Chapter 3
After making friends with Naruto and Hinata, Ino had spent the next three weeks or so trying to get them out of their shells, with minimal success. The two were completely comfortable with one another now, and neither stuttered with her anymore either, but neither of them had made any effort to speak to anyone else. Ino groaned, thinking of the times she had tried to get them to talk to some of their other classmates. Both had simply told her to take her idea and shove it, in no uncertain terms. Ino laughed at that memory in particular. With her, shy, the two were not, obviously.
Today, the class had gotten a bit of a surprise. They were going on a sight-seeing trip of sorts today for their history class. Their destination was the Valley of the End, as it was called. They knew of the Valley, naturally; it was the location where Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha had fought for the title of First Hokage. Obviously, the Uchiha had lost that battle, but Iruka-sensei had decided today would be a prime opportunity for the class to see the location of that battle. Why this was, no one in the class knew, or really cared. All they cared about was the fact that they were getting out of the classroom for the day.
So it was that the class found themselves at the Valley of the End this noontime. Naruto, Hinata, and Ino were sitting on the top of the head of the statue of Hashirama, eating their lunches. No one was bothering them, and, naturally, they kept to themselves. Hinata, being the kind girl she was, had brought lunch for not only herself but her friends as well.
"Wow, Hinata, this is really good!" Naruto exclaimed, smiling at the girl. Hinata blushed slightly.
"Thanks, Naruto," she answered. "I've always liked cooking, and this was just a chance to do something nice for you."
"Thanks, Hinata," Naruto said, blushing as well. He was used to Hinata doing kind things like that, but it still embarrassed him at times. Hinata just nodded. Ino, watching the two, grinned. Once they got a little older, they'd make one heck of a couple, Ino just knew it.
"My pleasure, Naruto," Hinata answered, smiling. Naruto smiled back and would have said something more, but just then a small group of students approached them. Leading the group was a boy who was a little taller than Naruto, his black hair cut into the shape of a bird's ass, his mouth twisted in a smirk, his eyes gleaming with malice.
"Well, well, what have we here?" the boy, who Ino recognized after a moment as Sasuke Uchiha, asked sarcastically.
"W-what d-do y-y-you w-want?" Naruto asked, trying to sound intimidating. The effect was ruined by his stutter, naturally. Ino sighed. That damn stutter of his was always coming up at the worst times.
"Oh, there's only one thing I want," Sasuke said back, his eyes turning to Hinata as he spoke. Hinata cowered away from him, blushing slightly at the appraisal. Sasuke came up to her and grabbed her by her beige jacket and yanked her to her feet. He grinned over at Naruto, his eyes glinting with malice. "This is mine, loser. Hope you don't mind," he said and prepared to walk away with Hinata.
"PUT HER DOWN!" Naruto yelled, enraged. He charged at Sasuke, his fist cocked back, ready to knock the Uchiha for a loop. He wasn't expecting Sasuke to be prepared for that, though. Sasuke shoved Hinata backward. The girl fell onto her backside, grunting. Meanwhile, Naruto, moving too fast to stop, was tripped by Sasuke's foot, which the black-haired boy had stuck out in front of Naruto. The effect of this was Naruto was sent over the edge of the statue they were standing on. Luckily for Naruto, the side he fell from had a rather short drop, so all that really happened was Naruto landed face-first in the water a little back from the waterfall in the Valley. He wasn't hurt, just embarrassed.
Back on the statue, however, Hinata didn't know Naruto was okay, she just knew her best friend had been knocked off the statue and could easily be hurt or worse. She also knew that the one to blame for it was standing just in front of her. For the first time in her life, Hinata flew into a rage and leapt at Sasuke. "FOR NARUTO!" she yelled. Her yell was so loud, as it turned out, Naruto heard her. He would always remember that, but, naturally, Hinata didn't know she'd been heard. Nor did she care, really. She came at her enemy, as she saw Sasuke at that moment, and, using two simultaneous strikes, she broke both of Sasuke's shoulders. She then gave a glare to the black-haired boy and snarled, "Get away from us."
Sasuke scowled at the lavender-eyed girl, then scoffed and turned to leave, both arms limp. Hinata turned and looked over the edge of the statue. She was surprised, but relieved, to find Naruto climbing back up the side. When he made it to the top, she threw herself at him and hugged him hard. Naruto, surprised and a little confused, returned her hug after a moment.
"Hinata?" he asked. She looked up at him, tears of relief in her eyes. "You attacked Sasuke for me?"
Hinata blushed, realizing her cry had been heard. "Yes, I was just so angry when I thought you were hurt...or worse...I couldn't help it," she said.
Naruto smiled, then hugged Hinata again. He was deeply touched. "Thank you, Hinata. No one's ever stood up for me like that before," he said. Hinata blushed then buried her face in his chest, hugging him tightly. Naruto just hugged the blushing girl back, neither caring who saw them. This simple act would mark a turning point in the relationship between the two. Ino, seeing what happened and knowing what it meant, just smiled. Yep, one heck of a couple indeed.
Over the course of the next few weeks, Hinata's ferocity in protecting Naruto became well-known and respected among their classmates. Hinata was only about the middle of the class, yet no one would dare mess with Naruto, who was just slightly below Hinata, for fear of facing her wrath. Sasuke was the only one who even wanted to, and he was biding his time.
As for Ino, she was pretty sure her work was done with her shy friends. Now she was looking for a love interest of her own, since Naruto and Hinata were clearly going to be together. Pretty much everyone in the class saw that as a foregone conclusion since the incident in the Valley of the End, including the two people in question. In retrospect, Hinata realized that her rage was fueled by love for Naruto, which she hadn't even consciously known she had before that.
Naruto was having the time of his life of late. Hinata was right beside him every second she could be, Ino was there, though not as often, and no one was bothering him. He knew the last was because of the first and the first was to make sure of the last, at least in part, but he didn't care; he was enjoying every second of both, regardless of the cause.
One day, about a month after the Valley Incident, as it had been dubbed by the class, Naruto was walking home alone, Hinata having been called home early that day for a clan meeting or something. He was about half-way home when a small white dog came running to him and leapt into his arms. Surprised, Naruto caught the puppy. After a moment, he recognized the puppy as belonging to his classmate, Kiba. What was his name again? Oh, yeah, Akamaru!
"What is it, Akamaru?" Naruto asked, his worry for why the puppy was here without Kiba making him forget his stutter. Akamaru barked once, then started squirming. Naruto set the small creature on the ground. Akamaru took off running, stopping after about half a block to see if Naruto was coming.
Overcome with both concern for his classmate and worry for the puppy if it wandered the streets alone, Naruto followed. Akamaru led the blond on a merry chase all over the village until Naruto wondered if the puppy was trying to play a prank on him. This went on for about an hour, then the puppy took off in a straight line that led straight past the main gate of the village and into an area of the village that was mostly abandoned. There were a few homes there, but that was all.
Naruto kept following, getting more and more worried and more and more suspicious with each step. When the puppy stopped in front of the door to a certain building, Naruto fully expected he was walking into a trap. He opened the door slowly, careful to keep quiet, just in case. He had gone in about five steps when he saw a sight that would haunt him the rest of his days. He also understood in an instant why Akamaru had led him on that merry chase: he had been following a scent. To be more precise, the puppy had been following the scent of his master, Kiba.
What Naruto saw horrified him. Kiba was in a chair, both arms bound to the arms of the chair, blindfolded, a rope around his neck and another around his forehead. Naruto couldn't see Kiba's legs from where he stood, but he suspected his legs were tied to the chair as well. Naruto was standing on a balcony about two floors up from where Kiba sat. As he watched, a hooded, cloaked figure stepped in front of the bound boy.
Naruto couldn't tell who it was or hear any words from the figure, but Kiba obviously could. "I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" Kiba yelled out, followed by a scream of pain as the figure stabbed a kunai into the calf of one of his legs. The figure seemed pleased with that reaction. Apparently it asked Kiba something else as the boy responded, "I told you, I don't know!"
Kiba's second scream of pain, elicited by a matching kunai in his other leg, made something in Naruto snap. The blond didn't know Kiba all that well, but the boy had never caused him any trouble. Seeing him being hurt and tortured like this was more than Naruto could take. He saw red. What he didn't know was that his eyes turned a blood red and became slitted, like the eyes of a fox. With a roar, he launched himself off the balcony he was standing on and at the figure. The figure turned and revealed a pair of round glasses and silver hair.
Noticing that this person was taller than he was, Naruto attacked low, hoping to catch the person off-guard. Considering that Naruto was coming from above, this apparently worked, as he got through his opponent's guard. Naruto's hand, which by this time was enshrouded in red chakra, buried itself into the figure's leg, causing a wound that matched the one in Kiba's leg almost perfectly. Naruto had never moved so fast in his life. As the figure screamed in pain, Naruto attacked with the other hand, matching Kiba's second wound as well.
The figure, evidently surprised that the wounds weren't healing, tried to limp away from Naruto. Naruto, however, was having none of it. He leapt, roaring, and attacked the figure at chest level. By this time, Naruto didn't even know what he was doing. His attack went into the chest and out the back of the enemy. Naruto grinned at the scream of pain, then pulled back and took a final swipe at the figure's legs. This time, the legs were simply hacked off, the wound cauterized by the red chakra at the same time. As Naruto glared down at the figure, he realized this person might have information on why he was doing this, so he forced himself to calm down. The red chakra surrounding the blond faded, and his eyes returned to their normal blue.
Naruto reached over, pulled the two kunai out of Kiba's legs, and used one to cut his bonds. He had been right; Kiba's legs were bound as well. Kiba removed his blindfold. He looked around and was shocked to find Naruto standing there, panting.
"Naruto? What are you doing here?" he asked. He didn't mean to sound ungrateful, but Naruto was the last person he'd expected to see.
Naruto looked up at Kiba and smiled. "Akamaru found me and led me here," he said. He took a deep breath and released it. "When I saw what this guy was doing to you, I couldn't help it. I just had to do something." He looked down at the disabled figure on the floor. "Who is this guy?"
Kiba snarled. "His name is Kabuto Yakushi. I don't know what the hell he wanted from me, but he kept asking about you, Naruto," the boy said. Naruto looked at Kiba in confusion. "I'm not sure, he just kept asking where you were and what you were doing, stuff like that. I don't care what he wanted. Naruto, you saved me, so whatever he wanted doesn't matter to me, you're my friend now. You deserve that at the very least."
Naruto held out a hand, grinning. Kiba shook it, returning the blond's grin. "I wish it was under slightly better circumstances," Naruto said. "But I'm glad to have a new friend." He turned to the figure, now named Kabuto. "Well, let's see about getting this guy to the Hokage, he'll know what to do with him."
Kiba nodded. "Akamaru," he said. The puppy barked once to show he was listening. "Man Beast Clone." The puppy disappeared in a cloud of smoke and standing in his place was a perfect clone of Kiba. The two went to the figure on the ground and lifted it between them. "Lead the way, Naruto," Kiba said.
Naruto nodded and led them out of the building the way he had come in. The odd procession soon arrived at the Hokage's office. Naruto grinned. "I've got a bit of a standing invitation with the Old Man," he said. He opened the door. "Hey, Old Man, we need your help."
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, looked up at Naruto's statement. He started to smile at the blond, but then he noticed Kiba, his clone, and the legless figure. "What is going on here?" the aged Hokage asked.
It was Kiba who responded. "I was on my way home from class when this guy attacked me," he said. "I ran from him as long as I could, but he eventually caught me. He took me to an abandoned building over near the main gate. I sent Akamaru to get help before I ran. He found Naruto here and brought him to me. Naruto..." he trailed off, then gestured at the figure. "Well, did this," he finished. "He saved me, and I owe him my life."
Hiruzen smiled at the blond. "Well done, Naruto. For now, don't tell anyone about this. I'll see to it he gets to Ibiki. We'll see what he has to say for himself," he said. Hiruzen was aware of Naruto's having used the red chakra; he'd felt it spike. Now that he knew why, he wasn't too worried about it just yet.
Naruto and Kiba bowed to the Hokage and took off, Akamaru, now back in his real form, trailing behind them. Naruto turned to Kiba. "Um, K-Kiba?" he said. Kiba turned to him and raised one eyebrow. "A-Are y-you okay?"
Kiba grinned. "Thanks to you, Naruto, I'm fine. Look, you don't have to be nervous with me, I meant what I said before. We're friends now," he answered. Naruto nodded. "Well, I better get home. Thanks a lot, Naruto. You really saved my butt today. See you tomorrow, okay?"
"Yeah, see ya," Naruto answered. Kiba took off for home, while Naruto walked the rest of his way home himself.
Naruto was about half a block from home when he ran into someone; he hadn't been paying attention to where he was going. He was too busy trying to figure out where he'd gotten that power he'd used when he attacked Kabuto. The person he ran into fell down.
Naruto got up and looked to see what he'd hit. It was Hinata. He got up and helped her to her feet. "I'm so sorry, Hinata," he said.
"It's okay, Naruto," she answered, smiling at the boy she now knew without a doubt she loved. "What's wrong? You look like something's bothering you."
"Come on up to my place, I'll tell you everything," Naruto told her. Hinata blushed slightly at the idea of being in Naruto's apartment, but she followed him nonetheless.
It took about ten minutes to tell Hinata what had happened, but she didn't seem to mind listening. The two sat a few minutes after Naruto's tale was finished, both trying to figure out what this all meant. Neither could come up with anything. Hinata smiled at Naruto.
"It doesn't matter to me, Naruto. You're still you, and that's all I need," she said. Naruto smiled at her and hugged her. Hinata blushed but hugged him right back.
After a few minutes of this, the two separated and just sat there in companionable silence. Naruto was thinking of everything that had happened between him and Hinata. He smiled; he had thought for a while now he'd end up with her, but why should he wait? He knew now, especially after what she'd just said, that he loved her. Granted they were a bit young, but really, what difference did that make?
"Um, H-Hinata?" Naruto said. Hinata looked up at him, surprised he was stuttering with her. He must be nervous about something. That made Hinata a little nervous as well, but she was hopeful as well.
"Yes, Naruto, what is it?" she asked.
Naruto blushed a little. "I was just thinking," he said. "About everything that's happened between us. How we met, how we became friends, how we met Ino, how you defended me at the Valley, everything." Hinata nodded for him to go on. "Hinata, I'm not exactly experienced in this, but I think...well, I think I love you."
Hinata gasped. She hadn't been expecting that. But if he was going to tell her that, why should she leave him wondering? "Well, Naruto, I don't think. I know I love you, too," she said. Naruto looked up at her in surprise. "I realized it after the Valley. I was so mad at Sasuke for hurting you, it made me realize that I loved you."
Naruto blushed deeply. "H-Hinata, w-would y-you b-be m-my g-girlfriend?" he asked her, his nervousness making him stutter more than usual.
Hinata blushed as well. "I would be honored to be your girlfriend, Naruto," she answered. Naruto grinned and hugged her again, eliciting a small squeak of surprise from the girl. The two sat there together a while longer, just enjoying being together, then Hinata had to go home. "I'll see you tomorrow, Naruto," she said as she left. Naruto nodded and the two shared a final smile as she left.
Naruto went to bed with a smile on his face and joy in his heart that night. He now had an official girlfriend and another friend. He was finally being accepted by people, and he'd never been happier. He dreamed that night. He dreamed of being a fox on the hunt. In this dream, he never found anything, but the hunt itself was exhilarating. Naruto worried what this dream meant for months after it.
The next day, Naruto, Hinata, Ino, and Kiba all sat close together. Naruto and Hinata beside one another, Kiba across the aisle from them, and Ino on Kiba's other side. Ino would have been with Naruto and Hinata, but Naruto had told her before class about what had happened with Kiba, so she sat with him, hoping to make friends as well. Naruto and Hinata held hands throughout class that day, which no one noticed.
At lunch that day, Naruto and Hinata were practicing their taijutsu a bit. Kiba saw them and came over to help them. Ino watched the three practice together. She didn't feel even slightly jealous; she and Kiba had hit it off and were friends now as well. She was glad her friends had another friend they could talk to, so she simply watched them practice. She couldn't help but notice that the three seemed to function like a well-oiled machine. She smiled; those three would be a heck of a team.
After class that day, Naruto was summoned to the Hokage's office. Hiruzen grinned at the blond. "You were instrumental in the capture of a spy, Naruto," he said. Naruto looked stunned. "Yes, that's right, Kabuto was a spy, for Orochimaru, if you can believe it. Anyway, I had you called in here because I want to reward you for your aid." The aged Hokage tossed Naruto a small scroll. "In that is the Shadow Clone Jutsu. I've noticed you have trouble with the normal clone jutsu, and I think the reason is you overload it, but I suspect you'll have no trouble learning the Shadow Clone Jutsu. Tell no one you have that until your Genin test, am I clear?" Naruto nodded. "Good, now get out of here."
Naruto went home and tried the jutsu that very night. By the next day, he had it mastered.
Naruto, Hinata, Ino, and Kiba fell into a routine after that day. Naruto and Hinata would sit together in class, Kiba and Ino across the aisle from the two, then Kiba would join Naruto and Hinata during lunch to practice. In the evenings, Naruto would hang out with Hinata. He enjoyed having her as a girlfriend, and did everything he could to make her happy. Kiba and Ino would go with them sometimes, and Ino felt herself being attracted to Kiba; he was loyal, he liked Naruto, and he wasn't half bad to look at, either. It wasn't long before they, too, had become a couple. With all the time they spent with Naruto and Hinata, it was just natural.
This routine continued for the better part of three years. Soon, it was their last year in the Academy. Naruto was looking forward to graduating, partly so he could stop hiding the Shadow Clone Jutsu from Hinata in particular, partly because he was just tired of classes in general.
Naruto had finally bonded with Iruka-sensei, Teuchi and Ayame, and a couple of his other classmates, namely Shikamaru and Choji. He was still closer to Hinata and Ino than the others, but he got along very well with Kiba, and Ino had gotten to be good friends with the lazy genius and his portly friend as well. The six of them often trained together, Ino joining Shikamaru and Choji. The two teams (as they now considered themselves) worked very well together and were good friends as well.
Occasionally, they would group off for team spars, which almost always ended in stalemates. Naruto was so unpredictable, even Shikamaru couldn't keep up with him. Ino could dodge Hinata's attacks, but she couldn't do much to the lavender-eyed girl, so the two were almost always at a deadlock. As for Kiba and Choji, they would simply run one another into the ground to the point both (or all three if Akamaru is included) would end up laying on their backs, panting heavily.
Training like this for months on end had all six much stronger than before, and the two teams worked so well together they would often finish one another's moves without a word being spoken. For instance, Naruto would feint left and Kiba would attack from the right at the same time.
Soon, it was time for their final exams. Hinata was worried that Naruto might not be able to do the clone jutsu, but everyone else was confident in themselves. Naturally, the final test was the clone jutsu, which was Naruto's worst jutsu, or so everyone thought, anyway. He had been told to use the Shadow Clones for this test, so he wasn't worried. He'd had that jutsu mastered for three years now after all.
Soon enough, Naruto was up. Hinata smiled at him. "Good luck, Naruto," she said.
Naruto returned the smile. "Thanks, Hinata," he said and squeezed her hand. He left and went to the test room. Naruto grinned at Iruka-sensei. "Ready?" he asked. Iruka nodded. Naruto formed a cross with the first two fingers of each hand. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he said.
Author Note: Cliffhanger! Did it work? Wait and see next time. Oh, and I know it seems like Naruto has changed a lot, and he has, but bear with me; he's surrounded by friends right now. He won't be so comfortable with everyone for a long time yet. Like I said, bear with me.