Underlined speech is thought.

Italicized words signify emphasis put on words or a change in tone.

Italicized sentences are songs/chants; whatever you what to call them. When a word is bolded, it is being spoken by only Naruto. If it is underlined, it is being spoken by only Hinata. A word with (parentheses) around it is echoed. The numbers of echoes are the same as the number of parentheses pairs. Also, if a parentheses pair is (underlined), it is only Hinata's voice that echoes it. The reverse is true with bolding. If a word is bolded at the first letter and underlined at the last, it is when their words are out of sync and Naruto's voice comes first. The reverse is true of this.

CAPITALIZED SPEECH IS YELLING.

These are … interruptions in …speech caused … by things …like laughing,…crying, thought,.. and…others.

Words with tildes~ after them are spoken for longer~ periods of time.

Bold words are author notes.

(Previously on Edel Raid and Pleasure: After hearing the story of Kaiza, Naruto prepares to go train. Hinata and Sasuke wind up tagging along. They start by training by running up trees until Naruto and Sasuke ran out of chakra. On their way back, Sasuke suggests that they use Hinata's power. This is debated against up until Kakashi arrives, who helps prove that Hinata can only react with Naruto. The days pass by till Naruto wakes up early from a nightmare. From this, he goes out to training field. He then hears what it means to be strong from a passing boy. This helps him understand how Hinata sees him a little better.)


May 14, 2009, one week since the last chapter.

"Pain of Loss"

After his strange encounter in the forest, Naruto decided to return to Tazuna's house so he can get his teeth on some breakfast. Along the way, he passed by Sasuke, who he had a glaring match with until they passed each other by. The blond then continued on his way back to the house.

He opened the door with a big smile plastered on his face. "I'M BACK~!" Tsunami, Kakashi, and Hinata; the only ones awake at the time, turned their heads to give him a look. As per usual, Hinata developed a slight blush. It grew as Naruto walked right up to her as if they were the only ones in the room. "Ne, ne… Hinata, can I ask you something?" She could only nod at the sudden approach. "Am I important to you?" Her arms and the rice spoon she was holding fell. As her mind tried to actually process what was just said, she nodded subconsciously.

Tsunami stared at the scene with widening eyes. "I can't believe that he just asked her something like that so suddenly. That's just too much for her to take."

Naruto smiled wider and closed his eyes as a result. "That's awesome Hinata. Can I call you Hinata-chan from now on?" With those last words, Hinata's embarrassment went over the top as the excess blood to her head sent her into a faint. Tsunami quickly caught the girl. The sudden action sent Naruto into a frenzy. "Wait, Hinata-chan… I-I mean Hinata. I-If you don't want me to call you that, then I won't."

Tsunami chuckled at his actions. "Calm down Naruto-san. You just surprised her. I'm sure that she has no problem with you calling her Hinata-chan. Why don't you go up and clean yourself up for breakfast."

Naruto nodded. "Hai, if you say that it is okay." He turned away and headed for the washroom.

Tsunami smiled as the boy disappeared into the hall. "This last week has been very eventful. I am really going to miss these kids, especially Naruto-san and Hinata-chan. They defiantly bring light to this place in their own special way." She suddenly felt a presence behind her right side. She looked and saw Kakashi standing there. "How did he get there?"

The difference with how Kakashi stood there was how he wasn't reading his orange book with a lazy look in his eye. Right now, he was rubbing real tears out of the corner of his eyes with his finger. To top it off, he sniffled once. "They grow up so fast. Don't you think Tsunami-chan." He reached his left arm out and placed it over her shoulders.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "And what do you think you are doing?"

He turned his head to her and gave her that U-shaped eye smile. "Why, I am congratulating you for raising such good kids dear."

He disappeared in a puff of smoke, courtesy of Tsunami's elbow. She looked down with a twitching eyebrow. "I certainly won't miss him if he leaves." The young girl she was holding up started to stir. She let the Hyuga stand and collect her thoughts for a few seconds. "Are you okay Hinata-chan. Naruto-san didn't shock you too much, did he?"

Her eyes widened from the rush of recent memories. "Naruto-kun wants to call me Hinata-chan from now on. For most people, dropping honorifics signals being closer to a person, but the opposite is true for Naruto-kun. Does this mean that I am at near the same level as Sakura-san?" She smiled for a few seconds before the doubts started to come in. "How can I be at that level? Naruto-kun has been after her for years. Remember that in the end, I will just be a source of power and maybe a friend."

At the time of breakfast, everyone sat at the table, excluding Sasuke and Inari. Tsunami glared at Kakashi occasionally. During one of those glares, she noticed Kakashi turn around on his chair with his bowl of food in his hand. Three seconds later, he was back in normal position with his bowl empty. Her eyes widened for only half a second before they narrowed again. "Kakashi-san, didn't you tell your students that they should eat slower. Perhaps you should try leading by example."

Kakashi gave her the lazy eye. "That doesn't really apply to me. As a jonin, I can chew twice the food in half the time." His eye took on the U-shape. "Now why exactly were~ you looking at me?"

"I don't like you much. Your only redeeming quality is how you are still willing to put yourself at risk for Tou-san."

Sakura chuckled into her hands. "Looks like you were rejected Kakashi-sensei."

The U only became bigger. "How can I be rejected if I never made a move? She's too snippy for my tastes anyways." In result, this earned her glare. The genin started to chuckle at the way the conversation was going.

Tazuna suddenly cleared his throat. "I would prefer that the conversation doesn't continue down this path. I am her father after all." He turned to his daughter. "And Tsunami-chan; still being willing to fight for you father's life is a super quality that can redeem any number of negative traits."

Tsunami averted her eyes and crossed her arms. "Speak for yourself Tou-san."

Tazuna turned to Kakashi. "You're right, she is snippy." The jonin simply shrugged his shoulders.

Tsunami calmed her expression and continued eating. "I will smack Tou-san once for that later. I doubt I can do anything to the jonin without him making some joke out of it." A small smirk grew on her face. "There might be something I can~ do."

The remainder of the breakfast was as uneventful as usual. With it done, Naruto and Hinata left the house and made their way to the training spot. Hinata looked at the grass at her feet and locked her hands in front of herself. "I have never been so nervous in my life. I feel like I'll lose it at a single word. Why do I always feel so hopeful?"

Naruto turned his eyes to her without turning his head much. "Hinata-chan, is it really okay if I call you that?" She let out a small squeak before nodding. Naruto smiled in response to her actions. "That's a relief. I was worried I made you mad or something. Looks like Tsunami was right. Now that I think about it, calling you Hinata-chan sounds a lot better to me than just Hinata."

By this time, Hinata was glad that Naruto was behind her because her face was practically glowing. "Does Naruto-kun even have any idea what he is saying to me? I have been near him for so long now; I can no longer sense his emotions. I have no idea what he is thinking right now."

When they arrived, they found Sasuke right in the middle of his training. At this point, he could already climb most of a tree. The Uchiha looked down from a high perch and smirked at the two. "Even if that dobe did some extra training by waking up an hour or so earlier than me, he shouldn't be able to close this new gap."

Naruto looked up with his own smirk. "Time to show the teme what a few extra hours of training can do." He turned to Hinata and suddenly felt the anticipation he felt fade a bit. "I'm going to show Hinata-chan what I can do too. I don't want her to get hurt because of me again." He formed the hand-seal and focused his chakra. He ran at the tree and began his trip.

Sasuke's eyes widened when Naruto suddenly passed him where he was standing. "I'm not letting the dobe pass me by." He focused his chakra and ran up more of the tree.

Naruto felt his chakra fade and decided to land on a large branch instead of going all the way to the ground. He looked over and saw Sasuke running up the tree. "HEY, you're cheating." Naruto clenched his teeth and continued up the tree the same way. Both genin continued running until reaching the top. They gripped the tips of their trees to stop their fall. They glared at each other from the high position.

From there, the two practiced walking up and down the tree under Hinata's watchful eyes. Naruto tended to remain closer to the ground than Sasuke did under the pretense that it was easer to start up again when he fell.

On the next morning, Sakura and Kakashi decided to head off to the training area. The first thing they saw was Hinata standing there and looking up. They did the same and saw two small specks at the tops of two trees. Kakashi smiled under his mask. "Looks like those two already have this down."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Wow, they can already climb that high. I expected that from Sasuke-kun, but not from Naruto. It's impressive that he can keep up."

Kakashi walked over to Hinata's side. "I'm sure that part of their progress is thanks to you keeping an eye on them Hinata."

She stepped away and started to wave her hands. "Th-that can't b-be it." She switched to twiddling with her fingertips. "It is r-really because th-they are t-talented."

Sakura scoffed. "I'll believe that Sasuke-kun has talent, but not Naruto. He probably can only keep up because he is training more than Sasuke-kun." She held her hands together and looked off with starry eyes. "That's my Sasuke-kun. He doesn't even have to work that hard to be amazing."

Hinata looked up with a smile. "That is how Naruto-kun is~. If he fails at something, then he will just try harder at it the next time."

Kakashi turned his U-eye to Hinata. "If you don't mind Hinata, can you bring them in some time before dinner? It really is great whenever you help Tsunami with the food. Make sure that you also tell them that they will be joining me and Sakura-chan in the protection of Tazuna. Of course, that includes you as well. It may be a good idea to train with them."

She looked at him nervously. "Oh, h-hai." She turned her eyes back to the trees. "I guess that this is the last time that I can watch Naruto-kun train like this."

The hours passed as one more dinner came around. Tsunami and Hinata worked in the kitchen with great diligence. Tsunami placed her hands on Hinata's shoulder, causing the girl to look back at her. "Why don't you go ahead and take your seat Hinata-chan. I will hand out everyone's meals myself."

Hinata began waving her hands. "No, no, I-I can't m-make you do th-that yourself."

"Don't be like that Hinata-chan. It is the least I can do for what all of you are doing for Tou-san. I won't be taking no for an answer."

Hinata smiled and nodded. "Hai." She then went over to her seat.

Tsunami immediately started up on fixing each person's meal and handing them out. She slapped her father in the back of his head along the way. "I have been meaning to do that Tou-san."

He rubbed the sore spot as the kids, excluding Sasuke and Inari, chuckled at him. "What was that about?"

It only took her a minute to pass out all the food. Once that was done, she waited while keeping Kakashi in her peripheral vision when not looking directly at him. "Now it is Kakashi-san's turn. By living on this island, there is one thing we can get cheep, and that is sea salt. I hope he doesn't like the extra addition to his meal." She smirked as he turned around with the bowl in his hand. An instant later, he stood up and went to the kitchen. "What is he doing?"

He poured some water into his bowl and walked out with a plate. He came in later with the bowl empty and gave Tsunami that U-eye. "Your rice was very good today Tsunami-chan. It just wasn't fit for consumption within an indoor setting."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "He must have diluted the rice by washing and draining it."

The U-shape only got bigger at her eyes. "She has moved on from snippy to spirited. This is a bit fun." The jonin went back to his seat and turned his eyes to the direction Hinata was. "Well Hinata, how well do you think training went for those two?"

She looked down nervously and started twiddling with her fingers again. "Ano, th-they w-worked pretty h-hard a-and can d-do it e-easily n-now."

Naruto puffed out his chest and poked it with his thumb. "Of course we worked hard. There's no way that we can beat Zabuza if we don't train hard."

Inari started looking down with tears running down his face. "Why… why?"

Naruto turned his eyes to Inari. "Huh?"

The boy slammed his hands on the table. "WHY ARE YOU ALL TRYING SO HARD?! NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRAIN, YOU ARE NO MATCH FOR GATO'S MEN! YOU MAY LIKE TO TALK ABOUT HOW YOU CAN WIN BUT ONE THING NEVER CHANGES! WHEN THE WEAK FIGHT THE STRONG, THEY WILL ONLY GET KILLED!"

Everyone was surprised and turned their eyes to Inari. Naruto just narrowed his eyes. "Whatever, I'm nothing like you."

"OF COURSE YOU'RE NOT! YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THIS COUNTRY, YET YOU'RE BEING SO NOSY! WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ME?! I'M DIFFERENT FROM YOU; A BAKA ALWAYS CLOWNING AROUND AND ACTING SO CHEERY! YOU HAVE NO CLUE HOW HARD LIFE CAN BE!"

Hinata flinched badly when she looked over Naruto, who was looking down enough to cast his eyes in shadows. "Oh no… I'm sure this is a sore subject for Naruto-kun."

The blond turned his body a bit to his right. "So you think it is alright for you to act like your life is so tragic and cry all day." He turned his face to Inari, giving out a glaring expression that no one, including Hinata, knew he was capable of. "Just keep crying forever for all I care. You're just a little sissy."

Sakura stood up and slapped her hands on the table. "THAT'S ENOUGH NARUTO!"

With a small scoff, he stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked off. Hinata watched him as he walked off with her worried eyes. "Naruto-kun." She then noticed Inari running up the stairs. "He doesn't know how what he said struck Naruto-kun. I have to talk to him."

Hinata left her seat and followed Inari up the stairs. Kakashi's eye followed her. "It seems that Hinata has the same idea as me. Let's see what she plans to say." Kakashi left his seat and followed them up the stairs. When he found Hinata, he saw her debating with herself over whether or not she should talk to Inari. "This is a good chance for her to try asserting herself. This should be interesting."

Hinata clenched her fists and walked forward. "Ano, I-Inari-san." The boy looked back at her with a glare. Hinata flinched away just before noticing the tears running down his face. "P-please…don't b-be mad at Naruto-kun. I-I don't think h-he wanted to hurt y-you." Inari remained quiet with a frown on his face. "Tazuna-san t-told us a-about your Otou-san." Inari's eyes widened. "N-Naruto-kun never h-had a father, o-or a mother f-for that matter. Whenever h-he made a f-friend, i-it didn't last l-long. H-he truly does know h-how hard life can b-be."

Inari looked up at her with a questioning expression. "How do you know all this?"

She blushed and stepped back a bit. "P-promise y-you won't t-tell anyone." The boy nodded, directing Hinata to take in a deep breath. "I-I used t-to watch h-him a lot back h-home." She slowly looked up with a smile on her face. Going by her expression, it was almost as if Inari's presence wasn't registering to her anymore. "I remember that he used to cry a lot when he thought he was alone. This lasted for almost two years when without warning, he just stopped. He probably got sick of crying. Even when he was~ crying, he always worked to try and prove himself to others. Once he did~ stop, all that energy and time went into more work. To me, he is the strongest person I know." She looked down at Inari with a kind expression. Hinata then noticed the awestruck expression Inari was giving her, which flustered her. "G-gomen, I-I didn't m-mean to b-be l-like that. I-I just lost c-control."

Inari noticed Hinata starting to leave. "Wait." She stopped and looked at him. "What about you?"

"Wh-what do you m-mean?"

Inari looked down nervously. "I-I'm just a bit curious. What about you?"

"Oh." Hinata looked down as she pulled on unpleasant memories. "I-it happened e-exactly three m-months a-after my fifth b-birthday. My Okaa-san d-died while g-giving birth t-to my sister."

Inari's eyes widened. "Her, too? D-do you hate y-your sister?"

The question shocked Hinata. "N-no, of-course-not. I-I… I could never h-hate my sister."

"Do you have any other f-family?"

Her expression became sad once again. "I-I come f-from a big family. B-but, I-I'm not very w-welcome there. E-everywhere I-I look; someone is gl-glaring at me. Th-the only ones that d-don't are m-my Otou-sama and m-my sister." Beads of water started to form on the sides of her eyes. "G-gomen, I-I have to go."

She turned away and ran off, missing Kakashi's presence along the way. The man then decided to reveal himself to Inari. "I have only one thing to add to what Hinata so masterfully said. That was quite the speech Hinata gave to you. If I have to say, both she and Naruto-kun understand what you are going through very well. Even so, they are both still working hard to improve themselves. Perhaps you should do the same." He was gone in an instant.

With Hinata.

The Hyuga only ran for a short time before happening upon Naruto. Luckily for her, she was able to hold back her tears. They now stared at each other with an expression of surprise. Naruto recovered first and walked over to her with a determined expression. When he reached her, he averted his eyes. "Hinata-chan, can I ask you something?"

Her reddening face nodded. "H-Hai."

"If you don't mind, I was hoping that you would practice reacting with me." Her eyes widened in surprised, yet Naruto continued. "I don't think the tree walking exercise will be enough to handle Zabuza. We have to get better at working together. If you don't want to, I'd understand though. I'm just hoping that if we get better at that, then I won't get her hurt again."

Affected by his previous serious expression and his current hesitance, Hinata nodded. "Hai Naruto-kun; w-we should pr-practice a-at least o-once."

Naruto smiled widely at her answer. "That's great Hinata-chan. I found this great spot where we won't knock down too many trees. We can train there. Follow me." Hinata smiled as she followed Naruto to his the spot he chose. It was a large clearing that was still surrounded by forests. He quickly formed a very familiar hand-seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu." Twenty extra Naruto popped into the area. Hinata held out her hand to the original. Their hands touched, which led to them being surrounded by light.


Another chapter is released exactly one week later. I really didn't get to the bridge fight on this one. I changed the author note at the end of the previous chapter accordingly. I am certain about what the next chapter is about. PS: Hinata will be pulling out a flashy new song.

One more thing. The problem between Naruto and Hinata that was created by Naruto's big mouth isn't dealt with yet. It is just in the coffin. Got to put in the nails next.

Next Chapter: The Bridge.