A/N: Just a brief Note to say thankyou to everyone who has reviewed so far, especially to KrillinFan who has reviewed every chapter so far, starting minutes after I first posted. Thanks:D
Also, to note my use of the Japanese language. Some of you may have noticed I started without using any, but later began to bring in some honorifics even though I'd started with calling Tsunade 'Lady Tsunade' rather than 'Tsunade-Sama'. This is mainly because I started wishing to use none rather than a little, and this changed when I decided I would look like an idiot if I made Lee yell 'Teacher Gai!' or 'Mr Gai!'. And Lee so, even more than usual. I felt a little harsh at this notion. So, from now on, I will use honourifics, but no random Japanese words, and technique names, saving Jyukken which sounds silly as 'Gentle Fist', will be in english, i.e Kage Bunshin jutsu-- Shadow clone jutsu. Will keep the word Jutsu because the dubbers did.
Sorry for the long note... :P
Enjoy!
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"Please rise and shine, Hinata-san, Naruto-kun! We must be leaving soon!" was the noise that awakened Hinata. Moaning, she reached over, unzipped her bag, and began to fish clean clothes out of it. The cloth her hand met felt unfamiliar, and it was strangely warm, as was... something firm underneath it. Sitting up, Hinata opened her eyes to see what was up with her bag. Her eyes widened and she blushed deeply when, seeing Naruto face-down beside her, she remembered the events of the previous day, and when she noticed where her hand was, she opened her mouth and screamed.
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Neji, already up and eating (it was impossible not to be when sharing a tent with Lee, who was up and training at dawn), leapt up at the sound of screaming from Hinata's tent. He sprinted over to the tent in question and opened it so quickly it nearly ripped, but he didn't care. Staring into the tent, he found Hinata curled in one corner, out cold, and Naruto curled in the opposite corner, clutching his ears and whimpering about things that go bump in the night. Naruto slowly moved his hands, and Neji was about to lay into him when Sakura stuck her head under his arm and made a comment first.
"I thought you where over your fear of ghosts, Naruto?" She grinned evilly. Neji 'Humph'ed and turned away, walking back to his food, his emotions once again under control.
"What fear? I have no fear!" Sakura opened her mouth to respond, but Naruto was quicker. "And give me some privacy, I need to get changed!" he pointed to the pile of clothes he had dried over the fire the previous night. Sakura's grin continued.
"I'm a trained med-nin, Naruto. There's nothing you have that I haven't seen." Naruto paled. "Although, from what Sai says, you're missing an article or two..." She ducked and pulled away from the tent as Naruto threw whatever came to hand at her- namely, his sleeping bag. Naruto swiftly shut the tent from the inside, and pulled off his shirt as he turned around. To find Hinata just waking up.
The sound of screaming filled the campsite once again.
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All returned to normal at the campsite- once Sakura and Tenten found Hinata after she had come screaming out of her tent and sprinted surprisingly quickly into the forest. And after Naruto and Hinata had gotten changed- in separate tents. Breakfast was rather quiet, in the absence of Lee, who had already eaten and was off training, and Neji, who was taking down his and Lee's tent. They sat in a circle: Shikamaru and Chouji next to one another, Ino beside Chouji. Sakura and Tenten sat beside her. Then was a stratiegicly placed Hinata. Naruto completed the circle. Naruto couldn't look at Hinata without bulshing, which saved Hinata a fair amount of blushing anyway,as he simply chose not to look at her, although a fairly large part of her was upset about this. However, used to things not going her way, she simply got on with eating, albeit sadly.
Inside Naruto's head, chaos reigned, for a change. However, this time the subject was not the latest jutsu, nor was it the dark-haired Uchiha so far away, or the loud kunoichi who sat opposite him. It was the qiet, shy kunoichi who sat beside him. He could not fathom why, after so many years of not giving a rat's ass what people thought of him, he struggled so much with the fact that the sight of him topless had sent her screaming to the hills. He looked at Shikamaru, beside him. How would he approach it? He seemed to be able to think through anything. Deciding to try his hand at the 'Shika-style', cleared his mind and focused. He started by looking at the memories he had of her. The closest and most prominent was one that had happened only yesterday: the peaceful look on her face as he carried her through the forest. He had been strangely unable to look away from her face... So, I worry about what she thinks of me because I think she's pretty? He blinked. Wait, pretty? When did...? gah. That's not it, or it'd apply to Sakura-chan too. He continued, back. They had been on a mission together shortly after his return to Konoha, but he could remember little of that. Before that... the Bicojuu mission? Yeah, Hinata used that really powerful jutsu. I still think it could stop the Rasengan... And before then- Naruto could only remember the preliminaries, and that occasion jut before the finals. But... before then, nothing. This angle exhausted, he looked for another, as he thought Shikamaru would. Who else's opinion did he care about? He decided to leave out the obvious, and moved on to Jiraiya. He cared about ero-sennin's view of him because... next. Kakashi-sensei, what about him? Erm... Yamato? Uhh... Naruto's mind slowly began to draw lines. Well, I respect them all, because they are strong, most stronger than me. Naruto's outlook brightened at this development. It then took him a while to connect the next two points.
So... maybe... I think she's strong? Well, I know she's strong, that jutsu of hers could repel anything, even my rasengan... wait, thats it! I respect her because she's strong, maybe as strong as me! Naruto smiled. So that was why he was so worried. Although, a quiet voice in his head murmured, She always seems so quiet, and she blushes every time I talk to her... Something shifted inside Naruto. His eyes slammed open as he recognized the voice that reverberated through his head.
Ku ku ku... so, you've finally cottoned on, eh?
A/N: sorry it's taken so long and it's so short, but I wanted to leave it there. Not much of a cliffy, but I still like it
As for the time, between school work, the volenteer work school is making me do, and making my cosplay for saturday (Shikamaru:D) I have, like, no time. I'll start the next chapter right away, I promise!