The Uzumaki Brigade

Naruto opened the door carefully, trying not to drop his unconscious partner. He had a hell of a time carrying Hinata through Konoha. Everyone stared at him like he was a monster normally, but today they stared at him like they were gonna rip his head off. Normally, regular people can't harness KI, but these people had a moment where they apparently unlocked their full potential, as Naruto had to walk through a crowd of these guys, and boy did he feel like he would die any moment if he didn't hurry. If he could shadow step home, he would have. But carrying Hinata, he wanted to be careful and decided not to risk it.

Naruto laid Hinata on his bed and let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't that he had difficulty carrying the girl, he just felt weird about it. Kind of like it was wrong and that if he didn't hurry, he wouldn't be able to control himself for some unknown reason. Now, as he looked around his apartment, he noticed how small and dingy it was. Naruto thought this might make him look bad and as quietly as he could, he started cleaning. Luckily he didn't have much furniture(only his bed, a single chair, and one table with a potted plant) so his only problem was how dirty it was. He grabbed a broom and started sweeping, wincing at how loud it sounded when the straw scratched the hard, wood floor. After he got all the dust out of the room, and cleaned the curtains beside his bed (being careful not to wake Hinata up), he finally felt that his place was clean enough to present to the girl of his affections. All he had to do was wait for her to recover from her little faint, and they could finally have some time alone. This time though, there would be no one to see them and listen in to what they said. For some odd reason, Naruto started to blush, he had no idead why though. He ignored this feeling and went into his kitchen. He went to the cabinet under the sink, and pulled out the remaining doushe-glue he had left. It wasn't much, but it was enough to torture the chibi with.

This'll show that little bastard that fucking with me is the last thing he should ever do, thought the blonde with a evil smirk and a twinkle in his eye.

He put the adhesive away and walked over to the chair that he placed by his bed. As he sat down, he looked over at Hinata, breathing in a soft, peaceful way. The opened curtains shined light onto her face, making her practically glow. Naruto couldn't look away, and felt his heart begin to pump faster and faster. If not for an unpleasant smell, he would have stayed like that forever He smelled his armpits, withdrawing his face rapidly when a foul stench reached his nostrils.

Damn, I need a shower bad. It's been hectic since yesterday and I haven't had a chance to clean up. I'll look bad if I smell, so I think I'll take a quickie.

Naruto grabbed a spare change of clothing from his closet, and walked into his tiny bathroom. After he placed his clothing on the toilet tank, removed his current garments, did he step behind the curtain and turn the water on slowly as to not wake up his guest. The water ran down hhis body, rinsing away all the recent hardships from Gimmy, to the giant fox, to graduation exams. He grabbed his soap and began scrubbing away the grime covering his face and arms…

Hinata felt out of place right now. She was in a room that was completely black on one end, and completely white on the other. She stood on the line that divided the two halves. In the black side of the room was everyone from the Hyuuga District, including Steve, the guy that talked about mar-soup-eels and crap like that. She hated the guy for always dissing Naruto in her presence. She was going to rip his throut apart one day and she would enjoy it. On the white side of the room was Naruto, Gimmy, Iruka, and every one that didn't hate her or Naruto. Suddenly everything went black and she could only hear the voices of everyone around her.

"Hinata, please come with me." That was Naruto's voice, she identified.

"Daughter, he wants to separate us, please come back to me."

"F-Father? I can't see anything! What should I do?" she cried out to her father.

"Trust yourself and your heart dear. It will lead you to to where you truly belong."

"M-M-Mother? This is all so confusing…What is going on?"

Hinata, you are at the crossroads in your life. Pick wisely for once you do, there is no going back. If you pick my son and everyone with him, you must abandon your family. Pick them, and you will never be with Naruto, only whoever your family arranges for you to marry. I understand that this is a tough choice, but it must be made, right here and right now.

"Minato, I'm scared! I can't do this!"

I wish I could help, but I can only giude you down the road you walk. Right now, you are at a fork in your path, and you MUST choose. Only you can make this choice.

Hinata was scared, and didn't want to choose family or the love of her life. Could they not exist in harmony? But regardless of how she felt about this, she understood what Minato was saying and she must choose, for better or worse. She began walking, towards the voice of the one closest to her. Her steps echoed off the walls with a loud intensity. When she stood in front of the one she chose, their breaths landing on her, warming her face, only then did she finally see.

She opened her eyes, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't fight the tears that clouded her vision. Her emotions could not be held back, and they flowed forth, releasing all the anguish, sorrow, and pain she had felt within her life, and her very soul. Hinata cried for the first time since she was five. Her tears fell, down her face and onto the floor, where they simply vanished, leaving no trace behind. She didn't notice however, as she was preoccupied with the eyess that stared into her very soul. Standing in front of Hinata, with a giant, loving grin on his face, was Naruto.

Hinata had made her choice, and as she looked back towards her family, she felt a massive burden released from her shoulders. Her family was smiling, like they were okay with her choice. They began to dissolve, their dust floating away into the nothingness. Hinata cried, for them, for Naruto, but mostly for herself. As the last of her tears fell, and her sorrow eased, did the storm within her mind clear, and she was released from the blind void that contained her soul. Hinata truly felt at peace, and she was born again.

Hinata opened her eyes, and was instantly confused. The dream she had woken from was still fresh in her mind, and from it, she discovered tranquility. This helped her maintain a calm state of mind, but didn't help answer any questions. The room was completely bare, save for the bed she was on, a chair, and the curtains on the window. The odd thing was the steam that covered the ceiling. She heard water rushing from an open door within the room, also the origin of the steam. She slowly got up, careful not to make a sound. She walked over cautiously, hoping that whoever was in there was not an enemy. She opened the door and witnessed the siloutte of someone with short spikey hair behind the curtain. A minute went by before she registered what was happeneing.

OH MY GOD! I'm in Naruto-kun's house! To think I almost attacked him, thinking that someone kidnapped me! I'm so embarrassed! On top of that, he's in the shower! This would have made me look so bad!

"You're telling me! I didn't realize my son lived in a crappy place like this. Plus you almost walked in on him naked! THAT would have been funny as hell!" said Minato.

Minato-san, please don't say such things! My blushing problem is bad enough without you-

Hinata's thoughts were silenced as the shower cut off with a squeak, and the siloutte moved to the back of the curtain where the towel was. She couldn't move, and even though she was aware of Minato talking to her, she couldn't hear him. All she heard was the thumping of her heart, a loud noise, pounding in her ears.

Naruto pulled the curtain back, eyes still closed, and grabbed the towel. He walked over to where he was sure his mirror was, drying off his head in the process. For some reason he detected the scent of purfume, like he had this morning. It was weird, but he ignored it and continued for about three more steps. The scent was extremely powerful now, and Naruto was sure his head was dry now, so he removed the towel from his face.

Naruto opened his eyes, and saw Hinata staring at him, a SUPER deep blush on her face. Five seconds later, Naruto registered this and blushed the same deep red as Hinata. At the same time, both of them cried out, and the girl fainted again. Naruto was going to catch her, but Hinata hit his head and he was knocked out as well.

I told you to tap that Naruto! I told you man! You had the chance, and you blew it! At this rate, you two will be sixty-three years old and still be holding hands!

"…She walked in on me while I was NUDE! HOW THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSED TO ACT? This never happened before! Besides, that isn't my style…"

Sure, just kepp telling yourself that dude. It's still funny as hell though!

Hinata, I TOLD you to back away, to leave the room! But did you listen? NO! Why the hell did you just stand there?

"I-I-I-I don't know! I'm so embarrassed! How will I ever show my face around Naruto now?

Both Ryu and Minato began to laugh, while Naruto and Hinata just laid there, unconscious. They would have remained like that for hours if an incessant knocking at the door hadn't jolted Naruto awake. He woke up, a splitting headache, and grabbed his towel, now with a bit of his blood in it. He wrapped it around his waist and walked over to the door.

"I'm coming, I'M COMING! Hold your horses!"

Naruto opened the door to see the landlord, his face red with anger. The man was large with his fists clenched so tight, his knuckles were white. His muscles were bulging and he was breathing hard like he just ran a mile.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WITH ALL THE SHOUTING? IF I HEAR ANOTHER SOUND COME FROM THIS ROOM, AND I GET ANY MORE COMPLAINTS FROM YOUR NEIGHBORS, I WILL TOSS YOU OUT ON THE STREET LIKE A BEGGAR, REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE HOKAGE SAYS!"

"Just don't bust my eardrums, you little prick!"

Kill him, kill him, kill him! The fox chanted.

The man stomped away, leaving giant holes in the floor where his feet were. Naruto had a feeling that would be blamed on him too. He shrugged and walked back into the room, ignoring Ryu and his chanting. For once, he wanted to listen to his conscious, and NOT kill the man. People hated him enough at it stood now. He didn't need that shit on him right now.

Naruto picked up Hinata, and carried her over to the bed, gently lowering her. He was literally an inch from her face. He could feel her soft breath, gently warming his face. He felt the urge, but knew better and started to move away. Unfortunately, fate had other plans in store for Naruto. Having only dried his head, Naruto's feet were still wet. Combine that with the condensed steam on the floor, and what do you get?

As he began to rise, his foot slipped, and Naruto went down. Luckily, he was leaning over the bed…where Hinata was. His face collided with Hinata's, and they locked lips. Naruto felt like fireworks were going off somewhere within the room. He felt the salty taste of Hinata's lips, and he couldn't move. Rather, he didn't want to move…ever again.

Hinata wasn't sure what happened at first. One second she was on the floor in Naruto's bathroom, the next she was in his bed again, and the next he was kissing her. She simply laid there, trying to gather her thoughts. But with the love of your life all over you, trying to gather your thoughts is like trying to eat an exploding kunai…not gonna happen! Hinata could taste his soft, sweet lips, and she though she tasted ramen on them. She was filled with indecision. Should she let him be, or throw him off and get the hell out? She decided to go with it and see what happened, maybe feigning sleep.

Naruto eventually broke the kiss, a blush apparent on his face. He looked down at Hinata, who was still asleep. Was it him, or was she blushing a bit? Naruto was tempted to lean down and kiss her again, but one accidental time was enough.

He walked back into the bathroom and donned the clean pair of orange pants, a black t-shirt, and his underwear…not in that order. He heard rustling on his bed and knew that Hinata was awake at last. He thought he heard her giggling, and immediately became embarrassed. She was awake for the whole thing! He knew he'd have to face the music, so with that, he walked out the door, and into Hinata.

"Ouch!..Hey Hinata, are you okay?"

"I'm fine Naruto-kun. Hehehe." She scratched the back of her head and blushed lightly.

Naruto…you totally failed. Just kiss her again and all will be fine. I bet she'll even lean into it.

Hinata, now is your chance! It happened once, it'll happen again. Just lean in and plant one on him. He'll go with it, trust me. If he is anything like me, he'll go with it.

"…Okay!" They both told their spirit animals at the same time.

Naruto began to lean in to it, closing his eyes. It felt kind of natural to him. Hinata was doing the same thing, only slower. They connected again, and it was like a supernova of passion and love. Salty and sweet mixed together, in perfect harmony. Naruto placed his arms around Hinata's waist, pulling her closer to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and the two stayed like this for what felt like an eternity. It was at this exact moment that Ryujimru decided to speak up.

Aww yeah! It's on like Donkey-Kong! Go Naruto! You can do it…all night long!

"SHUT…THE FUCK...UP…YOU…FUCKING…PRICK! CAN YOU GO FIVE MINUTES WITHOUT MAKING SOME DUMBASS COMMENT ABOUT ME AND HINATA? LET ME ENJOY THIS!"

Chill man, just messin' with ya.

Naruto was on Cloud Nine right now. Not even Ryu could stop this. If he could just spend the rest of his life like this, he'd die a happy man. Hinata was feeling the same right now. Minato was telling her that it lasted long enough, and he was beginning to annoy her now. She tuned him out and pressed harder into Naruto. This was her past, present, and future, and neither Boobs, Pink Banshee (EVERYONE'S name for Sakura) nor Blonde Bitch Ino could break this.

"Well, what have we here? I knew it would get serious between you two, but damn you guys move fast! At this rate, you two will be makin' babies in a week!"

This outside voice caught both Naruto and Hinata off-guard, making Hinata bite Naruto's tongue. Standing in the door, was Kurenai. Hinata suddenly felt anger coursing through her veins. Naruto was trying to find sone gauze or tape or something for his tongue. He didn't care that Cougar was in his house…Wait…WTF?

"I came here to see the living arrangements of my new genin, but instead, I find a porno. I know I need to slow down on my scotch, but damn, this is like, overkill. Shouldn't have let Shikamaru's father convince me to have a drinking game." Kurenai looked of to the side with a blush and slight anger clear as day on her face.

"…Cougar, why are you here again," said Naruto, trying to change the subject befor he became scarred for life.

"Oh, right…You're one of my new genin, along with Shikamaru Nara. One of the tasks all Jounin teachers must perform is a home inspection of pupil lodging. This gives the teacher a bit of knowledge about your personality, allowing for a better training regimens, assignment of duties, and what to specialize that genin under: Tracking, Force, or Support."

"…Oh, okay then…Please leave now and come back in about…never!" said Naruto with a creepy smile on his face.

"No can do kiddo, this is the last house I have to check. Shikamaru's home was first. I came here second but no one was home. After I checked the other home, I decided to try this "house" one more time. I'm about to knock when I see the door is open, so I figure that you are home. Imagine my surprise when I see…this." She gestured to the two children, now holding hands.

"…Please leave…now…now…now…now…now…now…..NOW!" This sudden outburst from Naruto caught both Kurenai and Hinata off-guard, but only Kurenai cringed. Hinata had become used to Naruto's unpredictability, and so she never flinched from his outbursts. Heck, she was starting to do it as well. But right now she just wanted to get rid of Kurenai.

"B-Kurenai? Can you please leave? I'll do whatever you want tomorrow if you do?"

"Hmmm…Tempting, but no…Then again, there isn't much to see or learn from all of this…Fine, I'll leave. But Hinata, your father was looking for you. I covered your ass this time, but I won't in the future. You'd best go home now, before the Hyuuga's come looking for you. And I have a feeling they know where to look."

With that, Kurenai 'poofed' into thin air and was gone. Naruto was glad she was gone, but sad at what was said. Hinata had to leave or her entire clan would knock down Naruto's door and castrate him with a rusty carving knife in his sleep. Naruto could already hear the knife being sharpened, and he shivered.

"Hinata, would you like me to walk you home?"

Hinata had been waiting for this moment her entire love life. Under normal circumstances, she would have jumped on the opportunity, but for his sake, Hinata turned Naruto down. He felt a slight loss, but knew that he'd see her tomorrow. They said their goodbyes and she left his apartment. Then he realized that he needed to stock up on ramen. He slamed his door, making sure to lock it (last time he didn't, all his food was thrown on the floor and his ninja stuff was destroyed or stolen) then he dashed out after Hinata. This was the perfect excuse

"Hinata, wait up! I'm gonna walk you home, regardless of how dangerous it is. To me, nothing is more important than you."

Hinata may have kissed him twice now, but even when he said this, she still couldn't prevent herself from blushing. It was like a message from God, and Hinata had been blessed. She kindly thanked Naruto, and they began to walk. Naruto slipped his hand into Hinata's, and they walked along, ignoring the glares at Naruto and the WTF? looks directed at Hinata.

They walked for about ten minutes, talking about what they liked (besides each other, that was plain as day), what they dislikes [besides Blue Bastard, and Pink Banshee (beside each other, Sasuke and Sakura sneezed into the other's hair. Sasuke ignored it as he did it too for some unknown reason, the problem with his sneeze was that it didn't land in her hair, it landed directly on her face. For once, Sakura left Sasuke's side. He perked up at this, but immediately lost it when the Blonde Bitch took her place. Is there no end to this? He thought.)], and what their plans for the future was. It was then that they arrived at the Hyuuga District. Hinata opened the doors, about to walk the quarter mile through the area to get to her house, when she saw the worst thing in the world.

Behind the walls of the Hyuuga district, were the unconscious bodies of Gimmy and Darry. Standing over them were two of the best Byakugan user in all of the clan. Over Gimmy was Steve, the Hyuuga with a strange accent, who always talked about mar-soup-eels, and the like. Looming over Darry was the frail body of Hanabi, who looked like she would kill the unconsious girl in a pink suit for no apparent reason. Hinata didn't like where this was going, and decided to sent Naruto away before he saw Gimmy and Darry, and then diffuse the situation.

"Naruto-kun, thank you for walking me home. I will see you tomorrow at school."

"…Hinata, please setp aside. I saw them in there and I WILL find out what is going on. You don't have to get involved, but if my friends are a part of this, then so am I." Naruto said it with such conviction, that Hinata had to let him go. But she vowed to follow him to the ends of the planet and back, and she would stand with him now. The dream she had earlier today floated back into her mind, and she understood everything now. She only hoped that Naruto knew what he was about to get himself into…