Author's Note: I do not own Naruto. Please feel free to review, flame, or anything else that strikes your fancy.
Uzumaki Naruto was a creature of habit. Early every morning, he would rise with the first crowing of the roosters, rapidly consume a breakfast of buttered toast and frequently spoiled milk, then race off to start a day of training with Jiraiya, or missions with Sakura and Kakashi. As it happened, this day Jiraiya was off on another one of his 'intelligence gathering' expeditions, and Kakashi was busy on an S-ranked mission that would take him out of Konoha for the next several days. Sakura had reluctantly invited Naruto to help her as she went on her rounds through the hospital, but the blonde shinobi wisely begged off. The last time he had visited, his penchant for mischief nearly killed one of the patients. He sighed to himself while he dressed, remembering the incident that got him banned from the hospital for a week.
"Naruto, you idiot! Not here! I could get fired!" Sakura nearly screamed, as Naruto began a series of hand seals. He grinned before nodding at the bedridden man in his late sixties.
"Relax, Sakura! The old man told me he was tired of looking at saggy, expired women, and flat-chested, pre-pubescent girls!" Naruto missed the darkening of Sakura's expression, and continued on, unaware of her rising choler. "I'll show him my new super, ultra perverted jutsu, and that should keep him satisfied until he gets out of here."
"Noooo!"
Heedless of her warning, Naruto had executed his super, ultra perverted, jutsu with the kind of flair and talent his master would have been extremely proud of. The resulting jutsu gave the man a nosebleed….followed by cardiac arrest. Shizune, Sakura, and three other medical ninjas massaged the man's heart with chakra, and managed to revive him, noting the extremely pleased expression plastered on his face. Sakura had been reprimanded, and Shizune pulled Naruto to the side, gently and politely informing him that if she ever saw his face in the hospital again for any other reason beyond severe injuries, his ability to procreate would be forfeit. Her sweet smile was punctuated by an aura of killing intent which had the young man flying out of the hospital for all he was worth.
Naruto locked the door to his small apartment, and leaped over several rooftops before settling on a road to walk down. He ignored the cold stares of the villagers, and waved cheerfully at the owner of the Ichiraku Ramen stand as he made his way to the Genin training grounds. At least once a week, Naruto would stop by the three, small wooden posts and stare off into the distance, his mind calling back the successes and failures of past missions. Mostly though, his thoughts would drift to Team 7's first test from Kakashi. He remembered being tied to the damn wooden post, his hunger exacerbated by his frustration at failing to capture one of those stupid bells. He remembered Sasuke offering him a portion of his lunch, sealing the friendship/rivalry that would define their close bond. Now Sasuke was a missing-nin, a traitor to Konoha, and a pawn of Orochimaru, and Naruto had vowed to become the strongest shinobi in the world to save his friend. To any casual observer, Naruto's self-imposed promise was the stuff of delusional fantasies, but Naruto never went back on his word. It was his ninja way.
The sun began to cut through the chill and mist of the early morning, and to Naruto's surprise, he saw two figures sparring in front of the wooden training posts. Lowering his chakra levels to conceal his presence, he made his way stealthily towards them, taking cover in the nearby grove of trees. As he got closer, the style of taijutsu both figures were using was unmistakable: Hyuuga style Gentle Fist. The movement of both was deceptively graceful, and seemed almost as if it were a dance of sorts. Naruto, having been on the receiving end of it once, knew better than that. The taller of the two, began a relentless assault that had the smaller dodging and blocking for all he/she was worth, all the while being steadily pushed backwards. With a fierce yell, the taller one gave a powerful, double palmed blow to the shorter, knocking him/her to the ground. Naruto's eyes widened as he realized the taller was Neji, and the shorter was Hinata. Hinata groaned as she slowly got to her feet, eliciting a growl from Neji.
"Come on Hinata-sama," he said in a goading tone of voice, "We've only been at this for a half-hour. Are you tired already? How do you hope to run the Hyuuga clan with this kind of endurance?" Naruto felt his hackles beginning to rise. He thought they had been through this already. Neji had seemed like a new person when they had gone out to bring back Sasuke with the other Genin… Why was he behaving like this? Naruto burst out of the trees angrily, shaking his fist at the taller Jounin.
"What's your problem, Neji? I thought I told you to stop picking on Hinata! Just 'cause you're a Jounin now, don't think I won't kick your ass." Neji and Hinata both stared at Naruto with the same white-eyed expression of surprise. Neji raised his hands and shook his head.
"No, Naruto, it's not what you think, we're--" He was cut off by Hinata, who used the distraction to direct a sweeping kick that knocked him flat. He attempted to rise, but was pinned to the ground as Hinata leaped on him, one hand holding his throat, the other cocked back for a tenketsu strike. Sighing, Neji raised his hand in surrender, which elicited a giggle from Hinata, who promptly removed herself, letting him stand. The Hyuuga girl shyly walked over to Naruto, whose mouth was stuck agape.
"Good…good morning, Naruto-kun," she murmured, her eyes meeting his timidly. Naruto shook off his surprise, and gave her a broad grin.
"That was so cool, Hinata! When'd you learn to fight like that! Man, you've gotten stronger – going head to head with Neji like that and winning! Awesome, I wanna spar with you sometime!" He talked too fast for Hinata to get in a word, and would have continued for some time if it wasn't for Neji, who cleared his throat.
"Ahem, Naruto… As I was trying to explain before, Hinata-sama and I have been practicing together for some time now. She's got a lot more talent than I or anyone else gave her credit for… she merely lacks self-confidence. Something, we've been working on, right Hinata-sama?" His pointed question had Hinata taking her fingers apart, which had habitually begun rubbing together the minute Naruto appeared. She also stood straighter, bringing herself out of her usual, timid, hunched posture. Naruto couldn't help but notice that she had grown up a bit herself, in the two and half years he had been gone. Very pleasing curves began to show themselves in her figure, and Naruto fought back the urge to make a comment. Damn. Too much time with that perverted bastard of a teacher.
"And," Neji continued, the vexation on his face obvious, "She did not beat me. The match was over the minute you interrupted us."
"Well, Neji-niisan," Hinata said with an almost smile on her face, "Did you not say a match is only over when someone has conceded defeat or is unable to continue fighting? Did you not say that the key to success as a shinobi is complete and absolute surprise?" Neji stewed for a moment, his eyes narrowed. Abruptly, his eyes softened, and he smiled.
"I said all that, did I? Well, I'm glad you've been paying attention, Hinata-sama. Alright, victory goes to you today. It seems whenever Nartuo is around, your best comes out. If I were you, I'd keep him around as a lucky charm." His grin elicited a puzzled expression from Naruto and a fierce blush from Hinata.
"Why're you turning all red like that, Hinata?" Naruto asked with a confused frown, "You getting sick or something? Allergies?"
"No, I… umm…" Hinata trailed off, her words getting tangled in her throat. The silence would have been awkward were it not for a flash of bright green that suddenly exploded into the clearing. When the huge dust cloud had cleared, standing it its place was familiar figure clad in a Chuunin vest. One arm behind him, and the other extended in challenge, Rock Lee gave Neji a fierce grin.
"Neji, my eternal rival, It is time!" Neji sighed slightly before nodding. He turned to Hinata and Naruto.
"Sorry Naruto, I've got something to take care of. I'll talk with you later. Hinata-sama… this is the first time you've seen Naruto in a while, isn't it? Why don't you take him somewhere to eat? Here, your father gave me money for our breakfast, but I doubt I'll have time for it." Hinata nodded weakly, accepting the money from him. Without even trying, Neji-niisan had just set her up on her first date with Naruto-kun. This was truly the power of the Hyuuga genius!
"Naruto-kun! Long time no see!" Lee said by way of greeting, "You seem even stronger than when we last met. We should set up a time to duel. I am in need of strong training partners if I am going to best Neji here. He's already up fifty points because he made Jounin before me!"
"Lee," Neji replied tiredly, "We don't even have a point system set up. When did you decide I was up by 'fifty points?' " Lee's eyes burned with the inner fire of youthful enthusiasm, and he clenched his fist dramatically.
"Ooooh! Neji, that laid back attitude of yours is strangely irritating! Between your cold sarcasm and my passionate honesty, our rivalry is shaping up to be as beautiful as the one between Gai-sensei and Kakashi-sensei!"
"No, dammit!" Neji barked, "We are in no way getting into a vaguely homoerotic co-dependent relationship like the one those two idiots share!"
"Neji!" Lee shouted, "How can you say that about Gai-sensei? He is the most red-blooded, straight throwing shinobi I know! Why, I would tell you the lurid tales of his conquests were it not for the presence of your delicately beautiful cousin here."
"Lee," Neji said slowly, "Keep your eyes off my cousin." Lee laughed a hearty laugh before throwing Neji a powerful thumbs-up.
"Fear not, Neji! My heart belongs only to the fair Sakura-san! Her willful, unbending strength is well suited to the intensity of my amorous passions! Hinata-san is a fragile, white lily, deserving of more gentle affections. If I were you, Naruto-kun, I would--"
"Okay Lee," Neji interrupted, grabbing him around the neck, "I think it's time we settled this duel."
"Right you are, Neji! The score is currently 1 to 40 in your favor! I think this time we should use genjutsu as the determining factor for our match." Neji sighed, as they walked away, his posture becoming slumped and listless.
"Lee, you can't use anything but taijutsu. Why would you want to have a contest over something you can't do?"
"Ohh! Neji, your cold logic will not stand up to the fervor of my sincere intentions! If I can't outdo you in genjutsu, I will do three thousand high kicks!"
Hinata and Naruto watched the two wander off, their voices becoming inaudible after a while. Naruto grinned slightly.
"He's something else, isn't he?" Naruto said softly, eliciting a nod from Hinata.
"Lee-kun's 'self-imposed rule' was taught to him by Gai-sensei. It's how he approaches all of his training."
"Sheer genius," Naruto exclaimed with a grin, "I'll have to apply it to my training as well! I'm sorry Hinata, I've been getting so caught up, I forgot to ask you where you want to eat."
"Well," Hinata said with a soft smile, "I was thinking ramen?"