Hinata sat against the middle post at Training Ground Seven, Naruto's cloak hanging from it. When her sensei had told her of the requested meeting, she went immediately, even though she had almost a two-hour wait before he said he was going to show up. It was quarter after seven now and she had stopped wondering what he wanted to talk about half an hour ago, instead her mind turned to remembering how he looked without his cloak. Need less to say, her blush put roses to shame.

As time ticked by, these thoughts gradually progressed. 'His chest and arms are so toned, but not bulky. What I wouldn't give to just be held by those strong arms, and rest my head on his shoulder. I can only imagine what the rest of him looks like with all the training it would have taken to look like that. Then again, I could always take a peek.' A small trickle of bleed came from her nose, which she quickly whipped away. 'No Hinata, bad thoughts, I can't do that to him, no matter how badly I want to. He wouldn't want me to and it could ruin my chances with him.' Try as she might though, she couldn't get the image out of her head, even when the real thing came walking up to her.

"I was tied to that post a few months ago." His voice shook her out of her thoughts. "We were all supposed to be, but I got caught trying to steal food from the lunches Kakashi-sensei brought." Hinata giggled at this and he smiled. "You're actually earlier than I expected, not that I mind though, it's a nice change of pace from the constantly late sensei of mine." He sat against the same post, just to her right.

"Y…you said you w…wanted to talk about something N…Naruto?"

"Yeah, but before that, could you look and see if anyone's around? What I have to say is really important and I don't want too many people to know." She nodded and activated her Byakugan, seeing no one, she turned it off and shook her head slightly. "Thanks, first thing first, I was wondering if you had a top on?" He slapped his hands over his mouth as Hinata's eyes rolled to the back of her head and her head fell on to his shoulder.

While he waited for her to wake up, he was unsure what to do. Kyuubi wasn't helping matters either, he was laughing his ass off from inside his cage. 'Oh my Kit, you have such a way with words.'

'It's not that funny Kyuubi, if she thinks that I am that perverted, she could kill me.' He felt her start to stir and looked to find her lavender eyes open and her face a dark red, almost brown. His face was a light maroon. "I'm so sorry Hinata, I didn't mean anything perverted I swear. I was asking because if you were, I was hoping you would show me your wings." Her face toned down a bit and a small smile appeared on her lips.

"I…it's al…alright Naruto. I know y…you're not that kind of p…person." He stood up saying thanks and held out his hand to help her up. She took it and was amazed by the feel of it. It was rough, but warm. At the same time, the soft silk-like feel of hers amazed him.

She released the genjutsu and spread her white wings. The shirt she had on was not something Naruto had never imaged Hinata would wear. It was pale blue with it wrapping rather loosely around the abdomen with it only covering the front and sides of the chest, being held up by two spaghetti stings tied behind her neck. What Naruto first took notice of was what any male would, Hinata was well develop, but he quickly looked away. Her wings were as white as freshly fallen snow, his view went back to her face. "Even if I was desperate, that wouldn't look good on me." He smiled when she giggled again. "All joking aside, you are probably the only one our age that can pull that look off." Their blushed returned, at a fairly lower level.

"Okay, if you want you can put the genjutsu back up, either way I'll get to why I asked you here." She nodded and reapplied the genjutsu. "These wings were given to us by fallen angels for unknown reasons. Fallen angels live in a world alongside ours and kill both demons and angels because they're jealous that those groups were given a realm in which to reside. They also gave us power, I'm not sure what though. Now I have some bad news as well, the fallen angels gave us both power because if only one were to receive it, the world would be thrown out of balance and would be destroyed. I'm not sure how it works when we die, and I'd prefer not having to find out. There's one more thing that could be good or bad news depending on how you look at it, you were given the power to kill me if you want to."

"Wh…why would I, a…and h…how do you know all this?"

"Actually, it's the same answer to both. You remember the stories of the Nine-tailed Fox?" She nodded. "What we were told was a lie. Yondaime may have been the strongest Kage ever, but he was still human, and no human can kill a demon, let alone a Bijuu, instead he did the next best thing, he sealed it. The problem with this is that the only thing strong enough to contain a being as strong as Kyuubi is a human body. Now since a young child to adults chakra coils are developed, placing a demon in them is impossible because it's chakra is too strong and would tear them apart, freeing the demon. So the only option is a newborn, they alone can hold a demon because their chakra coils will develop to withstand the demonic chakra." Hinata saw how the sadness consumed him as he continued. "Unfortunately, only one baby was born the day the fox attacked, it was me. I hold the strongest of all demons in my stomach, that's why you were given the power to kill me, in case I couldn't handle both his and their power."

Hinata was horrified. 'How could he do that to a child?' "Is that way almost everyone warns me to stay away from you? Why they give you such looks when you walk down the street." He nodded slowly while staring down at the ground. Of all the things he thought she might do, he never thought of what she did do. She wrapped her arms around him, he could feel her tears running down his chest. "I don't care, you will always be you. I promise, you won't have to face this alone anymore."

He wrapped his arms around her as well. "Hinata, thank you." They stayed like this for a few moments when Naruto grinned. "You know Hinata, you didn't stutter once the last time you spoke.

Hinata smiled too. "Your right, and I won't from now on either."

They both let go and Naruto went to get his cloak. "Be sure to keep the blush though, I think it kind of cute." Those words made her blush and he smiled seeing it. "Come on, I'll buy you dinner."

At this Hinata smirked, it was one that eerily similar to the second examiner's. "Why Naruto, I do believe you asked me on a date."

Naruto chuckled. "What happened to the shy quiet Hinata?"

"She found what she was missing, confidence, purpose, and acknowledgement. There is one thing that I still hope to find, but I'm not telling you what yet."

He shrugged. "Fair enough." Suddenly, a large smile appeared on his face and a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes. "We need to find Kiba."

"Why?"

"I have something on Sasuke and he's the only one I know who can spread it fast enough that isn't part of his fan club. Normally I'd do it myself, but after today, I think he could use a good shot at the Uchiha's pride." A massive wave of killing intent rushed over them, causing Hinata to shake in fear, but Naruto seemed unaffected.

'Kit, I think it's the redhead Suna boy, but there's something else about it, something familiar. Your friend doesn't seem to be able to handle killing intent at such high levels, flare your chakra to lessen the effect on her.' Naruto let off a burst of chakra that was visible to Hinata even without her Byakugan active.

"Hinata, I have to check that out, I'll understand if you don't want to come. Just so you know, our furry friend thinks that it's Gaara." She was hesitant and he smiled at her before taking off towards the source. Minutes later, Hinata was running along the rooftops by his side. "I told you that you didn't have to come."

"Like I'm going to let you face him alone. You saw what he was capable of."

"No offence Hinata, but I doubt either of us will make much difference if he that determined to kill. With any luck, a large enough flare of chakra will stop him, or at least slow him till Anbu get there, if they aren't already. Hopefully they are, because 'large enough' could include his chakra, and that would draw the attention of Anbu, and probably the old man himself."

"Who do you think he's after?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say Kiba. I'm only saying this because when Kiba forfeited, almost everyone, including his teammates from what I could tell, didn't notice his disappointment at not being able to fight. Though I don't blame them for not seeing it, it was subtle, only visible in his eyes for a moment."

When they found the source, they saw it was indeed Gaara and Kiba. The dog-boy was doing everything in his power to keep from getting caught by the sand. "Fight me coward!" Gaara launched another wave of sand at Kiba.

"Gaara, stop this!" Naruto flared a large amount of chakra, the only reaction being the redhead looking in his direction.

"This doesn't concern you Uzumaki, if you get in my way I will kill you!"

"Just because you weren't able to fight earlier doesn't give you the right to kill him! If you don't stop, I'll make you!"

"You believe you can? You know my power, but I have a real demon inside of me. Because of this, I love only myself and that makes me strong. You who fight for others can never beat me."

'So that it, he holds a demon as well.' "Gaara, you think you are the only one to know of loneliness, of the darkness? I know of both intimately, and it's because of my friends that I escaped them, you don't have to be alone, if you let people get close you can be saved as well."

"No, you lie! I can only love myself, I must kill to prove I'm alive. Mother will feast on your blood Uzumaki!" The sand rushed towards Naruto and Hinata, but before the sand encased them, Naruto pushed her out of the way. "Sabaku Kyu." Hinata and Kiba stared in fear as they knew what was going to happen next. Gaara raised his hand and clenched his fist. "Sabaku Soso." The sand compressed, but unlike the first time they saw it, no blood exploded from it. Gaara's face contorted into a frown. He turned his head quickly to find Naruto standing right behind him, his Suna no Tate being held back by what appeared to be a wall of red chakra. What really grabbed Gaara's attention though, was that Naruto eyes glowed red.

Naruto leaned forward so his mouth was near Gaara's ear, not wanting to be over heard by Kiba. "By your control over sand, I would say you contain Shukaku. He is also the most likely choice since you're from Suna, but know this, Kyuubi and I do not take threats lightly." Gaara's eyes widened as he heard Shukaku whimper and felt something he hadn't in years, fear. "Leave now, I would prefer not to have to kill you, it would be such a waste to kill such a worthy opponent." Gaara just nodded and disappeared in a swirl of sand. The chakra vanished and his eyes bled back to their normal blue. "You guys alright?"

Kiba's stared at Naruto in shock. "How did you do that?"

"Do what, get him to leave or survive that attack?"

"Both."

"First, that was a Kage Bunshin, Hinata came with it, and I was following behind. As for getting him to leave, it quite simple, he probably thought that it was actually me and when he saw that I was alive, he got scared."

Kiba shook his head while he smiled. "Sometimes I forget why you're such a great prankster."

Naruto smiled too. "Thank you, but that wasn't nearly as good as what I have in store for my next trick. For it though, I need your help Kiba, you in?"

"That depends, who's in against, and what do you need my help for?"

"Ah, to answer both, take a look at this." He pulls a picture from his pants pocket and hands it to the dog-boy. Said boy looks at it and starts to laugh hysterically. Hinata's curiosity getting the better of her takes a look and then looks at Naruto.

"Did you henge Kage Bunshin to take this."

Naruto shook his head. "If I did, I would have put them in more 'suggestive' positions. I took that of them in the Forest of Death. Kiba, what I need you to do is spread it, you are the only one I know who can fast enough, that's not in his fanclub. So, will you do it?"

"Hell yeah, not only did you just save my ass, but this has got to be the best bit of blackmail ever, and against Sasuke no less, it's priceless. Please tell me you made more than this one."

"Of course, can't spread it if there aren't copies." He pulled out two scrolls. "There are about a hundred in each, just channel some chakra into them and they'll come out. How long do you think it will take to get that to every corner of Konoha?"

"End of tomorrow tops."

Naruto smirked evilly, "Actually Kiba, hold off on distributing them until just before the Finals, it won't do to have the intended target not see one. Any earlier and the fangirls will have all but one burned, that one will be hanging in Sakura's room, and she won't let anyone see it."

"Deal, so where were you going before you came here?"

"We were looking for you, and then going to go get dinner, you're welcome to join us if Naruto doesn't mind." Kiba looked at her shocked before turning to Naruto.

"Naruto, did you make a clone look like Hinata?" Naruto shook his head and Kiba looked back towards Hinata. "Then something isn't right here, she barely ever talks without a stutter and can barely go a few minutes with you without fainting. The blush is there though, and she smells like Hinata." He took on a thoughtful expression before smirking and looking back at Naruto. "Does this mean she finally told you?"

Hinata's blush increased. "She didn't say it, but what she did say and do was enough for me to know."

"I don't understand how you didn't before, I swear everyone but you knew."

"Alright boys, if were going to get something to eat, I suggested we do so, my father will get upset if I late getting home." The evening was consisted of ramen and being embarrassed by Ayame while Kiba laughed, and found Naruto walking Hinata home after saying farewell to Kiba. "Naruto, I want to thank you for saving me earlier. Neji isn't really that bad, he's just suffered so much in his life because of the Main House. I know you're facing him in the next round, please don't hurt him too badly."

"He doesn't deserve pity after trying to kill you, his own cousin, yet you give it to him. I don't care what anyone says Hinata, you are the strongest person I know. I promise I won't hurt him badly, but he will pay for what he did, all I want to know is why."

Her expression saddened. "Every Branch house member has a seal placed on them at a young age to prevent the Byakugan from falling into enemy hands should the person die or heaven forbid their eyes be removed while alive, but that's not all it does. The Main house members are taught a set of hand signs that when used will torture a Branch house member by killing brain cells, if used too long the person will die. Because of this seal, our family is divided and the Branch houses are slaves in all but name. If I can get strong enough, I'll take over as the clan head and I can get rid of the seal, but even if I do, there's a chance that my younger sister will be branded before I can. I would rather be branded myself than have her suffer the sealing."

"You said every person in the Branch houses has one, so why is only Neji taking action?"

"He had an opportunity to do so without consequence because of the setting and that I willing participated. But also because his father died because of me." Naruto looked at her urging her to continue. "When I was younger, a group of Kumo ninja came to sign a peace treaty, but that was just a front, their real objective was to capture a Main house member, they came after me. Just before they escaped, my father killed them and because of it, Kumo claimed they had no knowledge of this and threaten war if my father wasn't turned over to them. The Hyuga council and village council decided that it couldn't afford to lose the Clan head, so they had my father's twin brother, Neji's father, killed and sent his body to Kumo. They could not tell the difference because the seal disappears after death and without it, they were identical. Neji has a deep rooted hatred of me because I'm the reason his father was taken from him."

"You shouldn't blame yourself Hinata, you had no control over the situation. Your father did what any decent father would do by protecting you when you couldn't protect yourself, and like you would rather be branded over your sister, the same could be true for them, Neji's father could have sacrificed himself to protect yours. A family is supposed to watch out for the other members, and when they don't, things like the Uchiha Massacre happen. Neji says it's fate, but it's the choices made that determine the outcome." Hinata looked at him in a state of shock, to which he pouted. "I can be smart when I want to be. I'll try to make him see that, and if that doesn't work, I'll beat it into his head."

"Peoples views aren't changed easily, they usually have to be forced to see that their way doesn't work." As they arrived at the gate to the Hyuga compound just as Neji opened the gate, his scowl evident on his face at the sight of them.

"Your father just sent me to find you Hinata, you're late returning. I'll inform him of your return."

"That's alright Neji, I'm sure he would like to speak with me anyway. Good night Naruto, see you for lunch tomorrow?"

"I'll try, but I can't promise anything, who knows what Ero-sennin is planning for me to do." She smiled and went in, but Neji stayed put. "You have something to say?"

"The fact that she needs you to give her strength is what makes her weak."

"All I do is encourage her when others, like yourself, belittle her for doing her best, and despite all of that, she hasn't given up, that is true strength."

"Her best is pathetic."

"Then help her instead of knocking her down!"

"She is weak and she is destined to remain weak, no amount of help will change that."

He turned to walk inside. "And yet if she had wanted to, she could have destroyed you in an instant." Neji froze. "She is different from the others Neji, if you took the time to stop pitying yourself, you would have seen that. It seems your eyes aren't all seeing after all." He turned to look at Naruto to find him already walking away.

--

Naruto was leaning against the middle post looking over towards the Memorial Stone at quarter to eight, his eyes were unfocused and staring off into space. 'If he's like Kakashi-sensei, I'm going to kill him, or make sure to ruin his 'research' every chance I get.'

'I don't see the difference between what he does and what you did when you created Oiroke no Jutsu Kit.'

'The difference is that I don't make money off of it, and I look like how I imagine I would look if I were a girl, granted a rather matured girl, but it doesn't look like anyone else.'

'Maybe you should give the book a chance, that Ichigan jonin seems to enjoy it. You may learn a few things.'

"I'm surrounded by perverts."

"I take offence to that brat, I'm not a pervert." Naruto turned around to find Jiraya walking up to him. "I'm a super pervert, but just out of curiosity, who were you talking to?"

"Who do you think? The furball told me to give your books a chance."

'Watch it brat, I don't have to help you.'

'What do you want me to do? I can't say Kyuubi because I don't know if anyone's around, and he is too general.'

The kitsune snarled. 'Fine, I'll forgive it this time, but don't do it again.'

"Kid, you alright?"

"Yeah, he's just not happy I called him that. So, what first Ero-sennin?"

"First, stop calling me that! Now the way I figure it, to handle more, you just have to use more so your body will adapt, problem being, you can't possibly have a jutsu that requires that much chakra if you're only a genin unless your sensei taught you one, which isn't likely if you're not training with them."

"And you will?"

"Yep, normally genin would never have the chance to learn such a technique due to their small chakra reserves, but you're anything but normal."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"That you are a rare case, from what Sarutobi-sensei told me, your reserves must be close to the size of low jonin and that's without the fox. So I have no doubt that you'll be able to do it, once you have the everything you need and practice it."

"So what is it?"

Jiraiya smiled. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu, but first you have to sign a summoning contract, I just so happen to have the Toad summoning contract."

"Um, Ero-sennin, I already signed a contract."

The smile turned to a frown. "You did?" Naruto nodded. "So you can already summon?"

"Not really, see, I signed the contract, but the one I got it from can't remember the head signs to do it." Jiraiya face vaulted. "But since you can summon, can you show me the hand signs?"

He got up and dusted himself off. "Stupid gaki. Before you start trying to summon, do you know how to call the fox's chakra?"

"Not really, the times I used it, he gave it to me, I'm not sure I can call it from him, last time I asked."

"You won't always have the time to ask." An evil glint appeared in his eyes. "But there's an easy way to fix that problem too, follow me."