"Thinking hard Hinata-chan?"

Hinata let a small smile grace her delicate face as she answered as boldly as she could.

"S…Someone has to make up for your hardly thinking at all Naruto-kun"

Naruto grimaced and clutched his heart as though he had been stabbed.

"OUCH! Burned by Hinata."

Hinata was about to apologize and explain that she didn't know what had come over her when she saw that he was grinning again.

"Well, if your done insulting me Hinata-chan I was about to ask if you were terribly busy today."

Although the room suddenly felt far to warm, Hinata managed a small smile of her own.

"There is nothing that I would mind missing Naruto-kun."

Hinata smiled, as soon as she and naurto had met up he had invited her out for dinner again. Despite the gentle teasing that she had gotten about it, Hinata had accepted. Here they sat several hours later both swapping stories and experiences, Naruto still did most of the talking, but something had changed the night before, and whatever it was had left Hinata with a new found sense of courage. Enough so that her stutter had nearly disappeared, in fact she had managed to engage in a little bit of minor bantering for what was probably the first time in her life.

----Flashback----

Hinata had just sat down across the table from Naruto, and surprisingly, instead of sending a serving girl to the table, Old man Ichiraku had walked over personally to welcome them.

"Good afternoon Milady Hyuuga, Fancy seeing you here. Why I believe that the last time you came into this shop was when young Uzumaki was still with us. How are you on this fine day?"

Hinata, for all of her self-control, couldn't help but smile. She had first come in several years ago while following Naruto around, and thankfully old man Ichiraku had been kind enough to take her order without comment, even when she hadn't given him a specific type of Raman to make for her. Over the following weeks he had noticed that either shortly before she arrived or shortly after she did, Naruto would show up, and after a couple of months he had asked her if she wanted to talk about it. It had been the start of a mutual friendship as he gave her advice on Naruto, and she offered suggestions for expanding his now thriving business, as well as lending insight to the marketing world.

"Good afternoon Ichiraku-sama it has indeed been far to long since I came last. How's business?"

"About as good as I could expect. How are you doing? I know that Naruto's death hit you particularly hard."

"I'm doing much better."

"And who is this young man?"

Hinata had managed to wink at him without Naruto seeing

"Why this is my new boyfriend."

Naruto, who had been drinking a glass of water at the time tried taking a surprised breath at that comment, and ended up inhaling half the glass.

"Hmmm I see" replied Ichiraku with a grin "does this mean that your father has finally dropped the threat of torturing the first person to lay hands on you?"

"Oh no, Father would never go back on his word. My boyfriend here has decided that it just doesn't matter to him."

Naruto had managed to get his breath back by this point, and had (Suprisingly) managed to figure out that they were teasing him; therefore in his mind the two of them were now fair game. Turning to face Hinata he schooled his face into a mask of calm.

"But of course most beautiful Hinata-Chan. Even five minutes with you is worth far more than anything your father could do to me, after all are we not but fools on this fleeting earth? Doomed to follow the yearning of our hearts? My dearest Hinata, let us wait no longer but leave this dreary land behind us..."

Hinata of course was blushing like the sunset. And the twinkle in Naruto's eye indicated that he was about to press his advantage farther when Ichiraku spoke up again.

"Excellent news young man. Enjoy your time while you can. The last I hear old man Hyuuga was threatening to make Hinata's first suitor a Eunuch."

Naruto Winced rather spectacularly and then paled. Ichiraku had managed to keep his laughter hidden until he had gotten back into the kitchen before he bust out laughing. It had taken nearly five minutes to fill an order that usually took one.

----End flashback----

Hinata smiled as Naruto wound down. He had known for a while now that he didn't have her full attention, but he had kept talking anyway as he kept track of the small smiles flickering across her face. After several moments of silence in which Naruto observed Hinata's slightly glazed eyes, Hinata herself finally realized that he had stopped talking, and blushed slightly in embarrassment. Naruto smiled.

"Got a lot on your mind?"

"Um… Not all that much, just thinking."

"About?"

A ghost of a smile graced her lips again

"Earlier today."

Naruto frowned slightly

"Yes about that… I have a question."

Hinata raised an eyebrow

"And what would that be?

Naruto shifted in his seat, slightly uncomfortable

"Err… Your dad wouldn't really… um… you know… would he?"

Hinata tried puzzling out what he was talking about for a moment when she suddenly understood.

"No Naruto-kun, I really doubt that my dad could get away with THAT. Maiming you perhaps, but not that."

Naruto sagged back in relief.

"That's good to know… out of curiosity. Why did you call me your boyfriend?"

Hinata had the good grace to blush again

"Well… um… mainly to see how you'd react."

Naruto chuckled under his breath

"And was my reaction satisfactory"

For the first time in history Hinata's smile could have been called Predatory

"Oh most definitely!"

Suddenly realizing what she had said, Hinata went red to the roots of her hair again. Smiling Naruto waved for the bill, and when Ichiraku brought it over Naruto once again paid for both his meal and Hinata's.

"Naruto?"

"Hmm?"

"Why do you keep paying for my meals?"

Naruto gave her a rather sly grin

"That's what boyfriends are supposed to do isn't it?"

Hinata's blush deepened a little further, but she managed to mutter just loud enough for Naruto to hear

"Well, I guess men are good for something after all"

Naruto's face momentarily registered shock before he broke out into a wide grin

"Ouch… whatever happened to my shy little Hinata-Chan?"

Hinata smiled back, and then in a rather bold move, looped her arm through his

"Now that I'm escorting a known troublemaker around I have found that I need to be a little more assertive than usual."

Itachi frowned as his eyes swept over the barren room in his old house, and he hissed under his breath when he realized that it had been empty for several days.

Where are you hiding Ototo? I haven't given you permission to leave our house yet.

"Hey Itachi! Itachi!"

Itachi frowned at the rather arrogant Kisame grinning at him from the door

"You aren't going to believe the rumors going around this town"

Shikamaru sat quite still, sounds of his pursuers had long since faded away, and he was now able to simply sit and think for a moment, something that had been coming increasingly difficult recently.

What on earth is going on here? Ever since I kissed Ino I havn't been able to focus worth a damn. Every time I try, I start thinking about how soft her lips were, I start remembering the slight taste of strawberries that her chap stick left. I only kissed her to make her shut up… right?

"Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru started so violently that he nearly fell out of the tree. Clutching his now racing heart he turned to face the person who startled him

Speak of the devil herself

"For Kami's sake Ino don't DO that."

Ino shrugged before sitting down beside him

"Sorry."

You don't look very sorry to me

"Shikamaru… can we talk? I… I need to know why you kissed me the other day"

Shikamaru sighed and leaned back against the tree again

I knew that this would be coming sooner or later… at least I can put in behind me now.

Yet even as he thought this another little voice in the back of Shikamaru's head seemed to snicker (Ya, right) Focusing back to where Ino was patiently awaiting his response Shikamaru sighed again.

"Initially? Initially I kissed you to make you think about something else. If you don't mind my saying so, you rather desperately needed to think about something other than the attempt on your life."

Ino nodded as though she expected it before suddenly flushing. Pulling her knees up she buried her face in them to avoid looking at Shikamaru. Turning her head ever so slightly, just enough that he'd be able to understand her she said

"I suspected that shortly after we got back, but something has changed hasn't it."

Frowning Shikamaru took another look at his childhood friend. He had always known that she was more intelligent than he gave her credit for, but this was downright creepy.

"Yes. Something has changed. In fact I was trying to decide just what it was when you showed up."

Ino turned just a little bit more, so she could watch him out of the corner of her eye

"And did you?"

Shikamaru frowned

"No, I hadn't managed to yet."

Suddenly jumping to his feet Shikamaru started pacing the length of the tree branch.

"All I know is that every time I try to sit and think things through, or even just not think at all, I keep seeing your face drift across my mind… I remember the feel of our lips touching… the taste of your kiss… I even remember watching you on our day out with Naruto and Hinata. I find myself dreaming of…"

Suddenly dropping down beside her again and, Blushing, he buried his face in his hands before muttering

"I don't know what to think anymore"

Ino studied him though lowered eyelashes. What he had just described was remarkably similar to what she had been going though. The inability to concentrate, remembering the little tics and flaws that made him so endearing… even dreaming of things she wouldn't mind doing…

"So what do we do now?"

Shikamaru looked up at Ino's question to absently note that she was now resting her temple against her leg as she stared at him… Sighing he held her gaze.

"I can see two possible options. One, we put this behind us, we forget that it ever happened, and we never speak of it again."

Shikamaru watched as Ino's face fell, and though her voice remained steady she looked ready to cry as she quietly asked

"And two?"

Shikamaru couldn't help himself; the look on her face was just too painful for him to watch. Ino's face once again registered shock as he leaned in close and murmured

"I do this"

The kiss was fleeting, a gentle touch that sent electricity coursing though the both of them. Leaning back Shikamaru took a moment to organize his thoughts as he watched Ino recover from the unexpected contact. Almost absently he noted that his mind was no longer cluttered, in fact many of the feelings that had occasionally bothered him over the course of the last two years suddenly made perfect sense. Shikamaru's train of thought was interrupted again however as Ino suddenly giggled, giddy with the aftereffects of their brief kiss.

"Well, I certainly didn't expect that"

Shikamaru gave her a lopsided grin

"You realize that your father is going to kill me when he finds out I did that?"

Ino returned his grin with a smoky smile of her own that immediately tripled his heart rate

"If you're going to get punished for it you may as well do it properly then hmm?"

Shikamaru barely had time to register HIS shock when he suddenly found himself on the receiving end of another kiss, but where the fist had been fairly shy and reserved, this one sent shocks from his head to his toes, he could literally feel his brain overloading with from the raw emotions that it brought forth, and surprisingly he didn't hesitate for even an instant to return it. Seconds later (an eternity, and yet all to short) he was once again staring into Ino's bright eyes, Both of them breathing hard, and both slightly flushed. Ino recovered first, and with another grin said.

"Well, come on lover boy, with you kissing like that I may just have to make sure that daddy doesn't kill you outright!"

As he watch Ino jump to the ground and start walking home, a similar scene flashed though his mind. Now he understood why his father always got that rather dopey grin on his face after he and Shikamaru's mother kissed… what was it he always said? Oh ya… Jumping to the ground Shikamaru gave Ino a knowing grin, and in a deadpan imitation of his father said

"Yes Dear"

Ino didn't stop laughing for almost five minutes…

"Well well well… Uzumaki Naruto, My but haven't we grown"

Naruto had stiffened at the first word, and by the time the speaker had finished, Naruto was standing in front of Hinata with a kunai drawn. Briefly Hinata wondered where he had gotten it before realizing that he had apparently grabbed it out of her pouch when he moved in front of her. Her musings where cut short and her blood ran cold however when Naruto snarled out,

"ITACHI."

"Why Naruto-kun, I'm so PLEASED that you remember me."

Naruto's answer was only a silent snarl, as Itachi's voice seemed to come from all directions

"Tisk tisk Naruto-kun, it wouldn't do to be less than hospitable in front of such pleasant company now would it?"

"Show yourself you cowardly bastard! I don't care if you are one of those Akatsuki sycophants; you're a DEAD man. You hear me?"

Suddenly Itachi materialized in front of him

"Now Naruto, is that the way to treat your friend's older brother?"

"If you haven't noticed we've had a bit of a 'Falling out' so to speak"

Itachi nodded, acting for all the world as if he weren't an escaped convict

"Yes, I've been meaning to talk to you about that… there are some rather disturbing rumors floating around about exactly what you did to dear little Sasuke. Perhaps you'd like to clarify some of them?"

Naruto's answer was once again more of a snarl than a sentence

"He stuck his nose where it didn't belong"

Itachi nodded again.

"He does have a tendency to do that doesn't he? Pity. I suppose you are the one I need to thank for the fact that Dear little Sasuke is in the hospital in a coma?"

"Actually"

Said a third voice

"That would have been MY doing"

Itachi frowned he could have sworn that a second ago there had been nobody standing in that doorframe… in fact…Suddenly Itachi's grin widened and he turned back to face Naruto

"My but we HAVE improved haven't we? That is a rather impressive bunshin."

Naruto smirked at him for a second

"And what makes you think that He's a bunshin?"

Itachi frowned for a moment before replying

"The fact that he is emitting no chakra of course."

Naruto grinned in a rather infuriating manner

"And how much do I have?"

Itachi's frown deepened as he suddenly realized what had been bothering him since his arrival. Although he could feel chakra coming off the girl, Naruto was giving of no discernable aura. He was about to make a droll comment about bunshin and lonely girls when a voice whispered in his ear

"You twitch wrong and your going to be a head shorter"

Looking down on the square below Itachi was startled to find Naruto calmly trimming his nails with a kunai… and he was standing right next to the puddle of water that had been a mizu-bunshin less then two seconds ago. The voice in his ear spoke again.

"Leave. Next time you won't get so lucky"

Turning his head ever so slightly Itachi found himself staring into a blood red eye. Unable to help himself, Itachi shivered a little bit. The moment he made eye contact he had attempted his Infamous 'Goddess of the moon' Dojutsu, It failed miserably as the odd stranger just blinked and then grinned. With that Itachi felt the pressure of the blade on his neck disappear, and a voice whispered in his ear

"I don't think I'd try that again if I were you."

With that the stranger disappeared in a burst of red fire, Looking down again Itachi effected a sneer that would have been much more impressive were he not white as a sheet.

"Letting me go was a stupid mistake Uzumaki, next time you won't be so lucky."

With those words and a puff of smoke Itachi disappeared from view again. Naruto smiled to the brief shadow that flickered away from the rooftop and said in a voice that Hinata could barely catch.

"Thanks Kyuubi"

Naruto and Hinata walked along in silence for a while, both wrapped up in their own thoughts, but after a bit Hinata began to notice that the surroundings seemed rather familiar. Frowning slightly at the dilapidated old apartments Hinata turned to Naruto

"Um, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto, still lost in his wandering thoughts answered without really listening

"Hmmm?"

"Where are we going?"

"I'm headed home."

Hinata frowned

"And were is that?"

"Mmmm… couple of apartments farther down"

"Why?"

"Tsunade won't give me back by equipment, I have a Different set hidden in my closet."

The two walked in silence for a bit as Hinata tried not to laugh

"So Tsunade didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"That she moved your stuff to a different building"

"That's nice."

They walked in silence for another block or so, and Hinata's sides began to ache from the effort of holding in her laugh, therefore when Naruto finally realized what she had said, he stopped, and his eyes seemed to triple in size as he turned to face her.

"She did WHAT?"

Hinata, who had been having a hard time keeping her laughter to herself before burst out laughing at the look on his face. Naruto frowned for a moment before suddenly smiling,

"Oh! Good one Hinata! You really had me thinking that Granny Tsunade moved me!"

Hinata sobered a little at that comment, at least enough to stop laughing

"Sorry Naruto-kun, but I'm serious. Tsunade-sama really did move you."

Naruto frowned a little again, not really angry, but thinking hard.

"Where to?"

---Flashback---

"HEEEEYYYY! Ish my buddy Hinata! Howsh it going Hinata-shan?"

"Tsunade-sama? Are you drunk?"

"Drun? I'm not Drun! You wouldn DARE call me Drun if I wash shober!"

'Sigh' "Tsunade-sama? I'm afraid that I couldn't find Naruto-kun to tell him where his new house is."

"Huh? Wash that? Tell im? NO! Shhh ish a Shhhhecrete! Dun tell im!"

"… if you say so Tsunade-sama."

---End Flashback---

Naruto watched as her smile grew into something that he would consider a smirk on anyone but Hinata. Hinata of course didn't smirk… did she?

"Sorry Naruto-kun, but I'm afraid that I'm not allowed to tell you that by direct order of Hokage-sama herself."

Naruto stood and gave her a look that had Hinata suddenly nervous. He seemed to be looking through her, she felt almost… Bare… to that look. After a moment however Naruto shrugged and started walking again, still heading in the same direction that his old apartment was, and after a brief pause Hinata jogged up to him again.

"Um… Naruto-kun?"

"Hmm?"

"What did you just do?"

"When?"

"When you looked at me just now."

"Oh! That. I noticed when I was a kid that if I focus just right I can usually get a feeling when someone is, or is not telling me the truth"

"Oh"

The two walked in silence for several more seconds before Hinata spoke up again.

"So where are we going?"

Naruto spared her a glance and a crooked grin

"To my Old apartment."

"Why? Tsunade and I cleaned all your things out of it."

Just then the two of them arrived at the apartment complex, and Naruto stopped and looked up to where the window of his old room was located

"So you said."

"Then what…"

"Shh, if you want to know, then follow me."

With that Naruto placed one foot on the outside wall of the building and began to walk up, and, after a moment, Hinata followed. When they reached the right floor, Naruto stopped and peeked inside. Then, giving Hinata another crooked smile he opened the window to his obviously deserted room and jumped in, once again Hinata followed after only a moment's hesitation.

"Naruto-kun?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are we here?"

Naruto held up a single hand.

"Wait a moment and you'll see."

With that he started knocking on the floor, and after several seconds, the 'tap tap' that Hinata had been hearing changed to a hollow sounding 'Whump Whump' Naruto looked up at the now mystified Hinata.

"Mind if I borrow a blade Hinata-Chan?"

Hinata, in a near daze, pulled out a kunai and handed it to him. Once again he flashed his (Rapidly becoming) trademark grin

"Thanks"

With that he stuck the kunai into a crack in the floor and pried up lifting clear a section that had seemed to be solid. Reaching inside he pulled out his three most precious treasures, and Hinata caught sight of two of them, a picture of some sort and a raman bowl. There was also something that seemed to be wrapped in cloth, but the cloth wrapped bundle had been hidden too quickly for Hinata to see properly.

"Well, that's everything. Lets get going!"

Hinata gave him a curious look (which he pretended to ignore) and then followed him back out the window. Once they were down the road a ways from the apartment Hinata decided to speak up.

"Naruto-kun?"

"Yes?"

"May I see those things you picked up?"

Naruto stopped dead, and once again Hinata felt as though he was looking right through her rather than at her, and she shivered at the feeling. This went on for a long moment before Naruto nodded, apparently to himself, and spoke.

"Yes, I suppose that you can Hinata. I would ask however that you not tell anyone what they are."

"Why is that?"

Naruto sighed

"Because everyone deserves to have some secrets Hinata-Chan, and one of the things I picked up you will probably recognize, and it may shock you."

Hinata thought about this for a moment before replying

"So long as it is nothing dangerous to you I promise to keep your secret until you say otherwise."

Naruto, who had been tensely waiting her response finally relaxed.

"Done!"

"May I see them then?"

"Yes, but not here."

Opened her mouth to ask where but Naruto shook his head and put a single finger to his lips, his eyes darting to one side. With that gesture, he suddenly took off toward the Hokage monument, and after a single startled moment, Hinata followed. Hinata had been trailing him for quite a ways, and was pleased to see that she could follow him fairly easily. The fact that he was apparently headed to the same place where they had sat stargazing the night before helped greatly, and just as she was about to catch him Naruto made a sharp turn behind a tree and disappeared! Startled Hinata slid to a stop and backtracked to the tree. She stood searching for a moment before she suddenly felt a hand cover her mouth, and with a muffled 'eeep' she too vanished. Barely ten seconds later another figure appeared where she had been standing, after looking around for a moment he stooped to study the two pair of prints, and then, with his Sharingan eyes spinning, he causally wiped them away before speaking into the night.

"Not all trail ending are good ones eh Uzumaki?"

And, shaking his head Itachi puffed out of sight.

A/N: This is the last chapter where I will be replying to reviews at the bottom of the page. Thanks to a New feature here at FF (Dot) Net, I will be able to respond to each of your Reviews as they come in. How cool is that?
cyberwolfranger :
Possibly true, but you need to keep in mind that the Anime is titled 'Naruto', not 'Shikamaru' or 'Shino'. Also, What challenge does he have if I power him up much more? He already has Multiple types of Summons, as well as the use of 'Angels Flames' amd what will probably amout to a Phoenix Familiar (Though a fox might be a fun addition to)

MagicalStarlight:
Depends on what your OC is.

Shadow-Sensei:
I realize that Not Very much is happening, but I expect to correct that directly

Dragon Noir:
Undoubtedly you've corrected my spellings of those two before, now if you can just tell me how to edit the Custom Dictionay on MS word...

exilefromalcatraz:
It's coming, Just be Pateint.

nonengel:
Like what?

perfectlight:
No, Kyuubi never got around to teaching Naruto 'Angels Voice', Naruto didn't walk back like Kyuubi intended. He was flashed back while unconcious by the Phoenix.

sleepy kitty:
You know... That just might be crazy enough to try...

naruto-fanfic:
A tad Cliche' Perhaps, But you can't deny that you thought it was Ino's Dad thowing things at first in THIS chapter. And no, I havn't manged to see FF7AC

comanderlink:
Unique... thats a good word for it

Cloud-1-3-5 and Ame Emi Dai:
Wait till you see what Itachi does in the NEXT chapter.

Dragon Man 180:
You've got to admit that it puts an interesting spin on things though.

Danny-171984:
-Grins- I'll see what I can do.

raging hobo:
0.0" I don't believe I had ever had anyone notice that before. Wow...

Jays Arravan:
Thank you, Thank you.

I would also like to thank:
Raziel Tepes, Kortir, Sir Graq, and Hiei's Cute Girl for thier Reviews. Thank you all.