Familiar Face

Hyuuga Hinata had always admired Naruto.

She would always observe him from afar (whether with Byakugan or not) watching him train, surpassing his physical limits, believing in himself, like she believed in him.

Once, she secretly cheered for him during the Chuunin exams 2 ½ years ago. She even acknowledged him when they were still in the Academy. Heck, she was probably the only one of Naruto's classmates who recognized the real him.

It's too bad the blond ninja is oblivious to this fact.

She never had the chance to say how much he means to her. Not even when he left Konoha for his training with Jiraiya.

He was everything that she wasn't.

He is loud; she is quiet.

He is brash; she is timid.

He is strong; she is weak.

And that last part is what tortures her the most.

Being weak.

But not anymore.

In the span of 2 years, she has grown into a respectable kunoichi reaching the rank of Chuunin. Her skills in the Jyuken Fighting Art have improved that it even rivals that of Neji. And it was her advanced skill that allowed her to beat her sister Hanabi in the last Chuunin exam. This earned Hinata her father's respect as well as that of her sister, who once considered her 'weak.'

Even though she managed to come out of her shell, she still carries an aura of shyness around her. But this conceals a sense of strength and confidence that she acquired during the long run.

That is, of course, thanks to a certain loudmouthed shinobi she admires.

In the training grounds where she and Naruto met before his fight with Neji, Hinata was busy hitting a log with palm strikes. While she was at it, her mind drifted back to the moment he said those words:

"You're the kind of people I like!"

It was like heaven for her. Naruto actually acknowledges her!

And that simple thought of him saying those words gave her strength.

She focused at her right palm with a considerable amount of chakra and rushed it at the log. Shouting as she did. Normally, this kind of strike is enough to break the log into a thousand pieces. But it didn't. Instead, it caused a bit of bark on the other side to break off.

It may not look much. But it was enough to cause internal damage to an enemy. She did witness its effect during one of her team's missions. They had to track down a missing-nin from the Hidden Rock.

She remembered the rogue shinobi covering himself with a think layer of stone when they fought him. Not even Kiba or Shino was able to penetrate his armor. Only Hinata was able to do it. Even though the stone armor gave him an increased endurance, it hindered his agility. And all Hinata had to do was walk up in front of him (literally), focused a lot of charka and slammed it into his chest.

Similar to what happened to the log, a thick piece of stone broke off at the missing-nin's back. And the rest of the armor followed, revealing a powerless shinobi suffering from internal bleeding.

Hinata knew this because she had her Byakugan activated, so she could see that she broke the guy's ribcage along with the heart and lungs.

Her thoughts were disturbed as she sensed two figures behind her. She didn't need her Byakugan to know. So she turned around to face them.

It wasn't a surpirse to find that one of them is her cousin, Neji.

What was a surprise is that the other is Tenten. And they're both holding hands.

"Since when did you two get together?" Hinata said, smiling at the couple."Neji-sempai, Tenten-san."

She had to add the -sempai suffix whenever she calls him ever since he became Jounin.

"Actually, we started off two months ago when we came back from a mission. That was when you were hunting down a missing-nin." Tenten said. "Sorry, Hinata. But I need to borrow your cousin for a while."

"So it's a date?"

"You could say that," Neji said. "Besides she's the one who dragged me into this..."

Tenten playfully punched him on the shoulder as a reply.

"Then, I guess we'll have to postpone our training for a another day, Neji-san." She was a bit disappointed. But for now, she's happy for Neji. It's rare to see him actually smiling.

"Actually, there is someone who would be happy to train with you Hinata-san." Neji turned around but still holding Tenten's hand. "No use hiding, Naruto. You can come out now."

Naruto? Hinata's eyes scanned the area where Neji turned to. And she could make out a figure moving under the shade of the trees and coming out into the sunlight. The orange clothes he wears and that blong hair of his made him easier to spot.

As Naruto finally reached them, Hinata noticed that he has grown taller now. His blond hair a bit longer and messier than before. And as he greeted them (and commented on Neji finding him) she also found that his voice has deepened. His cerulean eyes sparkling with the life and confidense like before.

"It's a good thing the sun's out," Tenten teased her, waking Hinata out of her stupor. "So no one can tell whther you're blushing or catching a burn."

Embarassed by her reaction, Hinata wanted to change the subject but Neji did it for her.

"Naruto-san, do you mind sparring with Hinata for me? I have...things to take care of."

"Sure! That is if it's ok with Hinata." He glanced at her, making her blush deeper. But she managed to reply that she won't mind. "Great! Now that's settled. You two lovebirds go ahead with your date thing."

Neji was about to comment but he didn't have the chance when Tenten jumped into his arms. This caused the young Hyuuga to do something very uncharacteristic: he blushed.

Now this is a start, Neji blushing? Hinata and Naruto both glanced up at the sky, no doubt checking any signs for flying pigs. Hinata took one last look at the couple before glancing back at Naruto.

And as Neji carried away his girlfriend. She could've sworn Tenten was giving her the thumbs up sign before disappearing into the shade of the trees.