At last! The long anticipated date between Konoha's princess and the prince of thieves! Will Naruto steal her heart?

Tune in to find out!

Chapter ten

Unaware, and mostly like uncaring, of the trauma that a certain copy-nin was undergoing as his perverted streak turned against him, the rest of Konoha was getting on with there merry little lives.

Shino was training with his father, which meant that the two had gone deep into the Aburame territoy forest and would not likely reappear for weeks on end.

Shikamaru was being dragged by an oh-so-pushy Ino to the training fields, claiming he needed a head start on preparing for the finals, to which the teen merely moaned.

Neji was training with Tenten, the two of them pitting Hyuuga-ryu taijutsu against Tenten's uncanny ability to spear a fly from 500 paces, blindfolded. At the moment, it could go either way, Neji being lower on chakra from the fight with Chouji, though Tenten was also recovering from the fight with Temari.

And as for our favourite blonde hellraiser? He's currently walking arm in arm with the Hyuuga heiress, fullfilling his promise of a date.

Now if only Hinata would stop thinking this is some sort of dream we'd be in business.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I have to admit, this is the first date I've ever been on." Naruto admitted, scratching the back of his head in mild embarassment, "So what say you decided where we go?"

Hinata flushed, not exactly used to decision making, before pointing at a restaurant that she'd been to with her team, a nice little place with good food and company. Naruto followed the direction of her gaze and whistled, looking impressed. "Good choice." he praised, earning a flush from the heiress as they made their way, still arm in arm, through the doorway.

A waiter, not much older than the two shinobi, looking up at the sound of the bell, "AH! Welcome back miss Hyuuga!" he greeted, smiling in an open, friendly manner, noting with some interest the unkown shinobi on the heiress' arm, before leading them to a free table.

"Will you be having the special again?" he asked, pulling out his notepad and pen as the heiress took her seat, "I garuntee that it's just as good as last time."

Hinata nodded, before looking at Naruto as the blonde ran his eyes down the menu. "I'll have it too." he added, setting the menu down and nodding up at the man, "If Hinata recomends it of course."

Hinata flushed and nodded, earning a raised eyebrow from the waiter as he took down the order. He looked the two over carefully, filing away the heiress' obvious embarassment for future conversational intrest, before nodding and taking his leave, leaving the two were alone for a while.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Thought he'd never leave." Naruto sighed, shaking his head in exasperation, "I think I may have damaged your reputation there." He joked, sending a sly look towards his flushing date.

"N-no," she countered, "I-it's nothing Naruto-kun." she twiddled her fingers and smiled, "S-so long as I'm with you, I d-don't really care...what anyone says."

Hinata stopped in mid stutter as she noticed the blonde gazing at her warmly, earning yet another flush as she looked away shyly.

"You know," Naruto began conversationaly, "the first time I saw you, I wondered if you were one of Sasuke's fans." He laughed softly as Hinata looked up, shocked, "Y'see, I was that used to people looking past me at him, I never expected to have an admirer myself." He grinned in that distinctive vulpine manner of his. "Especially not one so cute."

Hinata flushed at this, and looked down, only to look up as Naruto chuckled, the heiress felt her heart pick up at the sound, but couldn't bring herself to look at him out of embarassment.

"Do you know how unbearably cute you are when you do that?" Naruto asked, smiling at her, "It was the first thing that popped into my head when you saw me off." He reached up and cupped her chin again, rubbing his thumb against her smooth skin, before blinking and fingering one of her bangs."You grew your hair out a little." he noticed, loooking into her eyes inquisitively.

Hinata flushed, "Ano…Kurenai-sensei has kept us busy over the last few months," she looked away, worried that Naruto wasn't fond of long haired girls, "S-so I haven't had time to cut it…so…"

"There's no need to panic around me Hinata," Naruto cut in, placing a finger on her lips to stop her, smirking as she lit up like a candle, "go ahead and let your guard down…I'll never hurt you." He gave her one of his fox like grins from behind the mask, "Unless…you WANT me to of course."

"Ahem."

The two looked up to espy the waiter from before, two steaming plates of food in each hand.

"I trust I'm not disturbing anything?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hinata, feeling both relieved and annoyed at the man's timing, was nontheless glad their food had arrived, as it took their minds off the previous subject for a while, giving her time to recover. Naruto on the other hand, shot the man a look of restrained annoyance, before thanking him for the service and tucking into the food, reaching up to lower his mask.

Hinata looked up as he lowered the face cloth, revealing a series of bandages that covered his cheeks, hiding the tell-tale whisker marks she was so fond of. She blinked as she felt someone looking at her, only to look up into the amused eyes of her date.

"Like what you see?" Naruto asked, causing her to flush, before shaking herself slightly and looking at him inquisitively.

"Ano…why are…"

Hinata stopped when Naruto seized his chance and dropped a piece of food into her mouth with chopsticks, grinning at her the entire time. "You're right, this is good." the blonde commented, smiling at the shocked Hyuuga teasingly, "Though I can think of a lot of things that taste better."

Hinata flushed magenta, and lowered her head to focus on her meal. All the while, the restaurant staff were watching the couple carefully, filing the scene into their memories for later use.

After all, a restaurant is run not only by the quality of it's food and service, but on the quality of the conversation articles available. The Hyuuga heiress on a date with an unkown, admittedly cute teen, was every fishwives dream come true.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"That was good." Naruto said, as they walked down the street, the blonde having just payed for the meal, Hinata holding onto his arm as the y walked along, "How about I take you somewhere nice?" he asked, "It's a place I used to go to think."

Hinata nodded softly, resting her head on his arm happily. The meal had filled her up, and she felt all warm inside, that and the comforting scent of leaves and fox which she realised was Naruto's scent, was slowly lulling her into a happy daze.

'Naruto-kun,' she whispered longingly, eyes slowly closing, 'I wish time would just stop right now…'

"Hinata," her beloved's voice called out through the fog, causing her to blink and look up, "I can't feel my arm." Naruto chastised gently, a smile in his eyes causing the girl to flush.

Hinata loosened her grip, but didn't let go, the two of them walking down the street, ignorant of the looks people were giving them.

Naruto gazed down at the heiress and smiled, inhaling the scent of lavender and siolk that came off her, ruffling her hair slightly in the process. 'She's so damn cute.' he muttered, 'She's going to be a stunner when she grows up.'

He smirked as he felt a jealous rush rise in the back of his skull, canines catching the dying sunlight.

'Too bad foxes aren't known for sharing.'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hinata blinked, as she noticed the two were apparently walking up the mountain path to the Hokage monument, more acurately, up one of the more off-road routes which were full of plants and vines.

"I found this place when I was little," Naruto explained, pushing aside a tree branch to let the Hyuuga pass unhindered, "I used to come here and think…or train."

Hinata looked around at what appeared to be a clearing, surrounded by thick trees; there was a small lake to the side, a row of trees with target boards and, surprisingly a little wooden hut.

As if sensing her confusion, Naruto grinned, "In case I felt like sleeping over." he explained, nodding at the hut, before taking her through the trees and, surprisingly, onto the Shodai hokage's head.

"I found this place after joining the academy," the blonde admitted, "I felt my old apartment had worn itself out, and what better place to camp out than right under everyone's noses." he lookd out over the village and chuckled, "Well, sort of."

He turned to the amazed heiress and smiled, "If you want," he offered, "it can be 'our' place."

Hinata flushed magenta and began to stutter, only to blink as he placed a finger to her lips, causing her to look up at him in surprise.

"Relax," Naruto said soothingly, lowering his face to hers, the mask lowered again, "I'm not forcing this on you…Hinata."

The two locked lips again, far from the gaze of others, the setting sun adding a warm glow to the scene. And for the first time since she enterred the forest of death, Hinata felt completely at ease.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hinata, after being escorted back to the Hyuuga complex, entered through the main family's house, making her way to her room as quickly as possible. She could still rember the feeling of Naruto's lips on her own, and itwas enough to cause a warm glow to settle on her, subconciously adding a spring to her step.

"Hinata." A voice called out, freezing her in place. Turning round revealed the tall, composed form of her father, Hiashi, as he walked up behind her, "I heard about your victory at the semi-finals," the Hyuuga head commented, walking past her towards his own room, "Keep up the good work."

Bowing to the man respectfully, Hinata was, internally, overjoyed. First Naruto took her out on a date, and now her father was acknowledging her. The girl was literally on cloud nine and would have gone to bed a happy person had not one other person appeared in the hallway.

"Hinata-sama."

Hinata froze, before turning round to face the source of the voice, revealing the familiar cold features of her older cousin, as he made his way towards her. "N-neji-nisan?" she asked, wincing as the stutter, which had been absent most of the evening, made it's treacherous way into her voice.

"If I face you in the finals," the older Hyuuga promised, walking past her in a cold, aloof manner, "I will not hold back."

Hinata stood in the hallway as her Brother left, before trembling slightly, her hands wringing together in concern.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yamanaka Ino sighed as she left the hospital, having just come from a visit to her father, who was still recovering from his near fatal heart attack.

The blonde had no idea what had set her father off like that, it had been a simple enough question, but the Yamanaka patriarch had reacted as if she'd announced she was pregnant. When she confronted her mother about it, the woman had merely flushed and told her to go to her room.

"Problems in paradise?" A voice called out, prompting her to blink and look up, spotting a familiar masked face looking down at her, from an electical pole, "Yo."

"YOU!" Ino yelled, pointing up at the teen in righteous fury, "You're that masked perv that's corrupting Sasuke kun!"

"Guilty as charged," Naruto commented, taking a bow, whilst still upside down, "And you're that cute blonde with the black lace panties right?" he whistled as Ino flushed and looked round to se if anyone was listening, "Gotta tell ya, they suit you to a tee."

"URUSEI!" Ino hissed, flushing scarlet in embarassment, despite the fact the street was deserted, "Flattery will get you nowhere! I'll kill you for what you did to Sasuke-Kun and me!"

"Really?" A voice behind her asked, causing her to freeze and turn slightly, to reveal Naruto, reading Icha-Icha violence, "You really think you can kill me?" He turned one calm, almost amused eye to her and smiled behind the mask, "By all means, do try."

Ino leapt back and pulled a kunai out of the holster on her side, rearing it back for a throw, only for a hand to grab her arm, holding it in place from behind. "You telegraphed that move for miles to see." Naruto chastised, still reading from his book, "If you're going to use Kunai and shuriken, it's best to make use of the surroundings, or better yet, a distraction."

Ino spun, aiming a back kick to the teen's nuts, which he quickly avoided, hurling the kunai as she spun to face him, Naruto turned counter clockwise, snapping a hand out to catch the kunai as it sailed past.

"That was pointless." he muttered, "I told you, use a distract-eh?"

The jinchuuriki blinked as he felt his fingers grow hot, before cursing and tossing the kunai skywards before the explosive tag wrapped around the handle went off.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Not bad.' Naruto admitted, smoke trailing off his hands from the tag, 'Though I suppose I should expect no less from a member of the Ino-Shika-Cho, that team excelled at diversions and counter attacks.' He looked around, noting with some satisfaction that the blonde had concealed herself, "And now you have me right where I want you."

"Shintenshin no jutsu!"

Naruto smirked and made a quick handseal, placing two fingers to his forehead as he felt the telltale signs of of a sencond mind in his skull. 'Tou-san,' he stated, 'allow me to handle this alone.'

'Try not to break her.' Kyuubi commented, 'This one has a lot of spunk.'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ino smirked as she activated her jutsu, knowing the blonde had no chance once she was inside his skull.

'I'll have him run naked through the streets, or maybe even moon the Hokage.' Ino cackled, 'Better yet! I'll just make him jump off a cliff!' she blinked as, instead of looking out through the masked blonde's eyes, she found herself gazing onto a field of white.

"Wh-where the hell am I?!" she yelled, looking round as her voice echoed, "What the hell did you do you bastard!"

"Such harsh word's from such a pretty face." Naruto's voice replied, echoing from all directions, "Perhapse all roses DO poses thorns after all."

Ino reached for her Kunai pouch, eyeing the surroundings warily, "Show yourself!" she called out, "Or are you a coward!" she frowned as a sigh echoed around the whiteness.

"First rule of the shinobi," Naruto's voice chastised, before a hand settled over her own, and an arm warapped around her from behind, "Never leave your back ungaurded."

Ino jumped but found herself incapable of moving as the blonde's hand gently, yet firmly, pulled her own away from the pouch, "Let me go!" she yelled, only to flinch as she felt something blow across the nape of her neck. "S-stop that!"

"Hmm? Stop what?" Naruto asked, leaning closer to the blonde's ear, tickling it with his breath, "perhapse...this?"

Ino shivered as he repeated the action, sending a shiver along her nape and down her spine. "S-stop." she gasped, though there was a tremble in it which caused her to wince. she pawed at his hand to get himto release her, only to blink as he trapped it beneath his own.

"I certainly do envey Sasuke." Naruto commented, "even at the academy you were hot stuff." He grinneed and plessed a pint on her arm, earning a shivery intake of breath, "Nice to see some flowers bloom over time."

Ino gasped as he breathed in, the air causing her neck to shiver, as his hands, still covering her won, moved to stroke her sides, armks crossed. She let out a gasp as she felt somethig nip at her neck, sending another jolt of pleasure down her spine.

"I'd be carefull if I were you." Naruto warned, whispering itno her ear, "A girl with looks like yours should never walk alone at night...you never know what might follow you home."

Ino gasped as he pressed her own fingers against two points on her waist, sending yet another thrill up her spine, the blonde kunoichi feeling a little weak at the knees.

"H-howdid you..." she tried to say, only to gasp as he nibbled at her neck, causing her to arch her back.

"Genjutsu: Yorokobi no jutsu." Naruto replied, "It's a genjutsu that targets the pleasure centres in the brain, and since you're currently occupying my mind, you're the one feeling the effects, rather than myself." He smirked and moved the girl's hands to trail up her on side, sending shivers up her back the enitre time, "Quite effective, wouldn't you say?"

Ino gasped as she felt her head fill with a light fog, just as Naruto freed one of his hands, trailing a finger up her neck, ever so slowly. The jinchuuriki grined, his fangs, glistening slightly, before nipping the side of her neck, drawing blood and earning a shudder from the girl.

"I'm afraid I'll have to cut this short." Naruto stated, "Your body can't last long on it's own, and I dare say your chakra's running low." he trailed a claw into the blood, drawing a spiral on the side of the girl's neck, causing it to glow slightly as he withdrew his claw, "So I'll just leave something for you to remember me by."

Ino would have said something but at that moment her knees gave out and she fell to the ground, the blinding white giving way to a blissful darkness.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ino gasped and sat up in bed, gasping for breath as she held the covers in her hands.

'A dream?' she whispered, looking out to see the sun just peaking out from the horizon, letting out a sigh of relief, 'Thank god...what a strange dream.' She blinked, noticing the sheets beneath her seemed a little...damper than usual, and that her neck seemed to be itching.

Sighing and deciding to hget a head start on training, the blonde climbed out of bed and made her way to the shower, figuring she had enough time to change the sheets and dress before her mother came to wake her up.

As she was getting undressed, something in the mirror caught her eye, causing her to blink and lift a hand to her neck, tracing the strange, spiral tattoo she didn't remember having before.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was shortly after 9:00, about the same time it takes for everything to get underway in the leaf village. All around people were going about their affairs, selling talking shopping or completing tedious D-rank missions because the citizens were too lazy to get off their asses.

Naruto, having been up just before dawn, was meditating ontop of the lake to improve his chakra control when he sensed someone approaching. Frowning slightly, he increased his breaths until he caught the figures scent, smiling internally as he caught the familliar scent of lavender and silk.

"Hinata?" he called, and was rewarded by the Hyuuga stepping out of the shrubbery. "What can I do for you?" he asked, stepping up and walking to the shore, clothes dry despite his position on the water.

"Ano," Hinata began, tapping her finbgers together, "could I…train with you?" she asked, looking him in the eyes.

Naruto raised an eyebrow before looking at her inquisitively, "Why not train with your family?" he asked, watching her wince at this, "That bad huh?"

Hinata sighed, only to look up as Naruto smiled, moving into a stance. "Come at me for real," the blonde urged her, "because your opponents won't be as gentle as I am."

Hinata looked up in surprise, before smiling, moving into her Jyuken stance.

"A-arigatou!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several weeks later, and the two had set up quite a regimen.

They would train together, then Hinata would go train with her team, or family, then they'd go out, sometimes to Ichiraku, or just around town.

Slowly but surely, Hinata was becoming a more open person, though Naruto still knew how to make her blush. In fact, though he'd never admit it, he felt as if the girl was slowly but surely blossoming before his eyes.

'If she continues to develop I wouldn't hesitate to ask for her hand,' the blonde noted, 'along with everything else of course.' He added, and then he grinned as the thought gave him an idea.

"Hinata…want to make a deal?" he asked, looking over at the girl as she caught her breath, "If you and I fight in the tournament, and you win…I'll do whatever you want." he looked her in the eyes and grinned, "ANYTHING."

Hinata flushed at the implied meaning in the boy's sentence, "And if you win?" she asked, trying not to sound nervous as Naruto grinned.

"Then you have to agree," he began, pausing for effect, "to be at my side forever."

Hinata flushed, as once again Naruto presented her with a win-win situation, one that she never dreamed would happen. "Deal." She said, holding out a hand, flushing when, instead of shaking it, Naruto kissed it.

"I always keep my word Hinata," the blonde shinobi vowed, "that's my nindo."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sarutobi chuckled as he looked into the crystal ball, Genkai to his right. "Makes you feel nostalgic, doesn't it?" he asked, puffing on his pipe.

Genkai snorted, "Change the channel." She muttered, "I'm missing the wrestling at five."

Sarutobi sweatdropped as he looked the old reiki master carefully.

"This isn't cable television you know."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well now isn't this interesting? How will Naruto and Hinata's promise work out? What will Ino make of this bizzare tattoo? Could it have some deeper meaning?

Genjutsu: Yorokobi no jutsu: Illusion: Rapture no jutsu.

One of Naruto's personalised jutsus which he designed with Kyuubi's help. As he explained, it affect's the pleasure centres of the target's brain, in this case, it amplifies the pleasure one would get from certain preassure points along their body. Think of it as a 'foreplay' jutsu.