Underneath the Underneath
By: FlameXFullmetal
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I wish I could. I think he would make a good cuddle toy.
A/N: Sorry this took a while I have been at doctors appointments all month. I have finally had time to sit down and type. Now the reviews and then the story!
First and foremost a big thank you to Dreamer Rose, Guest, LookOutReader, and Eyes in the Dark Soul for pointing out that I called Sasuke a Hyuga at the end of the last chapter. I have since fixed that. Also, thanks to everyone who messaged me and told me that I accidentally uploaded chapter 14 a second time instead of chapter 15. You deserve a big round of applause.
Guest: This was originally written way before his name was revealed. I would have to change a lot if I went back and fixed it, so I decided to leave it as is.
LordVishnu: I am currently working on a format that will stay when the chapter is uploaded to the site.
Banjo the Fox: I have been trying to slowly steer away from cliches. I would ask that you keep in mind the story has had almost ten updates in about a year and a half. A lot happened between the original post and now. I am trying to update more regularly but also remember that a lot of chapters are being kept between 3000 and 3600 words so that the chapter isn't that long.
Alpha Mike: I will try to reveal more of their next date, I didn't think that a few pages of light banter would have been interesting.
NavnuKjent: A lot of shinobi become overconfident in their skills and as a result often times underestimate their opponents. As a result, they are often defeated. Most genin are underestimated because they have just started training so the real threat to him would have been the jonin. A genin can topple a Kage after all if they take them by surprise. I will also eventually go back and edit the typos.
Ytygr: I know right?
Blitzstrahl: Merely a fan-made name to more easily describe the unique fighting style that the Uchiha's use to maximize their Sharingan's potential without writing a paragraph.
"hello" people (bijuu in human form) speaking
'hello' people (bijuu in human form) thinking/coded hand signals
"HELLO" bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity yelling
"hello" bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity talking
'hello' bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity thinking
hello jutsu
************Defying Fate and the Duck Fairy************
The village was still sound asleep when a high pitch scream startled the residents awake. Many shinobi tensed and others began looking for the source. It didn't take long before they found it, though. Sasuke was dangling from a tree on training ground fifteen in only his boxers. His hair dyed a bright neon pink and styled to look like demon horns. He was also covered in fish and most of the village's cats were attempting to remove them causing a massive amount of scratches to cover his body as he struggled to get free. Something that was quickly discovered to be impossible without the aid of an outside source. His hands were weighed down with weights and his chakra sealed. As if that wasn't humiliating enough there were fairy wings seemingly growing from his back and a pig's tail attached to his tailbone.
The shinobi could only stare at the boy before they burst into laughter. Growling at the audience Sasuke began squirming harder as the cats removed the last piece of fish on his upper body and were now clawing their way to the fish attached to his legs. To Sasuke's relief, some more shinobi arrived and took pity on him. Removing the fish and throwing it at the cats and then chasing them away, they cut him down. As he landed on his feet he heard the laughter intensify.
"What are you laughing at?" He demanded.
"The fangirls have come..." One chunin sputtered as he held his sides. Turning slowly the arrogant Uchiha paled at the pack of fangirls eyeing him hungrily. Screaming once more in fear he bolted towards the village hoping to make it home before they caught him.
"Should we tell him about the note on his back?" One shinobi said to his friend.
"No...I think we should let him find out about it himself." Glancing at the retreating Uchiha the words on his back seemed to glow, words reading 'I am a pervert who gets off on spying on your dates.' Nearby, Kimiko laughed evilly for it was only the beginning of the Uchiha's punishment.
Elsewhere...
Rolling out of bed Naruto yawned loudly and looked over at the mirror. He had come home and collapsed on his bed in a state of giddiness. His date with Hinata had gone well and she had even agreed to go on another! He felt almost as if he had managed to turn every negative thing that had ever happened into a nightmare that he was quickly forgetting. He showered and ate breakfast quickly eager to get to training and see what his sensei had in store for him this time. It was only as he was placing the newly cleaned dishes away that he noticed his lifelong companion wasn't home. Shaking his head he reasoned that the nine-tails was out and that she could take care of herself. Just as he opened his door he was greeted with the sight of an ANBU snickering on the doorstep.
"Uzumaki, Naruto you are wanted in the Hokage's office." He managed.
"What the hell?! I just woke up!" Naruto yelled in exasperation and then felt his eye begin to twitch. 'Kimiko what did you do?' He thought making the two entities in his head laugh in amusement.
"Whatever you think I did I didn't do!" Naruto exclaimed as he burst through the door. Everyone in the room felt their eyes twitch in response to the outburst.
"Naruto did you or did you not tie Sasuke up and prank him last night?" Hiruzen demanded.
"Goddammit someone pranked him before I could! Besides, how could I? I was on a date yesterday. It ended around nine last night and then I went straight home." He replied. Hiruzen eyed him cautiously and contemplated his words.
"Who were you on a date with?"
"Why does it matter?" Naruto countered the Hokage making everyone sigh. Somehow it was going downhill fast.
"Because we will need to check and make sure that you were indeed with them. Sasuke said it was just before nine that he was knocked out." Hiruzen said and then rubbed his eyes. "You are also the only person that has ever pranked the village."
"Harmless pranks might I remind you. I have never hurt anyone with my pranks unless they fainted on their own. Besides, why would I want to prank the Uchiha brat? It would be a waste of time that no one would appreciate." Naruto snapped.
"Naruto no one said that anyone was hurt in the prank," Hiruzen said quietly trying to calm the irate blonde.
"Actually you did. You said he was knocked out. That indicates that someone physically attacked him. Also, you wouldn't have cared unless the civilians were hounding you or someone got hurt." Naruto hissed. His good mood was quickly vanishing and he was hoping that he would be able to leave before he fully snapped. Internally, Minato felt himself growing very irate as well. How dare Hiruzen blame Naruto for this!
"Dad says he wants to have a word with you." Naruto quipped making Hiruzen's eyes widen in shock. Nothing good ever came from having a 'word' with an irate Yondaime. Nodding slowly Naruto did a quick set of seals and pulled Hiruzen into his mind.
"How did you do that?"
"Kimiko taught me. She thought that it would be useful in case I needed it for some reason." Naruto snipped and led the Sandaime to the waiting father.
Several minutes later...
As soon as they had left Naruto's mindscape Hiruzen was quick to dismiss Naruto as he struggled to control his heart rate. He had never seen the man so angry and he was hoping that he would never have to again. Unfortunately, he had the feeling that he wasn't going to be that lucky. Minato's words were still echoing his mind as he settled down and focused on his paperwork.
Naruto walked briskly away from the tower fuming in agitation as he moved. He felt his temper rising and he knew that he needed to relax before he snapped at someone. Taking a deep breath he headed to the training field and smiled to see Kakashi waiting for him.
"A bit earlier than normal sensei."
"I know I just wanted to think about something. How are you and how was your date?"
"Pissed and very good." He replied.
"What happened?"
"Kimiko pranked the teme and I got blamed for it." Naruto hissed making the masked jonin raise an eyebrow. Shaking his head he stood up straight and looked at his student.
"Spar?" Nodding to the jonin he took his stance and waited.
One hour later...
As Kimiko and Hinata arrived at the training field they sweat dropped to see the remaining member's of their team stretched out on the ground staring at the sky. Standing over the blonde she loved Hinata giggled as his eyes widened and he sat up quickly.
"Hina-hime! Good morning." He said feeling his smile coming back.
"Good morning Naruto-Kun. Did you sleep well?"
"Yes..did you?" Hinata giggled and nodded.
"You didn't tire yourself out too much did you?" Kimiko asked smugly.
"What did you do to the teme and why?" Naruto sighed.
"Nothing too dangerous. He'll live. Might not like cats too much though." Kakashi, Hinata, and Naruto groaned at the fox.
"Just warn me next time so that everyone knows where I am and I don't get blamed for it."
"Fine. Just so you know though he was following you on your date last night." Naruto and Hinata flushed as they felt red hot rage go through them.
"I pranked him so he would learn his lesson. Actually, he has been trying to follow Hinata for weeks." Hinata felt a growl erupt from her throat as she clenched her fist. If she saw the Uchiha he might not survive it. Naruto, on the other hand, was already devising ways to make his death look like an accident. Slowly but surely as his anger rose so did the nine tail's chakra.
"Calm down Naruto! You know you can't get angry without it triggering the chakra cloak." Kimiko snapped knocking him from his homicidal thoughts.
"Sorry." He whispered. Kimiko shook her head and sighed.
"Just try to control your temper better. You still need to work on your emotional training it seems." Nodding Naruto cursed silently for almost losing control. Now that he was with a team he had to be more careful. Taking a deep breath he looked over at Hinata a little anxiously. He never did check to see how she would react to the news that he was the jinchuriki. At the same time, she had accepted his request for a date and seemed to have had fun.
"It's okay Naruto-Kun, it doesn't change who you are. Actually, it makes you more perfect." She chirped blushing. Smiling they looked at their sensei waiting for instructions.
"Well then we started to work on your elemental types before our last mission so I think that for now, we will work on that some more. Once everyone gets to the next level of mastery over their types, we will work on combination jutsu and add your elements to your fighting style. In addition, Kimiko and Naruto will continue to work on their control with the shadow clones while Hinata continues to increase her reserves." Nodding in agreement the team got to work. Kakashi was absolutely positive that his team would be ready for the next chunin exam and he was going to make sure that they were the only genin that anyone remembered from the exam.
The next few days seemed to fly by and before Hinata knew it she was already incorporating her lightening element into her juken. It was harder than it seemed but she was managing it quite well. Though as she looked back at the past week she couldn't help but laugh. Sasuke had been plagued by a series of pranks that seemed to follow him everywhere. No matter what he did he couldn't get away and the words on his back were only getting brighter. Though she had the feeling that they would fade soon. Sighing she headed down the hall to the dojo and opened the door. The elder's had wanted her to be tested once again. Probably in a bid to try and get her branded. They were never satisfied with her level of skill and she believed that it was because she wanted to change the clan's tradition. Stepping into the room and bowing to her father and the elders she waited for them to speak.
"Hinata, do you know why you are here?" Her grandfather demanded.
"You wish to test my skills once again." She replied. Nodding in confirmation he turned to look at Hiashi expectantly.
"Hinata you will be facing Neji this time around instead of Hanabi. Unfortunately, she had to be at the academy today for a test." Nodding Hinata swallowed harshly. She had never beaten Hanabi but she had also never managed to land a blow on her cousin either. Standing across from each other both Hyuga activated their dojutsu and waited. Neji and the rest of the clan were slightly surprised when they realized that Hinata had not used the hand seals this time around. She had never managed that before.
"Begin." Hinata stepped back quickly and brought her hand up to block the first blow. Neji had been quick to attack and she knew why. He knew that he could beat her. He just wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. However, she wasn't going to give up and she wasn't going to get discouraged. Naruto had managed to overcome every obstacle in his way and as a result, he had gotten much stronger. In a way that was what Neji was. An obstacle meant to keep her from improving. Blocking another palm strike she quickly retaliated at an opening he had left and for the first time in her life landed a hit on her cousin. She felt bad but she remembered one of the many things that Kimiko had told her when they started to spar together. 'Holding back only makes your opponent cocky and weaker. In order to improve both them and yourself, you have to give it all you have. Otherwise, you are insulting them.' Narrowing her eyes she moved right into another attack determined not to lose her momentum.
Nearby the elders and Hiashi watched in slight shock. Hinata was not only fighting back but also holding her own against Neji, something she had been incapable of doing before. How had she improved this much without them knowing? Internally, Hiashi felt pride welling up at his oldest. Kakashi had done wonders for her confidence and skill. Or had it been Naruto? The boy seemed to instill a sense of confidence in her and he was hoping that he would be able to continue to make her stronger.
Neji hissed as the second blow landed. He didn't understand how she was suddenly so strong! There was no way that she had improved this much so quickly. It had to be some kind of trick. How else would it be happening? His byakugans weren't detecting anything though. There were showing that somehow she had more than tripled her reserves and was using less chakra with more accuracy in each attack.
'I don't understand! How is this possible? She is weak, a failure! There is no way that she can defy her fate so easily.' He thought and then gritted his teeth managing to knock another palm strike away. Moving to retaliate himself he cursed as she jumped back and placed distance between them. Making his attack useless and allowing her to get some breathing room. Narrowing his eyes he moved forward intending on ending the fight. However, just as before his blow was deflected and she went back on the attack. It was then that he realized she was slowly shutting down the chakra points near his core to prevent the chakra from moving any further. The only points not being shut down were the ones that supplied the chakra to his vital organs.
'One more.' Hinata thought to herself as she systemically cut Neji off of his chakra. Once he lost the ability to use his chakra he would be unable to fully utilize the juken at which point she would be able to claim victory. Despite that, it felt as if each blow she dealt to her cousin was also a blow on her. It pained her to fight her own family in such a manner and it only made her more determined to end the division in the clan. One final attack and the match was over.
"Very good Hinata. Your improvement was quite noticeable." Hiashi said out loud before bidding her leave to go. Darting from the room knowing that Neji wouldn't accept her help she heading off to shower and then change before she headed to training. Neji was left fuming as the elders left the room fuming as well. Somehow she had defied her fate and defeated him. He vowed to train harder and once again prove that a failure would always be a failure.
********T.B.C**********
A/N: A little shorter than I would have liked but I did manage to finish the chapter! I hope you like and please feel free to let me know if you find any spelling or grammar issues. Ja ne!