Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters in either show. All new characters are purely fictional and any resemblance to real people is 100 percent accidental.
Note to all readers: I know that some things won't be the same as in the actual series.
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Pre-story Summary: Sakura is honing her medical jutsu skills, while team InoShikaChou is on a mission. Kiba, Shino, and TenTen are on a mission because Hinata was recovering from a previous difficult mission. Neji is training with Hiashi, while Hinata watches on. Rock Lee has gone on a mission with Gai Sensei. Naruto has just returned from a simple solo mission and, with Jaraiya still on his secret mission, is very bored, so he goes around town looking for entertainment. He finds a hidden cave which leads down into a large underground cavern. Naruto decides that it's the perfect place to train in secret. Lately he'd been interested in discovering his own jutsu…
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Naruto sat with his legs crossed, eyes closed, and his hands together, focusing his chakra. He was walking through his mind passing different rooms. In one room was the Kyuubi that had been sealed inside of him. In another were his memories before he had any friends. Naruto walked past the door that held everyone who was dear to him. He stopped outside the door without a handle on it. A dim light was swinging above his head. This one, thought Naruto, This is the door with all my jutsu in it!
Just as Naruto was about to push the door open, his stomach rumbled. "Gahhh! I'm starved. Who would have thought that just walking through my mind would make me so hungry? I mean, I just ate like…uh." His stomach rumbled even louder. Naruto smiled to himself. "Actually, it's been a while since I last ate he-he-he." He popped up and headed towards the secret entrance he had discovered to the cavern. The light-haired shinobi was already salivating, thinking about all the ramen he would eat.
***
Tsunade watched Sakura attempt a level two medical jutsu. Incredible, she thought, the girl is already close to mastering a second level medical jutsu, and she has only been training a month! Lady Tsunade's didn't show her thoughts as Sakura's shoulders slumped due to her failed effort. The Hokage's face was stern as she said, without emotion, "Try again, and focus more." Sakura tensed as she concentrated and thought to herself: This time, for sure!
***
Hinata watched her cousin Neji spar with her father. It's no use, she thought to herself, my Byakugan's technique is different from Neji's. There is nothing I can learn from watching him train. But…but I have no one else to train with. After thinking unhappily for a few minutes, Hinata came to a decision. She would watch the men fight until they took a break, and then she would go get something to eat. She nodded to herself once, to confirm her thoughts. Hinata sighed as she watched Neji try to match her father's speed once more. I wonder what Naruto is up to…
***
Naruto sneezed into his bowl of ramen. "Bless you!" said the owner of the Ichiraku Ramen shop, "You aren't coming down with something are you? You know how hard I try to keep this shop sanitized!" Naruto wiped his nose with the sleeve of his shirt. "Don't worry," he said, "I'm sure that it's just a pretty girl thinking about me somewhere." The ramen shop owner laughed and said, "Oh, sure, about you Naruto, ha-ha, a pretty girl, right!" They knew each other well, Naruto being a regular in this particular ramen shop. Naruto laughed along with him and slurped up the rest of the ramen in his bowl.
Naruto leaned back and patted his stomach as he sighed with content. The shop owner had no other customers, so he leaned over the counter and said. "So, Naruto, what've you been up to?" Naruto thought for a moment and then said, "Well, I finished a mission today. It was so easy! Some guy tried to get a ransom from a little old lady for her dog, and I was supposed to get back the dog and try to catch the guy. So now he's sitting in prison. No sweat." Naruto stopped to pick something out of his teeth. "He deserves it. I mean, what kind of guy steals from an old lady?!" The shop owner shook his head and tut-tutted while muttering, "People these days!"
The curtain behind Naruto slid open and sunlight poured into the small shack. Naruto turned around to see the newcomer as the shop owner quickly straightened at the sight of a new customer. When Naruto saw who it was, he said, "Oh, hi Hinata! What are you doing here?" When Hinata saw Naruto sitting there, his head leaning backwards over the back of his seat, she blushed and said, "Hi, Naruto. I-I came to eat here." Naruto's eyes widened as he sat back into his chair correctly and turned around. "Oh, you mean, you like ramen too? I mean, I love ramen and this is my favorite place to eat it because of the chairs, you know? No other ramen shop has chairs with backs in them, they're all stools. Huh? Hinata why are you all red in the face?" Hinata was still standing in the entrance, blushing deeply from all the attention Naruto was giving her.
The shop owner swatted at the back of Naruto's head with his towel. "Naruto! Stop alienating my customers!" He turned to Hinata and said, "Go ahead, sit down. What would you like to order?" Naruto rubbed the back of his head and said, "Alia-what-ing?" Hinata made her way to the chair next to Naruto and quietly ordered a bowl of ramen. Naruto was muttering something about hitting customers in the head, while Hinata stared at her hands, twiddling her thumbs. Then Naruto turned to her and said, "Hey, Hinata, where are Kiba and Shino?" Hinata looked up at him with her pale eyes and said, "They…they both went on a mission." Naruto's expression was incredulous, "You mean they didn't take you with them?! What kind of teammates are they?!" Hinata shook her head and answered, "Please Naruto, it's not like that, I was recovering and not able to be of any help, so they had to go without me." Naruto looked at Hinata doubtfully and mumbled, "Well okay, if you say so." Hinata smiled and nodded. Then the shop keeper brought Hinata's ramen and a silence settled in the shop.
Naruto seemed deep in thought and then said out loud, "Hinata. If you're not on a mission and you're not in recovery anymore, then shouldn't you be training?" Hinata blushed again and answered, "I'd like to, but with my jutsu, there isn't much I can do training alone." Naruto nodded in understanding. "Yea, I know what you mean." Then his face brightened as he said, "What about Neji? Couldn't you train with him?" Hinata turned away from Naruto and tried to think of a way to tell him why she couldn't train with Neji, but the words wouldn't come out. Naruto affected her in a way that no one else did.
Naruto watched Hinata avoid his gaze and wished he'd kept his mouth shut. He hadn't wanted to make things awkward. Poor Hinata, he thought, she can't train alone because she her Protective Eight Trigrams is a defense jutsu, and her Byakugan is not really a thing that you can practice. I know! Naruto turned towards Hinata and said, "Uh, Hinata?" Hinata looked at Naruto and in her soft voice said, "Yes, Naruto?" Naruto's eyes were wide with excitement as he voiced his idea, "How about you and I train together?" Hinata's pale eyes went wide with surprise. Naruto…
***
Sakura was filled with excitement. She had finally done it! She had mastered the level two healing jutsu! Sakura turned to look at the Hokage. Lady Tsunade was barely able to contain her surprise. This Sakura Haruno has mastered a level two healing already? Tsunade thought. How does she do it? What drives girl so hard that she is able to achieve the seemingly impossible? She is definitely a genius equal to Shizune. "Good work. Now get some rest." Sakura was disappointed that Lady Tsunade didn't show more enthusiasm. Oh well. "Thank you, Lady Hokage."
Sakura dragged her feet all the way home. She was so worn out! She stopped outside her house, enjoying a few more seconds of the warm afternoon. Sakura took one more deep breath and entered her home. She heard her mother call out, "Sakura dear, is that you?" It took Sakura all the strength she could muster to call out and answer, "Yes mother, it's me. I'm very tired so I don't think I'll come to dinner." She started down the hallway to her room. "Are you sure?" Sakura sighed as she flopped down onto her bed. She could already feel sleep coming to give her relief. "Yes, mother, I'll be fine," she said sleepily.
***
Sasuke was running through a field, running from something that was chasing him. Sakura was right behind him, trying to keep up. "Sasuke, wait for me!" Sakura wailed. Sasuke ignored her and kept on running, maybe even faster than before. Sakura could sense the distance growing as the Sasuke in front of her seemed to be getting smaller and smaller. Sakura poured her heart into her running, but that seemed to make her even slower. "Please Sasuke, slow down!" she screamed. Sweat was pouring off her body and was running into her eyes mixing with her tears. The all of a sudden, there he was, right in front of her. "Sasuke, you came back." Sakura smiled. She was happy, so happy. Sasuke smiled too. But his smile was evil. "You wretched girl, Sasuke is mine, all mine!"
All at once, Sasuke became Oruchimaru, and he was reaching for Sakura. Sakura backed away, her eyes wide, murmuring, "No, please, no!" Then: "Oruchimaru! Leave her alone!" It was Naruto! Sakura was relieved, so relieved. Now he was going to save her! Oruchimaru turned in Naruto's direction and hissed. Sakura cowered on the ground sobbing for Sasuke to come back to her. Then she remembered. She was no longer going to be a burden. She could take care of herself! "Sorry Naruto," Sakura whispered, "but it's my turn." Oruchimaru punched Naruto in the face and he was on the ground, not moving. Sakura stood up and said aloud, "Oruchimaru, you'll pay for what you did to Sasuke!" Sakura felt a power flow through her as she walked in Oruchimaru's direction. She was finally going to kill the evil that had taken her Sasuke from her. Oruchimaru stood frozen to the spot. It seems he can't move, Sakura thought. She laughed out loud as she raised her fist. It was glowing with green chakra. "Now die!!" She hit Oruchimaru in the heart, her hand going all the way though his body. She pulled her hand away from him and he fell to the ground, dead.
Sakura walked up to Naruto, who was twitching on the ground. She kneeled on the ground next to him and used her healing jutsu on him. Naruto's eyes flew open and he sat up. "Sakura, are you okay-?" He stopped talking when he noticed that Oruchimaru was already dead. His blue eyes wide, he said, "Sakura, did you…?" Sakura smiled at him and said, "You don't need to take care of me anymore. I am no longer a burden, Naruto." Naruto gave her a sad smile. "Sakura, you're not the same person you were when we first met." Naruto's words seemed to echo around Sakura's mind. Even Naruto was starting to blur. "You're important to me Sakura, but not the way you were at first, not anymore." Naruto seemed to be sinking into the ground. Sakura grabbed him, but he turned into a skeleton and fell apart in her hands. "Naruto!" Sakura screamed.
Sakura sat up in her bed, breathing heavily. Whew! It was only a nightmare…Only a nightmare…
***
Hinata stood in the middle of the forest breathing heavily. Byakugan! She said in her mind. Now she could see Naruto's body heat creeping stealthily through the forest towards her. She tensed and got ready. Then something hit her in the back of the neck. Hinata fell forward, feigning unconsciousness. She heard Naruto's voice behind her. It was his clone! She should have paid more attention. Hinata heard the real Naruto run up from where he'd been hiding. Naruto and his shadow clone kneeled down by Hinata. She felt them gently shaking her. "Hinata, are you okay?" Naruto sounded very worried. Hinata allowed herself a slight smile. He was going to be so surprised.
Naruto was scared that he had hurt Hinata badly. He turned her over onto her back as he examined her face for any signs of pain. She seems like she's alright, thought Naruto. He made his clone disappear, no point in wasting chakra, maintaining it. What was he going to do? He'd knocked out Hinata and possibly hurt her. Oh man, her father's going to kill me! Suddenly, Hinata leaped from the ground and attacked Naruto. He tried to jump back and out of the way, but she caught him by surprise. She punched him in the stomach with one hand, then the other. Next she spun around in midair and kicked him square in the chest. Naruto flew backwards and landed on his back.
"No fair! You tricked me! I was really worried, Hinata!" Hinata covered her mouth and giggled. Naruto struggled to get up, but he didn't seem to have the energy. Hinata went over and helped him sit up. He was breathing very heavily, even coughing a little. "To tell you the truth, Hinata, that was amazing. You really fooled me, and you moved so fast!" Hinata blushed deeply and covered the lower part of her face with her hands to hide her happiness that Naruto was impressed. Naruto coughed again, but this time blood came. Hinata was shocked; she hadn't hit him in any vital organs, but… Naruto looked up at her and smiled, to show that he was okay. "You were using your Gentle Fist jutsu, weren't you?" Hinata looked anxious as she said, "Yes, but…but I didn't aim for your vital organs. Are you going to be okay Naruto?" Naruto struggled to his feet and said, "I'll be fine. I think that we've trained enough for today, don't you?" Hinata nodded her consent.
Naruto tried to start walking back to the village, but he swayed and stumbled. Hinata caught him before he fell. "It's okay Naruto. You can lean on me; I'll help you back." Naruto gladly put half his weight onto Hinata, and they made their way towards Konoha. Naruto sighed as he watched the sun start to set. "So pretty," he mumbled as his head fell onto Hinata's shoulder. Hinata's heart pounded hard against her heart. Naruto, so close to me and his head on my shoulder…
Hinata tried hard not to laugh when she realized that Naruto was asleep and still shuffling his feet along with her. The sun was halfway through setting when they reached the village and Hinata found that she had no idea where Naruto lived. She was getting very tired, carrying both of their weights, but she was enjoying Naruto being so near to her. She decided to take him back to her home and let him rest the night there. When she walked into the building where she lived, Neji and her father, who were sitting at the tea table, both turned and stared at her. Hinata blushed and tried to explain, but all she could get out was that Naruto was hurt and that he may need medical attention. Neji and her father understood her, for they knew her well, and took Naruto to a spare bedroom.
Hinata sagged onto a couch with relief. They hadn't asked too many questions and had accepted Naruto. She was so tired…
Hinata was shaken awake by Hiashi. He was giving her a strange look, a look that had sadness mixed into it. Hinata realized she had fallen asleep on the couch, blushed, and said, "Yes, Father?" The leader of the Hyuuga clan pulled her up gently and led her to a table. She sat there and tried to rub the sleep from her eyes. Hinata noticed that the sun had completely set, but she didn't know what time it was. Her father rarely stayed up too late, which meant it couldn't be too late in the night. The man in question prepared some tea for both of them and sat down as well.
"Hinata…There are a few things we need to talk about." Hinata didn't know what it could possibly be, but she answered, "Yes, Father." It seemed that was all she could say to him. "Firstly, I would like to talk about your Byakugan. I understand you were training with this boy?" Hinata nodded and he continued, "I realized that you never seemed to gain anything from watching Neji and me spar, even though I suggested it. I thought about your situation, and came to the conclusion that your Byakugan might use a different kind of technique. It is fairly uncommon, but there are Hyuuga that have medical Byakugan." Hinata gasped in surprise. "You don't mean that I…" Hiashi nodded and said, "Yes, Hinata. I think that you might be one of those Hyuuga."
Hinata's eyes were wide with surprise. Could it be...? Hinata's father watched her with his pale eyes and then got her attention again by saying, "A rumor has reached me that you have perfected your own Eight Trigrams technique. What do you call this jutsu?" Hinata wasn't surprised that her father had already found out about her different technique. Naruto had been so impressed… "I call it the Protective Eight Trigrams." Now her father seemed surprised. "Hinata…Are you sure? What exactly does it do?" Hinata explained how she made a round web of chakra that repelled anything harmful, while also damaging it. Hiashi was staring at her. "Hinata…There is no question about it: you're definitely a medical Hyuuga."
Hinata's father seemed lost in thought, but Hinata didn't mind; she was lost in thought also. She now understood why she could never learn Neji's technique; it was a warrior's technique. Hinata had so many questions to ask that she didn't know where to start. Hinata's father broke the silence saying, "I spoke to the Hokage. Apparently, she is already training another girl in medical jutsu, and she is willing to take on another. Now Hinata," her father gave her a stern look, "The other girl seems to be a genius at medical jutsu, so I don't want you to push yourself to match her." Hinata still couldn't get over the thought that she would be a medical ninja. She couldn't wait to tell Naruto…
Hinata's father seemed to read her thoughts saying quietly, "Hinata…I also wanted to talk to you about this boy with the blond hair. What your relationship with him?" Hinata's pale eyes went big with surprise, "Father, what…what are you talking about?" Her father's Byakugan eyes softened as he said, "Hinata…I've seen the way you look at him. Whenever he pays special attention to you, you get red in the face and stumble all over yourself. Now you've been training with him alone, and you've even brought him home with you!" Hinata hung her head and tried to speak, to explain, but she was shocked to silence that her attraction to Naruto was so obvious. "Hinata, there is something that you need to know. You are at the age that boys start to notice you, and the other way around. The thing is, Hinata, there are Hyuuga clan laws, laws that prevent the Heir's marriage to a person of their choice. As the Heir, you are required to go through a betrothal. This is to keep the Byakugan from spreading through the other clans." Hinata was staring at her father with her mouth slightly open.
"Hinata, I did not make this law, it has been in the Hyuuga clan for generations. There is no way around it. Even if not this boy with shadow clones, then some other boy might steal your heart. According to custom, as the female of the pair, you would be required to leave your clan to join your partner's clan, except, of course, in certain circumstances. Certainly, the male of the pair may choose to be the one to change clans, but even so, Hinata, you are the Heir of the Hyuuga clan; you have no choice in the matter." Hinata looked stricken. "Hinata," her father gave a look so gloomy that Hinata felt a great sadness overwhelm her, "I want you to harden your heart. Forget the boys that try to get your attention in those ways. I…I don't want to see you get hurt, Hinata. You're my daughter, and you are very precious to me."
Hinata once again felt the burden of being the Heir. Naruto… At least I know that he doesn't feel the same way about me, so I don't have to worry about him getting hurt. Hinata looked up at her father with determination on her face, "Father, I understand. I will do as you say." The relief on her father's face was so obvious, that Hinata almost laughed deliriously. Hiashi drained his cup and stood to leave the room. Hinata's tea remained untouched as she said, "Oh, and Father?" He turned to look at Hinata reluctantly. Hinata smiled at him and said, "Thank you."
Note from author: I tried my best to spell the names and terms correctly, and to keep the characters' personalities like they were in the manga/anime. If I made any mistakes, please tell me. I can take any bad reviews, so don't sugarcoat anything. Thanks a bunch!