Naruto

Yondaime's Heir, The House Uzumaki

"That's him, that's Uzumaki…."

"The Kyuubi brat! He's the one who did it?"

"Yep, Hokage Tsunade made the announcement last night…"

"Who would've guessed it…the one we all least expected ended up saving us all…"

Naruto could help but smirk grimly as his ears picked up the whispered conversations of the villagers that night. He had been quite happy to note that when he passed, people didn't whisper nasty rumors or death threats behind his back anymore. Oh sure, a few of the older people still seemed cold to him, but he considered their indifference an improvement to the outright loathing they held for him before. The villagers seemed to finally understand that maybe…just maybe…there was more to Naruto than just the sentient demon sealed in his body.

"Hn… you'd think these people would be bowing before you… you saved their ignorant arses, even after all the crap they gave you."

"Kyuubi…while you do have a point, I don't care. I don't expect I'll ever gain as much respect as any other shinobi with my prowess. I can thank you for that."

"What can I say…ruining lives is what I do. However…no matter how much I hate to admit it, you have gotten me to respect you kid. I just think it's time you deserved you due reward for all you've done for these idiots."

"Aww, I didn't know you cared, Kyuubi. You're getting soft in your old age."

"Zip it, you little snot."

Naruto chuckled to himself. Kyuubi always liked getting attention, even if it meant having to do slightly improper things to do so. His travels eventually led him across the compound of the Hyuuga family, the most influential clan in the entire village.

"Second most influential, kid. The Fourth Hokage's house still beats them."

"Oh, for the love of… would you let this whole thing with the Fourth go, Kyuubi!"

"Let it go! That idiot Hokage sealed me in a mere mortal boy with no style, subtlety, or grace whatsoever to live out the rest of my now tortuous existence! That's not easy to get over, kid! And don't think I haven't tried!"

Naruto tuned out the demon again. But again, the fox did have a point…even though the Fourth was long since dead, if a blood heir of his were to emerge somehow…well, that person would have a full ride into the Hokage throne, not to mention become head of what was, and will continue to be, the most influential house in the village, if not the whole Fire Country to boot.

But up to now, the Fourth was not known to have had any offspring. Hell, nobody knew if he ever even married when he was alive. He died fairly young, sacrificed for his cause at only 30 years old or so. Naruto looked on into the Hyuuga compound, and felt a small burst of chakra coming from the training grounds. At first he wondered who would be training at this hour of the night. He then sensed the chakra again; it was familiar to him…

"Looks like your angel is kicking the crap out of the wood posts in her yard…again."

Naruto didn't respond, instead he leapt over the gates and quietly snuck into the compound. He seemed to know the way to the training grounds by heart, after all…he had done this for three weeks straight now.

He looked into the training yard and smiled, Kyuubi was right.

Hinata Hyuuga was outside; practicing her Jyuken strikes on the wood posts, now beat up severely from years of punishment from the skilled kunoichi. Naruto smiled softly as he sat in a nearby tree, hidden amongst the shadows, watching Hinata render her wood opponents to all but sawdust. He chuckled lightly as she began to close off the imaginary chakra points in the targets, using the 64 Points of Heaven technique that Neji had taught her. Naruto preferred to call this technique "The 64 Pokes of Agonizing Death", because that's what it felt like to him last time Hinata used it on him in a training session gone crazy. He decided to make his presence known…

Hinata had just begun her real punishment on her last wooden post, when her head snapped up at the sound of a kunai hitting wood. She saw a lone kunai lodged above her head in the wood target, with a tiny note attached to it. She smiled lightly and took off the note, smiling even wider when she saw what it said. "Sorry I'm late. Look up."

Hinata looked up again and jumped slightly when she saw Naruto standing on top of the wood dummy, grinning like an idiot, a playful glint in his eye. Had it not been for the fact that he had been sneaking in to secretly tutor her for the past three weeks, she probably would've attacked and most likely hurt Naruto, badly. She looked forward to nights now; it meant two things to her…

It meant that she could get advice and training from a man who was now easily the most skilled shinobi in the entire Fire Country. And in return she would also give him training and advice.

It meant that she would be able to spend more quality time, alone and away from prying eyes, with the previously mentioned "most skilled shinobi in the Fire Country." (and yet in all that time, she still had not been able to tell Naruto how she really felt)

Hinata was thankful to have these training meetings with Naruto, she felt as if she was finally getting to know him as a real person, not just some unreachable, god like idol that she fawned over in the academy, or watched from afar while he trained alone. She had gotten to know a side of Naruto that nobody else saw, not even his own team. She saw his vulnerable side, the side that wasn't so loud and bold and striving for glory. Deep down, she knew the pain Naruto had gone through in his life…after all… being the vessel for a bloodthirsty demon could never be considered as "living easy."

She remembered when Naruto had first confessed to her about the Kyuubi, how it had been inside him the whole time and how that was the reason that nobody seemed to like him, outside of his team, his sensei (whether it be Jiraiya or Kakashi at the time), and the Hokage. She was undoubtedly horrified at first, I mean, who wouldn't be? What self respecting woman wouldn't be shocked to discover that your secret crush has a sentient demon sealed in his body? But she realized in an instant that it didn't matter.

Naruto was a person, not just a vessel. If he weren't a person, he wouldn't have been so honest with her, and opened up so much to her. He had a heart as big a mountain, and he was still the same handsome, brave, bold man she had fallen for so long ago. Demon or no, Naruto was Naruto. Nothing would ever change that.

She snapped out of her thoughts when Naruto leapt off the wood dummy and landed next to her, amazingly without making a sound. "N-Naruto-kun…it's g-good to see you again."

"It's great to see you too, Hinata-chan! So, you ready for tonight's lesson?"

"H-hai, Naruto-kun. I'm ready."

Naruto motioned for her to sit down across from him, and they began their warm-up, meditation. This allowed them to focus on their chakra, allowing it to start to flow a little more freely which would make for faster training. However, Hinata had now taken a habit of using this time to focus more on the man sitting across from her than focusing on chakra.

She would focus enough to start up a steady flow of chakra, then would sneakily open her eyes and gaze at the object of her affection. The years had definitely not been kind to him spiritually, but they were more than generous to him physically. He had a strong profile and a lean, muscular build, perfect for a shinobi of such high prowess. His spiky blonde hair still flew messily about his head. And even though they were closed, Hinata could imagine his eyes. Those blue, crystalline orbs always shot her concentration, and she never seemed to mind in the least. She loved his eyes, they seemed to shine with some inner fire, a hidden store of strength and hope that she longed to have herself. She still found it difficult to speak without stuttering in front of him, although she was good about not fainting when they touched anymore. Instead she would just blush as impressively and her improved stutter would falter for a moment.

Little did she know, Naruto was using his meditation time to do the exact same thing. He had found himself in the odd habit recently of spacing into daydreams whenever Hinata entered his mind. He had to admit, she had definitely changed over the past six years. From a shy, tiny twelve year old girl, Hinata had blossomed into a mature, beautiful, 18 year old young woman. Although she was no less shy for it, Naruto amusedly noted. Her dark indigo hair now reached just past her shoulders, it was straight and it shone in the dim light of the stars above. She still wore a somewhat baggy coat, but Naruto could tell that her figure had matured quite nicely as well. He fought to keep a blush out of his face when thinking about that particular aspect of her…

But even with all that, Naruto found that it was her eyes that attracted him the most. When he was younger, he never really saw much except a pale shade of pearl, but always had a feeling that something was hiding underneath the empty face…and boy, was he right. Every time he looked in her eyes now, he saw the same shade of pearl, and yet it had changed entirely. It was no longer pale and empty, but deep and glimmering, like moonlight on the water. There was some mysterious energy in those eyes, an energy that made him feel calm, relaxed, but at the same time exhilarated beyond all comprehension.

He dared to open his eyes to catch a glance, but noticed Hinata doing the same to him. They both blushed furiously and their eyes snapped shut again, a fierce blush creeping across their faces. Naruto coughed nervously and said, "Right…I think we've had enough warm-ups. Now it's time for me to teach you one of my most powerful jutsu."

"H-hai, Naruto-kun. W-what are you going t-to teach me?"

"A move that is easily one of the most powerful jutsu imaginable…the Rasengan."

Hinata's eyes went wide and she paled slightly, "B-but…you said you weren't going to t-teach me the Rasengan f-for at least another two m-months!" Naruto could plainly see that she was nervous and chuckled slightly.

"Yes, I did. But I also did not foresee how quickly you would learn what I had to teach you! I expected to be spending a good month or two teaching you how to master the kage bunshin no jutsu! But you picked it up and had it down and mastered within the past three weeks! I've seen you practicing your little heart out, and I know you are ready for this."

Hinata bit her lip, she still wasn't sure. "Hinata-chan, trust me, if anybody can do this, you can. I'm going to be honest with you, I've seen you train and practice jutsu, and you have larger chakra reserves that most other jonin twice our age! You have more than enough to be able to use the Rasengan and still stand and fight afterwards."

"A-are you…are you sure, Naruto-kun?"

"Positive, Hinata-chan."

Hinata smiled in spite of her nerves, and nodded, indicating she was ready.

"Alright, Hinata-chan, here's how we're going to go about this…."

Naruto knew that Hinata's control over chakra was superb; it would be the only way to perform her Jyuken style of combat. But he was still surprised by the speed in which she was able to create her first Rasengan. "C'mon Hinata-chan, focus…you can do this, I know you can!"

Hinata screwed her face in concentration, her fingers clenching as a small light began to form in the palm of her hand. Before long, a spinning sphere of pale blue chakra had formed in her hands, and it sparked with spikes in energy violently. "You don't need that much chakra Hinata-chan…take it easy…just focus on concentrating enough to do damage, not so much that you'll incinerate your foe."

Hinata's form relaxed slightly and the ball became sharper and clearer, it didn't spark anymore. "Alright Hinata-chan…you see your target…now let him have it!" Hinata turned to the last wood dummy in the yard, praying to the gods that she didn't screw up in front of Naruto. She channeled her chakra into her legs and launched at the target, yelling loudly as she rammed the sphere of chakra into the dead center of the dummy.

The already weakened wood dummy splintered and broke apart, a good chunk of it flying backwards like a bullet, lodging itself deeply in a nearby boulder. Hinata panted for breath, smiling weakly at her work. Naruto leapt up into the air and hollered loudly, "THAT WAS SO AWESOME!" he immediately remembered that he wasn't supposed to be there as a voice boomed from inside the house, "WHO IS THERE! INTRUDERS WILL BE PUNISHED!"

"Naruto-kun, get out of here quickly, before my father catches you here!" Naruto didn't need telling twice, he flashed Hinata a smile and said quietly, "Way to go Hinata-chan, I'm really proud of you." Hinata blushed impressively and smiled as Naruto disappeared in a flash of smoke. Hiashi and Neji burst from the house, the older of the two yelling, "Hinata, what on earth was that sound! Where is the intruder?"

"T-that…uhhh…that was me!"

"It was a man's voice."

"O-oh yeah…ummm…" She then faked a hacking cough and tried to keep her voice as low and deep as possible. "That w-was me…I think I'm c-coming down with something…I-I'm sorry to have woken you, father…and you too Neji-nee-san." Hiashi snorted angrily and stalked back inside the house, not noticing that Neji did not follow.

"Hinata-sama, are you all right?"

"Y-yes…I think so…"

"What on earth…what happened to that target! Hinata-sama, what has Naruto-sama been teaching you!"

"A lot