Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Twice Shy - Story Completion ❯ Preparations ( Chapter 4 )

Twice Shy – A story completion
A continuation by eternalshiva
DameWren has given permission to anyone that wants to continue her wonderful fic Two Halves which I intend to do.
AN – This chapter seemed a bit ( ;*_*)// while I was writing it but it was fun to do, hope it didn’t degrade the quality of the writing but certain things needed to be brought back up to the surface and a little humour doesn’t hurt :3 Thanks HinatasHusband for the Beta!
Naruto is copyright of Masashi Kishimoto.
Sora, Yasu, Miki, Dango, Kaze Clan, Shivani are all copyright of DameWren.
Chapter 4
Preparations
Naruto waved goodbye to Sakura as she closed the door to her apartment. He grabbed Hinata’s hand as they returned from taking the kunoichi home. The cool October air brought the two shinobi closer together, Naruto took the opportunity to wrap an arm around her shoulders and bring her closer.
“See that wasn’t so bad” Hinata spoke softly, not wanting to attract attention to them in the street. Naruto had to agree that he was glad it had gone as smoothly as it did. Although he hadn’t exactly planned to –tell– Sakura about this… at that instant.
“I suppose…” he said half-heartedly. He hoped it went as smoothly with Sasuke, a moody ninja who was hard to read and since they were rivals, he hoped he wouldn’t be left vulnerable. Sakura had promised not to say anything; she understood that this was something Naruto had to announce himself when he was ready.
He started to take Hinata towards his apartment for a well deserved cuddle and rest but she stopped him in his tracks shaking her head. Her pale eyes were bright under the moonlight; he could see she wasn’t going to spend the night. After all these years of him thinking she was a weird dark haired girl that was hard to understand, he had her figured out like an open book.
“Ano Naruto…” she still said that word when she was nervous with him, or when she had something unpleasant on her mind. Usually that involved family matters lately. He sighed dejectedly.
“I’ll walk you home; at least let me do that.” He changed direction and walked towards the Hyuuga compound. He could see her bite her lower lip in worry from the corner of his eye; he had depressed her somehow. He didn’t mean to, but her family had that effect on him and he wasn’t going to tiptoe around the subject anymore.
“I’ve been sleeping at your place too much.” She spoke tentatively, giving him a small glance sideways. “My father has been inquiring where I go so early in the mornings.” She continued. He nodded in agreement with what she was saying. She wasn’t entirely free yet to do as pleased.
“I have training with Hanabi early tomorrow morning, she has a tendency to come I’m my room and crawl in bed with me to wake me when we have plans to spar.” He raised an eyebrow and a smile played on his lips.
“Anything I should be “concerned” about?” he asked, his voice full of wonder. She hit him on the shoulder, quite hard he might add.
“Naruto! What a terrible thing to say!” He laughed at her expression; she was completely scandalized at the notion of what he was suggesting.
“Well at least it’s not Neji.” He added in a serious tone. Although it was hard to keep the expression serious as he pictured Neji in his night wear, crawling in bed with Hinata to wake her up with a delighted girly expression on his face. Hinata faltered in her step and this time she hit him with a burst of chakra. That one really hurt! She was mortified and Naruto could only laugh at her expression: traumatized AND scandalized.
“Naruto…” she growled at him, “now I won’t be able to face him without that mental image.” He was doubling over in his fit of laughter. They continued their playful fighting until they reached the gate of the compound. At the gate, Naruto wished her good night and pecked her gently on the cheek, not wanting to bring unwanted attention to Hinata from her family before taking off, leaping up onto the nearby roof and running back to his own home.
Hinata walked quietly through the garden, planning to sneak back into the house. She suddenly felt a pair of eyes on her, her skin crawled she whipped around quickly towards the general direction, activating her Byakugan to get a clearer look. She could see streaks of chakra from where the person had been watching but they were gone. She swallowed hard wondering who that could have been before continuing to her room, her steps increasing in speed.
A shadow leaned back from their perch across the manor. It seems he had discovered another secret as his eyes followed the retreating form of Uzumaki and the young heiress climbing back into her bedroom window.
***
Naruto tried to focus his eyes on the white haired sennin, who was surrounded by a very bright and annoying light. He had originally disregarded the old man as part of some horrible nightmare, he lay back down and fully intended on burrowing deeply into the blankets to go back to sleep. “There’s no way he’s angelic looking…” he muttered sleepily, frowning at the obvious lie his mind was protruding.
“Oi Naruto, wake up.” He heard the old man’s voice cut through his sleepy haze which finally woke him up. That wasn’t an illusion and he looked annoyed at him. He scratched his cheek in confusion, trying to work out how Jiraiya was floating outside his window. He got up on his knees and peeked over his window sill.
Ah.
There was a giant toad under the ero-sennin holding him up.
“Hello boss!” Naruto greeted the toad. He heard the sennin choke down an angry cough as Naruto had entirely ignored him. Gamabunta opened one large yellow eye and looked at Naruto. He nodded in response which nearly knocked the Toad Sage off the toad’s head.
Naruto had been calling him boss since he was 12 years old after Jiraiya had thrown him over a steep endless cliff to force him to use his Kyuubi chakra to summon the large toad. Gamabunta had developed affection for the kit and deep respect for saving his son when the other jinchuuriki had lost control three years ago and nearly wiped out his lineage. Naruto looked at the sage and finally greeted his sensei, his voice laced with an annoyed tone as he did not appreciate the early call from the sage.
“Naruto – if you don’t mind, I need to talk to you.” Jiraiya dusted off his white pants and fixed the large scroll hanging off his back; it had gone off balance when the toad had moved suddenly. Naruto nodded and pointed to his door, his toad hat hanging at an odd angle. He still wore the thing when Hinata wasn’t around, most people would think this was childish but he needed to have something on his head at all times, sleeping with the headband was uncomfortable to say the least.
“Ero-sennin what brings you here this early in the morning?” he asked as the older man walked in through the door. Naruto had his back turned to him as he rummaged through the kitchen for the coffee maker and looked for grounded coffee beans. He gave Naruto a hard smile as he felt aggravation build from the use of a title his pupil relentlessly called him throughout the years.
“I’m here to speak to you about more training with the toads.” He answered the young ninja with a serious tone that he rarely used. That caught Naruto’s attention enough to pull him away from making coffee. He turned around and gave his sensei a curious look before turning his attention back to his task.
“You need to become more comfortable with your summon ability and form a much deeper bond with them.” He thanked Naruto as he handed him a cup of hot coffee, and sat down with his own. “This bond will give you an incredible new array of strong jutsu.” The one thing he knew about the young man was that he wasn’t one to turn down an opportunity to become much stronger.
Naruto leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes in thought, “I’d love to learn more with Gamakichi,” Naruto spoke carefully, knowing his request might be something the sage would not be able to do for him, “but I have one condition.” Jiraiya raised an eyebrow in confusion; this was the first time he had to negotiate to train the shinobi.
“What is your condition?” he asked before taking a sip of the coffee. He was pleasantly surprised at the taste but it was nothing near as good as sake.
“You help train Hinata with her falcon summons.” He grinned as his sensei’s eyes grew in surprise.
“She can summon the falcons?”
“Yeah. She’s still working on it but I’m not sure how to help her summon bigger things than just fledglings.” Naruto spoke in a low voice, thinking on all her previous summons.
“They’re not as useless as tadpoles but they’re still useless.” He added pensively. The only time she had managed to summon a large falcon was to carry them to Yasu, and only because of his chakra. The repercussion to that forced burst from the Kyuubi had disabled her; it had damaged her inner coils and rendered her incapable to fight at her best while facing Akatsuki.
“How is her bond with the Falcons?” Jiraiya asked, trying to gauge her abilities and bond with the finicky animal. The Falcons were a type of summon that would only do something for you if you offered them something in return and only if it met their needs.
“Pretty good, she takes care of every summon she brings forth. In fact, the larger one we managed to summon together recognized her as the one who took care of their young. She just doesn’t seem to be able to focus the chakra; I’m not sure what the problem is. Maybe her coils are just not big enough yet.” He speculated, he’d been thinking about this particular issue for quite some time. Jiraiya was surprised at this revelation.
“The falcon pretty much gave us a free ride before he realized Sora was on board, and then we had to negotiate her fee to allow her to come along.” Naruto continued explaining. That had annoyed him at the time but there was nothing he could do; he was just glad that the two of them had managed to summon a fast and reliable falcon. Jiraiya leaned back against the chair contemplating his student’s request seriously.
“Ok, I’ll help her with figuring out why she can’t summon larger falcons if you agree to do combination training with Gamakichi, the one toad that sees you as his own kin.” Naruto nodded in agreement and reached out his hand to his sensei to which Jiraiya grabbed and shook once.
“Deal.” Naruto was quite pleased with himself as he thought of Hinata’s face when he would to tell her he had found someone to help them with figuring out the problem to her summoning.
***
Hiashi walked silently in the halls of the great Hyuuga house, it had gone back to its usual unsettling quietness as the initial rush of his daughter’s return wore off from the staff. He contemplated several events that had transpired recently and had begun to reconsider his original opinion of his failed daughter.
He was still unsure about her choice in… close friends, he had been hearing rumours that his eldest daughter was a lot closer with the Kyuubi vessel than she let on and it made him uneasy. He didn’t really know the boy but he had to admit that the way he had handled Neji during the chuunin exams in which he participated was impressive to say the least and may have saved their family from an internal civil war.
He had been watching his two daughters train regularly over the last several weeks and had to admit that Hinata had shown great improvement, more then he could have ever possibly hoped. No longer was she the young girl who hid in the shadows, she walked with her head held high, her eyes always looking straight ahead.
He had been originally upset with how the training had developed, he had fully expected Hanabi to take charge but she had reported that Hinata was a more than capable Jyuuken fighter and had requested that she be trained by her sister to improve her defenses. Hinata had taken Jyuuken to a new level he didn’t think would be possible and he had a hard time accepting that. He still refused to acknowledge her strength in the art.
He continued his slow descent to the dojo, he could hear the audible hits of flesh against flesh as the two kunoichi sparred; he silently entered the dojo, making sure he remained unnoticed and noted that Hanabi was sweating up a storm as her sister continued to relentlessly attack, never giving her a moment to breathe.
Hinata had yet to break a sweat in the exercise which infuriated her sister, making her sloppy in her defense. Hinata pushed harder in her attacks, trying to force Hanabi to start thinking instead of constantly hitting or defending blindly. After a few minutes, it dawned on her that her sister was more focused on her frustrations than on the problem at hand, which was the use of logic in battle.
“Let’s stop for today.” Hinata dropped out of her stance. Her sister was breathing hard, frustration was radiating off her smaller frame. Hinata hated to do this to her but it had to be done, she had been putting up with her sister’s disgruntled behavior for several days now and she needed to do something drastic to get her out of the bubble she was forming.
“You’re not focusing on how to hit me Hanabi.” Her voice had no emotion in it. She carefully picked her words to have the most effect on her sisters’ emotions. “…and you’re too concerned on how to use your chakra to disable me, you’re not thinking ahead. I’m easy to hit if you look hard enough.”
Her father had noticed the younger girl lose control of her chakra in the last few sparring lessons and her emotions were definitely driving her sparring; it could be dangerous considering her movements had become predictable and sloppy. He didn’t want to admit it but her eldest sister did have a good point.
Hinata turned and started to walk away from Hanabi, her mind working on the various possible scenarios that would come next as she grabbed a towel on the seating area. Her sister was bursting with anger by this point. If she had learned anything from watching Sora and Naruto, this tactic worked for her over-emotional boyfriend and Hanabi was similar in her sense of pride; although Naruto had just been impatient.
Hiashi watched as Hanabi’s chakra levels jumped up, she took off like a flash towards her sister and attacked. Her anger at being unable to get through her sister’s defenses had finally reached its boiling point. Hinata expected the reaction; she dropped the towel she was using to wipe some of the sweat forming on her brow and leaped up in the air, tucking her legs under herself as she flipped over the enraged kunoichi. Her sister did not expect the flip and let out a yell, feeling renewed rage surface as her sister easily evaded her.
Hinata didn’t hold back this time. Her sister needed to be taught a short lesson on why Hinata was something dangerous with Shina-to-be; she was done teaching her how to break through her defenses. She activated her dojutsu without the use of seals and quickly went to work, her sister’s speed was being fueled by anger so she was quicker, and when her hits connected, even Hinata had to admit it was disturbingly painful.
Hinata begun to hit the vital chakra points in her sister to slow her down, she would hit hard with one hand as a decoy while the second one would gently tap other areas around the decoy hit. She had designed this type of fighting style to give her opponent the impression that they were only being hit once but in fact the light touches that were almost too quick to see, were causing the most important disabling damage to the chakra coils.
Hanabi made very little Jyuuken connections with her sister, Hinata countered everything she threw at her, kicks, punches and her sister’s constant leaping over her was infuriating. She had to be faster, hit harder with her chakra if she wanted to overcome the elder kunoichi.
Hinata noticed the increase in speed, barely managing to avoid a strong chakra hit to her neck; she bent backwards letting the arm swish over her upper body and used the momentum to flip over on her hands and pushed herself backwards. As she flipped, she managed to kick out her feet and struck Hanabi hard in the stomach. A low grunt echoed in the dojo as the smaller girl was folded in half violently. Hinata needed to end this before she seriously injured her sister.
Hinata landed on her feet she quickly spun on her right foot and spread out her left leg knocking her sister off balance. Hiashi lost track of Hinata at this point as she suddenly blurred in movement over to the falling kunoichi. While Hanabi was still in mid air, Hinata performed a one hand seal and slammed it hard against her sister’s chest, whispering “Lightning style: Stunning current!” The movement was so quick and strong it knocked Hanabi’s trajectory from straight back to straight down. She grunted loudly as her body slammed into the ground.
Her sister twitched as faint lines of what looked to be lightning wrapped themselves around her body, preventing her from being able to move. The eldest sister straightened up and patted the dirt off her training clothing, not necessarily concerned with how traumatized her sister looked.
This jutsu was just something to stun an opponent, nothing major to hurt anyone since it didn’t last very long but it was effective and Hanabi, at this point, deserved it. Sora had personally taught it to her, she had affectionately told her to use it on Naruto if he’d ever get fresh, Hinata was pretty sure she’d never use it on him; it looked uncomfortable.
Hinata stood over her sister, out of breath at the sudden exercise and looked down at Hanabi who glared in return, furious at her defeat. “If you’re done being mad at your lack of ability to hit me, I want you to go over the first ten jutsu on the list I gave you and we’ll practice them later tonight.” Her voice held a pleasant tone and to add insult to injury, she winked at Hanabi and smiled before adding a few more words that she knew would infuriate her sister.
“Look you made me get out of breath, you’re improving.” She put her hands on her hips as she slowed down her breathing; looking over her sister with her Byakugan she noted a few deep bruises and a hurt ego but nothing major.
“I still couldn’t hit you!” her younger sister yelled, thick tears had begun to roll down her cheeks her hands covering her eyes, trying to hide the shame of her break in emotion; she was frustrated beyond belief. Hanabi hated the list, she hated the fact her sister was much better than her in this and she was shocked to see her use one hand seals. There was no way she could compete with that.
Hinata sighed at her sister’s impatience as she released her blood limit. She was reminded of Naruto when he began to learn the 100 jutsu. He had been very frustrated at the slow training and in an attempt to improve he had skipped to the library and tried to teach himself dangerous jutsu.
Sora had been livid and a battle ensued. The same result had happened here, but the battle here was certainly not as epic and not as threatening. She sat down next to the younger ninja and helped her to sit up. Hinata despite the tense situation smiled softly at Hanabi and put one arm around her, letting her sister cry out the frustration.
Hiashi watched the two girls sitting in the middle of the floor talk things out. To his surprise he felt a small amount of pride for Hinata; she had handled her sister expertly and to his shock saw her use several new form she was trained in. She was right; it did indeed work better for her combat as a ninja.
He moved back into the shadows of the dojo, quietly making his way back to the house contemplating the new development of his eldest daughter. He needed to know more about his eldest’s abilities and how far she could take them.
***
Jiraiya waited for the two shinobi approaching in the horizon. Naruto had agreed to meet him later after lunch; he wanted to take Hinata out before the grueling training session on summons with his sensei. She didn’t have the extra boost from a demon so she would tire out a bit more easily.
“Good afternoon Jiraiya-sensei.” The kunoichi’s voice sounded like soft musical notes as she bowed to greet the sennin. Naruto only waved.
“Hello Hinata, Naruto.” He looked over the two quickly. “You look tired out Hinata.” He added after checking their chakra levels. She blushed lightly and apologized, she explained that she had a lesson with her sister this morning and it had taken a bit more out of her than she had anticipated.
“Naruto only told me after I had sparred heavily about your summoning training set up for me.” She added, her finger pensively tapping her lips as she recalled the conversation. Naruto seemed mesmerized by the small movement, watching with a pang of jealousy as she pointed where he wanted his own lips to be. Jiraiya had to hold back a snort, this kid was too obvious.
Jiraiya nodded before looking over to Naruto. “Summon Gamakichi and wait for me; I’m going to check her abilities to summon and try to see why they’re blocking.” This took Naruto out of his daze and he bit down on his thumb and slammed it down on the ground. Seals printed on the dirt in circles after Naruto spoke out “Kuchiyose no Jutsu”. A large puff of fog appeared before him and Gamakichi towered over Naruto. The shinobi yelled in surprise, not expecting the summon to be that large.
“Naruto!” the toad croaked out his name, happy to see him after many years of separation.
“Gamakichi! Wow you’ve grown!” Naruto exclaimed, returning the greeting. The toad grinned and crossed its arms, puffing out his chest a little, showing off. Hinata had to refrain from rolling her pale lavender eyes as Naruto did the same when Gamakichi commented on his own growth.
“What’s the occasion for this reunion?” the toad looked around and noticed Jiraiya and a girl. He quickly turned to Naruto and with a low voice asked “Is that your girl?” Naruto grinned and nodded to the toad. Laughter exploded out of the summon; Hinata felt her face warm up as a blush made its way there, she had the distinct feeling they were talking about her.
“We’re training today, combination types.” Naruto changed the subject as he noticed Hinata fidgeting, uncomfortable with the attention she was getting.
“Ah, I was wondering when you’d get around to doing that.” The toad grinned at his master and continued to ask him what he had been up to since they last saw each other. Naruto delved into details and specifics he wouldn’t normally tell anyone since as his summon, he could be trusted exclusively.
Jiraiya watched the two old friends rekindle and pushed them out of his mind before turning to the nervous kunoichi next to him. He had the initial impression that there was a lot of work to do with her.
“Hinata, I understand you can summon falcons.” She nodded, looking up at the sennin.
“Yes I can, but they’re rather small summons, I can’t seem to release enough chakra to call a large one.” She had trained long and hard to open her chakra to the level it was now, it was still an impressive pool but she was left unsatisfied. Her constant inability to summon mature falcons had begun to wear on her confidence and hadn’t recently summoned because of it.
“Summon one for me now.” Jiraiya asked. She immediately complied biting her thumb in the same manner as Naruto and summoned a falcon. This one, to her surprise wasn’t a chick but an adolescent and even better, she recognized it.
“Ah! It’s Seiryu.” The silver feathered falcon looked around, disoriented at first but when it focused on Hinata, it flew the small space between them and landed on her arm, happy to see her.
“Mistress, what can I do for you?” he asked. Hinata smiled and requested for the falcon to stay a little while to help with some training. She worked out a payment of two skinned rabbits and the falcon was more than happy to stay.
“You know this one?” Jiraiya asked, surprised at their familiarity. Hinata nodded as her cheeks became a light shade of pink on her face.
“Yes, he was the unfortunate falcon I kept summoning while he was still a chick. I grew quite fond of him and he’s taken a liking to me.” She let the falcon stretch his wings. It stared at Jiraiya intensely. The girl had unknowingly picked her soul-contracted animal.
“Well your bond is there at least, like Naruto and his summon.” He pointed towards the two who had begun to work out a combination jutsu. She was smart and her softer personality had attached from what he could sense, a powerful ally.
“From what I can see Hinata, this one will be a powerhouse when he reaches adulthood.” Hinata looked over to Seiryu and gave him a curious look; she couldn’t read his falcon like expression as he had conveniently looked away.
The sennin bowed respectfully to the falcon before speaking. “I’m sorry for disturbing you, we’re trying to figure out why Hinata is unable to summon larger falcons, and I needed you here so I could gauge her chakra use.” The falcon nodded, not really caring, they had already worked out the payment so he would stay until Hinata no longer needed him.
“You summoned the parent once?” he asked them both. The falcon looked over to Hinata and she nodded in response, remembering the desperate situation they had been in.
“Naruto tells me it damaged your coils.” Again she nodded. He had unintentionally ripped open her coils when they summoned Seiryu’s father.
From what the ero-sennin understood with Falcoon summons, it’s not only the summoner’s chakra level that mattered, but the bond. The longer Hinata bonded with the chick Falcon that had chosen the bind, the larger she would be able to summon down the road.
He figures that due to Naruto’s close bond to Gamakichi and her budding bond with the falcon, the combined effort of the two summoners had brought about the larger falcon, and the chick probably sensed the desperation through the contract link, allowing the larger summon to happen even if it wasn’t all her own chakra. As a repercussion, it back lashed in her own coils instead of Naruto’s, even causing extensive physical damage. He sighed, the kit always did things without thinking of what would happen after everything was said and done.
“Hinata, you must continue to summon and bond with your falcon. It’s not only a question of your chakra capacity unlike the toads. falcons require strong emotional bonds. The more confidence you have in that bond and yourself, the more powerful your summon will be.” Jiraiya looked away from her a moment as a loud blast distracted him.
“Naruto! Gamakichi! Don’t mix the oil and fire jutsu! You’ll kill us!” he yelled at the duo up a head. Naruto retorted with a “Ero-sennin-teme why didn’t you say so earlier?” as Gamakichi laughed at his master, who had flown about a hundred feet away from the force of the blast. The sage made his way over to the two, his speed increasing as his yelling got louder. Hinata wasn’t sure if he was walking that quickly because he was angry or because he was worried about Naruto.
“Mistress, what he says is true.” Seiryu spoke softly catching her attention from the unfolding scene of sensei and student learning a new jutsu.
“Since I was chosen for the contract, I can only grow in strength and size depending on your own growth. And I can only allow others to be summoned through the work of that bond.” She bit her lower lip in thought as she considered the different possibilities on how they could do this. She had no problem trusting the falcon but the issue was her own self-confidence. She still had a lot of work to do on herself, even if she was already miles away from her old self.
“I need to stop thinking this way…” she thought as her eyes focused on her boyfriend who was attempting the new seals. He was a force of nature in her life that gave her a lot of strength but she needed to start taking the strength and depend on herself more often. This was not an impossible task, she just needed to… stop being negative about her own abilities. Naruto had proven to her time and again that she was far from what she believed herself to be. Now she just had to convince herself that she really was what Naruto saw. She straightened her back and looked over to the falcon, who watched her face move from uncertainty to determination.
“Well then Seiryu, if you’ll have it, I will summon you every day for a set period of time so we can increase our strength and trust. What would you request as a payment?” she asked him, a smile played in her lips waiting for a response.
“I will require nothing.” She was surprised at the answer.
“And why is that?” Hinata inquired cautiously. Sora had warned her that the falcons were a tricky lot.
“If our bond will allow me to grow in both power and size, for me to be of any use to you I must trust that you will do the same. I will only request payment if you tell me to do meaningless tasks, such as Sora’s love of using us as a mail delivery system.” Hinata had to restrain a laugh; the falcon had used a tone heavily laced with displeasure.
“Agreed.” Hinata’s eyes twinkled with humour as the falcon looked away, she could have sworn he looked embarrassed.
The falcon nodded to the three figures up ahead. His eyes narrowed as he wondered what Naruto was doing. This was his master’s other half and since she had deep respect for the boy, he would also trust this person with the same level and he hoped the shinobi would treat him with the same respect. Though it didn’t mean he couldn’t have a little fun.
“You should let Naruto know that my favourite meals are toads.
Hinata gasped at his statement before she realized that he was only joking. She shook her head slowly watching the three. Jiraiya had somehow managed to get pulled into her boyfriend’s antics and was now soaked to the bones in toad oil. Gamakichi and Naruto were doubled over laughing at the sage’s expense while Jiraiya could only yell at them in retaliation. The falcon gave Hinata a long hard look before asking her “Ah, not to be a spoil sport but...”
“Yes this could escalate into something of a war if we don’t do something quickly.” She patted the falcon’s head gently before quickly making her way over to the boys. She panicked as Jiraiya began a quick series of seals and chased after Naruto and Gamakichi, recognizing the seals she yelled out for them to stop but it was too late, he had declared war on Naruto.
***
Tsunade narrowed her eyes in annoyance; Naruto was focused on staring at the ground, finding it unusually fascinating while Jiraiya sheepishly grinned at the Hokage.
“Now now…” he started, his hands up palms facing the woman who was radiating killing intent. “We were just training.” His voice was on the verge of faulting. Hinata almost felt sorry for him, they were just outside of the village and she released Seiryu, he was fidgeting nervously and it was distracting her. Gamakichi followed suit and dispelled himself from the summon, glad that he was not under the command of that insanely strong woman.
“You call –this– training?” she spoke harshly. Her arm swept the area they were in and it was voided of trees, part of the great wall on Gate 3 was in rubble and never mind all the toad oil that covered the area. It was disgusting to say the least.
“Well…” Jiraiya wasn’t too sure what to say. He looked around and had to admit that they had taken things a little far. He had to test his student’s ability with the summons and he was very pleased with it; his chakra control was incredible.
“And you.” Tsunade pointed to Naruto. He gulped nervously as he looked at her pointing finger, he quickly glanced to Hinata his eyes pleading for help but he was met with a disapproving look. He was on his own on this one.
“You have five days left before the chuunin exam and here you are destroying the city!” Her voice was rising to a deafening level, face flushing with anger. She began to pace back and forth, fuming; Naruto swallowed again. This did not bode well.
She began yelling again at Jiraiya who took a step back, his stuttered excuses drowned out by the sounds; Naruto eeped as her chakra flared and narrowly missed Jiraiya in a punch that he was sure was meant to put him out for a solid few hours. Hinata was beginning to find the situation a bit humorous, her eyes wandered a moment over the battle field of pranks, she shook her head in disbelief at the carnage. Her eyes caught a shadow moving from the edge of the woods on her right.
Normally she would have ignored it, considering this was a training field and many people came and went from the area but something caught her attention. She activated her Byakugan to follow the shape and she frowned. From what she could tell, the way the chakra was spun in the body and the distinct dark area at the forehead made it obvious: a branch member from her clan was hiding there; she didn’t recognize the chakra signature. She pushed her Byakugan further, trying to get more details but as though he had sensed her attentions, the ninja leaped out of bounds and left the area.
Naruto stopped paying attention to the Hokage as she continued her tirade, looking at Hinata he followed her gaze and noticed a blur leaping by. He glanced back to Hinata and saw her frown.
“Hinata – What’s the matter” Tsunade stopped mid sentence, her face still holding a scowl wondering why she was interrupted. Hinata looked to Naruto, her frown only deepening in concern.
“I’m not sure if I should be concerned” she spoke softly. Tsunade focused on the kunoichi “but I’ve noticed that I have been followed by the same chakra signature over the last couple of days.” Naruto’s eyes widened, his feet moved and before he realized it he was beside her. He scanned the edge of the woods trying to sense if there was still someone there.
“They’re gone.” she gave Naruto a small re-assuring smile as he looked into her eyes, trying to read her. She quickly looked away before he completely read through her, she was starting to worry.
Tsunade narrowed her eyes in concern. Naruto looked over to Jiraiya and the Hokage; all three had the same question going through their mind: Why was Hinata being followed?
***
The rest of the week went without much trouble. Naruto was on edge as he worried about Hinata, he had pushed her to stay at his place, not trusting her home for protection. She had laughed at him, glad that he was worried about her but she wanted to continue her training with Neji and Hanabi in the mornings.
They continued their regimen of sparring; she was glad to see that Naruto was improving with his one hand seals but still had some trouble with the earth affinity jutsu. Hinata summoned Seiryu everyday and Naruto helped her with chakra building exercises. It was all very exhausting but she could already see the results in her summoning and they seemed more in sync. Naruto had teasingly said that “this was partner training with a summon” while pouting, faking jealousy. Rolling her eyes at him she then mentioned the falcon was a better at listening and a lot less work than Naruto. She giggled as he sputtered in shock and objected.
She continued to feel the eyes of the branch member on her at various moments during the days that passed. It was unnerving but the ninja had yet to do anything. Since this was a branch member, Naruto and Hinata had decided to not let it prevent them from full out training, they were not competition and had nothing to learn from them but they did refrain from public display of affection, protecting a few secrets wouldn’t hurt.
The evenings would come and go, sitting at Naruto’s kitchen table they reviewed the items they would need, Naruto argued the fundamental basic need of ramen on the trip which was met with silence. Hinata determined the supplies they would need which she trusted Naruto would be taking care of while she was busy training with her family in the mornings.
After he’d walk her home every night, his favourite part would come; their ritual peck good night had turned into a full lip kiss and then would lead into a more perverted French kiss. Hinata’s initial shock was a fond memory as she felt his tongue slip past her defense. He’d joke that she needed more training since he’d manage to sneak attack her, kissing her lips sensually between words. She retaliated by biting down and catching his lower lip; she’d muffle a giggle as he would catch her lips again and she’d close her eyes, enjoying the newfound feeling it gave her.
Naruto noticed that their kissing had become hungrier and lingered a little longer, becoming bold as of late. He wasn’t sure who was becoming more forward but it didn’t matter in the end since they both approved of the changes and he liked how her cheeks became slightly pink after. He thought at first it was because of the cool air but then realized as she pulled him closer to deepen the kisses that it was because of him.
Every passing moment they became a little bit more breathless, he’d explore Hinata’s mouth a little more with his own, his fingers slipping under her coat, sneaking under her shirt to touch the skin. Once he made her moan in his mouth which made his senses reel.
Hinata would eventually push him off and he’d grin; she’d shake her head, obviously shaken by his bold move but not angry with him, her blush would deny it as she’d bite her lip, her eyes curious. She obviously wanted to take it a little further, wanted to see what else he could offer but such was the routine every night; she’d shyly peek over her shoulder as she walked away, his eyes never leaving her. She’d look away hiding a blush but she was smiling.
This time though it was different – The air was thick with a nervous air, tomorrow they would meet at the Forest of Death and take the second part of the exam; the weight of the exam was heavy, it was a life or death situation that only made them better ninjas in the long run if they survived.
“Don’t forget to drop by Tenten’s family store and get the gear we need tomorrow morning.” Hinata whispered in his ear. Naruto had pulled her into a tight hug, suddenly nervous, he wanted to be with her for the night, wanted the comfort. She felt him nod and she pulled herself out of his embrace. She waved at him before disappearing in the darkness, protected by the shadows he followed her until she entered her home safely. He sighed with relief as there was no indication of the ninja that had been trailing her. He turned around and leaped off above the roofs of the sleeping village, letting the darkness swallow his retreat.
***
Tenten’s father looked over the items requested by Naruto over the week, they had all arrived in good order. The shinobi was going to be here any minute and still needed to go over the special papers ordered by his counterpart, Hinata.
His daughter had warned him that Naruto wasn’t the sharpest kunai and wouldn’t remember everything to say to Hinata but from what he saw this week, he believed that his daughter was recalling the loud orange-clad brat from 3 years ago. The young man he met was not only very knowledgeable in weapons, but also seemed to know a thing or two about tactical seals.
Naruto entered the shop, the sun was barely up and he was grumpy. He hadn’t managed to sleep that well; this exam was getting to him. “Welcome!” the voice of Tenten’s dad brought Naruto out of his sleepy stupor, he smiled at the vendor and raised his hand in a make shift greeting, his voice not entirely ready to croak out proper greetings.
“Ah, good morning Kazemui,” Naruto approached the weapons master focused on the bundles in front of him. “I see that you may have my requested items.” The old man nodded and proceeded to open the packages.
“Yes, it was difficult to get these all in for today but somehow my wife managed to prepare the tags you requested.” He brought out a small box that contained the specially designed tags by Hinata. The younger shinobi the lid open and checked out the design, it was perfect. Hinata would be excited about these. He smiled at the vendor as they proceeded to inspect the merchandise of kunai, shuriken, threading and last but not least, blank tag papers and small writing items for his partner’s uncanny ability for seals.
He paid for the items and bowed to the merchant appreciating the welcomed atmosphere in the shop, Naruto was promising to let him know how the items would fair in the exams when Tenten strolled in from the back of the shop, calling for her father.
Naruto let out a pleasant good morning, surprising the kunoichi. She hadn’t gotten the chance to see him.
“Naruto! Here to pick up your order already?” she pointed casually to the bundle in his hands and he nodded, smiling at her. She was nearly blindsided by his obvious changes: not only had he grown considerably but he was handsome to boot.
“Hai, I was just about to leave to meet with Hinata. We’re going to be meeting at the Forest of Death for the chuunin exams.” Tenten laughed, she’d forgotten that they had been gone so long they were pretty much the only two out of the Rookie 9 to still be gennin. Naruto scowled at her and it only made her laugh harder. Her father didn’t seem to get the joke and simply ignored his daughter and current customer.
“Neji told me that Hinata has improved quite impressively with her battle formations.” Tenten managed to get her laughter under control long enough to apologize and try to pry more information out of the annoyed shinobi.
“She’s more then just improved. You’d have to see for yourself in the third part of the exam.” He winked at her as he began to back track his way out of the store, waving and promising they’d catch up later. He still wanted to speak with Lee. Tenten laughed again and told Naruto that Lee was most definitely looking forward to test out his training.
***
Temari and Anko waited at the enclosure protecting the citizens of Konoha from the Forest of Death. The gennin gathered before them, most of the teams had shown up. They both noted that the ninjas that were partnerless from the written exam were nowhere in sight.
Naruto nodded to Anko when she spotted him, he noticed her features soften a moment before she began to scare the wits out of the participants.
“Listen up! The Forest of Death is not a playground. Beasts of all kinds live in here, they are not normal, they feed off stupid ninjas who get killed and they are very sensitive to chakra. I suggest you take the following rules very seriously and consider if your life is worth the hassle.” She eyed every one, some looked away, and others began to fidget waiting to start.
Naruto waited as she went through her usual “death awaits you, don’t bother showing your face here again if you can’t last the day; it’s better to be eaten than live with the shame of blah blah.” Naruto sighed impatiently but regretted it instantly when he felt Hinata’s elbow hit him square in the ribs, shutting him up. She glared at him and he smiled sheepishly in an attempt to apologize.
Temari called each team into a tent by the gates; they would be given a full physical check up before entering and signed papers indicating that they were aware there was death and carnage beyond the gates. Temari handed Naruto the scroll of Earth; she didn’t need to explain to him what the exam entailed as he'd been through it before. Still she had to comment on what they were supposed to do, just to be official since she was being watched.
“Get the Heaven scroll; get to the tower, open them and you’re done. See you in five days and good luck.” She finally gave the two a small smile, her eyes held warmth; she could not directly acknowledge them since she was one of the testers. Hinata bowed in thanks and returned the smile; Naruto winked at her before taking Hinata’s hand and leading her out of the tent. He heard Temari’s gasp of surprise at the display of affection. He grinned, glad to have at least shocked the stoic ninja since her detached attitude he’d been exposed to so far in the exams reminded him too much of Gaara.
Hinata adjusted the pack on her back. It was heavy but would become lighter as they spent their days in the forest. Naruto watched Anko threaten the gennin some more, rolling his eyes at the tactic. It worked when he went through this the first time but now it just sounded stupid. He hoped, however, that this time there would be no S-rank snake sennin looking to brand another young boy to take over their body.
Anko threw the gates open and he could have sworn he saw a glint of sadistic joy in her eyes. He stuck out his tongue at her when she looked at him. She scowled at him before he took off running with Hinata.
“Naruto-kun, not so fast!” she yelped as he bounced up into the air, finding the lowest branch he could reach. He waved to Anko and she waved back shaking her head; regardless of her odd sense of humour, Naruto liked her quite a bit.
He tugged on Hinata’s hand as she followed him deeper into the darkness. The sun couldn’t get through the thick foliage and she was glad that she brought the extra layer of clothing. The red-head Rock ninja was amongst the mix participating, Naruto eyed him suspiciously before continuing to leap away from branch to branch, squeezing Hinata’s hand a bit more firmly.
First things first, they needed to find a shelter; lay out traps and secure a target before the sun went down.
***
RR please!