Chapter 4
I do not own Naruto, or any of its characters.
Naruto and Hinata were walking through the woods, Naruto occasionally stumbling as he adjusted to having four sets of eyes. Whenever he would stumble Hinata would help to steady him before Naruto started walking again with Hinata following his lead. They were both quiet for a while until a wave of dizziness crashed over Naruto again, this time sending him to earth.
"Naruto!" Hinata cried as she managed to catch him in time before he hit the ground.
Naruto looked up at her as he and all his clones thought, "Damn she's cute."
"A-are you ok N-Naruto-kun?" She asked.
"I'm fine, just getting used to this. It seems to get harder to get used to the more I progress. Thanks for catching me." He said calmly.
"You shouldn't push yourself." Hinata said in a worried tone.
"I'm fine, anyways…I wanted to talk to you about the other day but I didn't know how to start." He said as he stood.
Hinata started to blush and turn away remembering what had happened as she said, "F-forget it. It was nothing."
"It wasn't, it meant something to you, I could tell. Look, I understand you have liked me for a while and I was an idiot for not realizing it." Naruto put a hand behind his head as he continued. "I'm just not used to this because I was always alone."
"Naruto…" Hinata started but Naruto kept going.
Naruto was now poking his two index fingers together like he did when he was nervous as he said, "I may not care for you like you do for me now, but I've always respected you for trying so hard to be a ninja and I really like you as a friend. I think your cute too so if you'll give me a chance I'll try come to understand you better and care for you like you do for me. I mean…ahhh it's not coming out right. What I mean to say is I like you so will you go out with me?"
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata screamed as she hugged him as tears streamed down her face.
Naruto was caught off guard but eventually returned the hug. They stayed that way for a while as Naruto's clones all smiled to themselves as they helped to rebuild the village. When they broke apart Naruto looked at Hinata and said, "So I take it that's a yes?"
6 months later
Naruto had been working with Kakashi, tirelessly trying to learn Genjutsu and figure out how to unlock his last three paths. They were going over all of Lord Pain's different paths abilities, trying to find some sort of clues.
"Well I already unlocked the Deva path, Preta path, and my Animal path. What were the other ones again?"
"There was the Human path, Naraka path, and the Asura path. We know the Human path could steal soul's and report's say it could read the mind of its victims before stealing their soul. The Naraka path summoned a Genjutsu that was so advanced it could kill you if you lied or didn't answer anything the user asked. Finally the Asura path was almost like a robot. As far as its abilities there are no reports of anything other then the weapons used from its mechanical body. Speaking of your animal path Naruto are you planning on adding and more to your list of summons or are you sticking with the toads from Mount Myoboku?"
"Huh? Oh, I figured I would just stick with the toads. If I have to I'll add more later but I kinda don't know how to right now." Naruto said causing Kakashi to sweat drop before he continued, "Kakashi-sensei, the Naraka path, is that why I'm learning Genjutsu?"
"That and I believe that the Human path's mind reading was another form of advanced Genjutsu similar to the mind reading Ninjutsu of the Yamanaka clan. I had a theory that learning Genjutsu would help you to unlock both path's but so far…no such luck. Though I do admit you are getting quite good at Genjutsu. At this rate you may surpass Sasuke, although we have no information on his ability to used Genjutsu at the moment."
"Sasuke…" Naruto started then quickly looked at Kakashi, "Well why not? You even said yourself I'm getting good at Genjutsu, so why have I not unlocked another path?"
"While he did say that Naruto you still have a long way to go and it could be that both techniques are not Genjutsu at all but Ninjutsu. After all they are only theories." Neji interjected.
"Or maybe you don't have the right motivation." Kakashi said thinking to himself.
"What Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked confused.
"Naruto I think you need a break from training." Kakashi said before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
"Great he goes all cryptic then disappears." Naruto said sounding exasperated.
"Why don't we spar while he's gone?" Neji asked.
"Why not." Naruto said getting into a Taijutsu stance.
Neji followed into a Taijutsu stance of his own as he said, "This training has actually helped me almost as much as its helped you Naruto."
"I've noticed, but I'm still going to kick your ass." He chided.
"We'll see Naruto." Was Neji's response.
Naruto performed a shadow clone Jutsu, making three clones appear. He saw the now familiar split of his vision then instantly on the attack. The real Naruto created a Rasengan which he managed to perfect without the used of a clone during his training with Kakashi and Neji with the help of his Rinnegan. The Doujutsu really helped him not only learn Genjutsu but increased his chakra control drastically. Neji was dodging Naruto's animal path as he noticed Naruto's Preta path run behind him. Neji was about to do his Rotation technique when suddenly Naruto's Animal path ducked just as his Deva path jumped at him.
The Deva path then raised his hands as it said, "Push."
Neji was blasted into the air by the sudden attack. As he flew through the air Naruto's Preta path jumped and caught him by the arms, stopping his flight and ceasing his arms from moving as it already started to drain his chakra. As the Preta path and Neji landed the real Naruto lunged forward with his Rasengan. Just before it made contact with Neji's abdomen, Hinata appeared.
"Hinata-chan!" Naruto called out as he dispersed his Rasengan and ran over to her.
"Hey Naruto-kun…" Was all she got out before Naruto pressed a kiss to her lips.
With the battle forgotten Naruto's clones let Neji go. As he stood and saw the two kiss he groaned saying, "Do you really have to do that in front of me? She is my cousin you know! By the way Naruto we were sparring and you just walked away."
"Tch, I was about to win anyways. Be glad I saved you the humiliation in front of your cousin." Naruto said sarcastically.
"I'll have you next time Naruto." Neji said as Naruto returned his attention to Hinata who, even though was over her stuttering, still blushed madly when Naruto kissed her.
Suddenly Kakashi reappeared before them holding a scroll. He smiled at the couple as he said, "Naruto we have a mission."
"What about my training?" Naruto said angrily even though he was glad for the distraction from his training.
"It's on hold until we get back." Kakashi replied.
"Who's going?"
"It'll be a three man cell consisting of you, Sakura, and myself. Now go home and rest, we leave in the morning." Kakashi said before disappearing again.
The next morning Naruto met Sakura by the gate. He showed up in his usual orange and black attire but was also wearing his customary cloak as proof of his sage-hood. Now though it held the Uzumaki clan symbol on the back. Sakura was stunned by how the simple addition to his normal clothes made him seem older.
"Hey Sakura, looks like Kakashi-sensei is late as always." He said to her.
"Huh? Oh yea, like always." She said as she ignored how he left off the usual suffix since him and Hinata started dating. She felt her jealousy rising up again but quickly dismissed it as thoughts of Sasuke made her feel guilty for feeling jealous.
"I wonder what the mission is?" Naruto said, snapping Sakura out of her thoughts.
"I don't know, Kakashi-sensei didn't tell me."
"Me either."
The two ninja waited for another half an hour before Kakashi appeared in a cloud of smoke.
"Its about time!" Sakura said sounding exasperated.
"Oh sorry, I was on my way here when this old lady needed help with her groceries, then her cat ran away and…"Kakashi said rubbing the back of his head.
"SHUT IT!" Both the blond and pink haired ninja shouted in unison as they interrupted Kakashi.
"Sheesh, what is this mission anyways Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked crossing his arms.
Just then Kakashi grew serious but at the same time looked bored as he said, "We have heard reports of another Rogue Ninja organization making moves to destroy Konoha in its weakened state. This is an A-rank mission to recover any information possible. Naruto they may not be Akatsuki but they are ninja powerful enough to destroy Konoha if left unchecked which is why this is an A-rank mission, therefore be on guard and don't take them lightly."
"Well what are we waiting for? LETS GO!" Naruto said excited as he ran ahead.
"Wait up Naruto!" Sakura screamed as she chased after him.
Kakashi watched them run ahead. When they were a good distance a way he smirked under his mask as he said, "This should be just what Naruto needs, I just hope he doesn't kill them before he figures out the truth." That said he smiled under his mask again as he moved to catch up to them.
