A/N: Ok, this is a major chapter as you all know. BEFORE YOU READ, READ BELOW!!

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BEFORE YOU JUMP THE GUN AND SAY OMG CAN I PLZZZ BE THE BETA, READ WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR IN A BETA READER.

1. Can correct grammar and spelling (obviously)

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4. ARE A TOUGH AS NAILS EDITOR

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You must fill all of these, except for maybe 4, but if you can fill 4, then that's excellent (not to mention preferred.) If you are interested, PM me telling why you think you fit the bill. DON'T put it in a review. I don't want peple seeing others essays on why and improving theirs from the others.

Now, other than that, please read and review!

Chapter 15 – Fear Your Love

Hinata sighed at her refection in the mirror. She ran her hand through the hair on the back of her head, now that it was long enough.

"Ugh. It looks so retarded like this."

Getting a haircut seemed the right thing to do now, but she hadn't been let outside of the walls of the Uzumaki estate since she had arrived. And Kami knows how badly it would turn out if Meng or Izumi did anything besides her bangs.

Hinata let her hand fall to her side. She would let it grow. Besides, it might look better that way.

(A week later)

Since they had begun their training on August 22, it had been exactly three months of sore muscles and restless nights except for that break on October 10. Neither of the students noticed the passing of time or counted the days as they went by, as months and weeks were a thing of the outside world.

On November 23, neither student was woken by their teacher at six in the morning, yet their internal clocks were set as such so they woke up anyways. Going through the motions of their morning routines, they didn't notice something was different about their teachers until they didn't join them on the training grounds in the morning.

"Myuri-sensei, aren't you going to train us this morning?" Naruto had asked when he made no move to go outside.

"I was under the impression that the first part of your training was done, but if you would like to continue…" he trailed off.

The boy's eyes widened. "Are we done? Seriously?"

"As a celebration, Izumi was itching to take Hinata-san and you out to the local village, and get to know the community. You've been training for exactly three months, did you know that?"

"Only three months? It seemed like forever!"

"Yes, now go tell Hinata-san. I bet she's wondering the same thing."

Naruto ran off yelling 'thank you!' over his shoulder and then Hinata's name. He found her in her room slipping on her sandals in preparation to go and train. He ran in and tackle-hugged her, pinning her to the ground and jabbering loudly in her ear.

"Hinata, Hinata, guess what guess what? We're done! We're done with the first part of the training! Now we're going to learn the real stuff and learn how to kick some serious butt! And guess what else? Today, Baa-chan is going to take us out somewhere and we're going to get out of this big stuffy house! Ohhhh, I hope wherever we go they have ramen cause then you and me can get some and-"

Hinata burst out laughing, shutting Naruto up immediately.

He released her and looked at her curiously. "What's so funny, Hinata-chan?"

"Naruto-kun, I just can't believe how hyper you are now. It's been f-forever since I've seen you like this." She wiped her eyes she was laughing so hard.

"Is that a bad thing?" He looked like a puppy now.

"Far from it." she smiled.

He flashed one of his blinding smiles back. "Thanks." He got up from the tatami mats and ran back to his room in a flash. "C'mon, get changed. We're gonna have ourselves some fun!"

Hinata shook her head and got up from the floor, still grinning. He and his enthusiasm were so hard to resist!

She pulled on her usual navy blue pants which felt a tad small and a light purple short sleeved t-shirt. Hinata had never thought she would need a purse during the five years she would be gone so she never thought to bring one, but she did have a wallet. It was full to the brim with ryu notes that had nice large three and four digit numbers printed on them since money really wasn't an issue in the Hyuuga clan and she might be the next clan headmistress. She tucked it in her back pocket, grabbed her sandals and went to the front room to wait.

A minute later Naruto blew through the room, running to the West wing of the house to find his grandmother, yelling her name the whole way. Another five minutes later, he dragged Izumi by the wrist into the front room. He was babbling so fast in excitement that neither of the women could understand what he was saying.

Izumi wore long brown pants secured with a rope belt and an olive green Chinese shirt that folded completely across her front and was secured just below the right side of her collarbone, similar to TenTen's, Hinata noted. Her hair was tied into a low bun. A grey fishnet shawl and a pair of geta she held in her right completed the look of an old common woman.

Naruto had on his loud orange pants which he desperately needed to get rid of and a black t-shirt that had a swirl-flame design in the center.

"Now for this trip, you two have to act like you're together, got it?" Izumi looked at Hinata with a gleam in her eye. The girl's eyes widened, knowing exactly what she meant.

Naruto stared. He wouldn't have known what that meant even a short month ago. "What? Why can't I and Hinata-chan act like siblings or something?"

Izumi laughed. "Simply because you two look nothing alike."

Hinata blushed. Oh God, this was going to be horrible. A dream come true in a sense but it was nevertheless horrible and not to mention embarrassing. Her blush deepened.

"Do both of you have money you might want to bring?"

Both nodded; one excitedly and the other still in a weak state of shock. They left the house, though the gate, under the Oni Chakra Cloak and to the road.

"How far away is this place?" asked Hinata.

"It's a village only forty-five or so minutes down the road. It's no big shinobi village, though it has near the economy of one. I'll give you two time to explore when we get the food shopping done." Izumi replied.

True to her word, a little over forty-five minutes after they had left, a sprawling mass of brick, wood and concrete buildings came into view. The tallest buildings near the center were four stories high. The road they were on went straight through the middle and came out the other end of the village and continued on. Near the center, another large road intersected the first and cut through the rest of the village.

Hinata and Naruto walked side by side, close enough that their hands brushed every so often to keep up their charade and followed their guide down another large street. She went into a shop with bins of produce outside and large posters in the windows advertising sale prices on various groceries.

A half hour later the three emerged from the food market and the wicker basket that Izumi held was much heavier than it had been when it had entered. She ignored the street vendors that were yelling out their wares, selling trinkets and objects of all sorts some even snacks and made her way to the intersection of the two main roads. There was a nice grassy square in the center there as well as some benches. Izumi turned around and faced her two students.

"Now that that's over, go. Explore all you want, but be back here by eleven thirty. Oh and also, don't use your real names; use something that doesn't even resemble your real ones." She waved them off. "I'll be waiting here."

Once the two were out of earshot, Naruto grabbed Hinata's wrist. "Come on, there's got to be a ramen place around here somewhere."

He pulled her up and down the streets. Hinata's heart was wildly out of control and as she wondered if Naruto could feel her pulse though her wrist. If he did, he didn't show it.

On the sixth street they went down, they found one. Naruto cried out in joy and earned a few odd looks from the passersby but he paid them not a glance because he wanted his ramen. He flew into the place, which was called 'Ruka's Ramen Retreat' and quickly took a seat, Hinata taking the spot next to him.

A middle-aged yet still plainly pretty woman walked down to them behind the counter. "How may I help you two kids today?" she asked warmly and tucked a lock of light brown hair behind her ear.

Naruto glanced at the menu on the wall. "I'll have the deluxe ramen!"

"One miso ramen please." Hinata said.

"Coming right up." The woman turned away and walked down the counter.

"Ooooooh, I hope their ramen is as good as Mr. Ichiraku's." Naruto said. "His was the best. Did you ever eat there Aiko-chan?" He turned to Hinata.

"Plenty of times. Mainly when I got back from a mission though. His ramen is good." She agreed. "Much better then the store bought stuff." Why was she babbling to him about ramen? She had never even tried store bought! How would she know if he got technical with flavors and ingredients with her?

"That's for sure. Nothing beats freshly made."

"One deluxe ramen for the handsome boy and one miso ramen for the lovely young lady!" the brunette woman set two bowls in from them, one overflowing with a hardboiled egg, fish, bamboo shoots, baby corns, watercress, fish cakes, yum yum yum yum yum!

…and the other looking very plain next to it.

Hinata was pretty sure this was how she looked compared to Naruto.

"Enjoy!"

"Thanks lady! Itamakisu!" Naruto broke apart his chopsticks and dove right on in. Hinata watched him for a second then sighed. The three months had seemingly only changed him physically.

When Naruto was halfway done with his second bowl, Hinata asked, "Hiroki-kun, do you mind if I go and do some shopping when I'm done? I saw a few stores on the way here that l-looked interesting." His mouth too full to speak, he shook his head. "Thanks."

Hinata assumed that the ramen was very good, since he was on his third when she had finished her first and only bowl, paid for it and left. She walked down the street, browsing and looking though the windows to see what was inside. She went in a clothes shop, a jewelry store, even stopping at a few vendors stands but nothing caught her eye.

That was when she noticed the young, hulking man following her around. When she stopped, he hung around nearby just out of sight. She didn't need her Byakugan to know his eyes were focused intently on her as she walked.

In an attempt to shake him off, she turned down a more deserted street and hoped he wouldn't see her like a civilian would. It didn't work. She heard his footsteps come casually around the corner like he didn't have a care in the world.

A husky voice rang out. "Heya babe, hold on!"

She knew it was him, just by the tone of his voice. Hinata stepped up her already brisk pace and deliberately turned down another street.

Not a good idea. This place had next to no people than the one before. As soon as she realized her mistake, she ran quickly and his in the first alley she could find.

Flattened against the concrete wall, her breathing quickened. She saw her pursuer take a look down the alley and move on. Hinata closed her eyes and breathe a quick sigh of relief. When she opened them though, he stood right in front of her with a friendly but still threatening grin in his face.

"Heya pretty lady." He said as he sauntered forward. He planted a hand on the wall behind her and leaned into it, outing his face a mere foot from hers. "Why you tryin' to hide from little ol' me? I'm not gonna hurt you." The smile returned and his hand made its way to her waist.

Why oh why did she not run? She could have easily knocked him unconscious with a punch to the head or get him on the ground with a swift knee to the groin or by various other methods she learned in the Academy. This was the kind of thing she had trained for countless times over. So why was she frozen, her eyes wide and locked in his like the helpless prey in the eyes of the snake?

Her mouth opened and closed in a soundless scream. 'Move! Some part of me move, damnit! NOW!' a part of her shrieked desperately in her head. She tried to move her arm as he closed the distance between them, but her finger only twitched.

His lips were less than an inch away from hers when she shut her eyes tightly so she wouldn't see him taking advantage of her. Suddenly, there was a whoosh of wind as something flew by and her eyes snapped open.

The man was gone.

Hinata looked farther down the alley to her left and she was even more scared of the sight now than even that man. She didn't know if she had been saved from evil or if had saved her.

There was this thing on top of the man that had just tried to assault and rape her and the man was fighting back. He wasn't winning.

The thing… or was it a thing? It seemed oddly familiar to her, reddish-orange and shaped like a fox-

Wait a second. That wasn't a thing. That was Naruto. Her Naruto-kun. The same one she had seen three months ago, except this one had two tails, not one.

A string of realizations came crashing down upon her at once. First, Naruto didn't have a fox cloak as a bloodline, he had a Kitsune cloak. A demon fox cloak.

He was part demon. His eyes, slitted, blood red and transforming were proof enough as they looked like the eyes of one.

She was completely terrified of him.

The man's roars of pain and agony were cut off with a sickening rip that sounded like flesh being torn open. The ripping continued and that was mixed with in with crunches of bone as Hinata watched Naruto dismember the man with every ounce of fury he had.

Looking at him now, she wasn't sure if this was the same Naruto she knew and loved. It was the same body but the monster before her had taken over it.

There was no way that this was a bloodline. It was more, it had to be more.

"Naruto…kun…" Hinata whispered in a flurry of emotions and tears.

His head whipped around and he glared at her intently, or rather the animal did. Hinata staggered back a few steps like she had been slapped across the face but her eyes remained locked with his.

Sometimes, a look can say a million words or say something that words can't describe. Sometimes, a look was all it took to make or break someone. Sometimes, someone's life changed with that look whether for better or worse. And the look in her lavender eyes now was all it took to regain himself.

Immediately, the demonic chakra melted away, the claws faded and the eyes turned back to the ocean blue they were not five minutes ago.

Naruto crouched over and straddling his victim, pitched over to the side so he sat in the dirt. He stared at the dead man before him. Yes, dead. His throat was torn open, his mouth as wide as it could go in mid-scream. The left arm was torn off and laid lifeless a foot away. His torso and shoulders were covered in deep gash marks and the whole corpse was covered in blood.

Naruto felt his hand shaking. He brought it up to his face and looked at it. It too was covered in blood.

He had just killed his first man.

He had just exposed Kyuubi big time.

And he had done all this in front of Hinata. His precious, beautiful, sister-like Hinata-chan. What would she think of him now? He looked at her and was instantly hurt by the fear and shock in her wide eyes.

"Hinata-chan…"

He had just hurt her. By doing that, he had just hurt himself by knowing that he had harmed her. Naruto buried his face in his bloody palms in horror of what he had done.

"I'm sorry…" It was barely a whisper. "I'm sorry Hinata-chan." He got up and threw his arms around her. "I'm so sorry Hinata-chan." he mumbled in her ear. "I'm sorry you had to see that. I wish you didn't."

She stood there, still shocked but reality was coming back to her. A tear ran down her cheek and she latched onto him. They cried into each other's shoulders and neither wanted to let go.

Eventually, Naruto came to his senses again. "Come on, we better get outta here before someone finds this." He gestured to the corpse.

"B-but wh-what ab-bout the b-blood?" Hinata barely managed to get past her lips.

He looked down. His shirt was covered in blood but his pants had managed to get only a few random spots on it. Even if his shirt was black, he could see the bloodstains from the angle he was looking at it. "It'll be fine. It's black, so no one will see the blood. If it'll make you feel better we can go buy a new one."

She nodded, wiping her eyes. Naruto wanted to put and arm around her to let her know that she was safe even if he was the monster here. Instead, he shoved his hands in his pockets to hide the blood.

They walked out of the alley close together and headed for the nearest clothing store they could find. There Naruto bought a dark blue shirt, the first thing he laid his eyes on and asked the cashier for a bathroom. She led him to the back where he washed his hands and put on the fresh shirt. He went out with a cheerful 'Thanks' but his perfectly composed face fell off the second he stepped outside where Hinata was waiting. This time, he did put his arm around her but she still put some distance between them. He thought that either she wasn't used to having him so close or she was afraid of him. He guessed but hoped it wasn't the latter. They slowly made their way back to the center square where Izumi was waiting.

Whether she was with him or in her thoughts, he didn't care; he would try to explain himself. "After you left me at the ramen stand, I figured I'd just walk around to try and find you." The hand around her tightened into a fist.

"And then I saw him down that alley, taking advantage of you. All I could think was 'No. Not my Hina-chan.'" Naruto bared his teeth. "I lunged at him and my rage brought out…my bloodline. All I felt was this overpowering instinct to rip him apart so he couldn't hurt you. So I could protect you." He bowed his head. I gave myself to my bloodline. I let it overpower me so I could hurt him a hundred times worse then for every time he hurt you." His arm tightened around her in a gentle way. "I hope I didn't hurt you."

She didn't relax.

They were approaching the final turn that would put them in full view of the square. "Let's put on a good face for Baa-chan, okay? Act like it never happened." He grinned brightly but the happy expression didn't reach his eyes.

As they rounded the corner, Naruto withdrew his arm and put on the mask he was very practiced with. Hinata tried her best to do that too but she only managed to look like she was pleasantly surprised.

"So? How'd it go?" Izumi asked brightly.

"It was great! First we walked around to find a ramen place and we found one called Ruka's Ramen Retreat and we ate a lot!"

Hinata stood behind him and looked at him, wondering how he could fake his enthusiasm so well after what had just happened between them. The answer was simple: years and years of practice and use.

"And then we walked around some more and looked around and talked! I even got a new shirt 'cause the one I was wearing seemed a bit small. Right Hinata-chan?"

She nodded. "Yup!" Her happy tone wasn't as convincing as Naruto's.

Izumi's eyes tightened as she sensed the falseness in Hinata's words. Something had happened between them and it wasn't good but she didn't say anything. "Right then, homeward we go?"

Naruto grinned and nodded. "Hai!"

The walk home was uneventful. Naruto kept on moving closer to Hinata as they walked but she shied away. He couldn't blame her after what she had witnessed, but it pained him all the same.

The next day was the first day of their real training.

Myuri had them bring their right hand up out in front of them and left hand by their right ear, both of them open. Next, as they brought their right to their hip, the left would swing down in a slashing movement that went diagonally across from their right shoulder to left hip. All morning they stood there in stance and did this and after lunch too, except using opposite hands. Myuri, Uesugi, Meng and Izumi fixed them each time they made a mistake in the movement, even the little things such as how much their wrist was turned.

Each day of the week, they learned a new technique to this centuries old taijutsu style. Every single one of them was extremely simple, not any sort of high flying, spinning kick. Also, they did only techniques that involved the arms such as blocks, strikes and punches. They did not learn a single move that involved the feet, not even a simple front or side kick.

Naruto got really excited when on the last day of the week they created a kata out of almost all of the new techniques they learned. The kata was, like the moves, a simple, flowing string of moves designed like a fight against an imaginary opponent. Myuri told them it would be awhile before they added in wooden swords. He also told them that in order to earn the right to practice with the wooden sword, they had to master this new taijutsu style and learn and master at least thirty of these "katas," each of which became progressively harder and complicated.

They were finally getting somewhere.

Inside though, he was still worried. Worried because of Hinata. She looked at him and smiled but it just wasn't the same as before. When she thought he wasn't looking, she gave him a frightened look and he could have sworn she shuddered once or twice. She still shied away from him. She didn't talk to him unless he addressed her. Before, she was beginning to talk to him regularly out of her own free will. Now, they were back at square one. They didn't talk before because they didn't know each other and that was okay but now they didn't talk because of the strained sense of fear between them.

And it was killing him. She didn't seem to relax the slightest bit since that day. He didn't know if she would ever loosen up. He didn't know if their easy-as-breathing friendship that he cherished so much would ever return the way things were going.

Plain and simple, he missed his Hina-chan.

She, on the other hand, was not doing so well herself.

She wanted to forget. She didn't want to remember the beast etched in her mind. She wished that it all would just go away and pretend that it was a bad dream. But it wouldn't because the memory she dreaded and tried to forget was brought up in her dreams.

Every night since the incident, Hinata was having those purple monster-cat nightmares, which would occasionally be visited by an orange Kitsune or demonic Naruto. They were a constant reminder to her and she couldn't get them off her mind.

That also bothered her. Naruto did have more than a bloodline. The eyes said it all. He had more than a bloodline. He just had to. Nothing she had ever seen or read about compared to his. It had so much raw power that you could feel it rolling off his body.

She just wanted to accept that it was his bloodline and move on. But she couldn't something was holding her back and she didn't know what it was.

This was all a part of the way she was now. Uncomfortable, unsure, insecure, frightened around him, even if she still loved him.

'What will become of us?' she wondered. 'What will we do?'

Weeks later, Naruto just couldn't deal with it anymore. He had to tell her.

As he walked to her bedroom down the hall, he reminded himself why it was even worth risking telling her this.

He had thought over the incident and played in his head, stopping on images of Hinata's terrified face. He wasn't trying to torture himself when he did that, even if it did, he was trying to tell what she was thinking. It became apparent to Naruto that she must have realized that he was more than what he claimed and she didn't know what it was. So, naturally, she became afraid of him since people are afraid of the unknown. She could only guess at a monster, some sort of demon. He hoped she wouldn't have read too far into his display of a demonic fox-shaped aura and linked it to his time of birth and thus his secret. If she had, then that would have been a reasonable explanation for being scared of him.

Most likely, Naruto figured, she hadn't figured that out and was left doubting his quick, flimsy lie. His conscious weighed down on him, knowing he had lied but it was necessary at the time. Necessary to guard her.

If he told her the truth, then she would either accept the truth as a natural part of him and they could go back to being best friends or she would accept the truth and be scared of him and become just another person on the streets of Konoha with fear in their eyes. But Hinata-chan knew him so she wouldn't abandon him, would she?

The mental anguish was too much to take. Knowing he had deliberately lied to her and finding no comfort in his excuse. Knowing she feared him and the looks and actions cutting him deeper than a sword through the heart. The only way to solve this was the big gamble of telling her about the Kyuubi, getting all or nothing in return.

Naruto knocked on the door frame to her room. "Hinata-chan? Can…" His voice failed him in his nervousness. "Can I come in?"

Behind the sliding door, Hinata froze. The idea of being alone with him in a room, much less her bedroom, would have pleased her a month ago but not now. She would have said "No." outright if the way he asked her hadn't showed he was scared and for what reason?

"O-okay."

He walked in, closed the door behind him softly and sat down, cross legged in front of her. She looked him over. He was looking down and twiddling his fingers rapidly. This was another first Hinata had ever seen from him; Naruto openly being nervous.

He didn't move from there for a few moments so Hinata resumed setting up her bed for the night, wondering where this strange behavior came from.

"Hinata-chan, can you… sit down please?"

She flashed him a doubtful look but otherwise did what he asked.

"Do you remember the village trip from a little while ago and what happened on it?" Naruto asked slowly.

"I-I've been t-trying not to."

He felt his heart stop for a moment as he considered what that could've meant. He bit his lip. "There's something I want to tell you about that."

A/N: Kukuku.. I AM EVIL!! Mwahaha!

...Yes, I know you all are dying to find out how this goes. And belive me, it will go awesomely because I have it all planned out. Will she reject him? Will she accept? Will she confess something of her own? Wait and see!

I think this is the fastest turnaround time ever. Yays for me!

Um, I was going to say something else, buuuut I forgot. hehe. Oops.

-IBP-

Next chapter: The suspense is dreadful... AND YOU HAVE TO ENDURE IT!