ok, i know that i only updated on the 10th, but i really had to get this chapter up. its nearly my midterms, and i had to get this up. i am screwed school wise.

Hinata stood at the door of the Hokage, waiting for her to get done with her work. Naruto had taken Temari to the Hospital, not saying a word the entire time.

"Hinata-chan." The woman called, calmly. Tenten and Ino walked out passed her, sending her looks of wonder.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"I need to know what you saw, today. I have to know...in detail."

"I was out training, and I heard a scream. I ran over, and I saw Kiba with a kunai to Temari-kun's throat. He was on top of her, clawing at her clothes. Her shirt was already off, and her fan was left at home. He was dressed just the way he is now. He was holding her arms back, and had already raped her once. I saw this, you have to do something, Hokage-sama! You can't just let him run on the streets!"

"I know how you must feel, Hinata-chan," Tsunade began. Hinata sank into a chair, and put her face in her hands.

"You're not going to do anything, are you?"

"I can't."

"Why the hell not?!"

"Because there was no sexual act. There was no witness to the first one, so we don't know if it really happened at all. We can't put him in jail." Hinata stood angrily, and walked out of her office. She walked to the hospital that Temari stayed at with a storm of anger following her.

"Ma'am, you can't go in there!" A nurse bravely opposed.

"Yes I can. I am a medical nin."

"Then why didn't you act immediantly?"

"There was another matter to attend to, and I had to get her to a hospital first. Did I make a mistake in trusting that you people could take care of her?"

"Who do you think you are?"

"Hinata Hygua, a jonin, now let me pass!" Hinata yelled, keeping herself from hitting the ignorant nurse.

"Oh, I'm sorry, ma'am. I didn't know who you were." Hinata looked like she was going to hit the woman for a minute, then she sighed, and took the woman by the shoulder.

"It wasn't your fault. I have had a rough day. You were only doing your job. You were right not to let any one in here. Speaking of which, is there any one else in there?"

"Yes. Shikamaru-chan."

"Ah, I thought as much. Thank you." Hinata smiled at the nurse, and walked into the room. She found Temari and Shikamaru merely looking at each other, holding hands, and occasionally whispering. Temari had her hair down in a tangle of blonde mass. Shikamaru was dressed in his jonin jacket, and a pair of black pants. He more than likely had on his mesh shirt beneath his jacket, but it wasn't visible at the time.

"Temari-kun?" Hinata called softly, Shikamaru turned sharply, dropping Temari's hand.

"Hai, Hinata-kun?"

"I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. I didn't know if he had hurt you. I can't believe Kiba was on my team." Hinata seethed. At the chunins' name, Shikamaru bristled, and growled softly. He was mad, and most of the time, he thought that being mad was too troublesome.

"The nurse said that I would be fine, but I should stay in the hospital for a few more days. Hey, I saw that Naruto-chan was back!"

"He carried you here, Temari-kun."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I guess that you were out there when he was running here." Hinata made an exagerated hand motion to show that Temari was "out there". The ones in the room laughed, and Hinata smiled.

"I've got to go, Temari-kun. Call if something's wrong, okay?"

"Okay, Hinata-kun." Hinata smiled again, and walked out of the room, right into a fight between Naruto and the very nurse that held Hinata out of the room in the first place.

"Wha'da'ya mean I can't go in there!? I just brought her here!"

"Sir, you can't go in unless you are a medical nin!"

"Shikamaru-chan isn't a med nin!"

"He is a trusted teacher at the Academy, and he knows basic training in a medical field!"

"So?" Hinata decided that now was the time to cut in.

"Naruto-kun, I think that you and I should go." He looked up, anger written all over his face.

"Why were you in there! The last time I checked, you weren't a med nin, or working at the school!" Hinata bit the inside of her cheek for a moment, holding back the urge to yell right back at him. He was mad, and he had just came back from doing God knows what.

"Last time you checked was five years ago. Thing change."

"But that still doesn't explain why I can't go in!" Hinata had had enough. Five years of solitude, and training had worn her patience thin. She snapped...again.

"You can't go in there because you have absolutely no training in the medical field, you would panic if something went wrong, and trouble seems to follow you, and frankly, you are a stupid, obnoxious, and oblivious boy!" Hinata yelled, reaching up and grabbing a handful of hair. "You are coming with me, and you are not going to go in there, do you understand me?!"

"Y-y-yes!" He yelled, wincing as she pulled at his hair.

Hinata sat in the ramen shop with Naruto staring at her. She was slurping down her third bowl of miso chicken.

"What?" She asked, a noodle hanging out of her mouth for a moment before she slurped it up.

"You."

"What about it?"

"You changed."

"I told you that already; things change."

"But...why?"

"Well," Hinata began, setting her bowl down gently. "After you left, Hokage-sama said that even though I had failed the chunin exams, I was at a jonin level in the medical field, and if he would let me train in a different way, then I could be there at the physical level as well. My father refused, and said that a medical training field wasn't useful during a major battle. He told me that if I wanted to be a jonin, then I would have to work four or five times as hard to get there. Then when I was going to go out to train, he pulled me back and stopped me. It was then that I realized that he didn't want me to be a jonin at all. So I packed up my stuff, and left the Hyuga manor. Hokage-sama let me stay at her manor for about a month, then I bought a place of my own. I became a jonin, and now, I'm working on becoming and ANBU Black-op."

"Wow, you made a big jump there."

"Yeah, I guess." Hinata said, running a hand through her hair nervously. It was a new habit.

"I like the new hair. It looks better that way."

"Thanks." Hinata shifted in her seat for a minute, then she sighed and said, "You aren't a obnoxious, stupid, oblivious boy, Naruto-kun. I was just...mad."

"At?"

"Kiba." She seethed.

"Just Kiba? No "kun" added to that?"

"I wouldn't add that to his name again if my life depended on it."

"Why?"

"He's a stuck up, pompous, horny, jerk!" She yelled, jumping off her seat, and walking down the street. Naruto, not expecting sugh insults to come out of the small girls mouth, slapped money down on the counter, and walked after.

"Where are you going?"

"To train." She said harshly. Naruto back away slowly, and let her walk in a huff.

Hinata stood in waterfall, gazing at the wonderous blue shimmer of the moonlight against it. It sent streams of light against her bare body, soaking her long hair into black curls running down her back.

She began to tap out a slow, steady beat with her head, then her foot. She began to hum softly, moving her body to the slow rythnm. Her hips flowed in sensual motions into her waist and then her breasts and her arms. She let her humming stop, and she began to allow her chakra to flow into the water. It followed Hinata in languid streams, breaking apart into small drops, falling all around her. Her body let go, and became a mind of its own.

She spun, and allowed her feet to touch the ground momentarily. She had been dancing in this waterfall since she came back from her first mission with Naruto. She found that it helped her chakra control. She had this strange sense that someone was watching her. She slowed her dance, and pulled the water up to hide her figure.

xx--xx

Naruto looked at her like he had before, but more intensely. He loved the way her hips moved against the time of her legs, how her arms flowed over her head, how she arched her back when she spun around. She was beautiful in every way. The fact that she was naked wasn't bad either.

Naruto whispered softly,

"You're beautiful." In wonder. There was no way he thought that she could hear it. Her fluid motions stopped suddenly, and she grabbed a towel, and her clothes, and darted out of his line of vision. He followed her with his eyes, then slowly ran after her.

xx--xx

It's Kiba! He came after me! I have nothing here, no kunai, no more chakra, nothing! There's no way in hell I can defend myself against him now. Hinata thought as she ran, clutching the towel to her, and her clothes in her hand. She was drained, and she was naked. Just what Kiba would want. Then she did what she thought she would never do. She had heard about it in too many stories, and swore that if she were in their situation, she would never let that happen.

She tripped.

xx--xx

Naruto heard a soft cry, and wondered if it came from the temper-mental girl that he had met today, or the old Hinata he had grown up with. He stopped a few feet from the prone girl laying in front of him, her hair fanned out around her, and the towel just barely covering her. She was breathing heavily, and looked as if she was waiting for something to happen, Naruto stepped closer to her, and a twig cracked beneath his feet.

Hinata let out a soft whimper, and curled into a tighter ball. She was scared, but of what? Naruto wouldn't hurt her. He could never hurt her.

"Hinata-kun?" He asked softly, crouching down next to her. She jumped at her name, and looked up at him, tears in her eyes. She stared at him with a sense of apprenhension and fear.

"It's me, Naruto-san. You don't have to be scared." He lowered his normally loud voice to barely above a whisper. When he was around her he always got quieter.

"Naruto...-kun?" She asked, slowly pulling herself up to rest on one elbow.

"Yeah, it's me." Hinata sat up, and lunged forward. She embraced him tightly, sobbing heavily on his shoulder. Naruto pulled the towel to cover her back, and held her as she cried.

"It's alright. Who did you think I was? Kiba? Did he do something to you?" Naruto asked into her ear.

"He...he almost...but...he...he's a rapist, Naruto-kun. He...he...Temari-chan...He..." Naruto clenched his teeth, but said in a soft whisper,

"It's alright. I wouldn't do that to you. I don't know how any one could. That's why I couldn't go see Temari-chan, right? Only Shikamaru-san could." Then Naruto smiled softly. "That seems about right." Hinata laughed against her tears, and nodded.

"C'mon, I'll take you home and stay there with you. Would that make you feel safer?" Hinata nodded again, slower this time. "You tried to turn him in, right? That's why you're so scared."

"You talk so softly now. I could barely believe it was you. And you're not as rough. You are calmer, gentler, kinder, if that's possible." Hinata said, pulling away. Naruto looked at her for a second, just to look at her. Hinata broke eye contact to gather her clothes.

"I'll be back in a minute, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be right here."

Hinata sat in her bedroom, waiting for Naruto to change his clothes. She was sipping hot chocolate, and wearing a long tee shirt and shorts. Her long hair was dry now, and was straight, but she was shaking. Naruto walked out in a pair of drawstring pants, and no shirt. Hinata stopped mid-sip and stared. He had muscles where he didn't before, he was tanned, and broader. He was taller, and more mature than he had been. Obviously, things did change.

"What?" He asked, shifting self consciencely.

"Oh, nothing. You just...look stronger." He smiled at the compliment, and flexed, causing Hinata to blush. He laughed, and sat down next to her on the bed.

"Want some?" She asked, offering him her hot chocolate.

"Sure!" He said, taking a sip himself. She smiled a little, and pulled her legs to her. Naruto handed her the cup, and she took it gently. She frowned for a second, and turned the sup upside down. It was empty. Hinata glared at Naruto, who smiled sheepishly, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. Hinata laughed, and put the cup down on the bed side table.

"We should get some sleep." She said.

"Yeah, I'll go get some extra blankets to sleep on the floor."

"You don't have to do that. I have a double bed." She said, not as an invitation, as most would take it, merely as a host being grateful that the guest would stay with her.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, go ahead." She smiled, and pulled the covers up, and climbed under them. Naruto did the same, and Hinata reached over and clicked off the light. She turned over to face Naruto.

"I heard you whisper something, back at the waterfall. What was it?" Hinata asked.

"I said...you're beautiful."

that seems like a good place to end it. reviews ppl!! reviews bring out the chapters!!