Hey everyone. As promised this one is a week earlier in celebration of this story getting over two-hundred follows and over one-hundred and fifty favorites. This won't be happening frequently, but it's an excuse to put out a new chapter. Also I have another story up, but that one will be updated at a slower rate. Don't for forget to review, follow, and favorite.

I own nothing except for my OCs.

"talking"

"thought"

"telepathic talk"

"demonic/powerful talking"

"demonic/powerful thought"

Chapter 9: Relationships and Training

Naruto had been having an interesting week and a half to say the least.

First Naruto had struck out with getting Kakashi to help train him for the finals and ended up with Ebisu as a substitute. Naruto wouldn't have it and had the closet pervert chase him all over the village before he was caught. He took Naruto to the hot springs to teach him water walking, but they ended up running into someone more interesting.

The second being that he and Ebisu ran into the famous toad sage and self-proclaimed super pervert, Jiraiya, who also knocks out Ebisu. Naruto then begs for Jiraiya to teach him, which he accepts after the use of 'sexy justu', Jiraiya also fixed the damage that Orochimaru did to Naruto's chakra.

Surprise number three had Naruto signing the toad-summoning contract just like the Fourth Hokage. The only down side was he could only summon tadpoles at the moment, but that didn't discourage him.

But his new sensei's odd behavior today had him unnerved.

"Ok Ero-sennie what's the big idea having us eat whatever I want and then you end up bailing for me to pay for it all? When are we going to get back to training?" he fumes.

"Oh don't worry we'll get to that soon enough," the toad sage said comically, "But before we do that there is one thing you have to do."

*sigh* "Let me guess you want to see my sexy justu again?" Naruto asked annoyed. The only way he'd been able to motivate Jiraiya into training him was if he appealed to the sage's perverted nature.

The sage grew a perverted grin. "As much as I'd love that no that's not it," his grin dropped, "Naruto, you will go and hug your crush."

"…WHAT!? What the heck is wrong with you Ero-sennie?"

"Oh come on it's not that hard. Just go up to your crush and give her a hug. A baby could understand that. You do have a crush don't you?"

Naruto opened his mouth to respond but no words came out. Did he have a crush? Sure he still liked Sakura, but she wasn't whom he was thinking about. Hinata's smiling face came to mind and he blushed.

Naruto's final surprise was the 'date' he had with Hinata five days after their ramen outing. He arrived at the Hyuga compound to pick up Hinata but was asked to speak to Hiashi first. Needless to say when Hinata saw Naruto he was a new shade of pale she never saw on him before. But after the fatherly threats they had a wonderful time, it was one of his happiest moments.

"Y-y-yeah. There is someone. She's really wonderful and just being with her makes me happy for some reason," Naruto smiles warmly at his memory of their time together. Not one of his fake grins, but a real smile.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at this. "Damn I've never seen that expression on him before. This girl must really be something if she's got him this bad."

"So gaki who's the girl she must be someone special for you to look like a total idiot," the sage jeered.

"Her name's Hinata Hyuga. She's the Hyuga clan's heir," Naruto said.

"What the hell! Are you telling me that you scored a clan heiress? The HYUGA Heiress!?" Jiraiya could hardly believe that one of the stuck up Hyuga actually was in a relationship with someone outside the clan.

Naruto nodded, only adding to Jiraiya's disbelief. "Yeah, but she's not like the rest of her clan. She's warm and caring even if the rest of the clan puts her down for it. She even dreams of getting rid of the cage bird seal and untie the two branches."

The sage gave the kid a hard, calculating stare. "You like her don't you," he said.

"W-w-what? C-come on Ero-sennie, we're just good friends. Hehehe."

"Naruto," the sage's seriousness unnerved him, "you have the look of a man who is head over heels and either won't admit it or doesn't know it. But I've been around long enough to know when someone's in love. Even an innocent one like the one you've got. Hell I write about it."

"Those aren't love stories their just smut," Naruto pointed out.

"Whatever. Tell you what I'll watch the two of you together and then I'll tell you if my suspicions are confirmed."

"Alright Ero-sennie," Naruto agreed.

"Now that that's settled let's go find her. I won't train you until you do at least hug her," Jiraiya teased earning a blush from the blond.

The two made their way to the Hyuga compound in awkward silence. They walked up to the two Hyuga guarding the gate

"Greetings Naruto-san and…J-Jiraiya-sama!? What's going on?" the first guard stuttered.

"Relax guys. I'm just training young Naruto here for the upcoming exams. We're just wondering where his little girlfriend is," Jiraiya said.

"E-E-ERO-SENNIE!" Naruto shouted in embarrassment causing the two guards to laugh.

While the elders didn't like the thought of the clan heiress being courted by the "demon brat" the rest of the clan had no problems with it except for Neji. Everyone noticed how much happier Hinata was since she went on her dates with Naruto and it transitioned into a drive for her training. They didn't mind Naruto, in fact whenever he came over they could count on him to make them smile.

"I'm afraid Hinata-sama is not here right now. She is training with Hiashi-sama and Anko-san in the Forest of Death," the second guard stated.

"What the heck is she doing there?" Naruto asked worryingly.

"As I said she's training."

"Well thanks fellas we'll head over there," the toad sage stated.

"Just be sure that you wait until she hits a break point. They wish to make Hinata-sama's training secret," the first guard retorted.

They nodded and left. Naruto wanted to book it all the way there, but Jiraiya kept him from doing anything hasty.

Forest of Death

Hinata's training was going extremely well, both Hiashi and Xendra were impressed at her progress.

The first thing Xendra taught her was how to control the Swarm from simply controlling a drone and making a base to spawning and controlling her first swarm of Zerglings. She sent them against the creatures in the forest, but not enough to severely harm the ecosystem. Xendra then told her the concepts to use crushing grip and kinetic blast, which boosted the young Hyuga's arsenal in her psionics.

Hiashi kept her on her Hyuga training regimen so she would have the gentle fist perfected. He was surprised that she found out why she was having trouble in the first place, she wasn't using her flexibility to its full potential. After she got Anko to help her develop a new gentle fist style that worked with her body, she found herself more able to perform the sixty-four palm strike. Though she was more focused on her own sixty-four protective palm technique. Not to mention, when she used her claws in her gentle fist she was downright deadly.

Fortunately for her she had not changed any more than she had now that she knew the changes could be stalled by sheer force of will. All she had to do was think about Naruto and she felt like she could hold it off forever.

At the moment she was busy training in how to deal with overwhelming numbers and the Zerg were more than happy to help make their queen stronger.

Three Zerglings rushed her only to be obliterated by her kinetic blast while another eight charged her from the side. She showed them her skill in her crushing grip. Hydralisks fired their barbs at her but she deflected them with her protective palm. Using her enhanced physiology she rushed at them with her gentle fist leaving them disabled. Mutalisks fling their razors at her which she dodged all but one, the one she caught and flung at one of the Mutalisks before unleashing a hail of kunai and shrunken.

Hiashi stood back and watched his daughter with pride at the power and skill she wielded. Kurenai was there today, as she would switch between training both Shino and Hinata, she could still hardly believe this was the same shy little girl she got on their first day as Team 8.

An ANBU came out of the woods and tapped Hiashi on the shoulder to get his attention.

"Excuse me Hiashi-sama, but one Naruto Uzumaki is looking for Hinata with Jiraiya-sama," he reported.

"I see, thank you," the ANBU bowed and shunshined away, "Hinata why don't you take a break there's someone that wants to see you."

Hinata nodded and mentally commanded the Swarm to stand down. Those that were alive either left or were taken away to heal and regenerate. Those that were dead were taken away to have their biomass extracted for the Swarm's use. Xendra had a special project just for Hinata as a surprise, however it would take a lot of biomass to complete it. But with impending invasion they were preparing for she would have enough biomass from their fallen enemies to complete it afterwards.

Hinata wiped the sweat from her brow and put on her jacket to help hide the changes as she applied a henge. She made her way over to her father, waving to Kurenai happily.

"Who wishes to see me father?" she asked.

Hiashi grinned. "Well dear, I thought you might want to know that Naruto wants to-" he didn't even finish and she was off like a shot smiling happily the entire way to see her beloved.

Forest of Death-gate

Naruto tapped his foot in impatience and worry for Hinata's safety. Sure he saw what she was able to do to Ino in the prelims, but he couldn't help but feel nervous. He stopped when he heard a rustling coming from the forest, but couldn't register it in time only to hear someone shout.

"NARUTO-KUN!" he heard before something collided with him and hugged him closely.

Jiraiya stood flabbergasted at what he witnessed. A blue-ish blur rushed out of the forest calling out to his apprentice only to have said apprentice flung a few feet backwards. Seeing the dust settle he saw that a young Hyuga hugging him tightly with a content look on her face.

The situation was so absurd that he fell to the ground clutching his sides laughing uncontrollably.

Naruto's daze finally passed as he saw Hinata holding him while she was rubbing her head into his chest.

"Uh…Hinata?" he asked trying to get her attention. She suddenly froze and slowly lifted her head until their eyes met. Now realizing what she did, she did the only thing she could do. She fainted.

"Oh damn it not again," Naruto said in a worried tone. Hinata may have been getting more confident and strong, but she still fainted from time to time.

"HAHAHA. Oh man gaki she's got it bad for you. HAHA. No need to worry about what I think, 'cause that pretty much confirmed it." Jiraiya said between his fits of laughter.

"DAMN IT ERO-SENNIE! Stop laughing and help me make sure she's okay."

They picked up Hinata and set her down on a nearby bench to wait for her to wake up.

"I see that my daughter made it to the both of you," Hiashi said as he Kurenai and Anko came out of the forest.

"Yeah it's not every day you see a girl going at incredible speeds only to glomp her boyfriend and then pass out on top of him," Jiraiya reported leading to Anko laughing heartily while Hiashi and Kurenai just smiled.

Hinata cracked her eyes open to find herself on a bench. She slowly got up to find her father, both sensei, Naruto, and an old man with white hair and red markings by his eyes.

"H-hey there Hinata. You feeling better?" Naruto asked with a slight blush from the previous experience.

Hinata sported her own blush at her own impulsiveness. "Y-yes I'm f-fine. Thank you N-Naruto-kun.

"Well that's good," he said with his foxy smile.

"So who are you?" she asked pointing to Jiraiya.

He smirked, then summoned a large toad. "I my dear, am the great toad sage Jiraiya," He proclaimed proudly while striking a ridiculous pose.

*silence*

"He's also a pervert," Naruto pointed out causing the sage to face fault.

"I'm not a pervert, I'm a super pervert gaki. There is a difference," Jiraiya tried to defend.

*silence*

"Well anyway, how's your training been Hinata?" Naruto asked ignoring the man.

Hinata took a breath to calm herself. "It's been going well so far Naruto-kun. I'm better able to use my new abilities and strength than I was at the prelims."

"That's great! We're gonna kick some serious ass in the finals. I've been training with Ero-sennie over there-"

"HEY!"

"-and managed to learn water walking. I also signed the toad summoning contract, but I'm only able to summon tadpoles at the moment."

"That's amazing Naruto-kun," she said in amazement, then she remembered her swarm. "I have a kind of summons of my own I guess you could call them, but I don't want to use them in the finals."

"Hmmm, that makes sense. The exams are mostly about what we can do not our summons right."

"Um hum. But I do have to ask Naruto-kun, why are you here?"

"Oh…well Ero-sennie told me he wouldn't help with my next level of training if I didn't hug my cru- I mean if I didn't hug someone special to me. Hehehe."

Both teens blushed.

"W-well if i-it's to help your t-training then I g-guess I can h-help you."

They looked at each other warmly. Hinata got up from the bench she was sitting on and walked closer to Naruto. They embraced, closing their eyes as they did so. They both felt the warmth the other had and their desires to be with each other showed as they hugged tighter, almost afraid to let go. The adults watching this didn't jest or make fun. They wouldn't dare ruin what were witnessing, affection at a level they never saw before or have felt in a long time. It was honest and pure. It was sad to see the moment end.

Both teens pulled apart still blushing.

"Oh by the way how are you feeling? You know…are you still sick?" he asked.

Hinata had a somber look on her face. "I-it's complicated N-Naruto-kun, but it hasn't gotten worse. Don't worry I'll be fine."

"If you say so Hinata," he said still worried. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Well we should probably get back to our respective training so say goodbye for now gaki," Jiraiya said.

"Yeah, yeah I'm coming Ero-sennie. See you later Hinata-chan," Naruto said but froze when he realized what he said.

The poor genin were both glowing red. Naruto, out of instinct and fear, took off to the spot Jiraiya had him train.

After the adults were done laughing at their expense they both were about to leave when Hinata called out to the sage.

"Jiraiya-sama, a moment."

"Yes?" the sage responded somewhat surprised by the sudden seriousness she had.

"I don't know what you are planning to do to Naruto-kun, but know this," her eyes started to glow, "if you hurt him in anyway, I don't care if you're a Sannin, I will kill you."

Jiraiya gulped and went in Naruto's direction. That wasn't a threat like Tsunade's where she would threaten to kill him for being a pervert; no that was a promise to end his life. The old sage only had one thing on his mind as he went after Naruto: "That girl is scary when she's mad."

Hinata watched the old sage walk away rather stiffly. She felt some satisfaction in make someone of a Sannin's level think twice about messing with her. She suddenly realized she threatened to kill someone of great importance to the Leaf.

"What the heck is wrong with me? Naruto-kun will be fine, I know he'll be. I didn't have to threaten him." Hinata thought worriedly.

She heard a cackle in the back of her mind. As the days went on she came to realize her new Zerg half had a lot more influence than she wanted to admit. This new side of her was always present. It seemed to whisper to her to change ever so slightly to suit her swarm's use. It even influenced her through her emotions like just now with her worry for Naruto. Hinata continued to push the presence deeper into her mind as she headed back.

"You can't lock me away forever. Afterall, I am you, and you are me. You won't be able to deny your instincts indefinatly. And when that time comes…well won't it be exciting."