Title – Who should I Choose?
Author – Hinata6
Beta – JapaneseAnimeFreak16
Summary: The story follows the anime but with a twist. What if it was Hinata who was put in Naruto and Sasuke's team and not Sakura? Sure this story has the same aspects as the anime but I added a few things to change it…well a lot of changes and twists. I hope that you enjoy this story.
Chapter 1: Explanatory Meeting
As the blonde hurriedly walked to a team assignment meeting at the Academy – which he was supposed to be at a few minutes ago – a little blur rushed at him. Naruto instantly recognized his self-proclaimed pupil and noticed that his accomplices, Udon and Moegi, were nowhere to be seen.
"Naruto-niisan, I challenge you to a fight!" the younger boy yelled excitedly, pointing at his idol with burning determination and a childish delight in seeing his 'nii-san'. He charged the blonde once again…only to slip on his scarf and fall flat on his face.
Naruto sighed and sweat dropped at the young academy student's clumsiness. Seriously, that kid was gonna get killed if he kept that damn scarf.
He was about to tell Konohamaru that he was a little busy, but suddenly realized why he was in a hurry in the first place, "Hey Konohamaru… listen, I can't fight you right now." The blonde made a quick exit, running off into the distances and yelled over his shoulder, "Maybe later!"
Konohamaru, still on the ground, could only stare in bewilderment as his 'nii-san' left.
Naruto sighed in relief that he wasn't as late as he thought. Just thinking about an irate Iruka-sensei sent shivers up his spine as he took his seat and looked out the window.
'I wonder what team I'm gonna be on…I hope not with Sasuke. He's too arrogant to be any actual help on a mission. I wish I could be on a team with Chouji, Shikamaru, or even Kiba, but their parents have the Shika-Ino-Cho group and Kiba and I clash too much. He'd probably be good at tracking like Shino or Hinata...'
As he thought, Naruto's bored eyes scanned the room for the millionth time, stopping on all of the ninja in the class and scoffed. There were way too many genin…why the hell would Jiji let so many pass with so few jounin to teach?
'We're probably gonna get another test to weed out the weak again…and I have a feeling I know who's gonna pass…' Neither Naruto nor Sasuke realized their thoughts were pretty much the same.
While the blonde was preoccupied, he never noticed a certain Hyuuga heiress glancing at him every so often, looking away just as quickly and blushing. 'N-Naruto-kun…I'm happy he passed. Maybe we'll be on a team together…'
The peaceful calm of the mildly quiet classroom was shattered by two screeching voices.
"Get out of the way, Ino-pig!"
"I could if your giant forehead wasn't in the way, Forehead-girl!"
Naruto looked up at the doorway of the classroom and wasn't surprised to see Sakura and Ino shoving each other after another race to school. He noticed Sakura wore an angry flush and menacing scowl and knew today was going to be painful.
As if reading knowing she was on his mind, the pinkette looked in his direction…and smiled. Naruto nearly started in surprise and suspicion. Why the hell was she smiling at him? He tilted his head to the side slightly, 'She could be pretty cute…if she wasn't so crazy and violent.' He mentally snickered.
'She's looking at me…and she's smiling!' he thought in happiness and disbelief. Maybe she wouldn't hit so hard this time! He still had an ache on the side of his head whenever he thought too much…
She was walking his way…she was walking and getting closer to him! He stood almost wearily to greet her with a big, excited grin, "Good morning, Sakura-chan!" and almost visibly cringed when he saw The Tick.
"Out of my way baka!" she growled, shoving the poor boy to the side to get a better look at the object of her affection. She ran her fingers through her slightly frazzled hair and smoothed out wrinkles that didn't exist on her dress as she suddenly became a shy, love-sick girl, a complete one-eighty the class was entirely too used to.
If Naruto wasn't so dizzy with pain and wondering why he pretended to like such a demon in disguise, he would've fainted at her sudden mood change. 'Girls…I'll never understand girls…' he thought miserably, crawling away slowly so not to be detected.
Sakura batted her eyes at the dark-haired boy that sat next to Naruto and said, "H-hi Sasuke-kun…"
Sasuke didn't say a word as he glanced at her distastefully before returning his attention to the front of the classroom again. Fan girls…ugh. Sometimes he wished he could turn invisible, but then again, his fan girls could always find a way to track him…maybe he could move away…or get guard dogs. Really big, scary, and snarly guard dogs that would scare them away…or eat them! No, just scaring them away would be enough. 'Yeah, that would be nice,' thought Sasuke as he ignored the pink-haired girl.
Not put off by his cold front, Sakura persisted, "I-is it okay if I sit n-next to you, Sasuke-kun?"
Before she could get an answer – which most likely would've been 'no' or silence – a loud, angry protest erupted from another blonde. "Oh no you don't! I'm sitting next to Sasuke-kun, FORE-HEAD-GIRL!"
Sakura once again changed and rounded on her rival, "Yes I am, Pig! I got to the classroom first, so I get to sit next to Sasuke-kun." To add insult to injury, Sakura stuck her tongue out in triumph, internally smirking at the fuming Yamanaka.
As if flies to honey, many other girls in the classroom started to gather next to and around the duo fighting for the raven haired boys affections, all with dangerous expressions. Hinata merely stayed in her seat and was torn between worrying about Naruto's health and being exasperated at how the supposed 'kunoichi' in the class could act in such a crude, stereotypical way.
"Well then, if that's the case, I get to sit next to Sasuke-kun 'cause I got here waaay before you two." Stated a brown-haired girl smugly.
"Hey, I got here before you!"
"No you didn't, I did!"
"I was the first one in the classroom!"
And the shouting increased to ungodly levels. The boys in the classroom only looked on in boredom, Shikamaru, obliviousness, Chouji, amusement, Kiba, and indifference, Shino. The rest knew the drill and took cover beneath their desks or hid themselves behind books, praying for their sensei to hurry and stop the madness.
Sasuke internally growled irritably, sighing in annoyance. He wanted to yell at them to go away and leave him alone, but Uchiha's didn't lose their cool. Instead he murmured to himself, "Clueless…" and continued to ignore the growing noise and fighting.
For once thankful that he was forgotten amidst all the fighting, Naruto hopped onto Sasuke's desk and looked straight at the boy that held everyone's attention. 'What's so special about him? He's just some arrogant pretty-boy that thinks he's better than everyone else…' the blonde groused to himself. He was satisfied to see that the Uchiha was glaring right back. So, it was a staring contest, ey?
Behind the oblivious blonde, a student yawned and stretched, his elbow accidentally hitting Naruto's back and pushing forward. Both pairs of eyes locked and widened at the same time as the blonde lost his balance and…well, you know the rest.
Right when…it happened, all the sound in the room seemed to disappear, the girls staring in shock and going mute.
The boys broke apart, both gasping and gagging and glaring while trying to wipe their mouths and erase their memories. Both parties spluttered obscenities the whole time and glared at each other between coughing fits.
The room was filling with anger, fury, disbelief, and pure killing intent. The boys in the room, even the heirs of large clans, all scooted back in their seats. Akamaru whimpered on top of Kiba's head and the Inuzuka ducked into his jacket.
Sakura stared numbly at the scene before her, indignity and rage slowly welling in her chest, 'Naruto…you baka…I was supposed to be Sasuke-kun's first kiss…AHHH!'
'I sense danger…' Naruto paused in his cursing, looking up from his spot on the ground, to see an army of irate, hormone-driven, teenage girls, and all glaring kunai at him with promises of death. He gulped in fear when many cracked their knuckles menacingly.
The quiet was shattered by an ear piercing scream followed by many other yells and curses and hateful words.
"Naruto! How dare you steal Sasuke-kun's first kiss?"
"I'm going to kill you!"
"Get him!"
"He needs to be punished for this!"
"Poor Sasuke-kun!"
"ARRRRGGHHHH!"
Naruto yelped at was about to make a break for it until a painfully familiar and not-surprised voice yelled, "Enough! Back in your seats now before I take your hitae-ate and send you to lessons with the eight-year old class."
Immediately, everyone in the classroom either scrambled to their seats or straightened their backs in fear. Iruka, the one who gave the command/threat, stood in the front of the room with his signature smile and warm eyes, making everyone in the classroom sweat drop.
'And people wonder how Iruka-sensei gets me to listen…' Naruto thought with a sweat drop. 'He's like a male version of Sakura only less violent…sometimes.'
Iruka gave 'the look' to everyone in the classroom, a warning that if there was another outburst like that again, he'd follow through on his threat. He knew the class would be a little wild seeing as how the kids were 'official' ninja, but he didn't expect to feel the spine tingling killing intent only a woman could give off pointing all at Naruto.
They were supposed to be adults now, but they still had a long way to go it seemed.
Finally getting the class to calm down and nodding at Naruto's grateful and almost tearful look, he spoke, "Today, you are all ninja. You have passed the requirements to become a part of Konoha's ranks as ninja to protect Konoha…"
As his speech continued, Naruto tuned him out, already knowing what he was going to say. The chunin had already told him similar things on their ramen dinners and, as inspiring as it was, it lost its flare after the first ten times.
Sighing, Naruto took in the class again and picked out who would most likely become 'real' genin. Besides, he needed something to distract him from the many burning glares he was receiving, though it wasn't unusual.
His sights landed on Hinata and knew she would pass, and not just because of her clan. She could really kick ass if given the need. She was just too kind for her own good. Maybe a field medic? From what he'd seen, the girl had amazing chakra control.
Suddenly, Naruto realized he was staring into a pair of pale lavenders eyes. 'Her eyes are pretty…' As soon as the thought passed his mind, he jerked back slightly and broke eye contact, feeling his cheeks heat up. What the hell was he doing? He just stared at her like some creeper and now she probably thought he was a freak like everyone else.
To keep his mind off the Hyuuga heiress, his eyes moved onto the other clan heirs. Shikamaru would pass, no doubt. Despite his lazy attitude, Naruto knew the shadow user was way smarter than he led on. He knew a cover when he saw one, seeing as he wore one too.
Chouji and Ino would pass as well since they would make the next Ino-Shika-Cho generation.
Kiba would probably pass as well since his physical and animalistic prowess was one of the top of the class. He and Akamaru made a mean tag-team. Naruto would know since he let the duo win against him countless times in matches, and those attacks hurt when they hit right.
Shino was a maybe. He was definitely logical, smart, and talented, but they might not pass him yet due to his unsociability. Maybe they'd pass just for that so he could become more interactive with other living things.
Sasuke was going to pass, even if he was the worst ninja in the academy. The councilors would bend over backwards just to please the jerk, just because he was the 'last Uchiha'. That, and because he was the last Sharingan wielder alive and/or in Konoha, not including the Copy Cat Ninja.
Naruto ignored the civilian kids besides Sakura, who showed the most potential because of her book smarts, but that was about it. Finally, the names were being called off, all teams of civilians that thought playing ninja would be fun. The blonde would have scoffed but he had to keep up appearances, and with Sasuke so close, he was sure the Uchiha would have caught his uncharacteristic pessimism.
"Team Seven will be…Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto perked up at hearing his name, praying to Kami and everything holy that his team wouldn't be useless, "Uchiha Sasuke…"
Naruto glanced at Sasuke but saw no visible emotion besides the flitting emotion in his eyes. He seemed content and irritated, which was odd, but not, at the same time. Naruto was sure that Sasuke knew nothing of his act as a completely idiotic dolt which explained the irritation, but maybe Sasuke saw something in the blonde that neither realized. That, or the raven thought it was refreshing to have someone stand up to him.
Either way, Naruto knew the bastard was gonna make his life harder than it already was.
During Naruto's observations, he didn't notice Hinata watching him as well, her cheeks still flaming from when their eyes met. Her thoughts were the same as his and were confirmed when most of the civilian kids were put into their squads and frowned.
The system was setting this all up so that the clan kids would pass. She was disappointed at such dirty tricks, but from years with her father, she knew it was unfortunately necessary. If those kids got on the field with their current mindsets, they'd be slaughtered in a heartbeat.
Hinata waited for the last name to be called while Ino and Sakura chanted, 'Please let me be on Sasuke-kun's team, please let me be on Sasuke-kun's team, please let me be on Sasuke-kun's team…'
"…and Hyuuga Hinata."
Whoosh.
All the air had left her lungs. She hadn't even realized she held her breath. Now, her heart was pounding against her chest in happiness and her cheeks flushed anew. She was on Naruto's team…she was going to be with Naruto and train with him. She could show him she could be strong like him. She was so happy she almost didn't hear the other teams, but she didn't notice a certain Inuzuka's disappointment.
Kiba slouched in his seat, Akamaru whimpering in his jacket sadly as his master lost much of his enthusiasm. 'I was supposed to be on Hinata's team, not that baka Naruto. He'll just get her killed.' He thought bitterly, despite growing up with the blonde.
Sakura and Ino both stood immediately, two pairs of eyes flaring with anger and disbelief. Iruka paused and looked up when he saw two of his more…violent students suddenly interrupt, "Is something the matter, girls?" he asked.
Both girls pointed at the Hyuuga heiress while Naruto stood up in protest and all three yelled simultaneously,
"I should be on Sasuke-kun's team, not Hinata-san!"
"Can't you change the teams? I wanna be with Sasuke-kun!"
"I don't wanna be with the bastard! I want Sakura-chan on my team!"
Iruka leveled them with a hard stare, one that deflated their fury and made them realize who was boss. Just because Iruka was nice, it didn't mean he wasn't chunin for nothing, "Ino, Sakura, you know I can't change the teams, they're already set. Same for you, Naruto. Now sit down."
The complied, albeit a bit angrily, and settled for glaring kunai at a sad Hinata, which earned a menacing growl from Kiba and Akamaru.
Naruto merely looked back in amusement and some relief. At least he wasn't on a team with Sakura. He wouldn't need to get a concussion every day. He could tell the bastard was relieved as well, though he was still wary whether or not Hinata was a fan girl judging by the suspicious glance in the girl's way.
The blonde turned around to smile at the heiress but found her looking down with something akin to shame and pain on her face, making the prankster frown. Why would she be sad? She was elated a few minutes ago…was it because of what he said?
"Team Eight, Inuzuka Kiba," Kiba's ears perked up along with Akamaru, though he seemed a little less excited, "Aburame Shino," Kiba gave a nod in the silent boys direction, receiving one in turn. They weren't exactly friends, but they didn't annoy each other either, so it was fine. They knew the other was decent in combat, "…and Haruno Sakura."
Said girl immediately stood again, her face red with anger, "What?" Ino snickered and got an earful, "Shut up Ino-pig! I'm stuck on a team with the dog boy and the bug freak!"
Shino ignored her comment, though she did see a mysterious glint coming off his glasses which sent a chill up her spine. Kiba, however, was not so forgiving.
"Shut it, Haruno. You don't see me complaining about being on a team with someone as annoying as you, so I suggest you do the same!" the Inuzuka growled, standing up as well. Akamaru snapped at her a few times to emphasize his master's point.
Sakura balled her fists, her green eyes blazing with anger, "No, you shut up flea bag. Being on a team with you will drag me down whereas I could be helping Sasuke-kun become the amazing ninja he's supposed to be. You're just jealous 'cause you're nothing compared to him."
Kiba's face flushed with anger as well and was about to tell the girl off when his sensitive ears heard snickering above Iruka's soothing voice, "Shut up, baka!" he yelled towards Naruto, who was watching him with amusement. "Why don't you tell your girlfriend here to shut her trap before someone does it for her."
Before Naruto could retort, Iruka stepped up and gave a hard glare at both the Inuzuka and Sakura. They both complied and sat down. The blonde sighed at the loss of a good fight, earning a suspicious glare from his black haired neighbor, and continued to listen to the teams.
"Team Ten will be Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, and Yamanaka Ino."
Two sounds of protest were heard, one from the shadow user who had groaned in disapproval and the other in a screech of 'It's not fair! I wanna be on Sasuke-kun's team!'
Shikamaru lifted his head up from the table and glared over at his friend, Naruto, who was currently laughing at his misery. Said blonde looked up and mouthed, 'Trade you the bastard for Ino.'
His eyes flitted over to the pretty boy who was glaring at the front board, and smirked back, 'Not on your life.' The pout he received made him chuckle and shake his head.
After another long, boring, I've-heard-it-all-before speech, the class got an hour break to go outside, most likely to release some pent up energy.
Naruto sighed as he sat on a tree branch above his swing, watching the others practice some clan moves they learned from their family or a trick they picked up from a friend. His suspicions were confirmed when all the civilians were weeded from the clan kids. The council only expected, no, wanted the civilians to fail.
Of course, if it were for their safety, Naruto would not have cared the least bit. Those little snot nosed brats didn't know what they had and took everything for granted and wanted to be a 'cool ninja'.
But, the council was not known for its mercy or kindness, but their hunger for power.
At least, that's what Naruto saw them as, power hungry old people, but the public saw them as a figure of influence and authority in a town filled with militant forces. They held too much power.
A flash of pink distracted Naruto long enough to notice his 'crush', Sakura, leaning against the tree he was in with a melancholy expression. He wasn't sure if it was because she wasn't on the same team as the bastard or because of what Kiba said, but he couldn't stand to see girls cry.
Not because their emotional state – okay, partly the reason – but because real Kunoichi didn't cry over little things like boys or words. And besides, he may have gotten a little soft spot for her after pretending to like her for years.
Quietly, he jumped down, trying not to startle her, and walked up slowly and noisily to catch her attention. The girl looked up and, to her credit, only tears welled in her eyes. They did not fall. But as soon as her eyes landed on him, he knew he was screwed and too damn nice for his own good.
Naruto sighed softly and started, "Sakura, are you-"
He was immediately cut off by the girl abruptly standing and taking a menacing stance. "How dare you?" she growled near inaudibly. She must have seen his stunned confusion because she reiterated, "How dare you steal my Sasuke-kun's first kiss? How dare you take my spot on his team? How dare you show your face after everything and try to ask me out again?" By now, her voice had grown so loud that it attracted some other student's attention.
Naruto frowned irritably and in confusion, "What the hell are you talking about? That thing was an accident, I never wanted to be on his team much less do I have a say in who I'm teamed with, and I'm sorry if I came over to check if you were okay."
Sakura was caught off-guard by his answer, but seeing her Sasuke-kun on the other side of the field, watching, made her want to hurt the baka. "Stay away from me. I will never go out with you, ever, so stop begging, Dead Last." She stated, feeling better and worse at the same time.
The girl marched off with her head held high, leaving a hurt and confused Naruto behind. He glanced towards the direction Sakura had gone off too and noticed Hinata watching him from a distance. Using one of their Academy skills, Naruto kawaramari'd over to her, startling the girl. "Yo, Hinata. What's up?" he asked, giving her a polite smile.
The girl merely blushed, stuttering so much she couldn't for a sentence. All she could think about was how Naruto was looking right at her with…concern? 'He's worried…about me….' she dazedly realized.
When Naruto was going to ask what was wrong, Hinata scurried away, leaving Naruto behind and confused again. Shaking his head, he thought, 'I'll never understand girls. Ever.'
After having a second girl run away from him, Naruto wandered around the school grounds with his hands in his pockets, bored out of his mind but puzzled at the same time. Why was Hinata acting so strange? Was it because of him? If it was, then being a part of Team Seven was going to be more painful than he thought.
And what was up with Sakura? She was acting worse than usual, though that could be explained by her missed opportunity to be on the same team as Sasuke. He could almost hear her cheers of joy and with a smug smile directed at Ino. Honestly, the blonde was lucky to get away unscathed. He was sure the pinkette would attack and physically lash out at him for 'taking her Sasuke-kun' away from her when in reality, she never stood a chance.
Shrugging to himself and unable to block out images of captivating pearl eyes, he trudged further into the trees surrounding a particular part of the training ground. Old kunai lay in the dirt or embedded in trees, evidence of academy students practicing.
First Sakura, and now Hinata.
Naruto knew the girl was sort of strange, but he couldn't blame her. Her shyness most likely stemmed from being in such a dominating and aggressive – both politically and physically – clan. Instead of being assertive and confident in public, it must have been easier to shrink into herself, especially with some of the harsh words he sometimes heard from her father.
Her unwillingness to cause harm was strange, seeing as the Hyuuga have no problem fighting and emotionally destroying people, even the branch members, and yet she was the only one to refuse to fight or give up against classmates in their taijutsu spars. It was sort of ironic because she was the most capable and respectably kunoichi in the class.
It all probably came back to the fact that she had a kind nature and Kami decided it would be funny to put her as the Hyuuga clan heir. Having all that pressure on her 24/7 must've been stressful.
But that still didn't explain why she was always so quiet and stuttering around him. He even had to take her to the nurse's office a couple of times because he thought she would overheat or because she passed out. It also frustrated the blonde because he couldn't figure out why!
Somehow suddenly set on figuring out why girls were so weird, Naruto decided to do something drastic, and seeing Sasuke sitting on the windowsill of an abandoned classroom gave him the perfect idea.
After surprise attacking Sasuke, tying him up, and locking him in the classroom, Naruto took his form and emulated his scowl and stance. The shock on the raven's face was so funny; he wished he had a camera to capture the precious memory.
Noticing Sakura eating alone on a bench, he mentally grinned to himself and leisurely started to walk over. Almost immediately, the girl saw him and changed from her slightly gloomy self to one he was well acquainted with, despite the fact that it was aimed at him aside from next to him.
"Sasuke-kun!" she squealed in delight. Squealed. The high pitch itself was enough to make him want to cringe, but the way she batted her eyes at him and tried to make her body seem more appealing really made him want to run away.
Naruto's respect went up for the raven, though it still wasn't much. "Sakura." He replied coolly. He was relieved the girl hadn't noticed that he wasn't really Sasuke. He must have been a good actor to fool the Uchiha's personal blood-hound. He sat down, fighting the urge to inch away as she came closer and cleared his throat before she could say anything and asked, "What do you think of Naruto?"
Sakura's inner parade immediately halted when she heard her crushes question, deflating slightly that he hadn't asked her out. 'Why would he ask about that baka?'
"Why?" She asked, hoping she wouldn't offend him.
He merely sighed and gave her a look, even though menacing, made her heart race, "Just answer the question."
'He's acting differently…it's probably 'cause he's nervous about asking me out. That's so cute!' she internally squealed. Understanding that he was just nervous, she decided to answer, "He's an annoying idiot that won't leave me alone. I mean, seriously, he honestly thinks he can get a date with me? When I'm obviously taken? How low is that?"
Naruto felt his heart get crushed a little by her words. He didn't know he was that bad…he was very happy he really didn't like her; otherwise he might've been devastated. Instead of giving her any indication he heard her, he got up and walked away, ignoring her pleads to come back.
As she watched her crush leave, Sakura wondered what she did wrong. She told Sasuke how she felt about the baka that thought he was as good as Sasuke, but it seemed to make him angry. And he ignored her again. Sighing, she went back to her lunch and tried to think of a way to get Sasuke to like her.
Finally getting out of the ropes, Sasuke stood, his eyes narrowed in annoyance, anger, and confusion. Why the hell did the idiot tie him up? How did he get the better of him? 'He's not supposed to be that good.' Sasuke thought darkly, recalling the times he sparred against the other boy for class and easily beat him. Yet, somehow, the blonde was able to overpower him in mere minutes!
The raven stalked out the room, looking for the orange clad 'idiot'. When he didn't see a speck of orange, he saw Sakura and sighed. If anyone would know where Naruto was, it would probably be Sakura, seeing as the blonde followed her around like a lost puppy.
"Sakura." He said, catching the girls attention. It was strange she didn't hone onto him like usual.
She visibly brightened and happily greeted, "Sasuke-kun!"
When she was about to offer him a seat, he asked, "Where's Naruto?" His voice was chillingly cold and promised pain.
0o0o0o0o0
Somewhere in the trees, Naruto sneezed violently and felt a shiver go up his spine. 'Uh-oh.'
0o0o0o0o0
Sakura blinked at him owlishly, wondering why he was asking about Naruto again. 'Does he want to beat him up for stealing a kiss? Why is Naruto so important all of a sudden?' Her frustration must have shown because Sasuke rose an eyebrow. "I haven't seen him since I yelled at him for trying to ask me out again and annoying me. Why?"
The raven suppressed a sigh. Oh, he heard her yelling, everyone could, but he did not hear Naruto ask her out again. He did hear Naruto ask is she was okay, which was strangely considerate of him. In fact, the blonde was acting strangely since they were assigned teams. "It's nothing." He absently replied, wanting to leave immediately.
"Ah, wait!" Sakura stood, her hand outstretched as if to hold him in place. Her face was pleading when she asked, "Will you go out with me?" Her voice was hopeful, it always was, but this time seemed so desperate, Sasuke just wanted it to end.
"No." He knew she was about to ask why again. 'She'll never learn.' "You're annoying." And left.
'I-I'm annoying? He said I'm annoying…' She felt something in her break a little bit. She put a hand on her chest and looked to the ground, fighting back tears. He always said no and she could handle that, but he never said anything else, or said anything so seriously. 'Is this how Naruto feels when I reject him so harshly?' she asked herself.
She wandered through some of the training grounds, waving high to other students, and kept thinking about her attitude towards the blonde. He really did put up with her a lot, and still liked her. He was always trying to be nice even when he wasn't asking her out…he even tried to see if she was okay before she yelled at him and ran off.
'He's annoying…but I guess it's kind of sweet.'
A loud yawn drew her attention to the very person she was thinking of. He must've taken a short nap because he looked tired and had his hands behind his head. She saw his eyes go from the trees to her, and decided that she could at least try to be nice.
"Hello Naruto." she smiled.
"Uh…" Naruto said, unsure of the situation. He was still a little ticked at everything she said about him, but her nice demeanor kind of scared him. What was going on?
"I was wondering…do you want to walk back to class with me?" She asked sweetly, giving him another kind smile. His confused expression was kinda cute.
Naruto raised an eyebrow and thought, 'Maybe she wants to be friends…' and almost laughed. She would never want to be friends with him. But her offer seemed so sincere. He considered saying yes until the very likely possibility popped up, 'She's trapping me! She wants me to fall for her act so that she could hit me some more!' he thought with panic. Somehow, he stuttered out some excuse and ran before Sakura could process what had happened.
The pinkette blinked at the cloud of smoke where the blonde used to be and felt annoyance well up into a shout, "NARUTO! YOU BAKA!"
0o0o0o0o0o
Elsewhere, Sasuke leisurely walked the paths in between training grounds, avoiding fan girls and stray kunai. 'Where is the idiot? I gotta get back at him and show him who's boss.' While he was thinking, he unwittingly ran into a certain Hyuuga. He grunted as he landed on the ground, ready to glare kunai at the person he ran into. "Watch where you're-"he started but stopped when he looked up and saw Hinata looking at him apologetically.
"Excuse me, Sasuke-san. I didn't mean to run into you. I wasn't watching where I was going." She said, her face heating up slightly in embarrassment. She stood quickly and watched as he stood up as well.
"You know, it's impolite to not offer your hand to someone." He said coolly, attempting to put her off. He put his hands in his pockets, giving her a look that she didn't like.
Slightly agitated by his attitude, Hinata raised her eyebrow – which suspiciously reminded Sasuke of her father when he saw something insignificant – and replied just as icily, "Why off your hand when it would've been ignored?"
Sasuke should have been irritated, but almost smirked, almost. "Touché." was all he said before walking away. 'I guess not all girls are fan girls.' He thought, but quickly shoved it aside. Girls were girls. They would never change. He glanced back once and kept walking.
Hinata sighed at seeing Sasuke's retreating back. She didn't know why she had become so rude to him, but his superiority complex was grating on her nerves which NEVER happened. "Hey Hinata!" she heard a voice call.
The Hyuuga heiress turned and smiled at seeing her friend Kiba. They weren't close, per se, but they did talk in class sometimes. "Hello Kiba."
He ran up to her and they walked together, "Y'know, I wish you were on my team instead of Sakura." He stated matter-of-factly.
Hinata felt her face heat up a bit, "Really?" She wasn't as assertive or smart as Sakura, why would he want her?
He grinned wolfishly and replied, "She's really annoying. All she talks about is 'Sasuke-kun' this and 'Sasuke-kun' that. I'm getting really tired of hearing his name so much." He huffed at the memory.
Hinata giggled at that and nodded, "I agree."
His mock surprise look made her laugh again. He dramatically said, "You're not a Sasuke fan? That's a shocker since everyone in our class practically wants to kidnap him or jump him when he walks into the room."
Hinata huffed playfully and said, "You know I do no such thing. Well…"
Her change of tone at the end made Kiba whirl his head in her direction, "Wha? I though you didn't like Sasuke!" his tone was almost sad and confused. When she started to laugh again, he pouted, "Mou, Hinata. That's not very nice!"
Hinata shook her head and replied, "Sorry, sorry." but didn't sound sorry at all. Even Akamaru was amused.
"Well…it's too bad that I can't take his place. Then you wouldn't have to worry about him being on your team, ne?" He smirked. She nodded as she giggled as little.
She wasn't lying when she agreed with him either. She was happy the she was on the same team as Naruto but would rather have Kiba on her team instead of the arrogant Sasuke.
"We should get back to class or Iruka-sensei's gonna have our heads." Kiba stated, earning an agreement from Hinata. On their way back they made idle chit chat about their team members, though the Hyuuga steered away from Naruto's name.
The two walked back to class together and when they entered the class room they both were late so attracted a few stares. Hinata, who wasn't use to being the center of attention, blushed. Kiba noticed how nervous she looked as he glared at the whole class.
"What are you baka's looking act? Like you never seen someone walk into class late!" He barked as he glared at the students. Everyone looked away as Kiba and Hinata took their respective seats. Hinata wanted to thank Kiba for that, even though it wasn't quite necessary.
They boy sitting next to Hinata looked at her. "Are you and Inuzuka going out?" He asked.
Hinata blushed. "No…we just walked to class together, that's all." she stated while turning red due to embarrassment. If she wasn't so embarrassed, she would've growled in annoyance. She disliked gossip mongrels very much.
The brown haired boy smirked, much to her horror and chagrin. "Sure…you two are just friends"
Hinata turned her head from the boy and decided to ignore him for the rest of the time.
Kiba was going through the same thing as well. "I'm telling you she's just a friend!" he stated, flailing his arms around in with a red face from embarrassment and annoyance. A moment later, he murmured, "…but she is really cute." Everyone around him heard him and gasped.
"YOU LIKE HINATA?" The two girls that were sitting behind him yelled.
Kiba suddenly became the center of attention and was trying to cover his face with his hood while Akamaru snapped at some of the more annoying and chattering students. Even Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata were staring.
"Eh? Kiba likes Hinata?" Sakura thought out loud as she looked back at Hinata who was blushing.
Sasuke glanced back and saw that the girl was looking in his direction. 'Girls are girls, they never change.' He thought with annoyance as he turned around again, squashing the feeling of faint disappointment that she was a fan girl as well. In reality, she was watching Naruto's reaction, which was only shock and confusion.
Naruto looked at Kiba as he blushed and spluttered obscenities in embarrassment, internally snickering at the Inuzuka's poor luck. 'He is sooo unlucky to have Sakura on his team.'