Chapter One.
The Mornings sunshine woke the Hyuga girl from her slumber. With a stretch of her body she folded herself until she stared blankly at the thin paper door that bordered her room. She rubbed her eyes, trying to wake herself from her slumbered daze. The girl finally came to alert when there was a tap on her door. The person on the outside outlined a teenaged boy, about two years older than her. It was her Cousin.
"Time to start your day, rise and shine." He said gruffly, walking away. With a sigh from her diaphragm, she removed the covers and lifted herself from her bed. Walking to the window, she opened it and with a single flow of the escaping air, her curtains fluttered through her room and fell where they had drooped along side the window. Summer air felt so good to her. With a smile and a spin she embraced the warm feeling and walked delicately to her mirror where she kept her hair accessories. Pulling out her brush she took long strides of her hair; from top to bottom. She looked down at the picture frame; along with the picture inside of a blonde boy who smiled like the sun was in his eyes. Smiling, she set her brush down and walked to her closet to get dressed.
As she walked into her kitchen, her father had made breakfast for the three of them. The smell of bacon and eggs filtered through the room like a flood from a waterfall. Which, made her mouth water and her stomach finally realize it was hungry; it growled louder than a wolf's howl. She chuckled and sat down around the prepared table.
"Itsutakimas!" The group said, and dug into their breakfast.
Just when she was about to finish her meal, there was a knock at the door. Before answering, she placed her hands together, as if praying, and excused herself from the table with a slight bow. Getting up, she walked patiently to the entry way, where she put her slippers on and opened the door. A dark brown headed kid stood in the door way with a cheeky smile. A Humungous dog sat beside him panting, with it's tongue sticking out.
"Well Hello there Kiba. What's up?" She asked her friend. He pat his dog behind the ear as he talked.
"Kurenia sensei wants us to go train. You up for some training,Hinata?" He asked, suddenly being hypnotized by the strong sent of bacon. Hinata smiled, knowing what he wanted and gave him the "one minute" finger. Quickly, taking off her slippers where she walked into her bedroom to grab her things and then to the kitchen again. She grabbed a few pieces of bacon and walked hurriedly to the door, where Kiba was patiently waiting for her to return. After handing the two of them some strips of bacon, she put her sandals on and walked out the door. Hinata didn't have to worry about telling her dad where she was going. The walls were paper thin, so whatever was being said could be heard with strong listening ears.
When they arrived to the training field, Kurenia stood next to Kakashi and his team. Her other teammate made his way along beside them. She looked at her teammates and then amongst Team Seven. Her friend in pink waved at the three of them, and she was polite enough to wave back. She was friends with this girl, but she didn't like the fact that her crush had a thing for her.
"Hello Team Ten." Kakashi finally greeted them.
"Hello Kakashi, Team Seven." Hinata said as politely as possible. Kakashi's eyebrows arose at this and under his face mask, the outline of his mouth formed a grin.
"So, we're training?" Kiba asked, "For what?"
"Another mission." Kurenia said plainly. This made eyes wander from stare to stare between the group of six. All of them had an odd feeling in the pit of their stomachs, figuring their next mission wasn't new, but a continuation from previous ones.
"You might have guessed this is another Search for Sasuke. Well, You're right." Kakashi said to the group. They all stood there and listened. Kiba was the only one brave enough to speak.
"Have we found new leads or something?" He asked.
"Precisely." He said with a slight head nod. "He was seen by a commoner on their way back to the Sound Village. Oddly enough he was accompanied by Kabuto and a rouge ninja." He filled them in on smaller details.
Hinata's point of view went to her blonde haired crush; the one from her picture in her room. His smile was erased and his hands were balled into fists. Sasuke was a sore subject for him. Apparently, it wasn't just her that saw his reaction to the conversation. The pink headed girl also noticed.
"Naruto, are you alright?" She looked slightly worried; she put her arm on his shoulder and looked up at him. His eyes looked at hers and without words he nodded and looked up at Kakashi. Hinata felt her heart tremor and her adrenaline kicked in. Her body felt a little tingly but she focused back on the conversation.
"So, we will be sparing amongst opposite groups I presume." Hinata said firmly. It slightly took everyone by surprise but they agreed with her. "Do you have partners in mind then?" She was hoping that she would have been pared with Naruto, but more than likely, she would have been paired with either Sia or Sakura.
"Yes, of coarse, we partner you up. And as for you Hinata, this time I want you to Spar with Naruto. I want to see the differences in your chakra control. Remember what you and I had been working on?" Kurenia said to her. She looked at her teacher for a minute and then noticed Naruto looking at her with his old smile. No more fists and sad, cloudy looks. He was past that now; probably thanks to Sakura. Naruto walked up to her.
"You've learned something new too? Nice!I can't wait to see what you've learned." Naruto sounded way to happy for his own good. Though, all Hinata could do was smile and chuckle at him a little bit.
"Hopefully it'll work too. I've been working on it for over a month now. I should have it down to perfection now." She replied to him with a just as confident smile. While Kakashi and Kurenia talked about their students underneath their breaths.
"Hinata's gotten a lot more talkative. What kind of training did you have her under anyway?" Kakashi asked her. The two of them watched how Hinata would talk to her blonde headed friend.
"Shes been training with me, but mostly by herself. She has grown a lot though since she was just a Genin." Kurenia answered him. Both groups were beginning to chat more and it was time for them to get serious. Kakashi clapped a few times to get their attention.
"Team Ten. Team Seven. Time to focus." He said to both teams. Both of them looked between the teachers to see what they wanted to do first.
"Hinata and Naruto are partners. Then, Sakura and Shino, and Kiba and Sai. You four group up. Find your space and begin training whenever you feel you are ready." Kurenia said to them. Following their order, they got in their assigned pairs and moved to a good clearing in the training area.
"Ready for training?" Naruto asked the shy girl. Hinata was eager to fight him actually. She got in her ready stance and nodded her head. With a smile, she took a few steps back.
"Yup. Are you?" Hinata's voice had a different feel to it. Not so gentle. Naruto seemed to be thrown off guard at this. "Go!" She said, laughing a little at this. Her first move came up on him quickly. But, just in time he blocked it and sent her back. She landed squarely on her two feet. Her hands ready to take her next move.
"Wow! That was Fast!" Naruto said. This time He became more serious. Knowing that Hinata had gotten faster, he wanted to make sure not one hit, hit him. "Now its my turn." Naruto said. He wanted to test her reflexes, just as well as she wanted to feel out his. Quicker than a second he was throwing his first attack at her. Which, he never realized just how fast she was, especially when in defense. She had already moved before he made his move. He was hitting air.
"Have I gotten stronger, Naruto?" Hinata asked, taking a hit on him. He was just barely able to save himself from becoming human rode kill. Before either of them could make any more moves towards each other, a sudden tremor in the ground made them hold their ground. The ground underneath their feet began to show small cracks. As they jumped into midair, the land below them began to crumble into a small crater. Hinata found herself standing on the very top of a tree, over looking everything. Sakura had aimed to punch Shino with one of her famous punches. What a show off, Hinata thought to herself as she rolled her eyes. Though, she made sure that she was paying attention to where Naruto was. She wanted to make the first move. So she had to stay alert for anything. She used her Byakugan to scan the trees for him. Eventually, she found him hiding behind a thick tree trunk about fifty feet in the air.
Naruto hid behind the tree trunk, hoping that she wouldn't find him. He hadn't been thinking about how strong her eyes would have gotten. He was making a plan based on her speed. Shes gotten a lot stronger. She said she's only been training for a month? Stuff this advanced took me a while before I could finally learn it. I wonder if I could train with her more often. Maybe I'd learn more. Naruto thought to himself. But, he let his thoughts get to him. He felt the tree breaking. Loud cracks stunned him and a gush of adrenaline flooded through his mind; his body, and send him flying into the tree in front of him. He fell to the ground like a rag doll. Hinata was standing atop of the tree that he hit. She was up at the very top. The top of the tree that cracked now was on the ground. It looked like twigs from where Hinata was.
"How was that?" Hinata yelled down to the yellow haired mess.
From below, Kakashi and Kurenia studied Hinata's moves with serious attention. They watched as Naruto caught his balance, back on two feet. He came after with all the force in his body. But he missed. Hinata quickly knew to jump from tree to tree in attempt to doge any and all attacks thrown by Naruto. Finally, He used his Doppelganger Jutsu. He made ten copies of himself and sent them to do his work, while he hid again behind a tree in hopes to formulate another plan. He didn't get that chance however. The first minute of the clones being summoned, they had been defeated with in several hits. Leading her to find him again, just as she did before.
"How long did you say she trained earlier? Just a month?" Kakashi asked Kurenia. She nodded, and crossed her arms.
"Sakura definitely had an arm on her. Kudos to The Hokage on that one." Kurenia said, trying to move her focus off of the incredible performance between Naruto and Hinata.
Sakura didn't look tired. She just kept throwing punches every time she got the chance. She knew that Shino had a slight upper hand because of the bugs, but she hoped she would strike lucky and be able to win without them interfering. She found flat ground around where they had been training. Unfortunately, because of that strong punch aiming at the ground, they didn't have much of it flat to work with anymore. It was more of piles of rock now.
Shino had planned the element of surprise. Luckily for him, they were around a place that has a high population of bugs, which if he planned accordingly, could attack her from behind silently. He moved swiftly, making it so she would have to back up. Jokingly, he moved to attack her. She fell for it even. Jumping up into the trees so she could make an aerial attack, like before. Instead, he already had the bugs waiting for them to attack her when she reached the trees.
In a sudden swarm they clouded her, making it hard for her to see. These bugs consisted of mostly beetles. In an instant, she was falling from great heights to be caught again by him. Slowing her to the ground and placing a fist in front of her face. "Time." He said. If he would have taken that last punch, she would have been done for, because he defenses were down and he would have been able to do anything he pleased.
With a helping hand, he lifted Sakura to her feet. "Good spar. I had a good time." In agreement, Sakura nodded her head and gave a defeated smile.
"Shows I need to work harder." Sakura said as she walked back to the teachers.
"Good Job Sakura. Your punches seem to have gotten stronger." Kakashi complimented her. Sakura smiled and looked at Sai and Kiba's fight.
"How much longer do you think they'll last?" She watched their fight. Quickly realizing that Hinata and Naruto were still fighting. "What about Naruto and Hinata? How much longer do you think they'll have?" She asked.
"Who knows how long. You missed the beginning of their fight though. Hinata's gotten a lot stronger. They might be at it for a while." The words settled in Sakura's brain wrong. Hinata had gotten a lot stronger. This meant what? She watched closely at the pair of them fighting.
Blocking every hit Naruto threw her way, as the same as every move Hinata threw back at him, he countered and blocked. They stopped and took a breather, still in their ready stances. Hinata still had eons of energy left in her, and of coarse, so did Naruto.
"You've definitely gotten stronger." He said, astounded. Hinata took the compliment in but also focused on if he was trying to drop her guard.
"Are you calling it quits?" Hinata said, edging him on to keep going. Naruto began to chuckle, almost laugh at what she said.
"Hell if I am! I'm not giving up now." For some reason, he was having more fun than he was actually training. It was growing playful, but disguised as serious sparing.
"Okay then, lets get serious shall we?" Hinata said, smirking. And within an instant, she had disappeared, leaving a log in her place.
Naruto was suddenly sent flying, hitting the same tree as before. Why do I keep falling for that? Naruto thought as he fell into a bush. A squirrel jumped on his head, running away with an acorn. From a distance he could hear his sparing partner giggling at her second time having him fall for that. He began to chuckle himself. The laughing abruptly stopped. He had a weary feeling of himself. Like she was anywhere watching for him to make his move.
As he got up, he created hand signs for his doppelgangers, creating fifteen this time. When in an instant, they were all blown out into the air, along with his real body. The rest of them poof like smoke in the air, while his rag doll like appearance sent him flying out in the open once again. Hinata was having fun tossing him around like this, but she felt bad. She walked out into the open along with him, making sure she had some doppelgangers of her own with her, at least four of them. They walked around him while the real Hinata sat behind a tree, watching Naruto Decide between the rest of her copies, seeing which one is really her. He punched each of them in the face. They all vanished.
"Aww, come on!" Naruto said, shrugging. Hinata giggled to herself. She knew it was a front. In the time it took Naruto to vanish and end up behind her, she was already in the tree above him.
"Looking for me?" Hinata said, chuckling and vanishing again. Naruto rolled his eyes, and chased her again. Not realizing she was behind him again. She pushed her hand out and a quick shove of chakra forced its way through his body, knocking him down to the ground. She put her fist down over his nose. "Time" she said, with a smile. She finally beat Naruto. But, she didn't feel like she really accomplished anything because she knew he was really stronger than her. In more ways than one.
Holding out her hand to him, she helped him up. Feeling good that she actually was able to hold his hand, she smiled and gave a small wink. "I still think you won though. I feel like you were going easy on me." Hinata expressed. Naruto's face showed the expression of confusion as he looked down at her.
"I really wasn't going easy, Honest." Naruto put his right hand up, showing that he swore he wasn't going easy on her. He really wasn't. With a few exceptions of him zoning out, which for some reason he felt odd in doing. It wasn't like him to start thinking and not pay attention to his task, in the middle of it. He shrugged at his confusions and just went with it.
When they got back to the group, Sai and Kiba looked worn out. Kiba had is frown of defeat on like an extra coat of make-up. Hinata gave her pity smile and a thumbs up.
"Good job Kiba, maybe next time." She said, patting his back. She found herself taking a few steps back to catch her balance.
"Great job Hinata! I never thought you could beat Naruto like that! You were amazing!" He said triumphantly. She never realized that the whole group was looking at her oddly.
"T-thank you." Her stammer had returned to her shy voice. She smiled and scratched the top of her head, being modest.
"Yes, good job Hinata. Congrats." Kurenia said to her female student with an applaud. Kakashi walked behind her to stand in the view of all the students to get their attention.
"Now that you have all spared with each other, you are free to go. But, tomorrow when the sun reaches the highest point in the sky, you six are to meet back here for more training. Be ready with your fighting skills. And Hinata," Kakashi said looking at the timid girl, "That power you showed today, bring that kind of power back tomorrow. You have great potential, I saw that for myself today." He finished. She looked around at everyone, who had given her a weird look, all except for Kiba and Naruto of coarse. Kiba wasn't the kind of person to give weird, lingering looks to people. Or at least her. Naruto wasn't one for giving her weird looks either. Though from Sakura, it was more than a lingering look. It was one of those 'I'll-beat-you' looks; intimidation. And with Sia. His look was just of curiousness. Neither of them knew each other that well, other than Sia was to take the place of Sasuke in Team Seven and from his angle, she was just a friend of Naruto, and a member of Team Ten.
Walking away from the group, she noticed Kiba was following her, along with Akamaru.
"Hey! Hinata, can I come with you? What are your plans for the rest of today?" Naruto heard this, his hands balled into fists again. Is he trying to make a move on her? Naruto thought to herself. He looked at Sakura, who was already far up ahead with Sai. He shrugged and followed along with Kiba.
"Heck I don't have anything to do either. Why not go out to ramen! My treat!" Naruto said, "I'm sure we could all use a bite to eat." As soon as he said that, Hinata's stomach found its way of saying it was hungry, by growling. The two of them laughed lightly as they walked to Itchiraku Ramen.
They walked into the small ramen shop, moving the curtains out of the way. Only one other person was inside enjoying his ramen, so it saved enough stools for the three of them to sit and eat. The old man that Naruto knows way to well, walked up to the counter and smiled at the three of them. When he got their orders, he walked to the back of the small noodle shop to start making their ramen. Naruto looked over at Hinata, who was sitting between the two boys. He had a question that he wanted to get off his chest.
"Did it really only take you a month to learn all of that?" He asked. The question kind of shocked the timid girl. She looked up at him and blinked, slightly blushing at the suddenness.
"Well, roughly a month. To be exact it took me three and a half weeks." Hinata said, looking to the man, and looking to see how far their ramen had progressed.
"How could that be though, how long did you train for?" He was becoming a little concerned. That was went Kiba leaned in, also wanting to know. He hadn't known anything that Hinata or Kurenia had been doing for her training.
"Well, I managed to pull a few all-nighters..." She began.
"How many all-nighters?" Kiba suddenly asked. He never meant to ask it, because he knew he was prying, but it kind of just happened. She didn't seem to mind it though.
"About a week and a half's worth. But don't worry, not a straight week and a half, but it added up to that much." She said. The old man finally arrived with three bowls of ramen. Hinata smiled at the smell that drifted to her nose from hers. Naruto seemed pleased with his as he took one big bite. Along with Kiba whose bite wasn't serving size either. After Kiba finished his bite, he continued the discussion.
"And you're not over tired from any of it?" He wondered. He knew that if it were him and he pulled so many all-nighters, he would be overly tired, and have bags the size of melons under his eyes. He would probably be sleeping on Akamaru's back all day.
"I made sure I had enough sleep. That's why a few of those days you all had practice, I wasn't there. Remember?" Hinata reminded her dog companion. A figurative light bulb went up from his cranium as he remembered the frequent times that it was only him and Shino sparing in practice.
"So that's why you weren't there!" He confirmed in an outer thought, taking another overly sized bite of ramen.
Naruto was piling away his ramen. Almost as if he were a chipmunk storing his nuts for winters slumber. Hinata giggled at this sight. He stopped with wide eyes and a mouth full of ramen, wondering what she could possibly be laughing at. She would admit, he was a sloppy eater sometimes. He had sauce all over his mouth. She chuckled a little bit more and handed him a napkin for him to wipe his mouth from. When he took it and used it, she smiled, remembering to eat her ramen. When she took a bite she remembered to wipe her mouth afterward.
After the gang of three were finished eating their ramen and Naruto willingly paid for each of their meals, they left the ramen shop and walked around town for a bit. Slowly, they made their way to the Academy. Naruto found his old swing. Kiba took a sigh and leaped onto his dog companion.
"I guess this is where I take my leave." Kiba said, saluting to the two of them.
"Oh, why is that?" Hinata asked her friend as he took a step back to leave.
"I promised mom i'd be back in time to set up dinner. Family stuff. Eh..." He shrugged and Akamaru jumped out of sight.
Suddenly, Hinata felt awkward. It was only her and Naruto. This time it wasn't because they were partnered up to spar. They were just out in the Academy play ground, hanging out. There was some silence, as Naruto took a seat on the old swing he use to sit in. He remembered how old it was and tried not to put all of his weight on it.
"I remember when you use to swing on that." She said. There was no eye contact, but towards her feet. She leaned up against the tree.
"Oh?" He said, looking up at the shy girl. He gave a slight smile. "Most everyone should remember me sitting here." Naruto said.
"Well, true. But I remember you in a different way. Remember, I think you also stopped people from picking on me here too." Hinata suddenly remembered the bigger kids of the village picking on her. She was being kicked around and Naruto came in and saved the day. Also saved her teeth from being kicked out of her mouth and her eyes from being severely bruised and bones from being broken. She smiled at him, without the intention of showing anything, but it must have shown something to Naruto.
"You saw me differently?" He seemed to be confused. Naruto tried to remember all of the stares he got from everyone in the village. They seemed to circle him like he was some side-show freak. He tried to remember the whole crowd. When he saw what resembled Hinata's father, he saw Her. Her when she was little, cowering behind his long robe and looking at him with a different pair of eyes. They were gentle and fragile. They did not look at him with daggers, but with rain.
"Do you remember now?" Hinata asked. She felt like she drowned herself into something that she might not come up from. She felt like she was going to suffocate. And she might just have. The sent of him, and the warmth of his jacket found a new place around her shoulders and next to her. Way closer than she had ever hoped to be next to him. This time though, she didn't feel like she could pass out. Though she would have loved too, she didn't. What she did next was returned his hug. She didn't know what this meant, or what it could lead to, but she liked it and she wanted to last. But, as soon as she felt like she was on cloud nine, she felt like the cloud had vanished and she was falling from the sky. He pulled her away for a second to get a better look at her face.
"Thank you, Hinata." He began, " I never noticed it before but, now that I look back. I remember every look. I should be grateful to you." After he said that, she wanted to pinch herself. She swore she was in a dream. Or maybe a nightmare. She felt a chill race up her arms and around her waist. She realized that it was getting late and her father was expecting her home soon. Naruto noticed that she was cold. "Here," Naruto said, taking off his jacket. He put it over her shoulders and let her wear it. Hinata loved what was happening. It flooded over here like nothing she could even describe. All she could do was smile. "Do you need to go home now?" He asked. She nodded. "Then can I walk you home? It's the least I can do." Naruto asked her. She smiled and responded.
"Sure, that would be very nice of you." She said, huddling in closer to his jacket. She knew she would have to take it off shortly anyway so she wanted to wear It as much as she could.
"Here, lets make it easier for you." He said. Suddenly she felt her body being lifted from the ground. She was sitting on his shoulders.
"A-are you sure? I'm not going to hurt your back or anything am I?" She asked, feeling very awkward the way she was, but she liked it.
"Its fine. I can carry a lot more than your weight. You're like a feather to me. Don't worry about it. But here, hold my hands so you won't fall off. That's more of a worry for me" Naruto said, holding up his hands. She grabbed them gently. His hands were warm and soothing. She felt like she could say outside in a grassy meadow with him and spend the whole night staring at the stars.
"Alright. If you're sure. Thank you for taking me home." Hinata thanked him again. He smiled at her over politeness.
"Please get some rest though, Okay? All-nighters are hard on you. And eventually its going to cause your stamina damage. Which'll make it hard for you to stay awake. Trust me." Naruto warned her. He chuckled a little before he realized that maybe if he had that kind of advice he wouldn't feel the way he normally feels.
"Alright. I will." She took instructions from him as if he was the rule maker. But she wanted it to be that way. Honestly, if Naruto asked her to do anything she would most likely help him. She loved him that much.
When they got to her house, he let her down gently and carefully. As Hinata adjusted herself, she was surrounded by a black T-shirt filled with the send of Naruto Uzumaki. She felt like she didn't want to let go, but she forced herself too. She also glumly handed back his jacket. Which he, for some reason didn't take back.
"You can wear it for tonight, if you'd like. You still look cold." He said, shuffling his feet in the dirt. A light came on inside Hinata's house and her father opened the door.
"Hinata, there you are. Come inside darling. Its past lights out." He said. The eyes that Naruto talked about earlier. Those same eyes from Hinata's father stared down on him like two hot white suns. He flashed him a grin and hugged Hinata.
"Good night Hinata." He said with a grin. "Come find me tomorrow alright? I'd like to spar again." He asked of her. She nodded.
"Good night, Naruto." She felt so giddy as she waved to the blonde headed boy. She scattered to get back inside her house and into her room. She knew she would get it from her father in the morning. But at the moment, she was still fawning over how Naruto actually let her borrow his jacket. She could almost squeal like Sakura and Ino did whenever they talked about Sasuke. She felt like she could float on a cloud forever.