Disclaimer: As usual I do not own Naruto.. but enjoy anyways.
Chapter 9 - Tests
Naruto was left to think about what Kurenai had said to him. She mentioned to the Kyubi but did not talk to him in a demining way. He started to smile and think that not all people in the village hated him, sort of like it was a few years ago, but he did feel lonely at that thought, being asked to leave the Hyuga compound and told not to talk or have anything to do with Hinata outside of the academy. That hurt him deeply. He started to cry at the thought of how much he missed playing and talking with Hinata. Just then a hand was set upon his shoulder, he jumped.
"Um… S… S… sorry Naruto-kun, I didn't mean to scare you." Hinata said shyly.
Naruto wiped his eyes then put on a big grin, "it's ok Hinata. I was just thinking about what Kurenai said to me and about what happened with…" he trailed off looking sad again.
"Are you thinking about when the clan asked you to leave?" She turned her head looking ashamed and ready to cry. "I am sorry Naruto. I had nothing to do with that. It hurt me deeply as you were such a friend, I am sure it hurt you more." She started to cry. "I… I apologize for what my clan did to you, it was terrible. You were all alone and even worse you ended up all alone again." Naruto looked on in awe as this is more than Hinata would say at one time, since they started the academy. "I am glad though… we are friends still aren't we?" The look of longing and sadness were evident in her eyes.
"Yes" he said reassuringly."I don't hold what happened against you, as you are you and not your clan. I am sure they had their reasons…" a look of anger crossed his face for an instant, but quickly changed back to the smiling one she knew.
"I am glad. I hope we can work well as a team together, I am sure that Shino will make sure that we do not screw up too badly. But I am worried…" Hinata replied. She started to think about what Naruto was talking about. 'About you and your secret, and how you have to bear such a burden. As I think back you have always been strong. You saved me so many times I can hardly count. And you were there when my mother died, to help me through some of that, and then what the clan did to you was so… so, cruel. How could they send you away like that? Away from the clan, from me… We… I needed you… I need you…' she started to cry.
"I am sorry Hinata, I… I… I'm sorry." He put his arm around her to comfort her as best he could. "It will be alright, believe it." They stayed that way for several minutes until Hinata's sobbing subsided.
A noise came from outside the arboretum. He heard a few familiar voices. Kakashi he knew, and Sakura's also, they moved from the bench where he was holding Hinata who had stopped crying and to the edge of the opening.
Kakashi stated "Ok tell me a little about your selves. Tell me your likes, your dislikes, hobbies and dreams for the future."
Sakura questioned "what do you mean Sensei? What are you looking for? Could you show us what you mean?"
Kakashi sighed, "Ok, my name is Kakashi Hatake, my likes, hm..? I like a lot of things. I hate lots of things. Hobbies, I have lots of hobbies. And my dreams are my own. Ok your turn."
"That was useless all we got from him was his name…" Sakura exclaimed as Kiba nodded "Ok. I am Sakura Haruno. I like… Who I like…" she started to get giddy and looked at Sasuke.
"And what do you hate?" Kakashi asked, 'figures girls her age are more interested in boys then being a ninja.'
"Naruto!" was all she said. Hinata watched Naruto visibly slump as if someone had hit him with a pipe. She grabbed his arm and led him away. She knew this would hurt him, hearing that someone whom he liked hated him.
They got down the stairs well enough. He seemed to be on autopilot. She lead him home, he opened the door with his key, more out of habit not out of realizing that he was home or anything. She moved him to his bed then set his alarm as he just slumped on the bed and fell asleep. She watched him for an hour or two, watching him cry in his sleep. 'I hope he will recover by tomorrow. I must leave you now Naruto I will come by in the morning to check up on you.' She left quietly closing the door behind her.
The next morning Naruto wakes up realizing he is at home and the alarm is going off, it is 7 am. He goes into the bathroom and cleans himself up. 'How did I get home? The last thing I remember is talking with Hinata about the Hyuga clan, and then I heard…' He stopped right after pulling on his boxers. 'Sakura… She said she hates me… I guess Hinata took me home, man… she saw this mess… I hope she will still want to be on my team. What am I supposed to do? I hope she does not hate me too.' A knock on the door woke him from his thoughts, another knock, "just a minute!" He quickly dressed and opened the door.
"Ano… good morning Naruto-kun… Um…. I thought it would be nice to walk to the training grounds together. Would that be ok?" Hinata asked standing at the door.
Naruto looking a little depressed, "are you sure? Will it be ok? Are you sure you are not mad at me? I mean for… well, I guess." He bows deeply, "domo arigato, for bringing me home yesterday. I really apologize if I caused you any bother." He sheepishly scratched the back of his head.
"Y… Yesterday was not a bother. You are never a bother. I was glad I could help you. We could talk as we go to the training area if you like. I am sorry Sakura was so mean. I would never say something like that… I mean, I like you… "She turned beat red and passed out, Naruto quickly caught her and brought her into his apartment and laid here on the couch. She woke up a few minutes later. "What happened? Why am I in your apartment?" She smelled something cooking or is it tea?
Naruto entered the room with tray with two cups and a bowl. "Tea? I can fix you something if you have not had breakfast. Would you like anything?" Hinata took the cup and shook her head to the offer of breakfast. He started to eat, "sorry to eat in front of you but I have not eaten yet."
"That is ok Naruto-kun. I have already eaten before I came here. When you are done we can go."
"Hinata you passed out so I just put you on the couch and fixed some tea and some food for me. Since I remember the Hyuga compound, they would make sure we had food before we would go anywhere." A sad look crossed his face, "sorry, just remembering when I was there."
"It is ok Naruto-kun, are we ready to leave?" Naruto nodded as he finished his bowl and put it in the sink. He gathered the cups and put them in the sink grabbed his ninja tools and locked the door as they left.
"So Hinata, what do you think the test will be on?" Naruto asked as they headed to the practice field.
"I have no idea Naruto-kun. I guess we will see when we get there." Hinata answered.
They approached training area 14 and saw that Shino and Kurenai were already waiting for Hinata and Naruto to arrive. "Good you both are here before 9 am. Being punctual is a sign of a good shinobi. Shall we start early?" They all looked at each other and then nodded. "Ok, I would like to make this straight. We only have 9 positions open for Genin right now so you will have to fight each other for it. So begin."
They all looked at each other. Naruto looked sadly at Hinata, then at their Sensei. "Huh? Why would we fight for a position? There would be no need for a team to be formed if we were to fight each other."
Shino nodded "as silly as it sounds, I agree with Naruto fighting would be illogical. To create teams only to have them fight each other, that is not what I would think is a good way to make unity."
Hinata bringing her arms to her chest "I would never fight Naruto-kun or Shino for a position. If that is what is required, then I say we should fail." Both Naruto and Shino nodded.
Kurenai smiled, "you pass." Hinata and Naruto looked amazed. Shino seemed to have no reaction. "I needed to test if you would be a team or would you take my challenge and think only for yourself, most do not get past this point. Congratulations. Now, I have a few things to say. One, Naruto we will have to get you a new wardrobe, wait, I am saying for missions only, in the village you can where what you want." Naruto looked relieved. "Hinata, you will have to work closely with Naruto. Can you handle that?" She nodded agreement while slightly blushing, "good. Shino I want you to come up with secondary plans after my primary. Hinata you are in charge of the tertiary plans, and Naruto, you are in charge of the final plans as I know you can come up with plans that no one would think of so yours are our final backup."
They looked confused and Kurenai shrugged her shoulders. "If Naruto's plan does not get us out of a situation then we are not going to finish the mission. Naruto is an expert in evasion and eluding pursuers. I know each of you brings certain skills to the table, I chose you for various reasons, and mostly we will be a scouting squad, as we have the capabilities for surveillance and detainment." Naruto looked uneasy in that he had not always been that observant. "And yes Naruto you do have your times where you are very observant, I am looking for that, as you will more than likely see things that the others of us will miss. As expected you passed my test for being a team. I tried to pit you against one another. Had you taken the bait you would have been sent back to the academy. Now each of you has an ability that you will use and improve upon. Hinata you have your Byakugan, Shino you have your destruction insects, and Naruto you have your Kage Bunshin, and several other tricks. Of which I would like to address. Naruto I would like you to stop pulling pranks on the village."
To her surprise he nodded, "I would also like to address your attire." This brought a look of utter terror to his face. "I told you that you will have to change your look for missions, around town you can wear what you like, but as a general idea you should either blend into the background or at least not draw attention to yourself." She raised a hand to forestall any counter arguments, "I would like you to get some greens, blues, or neutral colors for your outfit. I can take you to places that where you can find these things." She smirked, "Hinata and I will go with you to help you choose a couple outfits that will both be helpful and beneficial to our team. Now I would like for Hinata and Shino to spar so I can observe and talk to Naruto. Ok, begin."
She walked a little ways away and bid Naruto to follow as Hinata and Shino began to spar. They sat down watching the sparing match, Naruto was the first to speak up. "Um… Sensei, I wasn't going to continue to do any more pranks." He said as he was looking at the ground, "you see, when I graduated I told myself the village now had at least somewhat accepted me so I would not need to pull pranks on them."
"I am impressed, that takes a level of maturity to make a unilateral decision. Especially if the villagers may take time to change their attitude towards you or even if they do not." She could see that the second part stung Naruto.
He looked up at her with a determined look on his face. "Sensei, I know that my clothes are for attention, which I know I am trying to get from just about anyone. And I do like orange." He started to look contemplative. "You know most people show me either hatred or indifference. I do not like it and want to change them."
Kurenai realized that Naruto was deeper than he appeared. "Well changing people is harder than you might think. It can be done with actions, and deeds, these things will in most people bring out their false impressions and make them face them. They will either reevaluate them or they will more strongly hold onto their beliefs. Those are a lost cause and should be forgotten. I would like to talk to you now about the Kyubi."
Naruto stiffen visibly. "What about it?"
"From what I understand from Iruka, you can use the shadow clone jutsu, a forbidden technique. Do you know why it is forbidden?"
He looked at her not quite understanding, "Forbidden technique? What does this have to do with the Kyubi?"
"Well Naruto, the shadow clone jutsu, is hard for even Jonin to do, also very dangerous if not used properly. To take your chakra and divide it evenly between yourself and your clones, can be difficult if you do not have large reserves. Such as you have, and here is where we get to the Kyubi, it is also a large reserve of chakra for you. Most who attempt to use this technique are hampered by having low levels of chakra for other jutsu when they have clones, in other words. They will run out of chakra if they are not careful. You on the other hand will have chakra to spare. So I ask you how is your clone jutsu?"
With that Naruto changed from having a look of awe to looking very depressed. "Well Sensei, my clones are pathetic. I don't know why, but I never have been able to do the clone jutsu right, getting the shadow clone jutsu from the scroll was a godsend. It was so much easier than the clone, as I have not been able to do much with them."
"I see, so you have problems creating the clones. If I may ask, how many did you create when you took on Mizuki?"
With that question Naruto lit up. "A couple hundred, I was not sure." Looking a little embarrassed, "I was a little mad at the time."
Kurenai looked surprised then smiled, "so when do you think you should tell them? They will be your team, they should know. Shino will eventually figure there is something odd about you, and Hinata will eventually suspect it."
He started to scowl. "I don't want them to hate me."
Kurenai looked shocked. "I don't think they will hate you. But it is ok for now, but I am sure you will eventually either need to tell them or want too. We are a team and should know our strengths and weaknesses. We will talk again about this later." Looking at Hinata and Shino "ok you two, you can stop. Now Naruto and I will spar and you can rest for a bit. Tomorrow will be our first mission."
Naruto and Kurenai spared for about 20 minutes. Afterwards she critiqued them on forms and abilities. She commented that Hinata had the best stance and best style of all her students. Shino was the best at blocking. Naruto, well, he was the best as trying to make the best of the situation. He has a poor stance and poor style. As promised she took Naruto shopping with Hinata. He dreaded going into stores for the most part in that the shopkeepers would most of the time either shoo him away or they would accuse him of stealing and beat him while driving him out of the store.
But with a Jonin, and a Hyuga present they would mostly keep their mouths shut. Some would refuse to sell Naruto anything, but most complied, usually after Kurenai had a little discussion with them. Most she talked to, ended up losing color in their face, more than likely from fear. There were a few that looked on Naruto and saw a new customer, mostly those that were not familiar with the attack twelve years ago.
Hope you enjoyed it...
Ok a little note to the fans so far. Thanks for the reviews. MissNave: Well the misspelling was on purpose, this story revolve around Naruto's Happiness but there are more than one aspect to that, looking happy, being happy, and there is also being sad, or that case not being happy at all. Sorry for the confusion. DragonChips: Well I am taking my time with this, things that are fast die fast, while time heals wounds, also time makes relationships bloom. You will see what I mean. Also they are only around 12 years old so figuring out what to do and how to feel is always a problem for kids. I also have some twists and turns coming.
I am looking at this story to be a long one. Keep the coments coming I am going to post between 2 and 3 chapters when I post. And I will soon have a cliff hanger... Hope you enjoy it...