Hey everyone! Like I Promissed, here's chapter 1, revised and ready to go. You'll notice I changed a bit of the storyline, just a tad bit, to make it a little more believable in acordance to the other parts of the story, so it's not contradicting itself. Tell me what you think and weather you liked the changes or not. As for me, it's off to chapter two, and fifteen thousand words to look over... Gods I'm hating the fact that it's so long right now. Oh well, we reap what we sow. See ya next re-visit.
BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE…
Chapter 1
It was a wonderful day in Konoha. The sun was bright in the sky, casting its look over the city. Looking down at the small dots that were hastily moving through what looked like a maze. These dots were none other than the inhabitants of this great city. Moving hastily, the shopkeepers were setting up their shops, getting ready for a good day of money making. If one were too look closer, they would see swift shadows moving across rooftops at fast speeds, either heading toward one of the three gates that lead to the outside world, setting out on missions, or heading towards the training grounds where they would no doubt train their body, mind, and spirit to become deadly in the art of killing and assassination. Others would be seen heading to an almost cone like shaped building , which resided at the very back of the village, right next to a monument carved into the very cliff that provided the city with protection from the side.
This monument consisted of 4 carved faces. These faces were dug out into the very cliff and each face was that of the great four Hokage that have looked over the city. Starting from the right, the first face that we see is that of the first Hokage, the very man that created the village. He was gifted with the ability to manipulate flora. Using his power, he created a village for the people, now known as Konoha, surrounded by vast forests consisting of trees of all kind. Village Hidden in the Leaf, fitting don't you think? Next to the face of the first Hokage, we see the face of the second Hokage. He was also one that was very gifted, blessed with the power to create torrents of water from seemingly out of the air. Oh but it was more than just making water appear, he had great control over the water element, and he used that power to create lakes in the city and its borders. Next to the third Hokage's face we see the face of a man known as the third Hokage. Now, he was a special case, the third Hokage wasn't put into the powerful position because he had some miraculously special ability with anything. If anything, he was given the position because he was a wise and strong man. His knowledge and tactics in diplomacy were second to no one else. Next to the face of the third Hokage, we come to see the visage of Konoha's pride, the Fourth Hokage. He was a man that was like no other. Becoming Hokage at the very Tender age of 24, the fourth was the youngest Hokage to ever be given the position in history. The fourth was given his position after he turned a losing war, into a blazing victory, known to his enemies and to his allies as the 'Yellow Flash'
As the sun swept its gaze over the monument, it set its vision on the city and one boy. This boy is where our story starts, and it is this boy, were out story ends. This young lad, this young, inconsequential boy, this one person, who at first glance seems so insignificant, this boy who is no taller than 4' 5", this boy who is now making his way to what seems like to be a building meant for education, this one little boy will change the fate of the very people of this city, the very city itself. It's with this one boy where a series of events shall unfurl around, and one after another, this lad shall overcome and become, what he has dreamed of becoming since he first learned to talk.
This boy is none other than, Uzumaki Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto, Container of the strongest and most feared demon on the planet. Uzumaki Naruto, container of the one known as, Kyuubi no Kitsune. The legendary Nine Tailed Fox.
Naruto was having one those days again, those days where nothing goes right for you. It had been a wonderful morning. The Sun was shining brightly as it made its accent into the dark sky, illuminating it into a vast array of orange, yellow, red, and blue. It was a spectacle that he had loved to watch ever since he was able to wake up at the ungodly hour of 5 am. He had woken up, a good hour and a half before the sun was due to rise, so being the painfully determined and ever energetic boy he was, he had decided to get in some early, pre-dawn training.
Quickly getting out of bed, he stripped down till he was bare as he made his way into the little washroom that was connected to his bedroom. Turning on the water and setting it to a reasonable temperature of not to cold, nor to hot, he set about getting the soap and shampoo ready. Once set, he took his shower, cleaning himself down and cleaning his sun kissed hair with the forest dew scented shampoo. He couldn't explain it, but the smell of the forest right before dawn gave him a sense of peace and tranquility. It had been like that since he could remember.
Getting out of the shower, he dried himself and lightly dried his hair, letting it still be fairly wet, allowing the water to keep his head cool and calm. Dressing into his usual cloths, an orange jumpsuit he had the displeasure of buying. Only reason he had the accursed textile was that it was one of the only things he was able to buy without the shopkeeper charging him an absurd amount for. That was another thing he couldn't explain. Ever since he could remember, the village civilians had always been a little more than slightly hateful of him. He didn't know why they were so cruel to him, he couldn't remember doing anything that could have earned such animosity towards him but alas, that was just another mystery for him that he was hoping would clear up soon.
Shaking his head to rid him of the dark thoughts that were bound to come with his current way of thinking, he dressed himself in the jumpsuit. This time opting to keep the jacket open, showing he was wearing a black shirt underneath, one that had a very intricate red, Chinese dragon weaving it's way around the chest and mid section of the shirt, the head of the dragon coming to rest right in the middle of his chest, muzzle slightly open showing off viciously sharp teeth and eyes that had a silver tint to the black they were made from. Out of all of his possessions, this shirt was one of his most cherished ones. The Hokage had given the shirt to him as a birthday present. He had been walking around the city with him once and when they went through the market area, the shirt had immediately caught the boy's attention and the next second the little boy was right up next to the display, eyes wide looking at the dragon in wonder and amazement.
The Hokage had chuckled lightly at the boy's reaction and mentally made a note to get a set of those shirts for his next birthday. The boy had been completely flabbergasted when he had received the gift. His eyes wide almost to the point of hurting him as he looked over the assorted shirts, 12 shirts in all and each one having a dragon that was similar in the sense that it was intricate. Other than that, each shirt had a different coloured dragon weaving from either the neckline down and the head being in the stomach part, to having two dragons starting to weave from the hem of the shirt and the heads coming to end on the sleeves of the shirt. He had shed tears of happiness when he received the present and gave the Hokage a hug that rivaled the strength of a gorilla.
Today would be the first day he'd be wearing one. He had been so touched with the gift that he decided to only wear them on special occasions. Today was one of those special occasions. Today was going to be the Academy graduation exam. Today would be the day that he would graduate and become a Genin. An official ninja of Konoha, he had been working so hard to get here. Three years of hard struggling and hard work had really paid off for the young boy. When he had first entered the academy three years ago, he had had some problems with understanding some of the things the teachers were teaching. This was due to the fact that he hadn't had any parents, or anyone for that matter looking over him and teaching him the simple things about being a ninja and what they had to do and such.
But he hadn't given up. Out of all the teachers at the academy, there was one teacher, which treated Naruto better than the others. His name was Iruka. Iruka had lost his parents when the nine tailed fox had attacked Konoha, but he didn't let that loss cloud his mind. He saw the boy for who he was. Not a 'demon' or 'hell spawn' as he had heard the others teachers call him. No, Iruka saw the boy for who he really was, just a little boy who was saving the whole country probably by just being alive and having the will to continue. Because of his lack of prejudice, Iruka had taken it upon himself to give Naruto extra help and explaining things to him during recess and after school at times. The two had grown close to each other, almost to the point where Naruto saw Iruka as a bigger brother.
Thanks to the extra help Iruka gave him, Naruto was excelling in every subject, except for maybe the book work ones, and some problems that Naruto had with some of the simple ninjutsu the academy taught. Instead of the low, barely passing grades Naruto was getting when he first entered the academy, he was now near the top of his class, rivalling the ever brooding Uchiha Sasuke. Over the years at the academy, Naruto had grown to hate the Uchiha's attitude towards life. He sympathized with him on the reality that both were in a sense, alone in the world, but where he hadn't complained and made the best out of it, the Uchiha seemed adamant about brooding about his life every second he got. Because of this, Naruto didn't outright hate the Uchiha, just didn't get along with him that well.
Naruto slightly scowled when he thought of the Uchiha but quickly brushed him off as nothing more than an annoyance before making his way to his kitchen/living.
His apartment was very small, only being between 200 to 250 square feet, but it was a good size for him, he wasn't that concerned with the size. It did what it was supposed to do, keep him safe from the outside world when he slept and he was glad that it had been doing so for a while now.
Making himself a quick breakfast which consisted of a few slices of French toast, a big glass of milk, he went back to his room and strapped on his kunai and shuriken holsters. Attaching his utility pouch to the back of his pants, he looked himself in the mirror, adjusting the goggles on his forehead; he made his way to the front door. Locking it behind him, he jumped onto the roof of the low, 2 story building next to the apartment complex he lived in, and proceeded to jump from building to building making his way to the forest near his place. Making his way to a clearing, deep in the thick forest, Naruto started on some warm up exercises before running a few laps around the clearing to get his blood running.
He had been doing this for the past year and a half, and it had paid off greatly. Starting with some of the basic forms of the Taijutsu style they taught at the academy, he worked on speeding up his movement, as well as working on become more fluid with the techniques. After about 15 minutes of this, he started to work on his own style. It was a mix between the basics that the academy taught and martial arts he had seen on T.V. When he had first saw the intricate attacks and the fluidity of the forms, he was instantly inspired to combine the intricacy and the fluidity, with the academy's style and had come up with a brand new style, all his own. The main purpose of this style was to counter each and every attack your opponent threw at you and make openings for an attack. Each of your counters and attacks would put the person in the perfect position to strike again and in succession. He had tested it out against Iruka-sensei in a one on one match after school in the same clearing.
The results were least to say, very impressive. His movement was fluid, yet sudden at the same time. Iruka, deciding to use only the standard Academy Taijutsu against Naruto had learned that the hard way. Each counter Naruto made would push Iruka to dodge a sudden strike from him and push him back little by little until he was back up against a tree where he had soundly admitted defeat before he got injured. When he was asked where he had learned that style, he had simply replied, "I made it myself, so what do you think?" Iruka was like a fish out of water at the realization that the style that had just been used by a mere academy student had pushed him into submission so quickly and easily had been created by said Genin. After congratulation him, Iruka had offered to treat him to dinner which the boy happily agreed to. During the meal, Iruka had asked him what the name of the fighting style was and Naruto answered saying he hadn't thought up of a name for it yet.
Finishing up his training, Naruto realized he was sweating and breathing hard. It had been a good workout and he had gotten much faster with the fighting style. He wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his jacket and looked up at the sky to see it had grown to a dark blue instead of the black which signalled night. Smiling, he jumped onto the branch of a small tree and proceeded to jump to a higher branch. When the branches began to grow thin, he jumped to the neighbouring tree that was taller and proceeded to climb up higher until he reached the top. This tree was the tallest in the clearing and gave him an unobstructed view of the sunrise.
After the sun had risen, Naruto decided it was time to practice his ninjutsu, so he climbed back down to the clearing and started to work on the one jutsu he had been having problems with since he had first been taught it. It was the bunshin jutsu. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how much time he spent, he'd always end up with a sickly looking clone that would prove more fatal than helpful. He began with the seals and when he was finished moulding his chakra, he put his full concentration into the jutsu. A plume of smoke appeared around him and when it dissipated, Naruto was standing in between what looked like two dolls made of rubber. He cursed and dispelled the failed attempts and restarted. He kept this up for the next 40 minutes and with zero results, he resigned to his fate and fell back on his bottom letting out a sigh of disappointment.
He realized that he had nearly exhausted his chakra and cursed himself for getting distracted enough to come to such a state. Oh well, wasn't like he was going to be able to pass the bunshin test anyway. Getting up, he quickly made his way back to his apartment and decided to take a shower. He cursed when he realized that he had gotten his dragon shirt all sweaty. Taking his clothes off, he put them in the laundry basket and made his way into the shower for a quick wash and then was out again, dressed in his usual orange jumpsuit, this time wearing a dark blue shirt with a silver dragon on it. This dragon started from the left sleeve and wove its way around the shirt on the front and back and came to stop with the head at the stomach of the shirt, the mouth open and white teeth being shown, with red eyes that had small flames in them. He looked at his watch and his eyes widened when he realized that he would be late for class if he didn't leave immediately. Rushing to get his equipment back on, he ran into the kitchen part of the apartment and grabbed the two slices of French toast that were left and stuffed them into his mouth before zipping to the front door. Putting on his black ninja sandals, he was out the door in a heartbeat and jumping over rooftops, pushing himself to make it on time.
He made it to the academy doors with 3 minutes to spare and stopped for a second to catch his breath before walking into the building and making his way to Iruka's classroom. Coming to the door, he halted for a second, looking out towards a window and looked himself over. His hair was still wet from his shower, making it hang down instead of standing up pointy like it usually was. He himself liked this style better than the pointy spikes but his hair seemed to disagree. Shaking himself to get rid of the little bit of nervousness that set into his stomach, he took a deep breath and stepped into the class.
Stepping into the classroom, Naruto noticed that everyone was there, all except for the teacher it seemed. He looked around class and noticed that a good portion of the class was looking at him. He felt a little apprehensive and swept his gaze across the class looking at all the students. He saw looks of surprise, confusion, some were of awe, and he swore he saw a few girls blush when he looked at them. His confusion at the sudden attention was swiftly turned to nervousness when he met the gaze of a dark blue haired girl. 'Hinata…' he thought as he looked intently at her and let a smile slip across his face when he saw her blush a bright red before bowing her head and staring intently at the top of the desk. His musing however was interrupted when he heard the sound of pounding feet and turned in time to see a pink haired girl and another blonde try to get through the door frame at the same time.
The pink haired girl, Haruno Sakura, was the smartest person in their class. Her book smarts were the highest of all the students and she was pretty good in appearance as well. The blonde girl was Yamanaka Ino. She wasn't famous for being smart, but did however have a unique ability which let her enter the mind of others and control their body. When he had first learned of this, he was slightly scared to be near her and tried to avoid her when he could, that was during his first year here. Later he discovered that her unique trait was actually very impressive if put to practical use. Even so, he'd rather not have to deal with people that had the power to control his body.
The two were infamous for their continuing rivalry over the ever stoic Uchiha. That was another thing that irritated Naruto. Sasuke had girls going after him at every given moment of his school life and yet he ignored them. Naruto was just confused as to how someone who had almost all the girl population in the vicinity after him hadn't gotten himself a girlfriend yet. He knew it would help keep the other girls away; apparently it seemed that the boy couldn't think of something that simple as a solution. Naruto just sighed and decided to leave the boy to his torture. Looking around for an empty chair, he saw an empty seat next to the ever shy Hyuuga and smiled as he moved towards her.
Pulling the chair out, he sat down next to the blue haired girl and smiled warmly at her when she looked up to see who had sat down. He saw her blush a bright red and duck her head back down. He raised an eyebrow at her reaction, being used to this now. He had noticed this happening with her whenever he was around. Every time she would blush and bow her head down and then start to poke her fingers together. He found the finger poking kind of cute, and the blush only added to it. He also noticed that she would always stutter around him but when talking to others, she would be just fine. When he first realized this, he thought that she was afraid of him but that had been washed away because he knew that if someone was afraid of someone, they'd most likely not be blushing, instead they'd be going pale.
It had been like that for the first 5 months with her always blushing, stuttering, poking, and bowing her head whenever it came to him and he had been up late into the night at times trying to sort out her actions into a logical answer. He had been grateful for the fact that she wasn't one of the girls that always swooned over the Uchiha survivor. She was nice to him and would always smile at him, before ducking her head and poking her fingers together. They had become friends over time and it was because of her help during lunch and recesses that he learnt how to control his chakra better which allowed him to do most of the jutsu they were being taught in their last year at the academy. He had come to the realization that he liked the girl like a close friend. He wasn't sure whether it was really more or not, but he did know that if asked, he would do all he could to help her and wouldn't hesitate to do more.
Shaking his head, he looked back at Hinata and noticed that she was still poking her fingers with her head bowed, This is what it was always like and it was going to stay like that unless he did something about it. The thing about Hinata was that she would always be shy and timid when there wasn't anything to do, but during the times they had actually talked, she hadn't blushed or been shy. Only when a long pause would come would she revert back to the timid girl that he first saw. Realizing that Iruka wasn't going to be here for a little while, Naruto decided to pass the time with a conversation or two.
"Hey Hinata, how do you think you'll do in the exam?" a simple question he mused. 'Something to get her to talk is good enough for now' he thought to himself, looking at the Hyuuga, waiting for her response.
"Oh…I t-think I'll do o-ok, how a-about you N-Naruto-kun?"
"I'm pretty confident I'll do well. After All, I am going to become one of the strongest ninja out there." He said proudly, puffing his chest out a bit to show a little bit of manliness. He heard her giggle at his response and smiled at her.
"That's n-nice, I'm sure you'll s-succeed N-Naruto-kun" He blushed lightly at the indirect praise from the girl. He smiled warmly down at her and saw her blush a little before she smiled back at him. He grinned was about to say that she would do great to when he was interrupted by none other than Iruka walking in, a hush falling over the students as they got back into their seats.
"Good morning everyone, hope you all had a restful night. Now, I'm sure you all are wondering what the exam is going to consist of, so here is what we'll be grading you on." He turned to the board and picked up a piece of chalk before swiftly writing down while he spoke.
"The first part will consist of a written test, the second part will be on Taijutsu and the last part will be on Ninjutsu, specifically the bunshin jutsu." Right as he said that, everyone heard a loud 'thud' of something hitting wood and a gasp. They all turned to see Naruto with his head down on the desk, continuously pounding it on the wooden surface. The gasp had come from Hinata, her being startled at the sound and seeing Naruto pounding his head on the desk. Iruka sighed as he made his way up towards Naruto's desk and lightly slapped him in the back of the head.
"Ow! What the heck?" Naruto looked up to see none other than Iruka standing there next to his desk with a smirk on his face.
"Now Naruto, before I say anything else, is there something bothering you?" the teacher asked.
The boy looked over the desk he was banging his head on and over to the side to see Hinata with her hands in front of her mouth and her eyes slightly wide looking at him in shock. He shook his head like a dog would and then looked back at Iruka once his brain stopped spinning and grinned up at the Chunin teacher.
"No Iruka-sensei. Just needed to clear up some of my thoughts" Iruka looked down at him with a raised eyebrow and just sighed before walking back to the front of the class. He turned around when he reached his desk and picked up a pile of papers before walking down the rows, placing the test face down in front of each student.
"Ok, no one turn the paper over until I say so." When he handed the last piece of paper out, he walked back to the front looking at the kids, making sure they followed the rules. In the ninja world, discipline was more important than the lords. A ninja without discipline only spelled trouble and trouble often led to headaches. Something he had become accustomed to thanks to the girls awakening to their more 'mature' side if he had to phrase it politely. Turning around when he reached the front once again he assessed the class in the classroom one last time.
"You have exactly 1 hour to finish this test. After which we will begin the Taijutsu test outside in the field. Alright everyone, good luck. You may begin"
The second Iruka said begin, Naruto had almost ripped his paper flipping it over. He quickly looked over the test paper, reading every question, understanding the concepts before he started answering. He was halfway through the paper when he thought of taking a small break. Looking up at the clock, he noticed that only 15 minutes had passed. He was more than surprised at the speed he was finishing the questions at. Deciding to skip the break and just finishing it, Naruto sped through the rest of the test with little difficulty. The last question had stopped him for a bit, but even that didn't stop him from putting his all into the question and he was quickly finished with the test. Deciding it was safe to say that he had answered all the questions to the best of his ability, he started to look over the test again, just in case there were any changes he could make. He had learned that making hasty decisions only led to pain. That lesson he had been taught by Iruka himself.
During one of their after school sessions, Naruto had asked the teacher to help him with his Taijutsu and the Chunin was more than happy to agree. He had started off fighting like he normally would have, running at his opponent head on. Iruka noticed this and mentally sighed at the boy's lack of tact. Waiting till the last moment, Iruka gently stepped to the side, letting Naruto's punch miss him and he gently tapped the boy in the back of his head with his elbow, signalling the end of the round.
Naruto had gotten ready instantly and was on his teacher again, same tactic as before, running at him head on. Finally, Iruka thought that this was getting nowhere and said they should take a break. During the break, Naruto had asked him what he was doing wrong and Iruka told him straight up and to the point that he was being too rash, always rushing into things and not thinking things through. Naruto had at first argued, but agreed to try and take things little slower. To the boy's and the teacher's surprise, Naruto had held him off for a good 5 minutes before being hit in the back, signalling the end of that round.
Naruto finished checking his test and smiled as the memory passed through his head. Looking up at the clock, he realized that only 35 minutes had passed. He was now very impressed at this. All the questions were answered correctly and he was finished with his test. Not to mention he now had 20 minutes to himself. He turned his head slightly to the left and looked at Hinata through his peripheral vision and saw that she wasn't having and difficulty with the test either. At the speed she was going at, she'd be finished with about eight minutes to spare. Smiling lightly, he was about to lay his head down for a nap when nature decided to make its call known, with a fierceness to match.
Naruto slowly raised his hand, and waited for Iruka to notice him. When he did notice, he let out a relief that it didn't take long. Only 10 seconds, 10 long seconds in his opinion. 'Maybe I shouldn't have had that third glass of milk before leaving' He saw Iruka raise an eyebrow at him and he grinned sheepishly at the man.
"Yes, what is it Naruto?" The brown haired man asked his pupil.
"Heh, umm…may I go to the washroom?" he asked, hoping that he'd be able to go. He didn't know how much longer he could hold it in.
"Naruto, you know you can't leave the classroom when a test is in order, can you hold it?" the teacher asked. His response was a very swift shaking of the boy's head saying he really had to go.
"Fine, but I'm going to have to take your test then, and you won't be able to get it back" The teacher said a little sad, knowing that he probably didn't finish even half of the test. That would leave him with a fail in the first part. He was however completely knocked off his feet at the boy's response.
"It's OK Iruka-sensei, I'm finished." Naruto happily replied, getting out of his chair with his paper in hand.
His response was heard by everyone in the class and the second people understood what he said, 28 shouts of 'what!?' echoed throughout the classroom. Hinata being the only one, who didn't shout, only stared at the young boy with wide eyes. Naruto walked up to the teacher, scratching the back of his head with his free hand and handed the test to Iruka once he reached his desk. He noticed that his teacher was completely stupefied at the speed he finished the test. He himself was a little more than startled himself. He turned around and looked at the class that was still looking at him like he had grown a second head and a pair of wings. He smiled at them shyly and turned his gaze to Hinata to gauge her reaction. He saw the same confusion and shock in her eyes as well and smiled brightly at her. She didn't miss it and blushed brightly before letting out a small 'Eep', ducking her head down and started pushing her fingers together.
Turning back to his teacher, he looked at his sensei looking over his paper and asked "Can I go to the washroom now sensei? I really need to go."
Iruka was still a little flabbergasted at the boy finishing the test in record time. The speed at which he had finished was the same speed as someone who was a Chunin with a slightly above average understanding of the questions. When he heard the boy ask the question once again, he dumbly nodded his head yes and continued to look over the test. The writing wasn't as messy as he had expected, so the boy wasn't rushed, but then how had he finished the test so quickly? He hadn't cheated, no that was impossible because he had kept his eye on all the students, using chakra to enhance his eyesight so he'd be able to see everything.
He hadn't seen the boy do anything suspicious, or abnormal. The only thing that could have been noticeable was the speed at which he flipped the paper, but that was normal since every other student flipped theirs over swiftly as well, maybe a bit slower but that wasn't anything to concern over. Looking over the boy's test, he was astounded at the answers. Each one was fully answered in ordered sentences and was answered correctly, and neatly! Neat wasn't a word that was usually used in conjunction with Naruto but it seemed there really wasn't anything that could have explained him completing the test so quickly, he decided it was all simple; the boy had worked hard for his knowledge which he was a witness to. He quickly looked up to see Naruto just about to reach for the knob on the door and acted quickly to congratulate his student on an exceptionally well done job.
"Naruto…" his name being called was enough to stop the boy and make him turn towards his teacher with a puzzled look.
"Yes Iruka-sensei?" he saw the smile work its way across his teachers face and couldn't help but let one of his own slowly start to slip into place as well.
"Great work Naruto." His grin completed its trail across his face and he showed it in full bloom at the compliment.
"Heh, it was nothing, I am going to be the strongest ninja ever, and maybe I'll become Hokage one day, who knows." The boy smiled back and then took his leave, making a bee line for the washrooms.
Hinata was blushing brightly as she continued to work on her test. Naruto's finishing of the test had aroused a lot of curiosity from the girl and the rest of the class too it seemed. 'How could have Naruto-kun finished the test so quickly? Even Sakura isn't done yet and she's supposed to be the smarted in here' the Hyuuga mused in her head as she finished up the question she was working on. It was a wonder how she had finished up to this point all on its own. This final test was much, much harder than the other's had been. Her mind drifted back to the smile the boy had given her and she couldn't help but blush even more at the feeling that erupted in her when her eyes met his and he smiled.
Her heart had sped up when their eyes had met and she was certain it was going to explode when he smiled at her. 'He smiled at me…he always smiles at me, but this time…it felt somewhat different. It was warm this time…more friendly…' her mind started to run thoughts through her head off all the times he had smiled at her in the past. They were all friendly ones, but it seemed that the one's he'd been giving her this past week had been warmer, more sincere towards her. She shook herself from those thoughts and concentrated on the test at hand. She didn't want to lose any time when her mind required all her concentration to be on the test at this time.
She was about to go back to the test and answer the next question, when she heard Iruka-sensei call out for Naruto. She turned her head so she could see the boy and controlled the urge to squeal in her chair. The face he made when he was confused was the cutest thing she had ever seen. Every time she saw it; it became more and more difficult to hold herself from just running and pinching his cheeks. Her thoughts were halted when she heard Iruka complimenting him on doing a great job and she melted at the smile she saw slip across his face. He looked truly happy at that moment. She giggled lightly at his declaration of becoming the strongest ninja ever, and maybe more. She turned back to her test and continued working at a faster, yet comfortable pace. She had already spent more than enough time with her mind wandering. She smiled as she thought about exactly who it had wandered off too and then blushed as the thoughts came back. Silently berating herself for having such a short attention span, she concentrated even more on her work, a small smile still present on her face no matter how hard she tried to hide it.
Six minutes after Naruto departure, he was back and sat down next to Hinata, much to the kunoichi's silent pleasure. He turned to her and she looked over at him as he smiled at her in that warm manner again. A blush blazed across her face and she quickly turned her head from him and bowed it down, hiding the blush from his view. She looked through her peripheral vision and saw his smile get even wider and her blush seemed to correspond as it increased in intensity. She looked intently at her test and noticed that she had made it about halfway through and smiled. 'Yes! I'll be able to finish with enough time to rest' she thought happily. Looking over at the blond sitting next to her, she was surprised to see his arms crossed and on the desk as his head rested on his forearms, his eyes closed and it seemed like he was sleeping. She lightly smiled at his peaceful expression, being one of the very few he showed to her.
She turned back to her test and continued working on it until she was finished which was a little more than 7 minutes before the one hour deadline. She smiled at her accomplishment, handing the finished test to Iruka. She turned back to Naruto expecting him to still be asleep. Only to her surprise, she saw him awake and looking right at her, a grin making its way on to his face as their eyes met.
She didn't know how long they were both staring at each other, but apparently, it was longer than she had expected it to be. The two were broken out of their little staring contest by the sound of Iruka's voice signalling that it was the end of the first part of the exam.
"Alright class, I'm going to come around and collect the tests. After I want all you too meet me outside in the training field. No funny business or I'll deduct marks from your final scores" His threat had the wanted reaction as all of the students immediately stiffened and nodded their heads yes.
Naruto was glad that the written part was over. It meant he didn't have to sit around and be bored for the rest of the day. Although, looking at Hinata as she concentrated on her test was, for some reason, not boring to him. Instead, he found himself wanting to do it more often than not. He was confused by these thoughts and would have mused on them more had it not been for Iruka's little threat that gave him shivers for a second. The older ninja was making sure no one did anything wrong today, more so than usual. 'Oh well, no skin off my nose' the blonde boy thought as he started to get up. Turning around after standing up, he looked back at Hinata and grinned down at her as she looked up at him.
"Come on Hinata, let's get good seats, so we won't be too far back or too close" the boy said energetically. The girl just blushed and nodded her head as she followed him out of the class room and into the hallway.
"So Hinata, how do you think you did on the test?" She was a little startled at his question but caught herself and replied.
"I t-think I did quite well, w-what about you N-Naruto-kun?" He looked back at her and she felt her cheeks heat up at the smile he was giving her.
"That's great Hinata. It was easy for me. I thought it would be much harder. Heh, I think the teachers are starting to slack" the boy replied grinning from ear to ear. She smiled at him and they continued in silence towards the field.
'No Naruto-kun, it's not that the teachers are slacking, you are becoming stronger' Hinata silently thought to herself with a smile as she looked over at the boy who was walking to her left with his smile on full force. She smiled lightly at his appearance and continued walking down the hallway and out the door to the back of school where they she saw their teacher, Iruka, waiting for them with a smile on his face.
"Alright everyone, I think it's safe to say that all of you passed the first part of the test. But that's no reason to celebrate just yet. For this test, we're going to have you do a physical evaluation on how fit you are and then a little target practice, then we'll have a little sparring session to see how well you can fight." Iruka looked down at all the kids and smiled. He saw nothing but determination in each of their eyes and he was proud to say that these were his students.
"Alright you guys, let's get the laps started, girls go first, then boys." As he said that, all the girls started to head towards the track.
Hinata was about to start walking towards the track when she felt a tap on her sholder. She quickly turned around to see Naruto standing, smiling at her with a light blush on his cheek. Her cheeks started to heat up at the closeness to the blonde boy. Sure they had been closer, almost on top of each other that one time when Naruto had challenged her to a tree climbing challenge, both falling down when the weight on a branch the two were on was too much for the poor thing.
"Show them what you're made of Hinata-chan" her blush got deeper at the endearment that he had added to her name. She had come to notice that he only used the endearment next to her name when he was being honest and sincere with whoever he was talking to. She smiled lightly up at him before nodding her head, not trusting her voice. She felt him place a hand on her shoulder and squeeze slightly before dropping it. She slowly made her way towards the track where the other girls were waiting for Iruka to start. When she reached the starting line, she got ready to run and looked back at the boys. Her eyes met with the cerulean blue hues of Naruto's and she saw him smile while giving her a thumb up. She felt a sudden rush of energy go through her body and she smiled back just before Iruka swiped the air with his arm, signalling the start of the second test.
Hinata wasn't sure how fast she was going; all she knew was that she had to give it her all. She wasn't aware of how far up ahead she was, or how far behind, all that mattered was going all out and showing Iruka, and by proxy, Naruto her best. Before she knew it, it was already over. She passed Iruka and the man signalled that she had finished her 5 laps. She walked off to the side to calm herself and catch her breath. Walking around a bit with her hands on her hips to help catch her breath, she looked over at Naruto and saw him looking at her with a wide smile and she blushed lightly. She looked down at the ground for a second and then looked back up to see the boy bounding up to her with a happy smile and a gleam in his eye. She wasn't sure what caused such a reaction from the boy but wasn't complaining.
"That was amazing Hinata-chan, I haven't seen anyone move that fast before. Who knew you were so fast!" he exclaimed loudly as he ran up to her.
"He's right Hinata. You finished your 5th lap while the other girls were still on their 4rd" Iruka said coming up from behind her. She smiled up at her teacher and then turned to Naruto and saw him smiling as wide as ever. The next thing she knew, she was in his arms as he hugged her. She stiffened at first but slowly relaxed and then promptly fainted at the contact with a content smile on her face.
"Huh?" Naruto said as he felt Hinata completely relax and then felt her entire bodyweight begin to push him down. He looked down at the girl to see her eyes were closed and a smile was on her face. He chuckled lightly as he realized that she had fainted. He mentally slapped himself for being so forward but couldn't help the smile that slipped across his face as he looked down at the girl in his arms. And just like that, she was coming back to consciousness and he smiled as he saw her eyes flutter open and then the usual blush spread across her cheeks.
Hinata was berating herself for fainting as her conscious returned to her and was acutely aware of the warmth that was surrounding her. The memory of what cause her to faint came back to her and she blushed as she felt Naruto's embrace around her. She felt his arms let go and she mentally yelled for him to not let her go. Unfortunately for her, he couldn't read her thoughts and let her go, but kept his hands on her shoulders. It wasn't as much contact as the embrace, but it was still some that she was happy for.
"You O.K Hinata? You kinda passed out there for a second." The concern in his voice for her was flattering and she couldn't help but blush before nodding her head yes and saying she was ok.
"Y-yeah, I'm O-O.K N-Naruto-kin" she replied her stutter back in full force.
Naruto mentally kicked himself for his brashness and the result of his actions.
'Heh seems I still have a bit of an impulsive side in me.' He was broken out of his revere by Iruka calling all the boys to the starting line while congratulating the girls on a job well done. He was about to walk off but was stopped by the hand on his arm. He looked down at Hinata after she pulled her hand back and smiled when he saw her poke her fingers together in that all too cute manner.
"Yes Hinata-chan?' he quietly asked, looking down at her with a smile on his face.
"A-Ano…D-Do your best, Naruto-kun" she timidly said to him, her head still bowed and her fingers pressing together even more firmly when she heard him say 'chan' after her name.
"Thanks Hinata-chan" he replied, smiling as she nodded her head in recognition to his thanks. He quickly made his way over to the starting line where he found himself an open spot, to his dismay, right next to the one and only Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto didn't show his irritation and kept his mind concentrated on showing the class just what Hinata had said, his best. He looked over at Iruka and flexed all his muscles as he saw the muscles in the man's arms tighten. The second his arm cut the air, Naruto was off like a cheetah. Well to him it was like a cheetah. To the rest of the class, it was like a bullet.
Naruto wasn't going to hold back this time. He'd show them his best. He kept his pace up for 2 and a half laps, putting him well in front of the other students. Apparently his continuous training in the woods and his habit of pushing himself beyond his limits had paid in return as he was only slightly winded at the end of the 5 laps. Walking off the track to get out of the way of the others, Naruto looked up and saw the other boys just beginning to cross the finish line. First one obviously being Sasuke, followed closely by Kiba, then a few places later Shino crossed the line with Shikamaru right behind him. The last person to cross the line was, not surprisingly, Chouji but no one was concerned about that. He being an Akimichi gave more than enough reason to let him off the hook.
Naruto bowed his head down and rested his hands on his knees as he stood trying to catch his breath. He was surprised however when he felt another body push against him and arms wrap around his neck as he was engulfed in a hug. He looked at the person who hugged him to be mildly surprised to find that it was Hinata and he could tell that she was smiling, and blushing very brightly as well.
"That was incredible Naruto-kun. You were so fast, we barely knew before it was over." before she happily tightened her embrace. Naruto was first shocked at her out of character action. But he wasn't one to complain as he returned her embrace and found himself blushing when he caught Iruka smiling while looking at the two. He was startled out of his thoughts however when he heard a distinct 'Eep' coming from his chest and looked down to see, once again, a knocked out Hinata with another smile on her face. He laughed out loud at that and smiled down at her, as he slowly sat her down on the ground, making sure as to not allow any sudden movements or impacts to happen. He sat down next to her and rested her against his left shoulder as he held her up with his left arm around her back. 2 minutes later, she was coming to and when she realized her position, blushed even more.
When Naruto saw her come too, he moved his arm away and got up, helping her up as well, they both made their way towards their teacher as the boys and girls gathered around him, waiting anxiously for the next test to begin.
When Iruka was sure everyone was there and listening, he informed them of the next test.
"Alright everyone, that was excellent. Now the next test is going to be the accuracy test. You'll be given 8 kunai or shuriken, or a mixture of both, you choose, and you will have to hit at least 4 of the targets on the dummy there." He pointed towards a wooden dummy that was around 75 feet from their current position. The students noticed that each of the targets was over an area where a vital organ would be on a real human. Meaning each hit would be fatal to an actual person.
"Ok everyone, I'll call out your name and you come up, tell me what you would like to use and then go ahead with the test." Iruka explained as he walked next to 2 boxes. One filled with kunai while the other was filled with shuriken. Naruto wasn't paying much attention to most of the kids that were coming up and throwing the weapons at the dummy. He was more concentrated on keeping himself calm and collected so he wouldn't screw up his chances at getting a perfect score. He hadn't practiced throwing kunai and shuriken until his arms hurt almost every other night for nothing.
"Hyuuga Hinata, you're up next" He heard Iruka say and turned to his right, where Hinata was standing next to him.
"Good luck" he softly said to her as she nodded her head and went to the line which marked 75 feet from the target. Activating her Byakugan, Hinata let her mind and body relax before taking the offered shuriken she had chosen. Holding 4 shuriken in each hand, grasping them in between her fingers, she closed her eyes and concentrated on the target with her Byakugan, coming up with the amount of power she'd have to use to have the shuriken go through the air, yet still have enough accuracy. When she came to a decision, in the blink of an eye, she had her arms extended forward, the shuriken already flying through the air. She held her breath as she saw the shuriken sail through the air at high speeds, spinning with such speed that they looked more like discs of death rather than spinning stars. Hinata squeezed her eyes shut after cutting the chakra to her Byakugan, expecting herself to fail the test. She imagined all the shuriken missing the dummy, all landing right in front of it. The image was shattered as suddenly Naruto appeared in her mind's eye with his smile saying 'Good luck' to her. She felt confidence reign in her and opened her eyes while she straightened herself and turned from the dummy without even looking weather she hit the dummy or not and made her way towards Naruto with a confident smile.
She didn't need to know if she hit the dummy or not. Naruto's smile was more than enough. She was however surprised when she heard him.
"I'm proud of you Hinata." She felt a sense of warmth go through her whole body and she felt happier than she had ever before. 'He's proud of me…oh god, I think I'm going to faint' and that's exactly what she did. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she was out like a light. Before she could fall, Naruto caught her and lay her down on the grass, smiling at her peaceful expression for the third time that day.
Iruka was left very impressed with his student. He didn't think Hinata had that much power. There no less than 90 feet from the shooting line, lay the dummy that everyone was supposed to shoot at. Only problem was that it now lay without a stand. Hinata had apparently put a lot of power behind her throw because just as all eight shuriken hit their targets, the force of the first 4 impacts made the wooden stand holding the dummy up crack. The last 4 impacts where the deciding factor and broke the stand making the dummy roll an extra 15 feet before stopping near the fence at the other side. He turned his head back, expecting to see his student just as shocked as him, only he saw her walking away from the shooting line towards Naruto with a happy expression on her face.
After a couple of minutes, they had a new dummy placed at the 75 feet line and were ready to continue with the test. Shortly after the test was back in action, Hinata had woken up and was now sitting next to Naruto on the grass watching the other students. Hinata was watching the students. Naruto however was watching Hinata watch the other students.
'What is it about her...what is it about her that drays me to her like this? God dang it! Why can't anything be simple when it comes to me?'
"Uchiha Sasuke, You're up." Iruka called and Naruto's head turned so fast, he was sure he was going to get whiplash. He watched as the brooding boy stood up at the line and took 4 kunai and 4 shuriken. Naruto snickered loud enough for the boy to hear. To his dismay though, the 'Sasuke fan-club' had also heard the snicker and were ready to assault the perpetrator. That is until they saw that Hinata was sitting next to him and decided they would get him when the girl was a ways away. Fear of hurting the Hyuuga and then facing the wrath of her father being more than a little deterrent for their anger.
Naruto was silently glad that Hinata was sitting next to him. He felt the death that was radiating off the group of girls and silently prayed that he wouldn't get hurt. His attention was brought back to earth when he saw Sasuke get ready to throw the projectiles. He could tell the stance was done almost all on instinct. The boy had talent, that he would admit, talent yes, but it was directed towards the wrong purpose. He saw the boy throw the weapons and in the blink of an eye, the 4 kunai and 4 shuriken were embedded into the dummy in all the targets giving the boy a perfect score.
Naruto saw the look the boy gave him when he turned around before sitting off to the side, away from the rest of the class, the girls looking at him with hearts in their eyes as the boy sat down.
"Alright, and last, but certainly not least, we have Uzumaki Naruto" Naruto heard Iruka call out and smiled as he heard Hinata say 'good luck' before she started pushing her fingers together. Naruto walked up to the shooting line and smiled at Iruka.
"8 kunai, Iruka sensei" he said and thanked the teacher as he took the aforementioned knives and clutched them much in the same manner as Hinata had her shuriken, the handles of the kunai being held in between his fingers. He concentrated on the dummy and threw the kunai in his left hand first. The 4 knives struck the dummy dead bulls-eye and he grinned before letting the other knives in his right hand fly as well. 3 of the knives hit the remaining bulls-eye and one pierced the target 2 rings outside the red dot in the center. He was pleased with his aim. He hadn't expected to get 7 perfect hits but wasn't about to complain either. Smiling at his teacher, he turned around and grinned at the stunned faces of the other students. He looked over at Sasuke and saw the boy scowling slightly and his grin widened at knowing that he had irked him a bit at his unexpected skill. Throwing kunai was one of his week points. He was better at throwing shuriken, always managing to hit target, where as with Kunai, he always had the disadvantage at not being strong enough to actually throw them with much force. He could already feel the tell tale of a cramp coming up due to his throw. He had put a lot of force behind them and it was coming at him now. He walked back to Hinata and smiled down at her as she congratulated him.
"Alright class, good work. Now it's time for the Taijutsu test. It's going to be done like this. I'll call the name of two students and they are going to come up here where they will have a 2 minute spar. After the two minutes, we'll do the next pair and so on until everyone is done." All the students nodded and were a bit nervous concerning who they were going to have to face. Iruka silently laughed at the nervousness the students were experiencing. Oh how he loved scaring these kids from time to time. It was his silent entertainment to help keep his life a little lively. After thinking that they had waited long enough, he started calling out the students in pairs and the first match was soon underway.
Naruto was sitting beside Hinata and both were looking as the students all fought in twos. Once again, Hinata was looking at the students and Naruto was gazing at her, or more specifically, her pale eyes. He couldn't explain it but whenever he looked at them, a sense of peace would wash over him. It was different from the peace he felt when he was surrounded by the scent of the forest. No, this peace was one that filled him with slight warmth. He was confused as to how he could feel such a thing from just looking at her, but then again, his life had been filled with a lot of mysteries. All of which he had planned on solving some time or another. Before long, he heard Iruka call out his name and his opponents and he scowled slightly as he realized who it was.
"Alright, next up is Sasuke and Naruto" Naruto looked up at the other boy and he was sure the boys frown had somehow gotten deeper. Standing up, he looked down at the blushing girl next to him and smiled before walking off towards their teacher.
Naruto stood to Iruka's right as Sasuke came up and stood to the older man's right, both looking at each other with neutral faces.
"Alright, here are the rules, no jutsu and no chakra, just pure Taijutsu alright?" getting a nod from the two boys, he led them a little way's away from the other students to where the previous one's had fought and put his hands up. Seeing the two steps away from each other and leaving about 5 meters of space in between, he brought his hands down signalling the start of the fight.
"Begin!"