Hey Everybody!
If you read my last Naruto story you'll know how Naruto and Hinata got together, if not then it doesn't really matter; hopefully you can enjoy the story regardless.
Hyuuga Hinata whimpered as she pressed against the nearest source of warmth, the chill in the air causing her body to become cold. She was not awake, not truly; just enough to register her discomfort. She relaxed and began to fall back into a deep sleep as she felt a comforting hand rub the small of her back.
With a contented sigh she teetered on the edge of consciousness until an amused laugh got her attention. She blinked once and noticed the light streaming through her eyelashes. She stubbornly shut her eyes again and pressed her face into a pillow.
She heard the laugh again followed by a whisper. "Hinata-hime, get up!"
She groaned and replied, her voice muffled by the fabric over her face. "It's too early! Give me another hour."
She suddenly felt two strong hands begin to rub her shoulders and back, causing her to moan slightly. She jerked her head up from its resting place, in turn removing the hands from theirs. "N-naruto-kun, stop it!"
She turned onto her back and glared as the blonde jinchuuriki began laughing. "Come on Hime, you didn't mind yesterday."
She blushed as she remembered the events of the previous night. Don't think about it! Now that you're up you have to get going. "Okay Koishii, I'm up."
"Well I needed to make sure you woke up; didn't you say you were training with Team Eight today?"
That's what it's about! How long does he think it takes me to get ready? "Naruto-kun, my training session is at ten o'clock."
He pointed to the alarm on her side of the bed. "And it's nine thirty now."
"You let me sleep that late?"
"Well, you looked so adorable sleeping that I didn't want to ruin the moment."
He still managed to make her blush when he talked about her like he did. "Arigato, Naruto-kun."
She made to stand up, but stopped once she made it to the edge of the bed. She quickly yanked the blanket off of her knuckleheaded lover and wrapped it around herself before she made for the twin dressers on the other side of the room. When she reached the one which contained her clothes she smiled to herself; that piece of furniture had been part of his plan to get her to move in. She quickly grabbed her usual attire when she heard a disappointed groan from the bed.
"Come on Hinata! We've been sleeping together for two months and you're still shy about me seeing you naked. I've seen what you look like, you're beautiful! It's cruel to hide it!"
She blushed and rushed into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. It was true; no matter how much he complimented her or how many times they… did certain activities under the covers… she always felt nervous and shy about her body. That's why she wore her jacket, her beloved jacket. She never wore it around Naruto, she wasn't that shy, but she always wore it around other people. Especially Kiba. She had caught Kiba staring more than once and couldn't bring herself to give a better view.
Folding the blanket and setting it aside Hinata slowly dressed and looked at herself in the mirror. She felt a bit more confident as she looked; maybe Naruto wasn't lying to make her feel better?
She nodded before slipping on her clothes and opening the door to find a sad-looking Naruto before her. "Koishii, what's wrong?"
His lower lip was pushed out in a pout as he said "I was hoping you'd forget something and would come out without something."
"Naruto-kun!"
His sad pout turned into a fox-like grin as he gave her a quick kiss. "Go enjoy training, Hime."
"Have fun doing… whatever you do when I'm not around, Koishii."
He pretended to be hurt. "I'll let you know that I do have life besides you!"
She rolled her eyes and walked out the door, not bothering to stop for something to eat.
Naruto frowned a bit as she walked out the door. Despite his denial he really didn't have much to do when Hinata wasn't around besides train and 'hang out' with the little fan club that had formed around him since Pein's attack. He used to wonder why Sasuke ignored the girls who fawned over him, but now he saw why. Those girls are annoying! The guys were okay, since all they wanted was for him to teach them how to fight or some cool jutsu… or how to get the girls' attention. He weighed his options; sit around bored or be bombarded by fans.
Some part of his mind was yelling at him for it being a stupid decision. He could almost picture a little him shouting 'What the hell! You always wanted people to notice you and now everyone thinks you're awesome! Go man, go!'
Deciding that little imaginary-him was right Naruto made for a cup of instant ramen to eat before he headed out but found nothing. Hinata had been making him eat healthier since she moved in, much to his dismay. Hinata better be happy that I chose her over ramen! I think that says a lot!
Dismally grabbing an apple Naruto began to wander around the street outside his apartment. It was oddly quiet as only a few people were out and about. Shrugging dismissively the blonde continued his aimless meandering, for once enjoying the quiet. Everything was at peace, until a shrill wail split the air. "Naruto-kun!"
He winced internally as a lithe, brown-haired girl ran up to him, her large blue eyes shimmering in adoration. She wore a flattering, somewhat translucent orange shirt and tight black pants after noticing that they were his favorite colors. She was a very outgoing fourteen year old named Karuyaka Mikonotome, and so far she had proven his number one fangirl. She was a nice enough person but she couldn't compare to Hinata.
"Hey, Karu-chan." He may find his fangirls annoying, but he wasn't just going to insult them and give them the cold shoulder for their advances. He just let them down gently and stayed as friendly as he could.
Her teeth dimly sparkled in the morning light, much like Gai's whenever he gave his 'nice guy' pose. "Naruto-kun, where's Hinata?" He was proud of her for almost keeping the excitement out and the civility in her voice.
"She's training with Team Eight, so I have most of the day to myself."
She rejoiced, not entirely internally. "So, do you want to do something? Maybe I could train with you!"
"Karu-chan, are you sure about that? I mean, you've only been out of the Academy for little over a year. Think you can keep up?"
"Hey! I'm a gennin just like you are!" He cast her an incredulous stare until she looked down. "If we aren't sparring, I could just practice throwing kunai or you could help me with my genjutsu, right?"
"If by help you mean let you use your genjutsu on me. I couldn't do those if my life depended on it! But I see your point… Fine, Karu-chan, you can train with me."
This time the younger girl let out a loud squeal of joy as she walked off to spend time with her idol and the object of her affection.
Hinata casually entered a small forest clearing in Training Ground Eight, her hands thrust in her pockets as she enjoyed the day and let a sense of calm come over her. Life had been good for the past two months; her father had been supporting her with the council and cementing her position as heiress, she had been happily been in a relationship with her long-time crush and lived with him, her sister was doing well in the Academy, and Kurenai's baby was due in a month. She couldn't help but let a smile onto her face.
She looked to her left to see her teammate Aburame Shino his, face unreadable beneath his high-colored coat and his dark glasses, and next to him stood her other teammate Inuzuka Kiba, his face marked with the tattoos characteristic of his clan. On the ground between them lay Kiba's massive dog Akamaru, his soft white fur and lazy posture belying his ferocity and intelligence. The only absence was their sensei, Yuhi Kurenai, yet she was on maternity leave.
She blushed as she noticed Kiba's eyes go down to her chest before the boy quickly corrected himself. She ignored the action and spoke up in a cheerful voice. "So boys, what are we doing today?"
Kiba scowled but he had a teasing light in his eyes. "Hey! I'm not a boy! I'm just as much a man as Naruto…" he gave a lewd smirk as he said, "unless you made a man out of him."
Hinata's eyes widened as she tried to stammer out a denial. "Kiba-kun! Um… I don't want to talk about… um… that."
"But you don't deny it!"
Hinata felt like she wanted to crawl under a rock. She had enough trouble talking when Sakura and Ino dragged it out of her, and they were her best friends… who were girls, more importantly. Talking about it with her male teammate who she sometimes caught leering at her was… uncomfortable. She couldn't, however, bring herself to lie to a boy with whom she'd entrusted her life several times so she bore the embarrassment and moved on.
"Shino-kun, what are we going to do for training today?"
"My colonies are still recovering from fighting during Pein's invasion, so I am letting them return to their full strength."
"Kiba-kun?"
"How about we just spar for a bit then you guys can break for lunch?"
Remember what Naruto always says, 'Don't hold back, or else no one gets better.' "Okay Kiba-kun, but if we spar we go all out… with intent to kill."
"What? Hinata why would we do that?"
"If we hold back, then we can't get stronger because we're limiting ourselves." I hope you're proud, Naruto-kun.
"Okay, Hinata. Let's do this."
"Hai."
Hinata settled into a strong Juuken stance as Kiba bore down on her. The feral looking boy grinned and shouted "Shikyaku no Jutsu". His fingernails elongated into sharp claws, and he dropped onto all fours as he came at her with even greater speed. Before the fight started in earnest she activated her kekkei genkai, forming a quick hand seal as she whispered "Byakugan."
In mere seconds her opponent leapt through the air toward her, clawing at her head as he fell to the earth. Hinata waited until the last moment before spinning about on the ball of her foot, easily dodging the attack, all the while keeping her eyes on her teammate and sparring partner.
Landing on his feet the Inuzuka wildly swept at her torso, his increased agility making Hinata rush to block. He continued to swing away, studying her movements as she stopped blocking and had begun evading his attacks. He leapt back while Akamaru run up next to him.
"Jujin Bunshin!" In place of the large white beast stood a perfect clone of its owner, an animalistic snarl twisting its lips. With a quick nod the two leapt at her again, forcing her to take up the defensive.
Hinata began to sweat from the effort of avoiding their attacks. I need to find some way to slow them down! I won't give up Kiba-kun!
One of the Kibas aimed a kick at her head. She bent backward and watched as the leg soared over her… noticing too late the other kick being aimed at her legs. Just as she felt her legs being swept Hinata placed her hands on the ground behind her, using the momentum of the leg sweep to propel her body. With a pump of her arms the Hyuuga Heiress wheeled backwards and came back to a standing position.
Before her opponents could resume their attack she charged into the breach, sprinting at the duo a sending a swift Juuken strike at the shoulder of the closest boy. She noticed the wince as he blocked the blow, remembering too late the damage the Hyuuga's taijutsu could do even if the blow was halted.
Throwing a kunai at the other one as a distraction she ducked inside Kiba's reach, putting him at a disadvantage while allowing her to exploit her own style. She jammed her fingers into each of his shoulders, closing the tenketsu and slowing his arms. Taking advantage of his less agile punching Hinata retreated back as the second boy charged.
Instead of holding her ground like he would expect, Hinata took a play from Naruto's book and ran as well. Deflecting the surprised attack Hinata slammed her palm into the boy's stomach. She followed up on her success by dropping down and kicking at his legs. He leapt over the intentionally clumsy kick, leaving him suspended in the air while she capitalized with a quick jab into the back of his right knee.
When he landed his weakened leg buckled slightly. He tried to bring his other foot into the side of her head, but his weakened leg couldn't maintain proper balance which caused the kick to go high. She rolled forward, coming to her feet as the Kiba behind her dropped an axe kick where her head had been.
She turned around as the two dog-nin leapt off into the trees surrounding the training ground. With her dojutsu activated she could see them leaping from branch to branch, circling around her as they drew their kunai.
Hinata channeled chakra into her palms, emitting a thin blade of chakra. She began to quickly move her arms around her, reaching to cover every part of her body as she picked up more and more speed. Faster, faster, faster! Her arms eventually moved in a blur as she yelled "Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho!"
The proceeding flurry of kunai deflected harmlessly off of Hinata's technique, the lavender-eyed girl suffering nothing more than depleted chakra reserves. Breathing heavily she dropped her defense, waiting for the moment when her teammate would come out from the trees.
She barely had time to dodge to the side as she heard "Gatsuga!" Hinata could almost feel the spiraling mass as it drilled past her. The spiraling pair continued to fly about the clearing, giving no respite to the tiring woman.
Eventually they stopped, Akamaru back in his normal form. Kiba gave a barking laugh, "Well Hinata, you wanted all out with intent to kill. Akamaru! Dainamikkumakingu!" The white dog leapt at her, causing her to jump straight back and presenting an easy target for the trail of urine, which splashed onto her jacket.
The dog leapt back to Kiba, his job complete. Kiba formed a rapid series of hand seals before completing the jutsu. "Jinju Konbi Henge; Sotoro!" The boy and his dog disappeared in a cloud of smoke which obscured the area. As it cleared a large two-headed wolf stood in their place, its white fur nearly the same color as its massive fangs, contrasting its violent red eyes. With a growl that would have struck fear into many people the massive creature began spinning much like Kiba and Akamaru had before. This time the power behind the attack became evident, as the speed increased exponentially in a matter of seconds.
Hinata's mind was working on overdrive. How can Kiba-kun see while he's spinning that fast? Unless… he can't! But how can he tell where I am? Hinata took a deep breath through her nose to clear her rapid thoughts, bringing with it the scent of the unseemly fluid staining her outerwear. Akamaru! That's it!
As the speed of the spinning reached a peak and the attack came at her Hinata began to shed her coat while she dodged to her right. The Inuzuka turned around after his initial miss and turned back toward the scent. Taking advantage of the brief pause in between the directional changes Hinata stripped off the soiled garment and tossed it away while heading to the tree line.
The projectile had barely made it a few feet though before the attack finally came. Although the brunt of the blow was taken by the now-shredded piece of cloth, the spiraling air still created several long gashes to form across her body, bleeding slightly. She grunted from the pain but shook it off, resolving to win her fight. The wolf continued on to drill into the ground, tearing up chunks of dirt and earth before it finally came to a stop.
The wolf that had initiated the attack turned back into Akamaru and Kiba, who was now staring in shock at the small crater while the scent of Hinata's blood was in the air. He sounded a bit sick as he jumped to conclusions about what transpired. "Oh Kami! What did I do! I told her it was a bad idea but-"
He didn't hear the shuffle of feet in time to stop her as she came up right behind him. She delivered to quick blows to the tenketsu in his shoulders. "Two palms!"
Two more blows to his arms. "Four palms!"
She delivered four powerful palm strikes into his legs. "Eight palms!"
Eight blows his lower back. "Sixteen palms!"
She spread the next blows evenly across his body, aiming for any visible tenketsu. "Thirty-two palms!"
She shouted in victory as she finished the technique, succeeding in nearly stopping Kiba's chakra flow. "Hakke Rokujuyon Sho!"
She watched as the boy fell to his knees, struggling to stay up. She walked around in front of him and got his attention. "Do you give up, Kiba-kun?"
He tried to give her a smile, but it came out as a grimace. "You win, Hinata-chan."
She opened the tenketsu in the damaged parts of his body, taking care to cause as little pain or jostling as possible. Eventually his chakra flow returned to normal and he staggered onto his feet, breathing heavily after the exertion of the spar.
Hinata watched on in concern as Kiba unsteadily found a place to sit, Akamaru walking behind in an equally sore manner. She made to help him until he waved her off and assuring her he was fine.
"Sayonara, Kiba-kun! I'm off to get lunch with Sakura-chan!"
She set foot towards Sakura's house, stopping as Shino held out a hand to call her over. "Hinata, your use of strategy and quick thinking was admirable. I believe that you have become a valuable asset to our team."
She felt her heart swell with pride. "Arigato, Shino-kun."
She left the clearing with the same sense of calm serenity. Life is good.
Naruto cast a reassuring grin to the other gennin, who was clearly in doubt of her ability. "You can do it, Karu-chan. Just practice as many times as you need."
With a quick series of hand seals Karuyaka began the jutsu. "Magen; Narakumi no Jutsu!"
A swirl of leaves formed around Naruto, twirling around in the air about him before blowing away with the breeze. Karu-chan's probably disappointed that her jutsu didn't work. "Hey Karu-chan, it's okay that-"
As the words left his mouth he saw that it wasn't the brunette fangirl that he addressed, but Hinata. She had her eyes closed at first, but when she opened them her face contorted in a look of disgust and horror. "Naruto, go away!"
"Hime?"
"Don't call me that!"
He stepped towards her and reached an arm out to soothe her. "Hinata, what's wrong?"
She flinched away from his touch and whimpered slightly in fear. She let loose a terrified scream and jumped back. "Stay away you monster!"
He was sure that the pain was clear on his face, but he didn't care. Hinata thinks I'm… "O-okay."
"Get out of here! I'm leaving you; I can't take all the stress and fear and pain… I want you to leave here and not come back!"
Tears began to sting his eyes as they ran in rivulets down his cheeks. He almost ran away when he heard Karuyaka's voice and felt a sudden shift in reality. "Kai!"
As the genjutsu fell, Naruto dropped to the ground with tears still flowing. Thank Kami, it wasn't real! I don't know what I'd do if I lost Hinata.
Using the back of his hands to wipe away the tears, he gazed up into the mortified face of the girl. In the back of his mind he understood why she looked so upset, as she had reduced the boy she looked up to and liked to tears. He didn't think of any of that though, as he asked "What was that technique?"
Her tone unsure and unsteady Karuyaka replied. "I-it's a genjutsu that makes a person see what they're afraid of most. I d-didn't know how effective it could be, s-since it's just a D rank jutsu."
He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, fighting back the memory it stirred of the genjutsu a minute prior. "You did great, Karu-chan. That move is really good, and I'm sure you have it in you to be great at genjutsu. You did better than I ever could have."
She froze in place from shock at the compliments before coming back to her senses. "Arigato, Naruto-kun."
"Okay, let's keep going. What's the next move you wanted to practice?"
"Naruto-kun, what did you see in the genjutsu?"
I don't think she'll be happy to know that it was Hinata-hime leaving me… "I saw… I saw myself losing one of my precious people."
Naruto felt bad as he saw her face fall. She's smarter than I give her credit for. "Naruto-kun, how about we see Hinata… to help you forget about it."
That must have torn her up inside… I wonder if Sakura-chan felt this bad when she dejected me. "Sure."
Hinata gave a quick "Itadakimasu" as she tore into the proffered cinnamon roll before her, her eyes closed as she enjoyed the glazed treat. She made a pleased noise as she chewed, relishing the taste.
"So Hinata-chan, how was he?"
She coughed as she nearly choked on her food. She stared at the pink-haired girl before her with wide eyes. "Sakura-chan! Not in public!"
"What? I'm sure a quarter of the girls here want to know how he is in bed!" Honestly, Sakura didn't want to think about her loud-mouthed teammate doing things in the bedroom, but she loved teasing the bluenette.
"I, he, uh-"
"On a scale of one to ten."
She continued to stammer, unable to speak as her mind went into embarrassment overload. Channeling a small amount of chakra into her finger Sakura flicked her friend in the forehead, chuckling as Hinata spluttered out "Nine!" and turned a bright red. She chuckled even more as she saw the girls at the next table give raised eyebrows while one of them got an excited look on her face.
"Oh? So, what did you guys do?"
Hinata's voice came out as a whisper. "Sakura-chan, do we really have to talk about this now? It's bad enough when you ask at the apartment or at your house, but at a bakery?"
Sakura thought to herself, There's no way I'm letting up! This is way too much fun! "Hinata-chan, you scored yourself a great guy! You should be proud to talk about how great he is!"
"Ano, he's kind, and considerate, and he listens and-"
"I meant how great he is physically."
"I don't think-"
For once, Sakura was glad to have a loud, piercing voice as she shouted, "Hinata here says that Uzumaki Naruto is great in the sack from firsthand experience!"
She looked around to see three quarters of the restaurant glaring at her, while the rest –all women- were talking excitedly or zoning out. Then she heard a thud and looked to see that the lavender-eyed heiress had fainted. I got her to faint for the first time in two months! She reached over and began to eat what was left of Hinata's cinnamon bun, proud of her little accomplishment.
Kiba sat in the same spot Hinata had left him, uncomfortably rolling his sore shoulders. Akamaru had fallen asleep, resting off the pain. Damn! Hinata can hit!
Following the example of his canine friend, Kiba lay on his back and closed his eyes as a cool breeze blew across his face. He began to doze off, the world going black as he teetered on the edge of sleep. Suddenly his nose was filled with a pleasant scent that wafted into his nostrils and clouded what remained active of his drowsy mind. He opened his eyes to see Hinata saunter up to him.
Wait, Hinata doesn't walk like that… and she always smells like cinnamon buns…
He sat up again, trying to clear his head in vain. "Hinata?"
"Hello, Kiba-kun." The way she purred his name made him feel excited, yet very confused.
"I thought that you went out to lunch with Sakura."
The woman slowly licked her lips before leaning towards him. "I wanted something else to eat."
The working parts of Kiba's mind were thrown into complete disarray as he felt soft lips slam against his hungrily while arms snaked around the back of his neck. Before he knew what was happening his back was against the grass and Hinata was on top of him. "H-hinata! What about Naruto?" That's what was wrong; she loved Naruto, right?
"Who?"
If he had been able to think clearly he would have noticed what was wrong with this, but that damned scent was clouding his mind. "Your boyfriend?"
"Oh, the Kyuubi kid."
Kiba started to word a response before he was pulled into another heated kiss. He tried to get up but felt himself pinned by the surprisingly strong heiress. He winced as he noticed her pull a senbon needle from the side of his neck, a thick liquid glistening on the end. When did she draw that?
He tried to yell out a denial but it came as a groan. "Hinata!"
His eyes began to shut as they had been earlier, his last memory before falling asleep being that of an evilly grinning Hinata, and the faint scent of ramen and the forest.
(A/N; Wouldn't you hate me if I stopped the chapter here?)
Hinata groggily rose from the table, looking up to see the bored face of Sakura watching over her. "Hey, you're up! You've been out forever!"
"Sakura-chan?" She slowly looked around, closing her eyes to regain her bearings. "I had fun" Except for your shouting! "but I think I'm going to go see what Naruto-kun is doing."
"Okay Hinata-chan, I think-"
"WHERE IS THAT BITCH?" A small brown-haired girl came storming down the street, furiously looking on both sides of the road for her target. What did they do to get someone that angry? Hinata gasped in surprise when the angry gaze settled on her. With as much venom and scorn as she could muster she hissed "YOU!"
What did I do to- Her train of thought was interrupted by an open hand to the face as she was sent reeling. The other girl spoke more quietly, but the hatred was just as intense. "What is wrong with you?"
Her pinkette friend had a vein bulging in her forehead as her infamous temper came to bear. "What's wrong with her? You're the one who just came up and started yelling at her!"
"She's the one who broke Naruto-kun's heart!"
What? "What do you mean? I know that I went training instead of hanging out with him, but-"
"Oh, we saw this 'training' of yours!"
Vein under threat of bursting Sakura practically growled. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Her eyebrows lowered in loathing the girl pointed at Hinata. "I bet she knows exactly what I mean!"
What is she talking about? "I truly don't know what you're talking about. I've been here eating lunch for the last half hour."
"Don't deny that you were making out with that guy a little bit ago! We saw you!"
She couldn't get out the words as her mind reeled, so the brunette continued her rant. "You made him cry! He saw you groping this guy and he just burst into tears! He thought you understood him –that you loved him!- and then you go and talk trash about him while you cheat on him!"
WHAT? "Ano, where is Naruto-kun?"
"Don't call him that! You don't deserve it! Even if I did know I wouldn't tell you!"
Hinata looked at her, with pleading eyes. "Please. I don't know what's going on, but I intend to find out."
Something in her eyes must have sold it as a small break formed in her hateful façade. "Fine! We can confront that kid we saw you with, but if he says it was you…" She let the sentence hang menacingly.
"Arigato." Naruto-kun, please give me time to figure this out and explain it. If something happens to you… I don't know what I'd do.
Okay! Tell me what you think!
That was actually my first attempt at a fight scene, so I hope it was acceptable to you guys.
Also, I actually had no intent of making an OC (Karuyaka) when I started this chapter, but now that I think about it I have an idea to make her an integral part of this arc and some great possible character development.
Hopefully the next chapter will be as good as or better than this one.