Hello Everyone, im back! Well, these past two weeks have been nothing but tests and papers, so just image a 10 pg report on gravity (you heard that, 10 pages of nothing but bullshit on gravity) coupled with a test in Thermodynamics and that equals one shitty week.

Anywho, Ill be on spring break soon, so expect me to update several other of my neglected stories, hopefully.

Also, i would like to thank everyone who has shown their overwhelming support for this story, and it warms my heart to know that so many people out there take time out of their busy days to let me know that im doing a good job. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Disclaimer: I dont own Naruto

Chapter 4

The sunlight crept through the blinds and flooded the hotel room with light, shining right on the young couples faces. Slowly, Hinata's eyes fluttered open and the first thing she noticed that her legs were still intertwined with Naruto's limbs, not to mention she was still laying fully on Naruto's chest, naked. A smile crept across her face and she sighed happily as the thought that one of her dreams had come true, and she couldn't think of a time when she had been more content with her life. As she untangled herself from the pile of limbs and moved to push of the bed, two arms wrapped around her, pulling her in tight.

"Don't go… I'll lose all my warmth…"

Hinata smiled and hugged herself to the boy below her. "We can't just lounge about all day. Jiraiya-sensei told us to continue our training outside the city starting today. We should get up, and I need a shower too…"

Naruto sighed and slowly released Hinata from his embrace, letting her push off his chest. He watched with wide eyes as she exposed her upper half slowly, and he could feel himself reacting in a similar way as the night before. When Hinata noticed his gaze, she blushed and unconsciously covered herself, causing Naruto to also blush and shut his eyes tight.

"S-Sorry 'Nata… I didn't mean to stare. I'll close my eyes if you want me to so you can go to the bathroom and shower."

He heard giggling and cracked an eye open to see the girl above him uncover herself and put a hand on his cheek.

"Naru-koi, there isn't any reason to be embarrassed, not anymore at least."

Naruto fought off the feelings of embarrassment and just closed his eyes chuckling, rubbing his cheek into her hand. "Yeah, I guess you're right…"

"Thank you for that by the way."

Naruto opened his eyes again and looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Hinata laid back down atop him again and traced patterns on his chest. "Well, I mean, last night was easily the most amazing night of my life. The dinner was fantastic and you such a gentleman the entire night; it made me feel special. Then when you proposed… Well, that was the most romantic thing I've ever heard of, and trust me, I know romance since Kurenai-sensei talks about all the stuff Asuma-sensei does for her, and her stories don't even come close to what you did. I was just so happy to finally be able to show you how much I loved you."

Naruto just chuckled. "'Nata, I already knew that you loved me, in fact I don't think there has been a day this past week where you haven't told me so. All I want is for you to be happy, so if you're happy, I'm happy… But for the past few days I got this feeling that I needed to give you some kind of special night to remember."

She giggled and looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Oh really?"

Naruto looked confused for a second, and then his cheeks turned red at her implication. "No, not like that. That happened because I finally had enough time to prepare myself for taking that kind of step up in our relationship… especially because we still didn't know each other very well…"

The azure-haired girl just sighed happily. "Yeah, I'm glad you had us wait."

Naruto smiled and rubbed her bare back. "Plus, I still felt like I owed you it."

Hinata's smile faded and she looked up into his eyes. "Naru-koi, you don't owe be anything. I want you to be with me because you want to, not because you feel like you owe me."

Naruto nervously shook his head. "Wait! I didn't mean it like that! I just meant that I felt bad because I never gave you any of those special romantic moments that couples have! I never got to make you feel special and loved, so I felt the least I could do was treat you to a romantic evening…"

Hinata leveled her gaze on his face for a few lingering moments before returning to her spot on his chest as a small mirthful chuckle echoed out of her. "You really are terrible with words Naru-koi. You almost put yourself in the nin-doghouse, and we aren't even married yet."

She felt the blonde under her let out a sigh of relief.

"And we have the rest of our lives to create those moments Naru-koi, so don't feel bad about anything. Let's just enjoy the time we have together."

They just laid there for several minutes, basking in the warmth of each other's bodies and trying to fight off the feelings of drowsiness. After a particularly long yawn, Hinata finally rolled off him and got up with a stretch.

"Ok, now we REALLY need to get up. If we don't finish this training schedule Jiraiya-sensei said he would make us do triple the normal workload, and I really don't want to test his ability to discover if we did it or not."

Naruto ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right… Well, guess we should shower first then?"

Hinata just looked at him with a smirk. "How very forward of you Mr. Uzumaki."

Naruto cocked his head to the side and tried to figure out what she was insinuating, and then all at once it clicked. "Geeze 'Nata… I don't know whose worse, Ero-Sennin or you… I meant that we should both take showers, not take one together… though I wouldn't exactly be against it…"

Hinata grinned and walked towards the bathroom. "Well come on then, I won't wait all day to get this sweat and grime off. No funny business though, I need to be able to actually train today."

She didn't even need to look back to see Naruto scramble out of the bed and make his way towards the bathroom.

Four Hours Later Outside the City

Naruto and Hinata were panting and out of breath.

Today had been the day for a rigorous physical training regimen followed by a rough spar between the two where they were each supposed to use what they had been learning. The result had been that both young adults had shown noticeable improvement in the course of only a few short days, being able to complete the complete physical portion without a break. During the spar they were excited to see just how they had each improved. This of course led to an hour of non-stop sparring between the two, under the careful observation of their sensei of course.

Then again, how they managed to find their wayward sensei is an embarrassing tale that begins with a very perturbed Naruto and ended with a very hung over Jiraiya stumbling out of a casino mumbling about someone called the "legendary sucker". After they forced several cups of water down his throat and a few eggs in his stomach, they finally managed to secure a few hours of his time and an abandoned field outside the city to use for their training. Needless to say, they both ignored the lecherous grin Jiraiya gave the couple when he noticed the way Hinata carefully sat down or got back up.

Before the spar Naruto had been told to watch how much chakra he put into each jutsu, especially his Kage Bunshin. Naruto didn't really understand what those instructions meant, especially since he had always just 'used' the jutsu, and hadn't paid any attention to how much chakra he had used unless he was trying to make a lot of clones all at once. To his surprise he found that he had been using way too much chakra for each clone, about twice the necessary amount actually, and of course he was naturally curious as to why he never noticed earlier. Jiraiya told him that his reserves were just too large for him to notice, and this particular jutsu, while very chakra intensive was actually quite easy to perform control wise. In fact, Jiraiya mused that it might just be the perfect technique for someone like Naruto who had one of the largest chakra reserves in the world.

Jiraiya made it very clear that in a battle, each and every single ounce of chakra should be conserved and used with extreme care, hence the reason why he had Naruto practice his chakra control exercises. What Jiraiya didn't tell him was that those chakra control exercises, particularly the leaf cutting exercise, were the first step in learning many of the Futton (Wind Release) jutsu. But the real reason Jiraiya decided to start Naruto in his control training was that he knew that Naruto needed to increase his control in order to begin the next stage of his training; learning the Yondaime's famed technique the rasengan.

Hinata had been told to focus on using her Juken style that flowed around her opponent instead of standing firm and battling it out blow for blow. The day after the group had left Konoha Jiraiya had watched as Hinata went through the katas for the Juken, and he commented that she looked to rigid and stiff while practicing. It was then that she admitted that ever since her defeat in the Chunnin exams, she had been incorporating a taijutsu style called Nagareru ken (Flowing Fist) into the Hyuga's traditional Juken style. The old Sannin seemed genuinely impressed with her initiative in finding a fighting style that matched her preferences. He gave her tips and pointers on how she would be able to add her innate flexibility to her attacks, which is where she was now.

She had been dodging each and every one of Naruto's clones and dispersing them with a quick jab here or a palm strike there. Of course, her stamina was nowhere near her opponent's, so once she began to tire she found the she starting taking more and more hits. Of course, they both weren't hitting each other at full strength, but they were putting enough into it where they were both sore. At the end of their long spar they both fell to their knees for breath.

Jiraiya made a mental note to teach Naruto some kind of taijutsu style to replace his bastardized version that relied heavily on the distractive potential of Kage Bunshins. He could see that Naruto was a very strong individual with a mostly untapped potential; he just needed a mentor that would take the time and explain things to him in a way he could understand.

Jiraiya stood up with a grunt and stretched his back. "Alright you too, that wasn't too bad. Hinata, great job in anticipating his movements and flowing around them, though you need to work on your stamina a bit more in order to hold up in longer fights." Hinata nodded and walked over to her knapsack to grab a bottle of water. "Naruto," The blonde looked up at his sensei. "That was… good. Well, about as good as I had hoped for. I thought for sure you two would go longer, but you two seem tired for some reason. Did you two not get enough sleep last night or something?"

Hinata choked on her water and started coughing violently while Naruto just turned a deep scarlet.

Jiraiya chuckled a few times before he got serious again. "In all seriousness, I did expect more from you Naruto."

Naruto snorted. "Gee, thanks Ero-Sennin…"

Jiraiya sighed. "What I mean is that there is still so much more that you can do. You have more potential in you than I've ever seen before, and that means a lot coming from me."

Naruto smiled. "Really? You think so?"

Jiraiya grinned. "I know so. You're strong, really strong, but you rarely land any hits because you don't have a solid taijutsu style. You just focus on using Kage Bunshins to distract your opponents in order to get in close to hopefully get a few hits in. You also don't really have any other jutsu besides that one and the Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique), so you are really limited to hand to hand combat in terms of what you can do fighting wise."

Naruto huffed. "Well, that isn't really my fault. No one would teach me anything, and whenever I asked for help people would always tell me to get lost."

Jiraiya looked sad for a moment. "Well that's why I'm here kid. Now tell me something, you managed some progress in the leaf cutting exercise right?"

Naruto nodded and picked up a leaf on the ground, placing it in his palm. He closed his eyes and concentrated for a few seconds before opening his eyes and hands, revealing a cut about a quarter of the way across the leaf.

Jiraiya picked the leaf out of his hand and inspected it before grunting in approval. "Good enough. Now here, catch."

With elite shinobi speed Jiraiya darted into his pocket and retrieved a small spherical object, tossing it to his blonde student. Naruto barely had time to catch the object thrown at him, and when he did he had a very confused look on his face.

"Ero-Sennin… why did you give me a water balloon?"

Hinata was also watching them and had the same question on her mind. They both watched as Jiraiya brought his right hand up, palm towards the sky.

"Because, right now I am going to begin teaching you a new jutsu. One of the Yondaime's own creations to be exact, the rasengan."

As he was speaking Hinata and Naruto watched as a small blue orb of chakra came to life in his hand. It was the most intriguing thing either of them had ever seen, ripples of pure energy swirling around like a maelstrom that just reeked of raw power all held within the restricting confines of a ball no bigger than the water balloon Naruto currently held in his hands. They would have added the description beautiful if Jiraiya hadn't shoved the orb of energy in the tree behind him, shattering the bark in millions of tiny pieces and blowing the trunk apart.

Naruto currently had one of the largest shit-eating grins of his face. "Wicked… I get to learn THAT!?"

Jiraiya smirked and nodded his head. "Yes you do, though it won't be easy. It took the Yondaime several years to create this technique, and it took me several months when he taught me the necessary steps. I believe you can do it in a month flat, given that you put your all into it."

Naruto gave the water balloon an experimental squeeze and looked back up to his sensei. "I'll get it down in two weeks."

Jiraiya just smirked. "Cocky are we? Alright then, how about a deal? If you manage to get it down in two weeks ill teach you a jutsu of my own creation."

Naruto grinned. "You had better get ready to teach me that jutsu, because you're going down Ero-Sennin!"

Jiraiya gave a mirthful chuckle. "Alright gaki, show me what you can do. Now, the first step of the training." Jiraiya produced another balloon in his hand. "Is to pop the balloon by channeling your chakra into it to pop the balloon like this."

A look of concentration appeared on his face for a split second before the edges of the balloon seemed to spike out at every point and it burst open, the water exploding outwards in every direction.

"Now, if you can do that, then the first part of your training is complete, but it won't be easy. Now, while you do that, I want you to make around 50 or so clones and have them continue the leaf cutting exercise. I'm sticking to my earlier condition that I won't start teaching you Futon (Wind Release) jutsu until that exercise is mastered. Understood?"

The blonde returned a smirk and made the familiar cross seal, bringing to life 50 copies of himself that immediately grabbed a leaf and set to work while the original turned his attention to the water balloon in his hand.

Jiraiya suppressed a smile and turned to his other student. "Ok, you next. Now, I take it you won't be able to use your legs very much today, am I right?"

Hinata blushed red and tried to shrink in on herself, but she could still feel the Sannin's smirk. She spared a glance over at Naruto and saw him equally red, and he looked like he was about to say something until the older man continued.

"Heh, sorry about that, couldn't resist. Once you make a living on what most people consider embarrassing you don't really have a filter anymore. But in all seriousness, I had hoped that you two would be more responsible with this issue. I'm all for the romance mumbo jumbo, but what if you two had gotten attacked when I wasn't around? With your limited mobility it's entirely possible that you could have been seriously injured or captured. Your name alone paints a massive target on your back, and many less than savory people would give their left nut to get their hands on an unsealed pair of Byakugan eyes."

Both teens looked at the ground in a chastised fashion. Neither of them had even considered those points, or any negative for that matter. They had been so caught up in the moment that they hadn't even considered the consequences for their actions. Slowly Naruto's eyes widened to the size of saucers when he suddenly realized a very important detail that he had overlooked…

"Did you guys at least use preventative measures?"

Naruto's breathing quickened and he turned his gaze towards Hinata, to see that she was as calm as could be.

"Hai… I used a birth control jutsu that Kurenai-sensei taught me."

Both Naruto and Jiraiya sighed in relief. Sure, Naruto loved Hinata and wanted to have a family with her, but not yet, not when they were still only thirteen going on fourteen. He knew that the strain pregnancy can put on the body of a small girl like Hinata could possibly be fatal, so yes, he was quite relieved that Hinata showed more responsibility than he did.

Jiraiya shook his head. "Well at least one of you two thinks with some clarity."

Naruto wanted to argue, but he knew there was a point to be made, so he swallowed his pride and continued with his exercises.

Hinata bowed. "Gomen sensei, I promise that we will be more responsible in the future."

The older Sannin kept his gaze on the pair for a few seconds longer before sighing and slumping back against the tree. "Geez, I feel like your freakin parents, not your sensei. Alright, now that that is out of the way, I want you to continue your training as usual. From what I saw your chakra reserves have begun to increase. Question though, did you notice that you were able to spar longer before getting tired and were able to move quicker?"

Hinata nodded her head in confirmation.

"Well, that is because of two things. The first is the physical training regimen which jumpstarted your muscular growth. I mean, it was like your sensei never put you through a training regimen before, or your team babied you."

Hinata hung her head. "Hai, my sensei didn't train me as harshly as she could have. She wasn't trying to hold me back or anything; but… I think she was just concerned about me and didn't want me to get hurt."

Jiraiya shook his head. "Well, she did hold you back, and it's only now that you are beginning to realize your full potential. I'm not like other senseis, I won't hold back, and I sure as hell wont baby anyone."

Hinata just took the criticism with her head hung. She knew it was true, all of it. Sure, Kurenai had her wellbeing as a priority, but that meant that she wasn't being trained as harshly as she should have been.

Jiraiya looked at her and sighed. "Alright, now that I'm done with all the yelling, I think it's time that you…"

"DAMMIT!"

Hinata and Jiraiya jumped slightly from the unexpected outburst and turned towards Naruto quickly with confused faces. When he saw that he had their attention he chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry, stupid balloon wont pop… keeps flattening out like a disc…"

Jiraiya chuckled. "Just a few hundred more tries and you might be ready to move on to the second stage. But don't just swirl the chakra, that won't get you anywhere."

The young blonde just sighed and went back his training while Jiraiya faced the Hyuga girl again.

"Like I was saying, it's great that you are increasing your reserves, but it'll still take at least several years to create the kind of defensive jutsu I envisioned, so in the meantime I'm going to have you just keep up the chakra control training with the leaves, but each day you are going to be using different tenketsu points."

Hinata nodded and looked over at her fiancé struggling with his own challenge. "Am I going to be learning anything else than chakra control?"

Jiraiya smirked. "Oh heavens no. That would be waaaaaay too easy. No, you are going to continue your physical training regimen and I'll help you develop that nifty little Jyuken style your experimenting with. Now, I won't really teach you Ninjutsu or Genjutsu because it doesn't really compliment the way you fight, not to mention your old man would be pretty pissed at me if I did."

The young Hyuga could only smirk and nod along with how accurate Jiraiya's previous statement was.

"But with that being said, it means I have free reign when it comes to Taijutsu."

The Sannin crouched down into a defensive position with his legs bent out and his hands close to his body.

"Now, come at me and try and hit me… if you can."

In Konoha

Sasuke Uchiha was walking down the sidewalk with his team mate on his way to the hospital.

He wasn't injured or anything, well, aside from the fact that is mental health was declining from the fact that he was still forced to spend time with his pink-haired team mate who always seemed to know where he was every waking second of the day. His only saving grace was that he could possibly be promoted to Chunnin and be allowed to finally break away from his team and start some real training, not to mention the solo missions that would let him ditch his obsessive fan girl. Seriously, how many times did a guy have to say no?

But no, this was just a routine checkup to make sure the seal wasn't acting up. Ever since the Chunnin exams he was forced to go once a week and make sure he wasn't under any kind of "influence", so to say.

Sasuke sneered at the mere thought that someone could control him. 'What a load of crap. Every time I finally find a way to get stronger it's taken away from me! It's infuriating!'

He took a deep breath and unclenched his fists, pushing through the doors of the hospital while Sakura strode in right behind him.

"So what do you think Sasuke?"

The Uchiha blinked and turned his head towards his team mate. "Think about what?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "About Naruto. I mean, we haven't seen him for a while, and he seemed really depressed after Hokage-sama's funeral. Do you think we should visit him or something? We do have a few days off till they can find the next Hokage."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the mention of the blonde haired idiot. The sheer memory of him brought back some very unpleasant feelings, feelings he had thought he had long since buried. He felt so helpless when he was stuck on that tree branch and that psycho redhead was charging at him. It was just like that night all those years back: not able to do anything except sit there and accept his fate.

That is, until he came charging in, head first like always, and saved not only his life, but Sakura's too. Naruto had gotten so strong in that month, whereas before the exams even started, Sasuke knew he could win in a fight, but now… he wasn't so sure. And that pissed him off.

"I don't know where he is, and I don't care. You can visit him if you want, but leave me out of it."

And with that Sasuke strolled down the halls to his assigned room at the back of the hospital. Everyone was busy scurrying here and there as he walked, and he paid them no mind. They had a job to do just like he did, so there was no point in trying to converse with any of them.

That is, until he went past a room whose conversation was very interesting.

"So, do you think Kakashi will be ok?"

Sasuke halted in his steps and looked towards the room. 'That sounded like that green freak's sensei.'

Sasuke walked closer to the door and pressed his ear against it, and little did he know that such a simple action could have such dire consequences.

Sasuke heard some muffled voices and then clear as day he heard something he had been waiting to hear for years. "So is it true? Did Itachi Uchiha really infiltrate the village and fight several Jounin just to go after the Uzumaki kid?"

Sasuke froze. 'He… he's back?'

Then Gai's voice sounded through the door. "Yes, it's true… He had a partner with him, a very strong shinobi by the name of Hoshigake Kisame who was able to go toe to toe with me, but yes, he is without a doubt after Uzumaki Naruto. Last I heard from Kakashi they are somewhere near a post-station still looking for Tsunade."

Sasuke threw the door open and glared at the two people inside. His hunch was right; Gai and a haggard-looking doctor looked back at the Raven-haired youth in surprise. On the hospital bed was an unconscious Kakashi.

"Where are they!?"

Gai sighed and walked towards Sasuke. "Look Sasuke, I know what you're thinking right now, but you have to-"

Sasuke punched the wall next to him. "You don't understand! I have to know where they are! I have to kill him!"

Gai knew that he had to do something to stop the Uchiha or he could easily make a huge mistake that could put his life at risk. "Now Sasuke, let's not do anything hasty now…"

Sasuke shot him a glared and turned around running out of the room, nearly knocking over a pink-haired girl on his way out.

With Naruto and Hinata

They had been traveling for several days, and the two Genin had never known such effort. Every one of their muscles was screaming in agony with every move they made, and their chakra networks had been pushed to the limit. Every day presented its own set of challenges to be overcome, and though Jiraiya was definitely an aged man, he proved to them time and again why he is one of the most feared men on the continent.

It was received well when Jiraiya told them they would be stopping in a small town to rest up, and as soon as the two teens entered the room they quickly unpacked their things and rested together with Hinata using her fiancé's chest as her own human pillow.

Jiraiya adopted a warm smile and covered them both with a blanket before heading out of the room to gather more information about their target. Apparently she had been seen in this area in the past few weeks or so, a clear indicator that they were catching up.

It is safe to say that when the pair had been woken up by a pounding on the door, they were not in the best of moods.

It was Hinata who woke up first. "Mmmm, Naruto… go get the door…"

Naruto mumbled something in his sleep about naps and proceeded to go back to sleep.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Hinata cracked a bloodshot eye open and turned on her side off Naruto. "Naruto-kuuuuuun, go get the door!"

The blonde took a deep breath and slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He looked over at Hinata who had almost fallen back to sleep.

'She's lucky she's so damn cute…'

Naruto stretched and cracked his back, snaking his legs over the side of the bed and slowly rising to his feet.

KNOCK KNOCK

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the door and grumbled. "I swear if this isn't important I'm going to be really pissed off…"

KOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"YEAH, I heard you the first damn time!"

Naruto marched up to the door and grasped the handle, throwing the door open.

"Now, what is so damn important that you…"

The rest of whatever he was about to say died in his throat when he looked into a pair of fully matured Sharingan eyes, and they weren't his team mates.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you are to come with us immediately."

Naruto froze as he stared into the spinning eyes of his would-be kidnapper, unable to even breath in the presence of such a powerful and well trained killer. Luckily for him, there was someone else there to snap him out of it.

"Naru-koi, who is it?"

Naruto flinched and looked between the two men, only now realizing that there even was a second person there. The blonde threw the door shut in their faces and jumped back, breathing heavily.

"Naruto-kun?"

Naruto turned towards his fiancé and grabbed her hand. "We have to GO 'Nata, NOW!"

Hinata had a very confused and dazed look on her face. "What? Why do we have to-"

The question she was about to ask was answered for her when the door to their room was kicked open and a very sour looking Uchiha strode into the room.

"Now that was very rude Naruto. Come with us now before we are forced to take more, drastic measures."

Naruto's response was to bring his hands up into the familiar cross seal, bring several seconds of distractions to life, just enough time for him to grab Hinata and jump out the window without ever looking back.

A single swing of Kisame's sword was enough to clear the room of Kage Bunshins, and when the smoke cleared a feral grin could be seen on his face as he watched his target try to make his escape.

"You know Itachi; I think this might not be as boring as I thought it would be. This kid just might be some fun after all."

Itachi sighed and adjusted the hat on his head. "Just remember Kisame that we need him alive."

The grin on the blue man's face got even wider. "Oh don't worry about that. He'll be very much alive when I'm through with him."

With Naruto and Hinata

Panting, the two made their way to a spot outside the small town where they would be able to hid amongst the trees. After they had jumped out the window Naruto made a group of clones to find their wayward sensei, but he knew that would take time, time they didn't have with those two after them.

No, he needed a quicker method. He brought his fingers into a familiar seal and began channeling as much chakra as he could, but it wasn't the right kind. He focused as hard as he could, calling forth as much of the Kyubi's malicious chakra as he could, letting flow forth and out into nature.

He knew he lacked the training required to bring forth enough to use in battle like he did with Neji, that had all been blind luck. What he did have, however, was just enough to let his teacher know that there was something causing Naruto to use the forbidden chakra, and at the very least it would raise some red flags.

Naruto and Hinata entered a small clearing and dropped down to the ground to catch their breath.

Hinata was on her hands and knees, gulping large amounts of air. "Do you… think we… lost them?"

Naruto shook his head. "No… but I think… we have a few moments to rest at least."

"Oh how wrong you two are."

The Genin jumped to their feet as an eerie voice seemed to float across the clearing, seemingly moving with the breeze.

"Why are you making this harder for yourselves? You know you can't run from us."

Naruto took Hinata's hand in his and pulled her closer. "Why don't you show yourselves? Afraid of a few Genin like us!?"

A darker, more sinister chuckle floated through the air. "It's a shame we have to do this; you are my kind of Shinobi, cheeky and headstrong."

Out of the tree line two figures in black cloaks with read clouds and straw hats materialized and approached the couple. The sheer killing intent radiating off them reminded Naruto too much of his battle with Shukaku, a memory he was willing to go his entire life without having to recall.

Hinata wilted under the pressure and began shaking. "Naruto-kun… I'm scared…"

Naruto gripped her hand tighter and held her even closer. "Me… Me too…"

The two figures stopped several yards away and removed their hats. The first looked like an aged version of Sasuke with thinner cheeks and a more calculating air about him. It didn't take a genius to know that the man before them was the man responsible for the massacre of the entire Uchiha clan, a feat he accomplished alone in the span of a few hours.

The person next to him looked far more strange, and deadly. His blue skin and hair accentuated his toothy grin and feral smirk, giving him a definitive shark-like appearance, though neither of those features downplayed the aura of death he was exuding at all.

Naruto looked between the two men carefully. "Who… Who are you and what do you want with me?"

The Uchiha stepped forward. "My name is Uchiha Itachi, and this is my partner Hoshigake Kisame. We were tasked by our organization Akatsuki with collecting the Kyubi Jinchuriki, now, be a good boy and come with us peacefully, while we are still willing to let the Hyuga live."

Naruto felt Hinata stiffen in his arms, and he knew what he had to do to ensure her safety. He made a promise to himself after she brought him back from the edge that he would always put her before himself, and now it was time to honor that promise.

He looked down one last time at the trembling girl in his arms, and then turned his gaze back up to the two men. "If I go with you two… do you promise to let her go?"

Naruto heard a gasp below him, and it broke his heart when he heard Hinata began to beg and plead with him not to go through with what he was planning to do.

He saw Kisame's grin turn into a frown, but he wasn't concerned with that. The only thing he was paying attention to was the nod Itachi gave him.

With a sigh Naruto hugged Hinata close to him and turned them around so his back was facing the two Akatsuki members. Despite her sobs and gasps he kissed her on the cheek and whispered in her ear as quiet as he could.

"Just follow my lead."

The stiffening of the girl in his arms was the only acknowledgement he received.

Naruto raised his voice louder so it could be heard by the two behind him.

"Hinata, when you saved me that night I promised myself that I would always put your life ahead of mine, and now is the time to honor that promise. Just know that these past few weeks have been the happiest of my life, and I only wish I had more time to show you just how glad I am that you were able to love an idiot like me."

Naruto let go of Hinata and turned back around, slowly walking towards his impending demise.

Kisame closed his eyes and sighed. "Well shit, and here I thought that he would be just a little fun. Why can't any of them ever fight back?"

Itachi rolled his eyes and faced his partner. "Why must you always complain about the smallest things? Why can't you just be happy that-"

Itachi's shinobi instincts were the only thing that allowed him to avoid the swirling orb of energy aimed at the center of his chest. Kisame however, was not so lucky, and took the attack head on, sending him flying back towards the trees.

The clone tasked with attacking Itachi was swiftly dealt with by a chop the base of his skull, severing the spinal cord and causing it to burst into a puff of smoke. Itachi looked at his partner who was picking himself off and brushing some of the dirt off.

Naruto grinned, proud that he was able to get the drop on such high level opponents, though he knew that most of it was dumb luck and a lapse in their guard that allowed him to even get close enough to use the incomplete version of the Rasengan.

Naruto jumped back to avoid any counter. "How was that for fighting back?"

Kisame just chuckled and cracked his neck. "Well, you managed to tear my cloak a bit, I'll give you that. You're still years away from being able to fight us brat."

Naruto smirked. "Oh, we know, but you guys leave yourselves open quite a bit."

Kisame looked down and saw the ground he was standing on was rigged with over a dozen high-grade explosive notes, already being detonated.

He smirked. "Now that's more like it!"

Itachi was momentarily dazed by the sudden shockwave behind him, and out of the corner of his eye he was the Hyuga rearing her right arm back to hit him in the back, most likely aiming for his heart. With inhumane speed he spun around and caught her by the throat.

"Pathetic. You're lucky that Kisame is playing around, or you would both be dead by now. But I've grown tired of the games, so any last words for the Jinchuriki before you die?"

To his surprise the girl smirked. "Yeah, just a few… NOW HINATA!"

Itachi cursed and turned his head to see the Hyuga coming at his back again. Just as he was about to intercept her path he felt two weights on his arms, and looking down he saw two Kage Bunshins pinning his arms down with as much strength as he could.

The blonde grinned up at the Uchiha. "Never trust a fox!"

The next thing Itachi felt was a surge of chakra slam through his back and shred his heart to pieces. His eyes grew wide and blood sprayed from his mouth, covering the Hyuga in a mist of red.

Hinata couldn't believe it! She and Naruto had defeated on of the most feared missing nin in Konoha's history, and they did it together!

"Naruto-kun! We did it! We…"

She watched as the Kage Bunshins disappeared, not erupting into smoke, but rather just fading from existence.

Hinata looked perplexed. "Naruto, what's going-"

To her horror she watched as Itachi's form began shrinking down, his black hair turning blonde, his cold red eyes taking on a blue hue, and his pitch black cloak transforming into the Hyuga robes that Naruto had taken too during their travels.

Hinata's breath caught in her throat, and tears pricked at the edges of her eyes as reality tore through her being. She watched with a trembling form as her fiancé, the boy whom she could easily say she had fallen in love with, coughed up more blood from her attack.

Hinata looked past Naruto and saw an upset looking Kisame and a worried Itachi.

"You see Itachi; this is why I hate it when you use Genjutsu, because shit like THIS happens!"

Hinata fell to her knees in despair, unable to accept what had transpired in the last five seconds, but just because she couldn't accept it didn't mean reality wasn't about to rear its ugly head.

She looked up into the face of the boy who promised to stay by her side till the end of her days, and saw confusion, pain, and fear. She couldn't even get her body to catch him as he fell forward as her name fell from his lips.

END

*Audible Gasp* What the hell am i thinking!? Well, just know that ive been planning this for some time, and though i am not 100% satisfied with how it played out, its definately in the upper 80's.

I guess we will all have to wait until next time wont we?

Please tell me what you think, or PM me if you're shy

Peace