Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto if I did I would have had Hinata speak to Naruto and try and cheer him up earlier on. Like make be the one to untie Naruto after team 7 test.

An Uzumaki Tale

Arc 5: The Path of a Ninja

Chapter 21: The Test

Author's Note

First I would like to thank everyone for the nice reviews last chapter, especially since I got a rather mean guest review for my second chapter of this story. Which I am now going to rant about.

The guy acted like he knew it all, saying that when Minato mentioned it was physically impossible to seal the whole Kyuubi was wrong and then reference Kushina and Mito. But they completely ignored the fact that canon Minato said it was impossible to seal all the Kyuubi away into a newborn baby like Naruto which is what my story says as well.

The then went on to say my story was bad called me di**** and that my writing was terrible. But once more ignored the fact that I mentions in chapter 1 that I was new to writing at the time.

I know this story didn't start out as a best, but I have to start bloody somewhere! I'm sorry for not being genius that can write amazing stories right off the bat!

The worst part was he even mentioned not making account to log and tried to justify abusing the account to talk shit about the authors. If he had an account I would refute what he said in PM instead of on here.

Sorry about that, it just really annoyed me that someone would say something like that when one he didn't have the facts straight and two insulted me when I am trying my best.

Luckily, he said he was done with the story, though I am sad he won't see my refute.

I thank all the kind reviewers out there that are understand and support my hobby of writing fan fiction, you guys are great! :)

Naruto was waiting at training ground 8, his eyes had light bags under them with blacking grey, showing he didn't get much sleep.

He yawned, his hand trying to fix his messy bed hair. "Man, I couldn't sleep at all last night." Normally, he had trouble sleeping most nights. But unlike normal people, a wink of sleep was enough to energise him.

But unlike normal nights, he couldn't get any sleep at all, which was why despite his tiredness, he was the first one here, on time for once, instead of sleeping in like he would normally do.

Naruto closed eyes, hoping to at least get a quick nap while he waited, but no such luck. The minute he closed his eyes, he saw sad pale eyes looking at him.

His eyes opened. He spent the whole night worrying about Hinata and how to make things right. 'Shit, we got along really well yesterday and now she won't want to be my friend anymore.'After finally getting along with someone so well, he feared that he ruined it because he was insensitive and in a bad mood and he hated himself for it.

He wanted to apologise and make things right, but this was a first. By nature, he wasn't a bad person. He just wasn't used to apologising to people. His teacher and Jii-san were all right, but he never really did anything really bad to a friend that required him to apologise. It didn't help that he could honestly count the number friends he had with one hand.

With nothing to do but wait since he was slightly earl, he surveyed the area for what must have been the hundred time. Like most training grounds, there was mostly forests around it.

There was a small clearing which he was in that marked the centre of the training ground, plus a huge log with padding wrapped around it for conditioning and practices. Naruto had a rough idea of the area and knew there was a small river nearby that cut through the forest, but besides that, he was surrounded by nothing but forest for miles.

Naruto sighed, sitting down and leaning on the training post. Finally, he saw someone coming. Looking down in the distance, he could only just barely see the shadow of the person thanks to the still rising sun.

Hinata looked on in surprise to see that Naruto was the first one there. She blushed at seeing his messy bed hair.'Naruto-Kun…looks so cute with his messy hair.'

As Hinata drew closer, Naruto looked at her, making her blush even more and look away. Naruto took this as a sign that Hinata was still upset about yesterday. Hinata approached without a word and Naruto panicked.

'Shit, say something! Apologise! Just. Do. Something!'His mind shouted. "Emmm… good morning." He greeted, rubbing the back of his neck.'Great… that was all I could say?'

"G-good…M-morning…" Hinata greeted back, looking his way again before once more looking the other way with red tint.

'I knew it… she's still upset.'He wanted to apologise but remembered that he usually wasn't so good with…he shook the thought away. That person was the last thing he wanted to think about.

Hinata walked by, standing a few meters away from Naruto. He watched her and noticed her jacket was different. It was now black and the Hyuga flame on each shoulder was replaced with his symbol. 'Wait' that's…'

He looked at the red spiral at little longer, not noticing Hinata was checking him out. 'Naruto-Kun looks tired…is he still upset over yesterday?… Maybe I should…' She stopped her thoughts in their tracks. 'No…I-I can't force him to tell…I-I'll just seem pushy and anger him again…'

She wanted to help him, but knew that she couldn't force him to open up. Both were at a standstill, wanting to speak, yet not wanting to upset the other once more.

"Nice jacket." The silence was broken by Naruto, who looked away, feeling stupid for just saying that and nothing more.

Hinata went bright red, smiling, as she nodded yes and not saying a word, but so happy that he spoke. 'Naruto-Kun complimented my jacket… h-he likes it. Quick! I need to say something back.'

"Y-You too." She said without looking up, the boy looked her way in surprise and nothing more was said.

'So stupid! I should have said more…a-and thank you, but grrrr…'Hinata belittled herself, knowing she missed the perfect opportunity to speak to him more. Naruto was so surprised by the compliment to his outfit that he missed a chance to respond.

'Normally people hate my jacket. Damn, I should have replied straight away. She's talking to me… that's good, but…"He felt like he missed another chance to apologise.

It wasn't long until Shino joined them and gave a silent greeting to them and they stood there the reminder of the time in awkward silence.

Kurenai watched her team, having arrived ten minutes early. She was surprised to find both Naruto and Hinata there before her and then Shino arriving with five minutes to spare.

'Naruto looks tired. A ninja needs to keep themselves in good condition.'She frowned at the boy's state. Going on a mission without proper rest could mean the difference between life and death.

She still had her doubts, but besides from being tried, Naruto's mood seemed to have improved a lot from yesterday. The Hokage said it was ok to continue, saying that the chakra was mostly caused by emotional stress and said that she should just be mindful of anything that comes up.

With a hand sign, Kurenai disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Right as the clock turned 6, a strong breeze blew and a swirl of leaves appeared. Not even a seconded after the appointed time, their sensei stood in front of the new genin.

"Morning, I hope you're ready to begin." Hinata and Shino stood up straight, while Naruto smiled, his eyes sparkling in admiration, his tiredness forgotten.

"So coooool! Are you going to teach us how to do that?" He asked with hope in his eyes. The thought of learning an awesome jutsu like that excited him.

Hinata giggled and Shino pushed his glasses up, even Kurenai smirked a bit. "If you pass my test then yes, otherwise it's back to the academy."

Naruto quickly accepted the challenge. "No problem! I'm going to pass with flying colours!" He declared with a smile.

Everyone noted that the boy bounced back from whatever was wrong with him. Hinata was especially happy, the tension in the air was quickly broken thanks to the boy.

"Big words from someone who failed the graduation test three times." There sensei teased, causing the boy to grumble.

"Just wait, I'll show you what I'm made of!" He pointed at her.

"We'll see." She pulled a blue scroll with no characters on it, showing it to the three. "Your test will be to collect these scrolls. There are ten scattered around the training ground."

"Collect scrolls, that's easy." Naruto boasted, thinking he had this in the bag.

"I wouldn't be so sure. Each one is hidden and the training ground is vast. Not to mention, I will interfere with you as well." Everyone looked at her, now focusing on her. "The goal is for you to collect five individually, any questions?"

Shino was the first. "By individually, do you mean the one that doesn't have the required number of scrolls will fail?" Kurenai smiled, but said nothing.

"B-but… that means one of us will fail...t-then…what is the point…of putting us into teams?" Hinata was the one to question while Naruto looked at her in surprise.

"Don't worry, we have a reserve pool of genin that can fill the spot or even put you on teams that are missing a member."

Shino pushed his glasses up, accepting the response. Hinata and Naruto grew worried. She didn't want to fail and lose Naruto, but also didn't want Shino or Naruto to fail either.

'What should I do? If I don't pass… I could be separated from Naruto, but then Naruto or Shino would fail.' Hinata didn't want anyone to fail. 'M-maybe I don't deserve to be here…'

Naruto was having his own thoughts. 'Shit, that means were competing with each other. I can't fail, not after finally coming this far. I could handle Shino, but Hinata…'He really didn't want to fight her, not after he was such an ass to her before.

Kurenai smiled as they all thought about her words. "You have until noon, you may begin." She disappeared in a swirl of leaves and wind, just like she did when she arrived.

They all stood there for a few seconds. Naruto was the first to sprint into the woods, Hinata watching him as he did.

'Damn, no time to think. This area's huge! I'll just find as many scrolls as I can. There's no way in hell I'm going to fail again!' He couldn't afford to go back to the academy, not when he just managed to graduate after three years of trying. He knew he wouldn't be so lucky and that he wouldn't get a second chance if he failed.

Hinata watched Naruto leave. Gathering her own resolve, her hands clenched her new jacket, determination shining in her eyes. 'I-I need to at least make sure Naruto-Kun passes. I-I…don't know how he graduated, but…' She saw Naruto sitting lonely on the swings, his eyes devoid of light and full of sorrow.

'..I don't want to ever see him like that again!"She looks back to Shino, seeing him already gone. She turned back to Naruto and ran after him. She was going to make sure he passed at least.

Minutes passed after Naruto left the clearing and he was starting to lose what little patience he has. 'Damn it, this going to take forever on my own…'

A light bulb went off in his head at that phrase. Smirking, he put his hands together in a cross sign. "Good thing I don't have to do it alone. Kage Bushin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Jutsu)!"

The area of the forest was covered in a huge cloud of smoke. Before the cloud could even dissipate, masses of Naruto's were dashing in all directions.

Smirking at his brilliant idea, he was sure he could find all the scrolls in no time at all and then give Hinata the ones he didn't need. With no friends and not much else to do, his free time was spent either exploring or training, both of which let him learn his way around the village's grounds and forests like the back of his hand.

Hinata's Byakugan watched Naruto, who was way ahead of her. As she ran, she couldn't help but admire the speed and stamina Naruto showed. Sure, she was no slouch and was hardly breaking a sweat, but at the pace Naruto was going, she sure wasn't going to catch him anytime soon.

As she tried to think of a way to catch up to him, Naruto suddenly came to a standstill.'What's he doing? Did he find a scroll already?'Smiling at the thought of Naruto already finding one of the scrolls he needed, she was surprised when he made a hand seal and a huge cloud of smoke obscured her vision.

Luckily, her Byakugan could easily see through the smoke, thoughts about Naruto being in danger worried her until she saw multiple chakra signatures, all Naruto's. "What the-?"

Watching in astonishment, all the chakra signatures scattered in all directions. Confused, she focused her all seeing eyes on one of the moving signatures. Her eyes widened as she inspected several of them.

"I-I… don't believe it… They're all clones…a-and solid." She heard of this Jutsu from her father and knew it was a B rank at least.'N-Naruto-Kun…y-you're so amazing.' For a second, she doubted her own eyes, but her clan's all seeing eyes made no mistake.

The same yellow chakra that was bright as the sun. The unmistakable physique of her beloved. The imprints each clone left where they stood, the rustling of the leaves and branches as they passed. They were all real. Having come to a stop to admire her Naruto-Kun's amazing feat, she noticed several coming her way.

"Eeep!"Squeaking, she jumped into nearest bush, hiding. Turning red, she gazed at the several Naruto's that passed her by. 'S-So…m-many…N-Naruto-Kun's…'Her head felt dizzy, swaying side to side at the overwhelming number of them. God, her fantasies were going be something else after today. Managing to stay conscious after the thought of what all those Naruto's could do, she looked back in the original Naruto's direction, noticing he wasn't there anymore.

Straining and activating her Byakugan, she combed the area for the original.'N-no…I can't tell which one's the original.' Deactivating her dojutsu and conserving her chakra, she leaped towards the last known spot of the original. Her distance of vision was only 35 meters at the most and she was only managing just to keep Naruto in her sights before. To have any hopes of finding the original, she would need to get to his last known location before he left her range.

Kurenai watched from the side-lines as Naruto made a mass of Shadow clones, a feat that even Jonin couldn't do and he still had energy to spare. After finding out he passed, she heard the rumours, but seeing was believing. 'I can't believe he mastered such an advanced Jutsu at such a young age and can use it to this extent so easily.'

A part of her wondered how on earth he could fail the academy tests so many times when he could learn to do B rank Jutsu on his own.

But sadly, it wasn't enough. Smirking at the boy, she started making hand signs. Unlike Hinata, she was close enough to see and hear the original Naruto give the orders, spotting him, being the last to move out of all the others she followed.

'Sorry Naruto, but you need more than just fancy ninjutsu to be a Ninja.'Finishing her hand signs, she whispers. "Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing)."

Meanwhile, Naruto felt a strong wind suddenly blow and leaves circle in front of him before finally calming down. 'Damn, that was strong.'Undeterred, he kept moving forward.

Suddenly, he spotted someone in the distance. "Hey that you Hinata, Shino?" When he got closer, he saw a flash of pink as the person turned.

"What do you want loser! For the last time, I will never go on a date with you!"Sakura screeched at the poor boy. She was already shouting more before he got a chance to even speak once more.

"Did you honestly think I would date someone like you? Considering what you are?!"Those words froze him.

'D-does she know? N-no.. she can't.. it's a secret.'Sakura approached quickly, pushing Naruto away. Though there was no force, he still backed off.

"You're a murderer! Nothing more than a demon that should be put down! It's no wonder your parents abandoned you!"

He shook at the words, his breathing became more rapid. "Shut up! They didn't abandon me!" His own doubts started show. Did they really die or could they not stand having a demon for a child.

"Ha ha ha ha… Do you really believe that.. Kyuubi?" Turning to the new voice, he spotted someone that he thought he was done with.

"Mizuki! What are you doing here?!" Naruto roared at his old sensei.

"What? I'm obviously here to finish the job. Did you really think the village would side with you over me? They want the demon dead just the same as I do!" At those words, the villagers appeared out of nowhere one at a time.

"Demon!"

"Monster!"

"Murderer!"

"Die!"

"Disappear!"

"Go away…" The words continued before they started throwing stones. Naruto ran, he couldn't feel them, but he still ran.

Smiling, he saw the one person that he thought believed in him. "Iruka-Sensei!" He called. The teacher turned around, a hand swiping at Naruto.

Backing off , Naruto looked to see his sensei holding his headband. "It was a mistake giving this to you! You're nothing more than the demon that killed my parents! Everyone would have been better off it if I let Mizuki kill you that night!"

"No…" The boy whispered. "B-But you said…"

He was cut off by the harsh voice. "I only said that because Hokage-Sama said that he wanted you alive, but that's not the case anymore!"

Naruto's Jii-san appeared next to Iruka. He didn't speak, giving no defence to Iruka's words, turning away from the boy.

Falling to his knees, Naruto heard someone approaching from behind. Pale lavender eyes of kindness looked at him with a smile, short blue hair waved in the wind.

"H-Hinata…" Naruto smiled. In all his years, she never hurt him. He was so happy, thinking surely, she didn't think the same as all the others.

She just smiled and looked at him all the same, her beige jacket the same as ever. She didn't change from the way he knew of her.

She approached Naruto, her kind eyes suddenly filling with anger and her smile turning in a scowl. "You monster!"She shouted right in his face. "I tried to help you and be nice! But you pushed me away! Everyone was right… I should have just stayed away from you!"

Naruto was shocked by the usual shy and innocent girl's hateful gaze. "You really are demon! I should have just stayed away like everyone told me to! Go and die Kyuubi!"

She backed away and their sensei appeared along with Shino. "Did you really think I wanted you on my team? The test was given to make you fail. A demon like you doesn't deserve to be a ninja." His new sensei spat.

One by one, all the people he knew, his friends, classmates, even those he considered family. All appeared and called him demon, telling him to disappear… to…

"Die Demon!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Please!...no.." He cried to the heavens, feeling utterly abandoned and alone. Everyone wanted him dead. He had no one, nothing. After all this time… he was nothing but a monster… nothing but the…

"…Kyuubi"

Kurenai watched, disappointed, as after minutes of being in the Genjutsu, Naruto didn't escape and shouted at nothing. "I guess his scores weren't wrong. He couldn't even see through a D rank genjutsu."

She was really hopping that he wasn't as bad at genjutsu as the reports said he was. But he sadly was falling for one of the village's lowest genjutsu.

"If he goes on missions like this, he'll be killed by even the weakest person who can cast a simple illusion."

A hand covered her eyes. She thought about what to do. She did want to teach the boy, but she couldn't just pass him. As a teacher, it was her reasonability to teach and judge her students. If they weren't ready, she couldn't let them become ninja, no matter her personal feelings.

Suddenly a chill went up her spine. Looking down at the boy, she panicked slightly. 'Shit, this wasn't supposed to happen.'

Hinata finally made it the spot she last saw her beloved. Feeling a chill followed by a scream, she activated her Byakugan, seeing Naruto's chakra signature and him kneeling. The chakra was acting weird, noticing traces of another around the head, realising what was happening.

"Oh no, Naruto-Kun's been trapped in a genjutsu!" Deactivating her Byakugan and focusing chakra to her feet, she dashed to her beloved's rescue at full speed. Right until her Byakugan deactivated, she watched the boy she loved closely and at the final second she could see traces of red chakra leaking from his stomach.

She never noticed that her Byakugan deactivated on its own as she focused all her efforts to help beloved Naruto-Kun.

'Crap, this wasn't supposed to happen. The Genjutsu should have just scared or shocked him, causing him to pass out. He shouldn't have had such an adverse effect to it.'Once cast, she had no idea what the boy saw, knowing it was only the manifestation of what he least wanted to see.

Calming down, she thought how to fix the situation. 'Ok, Naruto won't be able to see through the illusion I'm using. I should knock him out before Hinata and Shino come across him.'

Crimson eyes looked down at the boy from up above. She was surprised that crimson met crimson as the boy looked right at her. The slitted crimson blood like eyes looked straight at her, causing her to shiver.

The bloodlust and fury behind them her caused her to lose focus, the boy disappeared in that time. 'What? Where did he go?'

A powerful wind broke through her illusion. Trying to cover her eyes as best she could, crimson met crimson once more as she saw the cause of the wind was in fact her enraged student.

Taken aback by his sudden appearance, she wasn't able defend herself and was struck dead in the face by a fierce punch. Flying out of the tree, she crashed on the ground, leaving a crater.

'Shit, that hurt!'Seconds after her crash, she was forced to back flip away from another punch that broke the ground where she once was.

She watched her student carefully, not losing focus at all. 'Damn it! How did he find me? I must have lost focus and allowed my illusion to waver, but that would only last a second. He couldn't have found me so quickly.'

Naruto was charging at her once more, this time she remained calm. 'I can't lose focus and remain calm. A Genjutsu's strength and weakness is the mind.'In a single breath, she calmed herself and finished hand signs for another jutsu, disappearing in mist.

"Magen: Jubaku Satsu (Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death)"The voice echoed through the mist as Naruto passed thought it.

Roots slowly wrapped around him, a tree starting to form. But Naruto did nothing, instead his eyes followed strange fog like aura that was stirring mixture of black, dark red, dull yellow and dark purple. Naruto ran through the illusion, not even noticing it was there.

As Naruto got close, the tree and mist disappeared, showing Kurenai standing in the aura. She dodged once more, angering Naruto further.

She didn't know how he kept getting through her genjutsu, but she couldn't let it stand. Jumping into the tree branches, she started preparing a more powerful genjutsu. 'Sorry Naruto, I can't let this go on.'

"Naruto-Kun!"The shout was too familiar as someone dived at the boy.

'Oh no.'Was Kurenai's last thought, too late to react to the new presence heading straight to Naruto.

"Naruto-Kun!"The voice drew Naruto's attention. Turning to the source, he saw dark blue-ish hair, his own eyes turned back to their original sky blue at seeing the colour.

Before he could even gather his thoughts, Naruto was tackled to a the ground, a strange warmth flowing though him.

Hinata tackled Naruto as soon as she saw him, not even noticing the anger and red chakra he was giving off. As soon as she met him, she sent a pulse of chakra through him to dispel the genjutsu he was under.

She landed right on top of him, enjoying the chance to hug him and the warmth he gave off.

As the boy collected his thoughts, he could feel a comforting weight on top of him. His hands went to it, feeling the warmth and softness of Hinata's jacket.

Looking down, he spotted a ball of blue hair, recognising the girl that was on him and leaning on his chest, he got up blushing. "Hinata!" He yelped, shocked at seeing her.

As her blond crush got up, Hinata was slightly unwilling to let go and ended up coming up as well. Looking at Naruto's face, she blushed, looking down and away from his intense crystal blue eye only to blush even more, realising she was practically on the boy's lap.

Jumping up and away, much to the boy's dismay, Hinata apologises. "I-I'm…s-sorry!" She squeaked, not able to face him.

After the illusion broke and Hinata suddenly jumping away from him, Naruto remembered what happened and broke down. "No! I-I'm s-sorry…I-..-sniffle sniffle-…" For the first time in his life, Naruto allowed himself to truly cry in front of someone else.

"Y-you…you were only trying to help and I-I… snapped at you!" Hinata watched as his tears flowed down his whisker marks. "Y-you -sniffle- tried to help, but I just ignored…and hurt you…"

Naruto hugged himself, Hinata reaching for him. "Everyone's right… I am monster! I do nothing right and only hurt others. I deserve your hate!"

Shaking, his sorrowful voice broke Hinata's heart. "I don't deserve to be here…" He whispered in despair. "Everyone would be better off if I just disappeared… I shouldn't have existed in the first place!"

SMACK!

Feeling the stinging from his cheek, he thought he deserved it all. All he ever did was bring pain to the young Hyuga. Looking up, he expected her to be angry. To shout at him. To tell him she hated him over and over again. What he didn't expect was to see a tear stained face with puffy red eyes as the girl cried.

Her hand never left his cheek. "D-Don't you dare say that! You deserve to be here! You worked so hard for years! You always got up, no matter how many times you failed and you finally became a ninja!" Her hand cupped his face as she shook in anger and sadness.

She was angry that Naruto would blame himself. Angry at herself for not saying anything sooner and just sad at the fact that after all these years, she finally saw the boy cry. The unshakeable will he always had finally cracked. She saw the signs again and again, but did nothing and now her Naruto-Kun finally broke.

She couldn't stand seeing his tears. She wanted to see him smile and keep on smiling because she loved seeing him happy and wanted him to always be happy.

"Y-You…just can't give up here…y-y-you have to become Hokage…You're not a monster! So don't ever call yourself one!" Her shout shocked the boy. She was angry at him for him. It reminded him a lot of Iruka when he would get scolded, yet the teacher always meant well. Or at least he used to think so.

"B-But you said you-you hated me…t-t-that it…w-would have been better if you never met m-me..." Confused at the statement, Hinata looked at the boy's miserable face as he went on.

"E-everyone hates me… nobody wants me…I-I always…have…a-and always will be alone." The sniffling of his confession made Hinata realise why he was like this, what the cause for her beloved's breakdown was and it made her anger stir at the person who did this to her Naruto-Kun.

"That's not true.." The soft voice lulled his ears. The hand on his face made him look at her pale lavender eyes. It seemed to touch his soul as she cried herself. He didn't know why she did it, but it calmed him down and he focused solely on her. "I-I want you here…I need you… I-I could never hate you… I p-promise I'll never leave you alone again…"

He still cried, but this time they weren't tears of despair. The strangest feeling overwhelmed him. It was warm, so warm. He never really felt it before. Happiness, peace, hope. All of these described how he felt in that moment. It was so new and complicated that he didn't know the words to give to this foreign emotion.

"N-Naruto-Kun…" She whispers, the boy's attention still on her and nothing else. "What y-y-you saw… wasn't real." He broke the trance like spell she put him under as he replied.

"..Huh?" The confusion replaced whatever he felt moments ago as Hinata explained further.

"I-it wasn't real… you were…" She had to calm herself down, getting angry at the crime that was done. "You were under a Genjutsu… what you saw… what you thought I said, wasn't real…I-I don't hate you. No one does…I don't want you to leave me…"

At her words, Naruto went silent. "..I-It wasn't real?" Hinata nodded, comforting him. He started sniffling and crying squeaking out "It wasn't real..." His voice was filled with happiness and relief. The images he saw. He wasn't alone. His friends didn't abandon him.

Naruto cried there for a little while longer, Hinata kneeling beside him and wiping his tears away.

Kurenai watched the interaction, feeling guilty that it was mostly likely her genjutsu that hurt the boy.

Seeing him now she was sure that he was no threat. 'He didn't attack Hinata at all and calmed down…It should be ok to continue, but I should report this to the Hokage right after the test.'

She breathed sigh of relief. She was still unsure what happened, but decided to leave the two alone in their private moment.

Disappearing without the two even knowing she was there, she went to look for Shino and see how he was doing.

When Naruto finally stopped crying, both Hinata and him realised they were really close and jumped away from one another. They both sported small blushes, Hinata's obviously more intense.

"Sorry!" Both squeaked at the same time, blushing even more as they looked away.

Naruto was nervous. It was so unusual, it happened lots of times, but he's never just been nervous in front of someone before for no good reason.

"H-Hinata…t-thanks." He finally said, breaking the silence, cursing the fact that he, of all people, stuttered.

She smiled at the thank you, but didn't say anything else, returning to her normal shy self. They both stood in silence, not knowing what to do.

"N-Naruto-Kun?" Hinata finally spoke. "I-I I want to help you pass the test!" She shouted almost desperately, pleading him to let her help.

"B-but why? You need to pass too? Both of us are competing." He didn't quite understand why Hinata was helping, why she wanted him to pass when she would be better off leaving him and getting the scrolls herself.

"I-I don't want Naruto-Kun to fail…I want us to pass together." The confession was something Naruto never expected, but he smiled.

"Me too…" Hinata looked at him, his brilliant smile taking her breath away. It wasn't like his normal ear to ear grins, but a small and genuine smile that made her fall for him all over again. "I want to pass together with you too."

The gesture and smile made Hinata spill a few tears of joy. She gave him a heartwarming smile that made him feel weird, but not in bad away. "You're really pretty when you smile." He blurted out, making the girl turn bright red.

He didn't have the slightest clue of why he said that and quickly tried to cover it up, blushing himself. "Well then, let's pass this test and show sensei that were going to be the best ninja ever!" Naruto declared giving a fist pump.

"Yeah." Hinata agreed. Though she didn't have the same volume as the boy, she too gave a fist pump of her own. Both smiling at one another, ready to go.

"Ahem" Hearing the coughing of a third person, both Naruto and Hinata turned to see a second Naruto holding a scroll.

"If you want, I can come back later while you two have your moment." The clone smiled, both children blushing at the teasing and immediately taking a step away from each other.

"I-It's not like that!" Naruto shouted at the clone, who just kept teasing him more and more.

"Sure it isn't…" The clone rolled its eyes before pointing at Naruto. "You're blushing." Embarrassing its creator further, the clone just went on. "That's not fair boss, you sent us all out to do the work while you're playing around with Hinata-Chan."

"I said it's not like that." The clone snickered. Who knew it would be so fun to tease himself.

"He he he" Hearing the giggling of Hinata the clone turned away, seeing her blue hair shine and smile brightly as she laughed.

"Wow, you're really beautiful when you laugh." At hearing his words, the girl immediately stopped, looking away from the clone and original.

"Stop that, you're embarrassing her!" With that, the original hit the clone, dispelling him in a poof of smoke. As the popping of the clone happened, Naruto saw images. Someone running across the tree tops, finding a scroll and finally Hinata giggling.

Blushing at the last one, Naruto put his hand to his head, receiving a slight headache at the sudden rush of images.

Seeing the moment of discomfort, Hinata went to help her Naruto-Kun. "Naruto-Kun… is something wrong?"

"Nah, just a headache from the clone. Nothing to worry about." He waved her off, picking up the dropped scroll. "Come on, one down. Let's find the rest." They shared a smile before walking into the forest to continue their search.

Minutes passed and Naruto was frowning as he walked through the forest with Hinata. "N-Naruto-Kun, is something wrong?"

She noticed for the past few minutes the boy just kept frowning. 'Did I do something wrong?…W-What if he's angry at me for slapping him earlier?'

Getting nervous, Naruto rubbed the back of his head and he spoke up. "Well. it's just that something's been bugging me for a while." His confession made Hinata's brow rise. "I'm sure we've been here before, but we've been going straight for minutes now and the area hasn't changed to what I remember it to be."

Hinata thought it through and got an idea, running through hand seals. "Byakugan!" The world around her changed. She could see the faint amounts of chakra in the air, piercing through it, she saw the scroll.

Running ahead, Hinata disappeared from Naruto's view. "Hinata!" The next moment the world shimmered, trees and bushes disappeared, revealing Hinata holding a scroll.

"Hinata, that's great! You found another one!" Naruto rushed over, congratulating the girl.

"I-It's not that great. Y-y-you were the one to notice the genjutsu…" Not facing the boy, blushing from his praise. 'God, it feels so good being complimented by Naruto-Kun.'

"I just noticed that it was strange since I've trained here before. You were the one to find the scroll and dispel the jutsu. I would have never found it without you." Turning away from him with a smile, she complimented him as well.

"B-but you would have managed. Y-you did find one by yourself already…" His blue eyes sparkled with joy. It was so new someone complimenting him, someone trusting him, believing in him. At the academy, everyone saw him as a loser. If he said what he told to Hinata, they would laugh and say it was her imagination. But not her. She took everything he said seriously and even encouraged him when he did something good.

"Thanks, two down." Hinata handed him the scroll and they left once more.

5 Hours Later

Hours went by and steadily Hinata, Naruto and the clone found the scrolls one by one. Like sensei said, the area was big, but after their four scrolls, Hinata figured out that sensei split the forest into sections and hid at least two scrolls in each.

With this, Hinata and Naruto were able to find another two scrolls in the last two hours, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't find anymore.

Both went back to the starting point. "Man! We only found six after all this time, we need another four to pass."

"D-Don't worry about it… you have enough to pass at least." Naruto glared at the girl for saying that.

"That's not good enough. I said we would pass together and I meant it." Hinata cherished those words, but if came down to it, she was more than willing to let Naruto pass in her stead.

"It's alright, we only have a few minutes left…a-at least you pass. T-that's enough for me…" She told him, putting on a strong face, but by the end, it cracked. She didn't want to leave. She didn't want to be on a team without Naruto-Kun after becoming so close after years of watching him.

Naruto's fist clenched in anger at her sacrifice. He hated how she was so willing to let him pass instead, but there was no way in hell he could do that.'You promised you wouldn't leave me alone.'

Before the conversation took another turn, both looked behind them, hearing the sound of footsteps. "Shino!" Both called in surprise, completely forgetting about the hooded boy.

"Greetings Naruto, Hinata. I see you've been successful in the given task." The boy said, pointing to the six scrolls they both collected.

"Yeah we're almost there." Naruto smiled but Shino looked at him, his eyes hidden behind his glasses, not given away any of his intent.

"I know, which is why I ask that you give me one of those scrolls." The request came as surprise as Shino pulled out the last remaining scrolls.

It dawned on both of them that the reason they couldn't find any more was because Shino already collected them.

"Hell no, we worked hard to collect them and we're not giving them up!" Naruto shouted, putting the scrolls away. Shino stared them down.

"I only need one more to pass, if you're not willing to give them by negotiation, I'll just take it by force." He threatened, but Naruto didn't back down, however Hinata had other plans.

A scroll landed in front of Shino who picked it up. "Hinata, what are you doing?!" He couldn't believe after all their hard work, Hinata was just going to give up.

"It's ok…" She started sadly, but the boy was having none of it.

"Like hell it's ok! You worked hard to collect the scrolls and deserve to pass!" Auguring the point, Hinata wasn't going to back down.

"You and Shino deserve it more than me…I-It will be fine. T-there's always next year." The smile she gave, angering Naruto more.

'Why? How can you just smile and just give everything up so easily?' Suddenly everyone heard the sound of something dropping. Shino and Hinata looked and saw that Naruto threw all five of his scrolls on the ground.

"Well then, I'm not passing either." He declared, shocking Hinata and Shino.

"B-but you can't!" Why couldn't he understand? She was doing this for him. She wanted him to succeed in her stead.

"Like you said, there's always next year." He told her, but knowing in his heart that it wasn't true. No one knew better than him, that it was only luck that he passed in the first place.

"B-But there's no guarantee that… you will." She knew Naruto failed once already, she didn't know the details of his passing, but was sure that it wouldn't be that easy. She could easily complete the graduation test, even if her clan looked down at her for it, she would pass next year and catch up with Naruto. Naruto didn't have that choice. He already failed three times and eventually he would be dropped from the academy because of too many failures.

"I will pass. I promised we would pass together and I don't go back on my word. That's my Nindo, my ninja way." Crying from the words, Hinata had to figure out a way to convince him not to. That she would be fine. But her heart rebelled from the bottom of her heart. She felt nothing but joy that Naruto was willing to go so far for her. Feeling selfish, she was going to reason with him, no matter how much she didn't want to leave him.

Pop!

Turning to the source of the popping sound, they all saw their sensei with a clock signaling the test was over.

"The test is over!"She looked over to Naruto and Hinata, both looking down, knowing that they failed.

"Naruto and Hinata!" Both waited for the her to say it. That they failed. "You…" There was always next year and next the time, they would pass together.

"Pass!" All three students looked at Kurenai. If they looked closer, they would see the slight bruise that was left by Naruto's punch covered by makeup.

"What?!" Naruto and Hinata screamed in unison.

"Shino, you fail!"She said. The boy lifted up his glasses.

"Why? I completed the assigned task." He inquired, but his sensei only shook her head.

"You did collect four scrolls outstandingly, but then turned on fellow leaf Ninja. I didn't specifically say that only the ones with all the scrolls would pass." At the confession, Shino realised he was duped. She gave answers, but never out right said what they needed to do pass.

"Our team would primarily be a recon team and our information is never perfect. The point of this test was not only to see your tracking skills, but also your teamwork. Even if you didn't collect the scrolls, I would have passed you because you showed the skills needed to be a ninja." She let her words sink in. The boy was so focused on logic, and while that can be good, thinking too rationally leaves you closed minded.

When Hinata asked the question about the reason behind putting them in teams, she knew Shino would have figured it out. So she deliberately mentioned that there were spare genin that they could team up with.

Shino, thinking the test was solely for testing if they are qualified to be ninja and only their skills were being tested, made him miss the crucial quality a ninja needs teamwork.

"Furthermore, you turned on your comrades. That is something a ninja of Konoha must never do. Your team is what keeps you alive in the ninja world. Without it, you will fail." With all the information said, Shino let the words sink in. He chose his own logic to make him ready to fight comrades that he only saw as competition.

Looking at Naruto and Hinata, she wasn't done. "Naruto and Hinata, while you pass, there are several faults for the both of you." Both looked surprised. They passed, but they were far from perfect.

"Naruto, you rushed off on your own at first and got trapped in a simple genjutsu." Being reminded of that made Naruto cringe. The genjutsu still haunted him, though thanks to Hinata, he was getting over it. "While teaming up with Hinata and willing to fail with her is admirable, you would have been killed in the field if you fell for a genjutsu so easily." The boy looked down, knowing he couldn't say anything. Genjutsu was his worst subject no matter how hard he tired.

"Hinata, searching for Naruto and teaming up with him was good, but after you forgot about Shino. You need to keep in mind all members of the team. The last thing is you gave up way to easily. You should always strive to complete the mission and come back alive with your teammates." Hinata looked down. She did think about asking Shino, but he disappeared right at the start and forgot about him after meeting up with Naruto.

Shino twitched a bit at hearing was forgotten, but remained silent. Kurenai once more put her eyes on Shino. "Shino as I said, a Konoha ninja never betrays their comrades. Doing that would not only turn the village against you, but also bring shame to your clan." Shino acknowledged it. If he did that on a mission, he would lose the trust of him comrades and it would make future missions harder. Even if he passed, if he was teamed up with either Naruto or Hinata in the future, complications could have arisen.

"Luckily, I am not going to fail you." Shino looked up. Even Naruto and Hinata perked up a bit. "Your skills more than qualify you to be a ninja, so I will make an exception, but take this as a lesson. Logic doesn't rule everything and will fail you when you need help the most." She couldn't really fail him. Though him turning on Naruto and Hinata at the end, the fact he found four scrolls on his own was impressive. She purposely set it so in order to find all the scrolls, you would need the tracking skills of the other, though a few weren't hidden as well. But she didn't foresee Naruto's shadow clones, or Shino exceeding her expectations and finding four on his own. It would be a waste to fail a student with such potential. She just need to make him think with his heart as well as his brain. It was too easy to be misled if you trusted only one.

"I will sensei." The boy repented, though he didn't show it, he was happy for passing.

"Good job!" Naruto and Hinata congratulated him. It was strange to the Aburame that they forgave him so easily. But he couldn't say he hated it, and he gave them a nod.

"As of today, we are officially team 8!" All three of them smiled, happy that the test was over. This marked the beginning of team 8. They would grow strong and face many challenges together on their path of a ninja.

Author's Note:

Done I didn't get it out as fast as I wanted, but still got it out quicker compared to the last chapter.

Now Hinata's new outfit was inspired by a story I read ages ago, and a photo shop edited I done before. It's just her normal outfit but black instead and with the Uzumaki symbol instead since Naruto's clothes always have it.

I've been hinting on Naruto having the ability to sense emotions for a while now and finally got to show it more in depth this chapter.

The colours Naruto saw are all emotions which I found the meaning for online, I just wanted to confirm Naruto will not get a dojutsu he may get something similar to Karin's mind eye thing, but no dojutsu. Though the power may develop or be shown like it was a dojutsu to make it easier to describe.

Also, the genjutsu Kurenai used was the same one Kakashi used on Sakura, it was only a D rank and Sakura got caught in it when it was her specialty at the time. Naruto got caught, because he has absolute no defence against genjutsu something I'll need to fix later and I want Kurenai to point it out since working on his weakness and basics is all she can do for Naruto.

Also, the main reason genjutsu was so bad for Naruto was because due to everything that happened recently his mental state isn't the best. I wanted to add that genjutsu effect can be heavenly influenced by the mind of person they are used on. E.g. Since Naruto was upset and doubting himself the D rank jutsu power was magnified taking advantage of his minds weakened state and bring out more powerful nightmares. If his mental state was normal I would have given him a genjutsu about ramen burning or something.

And yes! Naruto and Hinata finally have good times ahead now.

Next few chapter may be a bit slow, but I am going to try and add some action, also please say what you thought of the test I had it mind for a while. It was supposed to show case their skills while finding faults.

Please Review :)

Naruto and Hinata Forever:)