(Author's Note) Oh yes! Here it is! The long-awaited chapter 5 of 'I'll Never Let Them Take You'! I'm so sorry that it's been so long! To make up for the wait, I've decided to make an extra long chapter, AND I'm skipping forward a month, and this is the fights for the Chuunin exams! Yeah, son! Here we go!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But it'd be beast if I did.


The sun streamed through the windows of a young Genin's room and filtered through his eyelids. He stirred into consciousness, and blinked hard in the pale dawn light, with a mix of dreams and nightmares fleeing from the corner of his mind. Dark circles were slightly visible under his eyes and he rubbed them with a sleepy hand. He slouched out of bed, but ultimately tripped on his sheets. He tumbled to the floor with a curse. Pushing himself off the floor and mumbling to himself, still half asleep, he shambled towards his kitchen.

The light painted the sky pink as the sun was just peeking over the horizon. He blearily filled up a cup of ramen and tossed it in the microwave. He pulled out a carton of milk and took a large chug straight out of the jug… before spitting out the spoiled dairy into the sink. More awake now, he glanced at the calendar in the kitchen and absently noticed the date written there. As the microwave beeped, breaking the silence, he shuffled over to retrieve his ramen. The steaming noodles brought him out of an half-aware state, and when he took the first bite, the date finally set in and he nearly spit out his ramen. He shot out of his chair and it clattered to the floor with a startling crash. He rushed over to his calendar and stood in front of it, staring with widening eyes.

Jiraiya's recent excruciating training had left him utterly exhausted when he went to bed and a little out of it when he woke up, so at first glance, he hadn't noticed that the day's date had been circled at least a dozen times in red marker. Rokugatsu nijuuichinichi. The 21st of June, a.k.a. day of the final stage of the Chuunin exams. Naruto gave a shout of surprise and raced back to his seat. In record time he slurped down the rest of his ramen. He bolted back to his bed and threw himself to the floor. Because the room was covered with scrolls and empty ramen cups, he had to push through junk to get through. He kept his clothes in storage underneath his bed. He yanked out the container and ransacked his drawers for a suitable outfit.

Although Ero-Sennin had one of the worst fashion senses Naruto had ever known, he didn't want the young jinchuuriki to wear his completely orange jumpsuit anymore. Although Naruto protested greatly, he couldn't argue with the fact that he was only trying to look out for Naruto. He said that the orange was only a distraction and made it easier to spot him in the forest. The young shinobi tried to defend that he was only trying to test himself, but the Sannin wasn't having any of that talk. Naruto had scuffed his foot against the floor in an embarrassed manner and admitted that he only had some boxers, some black t-shirts, a more formal, black funeral attire, one or two pairs of the orange pants, and just the one orange jacket. Jiraiya's eyes had softened and he had said that Naruto didn't need to redo his whole outfit, just diminish the amount of orange on his person.

So today, he just pulled on some orange pants and a black t shirt with an orange spiral on the front. He strapped his kunai holster to his leg and his shuriken pouch to the back of his pants. Going over to the mirror he tied his headband almost reverently around his head, holding back his hair. Without glancing back, Naruto sprinted out of the apartment, locking the door behind him.

It was still early. The sun was still just slipping over the horizon, and even though Naruto wanted to get to the arena as soon as possible… he still had his daily visit to complete. He changed his course and headed for the hospital like he did every morning to see how Hyuuga Hinata was faring.

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The only sound in the white room was the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor. Hinata lay on the bed in the middle of the room, with orange sunlight filtering through the windows onto her deathly pale face. Naruto's face softened at the vulnerable look that radiated off the incapacitated kunoichi. Today, Naruto thought he could glimpse a slightly rosier complexion on the Hyuuga heiress. Her dark hair was longer than it had been when she had first gotten hurt, and it fell around her face because of the fan. 'It shone more lustrously today than yesterday,' the boy thought. He sat in the chair next to the girl's bed and stared at her. Was it him… or did her skin seem less clammy today? It cheered him to think that she was improving more and more every day.

The sun floated higher in the sky as the young jinchuuriki observed Hinata, still and asleep in her hospital bed. He took her hand lightly at one point and squeezed it gently.

"Hey Hinata," he whispered into the air. To his shock, at that greeting the heart monitor sped up drastically. Blood rushed into the girl's cheeks just as Naruto remembered and he grinned. She stirred. The Uzumaki leaned forward, eyes wide. Was this… was she waking up?

Hinata moved her limbs lightly before struggling to open her blurry eyes. They felt heavy. She felt tired and her chest ached horribly. Still, she opened her tired eyes to see Uzumaki Naruto sitting next to her bed. She blushed and her eyes widened as she noticed he was holding her hand. She looked directly at his face and his face split into a wide grin. He beamed at her and squeezed her hand tightly.

"Hinata! You're awake!" he shouted, overjoyed. Eyes still wide, she nodded slowly. He chuckled and let go of her hand. "You can talk, ya know? Your vocal cords weren't damaged," he teased. She blushed a dark red and opened her mouth tentatively. He helped her as she struggled to sit up on the hospital bed, noticing the pain that flew across her face.

"N-Na-Naruto-k-kun," she stuttered, her voice hoarse with disuse. Looking around, he noticed a pitcher and glass of water on her bedside table. He filled her a glass of cold water and handed it to her.

"Here, you sound like you need this," he said, still beaming. She blushed darker and took it from him gently. She took a few sips before braking off with a series of harsh, racking coughs. Naruto came closer and put his arms around her back. "Hey, you alright?" he asked, trying to soothe her. His hand on her back rubbed in a large circle, trying to relax her painful spasms. She nodded as the coughing diminished and he stepped back.

"T-thank you, N-Naruto-kun," she said quietly. His eyes grew serious as he sat down again. She looked at him, a little alarmed by his expression.

"D-Do you remember anything?" he asked, trying to be gentle about the question. She flinched anyway, though, her mind going back a month to what must have been just a moment for her. She looked down and nodded. His slight, hopeful smile faded away. "Oh, you do?" he whispered. She nodded slowly again. Her eyes flickered away for a minute before meeting his. Her hands, of their own volition, started to twine together and she started to fiddle with her fingers. Her teeth lightly bit down on her lower lip before she cleared her throat again.

"Uh, N-Naruto-kun?" she muttered, getting his attention. She looked down at her fingers bashfully. "D-do you think I… ch-changed?" Hinata asked, her words diminishing towards the end. The blonde jinchuuriki looked a little shocked before his face broke into a grin.

"Of course I think you did Hinata!" he reassured her almost instantly. Her face flushed and she smiled shyly. The Hyuuga bit her lip again and tried to break down his reasoning. She didn't understand why he was acknowledging her. She had lost, right?

"B-but I lost!" she stuttered loudly. Well, loudly for Hinata. His grin quieted into a real smile. He patted her clasped hands.

"That doesn't matter. You had the strength to get up even though you were beaten down so many times," he told her. Her hands unclasped themselves and she latched on to the hand that had rested on top of hers.

'Only because of you, Naruto-kun! Only because you had the strength to believe in me.' She thought to herself, desperate for the nerve to say that out loud. Naruto continued.

"You had the courage to stand up to a bully that had to tear you down mentally before he fought you," he congratulated her. The Genin's expression suddenly darkened considerably. "A bully that I'm going to tear down physically," he growled lowly. He gripped her hand hard, suddenly.

"Naruto-kun," the heiress murmured. He looked at her, his eyes flashing a dark crimson for a moment. She clenched his hand in a vain attempt to comfort him. "N-Naruto-kun, what do you mean? W-what are you going to do to N-N-Neji-nii-s-san?" she asked in a rush. Naruto noticed with a scowl how she tripped over Neji's name more than the rest.

"I'm going to beat him in the last stage of the Chuunin exams. He's my opponent," he stated. He frowned deeply, as Hinata's eyes flew open wide as she noticed the dark glimmer deep in the Uzumaki's eye. She pushed herself up further, trying to get off the bed. She had almost sat up on her knees before abruptly pitching forward. Naruto caught her before she tumbled to the floor and tried to make her lie back down but her hands clutched at the material of his shirt, her eyes still as large as dinner plates.

"D- don't k-k-kill him!" she shouted hastily. Her eyes started to tear up. The heart monitor went crazy. A few doctors came thundering down the hallway. Naruto gently laid her back down on the bed and held down her shoulders. In her weakened state, her damaged lungs were greatly overreacting and her breathing was going wild. The blonde shinobi didn't really know how to react so he just rubbed up and down her arms and mumbled nonsense words. The doctors burst into the room and he was shoved aside.

Doctors were suddenly all around, yelling at him, asking him what was going on and what had he'd done. Then he was violently pushed into the hallway, the door slammed in his face. He stood there for a few moments before taking a seat on a bench in the hall. He was absolutely fuming. Why'd they shove him out? He was only trying to help! And it wasn't even his fault! He'd only said that Neji was his opponent, and Hinata freaked, thinking that he'd kill him! Now, it wasn't to say he wasn't but…

"Are you going to?" a dark voice echoed in his head. He snarled audibly, Kyuubi again.

"Am I going to what, furball?" he asked sarcastically, appearing in his mindscape, crossing his arms. He stood in front of the Kyuubi's cage.

"Kill the boy. Your mate has requested you not kill, will you comply?" he asked, laying down on the floor of the mindscape. He yawned, flashing gigantic canines. Naruto looked down at his feet, contemplating.

"I'll have to discuss it with her further. If she doesn't relent… then yeah. I'll comply, or whatever," he decided, then vanished from his mindscape.

Only a few minutes later the sound of yelling diminished and the door to Hinata's room opened again. Naruto's head snapped up. A middle aged doctor with graying hair stared down at him. His eyes closed and he sighed audibly. Glaring at the demon container, he gestured at the door.

"You can go back inside demon, but don't upset the patient again," he grumbled, before walking away. Naruto bolted up and ran back through the door. Hinata lay on the bed looking winded. Her eyes were lidded but they opened fully when he walked back in. She tried to speak as he sat down, but she was still breathing pretty heavily.

"D-don't (pant) k-kill N-n -pant- N-Neji-n-nii-san," she gasped. Naruto made small shushing noises before coming serious. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

"Why?" he asked plainly. She looked at him sadly before looking out of the window at the rising sun.

"B-because I-I know you N-Naruto-kun. Y-you wouldn't l-like it if you k-killed him. You m-might think you w-want to, b-but you won't l-later. A-also b-because it's not his f-fault. H-he doesn't m-mean to be like this. He's only s-s-sad because his father was k-killed in place of mine for trying to save me from a c-cloud ninja that tried to k-kidnap me," she explained, "He feels that its my f-fault and… I… agree," she mumbled the end. Naruto was suddenly right in her face.

"Hinata, don't ever put yourself down like that, ya hear? I want you to know that you are a good ninja and a good person. You shouldn't blame yourself so much, okay?" he told her firmly. She nodded, a little helplessly. The blonde shinobi ran a hand through his hair. "So you really don't want him to kill him?" he asked, feeling a little disappointed despite himself. Perhaps tearing off that little additive of the snake Sannin had taken more of the seal than he'd thought.

"Y-yes. You c-can h-hurt him if y-you want, but p-please Naruto-k-kun. Don't k-k-kill him," she pleaded. He sighed audibly before grinning at her.

"Eh, I'm relieved," he lied, "I was hoping someone would talk me out of it," he told her, scratching the back of his head in fake-embarrassment and relief. The heiress smiled widely.

"T-thank you Naruto-kun," she said shyly, a blush adorning her cheeks again. He smiled gently.

"No problem Hinata-chan," he replied. Then, he felt so full of a feeling that he had to get it out. "Ya know, when I first met you, I thought you were a dark weirdo," he started. Hinata's eyes widened in horror, "but I've decided that I like people like you," Naruto stated. The Hyuuga turned crimson. Naruto glanced at the window and noticed the sun getting higher. "Gotta go Hinata-chan, but I'll be back to tell you how I kicked Neji's butt!" he told her, before jumping out the window.

'I like people like you,' repeated itself over and over in the young Hyuuga's mind. She fainted.

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Naruto arrived at the stadium less than twenty minutes later, ready for a fight. Kyuubi's chakra seemed just in reach and his own chakra boiled just below the surface. Though he couldn't 'see' himself, he was pretty sure that if he kept this up, his eyes would turn red and his whiskers would darken.

'Not yet,' he told himself. 'Later,'

He looked around to see his fellow competitors lined up in the center. He joined them, noting Sasuke's absence. 'Where is that teme? Has he not recovered?' he wondered. 'Nah, that's stupid. Knowing him, he'd be here even if he had to drag himself,' the shinobi decided.

"Listen up!" the proctor shouted, holding up a scroll with the match order on it, "look, there have been some adjustments to the order and they will proceed like this," he said, indicating the chart. Naruto noticed that Dosu, the weird Sound village guy with the gauntlet, was the one to drop out.

'Dropped out or was…' Naruto thought, remembering how Gaara had tried to kill Lee after their match. He then raised his hand.

"Uh, if Sasuke doesn't make it here before his match…?" he let the question trail off. The proctor gave him a lazy look.

"Then he forfeits his matched and is declared the loser," he responded. Naruto crossed his arms and his face screwed up in thought. 'But the teme can't just lose because he's late. I need face him, dammit!' he pouted. The rest of the competitors stood there, stony faced, awaiting the matches. The blonde jinchuuriki shot a glare at Hyuuga Neji, who stood there impassively. Naruto grimaced and his face then contorted into a snarl. The Hyuuga genius glanced at the blonde shinobi before smirking lightly.

The proctor raised his hand into the air and the whole stadium quieted. "Will Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji please step forward? The rest of you, take your place in the stands," he ordered. The two indicated shinobi came up to stand roughly five feet away from each other. The rest of the candidates made their way to the top of the stadium. Naruto narrowed his eyes and let out something akin to a snarl. Neji just smirked.

"I won't lose!"