Hey hey! This is the chapter that was going to be named Jounin Sensei, but I just liked this name better.
Several things before I let you read into the chapter.
-First. This isn't the complete chapter; however I'm going into a family trip tomorrow and couldn't left you guys without at least something to read. So you can expect the second part of this chapter very soon
-Second. Hikari no Okami, my usual beta, isn't in the city right now, so I was the beta for this chapter myself. As such it's probably terrible written, please bear with me, I'll ask her to beta this chapter officially and replace it ASAP
I think that's pretty much it, I hope you enjoyed
Okami's note: Done, I revised the chapter, hope I didn't miss anything. You know readers, u can tell me if you read anything wrong.
Beasts and Senseis (Part 1)
Azumi quickly came running to where we were
"Naruto! Are you ok?!" she asked worried kneeling to help him stand; the two of us helped him to his feet
"Yeah, I'm ok; my pride is what was bruised the most" he said
"Then you are ok. Your pride is strong enough to stand this and much more" I said smiling, Naruto-kun answered with his own
"Yeah, I'll just have to train harder" he said confident "The Future Hokage can't be dampened by something like this right?"
"Very well done, Naruto" said Iruka-sensei walking towards us "Say…that was the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, wasn't it?"
"Yeah! It totally kicks ass, doesn't it?!" answered Naruto-kun joyful
"I guess. I don't know how you know a secret, forbidden, Jounin rank technique…" Naruto-kun smiled wide "However that proves that you didn't need to be at the Hokage Mountain to perform that Graffiti!" he said pointing the mountain; color suddenly left Naruto-kun's face "As such, you are going to be in detention cleaning your mess after class!"
"What? No! Wait Iruka-sensei!" he asked, but it was useless
"No pleading Naruto" said Iruka-sensei "Nothing you could say will save you from your punishment!" Iruka-sensei checked his notes and started to walk away "And don't you dare try to run away or I'm going to suspend you for so long that you won't be able to graduate until you are an old geezer!" with that he called the next pairs for their battles
Naruto-kun returned home very late that night, and Sora-nee-san was very upset because he had skipped training.
"Welcome home Little Brother" she said tapping her foot "why did you miss today's training?"
"I was with Iruka-sensei…he put me some extra exercises" he said tired
"Is that so? I had heard you were in detention FOR PAINTING GRAFFITI IN THE FREAKING HOKAGE MOUNTAIN!" she yelled at him
"Hey! It was a good plan!" He defended "If I hadn't used Kage Bunshin no Jutsu in my fight, no one would had guessed!"
"You see? That's your mistake! A ninja should be able to see beyond deception! You should be able to remind at least that!" she replied "If you are going to use a technique, make sure to use in such a way that no one recognizes it! If you wanted to paint the stupid mountain you should have used a Henge no Jutsu to turn into someone else and use him as scapegoat or something!"
Naruto-kun blinked
"Hey that's actually a good idea!" at that comment Sora-nee-san lost her patience and hit Naruto-kun in the head
"You are such an!! ARG! Go give 10 laps around the house, move it!" her face was so scary Naruto-kun didn't argue and left as fast as he could to do those laps
When Naruto-kun finished his laps he was completely tired, so much that he even said that he didn't want any dinner and went directly upstairs. I thought that he had gone to bed but I was wrong.
I left the dining table and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I opened the door and saw his clothes in there. I was about to yell "Sorry" and step out when a voice stopped me
"It's ok Hina-chan" it was Naruto-kun "I'm not naked, I have a towel on" he was at the bathtub, his head, chest and arms were resting on the sides, and although I could see his lower body he was wearing a towel under the water
"Why are you wearing a towel?" I asked "There's a seal around the bathroom that stops the Byakugan"
"Yeah I know, but still it doesn't really makes me feel completely safe you know?" she said giving me his toothy fox-grin, I didn't know if it was the heat of the hot water steam, his perfect azure eyes or his strong arms and chest but I suddenly felt my face grow hotter
"Ah, ano, I was here to, ah, brush my teeth so…I'm going to, um, do so ok?" I said, and even if I didn't stutter I hadn't sounded that secure either.
"Sure sure, be my guest" he said. Slowly and trying not to stare at him I walked to the washstand and took my toothbrush and tried to focus on my things. 'Brush my teeth, say good night, and walk out' I continuously repeated my plan in my head. But I found myself peeping at him as I wondered if he would allow Sakura or Azumi to be in the same room as him while he was taking a bath…and wondered if it was a good or bad thing for me that he would allow me to do so. Was it the fact that he trusted me enough what was letting him be with me half naked? Or was it that he considered me just as any other of his male friends? Maybe it was both?
I couldn't help my mind rushing to assumptions and conclusions as I sent roguish glances to him
"Say" I had to distract my mind with something "Was detention tiring?" I asked him
"Actually, not really, I just created a bunch of clones and we cleaned it up pretty fast. After that Iruka-sensei treated me to some ramen" he answered
"That explains why you didn't have diner…but why did you look so tired when you first came in?"
"Ah! That was actually to try to fool Nee-san and skip training all over" he said smiling "sadly it didn't work out" he finished with a hand behind his head
I finished brushing my teeth and prepared to walk out of the bathroom but I simply couldn't stop myself from being with him. I don't know what took over me as I walked to the tub and took a seat on the border, near his head
"You know" said Naruto-kun "Nee-san and I had this talk a few days ago"
"What did you two talked about?" I asked trying to hold myself from diving into tub with him
"Mostly about Sakura-chan" he replied simply, my hearted rushed "And after what happened today I'm kinda getting to understand what she said to me"
"Why? What did she told you?" I was curious now, what does Sora-nee-san told Naruto-kun about Sakura? Maybe she gave him council to ask her out?
"Well summarized she told me not to just like a girl 'cause her looks or her popularity and see pass that…" he said looking into the distance
"A pretty woman is an accessory but a good woman is a treasure" I said
"That's pretty philosophical Hina-chan!" he told me a little surprised
"My mother used to tell that to Hanabi-chan and me" I explained smiling to him "so you are going to move out of Sakura-chan and look for a good girl?"
"Well at least I'll try!" he laughed. I wondered: 'Does this mean that he's going to forget about Sakura and look at other girls?!' If that was true I had to do something…the early bird catches the worm Habataku says…without actually thinking about it and taking advantage of my position I pulled his head so that he could rest it on my legs and using all of my will I managed to say "I'm sure you will be able to find a perfect girl for you Naruto-kun" I was on the verge of passing away…how in the nine hells did I managed the courage to say that loud?! Especially with him half naked and having his head on my legs?! I closed my eyes not really wanting to see him, I'm sure my face was redder than a tomato! We stood like that for several seconds in complete utterly silence, until a sudden flash of light and the sound of a camera bought me back.
Standing in front of the door was Sora-nee-san with her photographic camera; one could say she is addicted to taking pictures of everything and everyone.
"I've got a nice shot of your blushing face" she simply said
"A PICTURE OF ME?!" Naruto-kun and I asked at the same time, we turned to see each other "A PICTURE OF YOU-?" we said at the same time again, my blush deepened and I could see his face totally red too "I MEAN-!" again we talked at the same time. We turned to see in different directions "GOOD NIGHT!" I almost yelled and left the room as fast as I could, I slammed the door of my room as I entered it locking myself inside. My heart was racing and pounding so hard I thought it was going to burst out of my chest, my breathing was forced and agitated: my chest moved up and down very fast
"Well, I'm surprised Hina-chan, who would think you were able to pull that move out?" asked Habataku "the idea of the head on your legs seemed to work out pretty well"
But I wasn't even listening to her…I could only think on his face blushing and his two big brilliant azure eyes looking at me
The next morning I was very silent, especially with Naruto-kun, I avoided talking to him as much as I could. I wasn't sure if it was because he was angry at me for running away like I did the last night but he understood pretty fast that I wasn't really in the mood to talk.
When we reached the academy I was still unable to talk to him. I was eager to talk, but somehow I couldn't manage to do so.
"Naruto! Hinata!" Azumi came running to us as we reached the front door "How are you guys doing this morning?" she greeted happily hanging herself to Naruto-kun's arm. She always does so.
"Hey" Naruto-kun's response wasn't that lively "We are fine, Azumi, fine" Azumi raised an eyebrow not really buying his answer
"And you Hinata?" she turned to me
"I…uh…mmm" I could manage to talk. If I said I was fine would Naruto-kun think I didn't care about what happened last night? But if I said another thing Azumi would surely worry and Naruto-kun could think that I was too worried about last night. I remained in silence thinking what kind of answer to give but nothing came to my mind "Does something happened between you two?" she asked
I had no idea of what do say. What happened last night could be considered as 'something'? Or it was simply a talk between friends? Well…No! I didn't want him to only consider it a talk between JUST friends! But would saying that be considered somewhat of a declaration?
"Don't worry about that" Naruto-kun simply said and started to walk with Azumi still holding his arm "We'll head up, ok Hina-chan?" asked me Naruto-kun, and I was simply able to nod. I felt so much like the way I was so many years ago. There I was, silent and still, watching the boy I liked so much walking away with another girl with him talking about the incoming exam
The exam to be a Gennin was actually pretty simple. Perform the Bunshin no Jutsu. It was simple, maybe too simple.
Iruka-sensei called each one of us to a separate room where we were examined by our teachers. Out of Azumi, Naruto-kun and I, I was the first one to be called.
I left the classroom where everyone waited until Iruka-sensei called us and entered the adjacent one, a somewhat smaller room but still large enough to give us plenty of room. It was mostly empty, except for a desk where Mizuki-sensei and Iruka-sensei were sitting: on it a large amount of blue head bands showing the Leaf symbol in a metallic plate rested, waiting for the graduated students
"Please come inside Hinata" said Iruka-sensei "How are you feeling? Nervous?" he asked nicely
"I…guess?" I didn't know what to answer, my mind was everywhere but at the exam, I could only think about Naruto-kun and Azumi being together and how much that thought pressed my chest
"The test is pretty simple Hinata" said Mizuki-sensei "We just want you to show us a Bunshin no Jutsu"
"Take your time, we are in no rush here" added Iruka-sensei and after that they both just sit there waiting for me. I simply concentrated some chakra and created 5 clones, I could had summoned more but I was confident that it was a fair number
"Very well Hinata!" said Iruka-sensei writing a few notes in some papers. He took one of the Head bands that rested next to him, offering it to me "Take this Hinata, it's the proof that you are a ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village. Congratulations" he finished smiling
I took the head band and tied it around my neck; I made a small bow and left the room. We couldn't go back to the room where we the rest were waiting, so I went to the yard, and waited on the swing of our tree
"What's the matter?" asked Habataku "You just graduated from the academy; you should be happy Hina-chan!"
"I know…" I said a little sad "It's just that I can't stop thinking about Naruto-kun and what he said and happened last night in the bathroom"
"Please, you just let him rest his head on your legs" she said
"More like forced him!" I corrected her
"He didn't complain!" she replied "Besides it's not like you let him touch you or something" I felt the blood rushing to my cheeks
"Don't say such things!" I scolded her "If I were to do that he'll really think I'm some kind of slut!"
"There's no need to raise your voice" she said calmly "I'm sure Naruto-kun would never think that of you"
"I don't know…I feel kind of down right now, I wish I could be able to say him directly how much I like him" I said before returning to my silence. I waited for Naruto-kun a long while before Azumi came to me asking if I had seen him, she seemed pretty agitated
"Hinata! Have you seen Naruto-kun?!" she asked with worried voice
"No, why?" I asked monosyllabic
"I heard that he failed the exam and didn't graduate!"
Even if my ears had heard that, I couldn't believe it.
"What?! That's not possible; he has his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" I argued
"I know! But Iruka-sensei said that himself! By some reason Naruto couldn't create a single clone!"
"That's terrible!" I said taking my hands to my mouth
"I'm looking for him but no one has seen him!" she explained to me "I was hoping you out of all people could help me"
I knew that with Naruto-kun's stealth he would be almost impossible to find if he didn't want us to do so, but still I had to try "I'll help you look for him!"
Azumi and I split up and looked for him until dusk, but had no luck. Depressed with our failure and worried about his whereabouts each one returned home.
When I reached my house I was too tired, too depressed, and too sad to listen to what my father had to say. I was sure it was some kind of boring speech about the clan honor. I simply informed him that I had approved the exam and that I was going to rest a little on my room. Luckily for me Sora-nee-san wasn't at home at the moment, I would hate to with herm the news about Naruto-kun.
I opened the door to my room and walked to the window to watch at the village sight at night before going into my bed. That's when I saw it: There was a note on my desk
"Naruto-kun is in the woods to the south of the village, he's in grave danger" read the note, it had no signature
Before giving myself time to even think about it I jumped through the window and into the village once more. I hadn't advanced a lot on my way to the southern woods when I crashed into someone. I wasn't able to stop or change my course and therefore hit her head on, forcing her prone
"Azumi! I'm sorry!" I said apologizing to her
"Hinata, what's the matter?!" she asked me rubbing where she had fell
"Naruto-kun!" I said almost yelling "He's in danger, come with me!" without saying another word we jumped on our way to Naruto-kun. We covered the village in almost no time, reaching the southern woods very fast
"Hinata how do you know he's in danger?" asked Azumi when we were on the border of the woods
"I received a note saying he was in here and that he was in peril" I explained shortly
"A note? How can we trust a note?" I found the logic in her thinking quite right and yet I was still sure the note was authentic
"I don't know…but I'm sure that note is real…something just tells me it's!" I said confidently
"If you say so" replied Azumi not convinced by my answer "How do we find him?!" she questioned
"Give me a moment" I activated my Byakugan and started to look for them, after a couple of minutes I found something "That way! I can see three people 300 yards from here in that direction, two adults and a boy our age"
"That's surely Naruto!" Azumi said cheering
"Let's go!" I commanded and we both entered the woods at full speed
And that's the chapter…FOR NOW!
Again I'm sorry if the chapter was terribly written that why I usually have Okami with me :P
Okami's note: I think he does a pretty nice job by himself, but still I polished this a little ittsy bit. Nothing big, really. Comments of any kind are accepted… and review! It makes me as happy as it makes Tohru, and that way I can bug him easily to write hehehe
By the way... THANKS to pink.love.rocks... who send me gratittude, I really, really appreciate that, this kinda late revision is for ya nn
R&R