Chapter 6:
As both shinobi finalized their jutsu and revealed the fruit of their work, a flood of smoke overtook the training area in which they stood.
The smoke slowly lifted and Naruto looked around with a feeling of superiority. As far as he could see, there was nothing but his bunshin. However, once visibility returned to normal, he couldn't help but gape in amazement.
"Just because you have the Kyuubi, doesn't mean you can lose in a competition of chakra." Aiyoru replied from somewhere amongst his army. "I believe the count is three hundred and twelve to six hundred and seventy four."
Having seen a large amount of smoke rising, and from where people had seen him heading, the blond kunoichi took off.
"Oh, Kiba-kun!" A horribly familiar voice called from outside his window.
Akamaru began to whine as Kiba looked for a way to escape.
"I know, I know. Don't worry; I'll get us out of here. We'll slip out the other side of the house after we grab some supplies." Kiba whispered. "I can't believe that bastard gave her our home address…"
Hastily grabbing all the ryou he could find and filling his pack with food, Kiba leapt from the window of his sister's room and onto his neighbour's roof.
"Kiba-kun!" A nauseatingly sweet voice sounded from before him.
"No! Kami-sama, no!" He screamed, putting his hands together to mold chakra. "Stay back or else!"
Akamaru barked in agreement and performed the beast technique at the same time as Kiba.
"Eee! Two of Kiba-inu-kun!" She shouted happily, dashing towards him.
"You asked for it!" He yelled, swinging a clawed hand at her head.
Before the attack connected Kumi ducked then sprang up, chakra flowing from her fingertips.
A finger brushed his forehead protector before Akamaru's head connected with her ribs, causing her to slide to the edge of the roof.
"Alright, Akamaru! Let's get out of here!" Kiba yelled, dropping a handful of smoke bombs.
"What I want you to do each day is to expend… use all of your chakra this same way. By doing so, you'll increase your capacity. You'll also train by having your kage bunshins fight against mine until the last man standing so that you can become better at fighting. Are you ready to begin?" Aiyoru asked.
"Hell ya!" All the Naruto bunshins screamed.
"I want one!" I familiar voice screamed, attacking the nearest bunshin.
A sweat bead rolled down the heads of all the Narutos and Aiyorus, resulting in minor flooding.
"Would you mind letting go?" Aiyoru asked.
"No! It's mine!" Temari yelled, strengthening her grip on the bunshin."
"I can make it disappear at any time. So if you're going to want to keep him, it'll cost you twenty ryou an hour."
She dragged him over to the real Aiyoru, placed a hundred ryou in his hands, and ran off.
A several wisp of smoke revealed that Naruto had begun the battle.
Sasuke stopped for the eightieth time that day to pose for obsessive fan girls and boys so that they could take pictures.
"Poo, at this rate, I'll never get to practice making ramen for my precious Naruto-kun…" He pouted. "If it was a few months ago, I'd have been able to just tie him up but now…"
"Ah! What do we have here? Such a cute little girl." An idiotic sounding voice said from behind.
Sasuke turned around and both he and the speaker screamed.
"Jiraiya!"
"Uchiha! It… wait a minute, when did you-"
"Ah! You're the one who wanted Naruto to stay as a girl!" He growled, lowering himself into a fighting stance.
"For the love of Kami-sama! Either put on a longer skirt, wear something under it, or stop standing like that!" Jiraiya screamed, covering his eyes. "And I never said he needed to stay like that forever, just when he was around me…"
"Oh… okay…"
"Good thing he didn't ask how I knew about that…" Sasuke thought.
"By the way, you've been in a hot spring at the same time as Naruto… what's it-"
"Will you look at the time!" Jiraiya screamed. "I'll be back in under a month to take Naruto away for training."
With that, he was gone in a puff of smoke.
"Aw, I never have any luck…"
With a presentable, steaming bowl of ramen in front of her, Hinata couldn't help but feel proud.
"…Who can I ask to eat it?" She wondered.
She thought of asking her father, but decided against him receiving any advance warning of her plans. This also meant Hanabi wasn't an option. It would have to be someone that lived at the Hyuuga household but didn't care about the private life of someone from the main branch. On that thought, Neji came to mind instantly.
Using a tray to carry the bowl and the Byakugan to find his position, Hinata quickly reached him.
"Ano, Neji-san… could you try this… onegai…"
He took the bowl and began eating.
Although nervous, Hinata waited patiently for a reply.
After finishing the meal, he placed the bowl back down on the tray and leaned back. "It's all right. I wouldn't be surprised if he liked it."
Hinata's face went red. "H-how… did you…"
"That Aiyoru guy told you to do this, right?"
She nodded, dumbfounded.
"You may want to get some advice from the guy at Ichiraku Ramen, he could tell you what that guy likes the most."
"Arigatou… ano… Neji-san, how did you know?"
Neji grinned. "You're always staring at him and he's always eating ramen. Aiyoru… I knew he was involved since he confronted me about you two the other day. After all, I was opposed to you two. Not anymore, though."
"Why?"
He moved his forehead protector enough so that she could see that the cursed seal was absent. "Don't tell anyone, but that guy got rid of it."
Hinata smiled, nodded, and headed back to the kitchen.
The fighting finally over, Naruto couldn't help but feel embarrassed. While his bunshin all gone, his opponent still had nearly six hundred remaining.
"You alright?" Aiyoru asked, releasing all un-rented bunshin.
Despite his terrible defeat, gasping for air, and was sweating profusely, he simply smiled and gave a thumbs up. "I'll… beat… you one… day…"
"Not today. I'll buy you a bowl of ramen. But first tell me, what do you think of Hinata?"
No more reviews? Guess I'll just keep posting every so often like this.
If anyone is reading, could you please answer any of my questions in the previous chapter?
