ZY: Sorry for the long wait, but collage has REALLY been eating up my free time. Anyway, enjoy.
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Dreams of Passion turned into Reality, Chapter 8: Training.
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It's been nearly three days since Team 7, 6, 8, and 10 started training together and learnt that Neji was a Dream Empath. Everyone was improving rather well.
Shikamaru could now hold his shadows for 15 minutes.
Sasuke could activate his Sharingans whenever he wanted.
Hinata was actually getting better with tag-teams (The ones without Sasuke and Neji) and started to get really get along with her teammates; although, it was slow progress.
Choji was able to last longer in fights.
Kiba was able to all kinds of combos with Akamaru.
Shino's hand-to-hand combat skill improved.
Neji could now go into three different Dream Planes without getting tired, he hasn't quiet reached the stage were he could be in two Dream Planes at once. Like his cousin, he was slowly getting closer to his teammates.
Lee was becoming more skilled with weaponry and he was slowly but surely getting closer to Neji. The green clad teen was also slowly earning Hinata's trust. All were REALLY good. Although, Sasuke was still a bit suspicious on Lee's intentions.
Tenten was able to hit four targets at once.
Naruto had more control of his chakra, thus more control of his attacks.
Sakura could punch a hole in solid stones, with her bare fists. This actually did impressed Susuke.
"Thanks Sasuke, I've really been practicing with focusing my chakra to increase my strength," Sakura stated happily as she wiped some sweat off her brow. Now that she has completely gotten over her crush on Sasuke, her focus has been on her training. Her arms were now pretty toned, not completely muscled but you could tell she WAS indeed training. Yeah, she was bummed that Sasuke wasn't her Soulmate, but that didn't mean that she couldn't be his teammate and friend. Sakura had also been getting along great with Naruto, Hinata, and Neji. Getting along with the Hyūgas actually surprised Sakura.
Ino of course was pissed that the Uchiha was paying attention to the pinkette rather then her. Okay, so she hasn't really improved her skills all that much, but still. Ino did wonder why Sakura's behavior towards Sasuke changed. Two and a half weeks ago, the pinkette had just as big of a crush on the Uchiha as the platinum blond, and now a week ago Sakura up and ignored Ino's actions to get Sasuke's attention. The two girls always bickered when it came to the younger Uchiha, but now...
Ino really couldn't understand the sudden change in Sakura's behavior, okay, she DID think for a short while that pinkette gave up on winning Sasuke's affection but the platinum blond knew she would NEVER give up on anything. 'So what the hell's going on with her?' Ino thought as she watched Sakura show Sasuke how to focus his chakra. That was when it hit Ino when she thought 'Come to think of it... A couple of days ago Hanabi DID mention that Sasuke already had his Soulmate Dreams! So... Does Sakura already know who his Soulmate is?'
"Ano, Neji..." Naruto asked the sitting Hyūga nervously, okay not really nervous but... "Restroom?" Neji stated rather then asked. The blond nodded. The reason Naruto was asking was because he needed someone to show him were the toilets were in the maze-like Hyūga estate and the last thing the Hokage's son wanted was to not be able to find the bathroom in time. Neji stood up and told the blond to follow him closely as they walked into the estate.
'Why the hell would the Hyūgas make their house like a maze?' Naruto asked himself, but then he realized the reason why.
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After Naruto relieved himself, he washed his hands, and left the restroom. The blond looked around, Neji wasn't there... The blond called the Hyūga, but no answer. Crap, how was he going to find his way out now?
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After two minutes of trying to find an exit, Naruto found an interesting room. Some kind photo room. The blond walked in.
Naruto looked around the room, he couldn't help put be amazed. There had to be around twenty or thirty beautiful pictures hung around the room. The subject of half of the images were birds. The pictures were beautifully taken. 'Hold on...' Naruto thought as he took a closer look at a few of the pictures. That was when the blond realized that the pictures weren't photos taken by a camera, they were paintings! 'Whoa... Who painted these? They're amazing,' Naruto couldn't help but wonder as he looked at an image of a beautifully detailed white crane in a winter setting.
Naruto noticed two sketchbooks on a table. 'Well... It wouldn't hurt to take a peek,' the blond thought when he picked up one of the pad and started looking through it. Most of the drawings were of birds or a Hyūga family member. When Naruto was finished looking through the first he picked up the second sketchbook.
Only one page had an image on it.
"Sasuke's Soulmate?" Naruto muttered as he read the words at the top of the page as he looked at image. 'Wait a minute! Oh Kami! This Neji's Dream Empath sketchbook!' the blond nearly had his heart stop, then he looked at the date on the image. 'July 30... That's exactly seven days after Sasuke's 15th birthday... So his Soulmate Dreams started on his birthday...' Naruto thought as he wondered who this person in the picture was.
"Should I shout at you for being nosey, or should I let your parents when I tell them this?" stated a voice from the doorway and causing Naruto to jump out of his skin.
It was Hyūga Neji, with a VERY peeved look on his face.
"What the hell are you doing in my studio, looking through my stuff?" Neji snapped at the blond, whom stuttered out "I was looking for you and... Wait, this is your studio?" The annoyed male Hyūga nodded. "Did...you make all of these paintings?" Naruto asked looking at all of the paintings. "Yes, I did. Now, answer my question," Neji snapped in an annoyed tone. Naruto explained that he didn't see the Hyūga when he finished using the bathroom, so he tried to find him but found this studio instead.
The moment Neji saw that Naruto had HIS OPEN Dream Empath Sketchbook, immediately snatched it away from him, and hissed out "Say any word to ANYONE about what you saw in here *indicates the sketchbook* and I WILL paralyze you permanently. I don't care if you ARE the Hokage's son, you DO NOT just look through a Dream Empath's Sketchbook without their permission!" Naruto quickly apologized for his actions and stated in a stuttered tone that he won't tell anyone about it. "With that big mouth of yours, I'd suggest you'd start picking out your wheelchair NOW," Neji hissed. "I WON'T tell anyone I swear! I'm getting better at keeping my mouth shut!" Naruto nearly shouted. The Hyūga walked up to the blond and hissed "You'd better be." Neji grabbed Naruto's arm and hauled him out of his studio.
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As the two walked through the estate, Naruto asked how long Neji's been painting. "Ever since Sensei-sama taught me how to paint," Neji said with a small smile. "Kakashi taught you? I knew he drew, but I didn't know he painted. I've been to his house plenty of times and I've never seen him use or own any type of painting supplies," Naruto stated as he folded his arms. "Sensei-sama prefers to use pencil when he draws, but he knows how to paint though," the Hyūga stated plainly.
"I never knew... Guess I really didn't know Kakashi as well as I thought, despite knowing him my whole life..." Naruto muttered as he looked at the ground. Neji looked over his shoulder to see the blond and said "Is... Something else on your mind? I'm pretty sure it's not just about Sensei-sama."
Naruto finally looked at Neji and said "Since I learnt something I shouldn't have from you... How about I tell you something about me that no one else knows about... You know, to keep each other in check." Neji shook his head and said "I don't think that's the same thing." "Neji, please!" the blond stated softly, then added "I need to tell someone this! I've wanted to ever since I learnt it, but... I need it to be someone who I know can keep a this kind of secret." Neji was quiet, he's never seen Naruto like this. "Dream Empaths are notorious for keeping a lid on things, but I don't think I could tell Kakashi about this... So... Can I tell you?" the blond stated as his blue eyes looked at the Hyūga right in the eyes.
"Fine," Neji stated after what seemed like forever, but he did add "You can tell me, I won't tell anyone, but you better not say ANYTHING about Sasuke's Soulmate in return, alright." Naruto nodded.
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"Hello everyone," Itachi and Kisame said when they saw all of the teams. Haku was with them.
Hinata smiled and said "Itachi-nii, Kisame-nii! Happy Anniversary!" The two ninjas smiled and thanked the heir. "It's your anniversary?" Sakura asked the two. Kisame smiled and stated "Yup, five years now." Itachi then asked "Any reason why neither of use were allowed to come in through the main entrance?" "Oh, sorry. We're doing some work in that area and some of the stuff that's being used gives off fumes. We don't want either of you to breath it in by accident," Hinata said calmly with a smile. Itachi rubbed his swelling stomach and stated "We understand, so no worries."
"Soooo, when't the due date?" Teneten asked as she saw Kiba take Ziv out of the carrier and gave him a bottle. "The doc said in about three-four months," Kisame stated remembering what Itachi told him from his last appointment. Teneten smiled and said "The baby's going to be adorable." "Babies. Plural," Itachi stated with a smile.
"REALLY?!" shouted all but Hinata, Hanabi, Sasuke, and Shino.
Kakashi chuckled and asked about the names of the little ones. "Sung for the boy and Tzu for the girl," Itachi stated as he leaned against Kisame a bit. The Dream Empath closed his eyes for a bit and said "Aren't they the happy pair. I can already sense that their dreams are images of their parents, uncle, and the Hyūgas. So, someone's been been using that advise I gave them." Itachi couldn't help but smile and asked "Speaking of which, where is the Dream Empath in-training?"
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Neji's face was pale and his mouth was agape when he stuttered out "You...you're..." "Yeah... I know. Guess you can only imagine how I feel," Naruto stated sadly. "Then that... Then that vile chakra Hinata-sama saw on the bridge was..." Neji practically choked out. The blond nodded and said "Yeah, it was the Kyūbi's chakra... From what my parents told me, the seal weakens when I'm enraged... The Third Hokage knows about it and two or three others. I don't know who they are, but I know you're one of the few who now know..." Neji was quiet for a good two minutes before he said "I... I don't know what to say. I really don't." "Don't say anything, please, you promised," Naruto stated sadly. The Hyūga nodded and said "I won't, not just as a Dream Empath..."
"Thank you Neji. I mean it," Naruto said with a small smile. Neji nodded and stated with a REALLY small smile "And remember, not a word about Sasuke's Soulmate." Naruto nodded.
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"Sure Sasuke, you can leave early. I since today's a special day and all for your family," Kakashi said with a smiling eye. Sasuke smiled, said "Thank you Kakashi-sensei," and started heading off with Itachi and Kisame. "We'll see you later," Hinata stated happily as Hanabi waved them off.
Sasuke had the day already planed for his brother and brother-in-law's anniversary.
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Neji and Naruto came out of the estate five minutes later. "Where's Sasuke?" the male Hyūga asked as soon as he noticed that his friend was missing. "Itachi-nii and Kisame-nii came to pick him up for their anniversary," Hinata told her cousin. Neji smiled, everything was going according to plane.
"Haku! How've you been?" Naruto asked as soon as he spotted the former water-nin. Haku smiled and said "I'm doing fine. I'm officially a citizen of Kohanagukure." The blond was positively ecstatic and he hugged the ice-nin. "But, I am going to have to wait a year or two before I can apply to be a Shinobi," Haku stated as soon as he got out of Naruto's grip. The blond grinned and stated that he couldn't wait. Naruto was glad Haku was doing well.
Haku decided to join in the training. Figured that he's keep up his abilities so he'd be ready for his aplication to be a ninja of Konohagakure.
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By the end of the day, everyone was close to being exhausted (minus Hinata and Neji).
Right now, Shino was feeding Ziv. The infant was happily sucking on the bottle. "He looks like he's doing well," Haku stated when he saw this. The bug-nin nodded as the dog-nin said with a smile "Yup, and he's already showing an interest in dogs." "And some bugs," Shino stated softly. With that wild grin on his face, Kiba said "Of coarse, he's our kid." Little Ziv finished with the bottle and snuggled in Shino's arms. The bug-nin placed the bottle in the baby bag and the dog-nin burped the little baby. The moment baby Ziv saw Haku, he reached out towards the ice-nin.
"Oh? You want Haku-ojisan to hold you?" Kiba asked the baby, whom was still reaching out towards the ice-nin in question. The dog-nin looked at Haku and asked him if he knew how to hold a baby. "A little bit," the ice-nin said softly. Kiba showed Haku how to properly hold little Ziv, before finally carefully handing the infant over to the ice-nin. As soon as Ziv was comfortably resting against Haku's chest, he gripped one of the ice-nin's long bangs. The infant didn't pull or yank the hair, just kept a good grip on the hair and cooed happily as his dark eyes lit up. "He seems to like you for some reason," Naruto said when he saw this.
Ziv yawned and fell asleep, happily snuggled against Haku's chest. Kiba chuckled and said "Looks like we found a babysitter, ne, Shino." The bug-nin nodded. The ice-nin couldn't help but smile as he watched the little life sleep in his arms. It made Haku wonder what could've happened if Zabuza still lived.
Gai was kind of moping a bit. He'd try to hold little Ziv a number of times, each time the baby cried. Gai actually did looked up how to hold a baby, so he knew he was doing it right, but Ziv still didn't like him.
Kakashi placed a hand on the green beast's shoulder and said "It's alright, Gai. Maybe Ziv just doesn't like the colour green right now." The green beast smiled softly and said "I guess." The older Dream Empath smiled and said "I'm sure when you have a baby of your own, I'm sure it'll never want you to put'm down." Gai blushed and said "I guess you may be right, but I haven't had my Soulmate Dreams yet." "Don't worry, you will and I'll help you when you do," Kakashi said happily. Gai knew his rival was telling the truth.
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The senseis sent everyone home for the night. Okay, well, Team 7 went home with Kakashi since they had an ongoing mission to protect the Dream Empath. Sasuke would meet them at Kakashi's home. The Hyūgas were already at their homes, so...
Ino unlocked the door to the Yamanaka residents and walked in.
"Inoko, (1) is that you?" someone asked from the kitchen as Ino walked in and said "I thought I told you to stop calling me that!"
With a smirk, a gloved hand placed a plate of curry on the table and said "If I recall correctly, you're still a little girl (1)." "I'm 15! I'm old enough to have my Soulmate Dreams!" Ino snapped as she sat in front of the curry. "But, you have yet to have your Soulmate Dreams," a tall man (6ft 4inch / 1.9 meters) with dark eyes and scars running along his face said with a smirk.
Curious to know why Morino Ibiki is in the Yamanaka household? Well... Okay, okay, Ibiki and Inoichi are Soulmates... Yeah, Inoichi got his Soulmate Dreams later in life (long after he married Ino's mother, had Ino, and lost his wife in the Kyūbi attack. Don't get the Yamanaka Head wrong, he still loves his late wife, he always will, but he did have to move on). They got hitched 7 years ago... Even if there was an eleven year age difference.
To be fair, Ino's still adjusting to Ibiki being her Papa.
"Where's Otou-san?" Ino asked before shoving a spoonful of curry into her mouth. "With the Higher-Ups and other Family Heads. The Chûnin Exams are coming up and all of them are going over potential Genin applicants," Ibiki stated calmly as he sat at the table.
Ino nearly choked. "ALREADY?!" the blond nearly shouted. Ibiki nodded as if his step-daughter wasn't screaming. Ino sighed and said "Good thing my teams not applying to those Exams, since we just became Genins and all."
Ibiki could really clean up in poker, he had a amazing poker face. He knew for a fact that Ino's team was one of the Genin teams that was up for consideration. 'Should I tell her? No, it's not official yet, so I can't. I also can't tell her who the examiners are either,' Ibiki thought as he watched Ino eat her curry (in a way a father does to make sure his little girl eats, not in a creepy way!).
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Sasuke walked into the Hatake household with a small smile on his face. Itachi's and Kisame's Anniversary Dinner was a complete success. The Hyūgas were able to deliver their anniversary presents at the Uchiha residence while they were out at dinner, just as Sasuke planed.
And when the three returned home... Sasuke couldn't help but smile happily now. The look on the older Uchiha's and water-nin's face was perfect, they were sooooooooooooooooooo happy! Kami, Sasuke couldn't wait to have those kinds of moments with his Soulmate in the future!
"Sasuke, is that you?" Kakashi called from the kitchen snapping the Uchiha out of his blissful thoughts. "Yeah, it's me," Sasuke said as he walked into the kitchen, where he saw Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura.
"So, how was the Anniversary?" Naruto asked Sasuke with a cheeky smile. "Not that it's any of your business, but it was perfect," the raven haired teen stated as he walked out of the kitchen and added "I already ate dinner, so I'm just going to get ready for bed." "Alright, but we're going to play some game after dinner so you might want to join us," Kakashi said with a smiling eye.
Sasuke said "Alright," just as he entered his room.
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"The teams for Konohagakure have been chosen for the Chûnin Exams," Minato said to all of the Higher-Ups and Promenade Family Heads.
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1) The ending syllable "Ko" basically means "Child" and is usually at the end of some of the girl's names in Japanese. Ie, Yukiko, Hanako, Keiko.
So, What Ibiki means in the second sentence is that he calls Ino Inoko, because she still thought of as a child in the Yamanaka household.
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ZY: Until next chapter. Reviews would be nice.
