I'm soo sorry guys that I have not been updating school started and that got me but do not think I have not been not writing updates are coming just not as fast as I wish. This story will be going to 3 books and I have something special lined up for the readers in book 2.

Chapter 11: A Race and a Riddle

Neji eyed Kiba as he swam to the center of Hinata's room.

"Ok so we are all in agreement that we don't like Hinata's suitor. Right Shino"

Shino nodded his head.

"And Neji you don't think Naruto is fit to be with Hinata too"

"Obviously" Neji looked over to Hinata and saw her starting at Naruto. He then placed himself in between them blocking her field of vision. Naruto balled up his fist and glared at Neji.

"So what if we test him" Kiba announced.

"What?" Neji and Hinata said together.

"Well obviously it's going to be hard to separate these two. I mean Hinata is ready to swim away the minute you take off that ring" Kiba pointed to Hinata's tail and Hinata nodded. "And this human changed species to come get her so I can bet it will be hard to get him to just leave and forget about Hinata"

"Damn straight" Naruto yelled crossing his arms across his chest.

"So what if each of us offers him a challenge to prove himself to us if he can impress at least two of us then we will allow him to be with Hinata" Hinata suddenly realized what Kiba was planning and relaxed her shoulders. Neji on the other hand was not convinced by Kiba's "proposal".

"This is ridiculous why we would agree to-" Kiba held up his hand to stop Neji from talking.

"But if he fails to impress the majority of us then he must forget about her and Hinata must forget about him".

"And how would we go about doing that, you just said he would not forget about her and I doubt Hinata will comply too"

"I'm sure our local sea witch would be more than happy to provide us with something to make then forget about each other permanently" Kiba turned and winked at Ino trying to get the message across about his plan to her. She noticed it and nodded.

"I can always enjoy a story with a sad ending" Ino said shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly.

"Damn it whose side are you guys on!" Naruto yelled.

"Our own human" Kiba swam up to Naruto. "Now do you accept the terms of this challenge?" Kiba held his hand out to Naruto.

Naruto stared at Kiba's hand skeptically. Hinata noticed that, 'oh no he did not notice what Kiba is doing' Hinata started frantically thinking of a way to get Naruto to accept the challenge. She looked up at Neji 'that's it!' Hinata started swimming towards Naruto.

"Wait Naruto don't listen to him" Neji grabbed Hinata's arm before she could swim past him and pushed her behind him again none to gently.

Naruto could not stand it anymore. And any idea of thinking before acting went out the window. He grabbed Kiba's hand and gave it a strong squeeze.

"I accept"

Kiba let go of Naruto's hand 'damn that hurt' he waved his hand trying to lose the slight pain he felt.

"Neji what do you say" Kiba turned around to face Neji. Neji looked at Naruto and shaked his head.

"Fine but be warned I will by no means make this easy for you human"

"I would not have it any other way" Naruto and Neji stared each other down for a few moments.

Neji smirked accepting his challenge and turned to leave the room but stopped midway. He swam over to Hinata and bent down in front of her pulling the key out and unlocking Hinata's ring, then grabbed her arm.

"What are you doing" Naruto was about to swim towards them when Kiba blocked his path.

"She will be in my care until this foolish last attempt to prove yourself is over. Come lady Hinata"

"Wait Neji" Hinata struggled against his grip on her but it was no use he was not budging. Before she was out of her room she looked over to Naruto.

"I'll win no matter what" Naruto said with a confident smile. Hinata looked into his eyes and saw nothing but determination. She gave him a quick smile then disappeared into the hallway with Neji.

Once she was gone Naruto's smile vanished and he turned to Kiba. "What the hell I thought you supported me and Hinata what happened."

"Calm down Naruto. Everything went according to plan "

"What?" Naruto crossed his arms across his chest and tiled his head to the side.

"We do support you Naruto" Kiba patted Naruto's shoulder and Naruto just raised a confused eyebrow at him.

"Ok what are you talking about? What is this plan?"

"Well Shino, Neji and I are the ones that are going to be testing you right"

"Right" Naruto nodded.

"And you only need to pass 2 of the 3 test to be with Hinata right"

"Yeah…..ohhh! You and Shino-"

"Are going to rig the test that right we will make our challenges simple and you will pass them and Neji will have no choice but to allow you guys to be together"

"That genius! I'm sorry I ever doubted you" Naruto patted Kiba in the back.

"Calm down. Let's see we need to figure out two simple tasks that will seem like actual challenges or else Neji will get suspicious. Any ideas Shino?"

"I'm sorry but I will not be assisting you" Kiba and Naruto turned to face Shino.

"What why the hell not I thought you liked them together"

"I did at first but then I met Naruto and my idea of their relationship has waned. I don't fully support you anymore. You will have to prove yourself to me too" Shino then swam out of the room out into the hallway.

"Well I guess he did not like you. Go figure"

"Why"

"I don't know you probably insulted him or something he's a bit …..Off but he's a good friend so I'm sure he will be easy on you... I think." Naruto stared at Kiba a bit irked that his plan was falling apart before it even started "And! You will still have my challenge in the bag so you'll be fine"

"Right! what do you have in mind?"

"uhh nothing right now" Kiba smiled awkwardly scratching his head and Naruto gave him an annoyed look .

"Oh this is getting to exciting" Ino squealed from the window. "Ok you guys plan I don't want to have spoilers I'm gonna go set up the "ring" for you guys to duel. The brave prince will go so far to fight for his true love. Ohh I should write some of this down" she giggled to herself and swam out the window.

Naruto and Kiba stared as she swam off. "Ok so what are we going to do" Naruto said.

"Don't worry I'll figure something out for now why don't you tell me how you met Hinata" Kiba said leaning against Hinata's bed. Naruto started thinking back trying to remember everything that happened.

"Ok well let's see I guess it starts when I fell off that cliff-"

"Wow you guys have been stuck to each other this whole time" Kiba said as both he and Naruto swam down the hallway on their way to the grounds out behind the castle. Ino had barged into the room just as Naruto had finished telling Kiba about his time with Hinata announcing that the "ring" was ready and swam off to go tell Shino and Neji. "I'm actually surprised, Hinata is pretty introverted, to think she would be so comfortable around a guy who is practically a stranger is just ….weird"

"Yeah I know what you mean. I mean look at me I'm fighting to keep a girl I just met 3 days ago. But I just can't imagine not being around her anymore." Naruto stopped in the middle of the hall. "I've really fallen for her" Naruto laughed and rubbed the back of his head blushing slightly. Thoughts of Hinata flooded his head and a warm feeling filled his heart.

"I'll say" Kiba said laughing to himself "both of you are hopeless"

"Yeah" Naruto swam forward slowly still thinking of Hinata. He was so fixated on his thoughts that he swam into a table causing the vase on it to fall. He quickly caught it before it hit the floor. 'Wait would it even have broken had it fallen' Naruto eyed the vase in his hand and bounced it trying to see how fast gravity reacted underwater.

"Enough playing with the vase which would not have broken by the way" Kiba said swimming past Naruto who just glared at him as he passed by. "We need to come up with a challenge for you to win without Neji getting suspicious"

"well you better think of something quick because we are running out of…..wait running that's it!" Naruto yelled.

"The heck is running?" Kiba asked raising a confused eyebrow.

"What? Oh never mind we can have a race those are easy to fix"

"Yeah that's right we just need to make it look good and Neji will never know Naruto you're a genius"

"I know" Naruto said as he puffed out his chest and raised his nose. Which Kiba found rather amusing then took the opportunity to jab him in the stomach causing Naruto to fall forward.

"And a humble one at that. So I'm thinking a simple one lap around the castle grounds."

Naruto rubbed his stomach and nodded. "Sounds good but don't you think its kinda simple"

"Hey it's your idea"

"Yeah but it just feels a bit plain hmmm" Naruto and Kiba finally found the door that lead outside and swam out to see what Ino had called "the ring" it was actually a ring of stones that she had placed on one of the grounds behind the castle. On the side of the ring was bench made out of coral and a large stone throne that shimmered in the sunlight.

"Hey have you guys figured out a challenge yet?" Ino asked as she rummaged through a bag she had on the bench.

"yeah me and Naruto are going to have a race"

"Really" that sounds so plain" Ino said. "Let's make it interesting I could call for a few sharks to chase you and then you have to dodge-"

"on second though a simple race will be fine" Naruto said cutting Ino off.

"Fine have it your way" Ino said going back to her rummaging.

Neji and Hinata came out of the castle followed by Shino soon after. They all gathered at the center of the ring.

"Ok well let me explain to you the lay out of the area where you boys will be duking out" Ino said out loud and spread her arms out before her. "I managed to conjure up some stone here to make a proper fighting ground and I also-", Naruto had started to tune Ino out and stared at Hinata who was currently staring down at the ground.

Hinata stood behind Neji and was feeling very nervous of the contest, she had found out Shino was not going to help Naruto win so she was now worried about his chances in winning. Out of habit she started fiddling with the ends of her jacket again. She looked up and caught Naruto's eyes staring at her. Their gazes locked for a brief moment and he gave her a quick wink and a confident smile, which seemed to calm her down. She smiled shyly and turned away and started paying attention to Ino again.

"And Hinata you will be sitting up on that throne" Hinata followed where Ino pointed and saw that somehow Ino had managed to move her throne from the throne room. Hinata sighed in relief that her father was away on business this would be so much more difficult with him around. "You should probably get up there so we can start" Hinata nodded and swam up to the throne and sat down on it placing her hands on her lap.

"Now let's decide how the challenges will be set." Ino walked to the bench and grabbed a small bag from the pile of things she had conjured up and turned to the boys that surrounded her. "Each of you will reach in and grab a stone, each one has a number and that will decide the order of the challenges." Kiba went first and pulled out a stone with a one on it.

"All right I go first" Kiba shouted. Hinata smiled at his enthusiasm while Neji sighed annoyed at how loud he was being.

"I'm next" Neji said as he swam forward and pulled a rock out and it had a 3 on it. "tch looks like I'm last"

Hinata sighed 'hopefully Naruto will pass both Kiba's and Shino's challenges and he won't have to face brother Neji'

Ino held the bag and was about to put it away now that it was decided who would be going when Shino swam forward. "It's my turn now isn't it?"

"uhh it kinda obvious that you got second isn't it you don't really have to pull it out"

"It is necessary that I pull one out. Why you ask? To insure that everything goes as smoothly as possible in this contest. Not a single variable should be left that would give Naruto the advantage in this contest" Shino looked at Kiba from the corner of his dark lenses causing him to flinch.

"Ok then" Ino said awkwardly raising the bag to him. Shino reached inside and pulled out a rock with a two on it.

"Then it is official I will be giving the second challenge"

Ino's eyebrow twitched in annoyance "ok I'm glad we could straighten that out" she then tossed the bag behind her and it floated slowly to the ground. Naruto nudged Kiba and whispered to him "what was that about"

"Shino does not like to be left out or forgotten he's kinda weird that way" Kiba answered.

"riiight" Naruto eyed Shino 'he kinda just seems annoying to me'. As if he heard him Shino faced Naruto.

"Is something bothering you?" he asked.

"What! uhh no nothing at all" Naruto said raising his hands up and waving them awkwardly before him.

"Ok then let's start this contest to prove yourself Naruto" Kiba pointed to Hinata who looked at him with a perplexed look. "hinata we will need you for the starting line."

"oh ok" hinata swam off her throne and stood next Kiba. "me and naruto will be having a race around the castle grounds" Kiba announced and Neji and Shino nodded they then turned and sat on the bench that ino had instructed was the spectator area. Hinata was surprised that they were going to race for their challenge and she tapped kiba in the shoulder whispering into his ear.

"Are you sure about this Kiba your are the fastest merman in the kingdom and Naruto just started swimming I'm not sure this is fair"

"its fine we have a plan" kiba whispered back.

Naruto watched as kiba and Hinata whispered to each other and could not help but feel a little vexed about seeing them so close to each other. Sure kiba was his ally but that did not change the fact that he was another man...half of a man a bit too close to Hinata.

kiba looked over at naruto and naruto looked away with an audible huff. Kiba wondered what that was about but ignored it.

"ok Hinata you will be doing the count down. Ino if you could mark out the route" Kiba asked. Ino nodded and searched the pile of things by the bench when she found what she was looking for. She grabbed a small box and opened it a flash of red flooding out. A small school of fish gathered around her.

"ok guys we need one ring around the castle got it" Ino said to the fish and they swam away once in position they all inflated and became big balls of red.

"what the" Naruto said looking at the red fish that now marked their route.

"puffer fish" Hinata explained as one puffed up near them.

Kiba marked a line on the sand with his tail then turned to Hinata."ok Hinata you can start the race when ready" both Naruto and him got into position.

"ok ready"

naruto and kiba got ready.

"Set"

"go"

in a flash both naruto and kiba brought their tails down propelling them forward. both naruto and kiba were next to next as they rounded the castle wall and were then out of sight. Hinata held her hands before her. "please kiba" she whispered

Kiba swam by naruto and felt that he was actually having to work to keep up with naruto. "wow naruto your pretty good for a beginner" kiba said and naruto did not respond. "hey whats wrong" Kiba asked and naruto just swam faster trying to get futher away from kiba. Kiba raised and eyebrow at Naruto then it hit him. "wait are you mad because hinata was so close to me a while ago". naruto then stopped in his tracks.

"what no that has nothing to do with this im just trying to win"

kiba swam over to naruto and could not help but find amusement in naruto's obvious jealousy. "I did not know you were so possessive" kiba teased.

"I'm not it just you and Hinata were so close and..." naruto's cheeks had a small tint of red on them.

"you are possessive" kiba pointed and smirked. "if this is how you are now how would you react if I kissed hinata?"

"you wouldnt"

"would I" kiba turned around and started swimming slowly away, "winner get a kiss from hinata" he yelled then swam forward as fast as he could.

"WHAT NO WAY" Naruto swam after Kiba as fast as he could there was no way he was gonna let anyone near her when he has not even gotten a chance to kiss her yet. he managed to catch up to kiba. kiba looked over his shoulder and saw how close naruto was now. "im not gonna lose" naruto said.

"we will see about that" kiba started swimming even faster leaving naruto behind and they rounded the last of the castle walls and were now on the last stretch. naruto swam as hard as he could and was getting closer to Kiba. 'just a little more' right when naruto felt he was about to pass Kiba a line in the sand past them. both merman started slowing down and Kiba swam over to hinata.

"WOOO looks like I won" Kiba wrapped his arm around hinata's waist and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "better luck next time naruto" he laughed triumphantly and looked down at hinata. He noticed the worried look in her eyes then it hit him "ohh hell" Kiba hit his head "riiight".

naruto swam towards them. "Riiight". naruto glared at Kiba who was akwardly smiling holding his hands up. "sorry". Neji Shino and Ino approcached the group. "Good work Kiba it was obvious that a human would never beat a merman in a swimming race but i was worried. I wondered where your true aligience lied in this contest im glad to see you sided with the sensible group." Neji said.

"yeah go us"

"WHO CARES IT WAS JUST ONE CHALLENGE" Naruto yelled "I'M NOT GOING TO LOSE ANOTHER ONE"

"very well human lets continue this match" Neji turned around and headed back to the bench. While Neji's back was turned Hinata swam up to Naruto and grabbed the sides of Naruto's face then gave him a quick peck on the cheek "that's for luck" and swam back to her throne. Naruto held on to his cheek remembering the sensation of her lips against it. Ino giggled and followed Hinata.

"Hey focus" Kiba hit Naruto on the back of the head and turned to head to the bench to sit by Neji.

Shino stepped forward "I shall now be issuing your next challenge"

"Alright what's the next challenge I am not gonna lose this time"

"Very well" Shino said as he adjusted his sunglasses "you must bring me something from your human world that will fascinate me and you only have one chance to impress me"

"What? "Naruto said and looked at Shino sideways.

"damn it Shino you're not impressed by anything what kind of challenge is that!" Kiba yelled from the bench.

"It's quite the fair challenge Kiba. This will prove to me how much he has picked up from our short meeting and will show me what kind of man he is."

"bullshit you just wanna know if he ignored you or not" Kiba yelled

Shino simply adjusted his glasses again. "I would suggest you hurry up and think of something to present to me Naruto"

Naruto started raking his brains 'damn it what do I know about this weirdo uhhh lets see he wears a bunch of jackets even though it's not cold uhh so he has a weird fashion sense? No Hinata wears a jacket too. Ummm he's hiding his face so maybe...Ahh no that's stupid' Naruto was unknowingly making a lot of strange gestures as he was thinking.

Kiba could not help but snicker at the sight. Hinata looked down at Kiba with worried eyes. Ino then jabbed Kiba with her elbow. "Ohh uhh sorry Hinata I'm sure he will figure something out".

Neji simply laughed

Naruto scratched his head furiously. 'Uhh what can this guy like? We barely met...wait what did we do when we met...we shook hands and …and...' naruto hit his fist into his other hand "THATS IT!" he yelled surprising everyone

"there is something in my room that is perfect"

Ino jumped up from her seat and swan to him. "wait naruto I'll go get it for you"

"oh ok then why?"

"uhh im probably much faster than you are right now you must be tired from the race right"

"ok...can you bring me the orange stones that are on a table near the fireplace"

"Oh I remember seeing some there the kind of big ones"

"Yes please bring them to me"

"Ok I'll swim as fast as I can" with a strong stroke of her tail she swam forward leaving behind a stream of bubbles.

Soon Ino was out of sight and everyone stood there awkwardly. Naruto shook his tail looking down at how it shimmered. Then looked around at the surrounding area even though they were deep in the ocean the sun light up the whole castle. A few fish swam by and then Naruto's eyes then fell onto Hinata. Their eyes locked and Hinata blushed slightly looking away. He slowly started making his way towards her.

" don't even think about it human" Neji said. Naruto stopped by Hinata's thrown and leaned against it

"What I'm not doing anything" Naruto raised his hand up by the side of the throne hiding his arm away from Neji's eyes and grabbed onto Hinata's hand. He gave it a light squeeze and she squeezed back.

"So Kiba how long have you know Hinata?" Naruto asked trying to make light conversation as they waited. He stared entwining his fingers with Hinata's again and again as he talked.

" me and Shino have known Hinata since we were kids we've grown up together. So we've been together for hmmmm over ten years right Hinata"

Hinata nodded looking down at Kiba.

" huh and Neji you have known Hinata for longer right since you're like siblings or something you guys must have gotten along really well then"

"Actually no me and Shino had to protect Hinata from Neji for a while because he-"

"There is no need to get him involved in our past besides THAT happened a long time ago"

"you still cant deny what happened you know"

"I'm not denying it I just refuse to bring it up again"

Naruto looked at both Kiba and Neji who were now glaring at each other.

"Besides even if you tell him as soon as he fails this challenge he will forget about it"

Naruto growled at Neji he was about to make an angry comment when Hinata squeezed his hand and he took a deep breath. Taking a moment to calm down before talking again.

"So I'm guessing there's not a lot of other merpeople here." Naruto said changing the subject.

"no there are but the palace only houses the merfolk of nobility or high rank but most are out at the moment for a event in another part of the sea. A decent amount of citizens live in the nearby village. We are probably one of the middle sized kingdoms in the sea but we are the most powerful thanks to the hyuuga family"kiba said

"Really so it's your family that runs the ocean Hinata" Naruto sat on Hinata's arm rest and grabbed hinata's hand again. Neji glare at Naruto but he ignore it.

" I-I would not say we run the ocean but my family name has a lot of influence" Naruto squeezed her hand and leaned into Hinata whispering into her ear."I think I'm gonna need a bit more luck" Hinata started blushing while Naruto grinned at her reaction.

"Ok enough human get away from lady Hinata you are obviously too naive to notice the difference in classes."

Naruto had enough of Neji and wrapped his arms around Hinata possessively. "Make me" Neji was now standing up. "And what do you mean different classes I'm a prince up on the surface and aren't princesses supposed to marry princes." He squeezed Hinata. 'm-marry' hinata was starting to feel dizzy from naruto's words.

"Don't push me human"

Naruto was about to comment again but Ino had finally returned. She huffed in front of Naruto who had separated from Hinata.

"Ok here these are all of them"

Ino pulled out a bunch of orange stones and Naruto looked down at them looking at them all. He then picked the biggest one of them all. "this one should do" Ino looked at the stone he was holding. "is that a-" Naruto swam towards Shino before Ino finished her question.

" hey uhhh shino i present this to you as my offering" Naruto handed he orange stone to Shino.

Shino looked down at it then realized there was something inside the stone. "What is that" Shino examined the stone closely.

"That's a beetle that is found up on the surface and it's in a stone called amber even down here in the water that stone is always going to keep that beetle in it cool huh."

Shino had seized paying attention to Naruto and examined the stone closely. He then turned away from everyone and raised his glasses away from his face to see the specimen better.

" did he just take off his glasses" Kiba yelled Neji and Hinata were shocked at what he said. Kiba then swam towards shino but just as he was about to see shino's face shino dropped his glasses and turned around. Everyone but Naruto and Ino sighed

"What was that about" Naruto asked Ino who simply shrugged her shoulders

" we've never seen Shinos's face so we were amazed he took his glasses off" Hinata said.

"really but I thought you said you've known him for years"

"we have" Hinata and Kiba said at the same time.

'weird' Naruto thought to himself

" very well Naruto you pass my challenge and I am now in support of your relationship with Hinata. Shino bowed his head at Naruto.

"Really? All right!" Naruto reached over to Ino and grabbed the rest of the stones from her hand. " Here you can have the rest" Shino held on to the stones, he nodded at Naruto once again and headed back to the bench and sat down. He then held every stone to the light and examining the insects inside the stone.

"Naruto you did it" Hinata swam down to Naruto and hugged him and Naruto wrapped his arms around her

"I told you i could do it. But I could still use some more luck for my next challenge" Naruto held Hinata in place and she blushed and gave Naruto another peck on the cheek.

"Enough human now is the time for My challenge" Neji stood in front of Naruto. Naruto let go of Hinata. She gave him a reassuring smile then swam back to her spot on the throne. everyone followed and sat down.

"Im ready".

I really hope the next chapter can come out at soon as possible the next one should introduce book two and the fun will begin. See y'all later.