Alright guys, time for another chapter. I'm gonna slow things down a bit at the beginning and let your hearts take a breather from the action. I also noticed that I didn't quite fill all of you in about how Naruto and Hinata grew close so I'm going to start with that. Don't worry the action will pick back up in the second half of the chapter.
Hidden Leaf Village (park)
Naruto and Hinata walked through the park. They held hands and often looked at eachother and smiled. They walked towards a tree in the middle of the park and stopped. "Hinata…" She turned to look at Naruto who looked like he was thinking of something. "Why do you like me?" She looked surprised by the question. "What do you mean Naruto?"
Naruto turned to look at her. "I mean what made you attracted to me in the first place?" She giggled. "Truthfully Naruto, I'v had a crush on you for some time." He looked confused. "Really? Since when?" She looked up and smiled. "Well, since the day you joined the academy I guess." Naruto smiled. "Naruto, do you know what made me finally gather the courage to ask you out?" Naruto shook his head. "Well, it was during one of our missions. The one where we had to escort the weapons dealer to the Hidden Sand Village."
Uchiha Hideout (several months earlier)
Naruto was excited. Today was his first real mission. No dog walking and fetching runaway cats. There was actually danger involved in this mission. He packed his gear for the mission and headed out of Itachi's hideout. Before he left, Itachi called out to him. "Naruto, don't push yourself too hard. Remember that you are still recovering from that fight with the Kazekage." Naruto nodded and jumped out of the hideout to meet with his team.
Hidden Leaf Village (main gate)
Kurenai and Hinata were already at the gate. They both arrived early. Naruto came running towards them from the forest. "Naruto, what were you doing in the forest? You were supposed to be getting ready for the mission." Naruto laughed nervously. "Well you see, I got up a little too early so I decided to get some training in before we left." Kurenai shrugged. "Alright, just make sure that you are prepared. We might run into some trouble on this mission."
Naruto nodded and double-checked his bag to make sure he had everything. He then walked over and stood next to Hinata. This made her blush. A few minutes later, Shino arrived along with the person they were escorting. He was a middle-aged man with a scruffy beard and a bald head. Naruto could tell that he was no ninja, which made him even more excited. *Cool, we are escorting this old weapons dealer who looks to have no fighting experience. This should make things a little more difficult.*
Naruto loved it when things became difficult. It gave him a chance to test himself. "Alright team, listen up." Kurenai said to get their attention. "Just to re-brief you on the mission, we are to escort Mr. Rozo to the Hidden Sand Village. It is normally a three-day journey but since this is an escort mission, it will take us four days to get there." The three gennin nodded showing that they understood. "Alright then, let's head out."
Ezuna Plains (two days later)
Team Kurenai had been walking through the forest for two days and had finally reached the plains that seperated the forest from the desert. "Let's stop here for now." Kurenai said as she set her backpack down. "We will need to be fully rested in order to make it through the desert in two days." The team agreed and started to set up camp. Naruto was in charge of gathering firewood, Hinata was to set up camp, and Shino was sent out to find food.
After camp was set up, they all sat around the fire and talked about the rest of the mission. "Kurenai-sensei," said Naruto, "are we going to fight anyone anytime soon?" She laughed. "Naruto, you should not be so eager to battle. Life as a ninja is not always about fighting. It's more about protecting and maintaining peace." Naruto sighed and stared at the fire. "I know."
After an hour of Mr. Rozo telling stories about weapons, Kurenai decided that it was time to rest. All of them climbed into their own tent except Naruto. Hinata came out of her tent to see him still staring at the fire. "Naruto, you should go to bed. We will all need our strength tomorrow." Naruto turned to look at her. "I know, I'll go to bed soon. I'm just thinking about things, that's all." She smiled and went back into her and Kurenai's tent.
Truthfully, Naruto didn't feel tired at all. He felt like he could just stare at the fire for hours and contemplate the randomness of its flame. He felt safe since they set up multiple traps around the camp, and he also didn't very much like the idea of sharing a tent with Shino. Just thinking about his bugs gave him the chills. Without knowing it, Naruto passed out in front of the fire, sleeping while sitting up.
Camp (an hour later)
Naruto awoke to a strange sound. He opened his eyes and heard whimpering. He looked around while half-asleep and saw someone holding Hinata over his shoulder. She was gagged so she wouldn't make any noise. The man turned around without noticing Naruto and ran into the forest. After staring blankly for a second, Naruto snapped into reality. *Someone has taken Hinata!* He got up and rushed into the forest, forgetting to tell the rest of his team.
He ran as fast as he could after the kidnapper. He had to find a way to stop him. If he threw a kunai he might hit Hinata. *Arg, what do I do?*Almost instantly his mind became calm. It felt as though time stopped and he felt like neither him, nor the kidnapper were moving. He thought to himself. *I'v got to catch him. Think Naruto think!* He now knew what to do and, as if sensed by the world, time began to flow normally and he was chasing the ninja again. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto yelled out his jutsu as loud as he could and hoped that his team would wake up. Fifteen clones appeared and started to chase the ninja holding Hinata. One went back to alert his team. Naruto had to act quickly or he would lose the kidnapper. One by one, the clones threw eachother at the ninja. He was fast, but the Naruto clones were flying faster and one tackled him, sending both him and Hinata spiraling to the ground.
Naruto took his chance and the real Naruto dove for Hinata. He caught her and spun in mid-air so that she landed on top of him while he hit the ground. He quickly got up. "Hinata are you ok?" He ungagged her and she took a minute to catch her breath. "Naruto, you saved me." Naruto blushed. "Of course I did Hinata. You are my teammate." Hinata looked a little dissappointed for some reason but shrugged it off.
They both stood up. "Let's get him Naruto." He nodded as Hinata and the fourteen Narutos charged the kidnapper ninja. The ninja turned around and used a jutsu. "Water Style: Water Tsunami!" A huge wave of water erupted from his feet and collided with all of them. All of the clones were destroyed and Naruto rolled on the ground while Hinata flew into a tree. "Hinata!" Naruto got up and ran over to her.
"Ugh, Naruto?" Hinata was feeling weak. She had hit her head pretty hard. "Don't get in the way kid. Just hand the girl over nice and easy." Naruto turned around and stood up to face the ninja. He became angry. "What do you want with Hinata?" Naruto said in a threatening tone. The ninja snorted. "That's none of your buisiness kid. Now hand her over."
Naruto shook with anger, but he managed to calm himself. "No. If you want her, you will have to go through me." The ninja laughed. "Do you know who I am boy? I am the legendary bounty hunter Noeme Gibuntaro." Naruto looked confused. "Noeme Gibuntaro? You actually exist?" Noeme looked at him with an angry smirk. "What do you mean?" Naruto almost laughed. "I used your name awhile ago."
Noeme spat at him. "Whatever kid. Hand over the girl or prepare to die." Hinata tried to get up but couldn't move. Naruto shook his head. "I already told you, you are going to have to go through me." Noeme shrugged. "Whatever, prepare to die." He ran at Naruto and raised his fist to punch him. Naruto knew that dodging would put Hinata in danger, so instead he tried to grab Noeme's fist. But Noeme was too strong and he followed threw and smashed Naruto's hand against a tree, breaking it.
Naruto screamed in pain. "Naruto!" He turned to look at Hinata, and he smiled. "Don't worry Hinata, I can take this guy. Noeme laughed. "Take this!" He threw Naruto away from Hinata and into another tree. Naruto slowly got up. He was breathing heavily. Noeme turned his attention to Hinata. "You are coming with me." He reached down to grab her. Naruto suddenly appeared and grabbed his wrist, throwing Noeme away from Hinata. "You little brat! How did you get over there so quickly?"
Naruto smirked. "It's a secret." He then looked down at Hinata and smiled. Naruto brought his hands up and formed a handsign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Twenty more shadow clones appeared. "You don't learn do you boy?" Noeme started to form a few handsigns but he was interrupted when he saw a clone flying at him. He had to break his jutsu to dodge.
"You fucking kid!" He snarled and ran towards the Naruto guarding Hinata. Noeme destroyed every clone that got in his way. Naruto stood his ground and started to make handsigns. "Naruto…" Hinata looked up at him. "Naruto still stared straight at Noeme. "Don't worry Hinata. I won't let him touch you." He smirked as Noeme destroyed his last clone and ran straight at him with his fist raised. "You're mine!" Naruto sidestepped and whispered, "Too slow." The tip of his first finger was covered in chakra and he tapped Noeme's forehead. "Single Pronged Seal."
A blue seal mark appeared on Noeme's head and Naruto moved his hands much faster than either Noeme or Hinata thought possible. He grabbed Noeme by the neck and threw him as hard as he could into the ground, hard enough to bounce. The breath was knocked out of him and he layed there, paralyzed. Naruto sighed and turned to look at Hinata. He knelt down to check for any marks on her. "Are you ok Hinata?" She nodded her head. "Naruto, that was so cool. If it wasn't for you I don't know what would have happened." Naruto blushed. "It was nothing." Hinata shook her head. "No, it was something. Naruto I'm really glad that we are on the same team. I like you and-" They were interrupted when Kurenai and Shino arrived.
Hidden Leaf Village (park, present time)
Naruto smiled as they remember how it all started. "By the way Hinata, I don't think you ever finished what you were going to say back then." She blushed. "Well, I was going to say that I like you and that I hope we can become more than just teammates." Naruto smiled and looked at her. "We are definitely more than teammates." She blushed and he leaned in and kissed her.
"I think it's time to head back to the arena. It's been about and hour and a half." Hinata agreed and they waled back to the stadium just as they had walked to the park, hand in hand.
Chunnin Arena
The stands were almost filled back up as the spectators returned to their seats. Naruto was hyped up and ready for his next battle. *No matter who it is, I will do my best to win. Not only for Itachi-sensei and Kurenai-sensei, but for Hinata.* The proctor looked around to make sure everyone was here. "Alright, we will commence with the semi-finals. There will be no break between the semi-finals and the finals." Everyone seemed to understand so he called forth the next pair of ninja.
"Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuuga." Naruto's heart jumped. It was finally time for him to fight Neji. Neji was excited as well. Neither of them wasted any time getting onto the battlefield. "I assume you both know the rules?" Both Naruto and Neji nodded. "Alright, you should know that there is one new rule. In both the semi-finals and finals, you are not allowed to forfeit. The spectators get rather angry when the final three fights are boring." Naruto and Neji just stared at eachother and nodded, not taking their eyes off of eachother for a minute. "Begin."
Neither Neji nor Naruto moved. "You know Neji, we might have gotten off on the wrong foot. Or maybe you just plain don't like me, I don't know." Neji just stood there. "I like Hinata, and I'm going to win for her." Neji got a disgusted look on his face. "What makes you think you can win? You are a little weakling who until now has been winning by luck alone." Naruto chuckled. "You don't really believe that do you? I have been training for months to be where I am now. I'm not turning back now." Neji smirked. "Well that's too bad, because I'm stopping you here." Naruto smirked back and said, "Then come on."
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Neji ran at Naruto. Naruto didn't make a move. He just sat there staring and waiting for Neji to get close. "Fool, take this." Neji threw several chakra-infused blows at Naruto. However Naruto had no problem dodging them. Neji picked up the speed but Naruto still dodged them like they were nothing. Neji became irritated and lost concentration. He made a wrong move and Naruto used this to his advantage. He grabbed Neji by the wrist and tossed him aside into the dirt.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu." Twenty clones appeared in a giant puff of smoke next to Naruto. Neji jumped back a few times and regained control over himself. "Are you sure you want to do this Neji?" Neji didn't answer but instead dropped down into his clan's stance. All of the clones charged at him. Neji timed it just right and vaulted over a few of the clones to that he landed in the direct center of the group. He waited for them to get close enough and started to spin. "Rotation!" A blue sphere erupted around him and all of the clones were instantly destroyed He then used the momentum of the rotation to launch himself forward at Naruto.
Naruto sidestepped and tried to punch Neji in the gut. Neji predicted this and twisted out of the way just in time. Neji dropped into his stance again. "You lose, Naruto." Naruto tried to jump away but it was too late. He was caught in the jutsu. "Eight Trigrams: 64 Palms!" Neji moved extremely fast and stabbed Naruto several times in succession. The hits were grouped by doubles as Neji said, "two palm, four palm, eight palm, sixteen palm, thirty-two palm," Naruto stumbled backwards and was unable to dodge the last hit, "sixty-four palm!" The last hit connected and sent out a blast of chakra that sent Naruto flying across the areana.
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Neji deactivated his byakugan. "It's over." He walked over to Naruto and looked down at him. "I told you that I would win. You shouldn't have wasted your time. You are lucky that you are alive." He turned around and walked away. Naruto willed himself to get on his knees. "Don't you walk away from me." Neji stopped and turned to look at him. "You don't get it do you? You lost Naruto." Naruto stood up and his legs were shaking. "I'm not done. I can keep going." Neji shook his head. "Hmph, fine I'll have to kill you then." The proctor decided not to step in.
Naruto laughed. Softly at first, then louder until the whole statium could hear him. "What are you laughing about!" Neji said angrily. "Neji, you should never underestimate your opponate. No matter how sure you are that you have won. Naruto formed a few handsigns and touched his heart with two fingers. "Reverse Seal: Suppressed Two Pronged Seal."A huge shockwave shot from Naruto that was almost powerful enough to knock Neji over. Neji couldn't believe it. *What the hell! Where did all of this chakra come from?* Naruto smiled. "Now the battle begins."
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Naruto ran so fast at Neji that he was a blur. Neji was not ready for it and took a kick to the stomach. He flew back and hit the only tree in the stadium. The crowd was going wild. This was certainly a great spectacle. Hinata was no longer worried. Naruto looked at Neji and had a blue aura circling around him. "When I said I was going to win, I meant it. I had to wait until you thought you had won so that I could catch you off guard." Naruto smiled and Neji ran at him in anger. "I'll kill you!" Naruto waited for him to get close then effortlessly jumped over Neji and kicked the back of his head.
Naruto landed and quickly turned around. He took his opportunity to bite his thumb and formed a long string of handsigns. His hands were moving so fast that even Kakashi couldn't read them. Naruto then slammed his hand on the ground. "Scroll Tranfer Jutsu!" A familiar scroll appeared under Naruto's hand. He quickly unsealed it and took out his weapons, Claw and Serra. This surprised everyone even more. The aura around Naruto faded. *Ok, I've got a little chakra left, but for the most part I have to use my weapons now.*
Neji got up and smirked. "Ha! You plan to beat my taijustu with your kinjutsu? Good luck with that, you will need it." Naruto just waited as Neji charged and threw several more chakra infused blows at him. This time however, Naruto parried every single hit instead of dodging, meaning that Neji had to try a lot harder to hit him. After two minutes of deflecting attacks, Naruto decided that enough is enough and sidestepped Neji's attack. Neji was caught off guard and Naruto hooked his extended wrist with claw and twisted his arm. Neji screamed in pain as he was tossed through the air and thrown to the ground.
Naruto jumped back and waited for Neji to get up. Neji stuggled to get back to his feet. "I, I won't lose to a brat like you." Naruto smiled. "That's funny, the last guy that called me a brat I almost killed." Neji didn't find that funny and ran at Naruto. Naruto stood still and took a defensive position. "Take this! Eight Trigrams: 64 Palm!"Neji once again threw his attacks at Naruto. However this time, each of his grouped hits were deflected. Even when he got to 64 palm, Naruto blocked every hit while moving his weapons at a blinding speed.
Neji was exhausted. "It's time to finish this," said Naruto. He hooked Neji's leg and thrusted him into the air. Neji was unable to do anything as Naruto jumped up after him. He swung Serra several times in succession just as Kurenai had taught him. He then hooked Neji by his neck and threw him to the ground. Neji was bleeding heavily and was unable to move. The proctor called the battle. "The winner is, Naruto Uzumaki."
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The crowd cheered as didHinata. Naruto smiled and sealed his weapons away. He then strapped the scroll to his back. He was exhausted, but he had won. He walked back up to the spectator box and sat on the floor to meditate for his next fight.
Well that's it! Sorry if the flashback was too long but I felt like I had to explain it. Yea I know I tricked you into thinking Neji won, but I had to find some way to make the battle epic. OK, now some of you aren't understanding me. I WANT YOU TO REVIEW! You may think, "oh I don't need to he gets plenty of reviews." That is a lie. I need reviews. And yes that means that I want you to review EVERY CHAPTER that you read. Why? Because I think that its ridiculous to get 1300 hits in one day and only have one review. I don't care if you tell me that my story is awful and that I should go die in a hole. JUST REVIEW!