Title: What could've been

Author: Kurotsuki-Tenchi

Fandom: Naruto

Pairing: NaruXHina,

Genre: Action, Romance and a little bit of comedy.

Rated: M for Language, violence, and sexual content.

Disclaimer: All Naruto characters and stuff belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and therefore can only make make believe stories about them and dream about them being real. Sigh.

Authors Note: This chapter is short, I've actually scared myself with how short it is but what can I say? Please tell me what you think, I'd be happy for others to comment on what I've done even if it's to criticize me. Any who, here is chapter 4 have a nice day! Also to all of those who reviewed I have to say that you guys are my new best friends and I'll try my hardest to push the story forward! So for those who read and reviewed, here is chapter four!

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Chapter 4

Naruto's whole body jerked as the genjutsu was dispelled, he stared around him in confusion at the trees and bushes that surrounded him. He dropped his hands from the hand sign he had formed in the genjutsu. 'What just happened', Naruto wondered, stretching his back.

That's when he remembered what had awaken him in his genjutsu, he froze in mid stretch and his eyes widened.

As he took off running to where he last remembered Hinata being he couldn't help but wonder what that genjutsu meant, he'd have to ask Kurenai-sensei about it later.

"Hinata!" Naruto called out, running through the bushes and trees. He ran as fast as he could, not caring for the cuts he was receiving from the branches as he brushed past them.

As he came upon the clearing they were fighting in earlier his eyes widened when he saw Hinata laying on the ground motionless. "Hinata!" Naruto ran over to her afraid that she was hurt, he kneeled next to her.

What he saw surprised him, she had obviously fainted and her face was flushed but what surprised him was the trickle of blood running down her nose.

He took out a handkerchief and whipped her nose, it was a good thing he carried it around from when he got hurt. After wrapping it up he stuffed it back into his pocket. He looked down at Hinata and sighed, how was he going to wake her up?

He looked at his watch to see that it was eleven forty, he stared at his watch in shock. "Kuso!" Naruto yelled, "There's only 30 minutes left until the test is over!"

He lifted Hinata's upper body a little and shook her gently, "Hinata you have to get up." When she didn't respond he thought of what Shino had said earlier. She must be in a genjutsu like he was!

He injected some of his chakra into the pale eyed girl, hoping that that would wake her up. He smiled in triumph when her lashes fluttered.

"N-naruto-kun?" Her voice slurred, her eyes hooded as though she just woke up from a deep sleep. She looked up into Naruto's blue eyes, it was a good ten seconds before she was able to process that Naruto was holding her. Her eyes snapped open and her flush deepened, her eyes widened when she noticed he was bending over her.

She shot up hoping to keep herself from fainting, Naruto stared at her confusedly but didn't comment. "What were you doing on the ground Hinata?"

At his words she remembered what happened her face brightened to the color of a ripe tomato, "I-I f-fainted," She stuttered out. "B-but what h-happened t-to m-me"

"You were trapped in a genjutsu like me," Naruto said standing up and brushing off his pants. "You screamed and snapped me back into reality."

"W-what do y-you m-mean I-I s-screamed?" Hinata asked, not remembering the ending of her genjutsu. "Did I-I really?"

Naruto nodded and she blushed again, "The genjutsu you were in must've been bad if it caused you to scream." Hinata looked at him quizzingly.

"B-but it wasn't..." Her voice died off as the last of what happened in the genjutsu came back to her, blood rushed to her face and she swayed on her feet.

"Hinata! Are you ok?!" Naruto ran over to her but froze when she held up her hand. "What's wrong?"

"I-its okay," Hinata stuttered out, concentration on her face. "I-I'm fine now." Hinata said her face back to her normal pale color. She lowered her hand and looked at Naruto with a strait face.

"Whatever," Naruto shrugged, "We don't have long until the test is over and we have to find Shino, I'm pretty sure he's trapped in a genjutsu like we were.

They ran through the trees to were Shino was stationed earlier, When they saw his still form they jumped down in front of him. They both stared at their partners more stonic than usual face, not even Shino's normal face was that emotionless. "Knew it, Shino was trapped like us." Naruto said laying his hand on Shino's shoulder and injecting chakra into him.

Shino shook his head suddenly, "Naruto?" he asked still somewhat confused. "What happened?" But before Naruto could reply the past events came to him. "I was in a genjutst." Shino stated, he then turned to Hinata. "Are you ok? I heard you scream."

"I-I'm fine," Hinata said her cheeks darkening slightly. "B-but that's not important r-right now." Hinata said pointing to the sun. "W-we only have a-about 20 m-minutes left in t-the test ends."

"That's right!" Naruto exclaimed. "We have to get those scrolls before lunchtime!" He turned to Hinata and Shino, "Any ideas that we could use to get the scrolls?

"I-I have an idea," Hinata raised her arm, when they both looked at her she blushed but kept her head up high. "T-this is what w-we should d-do..." And she told them.

o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o

Kurenai stared at the three surrounding her, to say she was surprised was an understatement. She never thought they'd be able to break out of the genjutsu that she put on them. Considering that she put them under one of her families specialty genjutsus, just the fact that they were able to escape makes them an amazing team.

She stared at Hinata who was in front of her, she was standing in her signature gentle fist stance. She was surprised with the girl's improvement in the last few hours. She turned to look behind her to see Naruto who was standing slightly to her right, he stared at her with one of the most serious faces she'd ever seen. And last but not least Shino was standing behind her slightly to the left, he was standing braced and ready for what was going to happen.

She ran her gaze between each of them, and before she could blink Naruto and Shino were running at her. She smiled slightly, gathering chakra in her legs she jumped up, she looked down in triumph only to see Shino stop and lock his fingers together. She was confused until Naruto jumped on Shino's combined hands and Shino threw him upward.

She blocked a punch that was aimed at her head with her forearm, and lifted her leg to block a kick aimed for her side. "Getting better Naruto but still not good enough!" She punched him in the stomach sending him rocketing to the ground, she was somewhat surprised when she noticed it was the real Naruto. Just what were they up to?

As she landed she noticed Naruto got back up and was running toward her, she sidestepped him and stretched her arm out. Just as she thought he ran into her arm and fell down, as he recovered Shino came at her back again.

She did a back flip as he ran below her, she stretched her leg out to kick him. As her foot made contact with his back he went flying about 40 feet forward. She landed in a crouch facing Hinata, the only standing genin at the moment.

Hinata ran at her, her hand up and ready to strike. Kurenai moved backward out of her reach, but just as she thought she was safe she felt a blow to each of her shoulder blades and both her arms went numb. She jumped away, landing about 20 feet from them. When she saw 2 Hinata's she knew what had happened, she smiled slightly.

There was a poof noise and the Hinata that first attacked turned into Naruto. Shino who recovered during that period was standing beside Naruto.

Shino suddenly raised his hand and a stream of bugs went at her, she jumped back to avoid them just in time to feel a tug at her waist. She looked down in surprise just in time to see Naruto snatch 2 of the 3 scrolls off her waist in mid jump. His face set in determined lines.

The Naruto that was standing in front of Hinata and Shino poofed away just in time for the real Naruto to slid to a stop in front of them facing her.

He looked at the 2 scrolls in his hand and nodded when he saw the 2 he was trying to get. Kurenai wondered who he'd give the other scroll to.

But surprised her when he threw the 2 scrolls behind him to his teammates who both wore an expression of confusion as they caught them.

She looked down at her watch and noticed that they finished with 4 minutes to spare. "Congratulations Shino, Hinata..." Kurenai said with a smile. "You both pass, as for Naruto..." But she never finished her sentence because she was interrupted by a quiet voice.

"No..." A whisper barely able to hear. They all looked at Hinata who was looking down at the scroll, her eyes blocked by her bangs.

"No what Hinata?" Kureani asked obviously confused. The girl was a suprise a minute today, and Kurenai couldn't be prouder.

"I refuse, I refuse to take this scroll," Hinata said looking up at them, her eyes full of determination. "If Naruto doesn't pass then neither than I." She said without a stutter, tossing the scroll on the ground.

"Hinata?" Naruto whispered, staring at her in shock.

"Me either," Shino said repeating Hinata's actions and tossing his scroll down. "We are a team if one of us don't pass then neither of us passes." He said quietly staring Kurenai dead in the eye.

"You too Shino?" Naruto whispered again, turning to look at his other teammate.

"Well than, as of today all three of you are..." She paused, smiling at Naruto's grim look. "Genin. Congratulation you all pass!"

"What!?" Naruto and Hinata yelled while Shino just spoke louder than usual. She started to laugh at them again, she just couldn't help it.

"It's common knowledge that all genin teams has 3 members, if you stopped to think about it you would've noticed that either all of you pass or none of you pass because there has to be 3 members to a squad." Kurenai told them.

"I knew there was something wrong with this test," Shino said. "It seemed to vague." Both Naruto and Hinata nodded in agreement.

"So what was the real test than?" Naruto asked, confusion still written on her face.

"It was a test to see how you worked as a group and if you were able to gather and process information efficiently, and by what I saw I have to say I was impressed."

All 3 of them looked at her expectantly, "Now I did see a few flaws with your plans but otherwise they were top notch."

"Really?" Naruto asked her, almost afraid to believe her. "Do you think we were that good?"

"Yup, you all were able to recall important details, Gather info, compare it to your other findings, and even made a plan that benefited each of your abilities." Kureanai looked at each of them individually. "That was Chunin level teamwork and you guys are just newly appointed genin."

Naruto smiled his normal big grin, Hinata smiled slightly and even Shino's lips were twitching at the side. "Yay we passed!" Naruto yelled out in a loud yell, Kurenai cringed when she felt the feeling of a headache forming.

"Okay team, today is your first day of training, but first lunch." Kurenai smiled as all of them looked as though she was offering them money instead of food.

"Finally I'm starved!" Naruto yelled out happily, causing Kurenai's forming headache to pound behind her eyes. "Lets eat!"

"Sorry Naruto no food for you." Kurenai said and smiled at the most mournful look she'd ever seen.

"You didn't get a scroll so you do not get lunch," She turned to her other students. "And neither of you are allowed to offer him food." Hinata and Shino looked surprised, she knew they were going to do just that.

"Aw man," Naruto seemed to deflate before her.

"Now everyone but Naruto here's your lunch," Suddenly 3 bentos poofed into her hand, "Dig in!"

Everyone sat down to eat but Naruto and proceeded to eat. A sudden thought occurred to Naruto, "Hey Kurenai sensei?" He waited until she looked at him. "What was that genjutsu that you used on us?" Both Hinata and Shino looked up from their bentos to listen.

"Well, the genjutsu I used was created by my clan and is very special." She explained around the food in her mouth. "The genjutsu is called The Destiny Jutsu, and differs between people." Kurenai took a big bite of her rice. "With some people it shows them what they desire the most," Her eyebrow rose when she saw Hinata's face go beat red. "Sometimes it will show you something that happened recently that's on your mind." She saw Shino nod his head slightly. "Other people see what is to come in the future, sometimes even the people they will meet." Naruto's eyebrows drew together with a look of concentration. "And in rare instances can show the future as well of the past for the individual, but only one person has ever experienced that and it was the Fourth Hokage himself."

As the 3 mulled that over lunch, proceeded until everyone was finished, Kurenai took the lunches and made them disappear in a puff of smoke.

"Okay, now that you 3 passed a test that you really didn't need to pass to be genin its now time for your first training season as team 8."

"Finally!" Naruto yelled jumping up and stretching. "I've been waiting forever for us to begin training!" Hinata smiled at his enthusiasm and even Shino let his lips curl.

As they proceeded to train, Kurenai was impressed with her new team. She was infinitely grateful that the Hokage refused to move Naruto, now that she got to know the kid she was happy to have him on her team.

o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o.0.o

"Man am I starving!" Naruto complained as they got ready to depart for the day. Shino rolled his eyes, that was the hundredth time Naruto said that today alone.

"Okay team today's training session is over, now go out and get some food." As the 3 turned to leave she thought of something. "Oh yeah there will be no training tomorrow instead I want you guys to go shopping for some new out fits and weapons." At Naruto's stricken face she chuckled. "Hinata and Shino please pick Naruto out a outfit that doesn't yell 'Here I am come kill me,' Okay?" They nodded as Naruto pouted, she started to chuckle again as they left.

As they walked down the street heading to the Ichiraku ramen stand, Naruto was back to his silly self as he talked animatedly to Shino and Hinata. Hinata was surprised considering his reaction to people earlier, they were walking through a very busy part of town and yet he seemed to ignore those around him.

Shino too took notice to this occurrence, Naruto was practically ignoring the hateful glares and evil looks. Evidently something happened to Naruto to suddenly change his outlook in the space of one day.

"Come on guys!" Naruto yelled practically skipping down the road. "We're almost there!" Hinata smiled somewhat at his happy demeanor and even Shino manage to crack a smile. As they proceeded to walk Naruto talked about how they were finally genin and would stay that way.

"Here we are!" He yelled in happiness as they reached the front of the ramen stand, he walked in followed by his teammates.

"Ah Naruto," Teuchi said, cleaning a glass. "Here with your friends?" You could tell from his voice that he was genuinely glad to see Naruto.

"Yup! This is Shino," He said pointing to said boy. "And this is Hinata." He then pointed to the shy girl. She blushed when attention turned to her, but smiled none the less.

"Hey Naruto!" Ayame yelled coming out of the back. "Good to see our favorite costumer again." Naruto grinned at that.

"Hey Ayame, just here to get dinner. I haven't eaten anything all day, and man am I hungry!" Shino and Hinata laughed a little at him sucking in his stomach to demonstrate.

"Well then lets get making your dinner, I know you'd want a beef ramen but what about your friends?" Teuchi asked already preparing the noodles.

"Pork please." Hinata softly replied, and Shino nodded in agreement. Teuchi nodded and got to work on it, Ayame helping him.

"Man I forgot my money is at home!" Naruto exclaimed after searching his pockets. "Hey Teuchi I'm going to rush home and get my money be back in a few minutes!" And with that he was out the door before Hinata or Shino could tell him that they could cover for it.

"So nice to see friends of Naruto," Ayame said, Teuchi nodded. "You guys are actually the first of his age group to come in here with him."

"Really?" Hinata asked as she waited patiently for her noodles.

"Yes, usually its the Hokage or Iruka that brings him in here for food." Teuchi replied, stirring the broth as it heated. "He eats them out of a lot of money every time too." He chuckled

"The Hokage?" Shino asked. No one told them that the Hokage ever hung out with Naruto, evidently not many knew about it.

"Yes, he was the first one to bring Naruto here." The old man sighed in sadness a little. "He was just 6 years old when I first meet Naruto." Ayame who sensed her fathers sadness patted him briefly on the back.

"What happened?" Hinata asked, almost to scared to know. If the hateful glares and sneers were anything, it had to have been bad.

"Well he was first kicked out of the orphanage at the age of 6," Hinata and Shino gaped in surprise. "When he first came here he was very small, very thin, and covered in bruises cuts." Teuchi sighed again, almost if the image was too much.

Hinata and Shino was too speechless to say anything, surprised at the cruelty of the village. How could they treat a young boy as a monster when it was obvious that he wasn't.

"I made a promise that day to never turn anyone away no matter who or what they are." Hinata was confused at the 'what they are' comment but refrained from voicing her question.

The silence that descended upon them was thoughtful as the 2 genin mulled over what the old man said. As Teuchi went about finishing the noodles.

Just as he put the 3 steaming bowls of ramen on the table, Naruto burst through with a small frog purse clutched in his hand. "I'm back!"

Teuchi chuckled, no sign of his earlier sadness showed. "Just in time!" Naruto grinned in triumph. "Now eat up!"

Naruto took gratefully to that statement, after yelling out a thank you he started to eat. Hinata and Shino watched their friend between bits, surprised by his personality after having the childhood he did.

Naruto after his fourth bowl noticed his teammates stares and turned to them with a questioning look. But after not getting a reaction went back to eating, he'd just ask them later anyway.

End Chapter

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