Hinata was walking through a dark hallway. She didn't know where she was or how she got there, all she knew was that she's alone and scared.
As she kept walking the smell of blood was getting unbearable. Her steps quickened in hope to get away from whatever the smell was coming from but she tripped on something. She yelped in pain as she hit the cold, wet, stone floor. She tried to get up when something warm dripped on her cheek. Wiping it with her finger off of her cheek she brought her hand up to her face to see what it is…it was blood…
She looked above her and screamed in terror to see Naruto's headless body hanging from the ceiling.
Looking towards her feet to see what had tripped her, her eyes met Naruto's as his head turned to face her.
Letting out a scream she woke up in cold sweat. Looking around she realized she was in his bed. The moonlight was peeking through the curtain. She closed her eyes to calm her heartbeat and to try to erase the horrible images from her head but that was unsuccessful. Tears welled up in her eyes and dripped down her cheeks.
Then she felt a hand soothingly rub her back. "Hey, you ok?" Naruto whispered in concern sitting on the bed next to her. Her scream woke him up instantly so he scrambled out of his blanket and rushed into the bedroom.
She opened her eyes to face him but she closed them again as she quickly wrapped her arms around his waist sobbing into his chest.
"Shhh, it's okay…it was just a dream…" He hugged her back.
A few minutes later she was limply leaning onto him with her arms still around his waist and her eyes sore from the bitter tears. That was the worst nightmare she has ever had.
As she gradually calmed down Naruto was rubbing her back and whispering the soothing 'it's okay' into her ear over and over again until she had stopped sobbing. Her tears had dried on her cheeks, his warmth filled her whole body, her breathing now steady. But she didn't want to let go.
As soon as she lets go he will go back to his couch and leave her alone, vulnerable and ready for another nightmare to take her. But before she could tighten her grip on him he whispered into her hair.
"You okay? You should go back to sleep." He gripped her shoulders and gently started pulling her away from him.
Her body started to shake again. She looked at him with a set of fresh tears in her eyes. It was dark but she could see the reflection of the moon in his eyes.
"P-please d-don't l-leave m-me…" She sobbed out.
He folded her hands in his. "Leave you? Hinata, I'm right there on the other side of the door."
"N-no!" She almost cried out. "S-stay w-with me…please…"
She looked at him in anticipation as his mouth opened and closed a few times. Her heart almost stopped as he let go of her hands and got up. But he wasn't headed towards the door. He fixed the pillow that was shifted from her moving around in her sleep and grabbed the blanket she kicked off of the bed. He motioned for her to lay back down.
Her heart fluttered and her blush became visible through the darkness of the room as she realized…they are going to sleep in the same bed.
She laid down and Naruto covered her with the blanked and laid down beside her. He smiled as she nuzzled her face into his chest. He wrapped an arm around her and slowly ran his fingers through her hair.
"Sleep…I'm right here…you're safe…" He whispered.
And she did so as the feeling of his fingers running through her indigo locks, the calming sound of his heartbeat and his warmth made her very sleepy.
But Naruto laid awake for a few more minutes basking in the feeling of a girl sleeping next to him. It made him warm on the inside. He closed his eyes as Hinata's sweet lavender scent made him fall asleep at last.
Hours later when the sunrays coated the village, a meeting was in session at the Hokage tower. Hiruzen Sarutobi was seated at his desk while all the jonin in the village stood in silence across from him. But they all knew what the purpose of the meeting was.
Hiruzen exhaled a puff of smoke before he spoke. "Seven days from now, the chunin selection exams will be held here in the Leaf Village."
"A week?" His son, Asuma spoke. "That's very short notice."
"That is enough time to prepare the participants for the exam." Hiruzen responded. "Speaking of the participants, will the jonin in charge of the rookie genin step forward."
With that Kakashi, Kurenai and Asuma took a few steps towards the Hokage.
"Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai…are there any on your teams who are, in your opinion, ready for the chunin exams?"
Kakashi raised two fingers under his nose as he spoke. "I am in charge of team 7: Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga…And now I, Kakashi Hatake, recommend all three for the chunin selection exam."
Iruka gasped silently. "What?!"
"I lead team 8…" Kurenai spoke against her two fingers. "Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame and Sakura Haruno…And now I, Kurenai Yuhi, recommend all three."
"And I lead team 10: Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara and Ino Yamanaka… and I, Asuma Sarutobi recommend all three."
Whispers started to circle around the office before Iruka snapped. "Unbelievable…"
"What is the matter, Iruka?" Sarutobi raised his head towards him as Iruka stepped in front of the group.
"These were all my students at the academy. I know their skills and abilities. It is far too early for them to compete!"
"Like you said, they were your students."
Iruka's head snapped towards Kakashi. " What?!"
"They have grown since the academy and their skills have increased, they are ready." Kakashi answered calmly.
"What's the rush, Kakashi?" Guy put his hand on his chin and his other hand on his hip doing his cool guy pose. "I held my team back for a year so they can mature. Let them enjoy their youth a little longer."
"Are you sure it's not because you're afraid of my team wiping the floor with your team?" Kakashi added even calmer.
Guy scowled.
"That is enough!" Hiruzen yelled. "The matter of the rookie genin participation is final. Dismissed."
Hinata's eyes slowly opened. It was morning. The birds were chirping outside so she had made it through the night without having another nightmare. And it was all thanks to the person who protected her from the darkness and who was quietly snoring next to her with his arm around her shoulders. She smiled at him lovingly and slowly placed a gentle kiss on his nose then she slid underneath his arm stopping for a second to press her cheek against his arm and feel the warmth of his bicep. Once free from his embrace she picked up her clothes and quietly got to the bathroom before preparing to make him the best breakfast yet.
"Mmmm…this is amazing!" Naruto swallowed another big bite of Hinata's flavorful rice ball before taking a heart shaped carrot slice and popping it in his mouth. He was right, she did make vegetables delicious! And it was incredibly endearing that she took the time to cut them into hearts to make it extra special to thank him for last night. He once again insisted that she didn't need to thank him for anything.
After the meal was over they needed to get ready to meet their sensei since their days off were over. So after satisfyingly patting his belly Naruto grabbed the dishes while Hinata cleaned the table. After everything was clean they made to leave.
They knew Kakashi-sensei would be late as always so they were in no hurry to get to their usual meeting spot at the bridge. After chatting about the amazing breakfast their conversation ran out of words. Naruto broke the silence after a couple minutes.
"So…uh…what was the dream you had about?" He asked carefully not to upset her.
Her eyes widened and her expression saddened. "I d-dreamt about y-you g-getting d-decapitated…"
"Well, my head is still here so you don't have to worry about it." He chuckled.
She smiled. "Yes, it was silly of me to react to it so strongly…I'm sorry."
He sighed. "Why are you apologizing again? You didn't do anything wrong."He smiled at her.
She looked at him. "If I apologize for apologizing will you get mad at me?" She asked in a serious tone.
He stared at her for a moment before he burst out laughing. "What?! No!" He wiped a tear from his eye.
She giggled. "Sorry…Oh!" She slapped her hand over her mouth. "Stupid!"
He stared at her again before he let out a loud laugh and clutched his stomach. After he stopped laughing he grinned at her. "Ah! I don't remember the last time I laughed this hard. Thanks, Hinata. You're the best."
She blinked. She was funny? She blushed and looked away but as she turned her head her eye caught something strange. A part of the tall wooden fence was bulky and the wood pattern was horizontal instead of diagonal, and there were two small hands along with a stub of brown hair sticking out from the top.
She tilted her head in confusion. "Um…Naruto?" She pointed towards the odd sight.
Naruto looked at it and shook his head with a sigh. "What do you think you're doin', Konohamaru?"
Hinata blinked in surprise as a boy stepped out from behind the shroud.
"You saw through my camouflage, huh? Just what I expected from my rival."
"Sorry, but I don't have time to play with you right now, I need to meet Kakashi-sensei." Naruto responded.
"What?" Konohamaru sighed. "I guess it can't be helped. You're a ninja after all."
"That's right." Naruto adjusted his headband proudly making Hinata giggle.
Her cute giggle caught Konohamaru's attention.
"By the way boss, who is she?" Konohamaru pointed at Hinata.
"Oh! This is Hinata, she's my-"
"Girlfriend?" Konohamaru interrupted sticking out his pinky finger.
Hinata's face flushed as she tapped her fingers together. "M-me a-and N-Naruto…I…w-we… we are teammates b-but…" She couldn't get herself to say that word. Her world started to spin as Naruto cockily responded:
"You can tell she's really crazy about me, huh?" He scratched the back of his neck.
"Way to go boss! She's a babe!" He gave Naruto two thumbs up.
Hinata almost had smoke coming out of her ears. "A b-b-b-b-babe…"
"Isn't she?" Naruto grinned at his beet red teammate. "Come on, we gotta go. I'll see you later, Konohamaru!" He waved at him and grabbed Hinata's hand as they started to walk away.
Noticing Hinata's wobbly walk he turned to her. "You ok?"
She covered her face with her free hand. "N-N-Naru-to, w-why d-did y-you t-tell h-him t-that w-w-e…" She could barely speak and walk as all of her strength was focused on trying to maintain her consciousness.
"Oh, well…" Naruto scratched the back of his head as a tinge of blush appeared on his cheeks. "I've never had anyone admire me like that before, so I thought that if he thinks I have a girlfriend I'd seem even cooler, y'know…" His expression saddened a bit. "I thought that if he ever met Sasuke he won't admire me anymore…he'd admire Sasuke then, since all the girls are after him but he doesn't have a girlfriend still…and I don't want Konohamaru to go after him…so…I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable…"
"Oh! N-not at all!" Hinata waved her hand in front of her."I think…it's very nice that you have someone who sees how strong you are…" She said softly as she found her voice again.
"Yeah." Naruto squeezed her hand. "Besides you…"
HInata blushed again. "Um…should we get going?"
"Oh! Yeah, we better hurry! I won't be surprised if we're the ones who are late this time." They started walking quicker. "And we always complain about sensei being late… I wouldn't hear the end of it…" He rolled his eyes and Hinata giggled.
Finally getting to their meeting spot they were relieved that Sasuke was the only one there. "Yo Sasuke!" He yelled out to him letting go of Hinata's hand to her disappointment.
Sasuke looked at them raising an eyebrow. "What took you two so long?"
"We ran into a friend on the way here. Why? Don't tell me you lost your patience? Sensei's the one late again."
"Hn."
"I don't think I'm that late, am I? A poof of smoke drew their attention to a post above the bridge Kakashi was now standing on. "Well, I am glad you are all in a good mood because I have some great news." He jumped off of the post smoothly landing in front of them. "I nominated all three of you for the chunin exams."
"The…chunin exams?" Naruto repeated confused.
"The chunin exams are an opportunity for genin to be promoted to chunin, Naruto." Hinata explained.
"Oh! Well then I'm totally in!" Naruto held out a fist in determination.
"So, when are we supposed to show up?" Sasuke asked.
"A week from now, go to the academy building, room 301 on the third floor, and be there before three o'clock as that's when the exams will start." He then pulled three papers out of his pocket. "These are the application forms, if you want to take the exams sign these and bring them with you to the academy building. You have a week to decide so take your time, but for now I believe we've got some training to do."
After a few hours of sparring the three were resting under a three at the training ground after getting dismissed by Kakashi.
"We are so gonna ace these exams. Believe it!" Naruto grinned.
"Hn." Sasuke nodded affirmatively.
"Um…I d-do not think I am g-going to take the exams…" It was barely a whisper but the other two heard it anyway.
"What? Why not?" Naruto's head snapped towards Hinata.
"We are only rookies…I do not think I am prepared…"
"You are prepared! I'm sweating right now because you almost kicked my ass today!"
"Hinata, I think you should reconsider." Sasuke turned to her. "Your byakugan will be very useful and we need your intelligence."
"And we are team 7! We do everything together! We're one, remember?" Naruto added.
"You guys…" Hinata blushed. looking at her lap her eye caught Naruto's hand wrapping around hers.
"We need you, Hinata." He pleaded softly.
Hinata looked up, her eyes showing determination. She smiled at her two teammates. "Let's do this."
"Yeah!" Naruto grinned.
Sasuke flinched at his outburst. "You realize that we'll probably need our hearing for the exams too?"
Naruto's head tuned to Sasuke in annoyance. "Yes! I know!" He yelled even louder.
Sasuke punched him upside the head. "You're unbearable."
"And you're tired cuz'I didn't feel a thing!" Naruto grinned.
Hinata giggled at her two teammates. No matter how much the two of them argue they are never truly angry with each other. "I think that we could really do everything as a team…"
After finally deciding to get up they went to a dango shop as Sasuke didn't want to eat at Ichiraku again. They had a standard conversation about food before Sasuke went silent. Noticing this Hinata swallowed the last of her meal and turned to him.
"Is something wrong, Sasuke?"
"I've been thinking…we shouldn't get too excited about the exams…the title of chunin is at stake, there's no messing around. We need to be prepared and never let our guard down."
"Yeah…" Naruto swallowed. "And I bet there will be a lot of strong ninja that we need to watch out for."
"There probably will…rookies aren't usually nominated…" Hinata added in a worried tone.
"What do you mean?" Naruto looked at her.
She exchanged glances between her teammates as she spoke. "The last time rookie genin took part in the exams…was five years ago…"
"Huh?" Naruto's eyes widened.
"Hn. So it is true…" Sasuke smirked. "Then we better impress them then."
"You bet we will." Naruto looked at Hinata who nodded in agreement.
"Do you think other rookie teams will compete too?" Naruto scratched his whisker.
"Definitely." Sasuke answered quickly. "If you were nominated everyone else is too."
Naruto glared at his rival. "You want me to stick these chopsticks up your nose?"
"Naruto! Behave." Hinata giggled.
As night fell the two parted ways from Sasuke and headed back to their apartment. Unlocking the door Naruto smiled at Hinata.
"Ladies first."
She smiled at walked in. He followed before locking the door again, he then turned towards her. "Ahem."
She looked at him and smiled. Walking over towards him she wrapped her arms around his neck giving his cheek a smooch. After returning the favor Naruto looked at her.
"Y'know, you were pretty quiet the whole way here."
She let go of him and fidgeted with her fingers as a deep blush creped over her face.
"Well…I was t-thinking…um…I am not s-scared b-but…I thought…that…maybe…" She gulped.
"You want us to sleep together again?"
She nodded. He gently ruffled her hair. "Sure…Gotta keep the nightmares away."
Even though the stars were out a team of genin was at the training ground. Pulling a kunai out of a straw training dummy the one in green spoke:
"Have you heard? There will be rookies taking the exams this year. That hasn't happened in five years."
"What? No way." The female member of the team with her hair in two buns said. "It's probably just some jonin trying to boost their egos."
"No it's true." The one in green confirmed. "And that is not all. Three of them are from Kakashi's squad."
"Well, that's interesting." The girl threw a kunai hitting a bull's-eye right above her other teammate with long hair who smirked adding:
"Either way it will not be good for them…"