My Heart's Lavender Eyes
"Normal speech"
Sign Language = Name: (Stuff that they sign)
'Thought'
Kyuubi
Other enormous beings
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"Disclaimer"
I do not own Naruto or any affiliation there being, I am doing this fanfic because I enjoy making this story, not for the profit (which I do not get by the way)
Chapter 9:
Preparations…
He ran out and immediately turned left to find the man he was looking for.
"Hey! Ero-Sennin!" said Naruto as he waved happily.
'Ero? Sennin?' thought Hinata.
Jiraiya looked up to see his favorite student.
"Hey Naruto!" said Jiraiya happily.
"Hey Sensei, I need you to hold onto this for me. I trust you to keep it safe, to keep it from everyone, and to not look at its contents yourself. Can I trust you with this?" asked Naruto seriously.
'Naruto's sensei? He must be the one who accompanied him on his two and a half year journey!' thought Hinata.
Jiraiya nodded and held out his hand.
"Of course." said Jiraiya.
Naruto took out Tsunade's black box, and gave it to Jiraiya. Jiraiya studied it for a second before tucking it safely into his jacket.
"This is really important. I'm glad that I can trust you Jiraiya." said Naruto.
Jiraiya smiled, but noticed a small girl latched onto Naruto's back.
'Almost 16 years old, and she looks to be Naruto's age. Small girl, cute face, great figure... But she hides it under baggy clothing? Hm, so she must be a shy one. Ha! Who would have thought Naruto had it in him to get his own girl?' thought Jiraiya with a smile.
"And who is your new lady friend?" inquired Jiraiya pervertedly.
"Shut up Jiraiya." said Naruto, giving the Sannin an annoyed look.
"J-Jiraiya?" asked Hinata.
"Hm?" grunted Jiraiya.
He barely heard it, but he could have sworn that the small girl said something.
"Th-th-the Jiraiya? The l-legendary S-sannin?" asked Hinata incredulously.
She was astounded that Naruto would know one of the three most powerful ninja in the land of Fire.
'It must be a coincidence! ...But Jiraiya is such a rare name!' thought Hinata.
"Yeah, he's my teacher and stuff." said Naruto off-handedly.
Jiraiya smiled that the girl had heard of him. He was about to introduce himself as he usually did, dance and all. But he then noticed the eyes of the girl.
"A Hyuuga huh?" asked Jiraiya as he studied the girl.
His studying was quite too perverted for Naruto's taste, but before he could complain, Jiraiya picked up the both of them and gave them a big bear hug.
"Oh Naruto, I'm so proud of you!" cried the frog hermit as he swung them back and forth happily.
Naruto was surprised, confused, and annoyed.
Hinata was bewildered, blushing, and bashful.
"You've landed yourself quite the cute chicky boo!" said Jiraiya as he set them back down.
Hinata was speechless that she had actually been called a chicky boo, and was flushing red beyond belief that she had also been called Naruto's chicky boo.
"W-What?" said Naruto putting Hinata down.
When Naruto put Hinata down, she almost fell over because she was so flustered.
"Hinata isn't my um, Chicky boo!" said Naruto as he pointed at Hinata.
Hinata's reaction was immediate.
Jiraiya watched the two interact. He saw that when Naruto said that she wasn't his girl, she had a disappointed look on her face.
'Oh-ho! I learned her name, and her deepest secret, all at once.' thought Jiraiya.
Jiraiya smiled wider than ever.
"So Hinata is her name? ...Alright, Alright she isn't your girl. Whatever you say." said Jiraiya putting his hands up defensively.
'This is going to be fun. But I can't believe that Naruto hasn't caught on to her obvious attraction to him. Based on the look on his face, I would say he has no idea at all.' thought Jiraiya as he looked over the two.
"So... If she isn't your girl, then what is she to you then?" asked Jiraiya with a smile.
"She's like, one of my best friends!" said Naruto with a smile.
Naruto reached over, and playfully snatched her into a hug, swinging her back and forth.
Hinata's face immediately burned a bright red.
'RUNTIME ERROR... PROCESSING... PROCESSING...' thought Hinata's mind.
"If so, then why is she blushing around you?" asked Jiraiya.
"Hm?" said Naruto.
Naruto set Hinata down in front of him, so he could look at her.
She did have a blushed look on her face, and was staring at the ground so much that it made it look interesting. No matter what direction Naruto looked at her, she would look in the opposite direction, and blush a little more.
He put his hand on his chin to think about it.
"Oh that... Well... she's always like that. She always has been." said Naruto.
Jiraiya smirked as he laughed at his antics in his head.
'Oh, I've got him now!' thought Jiraiya.
"Oh? And why is that?" asked Jiraiya.
Naruto then thought back to all of the times he had ever seen her, and she had always been blushing whenever he talked to her, or even just looked at her. He contemplated this in his mind, but couldn't come up with an answer to why she was always blushing. It was just something that always was, he never felt the need to question it.
"Hmm... Why ARE you always blushing Hinata?" asked Naruto as he looked her in the eyes.
'Oh no! He's asking me why! Okay, okay, I've... I've j-just got to c-come out, and t-tell him.' affirmed Hinata.
She took a deep breathe, as she prepared to tell Naruto what she wanted to tell him for too many years.
"Naruto..." began Hinata.
She was trying to think of the right words to say, but it was so very hard to think when there was so much pressure.
'Yes! This is great! She's going to tell him how she feels!' thought Jiraiya excitedly.
"Over... Over the y-years I've known you, I've always b-been... inspired by how y-you never give up." said Hinata barely.
Her heart was pounding a mile a minute, the rhythmic thumping almost ringing in her head.
Naruto was already shocked at this confession of inspiration. He continued watching Hinata, trying to figure out what she was getting at.
'I wish I had some popcorn! This is going to be great material for my next book!' thought Jiraiya.
Hinata felt like she was going to explode from the tension. She was completely stressed out about this. But she wanted him to know, she wanted to tell him so bad.
"I've... I've always liked you!" blurted Hinata.
'YES! YES! I told him! It's all in the open now!' thought Hinata as she looked on excitedly at Naruto.
'Will he say that he likes me back?' thought Hinata with hope.
'Or will he gently let me down' thought Hinata sadly.
She studied his every movement, for any signs of emotion that she could read.
Her mind was in overdrive, her heart was trying to escape her chest, she knew that these next few seconds could change her entire life.
Naruto smiled happily and looked into her eyes.
'YES! He's smiling! Smiling is good!' thought Hinata happily as she studied him even more thoroughly.
"Hinata..."
'Okay, ready yourself girl, here it comes!' thought Hinata as she felt her heart speed up even faster.
"I've always liked you too." said Naruto as he smiled at her.
'YES! YES! He said he likes me! He said he likes me!' thought Hinata excitedly.
But what he said next shot her down a few notches.
"You're the best friend I could ever hope for." finished Naruto as he smiled at her.
'Idiot!' thought Jiraiya as he put his hand to his head.
Hinata completely froze and felt all of the joy rush out of her.
'F-Friend? He only likes me as a friend?' thought Hinata in despair.
She felt tears well up in her eyes, and she fought to hold them back.
She looked up into Naruto's face to see a look of confusion.
"I still don't see how this is answering my question..." said Naruto as he scratched his head.
Hinata froze again, this time in realization.
'Wait... that means he... he thought... wait... He thought I was saying that I LIKED him, not LOVED him!' thought Hinata excitedly.
Her heart began to pound again, her mind and stomach were all a-flutter once more.
'Okay... Okay. I can still tell him, I just need to make him realize how I feel.' thought Hinata.
'Hinata?' thought Naruto.
She closed her eyes and readied herself. Her body was shaking, her hands were sweaty, and her mind was unsteadily trying to put her feelings into words. But she just couldn't get past all of the angst, pressure, and stress that blocked her path. The angst that Naruto would never like a girl like her. The pressure of the situation, and the fact that Naruto had unknowingly put her on the spot. And the stress of wondering if Naruto would try dating her, or if he would start avoiding her like the ick after her confession.
"Naruto... I... I... I..." began Hinata.
She had braced herself as much as she could, and this was as good as she was ever going to get. It was now or never. To blurt out her feelings for him now, or to go on for the rest of her life without the courage to tell him.
How could it be so hard to say three simple words? She felt the words on the tip of her tongue. Her heart was going to explode, her mind was racing so fast, her thoughts seems to be a nearly incoherent blur.
"Naruto I..." began Hinata.
(Poof!)
Suddenly Naruto disappeared in a plume of smoke, just as Hinata was about to say it.
"Na... Naruto?" asked Hinata looking around for the blond.
"AAAAAHHHHH!" screamed Hinata in frustration.
She fell down onto her knees. She had gone through all of that stress for nothing. She had built it up until her heart and mind were both at a breaking point. But it was all for naught. The one thing, the one simple thing that she had wanted to tell him for the longest time. She had almost told him. She had almost retrieved a lifetime's worth of closure. Even if Naruto had rejected her, at least she would have gotten it off of her chest.
But Naruto had inexplicably disappeared.
'I was so close!' thought Hinata as she clenched her fists.
Jiraiya was a little shocked from the small Hyuuga's outburst, but decided that she needed comforting. Based on how much she was shaking just before Naruto disappeared, Jiraiya could tell she went though a lot just now.
"It's okay... It's alright..." said Jiraiya reassuringly as he patted her back.
He let her cry for a few moments before offering her his hand.
He helped her up onto her feet while she rubbed the tears of frustration from her eyes.
"He's dense, but he'll eventually realize how you feel about him. " said Jiraiya with a smile.
Hinata froze.
"W-what did you say?" stammered Hinata.
"I said that Naruto is dense. But he will eventually realize how you feel about him. In fact, I'm surprised he hasn't realized it yet." said Jiraiya.
'He knows how I feel? No! Impossible! He just met me! How can he know?' thought Hinata stressfully.
"H-How do y-you know th-that I..." stammered Hinata.
Jiraiya held out his hand to silence her.
"Don't be foolish enough to think that your love for him isn't as obvious as gravity." said Jiraiya.
Hinata held both her hands over her mouth, and turned away in embarrassment.
Here was one of the legendary Sannin, right in front of her. They had just met, and yet he already knew of her deepest secret. And to make it worse, he was nonchalantly talking about it like it was open-book common knowledge.
"Is... Is it r-really that obvious?" asked Hinata bashfully.
"Yeah! I'm ashamed that Naruto hasn't been able to see this. From what he's told me about you, he's known you closely for several years. And even after all of this time he's spent with you, he still doesn't see it? I'm simply ashamed." said Jiraiya while shaking his head.
"Naruto has... spoke of me?" asked Hinata with a blush.
The thought of Naruto simply talking about her, made her very happy. She had no idea that he had any interest in any of her qualities. At least not enough to talk to someone about them.
"Yes. Quite frequently in fact. He spoke a lot about how you had the same nindo as him. But mostly he spoke of how kind you are. Now that I have finally met you, I can see why he talked about you in such a way." said Jiraiya.
"H-he s-s-spoke of me... F-frequently?" asked Hinata in surprise.
"Hm? Why yes. Naruto has told me a lot about all of his friends. Of all of the things we spoke of on our travels, speaking of his friends always seemed to bring him great comfort. Especially talking about you." said Jiraiya.
"Especially m-m-me?" stammered Hinata.
"Yes, especially you. As you probably know, Naruto was an orphan. He was very miserable and alone... until he got friends. And out of all of his friends, he said that you were the most kind. Of all of the people he had ever met, you were the nicest to him. Something like that is often remembered for a long time. You had a great impact on him, and I think that is why Naruto spoke of you so much." said Jiraiya.
Hinata blushed and twiddled her fingers together.
"I'm... I'm h-happy Naruto l-l-likes me." said Hinata bashfully.
"Haha! Naruto was right. You do seem to stutter and blush a lot." laughed Jiraiya with a smile.
Hinata blushed even more red, and turned away in embarrassment.
"He was also right about another thing, you ARE cute when you blush." said Jiraiya with a smile.
Hinata's eyes widened and her blush covered her entire face.
'Hehe... I'm just so mean.' thought Jiraiya happily.
"N-N-Naruto... Thinks that I'm... cute?" asked Hinata in surprise and disbelief.
"That's what he said, If I remember correctly." said Jiraiya.
Ignoring Hinata's current shocked and blushing demeanor, Jiraiya knelt down and examined the ground where Naruto disappeared.
"If you are wondering what happened to your hubby-to-be, it looked as though he were summoned somehow." concluded Jiraiya.
Jiraiya took out his telescope nonchalantly to look around the village.
Hinata was still imagining Naruto calling her cute, but she blushed even more when Jiraiya called her Naruto's hubby-to-be. She would have stayed in an enamored imaginative state forever if Jiraiya hadn't said something about Naruto's disappearance. She forcefully shook herself out of it. She had to ask about how Naruto disappeared. She was already quite concerned and worried about him disappearing like that. Especially when it had happened so suddenly.
"How... How was he summoned?" asked Hinata.
She was still shaking off the effects of the emotional rollercoaster she just experienced, but she was still sound of mind.
"It can be done with the sacrifice of blood, some chakra-laced summoning scroll, the full name of the person, an article of clothing or hair belonging to the one being summoned, and a rather large sample of their chakra. Knowing Naruto, it wouldn't be hard to get a sufficient amount of chakra from him. He lets that stuff pour out of his body like water from a sink." said Jiraiya as he looked around.
Jiraiya held his telescope back down, and looked at the spot where Naruto disappeared.
"Based on the size of the cloud of smoke that Naruto emitted as he left, I would say that he didn't even get summoned out of the town." concluded Jiraiya as he put away his telescope.
He looked back to Hinata.
"Do you have any idea where he could have been summoned?" asked Jiraiya inquisitively.
She would spend an entire week... with Naruto. She could practically kill herself if she didn't tell him how she felt in that amount of time together. Certainly they had been on missions before, for even longer times. But now it was different. She had almost told him her feelings just a few minutes ago. She had a solidified courage built up now. She knew it was still going to be very difficult, but she now had more courage to tell him than ever before.
"We... We are supposed to have a mission at the front gates." said Hinata.
"Alright!" said Jiraiya.
Jiraiya grabbed Hinata around her waist, and hefted her onto his shoulder.
"Eeep!" exclaimed Hinata in surprise.
The front of her hips were resting on his broad shoulder. Her legs were hanging down his back, and the rest of her was hanging in front of him.
Hinata held herself up slightly and looked at him in question.
"This way will be much quicker" assured Jiraiya.
"Um... M-Master Jiraiya?" asked Hinata bashfully.
"Yes? What is it?" asked Jiraiya.
"You... are one of the f-few that knows m-my... secret. C-Can you... promise not to tell?" pleaded Hinata.
"Of course. I won't tell. Your secret is safe with me." said Jiraiya.
Hinata breathed a sigh of relief.
Jiraiya leaned down slightly, preparing to take off.
"Um... Master J-Jiraiya?" asked Hinata again.
"Yeah? What is it?" asked Jiraiya.
"So... Did Naruto really call me cute?" asked Hinata with a blush.
Jiraiya chuckled before responding.
"Out of all of the compliments he entitled to your name, cute was definitely one of them." said Jiraiya.
Hinata blushed fully red all over again.
Without warning, Jiraiya suddenly took off at break-neck speeds towards the front gates, carrying the Hyuuga heir in tow.
Back at the front gates, Hiashi had just finished writing out the scroll.
Everyone watched with amazement as Hiashi took out a blond piece of hair and put it on the scroll.
Nobody knew what he was doing, because it was so uncommonly practiced.
Before activating the scroll, Hiashi took out another smaller scroll from his his pocket.
Tsunade immediately recognized this scroll. She used a variation of it herself.
'A seal design to contain chakra?' thought Tsunade.
Hiashi grabbed the new scroll in his other hand, and whipped it open. He wrapped the scroll around his free hand in a quick motion, and there was an immediate reaction.
His hand glowed a brilliant blue. A chakra which was not his own flowed from the scroll, and into his hand.
Hiashi then took his glowing hand, and slammed it into the summoning scroll on the ground.
The blond hair between the two scrolls vaporized, and mixed with the offering of blood. Then, the beautiful blue chakra was sucked from Hiashi's hand, into the pattern drawn on the scroll.
The entire summoning scroll glowed to life in a brilliant shine.
"Kuchiyose no Bun'ya no jutsu!" exclaimed Hiashi.
A large cloud of smoke appeared with a burst of energy, sending Hiashi and everyone else flying back.
Everyone waited anxiously for the smoke to clear.
When the smoke cleared, the explosion from the scroll left a crater 5 feet wide.
In the middle of the crater, was Naruto.
Naruto had a confused look on his face.
"Hinata?" asked Naruto.
He noticed he was in the middle of a crater, and at the edge of the crater, was a familiar group of shinobi.
"Um..." began Naruto.
He looked at his feet to see the remnants of a large scroll.
'Hey! I know what that is! I actually know what that is! But why would someone do this? And where did they get the requisites?' thought Naruto in surprise.
"Did someone summon me?" exclaimed Naruto.
"I summoned you." said Hiashi.
'Phft. Figures...' thought Naruto.
"Summoned? How is that possible?" asked Tsunade.
Naruto, ignoring everyone's chattering, took a step forward from the middle of the crater.
He immediately noticed that he was missing a certain article of clothing.
"Oh my God! Nobody move!... I'm missing my Boxers!" exclaimed Naruto as he looked around frantically.
Everyone just ignored what he said, since they knew that he must be kidding.
Tsunade was the only who acted. She jumped down into the crater, and landed next to him.
"Give me the box." whispered Tsunade as she held out her hand.
"Well give me my box... ers!" said Naruto.
Naruto moved in closer to Tsunade and whispered into her ear.
"Seriously, I'm not joking..." said Naruto seriously as he pointed down.
"Are... Seriously?" asked Tsunade incredulously.
"Sometimes in a summoning, not all of the target makes it. It usually just a piece of clothing that doesn't make it. More than likely, it got dropped between the summoning point, and the target point." said Naruto.
Hearing this, Tsunade actually glanced around once or twice for them.
"Wait! Wait a minute! Don't change the subject! Where's my box?" asked Tsunade angrily.
When she said this, it got everyone's attention.
"Yes Naruto. Where is the box?" asked Neji.
"Indeed. This is something I think we would all like to know." said Hiashi impatiently.
"I don't know where it is. It depends where the person I gave it to is right now..." said Naruto vaguely as he looked towards the Konoha spa.
"Who, Hinata?" asked Tsunade.
Tsunade moved in closer so that Naruto was in range of her attacks, just in case he tried to escape. But before he could answer, a triumphant voice bellowed from above.
"Heeeeelllllllllllooooooo Tsuuunaadeeeeeeee!" exclaimed Jiraiya.
Jiraiya fell from above, and landed harshly on the ground, creating a series of cracks across the hardened surface.
Tsunade sighed at the sight of her old teammate, and merely nodded to the Toad pervert.
"What? A nod? That's all the greeting I get when I bring you the Hyuuga heir?" asked Jiraiya.
He revealed the small Hyuuga girl on his shoulder. He dropped her off, and to everyone's surprise, she ran straight over to Naruto. She blushed, but she enjoyed the blond's close company.
"N-Naruto? Are you okay? You suddenly disappeared!" exclaimed Hinata in worry.
"I'm fine Hinata. Your father summoned me I guess." said Naruto.
"F-Father?" asked Hinata in surprise.
"Hinata, do you have the box?" asked Hiashi as he walked over to them.
'The box? Ohhhhh... So that is what Naruto gave me. From my guess, I would have to say that I need to keep it away from everyone.' thought Jiraiya.
He had already secretly tucked the box into his jacket, so he wasn't really worried about it.
He looked back to Naruto to see Hiashi ganging up on Hinata.
Naruto looked Hinata in the eyes, which told her not to tell. She nodded and looked back at her father.
"I thought Naruto had it." said Hinata.
She turned her head back to Naruto, as if questioning him.
Naruto smiled a little at Hinata's cleverness, but quickly let it slip away.
"Nope, I gave it to someone I can trust. Just as long as he doesn't do anything perverted with it." concluded Naruto.
Naruto turned and faced Hinata. He wanted to ask her what she wanted to say before, but was interrupted by Tsunade's angry voice.
"YOU have it DON'T YOU?" accused Tsunade as she moved in on Jiraiya.
"Have what?" asked Jiraiya, as he gave her a confused look.
"Don't lie to me Jiraiya! Naruto said that he trusted the person that he gave it to as long as he wasn't PERVERTED WITH IT!" said Tsunade accusingly as she moved even closer.
"Excuse me? Are you implying that I am a pervert?" asked Jiraiya looking offended.
Tsunade stood there and stared at him as if he was kidding.
"Alright! Okay! I am a pervert, in fact I'm a super pervert, but I still don't know what you are talking about!" defended Jiraiya.
'He doesn't seem to be lying...' thought Tsunade.
"Besides, Naruto could have been referring to Kakashi or Hiashi... except Naruto doesn't trust Hiashi..." began Jiraiya.
"Excuse me?" exclaimed Hiashi.
"Are implying that..." began Hiashi.
"Yes" said Jiraiya quickly.
"How could you think that I..." asked Hiashi, but he was cut off by Jiraiya.
"Oh come on! You have the powers of the Byakugan, you can see right through people's clothing! Don't tell me you don't use that to your advantage. All Hyuugas can do it." said Jiraiya.
"Not all Hyuugas are like that..." said Hinata.
She gave him a pleading look and kept glancing back at Naruto.
Jiraiya smiled understandingly as he changed the subject.
"So Kakashi, you don't deny being a pervert?" asked Jiraiya.
"No." said Kakashi simply.
Kakashi was too busy reading Icha Icha Paradise volume 2 to pay much attention.
"You do know that I have a third volume in the works right?" asked Jiraiya.
"Really?" exclaimed Kakashi as he stared at the man with sudden respect.
Suddenly Jiraiya zipped over to the book and autographed it, then he whipped out the unfinished manuscript of volume 3.
"There... There is already a third novel?" exclaimed Kakashi as he stared at he book.
"Yeah! I started writing this one about six months ago..." said Jiraiya.
He put a hand on Kakashi's shoulder, and continued to yap on and off about the book.
As the two pervs were talking, so was everyone else.
Gai and Lee were talking about a new training regimen.
Kiba and Shino were talking about some gift shop.
Neji and Ten Ten as they were whispering into each other's ears and occasionally blushing.
Everyone was talking amongst themselves, ignoring the fact that they were supposed to be on a mission.
Even Hiashi and Hinata fighting quietly as they both kept glancing back at Naruto.
Naruto and Tsunade sat there with their hands on thier faces, and they both looked to be tired of this racket.
"I THOUGHT WE HAD A MISSION TO DO!" shouted Naruto.
Everyone suddenly stopped talking and faced him.
'Wow, that was easy' thought Naruto as he tried his best to stand tall and composed.
"That's enough messing around! Now give your respect to the Hokage as she gives us our orders." said Naruto with authority.
Everyone looked at him, surprised that he had commanded them like that. But they decided that it was probably for the best to do start their mission anyway.
Tsunade looked over at Naruto, and was surprised that he commanded such respect from such a diverse crowd, but she too thought she had better get started.
"Alright! I assume everyone has the supplies they need?" asked Tsunade as she recieved nods from everyone.
"Good, Okay! The team leaders will be Kakashi..." said Tsunade.
Kakashi nodded nonchalantly.
"Kurenai..." continued Tsunade.
Kurenai smiled and stood up.
"Gai..." continued Tsunade.
Gai stood tall and saluted.
"And Naruto." finished Tsunade.
She looked over to the blond to see the surprised but happy look on his face.
"W-What?" exclaimed the group simultaneously.
They all looked at Tsunade as though she was on crack.
Naruto nodded as he stood tall to except the responsibilities of being a leader.
'Yay Naruto-kun! Show them your best!' thought Hinata happily.
"You... you can't be serious?" exclaimed Kurenai as she stared at the Hokage.
"I am. And whether you have realized it or not, Naruto has matured many great lengths, and based on past test runs and training with the kid, I would say that he is more than ready to take on this responsibility." concluded Tsunade as she recieved a smile from Naruto.
"From this point on, Naruto is to be considered your superior, and should be treated as such." said Tsunade.
She had a threatening look in her eye to indicate that no one was to do otherwise.
"And the same goes for Kakashi, Kurenai, and Gai." finished Tsunade as she turned around.
"I assume that the team leaders can take it from here, so I'll leave you Shinobi to do your jobs." said Tsunade.
She disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving the teams alone.
"..."
Everyone was still shocked that Naruto had been chosen as a leader, and some of them were just too shocked to even think.
"Alrighty then!" said Naruto happily as he walked into the middle of them.
Naruto quickly rolled out the map of the Land of the Rice Patties that had a spiral on it that Tsunade had drew before, and pinned it down with 4 kunai all at once.
Everyone watched Naruto, but they didn't have much time to think as he continued to talk.
"This is the path we need to take to get to where Sasuke is being held... if we don't want to be detected that is." said Naruto as he traced his finger along the spiral.
"It will take about a week to take this path, and I think this is unneccesary." concluded Naruto.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out several pins. Naruto then took them in his hand and placed them so that they were a few inches apart, and so that they were all next to the farthest outside line of the spiral.
"I say that Kakashi, Gai, and I..." said Naruto pointing at three pins he had placed on the outside.
"...Being the only masters of the tunnel no jutsu, should space ourselves out every one hundred and twenty degrees from the ninety degree angle here..." continued Naruto as he drew a line perfectly down the middle of he spiral.
"And we should tunnel our way through with our own respective teams, while checking for traps along the way." said Naruto.
He moved his finger from one pin, to the middle where Sasuke laid in waiting.
"This way, the trip will only be about one and a half days without stopping, and it will be very effective to get in unseen. As for teams, I say that Shino goes with one group to scope things out with his bugs, the other Team gets Neji, and the remaining one gets Hinata, for their effective uses of the Byakugan." concluded Naruto.
He looked up to gauge everyone's reactions, but they were all just staring at him.
"If you are wondering why I chose us to tunnel in every 120 degrees..." said Naruto, ignoring everyone's open-mouth staring.
"It is because of the Five-Prong-Seal that Orochimaru favors so much." said Naruto.
He drew a few insignias around the spiral to show that the spiral was actually a cleverly disguised Five-Prong-Seal.
"There are gaps every 120 degrees from the 90 degree angle in the seal, and I think that Orochimaru was conceded enough to make his defenses as such" finished Naruto as he looked around.
"Any questions, ideas, disagreements?" asked Naruto politely as he crossed his arms and looked at the other leaders.
"Holy Crap..." said Kiba as he stared at the diagram on the floor.
"That's... That's not bad Naruto." concluded a wide-eyed Kakashi.
"Wow... Naruto..." said Hinata as she thought about him.
'Amazing! So he's funny, strong, clever, AND smart?' thought Hinata as she stared at him innappropriately.
Kurenai noticed her staring and nudged her slightly while she leaned to her ear.
"Keep it in your pants." whispered Kurenai teasingly with a smile.
"I may not have much of a say in this, but I say we go with that plan." said Neji as he looked over at his cousin to see her reaction to the plan.
As Neji looked over at her, he saw that she was practically drooling, and staring at the blonde.
"And Hiashi yelled at me?" said Neji quietly
"And for good reason." said Hiashi from right next to him.
Neji jumped away in surprise and landed face-first in Ten Ten's lap.
Ten Ten tried to grab him to stop him from falling, but he landed awkwardly as his face got stuffed into her cleavage.
They both sat there for a moment, stunned, and then Neji quickly jumped away from TenTen and began spewing out apologies.
As stumbled backwards, he ran into Naruto, knocking him over into Hinata. Hinata went to catch Naruto, but his face also landed in her cleavage. Naruto immediately jumped off of her and stumbled backwards, stammering apologies in embarrassment.
Hinata was blushing like no tomorrow.
As Naruto stumbled backward, still apologizing, Kakashi realized that Naruto was unknowingly heading for him.
Kakashi saw this and looked to the left of himself to see Kurenai sitting next to him.
"(Sigh) Alright, I can see where this is going." said Kakashi.
He stepped to the side to get out of the way.
As Naruto got closer, he suddenly tripped over his own feet, and knocked Kakashi from his feet.
He immediately fell to the side, and saw Kurenai's expression.
He managed to hold out his arms to stop his face from landing in her bra. His hands were braced to Kurenai's left and right, holding his face a mere inch from Kurenai's bra. It wasn't as bad as Neji or Naruto, but it was still awkward.
"(Sigh) excuse me." said Kakashi politely as he stood back up.
He looked into her face to see that she wasn't angry like he expected, but was blushing madly. It was almost a mirrored example of Hinata with Naruto around.
'What?' thought Kakashi as he looked into her eyes.
She kept looking at him while blushing, and kept quickly looking away.
'Kurenai?' thought Kakashi as he smiled to himself.
"Okay Naruto, I agree with your plan, but what do we do if one of us gets caught?" asked Kakashi as he crossed his arms.
Naruto finished apologizing to a scarlet faced Hinata and regained his composure.
"We will be in constant contact with each other." said Naruto.
He threw each of the team leaders a CBU's from his bag.
"If one team gets caught in a fight, then that particular team is to contact me on frequency 3, and I will take care of the rest." said Naruto.
He pulled out his bag again and began rummaging around in it.
Everyone seemed to agree with this plan, and nobody asked any questions except Hiashi, who was not even part of the mission.
"What will be the team arrangements?" asked Hiashi suddenly.
Naruto looked at him, and saw him glance once or twice at his daughter. Naruto immediately understood why he wanted to know.
Naruto finished rummaging around in his bag and pulled out a sheet of paper.
"Your teams will be listed here, and I for one think that this team arrangement willl be the most efficient." said Naruto as he passed out the sheet to be looked at.
The sheet looked like this:
Team 1:
Neji Hyuuga, TenTen, Rock Lee, and Might Gai.
Team 2:
Kurenai, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Kakashi Hatake.
Team 3:
Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Hinata Hyuuga.
"Wait a minute, hold up! There has to be a mistake!" said Kiba as he stood up angrily.
END OF CHAPTER