[A/N]Here comes Chapter 7. Once again, if you're going to review, PLEASE make an account so I can properly reply to you. They're free to make, last I checked, so you don't have to pay for anything. ^_^ [A/N]

~~~PRIVATE QUARTERS, HOKAGE'S TOWER ~~~

Naruto and Hinata took roughly half an hour to go from the prison to their room in the Hokage's Tower; it was a trip that would have been considerably shorter had Naruto's ankles not flared up a couple extra times.

The doctors still couldn't understand, even to this day, how, even with all of his massive powers and heavenly strength, Naruto had been unable to heal his ankle problems. He had informed the doctors and med-nin, several times, of how much of his heavenly abilities he'd used to bring a target in alive, but even will all that, he still couldn't seem to repair his burnt muscles and frayed nerves.

Tsunade, the previous Hokage, had examined him when she first returned to Konoha, and had shared the secret of her findings with him under the pretense that NONE of what she told him left the room.

Naruto had been born with misaligned and tangled chakra coils. When Naruto voiced his confusion, Tsunade had been only too happy to rib him for five minutes before explaining the nature of his predicament. The state of his coils was so bad at the time that the points that should have connected his system to his hands instead connected them to his feet, and vice-verse. Naruto was the ONLY PERSON in the known universe with that ailment.

Which meant that regardless of how much raw healing power he'd possessed as a greenhorn academy student, Naruto's chakra coils had been in a tangled mess at the time of his incident. Kyuubi's sealing had only worsened the problem, causing his coils to misalign even further, so that, while his hands now had the coils in the right places, the rest of his body was completely out of sorts. To have survived as long as he had was not only a scientific miracle, but also a medical anomaly, because the chakra in his coils needed somewhere to go. However, as they had no chakra points other than his hands, and barely any use for years, his chakra should have exploded out of his skin to release the pressure.

However, in terms of his incident with the errant Uchiha, his feet, having the chakra coils in his hands and feet reversed, had no way to fix his ankles. By the time the doctors could do anything, the most they could possibly do was patch up his ankles and let him rest for a few days.

A lmost eight months later came the Chuunin Exams, and Team Ten's first encounter with Orochimaru, the Snake Sannin, and the addition of the Five Element Seal to Naruto's system. Unbeknownst to them, however, the addition of Orochimaru's Five Element Seal had actually benefitted Naruto's body, as it had taken the role of an intermediary force that had aligned several of his more important chakra points, granting him the ability to vent his chakra at a more rapid pace through water walking. With his coils working a bit better at this point, he'd been able to barrel through the Third Round Preliminaries as if he was strolling through the park. However, following the Third Round and Orochimaru's failed attempt to raze the village, Jiraiya had taken him on a quick journey and removed the second seal. Not realizing the damage he'd done, Jiraiya had watched as Naruto spent five days in excruciating pain, struggling to find a way to help him.

Now, in the present as he was, he found his mind jostled from his idle thoughts by the sudden dive bomb Hinata performed as she ran from the adjacent bathroom, clad in her nightgown, and slammed onto the mattress. Naruto found himself about two feet in the air from the bounce created from her impact. When he landed back on the bed, he discovered she was pumping chakra into the bed frame, effectively turning the bed into a miniature trampoline for two.

The air in the village below soon became filled with the joyous giggles and laughter of a newlywed couple as they bounced off their trampoline bed, swinging pillows at each other like six-year-old children at a sleep-over.

~MEANWHILE~

In her house toward the shopping district, Tsunade sat back on her bed, head resting against the headboard, enjoying one of her guilty pleasures: poorly written cheesy romance novels that were more akin to soft-core porn in how they always seemed to deviate from the story to a steamy sexual encounter every other chapter. Surprisingly enough, her favorite series was written and published by her own fellow Sannin, Jiraiya. She'd never be able to work up the guts to tell him to his face, but she had his collected works, as well as a few spin-offs, sealed into a storage seal on the back of her headboard.

As the sound of the newlywed's midnight romp reached her ears, Tsunade smiled and placed her book on the nightstand, slowly getting up from her bed to stand by the window and stare up at the tower, almost longingly.

"You two… you'd better cool it…" she said to no one in a warning tone, "Because if you go any further, I'll have to get Jiraiya in here…" A blush overtook her face and, with a gentle bite of her upper lip, she turned on her heels and walked back to her bed.

~ELSEWHERE~

In his own temporary apartment on the edge of town, Jiraiya of the Sannin sat awake at his desk with a blank scroll open in front of him. He was working on yet another manuscript for one of his infamous books when the sound of mirthful laughter, he grinned and started writing, deciding against his better judgment, to write his next book based on whatever he heard from the Hokage's Tower.

Grinning perversely from ear to ear, Jiraiya's pen flew as he mumbled, "Sorry, gaki, you deserve this one. You're going to make me rich!"

Jiraiya didn't stop writing until an hour later when a knock came at his door. Acting against his instincts, which told him to hide his writings and himself, he left his scroll on the desk and walked over to open the door, only to be tackled to the floor and be treated to a heated loving, courtesy of a flushed Tsunade. Amidst a heated kiss, he stole a glance at his manuscript and, with a shake of his hand, decided to forego any further dealings with his ink that night.

~~~ MEANWHILE, KONOHAGAKURE TOP-PRIORITY PRISON, MAXIMUM SECUIRTY ZONE FLOOR THREE ~~~

A clone of Naruto sat in front of the bars to Guren's cell, staring at the woman intently as she lay on her cot.

The clone almost jumped a bit when the woman called over, "I'm awake; if you've got something to say, SAY IT." The clone nodded.

"The boss told me to come down here and keep an eye on you," The clone said, his eyes never leaving the sight of Guren's orange-and-black-clad back.

She got up and turned to face him, facing him with a smile as she sat down and said, "Is that so? Well, since you've obviously got your master's memories, why don't you continue the story he was telling me? I'm rather interested to hear what he did next.

The clone twitched in place for a moment before the sounds of passionate love-making penetrated the walls of the prison and reached their ears. Guren's expression dropped, turning form a smile to a look of disgusted horror.

"They're doing THAT without any sound seals?" she demanded, "MY GOD! How inconsiderate can they be?" The clone's sudden outburst of laughter caught her attention, and, when asked what he found so funny, the clone reigned himself in and stood up.

"You seem to enjoy being the pot calling the kettle black, huh?" the clone asked, smirking when Guren's face gained a look of confusion.

"You don't see the irony in your words at all?" The clone asked, "You crashed Boss' wedding, stole his bride, tried to KILL his bride, and, after they forced you to use that crystal coffin of yours, you come bursting out the second they decide to try and have a little fun in the woods. You nearly ruined their wedding day, SINGLE-HANDEDLY, and yet, now that they're above ground and spending the night together in the throes of passion, you're going to go off on them for that TOO? What the hell else do you WANT?"

The clone's mouth twisted into a grin, while the rest of his face gained an expression that crossed the borders of rage, disbelief, and amazement. He slammed up against the bars and grabbed two of them, each at arm's length. Guren stumbled back at the shout of the last word, falling on her butt on the cot. The clone released the bars and returned his face to a tepid smirk.

"But, since you've got nothing else to do here," the clone said, sitting with his back against the bars, "I suppose I could tell you the boss' story, if only to alleviate our collective boredom. Let's see…"

The clone seemed to spasm for a moment before its head shifted slightly and lolled off to one side. Guren was about to go and kick the clone when a splitting pain threatened to rend her skull in twain. Lying down, she immediately passed into a silent sleep.

There, in her dreamscape, was Naruto, who beckoned to a seat next to him. Guren approached slowly, noticing that on Naruto's other side was what appeared to be a video projector; she suddenly realized that he was going to SHOW her the memory through her dream.

"Just keep quiet, and I'll narrate for you," he said, "Hinata-chan and I finished our little romp five minutes ago; we're both sleeping right now."

At that moment, Hinata appeared from thin air and a pproached, swatting Naruto on the head while saying, "And I wasn't invited to the screening because?" Naruto winced.

"I didn't want to disturb your dreams, Hina-chan," he said. He smiled when she nodded and summoned a second and third chair and sat down. Guren approached and sat down.

"So," Naruto said, "where was I…"

CHAPTER 7: INTO THE DREAMSCAPE & TEAM TESTING

OP: "SOUL DYNAMITE" - ACCESS

~ It was a strange location, for sure. I mean, who would ever conceive of bringing a group of impressionable children to a small house on the edge of town? ~

Nestled on the edge of town was a small house, in which sat Kurenai. The red-eyed woman smiled at her genin and surveyed each one.

However, in her head, she was silently gauging each one, 'Shino Aburame, member of the Aburame clan, known for their control of chakra-eating insects. Looks at home with the other two, reasons unknown. Request for team transfer is unlikely. Hinata Hyuuga, member of the renowned Hyuuga clan, known for their Byakugan dojutsu and Jyuken taijutsu style… she seems level-headed enough, but not around the third of the group… According to her file, she's not at the desired level of proficiency with her clan's techniques. We can surely fix this problem; Request for team transfer is unnecessary.'

~ The subtle look Kurenai-sensei gave me was … creepy, to say the least. It felt like she was trying to pull my soul out through my eyes. ~

Finally, reaching Naruto, she seemed to almost lose her smile as she thought, 'Finally, Uzumaki Naruto… an enigma. His file is abysmal, to say the least, but I suspect I know the reason why… In the end, anything and everything about this one is unknown, so anything he's got hidden up his sleeves will stay that way unless otherwise eased out. He seems upbeat enough, if his interactions with his teammates on the way here are any indication… He also seems… scarred, in a way… Somehow, that look in his eyes is one I know all too well… Well, might as well get on with the introductions and properly judge these three.'

With that, Kurenai looked first to Shino and said, "Alright Mr. Shades, you start. Name, interests, hobbies, likes and dislikes."

~ Shino and his entire clan have always kind of freaked me out. I mean, he bundles up like that all year round, even if it's the DEAD of summer, and they NEVER show their eyes… In Shino's case, it's more personal, but… ~

Shino simply exhaled and deadpanned, "Name: Aburame Shino. No discernible interests just yet, but they may arise later. My hobbies include tending to my hive and expanding my arsenal of jutsu. I like taking care of my insects and have no dislikes." Kurenai nodded.

~ That and his way of speaking is just grating. I know he's tried to make strides to improve, but… he's still horribly monotonous. ~

'He's definitely motivated, though to what end, I can't tell. The kid's like a machine or something…' Kurenai thought as she turned to look Hinata in the eyes and said, "Alright Indigo, you're next."

~ I smiled a bit inside when Sensei asked you to speak. I guess you can chalk it up to your intense cuteness…~

- Do you mean to tell me THAT'S why you took so long to ask me out? You were "blinded my intense cuteness" every time you saw me? -

~ … Yes…? ~

- That's so cliché… but I still love you, Naruto. -

~I love you too. Still, you were SO cute! ~

Hinata straightened up and, looking from Shino to Naruto, she blushed madly when his gaze met hers.

"Uh… uhm, m-my n-n-name is Hyuuga H-h-Hinata… My interests are…" Hinata said, looking to Naruto again, "…My hobbies are baking and g-gardening. I-I-I'm not c-c-comfortable talking about m-m-my l-likes, but I dislike anyone who thinks they're better than my or blames fate for something they can't control. I wish to abolish the Caged Bird seal and unite the two halves of the Hyuuga Clan once and for all." During the final portion of her statement, Hinata seemed to lose her discomfort and focused solely on her beliefs, her eyes trained on her sensei as her face took on a dark, serious expression and her blush rapidly receded; once she finished, however, she quickly reverted back to a full blush while avoiding eye contact with Naruto.

'That's odd… her file didn't mention anything about that… neither did it mention anything about her apparent feelings for her teammate… I'd best delve deeper into this matter later,' Kurenai thought silently, nodding to Hinata while turning her gaze to Naruto and saying, "Alright Whisker-Face, you're up."

~ I wanted to try and be a bit covert in showing off; at the time, I only wanted sensei to see, for fear it'd mess up any dynamic we'd produce between the four of us later. ~

Naruto nodded and, focusing solely on Kurenai's eyes, activated his Hoshigan in a way that allowed ONLY her to see them, and then said, "Uzumaki Naruto, last member of my family. My interests lie in learning everything I can about my family history and living up to their expectations. My hobbies include studying jutsu, practicing advanced chakra control, and showing anyone who hates me why they shouldn't underestimate me. My likes include anyone who can stand up for themselves and protect their friends, as well as RAMEN. My dislikes include the Uchiha moron and anyone who treats others badly for things they couldn't control. My dream is to learn my family's special final jutsu and devise a way to use it without the … unfortunate mortal side-effect kicking in." With the end of his statement, Naruto deactivated his Hoshigan, and then looked across to each of his teammates in turn before returning his gaze to his teacher.

~ Sensei's stunned look spoke volumes. I'm just surprised you and Shino didn't pick up on it. ~

- Might I remind you, Naruto, that it was very difficult for me to meet your gaze and hold it for long periods back then. I was too shy; one look was enough to make me pass out cold for hours with a full-face blush. -

~Don't worry; I remember perfectly. That's STILL one of the reasons I fell in love with you… TOO CUTE! ~

* Ahem… enough banter, please? Continue the story, please. *

~ As if you have the right or authority to command me to- ~

- Naruto, please just continue the story; if not for her sake, then for mine, so I can go back to cuddling with you in bed. Having to keep that focused frown on my face is going to leave ugly wrinkles! -

~ Yes, dear. And don't worry… I'll still love you, no matter how many wrinkles you gain. ~

'THIS KID HAS A DOJUTSU?! Oh boy, when I get hold of the council member that messed up this kid's file, I'm going to make them sit down with him and PROPERLY UPDATE IT. However, that's really worrying me… his eyes gained a golden star around the pupils… That doesn't fit the description of any of the dojutsu I read about in the Ninja Academy's library… I've already seen what the Sharingan and Byakugan look like, and the Rinnegan's appearance is said to be a set of concentric circles around the pupils… this kid doesn't have any of those… WHAT IS GOING ON?!' Kurenai wondered to herself.

"Alright, that's good. So, from what I've got on the three of you, you're all no more than acquaintances from the academy, correct?" she asked. The three nodded. Kurenai nodded and pointed out back.

"Alright then, follow me. The area out behind us is an empty field, so we're going to get a handle on your abilities to start off with," Kurenai said. At Shino's nervous twitch, she shook her head.

~ I found it odd that Shino was concerned. He seemed fine with JUST talking, so this shouldn't have been so much an issue for him. ~

"It's nothing too strenuous, Shino-kun," she said, her smile never once leaving her lips, "It's just a simple, straightforward display of what we can expect to see on the battlefield when we're eventually sent into combat. I only want to see three techniques maximum: your weakest one, your strongest one, and one that stops in the middle." At this, Shino nodded contentedly and followed Kurenai out the door. Naruto stood, and, turning on his heel, extended his left arm down to offer a hand to Hinata.

- You always did impress me with how chivalrous you were… The fact that you haven't lost that today is even more impressive. -

~ Well, I thank you for the compliment, Hina-chan. However, I'd better continue the story soon, or I'll be chewed out AGAIN by our prisoner for extended banter. ~

"May I help you, Hinata-chan?" Naruto said. Hinata could barely control herself as he gave her a warm, beaming smile; she almost lost it and fainted right there, but she managed to pull it together fast enough to avoid that. Instead, she simply reached her right hand up to grab his, slowly standing as he held on and slowly pulled her up to her feet. The two looked at each other and smiled before walking out to catch up with Kurenai and Shino.

Outside, Naruto saw that Kurenai had pre-prepared the area for the demonstrations, leaving out three standing practice dummies.

~ I had expected some sort of specialized Genin test… but I suppose we can count our mission to Wave as our test, huh? ~

"Alright, Hinata-san, you're up first. Show us what you can do," Kurenai said. Hinata looked up to her sensei and nodded. With a half-glance at Naruto, she bowed her head. When she next looked up, there was a hint of killing intent coming off her; her face had gone from a broad smile to a full-on wicked smirk. She dashed in and pummeled the first dummy hard in the torso, before settling into the typical stance of her family's Jyuken style.

"JYUKENPO: HAKKE SANJUNI SHO*!" Hinata shouted, lashing out at the dummy as an array of markings formed around her, ending with a green-and-white yin-yang symbol forming under her feet. Naruto and company watched, shocked, as Hinata delivered in five steps a furious set of thirty-two two-fingered strikes to the dummy. The combined force of each strike was so great that the dummy snapped off its stalk and flew away on the last strike. Hinata, however, was NOT letting anything get away. With a quick burst of speed, she got around in front of the dummy so that instead of flying away from her, it was now flying straight at her. With a small, demented smile, Hinata allowed her chakra to flow into her hands, causing the visages of two large lion heads to form around her now curled fists.

"JYUHO SOSHIKEN!" she shouted, slamming both hands into the dummy's middle.

Naruto watched, dumbfounded, as the training dummy EXPLODED into millions of little pieces that rained down over the area. Hinata raised her left hand and caught one of the wood chips between two fingers as she returned to her team. However, in a deft show of her darker sense of humor, she opened her mouth and used the chip of wood to pick her teeth. She stopped in front of Kurenai and pulled the chip from between her teeth, revealing a large fragment of a tooth stuck to what appeared to be a chunk of potato.

~ I'd always been afraid of Anko, but in that moment, you blew my notions about HER threw the roof. In THAT moment, you were scarier than the thought of facing down Orochimaru alone. I made a mental note to do all I could NOT to make you angry. ~

- That is a very good policy to live by. I'm surprised you came to that on your own. Not many boys do. -

~ I stand by my claim that I WAS NOT like most boys at that age… and I stand by this claim: I'm not at ALL like many men. I prefer to think I've learned from the mistakes of others. ~

* That's great and all, but if you're going to talk back and forth, you can just stop the show right now and go back to bed. I came here to hear a story, not the idle banter of a husband and wife. *

- … Naruto… I hope you didn't have too many plans for this one… because she is most likely NOT going to survive through the night. If she speaks ill of either of us once more when SHE'S the one at fault, I'll not only rip her head off in her dreams, I'll do the same at the prison in the morning before we depart for our honeymoon. -

~ Actually, I hope you don't mind if I join you. There are quite a few lessons in MANNERS this one was CLEARLY not taught under Hebi-teme's employ. ~

* I'll stay quiet now. *

~- GOOD. ~ Now, Dear, please continue your story. -

~On the double! ~

"FINALLY!" She exclaimed with relief, "That thing's been in there since my last spar with Neji-kun three weeks ago… he doesn't know how to go easy," Hinata said, an innocent smile gracing her lips. Naruto stared dumbly, while Kurenai simply gaped in shock at her student's violent outburst. Shino looked from Hinata to the piles of wood chips littering the ground.

'Interesting…' Shino said, 'so she represses her negative emotions and uses them to empower her techniques. That's one thing I'll have to avoid and watch for later…'

'What on EARTH?!' Kurenai raged, 'her father never told me about… no, wait, think calmly, Kurenai… he probably doesn't even know about this side of her… Maybe I should inform him… NO! Wait, a better idea would be to let her show her entire family in a bout against Neji…'

'WHOA...' Naruto thought, 'Who would have known that she gets stronger when she's mad?' He made a quick mental note to remember that if he ever found himself forced to fight her.

Kurenai finally managed to snap out of her shocked state and turned to Shino, saying, "Alright Shino-kun, you're up." Shino nodded and walked up to the second dummy. Holding his arms out forward, he smirked to himself as two large swarms of insects began to seep out of his sleeves. The bugs shot out and latched onto the dummy.

~ Shino's bugs made me queasy. I swear anything that EATS chakra after entering something else's body is just too gross for words. ~

Feeling the need to add verbal commentary, Shino began, "Each Aburame clansman is gifted with a special ability when it comes to their bugs. My mother's is capture, as her bugs are larger than normal and can actually restrict the movement of an opponent; my father's specialty is what he calls "damage over time", as his insects carry large amounts of venom in their systems which grant him a natural immunity to most poisons."

"Mine, on the other hand," Shino continued, "is what I call "Full Tracking", in that regardless of the state of my opponent, if they happen to leave an area, my bugs can sniff out that person's chakra ad follow them, leading me right back to them. Also, if there are hints of someone's chakra in an inanimate object, my bugs can ingest this chakra and analyze it, then return to me and tell me if I'm walking into an ambush. As it stands…" Shino took a deep breath as ten beetles returned from the dummy and settled by his left ear, then turned and pointed at his sensei, "You left traces of your chakra in each dummy to gauge our power, didn't you?"

Kurenai stared at Shino for several seconds, before she discovered it becoming painful to breathe. She didn't have to wonder why for long.

~ And as if you weren't scary enough before, you had to trump yourself, huh? ~

- My apologies for thinking our sensei had been trying to sleight us somehow. I'm sorry if living with my father for so many years left me more than just a TAD BIT paranoid. -

~ I didn't mean any insult, Hina-chan. It's just… You were always so cute… that display in front of everyone was just … a little TOO much. But anyways, back to the story. ~

"SENSEI…" Hinata said, her voice now carrying a dark, angry tone laced with venom while waves of pitch-black darkness rolled off her, "IS THAT TRUE?"

Without a second's thought, Naruto immediately walked behind Kurenai's back so he was directly behind Hinata and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. The sudden contact was enough to shock Hinata out of her killing intent-fuelled rage. In fact, he smiled a bit as he felt her exhale deeply and slightly tightened his hold when her shoulders relaxed.

"N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata stammered, gaining a deep crimson flush as the blood rushed to her face. Naruto smiled.

~ Everyone used to wonder how we were able to do that, even though before being on a team, we barely knew each other. ~

- It's a simple thing to figure out, Naru-kun… we were both very lonely souls. You were lonely because of the Kyuubi, and I was lonely because of my family. All we were doing was looking for someone to ease the pain… I felt I understood you so well back then… I'm glad I did, more or less. -

~ I had that same thought. I've known for many years now. It's a very heartening thing to know that at any time, all we need to come down from an angry high or come up from a deep depression is to just be around each other…

However, I get the feeling our "guest" is getting bored. Back to the story… ~

"Just relax, Hinata-chan, OK? There's no reason to lose your cool right now, alright?" Naruto asked. Hinata turned on her heels and gave him a hurt look.

"What do you mean? If her chakra's in those dummies, who knows what else could be going on!" She argued. Naruto shook his head.

"No, Hinata-chan," Naruto said, spinning her around to look her in the eyes, "there's nothing else going on. I can tell. Sensei has no ulterior motives. I think this is just her way of figuring out how to train each of us properly to work better as a team. If that's the case, she needs to know our strengths and weaknesses to know how hard to work us. From what I've seen, you don't need that much training… You're strong on your own."

Kurenai was stunned yet again. She may have only started a year ago, but even so, the only reason her last team had failed was because their abilities were less than sub-par. She'd sent them back for another year to have them work harder… and they hadn't passed the test. Now, an eleven-year-old with a mysterious dojutsu was figuring her out on guesswork? How much more was this kid hiding?

"Shino-san," she heard Naruto say, "Is there anything else you're able to do with your bugs?" Shino thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"Not at the present moment. I will be making strides to improve my skills and hone my abilities to greater heights, though," Shino said in his signature monotonous drawl. Naruto nodded.

"I guess that means I'm up…" Naruto said, before releasing Hinata and turning to Kurenai and dropping the bomb:

~ I'm sure that little grenade threw her off… if her reaction was any hint, that is. Heh… ~

"Sensei, I have nothing to show you."

Kurenai snapped out of her shock and stared at the boy.

"What do you mean, you have nothing to show me?! You don't have a choice! You can't keep what you've got a secret from me, Naruto-kun! You have to show me!" she demanded. Naruto shook his head.

~ Once again, I found myself falling victim to "mouth-moving-faster-than-the-brain-can-follow Jutsu". I really should have learned much quicker to word my sentences properly. ~

"Perhaps I phrased that wrong… It's not that I don't WANT to show you; I actually don't have anything I CAN show you. As I said in my introduction, one of my hobbies is reading up on the application and theories of different Jutsu. I know, for instance, that a Bunshin can perform differently depending on where it's used and what it's made of, and that depending on how you mould the chakra, you can make a fire-style jutsu BECOME something entirely different while still in a spherical state. It's all about the degree of shape control and elemental manipulation; the more complex the thing you wish to make, the more chakra you need and the more you have to concentrate to make it work," Naruto said, taking a breath.

"I also happen to know that while certain things are easier for me with this knowledge, I'm left in the dust when it comes to HOW I use it.. I happen to know that my affinities are many, but vary in strength. I have an extremely high wind affinity, and strong water and fire affinities. I'm decent in terms of Lightning, but not so great in Earth. Technically speaking, I could be capable of pulling off anything from a High-D-rank to low-C-rank Doton Jutsu to a Kage-rank Futon jutsu. However, as I still don't know to actually USE jutsu, despite my many attempts to work on chakra control, I always wind up using the proper hand seals, but I push too much chakra into it and make it explode in my face. I can do it… It'll just take time. I'm what you would call … a "gradual learner"; I won't give you results immediately, but the more I'm left to grow, the stronger you'll be able to WATCH me become," Naruto finished.

Kurenai stood, stunned for the umpteenth time that day. Sure, she'd had kids mouth off at her, or boys attempt to win her favor with smooth talk. WHAT in the name of the Shinigami WAS this kid?

With a quick shake of her head, Kurenai returned to the normal world and looked the blonde boy up and down.

~ I had a strange ability to stun Kurenai-sensei out of her skull, now that I think about it… I guess, other than our later dating, that's what made being a member of Team 10 so much fun. ~

"Alright, you've got me Naruto-kun. For now, we'll leave it. If anyone has some sort of special power they'd like the rest of us to know about, speak now," she said. Hinata nodded and stepped up.

"That was actually directed at Naruto, Hinata-chan," Kurenai said, "Everyone knows you have the Byakugan and everyone knows what it can do. But Naruto-kun seems to be hiding something profound from all of us. You've already showed us what you can do, and Shino-kun verbally displayed his talents. Naruto-kun however claims to have nothing to his name in the way of combat skill or jutsu. There's a reason, and I want to hear it."

~ She was a little too pushy for her own good, I swear. ~

Naruto took a deep breath, exhaled, and said, "There's no way around this, is there?" Kurenai shook her head.

"Alright, follow me inside. What I have to tell you can't be heard by ANYONE else," Naruto said, sounding slightly ominous. Kurenai motioned to Hinata and Shino to follow and soon, all three were inside the building. They all sat around in a circle, and Naruto closed his eyes.

When he opened them, Kurenai feigned surprise and gasped a bit when his cerulean eyes gained a single golden star circling around the pupil. Shino tried to silently rationalize what he'd just witnessed; Hinata, however, seemed a little more drawn in.

"The-The Hoshigan?!" she cried, almost falling on her back as she moved to jump to her feet, but missed her left foot's destination and tripped. She managed to right herself before she fell and sat back down.

"You know what that is, Hinata-chan?" Shino asked, sounding a bit perplexed.

~ And once again, you surprised me, which was always a good thing. ~

Hinata nodded and said, "Yes. I once asked father if there were any ways to make the Byakugan grow. When I first asked, he simply pushed me aside and brushed it off. However, after a week of asking, he finally sat me down and explained it. He told me that the Byakugan, like the Sharingan, has three stages of growth: the Byakugan, Benihana Byakugan, and Tenshi Byakugan. With the second stage, the eye's color changes to somewhat resemble the Sharingan, but instead of a black design on a red eye, the eye color darkens just a bit while gaining an image of a crimson rose petal. This removes the bearer's blind-spot and enhances the ability to perceive the body's chakra pathways, allowing one to see where they couldn't see before, as well as increasing their physical abilities. Where before a Byakugan wielder could simply shut down a chakra point of their choice, bearers of the Benihana Byakugan could actually cause severe damage to them as well."

"As for the Tenshi Byakugan, he hesitated at first. Apparently, it increases the abilities the user had before to almost inhuman degrees, to the point where poking someone could destroy a fair-sized section of their chakra network. The only way to tell if someone with a Byakugan has the final form is to look them straight in the eyes; I was told that if you look and can see either a halo effect in their eyes or an angel's wing design, they've got it. The Benihana also reduces the visibility of the veins around the user's eyes when activated. The Tenshi completely negates it, meaning that not even ONE vein will appear. As he told me, only a few people in the Main and Branch families are able to unlock the second form, myself, Neji-kun, and my little sister, Hanabi, included. However, he said that I, and I alone, would be able to surpass it and activate its evolution. Naruto-kun somehow has that evolution…" Hinata finished. Naruto decided to take over from here.

~ Your description of your eyes and their upgrades was quite the knockout. I hadn't been expecting that much information at once, but I had a feeling that was about as far as your father was going to fill you in. ~

"Thank you, Hinata-can… it's always good to know that another teammate is able to achieve the same things I can eventually… We'll really have to work you hard to get you there, huh?" he said innocently. Hinata, for some unknown reason, suddenly blushed and promptly passed out.

Kurenai motioned for Naruto to continue.

Naruto nodded and said, "Strictly speaking, My Hoshigan was not, as far as I know, the result of an evolved Byakugan. It came from a distant cousin… who I watched die in my arms just over a year ago. Did you hear about the guy Kozue who was admitted to the village morgue, sensei?" Kurenai thought for a moment and nodded. Naruto nodded back and continued.

"He was that cousin. He was a cousin of Yondaime-sama… a cousin of my father, the Yondaime," Naruto said.

He was surprised when Kurenai started chuckling. His surprise, however, turned to anger and frustration as she burst out laughing.

~ That tore it. I'd been willing to overlook her taking us to the edge of the village, and I'd been only too willing to give her a bye on the dummies. However, laughing at my heritage was one thing I could NOT forgive. I still haven't forgiven her, in a way… ~

"Y-YOU, THE SON OF THE YONDAIME, THE YELLOW FLASH OF KONOHA?! NOT LIKELY!" Kurenai shouted. She stopped abruptly when Shino reached over and swatted her across the back of the head. She was about to reprimand Shino for his action when she felt a sudden drop in temperature and a sudden spike in killing intent from Naruto's direction.

"HOW DARE YOU SPIT ON MY FATHER'S LEGACY LIKE THAT! JUST BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE HIS SURNAME, YOU ASSUME I'M MAKING IT UP, RIGHT?" Naruto exploded, the killing intent now firing off in waves off his body with every other word he said. Regardless of his stoic appearance, Shino was shaking in his clothes from sheer terror. However, the fact alone that his teammate was leveling murderous glares at their sensei wasn't the only reason; the massive blast of killer intent had caused a quarter of his hive to pass on.

~ I was SO glad that Shino was able to be the voice of reason in that instance. ~

- Don't roll your eyes like that, Naru-kun. There's no need to be sarcastic either; remember… I was unconscious at the time. -

~ I know… it just bugs me that it took SHINO to get her to amend her statement, even if he only did it to save his own hide. ~

"You may want to amend your statement quickly, sensei," Shino said, feeling his hive's numbers drop rapidly, "Before he makes me useless as a ninja!" Kurenai nodded.

"NARUTO, STOP! I'M SORRY; IT JUST SEEMED LIKE AN ABSURD CLAIM, IS ALL! I BELIEVE YOU, REALLY!" Kurenai shouted. Naruto seemed to calm down. What no one noticed was that the multiple waves of killing intent had awoken Hinata, who had crept silently over behind Naruto.

Naruto was about to release another blast of killing intent when he felt a pair of arms wrap around his shoulders. He slowly turned his head and found himself looking into Hinata's eyes.

~ I didn't understand why your hug was so soothing… I understand it better now. ~

"Calm, Naruto-kun, calm," she said gently, "I know you're mad, but she doesn't need to die now, alright? We still need a sensei. I don't think you want to be spending a whole other year BACK in the academy, or worse, in a jail cell because you couldn't control yourself, right?" Naruto calmed down and nodded, making sure to thank her so only she could hear him. When she let go, Kurenai was almost sitting again.

'How are they able to do that?' the red-eyed woman wondered, 'They don't seem to have any friendly connection to each other AT ALL… so how is it they can calm each other down like that?'

Naruto turned and smiled to Hinata before turning back to Kurenai.

"How much about my eyes do you know, Hinata-chan?" he asked off-handedly.

"Almost nothing, Naruto-kun," she replied, "Otou-sama never said more than just the name." Naruto nodded.

"Alright, then I'll fill in the blanks for you," Naruto said, taking the next fifteen minutes to explain the basics of his powers.

~ It came easy, explaining my eyes for sensei and Shino. I still wanted to hurt Sensei, though… Iknew I couldn't, so I let it go. ~

Kurenai's eyes nearly exploded out of her head. Shino, however, seemed intrigued.

"Explain what that means, Naruto-san. I don't think I've ever heard of anything along those lines. What does it mean to have the "privilege" of signing these contracts?" Shino asked, snapping Kurenai back out of her stupor.

~ For as smart as he was, Shino wasn't very perceptive at the time. ~

- I just don't think he fully understood without an explanation, Naru-kun. It was a massive bombshell; you have to admit that. -

~ I guess you have a point. He couldn't have known without me telling him. That's one's yours, Hina-chan. ~

- Thank you. -

~And… back to the story. ~

Once more, Naruto spent another fifteen minutes clearing the cliff notes of his powers. Shino nodded.

"That's very interesting, Naruto-san. You might just wind up being the power-man of our unit!" Shino said with a hint of awe showing in his voice. Kurenai tried not to show her shock; instead, she chose to revert to her earlier smile.

"Does ANYTHING EVER happen the easy way for you?" she asked, chuckling a bit when Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "Well, it will ensure things won't be dull, I can say that. Well, let's go see Hokage-sama and see if there's a mission we can take as a team." The three genin nodded and followed their sensei as she opened the door of the building and led them out, closing the door behind them as they strolled through the village.~

Naruto shut off the projector and stepped away, taking Hinata by the hand as they, along with the projector and the three chairs, vanished into thin air. This, unfortunately, had the undesired effect of dropping Guren on her rear with a hard thump that was enough to wake her up. She was up JUST long enough to fire off a string of cruses she knew only SHE could hear, and then she promptly fell back asleep.

~~~MEANWHILE, PRIVATE QUARTERS, HOKAGE'S TOWER ~~~

Naruto's eyes opened slowly. To his surprise, he found himself gazing into the none-too-happy eyes of Hinata, whose expression was one of frustration and confusion.

"And what, pray tell, was the idea behind leaving me behind to tell that evil witch your story?" Hinata asked. Naruto winced.

"I'm really sorry; my clone was confused and sent me a mental alert asking me what to do. I figured, since we were going to sleep anyway, that I'd at least grant her request," Naruto said. Hinata pouted.

"And, given the way our eyes and chakra are linked,' she said, her voice not losing any of its exasperated tone, "you didn't stop to think that our dreamscapes are similarly connected? How did you expect to leave me behind? I was bound to find you sooner or later."

Naruto visibly sagged in defeat, saying, "Alright. I admit it; I made a stupid move. I should have asked you first, or at least brought you along before going. I didn't mean to upset you at all, I swear! Can you forgive me?"

Hinata moved her left arm to tap her index finger against her lips in mock thought for a moment.

Finally, with a happy smile, she cuddled up close and said, "Yeah. I forgive you. JUST DON'T EVER LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN."

Naruto gulped loudly and nodded his affirmation. With that, the newlywed couple settled back down and fell asleep.

~ THE END… FOR NOW… ~

Hope you liked it! ^_^