Author's note: Wow! So many great reviews! Thanks, everyone! I've been inspired to write more!

Disclaimer: See previous chapters.

Chapter 7: The Gentle Fist versus the Monstrous Fist

Naruto sighed. He hadn't slept much last night after he'd walked home from Sakura's. There were so many things that he couldn't stop thinking about. Would Sakura be okay? Would she and Sasuke make up? What would it take to get Sasuke back to normal? And… why did he say what he had to Sakura? For as long as he could remember, he'd loved her… but the previous night, something had stopped him from continuing that kiss.

Naruto tried to remember exactly when he had stopped crushing on his teammate.

Had he loved her when he returned to Konoha? Yes, he recalled wanting to go on dates with her back then… what about when they'd saved Gaara? At that time as well, he wanted to be with her… Even after they'd run into Orochimaru again, he wanted to go for walks with her as though they were dates. But now, for some reason… he didn't. He still held her as an extremely close friend. That would never change.

And yet… it seemed that in between the time he'd succeeded in retrieving Sasuke and now, he had stopped feeling such a strong emotion for her. But why? What had made him reconsider? He hadn't seen any other girls, except… "Wait a minute," he thought. "There's only one girl I've seen in these past four months! It's…"

Hinata.

Was that it? Did Hinata suddenly cure him of his love for Sakura? Sure, he'd begun to see her in a different light, but… to make him stop loving Sakura? Naruto wasn't sure either way… he was so confused that he was starting to get a headache. "Oh well," he thought, getting up from his bed, "There're still a few more days until the chuunin exam… I don't have to quite think about it yet…"After thinking this, Naruto stepped out of his house and decided to practice his skills.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Not being able to sleep much herself, Sakura strolled lazily down the street toward the hospital where she was scheduled to work for the day. She knew Naruto had been right last night and felt ashamed at what she'd done… Naruto had been so nice and she'd taken advantage of his kindness. She was just thankful he had the restraint she didn't. But it seemed that it was hopeless now that things would ever be okay for the three of them… Though the last time Naruto made a "lifetime promise," he had kept it, it had taken him three years to fulfill it. Sakura didn't think she could wait that long again.

"Heeeey, Sakura! What's with the frown?" called a voice in the distance, "Giant forehead got you down? With all that weight on my skull, I'd be frowning too."

"Huh?" said Sakura, snapping back to reality. In front of her, she saw Ino and Sai walking and holding hands.

"Just kidding, Sakura," said Ino, a wide smile on her face. "Seriously though, what's wrong?"

"Oh, good morning Ino… Nothing's wrong, I'm just tired… didn't get enough sleep last night," said Sakura, forcing herself to perk up. "Oh, and hello to you too, Sai."

"Good morning, Sakura," said Sai, wearing his traditional smile.

"Well, that's no good!" said Ino, "You're a busy woman, you've got to take care of yourself! I bet you haven't even had breakfast yet. Sai-kun and I were just going to get some food with Chouji and Shikamaru. You should come along too!'

The truth was that Sakura was hungry, as she'd stepped out of the house without eating, and she did have time before she needed to be at work. "…Alright," she agreed, and walked with the two towards the restaurant.

They arrived shortly thereafter, where Shikamaru and Chouji were already seated at a table. "Man, you guys sure took long enough! I'm starving!" said Chouji.

"Yeah, seriously, I nearly had to get him with my Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Possesion technique) so he didn't start bef- Oh, hey Sakura," said Shikamaru, seeing the pink-haired girl enter. "Ino invited you to breakfast with us?"

"Yep! I figured it would spice up the conversation a bit. Talking about food and troublesome things gets a little tedious after a while," said Ino, sitting herself down. "Anyway, Sai-kun was just telling me about the exciting mission he'd been on to defeat the Sound!"

"Ino, he's told you that story at least three times," said Shikamaru dully, "Besides, Chouji and I could have told you all about it. We did go, you know."

"Yeah, but it gets more exciting every time he tells it! And do you guys draw pictures when you tell stories? If so, do they move, like Sai-kun's incredible creations?"

"Ino-chan, they're not that good…" said Sai, a small blush on his cheeks.

"Brilliant and modest… he's just like you, Shikamaru, except cool and cute!"

Shikamaru's expression remained stable. "For your information, Ino, there are women out there who think that I'm pretty cool and cute."

Grinning, Ino replied, "You mean like your little 'Temari-chan'?"

This time, Shikamaru's expression did change as he blushed and his eyes widened slightly. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said, shifting his pupils left and right.

"Hey, the food's here!" cried Chouji excitedly as the waitress arrived. "I've got first dibs on the ribs!"

"Ugh, you can have them," said Ino, a disgusted look on her face, "Meat for breakfast? That's so barbaric."

"Who ordered the eggs?" asked the server.

Sai raised his hand. "That would be me."

As the waitress set the dish down in front of him, Ino picked up Sai's chopsticks and asked, "Hey, Sai-kun, want me to feed you?"

A small patch of red crept across Sai's cheeks. "Th-thank you, Ino-chan…" "On a second look," he thought, "maybe she is beautiful after all."

Sakura looked on as all of this occurred, a smile on her face. "This is what a team is supposed to be," she thought, enjoying their antics, "Just a group of good friends who work together. I swear that someday, I'll make that happen for Team Seven."

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Sitting with his eyes closed, Naruto concentrated on the world around him. Colors flooded his field of vision. During his training, he had learned to see rather far with this technique. He saw over hills, through trees, and across rivers. The world was opened up around him, so clear and beautiful, as though he were reading it from a book. For many, many hours, he had practiced, and with twenty of him doing it at once, it had developed quite well. For some reason, it seemed to sooth Naruto, bringing him to a calm state.

"The Hyuuga sure are lucky," he thought, inhaling deeply and then expelling his breath. "To be able to see even more than this, at any given moment." He sat for a few moments, until suddenly a figure appeared directly in front of him. Even without this technique, he would have been able to guess who it was. The power was too great, too familiar for him not to recognize.

"Naruto," said Sasuke, his voice quiet, yet strong.

"Hello, Sasuke," said Naruto, with an uncharacteristically calm tone.

"Did you know?" Sasuke asked, his voice demanding and stern.

Naruto decided to play dumb. "Know what?"

"Don't tell me you didn't. I overheard that old teacher of yours and the Fifth discussing it. You knew that Itachi's coming to Konoha."

Deciding that he couldn't lie his way out of this, not that he particularly wanted to, he replied, "Yeah. I knew. So what?"

"'So what'?" Sasuke repeated, his fist clenching, his voice shaking with anger. "Why didn't you tell me, Naruto?"

"Why should I have told you?" returned Naruto, not missing the beat for a second.

"Don't you give me that! You know I should've known at any time if he was returning! You know what I've got to do!" he yelled, his Sharingan eye activated from his rage.

"Is that so…" said Naruto, standing up, to look Sasuke in the eye, his tone still calm.

"Yes it is!" Sasuke asserted, "Why didn't you tell me, Naruto? I thought you were supposed to be my friend! Friends don't keep these secrets!"

This comment resonated with Naruto. "…You want to know why I didn't tell you, Sasuke?" he said, a sudden iciness to his voice. "You want know why I kept it a secret from you? You want to know why everyone in the village kept it a secret from you? Because they knew that you'd do something like what you did to Sakura-chan!"

Suddenly, Sasuke realized what he had done. His eyes widened in shock. "Oh no…" he said, his voice considerably lower. "I… didn't mean to-"

"You didn't mean to send her into a fit of tears!" finished Naruto. "But you did. You didn't think before your actions and you ended up hurting your close friend! I thought I was supposed to be the brash one." Naruto paused for a moment to let the effect sink in. "You know that Sakura-loves you, don't you? Do you even care about her?" He grabbed Sasuke's collar and pulled him closer. "Well, Sasuke?"

Sasuke made no effort to resist. "I… do care about her," he said, his tone very soft and meek. "In fact… I love her too, but… all I do is end up hurting her."

"Then you've got to tell her, Sasuke." said Naruto, releasing his teammate. "Just love her, and it will be enough."

"I… can't, after all I've done to her…"

Naruto sighed, sitting back down. "People say the Uchiha are all geniuses," he said, closing his eyes and concentrating. "But all I see is a fool who can't even understand his own feelings. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to practice."

Sasuke turned, walking away from his teammate. "I've… got to go think."

"Sasuke." Naruto called after his teammate. "We'll have everything sorted out after the chuunin exam, alright?" Through his second sight, Naruto saw Sasuke nod slowly and walk again.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

That evening, Sakura was walking back from the hospital. Sighing, she thought, "All of that paperwork work today took so long… it's getting dark." She walked further until she reached the street where Naruto had found her the night before. Seeing a figure in the distance, she stopped in her tracks.

"Sakura-san," said the figure in a soft voice.

"Hinata-san? Is that you?" asked Sakura.

"Sakura-san," Hinata repeated, stepping close enough into view. "Come."

"Huh?" said Sakura, "What do you mean, 'come'."

"If you won't," she said, rushing at Sakura, her Byakugan fully activated, "then I'll come at you!"

"Wha-" was all Sakura had time to say before she met the fierce power of the Juuken. Quickly blocking, she cried, "Hinata-san, what are you doing?"

"Fighting you!" returned Hinata, her voice filled with fury as she threw another fist.

Sakura dodged this one, leaping backwards. "Hinata-san, why are you doing this?" Without receiving an answer, Sakura was forced to dodge another gentle fist. "It seems like she's not going to listen… my only choice is to subdue her." "Alright, Hinata-san! No more playing nice. I'm going to fight back!" cried Sakura, leaping into the air, chakra concentrated perfectly in her hand. As the destructive fist came down, Hinata also dodged, but quickly turned and shot another Juuken at her foe.

The battle raged on for hours. It seemed they were evenly matched, for the most part. Hinata was faster, but Sakura, due to her training, was able to dodge more carefully. Eventually, Hinata shouted at her opponent, "This is it, Sakura-san! I'm ending this now!" With those words, she took a wide stance, one foot in front, one in back, with her arms stretched in opposite directions, palms up.

"Wait a minute," thought Sakura, "That stance!" She recalled the chuunin exam of three years ago, and the move Neji had used on Naruto. "It couldn't be!" she said, her eyes widening.

"Neji-niisan has taught me a few new moves over the years, Sakura-san. And you're within range…" said Hinata, her muscles tensing up. "Of my divination! Hakke Rokujuuyon Shou (Eight Trigrams, sixty-four palms)!" As she began her attack, she cried out the steps. "Two palms! Four palms! Eight palms! Sixteen palms! Thirty-two palms! Sixty-four palms!"

Sakura winced as each attack hit her. Not even her superior dodging could help her avoid this onslaught. But then, right as the last palm was to strike, she turned, glancing the blow off of her and simultaneously smashing Hinata in the knee with her leg.

"Damn!" thought Hinata. "Oh well. Either way, she shouldn't be able to move."

Sakura heaved heavy breaths. Though she had avoided the last strike, sixty-three of her tenketsu were still closed. "Come on… concentrate," she told herself, and willed the very last of her chakra into her fist. Hinata lifted herself up, barely able to keep afoot on her injured knee. Targeting Sakura with her Byakugan, she prepared to attack.

"Why, Sakura-san?" Hinata asked, tears now falling out of her enhanced eyes. "Why did you have to take away my dreams?"

"Wha…" Sakura inhaled deeply, "What are you t-talking about?"

"You kissed Naruto-kun!" Hinata shrieked through sobs,"You were supposed to be in love with Sasuke-san!"

Sakura's eyes widened. "Is that what this is about? Oh, Hinata-san… I'm sorry, but… I can't explain it to you right now… you won't listen to me anyway." She ran as fast as she could with her wounded chakra, and her adversary did the same.

This would be the last strike, one way or another.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Meanwhile, Naruto was just about finished practicing his second sight. He looked around for any active chakra in the distance. "Huh, let's see… there're some people at Ichiraku… oh, and there's Hinata-chan and Sakura-chan… wait… what are they doing? They've both got chakra at their fists…" Suddenly, it hit him. "Oh, no… it couldn't be… I've got to get there as fast as I can!" Quickly, his eyes flew open and he started to run towards where his two favorite women were fighting. "Please, let me make it in time…"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Closer and closer the two moved towards each other, as though in slow motion. Within this second, however, an odd looking kunai landed in between them. The girls heard the names of two techniques afterward.

"Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying thunder god technique)! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (shadow doppleganger technique)!"

As the seen exploded with white smoke, a Naruto stopped both Sakura and Hinata. When the smoke cleared, the first thing the clone and the original said was, "What the hell is going on here?"

Neither of the women was able to answer for a moment. Then, Sakura said, "It… was just a misunderstanding Naruto." Then, leaning next to the clone's ear, she whispered, "You should talk to her. I'll be fine, but… she needs you."

The clone disappeared, allowing Naruto to know what Sakura had said to him. He nodded, and placed a hand on Hinata's shoulder. "We… need to talk," he said.

Sakura turned to Hinata, said, "Hinata-san… I'm sorry," and then continued walking home.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"What happened, Hinata-chan?" asked Naruto on the bench he'd led Hinata to. She was twiddling her thumbs in anxiety and fear at what would happen. "Why were you and Sakura-chan fighting?"

"Because…" Hinata began, but couldn't force the words out.

"Why?"

"B-because…"

"Please, tell me why!"

"B-because she kissed you!" Hinata blurted out. "And… I just g-got so mad, that… I couldn't stop myself…"

Naruto was confused. "Hinata-chan… that kiss was a mistake. She and I both realize that… it wasn't supposed to happen."

Hinata's eyes widened. "It… w-wasn't?"

"No, but regardless… why would you get mad that Sakura-chan kissed me, Hinata?"

Now Hinata was certain of it. She'd dug herself a grave and was about to step headfirst into it. She couldn't lie herself around this one. "Th-the reason, Naruto-kun, is…" she looked into his eyes, eyes that pleaded for an answer. "I g-got mad, because…" her voice got even more quiet than normal. "…I love you."

Certain that he misheard, he asked, "What… did you say?"

"I… love you!" Hinata repeated, her voice much louder. "I love you and I have loved you, ever since we met in the academy!" Her eyes began to sparkle with moisture. "But I was so shy around you that you never noticed me… so I tried to change myself at that chuunine exam, and when you cheered me on, I thought that I did! I love you so much that I get red in the face when I'm around you, and I used to faint from your slightest touch!" Tears were now spilling from her eyes.

"I've loved you for so long, and when we had dinner at Ichiraku, I thought that maybe, you could love me back!" She tried to wipe her tears away, but it was no use. "So when Sakura-san kissed you, I broke down, Naruto-kun. My dreams… everything I'd hoped for was suddenly shattered… and I hated her for it, but I was stupid and attacked her…" She sniffled. "Oh, I'm such a fool, to think you'd ever love me… but you couldn't love me, Naruto-kun, could you?"

He didn't answer for a few seconds. "Hinata… I'm not too bright. There are a lot of questions that are difficult for me to answer. But none of them… have been as tricky as this…"

"Wh-what are you saying?"

"I can't give you an answer right now… I've got the chuunin exam tomorrow… but when that's over, I promise I'll tell you the truth," he said, getting up and turning his back to her. "I'm sorry," was the only thing he said, walking into the distance.

"N-Naruto-kun," she muttered, reaching an arm to try and grab him, but she couldn't reach. "Naruto-kun!" she cried, though it seemed like he was already a million miles away.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Good job using the Hiraishin no Jutsu," said a voice in the distance.

"… Thanks," replied Naruto, his voice emotionless. "Love is a hard thing, sensei."

Kakashi frowned sympathetically. "Tell me about it."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Woah. Massive drama in this chapter. Oh well. You have Naruto's promise. After the chuunin exam, everything will be settled, I promise! Again, please review, I am inspired by them!