a/n just in time for Christmas guys! I wish you all a very merry Christmas and may all your wished come true. This is my gift to you. Hopefully, you like it.:)

I don't own Naruto…Kishimoto does.

Ebb and Flow

As Naruto groggily made his way to training ground four, he vaguely wondered what on earth made him challenge the ambassador to a spar. The clarity of last night's conversation was left behind in the blurriness of the morning after. He had always been a man of action, and a spar always seemed to fix things for him.

What had Sasuke meant by getting stronger? The only way he could figure was physically and so this should determine if the Hyuuga had indeed gained any new strength. '…needed to stand on her own?'

He stuffed his hands into his orange jacket, still filled with a five-year long frustration.

He arrived at the remote training ground four at precisely 7:58 am, dressed in his orange jacket and black pants. The sun was still low in the sky and the remnants of the rain clouds were scattered lazily. It was by the bank of Konoha's largest lake that he found a barefoot Hinata, her eyes closed and barefoot in gently moving water.

He stopped speechless, because at that moment with her eyes closed, the water lapping at her feet and the sun highlighting her features, he forgot to breath. The sweetest smile graced her face, and for a second she looked just as she had, five years ago. And he could not help but admire the shapely curves no longer hidden by oversized jackets. His eyes roamed the pleasing figure. The spell broke when she finally turned towards him, a polite but distant look in her eyes directed towards him.

"Rules, Uzumaki-san?"

Her polite tone and his last name brought his wandering mind back to reality. (That was probably a good thing, because the way things were going, he was close to hoping for some clothing damage in this damn spar.)

"What the hell is your problem Hyuuga-san?" He bit out. Now it was Uzumaki-san? What had he done to this girl to make her so cold, so distant. His fists clenched, and his mouth tightened to a straight line. 'Damn her polite insults and her large…gaaah STOP!'

Hinata's eyes widened, pained at the formality coming from him. She opened her mouth to apologize, but stopped. She had left for five years. He had called her weak (albeit indirectly). They were even. (But it did not feel that way.) She had already forgiven him for his previous comments. 'I'm being petty and selfish, but still…'


Tenten walked through the new shopping center, glancing at the holiday displays and festive decorations put up for the upcoming season. Ino had left the café early to prepare for her mission. Sakura had excuse herself shortly after, muttering something vague about hospital work. So that fortunately left her alone with Hinata-chan. The girl hoped that now they would be able to speak without reservations.

"I'm sorry, Hina-chan." Tenten said, using Ino's nickname for the diplomat.

Hinata turned from admiring a festive holiday display, confused. "There's nothing to be sorry about."

"A-about the whole Ino and Sakura thing."

Hinata laughed lightly, to Tenten's surprise. "I expected it, Tenten-chan! You told me that for the past three years, every Friday night was a girls' night out."

"Not just that. Are you okay? I mean what Ino said about Naruto and Sakura…" Tenten trailed off as she noticed the slight wince crossing her friend's face. 'There it is.'

Hinata turned back to the displays, viewing the idyllic snowy scene of a young couple embracing in the wintery landscape. The woman's red scarf was lovingly shared with the young man; their perfect mannequin faces so close, his light hair brushed her own flowing brown locks. She smiled, and was despite the fact that it was the most contrived and clichéd set up of the bunch, she could not help but wish it was real. She unwound her rouge scarf, playing with the fringes. She replied quietly. "It's none of my business."

Tenten stopped walking, gently gripping Hinata's shoulder. Warm brown eyes crinkled in sympathy. "Hinata-chan, they're not together."

That got Hinata's attention. She was more happy than she liked at the prospect of Naruto being unattached. She tried to ignore the fluttering hopeful feeling in her chest. "W-what?"

Tenten reddened slightly, fidgeting with her pockets. "Ehh, they have a complicated relationship. Naruto is uhh…they're…umm friends with benefits so to speak."

Hinata tilted her head, further confused. "What does that mean?"

Tenten gaped at the innocent, little Hyuuga. Even after all these years, she was still so naïve. She struggled between hugging the adorable heiress for her innocence and letting her know just what exactly Naruto had been up to these past five years. Tenten picked the latter.

"They're friends, who do umm certain activities…erm…activities that are sexual in nature." Tenten blurted out. She looked at the Hyuuga and marveled at the wonderful shades of red spreading across her pale skin. She smiled fondly. 'At least that part of her hasn't changed.'

Hinata sputtered, trying to regain composure. She swiftly walked down the shopping center, hoping to get away from that romantic, wintery display. She vaguely noted that Tenten was struggling to keep up the pace. The man looked an awful lot like…like..She fanned her face, hoping to stop the warmth. And yet, as flustered as she was, the slight feeling of hope had been wonderfully crushed at the revelation. For that she was grateful. 'He's happy, that's all that matters. They're happy.'


Hinata sighed. She was taking out her shock of yesterday's revelation on an unsuspecting Uzumaki. It was not fair to him. He was an adult, and he was free to…do whatever he wanted to. She had no right, even if she was still upset. Her gaze lightened, reverting back to her typical friendly formality.

"I am sorry Naruto-san, I am simply tired. What I meant to say was what are the rules for today?" She amended as she pulled her back into a high ponytail.

He smiled wryly. She always had been a stickler for rules. He replied with bravado, fists on hips and legs apart in a heroic stance. "Fine. These are just for you, ambassador. For your own protection, anything goes on your part."

Her slight frown went unnoticed. Was that what he still thought of her? She interrupted him. "Naruto-san, I do have one request."

Naruto finally truly looked at his opponent, taking in the steel behind her glance and wondering what was wrong. He tilted his head, curious. Blonde strands partly obscured his eyes.

"I ask that you fight me as you would any one of our fellow comrades, barring Sasuke-san."

The slight breeze blew across the field, causing the wild licorice stalks to dance. (1)


"Hinata-chan!" Tenten huffed. Her poor friend was so flustered, but she needed to know the whole truth.

"I-it's none of my business Tenten-chan!" Hinata said firmly.

"You have to know the rest." Tenten gripped her friend's shoulder. She was vaguely amused when the petite kunoichi covered her small ears with her hands and began to hum a discordant tune. What was she still twelve? Heck, even the twelve year old Hinata would not have done something like this.

"I'm not listening." Hinata sang, still covering her ears.

Tenten gently grasped the girl's wrists and pulled them down. It was the serious expression on her friend's face that caused Hinata to listen. "Hina-chan, she wasn't the only one."

"…Oh. I see." Hinata's blank gaze scared Tenten. It was even scarier when a bright smile crossed her face and in the cheeriest voice, declared. "Let's go shopping Tenten-chan!"

The poor girl did not even have time to protest. But Hinata seemed completely fine. She was so cheerful, that she almost fooled Tenten. Almost. Regardless, she doubted Hinata even noticed she had bought several pointless things, such as an expensive painting (where would she put it?), a rubber duck, and a stuffed banana toy. (No comment was made on that last one.)


His eyes widened. That was wholly unexpected, but he was Naruto Uzumaki, and she was…a comrade. He was not scared of any challenge, and if this was Hinata's way of declaring herself against him, then so be it.

"Fine. Everything goes, except any ninjutsu above B-rank. I won't go into Sage or Beast mode. Good enough?" (And somewhere at the back of his mind, Naruto heard a disgruntled Kurama muttering incoherently.)

Hinata tapped her chin. "Mmm, let's make this a little more challenging."

This Hinata Hyuuga was so forward and not timid; it threw the young man for a loop. Hinata from five years ago would have never even outright said something like that.

Naruto tilted his head in question, pouting slightly, looking for all the world like an adorably confused child. She struggled to maintain the affable, yet slightly distant atmosphere. 'You're mad at him Hinata, remember, mad at him…' She mused. 'I'm such a horrid liar.'

"An hour maximum, on top of the lake. The first one to fall in for thirty seconds loses."

"You're on!" He grinned foxily, always excited by a challenge, regardless of his previous anger. Most of all, he was looking forward to the satisfaction of figuring out why exactly he made the challenge in the first place. Fighting always seemed to bring an amazing clarity to complicated situations. (At least in his case, and mostly just with Sasuke.)

"And I will not be using the Byakugan." Her lilac eyes brightened at the prospect of the fight and at the gaping jaw of her challenger. She decided to take a leaf out of Tsunade-sama's book.

"Please close your mouth Uzumaki-san, you look utterly ridiculous."

She frowned, somehow it did not have the same impact. Maybe it was the 'please'.


Sasuke surveyed the exchange from his place on the large elm tree, tucked into the farthest corner of training field four. His eyes narrowed at the pretty, little Hyuuga's declaration. Not utilizing her Byakugan? For dojutsu users, that was akin to a death sentence.

'There's something more to this. What are you hiding Hyuuga?'

But the biggest concern at the moment was why she would announce it so openly. If she had not mentioned it, then his idiot friend would probably have never noticed. What was she trying to prove?

He continued to watch, highly amused at Naruto's gaping expression and Hyuuga's gutsy statement.


Naruto jolted. Another shadow clone popped out of existence, taken down by a barrage of water needles. That only left about sixty or so, interspersed throughout the training field, while the original was still on the lake. He warily took in his surroundings, his spar partner panting heavily, yet not in the least bit wet. (He had not fallen in, yet.) He looked down at his soaking black shirt wryly.

'She's a fucking water type. No wonder she was so smug about the lake challenge.'

He glanced over at the formidable kunoichi, effortlessly maintaining her stance on the water. He noticed the quick movements of her hands. 'Shit. What now?'

A harsh cry had him looking up. It was that darn abla…alla…damn it, that stupid bird thing again. He had not even been able to see what it looked like really before it had shot up into the air. Who would have thought Hinata could perform the summoning jutsu? Her tinkling voice shouted out.

"Dragon Bullet Derivative: Summon Proxy!"

In an instant, the cries of the summon above grew louder as the water below Hinata coagulated into a massive stream, reaching towards the white bird and completely engulfing it. The shape the water took was as familiar to Naruto as it had been all those years ago. 'This was Zabuza's technique…or at least something like it.'

A large dragon, its gaping maw ready to engulf him. Quickly he formed a Rasengan, leaping up towards the still forming shape, hoping to stop it before it developed completely. He grazed the side and cut through the middle and landed back down successfully.

"YEAH!" He pumped his fist, triumphantly, only for his grin to drop as the two halves reformed and connected, Hinata's glowing chakra feeding the thing.

'I'm going to have to attack her head on. That's my best bet.'

He rushed towards the small girl, knowing that without her Byakugan, there would be no unbreakable defense. He swiftly dodged the oncoming water spout, producing several more clones to stall it. Simple, but effective.

Hinata was slightly winded. It had been a while since she had sparred like this with anyone, not since Kirigakure. Her eyes narrowed as she fought the Byakugan activation, slight pain blossoming across her right temple. Naruto was coming too close.

"Alba-chan! Contingent Giant Squid Maneuver!"

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at her attack name. He looked back expecting the thing to rush towards him, but was surprised when the dragon reared, destroying a dozen of his clones, then crashed into the lake, creating waves. Neither it nor the bird reemerged.

She waited, counting down the distance. In a matter of seconds, Naruto was close enough to attack. She rushed forward, feeling the rough impact of his fist on her shoulder. She twirled to dodge a second barrage of fists, relishing in the energy and pain of the spar. A clone threw a kunai while she sparred this Naruto. It grazed her dark shirt, tearing the sleeve near her shoulder, and exposed slightly reddened pale skin.

"This was new." She complained as the barrage continued. Naruto it seemed was focusing on Taijutsu. She flew across the water as a particularly hard blow sent her soaring over several meters. She looked down at the swiftly approaching lake and above at the Naruto clones prepared to kick her straight down. She grit her teeth and quickly gathered her strength, twisting in the air and simultaneously converting some of her chakra into water, swirling it around her and sending water needles towards the Narutos.

They were distracted enough that she was able to focus on her landing, efficiently delegating chakra to the soles of her feet. She stood, panting.

"Nice Hinata!" Naruto grinned, as he fell down to the lake, breathing slightly harder than before. Giving her no time to think, he took her exhaustion as an opening, using Lee's Hard Fist style to attack.

Hinata copied something similar he had done in his fight against Neji, and allowed herself to be caught, only to use his slight opening to her advantage.

She curled a small fist, laced with chakra to hit his solar plexus. He doubled over. Then there was a pop. 'A shadow clone!'

She looked out on the lake, a scattering of orange denoting the presence of the remaining clones, all engaged in a battle with her own water clones. She could feel her chakra slowly seeping into the lake, leeching from her to maintain her delicate balance. I need to focus.'

This was when Byakugan would have been useful. 'Where's the real one?'

She failed to notice the only duck floating on the lake behind her.


Naruto rushed out of his tiny apartment, barely remembering to put on a shirt and pants. (The green shirt was on backwards and his penguin hat was clinging to the seat of his dark pants.) His blonde spikes were even more in disarray than usual. But at the moment, he did not care.

Even as he sped past the villagers and friends he cherished, their friendly greetings were completely lost to him. Shikamaru's pity-filled gaze in his direction went unnoticed. The only thing that mattered was the tiny note and the bundle of flowers clutched in his shaking fist.

He needed to find Ino.


"Good job Naruto-san!" Hinata smiled genuinely at his evasive tactics. 'He's taking me as a serious opponent.'

A white blur emerged from behind, the sound of water splashing, and a sharp cry signaling. "Thank you Alba-chan!"

She turned just in time to see a startled duck quacking. She threw a kunai towards the dark colored bird it dodged, only for the real Naruto to disrupt his henge. Before he could leap away, tendrils of water emerged from the lake, following the trajectory of an emerging Albatross, it's wings directing the water and twirling around a struggling Naruto. He was trapped, the water grasping him like an octopus or a 'squid! That's what her maneuver was.'

He frowned, impressed. Hinata had grown stronger, but somehow, the clarity he was expecting had not come yet. Before he could break free, he caught sight of Hinata's focused gaze. Unexpectedly pulled towards it, he could not look away. Not even as she went through a series of hand signs and the water around the two bubbled as if boiling.

"Water-Heavens Convergence!"

And Naruto could not escape the fog in his brain, even as glistening spheres of water rose from the lake and surrounded the pair. 'What is this ninjutsu?'

It was all he could do to take a deep breath before being thrust into a large sphere of water forming behind him. Hinata silently mouthed a countdown, relaxing further as Naruto's remaining clones popped out of existence. "30…29…28"


He skidded to a stop in front of the Yamanaka Flower Shop. This should have been where he first looked. Regardless, there was Ino, looking bored as ever. She picked at the lint on her orange shirt, huffing. The tinkling bell announced his entrance and had her full attention.

"Hey Naru-"

"What does this mean?!" He quickly shoved the crumpled flowers at her, accidently dropping the note on the counter.

"Naruto, who is this from?" Ino asked worriedly, dreading the answer. The whiskered youth gazed at her, hope and despair at war within his cobalt eyes. 'Hina-chan.'

She looked at the falling petals of several bright mini blossoms, grouped into a larger flower. Then she turned towards the other flower type present. White, round petals, almost like roses wilting without water.

"Naruto, are you sure you want to know?" Ino asked hesitantly, her eyes filled with pity.

"What does it mean, Ino?" He whispered again, brokenly.

She closed her eyes and pointed towards the orange flowers. "Those are Butterflyweed. (2)"

Then she gestured towards the white ones. "Those are Volkamenia.(3)"

She gently told him what both meant, quickly glancing at the exposed note before he could further damage it. It only had two words.

'I'm sorry.'

Ino watched as a broken and frustrated Naruto tore up the small piece of paper, the white fragments falling like snow to the ground. 'Oh, Naruto what have you done?'


Naruto watched impassively as the water sphere closed around him, dimly aware that he would lose if it went down into the lake. He closed his eyes, uncaring. He could almost picture it, almost feel it sinking. Water embracing him like a long lost lover's arms. 'Wait, a minute. Someone is hugging me. What the hell?'

His eyes shot open, glancing at his chest where he felt a weight. Dark hair, long and dancing in the water. The indigo hues made out in dim sunlight penetrating the sphere. The small form of a young woman, pressed against his front. He could feel…everything…pressed against him, and he felt the blood rush north and south simultaneously. 'Who is she?'

As if reading his mind, the girl looked up, lavender eyes hooded and focused. She smiled, a soft and coy curve across a pixie face.

"H-Hinata?!" He exclaimed, only for it to come out as bubbles. She giggled lightly, the sound somehow reaching him through the water. Her bare arms came to cradle his face. Alarms went off in Naruto's head. Bare arms? He looked down, becoming painfully aware that Hinata was naked, her long trailing hair hardly covering anything.

He tried to protest; more bubbles. He gazed down at the naked Hinata, only to have her soft lips fall on his. He fell into the kiss, almost losing himself completely. 'I'm surprised I haven't run out of air yet. Hell, I'm surprised Hinata is acting so sex…'

Then it hit him. When had Hinata ever initiated anything like this? He broke the kiss, to his great disappointment. He looked down at the surprised Hinata. Regretting what he was about to do.

"Sorry, Hinata."

He formed the hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

The sheer number of clones burst the bubble and he was free.


"5, 4, 3…" Hinata stopped as the surface of the lake exploded with Narutos. She smiled, filled with nostalgia; of course he would come back in the nick of time. This was Naruto Uzumaki, the number one unpredictable ninja.

The descending clones wasted no time, they spun in midair, preparing to assault her. Her foot slipped into the water. She grit her teeth, she was running out of enough chakra to maintain her balance and fight. She squinted. 'Not good. My sight is being strained, and I'm not even using the Byakugan.'

She began her technique, based on the Protection of Eight Trigrams, yet requiring much less precision. "Dance of a Thousand Water Needles!"

And a shocked Naruto watched as she spun, as she did many years ago, quickly molded spears of water taking out his clones.

He stared wide eyed at the petite ambassador. Her strength had increased, but so had her creativity and boldness. Using a genjutsu and ninjutsu combination while tricking the opponent into thinking it was only the latter. Brilliant!

However, her choice of illusion seemed somewhat egotistical. He frowned and his fists clenched slightly. Had other opponents seen the naked Hinata?

He quirked an eyebrow at the panting girl. "Nice genjutsu. But don't you think it's a little overboard?"

She tilted her head, eyes widening in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Naruto blushed slightly, still shifting in discomfort from leftover arousal. He perused the girl's slight form, imagining what he had seen in the illusion. 'Gaah! Stop, now's not the time!'

Her brow furrowed in confusion. "Naruto-san, my genjutsu is designed to evoke what the victim finds most seductive in that point in time."

His blush intensified. "W-what?"

"Everyone sees something different, depending on what they like." She replied matter-of-factly completely oblivious to what the implications of her own technique were. She smiled brightly and very innocently. "I call it Ningyo-hime's eternal embrace."

"What a fancy name." Naruto stated bluntly, nearly choking on the accuracy of it.

Her eyes became serious. "Let's finish this though. We're on fifty four minutes, and so far, neither one of us has stayed in the water for more than thirty seconds."

Naruto grinned. "You've done pretty good, Hinata. But prepare to lose!"

He rushed towards the wobbling girl, ready to end the spar and running on his ridiculous stamina. She regained her determination, and called for Alba-chan. His answering cry as he circled closer and closer reassured her. She only had enough chakra to do this, variation of her Gentle Step technique. She channeled her chakra into her hands, transforming it into water chakra. Naruto recognized the technique, but instead of roaring lions, there appeared gaping dragon head, larger and actually roaring with the sounds of water rushing.

Hinata rushed towards the Hokage-to-be and in a series of circular movements, almost like dancing, she reached for him, attempting blunt force trauma.

And that's when it hit Naruto. 'Her technique is still imperfect, but her style is flawless. But it isn't Gentle Fist. It's more like a combination of Lee's Hard fist and dancing. Her weak spot…There it is!'

Naruto avoided her intricate attacks, and produced a shadow clone underwater. She was tiring, and without Byakugan, her back was exposed for an entire second. It was all he needed. The shadow clone slammed into her back, using its full weight to knock her down. She managed to twist and fatally hit the clone and dispelled it, but was unable to finish the attack on the real Naruto. Her sight became blurry, and she knew she had lost.

But she was still glad. She let herself fall gracefully into the lake, floating on her back while she counted down from thirty. The water soothed the emerging headache pulsing behind her eyes.

Naruto could only stare at the odd girl, marveling at her increase in strength and the simple aura of content that seemed to radiate off of her.

"3, 2, 1…" She opened her eyes to look at her opponent. He was staring at her intensely, and despite her years as an ambassador, his look still unnerved her. "Naruto-san?"


"N-naruto-kun?" Queried a gentle voice. He had been staring for several moments at the damaged, golden petals of the birdsfoot trefoil. (4) The bright color standing out against the white sheet of paper he had attempted to preserve it on.

She looked down at his trembling hands and knew something was very wrong. She gently grasped his wrists, and wiped off the pollen and smeared yellow of the blossom.

"I-it's okay."

He glanced at her, blue eyes disbelieving, and he hung his head, ashamed. "How can you say that?"

She looked at him, full on and waited for his explanation. She repeated firmly. "It's okay."

"You…You're so gentle and kind and pure. But me…I'm not. I mess up a lot of things a-and I..I"

She tightened her grip on his hands, a determined look crossing her face. She caressed his fingers. "These hands, have saved so many lives…Have given strength to so many friends…have fixed so many problems."

"But I-"

"357" She stated firmly interrupting his downward spiral.

"W-what?"

"357. That i-is how many flowers I-I have ruined over the years trying to p-preserve them, trying to s-save them." She smiled. "Do you know what the flower you ripped means?

"No…" Naruto answered carefully, stunned.

She smiled brightly at that. "It means h-hatred, Naruto-kun. You j-just destroyed h-hatred."

And she left him to continue pressing her own scarlet Hibiscus flower. Naruto stood still, before moving towards her.

"And what does your flower mean, Hinata-chan? What are you saving?"

She froze, laughing hesitantly. "I-I don't actually know. But the Hibiscus w-was my m-mother's favorite."

Naruto grinned, reanimated from Hinata's pep-talk and wanting to help her somehow. "Well, let's go look it u-"

"No!" She exclaimed, surprising them both. Naruto tilted his head, confused.

"I-I'm s-sorry. It's j-just I have to f-finish preserving this o-one." Her eyes became downcast and Naruto knew not to push any further.


Naruto vigorously shook his head, snapping out of his daze. His question had been partially answered. He would just have to get to know her better; he was still unable to reconcile the shy girl from years prior to this odd, bright creature, but he would try.

He reached out a large, calloused hand towards the girl floating on the waves. She hesitantly reached for it, grasping it. He pulled her to her feet and she marveled at the ease with which he did. But most of all, she marveled at the feeling of her hand in his.

'It still feels the same. Warm and strong.'

She almost let herself enjoy the moment, except…'How many other girls have held this hand? How many others has this hand pleasured?'

With a slight blush, and look to the side, she swiftly slipped her hand from his grip. She gave a small, polite bow to the startled blonde. "Thank you, Naruto-san for the spar."

Her hair flopped forward in its ponytail, and her slightly damp clothes clung to her form, outlining vaguely what he very much wanted to see. He stopped his thoughts. That was a dangerous path, and she was still an innocent it seemed.

A quiet bird trill caught their attention, and finally the white blur circled down and landed heavily on Hinata's outstretched arm. Her entire being brightened at the sight and the heavy looking seagull thing affectionately nipped a strand of her hair.

"Alba-chan. Thank you for today."

"Wait a minute! That seagull is yours?" Naruto's eyes widened. That was his bird friend from Hokage tower. So that meant the ribbon he had kept, had been…had been, he instantly reddened, unusually embarrassed. 'Come on Uzumaki, get it together. You've talked to a ton of other girls. It's just Hinata.'

Hinata glanced up at Naruto's exclamation,"You know Alba-chan?"

In typical Naruto fashion, he rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. "Y-yeah. I was there when he delivered a message to Tsunade-baa-chan."

Alba-chan gave a gently squawk, and gliding towards Naruto, nestling on his blonde hair. Hinata giggled lightly, continuing even as they made their way to the bank of the lake. The pair was surprised to find a waiting Sasuke near the edge of the training ground.

"Ah! Good morning Sasuke-san!" Hinata chirped.

Naruto internally winced, slightly sympathetic towards the cheery girl. Sasuke did not take friendliness from girls their age very well. He was therefore floored when the corner of Sasuke's mouth turned up slightly. (The tiniest bit, but if you knew Sasuke-teme like Naruto did, then you would know that that was enough.)

"Hn." He nodded towards the girl, and raised an eyebrow at Naruto's drenched state. "What happened to you, Idiot? Seems like Hyuuga got the best of you."

Naruto began to protest and was about to challenge Sasuke to a brawl, when Hinata excused herself. Alba-chan flew from Naruto's head to Hinata's arm, lightly swooping past Sasuke's head, as if to silently include him. She smiled goodbye at the two, before she was stopped by Sasuke's voice.

"Hyuuga, almost forgot. Someone from your clan was looking for you."

"Who?" She asked earnestly.

"A girl, Hanabi Hyuuga or something."

Her eyes widened and she gave him another polite bow. "Thank you Sasuke-san."

The two males watched as she leapt towards town, a white blur following her. When she was gone, Naruto turned his gaze towards his hand. The same hand he had helped her up with, which was ironically the same hand that she had held, before…

It's not just you, Naruto… we all hold those same words and feelings within our hearts. They're what bind our lives together and make us comrades.

Naruto looked up, about to ask his friend something when he noticed the intensity with which the Uchiha gazed after the heiress. And his chest lurched. (No one should look at Hinata that intensely.) And for some inexplicable reason, he wished for Sasuke to be gay. Very gay.

The bittersweet scent of yellow marigolds wafted through the air. (5)


1-wild licorice- declare against you

2-butterfly weed- let me go

3-Volkamenia-may you be happy

4-birdsfoot trefoil-hatred

5-marigold-jealousy

a/n: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorite, or followed! Sorry this update took so long, but this has been the longest chapter so far and I fear they will all be this length in the future. If my pacing is at all off, please let me know. Again, as I said, this fight was a spar, not an all-out battle and I wanted to show off Hinata's new jutsu, hence why Naruto mostly used his basic tools (ie. Shadow clones, Rasegan, Taijutsu). Next up Hyuuga clan! I have also written a bonus chapter, detailing Hinata's goodbye but I am not sure if order wise it fits. Let me know if I should post it.

For those clamoring for Sasuhina, well you're getting hints.

This has been the hardest chapter to write so far folks and we are nearing the half way point folks! Just to let you know, Hinata's jutsu- Water-heavens convergence is from the land of vegetables arc where Hinata and Naruto and Choji were assigned to save princess Haruna, and Naruto talk-no-jutsued her too. That's why Hinata got the scroll from Haruna-sama in the flashback.

The Dragon Bullet is derived from Zabuza/Kakashi's technique used in Land of Waves arc. It used less seals however due to the fact that it is joined with summoning jutsu, allowing the summon to utilize its own chakra to mold and guide the dragon form. The user and summon have to be very in tune to use it effectively. That's the downside, it's also not as powerful.

And ningyo-hime means mermaid princess…referring to the myths of sirens/mermaids drowning sailors by singing and dragging them to their deaths.