Wow, sorry it's been so long. When I started writing Naruto of the Sand I didn't realize how epic it would become. It took me another year after I put this story on hiatus to finish it, and NOW all my readers from that story are calling for a sequel! Still, I wanted to get back to this story. It's taken me WAY too long, and I'm sure most of you don't even care anymore, but I don't leave projects undone. It's time to pick the story back up. It will not be going on hiatus again. I promise.
Anyway, last time we left off (exempting the Christmas omake), Naruto had been put on a team with Hinata and Sasuke, AND he was declared Hinata's official gaurdian in lieu of Neji, the canon 'guardian.' They have met Kakashi and while Hinata was initial dubious concerning her chances of passing the 'survival training' Naruto managed to give her a confidence boost. We pick up now where we left off, Hinata and Naruto preparing for the new test. Hope you enjoy the new chapters!
note: the following disclaimer is relevant for all previous chapters, this chapter, and all the chapters that follow.
disclaimer- I don't own Naruto.
enjoy!
"Hey Neji..." The older boy turned towards his adopted brother who was laying in bed facing the ceiling. Neji paused his journal writing. It was a rather calming influence in his life after all he'd been through, especially when it came to dealing with his sensei, but Naruto was still his brother.
"Yes, Naruto?"
"Did you have to do another exam after graduating the academy?" Neji almost snorted. Gai sensei had kept them rather busy the last few days so he had actually forgotten that Naruto was about to graduate. He had come home exhausted and gone right to bed. If Gai hadn't come down with a horrible bone quaking cold, he would probably have done the same today. If training with Gai wasn't taxing enough, there was also the training with his uncle in the mornings. He found it ironic that he was being treated so well, and there wasn't even the seal to hold him back anymore.
"Yes, I did. I was not allowed to tell anyone, but I did not matter as my team passed regardless. Gai sensei is extreme, but after training with Hiashi it was not too hard. Just mentally taxing." Naruto shivered. He'd heard some stories from Neji about his green clad sensei, and he was glad they would not be sharing him at least.
"Well, that's good to know. I just had to know what I'm up against. After all, now that I'm Hinata-chan's guardian, I need to make sure we aren't split up-hey, you okay nii-san?" Neji was now holding a snapped pencil. He slowly lowered it down to the paper, deciding that he was done.
"Yes...I am fine. Still, it has been a long day. I think I shall retire." Naruto wrinkled his nose.
"Gosh bro, you don't have to talk so formal all the time. Hiashi-sama doesn't care if I do; what happened to the way you used to talk."
"...good night, Naruto. Good luck tomorrow." He turned out the light and went to lay down in his bed.
"Alright...night man." Neji could hear Naruto rolll over to his typical sleeping position, relaxing and falling asleep in moments. He was unable to fall asleep for a good while himself. He clutched his sheets tightly, anger swelling within him.
First they take father, then they pretend they care about me, now they take my brother further from me than he already was. Hinata's guardian...And he thinks it a privlidge. Phah! He will learn soon enough. He is just lucky he wasn't born a Hyuuga.
Neji nii-san...I wish I could tell you why I have to protect Hinata-chan...why can't you understand?
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"Tou-san?"
"Hm? Yes Hinata?" Hiashi looked up from his papers he was working on. There was a little more yet to do before it would really be official that Naruto was Hinata's guardian, but by noon tomorrow it would be done. The council had voted, after all. It was not unanimous, but close enough. Despite the boys boisterous nature most of the clan was at least tolerant and acknowledged his sincerity to the protection of the hair. Other duties had kept him from his typical family dinner, but her had made sure to congratulate Hinata the other day after the arrangements had been made for her and Naruto to be on the same team. She had seemed a bit more confident then, but now she seemed more on the reserved side again. He put his papers down, resting his arms on his desk. "I would appear that you have something on your mind."
"Y, yes, I suppose," she said, poking her fingers together.
"Very well. Feel free to speak your mind," he said gently, motioning for her to sit down. "This isn't about the second test, is it? I apologize, but standard procedure is to not let on about it. The only way you know is if you've already failed it once and are going in for a second try."
"Well, I m, may have been nervous about that, but Naruto is confident."
"I see. So, what do you need?" Hinata was silent for a moment before speaking.
"Why did you make Naruto-kun my guardian? I, I know he wants me to be s, safe, but he is not a Hyuuga, father. Why, why are you departing from tradition here?" Hiashi looked at his daughter for a few moments, head cocked to the side.
"My daughter...I am impressed." Hinata's face jerked upright in surprise. Naruto has wondered the same thing, but chooses not to ask for fear of his position being revoked. It is true that this is highly un-traditional, and that was the main resistance in the council for it, but Naruto's existence and life are un-traditional as well. One day you will learn why he came to us in the first place, the whole of it, but not yet. For now, we will say that I owe Naruto a favor, in essence, and leave it at that."
"Oh...yes, father." Hiashi sighed.
"Hinata...there are many things that come with being a clan head. One of them is being discrete. It is not that I do not wish to tell you, but it is not yet the time. I do believe the time will come soon, however, and then I will tell you both. I trust you, and I trust Naruto to look after you without a second thought. Trust me now that I will tell you when the time is right."
"Hai, father," came her reply. "I trust you." She stood to leave but Hiashi called out to her once more.
"Hinata, stay there a moment." She paused in the doorway as he stood and walked over, placing an arm around her shoulders. "Know this, that I am proud of you. You may not act like the leader some believe you should be, but I believe you are the leader this clan will need. Good night; I love you," he said, leaning down to kiss her forehead before she gave him a quick hug and departed for bed. He sat down at his desk once again, smiling as his finished his work.
I suspect their test tomorrow will not be easy, but they should make it. He frowned. Still, I will have to tell them both soon. They already think that Naruto is it, but that's not true, and they must learn the truth of the matter. The question is: when?
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don't forget to review, please :3
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"Sensei! You're late!" Naruto had jumped up and was pointing angrily at Kakashi.
"Well I'm sorry about that, Naruto, but you see, a black cat crossed my path and I had to go around the long way."
"You really expect me to believe that," Naruto challenged. "No Jounin would have to take this long to go around a black cat; you're lying!" Kakashi sweat dropped. Wow...calling my out already. Even Gai doesn't usually question me.
"Well, in any case, it's time to being the test," he said, holding up two bells. "This is it; you have to get these two bells from me, or you fail and go back to the academy. Also, those who do not get a bell will the tied to the post over there while I eat lunch right in front of them. Any questions?"
"Yeah, sensei; how long do we have?"
"How long? Oh, well, I guess you have till noon."
"NANI! That's, that's..." Kakashi nodded.
"Yes, that's right. 45 minutes."
"YES! That's plenty of time! Hinata-chan and I will get those bells for sure!" Kakashi sweat dropped.
"...right. I should tell you that I won't be going easy on you. If you don't come at me with everything you have, then you won't have a chance to get the bells."
"Blah blah, we're wasting our time; let's get this started!" Kakashi's eye twitched. I was going for a little different atmosphere, but I guess Naruto just isn't going to let my full intimidation work today. Guess I'll just do like he says and start it.
"Alright, I guess you'll need as much time as possible. Test starts now." No sooner did he say it that Hinata threw down smoke bombs and they all moved. Kakashi kept his legs ready to move in case one of them tried to attack him now, but the smoke cleared and no one had attacked.
Well, they're well hidden. They seem to be doing alright so far…except…
"Alright, I'm gonna end this right here and now," Naruto declared, and he jumped at his sensei.
Meanwhile…
"Hey, Hinata!" The whisper was quiet but clear, and as Hinata recognized the voice she didn't jump or betray her position, instead only asking a question.
"So, if Naruto-kun is out there, how are you here?" Naruto smirked.
"Kage bushin, remember? Boss made one back at the start when you threw down those smoke bombs to cover your movement." His look changed to one of determination. "Now, I don't know how good Kakashi sensei is, but we're gonna need to come up with a plan to beat him. This way, he won't even know that I'm just running distraction while we're getting ready." Hinata nodded, wanting to slap herself. How could I forget the newest jutsu I've learned? That's why I'm such a weak shinobi… She looked out the field again.
"We, we'll need Sasuke," she said.
"Nani? What do we need that jerk for? He wouldn't even talk to us yesterday and he was rude to you!"
"He's still our teammate," Hinata replied, "and this is Hatake Kakashi, the copy cat ninja. He's one of the few living shinobi I've had to study in my lessons as heiress. Not even the two of us, despite our shadow clones, will be able to take him. We need Sasuke. Alone, we can't do enough, but together, as a team, we can do it." Naruto frowned.
"What about the bells? There's only two of them, and I'm not going to have Sasuke help us just to throw it in his face and keep him from passing, even if he is a jerk." Hinata hung her head.
"I, I don't know," she said, "but we work together, or we all fail." Naruto grunted.
"Alright, boss is busy, obviously, so let's make a couple more clones and find Sasuke; we'll talk about a plan while we're finding him, then somehow we're gonna have to tell boss what the plan is."
"Ummm…"
"Hmm? Yeah?"
"I, I kind of um, already kn, know where he is…" Naruto's eyes widened.
"Whu? How?" She pointed to her eyes. The clone moved to slapped himself in the forehead.
"Man, I am so stupid sometimes…"
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"Man, I am so stupid sometimes," Naruto muttered as he went flying away (courtesy of the thousand years of death). "How could I slap myself like that? Clones are too...easily...dispelled...What the heck!" His distraction caused Naruto quite a good deal of pain as he hit the water. No, i can't get distracted! I need to create a new clone and hook up with Hinata again...and that should help out attacking sensei again, keep him off balance. He quickly summoned up another gaggle of clone, one of them speeding off to join up with Hinata again. Alright, time to run interference again...bring it on!
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"What a dobe," Sasuke muttered as he watched his teammate getting continuously out maneuvered. "There's no way someone like you could even hope to touch one of the bells, much less take on a jounin head on."
"That's why I'm not," said a voice next to him. Sasuke turned slowly to see Naruto and Hinata crouched behind him.
"Hn...clones, huh? Guess you're not too stupid after all." Naruto clenched his fist.
"Fine, whatever. Still, we need to come up with a plan to beat sensei if we want to-"
"I don't need a pampered princess and the biggest baka of all time to get those bells. I'm the only one of the three of us that's had a hard enough life to even think about being able to get one of them." The air was suddenly charged as Naruto's fists clenched tightly. His arm was already moving back to swing at the Uchiha when Hinata touched his arm.
"Naruto-kun, sensei will sense you!" Naruto quickly dropped his fist, taking a few quick breathes and calming down.
"Goman, Hinata-chan. I'm sorry." He glanced around. "It doesn't look like sensei noticed, so how about you move for your part of the plan that we discussed. We don't have much time, after all, and it looks like Sasuke needs some convincing."
"Naruto-kun..." He smiled.
"Don't worry, I won't lose it again. I promise."
"...okay." She gave Naruto a quick hug then dissappeared into the foilage.
"Well, at least someone knows how to keep you under control. Honestly though I surprised that shy little girl was-" Sasuke was cut off as he was suddenly lifted off the ground by his collar. He smirked. "I thought you said you weren't going to lose it, dobe." The blonde grinned back at him.
"And I haven't. I'm in complete control," he said. I just need you to understand something; Hinata-is not-weak. You think you've had hard times? I know your history. Remember, I'm part of the Hyuuga clan. We know what happened to the Uchiha, about your brother. I know that had to be hard, but Hinata carries a burden harder than you could ever believe, and she doesn't even know it. She has no idea, but I do, so I take the brunt of everything that should be directed at her. Why? Because she deserves it; because she is the kindest soul in this whole village; because she has a hidden power that will let her do incredible things, but if people keep treating her like you do, she may never even realize it because she cares so much for everyone and wanting to please them that she'll get misdirected." He finally deposited the Uchiha on the ground, the dark haired boy's face looking grim and angry.
"I get your anger, I really do, 'cause it's the same thing I felt when my father died just so that my uncle wouldn't, but I already knew that he wouldn't want me to carry that hate. He had a greater desire, and that was for me to live the way I wanted. So I do, and I'll look out for Hinata-chan all my life. You want to get strong? Then work with us, and we'll all get those bells. This test isn't meant to pass just one person after all," he said. "It's like Hinata told me already; 'we work together, or we all fail.' So, team work or no?"
Sasuke stared up at him, his fist clenching and unclenching at the words that had been spoken. There was no way Naruto could possibly understand his pain. Hinata had no possible way of carrying a burden worse than his own. His fist tightened.
"Narutooo..."
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"Hah! Got you this time sensei! I sent some clones behind you while I was in the river!"Kakashi's eyes widened. Well, I have to say; that was good thinking, but as long as he's working alone, he won't be able to do this. Sorry Naruto, but it won't work yet. Time for a little substitution. He smirked as Naruto flew at him before he shifted away. He almost laughed at the look on Naruto's face when he realized that Kakashi was no longer being held by him. Oh, and now he's fighting himself, eh? This is funny.
"Darn it, which one of us is sensei?"
"How should I know?"
"Well we aren't gonna just keep fighting, are we?"
"Hey, let's use the password!"
"Yeah, that's right!
"Who's the greatest?"
"Hinata-chan!" Sasuke sweat dropped. What I stupid password...my mouth feels dirty.
"What? NO ONE HERE IS SENSEI!"
"Of course not, dobe," Sasuke said, leaning against a tree on the edge of the woods. "Sensei's up in that tree there."
"Ah, guess I didn't hide so well, huh? Oh well," Kakashi said, jumping down. "Still, I guess I can handle both of you." He lifted his book. "Still, this is my favorite part."
"Cut the act, sensei!"
"Hmph, dobes right. It's boring." Sasuke brought his hands up into a seal, making Kakashi blink. Isn't that- "Shadow clone jutsu!" ...Somehow I don't think that was actually Sasuke. Huh; has Naruto been playing the fool this whole time? Still, that making 'Sasuke' use the shadow clone jutsu blew his act. I really will get to enjoy my book now! Both sets of clones attack Kakashi, trying to flank him. Sure enough, all of them were using the same jutsu style. Kakashi chuckled as he read his book. Oh yes, then what? That's what! He giggled, never noticing the flash of a kunai as one of the clones deviated from Naruto's style. Still, if this keeps up, I'm not going to enjoy this properly...
"Transform," he shouted, making himself look like Naruto once more before making an obvious replacement.
"Darn it, not agian! And we already used up our password!"
"Ah, look!" All the heads turned to look in the same direction. "THE BELL!" Predicatbly Naruto got, out a few of them, got caught by the rope. Kakashi walked out, singling out one to treat as the real one as they all bickered about how stupid they were, but before he was able to speak another flash came out from the woods. He did a quick replacement as he addressed the new comer.
"Ah, I was wondering when you'd appear, Hinata." She took a stance.
"Sensei; I won't let you make a fool of Naruto-kun," she said determindly.
"Well, that's good. Still, it's a bit too late for that."
"Shut up sensei!" Kakashi shrugged at Naruto's outburst.
"Sorry, but it is what it is. While we're all here, I should mention that ninja skill number 2 is genjutsu, but the Hyuuga clan has a perfect blood line to counteract all but the most powerful genjutsu, and that's my weakest point, to be honest. I don't think it would work on Sasuke, either. Much to strong willed. Still, I might as well test Hinata's taijutsu for a moment." And get that bell back; I'm almost surprised that she hasn't noticed how close she is to it, but it may be because her being distracted by Naruto's honor. Pity. For the next several moments he put Hinata through the steps. He'd sparred with many Hyuuga so he was quite familiar with their techniques. She was just fine for her age, but she had more stamina than he would have expected given what he knew of her personality.
"Well, not bad, I think it's time you joined Naruto," he said, moving his foot. Hinata started as a rope pulled tight under her and lifted her into the tree. To her credit she used to momentum to launch herself higher and land in the branches of the tree as Kakashi picked the string the bell was on and reatached it, looking out in case he had another surprise. He jingled his belt, hearing both bells before speaking.
"Not bad. Well, I'll let you get Naruto out. I've got to be somewhere," he said. "Bye!" With that he waved and dissappeard, searching the woods for his last student. Well, they've almost got the idea, but they were both too individual. Sasuke is way too much of a loner. I hate to say it, but I don't think that they're gonna make it. He sighed. Sorry sensei.
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Naruto fumed as he rubbed his head.
"That hurt teme! You could'a been a little more helpful there, don't you think?"
"N,Naruto-kun, still, you aren't up the tree anymore..."
"Yeah, but he didn't even wait for me to be ready to catch myself; what was that for?" Sasuke stared at him.
"Really? You have to ask? You made me use that stupid password."
"What? That's it! It's a great password!" Sasuke sighed.
"What ever. Did you get it?" Naruto stopped fuming and grinned.
"Heheh; Hinata-chan?"
"Hai; byakugan!" She scanned the area, seeing where the two bellls had fallen. One cut by Sasuke disguised as a Naruto clone, the other switched by Naruto when he 'got caught' by the rope trap. Hinata picked them both up, smiling as they had both bells.
"Well, anyone up for lunch?"
In the woods Kakashi blinked for a moment as he hurt two soft pops coming from his right. He paused, looking around. That's odd...I could have sworn... He shook his head, continuing to try and track down Sasuke. His footprints were a bit irregular, but it was a clear path. Still, why would he run away like that?
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The sight that greeted Kakashi as he returned to the beginning area at noon made his eye twitch madly. Sasuke's trail had simply disappeared at one point and he hadn't been able to pick it up. It was as if he'd gone and vanished. It really irked him that he'd manage to loose an academy genin of all things, no matter the skills. And now he found him, sitting with Naruto and Hinata as he calmly ate his lunch. Hinata and Naruto were taking turns eating. There was only one pair of chop sticks and neither wanted to be the one to eat without the other one eating, so they had worked out a system of taking turns.
"And just what do you three think you're doing?"
"Oh, sensei! Nice to see you. Do you prefer the fried rice or the steamed?"
"...I should tie all three of you to the posts for eating without getting any bells."
"But, but Kakashi sensei..." Hinata pointed over to Sasuke...who was holding up the two bells. Kakashi blinked and thumbed his belt. There was nothing.
"When did you..."
"Heheh; well, the first one Sasuke cut off while he was pretending to be my clone, and the other one I switched with a transformed clone while Hinata stomped it into the ground to cover it up. We didn't have the other bell yet so we couldn't let you think that you'd lost one and make sure the other was on your belt still."
"But I checked when I-"
"Yeah, I knew that, so I put two bells down there, hoping for the best. Turned out you were more focused on making sure no one got the skip on ya that you never even noticed that there were two bells instead of one. You didn't even think to check till they were both in your belt." He stared.
"What made you even think to do that?"
"Well, it made sense," he said. "Why make a test that the whole team can't pass? Neji nii-san has a whole 3 man team, so why shouldn't we? Teamwork had to be important for the test, and we couldn't have done it alone anyway, not even Hinata-chan and me." Kakashi scratched his head.
"Well, I have to admit it...I'm impressed. I'm actually beginning to like you guys." He pointed behind him. "Do you know what that stone there is?" They shook their heads as they turned around to look. "That is Konoha's monument stone. The names of many great Shinobi are engraved there. One of them...was my best friend. How many would not have died if their comrades had understood what you three already do? Teamwork. Two shinobi together can accomplish more than twice what they could each do individually." He gave them a short salute.
"I congradulate you, gennin of Konoha. Report to the hokage's tower tomorrow at eight to recieve your first official assignment."
"Yes! See Hinata-chan? I told you we'd make it!" She nodded, smiling brightly as they all got up and headed back to their homes. Thank-you, Naruto-kun. I think I can do this after all.
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one last reminder to review the chapter if there was something you liked or suggestions you had to improve. Thanks everyone!
Whew! So, after all this time, I've finally gotten this test taken care of. Not exactly standard, is it? Though there were some elements from the original test I showed it mostly as distraction, showing Naruto's maturity as he takes his role seriously. As you may recall, the Naruto world keeps reinforcing that it is when you fight for someone else that you really become strong. Naruto fought for himself at this point in the manga, so now he's fighting for someone else, and it makes all the difference. He's alot smarter, and knowing what he does about Hinata, he get's really upset when someone talks bad about her, as you may have noticed with how he treats Sasuke when he does that.
Well, it's good to be back. Got a lot of things planned for the story now that it's back up, and I am NOT puting it on hiatus again. Took too long to get back to it last time I did. I can't promise consistent updates, but it will continue to it's finish. Thanks for reading; take care peeps!