Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Warning Rated M for darker themes in later chapters. If you are a light hearted reader than don't read this
Alright here's the next chapter. Trying to update my ongoing stories for this and the next month but don't know what I'm going to do next year of course sometimes it all comes down to a random idea. Hope everyone enjoys the chapter.
Later that day the sun had started to set and Naruto opened the door to his apartment where he shut the door and trudged over to the table and set down a bag of leftovers from Ichiraku's before he slumped down onto the couch, he had a disappointed look as he couldn't stop thinking of what happened earlier.
'What did I do wrong? Everything was going so well and then she suddenly lost interest... Maybe it's because I kept her waiting while I had to pee? Or maybe I said something stupid?'
Confusion only continued to fester in the boy as he couldn't make sense of it. He laid down on the couch while staring at the other side of the room.
Meanwhile in another part of Konoha a certain ninja just got back from a mission and was currently in the Hokage's office meeting with Hiruzen.
"So what information were you able to gather on this sound village that we keep hearing rumors about Itachi?" The kage inquired.
"It's not really a village at all. More of a hideaway for Orochimaru. Nobody there is what you would consider an innocent bystander, it's all rather suspicious." The Uchiha informed him.
Hiruzen sat back in his desk with a troubled look on his face.
'So Orochimaru's finally resurfacing after all this time. If only I'd dealt with him before things got too problematic.' The older man lamented about his previous failures with the ambitious sanin.
He turned his attention back towards Itachi with a serious expression.
"You realize that the chunin exams will be coming up soon right?" He asked.
"Of course. Sasuke has been looking forward to them for awhile now." Itachi seemed to get a little excited as he mentioned his brother but said so in his usual calm and stoic demeanor.
"Oh has he now?" Hiruzen's interested piqued.
"Yes, he's been wanting to prove himself to the clan and the village for awhile now. Naturally this could be his big moment."
"Then you know exactly why we must keep the exams safe from outside interference don't you? And why I've asked that you assist in that very matter?" The older kage asked with a brow raised.
"Of course. And as you know I've already agreed to watch over the exams from the shadows." Itachi said with a respectful bow.
"Very good. Your assistance will be welcomed and appreciated... Now how about a cup of tea?" The older man offered with a courteous smile.
"I'm afraid I've little time for such pleasantries. I have to go check on a few things around the village." Itachi dismissed the offer ready to make his leave.
"Very well. You are dismissed for now." Hiruzen said solemnly while grabbing some paperwork to resume a previous task.
Elsewhere in the village Hanabi was joyously skipping through the town with an excited gleam in her eye.
'Today has been wonderful. I'm super hungry now.' The cheery young girl thought to herself.
While she was traversing the lands of the leaf village she ran into an unexpected sight.
"Big Brother Neiji! What are you doing right now!" She asked excitedly as she saw the prodigious young man that had helped her in training.
"I was just going to pick up some groceries from the market." Neiji stoically informed her as he prepared to resume his trip.
"Wait! Come eat ramen with me instead Big Brother Neiji!" She cheerfully proposed.
"No absolutely not." He shot the idea down hastily and apathetically and turned to leave the girl.
Hanabi however was a persistent one and jumped in front of him.
"What do you think your doing?" The Hyuga boy asked with a brow raised.
"Please reconsider Big Brother Neiji." She pleaded with the best puppy dog eyes she could manage.
"I already gave you my answer." Neiji held firm and was unfazed, of course due to his more cold and asocial demeanor the idea did not appeal to him even if Hanabi was his cousin and apprentice.
Hanabi looked undeterred though as she still blocked his path.
"If you don't... I'm gonna cry and scream right here in front of everyone!" She threatened with actual tears forming in her eyes, it appeared as though she had taken the rejection a little personal.
"You wouldn't." Neiji smirked in amusement calling her ever so obvious bluff.
Her eyes welled up with tears.
Neiji scowled as if he was staring at some convoluted and highly advanced contraption.
"WWWWWWAAAAAAAHHHHHH... NEIJIIIIIIIIII!!!!!" She actually did it causing Neiji eyes to widen in surprise.
Every turned their attention towards the hyuga cousins and sent judgemental and venomous glares.
Neiji quickly placed a hand over the brat's mouth to silence her.
"Alright let's go." He said rather with visible irritation.
Hanabi wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled wide as she returned to her excited self.
"Yay! Thankyou for accompanying me Big Brother Neiji!" She excitedly proclaimed while grabbing his arm and pulling him all the way to Ichiraku's.
Shortly after the Hyuga Duo had arrived at the ramen shop and Hanabi ordered two bowls to start off with.
"Why are we here?" Neiji asked rather cynically.
"Just wanted to get some lunch with my favorite cousin!" The younger girl said excitedly.
Neiji shook his head in disappointment.
"You should be focusing more on your training rather than these silly outings." He scolded the girl.
"I've been taking my training very seriously. But something really good happened today and I wanted to celebrate with some ramen." Hanabi protested.
Neiji took his bowl and started to eat. He did so much slower than his energetic and glutinous cousin as to him it was just a meal not delicacy.
"What exactly could have put you in such a good mood?" Neiji inquired.
Hanabi looked over at the boy with a smile and a gleam in her eyes as if she was waiting for him to ask her that.
"Let's just say I got into a fight with a genin today... And kicked her butt real good." She told him about the cause of her excitement.
Neiji chuckled in amusement as he heard this.
"You beat up one of our village's main operators and possibly future protectors?" He asked hardly believing the word's he was even saying.
Hanabi nodded in affirmation while gulping down the rest of her ramen.
"Well alright. She was probably pretty weak but defeating a genin is a start." The boy praised her but it sounded more like a cold observation.
"But I really want to get stronger so I wanna go on missions just like you big brother Neiji." The hyuga girl said with a sad and longing smile.
"You'll get there. But in the mean time you just have to keep up on your training and when the time comes you'll be far stronger than the average genin your age." Neiji told her while he continued to eat his lunch.
"Your right. I know what I gotta do and I'll keep at it as long as it takes." Hanabi found hope and motivation in the boy's words.
"I have to go now. This was unscheduled and as such I am pressed for time now." Neiji said dismissively as he stood up.
Hanabi sighed in disappointment as she looked at her cousin.
"Why do always have some grand objective whenever your not training? I really wanted to spend time with you." She pouted.
"I don't need to explain that to you." He spoke unwilling to open up to her.
Hanabi looked dejected as she tore her eyes away from her cousin.
Neiji grimaced as he saw the girl's reaction.
"Maybe... some other time, but I really must be going now." He left the younger kunoichi alone.
Hanabi stared at her ramen bowl in dejection as she did that however she remembered a certain blonde and her mood immediately picked up again.
"I've given him enough time. I'm gonna go see Naruto now." She decided on her next course of action and raced out of the shop.
She took to the rooftops and jumped from surface to surface in the direction of her beloved Naruto's house.
As the day went on everyone of the villagers was living their day to day lives as always and as such the market was very busy due to everyone being of the mind that today was a shopping day.
Right in the middle of said market was a conspicuous building that seemed abandoned but like anything involving Itachi that was not the case.
Four of the leaf villages ninjas including the Uchiha prodigy were seated at a table. All with serious looks upon their faces as they seemed to be in some sort of meeting.
"So if I understand this correctly then this year's chunin exams will be comprised of three unique and challenging events in order to filter out the unworthy genin and help determine those capable of becoming chunin?" Itachi asked breaking down the exam to it's basic fundamentals.
"Correct. The first exam will be held by me and is going to be a test of the mind. In order to see who has the foresight, intelligence, and willingness to do what it takes to persevere." Ibiki the first proctor explained.
"The second stage will be in the forest of death and will be more of a measure of endurance, strength, and an ability to strategize. Everyone will have to obtain two scrolls and make it to the center of the forest to progress." Anko the second proctor added.
"After that everything should be complete but we may hold preliminary matches if there are too many genin who pass the second stage." Hayate the final proctor ended everything on an informative note.
"And how long will each stage take?" Itachi inquired.
"The first stage will only take an hour, the second however will take five days." Anko answered.
Itachi closed his eyes and gave some thought to everything he'd just learned.
"The forest would be the most optimal chance for an unwanted third party to invade the exams." Itachi said quietly to himself.
Itachi turned to Ibiki with a look of seriousness. "Make sure to run a thorough background check on all of the teams. I'd be remiss to overlook the possibility of an intruder trying to breach the exams under the guise of a genin."
Ibiki nodded in affirmation of the idea.
"I have all the information I need to formulate a defense strategy for the exams. Be sure to let me know of any changes or suspicious sightings. With that being said this meeting is now concluded." Itachi said while taking a stand.
The three others all got up from their seats and with the meeting finished everyone left the building.
Later that day Hanabi had just made it to Naruto's house and was all too excited to pay him a visit. She knocked on the door awaiting an answer.
In time Naruto had come to the door and opened it to see who it was.
"Naruto I'm so happy to see you!" A familiar young brunette quickly tackled the boy causing him to smile from the act of affection.
"Hanabi? Why are you here?" He asked rather surprised.
"Why do you think? I wanted to see you." She said happily.
Naruto chuckled and pushed her off so he could get up, the two went over and took a seat on the couch.
"So how's your day been?" Hanabi asked all while still having a good idea of the answer.
Naruto's expression turned rather glum as he looked away from his dear companion.
"I finally got a chance to go out with Sakura and I blew it." He said frustrated.
Hanabi's expression turned to worry as she saw how down in the dumps he was, but she knew that it was her job as his future wife to cheer him up.
"The worst part is that I don't even know what went wrong! She just ditched me in the blink of an eye!" Naruto slammed his shaking fist against the table in fury.
"You know I didn't want to tell you this but... Sakura has been talking about you behind your back." Hanabi admitted to the blonde.
"Wait what?!" Naruto's eyes widened in complete shock.
"She only pretended to be interested in you. She was planning to lure you into a nasty prank and humiliate you in front of just about the whole village... She said you were a talentless disgusting loser that was better off dead."
Naruto sat back against the couch with a look of conflict.
"I-I... thought she was different. I guess she hates me just like everyone else." Naruto became saddened by the revelation.
Hanabi grabbed his hand and tried to offer a supportive smile to the boy but he seemed unfazed.
A minute passed and Naruto just sat there with a dejected stare.
"Hanabi."
The girl's ears perked up at the mention of her name.
"Am I doomed to be hated by this village forever? Why can't people just treat me with some semblance of love?"
Hanabi was on the verge of tears as she felt her heart sink while looking at the depressed boy.
She grabbed him and hugged him tightly.
"Who cares what they think. If they can't see and appreciate you for the amazing and wonderful guy that you are then they're just blind. No matter what happens I won't let you go Naruto. I'll be with you through it all." She poured her heart out to the blonde hoping he could understand her love for him.
Naruto gripped her tight and chuckled lowly in joy as he felt tears start to fall from his eyes.
"That's all I ever wanted to hear."
And that's the next part. Chunin exams will be upcoming in the story. Still thinking of how that's going to go down.