Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. There, that's out of the way. I've thought about the reviews and I think that I'd prefer a compromise rather than an uberchapter every week (I'll just get bored), I think I'll do a decent sized one every day or so. Fair? Anyway, this one's about twice the size of my usual size. Even I want to find out what happens next.
Six pairs of eyes mentally replayed what had just happened. They watched silently, slack-jawed, at the sight of the bone-jarring crunch of Hinata's palm as it smashed into Sakura's chin.
Six pairs of eyes silently traced the flight of Sakura's stunned body through the air.
Six people winced at the sound of the pinked-haired shinobi hitting the ground.
Six people were thinking fast, right now.
Sugoi! Hinata-chan is so brilliant! ,Naruto was cheering her on, Sakura really shouldn't have said those nasty things about her, ha ha!
[ Damn kid, are you sure it's safe going after this one?]
Yuuhi Kurenai beamed at her young protégé, she always knew that some day, sooner or later, Hinata's Hyuuga blood would boil over.
Be proud, Hinata. Be proud of yourself today.
You go! Hinata! Kick her ass! Show her what happens when she messes with you! It came out as "Woof! Bark!"
Yeah! You said it, Akamaru!, Kiba thought to himself.
Kakashi thought about something that the Third Hokage said to him once, something that he had repeated by Iruka.
The fire that burns in all of us flared a little brighter today. This will be a good lesson for all of us. Even Sakura will learn a little humility.
I don't think this is what the San-daime had in mind though.
Sasuke marvelled at the graceful flight of Sakura's body as it sailed through the air. Such grace. Such precision.
She's so strong and so beautiful. She's perfect! Why didn't I ever notice her before? I'd better get a move on with her before Naruto smartens up and realizes what he's missing.
Shino was silent. As per usual. No flicker of emotion showed on what little of his face revealed.
Sakura looks nice. I wonder what I'd look like with that dress she's wearing?
After a moment, everyone relaxed. Sakura was out cold. Her chest rose and fell gently, showing that she was indeed, still alive. She did however, have a rather shocked and surprised expression on her face. It was certainly possible that even after impact, she didn't know what had hit her.
Kakashi was the first to snap out of his daze.
"Sasuke!", he ordered, jolting everyone else out of their funk, "Pick up Sakura and get her to the hospital. She took a pretty critical hit to the head. There may be some lasting damage."
"Gomen....", Hinata quavered, blushing in embarrassment and staring down at her feet.
With that, Sasuke sheathed his kunai, picked up Sakura gently and sped off to the hospital. He was silent as he ran, all the while thinking about the resurrection of Clan Uchiha and how Hinata fitted into those plans perfectly.
"Can you tell precisely what you were thinking, hitting Sakura so hard?", Kakashi sternly asked the cowering Hinata," You could have caused some serious damage, not even taking into account the Gentle Fist technique. If you had punched her in the face, you could have severed the chakra pathways in her brain!"
"Ano, I didn't really think about it Hatake-sama....", Hinata managed, not looking at his intimidating mask before forging ahead," I couldn't bear to see him being talked about that way, especially not by one of his own team-mates! He doesn't deserve it!". She flinched for a moment but then a certain steely edge entered her voice. A fire just behind her eyes switched on. "She of all people should understand what Naruto-kun is really like! I was so jealous of her when she was picked to be on his team instead of me but I tried to do what I could to prove that Naruto was right! I'm not pathetic and neither is he! She tried to attack her own team-mate and she deserved what she got. Naruto-kun is my precious person and I won't let anybody hurt the ones I love!". By this time she was red in the face and starting to get angry.
"Even so....", Kakashi began, with a hint of respect in his tone.
"Choto matte", the other jounin interrupted. " Why are you badgering my pupil like that for? Hinata did the right thing. Sakura has clearly gone insane and attacked her first. We all saw what happened. Hinata was perfectly justified in doing what she did. It's obvious that something should be done about your students."
"Maa, maa, I know that...it's just that...", Kakashi said, putting up his hands in a placatory gesture.
Hinata couldn't bear the scrutiny any longer. She knew that she had done the right thing. Tears were welling up in her eyes but were quickly smothered when Naruto swept her up in a comforting embrace. He gently kissed the top of her forehead and held her. Words were unnecessary. It just cluttered up the feelings that they both shared right now. They just stood there, oblivious to Shino and Kiba's stares and their teachers' argument.
Ah, so that's how it is...well, well, well. Kurenai glanced over Kakashi's shoulder at the two lovebirds. She smirked. Kakashi didn't fail to notice her smirk and turned around.
"Hinata is with Naruto?", Kiba managed to get out, stuttering. "Damn!" he thought. "I should of confessed my feelings first! Kuso!"
Akamaru barked out agreement.
"Enough with the I-told-you-so's, Akamaru!"
Kiba looked on at Hinata with faint vestiges of regret before he felt a hand clasp his shoulder warmly. It was Shino, looking adoringly at him in a manner that could only be called disturbing.
"Don't worry Kiba-kun... we'll always have each other."
Kiba went white. He jerked away and fell back on his arse.
"Gah!"
In another part of the forest, Hyuuga Neji was training with Tenten. He was trying to catch up with the elusive kunoichi, while dodging or deflecting shuriken and kunai alike. Every so often he would have to initiate the Kaiten manoeuvre, sometimes in mid-air, to avoid being hit with her
"SouShouRyu: Rising Twin Dragons!"
Two intertwining smoke wyrms forming a column of summoning scrolls from which she launched a constant barrage of flying kunai, shuriken, kama and other blades of all shapes and sizes. Those that were deflected by the Heavenly Spin were twisted around and constantly whirled around by chakra strings to strike at Neji from all directions again and again, from her vantage point up in the forest canopy.
Neji's chakra was running low. The strain of maintaining the Kaiten and Byakugan simultaneously while shifting chakra to his feet was making him feel more than a little bit light headed. The level of concentration to perform the Heavenly Spin while standing upside down under a branch or jutting out on a tree-trunk was giving him a migraine.
Suddenly, a pair of shuriken thudded into the meat of his back. He yelped in pain and momentarily lost concentration . Right when standing underneath a tree branch. Forty feet above the ground.
That blasted fucking blind spot!
Clenching his eyes, he dropped like a stone, frantically trying to a handhold anywhere before he hit the admittedly soft soil below. As he neared the ground and braced himself for the inevitable impact, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen.
He opened his eyes wide open. Tenten had snuck up on him and hit him while he had his eyes closed! Damn! He hit the trunk with a 'thunk' sound and bounced the rest of the way towards the ground.
Tenten had hit him towards the tree trunk, breaking his fall somewhat. He lay on the ground, clutching his stomach. Oh how considerate of you to do that. I'll have to repay the favour someday.
She walked up to where he lay and kicked him experimentally.
"Are you alright Neji?", she asked, concerned.
Neji grunted. Then got up and began to walk home, stumbling a bit.
"So that's enough training for today then, hmm?" Tenten called out cheerily. She was proud of her accomplishments today. It wasn't every day that she progressed so far.
Neji spat something then choked. No reply.
"Did you want to go and grab a bite to eat together later, Neji-kun?" she asked his retreating back.
Neji snorted but it turned into a wheezing cough. No reply.
What's been driven up his arse? He can be such a jerk sometimes! Really! It was really hard to pull off something like what we just did today and he can't even say anything. If he was any more stiff, he'd be declared legally dead. God, I'm tired.... I really need a nice cup of tea.
A little while later, at an elegant little tea house just off the Konoha marketplace, Tenten had just arrived to see that Neji's cousin, Hinata, was already there, sipping from her cup. She stopped by and gestured to the younger woman.
"Can I join you?" she asked. Hinata was daintily eating some natto and wasn't too clear but there was something not quite right about her. To the untrained eye, it appeared nothing was amiss but Tenten was used to rigid Hyuuga discipline. Hinata was unusually cheerful today.
Hinata just waved for her to sit down.
They sat there drinking quietly, eating small sweets for a while before the hints of a smile that kept popping up on Hinata's face began to drive Tenten up the wall.
"What is up with you today? Spill. You look like a cat that's fallen into the cream.", she asked, exasperated. "Did Naruto finally catch on to all those signals you've been throwing his way these last six years?"
Hinata blushed.
"No, not quite. I was the one who told him how I really felt. It's finally happened." She was literally bubbling with euphoria. Hinata felt she just had to tell someone.
She told Tenten of the events that happened yesterday at the Konoha hospital and the one in the forest this morning. Hinata felt so relieved to get it off her chest, after gushing all of it out.
Tenten didn't know what to say. She felt nauseated when she heard about what Naruto's injuries upon being admitted to the hospital. She had tears in her eyes when she heard about Hinata's heartfelt moment alone with him. Tenten was scandalised to hear what Sakura really thought of him and held her in a triumphant hug when she heard about what Hinata did to solve that problem.
They were both silent for a while. The other patrons were giving them funny looks.
Tenten sighed.
If only Neji could be as spontaneous as that. Hinata was a very lucky girl. Neji didn't have even a single romantic bone in his body. All he cared about was beating up Naruto. She didn't know why he tried anymore. He had been put in hospital the last three times he thought he could take on the energetic, blonde fuzzball. Frankly, she didn't know why she pursued him anymore.
She said as much to Hinata. It was just one of those moments when they could get all their intimate secrets out in the open. Just between the two of them. It was really quite liberating.
They finished off their tea and sat there for a while.
"So...", Tenten ventured, "have you and Naruto, done it yet?". She blushed.
Hinata blushed harder. They did have a special celebration planned for tonight. She went even more crimson at the thought.
She then got a speculative look.
Tenten just looked back.
They both smirked.
Naruto and Hinata were walking back to his apartment, after a night on the town, having had dinner (not at the Ichiraku), Naruto's face seemed oddly blank as they sauntered down Konoha's side streets.
Inside Naruto's mind, he was receiving a very bizarre lesson from the Kyuubi.
[Concentrate kid! You really have to concentrate on this one. Like I said before, I'm going to be teaching to you about 'mental' strength. The first thing is about PAIN. What are you doing kid?]
Naruto was looking around at the new décor that the Kyuubi had installed inside its doghouse. It was interesting to note that the Kyuubi had taken the form of a fox-headed humanoid in thick red robes sitting in front of a blazing fireplace in a plush, high backed chair. Funnily enough, it was also attempting to smoke a pipe. This was most like hampered by the fact that in order to get a decent drag, he had to ram it in and out of a leather muzzle that was the seal's current incarnation.
[Look, quit smiling will you? You're really getting on my testicles. Yes! I do have testicles, you sarcastic little snot. Anyway, where was I? Pain? Oh yes...the proper application of pain is, what? Alright, I'll keep to the point.
Pain is merely a symptom of the mind. You can ignore it if you really have to. If you don't feel pain or fatigue, or feel less of it than your opponent then you keep going at it longer. The saying "No pain. No gain." is a crock of shit, kid. It doesn't apply to this case. With this technique, you can alter your nervous system so you can run longer, fight harder as long as you have the chakra. But watch out gaki, when you run out, or turn it off, all that excess fatigue will come and bite you in the bum. Hard.
Don't worry though, we're going to have to learn this in stages. Before we can reduce or eliminate your sensations entirely, we're going to have to play around with the settings. You have to learn how to adjust your tactile senses first. Try to increase your sensitivity.....yes, that's right]
A little while later, what seemed to be an eternity in his mind, turned out to be moments outside. They had arrived at the front door of his apartment.
Hinata gave him a concerned look, asking if everything was alright. After mumbling a muffled confirmation, she just smiled and leaned her head against his.
Fumbling for the keys, he unlocked the door and let them both in. The mess in his house had been cleared away earlier after training and looked surprisingly clean. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment before Hinata opened her mouth to speak.
Naruto hushed her with a single finger to her lips. She smiled and laid her head against his chest. Then she turned to him and asked,
"Naruto-kun, have you ever.....", before trailing off significantly.
"Ever what, Hinata-chan?"
She blushed before continuing. "Naruto-kun, I've waited so long for you to acknowledge me so I just can't wait any longer...I just have to....". She had trailed off again. Hinata gave him a rather pointed look.
Naruto just waited expectantly for her to say something.
She changed tactics. "I've never done this before Naruto-kun. I just wanted you so badly. I'm a virgin.", she confessed. She blushed again.
"What's that?" he asked, confused.
Why am I not surprised? she thought to herself.
She had had enough. She lunged at him and kissed him hard, her tongue exploring the confines of his mouth clutching him tight to her with one hand and unzipping his trousers with the other.
He broke off and looked sheepish. All he could say was "Oh..."
Hinata got an impish look in her eyes and asked him to wait there while she dashed into his bedroom. Naruto just stood there with his pants around his ankles and tried to stop a nosebleed.
After a while, Hinata called out for him to join her.
Waddling quickly towards the door of his boudoir, he was surprised to see Hinata naked except for a silky black negligee, sprawled on her back against his pillows beckoning to him. Draped across her was Tenten in a matching white number, staring at him with a salacious smile plastered across her face.
If Naruto's grin was any wider, it'd take his head off at the shoulders.