I'M ALIVE! And not dead, contrary to popular belief

Woot! Another one ^_^ I'd like to thank all of those who reviewed. I had a hoot from reading them, lawlz. Yeah, I sort of liked the first half of this chapter, I hope you do to, lol. Though, I'm not sure I transitioned that scene quite good, well you'll see when you get there ;p.

And I kno, this took 4eva! Gee, I had school, and work and work ate up a lot of my life. Working in a hotel is good cause of the money but that's it! Its not fun! I had to work for school and school for work. So, I apologize for this foreverish wait, :D

Chapter Fourteen

Hanabi sighed gently in Naruto's arms. As much as she'd love to stay that way, her moment of vulnerability was over. She wiggled out of his hold and looked at him with careful eyes.

"umm...thanks..." she whispered, embarrassed. This whole thing was new to her and she didn't want to mess it up.

"Don't mention it." Naruto said smiling at her. He adopted a serious expression. "Now about this trial thing, seems to me the only way to clear your self is to prove it was an assassination attempt."

"That much I figured out, which was why I asked you to come." Hanabi said, "Shizune-sama told me you overheard their conversation, but knowing the council they won't just take your word for it."

"You'll need a good reason why someone will have you assassinated." Naruto commented. "To back up my statement..."

Hanabi frowned, her brows furrowed together in concentration. "Logically, the first person I'd point my finger at would be Hinata."

"Why Hinata?" Naruto asked perplexed. Sure they didn't like each other, but it couldn't be that serious that she'd try to kill her own sister.

"We're both heirs for the Hyuga estate. Father is going to retire soon, which means one of us will have to take over from him. Normally, we'd fight a title match and the winner is the new leader." Hanabi mentioned.

"But, Hinata doesn't have the drive to purposely fight unless it's for protection..."

Hanabi scoffed. "That's what she wants people to think. She's as nasty as they get. Besides she always confronts me directly, I highly doubt she sent the assassin." Hanabi pondered the truce Hinata had proposed.

Naruto pondered that for a second. If he were to take into account what happened in the hokage's office, then there would be some truth to Hanabi's words. Maybe Hinata wasn't as nice as she seemed. (A/N: well durr Naruto, lol) In any event it all came back to Hinata.

"No matter how hard you think about it,: Naruto started, "it all comes back to Hinata. The only way you might weasel your way out is if you point fingers at her and through suspicion in her direction."

Hanabi frowned. "But my instinct tells me it isn't her. I know it wasn't her. Like I said, she always approaches me directly."

Naruto gnawed his lip. "You might not have any choice but to point fingers at Hinata." He thought deeply for a minute. If Hanabi wasn't inclined to think that it was Hinata maybe it was someone else. Hmm..., he thought as he tapped his finger against his chin."Let's just say, hypothetically of course, something happened and both you and Hinata died. Who would be next in line to assume control?"

Hanabi's brow raised in slight surprise. She hadn't thought of that. "I don't really know." She stated after thinking about it. That was a really good question.

A bell chimed and Naruto glanced up at Hanabi questioningly. She sighed and replied, "It's a time bell, and someone rings it every hour, which only means we're running out of time." She chewed her lip nervously. There was only an hour left before the trial. Maybe Naruto was right. The only thing she could do to save herself would be to cast suspicion on Hinata, whom she knew was innocent. Somehow, that just didn't settle with her. She sighed.

Naruto couldn't think of any other way to get Hanabi out of her trial. Pushing suspicion on Hinata wouldn't necessarily clear her name but it would buy her some time. Though, he knew someone who would know the precise course of action to take, but he didn't really want to go to him. If he went and nagged Shikamaru, his lazy friend would help them but he'd ask questions. Questions that would inevitably lead to Ino finding out about him and Hanabi, and once that happened, everyone would find out and everything would be hell for both Hanabi and himself. He sighed in defeat.

"Although I don't want to, I guess I have no choice. I'll say Hinata tried to have me killed." Hanabi admitted. Though, she doubted that'd do anything but by her time.

Hanabi pushed all thoughts of her predicament out of her mind. She figured they had about half an hour before they had to leave her hidey hole. If things were going to go downhill anyway, she might as well enjoy herself before things started to suck.

She deliberately pouted. "Hey, Naruto..."

"Wha?" Naruto sputtered, suddenly pulled from his thoughts. "What happened?"

Hanabi pouted and watched him bite his lip. She figured that was good. She smirked at him. "Distract me?" She asked in a seductive tone, well what she thought was seductive.

"Err...distract you?" Naruto repeated, obviously flustered. "Shouldn't you be concentrating on finding a way out of your trial?"

Hanabi pretended to scratch her ankle and slowly dragged her hand up her leg and let it settle on her thigh. She'd seen Hinata do this before when she was spying on her and her lover or whatever he was to her. "I already agreed to blame Hinata. If there's nothing else I can do, why should I hurt my head? Distract me..." Hanabi had ever so briefly hesitated doing this, her reason being she'd only just met him; but what the hell, she needed the excitement. It was at this moment she'd realized he was the first boy she'd taken a liking to and the first to kiss her, and the first one she'd sneaked in. He was a lot of her firsts.

Naruto hissed out a breath. He was trying to ignore how sexy it was that she'd run her hand over her leg., and how seductive her pout was. Oh how he wanted to just snatch her and post her up against a wall. He clenched his jaw. Now was so not the time, but somehow, because they were in the main house, where it would be forbidden, it made the prospect of it all the more exciting. It was quite feasible too.

Naruto swallowed and asked, "Distract you how?"

Hanabi smirked and slowly crossed her legs, arching her back a little in the process. She let out a raspy breath. She'd also seen Hinata do this. She chewed cutely on her bottom lip. "You don't know how to distract me?"

Naruto opened his mouth and closed it. He moistened his tongue. This was so not happening he told himself. However his inner self replied, of course it is, believe it. What happened to the arrogant, hot tempered girl he'd met only a week ago? He shook his head in reply to her answer.

Hanabi smirked and leaned forward, bringing her shoulders together. She watched in glee as Naruto's eyes latched on her chest. This was yet another move she copied from Hinata dearest. She extended her hand and beckoned toward him. "Well then...come here."

"Oh dear... oh no... oh my," Naruto muttered under his breath. How very fortunate and unfortunate was he?

Hinata walked quickly through the halls, her hair bouncing with every step. Servants cleared out of her path, seeing that she was obviously in a rush.

Damnit, she thought. Where the hell is that girl?

In the midst of pouring over scrolls to help her dear sister, she realized that the only way Hanabi was going to weasel out was if she blamed her attempted assassination on Hinata. Normally, such a thing like that wouldn't faze her, but lately she'd been dallying in something not quite legal, or illegal for that matter. And, Hanabi casting suspicion on her would only result in her every movement being shadowed, which meant she'd have to delay her plans.

She strode up the stairs and pushed opened her sister's door, only to find it empty. Damn, where the hell was that girl? She knew she didn't leave the estate, because she overheard several servants whispering that her sister had a guest.

Hinata paused in the doorway, thinking of every possible place on the estate Hanabi could be. The branch family compound was out of the question. Hanabi going there would be like putting a live chicken in a nest of hungry snakes. She wasn't in the library, or on any of the training grounds, which only meant she had to be somewhere inside the house. She had to find her before her trial and somehow bribe her.

Hinata turned on her byakugan and searched her sister's room, no chakra bodies were present, however she did catch a glimpse of flickering blue from the corner of her eye. She turned towards it and realized it was coming from her room, right across the hall.

Hinata smirked. Of course, her room would be the last place she'd expect her sister to be hiding in. But what the hell could Hanabi be doing in her room? She turned off her byakugan and barged into her room. Since all the servants would be heading toward the trial hall, she could raise all the hell she wanted.

"Hanabi, what the hell are you—"

She stopped suddenly when a kunai was pressed to her throat. She swallowed and suddenly stilled.

"What do you want?" she asked quietly.

"Well, your not Hanabi, then again, the orders were to kill the heir. Didn't really state which one. To bad for you." Just as the assassin drew back his hand to slice her throat, Hinata released sharp chakra from her entire body, pushing away her assailant and his kunai. She bounded towards her window and faced her opponent, who was dressed in the typical gaudy assassin outfit of all black. How typical, she thought, some people just had no fashion sense.

"Who sent you—" Hinata was cut off again as the assassin rushed her .

This person is good, she thought, as she parried all of his blows easily. But I'm better. She twirled on her heel and delivered a chakra-enforced kick to her opponents gut. The assassin had tried to cushion the blow by blocking with his arms, a feat which was in vain as the blow shattered his forearms and sent him through the wall.

"Too bad for you," Hinata chuckled, while walking towards her supposed assassin, who had managed to sit up. "Now, tell me, who sent—"

Hinata barely dodged the kunai that came flying out of the assassin's mouth. In the time she took to dodge, her opponent had run through the door.

Mmmmhmmmm Hinata thought maliciously, I love it when they run.

Using her byakugan, she easily tracked the assassin. Servants and guards gave startled yelps as Hinata and her prey played hop-scotch around them. Shuriken and kunai flew randomly about them, breaking through windows or sometimes striking aloof bystanders.

The chase led them to the gardens behind the Council meeting room which, conveniently, was used as the trial hall.

Hinata dodged several kunai and a vicious kick with a hand stand. She then countered with a mean kick to her opponents' already broken arm.

It wasn't until she was a safe enough distance from her opponent that she realized they were right behind the trial hall. It was then that she realized a way to postpone Hanabi's trial. And it would be very dramatic. She grinned.

"If you tell me who sent you, I'll spare your life." Hinata suggested. She quietly gathered chakra in her palms.

"I It doesn't matter." The assassin rasped. 'If I don't kill you, I'll die anyway."

In a blink of an eye, Hinata was crouched in front of the assassin, with her palms on his torso. "Then, die now." Before the assassin could draw back Hinata thrust her palms in the assassins' chest. Jyuuken.

The assassin flew through a small rose bush and through the wall of the trial hall, and came to a rolling stop in front of the table of council members. The assassin struggled to sit up, but the damage was too great. With a shuddering cough of blood, the assassin died.

The bell chimed signalling the turn of the hour and Hinata smiled to herself. Her timing was perfect. She didn't doubt for a second that she looked damn dramatic walking through the debris of the wall. She could feel the stares of shock and awe of everyone in the room on her.

She chuckled inwardly at the attention. Hinata was a badass and she knew it.

"Hinata!" Hiashi exclaimed. "What is this?"

Yes yes, I know, why would I end the chapter like that? Because I could :-) .

Anywhoo, I just want to, once again, thank all of you who're still hanging in there reading this. And please, feel free to write a review, it only has to be one word, lawlz.

Shippu27