Because I Love You - Chasing After You

by The Flare Blade

Hiruzen knew that Tazuna's request was much more dangerous and important than it first appeared to be. He needed experienced ninja for the mission, but his hands were tied because of politics... until he sees a loophole. Using an educational project as cover, he will send two teams to Wave! A Naruto retelling with Hinata as a main character but with canon teams. (Ch1-5 revised!)

32. Chapter 32 - Promises Kept

Hello everyone!

Finally here with a new chapter for y'all… this was almost a "death by a thousand cuts" case. Nothing major occurred in the past months, but plenty of small delays really added up. Both serious and silly delays, the worst of which being outright forgetting to post this on Friday until, well, now.

I'm sorry, I know, I suck… but you know who doesn't suck? You guys!

A big THANK YOU to all of you loyal readers! This fic just smashed another goal by hitting 900+ reviews, and very soon it should be hitting 300.000 views for what it's worth, and 500.000 words as of this chapter.

We are on pace to get to 1000 reviews by the end of the year and I couldn't be more excited that my first and only fic has performed this well.

And with that said, I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

PS: There's a special announcement at the end, keep your eyes peeled for it!

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The Chunin Exams Finals arc

Chapter 32 - Promises Kept (v1.0)

---

"That's it. I'm done with this."

Hinata broke her fighting stance and watched as a sore Shikamaru dragged himself toward a nearby tree and plopped down on its roots.

He then let out a pained groan.

"Enough for today, then?" she asked.

"Yeah…"

Without being invited, Hinata sat down on the shade with him, and the two enjoyed the silence for a moment while Shikamaru regained his bearings and drank from a water bottle.

They were in a small clearing of the Nara Clan Forest, a segment of wooded land in the Nara's territory that was most notorious for the deer found within. The animals had been watching over them during their earlier sparring sessions, unbothered by their noises, but appeared to have grown bored and left them to their own devices by the time Hinata and Shikamaru were done training.

The truth was that Hinata had completely forgotten she had struck a deal with Shikamaru not long after being rescued from the crumbled mine during the second exam. In exchange for helping him become a better fighter, he had promised to help her improve her mental game.

She was only reminded of it on the morning after the exams when a Branch member delivered a package to her that was sent by none other than Shikamaru himself. In it, she had found a chessboard, an instructions manual, and a brief note telling her to familiarize herself with the game's rules and dynamic and to meet up with him at his place on the next day.

It left her curious and slightly disappointed until Hanabi joined her for a few games later in the evening after their study session, which easily upstaged her meeting with Naruto as the highlight of her day… while also distracting her nosy sister from prying about that particular matter.

The next morning, she met with Shikamaru and was brought to a secluded area of the Nara Clan Forest that was basically his family's backyard, which they had been using to train.

Knowing there was a sizable gap between their taijutsu skills, Hinata had suggested fighting without chakra so they could attempt to focus on their fundamentals. It would let them fight for longer as Shikamaru wouldn't be as easily worn down, which gave Hinata more chances to give him pointers about his form or tactics for hand-to-hand combat. She wasn't anywhere as eloquent or precise as their sensei when it came to such kind of feedback, but as Shikamaru didn't seem confused or unsatisfied by her input, she tried to shove her insecurity away.

However, chakra or not, being on the receiving end of palm thrusts and aggressive pokes to the gut would eventually tire anyone out, Shikamaru included.

"Alright," he said once his breathing grew even again. "I guess it's time to switch it up."

Then, from a nearby backpack, Shikamaru brought out a chessboard just like the one he had gifted her, and Hinata silently took a deep breath and decided to finally voice what had been bothering her since that event.

"Shikamaru-kun. I, uh… I was—"

"It's almost exactly what you're thinking. Come on, sit across from me and I'll explain."

Her eye twitched at being cut off like that. She complied nonetheless.

"Alright. You said before that you had difficulty with Asuma-sensei's tactic classes, but I don't think it's because you're bad at it. Rather," Shikamaru picked up the king and showed it to her, "I think you're the kind of person that works better when the stakes are really high. When something really needs to be done, I noticed you find your focus and try your hardest. Like when you stopped Sasuke in the mines, or that final exchange between you and Neji before the proctor called the match."

Hinata closed her eyes, but instead of darkness, she was back in the tower, standing under the shade of that giant tree with her cousin across from her. She could remember perfectly the pain she was in, but also the clarity of her thoughts. From the moment she accused Neji of running away, she had already intended on meeting his angry retaliation head-on, her trap was set in motion and only hinged on proper execution.

"In addition to that, even if your planning skills were consistently poor, your Byakugan gives you a big advantage most people don't realize. You can react to things in ways others can't because you can see things they can't. That's how you beat those Sound genin back in the cavern, right?"

She nodded instantly. That reminded her of what Ibiki Morino has said about her dojutsu.

"However that has some problems. When you're not in that kind of high-pressure situation I see you have a tendency of overthinking or hesitating too much. Things can escalate pretty quickly during missions so you gotta be sharp as much as you can, even when danger doesn't seem to be afoot."

'That… sounds about right?'

Hinata sat on that thought for a bit. It was odd but… when Shikamaru pointed it out, it made sense. She didn't struggle to come up with ideas as much when in a critical situation. But for more mundane matters like how to direct her friends to coordinate a defense in one of Asuma's simulations, that kind of thing easily got to her.

"The other thing I noticed is that your plans are often short and reactive, probably because of what I said about the Byakugan just now. You try to make adaptations on the fly, and that's cool. Naruto won against Tenten mainly because of that. But sometimes you have to think ahead a few more steps to get anything going… like, tell me something. Back against Neji when you first began to climb the tree, were you already thinking about the kunai Sasuke left there?"

She shook her head. "I wasn't. It was only when Neji nii-san closed in that I began to think of a way out…"

"Knew it. So that's the gist of it. What I wanted to do here was to help you work your mind so you'll be able to enter that mindset faster and more easily, and to try letting you dip your toes on longer-term planning, which often involves prediction."

"Hence chess."

"Yeah."

Hinata scratched her chin. She could see it. Chess was just a game, there was nothing at stake at all. But even a complete amateur like herself could tell from a couple matches with Hanabi that it was a game about planning and predicting moves across multiple turns. Even though the sisters really didn't do a whole lot of that since they were getting familiarized with the rules and how the pieces moved around.

"Why not shogi, though? Isn't that your favorite game?"

"It is, but while similar, I think chess is easier for a beginner to understand. The goal isn't really the game itself, so doing it with chess is faster... literally, by the way. Shogi matches usually drag out a long time."

"Oh." That made sense. Shikamaru's gift was the first real contact she had with chess, but she had seen a shogi board in her grandfather's office a few times. It was bigger and had more pieces, so she supposed it was more complex.

"Also one last thing… I'm not trying to be rude or arrogant here. Chess isn't popular here in the Land of Fire, but I'm pretty good at this game too. So I'm gonna give you an advantage, to make things more interesting for me once you get better and to let you try your hand at plans with more confidence. Or at least that's the plan," he shrugged. "You get to move twice per turn."

"Twice?"

"Yeah," he picked her king, and showed it to her in a sequence matching his next words: "Me-you-you-me-you-you… get it? You're just not allowed to move the same piece twice."

Some part of Hinata wanted to be offended. That was a huge advantage, it was almost disrespectful but… she knew her place. Hinata wasn't stupid enough to think she was likely to win anytime soon.

And… that was exactly what happened. She never even got close, despite the handicap.

It didn't matter what she tried, how far she tried to plan ahead, or if she spent her successive turns into setting up on bigger maneuver or two different strategies at once.

Shikamaru always thwarted her.

…But he was a better teacher than she had imagined him to be. He gave her tips, or shared his own thought process at certain key turns at the end of each match so she could understand where her game plan had gone downhill.

Yet Shikamaru could do nothing to save her from the frustration and headache the barrage of losses left her with.

Hinata sighed after her umpteenth defeat. She didn't even have the chance to use the strategy she wanted to go for.

"Don't look so down," he tried to comfort her. "You're doing fine, even a little better than I expected. I know it's hard to look at your progress when you're just losing, but trust me on that."

"Thank you, Shikamaru-kun," she managed to say with a small smile. Hinata knew he wasn't one to sugarcoat things.

"Do you want to stop for today?"

After giving it some thought, Hinata nodded. Her head hurt too much for her to want to keep at it.

"I guess that's fine, it's almost lunchtime anyway," he said, stretching lazily. He gazed upon the clouds, as he was prone to do when left idle, but locked eyes with her again.

"So, Hinata. Even after all I said you probably still think my methods are questionable, don't you."

She shrunk on herself a bit. "Y-Yes… a bit, at least".

He left out a dry chuckle. "I'm not surprised. But after a while I'm sure you'll notice your improvements."

'I hope so at least,' she thought. This could prove to be a massive waste of her time.

"There is one thing in particular that I want you to get better at, though."

"Mn?"

Shikamaru's expression had none of the levity he had shown until that point.

"There are many ways to win a battle, in chess and real life both. And one of them is to make your opponent commit themselves to a position that appears to be advantageous to them, but that in reality, isn't."

"You mean, to make them act rashly?"

"That can work. But no. Like… again, that last attack you did on Neji. You goaded him into coming to you, because you couldn't pursue him anymore, except you still had an ace up your sleeve. Even though I didn't completely understand what happened there since I'm not a Hyuuga," he shrugged.

'…Whoa.'

"That hadn't been your intention at first though, judging from your face…"

Hinata shook her head. "I… like I just said, I tried to get him to become angry."

Shikamaru crossed his arms. "Makes sense. It's a good tactic… people often become really predictable when angry. I saw you were struggling to keep up with his speed but at that moment, you must have known exactly how his attack was going to come out, right?"

"Yes." She had seen that thrust from a mile away.

"Well, now you know there's a second layer of strategy to it. Even if you were unaware, you got him to expose himself because he believed he'd get the upper hand if he rushed you. That bit of strategy," he pointed at the chessboard, "is the very core of games like these. You win when the other person miscalculates and overextends. Overpowering or outspeeding them is not possible at all in board games."

…She had to admit, there was a good chance her initial fears of Shikamaru using his favorite game to skimp out on his end of their deal were looking lower and lower the more he talked about it.

"So—"

Hinata's heart almost leapt from her throat at the sound of a new, unfamiliar voice, and she almost trampled over the board in her attempt to turn around, only to find a familiar face.

"— that's how you defeated me, huh?"

"…Temari-san?"

It was the sole female genin from the Suna team, propped up against a tree a small distance away from them, at the edge of the path they'd used to arrive at the clearing in the first place.

"What are you of all people doing here? Who let you in?" Shikamaru practically groaned as he spoke, though Hinata could catch hints of suspicion in his voice.

The foreign blonde began to walk towards them.

"Hello to you as well," she frowned. "I got tired of staying idle in that cramped hotel room, so I was looking for a sparring partner. Who better to go for than someone I have unfinished business with?" Temari then smirked. "Your mother was very kind in letting me through once I told her I was looking for a rematch."

Hinata glanced back at Shikamaru to see his face sunk into his hands. "What's that troublesome old hag thinking…?"

"She told me you were training here and gave me directions since she's busy finishing up lunch. I wonder how she'd react if she knew you were just playing stupid board games like this…?"

"For your information, not that I owe you anything, she knows exactly what we are doing and we've sparred for a couple hours already."

"A couple hours? That's a joke right? You're not going to get a promotion with just that bit of training per day."

That comment made Hinata's heart tighten up, but not really for Shikamaru's sake.

He was none the wiser to her plight. "Yeah like I care what you think. Or about promoting, for that matter. Now get out of here, I'm not fighting you again."

Temari's eyes sparked with anger as she began to walk toward them.

'I need to find a way to get out of this conversation as soon as possible,' Hinata decided as her eyes darted between the other two.

"You smug little—oh I know. You're scared you're gonna lose now that the battlefield is different!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Unless you're planning to use enough Wind to bring down all the trees around us for a simple spar, all these obstacles just make this a better place to fight you than where we fought before. And if you were, then there's not much I could do making this entirely pointless."

"I was not!" She drew her fan. "If you really think you got the upper hand here, then put your money where your mouth is," she dared.

"Listen," he got up, "if you're miffed about your loss, tough luck. I don't care and I'm not fighting you. Not because I think I can't, I just don't want to deal with someone as annoying as you."

Hinata wanted to shake her head as she rose as well. For all of Shikamaru's cleverness, he sure knew the perfect ways of getting people he deemed as troublesome to be even more troublesome than normal.

One glance at Temari showed that she was just about to blow up, but then…

"The most I'm willing to do for you is let you play against me. Take it or leave it."

"Alright then."

Hinata's eyes went wide.

"Wait, really?"

Not even Shikamaru planned for that, apparently

"Yeah, really. I'll beat you at chess, then we spar."

"This is not a bet."

"Now it is. Sit down and shut up, we're playing. I'm fairly good at this game actually."

Shikamaru dropped down to a sitting position again with another groan, and just moved the board to another side.

"Well… I guess this could be a learning opportunity, Hinata," he looked up at her as Temari closed the distance between them." We were done here, so if you want to leave that's fine too."

'Yes please!' she thought, but before she could speak she sensed Temari's eyes on her.

"Oh, you're that Hyuuga girl from before. Knew I recognized you."

"Umm… y-yes. I'm Hinata," she said with a small bow. "S-Sorry, I don't remember if I introduced myself last time…"

Temari waved her down with a surprisingly friendly smile, which became a small frown. "He said you were sparring? Are you… okay for that kind of activity? You were looking to be in pretty bad shape after that fight."

Hinata shook her head with a little smile. "Nothing some medical ninjutsu a day of rest couldn't fix."

Temari opened her mouth but never got to speak.

"Look are you gonna play or not?"

The older girl's glare was icy cold as she sat down, and their match began without another word.

Hinata wanted to leave but despite Shikamaru's dismissal, she felt as if it would be far too disrespectful.

She was stuck.

Chess wasn't the most exciting game to watch unfold, yet Hinata was happy to see that Shikamaru had a point. Trying to understand why Temari and Shikamaru made certain moves when they did gave her a new understanding of the game and the strategies Shikamaru had explained to her.

She was too much of a novice to catch on to party's true intentions until later in the game though. Trying to use the time between moves to plan her own if she were the player didn't work either, as she was often thinking with two moves.

A few minutes later, once the number of pieces on the board were mostly gone, Temari grunted and knocked over her own king out of nowhere.

"Tsk. You… you win… dammit."

Hinata's jaw fell.

"Heh." Shikamaru smirked, then focused on Hinata. "You look surprised. Here…"

Shikamaru began to move the pieces, both his and Temari's, showing her a few possible outcomes if Temari had insisted… all of which ending in her being checkmated, even if it took a few turns to occur.

It left Hinata awed. That they both could see so far ahead…

"Let's go one more," Temari said through gritted teeth. "I'm done warming up."

To that, Shikamaru let out a heavy sigh. "No way. You're better than I expected but I have better things to do. Get out of here."

"SHIKAMARU NARA!"

Everyone instantly got up as a fourth person stomped her way into the clearing

"In what world is that an acceptable way to treat a guest, let alone a girl!?"

Hinata barely caught a choked swear from Shikamaru before one Yoshino Nara loomed over them all, looking as imposing as a dictator despite the apron she wore over her clothes.

"Apologize right now!"

Shikamaru turned away and muttered something.

The next moment, Yoshino's fingers found one of Shikamaru's ears and pulled, making him scream but not as loudly as the Nara matriarch's next command:

"I didn't hear you Shikamaru!"

"Aaaargh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Yoshino let him go so forcefully that Shikamaru fell on his butt with a thud, and the woman sighed exasperatedly. In contrast, Temari was laughing openly, and Hinata was almost at that point if not for the hand covering her own mouth.

"This boy..." Yoshino's gaze softened as she turned to the girls, massaging her forehead. "I'm sorry for making you two see this pathetic display.

"It's no problem, Yoshino-san," Temari said, smiling, while Hinata just nodded. "Did something happen, though?"

"Oh no, I just came here to say that lunch is ready!"

"Don't tell me you want them to stay for lunch…"

"Shut up!" Yoshino yelled at her son, then offered a bright smile to the girls. "And the answer is yes, there's definitely room for more at our table today! I just apologize for not bringing this up sooner," she said, this time focusing on Hinata. "I should've invited you much earlier but it slipped my mind!"

"P-Please, don't worry Yoshino-san. It happens… um, unfortunately, I won't be able to stay."

Yoshino's smile fell. "Oh… really?"

Hinata bowed. "Yes, I'm supposed to have lunch at home today… my apologies."

That was a lie. She could've accepted it, but the truth is she wouldn't have time to freshen up before meeting Naruto for their training session.

"Ah, what a pity…. Next time, perhaps?"

Hinata nodded. If she was to train with Shikamaru every so often she wouldn't be able to dodge that forever.

"What about you Temari-san?"

The older girl's eyes darted to Shikamaru, the amusement in her eyes becoming thick with smugness as she said: "Oh, I happen to be free right now, Yoshino-san! I'd be glad to have lunch with you and your family."

Yoshino clapped happily. "Oh wonderful!" the woman squealed, drowning out her own son's pitiful whine.

"The food on the hotel I'm at is nice, but it just lacks that home-cooked magic. Plus I was looking forward to tasting something that I wouldn't easily find back home."

"I know right? Hotel food is so basic... at least from my past experiences back when I was an active kunoichi. And you're just in luck, I made one of the Land of Fire's most traditional dishes for lunch today!"

Temari and Yoshino began walking out of the forest, engrossed in their conversation. Hinata didn't have the courage to interrupt just to say goodbye to them.

'And talking about a lack of courage…'

Shikamaru looked as if someone had just died.

"Shikamaru-kun, you probably don't want to stay behind," she said, offering him a hand so he could get up.

He took it. "There's no way they'll forget me, right?"

Hinata was all too happy to shake her head at him.

"…Dammit. Troublesome women. Let me show you the way out first, I guess…"

He accompanied her with the expression of a man marching to his own execution.

It was only after Hinata was quite far from Shikamaru's house that she allowed herself to giggle at her friend's fate.

"Rest in peace, Shikamaru-kun… or in pieces, most likely.'

---

After a quiet yet satisfactory meal with her family and a refreshing bath, Hinata was off to the training ground she and Naruto had agreed to use in the afternoons.

Her mind, however, grew troubled as she approached her destination. The possibility that she might lead Naruto to his defeat…

'There must be something else I can do to help Naruto-kun,' she thought as she walked around the village's busy streets. 'Sparring with me can only do so much for him when I'm not strong enough to beat Neji nii-san myself... we need to go beyond that, somehow.'

But how?

By the time she spotted Naruto, she was no closer to finding an answer.

"Hello, Naruto-kun!"

"Hey!" he hurried over to her. "How are things?"

"Same as always..." she lied. "What about you? How was the training with Jiraiya-sama?"

He pumped a fist, looking as eager as ever. "It's going really well! We were working on that Wind jutsu Kakashi-sensei talked about, you know!"

"Oh! What jutsu is it?"

"It's called Wind Release: Great Breakthrough! I was told it's a pretty basic jutsu… it reminds me a lot of your Pressure Shot, actually."

"So it's a mid-range technique…"

"Yup. But it's a lot wider than yours, so I could still hit him up close as long as I can keep it big and under control. That's… kinda the problem so far," he confessed with a small laugh.

"Do you want my help?"

"Ah nonono," he waved her down. "I told Jiraiya about us—"

'Wording please!' she thought, flushing on the spot. This boy was gonna be the death of her one day.

"—he said we would be better off focusing on taijutsu. That's the bigger priority, you know?"

Though a bit dejected, Hinata nodded. If Naruto couldn't keep up at close range he'd never be able to fire off a Wind justu anyway.

"And get this," Naruto said, bouncing from feet to feet in his excitement, "This jutsu is gonna lead to something really cool by the end of the month! It's… what, step one of three, I think he said? I can't wait!"

Hinata hid her giggles behind one hand. "I'm glad things are looking up."

"Yeah! But come on, let's start our part of Naruto Uzumaki's Journey to Greatness!

This time she couldn't bring her hand up fast enough to cover her laugh. "Let's!"

They had come up with a plan the day before, while Naruto was visiting her, and it wasn't too different than what she had cooked up for Shikamaru. Their first sessions would be basic sparring, no chakra allowed, to get Naruto used to the fast pace of the Gentle Fist and hone his taijutsu. After a few days, the ban on charka would be lifted and that's where they'd be honing Naruto's endurance and study where to best apply his ninjutsu during the fight.

Stamina usually wasn't a problem for the Uzumaki, but not even he would be able to last too long with a locked-down chakra system, and possibly with a malfunctioning limb if Hinata could get away with it… which was her main goal. She was not going to let up once the time came, because she knew Neji wouldn't either if he got serious.

Fortunately, she could reverse most of the damage she could cause. Unfortunately, that wouldn't do much for the burning pain her blows would leave behind… all Hinata could do was offer some more of her soothing handmade ointment for him to use once he got home, which she had already had bought the supplies to make.

…Everything went as expected until their first break, about one hour after they began. They were smart enough to train under the shade, but while that hid them from the sun it didn't save them from the summer heat. Especially Hinata with her bulky jacket, unlike Naruto, who ditched his to walk around with a plain white shirt.

They both sat down by a tree, eager to drink from their canteens.

Until Naruto suddenly spat his water all over the grass.

"Naruto-kun?!"

He coughed a few times.

"That… that bastard old man! What the hell?"

Hinata looked around, a confused frown settling on her features as she saw not one soul nearby. Just to be sure she flashed her Byakugan once, but…

"T-There's nobody here, Naruto-kun!"

"I can't believe that's the research he was talking about!" he ranted to himself

'Research?'

She had heard that specific word pretty recently but… where? It did nothing to explain the fury in Naruto's expression!.

"I swear, I'm going to—Hinata! Look, sorry, can we continue this tomorrow? I really gotta go right now! See ya!"

"W-Wait! Naruto-kun!"

He dashed out at top speed, sparing her not another thought and leaving Hinata behind, completely stunned.

Soon, it occurred to her that she probably shouldn't follow him.

It did not stop her.

---

Hinata's confusion only grew as she tailed Naruto over the rooftops of the village. His path was straightforward but told Hinata very little until they crossed a sizable portion of the village. There was but one building of note in the direction he was heading.

'The… hot springs? But why is he going there!? And why would he be so upset?'

The questions continued to multiply in Hinata's head when, once they got closer to the hot springs, Naruto suddenly made a sharp turn and began to climb a nearby tall building.

"I got you now," she managed to hear him, but only when she landed on the roof that Hinata spotted the source of his anger.

It was a man crouched close to the edge of the rooftop, facing the hot springs which had to be easily visible from that vantage point. His back was turned to them, but she could see that he had a long, wild mane of white hair, and was dressed in a green kimono with a red haori and some wooden sandals. The big scroll strapped to his back was the most defining feature she could see from behind and a perfect match for someone she only knew from Naruto's descriptions.

'Is that… Jiraiya-sama?'

The old man's shoulders began to tremble as he let out a creepy giggle that oozed with ill intentions.

"What a blessed sight! Now if you only could turn my way just a bit, my dearest!"

Naruto's shoulders, too, quaked, but with anger.

"You Pervy Sage!"

The man yelped and turned, almost dropping a small notebook and… something resembling a small telescope. In his massive forehead protector was the final evidence, the kanji for oil, eliminating all doubts from Hinata's mind.

'No way. It is him!'

There was only one conclusion to be drawn from that.

"What the hell are you doing here, kid? And… another kid?"

"You tell me!" Naruto yelled. "When you kept talking about research this and research that I thought you were going to do something big and important and cool! So I sent a clone to tail you, cuz I was curious! And what do I find," he pointed at the man, "that you ditched me to train by myself because you wanted to peep at women in the hot springs! You—you're just another old perv!"

Hinata could see the emotions flashing across Jiraiya's face. Shock, from being caught red-handed, then fear perhaps of an incoming punishment, acceptance that there was no way out…

"You said… just another old perv…?"

Only to settle in a mirror of Naruto's fury, complete with a finger raised in accusation.

"How dare you lower me to the level of your average, lowly hole-in-the-wall peeper! I'm not a pervert!"

"Oh yeah!?"

"Yeah! I am… a super pervert!"

Hinata hoped to every god out there that she had heard him wrong.

Naruto was similarly taken aback. "What."

Jiraiya's hands went to his hips, his chin tilted up. "I'm far beyond your average Joe; I'm a master at this craft!"

"…So much that you got caught by a kid."

Jiraiya growled. "Shut up, you were tailing me, that doesn't count! But it seems you won't be convinced unless I show you proof, right?"

The legendary Toad Sage crouched again, drawing Hinata's attention to a small sack the man had left near where he sat. He exchanged the notebook he had been writing gods-know-what into for a small little book with a pink cover, presenting it for both kids with a proud smile.

The title was something Hinata had no right to be familiar with.

'Icha Icha Pa—oh no, anything but that!'

"That book!? No… you're just like Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled in both disgust and despair, his shoulders sagging under the weight of his disappointment.

Hinata could sympathize.

"Oho… I recognize that name!" The old man's smile got even wider. "He's one of the biggest fans of my books! Truly, a man of culture."

'Wait, what?'

Did she hear it correctly?

"Of course, it would take a person of exquisite taste to appreciate my masterpiece and—whoa!"

Naruto had snatched the book while the man bragged to himself and a spike of raw, unadulterated fear flooded Hinata's veins as Naruto opened a tome of forbidden knowledge that could very well corrupt him forever!

But he stopped at the very first page giving it a hateful glare that almost set the book on fire.

"You actually wrote this!"

"That I did!"

Naruto closed the little book as forcefully as he could. "You… you!"

Then he threw it away over the rooftop of the village, right toward the hot springs where it would meet a watery grave.

"Nooooo!" Jiraya dashed the length of the rooftop, sliding to a stop by the edge. He then sunk to his knees, watching his supposed masterpiece fly to its doom. "That… was the first print edition…!"

"You're the culprit!" Naruto stomped, raising his volume even higher. "You're the reason Kakashi-sensei is always two hours late and ditches us two hours too early!"

"…Culprit?"

Hinata gasped. In a flash, Jiraiya close the distance and hoisted Naruto up by his shirt's collar

"You're the only culprit I see here! Do you even realize what you've done?"

"Not my fault I caught you sleeping like that! Tough luck—waaa!"

He dropped Naruto who fell like a sack of potatoes, right on his butt.

"You stupid, insolent brat… throwing away my things, getting in the way of my work...! Do you understand how much I have to put into my research to get any writing done on a daily basis!? Never mind the focus I have to have… you've set me back for at least a full week! How do you plan to compensate me for this!?"

That was the last straw.

"How can you say something like this!?"

It was Naruto's turn to gasp, his neck whirled around so he could find something Hinata knew he had almost never seen.

Herself, angry.

"Hi-Hinata? When did you get here!?"

She paid him no mind, her eyes burning Jiraiya's soul as she began to step forward without realizing.

"Naruto-kun told me you were only going to teach him in the mornings, and we both thought that was because a legendary ninja like yourself had truly important matters to oversee here in the village. That would be more than acceptable! But this…? It is not!"

She motioned at the hot springs to illustrate her point.

"Most of the finalists have family to help them, others like Naruto-kun's own teammates have a sensei to train them for twice as many hours, every single day. I've seen Kurenai-sensei's plans for Sakura with my own eyes, and I know Kakashi-sensei brought Sasuke-kun out of the village for his own intensive training. But… but you!"

Perhaps she really was spending too much time with Naruto, because there she was, the daughter of the Hyuuga Clan Head, pointing accusingly at someone who was miles beyond her in power.

Jiraiya actually took a step back as she hounded him.

"He needs every bit of help he can get but you refuse to give him more than a couple hours because of something as trivial and ridiculous as that!? His opponent in the first round is one of the strongest genin in the completion and he's being trained by the Clan Head, my father!"

She saw shock flash across Jiraiya's features, every detail clear crystal under the lenses of her active Byakugan.

"Meanwhile when you're not there—which is half the time—It's me who's the one struggling to help him face someone that's already far beyond my level! We agreed to do this every single afternoon, all because the legendary ninja the Hokage himself appointed to aid Naruto-kun would rather spy on unsuspecting women like a lowlife creep rather than be a responsible adult leaving a unqualified genin to pick up the slack!"

Hinata did her best to reign in the tears of frustration prickling the edges of her eyes, so she could be as composed as possible to deliver the finishing blow.

"It's not Naruto-kun who's setting you back, as if you were doing something that was even remotely important! No! You're the one that's been setting him back, and for a full month!"

She rubbed her sleeve on her wet eyes, at which point she finally noticed her dojutsu had popped to life and promptly deactivated it. Then, raising her head, she stared down at Jiraiya once more, as if daring him to reply.

"I'm going to report you to the Hokage."

Jiraiya raised a brow at her. "You mean my biggest fan? That's not going to go well."

"That old pervert," she heard Naruto mumbling, just as disappointed as she was.

But it was fine. If Jiraiya wanted to play the political game, so could she.

"Then I'll tell my father. We have family members that use the Hot Springs often, including myself."

It was a bold-faced lie but it took Jiraiya aback just the same. Unless he camped out at the Hot Springs frequently he could never be sure.

Naruto perked up at her words. "Oh, we can tell Kiba's mom too. He said his sister loves going there!"

"Good thinking, Naruto-kun. I'm sure Tsume-san will be pleased to know about this." Jiraiya flinched at the Inuzuka Clan Head's name, which was just what they needed.

She had just thought of bringing up Shikamaru's mom into the equation to really make him sweat, when Jiraiya heaved something between a sigh and a groan.

"Fine, fine…! I'll watch over the brat's training in the afternoons! Happy now?"

"Very."

"Eh, not too sure I'm happy about it, now that I know you're so lame," Naruto shrugged, "but I'll take it."

"Lame!? I'm the coolest guy you've ever met!"

"You're just a Pervy Sage!"

"Don't call me that!" Jiraiya's fury made his teeth chatter. "At least I'm not a liar!"

That comment left both kids confused.

"Wait, you talking about me?" Naruto asked.

"No, my mom. Of course it's you! When you told me about your training partner, you described a shy, kind girl." Jiraiya scoffed. "I'm not seeing much shyness here."

At that, Hinata felt her cheeks burning and looked away. Even if she felt rightful about her words, that was an outburst in front of a person who was both much older than her and severely outranked her. It was very inappropriate… just not as much as spying on naked women, hence why she refused to let an apology slip from her lips.

"Yeah she can be kinda scary when she's mad, but that's pretty rare."

Hinata gave Naruto a wide-eyed stare, appalled by what he thought of her. 'I'm… scary?'

"She's Hiashi's kid alright."

Jiraiya then approached Hinata, dwarfing her until he crouched so they were roughly at eye-level with each other.

His eyes appraised her, not as a pervert ogling a female. Far from it. His semblance was serious, almost as if he were to be studying an opponent. Hinata couldn't quite pin the feeling down, but she felt… judged.

For once, he felt every bit like the living legend that he was.

"Your name is Hinata, right, girl?"

A small, timid nod was her reply.

"Sorry for not properly introducing myself, but as you know by now, I'm Jiraiya."

There was no theatrical, boisterous introduction like Naruto had described so vividly to her.

"Let me ask you a question… why are you this invested in the outcome of Naruto's match, going as far as trying to help him yourself every day like this?"

"…Why?"

That was the last thing Hinata had expected to be questioned about. She dared to glance at her Hero, only to be taken aback when she saw him looking down and away from them, fingers balled into a fist.

But Jiraiya's now-imposing presence demanded a response.

"Because I want to see Naruto-kun realize his dreams. I'm aware winning is not necessarily earning him the promotion, but still. If I can aid him, without harming those who are also close to me, I will. Even if I can only do so much."

"And the fact he's up against your cousin, who humiliated you, beat you—rather brutally from what I heard—and put a stop to your chances of becoming chunin right now? Do you really claim that has nothing to do with you offering your help?"

…She could not claim that. Not anymore.

However, she could sense the true question Jiraiya was posing to her, beneath his words, and she had a truthful answer to that.

"…I'm not helping him so he can avenge my loss or anything of the sort."

He stared at her in response, meeting her gaze as if searching for something. Hinata wanted to look away but she felt like she had to let this happen, to face the Sannin head-on.

After what felt like an eternity, Jiraiya's scrutiny came to an end. The smile he gave her… Hinata knew she had passed his test.

"Alright then," he got up, "I take it you'll be tagging along for our extended training, eh?"

He didn't wait for an answer. Instead, he gathered his belongings and crossed the rooftop, not sparing a glance at the hot springs and the steamy secrets it held.

"Then let's go already, you brats. The sooner we're done the sooner I can get back to writing, even if research is off-limits… for now."

---

It wasn't until they got back to the training ground that Hinata realized she hadn't even thought of how their training would be affected by having Jiraiya there.

It turned out that the old man wasn't completely giving up on his perverted quest. Normally, Jiraiya simply sat down under a tree and kept writing. This did not go by without protest from Naruto, but the old mad had an explanation.

"For the time being, what you two were planning to do is fine. Just keep sparring! Fighting experience against the Gentle Fist is going to do you plenty of good and build a base for us to work with later. I'll pipe in if there's anything that needs to be addressed."

It… felt horribly like an excuse to continue to ignore Naruto in the afternoons in lieu of his Icha Icha book, but Jiraiya kept his word. It didn't look like it, what with the occasional creepy laugh or inappropriate ramblings they could overhear, but he was paying attention to them. The first example of that happened only a few minutes after they began fighting, when he objected to the idea of a taijutsu-only spar.

"Use your clones already! It's a fine idea to just hone your basic taijutsu but you'll never match that Hyuuga kid you're matched up against. You'll have to work with your clones to get anything done, so might as well train that skillset from the start. Don't forget your other ninjutsu too if you can get away with it—and try not to let him use his techniques, girl! He needs to earn it. Push him!"

That was when their spars became much more intense. Hinata took that order to heart, deciding she might as well use the frailty of the Shadow Clones to get her own training done, maybe improve her offensive game while at it.

It was hard to see Naruto's frustration at not getting very far each time she won, but she held nothing back. They both had improved leaps and bounds compared to back when they had first spared, prior to Wave, but there was a noticeable gap between them once Hinata closed in even without her strikes using chakra.

Jiraiya had an issue with that last part, though. He had kept to himself for most of the afternoon, only sometimes calling Naruto out on bad habits or pointing out some of Hinata's own so he could maybe exploit them, but when they had about one hour left before wrapping things up, he approached them.

"Alright, kid," he put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I see you're struggling to keep up as is, but there's another thing we should be training even if it's gonna make your life hell for the next hour or so. And that's your endurance."

"…My endurance? How so?" he questioned in an unsure tone.

Hinata had been just as confused. "But Naruto-kun's stamina has always been one of his strongest points as a ninja."

So much that most of their breaks had been for her sake rather than his.

"Ah-ah-ah," Jiraiya wagged his finger at her, though. "There's an important distinction to be made here. When I say endurance, I'm referring specifically to fighting against Gentle Fist. And I mean the real thing, with chakra."

This was when Hinata faltered.

"He's going to get hit. There's no way around that! Part of our winning strategy will revolve around enduring those hits," Jiraiya then faced Naruto. "It's gonna hurt like hell and it probably will mess up your chakra control, maybe even wreck your joints and make moving almost impossible! So we need to account for that, or else you're guaranteed to fall after the first couple hits he gets on you."

Naruto was similarly reluctant to the idea.

"Ehh… I kinda get it, but our training is going to end pretty quickly if Hinata's always using chakra, right?"

"And that's why I only said something now. Let's reserve this specific training for the final part of the day, alright? We'll take a trip to the hospital to patch you up if needed. I'm hoping that we will be able to start these earlier and earlier into the day as the month progresses and you get better at handling a chakra-less Gentle Fist-user, but you'll have to work hard for that to happen."

Unsurprisingly, Hinata was able to win decisively and much quicker than normal when her fingers burnt everything they touched. It didn't make a difference against the clones but when she got to Naruto himself, he fell fast.

One whole hour of frustration later, and all that Hinata could do was offer what little ointment she had on hand to make the sting more bearable before they split up. Naruto healed fast, but if they had to keep going at this new pace, he'd need to be at top shape every day.

Both physically and mentally.

Fortunately, for all of Jiraiya's flaws, he at least seemed concerned with keeping his student motivated, something she usually wouldn't see from Kakashi.

"Don't feel down about this, kid. It's gonna be an uphill battle, and we're just getting started. But I can already tell you've improved some. Right, girl?"

Hinata nodded eagerly, hoping that if Naruto might not believe Jiraiya, at least he would believe her.

"Now how about we end the day on a high note with some ramen, hm?"

…And then Hinata was left wondering if her encouragement worked or not while she proved to Jiraiya that inviting Naruto and herself for ramen when they were tired and hungry and at the same time was a huge mistake.

---

The next couple days went down similarly. She alternated between training by herself and training with Shikamaru in the mornings, then moved on to train with Naruto under Jiraiya's guidance after lunch, and returned home to spend her evenings studying and helping her sister understand some of their tougher lessons in their father's absence.

Hinata could tell that was going to be a pattern throughout the month. She didn't expect it to be broken before the very first week had ended, but that's exactly what happened when someone interrupted her spar with Naruto, emerging from a cloud of smoke that burst out of nowhere.

"Yo."

"Kakashi-sensei!?"

The silver-haired jonin waved lazily at them with his free hand. The other had a single folder in it.

Naruto ran up to his sensei. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going to train Sasuke somewhere outside the village?"

"And that's exactly what I was doing, but we're back for a day or two. How is the training going? I hope you haven't been bothering Jiraiya-sama or Hinata too much."

"Hmph, bothering!" Naruto grunted, crossing his arms and looking away, miffed.

Hinata giggled at him. "Naruto-kun has been behaving, Kakashi-sensei. There's no need to worry."

"Good. Any progress with the Wind jutsu I left for you?"

"Heh," Naruto smirked. "Watch this: Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!

Naruto did a few hand seals, took a deep breath, and released wide blast of wind. The gust sent leaves and twigs flying away as he swept the area in front of him for the next few seconds, leaving noticeable scratches on the grassy ground.

Kakashi clapped a few times. "Very good. You can already sustain it for a decent amount of time, and can control it while moving… things are progressing nicely, it seems."

"Yup." That was Jiraiya's voice. The older man left the comforting shade to join his student and his likely number-one fan. "We finished working on this one this very morning, actually. What brings you here, Kakashi?"

"Jiraiya-sama," Kakashi bowed. "I'm here mainly to deliver his report, Hokage-sama's orders. He wants to see you in his office as soon as possible."

"Argh, I told you to drop the formalities already. As for that report, gimme that. I'll read on the way…"

"Um. Jiraiya-sama?" Hinata tried to draw his attention. "Should we expect you'll be back soon?"

"Ehhh… probably not," Jiraiya made a face. "Sensei can be long-winded at times. I'll be back if I can, but better not to count on it. You kids behave while I'm out, don't do anything I would've, bwahaha!"

He vanished in a storm of leaves before Naruto could curse at him, but not before seeing Hinata's cheeks burning far too brightly.

"That Pervy Sage, I swear… I bet you he's just going to go to the hot springs instead of coming back here!"

Hinata sincerely wished she could've hoped otherwise, sighing in resignation.

"Now now, give him some credit. He surely will have good reasons if he's not back here in a few hours."

"I don't wanna hear that from you, Kakashi-sensei."

It was amazing how they both could spot a mocking smile on a face that only had a single eye uncovered.

"Well," Kakashi cleared his throat. "I didn't come here just to check on you and be Hokage-sama's delivery boy."

"Are you going to be overlooking our training today, Kakashi-sensei?"

The man dashed Hinata's hopes with a head shake. "No, unfortunately. I have boring adult stuff to deal with since I'm in the village right now. But I was talking about something else… Sasuke mentioned something interesting to me on our first day of training."

Hinata watched Naruto's mood dampen. "He told you, huh?"

"Yes. I did not expect that… but given the past few incidents, I suppose I should have."

Kakashi came closer to Naruto, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"I didn't come here to pressure you or anything, but since Sasuke is in the village for now, and you did make a promise to tell the truth to him and Sakura before the finals, this might be the best chance to do it. I can contact Sakura too, if you wish. But the choice is yours. We'll just arrange something for later if you don't feel prepared."

"I… I…"

Naruto lapsed into silence for a bit. He glanced at Hinata once, but turned away as soon as their eyes met.

"…Yeah. Let's get this over with already. Can you ask them to meet me at Ichiraku for dinner tonight, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Of course."

Not soon after, Hinata and Naruto were alone again. They quickly returned to sparring as per their original plans, but Hinata could feel their session was going to end early that day.

There was something off about Naruto's movements, and his mind seemed like it wasn't quite there with her. Hinata had bit her tongue and kept her thoughts to herself until their first break since Jiraiya had left.

"Is… um, are you okay, Naruto-kun?"

"Huh? Yeah! Why wouldn't I be?"

She faltered at his smile, the one she hated to see. "Oh… i-it's nothing…"

It wasn't nothing. Hinata decided to secretly test her training partner.

She knocked Naruto down five times in a row… by using the exact same sequence of moves in all five fights.

That wasn't going to work. It was time for a change of plans.

"N-Naruto-kun?" she grabbed his attention before he could get up from the grass. "How… about we stop for a while?"

He tilted his head. "Another break? Already?"

"Ummm… no. Well, kind of. I… I want to go somewhere."

"But we have training to do," he pointed out as he rose.

Hinata tensed, feeling she would lose the discussion soon unless…

"J-Just follow me!"

She decided to be bold, and simply turned around and walked away, hoping Naruto would come without a fuss.

---

It was a classic Hinata maneuver.

Naruto didn't get why, but the girl seemed real fond of leaving him confused in her wake. Where could she possibly want to go, so suddenly?

There were only two ways to find out, and since Hinata was already leaving he decided to follow along rather than confront her. She must have had a good reason.

The training ground became empty as he trailed behind her in the village's streets. She occasionally glanced back at him, as if she wanted to make sure he hadn't ditched her.

She could be so silly at times, that girl…

Yet Naruto was left with questions until the very end, when Hinata made a sudden turn to head into a bakery that faced a small park.

He walked in as well, hoping the shopkeeper wasn't going to be one of those people… but the boy kept his distance from Hinata just in case.

The owner, a lady who seemed to be in her mid-forties, was so delighted to see Hinata that she did not even notice he was there.

"Hinata-chan! How nice to see you again so soon! The usual, I take it?"

Soon after, Hinata turned away from the counter with a paper bag as big as her torso, filled to the brim with cinnamon rolls. Her smile had been just as wide, until she noticed Naruto.

"Ah! Naruto-kun! I forgot about you!"

'What?'

Hinata pivoted and ordered a few more rolls and Naruto was hit with the realization that none of the sweet pastries she held were for him.

'She… ain't gonna eat that all by herself, right?'

He picked up her cargo as well so she could take her wallet out, and she paid for them both before he could realize her plan. The lady at the counter didn't pay him much mind, though Naruto wondered if this was solely due to Hinata's presence—it would do the woman no good to upset an apparent regular and heavy-spender like that.

Soon, the pair of genin were out in the streets again, but Hinata seemed to have no intention to return to the training ground and instead walked toward the nearby park.

There were kids playing around, but she took him in the opposite direction until they found a bench in a more secluded area. Mercifully, it was late enough in the afternoon that the sun wasn't a big deal anymore, and they were able to sit rather comfortably.

He opened his much-smaller paper bag to find three medium-sized cinnamon rolls that Hinata purchased for him. They had an overly sweet scent, not unpleasant, but enough that Naruto doubted he could get through all three if the taste was as strong as the smell.

The rolls were far tastier than he had imagined, but unfortunately he couldn't stand eating more than two of them… unlike Hinata, whom he overheard letting out an adorably happy noise as she dug into what was… probably her seventh roll from his calculations.

'Whoa. Is this how other people feel when they watch me eat ramen?' he wondered. That seventh cinnamon roll was gone in a flash and Hinata didn't seem like she'd be stopping at the eighth either. The girl ate fast! But she wasn't a messy, loud eater, retaining all the poise he'd expect out of a Hyuuga heiress despite the brutal pace she set.

She seemed to sense him looking at her though, stopping just before taking the first bite of her ninth roll.

"Uh… is something wrong?"

Naruto couldn't figure out what to say that didn't sound ridiculous coming from him of all people.

She let out a small gasp, coming to her own conclusions. "Oh no, d-do I have frosting on my face?"

Before he could even say that she didn't, Hinata hurriedly clawed at her face a couple times as if to clean it…

But the sole thing she accomplished was giving herself an utterly ridiculous creamy mustache.

His lip quivered.

"I-Is it gone now?"

'Ah shit,' was Naruto's last thoughts before he burst out laughing. "Now you do!"

He just couldn't handle it! She looked so innocent but the cream above her lips… oh no. He forced himself to stop as soon as he noticed Hinata was starting to panic.

"O-Okay, okay, lemme help out," he said, picking up a napkin from his bag of rolls to undo the delicious mustache Hinata wore.

He gently swiped it at her face a couple times, freezing her in place with the first, and turning up the mysterious knob that set her face ablaze with the second.

"You dork," he chided her, and then let a few more traitorous chuckles which only grew in intensity when she pouted at him.

That was new!

'Cute.'

The girl then looked away, still red, still pouting, then breathed out a small sigh. "…At least you're in a brighter mood now, even if at my expense."

"Come on, you've laughed at me plenty of times already. We're not even even yet!"

His wording made her lips tremble a bit. "I suppose." Then Hinata nibbled at her almost-forgotten cinnamon roll, finishing it off and wiping her hand clean before focusing her gaze on him. "I was hoping the sweets would cheer you up, rather than my clumsiness."

"So… that's why you brought me out here?"

Hinata gave him two small nods. "Sometimes, when I'm feeling down I… I just buy something I like to eat and, w-well… eat a lot of it. It helps pick me up a little, or just stops me from thinking about whatever was weighing on me."

"…Yeah, that's not what I usually do. I'd rather just train. Train as hard as I can, focus just on that until I just get too tired to even think about things," he confessed, without realizing it until he went too far to stop.

Her expression fell, so he quickly added: "But, I guess that distracted me for a bit."

Which was true.

"Sometimes I do that too. Or training, or chores. Sewing tends to work well for me," she offered in turn. Then Hinata's eyes darted back to her lap full of sweet goodies. "Also, I… wanted to buy some time to think."

"Er… about?"

She faced him again. "About what to say to you that I didn't already say back on the tower."

'Oh.'

Of course, he was so stupid. He had already opened his big damn mouth and let Hinata know how scared he was of what was to come. There was no point in beating around the bush with her. She had been the one to push him to reveal his secret to Sasuke and Sakura after all.

She knew it all. It didn't make facing her with these thoughts wearing him down any easier, even when he remembered her words.

That she understood his fears. That she believed their friends would be accepting. That they only got upset because they cared. That they wouldn't hate him because of a Fox that meant almost nothing to them.

That everything would be alright.

He knew it all.

"T-There… there is one thing I realize I want to say to you, Naruto-kun. It's… something people tell me often, in one way or another."

Hinata brought her hand closer to his side of the bench, halting in midair for a long second before quickly snatching his hand, uncaring that it was all sugary and sticky. Then, her other hand closed around his as well.

Lavender met bright blue.

"Stop overthinking things."

Her hands were a little cold, and yet there was such warmth coming from her touch.

A contradiction, as always with her.

"I know… it sounds silly coming from me," she admitted, shaking her head. "I'm quite bad at following this advice. But I know it's usually true, or at least part of me knows. I hope you do as well."

…Hinata was right. Even if she wasn't, sulking around was not his style. He needed to face his friends head-on!

Before he knew it, his free hand was now over hers.

"Thank you, Hinata."

Her head tilted to the side a bit, she gave him an embarrassed smile that was only highlighted by her pink-dusted cheeks.

"You're welcome, Naruto-kun."

---

It had been more than a few years since the last time Naruto felt so nervous about going to eat in the Ichiraku Ramen stand. That had happened only the first few times he ate there, when he had still been unsure if Teuchi's kindness was genuine.

Even with Hinata's encouragement, one part of Naruto still wanted to flee from that conversation. But he made promises… and Hinata was right. His teammates deserved to know the truth.

'Well… here goes nothing,' he thought as he walked in.

Only to be yelled at as soon as he moved the tent flap.

"We're closed! There's a note outside!" Teuchi bellowed, not even looking up from his pots.

Naruto blinked dumbly, took a step back and sure enough, there was a note. "Ah, crap."

"Wait, Naruto? Ah come in, come in. That note wasn't for you! Sorry about that, hahaha."

Though confused, Naruto sat on the chair that faced Teuchi. "Nah, it's okay… what's going on though?"

"Your sensei told me everything! I thought it best to partially close things out for today to give you three some privacy. Normally this would be quite bad for business but if you're eating here today then it's all good."

Naruto supposed he did eat enough to spend as much as several paying customers would.

"Kakashi-sensei could've warned me or something though," he grumbled, before asking for just one bowl. He was going to take it slowly as he waited, seeing as he wasn't particularly hungry at the moment.

"Ah, I believe he said he would be talking with your two teammates after, so at least they will be aware that they can enter."

And sure enough, when Naruto had just finished his appetizer, Sakura and Sasuke walked in together.

"Hey guys!"

"Hey there, Naruto! Starting without us?" Sakura said, sitting to his left.

"It's been a while," Sasuke said, with a small smirk. He went to sit to Naruto's right, but Sakura pulled his arm and motioned to the seat at her left with a scolding expression. To Naruto's surprise, Sasuke complied, looking as if he had forgotten something previously agreed.

'Weird.'

Naruto quickly slurped on the rest of his ramen while Sakura and Sasuke placed their orders.

"So! I know it's just been a week," he said, "but how's training going for you two?

"Well… more smoothly than I thought," Sakura confessed.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I… well, I decided to let bygones be bygones. I'm not forgiving Kurenai-sensei for that ridiculous genjutsu she dropped on us, don't get me wrong, but… it wasn't going to do any good to keep that cloud hanging over us for a full month," she sighed.

"Good. I was a little worried you'd let that get in the way," Sasuke said.

Naruto nodded a few times, too, but said nothing as Teuchi placed Sasuke and Sakura's bowls in front of them. Sakura had picked some simple chicken ramen, while Sasuke picked one of those ramen types that had way too many disgusting vegetables for Naruto to bother committing the name to memory, especially not when Teuchi also brought a bowl of his favorite ramen.

Sakura split her chopsticks. "I'm not a fan of the end justifying the means, but… I'm letting go. It was traumatizing for me, but she meant well, things are working out, so I'm getting over it. Or trying to. She's as eager to teach as always so might as well make the best of it."

The girl then tried to take a bite of her ramen and regretted it immediately. "Ouch! Too hot! Anyway… I've been learning some cool stuff! I expected we'd just focus on what I already knew, so genjutsu, Earth Release, maybe polish my taijutsu some more, but I was wrong!"

"Mm!" Naruto made sure to swallow his food before asking: "You're up against makeup guy, right?"

Sakura snorted. "Yeah, him. I still wanna talk to Hinata and Kiba about him, but I'm surprised to say that I think I have this in the bag. The guy won't even know what hit him!" she said, flexing one arm.

"Confident, are we?" Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Let's just say I'm eager to one-up the pig."

Naruto paused mid-slurp. 'What? …Oh, yeah, Ino fought the guy on the prelims. Wow that fight was so boring to watch I forgot it even happened.'

Teuchi gave him another bowl, and he went right back to full-speed eating, but not before asking "And what cool jutsu are you working on, Sakura-chan?"

Sasuke looked at her with interest as well, but sadly…

"My apologies, boys, I'm gonna keep my tricks a surprise for now." She turned and winked at each of her teammates. "I might just face one of you in the finals after all. Enough about me though! Sasuke-kun, how's your training? You've been away from the village the whole week… is that related to it?" Sakura asked, before she tried to pick at her food again and realized she finally could handle the temperature.

"Hn." Sasuke was her opposite, having to stop eating to talk since he had no issues with piping-hot food. "That was mainly so we could train at a place Orochimaru would have difficulty ambushing us. I've got a lot of people watching me and guarding me," he said with a frown. "It'd be much harder to track him in the village and who knows how many people he'd be willing to hurt to get to me again?"

Naruto had to make a conscious effort not to break his chopsticks. The way Jiraiya's former teammate spoke to Sasuke back in the mines, something about it still upsets him profoundly.

Sakura was just as shaken, but for different reasons. "…So you being here is dangerous, isn't it?"

"Don't worry. Orochimaru is a scientist. This seal is, in one way or another, an experiment. He didn't kidnap me in the exams; we think he wants to see how this affects me before he tries anything. That doesn't mean we're not preparing for that. Kakashi-sensei is somewhere outside keeping watch, and I'm sure at least a few of the ANBU that guarded me are still around as well."

"…So that's why Kakashi-sensei isn't here," Sakura nodded to herself.

"He said something about giving us privacy. It may be true, but I know this is the true reason."

The conversation died for a moment, each genin being lost in thought over the traitorous Sannin's ambush and what that could mean for their futures, and drowning their worries with a good, tasty dose of ramen.

Eventually, Sasuke snapped to attention. "I didn't actually say anything about my training, did I?"

"No," Naruto mumbled with a full mouth.

"Alright. I've been focusing on getting physically stronger so I can fight around Gaara's sand. I was told about Lee's fight, and I can't get as fast as him in just a month, but I should be able to stop Gaara from catching me before I can react."

Sakura brought a finger to her chin. "But wouldn't you be able to see his movements with the Sharingan?"

Sasuke shook his head. "It doesn't work that way. The Sharingan doesn't have true foresight. I can predict things based on very subtle tells from how one's muscles tense before moving in a certain way. Gaara's sand… I can probably see how he molds chakra to control it, but that doesn't give as much information."

"Oh… I had it wrong all this time..."

"Besides that," Sasuke continued, "I've learned a few small jutsu I'm going to use against Shino, both to prepare for him and strengthen my affinities for the jutsu Kakashi wants me to learn to take on Gaara. He showed them to me already but I can't even properly attempt them yet."

"Oooh! What—!?"

"I'm not telling you any of it, Naruto," Sasuke cut him off, smirking with a challenge shining in his black eyes. "You'll have to beat Neji and find out for yourself."

"Hmph. Whatever!" he looked away, pouting even harder when Sakura giggled.

Sasuke asked for one more serving, then turned to them, looking at Naruto from over Sakura. "…On that note, I should apologize to you about today."

"Eh?"

"You had to end your training early, right? That was because of me."

Naruto blinked a couple of times. 'No way,' he thought, and Sakura's small gasp told him she caught on.

"Naruto, you've been training with the sealmaster that was supposed to look after Sasuke-kun's seal, aren't you?"

"Yeah," he frowned. "Did something happen, Sasuke?"

The Uchiha avoided their gazes. "…Do you guys remember the second-exam's proctor?"

"That crazy lady, yeah. Why?"

"Turns out, she was a student and victim of Orochimaru. She has the seal too, an older version but still. She's been helping out, and today we tried to push myself harder to get a feel of how much I can exert myself chakra-wise before the suppression seal starts coming undone. I… went a little too far, so we had to get back ASAP so Jiraiya could fix it."

Sakura slammed a fist on the counter, startling both boys and making all the bowls rattle loudly. "Sasuke-kun! You have to be more careful! This thing is dangerous! Ugh," she groaned, rubbing her face in frustration. "You and Naruto are going to make my hair go white before I get to twenty and you're not going to like the consequences."

Naruto laughed awkwardly before diving into his next bowl, using it as an excuse to not look at Sakura.

"…Sorry about that."

"Sorry, he says... wait. Wait a second. What?"

Naruto caught Sakura looking back-and-forth between him and Sasuke a couple times before he dared to raise his head. She seemed confused and shocked all at once, and the gears spinning inside her head were almost visible.

"Did… did I hear it wrong, or did you just say that a Jiraiya would fix your seal? A sealmaster named Jiraiya who works as a Konoha ninja…? No…"

Sasuke blinked, then looked at Naruto. "You didn't tell her?"

"What, we haven't met since I found out!" He scratched his head a bit, giving Sakura an uneasy smile. "Yeah… it's just who you're thinking, Sakura-chan. It's that Jiraiya."

The girl's jaw fell. She turned to Sasuke, who just nodded grimly, then she looked back at Naruto.

"You're being trained by a legendary ninja!? I.. I already thought us getting jonin-sensei of Kakashi-sensei's caliber was crazy, but this!?

"C-Calm down Sakura-chan…! It's not that big of a deal really."

"What do you mean, Naruto, he's—"

"He's a perverted bastard who was going to completely half-ass my training so he could have time to peep at women on the Hot Springs to get ideas for the next edition of those stupid porn books Kakashi-sensei reads."

"…"

Sakura's face shifted from many emotions. Confusion, shock, disgust, and finally, fury. "He's the one writing that shit?"

"Yeah," Sasuke confirmed. "I saw him autograph Kakashi-sensei's book. And he's every bit the pervert you'd expect the author to be, you should've seen him around Anko before she hurled snakes at him."

Naruto nodded a few times. "He's the worst! If it wasn't for Hinata setting him straight and yelling at him, man, things would get ugly at the finals. Now he spends the afternoon with us, but mostly just supervising things. We only really train together in the mornings."

Sakura opened her mouth, then closed it. "Wait. Hinata?"

"Oh yeah, you guys don't know it! I asked Hinata to help train me!"

"…Really?" Sasuke asked, frowning. "She lost to Neji."

That earned him a glower from Naruto. "I didn't forget that."

"No, no, I see what Naruto's thinking," Sakura shook her head. "Even if she lost to Neji, she's his best bet at getting used to fighting a Gentle Fist user."

"Hn. Fair enough. She's also much better than you at taijutsu," Sasuke concluded, going back to his food.

"Y-Yeah… she's giving me a run for my money. But I'm getting better! Plus the Pervy Sage—that's what I call him by the way—is pretty helpful when he decided to do anything. Actually takes the time to explain things nicely unlike Kakashi-sensei who just throws us to the wolves."

Sasuke grimaced as he ate.

"…Well that was a lot to take in," Sakura huffed, pushing her empty bowl away from her. "So he's… teaching you fuuinjutsu?"

"Nope. I don't think that's on the table. He's helping me with strategy, and a few ninjutsu. Though so far it's just a basic Wind jutsu."

"But any jonin could've done that," Sakura wondered. "Why bring a… oh."

"Yes," Sasuke replied, "but not every jonin can deal with Naruto's seal."

…Naruto closed his eyes and sighed.

It was time. Leave it to Sasuke to cut to the chase like that.

"Guys, just… lemme finish this last bowl here."

They nodded, and Naruto ate while his nerves bubbled up again. The conversation had flown easily until that point, so much that even bringing up Jiraiya hadn't brought him back to his internal panic from before. But now…

"Stop overthinking things."

…He smiled.

"So that will be all for today, kids?" Teuchi asked as he picked up the trio's empty bowls.

"Yup."

"Alright. If you change your minds, just call me! I'll be inside," the chef motioned to a door that led into Ichiraku's inner kitchen. "Feel free to hang out here for as long as you need."

Then offering one last nod and encouraging smile to his favorite customer, Teuchi left.

Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to face a worried Sakura.

"You promised us, Naruto, but… if you're still too uncomfortable, we can wait. Alright? We're not going to push you."

His eyes landed on Sasuke behind her, who nodded resolutely.

"…Okay."

Naruto took one last deep breath, and then began his tale.

"You guys know about what went down on the day I was born, right…?"

It took much longer than Naruto thought it would, but he was done… he gave them the truth—all that he knew, he shared with them. He bumbled over his words, nervous as he was, sometimes even backtracked as he realized he left an important detail behind, but it was done.

Everything was on the table now. The true outcome of the Fourth Hokage's fight with the strongest of the tailed beasts. The nature and origin of the seal in his belly. What the word jinchuuriki means. The law that prevented them from being told the truth by anyone but himself, and from spreading it to others. The source of his burst of power that allowed him to succeed where Sasuke had failed during their mission to wave. The effect Orochimaru's seal had on him.

Naruto hadn't ran away from telling the truth. But, as much as he hated himself for it, he still avoided Sakura and Sasuke's eyes as he spoke, afraid of what he'd see in there.

Yet, once it was done and there were no more words for him to hide behind, he knew he'd need to face them.

And thus, ever so slowly, Naruto raised his head and looked at them.

Sakura's eyes were wide, unbelieving and shining brightly, but a hand covered her mouth. Sasuke was looking down, his expression intense but…

Where was the hatred? The fear? The disgust?

Where?

"Naruto."

It was Sasuke. He still wasn't looking at him.

"Is this the reason almost every adult civilian seems to hate you so much?"

"…Yeah. Me pranking everyone did not help though," he laughed, and he thought he did a good job at masking his nervousness but what good it did if he was the only one laughing?

"And… and, this is why you live alone?" Sakura asked, her voice strained and weak.

"…Come again?"

Anger flashed across her green eyes. "I'm talking about the orphanages!" she yelled, voice shaky despite her volume. "Y-You were way too young, kids aren't kicked out to live on their own until they're older. The only other way to leave is being adopted! I'd always thought you were just kicked out for being a troublemaker!"

The orphanages.

If there was one thing Naruto did not want to remember in any shape or form, it was those hellholes. Even if his memories were shaky, maybe due to his young age, or from the things that happened… he didn't known.

He didn't want to know. To remember.

So he avoided her eyes and said nothing, staring at the counter.

"I see," he heard her mutter. "Everything… makes sense now."

There was a screech as Sakura pushed her chair away and got up.

Naruto let his head hang.

He knew that was it. She was leaving and Sasuke would follow and he had just mess—

Warmth.

He felt warmth all over his back, and two small arms encircled his waist holding him tight, freezing him in place. His back began to tremble, and there was wetness on his neck.

…He wasn't that stupid. He instantly knew what was happening: Sakura was hugging him from behind, crying. He was even hearing her sobs now.

But… why? What was going on!?

His gaze went sideways as if seeking Sasuke for guidance, and he found that his rival had taken Sakura's seat. The Uchiha's body language was weird, as if he wanted to do something but didn't know what.

"I-I'm sorry, Naruto! Y-You… you never even—" Sakura sniffled, hard, and broke into a defeated laugh. "This is…"

"Unfair," Sasuke completed for her, quietly.

Naruto couldn't take it.

"What the hell, guys!?" He turned away abruptly, making Sakura step back lest she got knocked down. "Did you two not listen to anything I said? At all!?"

His loud words made Sasuke and Sakura trade confused glances and he just couldn't take it.

His chakra flared. He got up in a hurry, lifted his jacket and shirt with one hand then jabbed a finger at his gut, at the ugly black markings that had just ruined everything.

"Don't you get it!? I have the Kyuubi inside me! The stupid monster fox that almost killed the entire village! Do you understand!?"

Now his voice was the one breaking apart.

"Why, why are you two still here!?"

It didn't make sense!

Iruka… Iruka had a clear reason why. He had seen way too much of himself in Naruto and ended up caring as a result. That made sense. Same for Hinata, to whom he was apparently something like a hero. It was easy to see why she didn't flip out at him once he knew that. He had lucked out with them both.

But he had known Sakura and Sasuke for longer. They had never, ever had much of a positive opinion about him. Even now, that they could tolerate him, he was sure that if he asked them he'd hear way more bad things than good.

It was incomprehensible. So, surely, they hadn't understood his words. He had bumbled his way through his explanation after all.

…There was no way they wouldn't get it now, and that realization made him sink on his chair again.

Yet Sakura only hid her face in her hands and sobbed louder.

And Sasuke? The next thing Naruto knew, he felt the Uchiha's hand on his shoulder, the same shoulder that was wet with Sakura's tears, and that touch drew Naruto's eyes to Sasuke's determined gaze.

He was the one that gave Naruto the answer he sought.

"Because we are your friends. And those who abandon their friends are worse than scum."

Something inside Naruto's chest clenched. His eyes shakily moved sideways to lock on to Sakura's tear-stained ones. She nodded strongly a couple times, her short bangs swinging with her motion.

'This… can't be real.'

A thought resurfaced in his mind once more.

"Stop overthinking things."

It… couldn't be that simple, could it?

With a loud sniff, Sakura wiped her eyes on her arm and drew closer to the boys, crouching near the space between them and placing a hand on one of his, which hung loosely by his side. She brought their hands to his thigh, just above a knee, and left them there.

"Naruto, we're not going to abandon you for something that was never your fault!"

"But—"

"Stop! Listen to me!" Sakura pleaded, her voice as loud as when she normally scolded him, but twisted by a sadness he had never expected from her.

"You're just a victim, Naruto! It's not our fault you have a bijuu sealed on you! We can't hate you because of it!"

"But everyone does!" he hiccuped. Paling, Naruto brought his free hand to his face and he found what he dreaded the most.

Tears. Great. Of all the people for him to cry in front of… well, at least it wasn't in front of her.

He almost missed Sakura scowling deeply at his rebuttal. "They hate you because they're idiots!"

"No," Sasuke objected. He wasn't meeting anyone's eyes anymore. "They hate you because you represent everything they lost. Because you are the living memory of the terror they faced that night thirteen years ago. They don't hate you, they hate what you represent."

"…Isn't that the same thing?" he asked, weekly.

Sasuke's gaze grew cold, reprimanding. "No."

"They don't know you, Naruto," Sakura said. "They don't know the boy that never gives up. That loves his village even if it hates him. That would risk his life to protect his friends. That would do all he could to help them become stronger."

"But we know that Naruto," Sasuke affirmed, and Naruto felt the other boy's grip on his shoulder tighten.

"Y-You guys," he choked and damn those tears. He wiped his face clean but seconds later and he was back at square one.

"You saw me at my lowest, Naruto," Sasuke said. "Even if it was an illusion, that day with Kurenai-sensei… all I cared for was my revenge. Hurting and killing my brother, like an animal. Nothing else mattered. You saw who I am, but you still accepted me."

"And me," Sakura sniffled again. "You saw who I truly was that day too. A weakling who couldn't do anything in a fight. Someone that never really took seriously the idea of being a ninja. Who preferred to bury her head into books and daydream about dating while still having the gall to belittle you for trying so hard to get stronger. A dumb coward that let her friends get killed without lifting a finger to help. This goes against everything that you are, doesn't it?"

…Naruto had no words. It was taking everything he had to hold himself from crying.

Sakura offered him a trembling smile, the best one she appeared to manage. "We're not going to leave you for this. Right, Sasuke-kun?"

"Right." The reply had been instant.

Naruto closed his eyes in an attempt to get himself back in control.

It took him many shaky breaths before he felt just steady enough to face his friends again… before he could face the reality that, yes, there was hope.

His blue eyes darted from Sasuke's black ones, and Sakura's wet green ones.

"…Aren't you two scared? What if the Kyuubi ever breaks loose?"

Sasuke shook his head, but Sakura looked away.

"How could I not?" she asked. "But… it was the Fourth that made that seal, right? He was known to be legendary with fuuinjutsu. And he was taught by Jiraiya who'd be watching over you. I'm sure the Third is no slouch when it comes to seals either. If they all gave you their stamp of approval, w-well… I have to trust that thing works, right?"

Sasuke nodded. "Do either of you remember the story of the First Hokage's final fight with Madara Uchiha?"

Naruto straightened up. "I do, I do! At the Valley of the End!"

Sakura looked pensive. "Madara used the Kyuubi in that fight, if I remember the story correctly."

"He did. It appears that the Sharingan can subdue even a being as mighty as the Kyuubi."

Naruto's eyes went wide. "You mean… we're put on a team together and with Kakashi-sensei because of that?

"I think so. Ask the Hokage," Sasuke shrugged.

It… made a scary amount of sense.

"Man, that means if we failed his genin test, we'd get him again next year anyway. His test would got from the hardest to the easiest because he told us exactly why we failed!"

"...What a random observation, Naruto," Sakura frowned. The girl then sighed and gave him another smile, now far more composed than before. "Thanks for opening up to us. I know it was hard to do it."

Sasuke said nothing, but his hand moved from Naruto's shoulder to Sakura's hand, which still held Naruto's, and then he nodded encouragingly.

There was a glimmer of understanding in Sasuke's eyes. Naruto knew his rival had suffered deeply from what befell his family. His pain was not something Naruto could possibly imagine. Sasuke knew loss, whereas Naruto only knew emptiness.

But as different as their traumas might have been, there was common ground. Naruto felt it, too, in the pull of the invisible thread tying their fates together.

Naruto couldn't help but beam at them both. "I'm the one that has to say thanks here, Sakura-chan. And—"

He was cut off.

By himself.

"Oh my gods don't tell me you're still hungry."

Naruto looked away from Sakura's disbelieving gaze and Sasuke's knowing smirk. "Hey, cut me some slack! This conversation was pretty draining, you know?"

The girl laughed a little as she got up, and took the seat to Naruto's other side. "To be fair, I know. I can go for one more round. Sasuke-kun?"

"Sure. I'm in."

And so they called Teuchi one last time, and when their food was finally ready, Naruto realized he hadn't tasted ramen that good since the day Iruka gave him his headband.

---

The morning after, Naruto realized there was a small, meaningless little detail that he perhaps, maybe, probably should've mentioned to his teammates.

"Alright, kid. I'm done."

Naruto was lying down on the grassy ground under a tree's shade, without a shirt so that Jiraiya could modify his seal as needed. Hovering nearby was Hinata, who watched the scene warily. They didn't meet up until after lunch, but that day was an exception.

It was the day Jiraiya had planned for them to start messing with the Kyuubi's chakra. Hinata had insisted to be there, and knowing it was better than letting her worries fester, Naruto couldn't say no to her.

"Ah well. I don't feel any different," Naruto said, putting his shirt on again. He thought about putting on his orange jacket, but it was hot enough already so he didn't.

"I'd be surprised if you did," Jiraiya replied. He remained sitting cross-legged on the grass.

"Okay. So, how do we start?"

"Hmm..."

Jiraiya closed his eyes for a few moments, humming in thought.

Then, finally, he opened his eyes again and stared deep into Naruto's eyes, piercing his soul.

"Beats me."

"Gaaah! What the hell, Pervy Sage!?"

The old pervert cackled. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Well, sort of. All I did to you was open up the seal just enough that communication with the bijuu is possible and so that you could, theoretically, draw a small amount of its chakra. Actually getting there… that can vary from jinchuuriki to jinchuuriki. And stop calling me that!"

Naruto groaned, letting his head sink.

"So, um," Hinata piped up, "is this dependent on the seal?"

"It should be!" Jiraiya clapped approvingly. "Unfortunately the past Kyuubi jinchuurikis all had different seals, so there's almost nothing to indicate how Naruto can get some of the Kyuubi's chakra for himself."

"…Almost nothing?" she repeated.

"Yes, that's the keyword!" Jiraiya then brought a notebook. "I've been going over my notes on the seal in question, based on that I have quite a few theories we should be testing throughout the day and—"

"Hey."

"Don't interrupt me," Jiraiya grumbled at Naruto.

"You said take chakra, right? What about borrowing?"

The Sannin just looked at him as if he had grown a second head. "You mean, you're thinking of getting the Kyuubi's permission to use its chakra? A willing trade, rather than something forced?"

Naruto nodded twice.

Jiraiya whacked him with his notebook.

"That's dumb even for you!"

"Hey!"

"Yeah, no, sorry kid. I'm calling it as I see it. You can't be seriously thinking of getting the most volatile bijuu, the one that was known for bearing the most hatred for humans of all of them back when it was free—never mind now—to cooperate with you."

"So what if I am!? I mean, come on... like, I know the stories, I've heard about how he's this big bad demon fox. Sure. But he already helped me once. If it wasn't for him I'd never understand what the heck Orochimaru did to me, or even realize he did something."

Jiraiya sighed. "Knowing you, you'd just soldier on blindly unless someone in the known miraculously noticed your seal acting up and only then you'd seek help. Good thing that didn't happen, I suppose."

"That does sound like something Naruto-kun would do," Hinata commented almost off-handedly. The hint of critique was poorly veiled.

"Hinataaaa," he whined pathetically. "You're supposed to be on my side."

"Sorry, Naruto-kun!" she giggled a bit, shamelessly unapologetic.

"Hmph. Anyway! So, the Kyuubi helped me once. It really didn't have to do that, so… I dunno, if we're gonna be stuck together, wouldn't it be better if we are actually working together?"

"Maybe if we weren't talking about a calamity in four legs that, surely, is very eager to dupe the naïve, stupid brat it got sealed in so it can escape and ruin us all. Which, oh wait, we are!"

Naruto groaned, but he didn't have much of a counter-argument. "I'll feel really slimy by just, you know, mugging it all the time… kinda like that Gatou bastard we met during that bridge mission in Wave."

Jiraiya groaned right back at him, but Hinata began to speak before he could retort.

"Jiraiya-sama, can you think about it a little more? I-I mean, Naruto-kun is aware of the dangers. He's not going to make any deals with the Kyuubi, just ask for help. Naruto-kun could very well take his power, but by showing a willingness to respect him, perhaps that might appease the Kyuubi?"

"…It would be helpful if you two were at least in neutral terms," Jiraiya admitted with a heavy sigh, shaking his head. "And it'd be the fastest route so I can get out of here early today, so let's try it!"

That earned him a glower from Hinata, but she said nothing and Jiraiya purposefully avoided the girl's gaze.

"Well then! Talking with your bijuu? From my research—stop looking at me like that, you brats!"

Jiraiya cleared his throat and started over.

"From my research, that's something a little more universal among jinchuuriki."

"So you actually know how to do it?"

"I can get you started, but you're not going to like it," the Toad Sage promised. "…It's meditation."

Naruto wanted to scream. "You're kidding me, right!?"

"Nope."

"But that'd be useless! I can't meditate during a fight!"

To that, Jiraiya gave him a questioning look. "I thought the idea was to ask the Kyuubi for, let's say permission, to use his power whenever. You'd just talk to him this once."

"…That sounds like a better idea, yeah," Naruto laughed in embarrassment, then his shoulders fell as he let a miserable groan. "But seriously, meditation? Just awesome."

Even with her hand covering her mouth, Naruto could hear his training partner giggling softly at his misery.

He wondered if he was the only one among his friends that knew the cruel, horrible girl that hid under that shy, modest façade. She seemed to have fooled even her own team, but not Naruto! He made sure to give her his best pout, which only appeared to make it funnier for her.

Unfortunately, he had a job to do.

He got into a comfortable sitting position, eyes closed just like Guy-sensei had kind-of taught him.

"Focus a little of your chakra around the seal area," Jiraiya instructed. "You said you met with the Kyuubi once while you were knocked out, so picture that place and tune out everything else…"

"…"

Naruto opened his eyes, lips parted as he was just about to ask a question, only to notice…

He was wet.

"Wait, already?"

It was that sewer again. Just as dark, damp and wide as he remembered.

…Wide?

"Well, well…!"

Naruto jumped, by some miracle keeping his scream buried deep in his own throat.

Slowly, he turned around.

"If it isn't the brat that oh-so-kindly hosts me. I see you managed to fix our seal. So, to what do I owe the pleasure, worm?" the Fox sneered, his blood-red slit eyes gleaming fearsomely in the darkness beyond the massive cage that separated them.

Naruto gulped. The metal bars still looked like they'd easily burst apart if the Fox clawed at them.

'Here's hoping this goes well!'

…It did not go well.

---

A/N

Welp. We're done!

I ended up changing my mind about keeping the Kyuubi revelation for Chapter 33. It was thematically more appropriate in this chapter, I just hope I did the moment justice. It bums me out we never had this kind of moment between Naruto and other characters in canon.

Maybe for some that moment was overshadowed by Hinata getting more spotlight than I originally intended though, between Jiraiya majorly pissing her off and the basically-a-date she baited Naruto into going with her. This cinnamon bun scene was something I wanted to make for a long time, but it was originally going to be further down the timeline. But he needed a pick-me-up now, so I thought "why not?".

The cream mustache had not been part of the plan though. I wish I had the art skills to drawn it, lol. I love that part!

Next chapter! We're gonna be going over the last seeds that need to be planted for the actual Chunin Exams Finals arc. More Neji stuff, and very much needed Orochimaru and especially Gaara stuff. I know I've been neglecting our poor sand boy, but that is going to change. There will also be fireworks! Hehehe…

Normally this is where I'd beg for you all to review and… well, that's what I'll do but with an added twist!

I'm thinking about changing this fic's name and I want YOU to help me come up with something! The current name… it's way too big, and with the story becoming so much bigger than its original concept I feel a reference to Hinata's confession in the Pain arc is a fair bit misleading at this point in time.

I want a name that is Hinata-themed. That's the only rule! I try to give multiple people some spotlight, but in the end, this is primarily supposed to be her story. I have some names in mind already but I wanted some suggestions from you guys, since you're awesome! (Or to argue in favor of keeping the current name)

So yeah, please drop a review and share your ideas with me! And maybe your thoughts about this chapter too? You guys know I love to hear about these things!

See you all next chapter!

---

Guest Review Answers

Guest that was eager for the training chapter (May 2nd) - Yeah, sorry about Yamato. I do hope you enjoyed this chapter and the one that will come next then! Thanks for the review!

Guest that gave Hiashi a sword (May 2nd) - This is all part of Hiashi's master plan. Look up Hiashi Hyuuga - Master Eugenicist!

Sarcasm Rocks - Pretty sure I didn't reply to this part for your in-account review so... maybe? Kind-off? The problem is i can't release chapters at the same pace as the anime/manga...

Piero - Ironic, isn't it? And this was wholly intentional. Naruto and Hinata are meant to be each other's pillars

Guest that reviewed every chapter til 17 - Thank you for the many reviews and the high praise! Especially for chapters 6 and 8! It always amaze me when people are able to stomach the stuff between chapters 6 and 17...

Stuff to Ask: Speaking as a reader, making an account was one of the best things I ever did. Especially since it works on the mobile app and makes it ultra easy to read stuff on the go without internet. As for the review itself, thank you! Anko is indeed gonna be stronger, and why didn't she ever talk with Sasuke in canon? Because Kishimoto is terrible at making good use of his many characters, unfortunately. I feel blessed that the few times he decided to use Hinata they were such strong moments, other characters weren't that lucky...