Chapter 4: decisions

Sakura

It had been a few days since they returned from the mission and Sakura was still having a hard time processing what happened. Not the enemy ninja attack or her training or anything that simple, she still couldn't understand how Izuna killed Gato like it was no big deal. She seemed so at ease with it that in truth Sakura was a little nervous around her now. She honestly didn't understand how she did it, it seemed like it wasn't her first kill too even though she knew it was. All in all she was at a loss on what to feel about her teammate, Naruto didn't seem to mind and she wondered how he dealt with it so casually as well.

She was brought out of her thoughts when she walked past a raman stand called Ichirakus, she could hear Naruto's voice and decided to peak her head in for a look. She saw him sitting there next to Izuna. They were both wearing normal clothes, they were talking quietly to each other. Sakura decided not to intrude, that and she was still nervous around Izuna.

Izuna

"How the hell did I end up here?" Izuna asked herself quietly, she glanced up at Naruto who was on his fifth bowl of raman. It never stopped amusing her the way he ate the stuff, he practically drank it in two mouthfuls. She thought back to the conversation that brought her here.

(Flashback)

"Hey Izuna, I was wondering if you want to grab something to eat?" She considered this for a moment.

"No i'm good thanks." Naruto looked disappointed as she turned to leave.

"Wait… i don't know why i'm so nervous, technically i'm like in my thirties. Im trying to ask you out." he said with a blush.

"Yeah i just said no, i'm not hungry." she replied not knowing what he was getting at.

"No it's not about food." he said getting a little louder than she would prefer.

"Then why ask?" she was getting annoyed now, he took a deep breath before responding.

"I'm trying to ask you out on a date Izuna." She looked at him for a moment in shock, her arch enemy. The man who had killed her and many friends and family members, had just asked her out on a date. This had to be a dream or a genjutsu, she found the very idea of this happening complete bullshit. But after activating her dojutsu she realised it wasn't an illusion.

"Why did you use your eyes just now?" he asked confused she just sighed and responded simply.

"Just checking for genjutsu." he smiled brightly at that and looked at her expectantly. She analysed this from every angle she could think of, when she used her eyes she could see his chakra network was in-flux and his heartbeat was faster than normal. This ment that he was nervous, so she decided to dig a little before giving him an answer.

"Why?" was all she asked, it was all she needed to ask. He didn't miss a beat.

" Because I think you're great, we never knew each other last time around other than our fighting skills. So over the years I've come to admire you, your sense of sarcastic humor and badass fighting style. The way you try to hide your smiles, but above everything i realised that your heart is what makes you truly beautiful. You try to hide it but you care very deeply for people and that's why i admire you."

Izuna was at a loss now, she didn't know he had paid such close attention to her. She did hide her smiles and care for others, she acted like she couldn't care less but it was just an act and he saw through her so easily. She came to admire him also though it was mainly his attitude, his drive to gain more strength to protect those around him.

"Fine but i have one condition." Izuna stated though she honestly couldn't believe she was agreeing to this, everyone from her past life would be rolling in their graves if they knew.

"What is it" he asked in undisguised excitement she was surprised he was so happy.

"I want a fight, at our full power." She really wanted to know how close to her old level she was.

"Sure can i have a condition?" he asked her and she already knew what he wanted and just sighed in defeat, she nodded her head at him.

"I want to go to Ichirakus!" he yelled in victory, Izuna didn't hate the raman stand she just wasn't all that crazy about it like him.

"Fine."

(Flashback end)

She sighed yet again, she honestly was having a good time and she really didn't want to admit that. She wasn't used to wearing normal clothes in public but in this instance it was nice, Naruto and Izuna had been talking about their old life off the battlefield. She realised they were very similar in many ways and she didn't know how she felt about that, if they had just sat down and talked to each other they could have ended the war.

Izuna was a little sad the night was over, again she didn't want to admit it to herself. They were standing at a crossroads, her house was to the left and his was to the right. Naruto was fidgeting, he had no idea what to do and Izuna found that funny.

"Why are you acting like a confused teenager?" She asked not bothering to hide her bright smile.

"Because I am." He shouted a little louder than necessary.

"In body sure but not in mind." He just grunted and crossed his arms. "You haven't ever been on a date have you?"

"No… wait have you?" He asked with wide eyes.

"Of course, I was the next clan head so I was always being set up with people my dad thought… acceptable." Naruto let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Well how did they end?" He asked her, she stepped forward and grabbed his collar, dragging him into her. Their lips met in a quick kiss and she pushed him back and turned to leave.

"Like that." she said then disappeared in a body flicker.

Kakashi

Kakashi was actually upset with Izuna this time, he arrived to the team meeting on time and she was over an hour late. He still hadn't talked to her about what happened on the last mission, mainly because he doesn't know what to say. Izuna had killed without a second thought and knew his technique, he had no idea how she knew it and it was driving him crazy.

"You're late!" Naruto and Sakura cried out at the same time when Izuna sat next to them.

"Sorry a black cat crossed my path so i took a different route, then i helped a nice old lady get home. After that I got lost on the path of life and lost track of time, then I got lunch and read a book." she said all this with a straight face looking Kakashi dead in the eye.

He decided to get creative with her punishment at a later date, but first he had a more important task.

"Alright you made your point, listen i feel the three of you are more than ready. I've signed you all up for the chunin exams. You can choose not to take them if you think you aren't ready, they begin in one week so you have time to think." After that little speech he poofed into smoke and left them alone, he was sure they would take them and pass with ease.

Naruto

Naruto was walking through the village, he was thinking about his date with Izuna. He couldn't get it off his mind, he loved every second of it and he wanted to do it again. He hoped she felt the same. As he was walking he could hear some shouting down the path he was on, he noticed a guy with purple face paint holding a little kid by the collar about to punch him. Naruto decided to help him out and body flickered right next to them and grabbed the face painted guys wrist, he started to squeeze really hard.

"I think that's enough." He said with a low threatening voice, his eyes shifting to red with a slit pupils. The guy with the face paint started to struggle, and was in a lot of pain.

"Dammit let me go you freak." Naruto complied with this request and released him. Purple face paint then reached for the wrapped object on his back but was stopped by a rock to the face. "Really?" Naruto looked to the source of the rock and saw Izuna sitting in a tree looking bored.

"I suggest you calm down, your red headed friend looks very upset with you." she said in an amused tone.

"Interesting." a deep voice rang out from the branch just below Izuna, the boy who hung there burst into sand and reformed in front of Naruto. "I apologise for my brother, he is a disgrace and will be punished." The red head looked Naruto in the eyes, they shifted from red slits to deep blue orbs. He and his team left without another word.

Naruto turned to Izuna but she was gone, he sighed and looked at the kid he saved. The kid had stars in his eyes and was drooling, Naruto was at a loss for words.

Izuna

She was walking to the first exam with her team, she wasn't really paying attention to what they were talking about. She was thinking about a few things, that redhead she saw was among them. He looked familiar to her but she couldn't place him, she didn't remember him from her past life but she couldn't shake the feeling that she knew him. She was also thinking about her date with Naruto, she had decided that if he asked her again she would say yes. They were already scheduled to fight at full power and that's all she wanted for now. At least that was what she kept telling herself, they were walking down a hallway and noticed a bunch of people standing around a door to a fake exam room, the genjutsu was weak and she saw right through it.

She and her team kept walking, if the others couldn't see through it then they were not going to pass anyway.

"Izuna Hyuga Uchiha, I wish to challenge you to a contest of youth." a very loud voice called out, Izuna turned towards it with a tick mark on her head. She was greeted with a grining bowl cut and bushy brows with ridiculous green spandex.

"... umm… what?" she asked not really sure why she wasn't running the other way. He gave her a thumbs up before he spoke.

"I wish to test my hard work against your natural talent, so please fight me. Sakura if i can defeat Izuna will you be my girlfriend?" Sakura had her jaw to the flaw in shock.

"Your kidding right? Look how about we just be friends." she replied to him with a hesitant smile.

"Very well, my name is Rock Lee and it's an honor to be your friend, Izuna do you accept my challenge?" The now named Lee asked, Izuna just face palmed and let out an enormous sigh.

"Fine but seriously you need to tone back your energy a little, maybe go all the way and relax once in a while." Lee just grinned and led the way to a large open room to have a quick fight. A took his stance and got ready to attack, Izuna just stood there with her arms crossed.

Lee leapt into the air and tried to kick Izuna in the face, she leaned slightly back and his foot passed by without even a scratch. He charged at her with a fist this time, she deflected the blow with the swipe of her hand with seemingly no effort. More kicks and punches followed but all were dodged, blocked or parried.

Lee was starting to get ready for some kind of special move, his arm wraps were loose and he was about to charge. But an almost identical older version of Lee grabbed his shoulder before he could move.

"Lee! You were told never to use that." Lee looked like he was about to jump out of his skin in fear, he turned slowly shaking at the knees. The older copy of Lee cocked his arm ready to punch Lee in the face, Izuna jumped in the way and caught his fist, with some difficulty.

"Hey no it's fine, it was my idea don't take it out on him." Izuna didn't know why she did it but she didn't want to see him get bludgend over a friendly match.

"Very well, however no more until the exams are over. Your youth burns bright." He said with a thumbs up.

"Izuna you are truly a great fighter, it seems i will have to train harder to prove myself against you." Lee stated with absolute seriousness.

"Lee relax will you, you're a lot better than you think." He smiled at this and gave a thumbs up just like his clone/sensei.

Naruto

Naruto was more than a little nervous now, the first exam was half over and he couldn't answer the last four questions. He didn't want to be the reason his team failed, he glanced to Izuna and Sakura. Izuna was twirling her pencil around her fingers with her eyes closed, she looked carefree so she must be finished. Sakura was checking over her answers, she would get them all right he knew it so that just left him.

"Naruto, you can… copy from me if you want." he looked up and saw Hinata with a blush sliding her paper under her arm so he could see it. He wondered why she would do that, he could only remember one time they actually spoke to each other and that was when they were children. He looked to one of the proctors and noticed him staring, he knew this would never work.

"Thanks Hinata but i'll get this done my way." he gave her a toothy grin and she just blushed and nodded her head. Pretty soon the final seconds were upon him and he hadn't gotten any further so he just hoped he did well enough.

"Alright listen up, this last question has its own rules. If you get it wrong you will never be allowed to take this exam again, however if you leave now you may take the exam again in the future." After this declaration people started leaving left and right, Naruto noticed Hinata about to quit and grabbed her arm.

"It's a trick don't worry about it." He whispered to her, she didn't know how he knew but she trusted him so she stayed put. He glanced at his team and they seemed content to continue on.

"Alright for those of you willing to risk your future careers on this… you pass." the trench coat wearing procter stated. Before he had a chance to elaborate a purple haired women in a tan trench coat burst through the window and took up a spot next to the man. She went on to explain that the first test was over and that the fun begins next.

"Now all of you come with me… oh and follow me too." She said, waiting to see if anyone caught on to the joke. They were too focused to catch it which bothered the hell out of her.