disclaimer: you know it. :)
Again, I'm hitting a block on Twin Fates. Also, in my opinion, Force is rapidly becoming a trainwreck.
Not that this story or chapter has anything to do with that, but meh.
Anyway, here's Chapter 8.
Naruto: Moeagare Toushi
Chapter 8: Bonding Time
"Sakura, the book says that it's really bad manners to stuff your mouth like that," a distressed Sai began as he looked sidelong to his kunoichi teammate, currently in the midst of shoveling food down in an alarmingly fast pace.
"Relax, Sai," Naruto said between bites, "this is a boodle fight. All table manners go during this meal. HEY! That was my chicken leg!"
"Hn." How does he do that with his mouth full?
Even while Team 7 and Team Anko were returning to Konoha, a marked change had come over the pink-haired genin - gone were the dieting, the fawning over her Sasuke-kun, everything.
The little she learned under her fellow genin had proved to be the deciding factor that saved her from a horrible death by sword, and the experience had begun the process of healing the rift between what she perceived to be "Sasuke's ideal woman" and who she was.
By the time of their return, Sakura had taken the time she could to train with the blonde genin - he evidently knew an awful lot of taijutsu and didn't hesitate to share what he knew with her.
He even shared taijutsu tips with everyone in their graduating batch, if the rumors were true.
And to celebrate his batch's first successful C-Rank (and above), Naruto put together the Rookie 12's first ever boodle fight (note 1).
What wasn't surprising was that Rock Lee and Akimichi Chouji were in a heated contest as to who could eat more in that sitting.
What was surprising was (aside from Lee and Chouji's jonin-sensei going on their own eating duel) that the formerly figure-conscious Sakura was out-eating the kunoichi gathered today, as she had been doing for the past few weeks.
"Aren't you on a diet or something?" Ino asked her in between bites.
"'M a kunoichi," Sakura replied, "we don'ff diet."
While the eating and merrymaking was going on, Naruto couldn't help but notice the baleful glares Hyuuga Neji kept throwing at his cousin, who was trying to focus on her food and nothing else.
He sighed. More drama to deal with. This is the third boodle I put together, and he's still pissed at Hinata.
As he grabbed a chunk of roast pork, he decided to bring up the topic the next time he was scheduled to help Team 8 out with their taijutsu.
What surprised him was that despite the misgivings of their jonin-sensei, they still seemed to let Naruto continue helping their genin out. The Hokage had Anko-sensei on tap for... something, but when asked, the trenchcoat-clad special jonin changed the subject. This meant that Naruto had a lot more time as a "floater" as of the last few weeks.
And despite the jonin-sensei being apprehensive about joining their genin in this... boodle fight, all of them found it a very rewarding experience when it was done.
Maybe that's why the Hokage gave his go-ahead when I asked him if I could make this bi-weekly or something, Naruto thought. He even insisted I do this on the teams' day off, weekly.
As his fellow genin shared stories, washed down the meal, and picked at the last bits of food on the leaf-lined table, Naruto had to hide a smile. Thank Shishou's travels for giving me this idea.
"Okay!"
He had left Team 8 as a sweating mess - again.
This time, though, their form was a lot better and their teamwork was more efficient. Even Hinata showed some improvement in being slightly more aggressive.
"Say, Hinata..." he began just as they were going through the standard list of cool-down exercises. "I've noticed that cousin of yours... Neji? He's been giving you nasty looks every time the teams get together."
She looked away.
He shrugged. "What did you do to him that got him all worked up like that? Burned his homework?"
She shook her head.
Naruto tilted his head to the side a bit while doing his own cool-down kata. "Cost him top rookie honors?"
She shook her head again.
"Kicked his puppy or something?"
She shook her head once more.
"Okay, I give up."
"...you'll have to ask him yourself," was Hinata's whispered response.
"That I shall," Naruto answered. After I spar with Team Guy. Hope he won't be too sore just in case Neji won't see reason.
The rest of the day's activities passed without incident.
In between helping out his fellow genin, he was training hard. But as Naruto went through the more advanced moves of his School, deep inside he was rather frustrated at his inability to work with the other two branches of ninja arts.
I'll have to apologize to you for that, the voice inside him said.
Why?
Having me sealed within you gives you tremendous chakra capacity, but not the control.
Well, that's just another bump in the road. Do you have any "heavy" techniques I could use?
There's my Imari, but since you can't even focus your chakra to a usable level yet, we'll put that on hold for the meantime.
That sucks.
There, there. It's not like your time here is short. You've been doing a lot of good for your fellows - a lot of good that will only get better in the long run.
Though I wonder - what's eating Neji? Guy's been staring daggers at his cousin. He's nice and formal when we spar, but it's like he turns into someone else when Hinata's around.
She told you to ask him why, right?
Yes, she did.
And now you focus on how to broach the subject to Neji without turning him into that kind of person - pretty good. You may not be able to use chakra yet, but you're making progress in thinking like a ninja.
Thanks.
Ohhhh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho. You never cease to entertain me, young one.
I live to provide you amusement.
And protection, too.
What would you need protection from, my lady?
Another story for another time. I shall take a nap.
Very well.
Might Guy and Rock Lee were currently talking about using an opponent's speed against him with Tenten, which left Uzumaki Naruto with one Hyuuga Neji in their training ground's designated sparring area.
If you asked Neji what his personal opinion of this upstart genin was, he didn't have a good one. Still, he had to admit that Naruto was damn good at taijutsu - almost a blonde copy of Guy-sensei that wasn't all catch phrases.
The question he asked during a lull in their sparring, though, changed all of that.
"What's your beef with Hinata?" Naruto simply asked.
Neji charged. "It's a long, bloody story."
"I'm in the mood for a long, bloody epic. Try me."
So, in between blows, Neji let the sad tale unfold: his father being made into a sacrificial goat for the Main House, leading him to hate everyone there (note 2).
As Naruto recovered from being flung into the air by the impact of Neji's twin palm thrust, he asked one question.
"Did Hinata do anything directly to deserve your hate?"
Neji slowly shook his head no.
"That's what I thought," Naruto said as he charged back in as he felt himself switch onto "colossal ham in the vein of Shishou" mode.
He dodged the finger strike meant for a shoulder and countered with his own palm strike, sending Neji backwards.
"YOU FOOL!" Naruto yelled. "For all your skill, talent and genius, you do not see what is in front of you!"
"All I see is a raving lunatic," Neji muttered.
"Seriously, that anger of yours is making you inefficient," Naruto replied, his voice softening. "I'm not one to mince words, but it seems you're pissed at Hinata because you're expecting her to be just like those Main House people who condemned your father to death."
"...but she isn't," Neji said.
"And that's what angers you," Naruto said. "If you want to know what's in your dear cousin's heart, fight her. As my good Master said, the best warriors convey their feelings through their fists."
Neji grinned.
"What if I find out that she really is different than all the Main House Hyuuga?"
Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe that's a good thing. All I know is how to fight."
"Indeed."
The two shared a laugh as the rest of Team Guy went towards them for their turn to spar.
"Hokage-sama, if I must ask for a boon from you..." Naruto began. He had been invited to a meeting between the jonin-sensei and Anko-san regarding the Chunin Selection exams. "...it's that the timing for these exams is a bit too early. I still haven't gotten the genin to be entered ready enough for this."
"You've spent five weeks since returning from Wave in training them, I think that's more than enough time."
"Hokage-sama..." Naruto tried to argue further, but could say no more. "Of course." Silly me. It's not as if these things were planned months in advance, only for one well-meaning genin to push it back a couple more weeks, of course...
"Once that's settled, let us now begin the nomination of genin squads for this year's Chunin Selection..."
Naruto could only look outside the window of the Hokage's tower, a hand in his pocket grasping the symbol of Hidden Whirpool, and hope that the ill feeling in the bottom of his stomach was just some bad milk.
"...Naruto!"
"Oh!" he said with a start. "Yes, Anko-sensei?"
"You'll help me out on the second leg of the exam."
"Sounds good. What do I do?"
"For starters, we'll..."
And Naruto received his instructions on what to do the day after tomorrow...
Chapter 8 - END
a/n: If any of you are wondering why the story isn't getting dark, it's because of two things: one, Naruto is a disciple of Master Asia - of course he's going to be ridiculously overpowered - and two, he's a lot more independent of Konoha than most people assume, and the higher-ups who deal with him know this and act accordingly.
The story will start to take a darker turn but will remain rather idealistic; it will only be during the Tsunade Retrieval arc that Naruto comes in contact with the darker side of ninja life.
(note 1:) A boodle fight is a communal meal where everything (rice, viand, sauce, noodles, etc.) is thrown on top of a stack of banana leaves, and everything must be eaten by hand. It is an extraordinary bonding experience.
(note 2:) You guys already know most of this, so why should I write down the whole damned thing?
(note 3:) I read this doujinshi once featuring Tomoyo under that piece-of-shit genre. So - I had Naruto utterly destroy him on my behalf. Ain't I a stinker? (This is one reason why Tomoyo hates him. Next chapter will reveal the other reason.)