Disclaimer: I own many things, but the Naruto franchise is not one of them.

A/N: I got a review last chapter about how powerful Naruto and Hinata are compared to the rest of the Konoha 11. I will say that they are more powerful than the others (not just those two against all but like one on one), but that's to be expected after training with a sannin among others for two years (three for Naruto, just to get him to understand the basics). The others will be more powerful it's just that I picked Sakura and Lee because they have changed styles the least. Now, on with the chapter!

Naruto: The Heart of the Storm

Chapter Three: Hyuga no More

Neji took a deep breath before continuing. "Hinata-sama is no longer a Hyuga."

"What! But how? I mean she's the clan heir?" Kiba couldn't believe it, and Akamaru barked in agreement.

Naruto shook his head and sat down. The girls were subdued by Kiba's outburst and came over. Hinata went straight to Naruto and sat in his lap with his arms wrapped around her. "No Kiba-kun, when… certain events transpired fath… Hiashi-sama evicted me from the Hyuga clan, and placed Hanabi as clan heir. It was big news but…"

"Hiashi's other actions were brought to the attention of the Hokage." Shino leant forwards before continuing. "Hokage-sama was… less than pleased, and imposed strict regulations upon the activities of the Hyuga clan."

Shikamaru spoke up. "Not just the Hyuga clan, all clans were affected, but it was the actions of the Hyuga that caused the Hokage to change laws. It used to be that clans were run with only the broadest of input from the Hokage. Tsunade-sama has now imposed many different restrictions upon all clans, but it seems most of them only affect the Hyuga."

Kiba scratched his head. "Oh yeah, that's why the Hokage always sends someone to our clan meetings now isn't it?"

Choji nodded. "But what did the Hyuga clan do to make the Hokage change the way the clans are run so much?"

All eyes turned to Neji, who looked up and Naruto and Hinata. When they nodded slightly he took a deep breath and began his explanation. "You may have heard that the Hyuga council was arrested about two years ago?" Seeing everyone remembered he continued. "Only a few know the reason for this, it was said that Hiashi-sama," He almost spat the title, "Turned the council in for treason. The real reason is that Hinata overheard them plotting the assassination of a leaf village shinobi."

There was a collective gasp as the group turned to face Hinata. "The attempted murder of one of one's own comrades is most un-youthful. Who was it that they tried to kill?"

Hinata snuggled closer to Naruto who hugged her tighter. "Me. They wanted to kill me." Another collective gasp; this time of disbelief. Sure he as annoying, but why would anyone try to kill Naruto?

Neji coughed, getting the groups attention. He knew why the Hyuga had wanted to kill Naruto, but figured it was a sensitive subject for the blond. "It was at this time that Hanabi was instituted as clan heir, but something worse happened only a week before that."

Shino and Shikamaru, who Hinata had talked to when she found out about the Hyuga council's plot looked up. They knew everything that had just been said, but what had happened that they didn't know about? "Hiashi-sama… hired bandits… to kill his own daughter."

(A/N: When I wrote this bit I was seriously tempted to do either a really short chapter, or find some way to extend it and use this as a cliff hanger. Be thankful I wanted to give you the rest of the story instead of a cliffie...)

Ten minutes later, Training ground 13.

The Konoha 11 had been furious when they discovered the head of the noble Hyuga clan had tried to have Hinata killed. Once their anger had died down and they realised that slaughtering Hiashi in his sleep would make them just as bad as him they sat in silence.

"YOSH! I know what will cheer us up!" Everyone winced as Lee broke the silence. "We shall continue our tournament!" The others looked puzzled. "It is simple. Naruto-kun and Hinata-chan have one the first round! Who is in the second match?"

Somehow, the group decided returning to the competition (that wasn't a competition in the first place) was a good idea. Of course, anything that got them thinking about other things was a good idea.

"Alright then, the next match is Neji and Choji against Ino and Shino." Naruto picked Hinata up bridal style and moved to sit against a tree at the edge of the field. The others sat around them and turned to watch the match.

Lee stood in between the pairs. "Ready! Three…Two…One… GO!" With that Lee dashed back and Neji activated his Byakugan.

Noticing Shino's bugs flanking them Neji glanced at Choji. "Use your human boulder jutsu and attack Ino… I will take care of Shino." Choji nodded and flicked through the hand signs.

"Human Boulder no Jutsu!" Choji's body inflated and he rolled at Ino, who ran straight at him and jumped, spiralling over him and stringing together hand signs.

"Shinobi Army no Jutsu!" Ino shouted, and vanished as an army of shinobi appeared. The army was composed of about one hundred ninja, of different rank and appearance, and some looked like ninja's from the village. (A/N: One of my own jutsu, a Genjutsu since I think the Yamanaka's would use them.) Choji spun around and aimed back for the mob of shinobi. He rolled through but the shinobi he touched simply flickered.

Neji could see were Ino was, but before he could tell Choji Shino's bugs attacked. A huge swarm burst out of the grass and Neji used a Kaiten to shred them to pieces. Shino winced slightly at the loss of his bugs, but he had planned this. With each bug Neji shredded a small squirt of a paralysing poison was released. As soon as Neji finished spinning he realised he was in trouble.

He shot forwards, just managing to avoid being drenched in the sticky substance that he guessed was poisonous. Unfortunately for him, he could no longer move his left leg. As Shino advanced, drawing a kunai the Hyuga prodigy jabbed a few chakra points in his leg, boosting the chakra flow through them allowing him to move his leg through sheer manipulation of chakra. (A/N: in this story chakra nodes and tenketsu are different. Any Hyuga can attack chakra points, but Neji is one of the few that can attack tenketsu.)

Shino realised his mistake too late, and shot forwards but Neji simply jabbed his fingers at him. Even though he was still a few meters away Shino collapsed. "What…. How did you? Hm, interesting. It appears that you have discovered how to use Juken strikes at a distance, by increasing the chakra out put and focus. Very impressive-" Shino broke of as Neji had begun shooting Juken strikes at him. Unfortunately they had no effect.

"What, how come Shino isn't being affected by Juken?" Tenten wasn't surprised at Neji's Juken Bullets, as she was the one he developed it against.

Hinata took a quick look at Shino before responding. (She always has Byakugan on, except to sleep) "Shino-kun has gathered his kikai in the front of his body, they are eating the chakra Neji shoots at him. If Neji could get behind him he could strike, but Shino's bugs would easily be able to move to block it."

Tenten looked worried. "Neji's never used this many Juken Bullets before… I'm not sure he can keep it up."

Suddenly Hinata figured out what was going on. "Hey guys, look over and Ino and Choji." When they looked they didn't see what they expected. The shinobi army was vanishing, and suddenly it was gone completely. Choji shrunk back to his normal size as Ino collapsed. "Whoa… Neji-kun was closing of her tenketsu with every few strikes. He was attacking Shino to keep him focused on blocking the strikes, not what else Neji was doing."

Naruto grinned. It looked like his next fight would be against Choji and Neji. Seeing Ino collapse, the Aburame considered his options. He could probably defeat Choji with his bugs, but first he had to beat Neji. He decided, if this worked he would win, if not he would forfeit.

He flicked through hand signs with a speed that even Neji couldn't follow. "Destruction Bugs:" A huge swarm lifted into the air around Shino. "Shredding Storm no Jutsu!" A gust picked up around the stoic teen, sending his Kikai soaring at the Hyuga.

"Kaiten!" The bugs and swirling chakra clashed, it seemed the Kaiten would hold but Shino threw a single kunai. The kunai was not normal however; it was made from a special metal that absorbed chakra, if you held it to long you could die due to chakra exhaustion. The kunai easily pierced the Kaiten, but Neji simply ducked, His Kaiten was cancelled and the bugs attacked.

"Doton: Rockslide no Jutsu!" Choji slammed his fist into the ground and a flurry of rocks and small boulders crushed the bugs before the swarm could reach Neji.

"I forfeit." The victorious teens stood blinking as Shino strode over to Ino and helped her to her feet. "Are you alright Yamanaka-san?"

Ino brushed herself of. "Yeah I'm fine, Neji's bullet thingies don't seem to block for too long if your too far away… And Shino-kun?"

"Yes Yamanaka-san?"

"Call me Ino." With that the blond flicked her head and strutted purposefully back to the group, swinging her hips a lot more then necessary. With her Byakugan Hinata noticed Shino blushed as he followed behind Ino, so she giggled.

When Naruto asked what was so funny she whispered in his ear were Shino had been watching. "No way! He really!?" Hinata glanced at Naruto to silence him, and then they both started laughing.

"YOSH! That was indeed a most youthful display of the power of the fires of youth!"

Kiba got to his feet with Akamaru. "Well boy, looks like it's us against lazy ass and Tenten huh." Akamaru yelped. "Yeah, we'll flog em."

Shikamaru and Tenten stood up and got into their battle stances. Kiba threw a soldier pill to his companion. "Ninja Art: Beast Mimicry Jutsu! Ninja Art: Man Beast Clone!"

A/N: I know it's a bit short but I have to pack for my holidays! Yeah beach in summer, good times (live in Aus so it's summer here.) Anyway cause of the Holiday I wont be able to update for a bit over a week but I will have a laptop there so I'll be able to put up the fourth chapter when I get back.

So, tell me what you think of this story; too fast? Too slow? Too much action or not enough? Want more romance? The pairings are coming together now so I hope you enjoy them. Also, if anyone wants to be my beta just PM me or leave a review! Thankyou all for reading!

Until next time: The End of the Beginning!