Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of the characters mentioned in this piece unless mentioned otherwise. The events of the actual story are mine however and I will not tolerate anyone stealing the plot and or original characters added to it without expressed permission.


Author Notes: Revising… It's soo fun. I basically just added an intro paragraph and a small flash back, while removing the Lee and Sakura part. I think it's a bit better now… hope ya enjoy.



A Criss-Cross Love Affair

Characters and Original Concept by: Masashi Kishimoto

Story Written By: Joseph Ross


Chapter 2: Pointless Scuffle



The Hidden Village, Konoha, was far from a peaceful place with the various events happening in it's more recent history. From an invasion of both the Sand and Sound ninja to the disappearance of one of the last Uchiha clan members: Sasuke, things were far from what they should have been. At the gates of the great wall surrounding the village, a small group of young shinobi prepared themselves for a dangerous mission, while offering their farewells to the two peers that had come to see them off. Retrieving Sasuke from the clutches of the Sound ninja, but that was not the only activity taking place outside the confines of the massive village. Two girls, both genin level shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village, Kohona, were about to engage in combat.


"Here I come!" Ino charged towards Hinata at full speed, pulling her balled up fist back only to thrust it forward as her sandal clad feet dug into the ground to stop her advance. The fist flew forward with the momentum gained from the short sprint straight for the white eyes that had looked up from the ground only to go wide at the sight. A small smirk emerged on Ino's visage, but it suddenly faded as in a split second her fist was knocked away with a swift blow. The soft blue eyes that adorned Ino's face followed her arm as it was repelled easily and returned to find the white eyes that had once been so shocked and fearful were now like cold steel.


"H-Hinata?" It was Ino's turn to be surprised as Hinata leaped back from her position and fell into the Gentle Fist style attack stance. With her palm forward and the other inverted at her waist Hinata seemed prepared for anything Ino could throw at her, but remained silent. It took Ino a moment to recover, but the cocky smirk soon returned. "I guess it will just take me a little longer to beat you now…"


Ino brought her right hand up in front of her, the left staying about level to her upper chest, her stance relaxed some, but not for very long as she began another charge towards Hinata once more. Ino's charge was much less sloppy than her first, her hands remained in their designated position, ready for a quick offensive stab or a defense block. Hinata in all respects was a far better fighter on nearly all levels compared to Ino and the fear that Ino believed would give her the upper hand had faded. Ino still held the advantage of stamina over the other girl who was still panting heavily from the training that she had partaken in all that morning. She can't beat me, not like this. Ino thought to herself as her right hand thrust forward towards Hinata's left shoulder. The strike only grazed the shoulder it was designated to hit, forcefully sliding over the padding provided by Hinata's coat. The black haired girl had moved at the last moment, allowing her to avoid the blow and launch her oven attack at the open area of Ino's side, which had become exposed during the high strike. Hinata's left palm moved towards Ino's exposed rib cage, lacking the glow of chakra associated with the Gentle Fist style to prevent mortally wounding Ino. Though Ino had noticed the oncoming attack, she could not avoid it fully and while it did not strike her head on, Hinata's palm had managed to have enough force to where the attack that cut across Ino's side caused a sharp pain to run through her. A smile crossed Hinata's lips.


"Damn…!" Ino leaped back just in time to avoid the right palm she had not noticed from striking her in the neck. It seemed she had underestimated Hinata a lot more than she thought.


Hinata remained in her stance watching Ino closely, waiting for another attack. The smile that had touched her lips after the semi-successful attack came to naught as the girl's mind came back into focus. If I lose to Ino… I… my training would be wasted. I know I can do it! Naruto-kun would support me if he were here… he knows I can do this! Hinata took the offensive now, her mind focused only on beating Ino with a hope deep down that Naruto would come recognize Hinata for her abilities and for her personality and feelings for him one day.



The memories came back to Hinata...



"People cannot change..." Neji said with a firm strong voice. Neji, a member of the Branch House of the Hyuuga clan stood before Hinata, his eyes narrowed and the veins were pulsing along his eyes from the Byakugan. Hinata, a member of the Main House of the Hyuuga clan, stood in complete fear of her opponent. The thoughts of her swift and painful oncoming defeat caused her to shiver in fear. Her eyes were wide and beginning to swell with fearful tears as Neji's voice continued to echoed throughout her very being, reflecting her deepest fears and bringing to rise uncertainties about her skills as a ninja and even as a person. She brought a finger to her lip nervously, Neji was reading her mind, actions. and emotions aloud. He could tell what she was feeling.


"You touching your lip is an action to show that your mind is disturbed. It's a defensive instinct that tries to lower your nervousness and uneasiness." Hinata's breathing was becoming heavier as Neji's deep voice continued onward. "In other words, you know already... that you cannot change..." Hinata felt her heart drop as Neji's last words caused her very will to implode in upon itself, but before Neji could finish a certain high pitched voice cut through the air.


"You can!" A certain blonde hair boy dressed in an orange jumpsuit shouted into the small arena. His eyes narrowed on Neji with ferocity as Hinata lifted her once downcast eyes to look up to the boy. "Don't label people like that, you idiot!" He screamed at the top of his longs in Neji's direction before looking over to Hinata. "Beat him up Hinata!" Hinata's tears dried as she looked to the boy in complete surprise at first, but her eyes began to lose the wideness that had been present as Neji demoralized her with his hurtful and degrading lecture prior to the encouraging words offered by the blonde haired boy.

Naruto-kun... Hinata ran that name through her mind as her soft white eyes remained on the boy.


"Hinata! Why don't you say something back? It's making the people watching get angry!"


Hinata's eyes looked back down to the floor, but her body relaxed, her dark black hair was blocking any view of her gentle visage. Naruto-kun... she thought to herself once more.


Neji had also taken to looking in the direction of the blonde haired boy, Naruto, as he offered his words to Hinata and the insult towards him. Neji had disregarded it and simply thought of Naruto more of an idiot that previously, but once he turned around to face Hinata a hint of surprise could be seen upon his face.


Naruto-kun... thank you. Hinata raised her head, her eyes now narrowed and shown with an intense determination, his words had roused her from the painful memories, of which Neji's words had brought back to her mind and cleared her of any negative thoughts. She believed in herself now, she could beat Neji... or so she believed.



Even though Hinata had gone on to lose the battle with Neji, she put up a fight. After a short time in the hospital, Hinata returned to her way of life, but with one extra thing, some confidence. With this confidence she had trained until she could no longer move and now stood before Ino with the determination and skill she needed to win. There was no way she could lose a battle with Ino, not now, not ever. Naruto believed in her!



"Byakugan!" The veins around Hinata's eyes once again became very apparent, all her surroundings becoming visible to her two eyes staring directly at Ino. "I cannot lose, Ino-san. Please forgive me…" Her words were soft as she approached Ino carefully, her palms poised to strike.


Ino held her side tightly, just managing to gather her nerves as Hinata spoke. "Heh… don't be so sure of yourself." She winced slightly as her legs moved into her defensive stance. This isn't the Hinata I remember from the academy or exams… she thought to herself. The only thing she could think of doing to possibly win the scuffle was to make Hinata's newly found will waver even the slightest bit and wear her down in the process. "If you want to win, come at me and we'll see how good you really are." Ino's hands tightened slightly, she could not take a direct hit like she almost had previously, but she could dodge the blows the battle was all, but over.


"A-as you wish Ino-san…" Hinata took in a deep breath to calm her panting and as soon as her breath has slowed, her palms cut through the air like arrows towards Ino.


The two girls had found themselves in a precise dance where one misstep could lead to pain or even defeat, which neither of the two girls wished to claim. Ino took a step back and deflected the first blow towards her with her right forearm and simply shifted to the side to avoid the second. She followed nearly the same pattern for each renewed attack, her eyes watching every movement of Hinata's body as Ino was sure her opponent was doing as well. Ino's eye twitched for a moment after narrowly avoiding a strike to her head, the sound of the arm rushing past her ear replayed in an almost a continuous loop. I can't keep this up… Ino's mind was racing, trying frantically to come up with a way to slow the onslaught of various combinations of palm strikes that continued with the same force and speed that they had began with despite the growing amount of sweat beading up upon Hinata's forehead. After Hinata's left palm passed by Ino's waist, Ino ducked down and twisted her leg around towards the back of Hinata's knees. With a soft grunt Hinata began to fall backwards towards the ground, but her hands quickly moved behind her falling form and pushed her back into the air allowing her complete a full back flip. Ino had not recovered from her kick as Hinata lunged forward.


"It's over Ino-san…" Just as Ino had turned to face Hinata, a palm had stopped right before slamming into Ino's nose. "I win."


Ino sat on the ground, her eyes staring blankly at the palm before her face. How had Hinata reacted so fast? It was beyond her, but it was obvious that Hinata had been training a lot since their last encounter and had improved just as much. A soft sigh passed Ino's lips as a small smile managed to form.


"Yeah, yeah, you win." Ino shifted slightly and was about climb back to her feet when the palm that had once been before her eyes tilted to the side.


"Let me help you up Ino-san." Hinata had a smile upon her lips once more. The smile was somewhat different than those Ino had saw from time to time in the past, it was actually one that showed happiness over the shy and almost invisible one that was rarely even seen upon Hinata's pale features.


"Thanks…" Ino took the offered hand and pulled herself to her feet with Hinata's aid.


The forest had seemed silent during the spar, but now that neither of the girls' focus were only on one another, the ensemble of chirping birds and the many other sounds of various creatures about the trees and undergrowth filled their ears. Hinata continued to listen to the soft melody after releasing Ino's hand, but Ino went about brushing her skirt and legs free of particles of dir that had found their way onto her during the battle. The soft brushing did little to disturb Hinata who had seemed to drift off into thought. Ino's eyes lifted themselves from her skirt.


"Hinata?" Ino said softly, tilting her head to the side slightly.


"Oh! Sorry Ino-san…" Ino's cheeks brightened with their common red hue. "I…I was just thinking." She tried to smile some, but it was rather apparent even to Ino that Hinata seemed slightly troubled about something, but she did not bother questioning her about it.


"Well…" Ino brought a hand to the back of her own head, her fingers sliding through her tied back hair a bit. "I suppose I should let you go back to your training, I did lose after all." She offered a small smile before turning her back to Hinata.


"W-wait, Ino-san…" Hinata extended her right arm slightly as her left hand tugged a bit at the collar of her coat. "I thought… we were going to lunch?" Ino raised an eyebrow. "You said you would take me… right?"


"Yeah, but that is why we fought…" Ino scratched the back of her head slowly, her eyes narrowing some as if trying to see what Hinata was thinking. "…I guess I could still take you though." Ino could not help but grin when she heard the soft grumbling of a stomach other than her own.


"T-thanks you, Ino-san" Hinata's cheeks continued to maintain their soft hint of red, her eyes looking back down to the ground.


"It's not problem," Ino smiled, "I mean you did beat me pretty easy."


"Oh, no Ino-san, y-you did very well." Hinata quickly replied with a shake of her head.


Ino simply smiled and turned her back once more, motioning with her right hand for Hinata to follow before she took her first step back towards the village. Hinata jogged up to Ino's side as their trek began and then fell back into the same comfortable walking speed as Ino. The sound of the two girls exchanging words and falling into conversation reached out into the trees, but quickly faded and by the time the weak semblances of their voices had touched the wall surrounding the Hidden Leaf Village, Konoha, they were indistinguishable from the other sounds echoing within the forest.





End Notes: I still don't think it's the best, but at least I can stand it now. The next chapter is where the story is going to change a lot. I hope you guys don't mind too much.