Chapter 15: A Hinata Inquiry.

Hinata had clung to his arm for most of the morning, but now they had stopped for lunch and she was sitting across from him. Naruto had dreams of what life would be like if he and Hinata dated, and it wasn't too bad... He rather liked the idea actually.

"What are you having?" she asks, pulling him from his wandering thoughts.

"I was thinking the sesame seed chicken sounds good." She replies, smiling at him. "How about you?"

"I'm leaning more towards a big bowl of pork teriyaki." He says.

"Sounds good, I may just sneak a bit from you when you're not looking. Be careful." She says, laughing.

He smiles back, thinking about how cute she is and how much she has changed over the past few years… Hinata looks up from the menu.

"You know, we haven't learned much about each other. What do you want to know about me?" she asks.

"Well, how about when's your birthday?" he asks her, looking into her eyes.

"Pff, I know how men think. What you really want to know about are these." She says, looking down slightly.

Naruto turns red and doesn't deny it.

"Men are so easy!" Hinata laughs, as the waitress appears at their table.

"Hey, don't generalize men." Naruto declares.

"Why? The author does it to women all the time." Hinata says, thinking back on all the times so far.

"You're so mean." Naruto replies, in mock severity.

Hinata sticks out her tongue at him and laughs. They sit there for a while, talking about various things, when the food finally comes.

"Well, our food's here, let eat!" Naruto exclaims, his mouth watering.

"Hinata shakes her head, laughs again, and picks up her fork. They eat quickly, and Hinata heads outside as Naruto pays. He uses the money Tsunade gave him for the mission.

"That was pretty good, we'll have to stop there on the way back." Hinata says, clearly happy.

Naruto suddenly get this weird feeling that he's being watched. As they climb higher into the mountains, the feeling persists, growing stronger as they go. Then all of a sudden the feeling disappears.

"Did you feel that?" Naruto says.

"Feel what?" Hinata replies, in an almost airy, carefree way.

"It felt like we were being watched for a while now, and all of a sudden it stopped." He says, peering around.

"I haven't felt anything. I don't know what you're talking about." She says, looking confused.

"I haven't felt anything. I don't know what you're talking about." She says, looking confused.

Out of nowhere, a shuriken spins down towards Naruto. He raises his arm in defense, but it slices right through and implants itself in his chest. He falls to the ground, a pool of blood forming around him. Hinata jumps back out of the clearing, crying and pulling a kunai from her hip case.

"Why! Why did this have to happen! Whoever did this is gonna pay!" she says to herself, wiping the tears from her face.

Two ninja come from the trees and check Naruto's body. They look at his headband and check through his stuff. Hinata searches for the third member of the group, but to no avail. She doesn't want to squander any chakura yet before she knows how strong they are. As she gets ready to move, Naruto's body disappears and is replaced by the real Naruto! He has a kunai in both hands, one pointing at each of the two ninja's throats. They freeze, surprised that he's still alive.

"What the hell did I do to you?" he asks them, giving them the evil eye.

The two ninja are still frozen in place, but one replies, "We thought you were our instructor. He said that if he caught us during the training today, he'd kill us. So we thought we'd catch him by surprise and attack first." The other one nods his head slightly, his eye still on the kunai at his throat. Hinata now sees the third ninja of the group sneaking around in the bushes, just out of earshot of the conversation. She decides to stop her before any real harm befalls Naruto before she can get her hands on him!

Hinata sneaks up behind the girl and says, "Boo!"

The girl jumps three feet into the air and Hinata falls to the ground laughing.

"What the hell!" the girl says, calming down a bit.

"Why don't you come with me and we'll figure everything out." Hinata says, a smile still running across her face.

The girl nods her agreement, still a little miffed at being scared so easily. She doesn't have a problem listening to Hinata after seeing the convincing smile she's getting and the pointy kunai that Hinata is still holding.

Naruto and Hinata listen to the full story of the three young ninja and learn that they are actually from the Cloud Country. Hinata and Naruto decide to let them 'join' their little group as guides. Hinata asks them to go a little up the trail so she can talk to Naruto privately. They head off, still in view and the two boys huddle together laughing as the girl sits down against a tree.

They see Hinata yelling and hit Naruto on the back of the head. As Naruto and Hinata come up to them, they see the two boys laughing even harder and the younger one wiggling his pinky to the older one while looking over at Naruto, who completely ignores them.

"Now you guys are gonna be our guides. We don't want any funny stuff, or people will be liable to lose certain valuable appendages. Naruto says, giving a meaningful stare at the boys.

The two boys straighten up and look scared. Naruto leads with the three ninja behind, and Hinata bringing up the rear. Hinata still finds a few things odd, but she keeps it to herself for now.

The rest of the day is uneventful, and they stop to rest for the night at a little inn at a village they happen to walk through. The three ninja, whose names are Fai, Aeris, and Uryuu, stay in one room and Hinata and Naruto in adjoined rooms a little down the hall. Everyone sleeps well, and the next day, Aeris pulls Hinata to the side and asks…

"I can get you to the Cloud Country 2 whole days faster if you want." She says.

"How?" asks Hinata.

"There's a trail that leads straight up the mountain rather then around it. It's a little more dangerous, but it's a lot faster." She says.

"Well, show it to us when we get there and we'll decide then." Hinata replies.

Today, Aeris, Fai, and Uryuu lead the way and Naruto and Hinata stay back so it's easier to talk. Naruto and Hinata tell each other all about each other till they have everything they think they'll need memorized. They come up to the trail that Aeris mentioned, and see what the three ninja meant. It was pretty steep, but it was definitely possible. They look ahead at the final leg of their journey and then at each other.

"There's only one way to get there." Hinata says, starting her way up the mountain path.

"Yeah , you're right." Naruto agrees, following her.

They start walking and a thought strikes Naruto.

"Hey I just remembered, you never answered my question." Naruto says.

"What about my boobs?" she asks, smiling again. "They're 36C."

"No, actually I meant about your birthday." He replies.

"Oh…" she says.

(End Chapter 15)

Will Naruto and Hinata make it through the gates?

Can they complete their mission?

Who would have known Hinata would grow to be so busty?

The next installment:

Chapter 16: The Hearts Path.

Contest Time:

If you can correctly name the Anime/Manga/Games that the three younger ninja are from, I'll let you ask me any TWO (2) questions you want to ask about me or the story or any upcoming stories in progress. Just send your answers to me along with the question you want to ask. DO NOT post answers in the review section, they

WILL NOT be counted!!! Send me a PM and Good luck! The contest ends when chapter 16 is posted, the winners will be announced at the end of the next chapter. There CAN be more then one winner.

And partial answers will not be considered! It's all or none!

So get crackin' people!

-The Author-

Quick Authors Note

Chapter 16 is giving me some problems so it may take a little longer then normal to get out. So you have to wait, but at the same time this will give you more time to get the answers to the contest. So… it's kind of a double-edged sword. I may even have one more contest after this one. So keep your eyes open!!!!