Chapter 2: Signing Up, Preparing for Battle
Naruto threw his arms in front of his face which narrowly blocked Kiba's fist that was aimed for the blonde's head. Naruto quickly leapt backwards and narrowly avoided a vicious bite from Akamaru to his ribs. Naruto landed near the wall of the arena, his breathe came in deep gulps. Kiba and Akamaru stood in the center of the arena and stared down at Naruto. 'Damn, how am I going to beat them? I can't lose to them, I can't.'
"Give it up Naruto, you can't beat me this time," shouted Kiba, Akamaru growled and barked his agreement with his master. "Let's show him what we can do Akamaru!" Akamaru barked once in acknowledgement before he burst into a run at Naruto. Kiba began to follow his partner's lead as he followed several feet behind. Kiba and Akamaru split up, Kiba came in from the left and Akamaru came from the right. Naruto drew several kunai from his pouch and launched the small daggers at Kiba before he turned his attention to the small dog. Kiba slammed against the wall hard, although while he dodged the kunai he sacrificed his speed to do so.
Akamaru leapt at Naruto's torso but was forced to change his target as Naruto attempted to block the dog's attack with an open palm strike to his torso. Akamaru threw his body into a backwards roll which caused his body to fly just under the blonde's hand, before the dog latched onto the exposed limb. Akamaru clenched his teeth deep and refused to let go of the appendage. Naruto shook his hand vigorously in a vain attempt to detach the animal from his hand.
Naruto quickly looked back up, Kiba forgotten thanks to Akamaru's distraction. Naruto looked back towards Kiba just in time to receive a face full of fist and gut full of fingers. Akamaru released his grip from Naruto's hand just as Kiba's punches landed. The force of Kiba's impact to the youth sent Naruto's body backwards where it smashed against the wall which caused part of the cement to cave in and dust to fly into the air.
"Gotcha Naruto. We did it Akamaru. Way to go boy." Akamaru leapt into Kiba's arms, his barks filled with joy. As the dust settled Kiba and Akamaru looked back to the boy's body and were shocked when it disappeared in a puff of smoke and was replaced with a log. "WHAT!?" shouted Kiba.
From behind the dog partners a loud voice shouted "Shadow Clone Technique!" Kiba and Akamaru quickly turned around to find seven Narutos now in the arena. Three of the Narutos stood close together, one with his hand held out towards the other two. The other four Narutos leapt into action, charging at the stunned Kiba and Akamaru. Kiba and Akamaru quickly split up and began to dodge the blonde ninjas' attack.
"Damn, Akamaru, we need to finish this. Let's do it." Kiba quickly performed the Beast Mimicry Technique: Four Legs which caused his body to enter its heightened state of power. Kiba landed on the ground, on all fours, and looked back up. His eyes tracked the Narutos in the air and he launched himself into a high jump. Kiba tackled one of the Narutos that were after Akamaru. Kiba grabbed the blonde by his jacket and tossed the boy at the wall and enjoyed the sight as the boy exploded into a puff of smoke on impact.
Kiba was rushed quickly to the ground by a glancing blow from one of the other Narutos that were rampaging around. As Kiba impacted with the ground he saw Akamaru send another clone into oblivion with a hard kick to the ribs. Down to two clones now, Kiba picked himself off the ground and performed the Beast Human Clone Technique, and transformed Akamaru into a replica of himself.
One of the two Naruto clones left landed on the arena wall and stayed connected to it by the chakra in his feet. He reached into his pouch and withdrew four kunai and placed two in each hand. He quickly launched the kunai, two at Kiba and two at Akamaru. Kiba rolled to his right, not able to dodge quickly enough. He felt the kunai pierce through his jacket and leave a shallow cut along his ribs. Akamaru leapt above the attack, landed next to his master, and checked his wounds.
"Don't worry, Akamaru. I'm fine, it's just a small wound." Kiba reached into his pockets and revealed two food pills. He quickly slipped one to Akamaru and swallowed the other him self. The pain from Kiba's wound disappeared and a smile spread across his face. "Now this ends!" The two Naruto clones stood next to each before they split up as they hoped to trap the two Inuzuka's.
The two dog partners gauged their targets and ran towards the two blondes.
Kiba forced his body into a spin as he began the Piercing Fang just a second before Akamaru began his. The Narutos attempted to dodge out of the way but found they could not move fast enough to get away and disappeared from existence after being hit by the high speed attack.
Kiba and Akamaru landed side by side and looked at the last three Narutos. One had his hand held out as the other two moved their hands above and to the sides of it, doing something the two had never seen before. The two nin began to see a small blue orb appear in Naruto's hand, and it began to spin faster and faster, and the other two Naruto's moved their hands faster and faster about the blue orb. Not wanting Naruto to finish what he was doing, the two launched into a Double Piercing Fang attack which sent their bodies rotating at the highest speeds they could manage on a straight course for the Narutos.
Just before Kiba and Akamaru arrived at their target the Rasengan became complete. The blue ball spun at speeds even beyond the Piercing Fang attack. The two Naruto clones disappeared in a cloud of smoke and Naruto brought his hand with the Rasegan to his front. He willed the orb to spin faster and faster, the orb caused his skin to begin to burn from the friction. Just as Kiba and Akamaru arrived at their target Naruto slammed the spinning sphere into the two targets, the rotations complete opposites from each other. The Double Piercing Fang attack spun faster and faster in an attempt to out spin the Rasengan. Naruto was pushed back and his feet attempted to dig deeper into the ground for a better grip.
The Rasengan's rotation began to slow, the power Kiba's and Akamaru's attack began to overpower it. Naruto pushed his hand farther forward, concentrated all his will into the Rasengan, and put every last bit of chakra he had into forcing its spin to become faster. Naruto's hand burned fiercely, the friction started to hear up his skin. Slowly, the Rasengan picked up speed once again, counter spinning to the Inuzuka's technique. The Double Piercing Fang had reached its limit and was overpowered by the Rasengan. Kiba and Akamaru's rotation slowed and then stopped, the two Inuzuka's held in mid air for split second of time. Then they began to spin the opposite direction of their Fang attack. The force of the Rasengan finally released its full fury and a blinding explosion filled the arena. Kiba and Akamaru were hurled across the arena and slammed painfully into the wall and became embedded in the structure. Akamaru reverted back to his true form and the two fell to the ground, unconscious.
"And the winner is…Uzumaki Naruto!!!" The announcer's voice filled the arena, shortly followed by crazy cheers from the audience. Naruto strode to the center of the arena, a smile proudly displayed on his face. The ground beneath his feet began to rumble and a stage arose forth from the dirt arena. Naruto stood in the center and jumped up and down, his thumb up to all the audience. Cannons were heard in the background firing what Naruto thought was confetti until one piece landed on him. Naruto realized that they were firing ramen out of the cannon instead. Naruto looked behind him and saw Randall and Remington behind the guns as they reloaded and fired as fast as possible.
Naruto looked back to the front of the stage and was shocked when a pink haired blur leapt at him and engulfed him in a hug. "Sakura-chan?" Naruto kept his arms out wide, afraid to embrace the kunoichi.
"You did it Naruto, way to go!" shouted Sakura and she embraced the youth tighter. Naruto let his arms embrace Sakura gently, closed his eyes and enjoyed the comfort and warmth in her touch. When Naruto opened his eyes he saw Hinata from afar, her eyes wide and sad.
"Hinata, what's wrong? Come on up. I did it. I won." Naruto called to her. Hinata cast her gaze to the ground, shook her head, turned and began to walk away. "Hinata, wait! Hold on!"
"Just ignore her Naruto, she's just being weird." Sakura grabbed a tighter hold of Naruto's arm and her grip began to hurt the ninja.
"Sakura, ouch, could you let got for a sec. I need to talk to Hinata." Naruto turned back and yanked his out of the girls grip before he leapt from the stage and ran after Hinata. Suddenly the floor beneath Naruto's feet disappeared along with the arena. He found himself falling in nothingness, no light or sound could be found. Naruto collided with a firm object as his arm smashed roughly into it. Naruto pushed himself up and only to find he was standing on nothing. Before Naruto's face a large iron gate appeared with two large red orbs that stared back at him.
Kyuubi, what do you want?" Naruto asked the eyes. A deep rumbling chuckle echoed back and a large tongue shot forth from behind the bars and licked Narutos face, over and over as Naruto attempted to keep the lashings at bay. "Stop it, st-stop it. That tickles, hahaha…."
Naruto's eyes opened wide and found himself in the hotel bed. Akamaru stood upon his chest and licked his face. "Get off me Akamaru. Eh, dog slobber." Naruto grabbed the edge of the blanket and wiped his face off, but still felt dirty. Akamaru barked once at the blonde ninja before he headed into the other room where Kiba waited to take the dog for his morning walk.
Naruto groaned as he threw the covers back and slid his feet to the side before he got out of the bed. Naruto walked hunched over to towards the bathroom, his eyes still mostly closed. Naruto walked into the bathroom but he failed to notice the bar of soap left on the floor and stepped on it. Naruto's body flied forward and his face roughly slammed into the sink. Naruto stepped back from the sink, slipped on the same piece of soap, and went flying into the air. Naruto landed roughly in the bathtub where his arm turned the cold water on as he fell.
Naruto yelped in surprise from the cold water and leapt out of the tub to land on the soap once more. Naruto was sent flying out of the bathroom and back into the hotel bedroom. Kiba looked down at Naruto and laughed. "You were right Akamaru, it was worth waiting to go on our morning walk. Hahaha" Kiba and Akamaru walked to the room's window and leapt out onto a nearby tree and went down to the beach. Naruto groaned and just lied still for several minutes before he decided life would stop picking on him for now.
Naruto carefully made his way back into the bathroom, took hold of the demon bar of soap, and lobbed it out the window. Unknown to Naruto the bar of soap struck the tree outside, bounced off the bark, and struck an old man on his morning jog and knocked him unconscious. Naruto quickly showered and used the bathroom before leaving the room, and locked the door behind him. Naruto's stomach growled and he knew that he needed to eat and quickly. Naruto headed down the stairs and walked to the beach. He made his way over to the Ramen stand and found the two brothers taking down the closed sign.
"Hey Naruto, good morning," said Remington with a smile on his face.
"Good morning Naruto. I hope the day is treating you well." Randall called to his new friend. Naruto waved his greetings, happy that the two were open this early in the morning.
"Good morning Remington and Randall. Unfortunately the morning hasn't been that kind to me, but some fresh hot ramen will be a good way to make up for it." Naruto said to the two brothers.
"No problem. One fresh order of miso pork ramen coming up," Remington replied. He grabbed a bowl from the counter and moved over to his brother. A fire was started and the water set to boil. The flame burned intensely and within minutes the water was at a hard boil. Randall seasoned and spiced the mixture before he added the noodles to the pot and let the spices combine with the noodles.
"Faster, faster, faster. Oh, please, it smells soooooo good," complained Naruto, as impatient as ever. Randall looked at the bowl his brother had gotten him and frowned. He picked the bowl up and tossed it at the back of his brother's head. Remington snatched the bowl out of the air and turned back to glare at his older sibling.
"Bigger," was all Randall said as he went back to stir the ramen.
"I'll show you bigger….," mumble Remington as he took out a large bowl from underneath the counter. He tossed it to Randall, who caught it without turning around and placed it on the counter next to him. He quickly emptied the contents of the pot into the bowl and brought it before Naruto. Naruto's eyes lit up at the sight of the large bowl. The smell wafted from the bowl and filled his nose and made his salivary glands overload. Naruto quickly grabbed a pair of chopsticks, separated them, and with a shout of "Itadatakimasu" began to devour the bowl of Ramen.
"That should hold him for a few minutes, don't you think?" asked Randall to his brother, a small smile on his face. Remington nodded his agreement and began to wipe down the counter once more. Both the ninja were shocked when a loud belch was echoed forth from behind them. They quickly tuned around to find the bowl empty and a look of contentment on Naruto's face.
"That was great Randall." Naruto grabbed the bowl and held it in front of him, pointing towards Randall. "Can I get seconds?" Randall and Remington stared at the blonde and slowly went about his request.
Randall headed to the back of the shack and returned quickly. He whispered into his brother's ear, "Hey, Rem, ummm, we're out of noodles again."
"Nani? Already? Well, I guess we have no choice. Do it." Randall nodded and headed to the back of the shack. He opened a hidden partition and walked inside and closed the opening behind him. Naruto cocked his head to the side, a look of confusion on his face. From the hidden wall panel Naruto could hear Randall's muffled voice, but he caught the first word in the series, Kuchiyose. After Randall finished his sentence a small puff of mist escaped from a crack in the wall. Naruto heared something odd echo from inside the wall, but he had trouble identifying just what it was. It sound like something roared softly, but it sounded far too…..cute. That was the only way to describe it, a cute roar. After several minutes Randall exited the not so hidden room, a basket full of noodles in his arms. He quickly shut the wall behind himself and placed a sealing technique upon the door.
"Ne, Randall, what the heck was that in there?"
"What was what?" asked Randall, confusion on his face.
"I heard something, and I know I heard the word kuchiyose."
"You're just imagining things. I mean come on, what could I possibly summon back there that would be any use in getting extra noodles?" Randall looked slightly nervous and he hoped that Naruto would soon stop asking questions.
"Yeah, I guess you are right." Naruto said. He was still curious about what could have been behind the door, but decided to let the subject drop because it seemed to make Randall act nervous. "Ne, did you guys hear about the tournament that is going to happen tomorrow?"
"Yeah, we've known about it for weeks. It's why we came here," said Remington. "I'm always looking for a good fight, so I figured it would be worthwhile to come here."
"You're competing? That's awesome. How about you Randall? Will you be in the competition too?"
"Nah, I'm just going to be selling ramen in the stands. I'm not a fighter, I'm a cook."
"Yeah, until you get mad at me" grumbled Remington.
"Hey, you always start it. Not my fault you don't finish it." Randall filled the pot with water and set it up for a second helping of ramen as requested by Naruto. Randall took some of the noodles from the basket and placed them in the pot so they could cook.
"That does it!" Remington charged at his brother and tackled him through the side wall where they landed on the ground outside. Randall quickly rolled on top of his brother and grabbed hold of Remington's hands. Remington slid a leg up and between him and Randall and pushed each other apart. Randall stood with his arms at his sides with no sign of defense. Remington stood a few feet away, slightly crouched ready to spring at a moments notice.
"Umm, guys, the pots acting weird" said Naruto, his voice tinged a hint of worry about his ramen meal.
Randall's eyes widen and he turns back to the stand and turned the fire off and quickly stirred the ramen to make sure that it was not ruined. Remington relaxed his stance and returned to the Ramen bar. "He knows I can kick his butt, he's just lucky I never want to" muttered Remington.
Randall takes the bowl from in front of Naruto and fills it with the latest batch of ramen before returning it to the youth. With another excited cry Naruto went to work on the new batch. Randall and Remington watched in fascination at how the blonde devoured the ramen so quickly. After he finished the bowl, Naruto licked his lips and set the bowl down. "That was great guys. How much do I owe you?"
"Uh, Remington, you're the price guy. I just cook."
"How about 1500 ryo and we call it even?" said Remington.
"Awesome, I can't wait till lunch." Naruto handed over the money, glad that the meal was so cheap. Naruto got up from his seat and looked out on the beach. He saw Ino out on the beach with a few boys excitedly talking to her, but he could find no sign of the other ninja. He shrugged his shoulders and walked down the beach looking for a nice quiet spot to train in. Naruto walked for nearly twenty minutes until he found a densely wooded area back from the beach. Naruto ran to the trees and checked the area to make sure nobody was around before he began to practice. Naruto created four clones and gave them simple instructions before he sent them off to their task. Naruto watched as the four clones leapt into the trees and went farther into the woods. Naruto drew a kunai from his pouch and waited.
Naruto ducked and dodged a kunai that had been aimed for his head, and brought his kunai quickly to his right. He flicked his wrist and deflected a kunai that was on a path for his ribs. Naruto leapt from the ground and narrowly dodged a pair of kunai that stuck deep in the ground. While in the air, Naruto twisted his body to the left and left fly two kunai. The first kunai deflected another from the clones and the second headed to the source of the clone's kunai and sent the clone back into non-existence. Naruto landed on a tree branch, quickly leapt to another branch and another in a quick series as he hunted down his other clones. Naruto smiled slyly as he caught sight of an orange blur leap across his path.
Naruto quickly followed it and made sure to watch for any sign of his prey. From Naruto's right a cry echoed and he turned in time to receive a strong kick to his shoulder from one of his clones. After the clone kicked Naruto's shoulder the clone cried out "U"- and was followed by a second kick to Naruto's chest that sent him the boy backwards with a shout of "Zu." Naruto tried to recover from the impact but he was hit from another clone in the middle of this back and propelled Naruto into the air as the clone yelled "Maki" at the airborne blonde.
'Crap, I know what's next!' thought Naruto. From above him came his final clone who shouted "Naruto Rendan," with the clones leg extended, ready to slam into Naruto. Naruto brought his hands up in front of his body and blocked the main impact from breaking a rib, but the force of the kick sent the boy back towards the ground. Naruto's body landed hard against the ground and knocked the wind out of him. The three clones landed on the ground near Naruto and moved in, grabbed the blonde and prepared to claim victory. Naruto's body disappeared in a puff of smoke, a log in his place. The clones frantically looked around as cries of "Nani" filled the air.
Naruto sat on a tree branch, his shoulder and chest still aching from the attack. He drew in his breaths quietly, but raggedly. 'Guess I should rethink telling my bunshins to go all out next time.' Naruto steeled his nerves and gritted through the pain as he stood up. He quickly checked his surroundings and saw that his bunshins had left the area. Naruto leapt from his branch and began to search for his clones Naruto found the three clones in a small clearing and heard them speak in hushed voices. Naruto couldn't pick up any of the words but he guessed they were planning a trap. Naruto pulled out one his few remaining kunai and attached an explosive tag to it before he let it fly between the three bunshins.
Two of the clones leapt into the trees in time to escape the blast of the tag but the third was turned into a cloud of smoke. The last two clones split up, one raced straight for Naruto while the second moved to flank the boy. Naruto tried to keep the two in his forward field of vision but soon lost track of one as the clone that was headed straight for him let fly with a kunai. Naruto dodged the projectile and dropped from the branch to land on the ground. The bunshin leapt from the tree branch, his feet together, as he aimed for Naruto. Naruto grabbed the feet of the bunshin and used the bunshin's momentum to send the clone into a spin before he let it fly straight into a tree where it disappeared. Naruto heard his final clone approach from behind him and quickly turned around. The bunshin let fly with several kunai, a smirk on his face, as he saw Naruto's eyes grow wide. Suddenly the clone saw the daggers headed straight at him and had only a moment to realize Naruto used a replacement technique to switch places with him. The kunai impacted on the final clone and sent it back from whence it came.
Naruto let out a shout of victory after the final clone poofed away a bright smile on his face. Naruto took a deep breath and enjoyed the mild pain that filled came with it. His body was nearly finished with repairing his minor wounds. 'Now for some Rasengan training.'
Naruto summoned two clones into existence and presented his hand to one of them. The clone began to mold the chakra, his hands moved all around the air above Naruto's hand. Slowly a blue spinning orb of chakra formed in the boy's hand. The orb spun faster and faster as the clone worked the chakra around. His job complete, the clone disappeared and Naruto brought the orb in front of his face. He stared at the swirling vortex and studied the movement of the sphere. 'The Fourth's technique. I wonder what it would have been like if he had had the time to finish it. Guess the world will never know.' Naruto shrugged his shoulders and readied himself.
Naruto ran as quickly as he could at his clone and tried to impale the clone with the orb. The clone dodged the attack and landed off to Naruto's left next to a tree. Naruto spun on his heel quickly and tracked his target. He cocked his arm back and let fly with the sphere, mesmerized as it flew through the air and impacted into, and through, the clone and into the tree. The Rasengan began to mulch its way through the base of the tree and Naruto stared in fascinated horror. The tree tilted as more than half of its base was turned into pulp and started its slow and inevitable fall. The Rasengan finally punched through the tree and disappeared, its energy expelled. The tree hit the forest floor with a loud thump and scared the birds and animals for hundreds of yards.
Naruto stared at his hands in awe. 'I just threw the Rasengan. Can I do that again?' Naruto summoned up another clone and had him form another Rasengan in his hand. Naruto once more cocked his arm back and threw his arm forward. He watched straight ahead to track the flight of the orb and stared confusedly as he saw nothing change. He looked back down at his hand and was surprised to see the Rasengan still spinning in his hand. "Nani? Why didn't you fly?" shouted Naruto at the orb.
Naruto sat down and stared at the blue swirling sphere of chakra in his hand. Naruto couldn't think of anything he had done different this time than when he had thrown it at the clone. Naruto stood back up and proceeded to make another attempt. Naruto pulled his arm all the way back and sent his arm forward as hard as he could as he mentally yelled for the sphere to go. The sphere released its hold of the boy hand and flew straight between a pair of trees and dissipated five meters away.
"Yes, I did it!" Naruto jumped into the air and pumped his fist enthusiastically. "I wonder how fast I can do that." Naruto created several clones and had them form a line behind him. He brought his arm out and the first clone stepped up. He formed the Rasengan as quickly as he could before he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Naruto tossed the orb in the same direction as the last time so that it would not strike anything. The next clone came up and formed another Rasengan which Naruto threw again with success. This continued for several minutes until Naruto was finally tired. He put a halt to the training and sat under a tree, the shade a comfort to him.
'I can make about 3 Rasengan a minute. Not that fast so I can't toss them like I could kunai. I wonder if there is a way I could form them faster?' Naruto pondered this thought for several minutes before an idea stuck him. He quickly looked down at his hands and smiled. "I have two of these!"
Naruto leapt up from his sitting position very excited, his exhaustion gone now. Naruto summoned up six clones and assumed his stance, this time both his arms out and a clone working a sphere up in each hand. Naruto launched one sphere then the other and waited for the next set to be formed. Naruto was lost in happiness at having found a new way to use the rasengan and the fact that he could now form one in each hand. Luckily the Rasengan doesn't require a lot of chakra, merely a great amount of chakra control that Naruto earned through his ninja life.
Unbeknownst to Naruto, someone was watching him from behind a bush a few meters away. The kunoichi watched Naruto work hard and was proud of his progress and hard work. Her pale eyes watched every movement of the youth, memorized every movement, every smile, and every single determined movement, as she has done for many years of her life. Hinata sighed as she saw her crush work hard at his training and wished she was as passionate as he was. She wished for his bravery, his determination, and mostly she wished for his recognition.
So focused was the girl on her beloved that she was unaware of another presence sneaking up behind her. The person's face moved down next to Hinata's ear and whispered, "Watching Naruto again, huh?"
Hinata let out a loud "EEP" and turned around to find Sakura behind her, the kunoichi in her swimsuit. Naruto heard the sound and twisted his body whilst in mid throw. He released the orb and sent it into the ground at his feet. His eyes went wide with shock before the explosion propelled the boy into the air. Naruto let out a yell as he flew through the air headed towards the beach.
"Oh Kami, what have I done?" Hinata took off after the blonde, his progress tracked by Hinata's sharp eyes. The boy landed in the water and the impact caused a large wave to come crashing to the shore. As Hinata and Sakura reached the beach Naruto rolled in on a secondary wave face down in the water. Naruto slowly pushed himself off the sand, his body shook and joints popped. Sakura walked over to her teammate, a little sheepish at having caused the catastrophe inadvertently.
"Sorry about that Naruto. I didn't know Hinata would do that." Sakura smiled as she helped her teammate up the beach to a small shaded area. Hinata walked with them, her eyes downcast.
"M-Me too Naruto-kun. I am sorry. I did not mean to i-interrupt your training and c-cause you to explode." Hinata spoke softly as her fingers pressed against each other roughly.
"Don't worry about it you two. I'm fine really." To prove his point, Naruto went into a hand stand and flipped back to his feet. He cringed as his joints popped again, but refused to fall. "S-See, I'm great. Hehehe."
Hinata moved a hand towards her crush's back but pulled away at the last instant, fear getting the best of her. Mentally she scolded herself for being so weak that she could not bring herself to comfort her favorite blonde. "So what brings you two out here anyway?" Naruto questioned of the girls.
"Well, I came looking for you because I wanted to know if you wanted to go see Tazuna and Inari. I asked Remington and Randall if they had seen you and they said you went this direction. They also told me I was the second person to ask if they had seen you." Sakura's gaze drifted over towards Hinata and watched as her face slowly became red before she turned her head down. "So I saw Hinata walking a ways ahead of me and followed her and found her there in the woods. I came to talk to her and well, you know what happened from there."
Naruto nodded his head, a look of understanding on his face. "I see, I see" he muttered with his hand rubbing his chin. "Ne, Hinata, why were you watching me anyway?"
Hinata's breath caught in her throat at the question and she had trouble swallowing. 'What should I say? Should I tell him the truth? Oh, Kami, help me…'
"A-ano, I w-wanted to see when w-we were going to see your f-friends and I saw you p-practicing so hard….I did not want to disturb you." Hinata looked up and found the blonde's face inches from hers. She counted herself lucky to merely blush fiercely and not faint.
"Oh, so you were planning on taking Hinata and going to see them all by yourself? Just the two of you? How cute." Sakura smiled as she took in the two and saw Hinata's deep blush.
"No, no, it's nothing like that. I had promised to let her meet them and we planned on getting you to come along too last night, didn't we Hinata?" Hinata's face had turned back to normal and nodded, a small look of sorrow in her eyes that was nearly undetectable by the pink haired ninja.
"Well, if you are done practicing how about we go see them now?"
"Great. Come on Hinata." Naruto took one of Hinata's hands that was down by her side and pulled her towards Sakura, whose hand he also took. "Let's hurry, I've still got lots of practice to do today." Naruto nearly dragged the two girls behind him. Sakura protested this treatment verbally but didn't mind the fast pace since she needed to exercise her muscles. Hinata was weak legged but managed to keep enough power beneath them to be a burden to the other two.
Soon the three ninja had arrived outside the house of Tazuna and Inari. Naruto and Sakura let go of each other's hand, a smile traded between the two. Hinata slowly released her grip on the blonde boy's hand, slightly sad at having to end her contact with him. Naruto knocked on the door to the house and patiently waited for an answer. Several minutes passed before he knocked again followed by a loud shout of "Tazuna! Inari! It's Naruto! Open up!"
From behind the door a loud rumble could be heard followed by a the sound of the door being unlocked. The door opened and a large, rounded tan man stood in the doorway. "Who are you and what do you want?" asked the man, annoyance in his voice at being bothered.
"Oy, where are Tazuna and Inari? They live here." Naruto shot back his reply, a bit of worry about his two friends in his voice.
"Them? They moved out a while back after getting all those royalties from the bridge. I heard they moved to the house on the hill up over there." He pointed in the direction where a vague hill could be seen with a building of some sort on top. "Now get lost. I need to rest before I go to work." The man slammed the door shut in Naruto's face and re-latched the lock.
"They moved? Well, guess we should go check out their new house." Naruto turned around, grabbed the girls' hands again and took off towards the hill. Sakura became annoyed at being dragged about she finally managed to get Naruto to release her hand so she could follow on her own.
Naruto looked over to Hinata, "You want to go at it on your own too?"
Hinata shook her head, "N-No, it is okay. I do not mind." Her face turned a light red, but did not go to the extreme as was her norm. Unconsciously her hand tightened her grip and Naruto smiled.
"Don't worry Hinata. I won't drop you." The ninja arrived at their destination far too quickly for Hinata's liking. Naruto and Hinata made one last leap from a branch and landed near the open gate of the house followed shortly by a winded Sakura. They were impressed at the size of the house. It was huge compared to the old one that Tazuna and Inari used to live in.
Through the open gate Naruto saw Inari and three other youths running around with a dog chasing after them. Naruto waved at the boys and shouted out "Inari! I told you I would come back!" Inari stopped in his tracks and was run into by the other three boys and dog. He stumbled forward under the impact but moved with it towards Naruto.
"Naruto!" shouted Inari and his friends followed after him. From out of one of the house doors Tsunami and Tazuna stepped out after they heard the blonde's name. Naruto, Sakura and Hinata entered the compound, smiles on their faces and greeted the people.
"Who's the cute girl? Is she your girlfriend?" Inari asked while looking at Hinata approvingly. Naruto looked over to Hinata and down to their hands and let go, much to Hinata's dismay.
"No, no, this is just a friend of mine. Her name is Hinata Hyuga. She's weird but nice." Hinata blushed at his compliment, her fingers itching to touch, but she held them back. She stepped forward and bowed to the four kids and once more at Tazuna and Tsunami as they arrived on the scene.
Tsunami invited them all inside for a nice meal and tea so they could all catch up on what has happened to each other. Naruto gladly told of all his adventures during the Chunnin exam, his fight with Gaara, and the adventure to get Tsunade. He told them about his last confrontation with Sasuke, determination in his voice was evident when he said he would bring his friend back.
Tazuna told them how after the bridge was built the economy of Wave Country rose dramatically and business boomed. Soon after Tazuna was elected to the city council where had helped drive the development of their country into a true nation. He even mentioned talk of the council's desire to form a ninja village of their own and base it off of Konoha. Tazuna asked Naruto if he could assist him in talks with the Hokage and begin a discussion about a formal alliance and assistance.
Hinata sat in her chair, her back straight, and manners proper. She listened intently to the conversation and she thought of how this would affect the two countries, as was her duty if she were to become the heir to the Hyuga clan, as unlikely as that was in her mind. Hinata snapped back to reality when she felt Naruto prod her with his elbow and looked at her and waited for her response. Hinata felt horrified at her rudeness and blushed fiercely, her face towards the floor. "Gomen, gomen, please forgive me. I was thinking and, and, I am sorry." She bowed in her chair to the others at the table. They all stared at her for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter. Hinata looked from one person to another before she settled on her beloved's face.
Naruto saw how upset and scared she looked and calmed himself before he spoke to her. "Relax Hinata. All Tsunami asked was if you wanted some more tea." Naruto let a small chuckle slip by before regaining control. "We're all friends here, so just relax. You won't offend any of us."
"Hai." Hinata was still red in the face but cheered up at Naruto's words. She took a deep breathe and let it out slowly, her shoulders relaxed and her worries about insulting her hosts gone. "I would appreciate some more tea Tsunami-san. Thank you."
They spent nearly an hour talking before the genins decided to leave. Tazuna, Inari, and Tsunami said their goodbyes and told Naruto they would watch for him in the tournament. With that the young ninja took off back towards town. 'I wonder what everyone else is up to…' thought Naruto.
MEANWHILE….
Chouji let out a loud belch, a smile on his face. He looked down at his empty plate and frowned. Chouji waved his hands at a nearby lady and she walked over to the table.
"Yes, sir? How can I help you?"
"I need three more plates of pork ribs, two plates of steamed dumplings, a plate of devil rolls, and a plate of sashimi please."
The waitress wrote down his order and put it in with the kitchen. Chouji sat back and nursed his drink while waiting for his food to arrive. Ino walked in the door and saw the large ninja at his booth, plates stacked high on the boy's table. She walked over to the boy and sat down across from him.
"I can not believe you. You are planning on entering the tournament and rather than spending your time training you are stuffing your face."
"I've told you before, this is training. I need all the energy I can get so I have to store up."
"But you looked so much better when you were skinny. Don't you care what others think?"
"Of course I don't. It is not my fault I am big boned. It's genetic." Ino just sighed and placed her hand on her forehead. The waitress came out with Chouji's rib order and placed them before the boy and took away some of his empty plates. Chouji dove into the food and picked the bones clean as Ino wished she could eat like that and not worry about it like him.
AND…
Kiba and Akamaru lay in a pile and took in several deep breathes. "Good job Akamaru. We just need to get the timing down more on the attack." Akamaru barked his reply which caused Kiba to laugh. "True, true, but it takes a lot out of us. I'm not sure I can go again." Akamaru rolled onto his feet and pushed himself up and barked rapidly in Kiba's face. "Your right Akamaru, we can't let him beat us."
Kiba propped himself up on his elbows and came to a sitting position. He took a quick breath and rose to his feet. He looked around at the fallen trees and dead logs that they had been practicing on and smiled. "Let's go Akamaru. One more time…"
ALSO…
Shino sat on the balls of his feet, a magnifying glass in his hand, and studied the bug before him intently. The bug held still for a second before it opened its wings and flew away. Shino put the glass back into his pocket and stood back to his full height. He continued his walk along the beach and eyed every insect he saw along the way. Gently a bug flew along the breeze and landed on Shino's nose and stared into the boys glasses. Shino raised his eyebrows above his glasses, surprise at seeing such a rare breed out here. Shino stood still and began the process of acquiring a new ally…..
PLUS…..
Lee had just finished his 338th lap around the city with 38 buckets of rock tied to a pole carried on his shoulders while wearing his traditional weights along with a set made to work on his arms. 'The flames of youth shall shine as brightly in me as they do in my friends! I will finish all 500 laps by night or I shall swim 300 laps from the buoy in the water and back using only my arms! Gai-sensei, you would be proud.' Lee picked up his pace and ignored all the stares of the villagers. His smile shown brightly as he worked to meet his goal….
DON'T FORGET….
Tenten breathed hard, her scrolls unraveled at her feet, weapons scattered all around with targets shattered and torn. Neji nodded his approval from behind her and dodged as the kunai thrown in his direction hit the target dead center behind his head. The girl walked towards her teammate and picked up a water bottle she had nearby. Her hair had fallen out of its traditional buns and several strands clung to her forehead, the rest falling down to her neck and shoulders.
"Not bad." Neji smiled at his teammate as she took a long sip of water before putting it back near a tree.
"Not bad? That's it?" Tenten stuck her hands on her hips and scoffed at her teammate. "How about a little test to see how 'not bad' I am." Neji smiled and walked into the clearing. He stepped over and past the fallen and discarded weapons with ease to stand in front of the determined girl.
Neji prepared his stance and waited for her attack. "I could use some exercise…."
BACK TO OUR HERO
The three had just arrived on the outskirts of the town as the night began to creep in. They could see Lee out on the ocean as he swam out to sea and Shino on his way to the hotel. Hinata and Naruto spotted Ino at work as she dragged Chouji away from a restaurant. At this sight Naruto's stomach grumbled loudly and caught the attention of his two companions. Sakura laughed while Hinata hid her smile behind her fist. They made their way to the beach to find the Ramen Stand open with several customers seated and enjoying their meal. Randall and Remington saw the three ninja approach and waved in greeting. Randall went into the back and came out with a folding table while Remington produced three folding chairs from beneath the counter and passed them to his brother.
Randall unfolded the table and chairs and politely held out the chairs for the women. Randall helped Sakura in her chair while Naruto, who caught the idea, helped Hinata, which caused her to blush and smile so slightly. Naruto took his seat and was surprised when Randall produced menus from his back. Naruto was excited because most of the dishes were ramen based with the choice of mixing and matching flavors. Sakura's gaze turned to the salads immediately and ordered a simple house salad with light dressing. Hinata waited for Naruto to place his order which consisted of nearly six flavors of ramen before she asked for a single order of simple chicken ramen.
Randall quickly delivered their food while Remington took care of the customers at the stand itself. Randall stood near the table and quietly conversed with the ninja about their day. He was surprised to discover that Naruto was THE Naruto that the bridge was named after and amazed that he knew Tazuna personally.
"Do you think it would be possible for you to arrange a meeting with Tazuna? There is some… business my brother and I would like to discuss with him if he could find the time." Randall had a pleading look in his eyes and a small hint of hopefulness in his voice.
"No problem Randall. How about after the tournament?"
"That would be perfect. Thank you very much Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata. Please, let the meal be on the house." Randall bowed respectably to the three before he hurried off to tell his brother. Remington smiled after being told the news and went out to thank the three himself.
"You don't know how much this means to us. Thank you, thanks to all of you." Remington returned to the counter while Randall prepared desert for the people at the stand. The three genin talked amongst each other and told jokes as the sun finished its gentle set.
"Good thing you got an early start today Naruto," said Remington who came out after the people at the stand had left. "They are going to be closing the register office for tournament early today."
"Nani? Register office?" Naruto cocked his head to the side, confusion evident on his face.
"You didn't register? Today was the last day." Before the last words left his mouth Naruto was off in a flash towards the registration office. Unfortunately, he had no clue where its location was. He scrambled around the town as he looked for where it could be before he thought to ask for directions. Finally he calmed down enough to ask a nearby vendor but was unable to get an answer from the man. He flagged down a couple on a night stroll who ran in fear as the frantic boy ran towards them, a look of crazed desperation on him.
Naruto fell to his knees in despair and looked up at the sky and shouted to the world "Where is the damn registration office?" Naruto felt a tap on his shoulder and saw a young kid who pointed to a sign above his head.
Registration Office
Naruto scratched the back of his head and laughed at his own stupidity. He thanked the kid before he walked into the office. The man at the desk in the room pulled his key out from the lock on the desk drawer and had just stood to leave when he saw the blonde enter.
"Yes sir, how can I help you?" The man walked over towards Naruto. The man had on a trench coat similar in style to Anko's except it was black. Underneath he wore a black cotton t-shirt with a pocket that held a small pipe and tobacco. His pants were similar to the style worn by Kakashi except in blue. He chewed on a toothpick as he talked to the boy.
"I would like to register for the tournament tomorrow!" Naruto shouted his reply excitedly but became dismayed as the man shook his head. The man leaned back on the desk and sighed.
"I'm really sorry but registration closed ten minutes ago. I'm not allowed to add any more applicants. The guy who was supposed to be here till the end of the night was taken to the hospital earlier this morning after falling unconscious outside the Red Ocean hotel while on his morning jog." Naruto face faulted immediately as he recalled the demon bar of soap he tossed outside the window.
Naruto stood up and began to plead with the man. "Please, oh please sir. You gotta let me register. All my friends and I were going to participate. Surely there is some way to get me registered. I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I'm the bridge guy!"
The registrar raised an eyebrow at the name and grabbed a clipboard that was on the desk. He scanned the page quickly and smiled. "Well I'll be damned. You don't need to worry kid. Seems someone already registered you. I thought you looked familiar. Haha." Naruto let out a shout of joy while he exited the office that the registrar locked behind him as he followed the boy out. "I'll be rooting for ya kid. Kick some ass." He turned, walked down the street and disappeared into the night whistling all the while.
Naruto began to walk back to the beach and catch up with his friends. On his walk he was troubled with the thought of who registered him. 'Was it Sakura? Did she know that I would forget and register for me? What a teammate.' Naruto arrived at the beach to find only Hinata still at the table. She quietly sipped a cup of green tea and watched the other people on the beach as they danced around a fire. Randall and Remington served drinks to the dancers while they made a nice profit.
Naruto sat down next to Hinata who squeaked at his sudden arrival. "You won't believe it, Hinata. Heck, even I can't believe it, ME! Someone already registered me. I bet it was Sakura, she usually takes care about these kind of things. I usually forget. Eh hehe." He scratched the back of his head and looked at Hinata who had turned a slight red, her fingers pressed against each other slightly.
"A-Ano, Naruto-kun. Actually….that is to say….umm….I registered you." Hinata could not look at her crush. Her face was so red it almost glowed in the dark. Naruto stared back at the girl a little stunned.
"You registered me Hinata?" The awe in his voice was evident. He never would have expected this weird, quiet, shy girl to do that for him. He ran forward and clasped her hands in his. "Thank you so much. You have no idea how happy I was that someone had registered me. I was scared I wouldn't get to compete. Thank you Hinata. Thank you."
Hinata stared down at her hands that were held so gently (in her mind) by his and could not fight the urge. She passed out. Naruto quickly caught her as she slumped forward and held her head up. "Hinata, Hinata, wake up Hinata. Come on, Hinata, wake up." Naruto felt her head, and though she felt warm it didn't seem to have reached the point of fever.
"Naruto-kun…." Whispered Hinata in her daze. Naruto leaned in closer to hear her but still could not make out the words. A smile formed on her lips as she dreamt about her love. Naruto relaxed as he saw her face grin in a cute smile. The clouds parted and let the moons light shine down on the heiress. The soft silver beams highlighted her features. 'Inari was right after all. She is kinda cute. Nani? Where did that come from, though it is true.' He stared down at the girl, her head cradled in his arms.
Slowly Hinata returned to the land of the conscious only to be struck by the image of her crush, her head held in his lap, staring down at her and smiling. "Whew, I'm glad you are okay Hinata. You had me worried for a bit."
"I am sorry. I did not mean to be a bother." Her father's words echoed in her mind as she thought how bothersome she must be to Naruto. Naruto shook his head and helped the kunoichi to her feet. Her heart warmed at his touch and cooled as he let go of her.
"You're not a bother Hinata. You are anything but. In fact, you are one of the strongest women I know, and not just physically." Hinata looked at the boy with confusion in her eyes. Naruto scratched his head as he tried to find the right words. "What I mean is, like, when in the chuunin exam, you stood up to Neji with all your might and refused to give up. That was amazing. And that jyuuken stuff was amazing." Naruto became flustered as the look of confusion remained on her face.
"But N-Neji beat me, he even nearly killed me. I am n-not strong. I am weak." Naruto refused to let her sulk and continued on in his effort to raise her spirit.
"Whether you won or lost doesn't matter. What matters is that you did not give up."
"Thank you Naruto, b-but I am not that strong. You see….umm…w-what makes me s-strong is….is…." Hinata tried to tell the blonde, but was interrupted by an errant Frisbee that struck the blonde's face at that instant. Naruto fell back onto the table and caused it to flip over on top of him. Hinata quickly moved the table and found Naruto with stars in his eyes. Randall came over to check on the two and his table. He was relieved to find Naruto unhurt from his bad throw, though he was a little sad to see his poor table broken.
Naruto recovered quickly and waved off help. He simply stretched his arms above his head and laughed off the damage. He recalled the last few seconds before being struck by the discus and turned back to Hinata. "Ne, Hinata, what was it that makes you strong? I don't think I heard you."
Hinata shook her head at the blonde as she let a full smile fill her face. "It's not important Naruto-kun, but one day, I promise I will tell you." Naruto looked at her strangely and shrugged. 'Women. The Kami alone understand them, and maybe they don't.' Naruto and Hinata walked back to the hotel early that night so that they could get plenty of sleep for the tournament.
"G-Good night Naruto-kun. Thank you for a good day. I….I hope we can do it again some time." Hinata's face turned red and she quickly ducked into her room before Naruto could reply. Naruto just smiled and walked back to his room. 'She sure is weird. Though she is cute.' Naruto unlocked his door and entered his room. He saw Kiba and Akamaru snuggled on the floor near the window. Naruto smiled and closed the door. He went to the bedroom, changed into his pajamas and crawled into bed. His last thoughts were of the strange girl who he had spent much of the day with.
Wow, this was a long chapter for me. Hope that you guys enjoyed it. Feel free to leave a review for good or ill. Can't fix what I don't know ain't broke. Thanks for reading. Next chapter:
All Set! (With a Few Surprises)