Sorry these are taking so long! I just want to get them just right, and I've really been swamped with school work…

We'll get right into it this time; hope you like it; read and review as always!

Chapter 4

"You leave in tomorrow Naruto. Will that be enough time for you to pack your things and say your goodbyes?"

Naruto stared at her, his eyes still a little glossed over and his mouth slightly agape. He still couldn't believe that he was going to be trained by the man who trained The Fourth! He shook his head to clear his mind and tried to loosen his tongue that had failed him thus far.

"H-hai! Frankly Tsunade-obaachan, I don't really have many things to pack! Or many people to say goodbye to…" Naruto trailed off, looking down, and Tsunade could see the light pink hue of embarrassment on his cheeks.

"What about Iruka? From what I've heard, you two have really gotten close"

"That's right! Iruka will definitely want to hear about my awesome training mission!"

"And I'm sure there are…other…people that would want to say goodbye to you" Tsunade mentioned offhandedly, thinking of a certain shy, blue-haired girl that would definitely want to wish Naruto a farewell.

"Eh? Who Tsunade?" asked Naruto, blinking in confusion.

"Oh, I don't know, I'm sure all of the rookie nine will miss you"

Naruto looked at Tsunade suspiciously, but turned away and walked out of the room. His head was buzzing with thoughts as he made his way to his modest apartment. He wondered who it was that Tsunade thought would miss him. He wondered what kind of training he would get from Jiraiya. He wondered if it would be the same kind that the Fourth had received. Basically, he wondered.

Naruto was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he ran into someone on the street and knocked them down.

"Oh! I'm so sorry…" he mumbled as he snapped out of his trance. "Oh, ohayo Hinata!" he waved cheerfully as he held out his hand to aid her.

"Oha...Ohayo Naruto-kun" stammered Hinata. She took his hand blushing furiously and rose to her feet.

"Sorry about that Hinata! I guess I'm just clumsy…" laughed Naruto, flashing his trademark grin.

Seeing Naruto's smile always made Hinata happy for some reason. As shy and bashful as she was, she couldn't help but to smile right back at Naruto.

"Say, Hinata…would you miss me if I were gone for a long time?" asked Naruto, rubbing the back of his head, embarrassed that he even asked the question.

"Of…of course Naruto-kun!" blurted Hinata, a little more direct than usual. After that outburst, she blushed and covered her mouth with the sleeves of the thick jacket she always wore.

"Ahaha…thanks Hinata! Say…" started Naruto, pondering what he was about to say. He was still ashamed that the only person that might really want to say goodbye to him was Iruka…well, Iruka and Hinata now. "You want to go get some ramen?"

Hinata looked up suddenly and looked into his face.

"You…you want me to come eat with you?"

"Yeah! Sure, why not? I could use some more friends…" Naruto trailed off, the last part very quiet, too himself. However, it wasn't quiet enough to hide it from Hinata.

"What do you mean?"

"Heh…well, I was thinking about who would really miss me if I was gone, and all I could really think of was Iruka…" confessed Naruto sadly. "And well…I was thinking that maybe you would be my friend too"

"Me?"

"Yeah! You're as good as anyone!" At that, Hinata's head dropped. Seeing this reaction, Naruto quickly retracted his statement.

"Gah! No, not like that Hinata! I'm so sorry; I really didn't mean it like that! Ah, I'm so stupid! Baka! Baka!" he yelled as he pounded his palm into his forehead.

Hinata looked up into his cerulean eyes and felt an amazing sense of comfort fill her body. That's why she liked Naruto so much. He gave her so much confidence and comfort just my looking her way, or with his smile or even with his words.

"No, I understand Naruto. Sure I'll come eat with you" Hinata said happily. Unknown to him, one of her fantasies had come true. Wow! I can't believe Naruto-kun actually wants me to eat with him! Is this a date? Will he kiss me? What will I say?

"Come on Hinata!" yelled Naruto as he grabbed her hand and led her towards his favorite food stand, breaking her train of thought. Now, the only thing she could think about was her hand in his. She turned red, and was even stammering in her thoughts.

H-he j-just grabbed my h-hand! Another one of her fantasies had come true. True, it wasn't the two of them strolling around Konoha hand in hand and chatting amiably with each other, but it was close enough.

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2 Hours Later

Naruto scrunched his face up, thinking, which Hinata apparently found hilarious.

"Okok, I think I've got it now. Your dad is…Hiashi-sama…your cousin is Neji…and your sister…gah! This is so hard!" Hinata giggled into her hands as Naruto failed for the seventh straight time.

"Ha…" hinted Hinata.

"Haa…..taro?"

"Han…"

"Haaaannn…taro?"

"Hana…."

"Oh! Yeah! I remember! Hanataro!"

"Naruto-kun!"

"Haha, just kidding Hinata-chan! It's Hanabi, I remember now!" laughed Naruto. Hinata would have laughed too, but all she could think about was how he had called her "Hinata-chan".

"So Hinata, now that I know your family member's names, tell me a little about them"

"O-oh…ok. W-well, my father is very strict. He m-makes me fight my sister…"

"Hanataro!" Hinata gave him a stern look, and Naruto stopped laughing. After a five second pause, they both burst out laughing, holding their sides because it hurt so much.

"Hahaha! You should call your sister that Hinata-chan!" After both of their fits of laughter had subsided, Naruto went back to the previous conversation.

"Ok, what about your father making you fight your sister?" Naruto had to focus extra hard not to laugh, because every time he thought of Hinata's sister, he thought of Hanataro.

"O-oh, yeah. I…I've never beaten her…" Hinata said, looking down, ashamed to tell the one she admired all of her failures. "I-I'm just too weak…"

"No you're not Hinata-chan!" Naruto interrupted. "I know that you are a lot stronger than you think you are Hinata! I remember how strong you were in the chunnin preliminaries against Neji!"

"But…I lost Naruto-kun!"

"That doesn't matter Hinata, power isn't all about winning and losing fights. You stood up to him, and didn't surrender, no matter how badly the odds were stacked against you! That's real power"

Hinata looked up after hearing his words and was again comforted by his words. She could feel her insecurities melting away and confidence bubbling up insider her.

"Th-thank you Naruto-kun"

"Don't thank me, Hinata-chan, it's true!" As he said his final words, he held up his thumb and gave her his best good guy pose.

Naruto stood up and paid for both of their meals, which surprised old man Ichiraku. Of course, she had only had one bowl compared to Naruto's twelve, so there wasn't that big of a difference in his payment.

"Hey, Hinata, can I tell you a secret?"

"What is it Naruto-kun?" Hinata was very impressed with herself, as she had become more comfortable with Naruto. So much so that her stutter only appeared in a small portion of her sentences.

"Well you see, I'm going on this super cool training mission with Ero-sennin tomorrow! I can't wait!"

Hinata looked a little worried. "When will you be back Naruto-kun?" After getting closer to Naruto, she didn't want to lose their friendship because of a long training mission.

"Heh, I really don't know…I guess I should have asked Tsunade-obaachan that, huh?"

"Ano, since you don't know how long you'll be gone, you should pack as if it were a long trip"

"Great idea Hinata! You're so smart!" At this, Hinata began to blush again and poke her index fingers together.

"A-Ano, Naruto, I-I think I better go home now…"

"Eh? Really? Well, ok…I'm leaving tomorrow morning. Will you be there to see me off?"

"H-Hai!" She then ran off, leaving Naruto by himself, trying to think of what to do to prepare for his training mission.

Hmmm…what does someone need on a long trip? Lets see…I'll need money, clothes, food, weapons…Actually, food shouldn't be a problem, Ero-sennin won't let me starve. And I have my shuriken and kunai, and I'm really not going to be able to get anymore money…I guess that leaves clothes…

Naruto looked at himself in a mirror in a store window. He had always liked his bright orange jumpsuits because they made people notice him. He always had a longing for attention, and his clothes definitely gave him that. But now was different. He was going to get the attention of Jiraiya. That was the entire purpose of the mission. So now he had no use for the gaudy outfit that screamed for attention.

Naruto entered a ninja outfitting store, and came out a changed ninja. Almost no one would be able to recognize him, except for his very distinguishable yellow hair. He wore long, black, loose fitting pants which allowed his legs full, unrestrained movement. The pants had thin orange lines running in intricate designs down the sides of his legs. He also had on a black tight fitting long sleeve shirt, showing off his muscles that were often hidden by his baggy jumpsuit. Over the shirt was a thin vest which acted as a layer of body armor that would do little against something powerful, but could stop most shuriken and weakly thrown kunai. It would also do wonders against body hits in taijutsu. On the back of the vest, Naruto insisted that the owner put the logo that was on the back of his old jumpsuit, no matter how much the store owner protested. But perhaps the most surprising part of his new outfit was his black mask that covered the bottom half of his face, leaving only the top half of his nose and his eyes peeking out from between the mask and his forehead protector. He had always liked the way Kakashi looked, and he imitated the mask, but tried to keep the other things original.

Now this is more like it, Naruto thought, looking back at the mirror he had inspected himself in just minutes before. He almost didn't recognize himself. Now he couldn't wait to train. But that would have to wait until tomorrow morning.

Naruto made his way through the crowd, noticing that many people gave him curious looks, and he realized they didn't even realize it was him. This gave him some sort of happiness, as he knew that this would mean at least a few weeks of not being called a "monster" or "demon".

Naruto finally came to his apartment and fell on his bed. The second his head hit the pillow, he was sound asleep, preparing for his big day.

End Chapter 4

Hopefully the chapters will come out a little faster now, because I'm grounded. Stupid English!

R&R as always please!