We meet again. Here is the longest chapter so far, reaching a total of eight pages. I thank all of my reviewers for their kind encouragement. Response time!
Manatheron: There will be no attack on Konoha this time. The matches will actually finish.
Byuu128: I will make my own Jounin test.
Nuuuuuu: I am not God, but a simple Fanfic author.
irukapooka: Yes, Konohamaru and friends will make an appearance. However, how often they appear may vary, depending on where I take the story.
Dragon Man 180: No, Naruto will not teach his students the Rasengan on their first day.
A/N: My other Naruto story, currently called Kyuubi Personalities, will be called Encyclopedia Ninja when I post the fourth chapter for it. Just to tell you.
I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters.
Also, there will be some NejiTen fluff in here. And there will be a bit more in the future.
Onward!
Chapter Thirteen: The Day Before The Big Day
"Naruto-kun! Onegai, wait for me!" Hinata yelled. Naruto stopped and waited till she caught up to him before he began to walk again. He draped his arm over her shoulder and giving a quick kiss to her cheek. "So, now that you are entered in this exam, what do you think you should train?" 'Though it's not like you need to. From what Akamaru had to say, you're already stronger than Hokage-sama.'
"Hm..." Naruto didn't answer her question out right.
"Maybe you should work on chakra control."
"No, I took care of that problem a long time ago."
"Then what should you do?"
"I don't know... Say, do you have any idea where Neji and Tenten are? They left sometime in the middle of lunch."
"They said that they needed to deal with a few personal matters. But what's strange is that when they left, they toward the direction of the Hyuuga Manor." Naruto put some thought into this, but then gave up, not about the Hyuuga Manor, but Neji and Tenten.
"... I have the perfect idea. Hinata-chan, I am going to meet your father."
"NANI??? What if they hate you and they say that you can't talk to me anymore? They might end up hurting you! And what about your training? Onegai, don't do this!" Hinata held onto his arm for dear life. She didn't tell him that she was disowned. She wanted to tell her that himself and preferred that he hear it from her first.
"This will be my training. An enraged Hyuuga would be a rather interesting opponent, especially the head of the clan." Naruto looked into Hinata's worried eyes. "Plus I won't hurt them. I'll just dodge the attacks." She still had that worrisome look in her eye. "I'll hide my identity so that they won't know who I am." That seemed to do the trick.
"However, I will also need some inside help from you. Hinata-chan, I want you to make your dad really mad by saying that I was hitting on you." Hinata, hearing that, began to worry once more, almost on the verge of tears.
"But, what if my dad goes all berserk on you? Then what? He'll be so mad at you, and me later when he finds out that I lied to him... and..." Hinata could not continue.
"Well, it's the job of a good shinobi to read what's underneath the underneath. If he can't, then he's got to get his eyesight checked up. And that says a lot, especially if he's a Hyuuga."
Outside The Hyuuga Manor
Naruto and Hinata were slowly approaching the gates. Naruto decided to go over the plans one more time. "Okay, you know what to do right?"
"Hai, Naruto-kun."
"WOOHOO!!!" A loud voice erupted from inside, freezing the two of them. Neji and Tenten were then seen running out the gates, hugging, kissing, laughing, and twirling with each other.
"Ano sa, Neji-nii-san, what's going on?" Hinata asked. When Neji turned around to answer her, his face was bright and full of happiness.
"Hiashi-sama has just approved of our marriage!" He gave another long kiss to Tenten, who caught it with open lips. Tenten raised her hand to show them the ring that Neji had given her yesterday.
'It took him long enough to work up the courage.' Hinata thought, showing them a smile.
"Well... um... congratulations, then." Naruto added. Neji quickly turned, though still smiling, had a strange feeling that things today might just end up a little ugly.
"I don't mean to be rude, but... why are you here?" Neji enquired.
"Training."
"And this would be what kind of training?"
"I'm going to cause your uncle to attack me in a fit of rage, and I'm going to try to dodge the attacks to my best ability. It's mostly speed and endurance training." Naruto said in a mouthful.
"Hmm... That is a rather... interesting form of training..." Tenten said while holding on to her fiancé. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and turned to look at the other pair.
"Well, if you've got no more questions, then I'll be heading inside." Naruto and Hinata were about to enter the gates. Neji spun around and grabbed his shoulder.
'I still dislike the main house for putting seals on us, but that's no reason to go on a killing spree. I'll just use this as a harmless way to get back at them.' "Hey, if you really want to piss him off, you should try to rearrange as many things as you can. He has a rather peculiar sense in cleanliness and symmetry. But be warned: When he's mad, he's quite unstoppable." Naruto simply gave Neji his signature smile.
"I'll keep that in mind."
'Hiashi-sama might just break something in the house. Hell, he might just destroy the whole place if Naruto isn't careful... or if he overdoes it.' Neji thought. After Naruto and Hinata entered the compound with Hinata leading, Neji gave a smirk, in which Tenten, who was giving off a small giggle, gave him a playful slap on the shoulder and a big kiss on the lips.
"We might want to give the hospital a call." Tenten said.
"No, Naruto can take care of himself. I know he can." Neji gave a silent thanks to the man who had changed him.
"Not for him, but for Hiashi-sama."
"Oh..."
Inside the Hyuuga Manor
Hyuuga Hiashi was having a good day. Why was he having a good day? One: It was a perfect day. There were no clouds in sight and it was a day of moderate temperatures. Two: His nephew is now the fiancé of Tenten, which he was expecting for a while and the wedding would be in a month. Three: The house was meticulously neat and symmetrical. Four: The Jounin Exams are tomorrow, which means that tomorrow would also be a good day. Five: It was a Sunday. Yes, today was definitely a good day. He was now in the living room, reading the papers.
Hinata had entered the living room. After some sneaking in through the window, they had both entered the Hyuuga manor undetected. "Hi tou-san." Hiashi looked up to see his eldest daughter. He gave off a smile.
"Hello to you too, Hinata. What brings you to the estate?" He got up and hugged her. "You know that you're not supposed to be here, especially after you got disowned." Hinata inwardly squirmed. Hiashi knew that Hinata wasn't supposed to be here. Naruto, on the other hand, was shocked. Though he did notice that her father was being nice and caring, he never knew that she was disowned. But he would think about that later. He had to stick to the plan.
"Well, you see-." Hinata was suddenly being hugged from the side by Naruto.
"HINATA-CHAN!!!" Naruto cried out in a loud, obnoxious voice, the one that he used to use before he fell off of the bridge. He was glad that he put up those sound seals. No one would be able to hear them. He took a look at Hiashi, whose eyes seemed to have shrunk in anger. 'Good, it's going according to plan.'
"Hinata, I need to talk to you alone." Hiashi said with a bit of anger leaking out of him. They left by the door Hinata came in. "Who is he?" he whispered. There was no way in hell that he would let his eldest daughter get hugged, or, in his opinion, groped by some crazy buffoon. He almost could not keep his emotions in check. It was so tempting for Hiashi to destroy something, or rather someone who was wearing black.
'Good, he's gone. It was easier than I thought. Time to get to work.' Naruto began, with his amazing speed, to tip things over, making sure not to break them. He also shuffled papers, moved the couches, shifted Hiashi's mug of coffee, etc. He then did a couple of hand seals. "Graffiti no jutsu!" He smiled. Naruto had made this genjutsu to help forge signatures and paintings, which kept the originals from being taken, and many other useful things. But today, his prankster side woke up. And it decided that it was going to have a good day.
"Well you see, this guy has been hitting on me and I really want him to stop. I kept telling him to stop but he won't. And I don't want to hurt him either. So can you do it for me?" She gave him the roundest, biggest, most authentic and influential puppy-eye look. It even had a small tear forming. From Hiashi's point of view, it rivaled, no, plain-out beat Akamaru's puppy eyes when it was still a puppy.
"Alright, I'll do it for you." 'I am such a sucker for those eyes. I'm glad that Hanabi never used those on me. They're like the female Hyuuga's secret jutsu!' Hiashi stormed back in. Hinata rendered herself invisible via genjutsu after she was out of sight. She walked in and gasped, almost giving herself away.
Naruto wasn't Konoha's number one loudest, most surprising shinobi for no reason. And it appeared that he intended to keep the title. Inside the living room, it was a pigpen. Papers were shuffled, couches moved, and a vase was on its side. There was not a sprinkle of symmetry or neatness in this room. But that wasn't what got to Hiashi the most. It was what was written. Dripping, colorful kanji were spray painted onto the walls. Here is a rather small list of what was painted that day: Hyuuga Hiashi sucks, Hyuuga Hiashi has no brains, Hyuuga Hiashi has done a poor job of raising his daughter, Hyuuga Hiashi is an old coot, and a few other... colorful words which involved the bashing Hyuuga Hiashi, which were colorful in more ways than just one. 'Tou-san is not going to like this.'
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, YOUNG MAN?" Forget interesting, Hiashi looked like a monster when he was angry. "FIRST YOU CHASE MY DAUGHTER AROUND LIKE SOME CRAZY BUFFOON, THEN YOU VANDALIZE MY HOUSE!" Yes, very monstrous indeed.
Hinata took out a digital camera and, making sure it was on shinobi mode, took a few silent snapshots of the room. It was a day to remember. Neji probably would like to see these pictures too. Hiashi then quickly charged at Naruto, though not fast enough to even rival Naruto. Being blinded with rage, he did not see a fold in the carpet. As Naruto got was about to evade, Hiashi's foot got caught and he fell over, hitting his head with extreme force on the floor, knocking him unconscious. Naruto and Hinata sweatdropped.
"So much for training." Naruto said. "You can come out now, Hinata-chan." Hinata ended the jutsu.
"Wow. How did you do the spray paint?"
"Graffiti no jutsu. Though it seems kind of pointless, it does have its uses. I made it myself. Don't worry, it's just a genjutsu." He added the last bit after seeing a worried Hinata. It appeared that Naruto happened to have a strange taste in making useless jutsus that somehow didn't seem so useless when Naruto used them.
"Oh. So now what?"
"We show the pictures to Neji. He would probably like to see them." Taking the camera from Hinata, he took a picture of Hiashi lying on the ground and then they left. They approached the main entrance into the house Hinata stopped him.
"Careful, there are two guards out next to the doors. We'll need another way through." Hinata knew her way around this place.
"Do these doors open inward or outward?"
"I think both."
"How heavy are they?"
"Very."
"Excellent." Naruto moved back about ten meters. He then ran towards the doors, jumped into the air, and delivered a powerful kick to each door, effectively opening them. It hit and knocked out the guards on each side. "Let's go."
Later
"You didn't kill him, did you?" Neji asked.
"Na, he simply tripped." Naruto said. Neji was taking a look at the pictures taken. A smile lit up on his face when he saw the graffiti on the wall.
"And how did you do the graffiti? It's not permanent, right?"
"Nope, just genjutsu." Naruto replied.
"Here you go: the Ichiraku Special." The old man said, still not knowing who he was. It was Naruto's seventh bowl of that stuff.
"Thanks." Naruto started eating. Over the years, he had managed to pick up a few manners. It was required if you wanted to show respect and not get thrown into a jail cell.
"So where are you going to stay today, Naruto-kun?"
"I'm not sure, Hinata-chan. Probably some hotel."
"Well, if you want, you can stay at my apartment until you find a house." Hinata was blushing and was amazed at her own bravery. Naruto almost choked. So did Neji.
"You want me to stay at your place? Are you sure? I mean, its not that I don't want to, but... are you sure?" Naruto was surprised, but didn't want to hurt Hinata's feelings either.
"Naruto will not be staying at your place today, Hinata. I will not allow it. At least not yet." Neji answered coldly.
"But I just want to talk to him. You know, catch up on old times." Hinata attempted to sway her cousin's decision.
"No 'buts'. Naruto is staying somewhere else and you are not to sleep in the same room as him. And that's final." Neji paid his bill and left.
"Man... what's up with Neji?" Naruto wondered. Hinata just shrugged her shoulders.
"He probably thinks it's a little too early for you to stay at my place."
"Yeah... Want to go for a walk?" Naruto asked.
"Sure."
In A Park
It was a warm night. Crickets had begun to give off their little concert in the grass. "So..." Naruto had his arm draped over her shoulder. He attempted to start a conversation, "How was your day?" It was almost nine in the evening. The stars were slowly starting to come out. They were sitting on a park bench, simply taking in the beauty of the stars.
"It was wonderful, now that you're back." Hinata said. She put her head onto his shoulder, enjoying the comfort it gave. "What do you think about the Jounin Exams?"
"It should be an easy thing for me." His mind wandered off to his 'training' and remembered how Hiashi said that Hinata was disowned. "Ano sa, Hinata-chan."
"Yes, Naruto-kun?"
"Why were you disowned?" Naruto took a look at the face that was leaning on his shoulder. Her eyes showed pain and sadness. "If it hurts too much, you don't have to talk about it."
"No, you have the right to know." Hinata began to explain. "When I was disowned, I was eighteen. I just became a jounin and the clan council was planning to make me the heir once more. But if I became the heir, then I would have to marry someone. And back then I had no intention of wanting to marry anyone at that time. So I declined their proposal." Tears began to make their way down her elegant cheeks. "But they saw that as weakness and they kept saying that the Hyuugas cannot afford to have any weak members. So they kicked me out." She began to sob.
Naruto did his best to calm her down. "Shhhh... it's okay, it's okay." Not knowing what to do, he shifted his body and gave her a hug. Hinata simply held onto his jacket for dear life. She cried on his shoulder, letting go of the pains she had held for five years.
"It's just that," She gave a sniff, "so much has happened today. You came back, the Kyuubi, everything. It's just so overwhelming." Naruto began to lightly pat her back. It hurt him to see her cry like this.
"Don't cry, Hinata-chan, it hurts to see you like this."
"G-Gomen, Naruto-kun. I just don't want you to disappear from my life again." Hinata sobbed.
"Don't worry, Hinata-chan. I'll never leave you, I promise."
"It's good to hear that..." Hinata had managed to stop crying and reduced it to small sobs. Eventually, those too went away. Hinata kept her head on his shoulders. And they stayed like that for a long time, simply enjoying the presence of each other in their arms.
"Ne, Hinata-chan." Naruto took a look at the girl he was holding. She had a small smile on her lips and her eyes were closed. "Hiiiiiiinaaaaaaaaaataaaaaaaaaaaa-chaaaaaaaan." She did not respond. 'She's sleeping... I guess I'll take her home.'
Doing his best not to rouse her, Naruto put her onto his back and slung her arms around his neck. They instinctively held onto him. He put his backpack slings around his arm to carry it. Naruto then put his hands under her thighs and lifted her up. 'Gosh, she's light.' Slowly, he began to make his way to her apartment.
Naruto arrived at her apartment and tried to open the door. But it was locked. 'Hmm, I'll have to pick the door open. I don't really feel like fishing around in Hinata-chan's pockets.' Taking a needle that he kept inside of his backpack, he slowly undid the lock and went in. After locking it again, he set off in search for her room.
'This must be it.' There was a bed in the room. However, since it was dark, he was unable to decipher much about it. Carefully, he set his backpack down and took off her shoes. He did not bother to undress her. It was his resolve, after having two perverted teachers, to not be a pervert. He set Hinata in bed and tucked her in and was about to stand up.
He would have stood up if something were not holding onto him.
He looked around to see Hinata's arms still around his neck. He took a look at Hinata's face. She was still sleeping. Smiling, Naruto attempted to get his head out. But Hinata simply hugged him around the neck, bringing Naruto uncomfortably close to her breasts. He blushed. 'Ok, this is not good... She's not letting go, and I am stuck... here. And I can't do anything drastic because I may wake her up and she might find my head... there... what to do... hmm... If I get caught doing this, I am so screwed.' If he wished to survive and still get enough sleep for the exam tomorrow, Naruto only had one option.
It meant that he would have to sleep in her bed tonight next to her in her arms. 'I wasn't planning for something like this to happen this early... I guess I have no choice though...' Naruto took off his shoes and, still in his day clothes, slowly tucked himself in, careful not to awake his Sleeping Beauty. 'I don't want her to think that we did... that when she wakes up tomorrow.' He managed to turn himself so that his back was facing her and set his sunglasses on the nightstand next to the bed. 'I wonder how I'll explain this to Neji tomorrow...' Naruto drifted off into slumber, enjoying Hinata's warm embrace.
It's here. The Jounin Exams are here! How will Naruto fare? But more importantly, How will Hinata and Neji react when they find out what happened the night before? Find out in Chapter Fourteen! The Day After The Day Before!!!