Attention
(Parts of this chapter have been rewritten!)
Key
"words"= talking
'words'=thinking
(words)=authors notes/my thoughts
*words*=actions (e.g. *cough*, *gasp*, *huff*, *puff*)
*= look at the bottom
[Naruto's apartment. Generation of the 3rd Hokage (2nd term). 8:43 A.M.]
'Maybe I went too far.... Did I scare her? What if we're never friends again? Could that really happen?' Naruto had all these thoughts running through his mind. He couldn't stop them. 'I was such a jerk! How could I have done that?! Hinata must be afraid of me. That makes one more person who despises me. If only I could turn back time....'
His train of thought was disrupted by a knocking on the door.
"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke was asking his sensei. "We can't start training without him. We need to be ready for the Chunin tests. Not that I care about him or anything."
"Yes, we know that Sasuke." Kakashi was starring at a spot on the ground. "And Naruto...." he paused and sighed, "Naruto won't be coming today. I know it. We'll have to go along without him."
Naruto walked over and opened the door. Nobody was there. He poked his head out and looked left and right. Still nobody. 'Damn pranksters. They just won't leave you alone.' Naruto walked back and slipped into his blue mesh undershirt. Then, he slid his t-shirt on and stepped into his orange pants.
Naruto walked outside, and locked it. He dug his hands in his pockets, and shuffled away.
He arrived at the training grounds around 9:10. Kakashi didn't even scold him. That doesn't mean Sakura didn't .
"Naruto! Arriving late and not caring to properly dress is enraging! It's sixty degrees out (Fahrenheit) and you aren't wearing a jacket." Sakura scolded him.
Naruto mumbled, "I can't feel it."
"Of course not! You're probably too numb!" she shot back.
"No that's not what I mean. I can feel the cold, but I can't feel any emotions." Naruto turned his back to her, and faced Kakashi. "Let's just get this over with."
"Right." Kakashi raised a finger. "Shuriken practice. If you can nail all twenty targets, you pass. If not, you will restart until you do get it." He sounded like a drill sergeant. "Ready?" the three of them stepped up to the line. "Steady." They each put a hand near their holsters. "THROW!" Sakura let hers fly too the paint and *thok* bulls-eye. Sasuke did the same, but quicker. Naruto simply withdrew his kunai, and lobbed it. It spun and, magically, stuck in the center.
Naruto was undaunted. Kakashi gasped. Sasuke ignored it all together. Sakura ran over and raised her hand to hit Naruto. Naruto grabbed it, "I'm not in the mood. So leave me alone." Naruto shoved her away, and lobbed another kunai. Fifteen targets later, Naruto began to come back. He spun his kunai out in a flashy way, and threw it sidearm, to fall right into the bulls-eye.
When everyone finished their twenty, Kakashi started another pow-wow lecture. Naruto ignored everything he said, pretending to listen, and then Kakashi dismissed them. Naruto tailed his sensei to a street bar. Kakashi met Kurenai there, and they both ordered an iced tea.
About ten minutes later, Naruto walked up to the Jounins. "Kurenai- sensei- can I call you that?" Naruto had his head down.
"Sure. Why?" She was used to Naruto by now.
"I'm not sure. I need help." Naruto paused, "You see, yesterday, I was forced to tell Hinata about the Kyubi inside me, and I wanted to know how she took it." Naruto tried, uneasily.
"How should I know? She didn't show up for training today...."
"What?" Naruto shot his head up, "Damn it! Damn me and my damn mouth!" Naruto ran off, into the winter night, to someplace not even he knew, himself.
'I wonder if Naruto-kun really does have the Kyubi inside him. Is it humanly possible? Well, those whiskers would be kind of odd on a full human.' Hinata was strolling down a Konoha shopping alley. She shot glances at the merchandise without interest. 'Maybe I should tell him that it was no big deal and we're still friends.' That brought another ordeal. 'Were him and I really friends? Did he even notice me? Well, he did want to eat with me. Even though, he didn't want to look like a sissy in front of those kids.'
"Damn it. She's not there either." Naruto said to himself , "I've checked every large street and fountain in the whole village. She could only be at the Hyuga Mansion." Naruto had never had a reason to go there. Now he did.
Naruto used the underbrush as cover for his hideout. Hiashi was about to leave on a business affair in Suna no kuni. He planned to leave around sundown. The sun was turning red, so Naruto was preparing to make his move. He raised himself from his squatting position. He gathered his things up and- "What are you doing here?"
Naruto froze in his tracks. Neji appeared from behind a tree. "Uhh, I was umm just uhh, trimming the bush. Yeah, that's it. I was trimming the bush. Now where are those snippers?" Naruto pretended to rummage around in the bush looking for his tools. "Aha! Here it is!" Naruto extracted an object.
"Naruto.... "Neji sighed, "That's a squirrel." Neji crossed his arms. "Now what are you doing here?"
"I was waiting for your uncle to leave."
"Why? Where you going to infiltrate the Mansion and do something stupid?"
"No of course not. I was going to talk to Hinata."
Neji was suddenly interested. "What are were you planning to do to her?!"
"You think I wanted to?-" Naruto thought of what Neji could be thinking. "Of course I would never!"
"Why should I believe you?" Neji entered his taijutsu stance and activated his Byakugan.
"Okay, I'll leave if you tell her something."
"What?"
"That-" Naruto paused "That I'm sorry for what I've said earlier. Could you tell her that?"
Neji let his Byakugan ebb away and exited his stance. "Okay, I will. But leave now!"
"Right." And Naruto bolted away, to a place that he knew very well.
Hinata had given up on looking for her Romeo. There was always a tomorrow. She would try to talk to him after training. She wouldn't sleep until she found him.
She reached the gates and fumbled with a pair of keys. She opened the gate to find Neji on the other side. He was smiling. "What is it?" Hinata asked.
"It was Naruto."
Hinata gasped, "Where is he?"
"He left that way." Neji pointed to Hinata's left.
Hinata hugged Neji immensely and ran off that same direction. 'Of course, he's going to the Ichiraku.' Hinata stopped at a corner. 'Wait! There's a shortcut through the woods. I have to be quick.' Hinata turned the other way and went through the trees.
She was half way through the wood when she heard a snapping sound. Hinata halted. It was coming from below. Hinata leapt down and decided to investigate it.
A tree had toppled over, or rather snapped in half, and was laying on it's side. Standing next to it, was a genin, panting. He had his back to her. The ninja quickly turned and stared a kata. It was an extremely complicated kata. In fact, she'd never seen it before. The person was pushing himself beyond exhaustion.
The ninja turned and showed her his face. It was Naruto.
"Naruto-kun?!" Hinata almost shrieked. She had to keep silent. She never knew that he was such a great fighter. All of a sudden, he stopped and created a Thorn seal. Then he did the Tiger, Bird, Dog, and Serpent. He shot his hand downward, and almost instantly a red orb appeared in his hand. Then he punched another tree's trunk and it toppled.
He jumped out of the way of its path and rolled. Naruto lay down on his back and began to gasp for air. Hinata decided to show herself.
"Naruto-kun! That was amazing!"
"Huh? Oh Hinata! Listen I just wanted to say something." He struggled to sit up, but was unsuccessful. So he stayed in his laying down position. "I'm sorry about what I said yesterday. I shouldn't have gone so far. I should have listened. I was such-"
"Naruto-kun! You're bleeding!" Hinata began to fret.
Naruto looked at his hand. Blood was running down it. "Oh, well will you look at that?" The roll must have reopened the cut on his shoulder. Naruto took his eyes away and was surprised.
Hinata already had a medicine bottle opened and she was behind him. "Come on, get up. I need to put some of this in it." She told him, hefting him up. She pulled the sleeve of his shirt up and put some medicine on her finger. Then she dabbed some on his shoulder.
Naruto gritted his teeth and winced. Naruto's hands began to clench into fists. His knuckles began to whiten along the tops, he was gripping so hard.
Naruto laughed to himself. "I save a couple peoples lives and look where it gets me."
"Naruto-kun! Don't say that." She gave him a kind of slap on the back like he was silly.
"Agh!!" Naruto pierced the nights tranquility.
"What? What did I do?" Hinata was almost panicking.
"It's just.... that I'm not fully healed." He replied through gritted teeth. Naruto lifted his shirt to show her his back. Hinata gasped.
All along his back were burns, most of them were second degree. "My god!" she whispered. One of them was beginning to lessen in size and intensity. 'Is this the work of the Kyubi?"
"Probably." Naruto began to lean on her shoulder in exhaustion.
She blushed, 'This is it! Now I have the opportunity and I'm going to take it!' Hinata took a deep breath. She stared ahead into the trees ahead of her. "Listen Naruto-kun, I.... I need to tell you something. The thing is.... that I.... I love you." That was way easier than she thought. She waited for him to answer.
About two seconds later, Naruto began to mumble something. Hinata brought herself closer to him and listened in. He wasn't really saying anything in particular. He was snoring.
'Oh great! He falls asleep the one moment I get.' Hinata looked at the ground. Oh well, I'll just take him home.
Hinata was carrying Naruto like he was a baby, cradled in her arms. She felt like she did something heroic. She tried the door, it was locked. Hinata supported Naruto with her knee and went digging into his pockets. She found a key ,unlocked the door and kicked it open. She stepped over some old clothes and kicked Cup Noodles out of the way to Naruto's bed.
She bent over and put him on the mattress. Hinata began to walk out the door when she suddenly felt like she was forgetting something. She turned back and kissed Naruto on the forehead.
Hinata was almost going to fall asleep herself. She closed the door and made towards the door when she suddenly tripped on Naruto's jacket. A clatter echoed around the room on impact. She struggled to her feet, but to no avail. Her body was to tired.
And Hinata fell asleep, right on her crushes' floor.
(Parts of this chapter have been rewritten!)
Key
"words"= talking
'words'=thinking
(words)=authors notes/my thoughts
*words*=actions (e.g. *cough*, *gasp*, *huff*, *puff*)
*= look at the bottom
[Naruto's apartment. Generation of the 3rd Hokage (2nd term). 8:43 A.M.]
'Maybe I went too far.... Did I scare her? What if we're never friends again? Could that really happen?' Naruto had all these thoughts running through his mind. He couldn't stop them. 'I was such a jerk! How could I have done that?! Hinata must be afraid of me. That makes one more person who despises me. If only I could turn back time....'
His train of thought was disrupted by a knocking on the door.
"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke was asking his sensei. "We can't start training without him. We need to be ready for the Chunin tests. Not that I care about him or anything."
"Yes, we know that Sasuke." Kakashi was starring at a spot on the ground. "And Naruto...." he paused and sighed, "Naruto won't be coming today. I know it. We'll have to go along without him."
Naruto walked over and opened the door. Nobody was there. He poked his head out and looked left and right. Still nobody. 'Damn pranksters. They just won't leave you alone.' Naruto walked back and slipped into his blue mesh undershirt. Then, he slid his t-shirt on and stepped into his orange pants.
Naruto walked outside, and locked it. He dug his hands in his pockets, and shuffled away.
He arrived at the training grounds around 9:10. Kakashi didn't even scold him. That doesn't mean Sakura didn't .
"Naruto! Arriving late and not caring to properly dress is enraging! It's sixty degrees out (Fahrenheit) and you aren't wearing a jacket." Sakura scolded him.
Naruto mumbled, "I can't feel it."
"Of course not! You're probably too numb!" she shot back.
"No that's not what I mean. I can feel the cold, but I can't feel any emotions." Naruto turned his back to her, and faced Kakashi. "Let's just get this over with."
"Right." Kakashi raised a finger. "Shuriken practice. If you can nail all twenty targets, you pass. If not, you will restart until you do get it." He sounded like a drill sergeant. "Ready?" the three of them stepped up to the line. "Steady." They each put a hand near their holsters. "THROW!" Sakura let hers fly too the paint and *thok* bulls-eye. Sasuke did the same, but quicker. Naruto simply withdrew his kunai, and lobbed it. It spun and, magically, stuck in the center.
Naruto was undaunted. Kakashi gasped. Sasuke ignored it all together. Sakura ran over and raised her hand to hit Naruto. Naruto grabbed it, "I'm not in the mood. So leave me alone." Naruto shoved her away, and lobbed another kunai. Fifteen targets later, Naruto began to come back. He spun his kunai out in a flashy way, and threw it sidearm, to fall right into the bulls-eye.
When everyone finished their twenty, Kakashi started another pow-wow lecture. Naruto ignored everything he said, pretending to listen, and then Kakashi dismissed them. Naruto tailed his sensei to a street bar. Kakashi met Kurenai there, and they both ordered an iced tea.
About ten minutes later, Naruto walked up to the Jounins. "Kurenai- sensei- can I call you that?" Naruto had his head down.
"Sure. Why?" She was used to Naruto by now.
"I'm not sure. I need help." Naruto paused, "You see, yesterday, I was forced to tell Hinata about the Kyubi inside me, and I wanted to know how she took it." Naruto tried, uneasily.
"How should I know? She didn't show up for training today...."
"What?" Naruto shot his head up, "Damn it! Damn me and my damn mouth!" Naruto ran off, into the winter night, to someplace not even he knew, himself.
'I wonder if Naruto-kun really does have the Kyubi inside him. Is it humanly possible? Well, those whiskers would be kind of odd on a full human.' Hinata was strolling down a Konoha shopping alley. She shot glances at the merchandise without interest. 'Maybe I should tell him that it was no big deal and we're still friends.' That brought another ordeal. 'Were him and I really friends? Did he even notice me? Well, he did want to eat with me. Even though, he didn't want to look like a sissy in front of those kids.'
"Damn it. She's not there either." Naruto said to himself , "I've checked every large street and fountain in the whole village. She could only be at the Hyuga Mansion." Naruto had never had a reason to go there. Now he did.
Naruto used the underbrush as cover for his hideout. Hiashi was about to leave on a business affair in Suna no kuni. He planned to leave around sundown. The sun was turning red, so Naruto was preparing to make his move. He raised himself from his squatting position. He gathered his things up and- "What are you doing here?"
Naruto froze in his tracks. Neji appeared from behind a tree. "Uhh, I was umm just uhh, trimming the bush. Yeah, that's it. I was trimming the bush. Now where are those snippers?" Naruto pretended to rummage around in the bush looking for his tools. "Aha! Here it is!" Naruto extracted an object.
"Naruto.... "Neji sighed, "That's a squirrel." Neji crossed his arms. "Now what are you doing here?"
"I was waiting for your uncle to leave."
"Why? Where you going to infiltrate the Mansion and do something stupid?"
"No of course not. I was going to talk to Hinata."
Neji was suddenly interested. "What are were you planning to do to her?!"
"You think I wanted to?-" Naruto thought of what Neji could be thinking. "Of course I would never!"
"Why should I believe you?" Neji entered his taijutsu stance and activated his Byakugan.
"Okay, I'll leave if you tell her something."
"What?"
"That-" Naruto paused "That I'm sorry for what I've said earlier. Could you tell her that?"
Neji let his Byakugan ebb away and exited his stance. "Okay, I will. But leave now!"
"Right." And Naruto bolted away, to a place that he knew very well.
Hinata had given up on looking for her Romeo. There was always a tomorrow. She would try to talk to him after training. She wouldn't sleep until she found him.
She reached the gates and fumbled with a pair of keys. She opened the gate to find Neji on the other side. He was smiling. "What is it?" Hinata asked.
"It was Naruto."
Hinata gasped, "Where is he?"
"He left that way." Neji pointed to Hinata's left.
Hinata hugged Neji immensely and ran off that same direction. 'Of course, he's going to the Ichiraku.' Hinata stopped at a corner. 'Wait! There's a shortcut through the woods. I have to be quick.' Hinata turned the other way and went through the trees.
She was half way through the wood when she heard a snapping sound. Hinata halted. It was coming from below. Hinata leapt down and decided to investigate it.
A tree had toppled over, or rather snapped in half, and was laying on it's side. Standing next to it, was a genin, panting. He had his back to her. The ninja quickly turned and stared a kata. It was an extremely complicated kata. In fact, she'd never seen it before. The person was pushing himself beyond exhaustion.
The ninja turned and showed her his face. It was Naruto.
"Naruto-kun?!" Hinata almost shrieked. She had to keep silent. She never knew that he was such a great fighter. All of a sudden, he stopped and created a Thorn seal. Then he did the Tiger, Bird, Dog, and Serpent. He shot his hand downward, and almost instantly a red orb appeared in his hand. Then he punched another tree's trunk and it toppled.
He jumped out of the way of its path and rolled. Naruto lay down on his back and began to gasp for air. Hinata decided to show herself.
"Naruto-kun! That was amazing!"
"Huh? Oh Hinata! Listen I just wanted to say something." He struggled to sit up, but was unsuccessful. So he stayed in his laying down position. "I'm sorry about what I said yesterday. I shouldn't have gone so far. I should have listened. I was such-"
"Naruto-kun! You're bleeding!" Hinata began to fret.
Naruto looked at his hand. Blood was running down it. "Oh, well will you look at that?" The roll must have reopened the cut on his shoulder. Naruto took his eyes away and was surprised.
Hinata already had a medicine bottle opened and she was behind him. "Come on, get up. I need to put some of this in it." She told him, hefting him up. She pulled the sleeve of his shirt up and put some medicine on her finger. Then she dabbed some on his shoulder.
Naruto gritted his teeth and winced. Naruto's hands began to clench into fists. His knuckles began to whiten along the tops, he was gripping so hard.
Naruto laughed to himself. "I save a couple peoples lives and look where it gets me."
"Naruto-kun! Don't say that." She gave him a kind of slap on the back like he was silly.
"Agh!!" Naruto pierced the nights tranquility.
"What? What did I do?" Hinata was almost panicking.
"It's just.... that I'm not fully healed." He replied through gritted teeth. Naruto lifted his shirt to show her his back. Hinata gasped.
All along his back were burns, most of them were second degree. "My god!" she whispered. One of them was beginning to lessen in size and intensity. 'Is this the work of the Kyubi?"
"Probably." Naruto began to lean on her shoulder in exhaustion.
She blushed, 'This is it! Now I have the opportunity and I'm going to take it!' Hinata took a deep breath. She stared ahead into the trees ahead of her. "Listen Naruto-kun, I.... I need to tell you something. The thing is.... that I.... I love you." That was way easier than she thought. She waited for him to answer.
About two seconds later, Naruto began to mumble something. Hinata brought herself closer to him and listened in. He wasn't really saying anything in particular. He was snoring.
'Oh great! He falls asleep the one moment I get.' Hinata looked at the ground. Oh well, I'll just take him home.
Hinata was carrying Naruto like he was a baby, cradled in her arms. She felt like she did something heroic. She tried the door, it was locked. Hinata supported Naruto with her knee and went digging into his pockets. She found a key ,unlocked the door and kicked it open. She stepped over some old clothes and kicked Cup Noodles out of the way to Naruto's bed.
She bent over and put him on the mattress. Hinata began to walk out the door when she suddenly felt like she was forgetting something. She turned back and kissed Naruto on the forehead.
Hinata was almost going to fall asleep herself. She closed the door and made towards the door when she suddenly tripped on Naruto's jacket. A clatter echoed around the room on impact. She struggled to her feet, but to no avail. Her body was to tired.
And Hinata fell asleep, right on her crushes' floor.