Chapter IV: The Chunin Exams Part 2! Naruto is Jealous?

"I followed them to the border of Konoha village, but that was as far as I could go. I was lucky enough to not get caught by the Byakugan or the Sharingan. But there are many more sensory ninja within the village. I would've been caught too easily."

"That's okay, Zetsu," said the blonde shinobi, picking at the grass as he sat cross-legged against a tree. "How is she? What information can you give me so far. You've been watching her since she left the village, right? That's like, what? Five months?"

"Four," Black Zetsu replied irritably. "She's been training with Sasuke Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake exclusively. They traveled far and wide, looking for new fighting techniques and honing their skills."

"She was training with Sasuke?" Naruto gasped, snapping his head in his comrade's direction. "Like, alone?"

White Zetsu grinned slyly, his body retreating into the ground as per usual. It was rare for Naruto to see this man (men? he sometimes wondered. Were they two different people, Black and White Zetsu?) completely out of the earth. "Jealous? Maybe you shouldn't have left your village if you were leaving behind someone so special to you."

"Shut up," he grumbled, folding his arms. "I'm not jealous. I barely knew her anyway. But if she was training with Sasuke and Kakashi, then she must be serious about getting stronger. Tell me, how strong has she gotten?"

"Now now, don't be in such a rush," White Zetsu teased.

"Remember, while they're training, their eyes are activated," said Black Zetsu. "Hinata Hyuga's Byakugan could've spotted us, especially when she was alone with Sasuke."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he shot back, clenching his fists.

"It means if she sensed a chakra other than Sasuke's, we would've been spotted. What did you think I meant?"

Naruto groaned and laid in the grass. "I don't know."

By then, Zetsu had disappeared completely, leaving him alone to think. But that was soon interrupted by a deep voice from the distance: "Naruto, your break is over." The boy stood up, sighing as he brushed off the dirt from his robes.

"Itachi-sensei."

The older man came up to Naruto, holding up a halting hand as his student prepared for another spar. "That is unnecessary. Come with me. We need to gather with the others and discuss something. Since you are now apart of this organization, you are welcome to join."

"What's it about?"

"The beginning of the capturing of the tailed beasts."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "What, you're gonna take this thing out of me now?" He patted his belly.

"Not yet. Let's go, Naruto." Itachi turned around and began walking up the hill toward the cliff, where their partner Kisame was sitting cross-legged. Before following his sensei, Naruto wrinkled his nose, now clenching his clothes in his tight fist.

"You can't get rid of me that easily, Naruto," the husky voice of the demon fox snickered in his head. "Why are you so hellbent anyway? You need me, remember?"

"Shut it. It's because of you that I was ignored all my life. Besides, I wasn't going to let them take you from me until I've had my revenge anyway. We had a deal." he thought.

"Like I said, you need me."

Hinata stood outside of the gates of her manor for a moment, frowning at the closed wooden doors. She took a step forward, but hesitated, retracting her foot. "Hmm," she sighed, stepping forward again.

"Having trouble, Lady Hinata?"

She turned and immediately beamed when she saw a familiar man heading her way. "Ko! I-I was just-"

"We've missed you, Lady Hinata," her longtime caretaker said, bowing as he stopped before her. "Even Lord Hiashi was a bit disheartened by your absence." He smiled kindly at her and opened one of the gates. "You won't be home for much longer. Why don't you come and reunite with your family for a while then?"

Although her family was always cold and a bit detached from one another, Hinata agreed with Ko. She was a bit excited to show her father how much she really improved as well. "Thank you," she said, stepping past the man and into the front gardens. On the porch, she was surprised to see Neji sitting cross-legged on the steps. He was dressed in his training gear and sipping tea when he heard the gate creak open, and now his head was perked, looking for his cousin.

"Hinata-sama!" he greeted, standing up and bowing respectfully.

"Neji-niisan!" She bowed in return. Though their relationship had only just been on the mend since she left, she was glad to see him. It was him she called sensei before she began officially training with Kakashi, and it was him she wanted to spar with first to show off her new skills.

"I'd heard you returned," he said, "but I figured everyone else would have greeted you at the village gates. So I waited here and trained with Lord Hiashi until you arrived."

"I-it's good to see you, Neji," she replied.

"Lady Hinata, how about I get you some tea?" said Ko, walking past them and opening the doors to the house. He turned and smiled at her. "Do you have any preference?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Thank you, Ko."

When he shut the door behind him, Neji folded his arms. "You are worried about the chunin exams?"

"I am a bit nervous," she admitted. "B-but I decided that I am going to pass."

"That's wonderful, Hinata." He held out a hand to her with a smile. "Why don't you show me how you're going to pass? Let me see how much you've grown so far."

Sasuke stood outside of Naruto's old apartment door, hands stuffed in his pockets as he gazed intensely at it. He'd finally shaken off Sakura and Ino, but he made a mental note to stop by Sakura's later and take her out for some dinner or something.

He'd gotten too used to Hinata's company, he decided, and that was why he was overwhelmed by his reunion with two of his biggest fans.

Right now, though, he was contemplating whether or not to go inside his former comrade's place. In a way, he wanted to see how the hyperactive ninja who saved Sasuke and held Hinata's heart used to live. At the same time, the emotion would be too raw. He'd walk in, see everything as it was before Naruto left, as if he never even left in the first place, and be thrown into deeper despair.

A crow cawed in the distance, snapping him out of his thoughts. Sasuke shook his head and walked away, lifting himself over the railing of the second story and jumping down onto the street.

"Sasuke! I heard you came back! I am sorry I couldn't be there to greet you at the gates with everyone else, but you see, I was in the middle of training!" Sasuke turned toward the voice and rolled his eyes at none other than Rock Lee.

"Lee," he said bluntly. "Good to see you."

Lee's intense, round eyes burned with a passionate fire as he clenched his fist and raised it at Sasuke. "Surely you must've grown much, much stronger! In fact, I don't doubt at all that you've probably trained a lot harder than I! That is why, Sasuke Uchiha, I will challenge you to a spar!"

"Not interested," he replied stoically. "Sorry, Lee, but I was just going somewhere. Where's your team? Maybe you should train with them."

"Neji's at home, and Tenten is on a mission right now. Guy-sensei is most likely battling with Kakashi-sensei. But I understand you can not spare any time, Sasuke. I exercise on my own. See you at the exams!"

Sasuke nodded and continued on his way, leaving behind the bushy-browed ninja doing pushups. Rock Lee. He barely knew him- only fought with him once just before the last chunin exam. It was from that fight he created a new technique: Lion's Barrage, derived from Lee's Primary Lotus. As he continued to walk, he remembered how that fight was the first time he met Might Guy, Kakashi's rival, a strange fellow who looked like he could be Lee's father.

When he came to a stop in front of his intended destination, he sighed and raised a fist to knock. Before he could, though, the door opened, and a man dressed in a black kimono stepped out. "Oh! Hello!" He bowed. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. You must be Sasuke."

"Yes," he replied, meeting the man's wide, lavender eyes- almost the same as Hinata's. "Are you Hinata's brother?"

"Only her caretaker," he said. "My name is Ko. Are you here to see Lady Hinata?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry, but she isn't here right now. She and Neji just left for the training fields." Ko looked up and past Sasuke a bit, a little taken aback at first, but then he relaxed. "Kakashi! Are you here for Lady Hinata as well?"

Sasuke turned and saw his teacher standing behind him. Kakashi nodded. "Yes, thank you. I'll go look for her at the training fields. Sasuke, I need to speak to you both."

"What about?" said Sasuke.

"Just follow me." They nodded respectfully at Hinata's bodyguard before walking away.

As they walked, Sasuke looked up at his sensei. "Is this about the exams?"

"Yes," he answered, "they start in two days."

"That soon?"

He nodded. "I just recommended you two, and now we need to start preparing."