This is it! Chapter 17! Thank you, my reviewers! Now to answer questions!
Irukapooka: You get to see just how well Naruto is at teaching people in this chapter.
Dragon Man 180: The glove has nothing to do with Naruto's dad's bloodline. That was something Naruto recieved after the Kyuubi failed in his attempt to escape from Naruto.
Monaki-cheung: Trust me, there will be someone who is on par, if not more powerful than Naruto in this fic.
To all who say that there should be more Naruhina fluff: There will be some fluff in this chapter.
TFI-Muse: Sorry, but I don't really plan to have much more about Gaara in this fic.
And to all you Nejiten worshippers: Just read on.
A/N: There is a lime in this chapter. Just giving you guys a heads-up.
I do not own Naruto or King of Fighters.
Onward!
Chapter Seventeen: The People In The Shadows
The busy people continued on their way through the streets of Konoha. Walking at their own pace, they were oblivious to the fact that one of Konoha's newest jounins was making his way down the street. 'So... I'm a jounin now... that's one step closer to Hokage for me,' Naruto thought. He continued his way down the busy street. His thoughts turned to the scroll his father made. 'Perhaps I can train my other bloodline now. Or perhaps this electricity that I can use.' And with that, he disappeared in a poof of smoke.
Naruto appeared at the Team Seven training grounds. Taking out his father's scroll, he opened it up and turned to the K section. And the first one on the list was Kazara. He read what the scroll had to say.
'The Kazara Clan is known for its ability to be able to use explosions in battle to their advantage. Also, they have their own clan-made explosive notes, very similar to the Akimichi's food pill. The Kazara Clan is famous enough to have actually earned a nickname; the Bakuhatsu clan.'
'Okay, that's some interesting background information... anything else?' Naruto skipped parts until he found what he wanted.
'In order for a Kazara Clan to use their bloodline limit, the user must first gather some chakra into their eyes. Then, they must stare at the spot where they want the explosion to be and release the chakra from the Tenketsu points in their eyes. If the user is quick enough, they can cast several successive explosions within seconds of each other.'
It sounded simple enough for Naruto. So he attempted to focus some chakra into his eyes. He noticed that when he did so, his sight seemed to zoom in at what he was looking at, which was currently a tree trunk. After gathering a small amount of chakra, he looked at a fairly large stone and released the chakra.
The only thing he saw of an explosion was perhaps a small ball of orange. He would need a lot more chakra to make the explosion useful. Naruto once again turned to the scroll for more information. Perhaps it was a bad idea to skimp around when it came to reading the scroll.
'The Kazara's ability to cause explosions to take place requires a lot of chakra. Because of this, most clan members will have an unusually large chakra capacity at a young age and their capacity will continue to grow at exponential rates.'
'Okay, is there anything else?' Naruto continued to read.
The Kazara Clan shinobis are known to never give up, to have unusual stamina, and for having an unusually large appetite for ramen.'
'So that's why...' thought Naruto. He started reading again.
'The Kazara Clan is rumored to have started when the first ancestor, Kazara Takashi, accidentally got something stuck in his eye. Since he his hands were occupied, he couldn't get it out easily. So he tried to-'
Naruto did not bother to read the history of his clan. Perhaps in the future, during some rainy day, he would read the story of his predecessor. But not today, for today he would train. Naruto guessed that he would just have to use a lot more chakra. So once again, Naruto focused more chakra to his eyes and released, this time aiming at a tree
The results were phenomenal. The tree Naruto was staring at exploded, rivaling the power of an explosion note. What was left of the tree was a burnt stump; the trunk had been blown off and was now lying several feet away. 'How powerful... but sadly, I can only aim it at one target at a time. It would be nice to have a Byakuugan. Then I could aim it at everything... I could marry Hinata for-' Naruto vigorously shook his head. He would not marry for power. Only scum would do that. There would be no way in the world where Naruto would marry for power.
'Man, how could I think that... I would never marry Hinata for that reason.' Naruto realized that he had thought of marrying Hinata. Once again, Naruto vigorously shook his head. 'If I do love her, it's still to early to think about marrying her.' Naruto looked at his gloved hand. 'Well, I know enough about my clan for now; I can learn how to make those exploding tags later. I should find out what I can do with electricity now.'
Naruto gathered electricity into his hand; it was giving off cracks. He did a sweeping motion from left to right. It effectively created a barrier of lightning. 'Hm... how can I utilize this barrier?' Naruto lightly tossed a shuriken into the air. While it fell back to him, he made the electric barrier again. As it fell towards the barrier, it slowed down to a stop, resting inches above it. Apparently, the shuriken was hovering, rising and falling. It was much like when two magnets with the same polarization are put together.
'This barrier seems to repel rather than absorb. Then again, my fire barrier melts them before they can hit me. Maybe I can shoot them away...' With that, Naruto increased the power of his barrier by putting more chakra into it. And it shoots the shuriken away with extreme force. 'Interesting...' Naruto continued to train his newfound powers.
'Can I attract them?' Naruto threw a kunai at a tree, getting it stuck. Then, using his electricity, he managed to attract the kunai. And a few other metal things as well. His gloved hand was now a magnet. He would train his powers until he felt that he made enough progress.
By now it was nighttime, and Naruto was eating a peaceful dinner of ramen. Now he finally understood why he loved this stuff. To think that it had to do with his bloodline limit. 'My ancestors are a bunch of crazy old people,' Naruto gave off a small smile.
Naruto thought more about his bloodline from his father. After reading a bit more about the scroll, he learned that he could only cause inanimate objects to explode. That meant that he could not cause people to blow up. 'Oh well,' Naruto thought, 'I won't really need to make people blow up though.'
Naruto would have continued to eat had he not heard someone call his name.
"Hi, Naruto-kun," He turned around with a smile on his face.
"Hello, Hinata-chan," he started. "What's up?"
"Oh... not much. I'm just getting some things. I need a new frying pan." Hinata said.
"Eh heh heh... sorry about that," Naruto remembered what happened with the frying pan that morning.
"It's okay, they're not very expensive." There was a short silence. "So what are you going to do about your possible students?" Hinata asked.
"Oh, I don't know. I'll think of something." Naruto looked outside. Slowly, the sky was getting darker. "Ne, Hinata-chan, it's getting late. Want to take a walk?" The pair got up and left on their way.
Slowly, they found themselves in a park. It was a full moon, and the couple was sitting on a park bench, drinking in its beauty. Naruto took a look at Hinata's face. Her head strewn onto his shoulder, she was awake and staring at the moon. Its light was bouncing off of Hinata's skin, increasing her beauty. A thought came across Hinata's head. 'Where would Naruto-kun be staying?' She turned to face him.
"Ne, Naruto-kun, where will you be staying? Neji would prefer that you stay out of my apartment."
"I'll probably sleep in the forest. Why spend money on a room when you can sleep out here?" Naruto said.
"What? Why the forest? Won't you be cold?"
"When you've got nine tails," Naruto transformed into his demon form and gently wrapped the tails around Hinata, "you find that you can keep yourself warm very easily." And she had to agree; it was very warm. Naruto took a look at his tails.
Instead of being red-orange, they were now golden. 'Perhaps it's because I absorbed the electricity.' Naruto thought. Hinata moved closer to him, enjoying the tails wrapped around her. She stole a look at his eyes. They gazed at each other and slowly brought their lips into a kiss. 'Hinata-chan,' Naruto thought, 'I'm falling for you.'
Getting a new frying pan was something Hinata decided that she could do tomorrow.
Nine Months Later
It had been nine months since Naruto had concluded that he loved Hinata, with all his heart and soul. Of course, he had yet to tell her. But he had some inward feeling that she already knew, and he had no reason to tell her.
And now, Naruto was inside his newly purchased house. It wasn't too big, and it wasn't too small either. It was just right for Naruto. He made sure that it was a two-story house. Also, the door into his room was a swinging door. It came with a rather interesting lock mechanism that was very hard to pick open. And right now, Hinata was sitting next to him in the living room.
"So how did the Genin Exams go?" She asked.
"Eh... they did pretty well," Naruto answered. A short silence ensued.
"You failed them, didn't you?" Hinata stated. There was a playful smile on her face.
"Yeah," Naruto murmured. She knew him all to well. He was the best out of everyone in the village and was destined to become Hokage. She gave him a playful punch.
"Naruto-kun, that's the third team you've failed so far," She said.
"Hinata-chan, they're not ready to grasp what it means to be a shinobi. Half of them think that being a shinobi is all fun and games while those who are able to become valuable shinobis don't work together in teams." Naruto's way of testing the possible genins was a rather unorthodox method.
Where almost all of the jounin instructors used the bell test, Naruto came up with his own way. The genins he was testing were to get a clean hit on him. And Naruto did not hold back.
"Naruto-kun, Sakura-san says that the kids at the academy call you the 'Jounin Instructor of Death.' Can't you go easy on them at least once?" Hinata pleaded. She gave him those puppy dog eyes. Naruto stared at them without his sunglasses.
Naruto decided that he would not wear his sunglasses unless he was on a mission. And even though he had received missions to kill certain people, gather information, etc, none of them were very difficult for him.
Naruto finally gave in. "Alright, I'll go easy on them this time." Naruto took a look at the clock. "Say, isn't it time to meet the rest of the gang for lunch?" Hinata took a glance at her watch.
"Yeah, we should get going." With that, they disappeared from the house and reappeared outside of the restaurant. They were waiting for everyone else, which meant the rest of the Rookie Nine and Neji's old teammates.
Naruto turned around to get a good look at the scenery. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. So why did he have this feeling that he was being watched? Just then, the rest of Naruto's friends came into existence.
"Hey, Naruto," Sasuke said, "hungry?" Naruto simply nodded
During Lunch
"Hey Neji-kun," Tenten was leaning over to Neji, "got one?" Tenten said.
"Um... I don't know what you're talking about, Tenten-chan." Neji replied.
"Let me rephrase that," Tenten's voice suddenly got seductive. "Do you have one?" she gave him a lick behind the ear.
Neji instantly sat up straight. It worked every single time. Whenever Tenten was in the mood for sex, which was often, she would lick him behind the ear. And sometimes, she would have those cravings at the most awkward moments. Neji once distinctly remembered how they once had sex in the middle of a mission in a forest in broad daylight. By the question she asked, she was asking whether Neji had a condom somewhere on him. He usually did.
They had gone through this many times. When they were in a restaurant, she would head to the woman's bathroom and lock the door. Then, Neji would leave the table a minute later and also head to the men's bathroom and locking the door. If the woman's bathroom was occupied, Tenten would come back before Neji left. If the men's bathroom were occupied, Neji would knock on the woman's bathroom and ask whether she was there or not. If he did not knock, after a minute had passed, Tenten would use her amazing ninja abilities to somehow appear in the men's bathroom, next to a waiting Neji. He would have already put up a sound seal and they would start immediately.
"I have to use the bathroom," and Tenten quickly left the table. She did not come back. Neji stood up a minute later.
"I also have to use the bathroom," and Neji left the table. He did not come back.
Now Naruto found this habit of theirs extremely annoying. He had no idea what they were doing. In fact, those two made sure of it. They made sure that no one knew about what they were doing when they had to 'use the bathroom' together.
Naruto really did not like it. Every time they went off to the bathroom together, a strange smell would follow afterwards, smells that only he was able to pick up. And it emanated from the bathroom.
Hinata put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I'll be right back; I need to use the restroom." Naruto simply nodded and watch her make her way.
Hinata stood outside of the restroom door. These were one of those restaurants where they only had one bathroom, and they were to be shared. She felt something strange about it. 'A sound seal? Why is that here?' Hinata quickly did a hand seal. "Kai!" and then the sound of low moans came through the door.
Naruto was still sitting at his seat. But something was wrong. There was that fleeting feeling that someone was watching him. But after hearing low moans escape from the bathroom, he perked up. Something was not right. And he was sure that it had something to do with Neji and Tenten.
Hinata, still being the innocent girl, was rather confused at the sounds. Why were these sounds coming from the bathroom? And why was the sound seal up? Thinking a little, she came up with a decision. She had enough reason to be suspicious. She activated her Byakuugan a moment too soon.
"Oh, Neji-kun," She lost all urge to use the bathroom. Hinata, with a deep blush, was now staring at Neji and Tenten. He had one of his hands up Tenten's shirt and was kissing her neck.
"Oh Neji-kun," Naruto heard. Instantly, he sat up. He had a feeling that it, too came from the bathroom. He put two and two together and came up with his answer: They were having sex in the bathroom.
"Naruto, is something wrong?" Sakura asked.
A man stood up from his meal, paid the cashier, and left the restaurant.
"N-No, everything's alright." Naruto tensed up a little.
'Would Naruto-kun... would he do that to me when we get married?' Hinata stared wide-eyed at her cousin and his wife. She attempted to put up another sound seal, but because she was so surprised, she missed a hand seal and nothing happened. More moans escaped from the bathroom.
Hinata watched her cousin continue to attack Tenten's neck. Slowly, very slowly, Neji moved his other hand. He slipped it down her pants and...
Naruto stood up from his seat. He was worried about Hinata peaking on them. "I have to use the bathroom," he said. He quickly got up out of his seat and quickly walked to the bathroom.
Hinata quickly deactivated her Byakuugan. She would not watch her cousin and his wife do these... lovely things. And not a moment later, she once again heard Tenten mutter out Neji's name. But the same thought came to her head. 'Would Naruto-kun... is that what happens when you get married?' And to her utmost shock, Naruto was standing next to her. She was blushing madly.
"You used your Byakuugan, didn't you?" Hinata slowly nodded, ashamed what she had done. Naruto simply shook his head. "It's okay, everyone makes mistakes. I have no idea why they're doing that here, though." Naruto quickly put up another sound seal, effectively keeping the sounds from escaping. "Come on, Hinata, let's go." He took her hand and led her back to the table.
Elsewhere
A man brought his report to another man sitting on a chair. The sitting man opened the scroll. After reading the scroll, he had a sinister smile on his face.
"Good job, Itachi-san," With that, Itachi bowed and disappeared.
"So... Uzumaki Naruto lives... And he has even managed to woo a girl..." The sinister man gave out a low chuckle.
"Perfect."
What will Naruto do about his next genin team? And now that Naruto knows that he loves Hinata, how much longer until he proposes? And what about the AKATSUKI?!? Wait around, for the next chapter is nigh!