--- !Author Nooooootes! ---

Mah first ever fanfic! Hope you're as excited as I am! XD

*EDIT* Whoops, forgot to mention a few things. First of all, for those die-hard manga fans out there who I KNOW will point out inconsistencies in relation to recent manga events, I began writing this before the events of chapter 437 (you know what I'm talkin' bout!).

Secondly, I've rated this fanfic M for later violence, and perhaps a bit of sexual content, so if you don't want to read it, best not start at all. I know I've been let down a few times by starting to read a new fanfic, only to find I'm not too keen on things that happen later on.

And finally, if you like the story and you want to keep reading, please add me to your favourites and/or alerts. Even better, feel free to leave a review; I'd definitely get the incentive to keep writing if I had some encouragement and criticism! :D *END OF EDIT*

Characters and places belong to Masashi Kishimoto, storyline and other random crap belong to me. Weeeoooooh!

The Hyuuga clan was one of excellence and purity, rising high above the other clans of Konoha. The Hyuuga name itself embodied both skill as a shinobi and status and power in the community. To be a part of the clan was to be deemed almost royalty.

Hinata Hyuuga, first-born child of the current clan leader Hiashi, was not considered as such. Though now a jounin and hailed as the greatest kunoichi to have been produced by the Hyuuga family, her clan looked down upon her as a weakling, the speck of dirt that tarnished the golden name.

Outside her window, the sun was shining. It was early in the morning, she guessed, and she knew that soon enough her younger sister would be knocking on her door, demanding on behalf of her father that she get up and train. The girl had been known to blow the door off its rails just by raising a hand to it; Hinata herself had to admit that Hanabi Hyuuga was a strong young kunoichi. Another part of her hated to admit that Hanabi would also be the most likely candidate to take their father's place as head of the clan.

With a small, hesitant sigh she pulled on her kunai belt and standard green jounin vest, tying her hair back into a long plait. She remembered the days when she'd worn her hair short, and cringed. They had been worse days, she recalled. It seemed like, as her hair had grown, she had grown too. The blue-black waterfall tickled the back of her thighs now and she knew that, sooner or later, the elders would tell her to cut it all off, claiming that it impaired her abilities as a shinobi.

She knew she would obey any order they gave her. She'd had enough confrontations with the elders in the past few years to solidify her obedience.

And yet, in herself she felt the confidence rising. This confidence did not relate to her clan or her right to lead, nor even her abilities as a ninja. But, rather, she felt confident enough to undertake the most terrifying mission she believed she had ever faced.

She would not be acting on a spur of the moment decision; Hinata was not one to be hasty. No, she had waited years to find the courage to confess to the one she admired most.

Today, she decided. Today, she would tell Naruto Uzumaki of her feelings.

But first she had to make it through training. And then she would talk to Kiba, because without his opinion she would do nothing.

Kiba Inuzuka. When Hinata thought of the popular, yet overused term 'best friend', Kiba came to mind. He was such a fun person to be around, always joking and laughing and making her smile. Being around him was a change from the constant air of discomfort she felt in her own home. She was often amazed when, after a long day of training hard on the orders of her clan, she would walk with Kiba to his home and be welcomed in by Tsume like a long-lost daughter, with a dazzling smile and a kiss on the cheek.

"She's scary..." Kiba often said on these occasions, shuddering and ushering Hinata up to his room and away from the family areas, "I'm sorry she's so weird. She's generally not this clingy. And sorry about the mess; this is a house of dogs, after all..." He'd add, flushing with embarrassment and scratching the back of his head.

Hinata would always smile and blush. "No, it's fine, Kiba-kun. I... I like it here."

She wasn't lying. Being in the Inuzuka household was as welcome as Konoha's spring fair. Everything about it was loud and fun and full of warmth.

And as she crept quietly through the cold, empty halls of the Hyuuga compound, where sound was considered unseemly, Hinata wondered what Naruto's home was like. Once upon a time he'd lived in a tiny, run down and messy apartment in the centre of the village, alone and hardly able to care for himself. When he'd turned eighteen however, Naruto had inherited his parents' family home. She'd never been there, though she knew he still lived alone, having lost both of his parents in the battle against the Kyuubi when he was just a baby. His father, Minato Namikaze, had been the Fourth Hokage, a wise and gentle man despite his obvious prowess as a shinobi. His mother, Kushina Uzumaki, had been a boisterous, colourful woman, known for her outrageous personality as well as her talent at most jutsus.

Imagining them now, she could almost picture the kind of home they would leave their son. It would be warm and cosy, with quirky furniture in mismatching colours. She could see the rows of photos on shelf after shelf; photos of Minato and his three-man squad, of the three-man squad he would go on to instruct. There would be photos of he and Kushina together, happy and smiling. And there would be one photo of Naruto, the tiny bundle of joy, taken mere days - maybe hours - before his parents' untimely deaths...

It was a horrible way to live, she thought sadly, without the love of ones parents. Although, in a way, she had lived a life much similar to Naruto's. Hinata's mother had died when she was only a baby, and her father... well... her father was a proud man; too proud to pour any affection into a daughter who was never up to the standards set for the heir to the clan.

A half-hearted scowl crossed Hinata's face but was quickly wiped away; she was entering the compound's courtyard now, and it was generally the meeting place for the family. It would not be becoming for her to be seen with a scowl - or any kind of emotion - on her face.

The courtyard was large, filled with ferns and flowers and grasses, and surrounded by a verandah of wood. She was surprised to find the courtyard empty but for two figures, who seemed to be training in the very centre. On closer inspection, she could make out the features of Hanabi, now fourteen but looking so much older. Her training was brutal and tiring, it was obvious in the premature lines on her face, which only deepened as she unleashed her byakugan on her opponent. Hinata felt a tingle across her skin at the sudden surge in Hanabi's chakra circulation; she'd started to find she could sense someone's chakra levels even without activating her own byakugan, which was, at present, helping her in training with her fellow jounin and, in the future, would severely increase her abilities as a reconaissance shinobi.

Hanabi's opponent was taller than her, and more rigid in his stance. He wore his hair in a similar fashion to Hinata, though his plait was shorter and he wore his Konoha forehead protector low over his eyebrows. There was no doubt as to who this man was; Neji Hyuuga, her older cousin.

Watching Neji and Hanabi as she walked by, Hinata felt a pang of shocking jealousy. The two of them together were the best candidates for becoming the head of the clan someday, in the case of physical ability and talent as a shinobi. Neji would never become the head of the clan, however, due to the curse seal that marked his forehead beneath his headband. The curse seal, if activated by another member of the Hyuuga clan, could inflict great damage to Neji, and though Hiashi had considered taking his nephew on as a candidate for the clan's head, he had deemed it too dangerous. Neji was far too susceptible to be leader of the Hyuuga clan.

Hinata was sure that her father now regretted his decision to mark Neji with the curse seal; she was certain that, if he could make the choice again now, he would instead mark her with it.

Hanabi, who would not have been able to hear Hinata's almost inaudible footsteps or sense her presence had she not had her byakugan unleashed, turned in her direction. There was a decided look of arrogance there, Hinata noted, but did not worry about. She was used to that by now.

Neji turned as well, and there was no trace of any emotion on his face. Hinata knew that, during training, he shut off every thought, every feeling, but for the physical things he could sense around him at that very moment. That's what made him so dangerous as a shinobi.

"Hinata-sama!" Neji called. Hinata froze. What was this...? Generally, if Neji wanted to talk to her, he waited until she was unoccupied, as was only polite.

She watched as Neji turned to Hanabi, his face unfreezing from its emotionless mask, inclined his head slightly in her direction and murmured an apology, stating a need to leave. Hanabi gave a quick, angered jerk of the head before turning and walking away in the opposite direction.

It took Neji only a few seconds to cross the courtyard and stand before Hinata, his head bowed deferentially. "Hinata-sama. I'm sorry to keep you. Are you heading out to train with the jounins?"

It had taken many years of hard work, but Hinata and Neji had been able to close the large, angry wound that had kept them apart for most of their lives. They often trained together, much like he and Hanabi had been just moments before, as well as with the other jounins from the village. Their relationship was hard to explain; they weren't what you could consider conventional friends; rather amicable rivals.

"Neji-niisan." Hinata said in her soft, almost nervous voice. "Y-yes, I'm going out to train with the jounins. It will only be Shino-kun and Kiba-kun with me today. Naruto-kun has a meeting with Hokage-sama for most of the day..."

Neji looked embarrassed. However, his pure light violet eyes - slightly lighter than Hinata's own - lost their hesitancy and his shoulders relaxed. "It was Naruto I wished to speak with." He admitted, then returned to his over-polite self. "Hinata-sama, if Naruto happens to stop by the training ground, with or without seeing Hokage-sama, would you please ask him to come to me? There is something I need to discuss with him."

Hinata knew better than to pry, but she could not help but wonder what Neji would need to speak to Naruto about. And to ask her himself? That was unheard of.

"Is it urgent, Neji-niisan?" Her cousin's eyes narrowed. She added quickly, "O-only so I know to tell Naruto-kun immediately if I s-s-see him. I wouldn't want to c-cause trouble."

Neji's eyes lost their edge, and almost appeared friendly. A slight smile crossed his face - or was that just Hinata's imagination? "It is not urgent, Hinata-sama, but it would be best if I spoke to him as soon as possible. I would ask him myself but if he has a meeting with Hokage-sama it is probably of the most importance. He is more likely to visit the training grounds after his meeting than to visit the Hyuuga compound, where I'll be training with Hanabi-sama for the day."

"I understand." Hinata nodded. "If I see Naruto-kun, I'll let him know you wish to speak with him as soon as possible."

"Thankyou, Hinata-sama. I'm sorry again for keeping you." Neji inclined his head once more, looked at Hinata thoughtfully for a mere fraction of a second, and then sped off across the courtyard, no doubt to retrieve Hanabi.

Hinata, suddenly in a hurry to escape from the formalities of the compound, walked a little faster than usual to the main gates. She crossed her father's path, and briefly acknowledged him with a low bow before hurriedly explaining her training regime. His narrow eyes did not seem interested; before she had even finished, he had taken three steps past her, as though he wished to leave her presence as soon as possible.

The training grounds were not empty when she arrived; it seemed she had slept in later than she had thought. Shino, clothed in his usual oversized pants and jacket, was standing to the side of the forest clearing, while Kiba was lounged under a nearby tree, a long blade of yellowed grass between his teeth. On her arrival, he lifted his head and grinned, rising swiftly to his feet.

"Here's Lavender!" He said in a mocking tone, "I was beginning to think she wouldn't turn up today." He said to Shino, shaking his head.

Hinata smiled. "Kiba-kun..." She said softly, the heavy weight lifting off her shoulders suddenly. She always felt like this when she escaped the Hyuuga compound; it never ceased to amaze her how confident she felt whenever she was away from the eyes of her family.

"Now that everyone is here, let's begin." Shino murmured.

Hinata nodded. "All right. But please don't go easy on me, Shino-kun, Kiba-kun. I -"

A sound from behind her stopped her mid-sentence. She spun on her toes and ducked to the side, escaping the sharp claws of Akamaru's outstretched paws. Akamaru hit the ground and skidded to a halt beside a grinning Kiba, who laughed aloud at Hinata's evasion.

"You didn't even use your Byakugan, Hinata! Your ears must be getting nearly as sensitive as mine."

Hinata laughed and her brows drew together in dark humour. "That's what happens when you have to train with dogs."

Her mockery had the desired effect and Kiba grew serious. Within seconds, Hinata's Byakugan was unleashed and Kiba was in her sights, running and jumping and throwing himself through the surrounding forest, trying to evade her sights, though he knew he never could.

Not only could he not succeed in hiding himself from Hinata, he would find out that there was no way that Hinata would let Naruto escape her sight, either.

And so began what was shaping up to be the worst day of Kiba Inuzuka's life.