Back again with more; I really like how this one turned out. I got an idea from ShadowFaux who thought it would be good for Naruto to get some payback on Neji.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 3)

By the time Naruto had regained consciousness the sun was setting. He was annoyed to find he was back in the same dumpster he had woken up in this morning.

'Not again. Neji I'm gonna get you for this.'

He climbed out of the dumpster, pulling an old banana peel off of his shoulder and tossing it aside. Naruto grumbled to himself because he now had to wash up again. As he made his way home he ran into Kiba who was taking Akamaru for a walk.

Akamaru was the first to notice Naruto and ran over to greet him. But when he got too close he noticed the odd smell Naruto had acquired and stopped to sniff the air. Kiba walked over and waved at the other boy.

"Hey Naruto!"

As he got closer, Akamaru turned and barked at Kiba. Kiba stopped to sniff the air and then cringed. He sets his eyes on Naruto and pinched his nose to keep himself from smelling the foul odor.

"Ugh! You're right Akamaru!"

Naruto tilted his head in confusion, "Huh? What did he say?"

"He said you stink and he was right! When was the last time you took a bath!?"

Naruto would have answered, telling him that he had bathed that morning. But the boy would have been curious as to why he stunk so badly after only one day. And the fact was he really didn't want to tell Kiba that Neji had beaten him up and tossed him into a dumpster twice because of what he had been doing with Hinata. Naruto knew that if he told Kiba what he had been doing to Hinata the Inuzuka boy would hurt him. After all, Kiba is her team mate and friend.

So instead Naruto lied, "I got Sakura angry at me and she chased me across some rooftops. She caught up to me and hit me and I kinda fell into a dumpster.

Kiba bought it. He had seen Sakura chase Naruto around whenever she got mad at him. He laughed at bit at his friend's misfortune.

"So what did you do to make her so mad?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Besides I have to get going, I need to wash off."

"Yeah you probably should. See ya."

Naruto and Kiba went their separate ways. As Naruto made his way home he tried to think of ways to get even with Neji. His first idea was to cut the Hyuga's hair or maybe dye it pink while he slept. No, that wouldn't work. The Hyuga estate was huge and he had no idea where Neji's room would be, let alone how he was going to get in. Plus, there was bound to be someone up at night to keep watch and whoever it was would probably have the Byakugan. So much for that idea.

He kept thinking, but to no avail. None of the ideas he came up with would work. There was either some flaw in them or they just didn't seem good enough. By the time he reached the building his apartment was in he was ready to just forget the whole thing.

Naruto went up to his apartment and changed out of his dirty clothes and washed up for the second time that day. Throwing on his pajamas he climbed into bed and went to sleep.

Morning came and Naruto went about his morning rituals. Get up, get dressed, and eat instant ramen for breakfast. There wasn't a note on his table this morning, but then again there was no need for one. The next task was pretty easy. All he had to do was squirt Hinata with some water and say that she had wet her pants. He'd get it over with nice and quick and then lay low for the rest of the day. He really didn't want Neji to put him back in that dumpster.

Having finished his breakfast he left; not bothering to clean up his mess. Once outside the building he noticed a foul smell coming from a trashcan next to the door. Recognizing the odor he groaned in annoyance. It wasn't the first time this had occurred. The blonde approached the trashcan cautiously and peered inside. As he expected, there was an animal stuck in the trashcan. It was roughly the size of a house cat and had black and white fur.

Naruto was used to finding these little creatures in the trashcans. They would go through the garbage at night, looking for food and if the trashcan was almost empty, they would often get stuck in them. The animal looked up at Naruto and he quickly backed away from it, not wanting to be subjected to the creature's unique style of self defense.

Suddenly Naruto remembered his vain attempts to think up a way to get even with Neji. He grinned as an idea quickly formed in his mind. He formed his signature hand seals and created two shadow clones. The clones tied the trash bag in a loose knot and removed it from the can. The three Narutos set off, their destination was the training field Neji's team used. The two clones carried the bag with the little animal in it, being somewhat reckless but not enough so to risk hurting it. Naruto only wanted it to be shaken up and irritated, not hurt.

They soon arrived at their destination. Naruto took a hiding place among the trees while his clones tied the bag to a low tree branch, letting it hang down just barely above the ground. Their job done, the clones vanished in puffs of smoke while the real Naruto sat and waited. He only hoped that Neji was the first to arrive to the training grounds. If his sensei or teammates showed up before he did, he'd have to abandon his plan.

Luck was on his side as Neji calmly walked into the area, alone. The Hyuga immediately noticed the black trash bag hanging from a tree branch not to far from him.

He also noticed that there was movement from within the bag. Being both curious and cautious he activated the Byakugan, the veins around his eyes bulging. He focused his enhanced eyesight on the bag. Seeing through it he found that the contents were some garbage and…one skunk.

The skunk was struggling to get out of the bag. Neji deactivated the Byakugan and thought of how to deal with the situation. He would want to get rid of the animal before the others showed up. Knowing Lee he would try to let the skunk out and most likely get sprayed in the process. And while the idea of that happening was somewhat amusing to Neji, he really didn't want to train with someone that smelled like a skunk.

So Neji took it upon himself to set the animal free. Thinking over the matter quickly, he assessed the best method would be to calmly approach the bag and untie it from the tree. He would then set the bag down and carefully let the creature out, making sure to jump away the second it poked its head out of the bag.

Naruto watched on as Neji cautiously approached the trapped skunk. He stealthily removed a kunai from its holster and waited for Neji to get closer to the bag.

Neji had reached the bag. He took hold of it and began to untie it, making sure not to jostle the skunk around, lest he should irritate it. From his hiding place, Naruto saw his opportunity and threw his kunai. Neji saw the movement out of the corner of his eye and stepped back. However the kunai was never meant to hit him. It cut through the knot in the bag, causing it to fall to the ground. The skunk, now free, thought Neji was the reason for its uncomfortable treatment and sprayed the Hyuga with its pungent musk.

Neji cringed and let out a cry in disgust as he was sprayed. The skunk, satisfied with its work, waddled off. From the trees Neji heard the sound of laughter. Recognizing it as Naruto, Neji fumed. Activating the Byakugan he found the laughing boy and lunged. He struck hard with a gentle fist attack only to watch Naruto vanish with a puff of smoke. It had been a shadow clone; the real Naruto had left the second he threw the kunai, leaving a clone behind as a diversion.

Neji grumbled and made a mental note to kill Naruto the next time he saw him. He could have easily gone after him, but decided against it due to his current smell. He wasn't about to run around smelling like a skunk, he did have dignity after all. He made a beeline for the Hyuga estate for the sole purpose of ridding himself of the foul odor he now carried.

Meanwhile the real Naruto had gotten a good distance away. Confident that Neji wasn't chasing him; he slowed down and came to a stop. He took a seat on a nearby bench and laughed; Neji's reaction had been priceless. He only regretted that he hadn't gotten it on video so he could show it to everyone.

Naruto got back up; now that he had pranked Neji he had to get to work on his task. He needed to get it done quickly since Neji would probably be on the look out for him. And so he went off in search of Hinata.

----------

At team 8's training grounds, Kiba, Akamaru, Shino and Kurenai all stood waiting the arrival of the last member of their 4 man cell, Hinata. Once she arrived, Kurenai addressed her students.

"Today we will be working on something a little different. Kiba and Shino, you will be learning how to use offensive jutsu as a form of defense. Hinata, you'll be working on medical jutsu with Sakura Haruno at the hospital. Kiba, Shino, you two go and warm up while I talk with Hinata about her training since she'll be heading out soon."

The boys did as they were told and Kurenai took Hinata aside. Once she was sure she was out of earshot of the boys, Kurenai knelt down to be at eye level with Hinata.

"Hinata, before we talk about your training, I need to talk to you about an important matter. Naruto told me you haven't been getting much sleep lately. Are you feeling ill?"

Hinata shook her head, "N-no, I feel fine sensei. Um, I-I'm not having any trouble sleeping."

Now confused, Kurenai questioned what Hinata meant. She told her sensei everything that had occurred in the past two days, starting with Naruto's offer to train with her and his signs of 'affection'. Kurenai's first response was to find the orange clad ninja and give him a piece of her mind. However she restrained herself and took a second to think things through. There just might have been a reason behind all this. Of course there was only one reason Kurenai could think for Naruto's actions.

"Well Hinata, if anything I'd say that Naruto is picking on you. But that may not necessarily be a bad thing. Sometimes boys pick on girls they like."

Hinata blushed, "N-Naruto-kun likes me!?"

Kurenai nodded, "That could very well be the case. He's probably doing these things as a means of getting your attention, Hinata. But that doesn't mean you should just let him do whatever he wants. If he does something that really bothers you, don't be afraid to tell him to stop it. I'll even help you. I'll go and have a word with Kakashi after I'm done training Kiba and Shino today. Now you should get going; Sakura is waiting for you at the hospital."

Hinata thanked her sensei for the advice and left for the hospital. As she traveled a thought crossed her mind, Sakura was Naruto's teammate. Maybe she knew if Naruto was doing all this because he liked her. It was worth a try to ask.

She reached the hospital where Sakura was waiting for her at the front door. They greeted each other and went inside to start Hinata's lessons. Hinata decided to wait to talk to Sakura and focused on her training. She was progressing nicely and had already mastered the basics of necessary chakra control. After an hour Sakura gave Hinata a quick break; during which Hinata made her move.

"Um, Sakura?"

"Yeah?"

"C-could I talk to you…i-in private?"

Sakura agreed and the two went to the girl's bathroom. Meanwhile Naruto was waiting just around the corner. He had seen Hinata while she was on her way to the hospital and had followed her. While she was receiving her lessons from Sakura, Naruto had hidden in an air vent to spy on them. Once he saw the girls leave he came out of the vent and followed. Now he just had to wait for Hinata to leave the bathroom; then he would strike. Naruto had a fully loaded water gun in his hand and was more than ready for the simple task that lay ahead.

Inside the bathroom Sakura and Hinata had started talking. Unfortunately for Hinata, Sakura had no idea about Naruto's feelings for her. Sakura asked why she wanted to know and Hinata told her everything she had told Kurenai. She had barely gotten past the part where Naruto first slapped her butt when Sakura got furious.

"WHAT!? WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON HIM…!! "

Outside the bathroom, Naruto felt a sudden chill run up his spine.

Back in the girl's bathroom Hinata calmed Sakura down and let her know that Kurenai was going to speak with Kakashi about it. Having settled that the two agreed they needed to get back to work. Sakura noticed out of the corner of her eye that she had a zit and, not wanting to be seen with it, decided to pop it while Hinata went ahead.

Hinata left the bathroom and barely made it two steps when Naruto jumped out and squirted her in the pants with his squirt gun. He laughed as he hit his mark.

"Hey look! Hinata-chan wet herself!"

Hinata blushed. Thankfully there wasn't anyone around to see it. She turned around to go back into the bathroom to try and wipe the wet spot off and Naruto, seeing another opportunity, shot the squirt gun again. With amazing aim, he hit her between the legs from behind with another squirt of water. The wet spot was now larger than it was before and he was laughing his head off. This task was actually kind of fun.

Hinata ran back into the bathroom before Naruto could get her again. Inside, Sakura had popped her zit and used her healing jutsu to rid herself of any mark that may have been left over. It was as if the zit had never been there. Satisfied she turned and saw Hinata as well as the wet spot on her pants.

"Hinata! What happened?"

"U-um, well Naruto-kun…"

That was all that Sakura needed to hear. She had a pretty good idea of what happened and was going to confront her teammate about it. She grabbed some paper towels and gave them to Hinata.

"Here, you try to dry that off. I'm going to talk to him."

Hinata opened her mouth to tell Sakura not to, but stopped herself. Sakura noticed this and knowing how Hinata felt about the blonde, gave her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry I'm only going to talk to him."

Outside, Naruto was awaiting Hinata. He knew she was probably trying to wipe the water off of herself and thought it would be funny to squirt her again after she left. Then he would take off and lay low for the remainder of the day. He didn't want to take any chances.

He saw the bathroom door open and took his shot. He hit his target and began laughing again. Hinata was making this too easy. However it didn't take long to notice that it wasn't Hinata he had just squirted. It had been Sakura…and she looked mad.

"NA-RU-TO!"

It was at this time Naruto followed his instincts and ran for his life. He bolted out of the hospital with Sakura close on his heels. She chased him over half of the village when Naruto's luck ran out.

Neji was walking down the street when Naruto ran right into him. Seeing the blonde genin, Neji grabbed hold of him and prepared to get him back for what he did that morning. However Sakura showed up at that second and seeing that she was furious with Naruto as well, Neji handed him over to her. Wanting to help he led her to the alleyway that was home to the dumpster he had thrown Naruto in during the past two days.

He turned to face the kunoichi, "When you're done with him just toss him in here."

Sakura smiled wickedly, liking the idea. Neji watched on with satisfaction as Sakura thrashed Naruto, savoring his cries of pain. When she was done she tossed his now beaten and bruised body in the dumpster. Sakura thanked Neji for his help and the two went their separate ways.

Kiba, who was being sent out to get Hinata to join the rest of the team for lunch, saw the whole thing and burst into laughter. He went over and helped his friend out of the dumpster.

"Hey Naruto, didn't you say that Sakura did this to you just yesterday?"

Naruto grumbled as Kiba continued to laugh at his expense. Naruto started to walk back to his house but was limping slightly. Kiba helped him home and then went back to get Hinata. She just had to hear about this.

TBC

Okay, okay I know some of you must be like "What again with the dumpster?!" well I assure you it will be the last time. After all I think enough is enough. Next chapter is gonna be fun to write so I hope to have it up soon.