Hello all, Zarodius here. First of all, to my readers, i'd like to apologize about the long wait and posting "Hidden strength of Uzumaki" as a new story. The wait was due to the fact school started back in, along with a part-time job and working on getting my license, things have been hectic. A few of the more noticable changes are as follows: Anko is no longer Naruto's Mother figure. To many peple were pming me asking when something was going to happen between them because i listed them as a pairing in the beggining as a mistake. So, no more of that. Also, the timeline changed to starting off when they got out of the academy. This fit better with something i have planned. And most importantly, I have a plot that DOSEN'T suck now. So, I hope you enjoy what iv'e written, I hope the following chapters come out faster than this one did. Please review and tell me what ya think.
It was night. A full moon shone over the streets where a miniature war was waging. A man ran through the pandemonium leading a woman by the hand towards a dock. Fierce fighting surrounded the two as he continued to weave there way through. The man had grey, almost silver hair and yellow eyes. He wasn't tall, but his muscle mass made him huge. He wore a loose fitting martial arts gee, A giant mace of some sort was strapped to his back, but he seemed to carry it as if it was little more than a paper weight. A Katana was strapped to his right side. A grey wolf tail sticking out of his pants and two wolf ears perched on top his head. The woman was just shy of being as tall as the man. She had bright blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore a white pair of shinobi pants, with a grey shirt that was stretched out over a swollen stomach. She was pregnant. She too had wolf ears and a tail.
It was obviously cold outside. You could see steam rising in the air from people breathing, or freshly open cuts on bodies. The street and surrounding rooftops had a small layer of snow on them, like a layer of dust on a table top. The two reached the boat at the dock, there was no one else on board. The man helped the woman onto the boat and untied it. He put his foot on the boat and pushed it away. The woman started to scream for him to get on, but it was drowned out, only a few words could be heard, and those few were nearly overpowered by the sounds of the battle waging near by.
As the boat started to slowly float away the man turned back to the fight, he took the giant battle mace from his back and charged forward, swinging at anything that got to close...
..p...
...Eep...
...BEEP...
...BE-click...
"HWAAaaaaahhhhhhh..." yawned a young grey haired boy. "It should be against the laws of nature to wake up this early..." He said aloud as he got out of bed and stretched, shaking off his sleepiness. They boy was about 5' 8" with grey, almost silver shoulder length hair that came down in wild spikes. He walked to the bathroom and stepped into the shower, getting ready for the day. As the water woke him up, his mind floated back to the dream he'd just had. It wasn't like a normal dream. He didn't only remember bits and pieces of it when he woke up, he remembered all of it, everything in vibrant detail like he had seen it in real life. Then there was the fact that it seemed...real. He thought everything about it looked familiar, though, he couldn't tell because the dream wasn't very long. One other thing he did notice, possibly the most important, was the tails and ears, they were just like his. Could he be related to them in some way?
The boy stepped out of the shower and started to brush his teeth. Most of the teeth were normal, but his two canine teeth seemed abnormally long and sharp. He had a horrible scar that marred his eyes. A large X had been cut just above his left eye, stretching across his nose and across his right eye, and vice versa. His eyes had been gouged out, completely ruined, but he never let that stop him. His skin was a light tanned color, from spending a lot of time in the sun. He was also covered in an alarming number of scars. The most unusual characteristics of the young boy however were his two wolf ears that stuck up out of his hair and the wolf tail that stuck out of his pants. He was twelve year old Uzumaki Naruto.
Naruto finished brushing his teeth and stepped out of the bathroom. He put on his choice of clothes, A pair of gray cargo pants, a white muscle shirt and a thin, black long sleeve shirt with a pair of sandals. He put his kunai pouch on his left leg, and a set of dark sunglasses over his eyes to hide his eyes. He ate a quick meal and grabbed his keys. Before heading out the door of his apartment, he brought his hands together and did a few quick signs. "Concealment Jutsu!" Naruto yelled. His tail disappeared, as did his ears, replaced with normal human ears. His scars were gone too. He walked out his door and locked it behind him, heading for the academy. Today was the day he became a gennin.
Walking through town, Naruto couldn't feel the stares he usually got. It was one of the reasons he liked being out in the mornings, not a lot of people were up yet. He took to the roofs to get out of the street. He easily hopped from one roof to the next. Despite his age, he was incredibly strong. That, coupled with the fact he had also been weight training since he was eight and started at the academy led to him being in great physical condition. The results were excellent in Naruto's opinion. It had been the kyyubi's idea to start as a matter of fact.
Yes, even with the law the third had set up to prevent the knowledge of the kyyubi being learned by the new generation, Naruto knew about the Kyyubi, and even talked with her on a regular basis. He was stumped as to why she attacked, She seemed rather nice even if she was a demon. Though he had asked why she attacked before, she would only say "I'll tell you when your ready". Naruto was brought out of his mental wanderings when he nearly over jumped the roof he was aiming for. Shaking his head of clean of it's mental cobwebs, Naruto started to pick up the pace headed for the academy.
Naruto hopped off the last roof and landed in a crouch on the ground just outside the academy gate. Standing up, he patted some dust off himself and headed inside. The academy wasn't huge, but it was a decent sized building. Max capacity it could probably hold two hundred people, but as far as Naruto knew there was never more than twenty or so students in at a time. The building had a running track on one side, and a throwing range in the back. Inside the actual academy were a few weight rooms, a gym, and the class rooms.
He got to his own room to hear what sounded like most of the class. For most blind people, it might be hard to find a seat...or be a ninja at all. But Naruto and kyyubi worked out a new sense of sorts for Naruto. Using kyuubi's near infinite Chakra, Naruto could create a sort of sphere around him that left a mental imprint of what things looked like in his mind. It was almost like blinking as fast as you could while walking. When he was standing still, he would get a constant picture of what was around him. When he or something else moved, he would get a bunch of red tinted, fast paced imprints as stuff moved into or out of his chakra sphere. Just because he had this sense didn't mean he couldn't fight without it. The kyyubi had taught him various blind fighting styles from the time it was alive, along with some nin-jutsu, but not alot.
"Looking" around, Naruto found an open seat next to Sauske Uchia. Sauske wasn't that bad of a guy in Naruto's opinion, he was just to cold for him to become friends with. Not to mention he was a stuck up prick to most everyone. Naruto walked over and sat down next to him. Through some unspoken agreement, neither acknowledged the other's presence, and they were both content.
Just as Naruto had started to think back to his dream he heard them coming. Before he actually saw them, it sounded like a miniature stampede taking place in the halls. As the sound made it's way closer to the room Naruto could hear heavy breathing and yelling. A second later, two people burst through the door. They were both girls Naruto's age. One had bright pink hair that fell down to her lower back and green eyes. She had a larger than normal forehead. Her build was small and light, with white skin. She wore a pink dress with black shorts. The other girl had blonde hair in a pony tail that was around the same length as the first girl's. She had blue eyes. The girl wore a purple dress with what appeared to be medical tape underneath it. Sakura Haruno and Yamanaka Ino...they were both really loud...
"I WAS HEAR FIRST INO-PIG!" Sakura yelled at her rival. "YEAH RIGHT, I WAS FIRST BY AT LEAST A FEW INCHES!" Ino yelled back. The squabble continued for a few moments until Sakura spotted Sasuke and made a bee line for him. Naruto sighed inwardly and decided to try and be friendly with the girl. "Hello Haruno-s- move Naruto!" Sakura cut off, pushing Naruto out of his seat. Naruto sat on the floor for a moment, and then his eye started to twitch slightly.
Naruto took a deep breath and counted to ten, letting his anger dissipate before moving. Chanting his mantra of "Today's the last day, today's the last day" in his mind, he stood up. Looking around he saw Hinata. Naruto made his way over to her and gave her a smile. "Ohayo Hinata-chan, mind if I sit here?" He asked. "Ohayo N-naruto-kun. No, I don't m-mind." Hinata replied.
Naruto turned to the girl next to him and asked. "How are you today Hinata-chan? Hinata had short blue hair and white eyes. What skin you COULD see was a pale, almost ivory white. She was never seen without her bulky jacket and she usually wore a pair of shinobi pants. "I-Im' Fine Na-Naruto-kun." She replied. Naruto liked to talk to Hinata quite a bit. She was MUCH easier on the ears than girls like Sakura and Ino, and she was always kind to him. She had been one of his first friends at the academy, along with Shikamaru, Chouji, Iruka, Shino and Kiba, and Shino.
"All right class, settle down. Today is the day of the exams, im not one for procrastinating, so let's get started." Iruka said. Iruka was a kind man and the father Naruto never had. HE wore the typical chunnin outfit. But he had a distinguishing scar that ran across his nose. He walked around and passed out the papers then walked back to the front of the class. "All right class, Mizuki will be watching you while you take your test. In the mean time, I will be in the room over testing Naruto. Does anyone need anything before we begin?" Sakura raised her hand.
"Yes Sakura?" Iruka asked. "How come Naruto gets to take the test separate from everyone else!?" Sakura asked. "Because im incapable of reading." Naruto answered. A random boy started laughing. " AHAHA, Naruto's to stupid to read!" The majority of the class, the exceptions being Hinata, because of her crush, Shino...because he's Shino, his other friends and Sauske because he didn't care, broke out into laughter. Naruto simply smiled and waited for the ruckus to die down. When it did, he spoke up again. "There's a difference between being to stupid to read, and being incapable. The nerve in my eye that connects to my brain, that would normally allow me to read, is under-developed. Where I can read maybe two-three words, I cannot read full sentences or paragraphs, nor can I write them." Naruto lied. "Any OTHER questions or bright comments?" Naruto asked. Standing up, he bade good luck to Hinata and followed Iruka out of the class room
"Kinda harsh don't ya think? Iruka asked once they put some distance between themselves and the classroom. "He'll have forgotten about it by lunch." Naruto replied. "Probably" Iruka agreed. Iruka opened a door for Naruto and had him take a seat at one of the empty desks. "All right Naruto, take a seat and we'll get started...
----------------- 45 minutes later...
"Ok, we're finished here, let's go round up the others for the tai-jutsu portion of the exam." Iruka said. Naruto nodded and followed Iruka out of the room and to the classroom door. Iruka stuck his head in to find everyone finished. "Ok class, follow me, we're headed outside for the tai-jutsu portion of the exam." The students got up and filed out of the room, following Iruka out back to the throwing range where there was plenty of room. Naruto waited until Hinata walked out of the building so he could walk next to her. "All right class, we are now going to take the tai-jutsu portion of the exam. Please write your name on a piece of paper and put it in the box, we're going to do random selections." Iruka explained, holding a box and a few sheets of paper.
Looking to his left, Naruto found that Hinata hadn't wandered away from him like she usually did. "Ano...Hinata, could you do me a favor and put my name in the ballot for me?" Naruto asked. "Su-Sure N-Narut- Oi, why can't ya do it yourself Naruto?" Kiba butted in. Naruto let loose a sigh and answered. "Do you even remember what I said an hour ago?" Naruto asked. "What did you say an hour ago?" Kiba asked, looking confused. "...And you called ME stupid..." Naruto dead panned. Kiba seethed at this.
"Ano...I filled o-out y-your paper N-naruto-kun." Hinata chimed in. Naruto turned to her and gave her a wolfish smile. "Thanks Hinata-chan. Naruto said. Naruto could almost feel the heat of Hinata's blush radiating off of her. And he could also smell..well..yeah. Naruto wasn't stupid, even if he WAS blind he could tell Hinata liked him. He liked her too, but he'd never asked her out on a date or anything because of the villagers and even some Ninja. He also didn't really like getting to close to anyone, with the exception of Iruka and the third Hokage. It was like they say, once bitten, twice shy. Naruto had opened up and let to many people in just for them to stomp on his feelings later. He liked Hinata, and his other friends, but he wasn't willing to open up to them.
The exam began with Chouji and some other kid Naruto didn't know fighting. Chouji ended up winning when he threw his considerable bulk into a rather powerful punch. Another note-worthy match was Shikamaru's. He just lazily dodged every which way until his opponent ran out of steam, giving Shikamaru the chance to walk up to the guy and chop his neck, knocking him unconscious. Shino's fight would have been interesting to watch...if he hadn't gotten a girl who forfeited as soon as possible. Hinata ended up fighting Sakura and practically tore her apart, she seemed almost angry with the girl for some reason...
Finally, Naruto heard his name called. "Uzumaki Naruto vs. Uchia Sasuke." Naruto groaned. "What's a matter Naruto, scared? Kiba called. "Of Sasuke, no, of his fan girls, terrified." Naruto answered. Kiba had to agree, you didn't fight JUST Uchia Sasuke, you fought him and a rabid group of girls if you so much as touched him. The two walked into the center of the ring and took up stances. Sasuke's fan club cheering wildly for him, and Naruto wishing he didn't have sensitive hearing...Until he just barely heard Hinata cheer him on, along with Kiba, chouji, and a half-hearted shikamaru. Naruto thought he MIGHT have even heard a 'KICK HIS ASS!" From shino, but when he looked said stoic boy was looking off into the distance, seemingly non-chalant.
"Ok, this is a tai-jutsu match, you may each use a single kunai if you wish, but if I think things are getting out of hand, I'll stop the match." Iruka said. Iruka threw the kunai part in for the tradition of just holding one to the other's throat and saying "You loose",like all the other matches. He wasn't expecting both the boys to bring there kunai out from the very beginning and start a knife fight. 'I shouldn't have said that...' Iruka thought to himself
Naruto and Sasuke ripped a kunai out of there holders simultaneously. They circled each other for a moment before Sasuke charged in. Sasuke brought the knife in to stab naruto in the side, but Naruto tossed his kunai into his other hand and grabbed Sasuke's wrist before he could make contact. Naruto grabbed his own kunai and tried to get sasuke in the side as well. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's wrist and the two were dead-locked, fighting for power in the situation.
Before Sasuke could react, Naruto pulled him forward and smashed his for head into his. Sasuke, disoriented slightly, loosened his grip long enough for naruto to wrench his hand away and bring up his foot, brutally kicking Sasuke in the side and knocking him back a few steps. Naruto pushed his advantage and followed after putting his kunai in his mouth, He sent a barrage of punches and kicks that the uchia could barely follow. Naruto faked a left jab and brought his right hand up in a vicious uppercut, knocking sasuke off his feet. Sasuke got back up and charged in again. This time he did a bushin jutsu, creating two of himself.
"Shit!" Naruto swore. Iruka tried to call off the match but sasuke had already closed the distance by half. 'Well, let's narrow the odds...' Naruto thought to himself. Naruto took his kunai and threw it at the far left bushin, the kunai harmlessly passed through it. 'Ok, so he's either the middle one or the far right one...' Naruto thought. He prepared to block the far right sasuke, that way if it was the middle sasuke that was real, he'd have to move the kunai across his body before he could stab naruto, and give him enough time to pull off his move. If the far right one was Sasuke...then what he was about to do was gonna hurt like a bitch. Naruto sprinted towards both sauske's head on. The distance closed quickly. 10 meters. 5 meters. 2 meters. Right as naruto was on top of them, he threw up both his arms at neck level. The Sasuke on his left had been moving to try and stab Naruto, but the split second difference of having to have reached across his body with his left hand was all the time Naruto needed to deal him a vicious clothesline.
Sasuke flipped once in mid-air before hitting the ground like a sack of potato's, knocked unconscious from all the breath being forcefully pushed out of his body. There was a moment of silence before a loud "WHOOP!" Ripped through the air, followed shortly after by applause and whistles from the boys with glowers and death threats from the girls. "HELL YEAH! KNOCK THAT ARROGANT BASTARD DOWN A PEG OR TWO!" Kiba roared. Only to be seconds later enveloped by a wave of angry kunochi's. Shino gave a silent nod of approval while chouji and Shikamaru were sporting some wide grins. Hinata had a shy smile on her face as Naruto came back over to his group of friends. "Way to go Naruto." Chouji praised. "You realize that Sasuke could have been on the right and not in the middle right Naruto?" Shikamaru asked. "Yeah, I had to take a risk on that." Naruto said, grinning sheepishly. "Troublesome..."Shikamaru replied.
After Sasuke was revived, The matches continued until everyone had fought. "Good work everyone." Iruka said loudly, his voice carrying over the students and getting their attention. "It's now time for the final portion of the exam, let's head back inside." The class started to shuffle back into the building. As they walked in Sasuke sent Naruto a murderous glare, though Naruto seemed oblivious to it as he talked and laughed with his friends. Once they arrived back at class, Naruto re-assumed his position next too Hinata and Iruka told the class about what was going to happen next. "All right class, here's what we're going to do. Your each going to go into the adjacent room where Mizuki and I are going to grade your final performance. You will perform the Kawarmi, Bushin, and Henge jutsu's. First up, Akimichi Chouji..."
As time went on, More and more people's names were called to go in and take the test. After a little while Naruto could no longer take the bordem and fell asleep, slouching in his chair. A few in the class noticed this, namely Hinata, who was next to Naruto at the time, Sakura and Ino. Sakura and Ino didn't really LIKE Naruto or consider him dating material...But they had always been curious about the glasses. What could he possibly have to hide under them...
"Hey, for-head girl." Ino whispered, getting her friends attention. "What Ino-pig?" Sakura asked, curious despite there rivalry. Ino pointed at Naruto and said. "Once Hinata goes in to take the exam, why don't we see what's under Naruto's glasses?" Ino asked. Sakura thought for a moment. She knew if she was Naruto, she wouldn't want her personal space intruded upon... but this was just Naruto, he was probably just wearing the glasses to show off or be cool. She told her self. She ignored the voice in the back of her head telling her that if that what she was thinking about doing was wrong and so on. Her inner Sakura violently crushed the voice, silencing it for the time being. Sakura nodded and the two sat and waited.
A few minutes later, Sakura was called into the exam. She came back out sporting her new headband and went over to Ino to continue waiting. "Hyuuga Hinata!" Iruka's voice called out. Hinata "eeped" slightly and stood up hurriedly, then walking into the room. As soon as the door closed Sakura and Ino were up and moving towards Naruto, being as stealthy as possible. It wasn't difficult to navigate there way to him, few students were left in the room, and those who were didn't care about what they were doing.
The two got about ten feet away from Naruto and slowed, making sure they didnt step on any loose floorboards or bump into any chairs. Five feet away, there hearts were beating slightly faster as they got closer, starting to get nervous about being caught. Now they were within reaching distance of Naruto's face. Sakura looked at Ino and they both nodded. Ino started to slowly reach out for Naruto's glasses. Her palms were starting to sweat and she could hear her heart pounding in her ears, a heavy silence had seemed to settle over the room. Just as she was about to grab the glasses a hand fell on her and Sakura's shoulders. They both jumped and turned to see Shino Aburame. "Respect. The glasses." He said in his usual monotone voice, though, if one listened closely it seemed like he might have had an annoyed tone in his voice. The two girls nodded vigorously, to creeped out to do anything else. He then steered the two away from Naruto and shoved them out the classroom door.
Hinata came back from the room and sat next to Naruto again, wearing a new headband around her neck. She seemed to be sitting a little straighter than normal. "Uchia Sasuke!" Mizuki called. The dark haired boy stood up and made his way into the room. Sense the teachers appeared to be going by alphabetical order, Hinata saw fit to wake Naruto up before his name was called...that and she wanted him to see her new headband.
"Ano...Na-naruto-kun, wake up, y-your up next." Hinata said, shaking Naruto a few times. After she realized she was touching him she blushed and her hand shot back like she'd been burned. A sleepy "Five more minutes." was his reply. Producing a slight sweat drop, she decided to try again. "Nar-naruto-kun, it's time to get up." Hinata said again. "Five mo finutes..." Naruto said again. Hinata sighed to herself. "What do I have to do to get you up Naruto-kun? She asked to no one in particular. "Put alarm clock next to my ear." He replied, surprising her.
Hinata frowned slightly, was he playing a trick on her? No, Naruto wasn't the type to joke in a serious situation, like the gennin exam... Was he possibly talking in his sleep? Hinata wandered to herself. 'Worth a shot' she thought. "N-naruto-kun, are you asleep? Hinata asked. Naruto nodded his head. Thinking for a moment, Hinata came up with another question. "Naruto-kun, do you use a gen-jutsu to hide something?" Hinata asked. Again, he nodded. 'Naruto-kun would never admit to that...he must really be asleep and answering questions! Hinata thought excitedly.
"I-is there a girl you like?" Hinata stuttered slightly. Yea... NAruto replied. Hinata felt her heart beat a little faster. "Does she live in Konoha?" Hinata asked. Naruto nodded. Hinata's heart picked up a little more speed, and she started to get that nervous feeling in her chest. "Does she go to the academy?" Hinata asked. Mhmm. Naruto hummed Unconsciously she had to wonder how his glasses stayed on when he did that. She filed it away for a time when she didn't feel like she was going to have an anxiety attack. Hinata fell quiet for a moment as She tried to think of another question. She KNEW the question she WANTED to ask, but she couldn't get the courage to just blurt it out, so she was trying to narrow it down. And then a thought hit her. 'Most of the girls in the school have grown there hair out for the Uchia...
"Does she have long hair?" Naruto shook his head this time, and Hinata could feel her chest clench. Her hands started to shake and she felt faint, her heart was racing now. As she was about to ask another question the door slid open and Sasuke walked out of the classroom, not even glancing up on his way out, but hinata didn't notice, her attention was focused on Naruto. Iruka came out behind him and breathed in deep, preparing to yell at Naruto for sleeping.
"NA-thump!" Iruka was cutoff as a kunai imbedded itself in the wood next to his head that had a note attached saying "QUIET." Iruka traced the trajectory back to Shino, who held his finger to his mouth in the "shhh" position and pointed at Naruto and Hinata. Iruka raised an eyebrow at Shino and nodded, turning his attention to the sleeping boy and tomato faced girl. "Do you know who is talking to you?" Hinata asked. Naruto nodded his head. Hinata held he breath and took the plunge. "Is it me? She asked. "The boy nodded his head up and down again and that was all Hinata could take. Her head lit up like a volcano, from color to heat and she was floored in a dead faint. Iruka let loose a chuckle at that. "NARUTO! WAKE UP!" He yelled. Naruto jumped up out of his seat spinning around wildly. Finally, his focus landed on Iruka and he calmed down. He also noticed Hinata on the floor.
"What happened to Hinata Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked, still trying to wake up. Iruka grinned and said. "Nothing Naruto, but come on, you're the last one to take the exam." Naruto nodded to him and said. "Be there in'a sec." Iruka nodded and walked back into the exam room. Naruto picked Hinata up and sat her down on a chair, then followed after Iruka. After Naruto stepped into the room and shut the door Iruka gave him his first test. Ok Naruto, give us a kawarmi. Iruka asked. Naruto nodded and brought his hands together making the ram sign. There was a puff of smoke and he replaced himself with a potted plant in the room. Iruka nodded in approval and wrote something down on a clip board. "Next up, henge." Iruka said. Naruto brought his hands together and transformed into a perfect Iruka. Iruka nodded again and wrote his score down. "And last up, bushin." Once again, Naruto made the Ram sign and gathered his Chakra. There was a huge puff of smoke and the room was filled with bushin. "Uhh...Naruto...we only needed three." Iruka said, slightly in awe. Naruto smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry Iruka sensei, case of nerves." Naruto said. Iruka smiled and accepted the excuse. "Well, congratulations Naruto, you pass, can you stay after class for a minute or two?" Iruka asked. "Sure." Naruto replied.
Mizuki left the class room, leaving behind Iruka, Naruto, and a unconscious Hinata. "What is it you were wanting Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked. "Well, I know you don't have any family to celebrate passing with, so I'm offering to treat you to Ramen to celebrate." Iruka answered. Naruto's face cracked into a wolfish Grin as he tackled Iruka in a hug. "And here, this is yours." Iruka said, taking his headband off and giving it to Naruto. Naruto smiled and took off his glasses. Iruka had seen the scar before, and was glad he didn't see it now. He had to know about Naruto being blind in order to teach him, but he had never gotten used to that scar. Whenever he saw the scar it made him cringe something awful. Naruto took the Headband and placed it over his eyes, tying it tight like a blindfold. Iruka smirked slightly. "Interesting style there Naruto. Naruto laughed a bit and then remembered Hinata.
"What are we going to do with Hinata?" Naruto asked. "Hmm...well we could wake her up and invite her along." Iruka suggested. Naruto frowned slightly. He'd love to have someone to celebrate with, Hinata in particular...but he was slightly afraid of the consequences. Shrugging it off, naruto decided he'd cross that bridge when he got to it. "Sure." Naruto replied. Walking over to Hinata, he tried to gently shake her awake. "Hinata, hey, wake up." Naruto said. Hinata slowly woke up slowly. Looking around, Hinata saw Naruto and Iruka. "Hey, congratulations on becoming a gennin, Iruka and I are going for Ramen to celebrate, wanna come along?" Naruto asked. Hinata sat there and blinked a couple of times, not really awake yet. Then she realized she'd been asked a question. "S-sure Naruto-kun." Hinata replied. "Well come on, let's go!" Naruto said, grabbing her hand and all but dragging her out the door, Iruka close at there heels.
As the trio made there way into town, Hinata's brain slowly started working again, taking things in small steps. The first thing that came through was. 'Naruto-kun likes me!' Shortly after that came the thought of 'And he noticed the headband!' then her thoughts started to catch up with the here and now her. 'Naruto-kun invited me out to celebrate with him and Iruka, could it be considered an...unorthodox date!' Now she was slightly ecstatic. 'And to top it all off...HE'S HOLDING MY HAND! This is the best day of my life.' Hinata thought. Blushing somewhat, she looked up at Naruto and noticed something was different. 'Hey, he's not wearing his glasses...He's using his headband as a blindfold? How can he see where he's going?' Hinata wandered as Naruto wove there way through the busy street.
'What's with all the glares?' Hinata thought. At first she thought they were directed at her which caused her to shrink under there gaze somewhat. Then she noticed that they were actually glaring at Naruto, though he didn't seem to notice (aside from the fact that he's blindfolded). "N-naruto-kun, why is e-everyone glaring at you?" Hinata asked. Naruto's face fell for a moment, and it seemed like he was thinking.
'What should I tell her?' Damn, I knew we should have taken the roofs instead of the street.' Naruto thought to himself. 'Well, I don't want to tell her about Kyyubi... not to mention she's probably curious about the blindfold. And if she's ever used the byakugan on me before, she'll be curious about the gen-jutsu too. I know Hinata's smart, she may very well be able to put this together herself even if I didn't tell her.' "I Don't wanna talk about it." Naruto muttered. Understanding she'd hit a touchy subject, Hinata let it drop for the time being, plus they were now at the Ramen stand. "Hey old man! One beef Ramen to start off with!" Naruto yelled, catching the chefs attention.
The chef looked to be in about his mid-forties, maybe his fifties. Though he looked like he was in good shape, perhaps an ex-ninja. He always squinted though, as if he was trying to see something while looking in the direction of the sun, his name was Teuchi. "Naruto! how ya doing boy? The chef asked. "Great, I finally got Gennin today! Naruto exclaimed. Oh, congratulations, this first bowl is on the house. The chef said. "This your girlfriend?" He teased, spotting Hinata. Said girl let out a small "Eep!" and started blushing. "This is Hinata-chan, and no, she isn't my girlfriend." Naruto said, introducing them to each other. Hinata seemed to be a bit disappointed though... Hello Naruto-kun!" said a girl. She had brown hair that went down to her shoulders and slightly brownish skin. She was older than Naruto and had a medium build with noticeable assets.
"Hey Ayame-Chan!" Naruto greeted. "Who is your friend Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked, eyeing Hinata carefully. "This is Hinata-chan." Naruto said, oblivious to the small staring match that had initiated. "Hinata-chan, this is Ayame-chan. Naruto introduced. "A pleasure to meet you." Ayame said, holding her hand out. Though she was thinking: "If you think your taking MY Naruto-kun away from me you got another thing coming'. "Likewise." Hinata said firmly, though she was thinking more along the lines of: 'Your not getting Naruto-kun unless it's over my dead body'. They took each others hands and started to squeeze harder than necessary.
Iruka had only been observing to this point and decided to start instigating, one of his favorite past times. And...it COULD also be payback for all the pranks Naruto had played on him. So, Iruka decided to play an ultimate prank on him, multiple girlfriends. "It's good to see you two get along so well, I'm sure your going to be seeing more of each other with Naruto dragging Hinata here every other day". Iruka said, getting a blush from Hinata and a crest-fallen look from Ayame. Teuchi, catching on to the game said. "Oh yes, this is Naruto's favorite place to be, him and Ayame are quite close." Now it was Hinata's turn to look crest-fallen and Ayame's turn to smile triumphantly. Teuchi set Naruto's order down in front of him and the gennin tore into it, oblivious to his surroundings.
'Time to go for the kill...' Iruka thought grinning like the chess shire cat. I wonder who will get the first date?" Iruka said. That was the last straw. " Hinata and ayame started to stare each other down, sizing each other up. 'Hook, line, and sinker.' Iruka thought, happily slurping away at his ramen. Teuchi however, decided to give one last poke. "Who knows, maybe he'll take both of them out." Teuchi said, wearing a grin to match Iruka's. Two light bulbs went off above the girls heads. "Share?" Ayame asked, giving a questionable look. Thinking to herself for a moment, Hinata weighed the pros and cons. 'Bad side...I have to share, that's really all there is...good side, I have an ally, one less enemy, someone who could help me setup a date with Naruto...' Hinata thought to herself. She came to a conclusion, smirking, Hinata nodded to and shook again, in a more...friendlier matter this time.
At this point in time, Naruto's wolf instincts kicked in, telling him he was in danger. Had he been able to see, he would have found Iruka and the old man looking like the cat who just swallowed the canary. Along with Ayame and Hinata who were looking at him with that dangerous glint in there eyes. Swallowing the noodles he had in his mouth, he said. "Did I miss something?" "Oh, nothing important Naruto-kun." Ayame said, grinning mischievously. Naruto's "GET THE HELL OUTA THERE!" sense was tingling, and it'd never been wrong before. But what could it be, he knew all the people there, and they were friendly, he trusted all of them... kinda. So, going against his better judgement he said. "Oh, ok!" And set back to work on his ramen.
'Poor bastard.' Iruka thought, slurping up the rest of his noodles. He almost felt sorry for him. Almost. This was Iruka's revenge for all those pranks. 'Heh, step 1: Start the chain, complete.' Iruka thought to himself. After the initial setup of Iruka's payback, The trio stayed for quite a bit. Hinata and Ayame talking amongst themselves, shooting conspiratorial glances at Naruto here and there, while Naruto, Iruka and Teuchi talked about gennin teams, old war/prank stories and the like. Now it was starting to get late and it was time for Naruto to head home.
"Well everyone, im having a blast and all, but it's getting late, Hinata and I have team assignments tomorrow." Naruto said "Oh, I completely forgot." Hinata said, standing up to leave. "Hey, you didn't stutter!" Naruto praised, giving her a smile. "I didn't? What ya' know?" Hinata said, smiling back. "Come on Hinata, I'll walk you back, since it was partly my fault your out late." Naruto said, walking out the curtain. Hinata nodded and bade goodbye to her new friend Ayame, Iruka, and Teuchi. Iruka left the opposite way to go back to his house leaving Hinata and Naruto alone. The two started walking.
The streets weren't nearly empty now that it was later in the day. The sun setting and casting a redish hue over the sky. The two neared the Hyyuga estate's gate and said they're goodbyes. Walking away back towards his apartment, Naruto heard a scuffle. Making his way silently over to the scene Naruto found Mizuki fighting a jounin. The jounin seemed to be out of her element some what, as if she usually didn't fight hand-to hand. Mizuki had the upper hand in the fight since the jounin was trying to subdue him, yet not harm the scroll strapped to his back in the process. Naruto brought his hands together in the ram sign and focused. "Kawarmi no Jutsu." He muttered. There was a poof of smoke and Naruto had replaced himself with the scroll, surprising the two. Before Mizuki could act Naruto put his arms under Mizuki's and brought his hands up to mesh around the back of his neck, effectivly holding the chunnin from moving.
"Hey! I got him, now hurry up and finish him off before he get's loose." Naruto yelled, straining against Mizuki. The jounin nodded and pulled out a Kunai. Walking up to Mizuki calmly the jounin slit his throat, killing him instantly. The jounin was a woman who looked to be in her twenties somewhere, ir was hard to tell, she dressed like she was a younger, rebellious individual, wearing a outfit that looked to be made of medical tape. Yet she seemed older from the way she carried herself. She had black hair and red eyes, with a shapely body that showed through the tape.
"Thanks for the help... "Uzumaki Naruto". Naruto supplied, grinning slightly. The woman smiled back, recognizing him as the kyyubi container, he didn't seem that bad. "Thanks for the help Naruto-San, normally I wouldn't need it, but I couldn't risk putting him in a gen-jutsu and him flailing around and possibly harming the scroll." The woman said, frowning slightly. Anytime...""Yuhri Kurenai." Kurenai said. "Anytime Kurenai-San" Naruto replied. "Well, I gotta run, need to get some sleep before they pick teams tomorrow, tell Jiji I said hi." Naruto said as he walked away.'Hmm...weird kid, but nice. I wonder what was with the gen-jutsu he was using?' Kurenai wondered, strapping the scroll to her back and heading back to the tower. An ANBU team would come by sometime later to dispose of the body.
Naruto made it back to his apartment and unlocked the door. Stepping inside, he stopped and listened for a full ten minutes before moving again. He didn't want any "Surprises." Shutting his door and locking it, Naruto released his gen-jutsu and took a shower. Stepping out he put on his pajama's and slipped into bed, asleep nearly as soon as his head hit the pillow.