A/N: Thanks for all the reviews.
Chapter 2
Hinata decided last night that no matter what happened today, she would accept it. She really hoped to be placed on the same team as Naruto-kun, but she knew how they formed teams. They always had balanced teams and with her dramatic improvements since she started, she would likely be put on a different team then Naruto. She let out a sigh as she took her seat in the class, Naruto wasn't here yet.
It was a few minutes before the start of class and when they would take the exam to become genins. Everyone knew that for three students it was merely a formality, but they had to take it regardless. Naruto was the son of the Hokage and number one in the class and the school. Sasuke was the heir to the Uchiha clan and considered a genius even among his own clan. And there was Hinata, the heir to the Hyuuga clan. She hadn't really gotten to know Sasuke very well, but what she did know he was a fairly nice boy considering what he has been through. When they first started his brother was arrested for the murder of nearly a dozen of his own clansmen, and now on a visit to see his brother his father was attacked.
Sasuke hadn't been in class for the past few days, he was recovering from the shock of it all. He was in class today though because it was the exam. Hinata wondered what kind of person he was. He was extremely quiet and given the fact that many of the girls in the class were obsessed with him, he handled it extremely well.
Deep in her own thoughts, Hinata didn't realize that Naruto had taken a seat next to her. "Morning, Hinata-chan!" He said in his normally excited voice.
Hinata jumped at the sound of Naruto's voice and her cheeks turned a bright shade of red. "Good morning, Naruto-kun." She replied quietly.
"Get any sleep last night?" Naruto sat back in his chair stretching his legs under the table. Hinata shook her head. "Me neither." The excitement of the day was too much for Naruto to relax and get any amount of good sleep.
Before they could talk anymore, Iruka-sensei came into the room. "Today is the day for the exam to become genins." He told his class with a smile. Everyone in the class got quiet as Iruka began to explain the test, after all twenty students took the test they would get the rest of the day off from class until they meet their senseis. Teams would be assigned to those that pass later that day. One by one Iruka called students to the front to do the exam. It was much like the test they took to determine ranks in the class at the start, but it was a bit more intense. It required the students to preform a series of techniques from memory very quickly without messing them up.
After all the students had taken the exam, Iruka marked in his book who passed and who didn't "Those that passed, please return to this room in three hours to be assigned to teams." There were nine students that passed. Naruto was of course one of them. The young Namikaze met up with Hinata on the way out of the academy.
"Hinata-chan!" He called to the girl as she walked out of the building.
The purple haired girl ran over to her friend. "What's up, Naruto-kun?"
"Want to goto Ichiraku for some ramen for lunch?" Naruto asked. They had several hours to kill before they were assigned to teams, and they both knew that this may be the last time they got to spent time together for a long time.
"Sure, Naruto-kun!" Hinata nodded her head as Naruto grabbed her hand to lead her to the ramen bar. The act of physical contact outside of a spar caused her face to turn a dark shade of red. Naruto led Hinata through the town to his favorite restaurant.
"Yo, Naruto!" The man that owned the ramen stand greeted the soon to be genin. "Ah! And Hinata too! Sit, sit!" He offered up two seats in the center of the bar.
"How's it going, old man?" Naruto grinned as the man grimaced.
"I'm not that old!" He yelled as he turned his head towards the blond haired boy. "What are you two having?"
"I'll have three bowls of beef!" Naruto drooled over the idea of eating ramen.
"A bowl of miso for me please." Hinata said quietly.
"Alright!" He turned his back towards the noodles.
"Hinata-chan, do you think we will be on the same team?" Naruto asked the girl next to him. He hadn't really thought of what would happen if they weren't on the same team. It would suck, he knew that much. Him and Hinata had grown close over the past few years, and if they were assigned to different teams it would mean they wouldn't be able to see each other as much.
"One bowl of shrimp, please." A voice came from behind Naruto, and he could hear the old man's reply confirming the order. Naruto spun his head around to see his father standing there.
"Dad!" Naruto jumped from his seat to give the man a hug. Hinata turned around and gave the Hokage a smile.
"Hello, Hokage-sama!" Hinata bowed politely.
"How are you, Hinata-chan? Did you both pass?" Minato took the seat next to Naruto.
"What kind of question is that?! Of course we passed! Right, Hinata?!" Naruto's excitement was contagious. Hinata found herself laughing at Naruto's antics as he told his father of how he passed the test. She hoped with all her heart that she would be on the same team as him.
"Here you go, Naruto-kun!" Ayame, the daughter of the old man, slid his and Hinata's ramen bowls in front of them. "Yours will be ready in a minute, Hokage-sama." She bowed to him, and Minato returned the bow with his own and a smile.
"Dad!" Naruto managed to get out between shoveling noodles in his mouth. "Are me and Hinata-chan going to be on the same team?" He managed to stop eating long enough to get that out.
"I just finished a meeting with your sensei actually." Minato smiled at his son's reaction.
"Who is it!?" Naruto exclaimed. Minato didn't say a word as he waited for his ramen. "Come on dad! Tell me!" It was killing the new genin that his father knew but he wasn't saying anything.
"Naruto-kun, we will find out in a few hours." Hinata whispered in his ear, but that just made the twelve year old boy fidget even more.
"You are going to make me wait a few hours?!" Naruto crossed his arms across his chest and turned from his father with a frown. "Meanie!" He turned back to shout at the Hokage, who was trying his best to keep a straight face. Hinata was trying to suppress a laugh herself. Naruto could be so cute when he was frustrated. Hinata gasped at her thought, quickly turning away from Naruto to hide her blush. Naruto hopped out of his chair after he finished the last of the ramen he ordered. The young blond wore a black jacket that was open in the front. It had a orange accent on the underside of the sleeves and on the front around the zipper. The collar rose up to stop at his at the bottom of his cheeks, but with the front open you could clearly see his face. Underneath the jacket, he wore a black teeshirt with a orange swirl in the middle of it. His pants were a light tan color with pockets all over his thighs.
"Where are you going, Naruto-kun?" Hinata looked up at the boy as he walked from the store, he didn't reply. Hinata frantically searched her pockets for money to pay.
"I'll cover it." Minato placed a hand on the girls shoulder with a smile. "Go after him." Hinata nodded with a smile before she leapt from her chair and chased after Naruto. The blond was nearly down the street when she exited. She jogged after him to catch up wondering what was wrong.
"Naruto-kun!" She called out to him. Naruto stopped walked to turn his head back, he didn't seem upset as he gave her one of his trademark grins. "Why did you run out all the sudden?" Naruto got a wicked grin on his face. "What are you planning?" Hinata gave her friend a weary look.
Naruto continued to walk until he arrived at the Hokage tower, it was busy this time of year with all the potential jounin instructors running around. Naruto snuck past the secretary that worked for his father with Hinata right behind him.
"I can't believe I'm going along with this." She whispered to the mischievous boy in front of her. He just turned his head enough so she could see he was grinning. Hinata shook her head as Naruto approached the door to the office of the Hokage. He turned the nob, it was unlocked. Slowly he opened the door and slid in. He moved quietly around the desk to find what he was looking for.
"Where could it be?" He sucked on his lower lip thinking on where his father would put it.
"Hurry up!" Hinata poked her head into the room. Naruto nodded with a smile before returning to his search. He reached for a handle on one of the desk drawers but something caught his hand.
"Not doing anything bad, are you?" Naruto jumped at the voice. He spun around to see his father standing behind him.
"What? No, of course not!" Naruto pulled his hand free and put it behind his back. Hinata heard Naruto raise his voice and her heart stopped. Did they get caught by someone? She wanted to look but was afraid she would get in trouble.
"Did he talk you into this, Hinata-chan?" A voice came from the door causing her to jump from the wall.
She turned around to see the person the voice came from. "H-H-Hokage-sama!" She stuttered out. "I tried to talk him out of it!" Her first thought was to try and get Naruto out of trouble "He just wanted to know who his sensei was going to be." She looked at the ground as she pushed her fingers together. There was silence for a few moments before she felt a hand on her shoulders.
"Don't worry, he's not in trouble." Minato could see the relief on her face. "Naruto!" He barked out and his son came scurrying out of the office. "Take this pretty lady somewhere nice for the next two hours and stay out of trouble." He spoke in a stern voice. Hinata tried to suppress the blush that was forming at being called a "pretty lady".
"OK, dad." Naruto said in defeat. He was so close to figuring it all out.
Sarutobi Asuma, Hatake Kakashi, and Yuuhi Kurenai all sat around a table in a special arena of the barracks for jounin. It had a private gym, food court, everything you could want, and it was off limits to all shinobi below the jounin rank.
"Looks like we are the three jounins getting teams this year." Asuma took a poof from his cigarette. Kakashi was just retired from the ANBU, and this would be the first team he had taken. Kurenai was a new jounin, only promoted a few months ago, so she had never had a team before. Asuma was just the son of the third Hokage, he had several teams before. All of them had gone on to be at least chuunins.
Kakashi looked up from his book, a new Icha Icha. "Yep." He said a single word before look back into the pages. Asuma didn't know much about the world famous shinobi other then what everyone else knew. The man was a mystery. He was considered probably the strongest jounin in the village but it appeared like he didn't have a care in the world. Not that Asuma could complain, he was just as strong as Kakashi. Good genes is what he accredited too. Son of a Hokage, can't get much better then that. Kakashi came from just as good genes, but no one ever talked about his father. The legendary White Fang of Konoha.
The copy ninja had only had been out of the ANBU for about a month. He didn't really talk about it, but everyone knew he had left upon request of the forth. Whether it was to take his son on a team or to be the sensei of the Uchiha of this class, no one knew.
"Kakashi." Asuma spoke with a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. "Have you asked to take on the Uchiha from this years group?" Smoke flowed from his mouth as he spoke.
"It's a logical choice for me to be his sensei. I've had my sharingan longer then some of the Uchiha themselves." Kakashi closed his book. His sharingan was a source of much distress for the Uchiha clan. They had even demanded that he have it removed, but the Hokage denied the request.
"What do you think of the Hokage's son?" Kurenai spoke for the first time since they sat at the table.
"He is good. He could have graduated years ago, but the Hokage didn't want him too." Kakashi told them. Asuma nodded know what its like to live in the shadow of your father.
"I was excepted to succeed my father. Things didn't work out though." Asuma took another poof from his cigarette, it was a long one and it felt good. Washing away the memories of a childhood where his father wasn't around much.
"I know that feeling." Kakashi somberly nodded. Kurenai and Asuma looked up at him. He didn't talk about his father at all, and here he was sharing some of his feelings. Kakashi touched his face.
"Something on my face?" He asked the two jounins staring at him. They both turned away from him with a slight blush. "Just about time to head over to the academy I guess." Kakashi rose to his feet and stretched his legs. Asuma and Kurenai followed him out of the private area. When Kakashi started in the opposite direction of the academy Kurenai stopped as Asuma kept walking.
"Let him be." Asuma told her before she could say anything.
"But... We are suppose to be there in ten minutes." Kurenai looked at the son of the third.
"He has someone to talk too." Asuma turned and walked towards the academy. Kurenai had a confused look on her face as Asuma and Kakashi walked in different directions. She nodded her head and followed the Sarutobi towards the academy.
Naruto and Hinata walked into the class to see the rest of the group of students that passed. Most of them were friends with Naruto, except he hadn't really gotten to know Sasuke outside of a few spars they had. Choji and Shikamaru were sitting next to each other, while Sasuke was surrounded by Sakura and Ino. Kiba was sitting in the back of the room with his dog, Akamaru, on his head.
"Oi, Naruto!" Kiba shouted out getting the boys attention. "Learn anything from your dad?" Naruto frowned and shook his head. Kiba just smirked at him. Everyone turned their attention as Iruka walked into the room.
"Quiet down now." He looked through a folder he held. "I will be assigning you to your teams now." Everyone fell quiet and sat down. This was the moment they had been waiting for. As Iruka readied himself, his assistant walked through out the class handing out their hitai-ates.
Naruto wrapped his around his forehead and Hinata helped him tie it in the back. "You look great, Naruto-kun!" She smiled as he look at his reflection in the window of the class.
"Thanks, Hinata-chan." He replied as the quiet Hyuuga wrapped hers around her neck and tied it in the back.
After the hitai-ates were handed out, Iruka walked in front of the class. "Now. This is moment you have all been waiting." Iruka flipped open the file. "The first team is Aburame Shino, Yamanaka Ino, and Akimichi Choji." The three that had there names called rearranged themselves so they were sitting together. Ino put herself between the two boys and let out a sigh as Sakura stuck her tongue out at the blond.
"Shut up forehead girl." She move her mouth but made no sound.
"The next team is Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Inuzuka Kiba." Sakura threw her arms into the air as Ino slammed her forehead into her desk. The three that had their names called moved to a group of seats next to each other. Sakura took a seat next to Sasuke and every few minutes she inched it closer to him.
"And the last team Nara Shikamaru, Hyuuga Hinata, Namikaze Naruto." Hinata nearly fainted when she knew she would be on the same team as Naruto, and the blond genin himself actually hugged the poor girl making her go stiff like a board. Naruto released the girl from his hug and noticed she wasn't moving.
"Hinata-chan?" He waved a hand in front of her eyes.
"What did you do, Naruto?" Shikamaru slouched into the chair next to him. Naruto shrugged at the black haired boy that sat next to him. Slowly Hinata came to her senses.
"Naruto-kun?" She said in a voice that was just above a whisper.
"We are on the same team, Hinata-chan!" Naruto put his hands on her shoulders shaking her a little bit. She quietly looked him in the eyes with a small tint of red under her eyes.
Iruka cleared his throat to get the attention of the new shinobis. "And now we will assign what jounin will be teaching you. Team 7 Sasuke, Kiba, and Sakura, you will have Sarutobi Asuma as a sensei. Team 10 Shino, Ino, and Choji will be assigned to Yuuhi Kurenai. And Team 6 Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru will be assigned to Hatake Kakashi."
Naruto didn't know what to think about this. He knew Kakashi a little bit. He knew he was a student of his father, and he knew that he was an ANBU captain when he was younger. Naruto knew he had retired from the ANBU a few months ago.
The other senseis had already arrived and taken their teams to start their careers as shinobi. Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru sat in the room waiting for Kakashi for another hour before the former ANBU arrived. The gray haired jounin walked into the room, the mask hid his mouth, but it appeared he was smiling.
"Follow me." He told the three genin in a chipper voice.
Kakashi listened to his students talking. He could already tell that Hinata liked Naruto just a bit more then a friend, Naruto was mostly oblivious to this, but he wasn't completely unaware. He could also tell that Shikamaru felt kind of like an outsider in this team, and that didn't surprise Kakashi one bit. It had been a long time since a Shika wasn't on a team with an Ino and a Cho.
It was decided that Shikamaru would work better in this team with his intelligence. Kakashi would be able to mentor him fairly well too, he wasn't as smart as his Shikaku, but he could hold his own in a game of Shogi.
Kakashi let out a sigh as he stopped. "Looks like this will be my first real team." He whispered to himself. "Alright!" He quickly turned to face the three behind him. "How about we start with some introduction! Likes, dislikes, plans for the future all that good stuff." Kakashi sat down on a bench in the park he led them too. His three students stood before him a little unsure what to think about this man.
"Well, my name is Namikaze Naruto! I like my family, my teammates, and ramen! I dislike people that hurt anyone I care about. My plans for the future are to succeed my father as Hokage!" Naruto grinned after his speech. Kakashi nodded with a smile under his mask.
"How troublesome." Shikamaru let out a sigh. "I'm Nara Shikamaru. I like watching clouds and shogi. I dislike doing anything hard. My plan for the future? Haven't really thought about it." Shikamaru slouched back on to a concrete wall behind him. Kakashi nodded at the lazy boy.
"Um, my name is Hyuuga Hinata. I like my teammates, and anything that Naruto-kun likes. I dislike anyone that tries to hurt Naruto-kun." She finished. Kakashi rose an eyebrow as the girl turned away with a blush thinking about her plans for the future. Kakashi stood up to address his team.
"Well, that was... interesting." Kakashi put his hands in his pockets. "We don't have much time to do anything today, but we will meet up at 10 A.M tomorrow morning to start training. I will do some skill tests to see how far along each of you are, and if we get finished quick enough we can go in for our first mission as a team." Naruto's eyes brightened at that. "Nothing to serious. For the first few months we won't even leave the village. We will help people with chores and such." Naruto's smile turned into a frown.
"Everyone has to start somewhere, Naruto-kun." Hinata mentioned to him. Naruto nodded.
"Well, until tomorrow morning!" Kakashi smiled before he vanished until a swirl of leaves.
Shikamaru gave his two teammates a wave and started to walk away. "Hey, Shikamaru!" Naruto called out and the boy spun around on his heels. "My family was having a party tonight to celebrate graduating, you can come and bring you family if you want." Naruto explained. Shikamaru stood there for a moment without a reaction.
"Even though it is troublesome, I'll be there." He turned again and walked off. Naruto shouted his farewells and Shika threw a wave over his shoulder.
"You too, Hinata-chan. You are invited too! It is at six." Naruto told his best friend.
"I'll ask my father when I get home." That was the best she could do. Her father was, well for lack of a better word, strict when it comes to somethings. Naruto accepted his friends answer and headed off to his house. There were a few hours before the party was going to happen, so he had to clean up and maybe get a bite to eat. Hinata made her way home too, she lived on the other side of town from Naruto.
Shikamaru walked through the streets of Konoha causally staring up at the sky. Clouds looked nice today. He was a little troubled today though. All the years of his life he heard his father talk about the Ino-Shika-Cho teams that had been in the years past. This would be the first generation that the children from the three families were in different teams. At least Naruto was nice enough to invite him over to dinner for the party. He wonder if they would be upset if he invited Choji. Maybe.
Shikamaru walked to the front door of his families house. It was an average house, not too big and not too small. It was just how he wanted to live. Just be average. Everything else in life was just too troublesome. Shikaku, his father, was in the kitchen with his mother when he walked in the house.
"How did today go?" His father asked without turning back to face his son. He seemed to always know when he was there.
"Troublesome," Shikamaru dropped into a seat at the table.
"Who is your sensei?" His father asked as he cut up some vegetables for dinner.
"Hatake Kakashi," His son replied. His father actually turned around to face him this time.
"Kakashi, eh? He's a good man, if not a bit lazy." Shikaku smiled. "I guess you two have something in common." The elder Nara turned around to chop the vegetables again. "Who is on your team?" While he thought he knew the answer, he would be surprised to learn the truth.
"Namikaze Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata." The chopping once again stopped as Shikaku turned around.
"What?" His father twirled the knife around his finger absentmindedly. "You aren't with Choji and Ino?" Shikamaru shook his head. "First time in forty years..." His father's voice trailed off. "Oh well, this team may be good for you." His father nodded to himself.
"Well, before you get to into chopping food up, you should know that we were invited to a party at Naruto's house tonight. Celebrate graduating." Shikamaru relied the invitation.
"Well alright! Means I don't have to cook!" Shikaku placed the knife down.
"That is very nice of them to invite us." His mother spoke for the first time.
"It's quite troublesome." Shikamaru got up and went to his room.
Hinata made her way through the large Hyuuga compound. It was the biggest clan house in the village, even bigger than the Uchiha's. Hinata was still a quiet girl around the house, she didn't like to draw attention to herself. She was even a little afraid of the branch family members. While her father had taught her the technique to activate the seal placed on their foreheads, she never once used it. She was too afraid to hurt them.
"Excuse me, Hinata-sama." A quiet voice jolted the girl from her thoughts. "I am deeply sorry." The person that spoke to her put her head to the floor. This was the way it was around the house, the branch family was terrified of the seal on their foreheads and did everything to keep from having it activated. Hinata nearly gasped at the girls reaction. The bowing girl felt a hand on her shoulder and pushed herself on the floor even farther.
"Please," Hinata whispered. "Stand up." The branch family member looked up to see Hinata on her knees in front of her with a pleading look on her face.
"I cannot show you disrespect, Hinata-sama." The girl was at least looking at her now. It was a start.
Hinata grabbed the girl's shoulder and pulled her to her feet. The scared girl kept her eyes on the floor begging for mercy. "Did you want to tell me something?" Hinata gave her a smile.
"Y-Yes. Hiashi-sama wants you to goto his office." The girl bowed deep.
"Thank you." Hinata put a hand on the girl's shoulder giving a small squeeze before walking away. It was disturbing to the girl how much her own family feared her. These people are related to her, and they would never make eye contact. Hinata knew what it was like to be unwanted. Up until about a year ago, her father had given up on Hinata being the future leader of the Hyuuga and was starting to groom her sister for the job. When Hinata started to have training sessions with Naruto and the Hokage, her father had a mild interest but was still unimpressed as she rose through the rankings in her class.
Between Naruto and Sasuke, it was hard for her to get to the top of the class. Naruto was always number one, and Sasuke was right behind him. In her final year, Hinata had become third in the class and expected her father to be happy for once. That was not the case. As much as she had improved, it was never enough for him. She would bring his grades to him in his study and he would stare at them for a few moments before telling her, "Third. You are ranked third." He would ball the report card up and discard it without saying a word to her afterwards.
Hinata let out a sigh, it seemed like nothing she did was ever good enough for him. She held her reserve and knocked on the door to his office before entering. "Hello, father." She bowed to him. He wasn't facing her, but she knew he could see her. "I was told you wanted to see me."
"Who is your sensei?" He asked with his voice as cold as ever.
"Hatake Kakashi." She noticed him twitch when she said the name.
"And who is on your team?"
"Namikaze Naruto and Nara Shikamaru." The anger she felt from him relaxed when she told him the names. It appeared he was satisfied with the team.
"You may go." He still hadn't turned to face her. After a few seconds when she hadn't left, he spun around. "Is there something else?" His lifeless eyes pierced through her.
"Um..." She hated when she shuttered in front of her father. "Naruto-kun invited us to a party this evening at his house. To celebrate graduating." She whispered as she avoided eye contact with him. She could feel his anger rise up again.
"And why would I celebrate you being third in your class?" He turned around facing away from her. Hinata's heart sank, it was never good enough. "You can go celebrate your efforts if you wish, but I will not be going." Hiashi ended the conversation and Hinata left the room. In the hallway just outside his door his propped herself against the wall, her hands were shaking.
"Calm down." She whispered to herself, it was unbecoming of the heir to the clan to be so scared after meeting with her father. Hinata made herself appear unaffected by the talk with her father as she made her way through the house. She figured she had enough time to take a shower before the party at Naruto's house.
Inside the office with his bloodline activated he saw his daughter shaking. He truly did love her, but he felt the only way to help her become stronger was to push her in the only way he knew how. He was treated the same way as a child, if he wasn't first in something, he would be berated, and he hated to do the same thing to his child. It seemed to work though, since he had stated he had given up on her becoming the heir to the clan, she had worked doubly hard to succeed. She even had private training sessions with the Hokage and his son. Hiashi just hoped years from now when Hinata was leading the clan, she would have the heart to forgive him for how he treated her.
Namikaze Tami walked throughout the Namikaze house, she was searching for her mother. The girl's instructors had told her they believed she was ready to become a genin now, even though she was only eight. The girl's red hair, which she got from her mother, was tied up in a tight knot on the back of her head. She wore a loose fitting white long sleeved shirt and a pair of black shorts that ended mid calf.
"Mom?" The young girl called out looking through the house. She figured it would be better to ask her mom before her dad. Her father had made her older brother stay in the academy for six years, when he could have become a genin after one year.
"In the kitchen!" She heard her mother call out. Tami walking down the steps that led to the main floor. Kushina was busy preparing food for the party they were having tonight.
"Mom." The younger sister of Naruto took a seat on the counter top next to her mother. Kushina looked up at the young girl, she knew she was going to ask something. "Iruka-sensei says I'm ready for the genin exam now." Kushina shook her head and returned to chopping up some potatoes. "What?!" Tami crossed her arms with a pout.
"Your father wouldn't let Naruto take it early, why would he let you?" Kushina says what Tami thought she would say.
"But daddy loves me more." She grinned at her mom causing the older woman to start laughing.
"You will have to ask him when he comes out." She heard the front door close.
"Ask dad what?" Naruto came around the corner with his hitai-ate on his head. Kushina ran over an gave her son a massive hug.
"I am so proud of you, Naruto-kun." His mother put two hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eyes.
"Was there any doubt that I would pass?" He said with his trademark grin. Tami stuck her tongue out at him with his mother's back turned to her. The new genin glared at his younger sister.
Kushina made her way back to the food she was preparing. "Did you invite your new teammates?" She asked the question to Naruto without having to look over her shoulder.
"Yeah. Shikamaru said he would come, and Hinata-chan said she would ask her father." Naruto explained as Tami was laughing at Naruto calling her "Hinata-chan". Naruto causally walked by his sister and kicked one of her dangling feet. "She could kick your butt!" Naruto shouted as he ran from the kitchen before he could be yelled at.
"Take a shower before they get here!" He heard his mother call to him and he ran up the steps with his sister in tow. She attempted to tackle him when he goto the top, but when she grabbed him he disappeared in a cloud of smoke and she was holding a laundry basket. She threw the basket at his bedroom door before stalking down the stairs. Naruto leaned against his door trying to contain himself as he heard his sister stomp down the steps. He could hear his mom yelling at her about making too much noise, and he couldn't contain himself anymore.
Hinata walked the trip across town by herself. With her father not going, it was unlikely anyone else in the house would have gone, so she just decided to go by herself. It was about a ten minute walk to Naruto's house. She didn't know if she was suppose to bring anything, so she just jarred some of her healing cream she had made and decided she was going to give it to Naruto as a present. About half way to his house, Hinata found herself walking pass the Nara household. She wondered if Shikamaru had already left.
"Hinata?" She heard a voice call out to her. She spun around to see the lazy black haired boy behind her with his parents.
"Hello, Shikamaru-san." She bowed her head to him. She gave a deeper bow to the elder Naras with her new teammate.
"Mom, dad, this is Hinata. She is one of my teammates." Shikamaru told his parents as they exchanged pleasantries with the young Hyuuga. The four of them walked through the village to Naruto's house for the party. Hinata smiled as when she saw the house, she could hear some music playing and there were already people at the house.
Tami searched tirelessly for her father. She had to ask him and just get it over with. She knew what the answer would be, but it never hurt to ask. The party had already started and the house was filling with people from all over the village.
"Looking for me?" She heard a voice say from behind her as she walked down a hallway.
"Dad!" She rushed to him and embraced him in a massive hug. The young Hokage let out a soft chuckle as he returned the hug.
"I heard you had something to ask?" He headed back into the room he had just come from. Tami poked her head in to see not one, but two shinobi that were considered legends all over the world.
"Oh, I didn't want to interrupt you." She bowed her head.
Minato gave me a soft smile. "It is OK, Tami-chan. What did you want to ask?" He handed one of his guests a bottle of sake.
"Well, Iruka-sensei wants me to take the genin exam next week." She explained. She hoped he would agree to it but doubted he would.
"I didn't let your brother take it early." Minato reminded her of what was already in her mind.
"Well, everyone knows you love me more." She smiled at him.
Minato let out a laugh. "I'll have to think about it." Tami was satisfied enough with that and left her father. Minato turned back to his guests. "Sorry about that, sensei."
"How many times I have told you not to call me that, kid?" Jiraiya let out a sigh before taking a drink of his sake.
"Old habits die hard, eh?" Minato chuckled at the stares at his other guest gave at his sensei.
"I can assure you that I have done that in years." Jiraiya attempted to defend himself.
"Only because I beat you into an inch of your life!" Tsunade shouted as she snatched the bottle of sake from her former teammate.
"Now." Minato spoke to get the conversation back on track. "You told me you had something to tell me that had to do with Naruto?" Jiraiya nodded slowly.
"There is a organization that is after Naruto." Judging from Minato's reaction to his, Jiraiya thought it better to explain more rather than just have him start asking questions. "I do not know what it is called, but I do know they are after what is inside of him. They are attempting to gather all of the tailed demons for a reason I do not know." Minato took a large swig of the bottle of sake he had in his hands.
"You said you don't know why, but how did you learn of his group?" Multiple thoughts were pouring through the Hokage's head.
"One of their members is..." Jiraiya hesitated as he looked at Tsunade. "Well, one of them is Orochimaru." The busty blond next to him swallowed hard at hearing that name.
"Orochimaru?" The Hokage seethed. The bottle of sake began to shake in his hand before it shattered into pieces under the pressure he was putting on it. Minato ignored the spilled drink as Jiraiya continued.
"Yes. It is a collection of missing-nin from all over the world. Most if not all are S-class." Jiraiya finished with the anger very much showing on his student's face. "Minato. No matter who is in that group, they are no match for you." Jiraiya tried to cheer the blond haired man up, but he could tell it would be difficult.
"I understand why you told us Jiraiya, but I think we should do our best to act as if nothing is wrong tonight. It is a happy night for Naruto, we shouldn't ruin it with a foul mood." Tsunade spoke up hoping to calm the Yellow Flash down.
Minato closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I agree with you, Tsunade." He said after a long silence. "Let's not ruin this night for Naruto." He stood up, and the two sannin that were with him did as well. "Let's go met Naruto's new team." He put a smile on his face before walking out of the room with Jiraiya and Tsunade following.
Downstairs, Naruto was introducing Shikamaru to his mother. They had never met, but it appeared as though Kushina liked her son's new teammate. Of course, she already knew Hinata, and she wasn't surprised when the poor girl came in the door after Shikamaru's family by herself. Her father was not a very nice person, it was almost criminal some of the stuff he did to her.
"Yo, Naruto!" The new genin spun around to see Jiraiya and Tsunade waving at him. With a grin on his face, he rushed to them to give them each a massive hug.
"Ero-sennin!" Naruto called Jiraiya by the name he hated more than anything.
"I am the great Jiraiya! Master of the toad summons and one of the legendary sannin! Show me some respect, kid!" Jiraiya jumped into his dance that he did while introducing himself.
"Respect! Ha!" Tsunade laughed as she knelt down to give the young genin a hug.
"I'm glad to see you, granny Tsunade!" Tsunade's face went pale at hearing that and Jiraiya was giggling like a school girl.
"Naruto-kun, what have I told you have calling me that?" Tsunade attempted to remain calm.
"But thats what ero-sennin said I should call you." Jiraiya suddenly stopped laughing as the boy just condemned him to a painful beating.
"Oh did he?" A wicked grin grew on Tsunade's face as she turned to face Jiraiya who was already backing away in terror, but before the beating ensued Minato stepped in to play mediator.
"Remember what we said upstairs you two." He placed one hand on Tsunade's shoulder and the other on his sensei's chest pushing the older man back. Tsunade had a vein bulging out of her forehead, but managed to keep her cool in front of her godson.
Jiraiya crept forward to whisper in his student's ear. "You save me right there." He grinned.
"I can't protect you after tonight though." Minato returned the grin as Jiraiya backed away slowly thinking of the last time Tsunade beat him. Putting the feeling that she needed to hurt her former teammate, Tsunade turned back to Naruto.
"This is for you." She smiled as she removed the necklace from her neck. "It was given to me by the Shodaime Hokage, and now I'm giving it to you." Naruto stood speechless as she wrapped the necklace around his neck. He put a hand on the crystal, it felt warm to the touch. Tsunade explained to the young man that everyone she had given the necklace to had died afterwards, but she was expecting him to break that curse. Naruto nodded his head feverishly.
"Don't worry, I'm not gonna die for a long time!" Naruto put a grin on his face that brought some tears to Tsunade's eyes. Jiraiya walked up and tapped the boy on his shoulder to get his attention.
"This is from me." He handed him a small, crudely wrapped package. Naruto eye's widened as he opened it, and then a look of chagrin crossed his face. He held in his hand the new book in the Icha Icha series. "You children have no appreciation for a true masterpiece!" Jiraiya frowned at the boy's lack of a reaction. "OK, OK, this is your real present." The toad sennin threw him a small bag.
"What are these?" Naruto opened the bag, it had several scrolls in it.
"Jutsu scrolls." With the word "jutsu" said, Naruto nearly tackled the older man. Minato and Kushina's eyes grew weary as they look over the scene, but Jiraiya waved off their concern.
The party was just starting to wind down, when Naruto found himself alone in the garden in the back of his house with Hinata. She had been quiet for most of the night, and Naruto figured it was because she came alone. She walked in with Shikamaru, but her father didn't come. Naruto didn't particularly like the man, but he held his tongue because even though Hinata was upset about him not coming she still loved him.
"Hey Hinata-chan." The young girl jumped at the sound of his voice. "Didn't mean to startle you." He apologized.
"It's fine, Naruto-kun." She quietly told him. It was just like her to do that. Not let anything bother her, or show her emotions. "I brought this for you. A present." She handed her teammate a small jar. Naruto recognized it right away, it was some of the medical cream she had used before on his cuts and scraps.
"Thanks Hinata-chan!" He gave the girl a grin and a quick hug. Hinata went stiff as a board as Naruto touched her. She was mentally kicking herself. Naruto was showing her some affection, and all she could do is stand there not returning it. Hinata swallowed her fear and with all of her willpower, she returned the hug. This time Naruto was as stiff as a board. All the times he had hugged her, she had never returned the hug.
Hinata noticed his reaction and quickly backed away. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun." She looked at the ground as she fiddled when her fingers.
"What? Why are you apologizing?" Naruto walked to the girl and put his hands on her shoulders. Hinata's face was a deep red now, and Naruto couldn't help but laugh. "You just never return the hugs, you caught me off guard." He grinned at her and hugged her again. She had to admit, it was nice to get hugged by someone that cared for her. Her father hadn't hugged her since her mother died.
Hinata let out a relieved sigh as Naruto hugged her again, this time she didn't back way or go stiff. She accepted his embrace and returned it. She let her head rest on his shoulder and felt Naruto put a hand on the back of her head stroking her hair. This was the nicest moment she had experienced in a long time.
From a window, Kushina and Tsunade watched the scene with tears in their eyes. "That is so cute!" Kushina brushed a tear from her cheek. Tsunade nodded in agreement.
A/N: I decided to shake up the normal teams because they are boring to have the same things over and over again. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Next Chapter will be started soon.