Chapter 3

Naruto threw a kunai at Lee as Lee dodged it and used his speed to get up close and personal with him. In a single second, Naruto began to block and exchange rapid blows with Lee as they were caught in a moment of true speed and power. Lee was tossed away in the air as he flipped backwards multiple times and landed solidly on the ground.

"Whew! You're a lot better at taijutsu now, huh Naruto?" said Lee with a determined fire in his eyes. Naruto nodded back at him with eyes of a similar look.

"You think I wouldn't be working on it while I was away! C'mon, give me a break." said Naruto. They continued fighting as Naruto raced forward while making two shadow clones appear next to him to help aid him in his assult. Lee smirked that Naruto was going to get a little more difficult now, so Lee decided to step it up a little more too. One of the Narutos jumped up while the other two moved under him while he was in the air. The two on the ground were trading fists and feet with Lee as the Naruto that was in the air was coming down with an aireal kick. In a moment of despiration, Lee opened one of his chakra gates, and did a Leaf Hurricane technique. With that final attack, the original Naruto along with his clones were blown away. Naruto got up from off hte ground where he fell, and looked at Lee annoyed. "Damn, I actually thought that I could beat you now without going all out." said Naruto. Lee was still catching his breath from his attack and gave Naruto a thumbs up.

"You kidding? I would never loose to you like that! In truth though, I hardly even need to use the first gate anymore, so I'm glad that you were strong enough so that I could at least use one of my gates. You're really great Naruto!" said Lee giving a shine of his teeth and a large thumbs up. Naruto did the same thing as Lee as they both laughed at the battle they were having. After the laughing stopped, Naruto noticed Neji walking towards them from the top of the hill around the training grounds. Naruto stood up as Neji approached and Lee waved at his team mate as he came to greet them.

"Hey Naruto, Lee. Training hard?" asked Neji. Lee and Naruto both nodded and smiled at eachother.

"You know it!" they both said. Neji nodded a bit and then looked to Naruto.

"Hey Naruto, can I talk to you for a second? It's important." he said. Naruto nodded as Nej looked at Lee. "Sorry Lee, but this is kinda private. You mind?" asked Neji. Without any kind of resistance, Lee stepped far enough away to the point to where Naruto and Neji could talk without anyone else hearing what they had to say.

"What's up Neji? It's not like you to have a private conversation like this." asked Naruto. Neji looked around them and then began to speak.

"Something terrible has happened to Hinata." said Neji. Naruto felt his heart sink as the words "terrible" and "Hinata" reached his ears.

"What! What do you mean!" said Naruto sounding worried. Neji began to explain.

"Haishi, Hinata's father, found out about the relationship between you and Hinata. As a result, he has forbid Hinata to see you or talk to you. Hinata hasn't even left the house all day because she is so depressed." said Neji. Naruto clenched his fist.

"Damn it!" he said. "What should I do?"

"Don't ask me. I don't know anything about relationships." said Neji. As he started to walk away. Naruto thought on his own for a second.

"Relationships huh? Then maybe Sakura might know something." thought Naruto. Lee approached Naruto, seeming concerned for the look of dismay on Naruto's face.

"What is it, Naruto? You do not look well." said Lee. Naruto nodded to himself and looked at Lee.

"Sorry Lee, but I have to go. I got something I need to do. We'll finish training later, okay? I promise!" said Naruto. Lee waved goodbye as Naruto had already taken off towards the village to go see Sakura. It didn't take long to find Sakura at a clothes store where she was buying a cute pink shirt. Sakura had just gotten out of the check out line, when Naruto showed up looking worried and furious at the same time.

"Naruto? What's wrong!" asked Sakura. Naruto came over to her immediately and spoke sharply.

"Look Sakura, I really need your help with something. Can we talk? Y'know, in private?" asked Naruto. Sakura looked at him blankly and nodded slowly. Naruto took her free hand and dragged her to a nearby bench where they could talk in private.

"What's wrong Naruto? You seem distressed." said Sakura. Naruto began to speak.

"The thing is Sakura, I'm in a relationship with Hinata right now." said Naruto.

"What! How! When!" asked Sakura. So Naruto began to explain how he and Hinata fell for eachother over their last mission, and started going out before they returned. Ever since up until this point, Naruto and Hinata have had no problems with their relationship.

"Right now though, Hinata is in trouble with her dad, and is forbidden to see me or talk to me at all. What should I do?" asked Naruto. Sakura was surprised with the sudden request for help.

"So Haishi Hyuga is against your relationship with Hinata? If that's the case there isn't much I can tell you. Haishi is a man of power and is very protective over Hinata and Hanabi. If he thinks that there is something that can endanger them, then he will do whatever it takes to protect them." said Sakura. Naruto sighed, feeling completely hopeless.

"Then, there's nothing I can do?" asked Naruto.

"I didn't say that. The only thing that you could try is going to Haishi and talk about it with him. If you sell your case well, then he might allow you to see Hinata." said Sakura.

"Really? Okay, thanks! I'll give it a shot." said Naruto. He was about to leave when Sakura stopped him.

"Just out of curiousity, you... haven't done anything to Hinata. Have you? " asked Sakura giving him a death glare. Naruto could feel shivers run down his spine as Sakura interogated him just like Tsunade had doen before.

"N-No no! W-We haven't even kissed yet so..." said Naruto as Sakura jumped in.

"You guys haven't even kissed yet!" said Sakura. Naruto rubbed the back of his head and blushed.

"Look, Hinata wants to take things slow. After all, she's my first girlfriend; just like I'm her first boyfriend." said Naruto. Sakura let out a sigh of relief and then a small laugh.

"I was joking. That's sweet of you guys, Naruto. You just better not take advantage of her!" she said. Naruto sighed and ignored the comment as he began to leave.

"Thanks again, Sakura. you're a big help." He said as he ran off to go to the Hyuga Estate.

Naruto knocked on the front door of Hinata's house and was greeted by Neji with Hanabi in front of him. Naruto looked at Hanabi and realized just how much she looked like Hinata. Naruto looked at Neji and gave him a nod.

"What are you doing here? I told you to that Haishi has-" said Neji.

"I'm not here to see Hinata. I'm here to talk to her dad." said Naruto. Neji looked at him like he was stupid.

"Are you insane! Haishi won't want to see you!" said Neji insisting.

"Why not? I would like to speak with the beast of the leaf village." said a deep voice. From behind Neji and Hanabi came the tall looming figure of Haishi Hyuga. Naruto looked up at him and gulped.

"S-So you're Haishi Hyuga huh? Y-You're taller than I thought..." said Naruto sounding unsure of his appearance at this house. Haishi gave him a smirk with eyes filled with disgust.

"Neji, it's not good to keep a guest waiting outside. Let him step in so that we can have a chat." said Haishi sharply. Naruto entered inside of the Hyuga House and was intimidated by everything on the inside, esspecially Haishi himself. Naruto followed Haishi into the living room as they ended up standing face to face with eachother in the center of the room.

"So, you have come to see me." said Haishi almost like a question. Naruto remained silent and only nodded his head. "And it's about me letting you date Hinata." he finished.

"Yeah." said Naruto glaring back at Haishi, unwilling to give in to his intimidation. Haishi shook his head and crossed his arms.

"Now why did you think that I would allow that?" asked Haishi. Naruto had to choose his words carefully.

"Because I care about Hinata a lot, and I am always my happiest whenever she was around. Hinata, she was also her happiest when she was with me." said Naruto. Haishi listened to him.

"That still doesn't convince me. For all I know, you could be just some pervert waiting to take advantage of my daughter. Not to mention the fowl monster that is your very own flesh and blood." said Haishi. Naruto could feel his anger begin to rise.

"I'm nothing like the fox. I would never hurt Hinata under any circumstances." said Naruto. Haishi thought of another way to come back at him.

"Think about what would happen if Hinata was with you, and everyone started to hate her as well? Hate her for being with a monster like you." said Haishi. Naruto hadn't thought about that. "Every second that Hinata spends with you, it becomes more and more dangerous for her. She is a fragile young woman and if she fell victum to other people's hate because of you, don't you think that would be a little selfish?" asked Haishi. Naruto looked down at his feet, knowing it to be true.

"Hinata wouldn't... She..." Naruto didn't know how to respond. The last thing he wanted was to hurt Hinata at all, even if it meant being hated by others.

"You know that she would. She is far too important to waste on a pieace of trash like you. After all, her blood and chakra are pure. Your's is tainted with the will and chakra of the Nine-tailed Fox. You would only make things worse for her." said Haishi. Naruto began to think that maybe all this time, he was wrong. Hinata was the most important thing in the entire world to him. If she ended up frustrated with being hated by other people in the village, then he couldn't help but not be with her. Naruto had to think, if he was really going to end up making Hinata unhappy in the future instead of being happy to be with him.

"I... I..." said Naruto. Haishi came over and put a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"I hate you, Naruto Uzumaki. Every single thing about you. Cocky, stupid, you're only talk when it comes to training. As far as my daughter is concerned however, I love her. So, because she has feelings for you, I'm going to give you one chance to walk away with out having to suffer at all. You must never speak to her again and you must never see her again." said Haishi strictly. Naruto looked down at his feet and started to walk away, past Neji and Hanabi, and straight to the door. Just before leaving, he took one step back and looked behind him to see Hinata just coming down from the stairs and looking at him with surprise and a blushing smile on her face.

Naruto looked away. He couldn't bare to look at the face of the person he cared most about knowing that it was going to be the last time he was going to see that face. He left through the door and shut it behind him, leaving Hinata standing there without a gesture at all. Hinata went back up to her room and closed the door while crying as she headed for her bed. She knew that when Naruto didn't say or do anything when he saw her, that it meant goodbye. Haishi looked away from Neji and Hanabi and faced one of the windows leading to the outside.

"Neji, Hanabi, leave me for a second or two. I need to have a moment alone." said Haishi. Neji and Hanabi left, but Neji snuck a peek at Haishi as he watched him deactivate his Byakugan. Neji left and then headed to his room as he thought about the sad reality of Naruto no longer being with Hinata. As Neji reached his room, Neji thought of something.

"Wait a second." thought Neji. "Why did Haishi use his Byakugan on Naruto while he was speaking with him? I hardly even remembered Haishi activating it in the first place." Neji sat down and started to think. After moments of thinking, Neji had realized what Haishi had done. "Oh no! I can't believe that Haishi would use "that" technique! I've got to worn Naruto!" thought Neji. He went downstairs and headed out the door at full speed without Haishi even knowing. Back in the living room however, Haishi gripped his forehead tightly, trying to ease the pain.

"What is it about that boy?" thought Haishi. "When I used my Byakugan, I thought that I could control him easily. But no, he has something greater. A will that surpasses most people. I can't control him like I can most others." Haishi thought as he removed his hand. "He really is... something else..."