And so the Chuunin Exams arc is officially underway! Now be aware that in this arc, I made so many changes that it's far off from canon, so don't spam that in the reviews I didn't do this like in canon. By the way, a reader messaged me a few days ago and said that I should keep it up with Hinata's perverted personality. Honestly, I don't even know if I should! So I'm asking you guys. Should I continue the story but with a tinge of Hinata's perverted self or not? Either way, it doesn't really matter for me. Because one way or another, they'll end up with each other in the end. Do read the author's notes at the end. I have something REALLY important to tell you all and you don't want to miss out on it. Before we head on to the fic, let's answer some reviews!

Bloody Rogue dragon deity king: Ok, now I get what you're talking about…

TheWateringWizard: No… I mean, what would you feel if you're alone with a beautiful girl for more than hour (assuming you're a dude)… If it was me, yeah, I admit that maybe I'd lust over said girl… Anyway, there will be an explanation, just wait on it…

"Normal Talking"

'Thoughts'

Flashbacks

Jutsus and Battle Intros

"Beasts and other high beings talking"


At the Training Grounds…

Naruto wiped the sweat off his forehead as he dodged yet another strike from Zabuza. The two had been going at it for half an hour now and it all started when Sasuke stated yesterday that he wanted Kakashi to train him personally for the upcoming Chuunin Exams. He needed to know how strong he has become to defeat Itachi.

Kakashi informed them all of the upcoming exams and told them that it would be a great chance to show the people of the village just what they were capable of. The three genins had three reactions. Sasuke smirked confidently, feeling that he would ace these exams since he was an Uchiha elite. Sakura had hearts in her eyes, as usual, while also saying how excited she was to see her 'Sasuke-kun' in battle. Naruto was surprised at first, and asked how was Team 7 included in the Chuunin Exams because they've only done one mission ever since. Kakashi simply replied that he believes that the three of them would do great.

Since Kakashi would be taking Sasuke under his wing, Zabuza volunteered to be Naruto's sensei for the time being, treating it as an act of thanks for opening his eyes to the truth back at the Land of Waves.

Because of that, Sakura had been left with no one to train with. It was a really good thing for her that Haku was available to teach her, but the Ice userhad one condition. And that was to lessen Sakura's fangirlishness while she is learning under Haku's wing. The pink-haired girl was a bit hesitant, but agreed nonetheless. Three days have passed with no crazy Haruno screaming out her love for the Uchiha all the time, and they all savored it.

Naruto and Zabuza were currently at the training grounds, because both Kakashi and Haku decided to have their own training spots. They were probably at different locations in the village, training to their absolute limit.

Zabuza jumped away from Naruto and pointed his sword, the Kubikiribōcho at the blonde. "Nice timing, brat!" - he said. "Keep up with the speed, and you'll be able to dodge every attack your enemies do! But enough with speed and reaction time!" He charged towards Naruto with a smirk.

"Let's work on your jutsus!" - hearing this, Naruto was now the one to flash a smirk. He knew just what to do and he was going to show off for a bit. Just as Zabuza went inches closer, he formed the 'Horse' seal and closed his eyes. Zabuza's attack hit him, but he wasn't harmed.

Naruto's body became water, and he was able to phase through. Zabuza grinned, feeling proud of the blonde kid. 'He has a lot of potential,' he thought to himself. Of course, he knew that Naruto would perform the Water Transformation technique the moment he attacked. He needed to improve his new nature transformation, because it just revealed itself not too long ago. It certainly shocked the whole Team 7, more so Zabuza and Haku.

Flashback

"Great job, Hinata!" - Naruto praised his sparring partner, Hinata, as he managed to parry another deadly Jyuuken strike from her. "Your strikes are getting better! Keep this up and you'll be as strong as me!" He flashed her a grin.

She blushed at Naruto's compliment. But focused on the match nonetheless. "Arigato, Naruto-kun. I will keep my promise!" She charged towards him again, and Naruto smirked.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" - twenty clones of Naruto appeared beside him and charged towards the Hyuuga heiress. Hinata activated her Byakugan and began to fight the clones. "Come at me with the intent to kill, Hinata!" - he encouraged her. "I know you can do it!" The girl flashed him a small smile before continuing to fend off the clones.

The two had been training for a few days now, and in the process, Naruto has gotten even closer to Hinata. He got to know more about her childhood, which, he had to admit, was sad since she lost her mother when she was in labor for her younger sister, Hanabi. Naruto admitted to her that he also suffered the same fate of losing a mother, which made Hinata like him more, for his strength and determination. Also, she didn't feel too embarrassed whenever Naruto was around her anymore, much because the blonde was encouraging her all the time.

Naruto was too lost in watching Hinata fight gracefully, and it looked like she was dancing. He always thought of her as cute and pretty, and that was way before he knew of her feelings of him. Because of that, he didn't notice that she had defeated all his clones and was now charging towards him.

Suddenly, she was right in front of him. 'When did she get so fast?!' he thought as he channeled chakra throughout his body and made a hand sign. 'I can't use my Meteor, she'll find out about my eyes!' He couldn't risk using any jutsu of his Uchūtengan, even if they were his best bet to either dodge or counter the upcoming Jyuuken strike to his chest. 'Come on! I hope she doesn't kill me…' - he closed his eyes and just prepared for the worst.

In truth, Hinata didn't go hard with her strike, maybe it would just hurt Naruto for a few minutes, then the pain would go away. Fearing that she'd see the look of pain in his eyes, she continued with the attack. But then, her hand didn't feel any skin of his, even his clothes. What she just touched felt… wet. She opened her eyes and looked at Naruto and wondered how he evaded her attack, then her eyes widened.

"Naruto-kun!" she called. "What happened to your body?!"

The blonde's eyes snapped open and he looked at Hinata curiously. She just retained the shocked look on her face, which forced Naruto to look at himself. His eyes widened at seeing his own body was turned into water.

End of Flashback

Yes, Naruto can use Water Release. He was initially doubtful of it, but shrugged it off at the thought of having two different nature transformations. He thought it was ironic, since he was a fire user already, and now he had the element that negated it. Now that he knows he can use two elements, hiding his real powers would be easier because of the jutsus he can perform with both fire and water.

As soon as Zabuza removed his sword from Naruto's body, the blonde transformed back to his normal self and began another round of hard-hitting punches and kicks between the two. Their last rounds ended in draws but how would this time play out?

10 minutes later…

"Well, that concludes our training for this day, kid," said Zabuza as he drank some water from his jug. He managed to best Naruto during their last rounds of sparring due to having more experience in the battlefield. The blonde didn't mind, and was happy to have a teacher that can keep up with him and his stamina. Though he wondered how would it play like if he had his celestial powers that time. He sat down beside Naruto at a nearby tree and everything was quiet until the older man spoke again. "Good luck, brat. You'll need it. You better ace that exams, kid. I'm having my money riding on you, since you were the one who managed to fight with me on par besides Kakashi!" - he stated with a sheepish grin.

Naruto turned to him and Zabuza widened his eyes at what he was seeing.

The blonde's eyes turned into slits and had a tint of orange in them. His canine teeth suddenly grew larger and his whiskers became more detailed than they used to. He was sporting a sadistic grin as he stared at Zabuza. "I'll enjoy leaving them for dead when I fight them," he snarled.

Naruto's Mindscape…

Kurama continuously punched the bars of his cage just after having fired a full-powered Bijuudama at them. He once again tried to break free of the cage he was inside because of his desire to meet Naruto himself. And like other times, he failed yet again.

He snarled and gave the bars one more punch before returning to his earlier place, lying down in the center of the seal. He was internally grumbling about Minato being an idiot for making the seal tol strong. Afterwards, he looked up and saw Zabuza Momochi staring at Naruto like he just saw some kind of monster.

'Shit, it happened again!' he internally thought. 'Please calm down, kit!' - he said. It has always been this way for years. Every time the fox would try to break the bars of the cage that was holding him down, Naruto would exhibit a bit of a demonic personality towards the people around him, but would only last for a few moments. That included lust, vengeance, greed, and other mortal sins. In short, people would still see the blonde as the 'demon child'.

Kurama growled and tried to fall asleep. 'Damn you, Minato…' he cursed. 'It's your fault that the kit is suffering right now. All because of this stupid seal you made…'

In the real world…

"Hey, brat!" Zabuza said as he snapped his fingers in front of Naruto's face. "Are you all right? What's the matter with you?"

Naruto suddenly closed his eyes and clutched his chest in pain. Zabuza looked on with a confused face before Naruto's head shot up as he massaged his temples. "Hey, what happened to you, brat? You look out of yourself back there for a second."

"I'm all right, Zabuza-sensei," he replied, which caused the Demon of the Mist to groan and face-palm.

"I told you to stop calling me that, didn't I?" he muttered.

"Why? I kind of like calling you that, sensei…" he added in a teasing tone.

A demonic aura began to emit off of Zabuza. "I don't want to hear it again, or I'll have Haku freeze your balls, do you understand?" he threatened in a menacing tone. Naruto began to sweat in fear as he nodded quickly. "Good!" - he stood up and gripped his sword that was carefully strapped to his back. "Do you want to go for a couple more rounds, or do you want to call it a day? I can still fight."

Naruto stood up and shook his head. "Sorry, Zabuza. Maybe tomorrow. I promised Hinata that I'd train with her for the rest of the day today. The exams are only a week from now, you know, and she still doubts herself of her abilities, so I need to find her and get started.

Instead of simply nodding, Zabuza flashed a sinister grin. "So, you're off on a date, huh?" he teased in the same voice Naruto used on him earlier. Naruto's eyebrows scrunched as a slight blush covered his cheeks. "I'm proud of you, kid!" - he patted Naruto on the back. "Someday, you got to introduce me to this 'Hinata' girl, I could teach you how to 'properly' please her…" - before he could go any further, Naruto stepped away from him.

"It's not a date!" he denied while sporting a massive blush. "I'm just going to train with her, nothing romantic about that!" He began to walk away with his hands in his pockets. "And stop being such a pervert!" he yelled out.

"Well, don't blame me if you get her pregnant!" the man yelled back, catching Naruto off guard. "Just remember to use a condom when you two decide to do it!" - he chuckled internally while smirking. "Hope you know what that is…" - he added on, before walking away in the opposite direction with a wide smirk on his face. Naruto groaned and continued on walking, not seeming to get the things Zabuza said out of his mind.

Streets of Konoha…

Naruto and Hinata walked side-by-side through the streets, paying no attention to the villagers that were either scowling or insulting the both of them. Although Hinata admitted that she felt scared that the villagers are trying to hurt them emotionally and mentally, she also felt safe because Naruto promised her that he would protect her.

The two were heading towards the nearest training area where they could practice for the exams. The blonde picked the Hyuuga heiress up from her home just a few minutes ago, and it was a good thing nobody noticed the two of them while walking away from the Hyuuga compound.

The girl, surprisingly, didn't feel as embarrassed as she used to around Naruto. Since Naruto was now fully aware of what she feels towards him, she had nothing to worry about. After all, she did have a chance to be with him, and she just needed to be patient for the right time to come. However, whenever he was too close, her shy personality will once again get the better of her.

Her shyness had gotten to the next level because she now started having fantasies and daydreams regarding herself and Naruto. This only started recently, after the time the blonde first kissed her intentionally. She couldn't help it, because it was too good to be forgotten; but at the same time, she would think it's degrading since she's still a kid and should not be talking about matters like that. It's like a war inside the mind of Hinata Hyuuga.

The girl glanced to her side and stared into Naruto's face. 'I wonder…' - she bit her lip and tried touching Naruto's hand with her own. She wasn't hoping to hold hands with him, Hinata was just trying to feel the blonde's warmth on his skin. Back then, all the times that he laid his hands on her was answered with her fainting. Maybe she could change that now that her confidence in herself has grown. 'I hope he doesn't notice…' she thought as her hand brushed against his again.

Naruto was fully aware of what Hinata was trying to do. He smirked and soon as he felt the girl's hand on his own again, he immediately grabbed it, interlocking his fingers with hers.

Hinata gasped and blushed that Naruto was quick and clever in holding her hand. 'H-H-He knew?!' she asked herself. 'Maybe this isn't so bad…' - she thought happily at the feeling of her crush holding her hand. But then, she blushed as red as a tomato, having her mind filled with fantasies yet again. She shook her head to try and get the images out of her mind, but her pervertive self once again got the better of her.

Naruto took a glance at her and saw how cute she was while blushing and embarrassed. 'I could get used to this…' he said to himself. He stopped walking for a second and when the girl felt that he wasn't moving anymore, she stopped too.

She gazed directly into his eyes, causing her hand to be separated from his, which was something she didn't like. She let out a soft moan of disappointment and Naruto chuckled at hearing her. He extended out his arm for her. "Are you going to hold my hand or not?" he asked teasingly.

She blushed, but nonetheless grabbed his hand once more, locking it with hers. You could say that they could be considered as two people dating, but Naruto's say in it is the last thing needed for it to become reality. But even though they're not official just yet, they act like a couple most of the time. Just change Hinata's shy and timid personality and everything is good.

They were suddenly interrupted by a childish voice. "Hey, boss!" the voice called out and the two turned their heads to who was speaking.

It was none other than Konohamaru. Konohamaru is the grandson of the Third Hokage who aspires to be the Hokage one day, making him Naruto's rival for the role. Naruto met him the day after genin graduation and he treats the little kid like a younger brother most of the time. "Hey, Konohamaru!" - Naruto replied, waving his hand at him. "What's up?"

"Let's play tag!" he exclaimed, causing Naruto to sweat-drop.

"Sorry, Konohamaru," - he said in an apologetic tone. "I promised Hina-chan that I'll train with her today." The girl's eyes widened slightly and a blush spread across her cheeks. He would turn down a kid's wish to play just for her?

"B-But I want to play now!" - he stuttered, nearing tears. Naruto looked at Hinata, and she just smiled and nodded. The blonde sighed and turned back to the young boy.

"All right, Konohamaru. We can—" before he could finish his sentence, he felt a sharp pain to his leg, causing him to scream in pain. When he looked up, he saw Konohamaru sticking his tongue out at him.

"You're it!" he yelled before running away after kicking Naruto on his shin.

Hinata was known for being a very gentle and kind person, but she couldn't deny that what Konohamaru did was funny. He just kicked Naruto in the leg and ran off, which actually her to let out a small chuckle.

Hearing her chuckle, the blonde turned to the Hyuuga with furrowed eyebrows. She just shook her head playfully while smirking at him, causing him to laugh at his own stupidity too.

Naruto turned his attention back to the running boy, and he groaned. 'Should I use my Meteor?' he asked himself before shaking his head. 'Nah, it'd raise suspicion… What to do?' - after a few more seconds, no idea came to his mind so he sighed and stood up. 'Guess our training will have to wait, Hina-chan…' "I'm getting you for that, Konohamaru!" he exclaimed happily before running off to chase the little kid. Hinata, who was watching him, followed the two as well, but kept a short distance behind them.

Hearing Naruto's voice made Konohamaru run faster. But just as he made a sharp turn, he crashed into another shinobi that was just standing by the corner.

"Damn it, you little brat, that hurt," - the shinobi said angrily, picking up Konohamaru by the collar and getting ready to punch the lights out of him. Luckily, Naruto arrived in time to see what was happening.

There were two shinobi wearing Sunagakure headbands, one boy and one girl. The boy was wearing a full black body suit with red and yellow circles on the abdominal area. He also bore a hood that covered the most of his head, except for his face, and hat cat-like ears on top. He was also carrying something on his back which was covered by bandages.

The girl was wearing a purple-colored dress that stretched down to her thighs, with a red sash tied around her waist. She also had fishnets on her shoulders and legs, and her black forehead protector was strapped to her head.

"Leave him alone, Kankuro," the girl said.

"This brat needs to learn some respect, Temari," snarled the boy called 'Kankuro'.

"Fine," she turned away. "But if you get in trouble, don't come crying to me for help." - she warned and Kankuro shrugged her off, getting ready to smash his fist towards Konohamaru's face and it was the time that Naruto decided to make his presence known.

"Hey, there are no children's parties around here, all right? Put Konohamaru down now," said Naruto in a calm tone, coming out of the alley where he stopped.

"What are you talking about?" Kankuro asked, diverting his attention from the kid to the blonde ninja in front of him.

"Well, obviously you're a clown with the makeup and suit," he countered, and at this moment, Hinata arrived at the scene and stood by Naruto's side.

A tick mark appeared on Kankuro's head. "It's not makeup, it's paint," - Kankuro was getting pissed off with this new kid.

Naruto shrugged. "Whatever, just put the kid down, and then we can continue with what we're all doing before this."

Kankuro paid him no heed and cocked his fist back, looking at Konohamaru with anger, and at the same time, Temari turned around to see two ninjas talking with her brother. "I'm teaching him some manners, so don't butt in unless you want to get involved."

Naruto narrowed his eyes and disappeared in a flash. A second later, he appeared directly in front of Kankuro and Naruto had his kunai directed on the former's throat, leaving a wisp of yellow light behind him.

Hinata, Kankuro, and Temari widened their eyes at what they saw. How did he disappear? How did he end up in front of Kankuro? Did he just teleport out of their sights? Or was he too fast?

"Now why don't you put him down gently before it's too late?" - Naruto asked in a menacing which got Kankuro to start sweating. Temari gritted her teeth and brought out her signature weapon, a giant fan, to attack the blonde, but Hinata was fully aware of it as she activated her Byakugan and dropped down into a battle stance. Tension began to grow in the place.

"That's enough, Kankuro," said a voice as another person went to the scene.

He was walking from behind Temari and stopped just behind Kankuro. He was a little shorter than the latter and he had spiky, red hair. He had no eyebrows nor pupils, but he did have black rings around his eyes, making him look intimidating. He also had the kanji for 'love' at the left side of his head.

"G-G-Gaara," said Kankuro in a completely dry voice showing his fear of the red-haired boy. Gaara let out a small wave of sand that flew around him, which caused Naruto to raise an eyebrow at him before retracting his kunai and going back to Hinata's side.

'He managed to get to Kankuro in less than a second… Interesting…' - Gaara thought as he glaredat his brother. "Stop this nonsense or I will kill you," he said with his cold, demeaning tone.

"I-I was just trying to teach this kid s-some respect," he shakily said, releasing Konohamaru from his grasp. The kid immediately went towards Naruto and hid behind his legs.

"I wasn't asking for your to answer, you're a disgrace to the Sand." - his glare towards Kankuro got even more intense before a voice cut them both off.

"You know," Naruto interrupted, getting the three Sand shinobis' attention. "I wasn't expecting to see the Ichibi no Jinchuuriki (Jinchuuriki of the One-Tail) to participate during this year's Chuunin Exams." - he remarked with a faint smirk and the Sand team smirked. They knew fully well what he was talking about.

"How did you know?" - Gaara asked in a surprised tone.

Naruto shrugged and his mind drifted to other thoughts. "I remember seeing in the scroll the old man gave me that the Ichibi can use… sand, was it? Or was it the wind?" - he finished curiously like the idiot he was.

"Mother says you're strong, I'll prove my existence when I kill you…" - the redhead threatened, commanding the sand flying around his body tor appear more terrifying by increasing size, while unleashing a bit of a killing intent at the blonde.

Poor Konohamaru had already fainted when he saw how angry Gaara was. Hinata, on the other hand, had a slightly terrified face, but kept her outer composure with her Byakugan activated.

Naruto's eyes narrowed a bit while trying to maintain calm. With Gaara's statement, he was almost tempted to activate his Uchūtengan right there and Meteor their asses back to the moon, but he couldn't risk doing it because Hinata was still on the scene. "I remember reading something about the Ichibi…" - he began. "Says that he doesn't like humans that much, care to elaborate?" he countered.

Kankuro and Temari began to walk away, as they did not want to be a part of an upcoming fight. From the way they were talking, Gaara can snap at any second and lunge at the blonde. Seeing his team leave, Gaara flashed Naruto a sadistic smile. "I'll enjoy spilling your blood… Kyuubi…" he breathed out, which got Naruto to widen his eyes slightly before following his team.

'How did he know? If he can somehow sense that thing, why can't I?' he internally asked himself before shaking his head of the thought. He then felt someone's hand on his shoulder and he turned to see that it was Hinata. "What is it, Hina-chan?" he asked.

She blushed first, still not used to being called by that name by anyone other than her late mother. "W-What did you do earlier?" she stuttered. "You suddenly disappeared from my side then you got near them, what happened?"

Naruto started cursing himself in his thoughts as he wasn't expecting for her to ask that question. He was expecting her to ask about the weird redhead earlier, Gaara about his personality which he already had an answer for. But he wasn't prepared for a question about his Uchūtengan! He had to think fast again, otherwise Hinata would know the truth.

A sudden memory flashed back inside his mind. During the time that he was caught by Sasuke red-handed using his Heavenly Ray, he was able to avoid a possible revelation with a simple excuse. He just hoped that it would convince the Hyuuga, though.

"I just used a genjutsu, Hina-chan!" he announced, and she raised an eyebrow. "You see, I have a new genjutsu technique that I learned and can actually target multiple enemies! I still need to learn how to properly control it, though, 'cause it managed to get to you earlier." - he said nervously while rubbing the back of his head, not sure if Hinata bought his excuse.

"Genjutsu? Then why didn't I feel anything earlier?" - it was now Naruto's turn to feel confused and raise an eyebrow. "Kurenai-sensei is an expert in genjutsu and she taught me, Shino-kun and Kiba-kun how to 'sense' whether you are inside an illusion or not." - she finished with an 'Oh, really?' tone.

Naruto started banging his head on a wall inside his mind while ranting why girls were always curious even about the smallest of things. 'She didn't fall for it! What am I gonna do now?!' - he complained before an idea went to his mind. After thinking it over, his became totally red as a result and he closed his eyes in embarrassment. 'I feel like I'm going to regret doing this idea afterwards… Oh, well. Worth a shot, sorry Hina-chan…'

"Why do you worry so much about the tiniest of things, Hina-chan," he said rather sexily, closing his eyes, which got the girl to furrow her eyebrows while her eyes widened slightly..

"Let's just continue with our training and forget about those idiots earlier," he continued, opening his eyes and flashing the most handsome look he could muster. She blushed furiously and she could feel her body becoming limp because of his sudden change. "I'll give you a surprise if we go now," he smirked and kissed her on the cheek.

The whole way he was acting right now was too much for the Hyuuga heiress as she fainted out of embarrassment. Naruto sighed in relief that she passed out and picked her up bridal style, then proceeded to continue walking down the path to the training grounds. 'Hope she doesn't kill me for this…' - he thought to himself.

One week later…

Uzumaki Naruto flew through the skies with his Meteor, heading towards his old academy, where he was told that the first test of the Chuunin Exams are to be held there. He landed right in the middle of the small forest near the academy and began making his way through. While on the way, he was deeply in thought.

A week had passed, and he trained himself to every extent just to become even stronger than before. That was his goal from the very beginning, anyway. Other than that, his priority was Hinata. To his surprise, she actually improved a lot compared to herself back then. It was train with Zabuza for the morning, and with Hinata for the afternoon.

While they were training, he grew even closer to Hinata than before. His feelings for her grew more and more, and then finally, in turned into love. However, he didn't want to start a relationship with her just yet, even though she really wanted to. He still had a goal to accomplish and villagers who hate his very existence. He wouldn't risk her life or reputation in the village just for that. But nevertheless, it was just last night that they shared their first kiss. Their first REAL kiss…

Last night…

Naruto and Hinata sat side-by-side as they gazed at the night sky. The last day of their vigorous training has finally come to an end with Hinata showing how much she improved and Naruto showing just what he was capable of. "You did well, Hina-chan," he praised. "Without a doubt, you'll surely pass the exams no matter what!"

Normally, she would've felt embarrassed or shy at his remarks, but this time, she took it as a compliment. So much has happened throughout the days that it's almost impossible to happen as of now. She no longer blushed whenever he talked to her and gone was her stuttering as well. Although, there were still a few days the whole week that were the times she 'fainted'. But that time, anything didn't matter. Not Naruto, not Hinata, and not even the damn Kyuubi inside the blonde.

They were talking for a good few minutes until they both thought of how good-looking the other one was. The concept of their conversation was changed from training and jutsus to love and relationships.

No, they weren't drunk. They were simply in the heat of the moment. After a burst of courage hit her, she asked Naruto on what kind of relationship did they have currently. Since they were close to each other, spend time together all the time, protect each other always, she expected him to say that they were officially going out. To her uttermost disappointment, he shook his head 'no'.

Just when she was about to cry out of rejection, he finally admits his true feelings towards her. She was absolutely shocked that of all people, HE would confess?! He also told her that what was holding him back from committing to a relationship was both the villagers and himself.

The villagers hate him and he wasn't strong enough. If only the people of Konoha didn't hate him, he would've had a girlfriend right there. If only he wasn't weak, Hinata would be so happy. Sadly, both were problems for the two and they were obstacles to their relationship.

What truly got her to breaking down in tears was a promise Naruto made. He told her that he loves her very much and he would do anything it takes for their 'obstacles' to begone like thorns on a rose.

Hearing the boy she liked loves her and that he'd do anything to make them official, she cried on his chest. She always had doubts that Naruto would notice her because of her shyness, but ever since that fateful day in the academy, they have been inseparable ever since. She always thought that she never had a chance from the start because she was a pervert and she lacked self-confidence. Perhaps… perhaps today was the best day of her life.

When she pulled away, tears of joy were streaming down her face and they both chuckled while staring into each other's eyes. They were too lost in the moment that their faces started moving towards each other as they shared their first kiss.

It wasn't a simple peck, yet it wasn't a long, erotic one either. It held all the emotions they lingered for each other and the love could be felt by both of them in the kiss itself. Her tears went to his face and he pushed them even closer to each other when his arms wrapped around her waist, trying to get as much contact as possible.

After a full minute, they finally pulled away, gasping for air. The both of them chuckled and she let herself collapse on his chest again. This time, with a smile.

"Just be patient, Hinata," he whispered, while laying his head on top of hers. "Soon, I guarantee you. After all this, we'll be together forever."

"Arigato, Naruto-kun," she replied, snuggling closer to him. "I love you."

He kissed the top of her head. "I love you too, Hina-chan…"

End of Flashback

He smiled at that memory but at the same time, a blush appeared on his cheeks. He felt embarrassed at the same time since he was still a human and he can feel flustered. Also, confessing his feelings to took a great deal of courage and he could only thank any deity out there that he didn't screw up.

As soon as he got out of the trees, he heard a voice by the academy doors. "Good morning, Naruto-kun!" called out Hinata, who was standing by the doors. She ran towards him and greeted him with a big hug, to which he returned with no exception.

After a few seconds, they pulled away and he smiled warmly at her face. "Are you ready for this?" She nodded with determination clearly felt in her actions. Another voice interrupted the two and it was a voice that Naruto knew well.

"Hinata would never hang out with someone like you, Naruto-baka!" said Sakura, who was sticking her tongue out as she approached with Ino, and Kiba by her side. Naruto and Hinata turned to them. "Hinata, why don't you hang out with us instead? We're way fun to be with than Naruto-baka!"

"Yeah, Hinata!" said Kiba. "He's just a loser and you know, if you don't stop hanging out with him you'll be a loser too! We both know you don't want that, right?"

Naruto's eye twitched as he suppressed his anger. He wasn't angry because they insulted him. He was angry because they were insulting Hinata by being with him. Feeling that if this continued, he'd scare them away with his Meteor, so he grabbed the Hyuuga's hand and went inside the academy. "Let's just go, Hinata-chan," he grumbled.

The two went towards their designated room and went inside. The room was already filled with genins and they assumed that they were the only ones who haven't taken a seat yet. A familiar face to the Hyuuga heiress made his way to the two.

"Well, well, if it isn't my weakling of a cousin, what are you doing here?" smirked the boy who was known as Neji Hyuuga. Neji had long dark brown hair that reached his back that ended in a loose ponytail. His forehead protector was of the color black and was tied securely to his forehead. He wore a khaki shirt, dark brown shorts, and blue sandals like what Naruto wore. He also had bandages wrapped around his right arm and right leg.

"I'm participating in the exams, if it's not obvious," she replied, remaining calm. During her training with Naruto, her self-confidence has grown exponentially that she had no problem stuttering anymore, but she would always feel flustered or embarrassed if it was about Naruto.

'She's different,' Neji thought. 'She's not stuttering anymore.'

"It's useless, your fate has declared you to be a loser and a worthless shinobi," he smirked even wider, which seemed to anger Naruto even more.

"I don't believe in things such as fate or destiny. We make our own choices which will lead to different outcomes," she countered.

"Believe that if you wish," he crossed his arms. "But I shall show you how wrong you are. I will prove that in the exams this year," he finished, before walking off.

When he had gone, Naruto looked at Hinata with a concerned face. "Is he angry at you or something?" - he asked. "I was getting pissed with him earlier."

"Just pay him no attention," she replied, looking at Neji with concern. "He wasn't always like that, according to my father. He's just blinded by his anger towards the head family of the Hyuugas. I wish I could tell him how wrong he is about fate."

"Then leave that to me, I'll show him that fate doesn't mean anything, Hina-chan." - he declared, getting a smile from her. "I promise you —" he was cut off from his sentence by a loud voice reverberating throughout the whole room.

"YOSH! I WILL GET THROUGH THESE EXAMS FOR GAI-SENSEI! THE FLAMES OF YOUTH HERE WITH YOU ALL!" a boy yelled. The boy looked a lot like Gai, with the thick eyebrows, the green spandex suit, and orange leg warmers. He had big, black, and round eyes and a red Konoha forehead protector that he wore like a belt.

"Nice to see you're determined," said Naruto as he walked over to him. "Kakashi-sensei always tells me that Bushy brows-sensei is energetic and eccentric! Looks like someone took after him," he extended his hand out for him to reach.

"I SEE THAT YOU KNOW MY SENSEI, MAITO GAI!" said the boy, accepting the handshake immediately. "MY NAME IS ROCK LEE, IT'S AN HONOR TO MEET SUCH YOUTHFUL PERSON HERE!"

"Yeah… sure," replied Naruto, sweat-dropping at his antics. "Name's Uzumaki Naruto, by the way." - when their handshake ended, Lee walked over to the other side of the room where a certain Sasuke Uchiha was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. He was deep in thought about the usual things that crossed his mind. Revenge and getting stronger.

"Are you Uchiha Sasuke?" Lee asked, and the Uchiha looked up with a scowl.

"What do you want?" Sasuke spat. He was clearly not in the mood to be disturbed at the moment.

"I wish to fight you," Lee announced and Sasuke snorted.

"You know who I am yet you wish to face me in battle? Oh well, this might be a good warmup, make sure to interest mea," he shrugged and went outside, but not before bumping Naruto on the shoulder. "Why don't you come along, dobe? You can learn something from me, like we used to do." - he smirked. Naruto first raised an eyebrow, then he shrugged and followed after him, telling Hinata to stay put in the process, and Sasuke's whole fanclub took after them immediately.

(A/N: Sasuke vs Lee canon fight, Sasuke gets beaten up)

"Figured as much, he didn't stand a chance," - Naruto explained to Hinata as they sat next to each other back in their room. "Lee can't use ninjutsus or genjutsus, but he sure is a skilled taijutsu user. It would be interesting to fight him."

"He has the Sharingan, how did he lose?" Hinata asked.

"I don't know, really. It's either he doesn't know how to use his eyes or he's blinded by his own —" the sudden shrieks of girls inside the room interrupted their conversation. They turned their heads to see what was happening and they saw that Lee was being chased by the angry mob of Sasuke fangirls, yelling that they want a rematch.

"YOU CHEATED!" Sakura screeched, trying to catch Lee.

"SASUKE-KUN SHOULD'VE WON YOU CHEATER!" Ino shrieked, causing everyone to put up their hands to their ears.

"Shut it!" screamed by a male inside the room, getting everyone's attention. He had greyish hair that ended with a small ponytail on his upper back. He wore a purple shirt, a white undershirt, dark purple pants and blue shinobi sandals. He also had fingerless gloves with armor plates at the back and a shuriken holster on his leg. He was reading a book about genjutsus until Sakura broke the silence.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Yakushi Kabuto, and please don't disturb me, I'm trying to study so that I can finally pass," he said before going back to reading.

"Have you already tried the exam?" asked Ino.

"Actually, this is my seventh try, and I want to pass this time," he admitted while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Wow, what a sore loser you are," said Kiba loudly from one corner of the room.

"THAT'S ENOUGH! EVERYONE GET BACK TO YOUR SEATS AND WE WILL START THE EXAM!" a jounin named Ibiki yelled from in front of the room with two chuunins beside him, shutting everyone up and going back to their places.

A few minutes later, everyone was seated in their chairs with a test paper in front of them. Some of them sulked that it won't be something like a battle or anything that involved physical coordination, while some smirked because they studied in advance.

"Welcome to the first part of the exams," said Ibiki in a blank tone. "For this part, a written test will be given for you to answer. Each paper has ten questions and you have an hour to answer them all. The last question will be asked after the exam. Before we begin, we have three rules. One, each genin starts with 10 points. For every wrong answer you are deducted with 1 point. Two, the total score is based on your team. And three, each time you're caught cheating, you lose two points. Get caught five times and your whole team is immediately disqualified. BEGIN!"

Naruto turned to his paper only to see extremely hard questions. 'The hell?' he thought. 'These questions are really hard.' He looked around the classroom and saw that almost all the genins are stumped in answering. 'Everyone is having a hard time too, damn it, I didn't expect for this test to be a written one!'

When he turned to Hinata, he saw her with her Byakugan activated and looking around. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion until an idea struck his mind. 'Oh, I get it! We are supposed to cheat, but we just don't have to get caught!'

Shino was using his bugs to scout for answers. Kiba was relying on Akamaru on top of his head to relay him the answers. Tenten took off her forehead protector and used it as a mirror to copy the person behind her. Neji, like Hinata, used his Byakugan to see everyone's answers. Sasuke used his Sharingan to copy the hand movements of the person in front of him.

Naruto began to think on how could he cheat the test. 'No, don't even think about it!' he mentally scolded himself. 'I WILL NOT use my Meteor at this time! Not when everyone is looking everywhere!' He leaned back in his seat, looked at his paper and crossed his arms. 'There's gotta be another way for me to cheat without using my —' he was momentarily cut off from his thoughts when he saw that his paper suddenly disappeared from his sight.

His eyes widened and he began to look frantically everywhere to see where it might have gone. But a second after, his test paper suddenly reappeared back in front of him.

He sighed in relief, but his eyes widened afterwards as he raised an eyebrow. He rubbed his eyes to see if he was just dreaming or not. Shock and confusion took over him. Because his paper was completely blank earlier, but right now, it was fully answered.


Next on The Celestial Shinobi…

"You… pass…"

"Meet me in Training Ground 44 in thirty minutes or else…"

"That brat was actually good…"

"We've been attacked…"

CHAPTER 8: TRAINING GROUND 44


Things to remember: Naruto is smarter in this fic than in canon; the fact that he didn't have a crush on Sakura first because of her obsession with Sasuke is proof of that. However, he is not overpowered and can still lose. He isn't dense either. I don't know if the Water Transformation technique is only for the Hozuki clan, but in this case, Naruto can perform it.

Did you think Naruto would show Zabuza his powers?! Not just yet! Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara have made their debuts! Naruto has unlocked his second Nature transformation! Tension heats up between Naruto and Gaara! How will this build up towards their incoming fight?! Somehow, Naruto managed to sneak his way through the exam! But how did that happen? Zabuza is such a teaser, but ships NaruHina! Naruto confesses his true feelings, but they aren't a couple yet! There WILL be a better confession scene, guys… Don't worry. Phew! Part 1 of the Naruto saga wasn't really my forte, guys... I'm more of a Shippuden guy, but I do my best in making every chapter worth reading. Kabuto should be showing here, but I figured to have his debut next chapter. Anyway, I know this should be the time I'm posting the next set of chapter titles but there's been a HUGE change of plans.

I talked to my writing partner, greymatter1098 about some new ideas I have for the fic and he commented that it was great and cool. For that, I won't be posting any more chapter titles… for now. Instead, I'm going to show you all the story arcs of this fic so that you won't be questioning me about the new chapters in time. This still follows canon storyline, but with a huge number of changes and ideas.

Story arcs of The Celestial Shinobi:

Part 1:

1. Land of Waves arc

2. Chuunin Exams arc

3. The Invasion arc

4. Tsunade Retrieval Mission arc

5. Rescuing the Uchiha arc

Part 2:

1. Kazekage Rescue Mission arc

2. Tenchi Bridge Mission arc

3. Akatsuki Suppression Mission arc

4. Itachi's Pursuit arc

5. Battle of Brothers arc

6. Tale of Jiraiya the Gallant arc

7. Training at Turtle Island arc

8. Restoration of Konoha arc

9. Fourth Shinobi World War: Countdown arc

10. Fourth Shinobi World War: Confrontation arc

11. Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax arc

12. Birth of the Ten-Tails Jinchuuriki arc

13. Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes arc

14. Rise of the Uzumaki Empire arc

Well, there you have it! The updated story arcs of The Celestial Shinobi! Now, I know most of your questions will be about three certain arcs there that look new, so feel free to ask! However, I will not answer questions that will give away too much of the plot. Yes, I know that the Pain's Assault arc and Five Kage Summit arc aren't there but trust me. My challenge to any reader out there is to guess what will happen in the three new arcs I added! There are no right or wrong answers, I just need your opinion! Excited for what's to come? Drop a good review if you can and don't forget to follow/fave if you want to see more of The Celestial Shinobi. Goodbye… and good night! BANG! *too sweet gesture*

-Lance