Chapter 34: Battle of the Hime's

As Kurama.N walked past Jiraiya in order to get to the mess hall where he detected Kurotsuchi's scent and chakra signature, he was stopped when the door opened up and Hinata walked out of the mess hall and toward him. She had seen him after his small burst of chakra with her Byakugan eyes, at this moment Kurama saw an opportunity of a lifetime.

Hinata walked up to Naruto and was just about to ask him about his time in the forest when suddenly Kurama.N wrapped his arm around Hinata's waist kissed her soundly on the lips while dipping her.

Hinata totally caught off guard just let out a cute eep and flailed her arms upwards and was able to wrap them around Naruto's neck. Hinata knew Naruto was very passionate when they made out, but never in a public setting so when his tongue ran over her lips she opened her mouth in surprise and thus allowing his tongue to enter inside to explore the chasms of her mouth.

But regardless a kiss with Naruto was a kiss so she just let out a very soft moan and just enjoyed the ride, it was another 2 minutes before they broke apart and only when Hinata opened her eyes did she realize something was wrong.

When were Naruto's eyes red? "Kurama-kun?" Hinata asked questionably.

Kurama.N just gave her a smirk and said, "Yes Hyuga-hime?" Naruto was so selfish sometimes, he never allowed him to hang out and chat with Hinata for too long. Something about him corrupting his Hinata-hime.

Hinata narrowed her eyes at him slightly and crossed her arms over her chest, but because Kurama.N still had her in the dipped position the sight looked rather comical.

But for Jiraiya who was watching from a distance it was pure gold, Naruto and his girlfriends/wives were really the best source of research for his books ever. With this he could probably write a whole new book maybe he would call it, ' Icha Icha: Demon of lust! ' "Yeah," Jiraiya thought to himself "That sounds real good."

With a slightly questionable look Hinata asked, "Where is Naruto-kun?"

Trying for another to go in for another kiss Kurama.N just replied with a sheepish look, "Resting…"

Hinata put a finger to Kurama.N's lips and asked, "Can I talk to him?"

Inside Naruto's mindscape Naruto answered, "No… wait I need more time to think of how I'm going to tell her!"

Kurama weighed the two possibilities he could stay in possession of Naruto's body and maybe just maybe get some more time with Hinata or he could relinquish control back to Naruto and put him on the spot… "Yeah but I think it would be fun to watch you squirm…" Kurama said to Naruto with a giant foxy grin.

"WAIT!" Naruto tried to yell as the darkness encompassed him then suddenly when he blinked he was now face to face with Hinata. Naruto pulled her back into a standing position then gripped the sides of her arm and thought for a moment, "What would be the consequences if I told her what happened in the forest now now… not only would she be distracted from her fight… but she might suddenly attack Kurotsuchi getting her disqualified from the exams… I have no choice but to wait till after her match…"

Naruto than gave Hinata a gentle smile and said, "Hime I have something to tell you but I believe it should wait till after this next part of the exams are you okay with that?"

Hinata nodded then said while caressing one side of Naruto's cheek while softly stroking his red whisker, "I want to tell you something… but I can't want to wait to tell you… prior to the start of the 2nd part of the exams remember I returned to the Hyuga compound for something?"

Naruto nodded.

Hinata blushed slightly and poked her fingers together then softly said, "I asked my father for his blessing for us to be married after the exams… he said yes!" Hinata said shyly.

Naruto just stood there frozen in shock while Kurama roared with laughter inside his mindscape, "YOU'RE FUCKED!" Kurama said between laughs. "It's going to be a record for the ages you'll be sleeping on the couch for the rest of your life before you even finish your vows."

"Now… Now Kurama… snicker, snicker… I'm sure the two can work something out snicker" Hashirama said while muffling his own laughter.

"Well since you're not getting any from Hinata, I'm sure the other girls would love to mate with you especially Anko. And even if Hinata convinces them to deny you of it, I'm sure that Iwa Kunoichi would do it in a heartbeat especially seeing how she was so energetic about it in the forest." Kurama added on.

"OH SHUT UP YOU OVERGROWN FOX, I made a promise to Hinata-hime and I won't go back on it." Naruto yelled to Kurama.

"Snicker, snicker you're going to have 5 wives and be stuck as a virgin for life, what a life you will have boy!" Kurama said in total amusement.

Naruto just grumbled under his breath and ignored the giant fox while leaving his mindscape. Back in the outside world Hinata stared at him with slight worry on his face but that was dispelled when Naruto gave her a smile then pulled her into his body, pressing his nose against her hair he whispered, "Thank you my love, from now on… we belong to each other."

Hinata was so engrossed in her current position that she almost didn't hear Naruto when he said that, for Naruto had been shirtless when he pulled her into his chest so now her face was mashed against his smooth toned bare chest oh Kami must have answered her wishes as she softly ran her fingers down his chest and onto his toned abdomen. She felt a shudder run up Naruto's body; she wanted to do so much more with him right now.

To take him away and claim him as hers, to make endless love to him… but all those plans went down the drain as an announcement blared over the speakers that were position all throughout the tower, they were to report to the stage for prelims.

Hinata reached into her sleeve and taped a seal with a poof she pulled out a new set of clothing for Naruto, she had remembered to bring a spare set of clothes for Naruto he had a habit of tearing his clothes inside this jungle and this was just proof that Hinata's instincts were correct. Passing him the clothes she leaned in for a soft kiss than left him to return to her team.

Without turning around Naruto just said in a loud voice, "Have you no shame Jiraiya? Using family like this to gain money?"

Jiraiya just responded with a giggle, "Oh my dear boy, I've told you before it's not about the money but it's all for the loyal readers they demand more, and what is better than giving them a front row seat of what true love?"

Naruto just shook his head at his grandfather's logic as he threw away the tatters of his old shirt and put on a new one.

He would have to focus on the prelims now but what really worried him was how he was going to explain what happened in the forest to Hinata later.

As Naruto walked into the stage he saw Kurotsuchi have a look of surprise come over her face than it suddenly changed as she gave him a wink as she licked the her lips. Naruto ignored her and took a position next to Team 8 as they listened to the announcements from the Sandaime, even then it was hard for Naruto to focus on how he would fix this problem

In a way Naruto was scared, what if what Kurama had said was true Hinata would hate him forever, but hopefully Hinata would be understanding… I mean technically it was against his will… now if he only didn't enjoy it so much.

No matter how much he tried he couldn't get the memory of her smell or taste out of his mind… most likely because of a dam perverted fox. He wouldn't put something as perverse as constantly modifying his smell receptors and taste buds off for somebody like Kurama.

But he was broken out of his thoughts when suddenly the first match of the day was called by the proctor of the preliminary's Hayate, "Hinata Hyuga of Konoha vs. Kurotsuchi of Iwagakure. So everybody else please head up to the balcony to observe." Naruto stood in front of Hinata and wished her a short good luck. And headed toward the staircase that led to the balcony but as he walked past Kurotsuchi she reached over and gave his rump a hard smack, which caused Naruto to jump slightly and look back at her with a slight glare.

She just winked and blew a kiss at him; Naruto quickened his pace as he joined Anko and the rest of the Konoha teams on the balcony. "What was that about?" Anko asked with a slightly annoyed face.

"Would you believe I have a fan club in Iwa…" Naruto deadpanned.

Anko looked slightly shocked at that statement, "They do know who you are right?"

Naruto just nodded it was then Kakashi said, "Wow Naruto I didn't know your influence spread all the way too Iwa! Now this fight between these two will definitely go down as one of the most influential matches of all times, the results of this match will definitely change the political land scape between Iwa and Konoha for years to come. And the fact that two beautiful Kunoichis are battling for your affection that is just a added bonus"

"What do you mean Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah clearly this match can't be that important since me the last Uchiha isn't in it…" Sasuke added on not believing that these two in anyway could be more important than him.

Kakashi just shook his head, "Actually Sasuke-chan, of all the genin of Konoha Hinata-chan is possibly the most influential and well connected."

"Oh and why is that Kakashi?" Kurenai asked slightly ashamed she didn't know this about her own student though she hid her confusion quite well.

"Yeah tell us Kakashi-sensei…" Sasuke said while gritting his teeth not believing that Hinata was more important them him. But in his mind this made Sasuke want Hinata as his even more.

Kakashi stroked his chin and asked, "Do any of you know who is the princess of Konoha?"

Sakura quickly piped in, "Konoha doesn't have a princess!" believing that if Konoha did have a princess that it should have been her and Sasuke would be her prince.

Kakashi patted her on the head and said, "Well technically Konoha doesn't have a princess, but figuratively we do."

"It's Hinata isn't it?" Shikamaru said in a lazy tone and Kakashi nodded with a smile. "It would make sense she is called the princess of Konoha she is the heiress to the most influential and wealthy clan."

"Would that make Sasuke a prince then since he is part of a powerful clan as well?" Sakura said with hearts in her eyes.

Kakashi shook his head, "Nope, these metaphorical titles are only reserved for the heirs of the strongest clan of Konoha at that present time. A good example would be Tsunade of the Sanin who was also often called the princess of Konoha because of her Senju roots and the power of her clan. But over time the Senju clan slowly declined in power and the Hyuga clan replaced it as the strongest clan in Konoha.

"What about the Uchiha clan? Surely they were the strongest at some point!" Sakura said hoping to defend his true loves honor.

Once again Kakashi shook his head, "Not that I know of, by the time the golden age of the Senju clan was over so was the Uchiha's. Both clans became a shell of their former selves as the Senju clan was scattered across the nations and assumed to be mostly dead with the exception of Tsunade, and while the Uchiha still had members.

They were too weak and tired from fighting with the Senju to compete against the Hyuga's, their superior numbers, wealth and the Byakugan."

Sasuke fumed hearing this how dare they say that the Uchiha clan wasn't the most powerful in Konoha! This was all because of that fool the Sandaime and the idiot that was leading the Hyuga clan, if only they forced Hinata to leave the blonde idiot and to be with him instead then nobody would doubt the power of the Uchiha's!

Kakashi saw Sasuke with his constipated look and knew he was mentally ranting again… he always did this when Kakashi refused to teach him new jutsus until he finished the exercises he was assigned that day. But Kakashi ignored it and continued, "And as for that Iwa Kunoichi if I'm not mistaken then she is the granddaughter of the current Tsuchikage and a powerful Kunoichi in her own right. Honesty if the reports from our spies are correct I believe Hinata will be in for a hell of a fight…"

Kurenai looked a bit shocked at this information, "Two princesses of their respective villages, I just hope I trained Hinata well enough…" Kurenai finished in a slightly lower voice

Anko let out a laugh and said while patting Kurenai on the back, "Oh don't count Hinata out you two, she is very territorial especially when it comes to her boy toy. And don't worry about it Kurneai I've trained her into the ground on more than one occasion Hinata won't lose this."

Kurenai just let out a whisper of, "I hope so." As Hayate signaled for the start of the match, immediately Kurotsuchi went on the offensive with a high speed flip kick that Hinata was easily able to dodge.

Though the moment Kurotsuchi's heel hit the floor the ground around the area exploded from the force of his kick, and while this was aimed to distract Hinata Kurotsuchi swung her other leg aiming to take off Hinata's head.

Hinata's Byakugan flared to life as she was able to just catch her leg from smashing her face in and with a twist she was threw Kurotsuchi away from her, who was able to easily right herself in midair and land on her feet then giving Hinata a grin, "Not bad princess, far from good but not bad."

Up on the balconies many of the genin were shocked at the raw speed and power behind Kurotsuchi's attacks.

Kiba with his jaw nearly on the floor was able to gasp out with wide eyes, "She destroyed the floor with ease and I was able to barely even see her do it!"

Many of the other genin let out a sigh of relief that they didn't have to face Kurotsuchi as she proved that even though she was a fan-girl she was no pushover.

Sasuke saw how strong she was and smirked, "This Iwa Kunoichi was strong she would definitely be somebody he would add to his collection along with Hinata."

Back downstairs in the arena Kurotsuchi had once again tried to get into Hinata's guard attacking her with lighting fast jabs and swipes of her Kunai, Hinata was easily able to dodge and parry all her attacks with her flexibility and grace then suddenly Hinata saw it… a slight opening as Hinata was able to bend and hit one of the pressure points in Kurotsuchi's leg which threw her off balance slightly.

Now it was Hinata's turn to go on the offesense as she landed Juken strike after Juken strike onto Kurotsuchi body pushing her backwards.

Neji seeing this just crossed his arms and said with a smirk, "It seems this Iwa Kunoichi isn't as powerful as you make her to be Kakashi-sensei, even though Hinata is un-favored among the Hyuga clan she is still able enough to punish fools for trying the same trick twice. While I admit the Iwa Kunoichi is fast it is without a doubt… In taijutsu Hyuga's reign supreme!"

Suddenly Hinata did something that nearly made Neji's eyes bulge out of his head, without any pause or change from her Neo-juken she instantly began a "EIGHT TRIGRAMS SIXTY-FOUR PALMS!" Hinata called out.

"2 PALMS"

"4 PALMS"

"8 PALMS"

"16 PALMS"

"32 PALMS"

"64 PALMS"

Hinata called out consecutively as each shot landed with amazing amounts of force and chakra displayed when waves of chakra were visibly being blown back every time Hinata's hand connected with Kurotsuchi's body the last shot sending Kurotsuchi skidding backwards away from Hinata.

Neji shook his head and said, "It's over her chakra points are sealed off."

Naruto who showed no change in emotion as he continued to stare at the still standing Kurotsuchi and said, "No… it's far from over."

Neji was about to say something but was interrupted with Kurotsuchi began laughing out loud, "Very well done princess! You're the second person in a long time to be able to hurt me this much I'm impressed." Kurotsuchi said as pieces of her skin started to fall off revealing them to be pieces of her rock armor.

"Even though Hinata-hime was able to land every hit, she only succeeded in dampening Kurotsuchi's chakra points. Kurotsuchi's rock armor protected her from most of the attack, and though I don't wish to say it but I believe Hinata-hime actually came out on the bad side of that trade."

"What do you mean Hinata-chan came out on the wrong side? Even if her shots were weakened by the armor the other girl didn't land a single shot on Hinata-chan in return, and those juken strikes hurt even when Hinata is holding back!" Ino commented with a disappointed look at Naruto disbelieving that he would ever say anything bad about Hinata.

"I'm just commenting from an objective point of view Ino-chan… but do you realize how much additional chakra Hinata had to expend just to pierce that armor.

She was using nearly 4 times the regular amount needed for each strike it definitely put a dent into her reserves, and as for Kurotsuchi we have to realize the average Iwa Kunoichi is tougher and more tolerant to pain then we are so the damage to her is not as bad as we think it is." Naruto responded with a slight shoulder shrug

And to almost prove Naruto's point leapt into the air like nothing had hit her and started flashing through hand signs , "Yokton: Quicklime Congealing Technique." Kurotsuchi said as she fired out a barrage of large white blobs of quicklime at Hinata.

Many of the spectators eye's widened at the chance to see another kekei genkai in action, this match was getting better by the second!

Seeing she wouldn't be able to dodge all of them Hinata settled into one of her personal Juken stances

"Protective Eight Trigrams Sixty four Palms"

Hinata yelled as her hands started moving a lighting fast speeds while sending out a beam of chakra, the moment the Quicklime hit the swirling dome of chakra it was sliced into thousands of pieces.

Neji thought to himself, "What is this technique she is using!" but soon he let out a snort and said slightly more aloud than he wanted too, "Whatever this is just another one of those techniques that have corrupted the integrity of Juken."

This caused Naruto turn to Neji and gave him a glare that said, "Pray to Kami I don't get placed against you."

Kurotsuchi landed back on the ground with an amused look on her face she turned toward Naruto then after catching his eye she winked at him and suggestively licked a small dab of the white sticky quicklime left over on the corner of her mouth off.

Naruto shuddered at her actions slightly, both Anko and Hinata at often times did perverted things to have their fun with Naruto but damn did Kurotsuchi ever take it to a whole new level! And while Kurotsuchi was busy flirting with Naruto she didn't even notice Hinata raise her palm at her direction then firing a beam of chakra at her face leaving a light cut across her cheek.

Kurotsuchi turned her focus back onto Hinata and growled at her Hinata returned with an amused look of her own this time and said, "I know my Naruto-kun is good looking but I would pay attention because next time I'm not just aiming to wound!"

Kurotsuchi wiped the blood off her cheek and then with an almost deranged smile responded, "You know princess… I'm really starting to like you more and more… I really do. Too bad you have something that I want!" Immediately she began going through hand signs and then aimed at Hinata and said, " SUITON: WATER TRUMPET!"

A solid jet of water erupted from Kurotsuchi's mouth with enough pressure to cut through solid rock. Hinata settled into another Jukan stance one that the standard Juken used then said, " EIGHT TRIGRAMS PALM ROTATION!"

Releasing large amounts of chakra around her Hinata began spinning in place creating a protective dome of chakra, though it did shudder violently when the jet of water collided with it causing Hinata to have to release more chakra to hold it back.

Naruto with a slight smirk turned to to Neji and said, "You so quickly doubt Hinata saying she can only use a corrupted version of Juken, yet if I'm not mistaken the Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation is exclusive to your standard Juken and yet Hinata has no problem using it.

Neji didn't reply but had a look of anger on his face as he focused once again on the battle below, Which had turned into a battle of endurance as Hinata's dome would begin caving in until Hinata released more chakra to expand it back out. Inside the dome Hinata was starting to feel the effects of keeping the Rotation up for some long, she couldn't keep this going forever she had to end it now.

With a giant push of her chakra she expanded the dome so that it pushed Kurotsuchi's water trumpet three-fourths of the way back to her than Hinata stopped her rotation and began weaving through an enormous amount of hand signs as fast as she could. Kurotsuchi believe that Hinata had finally run out of chakra increased the pressure aiming to compleletly obliterate that lavender eyed princess and claim Naruto-kun for her own.

But luck wasn't on Kurotsuchi side as Hinata was able to finish her last hand seal of bird, " SUITON… SUIRYUDON NO JUTSU!"

"WHAT?" multiple of the observers yelled unbelieving that Hinata could do this high ranking technique. But all doubt was washed away no pun intended when Kurotsuchi's water trumpet suddenly stop just inches away from Hinata, than all of the water that had pooled around the arena from Kurotsuchi's attack gathered together and spiraled around Hinata until it formed a giant water dragon which let out a giant roar at Kurotsuchi.

Sasuke was livid at the sight of this, this was actually the 2nd time he had seen this move but he cursed his luck for not having his sharingan on to copy it any of those times. The first time was when Kakashi and Zabuza were sparing with each other before they left wave country. So that had to mean that Zabuza taught it to Hinata when they were in wave country, "He taught it to her and not me I'm an Uchiha elite I should be the one who is given all the most powerful attacks." Sasuke intensified his glare at Hinata, "Just you wait Hinata once I get my hands on you… you will give me all your Jutsus including the spinning move you just did." Realizing that the only way to learn how to do Rotation was if somebody taught it to him, since there was no hand seals involved the Sharingan couldn't copy it.

But none was more in shock than Kurenai, Hinata was her student how could she have not known she was this powerful! "Just what in the world did you teach her Naruto!" Kurenai screamed out loud.

"Just a little bit of this and that." Naruto answered in an entertained tone.

And while Kurenai wished to interrogate Naruto more she was interrupted by another loud roar of Hinata's giant water dragon. Hinata smiled than thrust her arm at Kurotsuchi's direction sending the giant dragon barreling at her, and for the first time in this fight Kurotsuchi actually showed fear in her eyes as the monstrosity came at her, quickly she moved to defend herself with " Doton: Earth Dome!" But the defense came up a second too late as it wasn't allowed to fully harden before the dragon came crashing down upon her. Still the weakened dome saved her from being utterly annihilated, when some of the dust cleared and the water drained away allowing Hinata to be seen she was now on one knee panting heavily as her chakra reserves had dipped dangerously low. She allowed herself a smirk for shutting Kurotsuchi up and defeating her but that smirk disappeared when the smoke covering Kurotsuchi settled down showing that kurotsuchi was down on both her knees and elbows but she still looked to be struggling to stand up!

"Impossible." Hinata whispered to herself. Even Hayate was surprised at the Iwa kunoichi's endurance not many Shinobi could take the full eight trigrams 64 palms and the might of a suiryudan and still be conscious let alone struggling to stand up.

After a minute both combatants were at their feet again but looking at bit worse for wear, this led to a cheer from the shinobi's up in the balcony.

"GO HINATA-CHAN YOU CAN DO IT!" Ino yelled out.

Suzumebachi Kurotsuchi's team mate retaliated with, "COME ON KUROTSUCHI, SHES NOTHING COMPARED TO YOU."

"They believe in me…" Both Hinata and Kurotsuchi thought. "I WILL PROVE MYSELF TO NARUTO-KUN!" "I WILL DEFEAT HER!"

Both of them knew the next attack was going to be their lasts and this would be all or nothing, Hinata was nearly out of chakra and Kurotsuchi's body could not take much more punishment

Hinata raised her arm up and thought with a slight frown, "I haven't used this in battle yet but I have no choice!"

"GENTLE STEP FOX FIST!" Hinata said as one of her hands became engulfed with a fox shaped chakra shroud.

Inside Naruto's mind Kurama grinned and said, "I'm flattered Hinata-chan." Naruto also let out a smirk he didn't know that Kurama had such an influence on Hinata for her to make a whole attack based on him.

With Kurotsuchi she also raised her fist and then said, " Doton: Fist Rock Technique!"

Without hesitation both of them charged at each other, time seemed to slow for the spectators as when both Kunoichi were just feet away from each other their reared their attacks back then with simultaneous battle cries. The two smashed their attacks against one another. Leading to an explosion of chakra and rock, Hinata was sent flying backwards hitting the ground like a pebble in water skipping a few times before her face downed body came to a skidding halt. Hinata tried to ignore the pain all over her body as she painfully lifted her head off the ground to try and see what happened to Kurotsuchi only for her breath to get stuck in her throat.

The entire stadium let out a loud gasp!

Kurotsuchi was still standing somehow! Her face had cuts all over it and her clothes were torn in many places but she was STILL STANDING! "NO" Hinata thought as she tried with all her might to will-herself to stand up again. Tears fell down her face as she cried mentally, "I'm sorry Naruto-kun I can believe I lost!"

Hayate was just about to call the match in Kurotsuchi's favor when he noticed the Iwa Kunoichi rocking front and back slightly then her eyes rolled to the back of her head and her eyelids shut than she fell forward hitting the ground with a thud unmoving…

Hinata struggled to stay awake as she heard Hayate announce, "Both contestants are unable to continue double knock out neither contestant will advance."

Hearing that the match was now over Naruto flipped off the balcony and landed next to Hinata he knelt down onto one knee and gently turned Hinata's body over who let out a soft but still regal sounding groan. Naruto lifted her upper body up slightly and balanced her on his knee than brushed some dirt off her face, "How did I do?" She asked gently.

Naruto gave her a smile then leaned down and snuggled her bangs slightly and whispered back, "I'm so proud of you, you did amazingly." Naruto than gave her a soft kiss on the lips which allowed Hinata to slip into unconsciousness knowing Naruto was there for her.

Picking her up bridal style Naruto placed her gently onto a stretcher that had been bought out for the two Kunoichi but just as Naruto was about to turn and head back up the stairs the giant board that decided the next match up began matching again and then after a few seconds it stopped with the two contestants chosen.

"Naruto Uzumaki-Senju VS. Sasuke Uchiha!"