Moh... No one even considered my drawing challenge? Sad times. But I won't hold it against you guys and, say, hold off on updating this story until someone sends me a picture for a cover for each story. Nah. I won't do that to you guys. :P

I'll just keep having fun with the lame puns at the end of each chapter instead. Mwahahahaha! XD

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, I would've stopped the horribly inane pairing war by now by making Naruto at least think about his feelings towards Hinata and Sakura. (*cough* anditwouldendNaruHina *cough*) Seriously, I know there's a war and epic battle going on now, but there were a number of opportunities where Kishi could've inserted something that was concrete evidence of one pairing or another. This pairing war is such a waste of time; each side keeps bringing up stuff from the manga, and each piece of "evidence" is subject to conjecture. Unless Naruto says "I love you" and/or kisses one girl or the other, there's nothing solid. As much as I'd like there to be irrefutable evidence of NaruHina, I begrudgingly have to admit there isn't any. Yet. And thankfully, there's none for NaruSaku either (and there better not be, Kishi!). *sigh* Anyway, I'm done ranting now...

On with the chapter!

*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

Naruto turned to his right to see Neji stomping toward him, and he could feel Hinata shrink down behind him while the rest of his new friends all fell silent as they watched the Hyuuga boy approach. Neji stopped in front of the blonde hero and gave him his best Hyuuga Glare, which would've been intimidating to any normal person.

But Naruto was no longer normal.

Cocking an eyebrow, the whisker-faced boy asked, "Something wrong, Neji?"

The Hyuuga Branch member crossed his arms while maintaining his glare. "I have told you to stay away from Lady Hinata, and now I find out that you are dating her without Lord Hiashi's permission. My duty demands I deal with you accordingly."

"I see," Naruto said calmly. He could've told Neji it was just a rumor that wasn't true, but in all honesty, Naruto was looking for an excuse to fight the Hyuuga and was beyond confident that he could beat him. He stood up from the table. "And how exactly are you gonna do that?"

The hero had expected a long-winded threat or even an 'I'll show you how!' declaration before an attack, but no. Neji just attacked. Two short jabs to Naruto's shoulder followed by a harder punch to the hero's gut, which knocked him back a few steps where he sunk down to one knee.

Naruto knelt on the ground holding his stomach with his left hand—his entire right arm was numb. "Must be what the Gentle Fist does. Should've asked Nata about it earlier," he thought ruefully while looking up at Neji, who was in his stance as he waited for the blonde to either concede or retaliate. Naruto's friends were looking on in a stunned silence, and Hinata seemed close to tears. With a groan, the hero stood back up and managed to shake some of the feeling back into his arm. He let out a dry laugh and said to Neji, "Ya know, it's funny how the two times you've hit me so far, they've been sucker punches. Is that the only way you can hit someone?"

The Hyuuga boy gritted his teeth at the verbal jab. "If you want to find out so bad, prepare to defend yourself!"

Naruto took his own stance as Neji charged, and the blonde managed to land a solid punch to the Hyuuga's face. However, Naruto was holding back, knowing that using his superhuman abilities on a normal person would be a bad move for more than one reason, and therein lay his fatal mistake. The hero had underestimated Neji and held back too much. The Hyuuga easily recovered from the punch and he spun around Naruto's still outstretched arm and landed three precise, hard strikes in just the right places to disable the extended arm. Then without stopping, the Hyuuga flowed around behind Naruto and delivered several more jabs to his back, each one striking a nerve or pressure point, causing the hero to lose the use of his other arm along with his ability to stand. As Naruto fell forward to the ground, Neji gave one final strike—a knife-chop to the neck.

As the hero's consciousness faded, he vaguely heard an angelic voice cry, "Naruto!"

*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

As the inky blackness began to fade from his mind, Naruto found himself watching a memory from the day after he and his grandparents had dinner with Hinata and her family.

Kurama was sitting on Naruto's bed, watching his human partner play a video game and listening to the events that happened during the dinner with the Hyuugas. The fox found the entire affair interesting and was especially amused by Neji's attempt to fight Naruto.

He had chuckled at that until the boy said, "Yeah, I know! As if he or anyone else could take me!"

The arrogance of the statement stopped Kurama mid-laugh, and he considered the boy for a moment. The fox couldn't deny that he—as a mutant, abnormally strong, self-aware fox capable of mild shape-shifting—had a tendency to think himself above others as well. But to hear his human partner share the same arrogant attitude, made Kurama reconsider that point of view.

"Naruto," he began, and the boy looked at him. He only called him by his name and not 'Kit' if it was really serious. "You should never underestimate any potential adversary."

The blonde made a face at the advice and argued, "But Neji's still a normal person. I think it's pretty safe to say I can beat him with one hand tied behind my back."

"In terms of strength, I'm inclined to agree with you," the fox conceded, and Naruto smiled, thinking he'd won the short argument. "However," the boy looked back at Kurama, "everyone has their secrets and special abilities. This Neji could have some advantage that would make him able to defeat you."

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto brushed off Kurama's words and turned back to his game. "I could kick his ass blindfolded."

The fox sighed. "If you say so."

The memory faded.

"...Should've listened to Kurama..." the hero grumbled mentally as he started to awaken. "I really hate it when that furball is right about something!" He opened his eyes and let out a groan and found himself on a bed in the infirmary with a worried Hinata sitting in a chair by the bed. The school nurse seemed to be out of the room for a moment, leaving the two teens alone. "Ugh. What happened?" Naruto groaned again as he sat up slowly.

"Neji-nii-san...knocked you out," Hinata said quietly, averting her gaze to the floor.

Naruto already knew that, but he still grimaced at the fact that he lost to such an arrogant jerk. However, he ruefully accepted it as his punishment for not heeding Kurama's advice about not underestimating anyone. He was about to say something to his blue-haired friend, but she beat him to it.

"I'm so s-sorry, Naruto!" He was confused. Why was she apologizing to him? He was the one who failed to stand up to her jerk cousin for her! But again, she was saying more before he could respond. "Y-You probably don't w-want to be my f-friend anymore. I k-keep causing you problems." Tears were running down her face, and she was starting to sob.

The hero was shocked, and the sight of her crying gripped his heart painfully. "Why does she blame herself?" he wondered as he tried to find his voice. Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, he sat directly in front of her and reached over to lift her face up with a gentle hand under her chin. "Nata, why do you assume I blame you for this? Why do you think I would stop being your friend?"

Her lip quivered and more tears spilled from her eyes, but she held his gaze as she cried, "B-Because N-Neji is m-my cousin, a-a-and he's at-t-tacked you twice now..." She let out a few hiccupping sobs and added, "I'm such a f-f-failure! Y-You keep having to d-defend me, and I-I can't do anything for you! M-My f-family is r-right. I'm j-just a f-failure!" Her eyes squeezed shut, and she was sobbing uncontrollably. Naruto, even with just the short time she's known him, had become the best friend she'd ever had. Kiba and Shino may have been like brothers to her, but Naruto was more accepting of her nerdiness than Kiba, who enjoyed teasing her about it, ever was, and one could only get so close to the seemingly emotionless Shino. And there was an inexplicable feeling of closeness with Naruto. She felt a connection to him that made her feel like she'd known him all her life.

Naruto made Hinata feel like there was nothing wrong with her. He acknowledged that she was different—that she was weird—and he liked it. It wasn't just how a friend likes something about their friend—he was attracted to that aspect of her. And not only that, he had saved her before he even knew her, and then later risked his life twice to save her from a monster. The second time was her own fault too because she had come back to the fight when he told her to stay away. He accepted her, was attracted to her, and worried more about her safety than his own.

And she felt completely unworthy of it all.

Neji, her cousin, was so hostile to Naruto, and now he not only attacked her blonde hero, he defeated him. Humiliated him. And she had just sat there and watched. She felt like a coward—a failure—and she was certain the boy who had so quickly become her best friend must hate her now.

Her weeping was abruptly cut off, however, when Naruto grabbed her shoulders. He was holding her tight enough to catch her attention and make her look at him, but not so tight that he was hurting her. She was surprised by the action, but the hard look in those blue eyes was what really caught her off guard. She tried to prepare herself for the angry rejection she knew was coming.

"Nata," Naruto began in a tone that was almost a growl and progressed into a shout as he continued, "I don't ever want to hear you call yourself a failure ever again! You are my friend! My best friend! You've helped me in ways I can't even begin to describe! And no one—no one—not even your supreme ass of a cousin, is going to make me stop being your friend!" He looked into her teary, shocked, lavender eyes, and his own gaze softened. Relaxing his grip on her shoulders—but not letting go—he told her in a quieter voice, "Please don't ever blame yourself, Nata. And you're not a failure. Why would you even think that?"

"Th-That's what my f-father and the elders of my family say b-because they th-think I'm too quiet and k-kind, and that m-makes me too w-weak to be the n-n-next head of the family," the distraught bluenette managed to explain through a few more sobs. "A-And I'm not v-very good at the Gentle Fist l-like t-t-tradition demands, a-and all I d-do is w-waste my time with gadgets, and—"

"Nata," Naruto interrupted her softly. "You are NOT weak!" It wasn't a shout; it was a quiet, but stern, statement. "Being kind is not a weakness. Heck, I think it takes more strength to be nice to people all the time, especially the ones who are assholes to you! And that makes you WAY stronger than me because you're nice to jerks like Neji!"

"I'm stronger than Naruto?" Hinata thought in shock as she blushed and looked down again. "R-Really, N-Naruto?"

He moved his hands from her shoulders to either side of her head, and with his thumbs under her chin, he gently made her look up at him again. "Yes, Hinata. Really. You don't have to keep asking me if I'm telling you the truth, ya know. I stand by what I say, and I never go back on my word. Besides, you said you can tell if I'm lying," he grinned even as that statement caused that nagging feeling to start up again. "You're not weak. You're not a failure. You are a great girl with a kind heart, and you're weird in the greatest way. You're also my best friend, and nothing will ever change that."

More tears welled up in Hinata's eyes, but this time they were of happiness. He wasn't rejecting her after all! He still wanted to be friends! And he thought she was strong! She launched herself forward into Naruto's arms, wrapping her own around him tightly while sobbing incoherently into his chest. She was trying to get out a thank you, but her ability to speak wasn't working at the moment. Naruto understood the sentiment, though, and embraced the heiress softly, running a hand through her hair to soothe her.

"If there's one thing I can thank all those years without a real friend for, it's that they taught me how to truly appreciate that friend now that I've found her," the hero thought as he rested his head on top of hers and breathed in her lavender and cinnamon scent.

It took several minutes, but eventually Hinata's crying decreased to a few sniffles. Still holding her, the boy let out a dry chuckle and said, "Ya know, to be honest, I thought you wouldn't want any more to do with me since Neji kicked my ass..."

Without moving her face from his chest, Hinata asked, "Why would you think that?" She noted briefly that her stutter seemed to have worked itself out along with her emotional release. At least for the time being.

Naruto sighed. "Because I failed to stand up to him. I made a stupid mistake and underestimated him. I guess I just kinda figured you'd be embarrassed to be seen with me after being beaten so easily..."

Hinata sat up just enough to look at his whiskered face and gave him what he thought was the cutest frown. "Naruto, you didn't embarrass me! I was just worried about you. Our other friends were too... Kiba and Choji were the ones who carried you in here, but everyone else followed us. The only reason they didn't stay was because the nurse wouldn't let them." She laid her head on his chest again. "But I'm not ashamed of you for losing. I'm not ashamed of you at all."

Naruto gently pushed her away just enough to see her face again, and he wiped away the tears still on her cheeks and under her eyes with his hand. "Thanks, Nata. And I won't make the same mistake again! I will definitely beat Neji next time!"

The bluenette gave him a little smile in response as she sat back in her chair, but frowned again when she saw the whisker-faced boy's shirt. "Oh, I'm sorry, Naruto. I got your shirt all wet..."

He let out a happy laugh and said, "Don't worry about it, Nata! It'll dry eventually, ya know. I just want you to feel better. Do you?"

Her small smile returned as she nodded. "Yes, thank you, Naruto. But are you okay? Neji did knock you out..." She tilted her head with a concerned look. The hero couldn't help but think the expression looked adorable.

"Yeah, I'm fine now." Naruto scratched the back of his head and noticed he didn't even hurt where he'd been struck. "Thank you, freakish healing ability!" he chuckled to himself, and before Hinata could ask, he said, "Should we get going now? I think we've missed enough class. Hehe." He stood up and offered her his hand, which she accepted as she got to her feet as well.

"Yeah. The nurse said she'd give us a pass too once you woke up," the heiress explained as they made their way to the infirmary door that led to the school nurse's office. "And we've only missed about fifteen minutes of our class."

"That's good," Naruto remarked while opening the door for Hinata.

The two friends met with the nurse, who told Naruto that she was glad he woke up soon. She had wanted to call his grandparents and have him taken to the hospital in case he had a concussion, but Hinata had managed to convince the nurse that her blonde friend would be fine, saying that from her own knowledge of their family's fighting style she knew Neji hadn't done any serious damage. And while that was true, Hinata also knew Naruto had been injured worse without the need to go to the hospital, so she knew he was all right now. The nurse still did a quick checkup on the boy anyway just to be sure before she gave him and the bluenette a pass, and finding nothing wrong, she sent the two teens on their way.

As Naruto and Hinata walked down the hall toward their class—taking their time since they were late anyway—the hero grabbed his beautiful friend's hand again and smiled at her. She returned the smile, albeit with a blush, and pleasantly surprised the boy by stepping a bit closer to him and laying her head on his shoulder.

While they walked, a thought occurred to Naruto—something from his and Hinata's conversation in the infirmary that bugged him a little...besides the ever-present nagging from the bit about the bluenette's ability to perceive a lie, that is. "Hey, Nata?" the boy began hesitantly, and the girl in question looked up at him. "Not to ruin the moment or make you upset again or anything, but what was that about your family not liking you messing with gadgets? I thought that was your family's business."

Hinata sighed and rested her head back on the blonde's shoulder. "'An heiress should only be concerned with running the business, not making its products,'" she recited to him before elaborating, "That's what the elders and sometimes my father say to me whenever the subject of my tinkering comes up. They believe what I like to do should be left up to our engineers only, and that I should only focus on the management and finances part of our business because I'm the heiress. If I were like Neji or Hanabi, then it wouldn't be a problem, but..." She trailed off.

Naruto let go of her hand so he could put his arm around her shoulders. "Well, don't let those jerk elders tell you not to do something you like. You have a lot of talent with tech stuff—you shouldn't let that go to waste, ya know."

"I had no intention of stopping," Hinata replied with a giggle. "I enjoy it too much to quit."

Chuckling in return, Naruto asked, "By the way, Nata, did you ever finish that project you were working on this weekend?"

"Yes, I did," she told him with a big smile. It was safe to tell him that much.

"You ever going to tell me what it is?" he inquired good-naturedly.

Hinata hesitated. Naruto may be the superhero she made the kinetic barriers for, but he didn't know that she knew it was him. So she was afraid he'd think she was weird for trying to help the superhero she's only met once. "Um...promise you won't think it's too strange?"

"Of course! Well, I might think it's weird, but good weird!" the blonde chuckled and gave the girl a little squeeze with the arm he still had draped over her.

She giggled briefly then took a deep breath and answered, "I perfected an energy shield technology that my family's company is currently developing for use in the military."

Naruto blinked in surprise before exclaiming, "Wow, really? That sounds awesome, Nata!" Then he asked, "But why would you work on that? Military stuff is supposed to be top-secret-ish, isn't it?"

"Well...yeah," Hinata replied slowly as she tried to work out what she wanted to say, and in the back of her mind, she was vaguely grateful her stutter wasn't returning yet. "But...I needed this project to help someone..."

Naruto glanced sidelong at her with a raised eyebrow. "Really? Who would that be?"

"You," she wanted to say, but instead, she told him, "Well, you remember the hero who saved me in the mall?"

"Yeah, the Kitsune Ninja, right?" the blonde answered evenly, and the girl nodded. "You made this shield stuff for him?" Naruto asked with a bit of surprise.

"Y-Yeah." Her voice was quiet, and she started fidgeting nervously with her hands. "I wanted to help him since he saved me... He was hurt rather badly during that fight, and besides saving me, he was saving everyone else too. So I just wanted to do something to return the favor..." Mentally, she added, "And because I know it's you, and even in the short time I've known you, you've been the best friend I've ever had. I want to keep you safe."

Meanwhile Naruto was trying to think of how to respond to that. "I'm jealous of my own alter ego. How sad is that?" he had a mental sigh.

While he was still trying to work out how to respond, Hinata interpreted his silence negatively and said, "I know it's weird. I don't even know how to give him this unless I happened to run into him again. I guess the idea was just stupid..."

"No, it wasn't!" Naruto protested, not wanting his friend to start down the path of self-loathing again. "I think it's cool that you want to help him. If you have the ability to do something, then you should use it!"

Hinata smiled at him. "Thanks, Naruto." He nodded with a foxy grin. Then a brief moment of silence passed before the bluenette 'innocently' asked, "Do you have any idea who he could be?"

Naruto faltered slightly as he walked, which didn't go unnoticed by Hinata, and he objected just a little too loudly and quickly, "N-No! Uh, I mean, how could I? I mean, h-he could be anyone! Um—"

"I was just wondering if you had a guess, Naruto," the heiress interrupted his rambling and gave him a soft smile.

Naruto sweat-dropped and scratched the back of his head. "Uh, yeah. I knew that." He cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Really? By your reaction, one would think you were the Kitsune Ninja," she pointed out with a giggle.

He was about to laugh her statement off like the joke he was sure it was meant to be and make up some excuse for his behavior when those same nagging words came rushing back to his mind: "I c-can tell when someone's lying, Naruto." And suddenly, it hit him why those words were so important...

Naruto was in the middle of muttering about cops when Hinata asked, "H-How were you injured anyway, N-Naruto? I d-didn't see you a-around where that m-monster was."

The hero stiffened and his blue eyes widened momentarily. He heard Kurama in the bag let out a small yip. –Oh sh— –

"Oh, hehe, I got shoved around and trampled on a bit when everyone was running away," Naruto interrupted the fox's near swear with a nervous laugh as he rubbed the back of his head and winced slightly when his fingers touched the small wound there.

Hinata was quiet for a second before she asked, "So w-why were you st-still in the building then? Why didn't y-you l-leave with everyone else?"

"W-Well, I was kinda injured, ya know? And besides, I still hadn't found Kurama. Couldn't just leave the little guy, and I also didn't know if you, Kiba, or Shino made it out alright," he nervously answered.

She was quiet again for a moment. "So how d-did you know where I was to c-come get me?"

Naruto swallowed. He had a feeling she knew he was lying, and while he hated doing it, he couldn't tell her the truth just yet. "I-I was told by some guy wearing ninja gear that you were waiting for me and where. I had just found Kurama when the guy came up to me."

"I s-see," the bluenette simply replied. There was yet again another moment of silence, and it made Naruto even more nervous. But the feeling was banished when Hinata intertwined her fingers with his and stepped closer to lean her head against his shoulder. "I'm g-glad you're safe."

He squeezed her hand. "Thanks, Nata. I'm glad you're safe too."

Naruto's blood felt like it froze in his veins. "I was lying through my teeth then! And if she can tell when I lie...!" he couldn't even finish the thought. Did she really know his secret? If so, why didn't she say anything? What did she think of him now? How could he find out if she really knew? If she didn't and he just asked...

The hero didn't even know he'd been silent for several minutes as his internal dilemma continued. Hinata, for her part, figured that Naruto had been so quiet simply because he was trying to think of what he could say to her last remark that wouldn't be a lie, and she was half-tempted to just come out and tell him she knew his secret. But when she saw the near panic in his blue eyes, she grew worried.

Reaching up to grab the hand of his arm that was still around her, she gave it a squeeze to catch his attention as she asked, "Naruto? Are you okay? We're at our class now."

Shaken out of his thoughts, the blonde replied, "Huh? Yeah! Fine! C'mon, we should get in there before the hour's over!" He took his arm off her, grabbed her hand, and practically dashed inside. Hinata was too surprised to even 'eep!'

*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

Luckily for the would-be couple, the class was art, and even more fortunate, the teacher was Kurenai Yuhi, a beautiful woman with crimson-colored eyes and black curly hair whom Hinata was rather close to. Kurenai was to Hinata what Iruka was to Naruto, except without the long break in their relationship, and the teacher was rather eager to meet the boy who saved the girl she considered to be like a little sister to her.

Kurenai could see nearly right away why Hinata liked Naruto so much. Saving the heiress from bullies aside, the whisker-faced young man chatted away with the bluenette constantly as they worked on their first art project of the year. He managed to bring Hinata out of her shell in a way Kurenai had never seen before. And besides sharing several interests with the Hyuuga girl, Naruto was also quite generous with his compliments and encouragement for Hinata's work, which served to paradoxically cause the girl to blush and be more confident with what she was doing at the same time.

Lastly, the red-eyed teacher thought it rather mature of the boy for ignoring the whispers, snickers, and petty jabs he was receiving for his defeat against Hinata's cousin Neji. The only thing that managed to rile the blonde was when one student implied that Hinata was pathetic for associating with a loser like him. Kurenai managed to diffuse the situation quickly and chastised both students for their behavior, but on the inside, she was happy that Naruto was the type of guy who could take any insult directed at himself but would not stand any insult directed at someone he cares about.

All in all, the hero made a good first impression on his art teacher, although she did warn Hinata to make sure the bluenette took things slow with her blonde friend. Kurenai could tell something more than a friendship was developing between the two, and she wanted to caution her little sister figure against moving too fast with a guy she just met.

The next class—much to Naruto's dismay—was math taught by Kakashi. Inwardly, the hero was actually somewhat grateful, not that he would admit it, that his frustration for the subject was allowing him to push his worries over whether or not Hinata knew his secret to the back of his mind. He had really struggled with that in art class, although it didn't show, but he really didn't want to dwell on the subject until he had a chance to get Kurama's opinion on the matter.

The subject of math still made the boy consider being slammed into a wall again as more preferable, and Kakashi definitely wasn't making it any better. The silver-haired teacher seemed to take delight in torturing his newest student with the hardest problems, some of which were story problems that involved a person's collection of Icha Icha books in some way or another. Frankly, Naruto was more than a little annoyed by his teacher's trolling and was never happier to go on to the next class.

And what made it even better was that it was the last one for the day.

*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

Naruto entered the boy's locker room to change into the standard uniform for gym class—a white T-shirt and blue shorts—and he was momentarily stopped in his tracks by the many pairs of eyes that suddenly turned their attention to him. One pair was onyx and filled a mixture of smugness and indifference, and another pair was silver, cold, and equally arrogant as the onyx pair. Naruto's own blue eyes returned their stares with an icy glare of his own as he made his way to his gym locker. Slowly, the conversations the other boys were having before his entrance returned, although they were still subdued, and the whisker-faced teen proceeded to change his clothes in silence. Some of the other guys stopped in shock when they saw Naruto's body too. While Neji was a rather strong opponent, a few of the other students had expected Naruto to be some scrawny weakling since he was defeated so quickly. They couldn't help but feel dead wrong in their assumption when they saw his well-defined muscles. His muscles weren't large necessarily; Naruto's build was lean and athletic like Neji's and Sasuke's—strong, but built more for speed. However, Naruto just seemed more, for lack of a better word, solid than Sasuke and Neji. With just one look, the other male teenagers—including Neji—thought there was no way Naruto should've lost so easily to the Hyuuga boy.

A boy who was paler than Sasuke with short, black hair, black eyes, and a smile that was clearly fake approached the blonde boy and said, "Excuse me, are you Naruto?"

The hero glanced at the pale boy and replied, "Yeah."

"The boy who was beaten easily by Neji Hyuuga during lunch?"

"...Yeah," Naruto said again, although slower and with narrowed eyes. "Who are you? And what do you want?"

"My name is Sai, and I was wondering how someone as well-built as yourself could lose a fight so easily. Is it because you lack a dick?" the pale boy asked bluntly.

Naruto made a choking noise as he attempted to yell at Sai but couldn't because of the shock of being asked such a thing. Meanwhile, the other boys in the room burst out laughing—at the blonde's expense and at Sai's behavior, which wasn't unusual to them—except for Sasuke and Neji, who simply smirked in amusement, and Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Shino, and a boy with huge eyebrows and whose black hair looked as if it had been cut in the shape of a bowl. They looked on the scene with differing expressions of disapproval.

His face red with rage, Naruto finally managed to answer, "What is your problem, weirdo?! I lost 'cause I underestimated him! If I fought Neji again, I would win!"

"Is that so, Namikaze?" Neji asked smugly with his arms crossed.

Naruto whirled around to face him. "Yeah, it is. I made a stupid mistake and took you too lightly. That will not happen again."

"Hmph. Well, I'd offer to settle things after school, but not only does that seem cliché, it doesn't seem fair to humiliate you twice in one day either," Neji retorted with that same obnoxious smirk still on his face.

"Whatever, Neji. I've got bigger problems than having a rematch with your sorry ass anyway," Naruto shot back, and he began walking toward the door to the gym.

"Like how to keep Lord Hiashi from killing you when you tell him that you're dating his daughter without his permission?"

Naruto paused long enough to answer, "That's just a rumor. Hinata and I are still just friends." He started walking again.

"So not even a loser like you wants to date her. She really is a failure," Neji mocked.

The hero froze, and Shikamaru, who was standing near the doorway, could've sworn that the blonde's eyes flashed red for a second. Fists clenched tightly at his sides, Naruto turned around slowly, and with eyes like blue steel, he glared at Neji.

"Neji," the blonde's tone actually made the Hyuuga shiver, "I would like nothing more right now than to bust your jaw so bad that you can never insult her again. However, I have to talk to Hiashi later today about the rumor, and I think it'd go better if I didn't send his nephew to the hospital first. Consider yourself lucky."

And with that, Naruto left the room.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru grumbled to his best friend when the blonde was gone. "He has to be hiding something."

"Yeah," Choji nodded in agreement. "He seems a lot stronger than he lets on."

Shikamaru shrugged and started to leave the locker room as well. "Indeed. And I know I saw something strange happen with his eyes... But I'd bet the answer is troublesome, and it's too troublesome to find out."

Once out in the gym, Naruto made his way over to some of the girls in his class who were dressed the same as the boys, and he stood a bit apart from them while he waited for Hinata to come out of the girl's locker room. The girls near him were snickering and giggling, and he was sure it was about Neji beating him earlier that day. He rolled his eyes when he considered the double-edge to the situation. On the one hand, his defeat saved him from any unwanted flirtations from the girls, but on the other hand, it was just flat-out humiliating. However much the hero wanted to rectify his mistake with Neji, he knew it wasn't a good time for that just yet.

Naruto was about to sigh in frustration, but a soft hand intertwining its fingers with his own stopped him. He looked over at the hand's owner and smiled happily when he saw his favorite pair of lavender eyes looking back at him.

Finally, all the students were gathered in the gym and waiting for their teacher to show up. Suddenly, Naruto's Instinct told him to duck, which he did without hesitation, and something went sailing over his head, shouting, "DYNAMIC ENTRY!"

Looking up, Naruto made sure Hinata was okay first, and seeing she was, he then looked at what had attempted to attack him. He saw a man with a bowl haircut, massive eyebrows, and dressed the same as the students land easily on his feet from his flying kick. The man turned around as Naruto stood up, and in a rather loud voice, the man declared, "Excellent senses and reaction time, my newest student! Surely your Flames of Youth burn bright!" He stood in a 'Nice Guy' pose, and his teeth shined bright as he grinned.

"Huh?" was all the confused blonde could utter, and all the other students besides the one that closely resembled the man sweat-dropped.

The man stepped toward the hero and announced, "Welcome, my newest student! My name is Might Guy, the Handsome Beast of Konoha, and I am the physical education teacher here at Konoha High! Now, what is your name, my youthful student?"

"Uh...Naruto Namikaze, sir," the blonde answered a little fearfully.

"Namikaze, you say? Then that would make you the grandson of the ever-youthful Dr. Tsunade, the granddaughter of the Shodai President of the Land of Fire!" Guy exclaimed.

"Um, yes, sir. I am and she is."

"No wonder you have such youthful skills then! But I would like to see the full extent of your abilities and train them to their greatest potential!" Guy turned to the rest of the class. "Everyone move to the sidelines! We will be having one-on-one sparring sessions today to start off our new school year!"

The class did as he told them, and Naruto whispered to Hinata while they were moving, "What's with this guy and 'youth'?"

"Nobody knows, Naruto. Nobody knows," she answered sweat-dropping.

"Alright! Now, I want our new student to participate first! Come over here, Naruto!" Guy ordered exuberantly.

Shrugging, Naruto complied. "Fine with me. I'm feeling the need to kick the crap out of someone anyway."

"And who should fight him? Let's see..."

While the teacher was thinking, Naruto was mentally chanting, "Neji or Sasuke. Neji or Sasuke. Neji or Sasuke!"

"Sasuke Uchiha! You're up!"

"Yes!" Naruto cheered in thought.

The raven-haired boy walked forward until he stood opposite his whisker-faced opponent. "Hn. Try to put up more of a fight than you did against the Hyuuga, dobe."

"With pleasure, teme." Naruto tightened his headband and moved into his fighting stance. Sasuke mirrored the last action.

"Now, remember the rules! No hitting between the waist and knee and trying to inflict serious injury on purpose is forbidden! Principal Morino may be lax in his policy about students fighting, but I will not have my gym or the Flames of Youth dishonored by such conduct!" the teacher proclaimed.

"Yes, Guy-sensei!" both opponents responded, and Naruto thought, "Well, that explains why Neji didn't get in trouble for starting the fight."

"Good! Begin!"

At their teacher's command, Sasuke charged toward Naruto, who stood his ground waiting for him. The Uchiha threw a right hook, which Naruto easily blocked with his arm, and Sasuke followed up with a quick jab with his left, which Naruto dodged. The Uchiha then tried to kick the blonde in the stomach with his left leg before the blonde could counter, but Naruto simply grabbed his leg with both hands before it made contact, and he swung the Uchiha easily in a circle before letting go. Sasuke landed several feet away, skidding across the floor before stopping. The Uchiha looked up in surprise.

"How?! Neji practically destroyed him! Was it really because he underestimated him?!" the raven-haired boy thought as he picked himself up off the floor. "Whatever. I am NOT losing to this dobe!"

Sasuke charged again, and this time Naruto did so too, although at his normal human speed. The two met in the middle of the gym and engaged in a flurry of punches, kicks, leg-sweeps, and grabs. The whole time, Sasuke wasn't landing a single blow anywhere on Naruto except for the blonde's arms and legs, which felt to Sasuke like he was hitting stone or metal. Finally deciding to end the match, Naruto took the first opening he saw to strike the Uchiha across the face with a hard left hook, followed by a punch to the gut with his right, and finished with a leg-sweep that knocked Sasuke on his back. Naruto's fist came down toward Sasuke's face, and stopped just an inch away from striking him. Shocked onyx eyes met hard blue ones, and Might Guy called the match.

"Winner: Naruto Namikaze!"

The gym fell silent, but only for a second as the sound of one pair of hands clapping started. Naruto looked over at his classmates and saw that it was Hinata. A warm feeling sparked in his chest when he considered that his shy friend was the first to celebrate his victory, and the fact that the friends he'd made earlier that day soon joined in could only make him marginally happier.

The other students also joined in seconds later, and a certain pale boy muttered, "Perhaps he's not dickless after all." Those around him did their best to ignore him.

Naruto stood straight from leaning over Sasuke, and he offered his hand to help the Uchiha up. Sasuke, however, sat up and just looked at the blonde's hand with disdain.

"Don't patronize me," Sasuke growled.

"Who's patronizing you, teme? It was a good fight, and I'm just being a good sport to the jerk who shoved me earlier today," Naruto shot back with a grin that didn't match his tone. "Now shut up and just grab my hand already."

In spite of himself, Sasuke did as he was told, and Naruto pulled him to his feet. The Uchiha regarded the whisker-faced guy in front of him for a moment, and in that moment, he realized he had two options: he could be stubborn and hate the guy who beat him, which would gain nothing, or he could accept his defeat and have someone to spar against in the future, which could make him stronger. He chose the second option. "Hn. Guess you're not such a dobe after all."

"Aw, Sasuke. I'm touched," Naruto wiped away a nonexistent tear then laughed.

"Hn," the Uchiha replied with a slightly amused smirk. "Still don't get how you lost to Neji, though."

Naruto shrugged. "Sometimes underestimating your opponent is all it takes."

"Hn."

The Namikaze rolled his eyes at the other boy's tendency to respond in one-syllable grunts.

The two rejoined their classmates, Naruto instantly going over to Hinata and grabbing her hand. The blonde and bluenette smiled at each other before turning their attention back to the sparring matches.

Neji faced the Guy-lookalike, whose name turned out to be Rock Lee, and while the Hyuuga eventually won, Lee gave him a run for his money. Hinata explained to Naruto, though, that Lee considered Neji his 'eternal rival', and thus they sparred against each other all the time.

After Neji and Lee's fight, Kiba kicked the crap out of Sai—and Naruto cheered loudly for that—and then Shino won his fight without hardly having to move, claiming it was because his opponent underestimated him. Naruto found himself sympathizing slightly for the Aburame's opponent. Next up was Shikamaru who immediately forfeited, and the blonde hero face-palmed at his laziness. Choji didn't put up much of a fight either in his spar until his opponent insinuated that he was fat. Then the heavy-set boy proceeded to crush the guy like an empty soda can. Next Ino lost to a girl named Tenten who wore her brown hair in twin buns, and the last match was Hinata versus Sakura.

Neither girl was all that willing to fight—Hinata because she hated being the center of attention, and Sakura because she didn't consider herself much of a fighter. But Naruto encouraged them both to give it their best shot anyway.

Bluenette faced pinkette, and a one-sided fight began. Sakura tried her hardest, but she was clearly not trained as a fighter at all whereas Hinata, untalented as she may have been, was trained. Naruto was hypnotized by Hinata's graceful dance around Sakura. She disabled the pinkette in seconds, but to the hero, it felt like a lot longer as his beautiful friend's elegant moves seemed to slow down time. As soon as the fight was over, though, Naruto snapped out of his trance to cheer for Hinata like no tomorrow, which caused the bluenette to blush so furiously Naruto was afraid she'd faint. But she managed to stay conscious as she focused on the feeling of proud confidence that started to bloom within her.

"Thank you, Naruto," Hinata thought happily as she helped Sakura up off the floor.

*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

The school day was finally over, and Naruto and Hinata—dressed in their normal clothes again—were walking back to the Hyuuga mansion, holding hands again. Naruto's new friends had all gone their separate ways, and the blonde had asked Iruka if their ramen reunion could wait until tomorrow. Naruto really wanted to catch-up with his older brother figure, but with having things to discuss with Hiashi and later Kurama as well as the usual mundane task of homework, the hero felt his plate was a bit full for the day. Iruka understood, though, and was absolutely fine with the temporary delay.

As the two walked, Hinata laid her head on Naruto's shoulder again and sighed contently. The blonde chuckled quietly at her action.

"Ya know, Nata, not that I'm complaining, but you having your head on my shoulder isn't going to help us convince your dad that the rumor isn't true," Naruto told her with a smirk.

"Neither is holding hands, but that didn't stop you from grabbing mine, did it?" the bluenette retorted while looking up at him with her own smirk.

"Hahaha! Touché," the hero laughed, and rather than let go of her hand, he gave it a squeeze.

Hinata rested her head back on his shoulder. "It's not like we're near my house yet anyway."

"Yup!" Naruto grinned.

When they did reach her house, however, Naruto and Hinata reluctantly let go of each other's hand and stepped a little apart. They made their way to Hiashi's office and had to wait for him to finish meeting with someone else first before they could go in. When the person came out, Naruto and Hinata saw it was Neji.

The Hyuuga boy narrowed his silver eyes at the hero. "What are you doing here?"

"I told you before that I had to make sure Hinata's dad doesn't believe that rumor," Naruto answered as he folded his arms.

Neji scoffed. "You expect him to just take your word for it?"

"Actually, yeah. I know you Hyuuga can tell when someone's lying, and Hiashi's got to be the best at it. He'll now I'm telling the truth," Naruto countered. "I don't get why you care anyway. You don't even like Hinata, so what's your problem? Why do you attack me for being close to her?"

"It's my duty. You wouldn't understand," Neji nearly growled throw gritted teeth.

Naruto was about to say he did understand if Neji's hostility was due to the Caged Bird Contract and the consequences he faced if he failed to protect Hinata even though he didn't want to, but he kept his mouth shut when he considered the possibility that Hinata wasn't supposed to tell him about her family's enslavement of each other.

Seeing Naruto had nothing to say in return, Neji scoffed again and walked off. With a sigh, the hero entered Hiashi's office when the head of the Hyuuga family called him. Hinata came with him, but Hiashi 'requested' that she wait outside.

Once alone with the blonde boy, Hiashi, who was sitting at his desk and looking at some forms he was signing, asked, "So, Naruto. What can I do for you?"

Rubbing the back of his head nervously, the whisker-faced boy replied, "Actually, sir, I came here to clear something up with you."

"Oh? What would that be?" Hiashi looked up from his work with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, you see, sir, there's this rumor going around school that your daughter and I are dating." He gulped nervously when he saw the man's eyes narrow slightly, and waving his hands frantically, the boy quickly added, "Which isn't true! Hinata and I are just friends! I wouldn't dream of going behind your back, sir!"

Naruto fell silent, and Hiashi stared at him for a long moment. Then a smirk broke out on the man's face, which made the blonde even more nervous than the stern stare had.

"How did such a rumor get started, Naruto?" the Hyuuga head asked.

Scratching his cheek, the boy answered, "Well...I think it was when I admitted I'm attracted to your daughter in front of one of her friends, who I didn't know loves to gossip..." He turned his gaze to the floor as he awaited his imminent death for saying he was attracted to Hinata.

"I see," Hiashi said simply. He stood up and started to walk around his desk toward the boy.

"Here it comes. Should've kissed Nata while I had the chance, or at least have taken her on a date before coming here..." Naruto thought fearfully as the Hyuuga leader came closer and suppressed the urge to swallow nervously again when the man stopped in front of him.

"So to clarify, you are interested in being more than friends with my daughter," Hiashi stated more than asked.

But Naruto answered anyway. "Y-Yes, sir. B-But I would never ask her out without clearing it with you first!"

Hinata's father regarded the boy before him for a moment. Naruto was still facing the floor, but now his eyes were shut tight in fear and his fists were balled at his sides. Truthfully, Hiashi already suspected his daughter's relationship with the boy was becoming something more than friendship by the way they acted the night the Namikazes came to dinner. Heck, he suspected the two had a developing crush the day he first met Naruto, which he acknowledged was the same day the two had met each other as well.

The man suddenly felt too old to be dealing with teenagers and their hormonal emotions, and he let out a sigh. "Naruto, stop staring at the floor. I'm not going to kill you."

Naruto obeyed, but said, "Honestly, Lord Hiashi, I'm more afraid you're gonna tell me I can't hang out with your daughter anymore."

Hiashi let out a very brief laugh. "You fear that more than your own death?"

"Well, yeah. Hinata's pretty much the best person I've ever met outside my own family. A friendship like that's worth dying for," the hero stated in all sincerity.

Hiashi closed his eyes and nodded then seemed to consider something for a minute. Opening his eyes again, he told Naruto, "Well, you can relax. I'm not going to stop you from being her friend, but I do think it's too soon for you two to begin dating."

"I completely agree. Hinata and I still want to be just friends for the time being," Naruto said openly.

"Good. That maturity will go along way for you if you ever do ask for my permission," Hiashi replied with a smirk. Moving back to his chair, he continued, "But I still won't make it easy for you."

Naruto sweat-dropped. "Yes, sir."

Hiashi sat back down. "So, is that all you came here to tell me?"

"Yeah," the boy nodded. "I didn't want Hinata to get in trouble over some rumor, and I didn't want you to think I was some coward who couldn't face you."

The Hyuuga leader was mildly impressed with the blonde's answer. "Well then, I thank you for your concern for my daughter, and I admire your integrity, Naruto. That being said, you should know that I don't give idle gossip much consideration... However, this particular rumor probably would've caught my attention since it concerns my child..." He folded his hands on his desk and leaned toward Naruto. "I can tell that you aren't lying to me, though, so thank you for clearing things up preemptively." He paused while Naruto nodded while thanking him and then added, "By the way, Neji informed me of his confrontation with you over this earlier today. I must say, I'm surprised he beat you so easily after what I saw a few nights ago when your family was here."

Naruto bowed his head and answered, "I was overconfident and underestimated him, sir. Had I taken Neji more seriously, I know I could've won." Looking up, the boy was surprised to see Hiashi smirking at what he'd said.

"Hmm. Well, at least you learned a valuable lesson from your loss," Hiashi commented. "However, Neji was just fulfilling his duty. I hope you don't hold it against him."

"Not completely, sir," Naruto said honestly.

Hiashi nodded and let out a small chuckle. "Good, Naruto. And if that's all, you may go now."

Naruto gave him a short bow while thanking him before he turned and left the office. Finding Hinata waiting for him outside the door, he nearly threw caution to the wind to engulf the nervous girl in a hug, but he caught himself, feeling that maybe right outside her father's office wouldn't be the best place to show any sort of physical affection. So he just smiled at her and told her everything was okay.

"You're sure you don't want to work on homework together?" Hinata tried to hide her disappointment as she walked Naruto to the door.

"I'm really sorry, Nata, but I've got some stuff I have to do tonight," he replied, his own disappointment showing openly. "But maybe tomorrow after I have ramen with Iruka-sensei! Is that okay?"

"That sounds fine, Naruto," she gave him a small smile.

The hero frowned—he could tell she was feeling a little sad that he had to leave so soon. It made him happy that she wanted him around and guilty because he had to leave all at the same time. Reaching the door, Naruto walked out and pulled Hinata along with him, much to her surprise.

"Naruto, what are you—"

"I just wanted to say goodbye to you out here rather than in there where someone could be watching us," he explained. "Didn't want someone trying to kill me for doing this." He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair, taking a deep breath of her scent. Hinata immediately returned the hug, nuzzling her face in his strong chest. "I'll see you tomorrow," Naruto said into her hair and let her go slowly as she nodded. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment before Naruto suddenly kissed Hinata on the forehead and took off running for home. He spared a glance over his shoulder and was happy to see that he hadn't made her faint. Instead, Hinata was grinning happily through her blush as she waved goodbye to him.

*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

Later that evening while Naruto worked on his homework, he discussed his problem of how to find out whether or not Hinata knew who he really was with Kurama. The fox, who had spent the better part of the day attempting to read inane children's books in his quest to learn how to read, was nearly overjoyed to have something serious to work his brain on.

"So what d'ya think, Kurama?" Naruto asked his fox partner a few minutes after he'd finished explaining the situation.

"Hmm... Well, this is certainly complicated," Kurama replied. His tail waved around lazily as he pondered the problem. "You suspect that she knows you're the Kitsune Ninja, but you're not certain. If you go ahead and tell her and she doesn't know, there's no real saying where it could lead... I'm inclined to believe she'd take it well, especially since you said she made something to aid your hero identity..."

"But?" Naruto addressed the unspoken hesitation.

"But there's always the risk I could be wrong," Kurama answered. Minutes of silence passed as the two thought the problem over, and then suddenly Kurama's ears perked up. "Kit, I have an idea. Just go meet her as the Kitsune Ninja!"

"Huh? How would I explain that?" Naruto's face scrunched up in confusion.

Kurama waved his paw dismissively. "No problem. Simply make up some stuff about watching over her since you met her."

"Yeah, 'cause that doesn't sound stalkerish or anything," the blonde muttered sarcastically.

"I've heard some women are into that," the fox half-joked, and Naruto glared at him. "In all seriousness, though, if she really knows who you are, then it's not a problem, and if she doesn't, she'll know you're not a stalker once you reveal who you really are to her. Whenever that happens. Either way, it'll work out."

The hero considered his friend's advice for several minutes before replying, "Yeah, I guess that could work. Thanks, Kurama!" The two grinned foxily at each other. "You might act like a cranky, old man sometimes, but you're a really good friend."

Kurama sweat-dropped. "Well, what can I say? To quote one of those movies you had me watch, 'You ain't never had a friend like me.'"

Now it was Naruto's turn to sweat-drop, but he also laughed. "Can't argue with that."

*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

Changing into his ninja outfit, the boy told Kurama he would be back in a bit, and the fox responded with a yawn before going back to sleep. Kitsune Ninja then opened his window to the cool, night air and leapt out to the ground below, rolling as his feet made contact with the ground to reduce impact.

"So glad I perfected that. Freakish healing ability or not, the ground is really hurts to hit with your ass, ya know!" the Ninja thought wryly as he was running through the shadows on his way to the Hyuuga mansion.

He stealthily made his way across the grounds of the mansion toward the one tree that grew right next to the large house. He was sure that he had seen that tree by Hinata's window when he was in her room, and his plan was to use it to climb up to her room rather than ruining the side of the house with his claws. Effortlessly, the Ninja moved up the tree and thanked his good fortune that a strong branch grew close to the window he needed. Using his night vision that his fox eyes granted him, he checked to be sure the person in the room was the one he was looking for. He smiled beneath his mask when he saw the beautiful bluenette lying in her bed, and returning his claws to his normal fingernails—he didn't want to accidently break her window—he tapped on the glass.

Hinata had actually just lain down to go to sleep when the hero showed up, so she was still awake when he began tapping on her window. Sitting up in her bed, the girl's first reaction was to scream at the dark figure on the other side of her window, but the fact that the figure was waving at her stopped her before she could. Hinata cautiously got out of bed and made her way toward the window, grabbing a flashlight along the way. She shined the light at the Ninja, who flinched at the brightness. He squinted at her and gave her another short little wave, and Hinata breathed a sigh of relief before tossing the flashlight aside and opening her window.

He climbed inside her room, and doing his best to ignore how attractive she looked in her tank-top and shorts, he said in his lower, disguised voice, "Good evening, Hinata. Sorry to disturb you, but I need to talk to you. And now seemed the best time to find you alone."

"Naruto, you sound so weird talking like that!" was Hinata's mental reaction. Outwardly, she replied, "O-Oh, it's no problem, K-Kitsune Ninja. I hadn't fallen asleep yet anyway."

"That's good to hear. And please, just call me 'Kit.' It's easier than my whole name."

"Okay...Kit. So what can I do for you?"

Raging internally at his grandfather for the perverted thoughts that came to mind in response to her question, the Ninja cleared his throat and answered, "Well, I caught word that you had an invention that could aid me in battle. Is it true?"

"Y-Yes, it is. But how did you find that out? The only person I told is my friend Naruto," Hinata questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"That would be the blonde guy with the whisker-marks on his face, correct?" he asked neutrally.

"And the most gorgeous blue eyes," Hinata thought with a slight blush. "Yes. Do you know him?"

The Ninja shook his head. "No, but I must confess. Ever since I met you that day when I fought the lizard monster, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you, and I've kept watch over you when you're outside your home to keep you safe. That's how I saw your blonde friend." In his mind, Naruto thought, "Man, I took Kurama's excuse to talk to her and turned it into something like a mild excerpt from one of Ero-jii-san's stupid books! Just don't start making pervy insinuations..."

"Getting a bit cheesy, aren't you, Naruto?" Hinata thought at the same time with a mental giggle. Deciding to have some fun with him, she replied, "Really? I'm flattered, but why would you take such an interest in me?"

"Either she knows who I am and is having fun with me, or she really doesn't know why any guy would be interested in her," Naruto contemplated. "Well, if it's the first, I'm gonna have some fun too, and if it's the second...well, I'm still gonna have some fun, but hopefully boost her confidence at the same time." Taking the bluenette's soft hand in his own gloved one, the Ninja looked deep into her lavender eyes and said, "Honestly? Your beauty captivated me the moment I laid eyes on you. With your long, silky, midnight-blue tresses and your dazzling lavender eyes that make the moon itself jealous of their beauty, you resemble nothing less than a princess. And that's without mentioning your flawless, fair skin and your perfect figure."

Hinata couldn't help turning dark red at his compliments, but she was also thinking, "I believe I'm going to need boots to keep listening to this! Or a shovel. Geez, Naruto, you're really laying it on thick here."

"I sense you don't believe what I say, Hime," Kitsune Ninja said with a chuckle that turned into a laugh when she squeaked in surprise.

"I-It's not that. W-Well, sort of. I j-just have a hard time believing such...extreme compliments," she told him with a sweat-drop.

He laughed again. "Yeah, I guess I was being a bit excessive, huh?" He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, unaware that he just gave Hinata further evidence of who he was with his very Naruto-like mannerism. "Still," he continued, "my sentiment was at least sincere. You are very beautiful. Just like a princess!" He leaned closer to her, and he was still holding her hand. "And every hero needs a princess to fight for." Smirking beneath his mask, he winked at her.

Her blush, which had begun to fade, returned with a vengeance. However, a spark of feminine pride was ignited, and she took her hand back to cross her arms as she retorted, "Again, Kit, I'm flattered, but I'm not some damsel in distress who's in constant need of saving."

Naruto blinked his red eyes in surprise. Then they closed as his grin grew exceptionally wide. "True, true. Wasn't trying to imply that you were. And really, a girl who can take care of herself is much more attractive than a girl's who's always needy and getting captured."

"I believe you said as much before one time when we were playing video games." Hinata tilted her head. "So what did you mean then?"

"Simply that you give me something more to fight for." He turned away from her and looked out the window. Taking a deep breath, he elaborated, "When I first started doing this—the hero thing I mean—it was 'cause I felt obligated to use my abilities for something other than myself. But that first guy I helped—a jeweler whose life was being threatened by the thieves who were robbing him—it became something more. When I saw the look of relief and gratitude on his face...I realized I want to help people. I no longer feel obligated; I feel privileged. I was granted the ability to keep people safe, to take down bad guys so everyone else can live in peace, and it gives me purpose. For once in my life, I truly feel useful! And seeing the same look on other people's faces when I help them...! I can't even describe that feeling that that gives me! Hahaha!" Realizing he'd gone off on a bit of a tangent, the hero's happy laughter died, and he cleared his throat awkwardly. Turning back to Hinata, he continued. "Anyway, my point is, I love being able to help people, but even still, it helps to have someone specific to do everything for." He gestured with his thumb over his shoulder toward the window. "A city full of strangers, grateful as they may be, doesn't compare to a beautiful princess such as yourself," he chuckled at her embarrassed expression. "Especially if it's true that you're willing to make gadgets to help me. May I see the one you were telling Naruto about?"

It took Hinata a second to realize that he'd asked her a question because she'd been so caught up in what he was telling her about himself, but when she did, she answered, "Oh! Y-Yes! L-Let me get it for you!" The bluenette scurried over to her school bag began digging through it frantically, tossing books and other objects out of it everywhere. Naruto was quite amused by it. Then suddenly Hinata was before him again, holding out strange pieces of tech in her hands, and grinning triumphantly. "I-I managed to put together a working prototype for an energy-shielding technology. It's called a kinetic barrier, and it stops high-speed projectiles from hurting you. It could also work in reverse too in case...you know..."

"Someone throws me at a wall again?" he finished for her with a short laugh, and she nodded. "Thanks, Hime. Really, it makes me happy that you want to keep me safe as well. So how does it work?"

Hinata launched into a rather detailed explanation that made Naruto's head hurt more than anything. A basic summary is that small sensors detect incoming projectiles or an impending high-speed impact, and they project energy to block it. The energy is produced by small, experimental batteries that are capable of limited self-recharge, and can take energy from the sun or from being recharged like normal batteries as well. The gadget mistress warned the Ninja against relying on them too heavily since the batteries were still too weak to hold up for long in a fight. Without sunlight, the batteries take awhile to recharge the shields, and even with the sun, the batteries could only handle so much at any one time. A strong impact to the shields could only be buffered before the shields would "shatter" so to speak, and that would make them take even longer to recharge.

"It's not perfect, but I'm hoping it'll help you," Hinata said meekly.

"I'm sure it will," the Ninja smiled softly at her. "And it's not like you can't make improvements over time, ya know?"

"'Ya know'? Naruto, you need to disguise yourself better than that," Hinata thought with a smile. "That's true. So, shall I install the shields now?"

"Sure!" He spread his arms wide. "Do whatever you need to do!"

Minutes later, the tiny, almost imperceptible sensors were placed in various spots on Kitsune Ninja's body, and the power source went just above his equipment pouch on his hip. Once Hinata was done with the installation, Naruto looked himself over and grinned.

"Shall we test it out?" the bluenette asked innocently.

"Sure, but how're you—"

He was interrupted by the appearance of a blue, shimmering wave of energy in front of him that blocked a marble launched from the slingshot in Hinata's hand. It disappeared as quickly as it had shown up, but he had enough time to vaguely notice the energy curved partially around him as if it were part of a bubble that surrounded him.

"Huh. That's pretty cool!" the boy's grin was so big it could almost be seen through his mask. Then he grabbed the Hyuuga girl's arm and pulled her to him in a tight hug. "Thank you, Hinata-hime! Thank you so much!"

She hesitated for only half a second before returning the embrace. "Y-You're welcome, Kit. You saved me, so I'm returning the favor."

Reluctantly, the Ninja let her go and stepped back a bit. "Ya know, if you want to, you could do more than just repay me with this."

"What do you mean?"

He held out his hand. "I mean join me. Not in the fighting necessarily. But in creating gadgets for me to help me in my fights and helping me if I ever need to infiltrate some bad guy's hideout. What do you say? Wanna become 'Gadget Girl'?"

"Seriously, Naruto? That's the name you called me before the 'Kitsune Ninja' supposedly started watching me. How many ways are you going to basically tell me it's you before you just say it?" Hinata thought with mild frustration. But she just smiled and put her hand in his. "I would love to become 'Gadget Girl' and join you!" Then her look turned sly as she said, "But you know, it's not fair that you know who I am, but I don't know who you are..."

Naruto chuckled. "True. Let's fix that, shall we?" He reached up and started to pull down his mask...

–Kit! We gotta go! Another monster is rampaging downtown!–

The Ninja turned to the window and saw his fox partner in his black, nine-tailed form hanging by his claws in the tree. Naruto nodded to him before turning back to Hinata. "Sorry, Hime, I gotta go. Something bad's happening and I gotta stop it!" He turned and ran out the window, calling over his shoulder, "We'll continue this later! I promise!"

Hinata sighed in disappointment. "I was so close!"

*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*8*

Mwahaha! Cliffhanger no Jutsu! XD

And here's the lame pun for this chapter:

I did a theatrical performance about puns. Really, it was just a play on words.

XD

I know they're lame, but sometimes a pun's worth a giggle or two. Hahaha! And ya know, that gives me an idea for a superhero: The Pun Isher! His superpower is making his enemies kill themselves so they can escape his lame puns. Hahahaha! Rest assured, I won't do that to this story. But perhaps an omake if I ever write one. XD

Over 100 followers! Woo! \o/ Never thought I'd reach triple digits with followers, favers, or reviews, so I gotta say, I'm flattered, guys. Thanks for your interest in my story. Now to get triple digits in the other two sections! :D

Anyway, just want to thank my reviewers again as always. Chewie Cookies, TheMagicManWithThePlan, Kauris Azurai, Samnamikaze23, MYK-ON, Djwerewolf, lereviewer, StormSurfer, Dragon38996, and xKunoichixAngelx, you guys are awesome. I know I may have gone a little overboard with the fluff and that I tend to repeat some reactions a little more often than I intend to, so thank you for bearing with my imperfections. I hope the excessive fluff isn't bothering anyone, though. I've always thought Naruto would be a fairly affectionate guy to the girl he liked...well, if she liked him back anyway. And most of the fluff has a reason. Part of it in the last chapter was because Naruto missed Hinata after not seeing her for 3 days, and another certain part was more to get Ino to quit flirting with him. In this chapter, it's to show Hinata's insecurities and to give an opportunity to show why her family considers her a failure, and by encouraging her and affirming his desire to remain friends with her, Naruto and Hinata's relationship has grown a little closer. And his actions while dressed as the Ninja at the end were mostly for hilarity's sake. Hahaha. :P

And don't kill me for Naruto losing to Neji! It was to serve a purpose! He had to learn the "don't underestimate anyone" lesson somehow because as I was writing this story, I noticed Naruto seemed to be getting a little overconfident at least when it came to any normal human as a potential adversary. Okay? He'll have his comeback, don't worry. And I will do my best to make it epic! *fist pump*

Just be patient and keep on reading! ^_^ And at least he beat down Sasuke, right? :P

Also, in honor of Robin Williams, I used one of his lines from one of his many hilarious movies. I happened to find that movie on TV while I was writing this too, so it kind of inspired me to do it. Rest in peace, Robin Williams. You were an entertaining man, and a great actor. You will be greatly missed.

...

Moving away from that sad note, leave me a review if you're still liking the story up to this point!

And one final note, I just started graduate school, so my reputation for updating this story quickly is probably going to die. Be patient, though, and know that I will never abandon this or any other of my stories!

Until next time!