Author's note; feel free to skip. This chapter contains the bulk of the NaruHina. I'd always planned to write it like this, but when I actually sat down to do so, I had second thoughts. Does it actually add anything to the story, or is it just there because I want it to be? I take a very canonical approach (which is in part why I didn't go into Naruto's thoughts much – I don't want to deal with the issue of how much of Hinata's feelings are reciprocated) and so I wasn't sure if it was necessary to spell out how Naruto and Hinata feel about each other. In the end I decided it was necessary since firstly readers aren't going to know it's canon style unless I explain, and secondly I'm writing this as a warm up to an original story, and it can't hurt to practice.

For those who came here for the NaruHina, you may want to bail after this chapter, or perhaps even now. For everybody else – adventure begins soon, and the relationship between them (not necessarily romantic) will be important for the plot later.

Tsunade and Naruto exchanged the kind of stares that normally heralds violent death; the former because nothing else got through to Naruto, and the latter because he didn't know any better. Despite it being so early in the morning, frustration threatened to overwhelm Naruto, as not only had the Hokage refused to reassign Neji, who was indeed now a chunin, to their team from what she claimed were more important missions, but also failed to acknowledge the sheer necessity of their mission.

"Hey! Even Jiraya said we need somebody with the Byakugan to find a way through the caves. How am I supposed to bring Sasuke back if you won't send Neji with us?" Naruto yelled, virtually climbing over the Hokage's desk.

Tsunade remained calm – Naruto would be within fist range soon enough. "Firstly, you're not supposed to bring Sasuke back – you're supposed to follow whatever orders best serve the village," Tsunade explained, choosing to ignore whatever it was he muttered under his breath. "Secondly, if you would be quite for even one moment, you would know that Shizune has found you a new team member."

Naruto and Jiraya turned to Shizune, who had been trying to remain out of harms way. "I don't think this mission warrants sending a chunin" Shizune began, glancing at Naruto, "but there are several gennin who are available." Opening the folder that had been tucked under her arm, she passed Naruto a sheet of paper.

"Hinata?" Naruto said quietly, mentally shifting into reverse. "Alright! Thanks!" he yelled, darting past Shizune and out through the window so fast she almost perceived a Doppler shift. Shizune was clearly exasperated by his lack of etiquette, and looked to the two sannin for agreement, but found Tsunade undisturbed, and Jiraya openly grinning. Jiraya moved closer to Tsunade's desk, and Shizune, sensing Jiraya's impending lack of tack, took her cue and left hastily.

Naruto walked dejectedly through the streets of Konoha, his hands in his pockets, staring at the ground. It'd been two hours, and he'd failed to find Hinata, or indeed any of the friends he'd been hoping to meet. When he'd left Konoha to train with Jiraya six months previously, he'd felt a certain attraction to the nomadic hermit lifestyle that the sannin had told him to expect. He'd been surprised by just how much he'd missed the various fellow shinobi he'd befriending in the preceding years, as though he'd frequently been alone, he'd never been a loner.

He'd met Asuma and Kurenai, but he'd never been particularly close to either of them – they where generally less forgiving of his impulsive nature – and while Kurenai had promised to let Hinata know he was looking for her, neither of them had known where she was, and had only frowned when he'd suggested they help him look.

By this point Naruto was getting hungry, a consequence of his high metabolism, and looking up found he'd subconsciously walked to Ichiraku's. His initial delight soon faded, after a quick pat down of his pockets revealed his lack of funds. He considered trying to explain to Teuchi how imperative it was that he rescue Sasuke, and how a large lunch was an integral part of this, but decided that the noodle bar owner would be even less likely to empathise that Tsunade – Sasuke had never been a frequent patron. Naruto thought about the Third. At the time he hadn't appreciated how the will of fire that the departed Hokage had managed to work into almost every conversation influenced the village, but the thought that it could potentially be applied to yield free ramen brought new clarity. After posting a mental note to his subconscious that in future food would require a sponsor, he set off to find Iruka.

Iruka had been delighted to see Naruto after six months of absence, and had quickly picked up on his former students massively unsubtle hints that he was hungry. Naruto had been eager to demonstrate his new skills, and it was only the promise of a free meal that had kept him from debuting them on the unsuspecting crowded market street. Iruka felt vaguely guilty that he'd been relieved to see Naruto had lost none of his impatient need to seek acknowledgement for his improvement. Most of the other's from his age group were starting to mature onto professional shinobi, but Naruto remained Naruto.

They neared the ramen bar, and found Kurenai waiting for them.

"I found Hinata."

Hinata took a breather from striking the training post. Though her hand was well bandaged, taijutsu was not her forte, and her knuckles were beginning to ache. Focusing her chakra, she activated her Byakugan; Kurenai had alerted her to Naruto's impromptu return, and she wanted to take the opportunity to be "discovered" training intensively. She didn't have to extend her vision far – Naruto was approaching quickly and was already well within her visual range, despite it being only moments since she last searched the surrounding forests for him.

Forcing her breathing to remain steady, she struck a posture borrowed from Neji and her father and began striking the post again. She was grateful for Naruto's impressive speed, when he emerged from the tree line after mercifully few arm jarring strikes. Allowing her Byakugan to deactivate, she pretended not to have noticed his arrival, and attacked the post with renewed vigour.

Naruto was almost upon her when she realised she had yet to decide what she was going to say to him. Naruto could be very unpredictable, and it was so difficult to know how he'd react to her. She considered greeting him with a hug – it'd been six months since she'd watched him boldly depart from the village, so perhaps she could get away with it without it seeming too obvious. The though of such intimacy with Naruto overwhelmed her with its intensity, further limiting her capacity to articulate how she felt. She and Naruto had spent so little time together that is was difficult to know exactly how their relationship was defined.

Gradually it dawned on her that Naruto had long since closed the distance between the two of them, and had been talking for some time. Panic set in, and unable to decide on a more appropriate course of action, Hinata resigned herself to continuing to feign ignorance of his presence, and resolutely continued to strike the training post.

Mortified by her own behaviour, things took a turn for the worse when Naruto trailed off mid-sentence, staring intensely at Hinata, clearly wondering why she had yet to speak. It occurred to Hinata that more that anything, Naruto craved acknowledgement, and here she was literally refusing to acknowledge his existence. She forced herself to halt her assault on the post and turn to Naruto. He continued to stare at her, head to one side, one eye slightly closed, as if trying to figure out her behaviour.

"Hello Naruto! I'm sorry about that, I just got so caught up in training I didn't notice you there. I can't believe you're back, I thought you were going for years, but I'm glad you are, I miss you being around." she considered saying, but settled on "Naruto. Sorry. Training. Hello."

Naruto stared for a moment longer before visibly relaxing. "Don't worry Hinata, I get lost in training too. Jiraya has me training fourteen hours a day, while he does 'research'". When Hinata failed to respond, he continued, "Uh, so we can't leave until tomorrow, so Kurenai said I could use my shadow clone jutsu to help you train?"

Hinata was on safer ground with this one - perhaps not safe enough to articulate a full sentence, but enough to manage a faultless nod. Naruto was already running for the tree line, and didn't hear her calling after him.

"Um, Naruto? What do you mean leaving?"

Ten minutes later, Hinata stood alone in the woods. She activated her Byakugan, and Naruto abandoned trying to stay hidden – he shouted a challenge, and a plethora of clones emerged from behind every bush and every tree and took to the air. Fists extended, they encircled a more determined Hinata, who focused her chakra into her hands and adopted the stance from before.

While Naruto had long since stopped panting, he was now forced to acknowledge the intense hunger that the excitement of training had pushed from his mind. He was about to insist the two set off toward the village in search of food, when he noticed that Hinata was still slightly out of breath, and sat back down. He'd been hungry before, but a missed lunch and several hours of training was the final straw for Naruto's stomach, and it betrayed him, acting on its own to alert Hinata to its present empty state with an improbably loud medley or rumbles and gurgles. Naruto grinned, clearly embarrassed.

"Naruto, I could buy you some Raman." Hinata offered. When he looked unsure, she continued "It's the least I can do to thank you for helping me with my training."

Naruto and Hinata sat at Ichiraku's. Hinata had managed to avoid freezing up for the most part, but had been unable to move the conversation beyond idle chitchat. Naruto could be so intense at times – it was part of what she liked about him – but it was either off or on, and she struggled to find a way to connect with him. She felt uncomfortable bringing up the subject, but desperate times…

"So, Naruto, tell me about the lead on Sasuke." Naruto stopped eating.

"One of Jiraya's contacts from the sand village told us where he'd heard Orochimaru was. I don't know how he knew, but we went to investigate. The base was in a system of caves, and uh, we got lost in them." Naruto trailed off, but Hinata was looking at him to continue. "We ran into some sound ninja," Naruto tensed up with the memory "and only just escaped."

Hinata was worried – if they'd been out-fought, was she being brought along to even the odds?

"I'm surprised anybody could chase you away" Hinata began out of loyalty, but before she could continue, Naruto interrupted.

"Well I hadn't eaten for four days!" Hinata hadn't quite realised what 'lost' had meant. "So we came back here to fetch you to help us find a way through the caves." Hinata glowed with pride that Naruto had come back specifically for her.

Relieved that her fighting skills wouldn't be relied on, she was grateful for the chance to support Naruto.

"I'll help you. I'll help you bring Sasuke back." She said quietly, reaching for his arm, but stopping when he turned to her. He didn't say anything, but was clearly touched.

The talk moved to other subjects – Naruto wanted to make sure Hinata remembered that he'd beaten Neji in a fight, and while he was on the subject of people he'd defected…

Hinata let him talk. It was comforting to see Naruto so relaxed around her, but all too soon Naruto drained his bowl and declared himself full. Hinata paid, and they said goodnight.

As Hinata walked away, an enormous grin on her face, she realised that Kurenai was leaning against the wall not far ahead. Her sensei looked up and smiled.

"Well, how did it go?" she asked.

Hinata nodded. "I took your advice, and it went just like you said."

Ok, that really didn't qualify as romance. I'm going to try and work a little more into this chapter later, but it'll need to be done bit by bit, so I'll post this and move on for the time being. Who knew this writing thing took so long? Nothing's actually happened yet. Allow me to summarise. Chapter 1: Naruto runs through the woods; sees trees and Konoha. Charter 2: Naruto sees more of Konoha, also Hinata, then eats some ramen. Not exactly gripping. You're going to have to take it one trust that I have bad guys, and y'know, things actually happening, all planned out.