DOWNFALL OF THE LIGHT

Chapter 5: Unforeseen Competition

Disclaimer: I am getting tired of writing this, but it's needed. I don't own Naruto or his characters and I don't own Warcraft 3 and their abilities. I am just a crazy writer! If you decide to sue me, you are jeapordizing the future of this fiction!

"...": Speech

'...': Thoughts

Scene Change is listed in the bolded Italics because this site messes up fonts! Damn...

AN: Sorry for the 'late' update, this has been a dread to complete. Okay, thanks for your reviews people, I am so glad you all liked it! You all are such a curious bunch! Maybe it's just I wasn't specific enough, I'll try harder, I promise! I know you all have plenty of questions and I have answers to a lot of them. Looks like I have a lot of explanation to do. Here it is, the first Question and Answer Period.

Question and Answer Period, yes, a good time where all your questions are answered in one way or another.

Q: Why does Sasuke have the Sharingan this early?

A: There are two appropriate answers for this. The first is the fact he is the Uchiha genius, I thought developing it early was a true sign that he was a powerful Uchiha. In fact, he truly is. Second, remember Sasuke isn't a member of Team 7 anymore, he won't be a big part of the story until the chunnin exam begins. So, you have to know he has to have the Sharingan before the Wave country thing. I know it was a little sudden but what could I do? I have my own flaws and mistakes too. Thanks for pointing some of it out.

Q: Why does Naruto seem to be so invulnerable?

A: Trust me, he's not invincible at all. He may be very strong but he isn't close to perfect any time soon. No human or half demon half-human in his case could be perfect. Just watch closely and his flaws would show gradually.

Q: Why did Naruto tell his secret to Hinata so quickly?

A: Smart people would know that they are very close and trust each other deeply. If you people have read carefully, Naruto didn't tell Hinata enough information. He hid a lot of things from her. The major stuff that he still had to tell her are his true identity of a Death Knight, he is a half demon, his dangerous Metamorphosis ability, his master is the demon who terrorized Konoha 12 years ago, he has his master within himself... he is the demon, why he actually became like this and a lot more. IF he told her things that she could actually follow up, she would be still asking him questions. He knows it pains her to see that she can't know everything about him, he had to say something to satisfy her for the time being. As far as he's concerned, the girl knows nothing about the demon Kyubi and he likes it this way.

Q: Why did I make Kyubi like what she is?

A: I did it to lighten up the mood, I found it a little annoying if Kyubi was a jerk and tempted him all the time to lust. I know the fox is a demon and all but it would be much better if the two compromised. I hope that answers at least part of the question.

Q: Will there be Sakura and Hinata rivalry?

A: YES, of course there would be! If there wouldn't, what would be the point if two girls weren't on his team? Anyway, I had a really hard time trying to write out the rivalries and there would be sides of everyone that you might not expect. When the jealousy and envy begins, which is soon, it would be total chaos and hell for the poor silver hair genin. How far would the girls go to get Naruto? Who would he choose? If I told you now, that would seriously ruin the story. So please continue to read my future chapters.

Q: Why didn't I make the teams into Sasuke, Hinata and Naruto?

A: If I did, the triangle conflict between Sakura, Hinata and Naruto could never begin. If Sakura was separated, the rivalry would be impossible. Sure, I could make Sasuke and Naruto battle it out for their love for Hinata if I wanted to but this Naruto isn't one who cares about romance and he wouldn't make a move at all. Seeing guys fight for a girl like 5 year-olds disturb me. Watching girls battle it out was so much easier for me to write. Sorry for those who wanted the team of Uchiha, Hyuga and Uzumaki. It would've been a too powerful team.

Q: Can his runeblade be destroyed?

A: The answer is no, no further explanation would be needed.

Q: Would I be writing this fic including the Wave country incident?

A: Even I don't know yet. If I do write it, it would take a hell of a time for me to write it since I didn't write out the written draft, so it would take me a really long to update. I am starting from absolutely nothing if I do write it. Besides, I didn't like the Haku and Zabuza story too much, not enough characters. That doesn't mean I don't like Haku though, don't get me wrong. I want to get straight to the chunnin exam as soon as possible since that was my favorite part of the entire Naruto series. If you strongly want it in here, I will put it into consideration but don't get your hopes too high.

Q: Why didn't I have the incident of Konohamaru in here?

A: Easily said, that episode might be funny and all but at the same time it was utterly stupid. I mean, why would this cool and collected Naruto even bother using the sexy-no-jutsu in front of the Hokage or even be retarded enough to teach the boy such a perverted move? He does know it nonetheless but he would never, ever use it. It was all thanks to Jiraiya that he has it. He may have used it when he was a kid to seduce Jiraiya but nowadays death glares just do the job so much better.

Q: Why is my title what it is?

A: I wanted to call it something to do with the exiled, betrayal, darkness, hatred, death and stuff like that. But using death the word wasn't too great of an idea since I would use it really often in this fic. I wanted to use a word that would describe his dark past but don't necessarily use the exact words to express it. Also, using a word that was rare would make my fic sound original. I know the alternate life of Naruto wasn't the most original idea, there are a few such as Faith in Humanity, New Life, Same Destiny, Beginning Anew that are still being written as I speak but I wanted my title to be different. So, I found the word downfall somewhere in the thesaurus thanks to my good friend. No one used it so far and I figured Naruto hated the light. So, I made it Downfall of the Light. The reason is Naruto's decision to discard the light of the Paladin out of his life.

Q: Does Naruto know the Rasengan? Does he know any other summoning techniques?

A: Yes and yes. The boy definitely knows that move but there's no need for him to show that yet, it's too early in the game to show his full potential. Is Rasengan his most ultimate move? Of course not, he has plenty of moves that are stronger than that. The Rasengan is still a very versatile move nonetheless. The reason I want Naruto to have different summoning techniques is that I have a lot of trouble picturing his Death Knight self summoning a toad. It's just wrong and doesn't make him look appealing in any way. I don't even care if he doesn't know how to summon the boss toad, he will be summoning something different for certain. It will obviously be something much more cooler than a toad.

MORE AN: Damn, that was a hell lot of questions for me to answer. For those who believed this was just a little intermission, well, you are wrong! I do have a chapter! You can say this was a small scene while they waited for Kakashi to arrive to begin their test. In this chapter, this is when the jealousy and envy develop between the two girls. A must read chapter! Now without further adieu, on with the show. Come on, go, enjoy it while you can. You can't take anything from me. Except my life, except my life... except my life. What a line from Hamlet...

(The very early morning in the Haruno Residence)

The morning of the important event arrived a lot faster than expected, Sakura woke up from her sleep which felt only like a several minutes. She glanced at her pink alarm clock, it said 6 AM. After a quick yawn, she made her way to the bathroom and did her daily routines. (AN: I won't even bother telling you what they are, what would a girl do in the bathroom? There is only so much a teenage girl would do.) As soon as she got dressed, she made her way to the kitchen and fixed herself a quick breakfast so she wouldn't starve to death later on the day. When she finished her last bite, she rushed out of her house without saying goodbye to her parents since they weren't awake yet. Not like she really cared, they talked too much anyway. She observed the early morning of Konoha, it was quite empty at that time. Some of the shops were starting to open and there were some ANBUs on guard duty. Sakura ignored them and decided to head to the training grounds at the time the team was expected to arrive. By the time she made it to the forest safely, her watch told her it was 6:45. She was early so she might as well wait for the other two. Suddenly, she heard something, it sounded like the sounds of combat.

"Who would be fighting at a time like this?" she asked herself while walking towards the direction of where the noises came from. She soon found herself near the edge of an open area, there was a memorial there, that must've been the place Kakashi was talking about. What caught her attention was actually the two people who were dueling, it was Naruto and a replication of himself. It was an interesting match, both of them were evenly matched. 'Wow' she thought blushing while hiding behind a tree timidly. 'He seems so strong like that... he's so cool...' The real Death Knight then unexpectedly tossed his blade right at where Sakura was hiding once he sensed an unknown presence. With his eyes, he should've been able to recognize it was Sakura but since he never sensed her chakra fully, he thought it was an enemy. The blade struck the tree hard causing it to shake a bit. Sakura knew she was spotted at that point, she might as well reveal herself to him.

"Who's there?" questioned Naruto immediately as he attracted his blade back to his hand.

"It's just me, Naruto..." said Sakura coming from behind the tree showing herself.

"Sakura-chan?" he asked quite surprised. "What are you doing here so early?"

"Early? You should know it's nearly 7, Naruto."

"Is it?" She nodded with a smile. Suddenly, he felt kind of awkward. "I'm sorry for what I just did, I thought you were an enemy..."

"Forget it, I shouldn't have been spying on you like that."

"Spying?" he asked with a visible grin. A blush then crept on her face.

"I mean..." Her face was hot at this time. "I mean... you were training so hard so I didn't want to disturb you until you were done! I am sorry!" The Death Knight simply gave her a smile.

"I understand what you meant, Sakura-chan. Thanks for being considerate." The pink haired girl just blushed and attempted to hide her flushed face. Of course, this didn't go unnoticed.

"Why were you here so early?" she asked shyly. Naruto raised an eyebrow as Sakura sounded a lot like Hinata when she talked to him. 'Sakura-chan is just feeling too awkward from what she said,' he thought.

"I was training just now."

"I'm sorry that I interrupted your training..." she apologized quickly.

"Don't be. Well, I think you shouldn't have came so early this morning..."

"You don't like my company? I could leave if you want." 'Why is she talking like Hinata all of a sudden?' he thought confused. 'She wasn't like that yesterday.'

"No, I don't mean that. It's just... it's not like Kakashi would show up anytime soon. I assume he would be at least 3 to 4 hours late. Training happened to be something I could do to kill time before that bastard comes."

"Bastard? Who's this bastard?"

"Kakashi, who else?"

"Why do you call him that though?"

"Because he's a pervert. I know perverts when I see one." That made Sakura giggle cutely.

"I don't he is one." she told him innocently. Naruto just sighed at her innocence, she didn't catch anything.

"He was looking at your chest yesterday as much as he could while you weren't looking," said the dark warrior bluntly. "Did you even know that?" Sakura immediately covered her chest with her arms blushing.

"You weren't looking at me like that, were you?" she questioned him with a glare.

"Why would I do that?" was Naruto's response.

"Because you're a guy!"

"I wouldn't do anything that stupid as to jeopardizing our friendship before it starts," He then slid his blade back into his sheath and made his clone disappear. "I don't want you to hate me, I won't do something that vulgar."

"Did you say you want to be my friend?" asked Sakura happily holding his arm nearly jumping up and down. "Don't lie, I know you did!" Naruto couldn't help but blush slightly at her actions, of course he turned away so the pink hair girl wouldn't see it. However, she knew he blushed.

"Yeah..." he replied not knowing what else to say.

"Then it's settled, we are friends!" she declared proudly. The boy just chuckled.

"Sure thing." The Death Knight looked at the eyes of the girl next to him, she quickly had a shade of fuchsia when her eyes met his. "Sakura-chan, I suggest you take a nap before Kakashi comes, that is if you didn't have enough sleep."

"If I take a nap, would you do anything to me?"

"Other than giving you blanket so you won't catch a cold." He answered with a grin.

"Thanks, but I don't need a nap."

"That's not what your eyes are telling me, Sakura-chan." She jerked a bit at what she just heard. In reality, she was tired but she didn't want to admit it. Now that the boy knows, there was no use hiding it anymore. However, she was amazed how quick Naruto caught on. "And one more thing," he continued. "On the night before an early mission, you shouldn't spend the entire day bickering with Ino so much. It wears you out the next day." 'This is impossible,' thought Sakura in shock. 'How could he have known what I did yesterday after he left? Was he spying on me? Did he stalk me? No, he was with Hinata-san, there was no way he could've did that. Did he use one of his clones to follow me? No, why would he even bother doing something that lame. Screw this, I am confusing myself...'

"Naruto," said Sakura shaking her head to shut off her thoughts. "I'm going to take a nap, would you wake me up later?"

"No problem." Soon, Sakura picked a good spot under a tree and went into her sleeping position. As promised, the boy took out a blanket from his pack that he brought and gave it to the girl so she wouldn't get cold. She quickly blushed as she felt the boy covering her gently. Not knowingly, she held his hand not wanting to let go. The Death Knight's eyebrow raised just a bit and smiled at the sleeping girl in front of him. "Sleep well, Sakura-chan." He then slowly removed his hand out of the girl's surprisingly tight grip. Once he freed himself, he went off to do his own thing nearby. He decided to do some meditation exercises to increase his chakra control. He sat down at a preferred spot and began to channel chakra throughout his body.

The meditation served two purposes. The first one was that it trained him to sustain his chakra within himself and enabled him to know how to use the chakra effectively. A better example would be that since he was learning how to generate chakra through his body, he knows how much chakra he should be using for each situation. Naruto may be strong but his control wasn't perfect. Second, this meditation opened the gates of Kyubi's abilities, this was the only way he could learn all her Hidden Techniques and it took time and research to understand each one. At this point, Naruto wasn't even close in learning all of his master's moves. Kyubi had a lot to offer to the boy. Consider this meditation to be a search and discover mission.

(Meanwhile with the Hyuga heiress)

Hinata was determined this morning, she was determined to pass the test her instructor was going to give them. Not only that, she made a choice, she decided to have courage in herself to be more direct to Naruto. She couldn't allow the one she loved to be in the hands of another girl no matter what. Even though she was shy, quiet and timid, it didn't mean that she would give up her love that easily. The heiress of the Hyuga arrived at the training area 10 minutes after 7 just to find both her teammates were already there. However, she was somewhat surprised to her jounin sensei was nowhere to be found. At that moment, the Death Knight opened one eye just to see his best friend was here. He released the chakra into his body stopping his meditating since he knew it would be impossible for him to continue if Hinata was here.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun," greeted Hinata with a bright smile. The boy simply acknowledged her by opening his eye looking at her at the corner of it.

"Yeah, morning..." he said dully still trying to regain his senses. "Did you have a good night's rest?"

"I did, I had a beautiful dream last night..." she answered dreamily sitting next to him.

"Really? What was it about?" She then blindly wrapped her arms around his, leaning her head on his shoulder. Naruto jerked a little at what she was doing. He wanted to push her away at that second but her eyes were once again soothingly demanding. She was ordering him to allow her do what she was doing indirectly. He simply gave in knowing what kind of result he would get if he didn't. Somehow, the demon boy felt that she did it naturally without hassle.

"I don't remember, Naruto-kun..." she answered blindly with a heavenly tone. "I just know it was really nice." The Death Knight silently agreed. However it wasn't long before the Hyuga girl began to move closer to him. The boy didn't catch this yet until it was too late when she was hugging him.

"Hinata-chan..." 'What is she doing?' he thought panicking. When it came to girls, he was utterly clueless.

"Can you hug me back?" she asked with much emotions of love in her voice. Not knowing what to do, he did as he was told. He could feel her body soften as he wrapped his hand on her back. She was soft and easy to hold. He couldn't believe how soft she really was, the feeling was most divine. Her pale lavender eyes showed a lot of love and care at that moment, it was genuine and sincere. She hugged him tighter with more passion and dug her head into his chest. A shade of crimson appeared on the dark shinobi's face, he was completely lost.

"Hinata-chan?" he asked when his chest felt a little wet, he knew she was crying.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun... I can't believe this is actually happening..."

"What is happening?" he asked with most confusion.

"I thought I lost you forever, Naruto-kun... you suddenly left Konoha one day and you left me behind not even letting me know where you went or even why you decided to leave. I missed you since the day I no longer saw you. I thought you would never return to me. Now you are here, right in front of me, on the same genin team when our chances of even being together was slim. You know how happy I am right now to know this isn't a dream? This is real, this isn't just my fantasy, you are really here..."

"How much did my absence hurt you?" he asked with guilt still embracing her.

"It doesn't matter, Naruto-kun. What matters right now is that you are with me." She then hugged him tightly once again. He knew she didn't want this embrace to end so soon. However, his mind was telling him even he didn't want to let this go either. 'Why am I feeling this way?' he thought. 'Do I like Hinata more than just a friend? How come I don't want this to end? Why do I want her to feel safe and secure? Do I care that much for her?' Many questions flowed around his mind at that split second, for the first time in his life, he never felt that lost in confusion. 'No, my head is just playing games with me...' Despite what he thought, a sense of care was there in his mind.

"Hinata-chan..."

"Yes?" she asked with a soothing tone.

"I'll make you a promise..."

"What is it?"

"You have been waiting for so long, Hinata-chan... you have been waiting for me for all this time. I know my depart must've had a huge impact on you. I couldn't believe I made such a selfish decision and never even thought about my best friend. I will make it up to you, I promise you that I won't leave like that unnoticed again. I really don't want to see that pretty face of yours frown. I want you to be happy. You are important to me, always remember that."

"I will, Naruto-kun," she said with her eyes tearing up with joy. "Thank you." She then did something she never thought she would do, she kissed him on the cheek with much passion. The boy immediately blushed but this time he failed to hide it to the Hyuga girl. She grinned evilly. "Naruto-kun, are you blushing?"

"No...no, no! Of course not!" he lied when his face was somewhat red from embarrassment. She giggled cutely making him feel more nervous. As he regained his composure, he looked at the giggling heiress. For the first time, she was absolutely beautiful in his eyes. He couldn't help but glimpse at her for another second before she looked at him right in the eyes with her lavender ones. She suddenly looked seductive, it was then when he started to panic inside. The Hyuga girl could tell Naruto liked that kiss just now, it was good sign that told her she could move one step forward. She made sure this next step would claim his heart. As Hinata got close again, he quickly stood up making her stop. "I think I should go check on Sakura-chan!" he said quickly and ran off. Hinata watched him took off and giggled innocently. However, that angelic giggle soon turned into a devilish grin.

'Oh, Naruto-kun... you are so shy... I know you like me, you can't hide it.' With that thought clear, Hinata quickly jumped into a tall tree nearby to keep watch of her Naruto, she couldn't have him not in her sight.

(At that moment with Naruto)

'What the heck was Hinata-chan doing just now?' he thought as a cold sweat cam down his forehead. He made sure he was a fair distance away from the girl. 'Was she trying to seduce me? No, that couldn't be true... Hinata-chan would never do such a thing. She was so pretty though... she made me want to kiss her... no, Hinata-chan is my friend, I simply won't do that...' He quickly broke that thought and focussed on his original task, to check up on his sleeping teammate. Sakura was still resting peacefully with a smile on her face. The boy kneeled to lower himself to take a closer look at her, he was glad she was sleeping happily. 'She seem to be having a pleasant dream,' he thought with a wide grin. Something about Sakura fascinated him, he couldn't grasp what it was. He knew it existed but he just couldn't get hold of it. Since he didn't want to mess up his own mind at such an early age, he chose to ignore it. Without knowing, he was looking at her at a pretty close distance. At the same time, Sakura suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down into a strong hug. If that was just a hug it would've been fine but the fact was that his head was in contact with Sakura's breasts.

Hinata covered her mouth with her hands completely frozen to the core. She couldn't believe the scenario that was happening in front of her eyes. Sakura was hugging Naruto in a way the Hyuga girl always wanted, she was dumbfounded at the fact the pink hair genin just did it like that.

'Sakura-san...' though Hinata with raging flames in her eyes. 'What are you doing to my Naruto-kun? He's mine!' Meanwhile, the Death Knight had a lot on his hands. He was desperately trying to squirm out of her grab but to no avail whatsoever. However, if he called out her name, it wouldn't be appropriate at all.

'This is definitely not the greatest way know a girl!' he basically screamed to himself. The Death Knight gathered all the strength he could muster to get out of that mess he was in but sadly enough, luck wasn't on his side that day for Sakura suddenly woke up. She nearly screamed when she found herself hugging a guy to a very inappropriate part of her body. She wanted to yell at him for being a pervert but she realized it was her who started it, she couldn't blame anyone. However, it didn't mean she wasn't embarrassed about it.

"Naruto..." whispered Sakura blushing like a tomato who couldn't believe what she just did. She quickly released him and of course he didn't hesitate at all to escape that embrace. His face was quite red since he was blushing. For the first time in his life, he nearly suffered a case of nosebleed. "I'm so sorry..."

"Sakura-chan..." he panted trying to calm himself down from that horrific experience. "What in the hell was that?"

"I'm sorry... I don't know what to say..." she was breathing heavily herself. "Are you mad at me?" she asked no louder than a squeak.

"No, I'm not. I am just shocked... that really wasn't the way I expected to be introduced to breasts..." Sakura didn't know if she should laugh at that or kill him. By the expression on Naruto's face, he was shivering inside. Both sat in silence for a while before the Death Knight managed to speak again. "I was wondering... what were you dreaming about just now to make you act like that?"

"Nothing..." she replied.

"Is that so?" he questioned with a grin. She blushed quickly when she saw his face. "You were dreaming about Uchiha Sasuke, weren't you?" The emerald eyed genin shook her head slightly but Naruto wasn't persuaded. "Don't lie, Sakura-chan, I heard you mumble his name in your sleep. I know you like him." Sakura knew lying wouldn't get her anywhere. "What makes you like him so much? Don't mind me being so direct, I am just curious."

"It's okay... people have asked me that before. I might as well tell you."

"What makes you so sure I won't spread what you told me?" All Sakura did was a calm smile.

"You don't look like a person who would do that."

"You're right, Sakura-chan. Oh yeah, whatever you tell me would stay between us, okay?" She nodded.

""I want to tell you... well... since you get seem to get along with girls so well... and you are my teammate. If you can't trust your own teammates, who else could you trust?"

"You're right." He stated simply.

"I want to know you better, Naruto..." she then blushed. "Would you give me a chance?" 'What is she asking? She doesn't need permission for me to accept her.' He thought. The Death Knight nodded with a smile. "Okay... the reason I like Sasuke-kun is because he's strong, very handsome, collected and mysterious. That makes girls... I can't explain it but there is something so wild about him that I am attracted to."

"Did you tell him that you like him?" he asked suddenly.

"Well... no, I don't know how he would react if I did..."

"You haven't told him yet? Did you do anything to show at least you like him?"

"Of course. I asked him on dates, having lunch, breakfast, taking walks..."

"Wait," interrupted the Death Knight. "Date? Isn't that a bit too forward?" He couldn't stop a sweatdrop coming down from his head.

"It doesn't really matter, he rejected everything that I suggested."

"Have you considered Sasuke likes?" Sakura gave the silver hair boy a confused expression. "Okay, let me put it this way, I am sure he won't refuse that much if he was given a choice to do something he liked. I know he's one who likes to training so if you want him to like you, do things that he likes. You have to think of it this way, if you like him, you have to sacrifice something you like for him. At first it would be a one sided at first but eventually the other person would do things for you."

"But I am so weak compared to Sasuke-kun..." she admitted sadly.

"Well, it's the thought that counts. Make your presence worthy of his respect. This may sound a little silly and outdated but have you heard of this before? To love a person isn't to take over, to love them is to make them happy?" Sakura never realized how true that statement was, Hinata couldn't hear what he said but the impressed look on the pink hair girl's face told her enough. "But first thing's first, are you and Sasuke friends?"

"We are more of acquaintances than friends..."

"You two talked before?"

"Yeah but he always walks away all the time..." 'I wonder why...' thought the Death Knight sarcastically.

"You should tell him that you want to be his friend, Sakura-chan," said Naruto holding Sakura's hand with both of his. She immediately blushed a deep shade of red. "Now, I'll say this. Within 10 men, 9 of them are demented retards." The Haruno girl giggled. "If you don't tell them what you want or your intentions, they won't even know what's going on. Tell him you want to be his friend, not a fan girl that he dislikes so much."

"I never thought of it that way... but I still can't bear it if Sasuke likes a girl other than myself..."

"Don't think like that. If you truly like him, wouldn't you be happy for him if he found the girl who he loves? Wouldn't you wish him to have a successful relationship? C'mon Sakura-chan, there are too many hardships in life. If we could avoid it or ease it, I would. You should see things more in a positive way so you could live your life better."

"Naruto..." the girl was amazed at the level of his maturity. Of course, the Death Knight went through a very tough and different life from her, it was only natural for him to see things in such a different perspective. He was secretive and mysterious, it made Sakura had a desire to know more about him. "I thank you for sharing so much with me..." she then blushed knowing he was still holding her hand. "But why did you do it?"

"Because you are a great person to talk to, Sakura-chan," complimented Naruto sincerely. "You don't pressure people, you don't force your opinions towards others, you're very open. I suppose this was a good way to know you better since we are teammates and friends, we need to lookout for one another. Sakura-chan, you have no idea how much more fortunate you are compared to many people. I know there are things that you don't like, such as your forehead." He then burst into a quiet chuckle. Sakura's face was quite red from embarrassment.

"How do you know?" she asked nervously.

"If Ino called you forehead girl, there's gotta be something she is insulting." The girl blushed slightly. "But to me, I think your forehead is just fine."

"You're just saying that." She then pouted cutely.

"No, I'm not. You're a very pretty girl, I'll admit that. So don't be ashamed of who you are. Your pink hair, green eyes, they suit who you are perfectly." He then poked her forehead lightly. "Even though you may not win Sasuke's heart, I want you to know you are Haruno Sakura, my teammate and always will be my friend. I never had too many friends since I moved around a lot, I treasure those who are close and you should too. But most importantly, you should treasure yourself." The girl was speechless at that moment, his words were genuine and sincere, he cared for her and they barely knew each other. But somehow, she felt they knew one another for a long time. She felt easy to share things with him, somewhere in her heart told her that the boy would keep his word and he wouldn't do anything reckless to disappoint her. She knew he was trustworthy. At that instant, her heart fell for someone else.

"So... you never thought my forehead was..."

"No." he answered shaking his head.

"Did you ever thought I was too weak since Hinata-san defeated me in one shot?" This time, she was scared at what his reply was.

"You might not be strong physically," he said. "But it's not everyone's strength to be just strong, I'm sure your potential is locked elsewhere." She smiled happily to him which resulted a smile in return.

"Do you think I'm pretty?" The silver hair genin's eyes widened a little while Hinata's ears jerked a little.

"Yeah, I do." answered Naruto while Hinata gasped from afar. "Where is this getting to?" he asked but the green eyed girl was blushing nervously. All the Death Knight could do was wait.

"Do... do you like me?" Sakura blurted out her question as quickly as she could say it. Naruto just smiled warmly at her.

"Of course I do, why wouldn't I?" The girl flushed deeply while Hinata could just faint. 'How could Naruto-kun fall for her? No, I won't give up... I know he likes me... it can't be true! No, I will make him realize that I love him, I can't lose him now...' 'Great,' said the Death Knight in his head. 'Why do girls always have to ask those questions that either resolves in a kiss or a punch in the face?' Suddenly the Haruno girl embraced the dark shinobi passionately, it was very unexpected. "Sakura-chan, is something wrong?"

"Nothing... it's just that no one ever said they liked me before..."

"Really? I'm sure they are just to shy to admit it."

"Now that we are closer friends..." the girl then played with her hands a little bit. "Do you think we could hang out sometime?" This was when the Hyuga heiress paid the most attention to during the entire conversation. Not believing anything was wrong, Naruto agreed making Inner Sakura jump up cheerfully while a dangerous aura was developing somewhere nearby. Once Naruto gave Sakura his answer, which was obviously sure, he suddenly felt a disturbance in the air. The lavender eyed genin was jealous, in fact she has been jealous of Sakura for a long time but she never cared before until now. Sakura was more prettier than her, smarter than her, and caught many people's attention by simply walking into a room. She was afraid the pink hair girl would win Naruto's heart, it was clear Sakura had more skills to do it, Hinata's chance has drastically lowered. The look on Sakura's green eyes clarified that she had admiration for Hinata's loved one. When it came to love, the Hyuga girl would do anything to achieve it.

(Meanwhile)

Noticing Hinata's presence nearby, Naruto decided to check up on her. Sakura agreed while her inner self was cursing the entire time. The Death Knight disappeared in a flash and appeared right in front of Hinata in a kneeling position. The Hyuga girl squeaked as she saw him so unexpectedly.

"Na... Naruto-kun..." was all Hinata could put together. The boy gave her a questioning look.

"What are you doing here, Hinata-chan?" asked the runeblade wielder politely.

"I... I was just resting here..." she replied meekly. Even though he wasn't convinced, he was inclined to agree. He observed his surroundings just to find that this was a shady area with a gentle breeze. However, he knew she had been listening to the entire conversation, instincts told him that. "Naruto-kun, may I ask you a question?"

"Ask ahead, Hinata-chan."

"What makes you like Sakura-san so much?" she asked sadly.

"I like her but you can't say that I like her to a fact that you would use the words so much."

"Really?" The lavender eyed girl asked excitedly. Naruto raised an eyebrow at that sudden outburst. She then blushed madly at what she just did. "Naruto-kun... do you like me?" That question made his eyes open up with the most utter shock.

"Wha-what?"

"Do you like me?" she asked again with more force which made Naruto stutter.

"Well..."

"You don't like me, do you?" Tears were forming in her eyes as she slowly turned away from him. Seeing her about to cry, the Death Knight had to do something. He quickly held her gently by the shoulders making eye contact with her.

"That's not it, Hinata-chan," he explained. "What do you expect me to say? I like you of course, you are my best friend, do you have a reason for me not to like you? I didn't respond since I didn't know what kind of like you were referring to, that's all."

"My like is just friends like, Naruto-kun..." Hinata tried to give him her best smile but he knew her too well. Her smile was forced and she was lying. He knew exactly what her like meant, he was beginning to know what this was getting at. However, he chose to ignore it for the time being. (AN: Not a wise decision.) Moments later, Naruto and Hinata made it back to the area where Sakura was and decided to wait as a team. When Hinata and Sakura's eyes met one another's, a frightening aura began to develop between the two. They gave each other a fake smile at first but soon they dropped their greeting faces and turned it into a stare. Tension was intensifying each passing second, anyone who had basic intelligence would know it would be wise not to step in. One common thought were in both girl's minds at the same moment. 'I won't lose Naruto to you!'

AN: Another long chapter done. It wasn't that long but the questions and answers took a lot of my time. I hope this was a satisfying chappie to read, I just hope my rivalry description was detailed enough and not to mention attractive enough. I may have made mistakes. If I find them, I will correct it. REVIEWS are ALWAYS welcome, if it weren't for them, I'm not sure if I would still be writing this fic. I am glad you all liked my previous work, it sure makes me feel my hard work paid off. I apologize for the slow story development but some people were really hoping for Sakura/Hinata rivalry, I have to hand it to them sometime soon. To all loyal readers, you know who you are and I thank you all so much once again. The next chapter? It'll be something good of course! Later!