Day to Day
A Naruto Fan-fiction
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any bands mentioned, with the exception of Star Pirate Ship.
(A/N: Hey guys! I counted the votes, and here's the deal: Ino and Shikamaru had one, Sasuke and Sakura had two, Neji and Tenten had four…and Naruto and Hinata had five! I really wanted to write about Neji and Tenten, but since the majority was for Naruto and Hinata, I wrote about them. This is what made me mad: After writing this, I went back and counted the votes again! I received four more votes for Neji and Tenten after I'd already written this chapter! ARGH! So, hopefully, next time I'll write my AWSOME idea for Neji and Tenten. None the less, I hope you guys like this chapter!)
Chapter 17: Maybe Just to Say Hello
Uzumaki Naruto was a boy of many things.
He was troublesome. His hair was always sticking up like he had just rolled out of bed. He was always late. He was always annoying to someone in the room. He moved from place to place with a clumsy kind of movement, like his actions were precise but the rest of his body just couldn't follow correctly. Smiles always filled his face; his laughs always filled a room. Uzumaki Naruto was truly a unique boy.
If you were to say to him that he was too scared to jump off a bridge, he would jump just to spite you. If you were to scowl at him, he would smile and stick out his tongue, despite the fact that he was almost eighteen and in ANBU. He could care less.
He liked to walk across the top of gates with his hands behind his back, balancing across the black metal bar that topped the gates. His favorite was the ones that went up and down; they gave him more of a challenge! He would make sure his chakra was equally divided among his body parts, and then climb up the gates. Once he reached the top, he would lift his feet up onto the top and grip it with his toes and hands. The top bars of gates were usually very thick, but not very wide, so this moment to gain a perfect balance was critical. Then he would take a big breath and push up with his palms! His arms would go straight out to gain a beginning balance. When he found it, he would smirk and put both hands behind his back. With the grace of the greatest gymnast, he would then begin to walk across the gate top, only gripping it with his toes with he needed to.
"Uzumaki Naruto, the great gate walker! While you walk through them, weak and unexcited, he takes the great feat of walking cross them!" the announcer in his head would proclaim. Pride would fill him, and his toes would have to grip the edge of the gate so he wouldn't get too full of himself and fall.
This morning he did just that. Only, after doing it for years, he no longer needed to concentrate on his feet. He just walked gently, looking out over the hills past Konoha. Konoha's gates were his favorite, since they could be slick or broken in some places, and that made it the greatest challenge yet!
The sun was coming up over the foreign hills, and he watched it, casually walking across the top of the gate. Today, his arms hung casually by his sides, and his feet were forward instead of on the sides, so he couldn't grip the edges of the top bar.
This gate walking ritual came about when Naruto was seven years old. With it, however, came another ritual.
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(Ten years ago)
The Ninja Academy had just let out, and Naruto was already up in the large, old oak tree that sat outside of the gates to the ninja academy. He was swinging his feet as he watched his classmates below him leave for home. Living by himself left Naruto ample time to do whatever he wanted, and watching his classmates leave was something he liked to do. When one of the girls in his class was mean to him, he'd drop stink bombs and water balloons on their heads!
Today, Kari was mean, sneering things in his face and passing mean notes about him with her friends. She had no idea what was coming toward her, and Naruto relished the image of her screaming when the balloon hit her stupid head!
He leaned against the thick, gnarled tree trunk and rolled the balloon from hand. An evil smile covered his round face as he thought of the contents of the balloon hitting her snobby head. This time, he had mixed the water with spit and boogers, just to make it worse!
He caught himself before he let out a laugh, and saw Kari emerge from the double doors, surrounded by her friends, giggling and talking quickly. What was it with girls, anyway? They're never alone, and they've always got to talk a million miles an hour, like they've got whole bunch of stuff they've got to say before they can go eat. It was stupid!
Kari and her group passed by the tree, and now were in front of Naruto's tree and in perfect range of his latest disgusting invention, when one girl walked up toward the gate.
She was alone, and her cheeks were red. Clutched against her chest were books, all strapped together by a brown belt. Her shoes were new, and so were her dress and the shiny pink barrette that held back her hair. Naruto's mouth fell open. She must be rich!
In his distraction and impulse to get a closer look at the girl, Naruto rushed down a branch and watched her down below. Unfortunately, the balloon slipped out of his hand.
With a splash, it hit its target! Kari screamed and looked up at Naruto on the tree branch. She shouted at him until her face was almost blue, but Naruto paid no attention, nor did a smirk cover his face at his accomplished goal.
Instead, he watched the rich girl as she came toward the tree. Her short black hair was neat and clean, too! No a bit of dirt on her, and little pink studs were in her ears!
In Konoha, all the kids were dirty. Even the adults! There were only two rich clans: Hyuuga and Uchiha, and everyone knows that there's no more Uchiha's! Well, okay, so there were a lot more rich clans, but only those two were ninja clans! He remembered hearing the girls talk about the rich families, how the kids got everything they wanted, had gourmet meals all the time, and were always clean. His mouth watered just thinking about having a huge meal, spread over long golden tables in a huge, majestic hall. Just the thought seemed magical to him, a boy who grew up in Konoha's slums! When he was six, he had run out of food. The older boys always said to go looting through the rich people's trash, and when he did, he found tons of food they just threw out! His mind had filled with images of how big their meals must be, if they threw out a whole chicken leg!
He didn't even go to school with the Hyuuga clan's legendary heir, Hyuuga Neji. He attended privet lessons and only showed up at the academy for exams. Even then, he seemed to float, and had an exotic, powerful air about him. Only Sasuke was even considered to be as amazing as Hyuuga Neji.
Could this girl be a Hyuuga?
His mind spinning, Naruto watched the girl pass under his tree and toward the gates. Panic filled him when he realized that the tree branch couldn't extend farther. How could he get a closer look at this mysterious girl?
In a sudden movement of impulse, Naruto raced to the end of a branch on the other side of the tree, and leaped!
He landed on the top of the gates! They were thick and black, and he scrambled to hold on and get on top.
She turned, and began walking to the side of the academy!
The gates went around the school, so he pulled himself up and began to run down the top of the gates, totally unaware of his feat of balance. Then, before he could do anything else, she disappeared into a side door into the academy.
He sighed, and his shoulders sagged.
He didn't get to look at the rich girl up close!
That was when he realized how high he was.
And that he was standing on a bar on the top of the gate, about a half an inch wide.
With a yelp, he fell.
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(End flashback)
After those days, he began to wait everyday in his tree after school, and then follow the girl from the tree to the gate, getting closer each time. He was too shy to actually go up to her, but this seemed perfect. Each time he got better at walking across the gate, and soon, the habit stayed with him. He walked across gates all the time, and even used the habit to get to places faster. It was amazing how fast you can climb up an apartment building when you climb the gates!
The girl, however, was a more outstanding habit.
During exams, he watched her walk in with Hyuuga Neji. He watched her come into her lessons each day, and then, sometimes, would come back to follow her out.
She never noticed, and he never said a word. This was his secret, and no one was to know. Not even Iruka!
Everyone hated him, so why should he bother this pretty Hyuuga girl? Why should she be any different?
Naruto spent so much of his life hearing how everyone despised him, but she couldn't despise him if she didn't know him. It was soothing for him, in a way, to know that he knew someone his age that didn't hate him. He imagined playing tag and climbing trees with her, but he never invited her to do anything. If she never knew him, she couldn't hate him.
Would she ever know that she was his remedy when he was being picked on at school; that seeing her walking to her classes after his own classes was like healing a wound? Would she ever know that he pretended that she was with him sometimes, climbing trees with him and laughing when he dropped water balloons on Kari's head?
He wished he could answer it, but it would ruin everything.
Oh his delight when he learned her name: Hinata.
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The sky was clear that night, and the wind rustled. Everything hinted of the coming spring, and warm days came in spurts to excite everyone. Tonight was one of those spurts, so Uzumaki Naruto slept with his windows open and his tattered curtains blowing in his dirty room. He lay on top of his blankets, yet still tangled in a sheet, a large bubble inflating and deflating from his nose. Gnarled hands were unclenched and lying around on top of covers, and one sock was coming off his foot. As he breathed, that same foot twitched.
Clearly, the fox boy couldn't even sleep normally! Everything had to be odd, awkward, and comical.
Suddenly, a giggle echoed in the room.
He heard it, but thought of it as nothing and just twitched a moment.
The giggle returned, and gained volume.
"N-N-Naruto…."
He opened one eye lazily. "Huh?"
Above him were two round, white eyes.
"Naruto-kun…wake up…" Dainty fingers held his shoulders, and he closed his eye.
"Not now…Neji…"
The giggle returned.
"You…um…dream of my cousin?"
"Neji's not my cousin…."
The giggle was louder this time, and his eyes clenched.
"Neji…you giggle like a girl…."
The intruder couldn't help herself this time! The idea of Neji giggling like a girl was too much! Strong, silent Neji, laughing like a young girl!
Finally Naruto opened both eyes and realized what was happening. His intruder was laughing with her eyes closed, and her hands were off of his shoulders.
A plan formed in his head, and he closed both of his eyes.
She stopped, and then leaned down so her face was close to his.
"Wake up, Naruto-kun."
"Oh…."
Suddenly, he arms came up and he jerked Hinata on top of him! She yelped, and he smirked and opened his eyes.
"Hello Hinata."
She now lay on top of him, and she couldn't help but blush. His sudden pull had scared her out of her wits! Now, though, it made her feel embarrassed. If her mother or sisters ever caught her even in Naruto's house she'd be dead. Doing this was like asking for death by mental and physical torture!
Naruto acted naturally though, and said, "Got you, didn't I?"
"Um…yes…."
He smiled tiredly, and then sat up, helping her up with him.
"What brings you here?"
He rubbed his eyes.
"Um…I thought we could…um…but if you're tired, you know, I can just leave, and-"
He looked at her full on now, with his big blue eyes.
"I'm not too tired." He replied, and (ironically) yawned.
Hinata's brows furrowed. "Well, only if you say so, Naruto-kun." Her voice was so soft, like running your fingers across silky ribbon.
She paused, and rubbed her arm, looking at the old, faded sheets. "I, um, thought, since, um, we haven't talked or seen each other in a while, and I'm leaving tomorrow, that we might go to the park and just, um, talk."
As soon as her idea left her mouth, she felt so stupid. Naruto always surprised her with such wonderful things and places, and here she just wanted to sit in the park and talk. How stupid! He took her to watch stars, see fireflies; he played a song in front of a huge crowd for her-and she wanted to go to the park!
Naruto smiled. "That sounds great."
Leave it to Naruto to lift her up, always.
Her head tilted, and she smiled.
His eyes were now working properly, so Naruto looked at her full on now. She wore a gray long-sleeve shirt that went over her knuckles with a black short-sleeve shirt over top, a light blue skirt that went to her knees and laid around her on the bed, and her sandals. The front strands of her short black hair were held back by two shiny blue barrettes that matched her skirt.
Naruto stood and went to his closet. He found a pair of jeans, sniffed them, deemed them clean, and then slipped them on. As Hinata watched Naruto perform this same check on his white shirt, she wondered if that was what he did all the time, and that she could be kissing a boy with dirty clothes. The thought was almost disturbing.
"Ready to go?" Naruto asked and looked at her once his sandals were on.
She nodded, and got up off the bed. A small smile flashed across her face as she glanced down at her feet and then looked back up at him. She bit her lip and brushed her hair back with a kind of sweet shyness only she had. Naruto smiled his big, toothless smile and stuck out his hand.
"Want to leave this heap of crap?"
Hinata glanced around the room, at the piles of clutter, dirt, and the Kakashi mannequin in the corner. She nodded, and laughed lightly. She had known before even coming to Naruto's house that it would be a mess!
She slid her hand into his, and he led her outside of his dirty house.
The two stepped out onto the expanse of dirt road, and watched a small sift of wind gently blow up some of the brown pieces, mixing them with the air.
"Why don't you take us to the park?" Naruto asked. He had known Hinata long enough to know that she needed some prodding.
"S-sure."
A simple glimpse of a grin came on her face, and her hand his gripped his a moment. Then, without another gesture, Hinata began to pull Naruto across the dirt road and into the thick, dense forests that appeared all over Konoha.
"Ha-ha!"
Naruto ran up next to Hinata, grinning widely, and, narrowing his eyes, suddenly picked up the pace. Hinata laughed and ran faster as well, determined to keep in pace with other ninja. A vine appeared in Hinata's path, and with a wide smile she unsheathed a kunai and cut it in half with a swift, easy pull of the sharp metal.
"All right!" Naruto exclaimed, when a lower vine came in his way, he jumped, pulling his knees up to his chest.
The green and brown of the forest became a blur as they picked up the pace, racing through the rough, unpredictable terrain of one of the many forests of Konoha. Their shoes didn't even have time to smack against the soles of their feet or the ground as they sprinted! Hinata's eyes were narrowed and focused, her free arm bent and moving with her body like the most agile runner. Naruto, however, ran without much class-just a jerk here and a jerk there, but a perfect agility with his feet.
Suddenly, another vine came in their path. The difference was that the vine was up to their waists and stretched across the entire path. Naruto and Hinata looked at each other a moment. Then, when they were a good foot from the vine (too far for the average human to jump and make it over the vine), without losing speed, they pushed up with both of their feet and flew up in the air.
"WHOO-HOO!" Naruto shouted.
Everything seemed to be slow motion, like an action movie, right at that moment. Naruto's shirt flew up and wind caught his sleeves and ruffled his hair. Hinata's eyes widened and the edges of her skirt rippled.
With a jerk, they landed back on the ground, yet without a thud. Their feet were silent, and they continued to run.
Naruto's eyes sparkled with excitement, and Hinata's with an uncertainty and their own special thrill.
When the clearing ended, Naruto shifted in front of Hinata. Using the sides of his feet, he skidded to a sudden halt. Both were breathing harder than normal, but not too labored.
Hinata smiled and wiped her arm across her forehead. She looked around, taking in the scene of the park at night.
The benches were vacant, the grass still dappled with dew, and the dirt pathways were still dotted with the patterns of the bottoms of shoes and footprints.
Hinata leaned her head on Naruto's arm and wound her arms around his arm.
He looked down at her small form, her relaxed, round face and the black hair that caught the moonlight. Without really thinking about it, Naruto laced his fingers into hers and smiled a light, toothless smile.
The two walked over to a park bench and sat down. Naruto rubbed her thumb with his thumb, and Hinata leaned her head on his shoulder again. It was quiet a moment, and Hinata closed her eyes, listening to the cicadas chirp.
"How are you, Hinata?" Naruto asked, a ring of informality to his voice.
"I'm…clam." She replied quietly, and smiled.
Naruto nodded, and looked up at the sky; covered in white dots we call stars.
"Me too, Hina-chan. Me too."
Hey Ya'll!
I know, it's been forever, and all of you are probably ready to slowly and surely kill me, but what can I say? On the awesome side, I'm done with drama club, I have one week before the big SOLs (exams we get in my state), about three weeks before Festival is over, and about four weeks until Forensics is over. So, after March 16, I will be a free girl! Well, almost. I'm starting either yoga or pilates soon, but that won't take up as much time as the other stuff. And, after April, I'll be done will all of my SOLs! YAY!
I'm super excited to actually ride the bus home, be home around four, have nothing in particular to do, and be able to walk through the grass in shorts and no shoes! It's still so cold here, and it doesn't start warming up until the end of March!
Evilness!
As for this chapter, I tried my best to make it close to my original theme, since I'm still working out a twist for Naruto and Hinata. However, I did add some twist: Hinata takes Naruto out! Lol.
Anyways, I GOT TWENTY REVIEWS! THANKS GUYS! I LOVE YOU!
Thanks to My Reviewers:
NEJI+TENTENLOVE4EVER (Hey! I know it was a twist, and it totally made me sick thinking about my loyal readers hating it, but hey! I'm still itching to write my awesome Neji and Tenten idea, so vote!)
Akira (thanks for voting for Neji and Tenten. Unfortunately, they didn't win, so I guess I'll just have to wait! If you really want Ino and Shikamaru, feel free to vote for them. It might take me a day or so to brainstorm on them, but I promise to give the best quality! I haven't written about them in a while anyway! Thanks for reviewing! It was really sweet of you to vote for Neji and Tenten instead!)
Coolnaru (Hey, maybe Sasuke and Sakura will get it next time! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, though!)
Kiah (YOU think THIS is the best Naruto story you've ever read? Omg! Thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!)
i-dream-of-blue-eyes (Thanks for the compliment! You guys are so awesome! Maybe Neji and Tenten will make it next time, so cross your fingers! I'm doing a twist on them, too!)
Rachel (Well, Rachel, here's a Naruto and Hinata-several pages long! I doubt that I've written many chapters as long or longer than this one, so I hope you enjoyed it!)
Kanashii-emi (I'm so disappointed that I couldn't write on Neji and Tenten, but thank you for voting for them! Vote for them next, or who ever you like! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!)
Babykitty 2070 (Maybe one of those two couples will turn up next time! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!)
Sephynarutocloud (Sometimes, you remind me of this little bratty kid sitting on the ground, screaming for ice cream. Well, you got your icecream! I hope you enjoyed it!)
Time Shifter (I hope you liked the Naruto and Hinata chapter! I tried to make it different, but some how, I think I stuck to my old formula…oh well….)
Akia Bin Zaid (You make so many well-educated comments! Anyways, I realized early on the part of Sakura I left out, and all I can say is that I'm on perfect. I try to capture characters in certain situations as best as I can, but sometimes I fall through. But, I've been playing around with another idea or a true story starring Sakura and her wilder side, but I'm taking it to a different level. It's like the O.C. meets rock concerts or something…I'm still figuring it out in my head, so it's a little blurry. In any case, I'm learning from this story on how to formulate this next one. And, to my dismay, the one story I wanted posted by March is probably taking a huge delay, since I have to completely rewrite and route it; same idea, different story line and events. Anyway, I read your review again after writing the first part of this chapter, so you have a slight flashback. I tried to write it differently though, so it would seem more real, not like a lot of flashbacks I see on I just had this picture of Naruto peeking down from up in a tree while Hinata was down below. From there came this huge story, and the picture of an older Naruto, standing on a black, thin fence, looking out onto the horizon across foreign lands. They connected, a story formed, and something came out of it. It's the same with the last part too-but a total different process. Anyway, I thought I was breaking free of what I normally do with Naruto and Hinata chapters, but I doubt it now. Its not twisted enough. In this chapter, though, I made it stick out how Naruto and Hinata are like ghetto meets Princess or something. That was just what was in my head lately, so that's how I wrote. Maybe I'll come up with something totally different next time! Anyways, I had Sasuke attack Naruto because I viewed the curse seal as a kind of drug, or OCD, as I mention. With both, you can't stop it. With OCD, it's literally described as "having dictators in you head that you can't stop". I saw the curse seal as something like that. As for the drug part, most people take drugs to escape. Sasuke might use his to gain power, to continue to tread down the path of an "avenger" as he so strongly calls it. When you use drugs or have OCD, they affect everyone in you life. There are stories in magazines how friends get each other addicted to pills and it kills the friend who wasn't into them to begin with. Kids growing up in households with OCD can literally drive their parents to divorce and tear their families apart if they have severe cases that they haven't been treated for. So, that's how I formed the curse seal! In any case, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!)
KristiexxNguyen (Okay, so Ino and Shikamaru didn't get enough, but vote for them next time! They might just show up! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!)
Warprince2000 (Darling, is my story only cool? Lol-I hope you enjoyed this chapter!)
Gothbrat (Maybe I'll write more Sakura and Sasuke chapters like the last one, but don't count on it. I made that couple one that doesn't dwell on the past for a reason, so they won't all be dark like that. But hey! You never know what idea I might come up with next, maybe for another couple!)
RyuNanashi (Thanks for reviewing! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!)
Froggie3 (Thanks for voting for Neji and Tenten! I hope you liked this chapter!)
aikuchi-shikaku (I hope you liked this chapter! And thanks for the compliment on the curse seal "execution".)
Bianca (Darling, I didn't get enough votes for Neji and Tenten in time, so this chapter was Naruto and Hinata! I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless, and maybe next time there'll be Neji and Tenten up to bat! I'm glad you loved the last chapter!)
animEvivvErz (I'm glad you liked the "different ness" of that last chapter! This chapter is much different, but I hope you liked it!)
Ayane Seliznick (Well, if its attracting to have ups and downs, then I suppose I attracted you like bees to a rather large gallon of honey! And BOY did it feel awesome to get all of those congratulatory emails on my last chapter! I'll try and do something different again with the next couple you guys vote on! I hope this chapter was just as good as the one before it!)
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