Chapter II

Earlier, Naruto wanted to find the source of the sound he heard.

It was kinda like a scream. No, a shout.

And hearing the voice reminded him of someone.

Too bad he can't remember.

But right now, he found it. Or should he say 'her.'

Hyuuga Hinata.

With everyone in the Rookie 9 being matured and having their own story to tell how they became what they are now. Naruto shouldn't be surprised. But Hinata genuinely surprised him.

He thought back to the shy, timid, little girl he knew before. The girl who was his seatmate during the 1st part of the Chuunin Exams 2 ½ years ago, the girl who offered him medicine after his fight with Kiba, the girl he cheered for when she fought with Neji, the girl he swore to avenge when Neji almost killed her, the girl who cheered him up before the Main Matches.

Could this be the same girl?

Going back to the present, he took the chance to examine her as she looked behind him at the retreating couple. He that she ahs grown taller but is a head shorter than him. Her hair is longer, too. He realized this as the breeze blew some strands of it. She looked like she just got out of a shampoo commercial. She is mostly covered by her Chuunin vest so he couldn't see what she's wearing underneath. But from the looks of those black sleeves he guessed that it's a black T-shirt. She's also wearing Caprim pants, the same kind of pants he remembered her wearing before. And as he glimpsed at her milky-white face (and eyes) he realized that not only that she's grown beautiful – she's breathtakingly gorgeous when up close.

"Naruto-kun, are you ready?" her voice broke him out of his stupor.

He saw that she is in a fighting position. Her left hand is in front of her in a palm strike pose. The other was in a closed fist and at level with her waist. Her legs are in an L-shaped position. Left leg leads while the other is slightly bended so her body is slightly lowered. She also has he Byakugan activated.

He smirked. Let's see how much she's gotten better.

"Shadow Clone no Jutsu!" 4 Shadow Clones appeared at his side and let them loose on Hinata. He just hopes that they don't hurt her too much.

But Hinata managed to beat them in a single combo.

The 1st clone charged after her but it got hit by her right hand w/c turned into a palm strike. The 2nd launched a straight punch at her face. But since her right is still extended she used it to grab the incoming arm, making her left leg move back and letting the right leg lead, to pull him close enough to be hit by her other palm. The 3rd charged at her front like the fist 2, but Hinata was quicker. Still in her position right after taking care of the 2nd, she swerved both of her arms in a counter-clockwise circular motion before slamming both hands into the clone. The 4th appeared some distance behind Hinata and charged at her before launching a flying side kick. But she simply evaded it but hopping to the right and grabbed the clone's leg before it hit her. She pulled him closer and hit him with another palm strike.

Impressive.

"That was just warm-up, Hinata. Here's the real challenge." He unzipped his jacket revealing his black sleeveless top underneath. He took it off but still held it with his right hand.

He saw that Hinata was blushing like mad. But he decided to ignore it.

"Don't worry, Naruto-kun." Hinata managed to say. "I was just warming up myself." And she began to take off her Chuunin vest, mimicking Naruto's actions earlier, revealing her black baby T-shirt underneath.

Now without her vest covering most of her, Naruto could see that Hinata had started developing to womanhood. She's definitely 'filled-out' in places that are pleasing to the eyes.

He mentally kicked himself for thinking like that. That Frog Hermit's already rubbing off on him in more ways than one.

Time to test out his new Jutsu.

"Body Flicker no Jutsu!" and he quickly swayed his orange jacket in front of him. Making an orange blur before disappearing from view, his jacket falling down to the ground.

Lucky for Hinata she had her Byakugan on; otherwise she couldn't see him materialize a few feet above her. She dodged out of the way just in time.

And unfortunately for Naruto he was facing the other way so he had to turn around to face Hinata. And was just in time to block a tenketsu strike with his right hand.

Seeing that her attack was deflected she jumped up and did a front kick that Naruto feinted again.

Upon reaching the ground, she jumped again and spun around to do a spinning kick on him. But he ducked just in time.

He ducked again when Hinata let loose another tenketsu strike with her left upon reaching the ground. He managed to grab it but regretted it later when she pulled him closer to hit him a good on him midsection. This rocketed him backwards and landed a couple of feet away from her.

He tried to fight the urge to spit out some blood. He want to make Hinata think that he's easily affect by this. Too bad his body didn't agree with him. And he coughed out a little blood.

"Naruto-kun, are you-" but she didn't finish her sentence when he told her that he's still can fight.

"I was going easy on you…" he said in between fits of coughs. " But we're not done yet. Get ready…"

He needs to finish this fast. That impact certainly wrecked his insides. Maybe he could collapse into her arms before going unconscious.

"Body Flicker no Jutsu!" In a flach of black and orange he disappeared and reappeared in front of Hinata. Naruto let loose a ricochet of ultra-fast punches toward her, making an effect that looked like he has a dozen arms. Hinata didn't have the reflexes needed to block this kind of attack so she found herself getting hit 5 – 9 times overtime she blocked a single punch.

She had no choice but to back down and give up.

"What the?"

But not without giving him a little something. There were small red spots on his arms, meaning that Hinata sealed his charka holes.

To be able to do this while facing his attack earlier, she's worth more than the credit he gives her for.

He moved his eyes away from his arms and onto to the female Hyuuga in front of him. It looks like she's a flustered aft6er what happened. And her bloodline limit is already deactivated.

"Hey, Hinata. That jutsu I used on you earlier is something that can counter the Byakugan. The Byakugan may be able to see in all directions and sense motion a few miles away. But it won't be enough when faced with an ultrafast technique. I doubt even Neji can block it." He looked back at his arms. "This is just a little payback, isn't it?"

"It's just that… I don't want to think I'm… Still weak…" she managed to reply.

"That's my line." He said before he started coughing up blood and landed on the grass. "Besides that hit you gave me knocked the wind out of me."

He looked up and noticed that she's already besides him.

"I didn't hit you too hard, did I?" he could feel her breath fan against his cheeks. And he took the chance to take in the scent of vanilla emanating from her. And he felt a warm feeling rushing up into his face.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." He forced a smile.

And he heard something that really upset his mood.

"Naruto Hinata sitting on a tree… K-I-S-S-" but Naruto quickly told the kitsune youma to shut up.

But it wasn't just Kyubi that upset him. He sensed 2 figures hiding in the shade of trees a few feet away from them.

His first guess was that it was Neji and Tenten. But, no. One of them was Sakura. He recognized her charka. And the other one…

No way…

Even Kyuubi was upset. "What are they doing here?"

Naruto knows whose charka is that. And the other one hidden underneath it's normal one.

He straightened up and it almost startled Hinata.

"You can come out now."

And the pinkhaired cherry blossom came out.

"About time you noticed us." She said.

But he wasn't listening to her, he was eyeing the other figure still in the shadows.

"You, too. It's been some time, eh? Ryong Kurogane."