A/N

to troutman30: You were right that I was a little unclear about Kakashi in the earlier chapter. HE tried to scold Naruto for sucker punching Neji, not for interfering in the match.

Again, I'm sorry to say that I do not own Naruto.

An arrogant Kiba jumped for joy when he heard that his opponent would be Naruto. Ever since the academy Naruto had simply been the class clown in Kiba's eyes. Naruto never showed any sign of promise then, so Kiba assumed that Naruto could not have gotten much better. He quickly jumped to Genma's side to await his opponent eagerly. He looked up and saw that Naruto was not showing the same enthusiasm. Naruto slowly started to walk down the stairs from the balcony. Everyone who knew Naruto looked at him surprised. From how excited he had been earlier and just his general personality, everyone assumed he would have jumped the gun and even beat Kiba to the battlefield. His strides were slow and unenergetic.

Kiba looked at Naruto and laughed, "What are you waiting for? Are you afraid of Akamaru and I, is that it?"

Naruto simply ignored him. Once he reached Genma and Kiba, he fell over and coughed up some blood. "Kiba, please back out of this match. I don't want to hurt you," he whispered after he regained his posture and composure.

"Ha, are you serious? Look at yourself, you're a mess. You honestly think you have a chance of hurting me, let alone beating me," Kiba scoffed at Naruto's proclamation. With Akamaru jumping at his side Kiba was as confident as could be.

Genma looked at Naruto inquisitively, " Are you going to be able to participate? You may withdraw now if you are unable to compete."

"I can't withdraw. I gave Hinata my word to win, and I never go back on my word. It's my ninja way," Naruto spoke with his head down.

Genma accepted Naruto's response and started the fight. Kiba, not being one to play defense, immediately began to perform his trademark taijutsu. "Inuzuka Style, All Fours Jutsu." With a quick tackle he knocked Naruto down with one strike. Naruto quietly got up, and was promptly knocked back to the floor.

Naruto quietly got up and whispered, "Kiba, please back out. I'm begging you."

"Again with this. Naruto you look like you're barely standing. You should back out before you end up in the hospital… just like Hinata," as Kiba dismissively spoke the last three words Naruto looked up at him. "You promised me you would protect her. You encouraged her to fight Neji. You're the one who made her keep going. She's hurt because of you!"

"Kiba, SHUT THE HELL UP!"

"Why? What are you going to do about it? I'm right and you know it. It is your fault, and right now you're about to make the same mistake. Just sit there and take it. It will be over quickly," Kiba shouted and charged.

Just before Kiba's punch hit Naruto's face it was caught in Naruto's palm. Kiba reeled back in pain. Naruto's palm had given absolutely no ground. Kiba had essentially punched a brick wall.

"What the?" Just as Kiba spoke he looked up and saw Naruto's eyes. They were glowing bright red and his pupils had elongated into slits. Around the room the Hokage and Jonin from the Leaf Village began to get nervous. The adults' reactions were strange, but when Akamaru began to tremble, Kiba knew something was wrong. "What's the matter buddy? Why are you getting nervous? Is it the guy from the sand again? It's... not Naruto is it?"

"KIBA!" Naruto's shout pulled Kiba's attention away from Akamaru. "Don't ever talk about Hinata like that. She fought because she had something to prove. She fought with purpose, and she fought hard. Don't you dare discredit her again. So you like to fight like a dog, a beast even, don't you? I'll show you what it means to fight LIKE A BEAST!"

Everyone in the room noticed that the last three words Naruto spoke were not his own. They did not even seem human. Naruto dropped to his hands, much like Kiba had done earlier, and his body began to change. His fingernails elongated into claws, his hair became wild, and the whisker marks on his cheeks became considerably thicker. At this point Akamaru was trembling uncontrollably.

"Uh, Akamaru if you feel like sitting this one out you can go up with Shino,"as soon as Kiba said the word Akamaru sprinted up to Shino and Kurenai. "Naruto. I don't know what game you're trying to play by copying my jutsu, but I'm telling you right now that it won't work. You're going to pay for scaring-"

Before Kiba could finish speaking or even react for that matter Naruto punched him directly in the gut sending him reeling back. Naruto then jumped behind him before he could compose himself and delivered a slash to his back. Kiba jumped forward to avoid another attack, and looked at Naruto. While Naruto had stopped his assault Kiba could see the look in his eyes, Naruto completely intended to destroy him. Kiba did not know when Naruto had gained such power, but he knew he needed Akamaru. He reached into his pouch and pulled out two food pills. He ate one himself and the other he threw to Akamaru.

"I'm sorry buddy. I know you're scared, but I need you." Kiba's shout held a trace of fear and uncertainty, and Akamaru could feel it. Akamaru took the pill regardless of both his and Kiba's apprehension. "Inuzuka Style, Man-Beast Clone. I don't have time to play around I have to finish this quickly. Inuzuka Style, Fang Over Fang."

Both Akamaru and Kiba launched into the trademark taijutsu of their clan. Spinning rapidly like bullets they shot themselves at Naruto. Just before they made contact on either side of Naruto he stopped both of them with one hand each. Naruto deflected the real Kiba into the wall behind him and he turned and kicked Akamaru directly in the head. Kiba collided with the wall and regained himself just in time to see Naruto kick Akamaru out of the transformation and unconscious. Panic overtook him as he observed Akamaru slide across the turned to look at Naruto in time to see him rush towards him. Before he could defend himself Naruto grabbed him by the throat. Just as Naruto was about to deal the finishing blow, he was stopped by one of the Jonin who had decided the match was over.

"NARUTO STOP!" Kakashi shouted with more authority than Naruto had ever heard him use. "Do you think this is what Hinata would want? Killing one of your friends because of a silly temper tantrum."

Hearing Hinata's name snapped him right out of the hold Kurama was slowly building, It was then that Naruto noticed exactly what he had just done. He had Kiba's throat in his hand and Akamaru was lying across the room knocked out. He let Kiba down and dropped his own head. Kakashi was right. If Hinata had seen what Naruto had just done she would have been terrified. Naruto looked up at the faces of his classmates. He did not even need to feel their inner emotions. The fear and shock was written right on their faces. He felt the disappointment from the Hokage and his sensei.

'This isn't what my father had in mind when he gave me this power. I should be ashamed of myself. He just made me so mad. How could he say those things about Hinata. I thought they were friends. Was he just trying to get in my head like he always does. Still I almost killed him. Kami, I'm so ashamed. What will Hinata say when she finds out.' Naruto's thought slowly became more and more focused on her, even though he wasn't sure why exactly.

"The winner of the seventh match, Naruto Uzumaki," Genma proclaimed as the stretcher was being brought out for Kiba and Akamaru.

Kakashi and Naruto began to walk back up to the balcony. Naruto did not look up at any of his classmates or the Jonin. He was too ashamed of himself to say anything to anyone. There was one person he did feel something different from. He slightly raised his head to look at Gaara 'Why isn't he afraid or feeling anything for that matter. Is he really that strong? If anything he seems kind of excited.'

For the rest of the competition Gaara made Naruto incredibly uneasy. Those feelings only increased when he observed Gaara nearly kill Lee. Lee had fought with everything he had and then some, but Gaara was still able to pull out the win to everyone but the Sound Shinobis' surprise. Choji did not have a much better time against Dosu. Dosu quickly defeated him as well, albeit without almost killing him. With the conclusion of the final sets of matches, the winners except for Sasuke and Neji, who were in the infirmary, drew lots to be placed into a tournament format competition composed of one on one bouts like the preliminaries. Naruto only cared about two matches in the whole bracket. First he would have to fight Neji, and then he would face the winner of Sasuke and Gaara's battle.

The Third Hokage had just finished his involvement in the preliminary round of the third exam and was relaxing in his office when he heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, how's it going Lord Third? It's been awhile hasn't it sensei." Jiraiya burst through the window of the Hokage's office without a care in the world.

"Jiraiya my boy it has been awhile. What brings you back after all these years?" Sarutobi was excited to see his old student, but troubled also. Jiraiya had been away for over twelve years.

"Well you know me, I came to do some research."

"Oh. What a shame. I had hoped you were here chasing Orochimaru."

"Can't say that I am, sorry. What makes you think that? Have you heard of him recently?"

"Well I haven't just heard of him, he's made a move in the village. I think you should know that it involves your godson and the last Uchiha."

"What does that snake want with those two? Naruto especially?"

"Right now we have no clue, but he has marked both of them. The Uchiha's mark has been dealt with, but Naruto's mark has been acting differently than Sasuke's or even Anko's. It seems almost weaker. I haven't summoned him yet but I believe we may be able to remove it from him. We could use your help. It's the the least you could do considering."

"Now, now old man don't try to guilt trip me. You've always been good at those manipulating mind tricks, but I'll have you know that I'm not the same little kid I used to be. I am one of the Sanin."

"However, there is one more thing about Naruto that I think you should be aware of. It has to do with Minato's seal," Sarutobi calmly described all the events Naruto had been through since his mission to the Land of Waves.

"I need to see him as fast as possible!"

A day had passed since the the preliminaries of the third exam. Before Naruto could start preparing for the finals he wanted to make a few stops at the Leaf Village's hospital. Once he reached the receptionist he asked to see Sasuke, but he was denied and informed that there had been an assassination attempt on Sasuke. He then tried to see Lee who was still in critical condition after the beating he received from Gaara. Unsurprisingly he was refused a visit to him as well.

'Well I guess it's a good thing that I didn't beat Kiba up that badly," Naruto thought as he walked up to Kiba's room. When he opened the door he saw Kiba awake and with company. Kiba and Shino were calmly talking about recent events when they saw Naruto enter.

"Hey Naruto, just the guy I wanted to see." Kiba waved to him letting him know that he was not intruding.

"Hey Kiba. I wanted to come and apolo-"

"HaHaHa! Is that all. Hey don't worry about it. I kind of deserved it if you ask me. I should be the one to apologise for getting you riled up like that. Just forget about, but Naruto let me warn you, if you hurt Akamaru again somebody is going to have to stop me from beating the hell out of you." Kiba's words were cocky and arrogant but genuine. He truly meant what he said and Naruto could tell.

"Incidentally what are you hiding behind your back Naruto," Shino pointed at Naruto's right arm which he was holding behind his back.

"Oh these," Naruto pulled out a small bouquet of flowers. "I'm not even sure."

"Those wouldn't happen to be for Hinata would they?" asked Shino as Kiba's face turned sour.

"I thought I smelled flowers. Just what are you trying to pull Naruto!" Kiba shouted startling a completely unprepared Naruto.

"What do you mean? I'm not trying to do anything." Naruto responded quickly.

"Incidentally, a male giving a femal-"

"Shut up Shino! What are the flowers for then!? Huh?" Kiba was beginning to get annoyed at Naruto's complete obliviousness.

"What? I don't know. I was just on my way here when I ran into Sakura. I told her I was coming to visit you guys and she told me I should get some flowers for Hinata. She took me to the Yamanaka flower shop. You know the one Ino's family owns. Ino and Sakura picked these out and even paid for them. They said something about Daisies meaning get well soon, and like these red flowers meaning friendship or something. It didn't make a lot of sense to me. I didn't even know flowers could mean all that. Now that I think about it they were all giggly when they were talking about it. They might have just been trying to mess with me, ya know."

Kiba burst out laughing much to Naruto's displeasure. "Ok, now I know something's up," Naruto accused.

"No, no Naruto. Nothing's up. It's just that you really are dense aren't you?"Kiba squeaked as he was trying to regain his breath.

"What is that supposed to mean? Are you trying to start another fight Kiba?" Naruto reported angrily at Kiba.

"What Kiba means is that when-"

"Stop Shino, let the idiot figure it out on his own. What are you waiting for? You still have to go see Hinata don't you?"

"Oh yeah, I'll see you guys later!" Naruto shouted as he sprinted down the halls of the hospital.

As Naruto ran through the halls he noticed that he was getting weird looks because of the flowers in his hand. Naruto was used to getting weird looks, but these looks felt different. Ever since Naruto could start sensing the malice behind the faces he began to notice them a little more than he had before, but these looks didn't hold any malice. They were looks of shock or even incredulity. Naruto ignored them as he got to his destination. As he was about to knock the door opened and a younger girl who looked a little like Hinata stepped out. She looked up at Naruto and shot him an odd glare before skipping off. It was not malicious, but it was not friendly either. Naruto brushed it off and stepped inside to see Hinata was also awake.

"Oh hello Naruto-kun." She whispered when she saw Naruto. She looked down out of embarrassment because she had not expected him to visit her, at least not right away.

"Hello Hinata-chan. I wanted to come talk to you about yesterday." As Naruto walked forward he noticed the light blush on Hinata's face. "If you aren't feeling well I can come back later."

"No!" Naruto jumped when he heard Hinata raise her voice. " I mean I'm okay. You can stay if you want Naruto-kun." Hinata had gotten used to being around Naruto, but she really did not remember when he started adding the "chan" honorific to her name. That she was not used to.

"Well I just wanted to come tell you that Kakashi sensei and especially I are proud of how you fought yesterday. Oh and Sakura and Ino helped me pick these out for me to give to you." Naruto pulled the flowers from behind his back sheepishly. Hinata was stunned. Nobody had ever gotten her flowers and now Naruto of all people was giving her some.

"Oh arigato N-N-Naruto-kun." Hinata managed to squeak out before she was overcome by her overpowering blush. If she wasn't already lying down in a hospital bed she might have fainted. Naruto placed them on the counter oblivious to the effect of the flowers, their meaning, and the significance of Naruto giving them was having on Hinata.

He and Hinata spoke for a while longer about whatever they could. Naruto explained the details of the final exam and how the brackets had shaped up. Hinata told him about her recovery and a little about her younger sister. All in all they simply enjoyed each other's company. After a while Naruto got up and said good-bye. He wanted to go get something to eat, and to find Kakashi to begin his training for the final exam that would take place in one month's time.

"WHAT! WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE GOING TO BE BUSY!" Naruto shouted at Kakashi. "You're just going to train Sasuke alone aren't you?"

"Okay Naruto you got me, but trust me when I say that it's not entirely my choice. The Leaf's council wants me to make sure that Sasuke is ready to fight an opponent as dangerous as Gaara." Kakashi indignantly explained.

"Oh so you're just going to leave me with the closet pervert."

"Closet... what are are you talking about Naru-"

"Oh don't listen to him. he doesn't know what he's talking about Kakashi," Ebisu nervously proclaimed when he saw the reaction on Kakashi's face. "I happen to be one of the best instructors in the whole Leaf Village, and I am only taking you as a student because Kakashi personally asked me to."

Just before Naruto could retort an ANBU Black Ops shinobi jumped in between the three of them. He had been sent to summon Naruto to the Hokage's tower. Kakashi and Ebisu were both surprised even though they had a good idea as to what it was about.

"You'll know where to find us when you're done Naruto." Ebisu yelled as Naruto began heading for the Hokage's Tower.

"What is this about old man!" Naruto shouted as he burst into the Hokage's office.

"He's quite the loud one isn't he?" Jiraiya pointed out.

"UH, who's the weirdo with the white hair?"

"WEIRDO! Kid I'll have you know that I am the Legendary Toad Sage Jiraiya!" he shouted at an incredulous Naruto.

"Wait, did you say Jiraiya?"

"The one and only"

"So you're the one who trained my dad. That's awesome. I just got the greatest idea. You could train me for the Chunin Exams coming up. I did make it to the finals, ya know." Naruto's eyes glimmered brighter than Sarutobi had ever seen them before.

"Woah, Woah, take it easy kid. I don't know about all this training nonsense, but I am here to see you. Kid I'm going to need you to take off your shirt,"

"Wait what?"

"I told you to take off your shirt"

"WHAT THE HELL! What kind of a pervert are you." Naruto's shout made Sarutobi laugh harder than Naruto had ever seen him.

"Wait just a minute you stupid kid. You don't have any idea what you're talking about." Jiraiya retorted back indignantly.

"He's right you know Naruto, he's not 'that' kind of pervert." Sarutobi said with a slight chuckle.

"Thanks sensei… Wait, WHAT!"

"So you are a pervert, even your sensei says so. You're just a pervy sage then, aren't you?" Naruto accused.

"Okay kid now you've pissed me off. I 'WAS' going to try and get rid of that curse mark for you, but now I don't know if I want to." Jiraiya taunted much to Sarutobi's displeasure.

"Huh. Curse Mark? The thing the snake guy did to me? I thought Kurama got rid of it. It hasn't bothered me at all." Naruto explained as he slid off his shirt.

"We think that the nine-tails was able to remove Orochimaru's influence but not the mark itself. You're not the first person to get a mark like that and you probably won't be the last. This is simply an experiment is all." Sarutobi stated as he looked out the window at the rest of the village. "Jiraiya here is going to try and remove the mark from you and seal it away so that we can hopefully study it without Orochimaru's interference."

Naruto reluctantly let Jiraiya examine the mark on his shoulder. Jiraiya noted that the mark was different from the mark Sasuke and Anko had, before performing a complex series of handsigns that Naruto didn't care to try and examine. He summoned a scroll with one hand and the other he slapped right onto Naruto's shoulder. Naruto felt a sharp pain as Jiraiya began to extract the mark from Naruto to seal into the scroll. Once finished both Jiraiya and Naruto were exhausted.

"Damn that Orochimaru. If the nine-tails hadn't kicked him out I don't think I could have removed it." Jiraiya gasped as he sat down.

"Well thank you Naruto for relaying all your experiences in the Forest of Death back to Kakashi. That information, and the information we can hopefully discover by studying the Curse Mark may help us when dealing with Orochimaru in the future. As a reward I would like you to begin training with Jiraiya for the Chunin Final Exam." Sarutobi's last statement received mixed responses.

Naruto was excited, but at the same time annoyed that his next teacher was going to be a pervert like the Kakashi and Ebisu. Jiraiya on the other hand was angry because he had not actually agreed to training Naruto. While Jiraiya could just leave the village again, one look from Sarutobi pretty much insured that he would not just stay but also aide Naruto. Since they were both already exhausted they agreed to meet the next day just outside the village to begin their first day of training, and incidentally some more research for Jiraiya.

Jiraiya made it clear that Naruto had three goals in their training. He needed to improve some of his basics and chakra control, and when Naruto reached a more proficient level they would work on Naruto's control of the nine-tailed fox's chakra. Lastly, if their was enough time they would attempt to harness Naruto's abilities with the chakra chains. That would be the hardest of the goals to accomplish and the one that they would actually have to try and research. There was not much information on the ability, and what Jiraiya already knew of it he had learned from Kushina.

For three weeks Naruto worked on his chakra control and had actually gotten pretty decent at controlling his own reserves of chakra. His chakra forcing capabilities were refined, he learned to walk on water, his Sharingan capabilities were polished to the extent that one eye with only two tomoes could be, and his control of the Ice style was almost perfected. Jiraiya began to notice that Naruto only had limited access to the kekkei genkai he had. He noted that Naruto had to use an unusually large amount of chakra when using the Sharingan or the Ice style. In that time Naruto began to truly look like a shinobi with promise, and he also got to see the side of Jiraiya that Sarutobi had briefly mentioned. Naruto saw just how much of a pervert Jiraiya actually was.

Even so Naruto really enjoyed the one on one attention he was getting. On most days after Naruto was finished with his training he would make regular trips to the hospital. He would stop by and see Lee when he could, but he mostly just went to talk to his teammate. She had received some of the most critical injuries of the preliminary participants, and she would be remaining in the hospital for awhile. Naruto was happy to keep her and Lee company when he had the chance.

All was going well until Naruto began learning the Summoning Jutsu. He could just not master it for the life of him, so Jiraiya started to train him with the chains.

"So kid here's what I know about the chains so far. Your mother was able to use them to make sealing barriers and even for offense if she really had to. The catch was that they weren't made of regular chakra. She had to use a lot of her chakra to make them and even more to restrain something. She was able to completely suppress the nine-tails with them as a matter a fact, but the problem is yours are seemingly different from hers. We don't yet know if you can make barriers like her, but what we do know is that you can use them to attack. Not just attack, it seems like you sealed part of your enemies inside you. Normally that wouldn't really be all that impressive, but you managed to seal the DNA and consequently the kekkei genkai of two other shinobi." Jiraiya scratched his head as he was trying to make sense of all the information.

"Yeah well I guess. I'm not even really sure how I did it though, and neither was my dad when I spoke to him."

"Well kid that's what we're here to try and figure out. The Hokage wants to see if you can wield the chains like your mother. I should tell you that even though your mother had an interesting reputation, the chains along with the nine-tails power made her an extremely powerful shinobi. She probably could have been Hokage herself if she had really wanted too." Jiraiya pointed out to see Naruto's reaction.

"Really? Woah. Both of my parents were super strong. There's no way that I won't be Hokage, ya know." Naruto shouted with all the excitement he could muster.

'If you two could only see where he's at now," Jiraiya quietly thought to himself. 'Please forgive me for what I'm about to do.'

"Hey Naruto let's go shower at the hot springs, and later we'll go get whatever your favorite food is. How does that sound?"

"Really?! Thanks pervy sage, trust me I know the best Ramen shop in the whole village." Naruto proclaimed.

After a quick soak at the hot springs and an unearthly amount of ramen Naruto was feeling as happy as could be.

"So kid I have a question. Do you have a girl that you like?"

"What?"

"Is there a girl you really like?"

"Uh... well there is… well kind of… maybe… not really. I don't think she likes me in that way pervy sage, and I'm not really sure how I feel about her either. So I guess no." Naruto said as he glanced at the ground.

"Oh really? Well that's not what your constant trips to hospital are telling me."

"Hey! You've been foll-" before Naruto could finish Jiraiya knocked him out, and picked him up over his shoulder.

Jiraiya walked out of the village to a more desolate area. He set Naruto down as he was beginning to regain consciousness. He warned him that if he wasn't able to use the fox's chakra or the chains that he would die. He then threw Naruto off a cliff he knew was nearby and simply hoped for the best.

As Naruto began to plummet he understood what Jiraiya was trying to do. Trying not to let panic set in he started waving his arms around in hopes that he could somehow get the chains to appear. To his surprise he actually managed to make one, but he quickly realized that just one chain, that he was barely able to fire, wasn't going to be enough to save him. He then decided that the summoning jutsu was his best bet, and with some chakra from Kurama, he made the hand seals to summon something, anything.

Since Naruto was not proficient at the Summoning Jutsu he channeled a large excess of chakra into the jutsu and summoned a toad the size of a couple buildings. The toad, who just happened to be the Chief Gamabunta, did not believe that Naruto summoned him, and brushed him aside to look for Jiraiya. Naruto then spent the rest of the day riding on Gamabunta's head to prove that he was strong enough to summon him. At sunset Jiraiya approached Gamabunta and an exhausted Naruto to resolve the situation he had merely watched unfold throughout the day.

With little time left Naruto seemingly mastered or at least became proficient at the Summoning Jutsu and control some of Kurama's chakra. He seemed to only be able to consciously access Kurama's chakra when he had little to no chakra of his own left.

The last couple days were spent working on the chains. While Naruto had figured out how to make them appear from his body, he was only able to purposely do it about a fifth of the time. He and Jiraiya just agreed that he probably wouldn't be ready. One day Naruto had actually exhausted himself so much working with the chains that Jiraiya was forced to take him to the hospital to recover. It may have been a blessing in disguise, because Naruto was more or less done with his training and just needed rest above all things.

Naruto awoke in a hospital bed with Shikamaru at its foot playing shogi with himself. Shikamaru gave him a fruit basket explaining that it had originally been for Choji, but Choji wasn't allowed to have them. Shikamaru explained that the exam was the next day, and that everyone seemed to be ready.

Just as Naruto and Shikamaru were starting to strike up a good conversation, Naruto felt a sharp sense of malice from where he knew Lee's room was. He and Shikamaru ran to Lee's room in time to stop Gaara from killing him. There Naruto learned how twisted Gaara truly was, and why he was that way. He had a tailed-beast sealed in him as well. His and Naruto's childhoods were nearly identical, but Gaara had let the hatred get to him and turn him into the twisted psychopath he was now. Gaara's mere demeanor was enough to stun Naruto into a panic, not because of fear but because of how alarming the similarities between the two of them actually were. If Guy had not shown up Gaara might have killed Naruto and Shikamaru before Naruto would have been mentally ready to defend himself.

Naruto and Shikamaru headed home to rest after their endeavors. They would need all the time to prepare that they could get.

Before heading to the arena Naruto decided to go to the training ground where he and his team had truly become genin. He was nervous about his fights that were to come. He was not sure if he had what it took to win, but he was also afraid of what would happen if he lost control of Kurama again. He knew there would be an audience, and that audience would likely rip him to shreds if any threat of the nine-tails made itself present. He pushed all those thoughts to the side when he saw that he wasn't alone.

"Oh. Hey! Hinata is that you?" as Naruto shouted Hinata jumped behind the pole she was leaning against.

"H-Hello Naruto-kun. So what are you doing? The final competition is about to start soon."

" I just came to check out the training field. This is the place where I became a Genin, ya know."

"Oh, b-but why are you here?"

"It's… well… it doesn't matter."

"Oh. Sorry"

"Hey Hinata-chan, Neji's your cousin isn't he?"

"H-Hai."

"So is he really strong?"

"H-Hai."

"Just great."

"You might still be able to win Naruto-kun. You're really strong too. You've always worked really hard and cared so much about what you're doing."

"Yeah, well I know I act tough but in reality I just mess a lot of things up and I'm kinda silly. Sometimes I just think that I'm a great big failure."

"That's not true! I mean in my eyes you've always been more like a proud failure. You never give up, and even when you get knocked down you get back up and prove to everyone how tough you really are. To me that's what true strength is. Remember that time when you cheered me on even though nobody else was. It was then that I felt I could change, and prove to everyone how strong I am. It was because of you that I was able to stand up for myself and actually begin to like myself a little."

"Do you really believe that is true Hinata-chan?"

"H-Hai."

"Thank you so much. I really needed that, ya know. I feel so much better. I better get going."

As Naruto began to walk away he decided against it and turned back turned back and walked towards Hinata, "Hey Hinata. you know I always thought that you were gloomy, timid, terrified, and basically completely weird before I met you-"

"Oh…"

"-but you know what? I've always kinda liked you… I mean I've always liked people like you" Naruto gave her a big hug before he took off leaving Hinata to herself.

"He said… he liked… " as Hinata thought about what Naruto had just done and said. Kiba showed up just in time to catch her as she fainted.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I tried to keep the Naruto and Hinata scene as close to the anime as possible without copying it word for word. I really do like that scene more or less the way it is.