Head Back to his Apartment and Unpack from his ...

Naruto was saddened at the news of Hinata's absence. He was really hoping to see her today, and now finds out he would have to wait another three weeks to see her. A bit crestfallen, Naruto decided to head back to his apartment. He still had to unpack from his trip, and possibly shower as well. Hanabi saw that Naruto was a bit sullen with the news and was about to offer Naruto some tea, but was cut off by Naruto bidding her adieu and thanking her for the information.

Naruto made his way home to his apartment. Once there, he entered and went to his room and threw his stuff from his trip on the floor next to his bed. He then headed to his shower and started to get washed up from the all the grime and dirt of his trip. He then decided to get changed into a loose fitting t shirt and pair shorts. It was more casual than is usual ninja gear. The whole time Hinata was still on his mind as he flopped on his bed.

Naruto looked at the wall and saw a picture recently taken of them. He had Hinata in his arms and they were both smiling. He wished he could hold her in arms right now. Her gentle smile, feeling of her soft skin. Naruto then let out a groan, as another thought entered his head. He and Hinata had recently began to become more intimate in their relationship recently. They had done just about everything shy of going all the way. It was this thought alone that made Hinata's absence that much worse. Now he couldn't get her out of his mind and it left him frustrated. Deciding to try get his mind off of her, Naruto went to put his stuff away from the trip.

He went over and emptied the contents of his bag. He began putting away his usual ninja equipment, when he stumbled upon the scroll he brought back from the mask shrine. With his thoughts focused solely on Hinata, he had completely forgotten about it. Grabbing the scroll, Naruto brought it up onto his bed and unrolled it as he reread the contents of it again. He mostly spent time focusing on the mask jutsu. It did seem interesting, the idea of being able to physically transform oneself into that of another person. Naruto then started to think if the jutsu would still work and better yet, if it did, who he would want to make a mask of? Naruto pondered these thoughts as his eye made contact of the same picture of him and Hinata. Naruto continued to stare until a perverse plan started to formulate in his head. What about a mask of Hinata? What could it hurt right? It seemed fool proof. He would get the benefit of trying out the jutsu, as well at least seeing Hinata in some form. The scroll never mentioned how the transformation process felt to the user, but in his head he thought, what did he have to lose?

Now excited to try it out, Naruto jumped off his bed and sprinted over to his bathroom and began rummaging around. He let out a loud, "Yes!" as he found the brush that Hinata left there. He inspected it, and found exactly what he needed. A dark blue strand of her hair. He then plucked it from the brush and ran into his room and over to the scroll. He then opened it up and copied the jutsu array on to the floor of his room. Naruto place the hair from Hinata on the array and activates the technique. There is poof of smoke. After a moment the smoke clears and in place of the hair strand was a perfect smooth porcelain mask of Hinata's face. Naruto had a grin from ear to ear. The mask's features matched Hinata's one for one. It even had her bangs that framed her face. The only thing that seemed off about it, were the eye holes of the mask.

Naruto now really excited, went to pick up the mask..