The Chance at a Promise

by CamperMan501

Betrayed by Sakura, Naruto is the only person left alive, while all his friends and enemies lie eaved by the death of his fiance, Hinata, Naruto was then given the chance to go back and correct his mistakes. Lots of Sakura bashing Naru/Hina *Up for Adoption*

7. Fight With Destiny & Meal with the Past

Itachi Uchiha, in his black coat with red clouds, gazed into a cobwebbed and dishevelled room. Dust was thick, laid on every surface and cobwebs were present in the dark, manky corners. On a desk, by a broken window, was a small, black laptop; more commonly known as the 'script'. Itachi shuddered slightly as he entered the room, eyeing the spiders that dangled from the ceiling.

He had been tasked, yet again, to check if Welshscot had finished the script for the next chapter. Over the past months, Welsh had to put the story on hold; due to his other obligations and the fact that, he him-self, had put Sakura into traction. Deidara had described the incident as a 'wonderful show of astounding art'. Aka: small, ground shaking explosions. Itachi did not feel at all sorry for Sakura, for she had defiled Welshscot's coffee with her own waste.

Since her hospitalization, Welsh had run into a wall; aka: writers block. So in an attempt to break said wall, Welshscot used a method he called 'Bounce'. He would write about something else for awhile, and then he would 'bounce' back to his original idea. Due to need of bouncing, he had moved to a different place to work; leaving this one in disrepair. He had promised to post the script once Sakura was out an about. She was currently, as far as he was aware, still in a hospital bed with her legs propped up.

Itachi still checked to see if it had arrived, but only because Tobi nagged him to death about it. And today, it paid off. As Itachi logged in and scanned the email inbox, his sharp eyes spied a new email addressed: 'Chapter 7'.

A smirk broke open on his face; the wait was finally over. He turned around to face the door and yelled; "HEY, EVERYONE! IT'S HERE!"

No sooner had he spoken, the entire cast (minus Sakura) barged into the dusty old room; earning cries of disgust from the males and shrikes of fright from the girls; as spiders were shook off the ceiling.

When all were present, and weren't freighting about spiders, Itachi instructed; "Right, Welsh has finally sent us the next chapter. I'll hand it out as soon as..."

He was interrupted by Kiba, who cried out; "Hang on, what about Sakura! As much as I miss her company..." Everyone smirked or smiled at that piece of sarcasm. "...We still need her to perform for the next nightmare piece, right?" Everyone murmured agreement, some nodding their head while others groaned at being given false hope.

Itachi silenced them, with a single glare of his sharingan, before explaining; "I known that, Kiba. But Welsh's side message said..." He turned around to the laptop screen, which read;
(A/N: I don't own Naruto. Everyone, perform play as usual. Itachi, if you're reading this (for I think Tobi would have pestered you into checking my email) then I want you to be the narrator. Best of luck: Welshscot. PS: My beta didn't finish so there will may be a couple of mistakes.)

Itachi turned around and announced; "You heard the A/N; get ready to perform." Still complaining about lack of cast, the crowd slowly disbursed from out of Welsh's wreck of a room. Itachi, after sweeping the dust from of a chair, sat down and began to narrate the story; as so:

A Fight with Destiny; a Meal with The Past

Naruto took a deep, calming breath. He straightened his hair, brushed trace dust off his jumpsuit (Which he planned on changing) and messed around with his goggles on his forehead.

{Come on, Naruto; you have faced several members of the seven swordsmen of the mist, defeated a giant sand demon, faced a wielder of the Rinnegan and killed the stupid duck butt, yet you still can't face your ex-girlfriend/ fiancé! No wait, she hasn't been my girlfriend yet and I never...OH HELL THIS IS SO CONFUSING!}

If you haven't guessed it, Naruto was standing at the front gate of the Hyuuga compound; and he was very nervous. Naruto had done his morning exercise, then he had a shower to get rid of the smell and he then brushed off all the dust and muck off his jumpsuit.

Naruto took a step towards the gate...then took three steps back. He cursed his shyness, something that he thought he'd never be, as it halted his attempts to see Hinata...

Naruto sighed as he walked up to the compound wall. He slid down it, into a sitting position, pondering his predicament. Why was he so hesitant? Beyond these gates was the love of his life (or past life) and he was acting like her when they were kids.

Was it simply that he was too shy to see her? Or did the image of her broken and bleeding body stop him in his tracks? Or was it the memory, the memory of that fateful moment before the battle had started...

"Come on, Naruto-kun! You promised to take me to that new Chinese restaurant!" said Hinata, who was wearing her Anbu outfit with an Anbu cat mask.

Naruto, the sixth Hokage, was sitting at his desk. He had finished his daily paperwork, with the help from his shadow clones, and really had nothing to do. But even so, Naruto insisted to stay at his desk.

The reason was that Sasuke's army could attack them at any moment; even with the reports from Sakura which said that they weren't at the perimeter. He felt that if they did strike, even if it seemed unlikely, he wanted to be in a place where he can organise his comrades.

Ever since Gaara and his siblings arrived, after the Sand had been attacked, He and Shikamaru had become hell bent on putting that bastard's head on a pike. Shikamaru had especially become more distant and focused on the war effort; barking at his teammates to train harder and spending countless hours on battle strategies. He did however; still visit Temari in the hospital.

Naruto knew Temari; a strong and independent woman, who always managed to pull through, even in the direst of circumstances. Now she was a shivering wreck, a shadow of her former self. She'd witnessed that monster slay her son in her very arms; the shock and misery had taken its toll.

Gaara had also changed; ever since Matsuri's death, he had become totally secluded. He never spoke to anyone unless it was important; and even then, he answered any important question with either a point, a shaking of the head or the nodding of the aforementioned head.

Kankuro didn't say a word; important or otherwise. The atmosphere of the village was tense; the only bright light was standing in front of him.

Naruto sighed as he explained, for the hundredth time, "Look Hinata, I can't leave the office for anything at the moment. Shikamaru wants to discuss another battle strategy with..."

But Hinata interrupted, in a pouty tone, "But you can use a shadow clone to meet with him. Please, this might be the only time we have left."

Naruto heard the underlying plea in her tone. Even though she puts on a smile, Naruto could see that she was also scared. She was the only Konoha survivor of the team that was sent to track down Kabuto. Team eight had found him; along with a certain duck butt as well. Sasuke had shown no mercy as he and Kabuto laid waste into Hinata's team.

Kiba was the first to fall, dying so he could protect Akamaru from Sasuke's Chidori Sword. Hinata would have perished there, if not for Shino. He used the last of his bugs to shield her from Sasuke's well aimed fireball. The said Uchiha had been 'annoyed' so he slowly strangled the life out of Shino; right in front of a wounded Hinata. Hinata had been so enraged; that on her last legs she tore Kabuto asunder. Sasuke would have claimed her life to; had it not been for Sai, who had saved her at the last second.

Naruto remembered her face, after Sai brought her back from the battle, of how it was filled with such despair and suffering. He even remembered the sounds of Akamaru pining as Sai had practically dragged the faithful dog away from its fallen master's corpse. The canine now spends his days on Kiba's grave, drained of the fight yet not weak enough to die. So he sits there, day and night, intending to join his master in the next life.

Now, even with her mask on, she was the only thing keeping Konoha from falling into a compete state of depression.

So Naruto gave in. He stood up, summoning a clone as he did so, and began to make his way to Hinata's side. As he reached her, the shadow clone took up the originals position, he offered out his hand. She took it, while using her other hand to take off her mask. Then they both leaned forwards until their lips met.

They both started softly, then Hinata deepened the kiss; her tongue now exploring Naruto's mouth. The Hokage fought back, his tongue beginning the battle for dominance. As the dance was being held, their free left hands began to explore the others body; one massaging the others abs white the other stoked a slender frame. Hinata began to softly moan into the kiss, as Naruto's hands snaked higher and higher...

"Get a room." They broke apart; both glaring at the shadow clone, who had been lazily spinning a kunai on its middle digit. That was one of the most depressing things that bothered Naruto; his clones were moody and serious, with the occasional pieces of dry humour.

Hinata blushed slightly at the comment as she glared, but soon controlled herself. She then turned her gaze to the real Naruto, and said mischievously, "Well, my Hokage-sama. I take that as a yes?"

He grinned ear to ear in response, something that he had not done in a long time. He then placed an arm around her shoulder, and then said to his clone, "Hey, can you get the shuriken down there? I don't want to disturb the guards."

The clone sighed, before complying too the original's demands. He pulled out, from his equipment pouch, a three edged shuriken that had a seal plastered to the inner circle of it. This was the 'flying thunder god shuriken', which served the same purpose as the kunai version.

The clone then leisurely threw the artillery out of the window. As it sailed through the air, Naruto grasped Hinata's hand and warned, "Brace your-self."

She did so; and not a moment too soon. Next seconded latter, Hinata experienced the feeling of being pushed through a very small hole. This sensation lasted only for a moment, but left her dazed.

Naruto looked at her, concern in his face, as he asked, "You okay, Sunshine-chan? I almost puked the first time I did that." Hinata nodded to show that she was okay.

They were currently on the main street of the village that ran down to the office to the main gate, and the moment they were ready; they set of to the restaurant, hand in hand.

They walked in silence, their footsteps echoed as they brought down every step. The streets were usually empty, for either the children were at the academy (studying), the civilians had taken their goods indoor to sell (They were scared of invasion that could strike them down at any moment) and almost every ninja was on guard duty or on a mission.

Naruto was saddened by the emptiness of his village; which had been caused by the news of the fall of the other Hidden villages. The reality of the situation had casted a dark cloud on Konoha, killing the joys of both old and young; as the sound of laughter could not be heard from the taverns, restaurants and playgrounds.

The only bright light left amongst the greying leaves was walking beside him. And at the moment, her cheeks were glowing crimson as she fiddled with her shirt; a sign of shyness that she had not shown for four years.

Naruto stopped, just as they were in sight of the new restaurant that was at the very end of the row of buildings that lined the main street, and asked Hinata, in a concerned voice: "Are you alright, Sunshine-chan?"

Hinata blushed even more, her hand still entwined with her boyfriend's, as she replied, in a quiet voice, "I'm alright, Naruto-kun. It's just..." She took a deep breath; a look of seriousness replaced her one of embarrassment, and said, in a calm tone, "...you know that I'm going to be the Clan leader after my father dies, right?"

Naruto nodded. How could he not know that? After the mission that involved Kabuto; Hizashi, her father, had announced publicly that Hinata was truly his daughter as well as being a great ninja and a proud Hyuuga. She was reinstated the clan heir. Hinata, who always believed that her father had thought she was a weak and pathetic ninja, had been over joy' about her father's public acceptance of her; which gave her an even greater boost to her confidence than him becoming her boyfriend.

Luckily her sister, Hanabi, would not be branded with the bird cage seal; because Hizashi claimed that branding her would be pointless in this time of conflict, so Hanabi's attitude towards Hinata had greatly improved. Hinata now had a supportive family and a good looking ninja for a boyfriend; everything she'd ever wanted was now hers.

"Well..." she continued, still in a calm tone, "...when that happens...I'll be too busy to see you, except when the council meetings are held, and I'll be expected to have children; to sustain the main branch. And also..." She stopped, taking a deep calming breath as she did so, before continuing, "...also...we don't know when Sasuke will strike, which day will be our last, so..."

Naruto listened intently, as a rough idea of what she was asking formed into his head. The lavender eyed heiress gave a slight chuckle, as her will began to sap, before saying, "Heh, Ino said that I should wait for you to ask; being the man and all that...But I know that you have a heavy burden to carry and need to focus on the village safety... So I decided...I decided to...ask you instead."

Hinata then took Naruto's other hand and began to squeeze it, gently, as she gazed into his sky blue eyes. The moment seemed to go on forever; like time itself had stopped, as Hinata paused. She continued to stare into the sea of blue; as if the words she needed were lost in her lover's eyes. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, she asked, in a nervous yet clear voice, "Naruto Uzumaki, hero of Konoha and Sixth Hokage...will you marry me?"

Naruto's heart began to soar; soar out of his chest, soar into the sky until finally landing on cloud nine. His head was spinning as the mix emotions of joy, happiness, exhilaration and bliss stormed through his head; blocking out the ones of fear, misery and reason. Had their hands not intertwined; he would have claimed this to be a dream. But the warmth of her hands, the sweet smell of her hair and fondness of her eyes told him that this was real; not a sake enhanced dream.

As Naruto found his voice, that seemed to have left with his heart at the time, the answer, the only answer, came to his lips. But then; memories took him...

Naruto's clone sat down, thinking, {Great, the original probably wants me to do some more paper work.} As he positioned himself in the chair; he noticed that the original him and his girlfriend were having a quick snog. Sighing, he pulled out a shadow cloned kunai and began to spin it around his middle finger; said finger was in the small hoop shaped hole at the butt of the kunai.

He then looked back at the original, which was now starting to take the kiss a little too far, and stated, in a lazy undertone, "Get a room."

This did the trick, as the couple broke from their embrace. They then glared daggers at the clone, which bluntly ignored them by continuing to play with his kunai.

Few minutes later, after helping the love birds leave by window, the clone was alone. He propped his feet up on the desk, thinking as he did so, {Well, at least there's no paper work. That's all we do these days, do the paper work. He barely uses us for anything else.}

Then a nock was heard, from the office door, and the sound of a duo of voices said, "Hey, Naruto/Gaki! Let us in!"

The clone quickly put his feet down off the desk, before answering, "Come in, you two! The doors open!" The clone now felt a bit better; the company of his two best medics was a rare happening. Even though he was a clone, he still felt the same as the original did for his friends.

(A/N: ...How on earth is she here?)

The door swung open, revealing the sight of the former Hokage, now head medic, Tsunade and his old, pink harried team mate, Sakura. They came in, both bearing cups and a bottle of sake. Sakura was the first to speak, saying "Hi, Naruto-sama. Lady Tsunade and I, wandered if you'd want cup of wine; you must be tired by now, with all the paper work and things."

Naruto grinned, as he replied, "Sure, why not? And Sakura, don't call me Sama. Just Naruto will do." He then turned his gaze to the aged medic, while Sakura put down her cups on the desk, and queried, "How's things at the hospital, Baachan?"

A tick appeared on Tsunade's forehead as the sound of a cup being crushed, to dust, filled the room. "I told you, Gaki! Don't call me Baachan!"

Naruto shrugged as he replied, "Meh, old habits die hard, Baachan." Another cup was now dust as it was lost in Tsunade's hands. Naruto, recognising the danger signs, quickly added, "Ok, ok. It's just a joke, Tsunade. But seriously, what is happening at the hospital."

Tsunade sighed as she sat down, on a chair that Sakura put out for her and Tsunade so they can sit around the desk, and said, in a tired voice, "To be honest, It's depressing. There haven't been any serious injuries in the past few weeks; but trying to look after Temari is a full time job."

Naruto's clone bit his lip, as the memory of Temari's distraught and broken face played through his head; along with the image of the bloody bundle she held so tightly to, as she rock back and forth on the ground...

He was brought back to the present, as Tsunade continued, "She's getting worse and worse by the day. Refusing food, her attempts at suicide...and now she's having hallucinations. She thinks she's watching her son grow up; while all she's really doing is staring at a blank wall. She mistakes Shikamaru for her son, too..."

Naruto's clone raised its hand to silence Tsunade, as nausea crept into his stomach. Shikamaru was being mistaken, by his own wife, for his dead son? That...

The sound of wine being poured broke the clone out of its horrified thoughts, as Sakura filled his cup with sake. She had a small smile on her face, fake or not the clone couldn't tell, as she said, "Now come on, let's not get into morbid talks. Today, after all, is a special day."

{Yeah, the anniversary of the day the village got turned into a crater. Very 'special' indeed; that's not one bit morbid at all, is it Sakura?} Thought Naruto's clone, as he and the other two began to drink from their cups. While Tsunade began to sip it down like no tomorrow; the clone just starred at the clear coloured liquid. His memories of the past four years seemed to appear on the surface of the alcohol; him holding hands with Hinata, him standing beside Baki (his hands were bandaged after his first attempt at Wind Sword) and also of the day he'd made Jounin.

Tsunade, Baki, Hinata, Gaara and all his ninja comrades were standing beside him; as the old hag gave him his Jounin jacket. But also; in the background, almost hidden by Choji's profile, was a boy who wore a straw hat. He was standing beside a slightly freckled girl, who had short, blonde hair and was wearing a girl's standard shirt and trousers. In her arms, she held a bright blue bundle.

The boy and girl both looked at him, smiles on their faces. Then their skin began to melt, the bundle screamed as it turned from blue to blood. The girl was still smiling, as her skull was the only thing that remained.

The boy then spoke, in a twisted cheery voice, "Don't be sad boss. You only cry when you're happy..." He opened his mouth wide, and lighting shot out; right at Naruto's face...

He shook his head, violently, as the nightmarish day dream left him. Luckily, Tsunade and Sakura didn't notice. But the reason why they didn't was even more horrific. Sakura's eyes, which were full of sadistic pleasure, were watching Tsunade; whose face was ghostly pale, her eyes were wide and her blood was dribbling out of her mouth.

Naruto's clone was shocked. He glanced at the cup he held, knowing what was laced within. Questions began to run through his mind, but instead of asking; he acted. He dropped the cup and bent down under his desk; mimicking gurgling sounds that Tsunade was making.

Sakura face cracked into an evil grin as Tsunade fell onto the floor, fidgeting violently as blood spewed from her mouth. Sakura then glanced in what she believed to be Naruto's direction. When she heard the sounds of his apparent death; she gave off a cackle of laughter, saying as she finished her laughter, "You really were an idiot, Naruto-baka! I can't believe that you became the Hokage, a real ninja wouldn't have been killed so easily!"

The clone soon stopped his 'sounds of death' too fain death; but it was not as easy to stop the anger, an anger he had not felt in ages, coursed through his body. {That... that BITCH! WHY DID SHE KILL TSUNADE; WHY DID SHE TRY TO KILL ME!}

His questions were answered, as the pink harried harlot continued her jeering, "But even though you could never, not in a chance of hell, beat my Sasuke-kun; this will make his homecoming truly special!"

Naruto's clone was in a state of both extreme surprise and extreme anger. One side of him was working on what was happening, the other was screaming for the whore's blood. For now his calmer side had one as he formulated his theory.

Sakura had been on Sasuke's side for Kami knows how long, and she had been feeding them false Intel; saying that Sasuke was no were near the village. But from what she said, it sounded like he was closer then imagined, and was about to attack the village!

Sakura turned away from the presumed dead Hokage, saying out loud as she did, "Now that the Baka is taken care of; I better meet up with Mizuki at the academy! He'll be pleased to know that the useless weakling is dead!"

"Useless am I, Sakura-Baishun-fu*1*?" She stopped in her tracks; by both the voice and steel, that was pressed against her neck, of her indented victim. Naruto continued, in a low, cold and deadly voice, "Well aren't you the one to talk? Considering that you had to rely on our trust in you to kill us. To try and kill me, your leader and former teammate, plus your own Sensei." He looked back at Tsunade's body, which was pale and spread-eagled on the floor, and continued, in the same tone as before, "She was your teacher, the one who made you strong and confident when you felt useless. And you went behind her back, took advantage of her trust in you, and repaid her with poison."

He turned his glare to the back of her head, which was so intense that it might catch alight from the sparks of furry that radiated from the glare, and continued, in a slightly higher tone yet the cold was still there, "You know something, Sakura? Before this, I considered you as my sister; one of the most important people in my life..."

She gave off a harsh laugh before saying, in a mocking tone, "'One of my precious people', ha! Like anyone in this village consider you to be a human being! You're just a demon..."

Naruto then gave off an even harsher laugh, which intimidated the kunoichi, before replying, in a voice of pure hatred, "And you're just a back-stabbing, traitorous whore! Looks like Sasuke and you do have something in common." He then pressed the kunai harder into her skin, causing a bead of blood to sliver down her collar bone, and whispered into her ear, "Now I would gladly end your life know, Baishun-fu. But I think the real me would want to end your worthless life."

Sakura's eyes widened, as the sound of a clone dispersing rang in her ears.

That clone's memories were now Naruto's memories, that clone's shock was his shock and that clone's anger was his anger. Naruto's happiness, which had been as high as the clouds, were now as low as the fiery mantle. His hands shook in Hinata's, in either rage or dumbstruck he did not know, and his face contorted.

"Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata, in a quavering voice; as the looks on his face told her the reply that she did not wish or think would happen. Naruto gazed at his girlfriend, the images of Tsunade's corpse and of Sakura's leering face were flying through his mind. He tried to speak, to explain his odd behaviour, but was foiled by the events of the next second.

A scream, no a chorus of distant screams, had reached Naruto's ears. He spun his head round to face the direction of where the screams were coming from...

"I'd better meet up with Mizuki at the academy..." that were the words that Sakura said, in her triumphant monologue. Surely...no...They can't...they wouldn't dare...

But the truth was plain to see, or hear, as another scream was vaguely heard by Naruto's ears. The Hokage was now frozen in both sickness and horror. Mizuki, who had thought to be in prison, would stoop that low; but Sakura...? She had shown she would cut down lives for her 'beloved' but to quell the lives of children...

Naruto found it a bitter pill to swallow; that just like Sasuke, he got the feeling that he'd never truly known her...and just like Sasuke, he'd accepted her like family; even when the bonds were hollow...

"Naruto, what's wrong?" asked Hinata; who'd seemed to have not heard the sounds of the barbaric crimes that Sakura was committing. Her face was now lined with sorrow, as Naruto's reactions told her a story she didn't want to hear. Naruto looked back at her, a pained expression plastered on his face, as he tried to think up a response.

He wanted to say yes, he wanted to tell her of what he'd just seen and also he wanted her comfort; as his emotions were in complete disarray. But as the sounds grew louder, loud enough for Hinata to notice but not to understand, his mind steered into the state of what he now was; Hokage.

He let go of Hinata's hands, and ordered, in a tone of complete authority, "Hinata, I need you to find Shikamaru, Kakashi, Yamato and all the other Konoha ninjas! Tell them that Sasuke is about to invade, and that they must regroup at the main gate as planned!" He turned on his heels, continuing his orders, "Tell Shikamaru that I will be there momentarily if he arrives before me, and...!"

But Hinata interrupted him, in a confused and scared tone: "Wait, what are you talking about? Sakura's team reported that Sasuke was no were near the village..."

Naruto interrupted, in a hurried voice and with his back still turned, "Hinata, Sakura has..." But a yell broke him off, a yell that Naruto knew well... A scared nosed, dolphin haired man's face, flashed before Naruto's eyes...

No...Not him...anyone but him...

Naruto, now driven by extreme urgency, turned on his heel to Hinata, and yelled, "Just go! I'll explain later!" He then turned back to face the direction of the academy, and began to sprint. He heard Hinata call after him, pleading him to explain what was happening. But the now apparent screams of the academy students, as the building came into sight, drove all the thoughts and sounds of his lover out of his head.

He landed in front of the academy door...

"Hey Naruto, wake up."

The blonde jerked awake, having fallen into sleep as well as memory, and stared upwards at his awakener. There was no mistaking that black, pineapple shaped hair and lazy voice. Shikamaru was giving Naruto his old, bored gaze; not like his serious, alert and humourless glare he had after his son died.

He continued, in his uninterested tone, "Not that I'm interested, but why are you asleep here? There are better spots for a nap then against the Hyuuga compound's wall, on the ground."

Naruto got to his feet, brushing off the dust that had blown oh his clothes as he did so, and replied, and lied, "I was tired and I didn't feel like scouring the village for a better place to sleep. I'd thought that you who understand something like that, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru raised an eye brow, and stated "'Scouring? I never thought you'd know such a big word as a baka."

Naruto was annoyed by this and so replied in a cool yet edgy voice "And I'd never thought you'd be able to walk, you're so lazy. I guessed that Choji carried you to school; but it seems that you have some ability in the term of walking. As little, as it may be."

Shikamaru was now completely shocked; even if he did not look it. He never had a proper talk with Naruto; he'd just guessed his nature from his boasts and failures. But now facing him, Naruto seemed a lot more...serious?

His face was not wearing the vague or go-happy expression it usually bore; it was calm, mature and...Maybe...older? Why older? Why did that word spring to mind, as Shikamaru's gaze became mildly calculating as it stared at Naruto's face? Because no matter how hard he looked, even though Naruto was as old as he was, his eyes gave of the aura of age and experience. Just like his father, that ninja he had met (Asuma) and also the 4th... {Bah, why am I bothering? This is just too troublesome} thought the young genius.

He shrugged his shoulders; as he changed the topic, "Whatever; why were you sleeping there? I saw you pace around, looking at the compound gate, before you took your little nap. You looked like a nervous wreck."

Naruto grunted, as small yet faint blush creeped into his cheeks, "Why are you interested? Don't your concerns only consist of sleeping and eating?"

Before Shikamaru could reply; a yep of pain sounded behind the wall of the compound. Naruto and the lazy boy both turned towards the sound; as they both recognised the owner of the voice. Shikamaru was concerned, but Naruto was more than that. {That's Hinata! What's happening back there!}

Naruto instantly went to investigate, with Shikamaru on his tail. They both went through the gate, which was surprisingly open, and soon found the reason of her distress. Hinata was slumped on the ground and standing over her was a face Naruto knew well; except filled with smugness that he had not seen since his defeat at the jinjuriki's hands.

Speaking of that smug face, it was now leering at Hinata, who had a bleeding lip and a defeated look on her face as she lay on the courtyard floor, as he taunted, "Get up, Hinata. Or are you going to except your fate and stay down like you belong."

Hinata tried to get up, but an unseen injury seemed to take its toll on her, keeping her the strength to stand. Seeing her like this, caused Naruto to feel an all too familiar anger; though not as potent or intoxicating as when the two traitors brought it out.

Still, the ex-Hokage stormed over to Neji, even though Shikamaru tried to stop him, and exclaimed, in an angry voice, "Hey, what the hell is going on here!"

Neji looked up and replied, in a sharp and uncaring voice, "This does not concern you." Hinata also looked up; and her face was both shocked and glad as her eyes fell upon her crush. However, her face showed depression and hopelessness; for she felt even more pathetic as her crush now must think she too was a failure.

Naruto saw this, out of the corner of his eye, which caused him to reply, in a heated yet moderate tone, "Doesn't concern me, eh? You're beating up one of my classmates and calling her worthless; I think my concern is well placed, don't you agree?"

Hinata's face flushed as she heard these words. {Naruto noticed me at the academy? He considers me his classmate?}

Neji gave the blonde a closer look; which caused him to smirk at Naruto. "I recognise you" he said, in an uncaring and taunting voice, "You're the dead last of her year. How quaint, a loser looking out for another loser."

Naruto face showed impassiveness at these words, as he replied, "And you're Neji, the rookie of last year's class. Funny, you're just like our year's rookie; you look, and sound, like a two inch dick."

Neji grinded his teeth as the ploy to get the blonde angry backfired on him. Hinata was surprised; not only was Neji was losing his cool, but also that Naruto seemed different. His usually over- loud mouthed, gusto was now reasonably loud and calm. His face had lost its go-happy expression and was now, at the moment, quite serious. But what really seemed out of place were his eyes, for they seemed to be...older?

Her chain of thought was cut, however, when Naruto continued "Anyway, you still haven't answered my question. What the hell were you doing?"

Neji gave him a hard glare with his opaque eyes, as he answered, in a curt manner, "I was just reminding her of her destiny; that being, that she will be nothing more than a weak and useless loser."

Inside Naruto, his thoughts were all screaming {How dare he say that about Hinata-chan! Let's wipe that smug off his face; beat him to a pulp!} On the outside, Naruto's face was unreadable; his tone also hid his anger, as he said blankly, "'Her destiny'? What a load of claptrap."

As Neji's gaze heated; Shikamaru crept around the two conversationalists towards Hinata, who was still having difficulty in standing. Even though Shikamaru thought it was troublesome, he had decided to get Hinata out of harm's way; for his senses guessed that Naruto's and Neji's verbal exchange will soon turn physical.

As he helped Hinata to her feet, he glanced at the two boys, thinking; {Now if this does go physical, Neji will probably win; he having a bloodline and a year's worth of experience to back him up while Naruto isn't even a shinobi. I don't think I'll be able to stop him getting into it, but I can make sure he isn't hurt bad}.

While Shikamaru supported Hinata to walk back to where Shikamaru once stood; Naruto continued, in a blank tone, "I mean, how do you know what her destiny is? If you had some kind of 'vision of the future' that showed you her destiny; then you're probably touched in the head."

Neji's face contorted in rage, as he snapped, "Why should I listen to you! You're just a loser, like her, and are going to be one for the rest of your life! Such is the fate of all failures!"

Naruto's eyes then began to returned some fire, but not as blazing as the destiny boy's, as he replied, in a sceptical tone, "There you go again, going on about destiny and fate as if they were true. All you're saying is that people can't change; that there doomed to be either a success or a failure for the rest of their lives, but that's not true."

Naruto's voice changed as he burst into speech, into a firm and carrying tone, "The future is not set in stone and nor does it change by sitting on your arse and waiting for it to happen. We forge our own paths, our own destinies, with the decisions we make and the trials that life brings, being either good or bad. Hinata may not be strong now, but that does not mean she is a failure now or going to be for the rest of her life."

Hinata's face turned scarlet as she heard these words from her crush. {Naruto doesn't think I'm a failure. I'm so glad...}

Shikamaru on the other hand was completely stunned. He never thought, not in a million years, that Naruto, the dumb, loudmouthed idiot, could speak with such charisma. {He's never acted like this before; he always seemed to be a complete baka...}

But in truth, Shikamaru never really knew Naruto; he just ignored him and classed him a troublesome idiot. Now, however, Naruto sounded like the 4th, confident and commanding. Shikamaru's thoughts were all asking different questions; and it was a compete drag.

Naruto then readied himself, raising his hands into a battle stance, as he continued, "Now I don't care if you're the rookie of every class since the village was founded; I'm going to show you, that not only can hard work and determination can make even the weakest bud strong, but that people can change, for the better and for worse, even if I have to knock it into your thick skull!"

Neji, who had been shaken by the blonde's words, was at first surprised before reverting to his harsh persona, as he replied in an angry tone, "As if you could! You'd just lose, such is your fate!"

Naruto just gave Neji a hard stare, as he replied, "Then prove it. Let us see who is right; if you're not too much of a coward."

For what seemed an age; opaque starred into blue, cold vs determination, the past vs the unspeakable future. Then, right in the middle of their staring ground, two kunai clashed together.

Neji lunged forwards, a gentle fist jab was primed, his byakugan blazing fiercely. The blonde jumped back, dodging the blow by inches, and as he landed back on the ground; he formed the ram and bellowed, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Neji raised his hands and planted his feet into a defensive stance, as ten, identical copies of the blonde were now in a circle around the young Hyuuga. He smirked, thinking that they were just illusions. How wrong he was.

On the sidelines; Hinata was silently rooting for her crush while Shikamaru just stated, in a bored tone "Naruto really hasn't changed; using the clone jutsu, even though he completely failed at them at the academy, isn't going to work on a..."

He was cut off by the sound of the clones popping there knuckles. Hinata turned a bewildered eye to Shikamaru, saying: "Illusions don't pop their knuckles."

All the clones gazed at the original; who gave them a nod. As one, they all pulled put a kunai and threw it at Neji. The Hyuuga, once realising that they were corporeal, prepared himself to doge the incoming projectiles.

The clones, however, had a different idea. All the Naruto formed the Ram seal; and yelled: "Shadow Kunai Clone Jutsu!" The ten kunai were joined by what seemed ten-thousand kunai.

Neji broke a sweat, thinking {Shoot, I didn't believe I would have to use this.} He then quickly spun on the spot, yelling "Rotation!" A dome of blue chakra surrounded Neji; just as the first kunai were about to hit their mark.

They all either bounced off or turned into puffs of smoke. Neji finished his jutsu facing the original Naruto, and the Hyuuga had a smirk on his face. "This jutsu is the ultimate defence. You have no chance of..."

He stopped in mid-sentence as the clones all threw more kunai at the prodigy. He in turn began to rotate again.

Back on the side-lines; Hinata was shocked to see that Neji knew how to do the Rotation. Shikamaru was thinking something completely different. {If he knows he can't hurt him when he performs that jutsu; why is Naruto...} But then, it came to the genius.

"I hope Naruto wins" murmured the lavender eyed kunoichi. She had complete faith that he would do his best; but Neji was very strong...No! She must believe in Naruto; he will win this!

"I think he will" stated Shikamaru, in a slightly curious tone. "I mean, I never thought that Naruto would even dream to use that tactic."

Hinata gave him a questing look and he looked back with an expression that read 'watch and see'.

Neji stopped spinning, a trickle of sweat was on his brow but his smirk was still firmly in place. "I told you, nothing can..." But then Neji saw Naruto was about to fire another volley; so he spun on the spot again. The sounds of thudding kunai never came; and now he thought about it, he never heard the last one either.

As he stopped spinning, now tired as hell, he heard the chortles of Naruto's clones.

"Gee, what a dumbbell!" cried one of the clones, in mirth. "We didn't even throw the last two volleys; we just faked it!"

The other clones joined in and laughed there hardest; while Neji stood there, tired and angry. "What so funny, loser!" yelled the Hyuuga, in a tired and strained tone. "This fight isn't over!"

They all, as one, raised their eye brows and taunted "Really? Says the one who's all out of chakra!"

Hinata now realised what Naruto was doing; wasting Neji's chakra by making him use the rotation over and over again. And now Neji was as good as helpless.

WHAM!
Neji had left himself open for a re-named Naruto classic.

"LEAF-MA-El-STROM!" yelled the clones, as they each landed their own kick; the first in the back, the second in the stomach and the last two on his sides.

As Neji flew up in the air like a mortar bullet; he was greeted by the foot of the real Naruto and the last words of the attack: "TIDAL WAVE BARRAGE!"

Needless to say; Neji was now heading straight for the solid ground. As he collided with the earth, the clones of Naruto all poofed away in a cloud of smoke.

Naruto landed right next to the semi-conscious Neji, not as graceful as he would have liked, but beggars can't be choosers. He glanced down at Neji, who managed to roll over onto his side and then say, in a tired, exhausted voice: "H-how d-did I lose? You're just a failure; not even a genin...how?"

Naruto's eyes showed no emotion, yet his face was stern. When he spoke, he spoke in a calm and clear tone, "I won because I chose to win. I am not bound by fate. Neither are you."

He then turned his back on the defeated ninja, whose face was showing deep thought and soul searching, and began to walk over to Hinata and Shikamaru. Hinata began to blush like mad, but she still managed to stutter "T-that was b-brilliant N-Naruto-kun."

A small, yet almost un-noticeable, blush crept into his cheeks; which was noticed by the Nara. {Hmm, looks like he has a crush on Hinata...but why does he go yelling about how he likes Sakura all the time? Wait, why am I even thinking about this? This doesn't concern me.}

Naruto took a moment to look into Hinata's eyes...the same lavender eyes...now, even after all the proof he had seen, he knew he was in the past...a past with Hinata...

He then realised he was staring at Hinata; who's cheeks were now glowing like a bright beacon. He quickly changed the conversation around, by muttering "Umm, sorry 'bout the mess." He gestured round to the small crater and the scattered kunai.

Hinata did not help to lighten this awkward situation, as she continued to blush bright red. {Why was he staring at me like that? He looked so happy, contented...does he...c-could he...?}

Shikamaru, who had been as quiet as one of his shadows, decided to break the silence: "So Naruto," he began, causing both of the love birds to jump in surprise, "care to explain how you managed to defeat a Genin, who has about a year's worth of experience, while you're not even a Genin yourself?"

Naruto bit his lip as he pondered on how he should respond: {Ok, this is vexing. I got to admit, I did kind of overdo that fight (beat-up) and I was stupid enough to do it in front of Shikamaru. I doubt he'll figure out I'm from the future, but he will be suspicious of how I've changed so fast in character. Let's hope he buys my 'playing the fool' excuse.}

"Well," began Naruto in a calm voice, "Looks like the cats out the bag." He gave a slight chuckle as he felt the combined gazes of curiosity from Shikamaru and Hinata, both waiting for the blonde to tell his tale. "You see, I'm not really an idiot...or at least at the level of idiocy you think I am."

Shikamaru raised and an eyebrow, while Hinata grew even more curious and asked, "W-what do mean? W-were you p-pretending to be an idiot all this time, s-since you joined the A-Academy?"

Naruto turned to look at Hinata and answered, while trying to stop himself from staring to intently at her beautiful face: "Yeah it was just an act, Sun- I mean Hinata-chan—oh..." He looked away from her; his whisker marks were standing out against his blushed skin.

As Hinata began to blush as well, Shikamaru found himself the only one probing Naruto to continue, with a nod of the head. It was extremely troublesome.

"Umm," he began again, his crimson blotch finally starting to die down, "Well, the reason why I acted like an idiot was to get noticed by people."

Shikamaru's brow muscles were having a thorough workout today as the hairs above his eye lids rose again, while inquiring, "Why need to act like an idiot? If you got the smarts..."

Naruto interrupted the genius, by giving off a mirthless bark of laughter and saying in a matching tone: "Ha, like they ever paid attention to me! Did you ever once notice them asking me if I knew what the answer was for a question in class, before Iruka became the teacher that is?"

Shikamaru, now he thought about it, realised that was true, never once had a teacher even acknowledge Naruto's presence. In fact, he remembered a time when he saw Naruto eagerly write in a test paper, Shikamaru had just not bothered with it, and when the teacher collected that paper he just threw it into the bin without a single glance at it.

Looking back now it seemed really odd how the teachers treated Naruto, before and after he started his pranking spree. Not only were the teachers treating him like a leper, but so were all the other adults. {Why? Why did they treat him like that? And why am I so interested? Damn troublesome!}

Hinata also knew what Naruto was talking about. She had seen the adults shunning him, heard them tell their children that he was a demon and much, much worse. She had always felt so sorry on how he was pushed away for no apparent reason besides being alive, even before he began his pranks. And they were all harmless as well; besides the paint bomb under one teacher's chair...the other paint bomb in the teacher's lounge...generally all the pranks that involved paint bombs.

"Since silence is a form of assent, I take it you agree with me," voiced Naruto, bring both his listeners out of their deep thoughts and ponderings. Once their gaze retuned to him, one face showed laziness while the other embarrassment, Naruto continued his explanation: "So yeah, that's why I played the fool; even went so far as to pretend to like Sakura." He shivered at that thought, violently.

While more mystery dawned upon the pineapple's brain, hope and joy lifted in the Hyuuga's heart. "You don't like Sakura," she asked, with no trace of a stutter but had a trace of happiness in her words.

"Don't like," asked Naruto, in an incredulous outcry: "What's there to like?" He then began to count off on his fingers, saying as he did so: "First, she hits me with her man like strength. Secondly, she has the voice and pitch of a Banshee; with the face to match. Thirdly, how many people do you see with bubble-gum pink hair? I wouldn't be surprised if there were strands of it among her hair roots. And finally, she is as hollow as a rotten, wooden music block; not to mention as off key as one to boot. I only pretended to like her to annoy the stupid Uchiha. The day I would want to date her is the day that pigs, Ino not included, can fly!"

After he finished his rant, Shikamaru was now fully convinced that Naruto disliked (understatement of the year) Sakura. Hinata, on the other hand, was mentally dancing g the samba. Her inner self was screaming: "YES! NARUTO HATES THAT BITCH, NARUTO HATES THAT BITCH...!" Hinata sweat dropped due to her inner self singing in a samba style, but she had to agree with it.

They were all brought round, literally, by the sound of a throat clearing. Neji had regained mobility. His face was slightly battered; a couple of bruises and the evidence of a later shiner, but you could still see the look on his face, which was calm and collective, and dare I say it, nervures.

Still, Naruto gripped his hands slightly and the others were put on edge; Shikamaru tensed and Hinata became fearful. Neji looked straight into Naruto's eyes, and said, quietly: "Naruto, I apologize for calling you a loser." His tone was a bit flat, but since honesty was detected, Naruto lessened his grip and reduced the harshness, that he him-self had not noticed, in his gaze.

"I think, I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," replied Naruto, his voice not stern but neutral; his hand gesturing to Hinata.

Neji nodded and faced Hinata; who was silent but not so embarrassed as before, or ever, in the company of Naruto. Neji, still keeping eye contact with the lavender eyed girl, gave a small bow, whilst saying in an apologetic, yet slightly forceful, tone: "Hinata-sama, I apologize for my rudeness. I shouldn't have called you a failure either."

Hinata was taken aback by this, not once had any Hyuuga in her family had called her Sama; for she was considered the black sheep of the clan. Neji was about to straighten up, when Naruto said: "Neji, I just like to point out one thing, before you go." Neji slowly turned to face Naruto; wonder was clearly plastered on his face as he guessed on what the blonde would say next.

"I know that you probably hate the main branch..." began Naruto, his voice even and calm, "...and rightly so. Putting seals that can fry your brain with a single hand gesture, on people that's supposed to be your own family, never seemed right to me." Neji went a bit rigged, but continued to listen to Naruto all the same. "Now with that in mind, do you think Hinata is weak or kind?"

This puzzled all, only a moment though for Shikamaru, until Naruto continued his query, explaining what he meant to the two Hyuuga's: "Because, if you think about it, couldn't she have activated your bird cage seal during those times that you...'tutored' her?" A look of shock and realisation dawned upon Neji's face; while Hinata just hung her head, as if the idea of her doing such a thing was repulsive.

Neji noticed this and read the true signs of her emotions. He stood there, in silent contemplation, as he asked him-self his own contemplation: {Am I a genius, or a stubborn coward?}

The blonde seemed to have read the boy's mind, and as if he was replying to that self-asked question, he said aloud: "Anyone can make mistakes; but not all have the chance to make up for them."

Neji, Hinata, Shikamaru (who was feeling quite sleepy by now) and Naruto all stood there in silence; one staring at another's soul search whiles the others either stared in awe at the observer, the other in question.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Neji sank into another bow; this time giving a true, non-forced plea for redemption, saying: "Hinata-sama, I honestly, truly am sorry for all the wrongs I have committed against you. I-I was being stupid, blinded by my arrogance and anger, of being called the 'Hyuuga Prodigy' whilst being looked down on by the other main branch members. I used you to vent my rage, unjustly though it was. If there's any way I can make amends, all you need do is ask."

Hinata was stunned with no hints of blush on her cheeks. She was mixed with relief, surprise and other such emotions; rendering her in a state where she was neither shy or bold. She looked at Naruto; the one she secretly loved and the one who had brought such dramatic change to her once sneering, unfeeling cousin. Their eyes met, and Hinata was dazzled by the look in the blonde's sea blue eyes. Calm, authority, and reassurance; the kind of look she had only seen in one man's eyes: the 3rd Hokage. Naruto, his eyes still fixed upon Hinata's lavender pupils, gave a single nod; thus giving Hinata the strength she needed.

Her eyes now on Neji, who was still in a low bow, she said, in a calm, clear voice: "Neji, thank you." The boy looked up, his eyes showing shock that she had forgiven him so easy. "I always knew..." she continued, her voice still calm and devoid of stutter: "...that you were angry; that you blamed the main branch for...your father's death..."

Neji was sent rigid again, as if an old, painful injury had decided to rub more salt on the wound, but did not interrupt. "...and since I was weak, where you are strong, but since I was still above you in status; you took your frustration out on me. Still, I never once hated you, for everyone in the main branch, even my father..." A tear rolled down her cheek, as she began to fall prey to her emotions again.

A hand then rested on her shoulder, giving a reassuring grip to the shaken girl. She looked round, startled, and almost felt her heart leap out of her chest. Naruto was the hand's owner, his eyes where now giving her the same gesture of encouragement as his hand. He gave a small smile, causing Hinata's heart to pump faster and louder, and gave a small nod; and the strength returned to her.

"...t-they two thought me as a failure. But unlike them, you've apologised." She gave a small bow of her own, finishing her speech by saying: "I look forward to working with you as a Kunoichi of this village, and also as my cousin."

Neji's bruised face gave way with a small smile, as he replied: "And so am I, as a Shinobi and your cousin." He then looked at Naruto, his face half curious and half respectful, and finished: "And I look forward to working with you, Naruto. I must admit, I never would have guessed you were so skilful and charismatic."

"Never underestimate you opponent," stated the blonde, his face now smiling a small, smug smile. "Especially if it's me." He then extend his hand out to Neji, who intern took the hand and both exchanged a handshake; a final show of neutral respect for each other. As they both lowered their hand to their sides, Neji gave them all one final nod; then made his way back to the compound; his injuries becoming priority in his mind.

After Neji had gone, the three ninjas to be just stood there until, as one, their tummies gave a large growl of hunger. Shikamaru rubbed his stomach and commented: "All this excitement has made me forget how hungry I was, how troublesome."

"Me to," agreed Hinata, her quite voice returned but the stutter had taken a leave of absents. "We should probably find somewhere else to eat; father won't let me bring in non-clan members."

Naruto had hoped he would get the chance to eat out with Hinata, he only whished Shikamaru wasn't here. He wanted to get to know her better, or at least have an excuse for knowing more than he should know about her, and it would be easier if he didn't have to spread the conversation with Shikamaru.

"Alright," replied Shikamaru, his feet now turning towards the compound gate. "How about we eat Ichiraku's? If there's one thing I'm certain I know about you, Naruto, is that you love ramen to death." Hinata giggled as Naruto gave a shrugged rely of: "True, true."

As they got out of the compound and turned right down the street, a sudden thought struck Naruto. He looked back, towards the left turning, and remembered something. That restaurant, that Hinata wanted to go to on the day of the attack, was actually a renovation of...

"Hey, guys! Wait a moment," cried the blonde haired kid. The other two both came back; questions were all over each other's face. In response to their looks, Naruto explained: "Well, even I get sick of eating ramen sometimes..."

Both Hinata and Shikamaru both exchanged bewildered looks, their sanity in danger of collapsing. Shikamaru turned and marched up to Naruto and pulling at his face, saying: "Ok, that's it. Who are you and where is Naruto."

Naruto pulled away from Shikamaru's attempts to 'pull his mask off'; clutching a sore cheek as he backed away. "One, he's in Konoha, outside the Hyuuga compound and standing right in front of you. Two, I am Naruto Shou Uzumaki, soon to be injured by a pineapple headed boy!"

Hinata, who still didn't believe it was Naruto, went through a couple of hand signs, and finished off by saying:"Byakugan!" Her pupils became vivid and veins appeared around her eyes. She took a good look at Naruto, realised what she was doing, and then stopped; her face breaking out in a huge blush. "Y-yes i-its h-him, S-Shikamaru-kun," stuttered the poor girl, her face now resembling a red traffic light.

Shikamaru gave Naruto a hard, calculating glare, and asked: "Since when was your middle Shou?"

"Since I was born," replied the blonde, in a sarcastic tone. "The old man had left my birth-certificate in his office, lying on the side. I took a peep and found out about my middle name." This was not strictly true, he had to search threw tons and thousands of piles of paper work to find his certificate; and that was in the future.

Deciding to move the subject on, Naruto continued: "Right, as I was saying; like any sensible minded person, I occasionally get sick of having ramen. So I've got an idea of someplace else to eat." He pointed towards the left turning, that they took the right of at the Hyuuga compound gate. "I heard that there's a new shop that sells Chinese food on the go. It's quite a wide selection, I hear, and they've got their own seats, just like Ichiraku's."

Shikamaru, who was still suspicious of Naruto, gave a small nod and replied: "Fine, might as well. But I'm not paying for it, period." Hinata, who had gotten over her blush outbreak, also mumbled: "I've left my money at home."

Naruto shrugged, pulling out his old, to him anyways, frog wallet, Gama-chan...Why did he name it again? Anyway, Naruto assures the group, by saying: "All-right, I'll pay. But I'll be excepting repayment."

With that decided, and with...Gama-chan in hand; the trio made their way to the surpassed food stall. When they all arrived, they automatically noticed the stall with a sign reading: 'Chi Eat: Chinese on the go: opens today!'

When they went inside the stall, they noticed it looked almost like Ichiraku's; except was decorated with blue and green and not just red. The chief was a middle age man, scarred face, beady eyes and dark of skin. When he spoke, in an authentic Chinese accent, he spoke in a slow, dumb undertone, saying: "Welcome to Chi Eat. I thank you for choosing to eat here and I hope you will enjoy my cooking." Obviously he was not from Konoha, for anyone who was would have told Naruto to take a hike.

The three kids sat down, Shikamaru on the left while Naruto was in the middle with Hinata on his right-hand side. The seats were comfy, leather made, but as a loyal customer, Naruto will always pick Ichiraku's over this any day. He was only doing this to keep a promise, even though it was made to the future Hinata.

Shikamaru observed the menu, which was placed above the chief's cooking stall, and decided, out loud: "I'll have a try of the chicken and prawn rolls, along with a pot of tea, please." He then yawned starched his arms up into the air, and then placed his head on the counter.

Hinata, meanwhile, ordered a portion of Duck fried rice, the drink having already been ordered by the napping Shikamaru. Naruto ordered a portion of Pork fired rice, his eyes now resting on Hinata, who was looking anywhere but Naruto. As the chief bustled off to prepare their orders; Naruto decided to begin conversation.

During the next five minutes, they talked about 'how was their day' and such mundane topics like that; for Hinata was back to being nervous and was making it difficult for Naruto to start a line of topic that didn't involve things like the weather. After a couple of minutes, their food on the verge of serving, Naruto finally managed to find a topic that could open up to much more: Which people they think they'll get paired with for their ninja teams.

"Well," began Hinata, her blush the size of a walnut; "Since I have the byakugan, I think I'll get paired with Kiba and Shino. Father once said that Hyuuga's are either put into close combat squads or trackers. I-I'm no good at fighting, so I'll only be useful for my Byakugan. Shino will have his bugs, which can be used to drain people's chakra, and Kiba has got Akamaru, they always do everything together."

Naruto winced at the sound of their names; for every mention of their names in the future was always the way of bring Hinata into a sad and depressed state. Shino, in the future, had been a good man and level headed person; and like all of his comrade's deaths, his was always in his waking nightmares.

Now Kiba was a different story, for Naruto and he had many similar qualities, the most troubling was their like of a certain, lavender eyed, girl. He had dead panned Naruto after he had discovered that he and Hinata were dating, even after he had become Hokage. Naruto had never felt like he had stolen Hinata away from him, but Naruto did notice that she was slightly attracted to the semi dog ninja.

Because of that, they had a little bad blood between them for those future years. And on the eve of Kiba's final mission, the one that resulted in his death, they both had a harsh row; resulting in Naruto's last words to be: "Get the fuck out of my office, you fucking bitch spawn!" He had always beaten him-self up over that; and when he was once really depressed, he blamed him-self that he had sent them to their deaths, all because of an imaginary idea that he was trying to take Hinata away from him. After that moment, he tried to avoid her out of guilt; finally stopping on the day of the attack.

But back to the present, Hinata didn't notice him wince, for she was, out of shyness, trying to avoid looking at the blond boy. Naruto decided to fill the silence, by sharing his own idea (or knowledge) of who might/will be his teammates.

"Well if it is those two (yeah, 'if') then you are very lucky. Kiba is an ass sometimes and Shino can sometimes be a bit weird; but I'm probably going to be landed with that shank, Sakura and Emo Uchiha. Sakura will probably be utterly useless and Sasuke will probably do an Uchiha."

"An Uchiha," asked Hinata, her eyebrows raised in puzzlement.

Naruto gave a mirthless laugh and explained: "You know, do what an Uchiha dose best; run away and betray anyone in sight. I mean, let's look at their track record..." He began to count off on his fingers: "One, Madara Uchiha; betrayed the village by trying to kill the first Hokage. Itachi Uchiha; killed his family then became an S class ninja. And apparently, on the night the Kyuubi attacked, the Uchiha were said to have left the moment the thing appeared on the horizon; reason why so many ninja's died trying to kill that thing, they were expecting back from them. I heard there was a lot of discrimination coming from the other ninja clans because of that; and since there's only one left, our favourite Emo king, they practically showered him with praise, just to keep him from doing 'an Uchiha' and go after his brother and make the sharingan extinct in the processes."

After he had finished his long rant, he noticed that Hinata had fallen very quite. Soon though, she spoke up, saying: "Is that why you don't like him, because he gets all the praise of being a genius without any effort while you get pushed on the side lines?"

"Yep," replied Naruto, his little plan of seeding the reason for his dislike of Sasuke had worked, for it didn't make sense if he competed with Sasuke while already being a smarty pants himself. "Plus he looks like traitor material; I wasn't kidding when I said he would probably leave. But, he might prove me wrong... {Or I'll have to kill him,} thought Naruto, as their food was finally ready to serve.

{I can't let him fall into Orochimaru's or Madara's clutches. If he gets the curse mark, he'll try and leave the village. If he kills Itachi, then Madara will manipulate him into attacking Konoha. That I still don't understand; because according to those notes left by Itachi, the ones found in the original Akatsuki hideout, Madara had planned on murdering the whole Uchiha clan for their betrayal of him when he tried to overthrow the first Hokage.

The only reason Sasuke was still alive was that Itachi had threatened both the stupid council members, that had ordered him to kill his family, and Madara, who he worked with to kill the clan, that he will reveal the truth about the Uchiha's own coop d'état; which would have cause the destabilisation of Konoha and also another ninja war (which meant Itachi was serious because he was a pacifist). Either Sasuke had been under some kind of Genjutsu or he was just plain stupid, the latter comes first in my opinion.}

During this time of thought ranting; Naruto, Hinata and Shikamaru, who had raised his head from sleep, had began to tuck into their meals. Shikamaru eat his rolls slowly, taking great care to take as small bites as he possible could. If it was to savour the flavour, then he should stop talking to the other two, who eat as slow as he did. Naruto was now grateful that Shikamaru was here, for Hinata felt more confident with another company; thus allowing conversation to flow freely.

As the grains of rice disappeared from their bowls and the tea only half drunk, they had exchanged topics on likes and dislikes, hobbies, favourite past times (in which Naruto shock the other two by revealing his like of art) and finally, as they poured the last drops of the brew into each cup, ninja skills.

"Well," started Shikamaru, his bored tone still apparent but only by a vague margarine. "I can do our clan's speciality: the Shadow Possession Jutsu. That's about it really, I find it troublesome to work too hard, and learning that was the most troublesome thing I have ever done."

"You find all work troublesome," pointed out Naruto, in a good natured tone. This caused Hinata to giggle and Shikamaru to mutter...you guessed it: "Troublesome blondes."

Naruto cracked a grin, his hand putting down the half finished cup of tea. One of the many things he had missed was a good old, non- Sasuke or Akatsuki related chat. In the early days of the future, before the war had corrupted the mood of Konoha, he would finish his missions, later paper work, draw a little doodle or landscape portrait, and then hang out with his friends; either over a drink, a bowl of ramen or a box of dango.

That last one, the one where he spent quality time with his friends, and girlfriend, were the things he missed. Those moments had been plucked away by the wanton destruction and death that Sasuke had caused. Either there was no time to hang out or the people you hung out with are either dead or dying.

Returning to the conversation; Naruto began his own skill evaluation, saying: "Well, as you saw in with my fight with Neji, my specialties are the Shadow Clone and Kunai Jutsu." A thought struck him, an idea that might help in the future. All he needed to do was hint: "But I did find this scroll, in the old man's office, that had some jutsus I could probably use in the future."

"Like what, Naruto-kun," asked Hinata in a quite tone.

"Well..." he began, after taking the last sip of his tea and placed the cup down on the counter; "...there was some basic chakra control exercises for one; very useful. But there were some other exercises that were used for elemental jutsus, too."

Shikamaru, who was about to finished his drink, lowered his cups from his lips, and asked: "Elemental jutsus? Isn't that C-A rank material; and why did you look in this scroll anyways?"

Naruto raised his hands up, and replied: "Hey, I didn't steal it, if that's what you mean. In fact, it had my name on it."

"Really," said the genius, his voice slightly accusing and sarcastic laced. "Who would leave something like that in the Hokage's office, apparently with your name on it?"

"Apparently, it was my father." Naruto's voice was quite, but anyone could hear the slight sadness and disgust in is tone. Shikamaru bit his lip and Hinata looked away, with a guilty look in her eyes. They both knew that Naruto was an orphan, alone since he was a kid (which now look very strange to the two teenagers), but judging by the sound of his voice, this subject, of his father, seemed a little sore.

"W-what was h-his name?" Asked Hinata in a tentative, quite voice; her eyes trying to make contact with the blondes blue ones.

"I don't know," he lied, with utter ease, "All it said was that the writer was my father and that he had left me these jutsus so I would become a better ninja."

"Well that's good, isn't it?" queried Shikamaru. "Even if he didn't mention his name, he still tried to..."

"He could have told me my mother's name, or tell me what she did."

The two listeners went silent, understating Naruto's reason for bitterness and sadness; but only of Naruto's lie. In truth his father had left him techniques to make him stronger, but also he had left details of who he, and his wife, was or were. Naruto couldn't go round saying he was the 4th son; the attention that the council would give him could cause his stories and lies to collapse like a house of cards, and he may be even forced to reveal his 'future' secret.

He had only told Iruka he was the 'Yellow Flash's' son because he need to distract him from the fact he had been so calm after doing his first kill, or this times first. Hopefully, Iruka and these two won't swap the stories that the blonde had given them.

Naruto, deciding to move the convocation along, casually dismissed: "Now, enough about me. What about you Hinata? What are you good at?"

Her face blushed, which Naruto thought was cute, and her fingers were pressed together; a habit that the blonde had not seen for years. "W-well," she began, her voice trembling; "I h-have my c-clans G-gekai Genkai, the b-byakugan. There's a-also our c-clan's taijutsu, the Juken. I'm not very good at it..." She hung her head; rosy red gave way to pale white, and continued, in a sad, stutter-less whisper: "My father doesn't think I'm good at anything...nor does anyone else in the clan..."

Naruto examined his crush's face, his stomach began to clench painfully; which had nothing to do with the rice that was slowly being digested through the blonde's gut. He knew that in the far future that Hinata would finally earn the respect that she craved from her family, mainly her father. But that came at the price of watching her teammates die, both at the hands of the treacherous Sasuke. She pretended after their deaths that she had moved on, still remembering them in her heart of course. But Naruto had played the 'happy faced joker/fool' long enough to see past the mask that Hinata had dawned; all cheer and smiles when underneath she was just as sad, or worse.

Naruto, unintentionally, began crushing his empty tea cup as a burning, determined voice in his head yelled: {No! I am not going to put Hinata through that, the feeling that no one wants you or cares about you, ever again. I'll make sure that her father knows that she is worth something!}

A plan began forming in the blonde's brain; processed, formulated – Approved! He smiled to himself, appreciating how simple his plan was and how it would benefit both him and Hinata; she will get a confidence boost and Naruto will spend more quality time with the lavender eyed girl. Question was...Will she be conscious long enough to accept?

"So?"

Hinata and Shikamaru both gave expressions of great surprise. Shikamaru, thinking that Naruto was being tackles, was about to give Naruto a harsh telling off; until he saw the blonde's face. Hinata, who was hurt at the apparent dismissal of her shame, began to shed tears; until she to saw the look on Naruto's face.

Naruto's face? Well...it was not uncaring, taunting nor any other negative emotion. It was, in fact, calm, reassuring and maybe...Older? Both Hinata and Shikamaru shook their heads, as the same words pooped into their head: {Why older?}

But as Naruto spoke, in a voice of calm that seemed impossible to be coming from a boy who had appeared to be such a loud mouthed knuckle head, those words were thrown aside; one straight out the while the other deeper into his grey matter.

"If they don't accept you, then just ignore them."

Hinata looked taken aback at these words. "Ignore them?" She asked, her voice sounding puzzled but none the less devoid of stutter. "But there my family, how can I just ignore what they say?"

Naruto did not answer immediately, as his gaze fixed upon Hinata; whose blush began to return button sized. "I mean," he continued, his voice recapturing the attention of his audience; "Ignore what they say about you." He sighed and rubbed his chin, as if trying to find the right words to say. After apparently finding them, he lowered his hands to the counter; somewhere about a few cm away from Hinata's.

"Listen; you know how the adults don't like me. They call me..." He frowned, trying to remember what they called him; for, to him, it was so long ago he had completely forgotten the exact harsh words they told.

"A demon," probed Shikamaru; who was now interested in what Naruto had to say.

"Yeah," acknowledged the blonde; "A demon. Thanks Shikamaru, I'd forgotten." Before Hinata asked why he had forgotten the word that had been whispered behind his back to frighten off children from playing with him, Naruto quickly explained; "Because I stopped listening to the adults' years ago; except Iruka and the old man, of course."

Hinata still looked confused at these words as she still hadn't received Naruto's message. Shikamaru, on the other hand, gave a small "Ah..."

Glad that one person had gotten his drift, Naruto continued to explain his message to Hinata. "You see, Hinata...I ignore them calling me a 'demon', along with their other forms of insults and shunning (why they do it I have no idea), and I just become myself, Naruto. Because the other kids didn't play with me, I played pranks on them by myself. Since they weren't helping me at the academy, I trained on my own and I've learnt more by myself then at the academy; well, until Iruka stated teaching, of course."

"So," he continued, a small smile slowly forming on his face; "If your family can't accept you, for not being able to perform to their standards (to be a Hyuuga), then don't accept them and forge your own path; be yourself. Once you find something your good at, work hard and don't give it up; either to your own weakness or to the harsh words of others. It may be hard, the journey long and tiresome, but the end will be rewarding. You'll achieve your dreams and maybe find some new friends, people who do accept you. And if your family still hate your guts, then screw them because you'd found true friendships with others!"

Silence followed these last, inspiring words. Shikamaru had been pleasantly surprised, or down-funded, as he slightly gaped at the whiskered blonde. Hinata had also been surprised by Naruto's charisma as she was also gapping at Naruto, although she did it in awe. Naruto, who was pleased at the affect that his speech had on his friends, was now waiting for them to comment; or at least stop gawking at him. The minutes seemed to trickle by...then...

"Wise words, kid!"

All three ninjas, as one, jumped. Shikamaru's eyes went wide, the widest they had ever been while he was awake, and Hinata gave off a little 'meep'; which actually sounded quite cute. Naruto, meanwhile, had literally jumped out of his seat; his knees colliding hard with the counter. The trio's left over meal was sent an inch into the air, miraculously landing back onto their previous places in a neat pile.

After watching the short display of plate acrobatics; the three kids turned their gaze upon the apparent speaker, the stall owner, who had apparently listened in on their conversation since get go. Ignoring the memory of his plates being at his own eye-level, the chief began to speak; his voice giving off a reminiscence feeling of a warrior telling a whole crowed of some great battle he had once thought in.

"My family didn't accept me either; parents were ex-shinobi and my brother..." He frowned, causing the scars on his forehead to become even more noticeable. "...well, I think he's back home on a mission. Never did see him on the day I left for Konoha, after he promised he'd be there." He gave a small huff of anger. "Anyway," he continued; his voice now back to story teller mode. "My family wanted me to be a shinobi, family tradition was the main reason. I was seventeen, and my brother had just been born, when I realised that being a shinobi wasn't my talent; being still a genin and all while my teammates were jounin."

"But if you were seventeen," interrupted Shikamaru, with an un-characteristic look of interest; "Then you must have fought in the Ninja War."

The man slowly nodded, his left hand beginning to move towards the scars on his forehead. "Yes, I was. Konoha needed more ninjas so they went recruiting in the little villages around the Land of Fire. My parents were already retired and unfit for service, both having lost their middle fingers during a mission. So I, aged eight at the time, signed up for service. I graduated at fifteen..."

He stopped, noticing the odd glares of his audience. "Why did you graduate at fifteen?" Asked Hinata, tentatively; her voice still without a stutter.

The man gave a toothy grin, revealing a few missing teeth, as he gave a jokey answer. "Back then, they trained us till our legs gave way. With the amount of jutsus, fighting styles and medical training they gave us, we nearly all drowned in our scrolls!" He gave a loud, bark of laughter after these words; while the trio all gulped as they tried to imagine what the Academy would be like if this regime of training was still in forced.

"But these days, thanks to civilian council and their complaints about how much it would cost to give any decent training, your school days are a breeze." This last quip had a slightly flat tone to it, particularly the part about the civilian council.

"But back to my story. As I said, I realized that, at seventeen, being a shinobi wasn't my calling." He looked down at his sitting listeners and saw a question; which he promptly answers. "Don't get me wrong, I wasn't a bad shinobi. Here..."

He then suddenly brought his hands together, the eight fingers and two thumbs began spelling out animals at a speed worth of any veteran shinobi. He finished on bird, a common water jutsu seal, and then extended out his hand. When his arm was fully out stretched, the tips of his fingers were only an inch past the counter's edge, he yelled (for obvious effect): "Water style: Lotus Deal!"

As soon as he said 'Lotus'; a small, see-through bud of clear water appeared in the palm of the stall owner's hand. It then opened up and small, gleaming petals of water burst into bloom; each petal glowing a different colour in the light of the day's sun. After the 'Lotus' had reached full bloom, the man raised his other hand; straitening two of his middle centred fingers. He then, as fast as a bullet, rapped the water plant with his two fingers. The moment his fingers touched the watery surface of the Lotus, an exact copy seemed to fly out the other side; right over the tips of the man's out-stretched fingers.

The three ninjas spun in their seats, watching the flying plant's flight. The man, behind them, closed his eyes in deep concentration. He raised his free hand, which he had used to strike the water moulded plant, and spread out his fingers. The mid flight Lotus broke into pieces, now just a cloud of water petals. Even though they looked like a disorganised cloud of wedding confetti, made of H2O, the stall owner had full control of each petal. His eyes now open in a focused glare; he moved the fingers of his free hand in small gestures.

Naruto, having been overcome with curiosity of how this jutsu worked, turned round and saw what the stall owner was doing. The blonde soon realised what the man was doing and going to do. He looked back round, just in time to see the cloud break apart into individual petal drops.

{Dang,} thought Naruto, as he admired the man's skill. {Elemental manipulation is always a bitch to learn. But learning to control individual strands of an element, even if it isn't in mid-flight, is on another level entirely.}

He stopped his mental appreciation in time to see the jutsus finale. Each of the petals began to fly towards a house's wall. As they were about an inch away from the wall, the petals began to grow again. In a flash, thousands of Lotuses were in the air; all hurtling towards a poor, unlucky wall. The first Lotus hit the wall, and a loud crush was the result.

After about a thousand Lotuses hit the wall, with the force of a thousand sledge hammers, it was a surprise the wall was still standing; though the house now looked like it had moved a couple inches. Naruto and Hinata were both stunned into awe inspired silence. Shikamaru, on the other hand, slowly turned around and asked incredulously; "ONLY A GENIN!"

The man shrugged, a sly grin on his face, as he replied; "Rank has no influence on skill. I was actually a medic, working on the home-front in a military hospital. In my spare time, which was brief, I worked on this jutsu: Lotus Deal. I never got to use it till I was seventeen." His face was now blank; his hands now at his sides and his eyes looked like they were struggling with an unpleasant memory.

"I was moved to the front-lines as an emergency medic; the commanders thought that a battalion of Stone ninjas were planning to launch an attack on a forest that had a clear path to a Land of Grass village. And they were right." His face creased an expression of tiredness and pain seemed to flit across the lines of the man's face. "They ambushed us when we were sleeping. Half of my friends got killed the moment the attack started.

I was working on a guy's broken leg before the attack so I was one of the first to realise we were under attack." He looked at his right hand, which the three listeners now noticed had a huge scar slashed a cross the palm. "When I exited the med tent, a stray kunai slashed my hand. When I looked at where it had come from, I saw about twenty ninja; all bearing the Rock head bands and where firing kunai left and right."

He sat down, on a hidden stool behind the counter, and absentmindedly began examining his right hand. "The trick behind multiple elemental manipulations," he announced, still looking at the back of his hand; "Is more than concentration. You need willpower, tons of it. Once you've mastered that, you then, when you perform any multiple elemental jutsu like the one I just show you, to have a focus...like a...secondary eye behind the element you're controlling. (A/N: If any of you have played 'Dark Sector' then it's like the after touch ability; the one that gives you a view of the glade so you can steer it.)

"So, as I directed each of my Lotuses into each of the Rock ninja's chests, I saw each of their final looks of horror as I took their lives." He shivered as a look of staring at a forgotten and unpleasant memory etched on his face.

Hinata and Shikamaru both shared a feeling of phobic discomfort, as their imaginations gave them a horrid vision of what this man must have seen. Naruto, who was no stranger to death, worked out why this man, who seemed to posse's great skill, was cooking Chinese without his name going down in history.

"My spurious..." the man continued; his voice and face now calm and relaxed. "...Wanted me to be prompted so I can fight on the front lines; as I just about saved our group from being wiped out. I said no—"

"What," exclaimed both the Hyuuga and the Nara; their face wide with looks of complete astonishment. "Why?" Asked Hinata; her usually shyness completely forgotten. "Why did you refuse?" It seemed bizarre to her that this man, after proving his worth to his fellow ninja, just gave up a chance to become something in his family's eyes!

The man gave Hinata a sort of pitying look, as he responded in a low, cool undertone: "You won't understand, you haven't experienced it yet; but you will. There will come a time, in each of your ninja carriers, where you must take a life. Some people get over it; some people discover they get a kick from it..."

"And some people discover," interrupted Naruto, his face blank but voice cool; "That they can't cope with taking lives and quit."

The man nodded, his beady eyes giving Naruto a calculating glare. The he stopped and announced, his still cool: "Yes, that's correct. And I'm just that I'm afraid." He looked at all of them, taking in their young, innocent faces, and said: "Look, I'm not telling you not to become a ninja. But if you're not prepared to kill then you might as well quit while you're ahead."

Shikamaru and Hinata both glanced at each other, both wandering the same thing. Naruto, deciding to move on from this depressing subject, inquired; "So what happened next?"

The man, noticing the slight panic he had started, continued his story; his story-teller voice bringing the troubled duo form out of their stares. "Well, after I refused the offer to become a jounin, I was sent back to the home-front to help the wounded. I stayed till the end of the war to help the wounded; I wasn't going to let people die just because I got cold feet at being a shinobi." Naruto had never once considered this man a coward, but any doubts were lifted as he heard these word.

"After the war, I handed in my head band and returned to my village. I was greeted with a seven year old brother and two pissed off parents. Not only had I not learned the clan's secret jutsus (like they wanted me to) but I had quit being a ninja. They were so annoyed by this they disowned me and threw me out on the streets."

Hinata could sympathise with this, except with the throwing out on the street part. Her own father had disowned her without even looking at her; his eyes being on his second daughter: Hanabi.

"But even so, I still had friends and my brother didn't hate me..." He frowned again, scratching his head as he did so. "...Or at least, I think he didn't hate me. He was very hard to read." He still kept on frowning, until Naruto gave him a small cough (as if to say "Hello, were still here.)

He broke off from his frowning and continued his story; "Well, during my stay at my friend's house, I discovered that I had a flare for Chinese cuisine. So, after learning tons of recipes and creating a few of my own, I announced to the village that I was moving to Konoha to open a food stand. My parents tried to stop me, begging me to reconsider being a ninja again. But I found my calling and I wasn't going to stop it to do something I don't want. So after travelling by cart, finding accommodations and getting building permission; I am here talking to you now."

Naruto was the first to speak, for the others were still thinking about the story they just heard. "Thanks for telling us that, Mr..."

The chef smiled and waved his hand, jovially. "Please, just call me Rye. My last name is embarrassing."

Naruto nodded and began pulling out his wallet (aka Gamma-Chan). He was just pulling out some notes from the overstuffed frog wallet, when Rye turned to Hinata. "Now, Miss..." Hinata promptly jumped, both from being pulled out of thought and being called 'Miss'.

Despite that, Rye continued on, in a reassuring tone; "...From what I've heard, you have some family problems to; maybe a few confidence to." There was no arguing with either statement's so Hinata just nodded. "Well just you bear in mind that there is nothing wrong with striking out on your own. I tried that to, as a ninja, because I found my family's jutsus difficult to learn. When I realised that being a ninja wasn't my cup of tea, I found purpose in cooking. So just remember what that young man has said..." He gestured to Naruto, who was pretending to ferret out notes. "...That when you've found your calling, give it all you've got and don't give a rat's ass about anyone who says you can't do it."

She gave a slight giggle at these words and the other two boys cracked small smiles to. But then a thought came to her, causing her to ask; "But how can I find something different? My family won't let me near the public library, just our private one."

Rye pressed his finger on his lips, his brow screwed up in thought. After a few seconds, in which Naruto had found the right amount of notes and Shikamaru had laid his head on his arms on the counter, he gave a simple reply of; "Well, all three of you are ninjas, right?" Naruto and Hinata nodded, Shikamaru also motioned his head into his arms as a sign of conformation. "Then why don't you train together?"

Shikamaru feelings were obvious, as he gave a sleepy grunt of "To troublesome" into his folded arms. Naruto sat bolt upright, unintentionally pulling out his money as he did so. The blonde's face was blank to the world, but inside he was cheering; {Yay! Thank you, Rye! You saved me the trouble of asking her myself. This way, she might not faint.}

Hinata, meanwhile, was dangerously close to that certain bodily shut down as her cheeks became cherry red. {Training...} thought the lavender eyed girl as she cast a shy glance at Naruto; whose face was still blank and unreadable. {...With Naruto? Oh, but he wouldn't...Yet, he seems to be different (A/N: No shit) and he did fight Neji for me...}

Naruto, after a minute of mind celebration (and another for mind reassurance), turned to face Hinata, his payment for the lunch still clasped in his hand. His face had dropped its unreadability and was now showing a shyness that rivalled Hinata. Hinata noticed Naruto's own beacons or red, causing her own blush to disappear.

"So, umm...Hinata..." Said girl was taken aback; the boy who had showed such charisma not so long ago, was now mumbling like a school grader asking a girl out on a date. "...Umm...How about it; you know, training?"

Hinata, whose blush was seemingly being transferred to the blonde, did not answer at first. Naruto, who now looked like a traffic light (except that his green light was bright orange), took the pause as a sign saying no. "I, umm, understand if you don't want to do it..."

Hinata, registering Naruto's sulky and sad tone, quickly shook her head; whilst saying just as quickly: "No, no; it's alright. I'd like that, actually..." She gave a sheepish smile, retaining some of the blush that Naruto had apparently stolen.

Naruto looked up, his blue eyes meeting her lavender ones. "Really, you mean it? I mean...umm..." He hung his head, the blush appearing to have weighed down his face at last.

Rye, who took a moment to admire how cute this scene looked, decided to break the silence with some more advice and another story. "Aw, you two remind me of when I was an academy student. There was a girl I use to hang out with, was a shy as anything. You wouldn't call her shy now; heck, I would have never believed that she was ever shy if I hadn't met her!"

Rye's gaze soon became misty as he seemed to remember old, happy memories. "Ah, yeah...Those were the days when I dreamed to be a famous ninja. Now my dream is...shucks..." He sighed and wiped some nonexistent dust from off his shoulders. "I think I've kept you three for long enough..."

"No, gone on," probed Naruto and Hinata; both curios to hear this man, who've they have both grown to admire in such a short space of time. Shikamaru appeared to be uninterested, while he propped his head on one side to let his ear point up at the line of conversation.

"Well..." Rye began slowly, his face obviously showing enjoyment in telling more stories. "My dream now is to make this stand..." He gestured at the inner walls of his stand. "...A restaurant." He then sighed and looked up to the ceiling; his face showing a look of longing. "And on the opening day; I dream that my parents will walk through the restaurant door, sit down and begin to talk about what they're going to eat. Then I'll got up to their table and take their order. They won't say anything yet; not till I come back with their meal in record time. And after they eat my food, they'll both stand up and say 'That's our son, Rye; the great chef and owner of Chi Eat restaurant.'" Rye wiped away a single tear from off his cheek; the beauty of his dream overwhelming him.

While Hinata and Shikamaru smiled at the Rye's dream of acceptance, Naruto hung his head; this time weighed down by guilt. He knew full well that on that day, the day that Chi Eat becomes a restaurant, Rye's parents will not walk through his door; maybe a Sound Ninja, but not his parents. They would not sit down and talk about what they'll order; they would walk over to the counter and put Rye's head on a platter.

Naruto had many things to regret on that day; now the picture of Rye, smiling happily from behind his restaurant counter, as he waited for his parents to walk through his door. Thinking about it, even if the invasion had not been on that day, Sasuke's army would have killed Rye's family as they ransacked the Land of Fire like they did every other elemental country.

{No,} thought Naruto, angrily balling his hands into fists. {I'm here now; I can stop that day from ever happening! I willsave my village, I will save my friends and I will make sure that Rye's parents will walk through his door; even if I have to push them through it myself!}

He raised his head; a look of determination was spread across his face. This was soon dropped and a happy expression was dawning on his face; which was not over played but was a true visage of happiness. Noticing that he was still clasping a handful of crisp Yen notes (Japanese currency), Naruto extended his hand towards the sitting Rye; cheerily saying: "Thanks for the food, and the stories!"

"It was my pleasure," answered Rye; who, while still sitting down, took the Yen off Naruto's hands. As Naruto and Hinata stood up, Shikamaru still trying to fain sleep, Rye exclaimed; "Hey! You've given me too much!"

Naruto hesitated as Rye tried to give the blonde back a couple of Yen notes. The boy then put a hand on the note baring fist of Rye and pushed it back, saying: "No, it's for your restaurant; keep it."

Rye looked surprised for a second before nodding, putting the Yen in a small box under the counter as he did so. "Thank you...?"

"Naruto," replied the blonde; "Naruto Uzumaki." He then turned to Shikamaru and asked, loudly; "You coming, lazy brains?" A huff was his response. "Fine, suit yourself." He, and Hinata, both went on their way; both trying to engage in conversation that did not involve one of the other blushing like a tomato.

It was awhile before a word was made in the Chi and Eat stand; Shikamaru was resting his head and Rye was clearing away the debris of the trio's meal. When the silence was broken, it was by Rye muttering; "Why?"

Shikamaru raised his head, deciding that sleeping here was impossible, and queried: "What do mean by why?"

"Why do people call that boy a demon," stated Rye, a look of confusion and distaste was on his scarred face. "I've been in Konoha for a week and every time I've heard of that kid, the person utters his name in contempt."

"I always thought it was because he pranked everyone," stated Shikamaru.

"No," said Rye, "I don't think it's got anything to do with pranks. They way they talk about him...it must go a lot deeper than pranks." He shook his head and gestured in the direction that Naruto and Hinata went, his face streaked with confused anger; "And after talking with him, I really can't understand why they call him such things! The only thing that bothered me was..." He bit his lips, trying to find the right words...

"He seemed older?"

Rye's eyes widened in astonishment, his head slowly began to nod. "Yes, that is the exact word I thought. It's just...I really...Don't know why. He's only a kid, but his voice..." He then slowly shook his head, muttering in defeat; "I just can't put my finger on it. That kid is a mystery; he didn't act like how the villagers say he acts."

Shikamaru was half listening to Rye, as his own eyes were staring at the place where Naruto and Hinata had turned a corner. {Your right about that, Rye,} thought Shikamaru, his eyes still giving the wedge of wall, the one the Naruto disappeared behind, a hard and calculating glare.

{I just can't believe that Naruto, who always seemed to be such a complete idiot, had faked it all; just so he can get attention from the adults. And there's the other thing; why do all the adults, except for a chosen few, despise Naruto? It just doesn't add up, all he ever did was play a few pranks. And that feeling that he should be...older than his age, is just even more troublesome!}

As Shikamaru stood up, his legs working on automatic, he looked over his options. The first, and most preferable, was to drop the subject entirely and ignore Naruto. The seconded was to find out the blonde's secret, for Shikamaru knew that Naruto must be hiding something.

He soon reached a cross-road; left would lead him straight home and right would take him to Naruto (for that was where he and Hinata had went). Shikamaru looked at both turnings, his mind deciding not only his route, but his future course of action.

"It will be a complete and utter drag..." he muttered, whilst turning ninety degrees on the spot. "...But if I leave it now, it will be a constant drag." The young, lazy genius began to stride forwards; right on the path that Naruto took.

As his own figure disappeared behind the corner, Shikamaru gave off an uncharacteristic cry of "This will be troublesome, but I will find out your secret; Naruto Shou Uzumaki!"

*Many hours later*

As the blue sky of day gave way to the grey clouds of night, the door of Naruto's apartment opened, which revealed a sweaty, tired and shopping loaded blonde. His right side weighed down by the three bags of equipment, food and clothing, as he staggered towards his apartment table.

Depositing the bags of rare merchandise, (rare for him at least), Naruto wiped a strand of sweat from his brow. As the back of his hand rubbed across his face, the boy saw his reflection in the mirror.

He smiled to himself, as he observed his jumpsuit-less appearance. After he and Hinata had left Chi Eat, he had asked her to assist him in doing a task he had never been able to do; shopping!

Armed with two henges and a girl's advice in fashion, the disused duo stormed Konoha's best clothes store. While Naruto was a sweet faced, grey haired civilian boy, Hinata took the role as a kind faced and slightly plum mother. With her help they managed to not only fool the people who had sworn 'Never to sell so much as a ragged cloth' to Naruto, but also helped him to find outfits that looked quite smart yet very discreet; the sort of clothes that a shinobi would use on a public mission that didn't stand out but could still fade into the background when needed.

Back to the present time in Naruto's apartment, Naruto was checking out his new, favourite clothes in the mirror. He was wearing a pair of dark grey, baggy trousers; a black, short sleeved T-shirt that had lines of orange that stretched from the bottom corners to the underneath of his armpit. These strands of orange were obscured by the dark green jacket he wore over the T-shirt; said jacket also had a bunch of chest pockets to keep extra kunai or shuriken in.

He had other clothes to, but they were for another time. After admiring himself in mirror for another minute, he turned to the bags of shopping on the table; which he had managed to purchase with the help of a lavender eyed beauty.

After sorting out his shopping, his food in the cupboards (for he refused to live on a diet of toast and instant ramen) and clothes and equipment in the wardrobe, Naruto headed straight for the shower; the smell of a hard workout was already contaminating the room.

After he showed, Naruto brushed his teeth, washed his face and put his clothes in the wash. From then on, Naruto began following the most boring thing he had learnt ever; routine. Don't get me wrong, routine is sometimes a good thing, but Naruto had done it so many times during the darker hours of the future it all became a blur after he'd done the first couple of steps of chorus.

Next thing he knew he was fed, he was in pyjamas and was lying in bed; the greyish cover was about a cm away from his chin. Now during this brief spell of time, before he sercombe to the desire of sleep, Naruto would usually evaluate his day; which in the future were all describable in one word: Dismal.

Today, in one word: Success!

Not only did he took Neji down by a few pegs and start a basic relationship with both Hinata and Shikamaru (who had caught up with the duo, after they had finished shopping, and asked Naruto to come round for tea tomorrow; which Naruto gladly accepted), he had spent a small day-out with Hinata; after the small shopping rush together.

They had walked around mostly, touring all the best spots in the village, and had exchanged words on many conversations. At the end of the day, he had escorted her home to the Hyuuga compound and had managed to say goodbye without a single trace of red on either of their cheeks.

But the thing that made him feel really pleased about him-self that he could face the coming challenges head on with a certainty of untold proportions, was that he had fulfilled one of his broken promises; he had taken Hinata to Chi Eat, the place she had begged him to go on the fateful day.

True that it wasn't the same Hinata and he had promised to take her to the Chi Eat restaurant; but as far as he was concerned, it was close enough. And with that, sleep took him into his arms.

Itachi finished his job, a slight smile on his face as he muttered; "Not bad, not bad at all..." He was soon disturbed by a group bearing into the dusty room; said group comprising of Naruto, Hinata, Shikamaru, Kiba and Tsunade.

"Itachi," they yelled in unison; "How come Sakura was here; she supposed to be in hospital!"

Before Itachi could answer, they all heard another pair of feet entering the trash-heap of a room. They turned to see...Sakura, wearing her usual pink dress. Silence greeted her arrival, as her brown eyes—wait, BROWN?

"Err, hi, Sakura," greeted Naruto, his voice gave the impression that he didn't want to talk to 'her'. "How have you..." He was interrupted, by Sakura pulling her face off.

As the mask drifted to the floor, all but Itachi gaped. But they all cried out, in a surprised cry of utter disbelief; "WELSHSCOT!"

Yep, it was me; currently ripping off the hideous dress of Sakura. It had been an act of desperation as you readers wanted me to update my story. Sakura was still in hospital and no one would have agreed to pose as her willingly, besides someone who was desperate. I was desperate and now I'll have nightmares for the rest of my life; maybe a year if I'm lucky.

As the tatted dress fell to the floor (revealing my usual attire that had been underneath), I slowly walked towards my desk; right through the five person crowd of ninjas. Before I reached Itachi and my desk, I heard Kiba give a small, bark of laughter.

I turned round; fury and contempt were steaming off my face as my eyes lay upon Kiba, who wisely began to back away. My dignity had already been spoiled and my personal hygiene seemed to have decreased the moment I wore Sakura's costume, both causing my anger to rise to breaking point. Kiba's mockery was the last straw.

I plunged my hand into my miraculously large pocket and thought; {I don't own...Portal.} After these words were thought, the power of disclaimers worked its magic. From my over large pocket, I pulled out a small, white ASHPD; more commonly known as a Portal Gun.

Before Kiba could remark on the strange weapon in my hands, I aimed and fired a blue portal at his feet and simultaneously fired an orange one over Kiba's head.

Kiba had no chance, as the ground gave way from under him. He fell, and fell...and fell...

I turned away from my handy work, which in lay mans terms meant that I had trapped Kiba in an infinity loop. I walked past Itachi, who was just standing as still as a statue, and sat down at my desk; carefully placing the Portal Gun on a spot that wasn't too dirty.

"Now, if anyone..."

I stopped my threat as it was not needed, for all the ninja (except Itachi and Kiba) had made a break for the door; none of them wanting to experience my wroth.

After the dust settled, silence penetrated the room; ignoring the distorted screams of Kiba. Itachi was the first to speak, his voice bearing no hint of emotion as he stated "Nice gadget, Welshscot-sama."

I looked down at the Portal Gun on my desk, a grin forming on my face. "Thanks, Itachi. I got the chance to use this while I worked on one of my stories; the ones that I worked on while I thought out how to break my bubble on this story."

"May I ask, what are the names of these stories; if you plan on publishing them?"

I turned towards my laptop and began writing their names on the screen: 'Zapping with Portals' and 'Infamous Effect: The Conduit Engineer'.

"I managed to write the first chapter of these stories, but I need to find a beta reader who knows Portal, InFamous and Mass Effect (all of which I do not own). My current beta for this story knows squat about them."

I looked again at the screen, addressing you readers, saying: (A/N: So can someone lend me and hand with that? I want to publish my ideas and see what people think of them. And can you also review to ask questions about anything you're confused about in the story.)

Peace out and have a good life; I'm certainly won't be getting one soon. Well, better start cleaning. Adios!