Chapter 2: Changes In Style
Naruto awoke to his whole body throbbing. He sat up with a groan, clutching his head. His eyes were closed, so he didn't see anything. Naruto rolled out of bed, his feet hitting the floor far earlier than normal.
He stumbled to the bathroom, flicking the light on and bending over the sink splashing cold water in his face. Wiping the liquid from his eyes, Naruto finally got a look at himself.
His eyes widened to the point of almost bursting out of his head. "Oh my god…" Naruto scanned up and down his body, taking in his new look. "What the hell happened?" He asked himself, not really expecting an answer.
"Your blood has awakened. Do you not like it? Your other ancestors all enjoyed the benefits of their enhanced bodies. Though compared to me, you are still weak. You will have to rectify that immediately,whelp. Being weaker than a millennia old creature is just idiotic." Kratos spoke in his head.
Naruto's head shot up in shock. "You did this to me?" He shouted. He almost immediately regretted that course of action when Kratos shouted right back, "Of course I did, fool! You were so weak before that you couldn't even rip a man in half! And that is easy! You should be grateful for my assistance, whelp! I did not awaken your blood for free!"
Clutching his throbbing head, Naruto managed to say, "What? What's the price?" Kratos answered quickly.
"You will be stronger than any other man or woman alive! That is my price, whelp! Pay it or die!"
Naruto looked back in the mirror, preparing a retort, when his eyes caught sight of something on his back. Two golden hilts stuck out above his shoulders. Drawing one of the blades, Naruto examined it.
It was only about two feet long, and about half a foot wide in some places, but what caught his attention were the edges of the blade. It looked like it had been broken, leaving jagged serrations running all the way up to the tip. The middle of the blade had a red bar that glowed faintly.
All in all, a very badass weapon.
Kratos chimed in, "Those are the Blades of Chaos. They drink the blood of your dead enemies to get stronger. They are very impressive, right whelp?"
Not thinking, Naruto murmured, "Yeah…" the Blade felt right in his hand, like it was made for it. Naruto scanned the blade once more, than sheathed it on his back. As he did, he noticed that his alarm read 7:50.
"Oh shit!" He exclaimed, "I gonna be late for team assignments!"
And he dashed out the door, not paying attention to the fact that, during his overnight change, the jumpsuit he wore to bed had ripped across the chest, and the legs, leaving him wearing an orange, tattered loincloth.
Naruto dashed down the stairs, into the street, and began running to the academy.
…
The classroom, which was full of newly minted genin, was filled with the chatter of the excited teens.
All, except for one.
Hinata Hyuuga sat in the back of the classroom, as usual, silent tears running down her face. She wept because her longtime crush, Naruto Uzumaki, had failed to pass the Genin Exam, and that meant that she wouldn't get to ever see him again.
And so, she cried.
But eventually, she dried her tears, and straightened her spine. No! She thought, I will see Naruto-kun again! And when I do, I will tell him of my feelings! That's a promise!
The door to the classroom burst open, and a familiar screech was heard throughout the building.
"FIRST!"
This was Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno, two banshees, one blonde and one pink. They were Sasuke Uchiha's biggest fangirls, though many would contest that title.
Sakura and Ino began arguing back and forth, shouting and screeching about how they got there first, which devolved into a screaming match involving every girl (except Hinata) about who would sit next to 'Sasuke-kun'.
Naruto stopped next to the door to the classroom, barely breathing hard. He heard the screeches coming from inside the room, and prepared to act the fool, his familiar stupid grin making its way onto his face.
He winced and grabbed his head as Kratos roared, "No! You are not going to be a fool any longer! That is disrespectful to me, as your ancestor! So drop it!"
Naruto sighed and nodded, dropping the idiotic smile from his face. He pushed the door to the room open, and walked inside.
Silence.
Everyone's eyes locked onto the figure that walked into the room, surprise written on all their faces.
Holy Crap! Was the predominant thought running through everyone's head as they looked at the muscled man who walked into the room.
He was tall, about 5'10", with thick muscles on his arms, legs and chest. (Basically, a shorter Kratos) The fangirls, who had been fighting over Sasuke just a second ago, stopped and drooled at the newcomer.
Naruto then became aware of the fact that he was wearing just a loincloth and underwear. He shivered at the looks the girls in class were giving him, and made to move away from their suspiciously hungry gazes, but their eyes followed him.
He waved nervously. "Uh…hi."
The girls of the classroom snapped out of their lust-induced shock at the sound of Naruto's voice. Though it was deeper than before, it was still obviously Naruto. That was put very eloquently into words by Sakura.
"NARUTO!" She screeched. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"
Naruto shook the ringing out of his ears, and replied, "Nothing, Sakura, just waiting to be assigned a sensei."
Sakura gaped slightly, wondering where the affectionate suffix Naruto used with her went. Shaking off her surprise, Sakura brought up the point, "But this is for people who graduated, baka, not failures like you! And why are you in a Henge? That's such a stupid stunt for you to pull!"
Naruto poked himself in the abs, saying, "This isn't a Henge, Sakura, and for your information," he tapped the headband around his forehead. "This signifies that I'm a ninja, just like the rest of you."
He scowled at the pinkette, the expression somewhat terrifying on his face. "And stop calling me an idiot. I have a name, you know."
Naruto pushed past the girls, going over to the back and sitting next to Hinata, who never took her eyes off of him as sat down. He turned to the only girl who hadn't drooled over him and smiled.
"Hi," he greeted, "My name's Naruto. Who are you?"
Hinata felt her heart start to race. Naruto-kun's talking to me!I will NOT stutter, and I will impress him! "Hi…Naruto…my name's…Hinata Hyuuga. How are…you today?" She greeted politely. It took all of her willpower and several deep breaths, but she had not stuttered once.
Score!
Naruto blinked in confusion at all the pauses between her words, but still continued smiling and replied, "I'm having a strange day, but otherwise, I can't complain. How are you?"
Hinata smiled a small smile, blushing and poking her forefingers together. "I'm…very good today…Naruto."
Naruto scratched the back of his head as he cocked it to the side and asked, "Hey, Hinata? I know I've never asked you this before, but why do you follow me after class every day?"
Hinata stiffened in shock, her eyes wide in fear. Forgetting her temporary 'no-stutter' policy, she stammered out, "H-how d-did you k-know?"
Naruto, not knowing the terror he was inadvertently causing the Hyuuga heiress, responded, "Oh, I've known about you following me for a few years, but you didn't try to hurt me, so I figured, 'What's the harm?'" Naruto looked around, noticing the people leaning towards them, keen on hearing what they were speaking about. "Look, this isn't a good place to talk about this, so how about you meet me at Ichiraku's Ramen after we meet our senseis, so that we can talk privately?
Hinata nodded, still shaking slightly.
Their attention was drawn to Iruka entering the room, and silencing the genin with his patented 'Demon-Head no Jutsu'. He made a big, grand speech about their responsibilities and duties to the village, all the while shooting shocked glances at Naruto. He finished his speech with, "And I am very proud to have known you all during this time. Your senseis will be here to pick you up in about ten minutes. Now, Team One is…"
Naruto was surprised and a little irritated when he was put on a team with Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. Hinata was put onto a team with Kiba and Shino, and Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji made up the last team.
And then shunshinned out of the room in a swirl of leaves.
The various senseis trickled in, pulling out their students and leaving. Hinata left with a beautiful raven-haired woman with crimson eyes, named Kurenai Yuuhi, and Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji left with a man who was smoking a cigarette, and looked like he hadn't shaved in days.
In time, it was only Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura left in the room.
It stayed that way for about two hours.
Sakura paced up and down the floor furiously, Sasuke brooded, hands folded and frown set firmly on his face, while Naruto slept, legs up on his desk.
Just as Sakura was about to scream in anger, the door opened, and a man with gravity defying silver hair and one eye covered by a slanted headband, wearing a jonin flak jacket and holding an orange book poked his head through.
"Hello! You must be the-" He started.
"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura screeched.
Naruto jumped awake, his chair overbalancing and sending him to the floor with a thump, a yell, and a poof of smoke.
A look that said, 'Huh?' crossed Sasuke and Sakura's face. They turned to the silver-haired man with wide-eyes.
His visible eye was turned downward in a U shape, showing that he was smiling. "As I was about to say, you must be the other two members of Team Seven. My first impression of you is…you're slow, because your other teammate is already on the roof." With that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
…
Naruto grunted as he lifted himself up, let himself hang down, then pulled himself back up again. He was currently hanging from the side of the roof, doing arm lifts. He wasn't really counting, but Kratos said that he should take any downtime he has and workout, so that he would get stronger.
He pulled himself up onto the roof, breathing heavily. He waited ten seconds and then fell forward into pushups.
A puff of smoke signaled the appearance of his sensei, who said nothing, simply waiting and reading his little orange book.
Five minutes later, Sasuke and Sakura reached the roof, having taken the stairs, Sasuke was panting slightly, but Sakura was heaving like she had just run a marathon.
Their sensei snapped his book shut, eye-smiling again. "Well, now that we're all here, why don't we start with introductions, like likes, dislikes, and dreams?"
Sakura looked confused. "What do you mean, sensei?"
Naruto paused with what he was doing, which was crunches, Sasuke stopped brooding, and their sensei stared at her.
Did she seriously just ask that? They thought simultaneously.
"How about I go first?" Their sensei said, breaking the awkward moment and drawing Naruto and Sasuke's attention back to him. "My name is Kakashi Hatake…I like a lot of things…I dislike some things too…and my dream is not for children's ears." He smiled again.
Sasuke and Sakura sweat-dropped, while Naruto snorted. All we got was his name…Sakura and Sasuke thought. Naruto was counting out reps in his head.
Kakashi pointed at Sakura. "You next, pinky."
Sakura looked a pissed at being called 'Pinky', but continued anyway. "My name is Sakura Haruno, and I like-I mean, who I like is-" she stammered and blushed, looking at Sasuke. "And dislikes?" Kakashi prodded. "Ino-pig and Naruto-baka!" She screeched, shooting a glare at Naruto, who was now doing inverted push-ups. "Fuck…you…pinky." Sakura flinched back as if struck. Naruto had never talked to her in such language!
"A-and m-my dream is t-t-to…" "Rape the Uchiha in his sleep, we get it." Naruto flipped onto his feet.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I like ramen, training and pulling pranks, I dislike fangirls and douche-bags, and my dream is to become the strongest person in the world. Can I go now? I have someone to meet."
Kakashi smiled at Naruto, all while wondering What the hell is wrong with my intel? It said that Naruto was a loud-mouthed idiot, who had a huge crush on the Haruno. Instead, he looks like someone who works out for a living. I am so going to kill Asuma…
"Just hold on a second, Naruto. Tomorrow, meet me at training ground seven at six o'clock."
Sakura tilted her head confusedly. "At night?"
Kakashi smiled. "In the morning."
"WHAT?"
Kakashi idly picked his ear, saying. "Indeed. At six, I will meet you there, and we will go on our first mission as a team. Is that understood?"
He got a shaky nod from Sakura, a determined nod from Sasuke, and a bored nod from Naruto.
"And don't eat breakfast, you'll just throw up. Bye!" Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke. Naruto stood and walked to the edge of the roof, swung himself down, and began to rapidly descend. Leaving his two teammates on the roof, he reached the ground and began jogging to Ichiraku's.
…
Hinata had been waiting at Ichiraku's for about ten minutes, drinking green tea to try and calm her nerves. She had been worried and distracted by her thoughts all through her meeting with her sensei and her real Genin Exam. She was afraid of what Naruto would say or do once she confessed her feelings, and that made her whole body shake, spilling her tea.
"Hey, Hinata!"
Hinata jumped at the sound of Naruto's voice, spinning around on her stool, coming face to face with the shirtless teen. She flushed and stuttered, looking away. "H-hi, N-Naruto."
Naruto sat next to Hinata, ordering miso ramen, and turning to the shy Hyuuga.
"So, Hinata, now that we are here, can you tell me why you have been stalking me for the past couple years?"
Hinata stuttered and blushed at the word 'stalking', but she drew upon her small well of courage, and straightened her back, meeting Naruto's eyes.
"Naruto, I've been following you because I-I…l-like you." She blushed bright red, turning away from the shocked blonde.
Silence reigned in the small ramen stand, while Hinata played with her fingers. She looked up, and found Naruto staring at her with a confused expression on his face.
"I-I don't know what to say, Hinata. What can I say, really? I don't know you. I don't think you know me. I've been hiding behind a mask of stupidity forever, and I only recently dropped it. What do I say?" Naruto had been staring down at the counter as he spoke, when he heard a sob and felt a rush of air next to him.
He turned to find the curtain to the store flapping, and Hinata gone.
"Oh no…" Naruto muttered, jumping off his stool and sprinting after her.
Hinata ran down the street, tears blurring her vision. The one she was sure she loved, rejected her.
Only, he hadn't, but her mind took his confusion as rejection.
She felt a hand on her shoulder. Shaking it off, it returned with more force, spinning her around, making her come face-to-face with a worried Naruto.
"Hinata!"
She tried to shake off his grip, but his strength was too great. Instead, she collapsed to her knees, sobbing.
"Why?" She cried, "Why don't you love me?"
Naruto hugged her to his bare chest, letting her wrap her arms around him. "Hinata, I can't tell you I love you, because I don't know you. Did you just think that you, someone who I had never met, would come forward, and admit your feelings to me, that I would immediately reciprocate? That's unrealistic, Hinata."
She cried harder, and Naruto lifted her chin, making her look into his eyes. "I can't say I love you, but I would like to get to know you, Hinata. We can start out as friends, and maybe, over time, I'll see you the way you see me."
Hinata stopped crying in her shock. A determined gleam grew in her eyes, and she surprised Naruto and herself by pulling Naruto down to her lips, smashing hers against his in a passionate, but chaste kiss.
She broke away, and whispered into his ear, "I will make you see me the way I see you, Naruto-kun. I love you. Believe it."
Then, she realized what she did.
And fainted.
Naruto didn't shake himself out of his shock for a while, but when he did, he smiled down at the unconscious heiress in his arms.
"I hope I do, Hinata.
I hope I do."
…
A/N: And that's the second chapter of War is The Answer. Shocking ending, huh?
Not really.
Some guy (You know who you are) has been asking me to not do NaruHina.
I have to politely decline.
To those who don't know, I only write NaruHina, or NaruHinaHarem. I just don't see Hinata being with anyone else besides Naruto.
Too bad for you, I guess.
Anyways, I'm going to work on the third chapter of WITA.
And here's a hint about it.
Cross my heart and hope to die…
Until then,
Keep Being Awesome!
-Sol