A/N: This is my first try as an author so bear with me. English isn't my first language so don't hesitate to pm me with any fault you find, I am always eager to learn.
Well well, someone finally challenged parts of my plot line, so thanks to StormeSkyes for his review. I will try to reply here since he didn't activate private messaging for his account.
First, I will concede on the part about Hinata's crush on Naruto being resolved too fast. I will say in all honesty that I had actually planned to deal with that issue during this chapter as part of a flashback.
Moreover, I would not dwell too much on how her character was in canon, while this fic follows closely the classic timeline, that's basically it, only key parts of classic Naruto events are revisited in my fic, I never said that some characters wouldn't be a bit or overly OOC.
However I'm not really convinced about the building of a story around a pairing as being a bad thing. I do have an overall idea on how my fic will run till the end. It is indeed my first fic and I feared that leaving the pairing subject opened or vague would have resulted in me turning this into a review contest to vote for the female(s) that would be paired with Naruto. I do see a lot of stories with a good potential go unfinished because the author did not plan enough or he lets his reviewers chose a female protagonist for him that's not really fitting with his plot line.
Finally, about Naruto being not mature enough to grasp the concept of love and Kyuubi having to be the logic one and thinking about Naruto's understanding of love before jumping the gun I would retort that your point of view is based on the concept that Natsuki should be thinking as a responsible human being which she's not, she doesn't have the "human standards" about love nor does Naruto as a matter of fact. The boy did not have a normal childhood so it's safe to assume that he could have matured a lot faster than normal. I've seen lots of fics having that "confession" chapter as their first chapter, with Naruto being sometimes a lot younger than 12.
Well I'll end this with some cliche to relax the mood after this mini "rant", here goes ...
You can drive at 16, go to war at 18. You can drink at 21 and retire at 65, so how old do you have to be before your love is real? (Don't really remember where I heard this one but I thought it made sense at the moment and in this particular case)
Welcome to the next chapter of Kaze No Kami.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Chapter 9: Chunin Exams – Part II
Konoha Academy – Classroom 303
As the genin were starting their written exam, Naruto was patiently waiting for his team to take action. Team 8 was a natural information gathering and tracking team so Naruto immediately understood what was going on as he read the first questions of the test.
Hinata understood as well the true meaning of the test and she took a look with her Byakugan activated to see that Kiba was doing okay since he had starting writing answers on his exam sheet with the help of his companion Akamaru. She saw that Naruto was looking in her direction and understood what he wanted.
She quickly used her bloodline to copy all the answers from a guy in front of her who mysteriously had already filled all the answers for the test. She left the spot where she should have filled her name empty on purpose. When she was done, she signaled to Naruto that she was ready with a fake cough.
As he received the signal Naruto started to channel wind chakra and suddenly a huge gust of wind appeared in the exam room effectively disrupting the test long enough for him to make the switch with Hinata's paper before deactivating his jutsu with a smirk.
As the exam started again Hinata just took the time to fill the answers again as she already did minutes before. Team 8 then waited for the end of the test and wasn't fooled either by the last do or die question.
As Ibiki was closing the first part of the exams, a purple blur came through the window. Mitarashi Anko was the proctor for the second part of the exams. As she introduced herself to the genins who made it to the second round, she noticed Naruto and got a sadistic grin on her face.
"Naru-chan you made it! It's been such a long time, did you miss me?" she announced in front of everyone much to the irritation of a certain vixen.
"She's still as annoying as ever" growled Natsuki.
"Relax, Na-chan. Anko-sensei is my friend she's just joking." replied Naruto in his mind.
"Alright maggots, follow me to training ground 44 for the next part" she said and left the room the same way she entered, leaving an entire sweatdropping classroom.
Training Ground 44
As Anko explained the rules for the second part of the chunin exams which would take place in the Forest of Death for a survival test during 5 days, Naruto came face to face with the Suna shinobi Kabuto was talking about earlier, Gaara was his name if Naruto remembered well.
"Mother wants your blood, I will kill you during the next part" announced the red head.
"Who?" asked Naruto seemingly confused.
"Moth..." replied Gaara as he was cut by the blond.
"Whatever dude, look trash talk before the game is a sign of weakness" said Naruto as he walked back to his team with a smirk, leaving a highly irritated Suna nin behind.
"What did he want?" asked Kiba as Naruto made it back.
"I'm not sure, I think he wanted to talk trash" replied Naruto.
"Well let's get ready the exam is starting" said Kiba as they went to their designated starting area.
"Alright, the second part of the chunin exams starts now!" exclaimed Anko as the training ground 44 doors all opened for the contestants.
Timeskip – 1 day later
Team 8 had quickly disposed of a team from Ame that tried to fool them with henge and fortunately they had the scroll Naruto's team needed to complete this part of the exam. So they decided to calmly head for the tower then relax for the remaining time they would have.
They were running in the trees for a few hours when Naruto suddenly spoke.
"So how long are you two planing to hide to me that you're dating each other?" said Naruto to his teammates as they were starting to slow down from their running to make a camp for the night.
Kiba almost lost his balance and fall from the tree he was on, and Hinata had a huge blush on her face.
"What are you talking about we..." started Kiba as he was cut by Naruto.
"I may not be as good as you but my nose never failed me and I can smell Hinata's perfume all over you" said Naruto.
Kiba and Hinata looked at each other then shared a smile and Kiba was the one to speak.
"Alright we confess but you can't tell this to anyone." asked the Inuzuka heir to his teammate.
"My lips are sealed, and I want to say that I'm happy for you guys" replied Naruto with a smile.
"Thanks buddy" Said Kiba.
"Thank you Naruto-kun" added Hinata.
Hinata had changed a lot since the first time they became a team. Naruto remembered the conversation he had with her that most likely changed the way she saw him.
Flashback – After Naruto's evaluation with Kurenai and her friends
Kurenai's friends Anko and Yugao just left the training ground for a few minutes before Hinata and Kiba arrived for their team briefing.
Naruto was still a bit winded from his previous test so he took the opportunity to deal with something else he had planned to do anyway so he went in Hinata's direction and asked for her to step out with him for a short talk.
Hinata blushed madly at what Naruto just said to her but looked at her sensei for permission before she received a nod from Kurenai. She then followed Naruto in the woods.
"W-What is it Naruto-kun?" asked the girl.
Naruto took a deep breath and spoke to her calmly, "Hinata, despite what everyone thinks I'm not an idiot, I saw how you look at me and how you react to me any time I try to speak to you" he said to her.
"I don't think what you feel for me is really love though" continued the blond.
"What do you mean Naruto-kun, ever since you saved me from those boys all those years ago I ..." said Hinata but Naruto didn't let her finish.
"That's exactly why Hinata. What you feel for me is admiration, you admire me standing up to those who oppressed you, something you always wanted to do against your family and their strict rules." he said before adding "Moreover you only know the fake me, a mask that I show to the world in order for them to leave me alone, I play the fool and it's not me, not the real me Hinata."
"I won't lie to you either, there's someone else in my heart. I've know her for a long time now and she knows me too, the real me. I finally confessed to her yesterday and she loves me back. That's also the reason why I can't return your feelings." he said.
"I understand Naruto-kun" said a sad but convinced Hinata.
"I hope we can still work together as a team and I know that with some good training you can become one of the best kunoichi the leaf has ever produced Hinata, I would be glad to help you train every once in awhile." finished Naruto.
"Y-You really mean it? You don't think I'm weak" asked Hinata.
"I know that you are strong Hinata, you just have to realize it yourself and nothing could stop you, you are after all the kunoichi of the year!" said Naruto to lighten the mood.
"Thank you Naruto-kun" said a surprisingly not stuttering Hinata as they made their way back to the training ground.
Unknown to them, Kurenai was hiding in a very discrete genjutsu behind them and heard the whole thing.
"I was right to request this team, they will do great in the future and I will help them achieve their dreams" thought Kurenai as she dispelled her jutsu and shushined back too.
End of Flashback
"So how long has this been going on?" asked the curious blond to the still embarrassed pair.
"Since the Wave mission, right after Hinata-chan put that emo king in his place If you want to know exactly when" replied Kiba with a smile.
"Does Sensei know?" asked Naruto again.
"She ..." started Kiba but a screaming voice interrupted them.
"It's not far from here, let's go check it out" replied Naruto.
They only had to run for a few seconds to reach the origin of the scream.
There in front of them stood the team from Suna against another team from Ame. The red head who tried to speak with Naruto before the exams was holding one of the Ame nin in a strange jutsu involving sand manipulation.
Then he suddenly called a jutsu.
"Sabaku Sousou" called Gaara as the sand around his opponent suddenly shrank and crushed the unfortunate nin inside, blood splattering all around them.
Hinata almost feinted at the scene while Naruto and Kiba were also quite shocked at the brutality of the kill.
The Ame nin's teammates tried to run but also stood no chance against the red head killing machine.
"Naru-kun be careful I sense demonic chakra coming from him" warned Natsuki as she felt a presence in this boy she never imagined she'd feel again.
"Are you sure Na-chan" asked the blond.
"Yes, I'm positive that's the Ichibi's Jinchuriki. Be very prudent around him, like you he has an ability from his bijuu, he can control sand with his chakra like you do with your wind." replied the vixen.
Kiba was now having an unconscious Hinata in his arms bridal style and exchanged a glance with Naruto, they agreed to not confront the psychotic unless they had no other choice and made their way back to their camp.
Once they were back, Naruto spoke. "We will only rest until Hinata is up then we will sprint to the tower, there we'll be more at ease than now".
Kiba nodded and started to clear the camp while waiting for his girlfriend to wake up, Akamaru watching over her sleeping form.
Naruto was obviously perturbed at the revelation of someone like him turning into a mindless murderer. He could only think about how his life would have been if he never met Natsuki and that scared him, a lot.
Natsuki feeling her mate's anxiety tried to speak to him "Don't stress yourself over what could have been Naru-kun. Just concentrate on what you are right now and what you have, you have me now, you have your teammates too, as well as the old man your sensei and her friends, though I'm not the greatest fan of the snake lover one these days" ranted Natsuki in his mind.
That calmed him down a little as Hinata was finally coming back.
They ran non-stop for 2 hours then finally arrived at the tower. Once inside they saw that the Suna team was the first to arrive and they were the second. They just went passed them and got to the waiting area.
Three days later, more teams had arrived to the tower, the rookies 9 were all there, as well as the team with Rock Lee. Of course the Suna team was already there. Naruto also saw the team from Oto who made such a ruckus during the first exam. Kabuto's team was also there.
As all the genin were lined-up in the main hall of the tower, Naruto could see Sasuke holding his neck painfully, seemed like he received a bug bite there or something, Naruto could feel something almost demonic coming from the strange bug bites on the avenger's neck.
Naruto just shrugged it off, thinking that maybe the Uchiha's ego or the Pink bitch's screeching voice finally made Shino snap and the bug user sent his kikai creatures against them. The thought made Naruto smile before he chose to focus at what the old man was saying to them all.
Sarutobi just gave the genin some pep talk about the chunin exams and their signification then a sickly jonin began to explain the next part of the exams.
"Seeing that there's a little bit too many of you, we will proceed to a preliminary tournament to lower the number of contestants who will face each others during the exam's finals." explained the now identified Geko Hayate.
Kabuto surprisingly forfeited after Hayate asked if anybody wanted to forfeit for the next part, saying that he was too tired to continue.
"Okay if no one else wants to withdraw from the exam, we will start the fights."
The chunin exam finals preliminary round was about to start.
A/N: So what do you think, Hinata and Kiba are now the official second pairing I have in this fic.
Stay tuned for the preliminary round fights next chapter, and sorry can't have action packed chapter every time :)
If you are still reading my fic, I hope we're still okay StormeSkyes and that I have at least addressed some of the issues you pointed out in your review.
Anyway as usual, Read and Review please.