A/N: As I said I'll be waiting until the voting session is complete but I'm posting this chapter because I can't keep you all waiting.
Now, Chapter-5
"Ah, shit! Why everytime me!?" Naruto complained as Shikamaru beat him for the 3rd time in Shogi.
Shikamaru smiled and said, "You know Naruto, you're pretty smart. Nobody has been able to come this close to beating me after my father." He complimented Naruto. During their match he noticed that Naruto had good analylitical skills and far sight.
'He lost because he didn't have enough confidence. He predicted almost all of my moves, if he plays with a little more confidence then...' Shikamaru bit his lip.
"You know Shika, Shogi is really an interesting game." Naruto, was a newbie at this game and while learning it, he found it very interesting.
"Yeah you are right, it helps us develop our IQ and strategic thinking, however..." He said while sitting up and then continued while assembling the board, "...I don't think that you would have time for that."
"Why?" Naruto asked.
Shikamaru smirked and answered, "You've got a girlfriend."
Naruto Blushed heavily and replied to him, "H-Hinata-Chan is my best friend and it's not what you think...I...just feel comfortable around her." Naruto said not wanting to take this discussion.
"Ah, that's a relief." Naruto gave Shikamaru a confused look and Shikamaru decided to elaborate, "Look Naruto I like you but more than you I like Cloud watching and sleeping and since you've Hinata now so I'll get more time for that." He smirked.
"Oh just you see I'll make myself the most special to you, even more special than your naps and clouds." Naruto grumbled as his ego was hurt.
"Nope...you're already the most special to someone else..." Shikamaru said with a rare smile.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Naruto asked but got no response a little later he saw that Shikamaru was dozing off. "SHIKAMARU!!" Naruto yelled.
Naruto and Hinata were strolling in the academy. Since Hinata became his best friend, Naruto comes to the academy early to spend more time with her. It was still forty-five minutes till the classes so they were walking enjoying each other's presence.
"Hey, Hinata-Chan what's your family like?" Naruto asked curious about her family.
Hinata was a bit surprised by the question. "F-fine, t-they are all g-good." Hinata said not wanting to reveal the abusive side of her family.
Seeing that Hinata was getting uncomfortable Naruto diverted the topic to how many bowls of ramen can he eat in 5 minutes which made her giggle.
They talked for a few minutes until they stumbled upon the swing by the academy. Naruto looked at the swing for a moment then sadness filled his eyes.
Hinata saw it and understood everything; before everything between them happened, before even Iruka was there for him, Naruto used to sit here alone, nobody wanted to play with him, everybody sent him glares. This place, it was the symbol of his lonliness and seeing it he was regaining all of those memories. Hinata couldn't stand it, she couldn't see her Naruto in such a depressed state. She wanted to replace all of Naruto's sad memories with happy ones. Then an idea came to her mind.
"Naruto-kun, do you want me to push you on the swing?" She asked him with a smile.
Naruto was elated, he gave her his own smile and agreed. His eyes were on the brim of tears but he'll not cry today. He sat on the swing and waited for Hinata to push it.
Soon she started pushing the swing and Naruto felt a mix of all emotions in his heart but sadness. He felt it, the joy of having someone who cares for you. Each time Hinata pushed the swing, Naruto felt happier and happier. He was really glad to have Hinata as his best friend.
Naruto then asked Hinata to sit with him on the swing. "M-me, Naruto-kun?" Hinata was hesitant.
"Yeah, you." Naruto seeing that she wouldn'g come, pulled her and made her sit on the swing. Once they were seated and comfortable, Naruto pushed his legs off the ground to start swinging.
'This is...' Naruto couldn't express the joy in words. For others it would be a normal experience but to him it was special. He felt joy, happiness, comfort and a special feeling towards her...
"Naruto-Kun..." Hinata started.
"Hmm?" Naruto made a sound in response
"...you will never be alone again." Hinata said and looked at him with a smile. Naruto looked at her with same eyes and replied, "No..."
Hinata was confused now; what her crush meant? As she tried to reason his words, Naruto continued, "...we will never be alone again." They both looked at each other and smiled. Their journey was just about to begin. They both looked at the beautiful rising Sun together.
Naruto was exiting the academy when he saw Hinata waiting for him. He reached her and gave a sheepish grin.
"Sorry Hinata-Chan, You had to wait for me." Naruto said feeling bad for not doing homework and making Hinata wait.
Hinata gave him a smile and said, "You should do the homework Naruto-kun, so that the teachers couldn't punish you."
Naruto snorted at the name of homework. "Yeah, yeah whatever." Naruto put his hands on the back of his head and said.
"I-if you want I-I can help you with it." Hinata told him. She was ready to help her crush in any way possible.
"Really?" Naruto asked her and she nodded. "Well Hinata-Chan can you also help me with training?" Naruto asked excitedly.
"Of course." Hinata replied with a small grin.
"So it's decided, meet me at riverside tommorow after academy!" Naruto announced.
"Okay."
The next day--
Just as they promised, Naruto and Hinata met at the river side to do the training. "S-so, what s-should we do n-now?" Hinata asked.
"Hmm...I thought about it all night and I came up with an idea. First I'll try making a clone and you with your eyes shall observe me and tell me what I'm doing wrong." Naruto told her his idea and she nodded in understanding.
Naruto waved the neseccary hand signs and on the other hand Hinata activated her Byakugan.
"Bunshin jutsu!" Naruto shouted and a cloud of smoke appeared.
Hinata gasped at what she saw. 'Naruto-kun's chakra reserves are huge!' when the smoke cleared there was nothing but a disappointed Naruto's face.
"See, it always happens; nothing! So can you tell me what happened?" Naruto asked as he saw Hinata, she nodded.
"Naruto-kun, y-your chakra reserves a-are huge, even greater than my f-father's. That is why you cannot d-do clones as they require less chakra and you c-cannot control such h-huge reserves." Hinata elaborated.
"Well that's great." Naruto said in sarcasm. "So can I control my chakra?" Naruto asked.
Hinata nodded. "Yes, th-there is an exercise known as tree walking w-which improves chakra c-control." Hinata said.
"Can you teach it to me?" Naruto asked with cute eyes that rivaled Hinata's cuteness, if Hinata was little more confident then she would've pulled his cheeks.
"Y-yes, I can t-teach it to you." Hinata smiled, she was feeling so good at the thought of teaching Naruto.
Soon they reached a tree and Hinata started, "N-Naruto-kun first you will h-have to apply chakra to y-your feet and try to stand on the tree." Hinata told him and activated her Byakugan.
Naruto started to apply chakra to his feet with enthusiasm. "Naruto-kun you're a-applying too much chakra." Hinata said.
"Huh? I thought I wasn't even using of it." He now tried to apply less chakra.
"S-still too m-much." Naruto decreased it even further. "Still..." Naruto decreased it even further. "Still...Perfect!" She motioned for Naruto to stop when he reached the required level. "N-now try t-to stand on the t-tree."
Naruto stepped on the tree then he carefully brought his another feet and closed his eyes preparing himself for the pain.
He opened one eye and saw that he didn't fall. He was standing on the tree.
"YES!" Naruto shouted. "What to do next Hinata-Chan?"
Hinata couldn't be more happy at her crush's achievement. "Next y-you have t-to try walking on the tree." She instructed him and Naruto brought his next step but as soon as he did so he was blasted off from the tree making a hole there and fell far off. "Naruto-kun!"
"Ughhh!! What the hell!?" He brought himself up and saw that there was a big cut in his left hand. Hinata approached him and saw his cut. "Naruto-Kun let me help you!" She couldn't see Naruto in such state, she bent down and tore off a piece of her cloth and wrapped it around Naruto's arm.
Naruto saw how worried she was but he just smiled and sawid, "Thanks Hinata-Chan but no worries, the cream that you gave me will heal this cut in no time." Naruto tried to calm her down; he could see the horror on her face. Naruto now stood up and stretched and with sheer determination he said, "Now, let's continue!"
"P-please be a little m-more careful." Hinata couldn't let the feeling of worry go away.
2 hours later--
Naruto fell on the ground allowing himself to rest. He had been successful in climbing upto 5 metres which was really exhausting. He deserved the rest.
Flashback--
Naruto was trying to climb the tree and failed. Still he was making some progress at least now he was not blasted off.
Suddenly Hinata came to him. "N-Naruto-kun can I g-go, I have to do something."
What, You're leaving me Hinata-Chan?" Naruto whined.
"N-no I'll back in one hour." Hinata tried to convince him. Eventually Naruto agreed and Hinata went away.
Flashback end--
'It has been one hour and Hinata-Chan hasn't returned yet.' Naruto thought, disappointed. He doesn't know why but he doesn't like being parted from her. He looked at the piece of cloth that she tied around his arm and brought it closer to him. 'Her smell...she smells so nice...' He was feeling comfortable and it was then he saw a bag above him. He turned his head and found Hinata.
"Hinata-Chan, you returned!" Naruto immediately and looked at her. "I thought you left me because I was not doing well and you didn't wanna waste your time on me." Naruto pouted.
Hinata bent down and kept her bag on the ground and cupped Naruto's cheek. "I will never leave you, Naruto-kun." Hinata said with a comforting tone. She later realized that she didn't stutter.
Naruto smiled from ear to ear and asked her, "So, what's in the bag?" Naruto was really curious why Hinata went and why was she carrying a bag.
"O-oh this? W-well you were working h-hard s-so I decided to m-make something for you." Hinata brought the bag up and smiled.
"Really? So, what did ya make?" Naruto was overjoyed at the name of food, after all he had been working for hours and now he was hungry. Hinata smiled and took out two large containers. She opened those to reveal rice balls, sushi and vegetable soup.
Naruto liked the former two but stuck his tongue out for the latter. "Why did you have to include vegetables?"
"Naruto-kun, i-it is important f-for the future Hokage t-to eat nutritious f-food." Hinata tried to convince him but Naruto refused.
"Please, I p-put m-my h-h-heart i-into making it." Hinata requested him. The way she looked at him...he couldn't deny her. Ultimately he started to eat the veggies and when he ate...
"This is awesome!!" Naruto exclaimed. He had never eaten something this tasty other than ramen before not at least vegetables. "Hinata-Chan, you're the best chef in the entire world!!" Naruto complimented her and she blushed a little. Soon all of the food was in his stomach and the food containers were empty. "Ahhh...I had never eaten something this tasty before..."
"I'm g-glad that y-you enjoyed it." Hinata was really happy today; she was able to satisfy Naruto with her cooking skills.
Naruto stood up and stretched. "Now, let's spar!" Naruto declared. Hinata had a little confused expression on her face, seeing that Naruto smiled and bent down and repeated again.
"Hinata-Chan let's spar. You and me together. Wouldn't it be great, you can help me improve my taijutsu." Hinata smiled and got up, ready to spar with her crush. She took her jyuuken stance and on the other hand Naruto...well he took some random stance and hauled himself at her.
Hinata though a bit hesitant blocked Naruto's incoming fist and closed his arm's chakra network with her jyuuken. Naruto felt his arm go numb and he jumped back, "Hey, what the hell was that!?" Naruto asked while clutching his now arm. Hinata then explained him what she did. "Wow that's so cool!" Hinata smiled for a momoent and then launched herself at him aiming to shut down his leg's charka network.
'It's for Naruto-kun's good...if I do this then he'll improve...' Hinata though feeling bad about hurting Naruto convinced herself that it was for her blond boy's good. Naruto then also tried to block Hinata's incoming palm. Just as she was mere inches away from him, she bent down and she shut down his leg's chakra system. Naruto fell down and he couldn't get back up. Hinata sighed seeing that how much horrible Naruto's taijutsu was. 'He'll need much more training...'
Soon Naruto got back up, ready to fight again and attacked her once more. He fought just like a street brawler; there were no patterns and no co-ordination in his attacks which resulted in his both arms and go completely numb again. He rested against a tree. He couldn't believe something this dangerous was named as gentle. "Who the hell named it as gentle fist?" Naruto complained as he couldn't feel his arms. Hinata giggled at his antics.
45 minutes later--
Hinata was getting tired now. She had closed Naruto's 5 main chakra points for 3 times and still he got up. 'His stamina is insane!' If it was anybody else he would be lying flat on the ground but Naruto was still full of energy.
Naruto saw that Hinata was really exhausted so he insisted on finshing the training for today. As they laid on the ground resting Naruto started laughing. "It is funny you know, that your family named it as gentle fist. I'd rather call it pokey-finger jutsu." Hinata smiled and then started, "You know Naruto-kun, your stamina is huge, if I'd have used that much jyuuken on any other person then he'd be in hospital right now but you survived it and it surprises me." She closed her eyes and continued, "But y-your movements were p-predictable, there was n-no co-ordination between y-your movements a-and you use your l-left hand more than your r-right hand. You s-should use that hand m-more or else y-you will b-be ex-extremely predictable." She tried to tell him what were his main flaws in taijutsu and how much he needs to improve.
"Yeah, yeah I know I'm terrible but...you will be always with me to help me improve, right?" Naruto said while looking towards the setting sun.
Hinata looked at him and blushed heavily but in a voice just above than a whisper she said, "Yes." And then she too looked towards the setting sun together with her crush.
A/N: I know this chapter wasn't that much good but please forgive me. Please review!