The way I write:

"I'm talking for no reason." For normal talking.

"I'm thinking in my head." For thoughts.

While I'm talking I might italicize something to show the way they talk and so on.

Jutsu's are bold. As well as emphasized word in thoughts, "I remembered something about melons."

[Me just putting in my random thoughts for y'all to see.] For author's thoughts.

WARNING: Definite Sasuke bashing! And like always Rated M for a reason.

Chapter 4

The Jonin felt sweat start to form underneath his head band as he paled in horror.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Umm…" Naruto was starting to get bored from the lack of response. "Totally worth him looking like that but, jeez, I didn't think that it would be that hard of a choice for him, I mean what pervert wouldn't hand over the bells and watch this awesome book burn instead?"

This threatening 'choice' was too grotesque, even for the seasoned Jonin.

Kakashi was rooted to the spot at the imaginary appalling scene that kept playing in his head. A burning precious. He shook his head. He couldn't have that, not when he was around to stop the horrors. "What kind of person would do that to that precious book of wonders? To even think of burning it… He has to be a sadist."

The look of consternation mixed with horror didn't leave Kakashi's face as he decided what to do. He quickly came to the obvious conclusion when Sasuke looked like he was going to light Icha Icha on fire without the go ahead from Naruto.

"Right, here you go!" Kakashi-sensei hastily handed the bells over to Naruto's outstretched hand.

Naruto smiled happily and said, "Thank you sensei!" He put the Icha Icha Paradise: Playland back in his kunai pouch and Sasuke stopped his jutsu, stepping away from Naruto in slight disgust that he had to work together with him.

Kakashi suppressed a shiver to what his new student was clearly capable of and he waved his hand dismissively. "No problem." "I'd do anything for my precious." [Obsessive much? Yes. A pushover? No. Except when it comes to the precious. -_-]

"So do we pass the test then?"

"Yes…" Kakashi replied. This was not exactly how he thought the test would go but, whatever works.

"Yes!" Naruto jumped in the air in excitement. Sasuke "hmph'd" as if it was expected that he would pass, while Hinata smiled in relief.

"I assume you realized the point of the test then?"

"T-teamwork." Hinata said softly.

"Mmhmm." Kakashi nodded.

"Don't think we need these anymore then." Naruto handed the bells he got from sensei back.

The blonde nearly exploded with excitement when a thought crossed his mind.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei! Let's celebrate with Ichiraku's!"

"Umm…"

"Come on. It's a good bonding experience for the team." He said logically.

"I guess." Kakashi consented.

"Awesome! 'Kay Kakashi-sensei's buying, let's go guys!" He ran off in a cloud of dust. Hinata and Sasuke followed, but not quite as quickly.

Kakashi sighed, while thinking "If he eats more than three bowls…" He smiled. "He reminds me a lot of sensei."

A leaf shaking in a breeze alerted him to the presence of another person. The one eyed Jonin turned his head in the direction of the person.

"Kakashi-sensei."

"Weren't you going to get ramen?"

The only sound was of creaking trees, animal rustlings and the crackle of dry leaves in the wind.

"…Just so you know I don't like it when people lie to me sensei." He said in a serious tone. "…. Or when people tell me not to eat food…" He added pointedly. "There are severe consequences to that one."

"Ohh, shit." Kakashi smacked himself mentally, "Totally forgot about that incident with the Hokage."

"Duly noted." He eye smiled.

"Glad you noted it."

"I'm glad you're glad that I noted it… In my head…"

"I'm glad that you're glad that I'm glad that you noted it… In your head." Naruto grinned mischievously, he loved these games. "Fucking love them, fuckin' love them, Fuckin' love them! Hahaha get it? Wait, I said that inside my head…" He shook his head; he was really starting to think weirdly.

Kakashi's eye squinted in concern of Naruto's mental health, "But then again you deal with your life with a book… Hey don't insult the precious!"

"Moving on." The silver haired ninja said for both to his and Naruto's sakes.

Naruto pulled his hand out of his pocket with the sound of a tingle of bells and held out his hand in front of his sensei.

Kakashi's eye widened slightly and took out his two bells, analyzing them. He saw no difference, but then when he squeezed them to check if they were the same metal they burst into smoke. He was surprised to say the least.

"Go ahead and take them."

He regained them uncertainly. "When the hell did you do this?"

"When I first attacked you, I grabbed them and replaced them with transformed shadow clones." He smiled and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment when Kakashi-sensei looked bemused.

"I don't think I would have even come up with that plan' —if you can call it that—for my bell test against sensei. It subtly showed off some of his skills to me and then with another plan used his team members to the fullest to show me their abilities as well. Without even having to worry about getting the actual bells since he had them all along. He could easily be a Chunin by now. I didn't even have to work a lot to learn each student's strengths and weaknesses. Now that I think about it I definitely need to work on my speed more."

"Hmm…Smart plan, Naruto."

"Thanks. Now let's get some ramen!"

Kakashi nodded absentmindedly while Naruto started running again.

Hinata's hair on the back of her neck was standing up. She could feel a stare from her new team mate and it was making her more nervous than usual. "Kami, where's Naruto?"

She couldn't see the dust cloud he left behind in his wake anymore. She poked her forefingers together in apprehension and then peeked over at the brooding team mate beside her. She suppressed a shiver. That look was not the look she wanted from a team mate that she will have to work with later on. His eyes were shifted so that he could watch her backside. A look of desire, of lust. She flung her eyes straight forward in dismay.

"Damn, that ass is firm. Nice and wide hips, indicative of a woman capable of healthy childbirth. Very good." [Creepy bastard. I know I made him that way. -_-]

Sasuke stealthily positioned his body partially behind hers. He wanted to touch her, badly. When he saw a rock in the ground he swallowed his Uchiha pride and for the sake of 'reviving his clan', he tripped. Right on Hinata.

His falling body pulled her with him. She caught herself on her hands and knees scratching them against gravel. Blood oozed from the tears in her pale skin. She felt a hand squeeze her butt firmly and a lingering caress over to her hip, and then fingers spread to push off her. Shocked at first by the boys actions, she almost gagged in disgust at what Sasuke was doing; covering up a grope of her butt with the excuse of getting up from a fall. She scrambled to her feet—in anger at herself of course— "I can't believe I-I let another man beside N-naruto touch me so i-intimately!" She yelled at herself mentally. She winced when she felt the cuts on her knees twitch with her movement.

"Ah, sorry." Sasuke said smoothly, back on his feet.

Hinata nodded rigidly in response even though he didn't sound in the least apologetic for what he did to her. She kept walking, briskly and farther away from him now, while he glanced at his right hand several times.

No one had ever tried to grab her butt before and she was reacting slightly skittishly whenever she passed a male on her way to the ramen stand. When a presence advancing quickly, hugged her, she nearly freaked out but smelled the familiar scent of forest spice and ramen. She turned around in his arms and hugged him on the verge of desperation, snuggling her face against his chest.

Naruto felt her stiffen when he hugged her but shrugged it off to the fact of how sudden he was.

"Sorry for surprising you, Hime. I got too excited." He whispered in her delicate ear.

"T-that's a-alright, N-naruto-kun." She shook her head into his chest and pulled back frowning. "B-but you left b-before us…?"

Naruto released her from his arms—much to her disappointment— rubbing the back on his neck while chuckling nervously. "Ah, well I wanted to talk with Kakashi-sensei about something."

Hinata hummed in response, she could tell he was hiding something but assumed it was for a good reason. Still shaking off the feeling of being touched on her backside she thought, "I wish Naruto-kun would run his hands over me to get rid of the feeling of Sasuke grabbing my butt—" She blushed furiously at the implications of the thought.

Naruto raised a wondering eyebrow at the blush of his best friend. Hinata shook her head in reply to the unspoken question. Naruto wanted to question further like he always did when it came to his favorite person, but a more pressing desire rumbled from his stomach.

Unabashed of the noise coming from his stomach, he gestured for Hinata to take a seat. Naruto was surprised when he watched her sit on the far right of the four seats in the ramen stand. He anticipated her sitting between the two male team mates to squander any fights that might break out—as was her way with things— but when Sasuke had indifferently settled on the right, beside himself, Hinata tensed. She found the will in her heart to be kind to everyone, which made it intriguing when he felt the dislike rolling off Hinata at the presence of Sasuke. "I wonder what happened." Naruto thought. His stomach growled again. "Eat now, ask later."

Kakashi came in and sat down when Naruto was halfway through his second bowl. Naruto raised his head toward him, "So you're even late to meals?"

"Maa, not really."

Naruto raised an eyebrow while slurping up noodles.

"Maybe…"

Naruto nodded his head in acknowledgement and team 7 busied themselves with eating their meal. After paying for his students meal Kakashi told them to meet him at the training ground at 7 a.m. and gave a friendly wave goodbye, Sasuke left without a word—unless you count a 'hn' as a word. Naruto and Hinata soon left the restaurant as well. Hinata walked quietly beside Naruto, rubbing her fingers over the cuts she got on her palms.

Wondering why she was quieter than usual, Naruto glanced over at Hinata. She kept brushing her hands across the scrapes on her hands and over her bottom—although she favored the left buttock more in the unconscious task. Raising an eyebrow at the odd behavior, he was about to ask why she was doing that when his eyes widened in thought, "Wait! Scrapes on her hands?!"

He darted a hand forward and gripped one of her pale wrists and brought it towards his face to investigate while ignoring the small 'eep' she gave in protest. If he had watched her face turn red he would have realized the 'eep' wasn't actually in protest but he was too focused on her injury to notice. After inspecting the cuts on the hand he was holding he pulled her over to an empty bench along the pavement and forced her to sit down in front of him. He knelt down and his eyes widened again when they scanned the rest of her body. More scratches as well as bruises covered her knees. Naruto exhaled in irritation at the marring of her snow white skin. He didn't exactly understand why it made him angry but he assumed it was because he didn't like his friend being hurt. He pulled out bandages from a scroll and applied them meticulously and as gently as possible.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I-I f-f-fell." Hinata stuttered blushing. He was still kneeling in front of her while resting his arms across her legs.

"Oh yeah?" He said in disbelief. Naruto could tell she was only telling half the truth, trying not to be too hard on her—because he did not like lies, even half-lies— he questioned her some more. "Does this have something to do with your recent dislike of Sasuke?"

Hinata's head turned away from him. A flicker of what looked to Naruto like shame passed over her face. He scrunched up his face in confusion. When she didn't respond, his irritation grew.

"I can't tell him; what if he doesn't want to be my friend anymore, what if he gets in a fight with Sasuke, what if—" Hinata's thoughts were interrupted by a hand cupping her chin. She turned her face back towards Naruto's to look at his face. She wanted to shiver, but forcibly didn't. His normally light blue eyes were turning darker by the second.

"Tell me now." His grip on her chin tightened without him realizing.

She couldn't break her gaze from his, her body trembled. She answered with a shaky voice. "S-sasuke just t-t-tripped and p-pushed me t-to the g-ground."

"That doesn't explain your dislike of him, Hinata." Naruto said almost coldly.

Hinata swallowed.

"W-when he t-tripped, w-well he f-fell on m-me." Hinata tried to emphasize the act.

He narrowed his eyes in contemplation. "And?"

She stifled her shame and embarrassment to answer, Naruto's trust was way more important.

"A-and he… t-t-t-touched m-my b-butt." She forced herself to say.

Naruto's hands moved from their original positions to grip above her knees. His gaze turned icy as he asked, "Touched accidentally or touched as in 'felt up'?"

Tears gathered in her eyes blurring her vision.

Naruto growled ominously and wrapped his arms around her delicate frame tenderly. "Sasuke's going to regret doing that. No one touches my Hime without permission." His thoughts were so clouded Naruto couldn't figure out if he meant permission from himself or Hinata when he said that.

Hinata clutched his chest for comfort. Fearfully she asked, "Y-you aren't g-going to do a-anything b-b-bad to him, a-are you?"

Naruto hummed in response. She decided not to ask any more on the subject. He pulled away from the embrace and sat down beside her.

Still cooling down from his anger he said, "This is part of the reason why I wanted to talk to you, Hime." She looked at him questioningly. He chuckled darkly. "Still way to naïve for a ninja."

"You remember what you told me this morning? About the bastard and I being more focused on training?"

She nodded.

"All guys are going to notice you, even if we're training, in fact we might be more focused on you than we would usually because we are taking in our surroundings like any ninja would. I appreciate that you feel comfortable enough around me to wear that, but I am a man, and I have the same desires and urges just as any other guy does. All guys are gonna be distracted by that much skin, especially a guy who isn't your friend, like Sasuke. So I would recommend not wearing something as form fitting as you are unless you want to attract attention from every guy out there." "Especially since you have an excellent body...Whoa, cancel that thought right now."

"Oh no he was distracted by me?... But wait doesn't that mean he finds me attractive?"

"Besides, you might scratch your skin more often if you wear shorts, I mean you are a ninja." "Then again you are a ninja, and usually are more graceful so it shouldn't matter what you wear."

"I'm s-sorry I d-didn't know I w-was going to b-be such a p-problem by wear s-shorts." "Although the point of making Naruto-kun look at me differently worked, even though I didn't want what happened with Sasuke to happen as a result." "So I s-shouldn't wear t-these a-anymore?" Hinata nervously asked agreement.

"You can do whatever you like, I was just giving some advice, and don't worry about the Sasuke bastard. I'll protect you if you decide to wear the shorts anyway." Naruto smiled encouragingly. Then he tilted his head thoughtfully. "Although you probably shouldn't show anymore skin than you already are even if you are trying to go for a new look." "You would probably give a lot of guy's nosebleeds if you took off your coat, 'cuz you've got some awesome melons…Damn. Again?"

Naruto shook his head averting his gaze from where he had been staring at. Her chest. Thankfully she had been nervously poking her fingers together at the time.

"So anyways, ready to go home?" He asked.

She nodded hesitantly, not really willing to go home yet because she wanted to spend more time with Naruto but agreed nonetheless.

Naruto smiled brightly, "Alright, let's go then."

The best friends walked along the pavement and through the streets, while Naruto ignored the glares and Hinata frowned in confusion at the blatant hatred that was always directed toward him. Soon they were in the old sector of the village passing by huge estates until they arrived at the familiar Hyuuga compound gate that concealed within the whitewashed walls traditional Japanese houses.

Hinata sighed. She had to spar with her father tonight to show her improvement. Again.

The guards looked down their noses at Naruto, which he rolled his eyes at. "Do you enjoy having sticks shoved up your asses?" They didn't respond. "Ah well. Good bye Hinata-chan." He hugged her and watched her walk into the compound with a shy posture. Once he could watch her no more he left for his apartment, to get some shut eye before he thought up a plan for the Sasuke bastard.

Naruto's eyes flashed dangerously as a dark smile appeared on his usually kind face. "His right hand, right~?"

A/N:

Well, might've taken a while to get this chapter out but I got distracted with another story I'm writing... anyways well there ya go, hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. Maybe I should put a Warning for future Sasuke bashings...

WARNING: Definite future Sasuke bashing!

I don't know when the next chapter will come out since this Fall quarter is coming up pretty soon and I don't know when I'll have time... oh well... Hope you guys don't start hating me...

Again, reviews are appreciated but not needed.

Thanks for reading,

GFoY out.