Chapter Fifteen – Preparations

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"What are we doing here?" Kiba asked looking round in confusion as they came to a stop outside the Hyuuga Compound. "And where's Hinata?"

"Hinata's inside." Kurenai said with a smile. "She's been preparing for this mission for the last fortnight."

Kiba gave Kurenai a confused look.

"That is an interesting statement." Shino said. "Since this mission is a simple D-rank moving mission, transferring furniture and belongings from one place to another, when that fact is combined with your statement it seems that we are here to aid Hinata-san in moving her items to a place outside the Hyuuga grounds."

Kiba stared at Shino and Kurenai nodded.

"Very good, Shino. Now, any idea where she's going?"

Kiba shrugged. "So she's got her own apartment somewhere, right?"

Shino looked at the two guards at the door. "From the lack of anger pheromones and your own actions, Kurenai-sensei, I deduce that Hinata-san is not being exiled from the Hyuuga clan, which was the most probable reason for a Hyuuga to leave the clan compound. In addition, Hinata-san was the subject of an… unfortunate incident when she was three, so wherever she is moving to must have security on par with the Hyuuga clan if they are allowing her to leave without fuss. This implies another clan compound, which in turn implies a betrothal. Kurenai-sensei, is this Hinata-san's idea?"

Kurenai nodded with a smile. "Yes, and her father approved."

"Then there is only one logical destination." Shino said. "I thought I had seen them spending more time together since he returned from his mission."

"Who? Where?" Kiba asked, his face showing that he had not followed the logic. Shino looked at him.

"Kiba, you may need to keep Akamaru close by your side when we arrive at our destination."

"You may enter." One of the guards interupted.

Kurenai nodded in thanks and led her two students inside to where her third student was waiting, along with a giant white tiger. Kiba gulped as he looked at it.

"Oh Kami, we're headed there?"

"Thank you for coming, Kiba-san, Shino-san, Kurenai-sensei." Hinata said with a small smile. "Kyouka has agreed to carry some of the load for us."

"We're headed to Tiger Forest? We'll get eaten!"

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"Okay, despite the tigers, this place is pretty cool." Kiba said, looking round as he entered the bunker, Akamaru hiding in his jacket from the giant tigers that were watching him with idle curiosity.

"Up this way." Hinata said, ascending the stairs. "My new rooms are up here."

"Rooms?" Kiba asked, leaping up the stairs to follow his team-mate. "I thought that Kurenai said that all six bedrooms were taken? Who moved out?"

"Naruto-kun arranged to have one of the barracks converted into my own apartment." Hinata explained. "Since each of the barracks has a small bathroom at the end, it wasn't hard to refit it to give me a proper bathroom and a kitchen/living room for my own use, as well as a bedroom."

Kiba stepped through the door after Hinata and looked round, his eyes wide as Hinata switched on the lights. "Wow, nice place!"

"Thank you." Hinata said as Shino and Kurenai entered. "Before you ask, the bathroom's beyond my bedroom and this is the kitchen/living area. If you can put the scrolls and bags in that corner, please? Thank you."

"So you get a small apartment of your own here? Neat."

"Yes, Kiba, but when I marry N.. Naruto-kun, we've agreed that he will move in here with me." Hinata smiled. "This means that this flat is for Naruto-kun as well as myself."

"Where does this door lead?" Kiba asked, opening the door set into the side of the room.

"That's the last of the barracks chambers." Hinata explained quickly. "Naruto and I decided to keep it empty so that when we have children, we can put their rooms there."

"A logical and intelligent example of forethought." Shino said, studiously ignoring the blush on Hinata's face as he glanced through the open bedroom door. "If that barracks is the same size as this one, you will be able to fit five bedrooms equal in size to your previous bedroom in it."

Hinata's blush deepened as Kiba returned from exploring the empty barracks.

"This place is incredible! Hey, Hinata, can you give us a tour?"

"Hinata-hime?"

"Naruto-kun!"

Hinata vanished so fast that both Shino and Kiba were left staring at the place she had been standing.

"Did… did she… learn Shunshin?"

"No, she just ran very fast to meet her fiancee." Kurenai chuckled from the doorway. "Come on."

Kiba followed his sensei back down the stairs, where Hinata was just finishing giving Naruto a long kiss while Zabuza, Anko and Haku smirked at the scene before them. For almost a minute, Hinata and Naruto simply stared into each others eyes, then they became aware of the people around them. Kiba managed not to laugh as Hinata promptly blushed bright red and retreated into her jacket while Naruto seemed rather dazed, taking a few moments to return to reality.

"It's always the quiet ones." Zabuza commented in an amused tone, causing the portions of Hinata that were still visible to turn even redder.

"We have some training soon." Kurenai said, catching their attention. "Hinata, is Kyouka now your official partner?"

Hinata nodded as the aforementioned tiger ambled inside and settled down by her side. Kiba flinched.

"Oh hell, he's gonna eat Akamaru, I just know it!"

"She." Kurenai corrected. "And she's promised to leave Akamaru alone, the Great Tigers know about the Inuzuka and their dogs. In a way, they feel about humans how you feel about Akamaru."

Kiba blinked. "Hey, what?"

"It's true." Naruto said. "They only have one partnership-jutsu with their human partners, not loads like the Inuzukas. Would you like to see it?"

Kiba nodded and Naruto gave a whistle. A moment later, Kaze ambled in and Kyouka nudged Hinata.

"Okay, Hinata-hime. Just as we practiced."

Hinata nodded in response to Naruto's comment and scrambled onto Kyouka's back as Naruto vaulted onto Kaze's. Both Hinata and Naruto made several high-speed hand-seals.

"Combination Kagetora Clan Technique: Great Tiger Henge no Jutsu!" They both shouted and vanished in a cloud of smoke. When it vanished, it was to show Kaze and Kyouka both stood there, each with a virtually-identical copy of themselves stood on their backs. The copies quickly stepped down and Kurenai walked over to take a closer look.

"I'm impressed, Naruto. The only way to tell the difference between you and Kaze is your eye colour." She said with a smile. Naruto released a purr and walked over to Hinata, nuzzling her cheek.

"And Hinata… it looks like you have your Byakugan in this shape." Kurenai said slowly. "Can you… use it?"

Hinata concentrated, releasing a slight growl, and her eyes changed slightly, the fur beside her eyes suddenly ruffling up in a pattern very similar to the enlarged veins of a normal Byakugan. She blinked a few times, then nodded.

Shino whistled in amazement. "How long can you remain in this form?"

Hinata replied with a series of barks and growls and Shino facepalmed.

"Naruto can keep tiger-form almost indefinately due to his chakra levels. His strength has carried over as well" Anko said. "We had Hiashi help with testing Hinata's tiger-form and we think she can hold it for maybe eight hours before she needs to rest."

"I… I'm impressed." Kiba said slowly. "How long have you… sorry. Anko-san, how long has Hinata been able to do that?"

"Kyouka and Hinata managed to synchronise enough to do it three days ago." Anko said with a smile as Naruto playfully nipped at Hinata's tail and she responded by chasing him outside. "Since then, Hinata's been learning how to move properly in that shape."

"That will help with long-distance missions." Kurenai said thoughtfully. "If Kyouka agrees to carry one or two of us and Hinata carries whoever's left over… when Hinata returns to normal, I'll have to talk with her about it."

"Hey, come here!" Kiba called from the door. "you gotta see this! Hinata just pinned Naruto for the second time! Go Hinata! I wonder if she can use Jyuuken in tiger-form? That would be scary."

"Moving on." Kurenai said firmly, pulling some papers from her pocket, "These are the forms for the Chunin exams, which start next week and which I think you three are probably ready for. The choice is yours, if you think you are ready, fill out your form and return it to me as soon as possible. Kiba, here you go. Shino, this one's yours, which just leaves…woah!"

Hinata bounded past, snatching the form from Kurenai as she did so, pursued by Naruto who leapt onto her, only for her to roll over and end up on top of him.

"Pinned him again!" Kiba laughed. "Face it, Naruto, you can't win against Hinata. Heck, neither Shino or I can, and I've been using weights to get better."

Both tigers vanished in a cloud of smoke as they reverted to their real forms. The smoke dissipated to show Hinata, still holding the chunin form in her mouth, straddling Naruto's thighs, her hands pinning his shoulders to the floor. Zabuza promptly started laughing.

"Ummm, Hinata, you may wish to consider what that looks like…" Kurenai said. Hinata looked round in confusion, looked down and then threw herself off Naruto with a squeak, her face turning almost purple as she blushed furiously. Kurenai managed to turn her laughter into a cough.

"So, Anko, you putting Naruto into the exams?"

"Hell, yeah, kid's more than ready." Anko gloated, pulling a familiar form out of her coat pocket. "Problem is, the old geezer said that as Naruto had so many advantages, he'd be penalised in stage two. I'm not entirely sure what the old man's planning…"

"I know." Zabuza smirked. "The Hokage asked me to proctor the second stage. Heh, a chance to terrify a whole load of genin, should be fun. Ibiki's already giving me tips."

"I fear for my students already." Kurenai said with a smile. "Okay team, practice time!"

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The knock on the door sounded just as Hinata was placing the last of her new books, a gift from her father as a part of his ongoing apology to her, on the shelves.

"Come in!"

As Hinata turned, the door slid open and Naruto stood there with a smile on his face and a covered tray in his hands.

"I come bearing gifts." he said as he stepped in, proffering the tray. Hinata lifted the lid and her eyes lit with pleasure.

"Cinnamon rolls!"

"Fresh from the oven." Naruto confirmed. "I made them myself, I hope you like them."

Hinata nodded, unable to speak since she was busy eating the one that she had grabbed from the tray. Naruto grinned at her and gently placed the tray on the table, lifting the lid again so that Hinata could take a second one, then he leaned forwards and kissed her cheek.

"You had some icing there." he said as she blushed. Hinata paused, then with a mischevious smile she placed a small blob of icing on her other cheek. Naruto grinned, kissed it and then kissed her forehead.

"I didn't have icing there." Hinata mock-protested and Naruto shrugged.

"Not yet, you didn't." he teased, then he sat down on the sofa and motioned for Hinata to sit by him. "Hinata-hime, I actually came to ask for a favour in the exams tomorrow."

Hinata turned to look at him.

"Well, three favours. First, if we end up on opposite sides, don't hold back against me. I don't want you to fail to get thepromotion you deserve because I happened to get in your way."

"Only if you promise the same." Hinata half-whispered and Naruto nodded.

"Second, believe in yourself. You still doubt your strength occasionally. Don't. Inside, where it counts, you are probably stronger than me. Believe it, believe me and most of all, believe in yourself."

Ninata nodded, the half-devoured cinnamon roll in her hands forgotten.

"I… I'll try. And the third?"

"Kakashi-sensei confirmed that the chunin exams can be dangerous." Naruto stated. "The third favour, don't die, Hinata. We've only truly been together a few weeks, you've only been here less than a week, yet you've become my most precious person. Please, be careful."

Hinata felt her eyes fill with tears and she leaned across to kiss Naruto on the cheek. "You promise that too. I didn't go to all that effort in chasing you to lose you."

"I promise." Naruto whispered, lightly hugging her. "You have my word, and I never break my word."

For several minutes, they sat there, simply enjoying each others presence, then Naruto sighed.

"It's getting late, and we both need a good nights sleep for tomorrow."

Hinata sighed. "I suppose so, but I'd just got comfortable."

"Yeah, so had I." Naruto admitted, trying to hide a yawn. "Well, I suppose another five minutes won't make a difference."

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Zabuza emerged from his room adjusting the his mask. Rubbing his eyes in an attempt to finish waking up, he turned towards the stars and paused as he saw Anko, Haku, Kakashi and Gai all outside the open door to Hinata's apartment, several of them holding cameras. As he approached, Haku motioned for him to be quiet.

"What's up?" Zabuza whispered, curiosity roused. "What are you all… okay, that's just too Kami-damned cute. Dammit, where's my camera?"

Haku smirked, holding up Zabuza's camera, then he turned back and looked at the sofa where Hinata was fast asleep, curled up in Naruto's lap with her head nestled against the side of his neck and his arms holding her protectively, coincidently holding the blanket in place.

"Who provided the blanket?" Zabuza asked quietly. "If they thought they needed a blanket, they'd probably have just gone to bed."

Anko blushed slightly.

"Why, Anko." Kakashi teased. "I didn't know you cared about them that much."

"Actually, it was me." Came a voice and everyone looked round to see Iruka standing behind them, shirtless and with a mug of coffee in his hand. "I saw the light on, checked and found them like that, so I grabbed the blanket from Hinata's bed to keep them warm and switched off the light."

"Then he returned to keep me warm." Anko giggled.

For a few more minutes, everyone watched the sleeping couple, then Zabuza spoke up.

"So, who's going to wake them? After all, they do have that test to attend today."

Everyone glared at him.

"What?"

"Hush!" Naruto whispered just loud enough for them to hear. "You'll wake up Hinata!"

"You're awake too?" Hinata asked, lifting her head to look at him. "I thought you were asleep and I didn't want to wake you up. How long have you been awake?"

"About… half an hour." Naruto said slowly. "You?"

"Bit longer than that." Hinata admitted, doing her best to ignore the laughter coming from the group in the door. "I guess this means it's time to get up."