DD 62: And on the story goes! Thank you all for reading this fan fiction. As it is my first attempt at a multi-chapter fic, most of this is new and nerve wracking for me. Please continue to give me support and feed back! Now, on to the next instance!

NOTE! There will be Japanese terms sprinkled throughout this story so become acquainted with a translator of some sort.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto either the manga or anime. If I did, however, Naruto would have told Hinata his feelings already and they would be a couple.

~xXxXx~

Third Instance: Spying and Tests

Naruto whistled loudly to himself as he walked through the village. It had been another boring day at the academy and Naruto had received another lecture from Iruka-sensei about slacking off. It wasn't like Naruto found the lectures uninformative but he was more of a hands-on learner. Just listening to someone explaining how to use a jutsu was boring; Naruto would rather see it performed. If his tests scores showed one thing it was that Naruto was not a hard thinker. He preferred to jump head first into situations and adapt as it progressed. This style could get him into some messy situations but it always turned out well in the end.

A loud growl from his stomach made Naruto laugh. It was around dinner time and he hadn't eaten anything all day. Naruto decided a trip to his favorite restaurant was in order. He strode down the sprawling streets of Konoha with one goal in mind: get ramen!

"Oy, jisan! One extra-large miso ramen and keep 'em coming!"

"Comin' right up Naruto."

Naruto smiled to himself. He had discovered Ichiraku a few years back and had been a faithful customer ever since. The owner and his daughter had been apprehensive at first but given time, they had warmed up to the hyper active blonde. They always seemed genuinely happy when he came to eat there and talk. Ayame, the owner's daughter, was particularly fond of him and would teasingly call him Naru-chan. It always made him blush.

"Naru-chan!" Ayame grinned at the boy over the counter. "How was your day at the academy? Still giving Iruka trouble?"

Naruto pouted. "C'mon Ayame-chan! I don't cause that much trouble." Ayame laughed at him. Naruto continued to pout but his smile betrayed his real mood. Ayame's father soon placed Naruto's order in front of him. "Arigatou jisan! Itadakimasu!"

Naruto pulled his chopsticks apart and dug into his meal. The feeling of someone's gaze on him made him pause mid bite. He glanced over his shoulder to see if there was anyone standing behind him. When his search yielded no results, Naruto shrugged his shoulders and continued to pig out on his favorite meal.

~xXxXx~

It was a great day in the world of Hyuuga Hinata. She had awoken that morning feeling refreshed and ready to face the day. No one seemed to notice her as she walked about the Hyuuga compound. She waved at Ko as she passed him on her way to grab a quick breakfast before heading to the academy. He noted her good mood and smiled to himself. She had been making some progress since starting at the academy and he was truly happy for the young girl. His smile quickly disappeared as he rounded the corner and spotted Hinata's cousin striding towards him. Neji politely nodded to the main branch member and stepped around him also on his way to the kitchen. Ko sincerely hoped he didn't say anything to upset Hinata's good mood.

"Ohayou gazaimasu Hinata-sama."

Hinata jumped at the voice from behind her. She bowed to her elder cousin. "Ohayou gazaimasu Neji-niisan. A-are you o-on your w-way to g-grab s-some breakfast t-too?"

"Why else would I be following you Hinata-sama?"

Hinata ducked her head to hide her embarrassed blush. She always tried to be kind to her cousin but he seemed insistent on taking her kindness and trampling all over it. Hinata wasn't entirely sure why he had so much resentment towards her. She understood that he had the Caged Bird Seal because he was in the branch house but it wasn't like Hinata could've done anything to prevent that. The gentle girl hated how much disrespect there was between the two branches; main branch members looked down on branch members as being less skilled and branch members looked upon the main branch as being ferocious and cruel. Hinata did her best to treat everyone equally but every member saw this as a weakness and treated her poorly for it.

Once the two Hyuugas had finished their breakfast, they left the compound and started towards the academy. Neji increased his stride and soon was out of Hinata's sight. She sighed in relief and continued on her way. In approximately five minutes, she would arrive on the main street of Konoha and be right behind her secret crush, Uzumaki Naruto. As embarrassing as it was to admit, Hinata left the compound every morning at this specific time so she could walk behind Naruto on their way to the Ninja Academy. It was slightly creepy but it was a habit she had adopted and now it was extremely hard to break. Naruto never seemed to notice her so she continued to follow him.

"I hope Iruka-sensei doesn't have a boring lecture planned for today."

Hinata smiled to herself. She had learned after months of following and watching Naruto quite a bit about him. He trained for long periods of time after they had been dismissed for the day and loved to eat at Ichiraku. He loved the color orange and put his money in a frog change purse. He also loved to pull pranks on his sensei and classmates. Hinata hadn't suffered from any of his pranks so she really didn't mind. She also knew he had a fierce rivalry with Uchiha Sasuke. They made everything into a competition; from test scores to jutsu performances, the two boys were always trying to upstage the other. It was kind of cute in a way. Hinata didn't really have many female friends to compete against and she definitely didn't try to compete against the other girls for Sasuke's attention. She didn't have the less bit of interest in the Uchiha boy. Hinata found Naruto far more interesting than Sasuke could ever be, not that she would admit that out loud or anything.

Soon the two had reached the academy and Hinata lost sight of Naruto in the crowd of children. She sighed in defeat and looked around the crowd for Kiba and Shino. They were the only two friends she had made and she felt most comfortable around them. They never pressured her to talk and respected her privacy. They were truly good friends. Upon spotting them, Hinata hurried over to the two boys. Kiba was playing with Akamaru, his nin-dog, and Shino was observing a fly that was buzzing around his head. She bade them good morning and the three friends headed to their classroom.

"What do ya think we'll be learnin' about today?" Kiba inquired. Akamaru sat upon his partner's head and barked excitedly.

Shino pushed his sunglasses up on his face. "If I recall correctly, we are going to be covering different styles of taijutsu in class."

"Really? Yatta! That sounds awesome!" Kiba looked over at Hinata. "Ne, Hinata-kun? Isn't your taijutsu style exclusive to the Hyuuga clan?"

Hinata nodded. "H-hai. My s-style of taijutsu i-is c-called G-gentle Fist S-style."

"That's cool. Hey, do you think Iruka-sensei will ask you to demonstrate the Gentle Fist style?"

The blue haired girl shook her head furiously back and forth. "I-I hope Iruka-sensei d-doesn't ask m-me to. M-my style i-is only supposed to b-be taught to Hyuuga clan m-members."

"It would be rude to ask you to demonstrate your form without getting proper permission from your clan leader." Shino noted.

Kiba grumbled under his breath about Shino's logic. Hinata, on the other hand, was grateful to the bug boy's help. When introduced to a new idea. Kiba was anxious to learn everything about it but rarely actually paid attention. The idea of showcasing her Gentle Fist in front of the class scared Hinata. It was bad enough that her father considered her a failure; she didn't want her classmates or sensei to think the same. Just thinking on that was making her depressed.

Shino seemed to notice his friend's mood change. He cleared his throat and gestured towards the academy building. "Shall we head inside? It's almost time for class to begin and we do not want to be late."

"You may not want to be late, Shino-kun. I, on the other hand, would rather skip class and sleep."

Hinata giggled softly. "Y-you sound a lot l-like Nara-san, Kiba-kun."

"Nani? I'm nothing like that lazy baka!"

~xXxXx~

Naruto had to admit, the lecture today had been a lot more interesting than usual. Iruka-sensei had explained about the different styles of taijutsu present in the village and even showcased what some of them looked like. Iruka-sensei had mentioned that a girl in his class came from a clan that specialized in a certain kind of taijutsu. What was that girl's name again? It started with an 'H', right?

"Hin…Hin…Hinata?" Naruto slapped his fist into his hand. "Yeah, that was her name! Hinata!"

Naruto swore he heard a girl gasp from behind him; however, when he glanced in the direction the sound had come from, there was no one there. Naruto shrugged his shoulders and went on towards his lonely apartment.

~xXxXx~

Hinata had been following Naruto, again. Everything was like normal; she heard Naruto talking to himself and had been keeping a good distance between them so if he glanced over his shoulder she had enough time to run for cover. Naruto was his happy-go-lucky self as usual. The only thing abnormal that happened today was that Naruto was trying to remember her name! The lecture in class today had apparently gotten Naruto's complete attention, a hard thing to do, and he was trying to remember her name since their sensei had mentioned that her clan used a specific type of taijutsu taught only to her clan. Hinata's heart skipped a beat when he nearly shouted out her name once he had remembered it.

"H-he remembered m-my name…N-Naruto-kun…"

Hinata was off in some sort of day dream involving Naruto and herself. She almost didn't notice that she had arrived back home until Ko greeted her at the entrance. Hinata waved to the man as she passed him and made her way towards her room. She was stopped mid stride when Ko's hand reached out and grasped her shoulder. She looked up at the man in confusion.

"Chotto matte kudasai, Hinata-sama."

Hinata tilted her head to the side. "W-what is it K-Ko?"

"Hiashi-sama wishes to speak with you immediately."

Hinata's face paled at the sound of her father's name. She numbly nodded at her care taker and switched her route to her father's chambers. She could feel her heartbeat increasing with every step she took. All too soon, Hinata stood in front of the closed door to her father's private chambers. Her hand was shaking as she raised it to knock softly on the door. Unsure if she was heard, Hinata gulped and knocked a little bit louder this time.

"Enter."

Hinata jumped at her father's voice. She gulped again and grasped the door handle with her shaking hand. Sliding it open, she quietly stepped inside and bowed to the head of her clan. She stood back up but kept her face bowed out of respect and fear. Hyuuga Hiashi glanced at his eldest daughter with mild interest as she stood uncomfortably before him. He scowled at her bowed head. Even though Hinata was to be the next clan leader, she had no self-confidence and was gentle and kind to others. She was the polar opposite of her younger sister, Hanabi. It was endearing in a way but Hiashi knew that these qualities were looked upon as weaknesses. Despite his best attempts at getting her to toughen up and gain more confidence, she was still far behind in her training compared to Hanabi.

The Hyuuga sighed and stopped his mental ponderings. He looked at his daughter with serious eyes. "Hinata, I wish to discuss the Genin exams coming up."

"H-hai Otou-sama."

Hiashi mentally groaned at Hinata's stutter. He pushed his aggravated thoughts to the side for now and continued on. "It will not be acceptable if you do not pass this exam. As heir to the Hyuuga clan, you must be at the top of your class and show just how powerfully our clan is."

"H-hai Otou-sama!" Hinata said again. She gathered up all her courage and addressed her father. "Ano…i-is that a-all Otou-sama? M-may I g-go?"

"Yes Hinata, you are dismissed."

The shy girl bowed gratefully to her father and made her escape. She scurried around the Hyuuga compound and spoke not a word to any who passed her. Hinata slipped into her room silently and prepared for bed. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

~xXxXx~

Naruto was beyond depressed. Not only had he failed the Genin exam, again,but he also over heard the other new Genin talking about him, again. Why did they always get into groups and discuss him like he wasn't even within earshot? Were they that insensitive?

Over the years, Naruto had become accustomed to the hushed whispers and glares of the older villagers. It did hurt some when he started attending the Academy when the other children seemed to have no interest in hanging around him. Whether it was due to their parents' influence or their own opinions, the children of Konoha avoided contact with the blonde boy. Only a handful of people even spoke to the boy. To his great disappointment, his obvious and very well-known crush, Haruno Sakura, was not part of this exclusive group. If anything, she avoided him more than anyone. It was depressing beyond words.

Naruto stayed in his little world of angst for a while before Mizuki-sensei made himself known to the young boy. After a few minutes of conversation, Naruto felt a surge of hope flow through him. If what Mizuki-sensei said was true, maybe there was still a chance of becoming a shinobi and fulfilling his life-long dream of becoming Hokage! Then the others villagers, and especially Sakura-chan, would have to acknowledge him! This plan was foolproof!

…Or so Naruto thought.

After successfully obtaining the Forbidden Scroll from the Hokage tower, Naruto hid himself in the vast forest that encompassed the village and began to look over the scroll. Mizuki-sensei said he had to learn and master at least one jutsu from this scroll and then he would be promoted to Genin. Any jutsu would do! Naruto scanned the first part of the scroll and groaned.

"Nooo! Not the clone jutsu! That's my worst technique!"

Naruto sighed and returned his attention to the scroll. After reading over the instructions, he began to practice the jutsu. It took more chakra than he expected but sure enough, a solid and perfect clone of himself stood in front of him. Well, more like twenty perfect clones of him.

"Huh," Naruto mused, "That's weird. Why did I make so many clones this time around?"

He didn't have a lot of time to ponder this outcome as soon Iruka-sensei came crashing through the trees demanding what Naruto thought he was doing.

It was going to be a long night.

~xXxXx~

Hinata stared at herself in the mirror. Around her neck hung her new Konoha hitai-ate. It seemed so surreal having it there. It would take her some time to get used to having the hitai-ate around her neck, proudly telling the world that she was a kunoichi of Konoha. She did feel proud, but her father's disappointment at her not being at the top of her class slightly eclipsed her joy.

Shaking her head, Hinata turned from the mirror and made her way out of the compound. Ko wished her luck as she passed him. She gave him a nervous smile but kept on walking. Luckily for her, Neji was out of the village on a mission with his team and was not there to make her day or confidence any worse. Thank goodness for small miracles.

Hinata felt her shoulders slump slightly as she walked towards the Academy. In all of her excitement this morning, Hinata had almost forgotten that Naruto had not passed the exam the day before. All of her hopes of being on a team with Naruto seemed completely dashed away. With any luck, maybe she'll be on a team with Kiba and Shino!

The quiet girl entered the classroom and stopped dead in her tracks. There, sitting right beside Uchiha Sasuke, was Uzumaki Naruto. An identical hitai-ate was tied around his forehead and a happy and somewhat goofy smile was plastered across his face.

Hope rekindled within her and she continued on to her usual seat in the back of the class. She sat and immediately lost herself in thought.

~xXxXx~

Iruka couldn't help but smile at all of the faces that sat in front of him. Many were filled with pride (i.e. Naruto) while others were filled with humility and hope (i.e. Hinata). It saddened the Chunin knowing that the shy Hyuuga girl sincerely hoped that she would be placed on the same Genin team with the hyper-active blonde. He took small comfort knowing that she would be with two of her closest friends on her own team.

Clearing his throat, Iruka waited until all of the class had calmed down. "Alright everyone! First off, let me congratulate you on passing the Genin Exam!"

~xXxXx~

DD 62: I apologize profusely for taking so long to update! Unfortunately, this story takes a little more planning and creativity to write and I am currently working on another chapter story to be posted. Again, sorry! But, I will hopefully have the next chapter started soon and, with any luck, be posted before you know it! Until then, farewell!