Insert disclaimer here

Blah Blah Blah basic text (i.e. description, speech, etc)

Blah Blah Blah Thought or some transaction within someone's mind

Blah Blah Blah Kyuubi talking Jutsu will also be bold

BLAH BLAH BLAH yelling, or emphasis of some sort

Naruto of the Nine Tails

Rated M for language, violence, adult themes, graphic imagery, and

Chp 16: Reflections on the Unforeseen

Training Ground 44

As the gathered gennin stood listening to the Sandaime's speech about the true purpose of the Chunnin Exams Hinata's mind was on anything but his words. So far away was she that she hadn't even noticed that the proctor had arrived and explaining the next stage of the exam.

'When did everything get so crazy?' she wondered, rubbing the junction of her neck and shoulder.

It seemed to Hinata that after their encounter with Orochimaru everything had become a blur of confusion and only now, four days later, was everything starting to sink in. They had been in awe of what Naruto had done. Really who wouldn't? After all he had just forced Orochimaru, who had been a candidate for Yondaime and was arguably the strongest of the Densetsu no Sannin, to retreat. They had just stood there dumbfounded and then Naruto had turned toward them…

Flashback

As Naruto stalked toward them Team 7 was forced to its knees by the overwhelming aura of power still surrounding him.

Closer and closer he came and they were frozen.

Closer and closer and they felt sick, not knowing what to do.

Closer and closer and he walked past Sakura and Sasuke.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Naruto prowled to Hinata his demonic eyes boring into hers, closer and closer until she could feel his breath on her lips. For a second he stood before her searching her eyes for something only he could find. Then agonizingly slowly he drew even closer his cheek brushing hers and sank his fangs into her flesh.

End Flashback

She continued to rub the tender mark that Naruto had left on the left side of her neck as she made her way to the observation level, it was strange really, it had only hurt for a second then the pain had given way to an odd warmth, she didn't really know how to describe it, it felt…nice? Maybe that was the word for it.

Vaguely aware of Sasuke running circles around some kid in purple she thought about the mark itself, she'd been too shell-shocked at the time and too distracted with the mad dash for the tower to really understand how significant it might be. Then when they had actually made it to the tower she'd been too exhausted to think and had simply crawled into one of the beds provided and fallen asleep right after Kakashi debriefed them.

The next morning she'd woken up with Naruto curled around her, which really should have been her first clue, Naruto had never come into her bed before. It had always been her who had gone to him in the past like when she had slept in his cage or when Hanabi had swiped her bedroll during the wave mission. But alas she was still too out of sorts to think things through clearly.

In hindsight that wasn't the only thing that had been off about Naruto in the past few days but again she had been fairly out of it.

The most obvious change to someone who hadn't know Naruto, and the one that baffled Hinata the most, was Naruto's hair. She had noticed before the first exam that his hair had been orange which was odd because she remembered it being more reddish then after Orochimaru had hit him in the stomach his hair had become completely red. What it meant or why it had happened she had no idea, she had to get Jiraiya to look at the seal anyway as she expected that Orochimaru had done something to it so she just bring it to his attention then.

The most drastic and telling change though was his behavior. He'd reverted to his behavior from before he came to live with her, she'd even go so far to say that he'd was even more animalistic then he had been back then. He barely talked now and when he did it was mostly monosyllabic or someone's name. He was also more possessive and protective of her, he'd actually growled as Sasuke when he'd gotten too close. He was also more affectionate then he used to be, it was subtle but it was there, staying closer then usual, brushing up against her, once he had even nuzzled her neck when they had been lying on her bed.

It hadn't really hit her until yesterday, when she had been remembering some of the research she'd done back when Naruto had first come to live with her and was still more animalistic, foxes mark their mates with a bite.

It was at that moment that everything had come together, him sleeping with her, how he'd seemed to be more possessive of her the last few days, the bite, all of it, Naruto had claimed her.

"Hina-chan?" Naruto asked bringing her out of her reverie; evidently her silence had worried him.

She smiled as he mispronounced her name. That was another thing, he didn't call her "Beta" anymore. It made sense really, after all she wasn't his second anymore… she was his.

Looking around she blinked, how long had she been out of it? From the looks of it she'd missed several matches if the absence of Kabuto's teammates and the sound boy was any indication but why was everything so quiet? Deciding that her pondering could wait till after the matches she glanced at the selection screen.

Yamanaka Ino vs Haruno Sakura

'…Well this should be interesting.'

End Notes

Yes I know it's short, get used to it the next few chps are going to be this way until I'm done with the prelims.

Edited: 11/27/09

Muse Rant

ASSASSIN'S CREED 2 IS THE SHIT!!!

Indeed, tis bitch'n, but that has nothing to do with the fic

Well there's not much to go on this chp now is there

…I suppose you do have a point

So what should we do?

How 'bout a joke?

Sounds good

So the Pope, a Rabi, and the Archbishop of Canterbury walk into a bar…

And?

That's the joke

...

Want to hear a dirty joke?

Why not

A guy jumped in some mud. Want to hear a clean joke?

…sure

He took a bath with bubbles. Want to hear another dirty joke?

Ok

Bubbles was the girl next door.