Hi everyone. Sorry for the cliffhanger last time, but a good cliffhanger means a good follow up. Hope you are all ready to see what happens.

Exam Building

Everyone was staring at Naruto. He had never had this much attention before. All eyes were on him as he stood there motionless. "Naruto, come. It's time for us to go." Itachi said as he turned around. "Hold it!" said the proctor. Itachi stopped. He turned around and saw that all of the jounin had surrounded Naruto.

Kakashi spoke first. "Itachi Uchiha, we will not allow you to take Naruto." Guy nodded in agreement and added, "You are still a rogue ninja and we will not allow you to taint him any further." Kurenai stepped forward now. "We will stop you."

Naruto looked at Kurenai in disbelief. She looked back at him and looked sad. She whispered, "Sorry Naruto, but I can't blow my cover just yet." Naruto looked down at his feet, then back at Itachi. Itachi raised his eyebrow. "I'm sorry, but Naruto is my student. He has the choice to come with me if he wants."

For the first time Naruto looked at Hinata. She had a scared look on her face. He stepped toward her, but she backed away. Naruto looked down once again. The proctor jumped in front of Kakashi and faced Itachi. "He will not go with you." Itachi shook his head and looked at Naruto. "Are you coming?"

Naruto nodded then looked at Hinata once more. "Itachi has been like a father to me… I cannot just turn my back on him." Hinata eased up and looked at him with caring eyes. She walked up to him and whispered, "When you can, come find me." Naruto nodded and started walking towards Itachi.

Guy turned around and held Naruto by his shoulders. "Naruto, you do not know what you're getting into." Naruto smirked and said, "I'm already in it." Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke. Guy was stunned. "When did he make a clone?" Someone replied from behind him. "I did it while you were all preoccupied with my sensei." Guy turned around and saw Naruto standing next to Itachi.

The air grew tense as they all waited to see if anyone was going to make a move. Itachi turned around and started walking. Before he even took three steps Kakashi appeared in front of him, blocking his path. "You aren't going anywhere Itachi." Kakashi brought out a kunai and prepared for a fight. Itachi sighed.

Kakashi's eyes grew big as Itachi stared into them. Kakashi had made a huge mistake and fallen right into his genjutsu.

Tsukuyomi Realm

Kakashi looked around and saw a vast grey landscape. He had no idea where he was and looked up to see hundreds of crows circling him. He looked forward again and saw Itachi. "I should kill you right now Kakashi." Kakashi hesitated and looked for his kunai, it was gone. "But I'm not that kind of person anymore. For Naruto's sake I won't hurt you, but you must move."

Kakashi stared at him intently and didn't answer. Itachi shook his head and walked towards him. Kakashi found himself unable to move and as he looked down he saw that black chains were coming out of the ground and coiled themselves around him. "Kakashi, you know that I can kill you. So why are you so intent on keeping me and Naruto from leaving?"

Kakashi tried to struggle but it was no use. "You have corrupted Naruto and I will stop you from tainting his mind." Itachi looked confused. "Corrupting? Tainting? I have merely trained him. And as you saw, he is quite powerful." Itachi walked around Kakashi a few times. "Have you seen any evil in him? Has he killed anyone? Hell, he was even gentler with Sakura than I thought."

Kakashi shook his head in disbelief. "How do I know you haven't trained him to keep his cover?" Itachi chuckled. "Foolish Kakashi. What could I possibly need Naruto for?" Kakashi quickly replied, "He has the Kyuubi inside him."

Itachi laughed harder. "What would I want with that? World domination? Honestly Kakashi I thought you were smarter than that. With all that time as my partner in the ANBU I would think that you would know me." Kakashi replied, "We were taught to hide our emotions, I didn't learn much about you."

Itachi shrugged. "We should get to know each other better than. How about this, you let me and Naruto leave today and we will catch up some other time?" "Not going to happen Itachi." Itachi sighed. "Fine, but I warn you Kakashi, I'm not as heartless as you think. I have my reasons for training Naruto." Itachi turned his head away.

Exam Building

Kakashi snapped out of Itachi's genjutsu and readied his kunai. Itachi looked at Naruto. "Naruto, we have two choices." Naruto looked up at Itachi. "I know, we can either surrender or fight our way out." Itachi chuckled. "Surrender is not an option. I meant we can fight or run." Naruto sighed. "Alright, I think we should—"

"Who said you get a choice?" Said the proctor as he also readied a kunai. Naruto became annoyed from getting cut off. Itachi came up with a new plan. "How about this, I leave you here and you come find me when things settle down?" Naruto nodded. "Alright Itachi-sensei. See you later." Before anyone could react, Itachi had vanished using the trademarked leaf teleportation of the ANBU.

Naruto looked around at everyone who was still looking at him. *Damn, now what the hell am I supposed to do?* He sighed and walked over to his team, excluding Shino who was still in the care of the medic nins. "Kurenai-sensei, what now?" Kurenai hesitated as the air was still thick with mistrust and shock. "We have to make sure Itachi has not done anything to you." She looked at Guy and Kakashi. "I suggest a full check-up along with a seal scan to make sure he has not been controlling you"

Kakashi nodded and Guy walked over to Naruto. "Come with me Naruto." Naruto started walking behind him and turned around to look at Hinata. He stopped abruptly and walked back to her. "Naruto what are you—"Guy stopped as Naruto whispered something to her. She blushed and almost fainted as Naruto turned around to fall back in line with Guy.

When they were gone, Kurenai turned to Hinata. "What was that all about?" Hinata blushed. "Naruto said he was looking forward to our…date." Kurenai looked at her suspiciously. "You have a date with Naruto?" Hinata blushed even more now as she almost fainted again. "I guess I do."

Hidden Leaf Village (Outside of Hospital)

After being examined for two hours for seals, Naruto was finally allowed to leave the hospital. He wandered around and tried to decide what to do. *I could go see Hinata now, or I could go to Itachi for some more training.* Naruto walked around the village some more and passed a few unfamiliar faces. He paid no attention to them and decided that Hinata could wait a little longer so he headed towards their base.

When he got to the gate he was stopped by the guards. "Hold it Naruto." Naruto looked confused and gazed over at them. "We aren't allowed to let you leave. New orders, sorry." Naruto sighed and turned around. He didn't really want to go to the Hokage's office, but he had to solve this problem somehow so he started walking in that direction.

Hokage's Mansion

"That's ridiculous! You can't just let him roam free!" Naruto heard someone screaming in the Hokage's office and decided to wait until they were done. He heard a female voice say, "No! Itachi must be hunted down! We cannot lose this opportunity!" He then heard the Hokage reply, "I'm sorry, but we cannot spare any ninja to dispose of Itachi Uchiha. Orochimaru is planning his attack and we need all available ninja ready for it."

Naruto saw a woman with long purple hair storm out of the office and then walked in himself. "Ah, Naruto, I was expecting you," said the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, "what can I do for you?" Naruto became slightly irritated that Hiruzen did not know what happened. "Why can't I leave the village?"

Hiruzen shook his head. "I'm sorry Naruto, but because of Itachi's appearance you need to wait for things to settle down."

Naruto became slightly impatient. "But sir, Itachi is my sensei and I need to train." Hiruzen laughed. "Well Naruto, don't forget that Kurenai is also your sensei. She can teach you just as much as Itachi can." Naruto sighed because he knew that he had lost this battle. As he turned around to leave the Hokage said something. "Naruto, the ANBU might move without my permission and hunt down Itachi. I cannot stop that. But you must trust that I have told them to leave it alone." Naruto nodded and left the Hokage's office.

Hyuuga Mansion

Hinata sat silently in her room and thought about the events that occurred today. *I can't believe that Naruto was training with the rogue ninja Itachi. No wonder he is so strong. I bet he could do more than just beat Neji, he could kill him.* Hinata shivered at the thought of Naruto killing and walked over to her window. After looking outside for a few minutes, she turned back and sat on her bed again.

*I wonder if he will come see me.* Hinata blushed. *Well he did say that we had a date.* "Hinata, it's time for dinner." Hinata looked up and saw her father in the doorway. "Ok father, I'll be down in a minute." After he left, she looked out the window once more and thought to herself, *I really shouldn't be so excited for our date. He could be dangerous for all I know.*

Hinata laughed at herself. "What am I saying? He's a great guy!" Hinata covered her mouth when she realized that she spoke out loud and before her father could come upstairs, she left her room.

Hyuuga Mansion (2 hours later)

Hinata sat in her room and started to get frustrated. *When is he going to show up? Will it even be today? Or tomorrow? Or next week?* Hinata sighed and stopped arguing with herself and walked over to her bedroom window. She was shocked when she saw that Naruto was pacing in front of the gate to her house.

*Oh no, what do I do?* For some reason Hinata had become scared all of a sudden. Before she could think of anything she heard her name being called. "Hey, Hinata!" She looked down and saw Naruto waving at her. She waved back and before she could blink Naruto had jumped up to her window and was casually hanging onto the roof.

Hinata was speechless. Naruto smiled and talked first. "This isn't the best place for us to talk. Can you meet me in the park?" Hinata quickly nodded and grabbed a jacket. "Don't run, it will draw to much attention." Hinata stopped for a moment, then started walking normally. Naruto dropped down and waited for her to come outside.

When she finally got past her father she met Naruto a block away. They walked silently for a few blocks and then Naruto broke the silence. "Hinata, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you sooner." Hinata shook her head. "It's ok Naruto. I know that you didn't mean harm by it. How long has Itachi been training you?"

Naruto sighed. "I've been living with him since I was young. He took me in the night that he killed the Uchiha clan." Hinata's eyes widened. "Why would he take you in that night? Why not later?" "Because," Naruto explained, "he had to leave the village that night before everyone found out. The third Hokage assigned him his last mission that night."

Hinata wondered. "What was his mission Naruto?" They continued walking for awhile before Naruto answered. "He was assigned to take care of me. To train me so I could become a strong ninja." Hinata looked confused. "Why would the third Hokage do that?" Naruto shrugged. "I don't know, I haven't asked."

They walked along silently until they reached the park. When they looked at each other, Hinata saw that Naruto had tears in his eyes. "Naruto, what's wrong?" Naruto wiped the tears away and looked down. "I've never felt this way about anyone Hinata. I like you, a lot." Hinata blushed and looked away.

"But I'm not sure that you will be safe if we are together just yet." Hinata nodded in agreement. "There are two groups hunting down Itachi-sensei. One is the Leaf Village's ANBU unit." Hinata didn't look surprised. "The other is the Akatsuki." Hinata looked up at him. "What's that?"

"It's a small group of highly ranked criminals. Awhile ago they tried to recruit Itachi-sensei, but he refused." Hinata frowned. "How would either of those affect us?" Naruto looked at her and smirked. "Because when they get to him, I'll be at his side no matter what. And I can't let you get hurt as a result of me. The ANBU will kill anyone they think is a threat, including you if you try to help in any way. The Akatsuki don't care who they take down, if it's convenient then they will kill."

Hinata started to cry, but then her eyes grew wide as Naruto hugged her. "You mean a lot to me Hinata." Naruto pulled away but still held her shoulders. "Itachi-sensei will probably leave after the chuunin exams. He hasn't said if I'm going with him or not." Hinata's eyes were still filled with tears.

Naruto smiled. "Don't worry. I'm still your teammate and friend. You will see me on missions. Heck, there might be sometimes that we—" Naruto stopped as Hinata slapped him. "Why did you drag me out here to tell me all of that?" Naruto frowned. "Because you deserve to know." Hinata couldn't take it anymore. She burst into tears and hugged him as tight as she could.

After she stopped crying, Naruto walked her home. When they got to her door, she turned around and did something unexpected. She kissed him on the cheek. Naruto was stunned as she whispered to him. "Don't do anything you will regret." She turned around and walked inside.

Alright guys that's all for this chapter. Sorry for making it a little short, I'll make it up to you. Hope you liked the change up from action to drama. Don't worry, the action comes back next chapter. Chuunin exams here we come!