I'm glad people are liking this. (Uchigawa: "Big words :p")
Samhain Ootsutsuki: There is a very strong chance of NaruHina near the end. I'm pretty sure it's gonna happen, considering my plans and all… :3
Reign Of Sorrow: lol :3
thor94: You'll find out as the plot and story proceeds. :3
The Goddess of the Night: I had an odd liking too. Still do. But I'd like to call this unique, because this goes backwards :3
brown phantom: I'm never one to write fluffy romance scenes. The last time I did that was a long time ago. The real reason I avoid is because of the feels TT^TT guilty pleasure :3
(Uchigawa: "FUCKING KICK HIS ASS SETH!")
Chapter 1: Bedlam
It was really strange, seeing everything. Naruto couldn't help but stare at everything. Especially himself. Iruka would find him staring at his reflection whilst he was in the hospital for another week.
Many ANBU were researching Naruto's possible dōjutsu under the command of Hiruzen. The elderly Sarutobi had a mental freak out; he was confused. Why would anyone, inside and outside of the village want to give a hated jinchūriki power? His only explanation was a Fūinjutsu Expert or a shinobi who understood—like another jinchūriki. He checked up with Jiraiya, the only seal expert known to the current shinobi world. He hadn't done anything. But then he checked up with other jinchūriki via ANBU. They hadn't been doing anything out of the ordinary either.
So who did it?
It caused stress, something Hiruzen wasn't unfamiliar with. What kind of dōjutsu had a blue iris? The Byakugan could be related, but Naruto's eyes did not have that kind of "feel". It fluctuated its power, something the Sharingan did when activated. But Naruto's eyes weren't activated. Hell, he even asked Hiashi to look and see whether or not it was activated.
Not even a teensy stream of chakra showed. It was like it had its own power—individual to chakra.
The real question was what it was.
Naruto enjoyed his time with his eyes. He finally got to see what Teuchi and Ayame looked like; Ayame was pretty, he could admit that. He saw Sakura for the first time—she was semi pretty in his opinion, but he couldn't find himself being her admirer. Same went for Ino and Tenten, too…
"U-um…Naruto-kun…"
He turned his head to Hinata, who was sitting next to him. She was a different story. Her admiration and love for him was pretty obvious, he could tell even when he had no eyes. She was pretty as well; but she was still growing, so he would imagine her to be even more pretty—gorgeous, even—in her mid to late teens. He smiled. "Yes?"
"I-I was wondering…" she stammered. "A-are you guys i-in the Chūnin Exams…?"
Naruto paused. He frowned. "I'm not sure," he mumbled as he practically breathed in some more ramen. He gestured Teuchi for another, "I can ask Kakashi-sensei. Why? Were you enrolled?"
"N-no…" Hinata murmured. "But it's coming up in a week or s-so…I-I was just wondering."
"I think it'd be nice," he said. "I also think it'd be cool. First year rookies—enrolled into the Chūnin Exams! Dattebayo!"
Hinata smiled in amusement, but it was quickly gone when Neji suddenly entered the restaurant, his expression practically dead and flat. It made Naruto cringe ever so slightly. "Hinata-sama," he nodded in respect towards her before continuing. "Kurenai-sensei wants to see you. She has news for you."
She nodded timidly, practically shuffling out of the restaurant with her cousin following after sending a brief glare at the blonde boy whom was conversing with her before. Naruto cringed in annoyance before his face scrunched up in annoyance. "He just ignored me like I was a freaking ghost! What the heck…"
Ayame simply giggled in amusement before collecting some ryō from her favorite customer, waving him a farewell before returning to her work with organizing and cleaning the dishes.
"Iruka-sensei."
Iruka looked up from the book he was reading, Naruto walking in from the front door. The boy's brow furrowed before he spoke with his sensei and practical father. "The Exams…they're coming up. Do you think it'll be appropriate to enroll, even if I was a rookie?"
The jōnin blinked, obviously dumbfounded for a few moments before he finally got what Naruto was getting out. "I don't know. On a scale of one to ten, how doubtful are you?"
"My number isn't even on the scale. I'm a hundred percent sure that I can do it."
"And what about Sasuke and Sakura? Do you think they're capable?"
"…I can rate that at ten…quadrillion; I'm extremely doubtful on both of their behalves," Naruto stated as he plopped onto the couch across from Iruka.
They had no TV, so they had to arm chairs, and two couches parallel to each other, a glass table and a neat brown rug to accompany the middle of the room. The kitchen was in the next room, blocked off from the rest of the house through a glass sliding door. One could call it fancy until they rest their eyes upon Naruto's room; it was like living inside of a neon tinted orange.
"The Chūnin Exams is a team thing," Iruka pointed out. "And even if you were enrolled on your own, you'd be placed on a two-man team, a majority of which are complete strangers to you. I was placed on a foreign team of two, both women who hated working with men. They were partially the reason why I couldn't pass the second time…"
"I could care less," Naruto grumbled.
"Alright, grumpy pants…"
"I'm not grumpy, 'ttebayo."
"Then stop acting like it," Iruka scolded in amusement. "How about you converse with Kakashi about this? He's your guys' sensei at the moment, and he knows your capability much better than I do…as much as I hate to admit it…"
Naruto smiled in amusement. "You totally envy him."
"I don't," the older shinobi murmured. "It's just…I…"
"Feel jealous that he took over your status as the awesome and brilliant Naruto-sama's sensei?"
"…Don't exaggerate," Iruka dead panned. "And yeah, I guess you could say that…"
The boy giggled, but his amusement quickly faded as the conversation ended, causing a rather awkward silence to follow. Iruka went back to reading, leaving Naruto to ponder over whatever was on his mind.
As of now, it was mainly his newly found possible dōjutsu. He couldn't help but feel…like a bedlam. Everything was confusing. Just plain and blunt confusion. In a way, he shared Hiruzen's unvoiced concerns. Who would want to give a jinchūriki power? And suspenseful power at that.
On a near daily basis, he felt a slight pinch in his eyes, like he stared at a lamp for way too long. He had done that, even though he only had his eyes for a little over a week. It was that one little pinch that made him uneasy. He started feeling it three days after the assault. On day four, Hiashi had come under Hiruzen's command to check it out.
The results, he knew, were unexpected and unexplained.
It was weird. Why would a Hyūga—the strongest one, at that—have to examine his eyes? He knew that they were a possible new dōjutsu, but one would never scan anything with a Byakugan without first being suspicious of danger or threat. He had seen it happen before.
He paused his psych's wander for a second. Dangers and threats…
That could never happen…not on my watch…
The pinch ended up becoming stronger in the following weeks.
Yay! Another chapter! It doesn't meet my expectations of chapter word counts, but that doesn't mean shit right now.
And I'm glad all these people followed and favorited my story. It makes me so happy.
Yes, slight indications of NaruHina this chapter. But Naruto's opinion of all the other girls could possibly ignite a three-way relationship between Ayame, Naruto and Hinata in the future. But that's like saying the sky can turn bright green at the snap of my fingers: Impossible. It's a huge maybe, but NaruHina will definitely become the main pairing of this story, so I'll be changing a few things.
Also, another thing I would like to point out. Some of you, in those two-fist sized brains of yours, are wondering in the way way way far back corner of your minds why the Kyūbi didn't regenerate Naruto's eyes sooner. Well, eyes are an organ. It's impahssible to regenerate an organ, even for a bijū like the Ichibi and Kyūbi. Mainly because you'd have to "re-write" the DNA code, genetics code, chromosomes, nerves and all that other optical eye shit. But this is my logic, ya'll don't have to agree to it.
Okay, I'm done ranting.
R&R
Peace! :3