class, moving in and then sitting down simultaneous besides Hinata, Naruto on her right and Shikamaru on her left.

Hinata almost bolted over the table to get away from them; she took a deep breath before sitting down again.

Naruto leaned forward, and shot his brother a confused look with a raised eyebrow. Shikamaru just looked back at him eyebrows raised with a small shrug. Naruto sat back in his seat then turned to Hinata. Naruto was excited about today, they were active shinobi now and it was so cool! The excitement bled into his voice as he started talking to Hinata. "You excited about getting on a team too Hinata-san?" Almost bouncing in his seat, they were going to be awesome, fighting monsters, rescuing kidnapped princesses, all sorts of heroic stuff, and then the thankful people of Konohagakure would proclaim him Hokage.

Hinata just looked at the energetic creature sitting next to her, letting out a small "eep" at the attention she was receiving. Iruka-sensei entered the class with two Jōnin in tow. Hinata was thankful for the distraction as Naruto looked away, she couldn't stop looking into his eyes, and it was freaking her out like nothing else had in two years. She knew he was going to turn on her and hurt her someday, so why was he so captivating?

"Team 8, under Yūhi Kurenai. Nara Naruto, Nara Shikmaru and Yūhi Hinata"

Kurenai motioned for the kids to come with her. "We're going outside to training ground 23."

Naruto was super excited; he shot out of the seat, grabbing Hinata's hand dragging her behind him as he flew out the door.

Shikamaru was laughing hard as he got out of his seat that was so Naruto. Charging on ahead, at least Hinata was fast enough to follow, he had lost count of how many times Naruto would just grab someone and drag them along, often out of the blue sending the person into a spectacular face plant.

Kurenai turned towards the door as Shikamaru passed by her. "I take it; you put Naruto up to sitting together like that, having figured out the team already?"

Shikamaru looked back as he was walking out the door with his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, teammates are important; obviously there is some particular reason to why you selected my brother and me for the team. She seems rather withdrawn, figured it was good to start early on the team thing." He shrugged as turn back around to go out towards the training ground.

Kurenai turned and gave Iruka a smile and a thankful nod. This looked like it would be a good choice, if she was to mend the broken girl, she had come a long way in two years, but there was still a long way to go. She formed a quick seal and disappeared in a Shunshin.

Team Kurenai, fifteen minutes later, Training ground 23

She looked at her new team. Hinata was a little fidgety, stealing glances at the hyperactive boy that was almost vibrating with excitement next to her. The Nara brothers were the polar opposites; Shikamaru had thrown himself on to the grass and was watching the sky, while Naruto looked like he could run around the village ten times and still be no worse for wear.

"As per request from the Hokage, I am to train the three of you for covert operations. Since the village was under siege by the Kyūbi twelve years ago, the Shinobi Academy has been placing a higher value on combat ability. The effects of which has come to our attention now a generation later where we're hard pressed for teams that can be sent for covert missions, such as infiltration, information gathering, extraction and assassination."

Shikamaru mulled it over for a bit. Shikaku had been talking about some serious holes in the skill sets available to him as the Jōnin Commander of the village. They had started to turn missions down simply because there was no one suited for them, or because there was intel missing on the mission with no way to gathering more to properly assess the situation. "Why us?"

Kurenai looked at the three. "Hinata makes for an excellent scout and can slip past guards and patrols easily with her Byakugan. Naruto provides distraction, and in case of a blown cover, a fighting chance for all of you to extract yourselves. You provide strategy, tactics and your Kagemane no jutsu provides unique possibilities for forceful extraction with disabling guards from range."

Shikamaru nodded, satisfied with the answers.

"Now, to make sure you three are up to the task, on the secretary to the Hokage's table there is a piece of paper on it that authorize the disbanding of this team, you have three hours before it gets processed, in which case you all fail and get sent back to the Academy." Kurenai smirked at her three students. It was no bell test, but that would surely motivate them.

Kurenai, thirty minutes later, small restaurant near the Hokage tower

To say that Kurenai was nervous would be an understatement. If they couldn't do the test they would indeed be sent back to the Academy, it was required that all teams had a trial by fire upon graduation. She wasn't sure what would happen with Hinata if that was the case.

Anko slipped into the seat on the other side of the table. "Hey Kurenai, your brats did it."

Kurenai sat wide-eyed looking at her slightly insane friend. "In just thirty minutes?"

Anko grinned while she ordered some Dango. "Yeah, but doesn't it invalidate the test if you interfere?"

Kurenai frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, that orange kid charged in and demanded to see the Hokage, he ran towards the door to kick it in. Then you showed up and lifting him by his collar, yelling at him and dragged him out of there. When I turned around the paper was gone from the table, so I dropped the henge and popped out here."

Kurenai looked confused for a moment. "But, I've been here since I sent my team on the mission. I lifted Naruto off the ground you say?"

"Yeah that was how I knew it wasn't a henge."

Kurenai positively stared at her friend. "A solid henge?" She whistled. "They are even more suited for the job than imagined then." She hurriedly paid and went out to Training Ground 23.

Naruto sat in the grass and wave to her, and with a shit-eating grin shouted to her. "Oi sensei, what took you?"

Kurenai looked at the three; Hinata was sitting on her own a few yards from the two brothers. "Which one of you did the henge?"

Shikamaru just pointed at Naruto while looking at the sky. "Naruto provided the distraction. Hinata snuck in using her Byakugan to keep in the blind spots created by the desk. I pulled the paper off the table with a shadow for Hinata to catch and then run out with it."

Kurenai gave them all a warm smile. "That is impressive, very impressive actually. You even took the roles I described. They were only guidelines you know..."

Shikamaru shrugged. "I figured as much, which made it more fun to plan to make it fit that."

Kurenai nodded. "Congratulations, you all passed. You are now a part of the Active Regular Force, with the rank of Genin. Meet here tomorrow morning at eight for training."

Shikamaru just groaned, that was way too early in the day.

Naruto shot up. "This calls for celebratory Ramen." He grabbed Shikamaru's collar and Hinata's arm and started to drag both along with him."

Kurenai just shook her head at her team. 'Looks like things won't be dull with a team like this.'

Word List:

Tairitsu no In: Seal of Confrontation, half ram seal done with the right hand. Signifies the start of a traditional sparring match

Wakai no In: Seal of Reconciliation, half ram seal like the Tairitsu no In, held downwards and locking the index and middle finger together with the opponent's seal signifying no hard feelings after the spar.

A/N:

That was the first chapter of Holding On for Deer Life.

To anyone who has any concerns about this cutting into time spent writing Sister Lost. Don't worry, Sister Lost is my primary fic. But it's also incredibly structured and requires a lot of planning for each chapter.
This fic and the other fic I'm working on Malleable (First chapter of which will go online next week) are not as minutely outlined as Sister Lost is, so it's what I work on to relax while coming up with ideas for SL. This being the more serious of the two where Malleable is all sorts of crack.

I feel like a horrible person when writing broken and sealed Hinata, it is like kicking puppies :(

If you like me enjoy NaruHina stories, don't forget to check out some of the many fics Solvdrage has done, all excellent.

Hope you all enjoyed it, opinions on the story very welcome.