Hello! I'm back! I'm so happy... I finished this chapter! Yay!

... I should probably sleep more. Oh well. Presenting, the next chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto, or Hinata, or Sasuke, or... you get the point.


Chapter 1: My friend can't be a Demon fox; he doesn't have any tales.

Morning. That most beautiful of times when the birds chirp, the trees sway in the gentle breeze, the puffy, white clouds astound all, compelling poets to write odes to the magnificent contrast they made to the newly born sun…

… and I wake up to perform my daily ritual of attempting murder on my alarm clock. (Yes, I am aware of the fact that it is not alive. Although I'm pretty sure that's just what it wants you to think. It is evil. It's part of its plans for world dominion. Now let me go torture it for information.)

I'm back. I will also have to buy a new alarm clock later. Oh well.

I sat in bed and contemplated on the meaning of life (the number 42 kept popping up in my head for some reason), while a little voice tried desperately to drag my attention to something, something I had forgotten. Now what was it?

"Hinata-sama! Hurry up or you'll be late for the exam. Foods on the table!"

…Oh yeah! The exam thing was today. At 8 o'clock. Cursing my clock for bailing out when I needed it, I heaved my still half-asleep body to the corridor to see the time. The small hand pointed a little before 8, and the other pointed at 10… Oh shit.

Doing a very good impression of a flustered bunny, I ran out of the house, pausing to throw on my jacket, and grab some food. Luckily, I had foreseen a similar event, and had thus slept in my clothes. My sister and cousin stared at my mad dash, and I could almost hear them praying that I slipped (my cousin, because he hates me, my sister… well, for entertainment, I think). Luckily, their prayers were unfulfilled, and I managed to get to the entrance of the Academy on time, a few minutes after Naruto, who was currently arguing with the guards (something about how he was on time. Unfortunately, they were one of the idiots who hated him, and thus were refusing him entry. But they couldn't refuse the heir of the Hyuuga clan). Not even pausing, I grabbed him and ran to class, ignoring his cries of 'thanks, my beautiful angel of mercy'.

We entered class and threw ourselves down on the seats next to Sasuke. He in turn sighed, but shifted so that we could fit into the bench properly. I could sense his many fangirls glare at me and scoffed. Me, the great and awesome Hinata, with that arrogant idiot? Not a chance. Although there was that marriage contract hanging around somewhere…

Eep. I really needed to ask Father about that.

My thoughts were interrupted when my name was called out. Smiling at Naruto and Sasuke, I walked into the examination hall.


It is a source of constant amusement to me, the way they tried to pretend that I actually had a chance of failing the test. I and everyone else, including the teachers, knew that there was no way they could fail me without serious repercussions. It's probably the sole reason Kiba passed in the first place. All clan heirs would pass… that's like a rule or something. Sigh… if only Naruto was a clan heir….

Maybe if I married him. Yeah! All his problems would be solved, and we could live happily ever after! Although Sasuke may kill me. Maybe Sasuke could marry him!

"…nata! Hinata!"

Oh right, the test. I should probably pay attention. I'd worry about Naruto and my budding obsession with yaoi later. I brought my hands into the required position and in quick succession transformed into Iruka-sensei, switched places with him and made a few clones. I smiled at Mizuki's ass-licking comments and then walked out with a brand new headband. Shiny…

I waited impatiently outside. It was just my luck that my two best friends had surnames starting with 'U'. Meaning I had to wait for them until the end. Damn them.

Finally Sasuke walked out and took his place beside me, leaning against the tree. This was our spot. Sasuke always leaned there, next to the swing where Naruto sat. I sat on the low branch of the tree. Naruto appeared a few minutes later. We winced together at the sight of our friend's face and defeated posture, and hastily tucked our new headbands into our pockets. We looked at him in confirmation, and he sadly shook his head. "Sorry guys, looks like I won't be able to celebrate with you."

I could feel sadness welling up inside me. Sasuke had his I'm-sad-but-too-emotionally-stunted-to-show-it scowl on. "Naru…" I began, before he interrupted me. "Hey, I'm just gonna take a walk, y'know, be by myself for a while, k?" We silently nodded, and watched as he walked off, ignoring the whispers.

Sasuke looked at me and raised an eyebrow. I snorted. "Of course we're gonna follow him. I'm just waiting for…"

"Pixie! Duckhead!" A brown and pink blur rushed to Sasuke and hugged him.

"…that." I finished, grinning at the final member of our little group. Tenten grinned back, before releasing Sasuke (who immediately took exaggerated gulps of air) and looking around. "Where's Blondie?" she asked, taking in the dejected air around us. I sighed. Her face fell. "This time too, huh? Poor guy." We began to walk, me taking point as I used my Byakugan to scan the area, looking for Naruto. I quickly found him, and we took to the rooftops.

…Only to stop far away from them when we realised he wasn't alone. We crept closer, trying to hear what his companion, Mizuki-sensei, was saying. Random words floated to us. "Another test… prove yourself… steal the scroll… show me…"

Naruto was looking more cheerful by the minute, but from what we could hear, he was supposed to steal something. We exchanged glances (and a few scrunched up expressions as our silent conversation turned into an argument), and then turned to Naruto, a plan decided. We would follow him today, and help him out in whatever test he was doing. Without his knowledge, of course.


"Naruto! Don't trust Mizuki! He is using you to get the Scroll!"

"No, Naruto! Iruka just doesn't want you to have the Scroll; he's afraid of you!"

" Naruto! You're awesome!"

"…."

Simultaneously, all the people gathered in the little clearing turned to Sasuke, Tenten and I, all of whom were sporting 'Go Naruto!' and 'Naru-chan for the win' signs. Mizuki was the first to crack.

"…the hell are you lot doing here?"

Tenten smirked. "Well Mizuki sensei, when a mommy and Daddy love each other very much, they…"

Mizuki snarled. " That wasn't what I meant, you brats! Whatever." He muttered the last bit, apparently deciding that we weren't worth his time, and spinning to face Naruto. "Did you know, Naruto, that there is a rule in this village, that only you are not allowed to know about?"

"Mizuki, no! Stop. There are children present!

"The rule," he continued, ignoring Iruka "was that no one was to ever tell you that you were the demon fox, the kyuubi no kitsune that destroyed the village twelve years ago and caused so many people to die… what are you doing?" This last bit was directed Sasuke, who had walked up to Naruto after a brief period of freezing in shock. He looked at Naruto carefully, then reached a hand and ruffled his hair. Naruto (and pretty much everyone else) had a 'wtf' look on his face, which increased substantially when Sasuke proceeded to walk behind Naruto and grab his ass. With a yell, Naruto shook himself out of his stupor and began to curse Sasuke, his entire lineage, and told him exactly what his chances of having future children was (no chance in hell) if he did that again, all with frequent cries of 'pervert' interweaved in the speech.

Finally, when Naruto had calmed down slightly (though he was blushing heavily, and my newly awakened yaoi fangirl senses were going into overdrive, Iruka finally asked the question on everyone's mind. "Um…Sasuke, what was that for?"

Sasuke grunted. "Hn. If he was a nine tailed fox, where are the tails? And the ears? And aren't demon foxes supposed to be smart? This is the dobe we're talking about. ("Hey! Teme! Don't call me that damn you!") Besides, are you telling me that the ninjas got scared of that? (at this point, Naruto was pouting, so when Sasuke pointed, he looked kinda cute). Isn't he supposed to be bigger? ("Who're you calling short!?") Naruto, shut up so I can defend you."

"... Teme."

Mizuki glared, then began to laugh hysterically. "You fool! That is exactly what it wants you to think! Then when everyone is unaware, it will kill us all!"

Naruto suddenly chuckled. When we looked at him, he explained. "The Kyuubi, which says it's sealed inside me – how is that possible, Iruka-sensei – says that it thinks you are an idiot, 'coz you knew about him and still treated his host badly. He says that if he ever got out, he would be more inclined to help Sasuke and Hina-chan and Ten-chan, coz they were nice to me." he frowned in concentration, then grinned. "He also says 'brilliant plan, I wish I had thought of it.' Ne, Iruka-sensei, can you tell me how it's sealed in me?"

Iruka looked all too happy to explain, but Mizuki apparently got annoyed that no one was paying any attention to his bitch-fest. With a growl, he suddenly threw the giant shuriken on his back towards Naruto and Sasuke. All our eyes widened, as the shuriken seemed to move in slow motion to Naruto…

…and we watched in fear as it hit Iruka instead, who was shielding the two boys with his own body. Sasuke quickly made seals for a Katon technique, while Tenten pulled out her weapons scroll. I quickly got into the Hyuuga stance.

… and we once again watched in shock as Naruto made a strange hand seal and said, "Stay away from my friends." Suddenly, the place was filled with Naruto clones. Iruka gasped, and I couldn't help but do the same.

The thing about the clone technique is that it's just a sort of illusion. It isn't real, and is mostly there to provide a diversion, or to confuse the enemy. These clones, however, were solid, with individual chakra systems. Even my eyes couldn't tell which was real and which were not.

With so many reinforcements, the battle was over quickly. All the Narutos piled up and beat the shit out of Mizuki, Iruka decided that he could, indeed graduate, and gave Naruto his headband. Then we all went for some ramen (since we had been following Naruto around the whole day, and he didn't have any food, so neither did we. The only place we hadn't followed after him had been the Hokage's tower. I really needed to ask him later how he had managed to get in. Shouldn't there be guards or something, at least?).

We finally ended up having a sleepover at Naruto's house (my dad was so relieved that I was safe that he agreed almost immediately, and the rest of them were orphans.) Tomorrow was the day they decided the teams, so we had a day of to fill our registration form. Then, the day after, we would finally get our teams. I couldn't wait.


And the chapter ends here. Thoughts? Criticism? Puke-y feeling? I would Love to know!

Oh, and this story is mostly a friendship story thing, and they're 12 right now, so the pairing won't be major for a while... but I ship so many pairings that I'm not sure which to make this. Ideas would be welcome... thanks!

Bye!