Honest Curse: Sean-Style
Chapter 4

Upon awakening the next morning, Naruto looked around his room, half-expecting to find Hinata there with him. His dreams that night had been so vivid, so real, he would have sworn she was really there. His body was once again reacting to his dreams, which still baffled Naruto to no end, but he was starting to get used to it. He grasped for the details of his dream for a moment, then gave it up when the details evaded him. He had thought maybe he could figure out why his body was reacting like that, but no such luck. He got up and went to get his shower and prepare for the trip to the Academy, where he would get his team assignment today. He was grinning as he left his apartment, looking forward to officially being on a team with Hinata and Shino.

Upon arriving at the Academy, Naruto found his two teammates waiting for him. Hinata came to him and took his hand, blushing slightly. Shino just stood where he was; he nodded at Naruto, who returned the gesture. There was a certain respect among the three, and they trusted one another, that much was clear to even the most casual observer.

The three entered the classroom together. After they had sat down, Naruto decided this was a good time to cause a scene and get a little bit of revenge on Sasuke for making Sakura say no all those times. He walked over and leaned on the wall right where Sasuke was staring. Sasuke didn't react. The two had been there like that a few minutes when Sasuke's fan club poured into the room. Several of them started yelling for Sasuke to take them out, and Sasuke ignored them.

Naruto chuckled; this was perfect. "Sorry girls, I think you're barking up the wrong tree. Good old Sasuke here is in love with me," he said, grinning.

Sasuke's annoyed stare turned into a glare, but he refused to say anything, hoping if he ignored the blond, he'd go away. Naruto just laughed as the girls all looked like he'd just told them their puppies had died.

Naruto moved over to Sasuke, deciding to take this another step. "Sorry, Sasuke, you're just not my type. Besides, I'm taken," he said, quieter than his previous comment, but still loud enough to be heard by Hinata on the far side of the room.

That did it. "I AM NOT IN LOVE WITH YOU!" Sasuke yelled, glaring at Naruto in rage. As he said this, Iruka walked into the classroom.

"I would hope you're not in love with Naruto, Sasuke. He's got Hinata, and I'm sorry, but I just don't think you could compete with that," Iruka said, grinning; he didn't know what was going on, but it was sure to be good. Sasuke just slumped down in his seat as the rest of the class burst out laughing. Iruka chuckled as Naruto returned to his spot between Hinata and Shino. "All right, everyone, settle down; I'm going to call out your team assignments."

Naruto smiled at Hinata. "At least we don't have to worry about who we're going to have on our team," he said. Hinata blushed and nodded. Shino nodded as well; it was nice, even for him, to not have to worry about who his teammates were.

"Team Seven," Iruka was saying. "Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame. Your sensei will be Kakashi Hatake. Team Eight, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, Kiba Inuzuka; your sensei will be Kurenai Yuhi. And Team Ten will be Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, and Choji Akimichi; your sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi." He smiled at his students. "I'm proud of all of you. Meet your sensei here in three hours. Until then you are dismissed."

Naruto and his team were the only ones who remained where they were. Everyone else was out eating or socializing, but their team just stayed and talked, enjoying one another in their own ways.

It was lucky for Naruto and Shino that Hinata had packed enough food for all of them; she simply said she wanted to, when Naruto asked about it. He shrugged and took that at face value; they were a couple now, after all, so why wouldn't she do things like that?

The three ate quietly, Naruto and Hinata enjoying their closeness to one another. Shino was pleased to be near his teammates as well, so he had no complaints either, even if he did feel a little like a third wheel. After about two hours, the rest of their class rejoined them.

Naruto got up when he saw Sasuke coming into the room. Right behind the Uchiha, naturally, was a rather large swarm of girls. Naruto put himself on the far side of the girls from Sasuke. What happened next must be explained from three different perspectives to fully understand it.

The girls behind Sasuke saw a struggling Naruto, seemingly trying to push Sasuke away from him, while Sasuke seemingly wouldn't let him get away. Naruto seemingly tried to take a step backward, when Sasuke put a leg behind Naruto's and the blond tripped. What happened next was completely shocking to the girls, especially Sakura and Ino. Sasuke and Naruto fell to the floor, Sasuke on top of Naruto, and, as they landed, Sasuke locked his lips onto Naruto's.

Sasuke, upon entering the room, was surprised when Naruto came up in front of him and put his hands on his shoulders, making it impossible for him to move. He tried to get back from Naruto but was surprised when he found he couldn't; Naruto's grip was just too strong. Naruto was acting like he was trying to push Sasuke back, but, in fact, he was holding him where he was. Sasuke tried to step toward Naruto, to push him off, but Naruto seemed to have anticipated this. He acted like he was stepping back, and in the process, made it look like Sasuke tripped him, when in fact, Naruto tripped Sasuke. Both fell to the ground, and Sasuke's head fell forward, making him end up kissing Naruto, much to his embarrassment.

Naruto, putting his hands on Sasuke's shoulders, had in fact trapped Sasuke where he was, loving this idea, even if he knew the experience itself would be less than pleasant. It would be worth it, he figured. Naruto acted like he was struggling, so the girls would think this was all Sasuke's idea. Naruto was actually grinning, thinking this would be one of his best pranks ever. He felt Sasuke shift, like he was going to move toward him, and used the opportunity perfectly; he made a show of stepping back, then tripped Sasuke. The two fell to the floor, and, much to Naruto's chagrin, Sasuke's lips fell straight onto his. Naruto made a huge show of struggling to get out from under Sasuke, who was too stunned to do anything for a few seconds.

Once the two boys had kissed, much to Sasuke's embarrassment and Naruto's chagrin, Naruto struggled hard to get out from under Sasuke, whose body seemed to have gone stiff. Naruto finally shoved him off, looked down at him, and yelled, "SASUKE, I TOLD YOU I'M TAKEN, DAMN IT!" then turned away to leave, wiping his mouth, which was only half acting.

As he was starting to walk away, Hinata came running over. Hinata knew Naruto had approached Sasuke, but she didn't know what Naruto was up to; she thought Sasuke had actually forced himself on Naruto just then, and, to say the very least, she was furious. She was NOT going to stand for this. "SASUKE!" she roared, charging him. Sasuke turned, hearing her voice and feeling a wave of killer intent from behind him.

"Hinata? I didn't..." he said, but he didn't get the chance to finish. Hinata was upon him, using her Gentle Fist to shut down the chakra points in his arms and legs, effectively paralyzing him.

As Sasuke fell to the ground, Hinata glared at him. "If you EVER try to come after MY Naruto again, Sasuke, I swear I will kill you. He's MINE!" she yelled at him. Even Sakura, who was considering coming to Sasuke's defense, thought better of it when she heard Hinata and saw the sheer rage in the shy girl's eyes. Hinata turned on her heels, satisfied that Sasuke wasn't moving, and walked back to Naruto.

Naruto, throughout this, was making quite a show of being disgusted and traumatized, while inside he was putting every ounce of his concentration into not laughing. This was perfect, even better than he'd expected. Hinata came back and sat by Naruto, putting an arm around his shoulders in an effort to comfort him. Naruto made a grand show of being shaken up, shivering and leaning against Hinata, who was more than happy to hold him close and rub his back.

While this was going on, Kurenai and Asuma came in together to get their respective teams. Kurenai, who knew Hinata and knew about her crush on Naruto (not such a crush now) and her Byakugan and the abilities that came with it, noticed how the shy girl was holding Naruto and how Sasuke seemed to be having trouble moving.

Kurenai had a feeling she'd regret it, but she just had to ask. "What in the world happened here?"

Hinata, the only girl not sobbing over Sasuke's apparent homosexuality, spoke up. "Sasuke forced himself onto Naruto, knocked him to the ground and kissed him," she said. Naruto shivered at the words, like he was traumatized; in truth, the shiver was a suppressed laugh.

Kurenai saw how all the girls (other than Hinata) looked sad, so she simply asked Naruto. "Is this true, Naruto?"

Naruto didn't trust himself to speak (fear he'd laugh) so he simply nodded. Kurenai saw this, then smiled; her smile was, for her, rather evil. She had just remembered that Sasuke was on her team. "All right. Sasuke, Sakura, and Kiba, come with me," she said, her red eyes glinting as she planned her revenge on the unfortunate Uchiha.

Asuma, who had been hanging back throughout this, finally spoke up. "Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, you three come with me," he said. The two teams in question stood up and left with their respective sensei. Sasuke looked worried, Sakura and Ino were both still fighting tears, while Shikamaru, Kiba, and Choji were still laughing at the whole thing.

Asuma and his team waited while Kurenai and hers left, then Asuma turned toward Shikamaru, knowing the young Nara's reputation of being a genius. "Okay, Shikamaru, what the hell really happened in there?" he asked, his eyes glinting; Asuma knew a prank when he saw one. It didn't hurt that they heard Naruto burst out laughing (Ino was the only one fooled, she thought her fellow blond was crying) as they were leaving.

Shikamaru made a gesture at Ino, then grinned at his sensei. "What do you mean, sensei? You heard what happened. Sasuke forced himself on Naruto," he said, winking to let Asuma know he'd explain later. (A/N: No, Shikamaru didn't know what was going on, he figured it out.)

Naruto, meanwhile, had finally lost his battle with his laughs. Hinata looked at him, extremely confused as to what in the world was so funny. "What's so funny, Naruto?" she asked, her eyes worried. She thought he'd totally snapped.

Shino, who had figured it out when Naruto cracked up, spoke, since Naruto couldn't. "Think about it, Hinata. The answer is right in front of you," he said, pushing his glasses up. Hinata opened her mouth to say something, then stopped. Something was nagging at her, but she couldn't quite get it. She looked at Shino, begging him to explain it. "Naruto approached Sasuke, you saw this," he told her. She nodded. "He put his hands up before Sasuke did anything, you also saw this?" this time he was asking. She nodded again. "Then think, could Sasuke have forced himself on Naruto like that?" he asked her, trying to lead her in the right direction.

It finally dawned on Hinata what Shino meant. "You mean...?" she said. Shino nodded. She turned to Naruto. "So, all that time, you were in control, you forced him to do all that?" she asked her boyfriend.

Naruto, still laughing so hard he couldn't talk, nodded. Hinata thought about the event from this new perspective, then she realized why Naruto was laughing so hard, and she herself began giggling. Soon enough, she was laughing as hard as Naruto was. Shino was the only one who didn't laugh with them.

It was about ten minutes before Naruto and Hinata calmed down enough that they could talk. "Sorry I didn't tell you I was going to do that, Hinata," Naruto said. "It just came to me on the spur of the moment."

Hinata giggled. "It's okay, Naruto," she answered. "I wouldn't have acted like I did if I had known anyway."

Meanwhile, Asuma and his team had finished their introductions. Asuma dismissed them, locking his eyes with Shikamaru to let him know to stay. Only Ino left, as it turned out. "Okay, Shikamaru," Choji spoke up. "What the hell happened back there?"

Shikamaru grinned. "It was a prank, as I'm sure Asuma-sensei has surmised," he said. Asuma nodded. "I figured it out when Naruto put his hands up on Sasuke's shoulders, THEN started acting like he was struggling. Everything that happened was by Naruto's design. Quite frankly, the only thing I can't quite figure is WHY he did all that."

Choji thought about what his best friend was saying. "Well, Naruto doesn't exactly like Sasuke," he said. "Maybe he was just trying to embarrass him?"

Shikamaru thought about that. "It's possible, I suppose, but, think about it, Choji. When have you ever seen Naruto do a prank with only one purpose?"

Choji thought about that. "Well...never, really," he said back.

"Exactly," Shikamaru said. "And usually, his pranks ended up helping someone somehow, be it giving a Jonin extra training or giving one of us a chance to slack off, namely me." He fell silent a moment, then continued. "I just don't see what his purpose was with this one."

Choji thought about this one a moment. Then he remembered. Some time back, probably about a year previously, he had told Naruto he had a crush on Ino. He blushed. He had the answer. "Um, Shikamaru?" he said softly. Shikamaru looked at his friend and raised an eyebrow at him when he noticed his blush. "I think I know why Naruto did that," he said.

Shikamaru was surprised. Had Choji actually outsmarted him? Well, if so, then he'd just have to figure out what Choji knew that he didn't know himself. "Oh? And why do you think Naruto did it, Choji?" he answered, his mind racing to try to get it before Choji said it.

"You know about my crush on Ino, Shikamaru," he answered, blushing deeper. Shikamaru nodded, still not seeing the relevance. "Well, I told Naruto about that about a year ago. I think he was trying to get Ino to stop being so obsessed with Sasuke so I'd have a chance," he said, his blush reaching Hinata levels.

Shikamaru grinned. Good old Naruto. That's just the kind of thing he'd do. "Yeah, Choji, you're probably right. That's just the kind of thing he'd pull, isn't it?" he said, smiling. "Well, better not waste his effort, huh?"

Choji grinned, his blush receding. Shikamaru was right, after all. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Shikamaru," he said. That said, the three remaining members of Team Ten separated and went to their respective homes.

Meanwhile, Team Seven was STILL waiting for their sensei to show up. Naruto, having gotten impatient about ten minutes before, had set up a rather elaborate prank. When the door opened, an eraser would fall just inches in front of Kakashi's face. This would hit a small ball Naruto had found in the room. This would roll across the floor, touching a very precariously balanced book, which would fall onto a see-saw like thing set up with a crème pie on the other side. If his plan worked right, this pie would fly across the room and hit Kakashi-sensei in the face. In truth, the pie (the only thing Naruto hadn't been able to find in the room) was a transformed Naruto clone.

Since both Hinata and Shino were aware of this prank, they both were anxious to see if their sensei would fall for it. Shino figured it was logical that a high-level ninja would dodge the pie easily, but Hinata, knowing Naruto's success rate with pranks, especially those aimed at Jounin, fully expected this one to succeed as well.

Shino commented, "Naruto, this is a Jounin. A simple prank like this will never work on him."

Naruto grinned. "Care to make a bet on that?" he asked.

Shino thought about it. He assumed he'd win, regardless, but he was curious what Naruto had in mind. "What kind of bet, Naruto?"

Naruto pondered for a moment. "Okay, if it works, you'll help me prank the whole village. If it fails, I'll come out with you on our first day off, and spend the whole day helping you collect bugs," Naruto said.

Shino, knowing how much Naruto despised his little friends, knew just how much of a sacrifice that was for his blond teammate. He chuckled, thinking he had this one in the bag. "All right, Naruto, you're on." The two shook hands. "And maybe you'll learn a thing or two while we're out collecting," he added, a slight smile on his face.

Naruto grinned, sure this would work. "I doubt that, but maybe you'll learn a thing or two while we're making our prank," he answered. Shino smiled; he found he actually liked his blond teammate. He was a bit goofy, yes, but he made things fun. "Oh, one condition. You can't warn him or interfere in any way," Naruto said. Shino nodded; he hadn't intended to do that anyway.

As they were finishing this, the door opened. Kakashi poked his head in just in time to see an eraser fall just past his nose. He looked over at Naruto, knowing this had to be his doing. "Um, Naruto, you missed," he said, confused. He'd never known Naruto to miss like that before; all his pranks were right on the mark.

Naruto grinned. "Not yet I didn't," he said.

"Huh?" Kakashi answered intelligently. He heard something across the room and turned toward it, just in time to see a crème pie hit him straight in the face. He turned to glare at Naruto, who snapped a picture. Then Naruto dispelled the clone, which meant Kakashi's face was clean, as if he'd never been hit. Kakashi growled. "I hate you sometimes, Naruto." Kakashi had been the victim of Naruto's pranks before.

Naruto just grinned at Shino. "I win," he said. Shino nodded, shocked that had worked.

"All right, you clowns," Kakashi said. "Meet me on the roof." That said, the silver-haired man disappeared.

The three teammates walked up to the roof. Kakashi was leaning on the railing at the edge of the roof. The three walked over to a set of steps in front of him and sat down. Shino sat beside Naruto, which left Hinata no immediate room, so she sat on Naruto's lap, surprising everyone. Naruto didn't mind; he put his arms around her from behind, effectively trapping her there.

Kakashi chuckled at their antics, then said to the team, "Let's introduce ourselves. I know we had a mission together already, but let's get to know one another some now."

Naruto chuckled. "What's there to say? We all know one another pretty well," he said, grinning at their sensei.

"You may know one another," Kakashi said. "But I don't know you, and you don't know me."

"Don't I?" Naruto asked back, raising one eyebrow at the silver-haired man.

"You think you know me?" Kakashi asked.

"Yep," Naruto answered.

Kakashi decided to have some fun with this clown, and get him back for the pie thing. "Prove it," he said, eye-smiling at the team.

"All right," Naruto said. "Your name is Kakashi Hatake. You like your smut books. You hate being alone and people who abandon their friends. Your dreams are to make your sensei proud and to meet the author of those books."

Kakashi was stunned. Everything Naruto said was true. "All right, Naruto, what about your teammates?" he asked, trying to cover his shock.

Naruto gestured at the brown-haired boy beside him first. "This is Shino Aburame. He likes his insects and his family. He dislikes people who think with emotion rather than logic, as well as anything that can hurt his insects. His hobby is collecting and studying different kinds of insects. He dreams of fighting strong opponents to prove himself."

Kakashi turned to Shino, who spoke softly. "His words are an accurate description of me," Shino said.

Naruto grinned, knowing he was catching Kakashi off-guard with this. He squeezed Hinata a little. "This is Hinata Hyuga. She likes me, obviously, and cinnamon rolls. She dislikes shellfish and those who judge people without knowing them. Her hobby is pressing flowers. She dreams to fight both her cousin Neji and her father," he said. Then he whispered in her ear, "And to marry me."

She blushed deeply, then nodded. "He's right," she said for Kakashi's benefit. Now Kakashi was flat-out dumbfounded. How in the hell did Naruto know not only his, but his teammates' likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams? It just made no damn sense. Yet it had happened.

Naruto chuckled. "I should tell you guys mine, too, I guess. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, as I'm sure you know. I like my friends and Hinata, and ramen, of course. I dislike being patient. My hobbies are trying new kinds of ramen, and training. My dream is to be the greatest Hokage Konohagakure has ever seen," he said to his team. He then whispered to Hinata, "And to help you make your dreams come true."

Hinata blushed furiously, of course, at that. Kakashi smiled at his team, still curious how Naruto knew all this, but he decided to leave it alone for now. He dismissed the team, telling them to meet the next morning at eight on the training ground, but got another surprise when only Shino left. He looked at the two remaining.

"What's up, you two?" Kakashi asked.

"Oh, nothing," Naruto answered, grinning. "We're just waiting for you to leave."

Kakashi gave them a look, wondering what that meant, then shrugged it off. "All right, well, keep it clean you two," he said, teasing them. Naruto glared at him, while Hinata blushed. Kakashi, still grinning behind his mask, left the two alone.

Naruto turned Hinata around on his lap so she was facing him. He smiled at her.

"N-Naruto," Hinata started. He smiled encouragingly. "How did you know all that stuff about me and Shino?" she asked.

Naruto chuckled. "It was pretty easy actually. I just watched you. I've seen how you are with your family a couple times, and I've seen Shino collecting bugs, so I knew that. I saw you watching me, and plus we're together now, so I knew that. Some of it I kind of guessed at, but yeah, the rest I know just from observing you guys. And I've been observing Kakashi-sensei for years now, he was one of the ANBU who used to watch over me when I was a kid."

Hinata was surprised with that last part. ANBU had watched over Naruto as a kid? Why? "Why would the ANBU watch over you as a kid?" she asked, curious.

"I...I don't know," Naruto said, having never thought about that before.

Hinata shrugged it off and wrapped her arms around Naruto. As she cuddled close to him, he got a shock; his body was reacting to her proximity the same way it reacted to those weird dreams he kept having of her. Hinata noticed; she also knew what it meant, which made her blush.

"Naruto?" she said, smiling up at him. He looked down at her, his face confused. "You're reacting to me, aren't you?"

Naruto looked at her, even more confused. "Yeah, I am, Hinata, but I don't know why. I don't even know what this reaction means," he said, blushing a little.

Now, this totally shocked Hinata. She knew exactly what his reaction meant: he wanted her. He didn't know? The girls in the Academy had all been taught certain aspects of seduction, of course, and this reaction was one part of it. She knew the boys were taught certain things along the same lines from things Neji had said, along with some of the boys in their class. How did Naruto not know what it meant?

"Naruto, I know they teach the boys about that in the Academy, how do you not know what it means?" she asked.

Naruto shrugged, then remembered something. "I do remember one day when one of the instructors took each of the guys to a separate room and kept them for about ten minutes. When it was my turn, the teacher just gave me a harsh look and said something about me not needing to be told anything. I don't know what he meant," he said, giving Hinata a look of confusion. "But, Hinata, what does it mean? This reaction, I mean."

Hinata blushed, not sure how to tell him what it meant. "Naruto, you should probably ask someone you trust about that, maybe Iruka-sensei or the Hokage," she said, blushing deeper.

Naruto realized she wasn't sure how to explain it to him, so he nodded. "All right. I'll ask Iruka-sensei tomorrow," he said, smiling at her.

Hinata sighed, glad he had accepted that. She looked at Naruto smiling at her, then did something neither of them had expected her to do. She leaned up and kissed Naruto.

Naruto, while he was surprised by her action, wasn't about to let it go to waste. He kissed her back, both of them luxuriating in their first kiss. The two put their arms around one another and kissed again, deeper, longer, loving how close they felt to one another. After a while, the two separated; Naruto released Hinata, who stood up. Naruto rose and took her hand in his, smiling at her. She blushed, but smiled back, intertwining her fingers with his. The two then left the Academy together; Naruto walked Hinata home, then went home himself.

Upon arriving home, Hinata went straight to her room and fell into bed. She intended to rest a moment, but instead she fell asleep; she slept the whole night through. For once, she didn't dream.

Naruto arrived home, still smiling as he thought of Hinata. He ate dinner, showered, and went to bed; he fell asleep into dreams of Hinata yet again. This time, his dreams were of their future as a couple, and as teammates.