Rated M for Lemons Beginning Chapter III.

Pairings: NaruHina, NaruSaku, NaruTenten, Naru + anyone else I can fit into the story so in most ways a NaruHarem, though separate relationships for as long as I can keep them apart. Who knows, maybe a couple of the other likely lads might get a few of the girls (not Yaoi).
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Recognition.

I was going to write something witty about how I don't own Naruto here, but I forgot. It's true though, I don't own him, no really, even ask Jeff.

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All the main characters of Naruto strive for recognition, whether it be outsiders such as Naruto and Gaara who work toward acceptance, or those such as Hinata, Ino and Sakura who merely want to be acknowledged by the person they admire. Even the impenetrable Lee and stoic Neji have something to prove to the world.

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Naruto Felt elated

With the final destruction of Akatsuki and his subsequent ascension to the rank of Jounin, the self-confidence he felt through his role as a protector of the city was rising with each new day.

No longer did he hear the cries of derision from passers-by, or felt the hold hand of alienation rest upon his shoulder; instead, he was welcomed with gusto by those people whom he had once strived to extract even the slightest amount of recognition from.

While this newfound success had done nothing to improve his condition in the eyes of some of his more sceptical team-mates, Naruto was confident enough in his abilities to expect a gradual welcoming from even that shady, secluded, Shino.

He was sure that the opening stages of this process had already begun with some; subtle changes in the mannerisms of his cohorts suggested a newborn kindness towards him fuelled by his achievements.

Smiling at this as he walked nonchalantly toward the tall gates of Kohona, his blond hair swaying with his stride. Naruto's mind raced ahead, wondering why exactly the old lady had called him there, was it for some dangerous mission? Had a terrible fate befallen some small, neighbouring country or bandits attacked a caravan?

A bustle of voices made him pause, as they appeared to be originating from his destination; sensing an atmosphere of expectancy, he began a light jog to decrease the time arriving.

As he rounded the final corner he felt the eyes of the crowd fixate upon him, in them he recognised the faces of the various faces of those whom someone long ago had named the rookie nine.

God, those days were long behind him now, but he could still remember the embarrassment of having to take the Chunnin exam knowing full well the age difference between him and his 'opponents'.

Still, some of the little blighters had hurt.

The assembled heads were turned toward him, waiting expectantly for him to join them. It looked as if old lady Tsunade hadn't just called him to the fore, but everyone.

Man, thought Naruto, this must be bigger than I thought!

Conscious of the gaze of the others as they continued to wait, Naruto attempted to put on another burst of speed, which owing to unforeseen geological impediments, caused him to fall flat on his face.

Oh well, he thought. So much for dignity.

Dusting himself off, and surreptitiously sneaking in between a couple of other Kohona Jounins, Naruto focussed his attention onto the speaker, none other than his mentor, Hatake Kakashi.

While he had unfortunately come in late, he was able to piece together from the remaining conversation almost exactly what had happened.

Apparently the two eldest sons of the Country of Seed had both laid claim to the newly open throne of their dead father. Custom in the Land of Seed was for the eldest father to pass on the lineage with the possession of a signet ring, and whoever held the ring at his demise was scheduled for the throne.

However, with the Daimyo's early demise from heart failure, his two sons had brought arms against each other in the hope of intimidating the other into backing down. As neither was prepared to, it was feared that the country, one of Kohona's major food suppliers, could be overwhelmed by the infighting.

"This mission is not a simple task," reported Kakashi, "there are two opposing hostile armies poised to strike, and we are scheduled to broker a peace treaty, to which I'm sure the leaders won't be too pleased to see. That is why I am asking for volunteers to attend this mission under my supervision. Not all who volunteer will make the team, but I cannot force any of you to attend".

There was a murmuring within the group; only a mission of extreme danger would require voluntary participation. It was unheard of in an elite ninja village to ask for volunteers. You were simply picked for the missions that you were thought capable of.

"Anyone? Ah…" Kakashi smiled, noticing the sea of hands emerging from the crowd, "I thought as much…right…you, you and you, come here. Ah Lee, just the man I wanted to see, you stand here".

That's weird, thought Naruto, Its almost as if he's attempting not to notice my hand at all…

"Neji? Brilliant…aha, I thought I saw you up the back there…" Naruto lit up, "Ino. I guess we should be taking a medical ninja, after all." He paused, silently calculating. "Right. That should be enough, lets get going then…yes Naruto?"

"Kakashi-sensei! What about me? Aren't you going to take me too?"

The grey-haired Jounin smiled, "Naruto, its not always about you…besides, we still don't know just how crippled Akatsuki's associates are without them, and we need you and your…. burden…to stay firmly within the city walls.".

With that, he turned and ushered his new team into the surrounding forest while pulling out a small, dog-eared orange book.

Feeling dejected, Naruto decided to scan the faces of the remaining hopefuls. Luckily for him there were still one or two faces that he recognised wearing the same downcast expression, but it seemed that Kakashi had taken ninja known most to him, and the only familiar faces he could see were Chouji, Kiba and his dog, and that weird Hinata girl who caught his eye and hurriedly looked away, fingertips touching slightly.

Sadness swelling inside of him at Kakashi's rejection, he strove to appear euphoric as he sidled up to Akamaru and began to idly scratch his head.

"Phew, glad I didn't get picked for that one, eh Chouji, Kiba?".

"What are you talking about?" Chouji's mouth gaped open, "I'm pissed I wasn't invited, aren't you?"

"A little", conceded Naruto, "But at least I'll be able to spend some time training without all those troublesome distractions…"

"Heh, you sound just like Shikamaru when you say that", laughed Chouji.

Even Shikamaru volunteered, the thought rising unbidden to his head, I guess I still have something left to prove after all…

Instead he said, "Hey, you guys want to help train with me?" and knew straight away from the look that flashed between them what the answer would be.

"Sorry, bud, but we already had something planned…" chuckled Kiba, as Chouji nodded. "We were going to go out to training ground 37, been planning it all week".

"The two-man survival course?" inquired Naruto.

"Yeah" said Kiba. Then, feeling something else needed to be said, "sorry".

"Don't be", Said Naruto, "I'll just go train by myself then".

A barely perceptible noise, like a clearing of the throat, made him turn around. Hinata, blushing furiously under his stare, was muttering something under her breath.

"Mumblemumble could train with you…" she said, only raising her voice to audible tones mid-sentence.

"Sorry?'

"I could mumblemumblemumble….".

"What?"

"I said I could train with you if you wanted, Naruto-kun".

Hinata looked expectant, almost ready to turn tail and run. She looked acceptant of rejection without even hearing the answer, steeling herself for what must have been for her the inevitable. Head bowed and shoulders sagging, she seemed ashamed for even asking such a ridiculous question.

"Uh…" Naruto looked hesitant, unsure of how to take the combination of her outgoing offer and retreat back into brooding, "Sure, Hinata!"

Hinata's pupil-less eyes flew open, and stiffening visibly she slowly arched her neck back up to a level height, "Really?" she managed.

"Sure! Just make sure you can keep up with my energy!" Naruto smiled.

Something akin to a flame lit in Hinata's eyes. Not fuelled by anger, but by a determination for recognition. Naruto, of course, was still too wrapped up in his own wit to see this himself, and merely motioned Hinata to come with him.

Remaining silent as they fell in step, Hinata found that it was up to her to break the long silence that fell over the pair.

She was always unsure of what to do in these circumstances, she could never find the correct words to fit in the conversation like others seemed to so easily, and she could not even surmise whether this long expanse of noiselessness was an uncomfortable silence that she should be breaking, or a peaceful lull which she should be enjoying. She settled for uncomfortable silence.

"N…N...Naruto-Kun?" she swallowed, and allowed the rest of the sentence to emerge, "What kind of training will we be doing today?"

Snapping out of his daydream, Naruto began to think of a schedule, "to be honest, Hinata, I don't really know. Come to think of it, I'm really unsure, what do you want to do?"

Freedom of choice had never been one of Hinata's strong points. "Umm…" she stuttered, "Umm…lets just go to a training ground…and see what happens from there".

"Spontaneity, I like that," grinned Naruto, causing Hinata to blush a peculiar shade of crimson.

"Are you sure you're not running a fever?"

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Hinata stood erect, her eyes searching for a trace of the boy in the orange tracksuit. The absence of noise in the nearby vicinity caused her to suspect foul play.

"Byakugan!" she said, dodging the attack of the approaching Shadow Clone and causing it to disappear in a cloud of smoke.

Pirouetting sharply, she deflected the kunai of a second and sent her own blade whirring into the chest of a third before jumping backward into the branches of a nearby tree for cover.

Panting slightly, she turned off her Byakugan to conserve energy. Not that she would need it anyway; Naruto's tactics up until this point had been angled to take an easy approach to her.

He rarely fought himself, instead trusting his Shadow Clones to provide enough training for her. Still, she knew she could find and defeat him, if only to prove herself strong in his eyes.

Switching her Byakugan on once again, she dispatched the remaining clones with ease and scanned her surroundings for the telltale vision of the true Naruto.

Light becomes tangible and the movements of the forest grow to a crescendo as the skies become grey and life a burst of blue. The Byakugan searches, guided by the young woman, and rests lightly upon the silver forehead protector of a figure lying prone in between trees. With his hands raised behind his head in a position of relaxation, the seeker cannot repress a downward tug on her smile. He thinks her nothing but a child among giants, but she is eager to remedy this and soars back through the scrub to rest in her own body again.

Fists clenched, ashamed that Naruto thought she was dragging him down, Hinata leapt from the branch, leaving a gust and a pile of leaves in her wake.

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Stretching as if at leisure, Naruto reached behind his head. Extracting a small rock, he threw it sharply at the ground and slung his pack underneath his head for comfort.

While he applauded Hinata's bravery at asking him to train, he couldn't help but feel she was impeding him.

Judging from the information he'd collected with his clones she hadn't even dealt with that second party he had sent out after his first attempt had been defeated.

Now he came to think about it, there had only been one or two occasions when Hinata had ever talked to him directly, albeit only a few that his memory could provide of the girl that he hardly knew.

There had been that time, half remembered, at those original Chunnin exams, so long ago. He'd vowed to avenge her after her defeat at the hands of Neji.

After that she seemed to become even more reclusive if that were possible, though. It was like even an acknowledgment from him ashamed and even embarrassed her.

A rustle in the bushes overhead caused him to flinch; doubtless, it was his Kage Bushin reporting back to him. His suspicions were confirmed when an orange jumpsuit sporting figure stepped smartly out from the trees.

The figure seemed ill, walking slowly with a scarlet face, chest heaving as it wound its way back to the reclining Naruto. Remembering the words of Kakashi-Sensai, Naruto removed the jitsu binding the clone to the material world in order to extract its information.

Try as he might, however, the clone would not disperse. It was as if his strength had been sapped from him, unless….

A faint whirr caused Naruto to duck as twin blades thrown from the clone sliced the air next to his chest and pinned his arms to the tree behind him.

"Hinata!" he realised, as the smoke dissolved to reveal her standing where the clone had been seconds ago.

"…I'm…sorry, N-Naruto-kun" stammered the girl, obviously distraught with causing such a humiliation to Naruto as defeating him.

She ran to him and removed the trapping daggers as her eyes grew cloudy again, preparing for some scathing remark, some cry of dismissal that would lower her efforts to the extent of beginners luck.

"Well Hinata, it looks like you've beaten me fair and square, eh?" said Naruto, elbow arched, rubbing the back of his neck. "When did you get so good then?"

Too shocked for words, Hinata could only stare at the ground in shock, Naruto-kun had recognised her efforts, her devotion to the pursuit of confidence that he himself had began for her. She moved forward to thank him but tripped over an upturned root.

Quick as a flash, Naruto was holding the distraught Hinata in his arms. She looked up at him and almost passed out from his proximity. She could see ever detail of his strangely fox-like face, his piercing blue eyes, even felt his breath upon her cheek.

Propping he upright again, Naruto laughed. "Well, I guess that makes us about even then, Heh. Though I guess I'll have to do this more often" he paused, then smiled. "I had some fun today Hinata, I hope you did too".

Hinata could only stare at the ground.

As he packed up his things, Hinata turned upwards, regaining that same blazing look as before, advancing upon him.

Her pupiless eyes, lit with such an inner flame, nevertheless faltered and died as she moved nearer and nearer to Naruto.

Finally arriving, but with none of her former zest, she kissed him clumsily and quickly on the lips while he was turning and sped away into the forest.

Tried to, anyway. After she drew away the intoxicating aura of the one she admired filled her consciousness, and with a sigh, she turned, ran till she was sure Naruto could no longer see her, and plunged headlong into an ecstatic faint.

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Le Edn. (Of 1st chapter)

The continuity of the next few chapters will revolve around Naruto's 'changing' romantic attitudes, influenced by Hinata's kiss and Naruto's subsequent jump in self-confidence in regards to women and his own sex appeal.
Hinata will reappear at a later date, but the next few chapters will revolve around Naruto's attempts at wooing the other ladies of Kohona.
Expect NaruSaku, NaruTenten, and NaruIno, maybe even something like a NaruFemaleJounins, NaruTemari or even parallel running ShikaTemari chapter(s) or the like if I can get motivated :-p (unlikely…).

Basically it will be NaruHarem with maybe some of the other boys gettin' some too.
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On any reviews I may be honoured to receive:

Suggestions I would really love to hear would be pairings for later chapters or perhaps feedback and constructive criticism. I have some ideas for later chapters, but beyond obvious decisions (Sakura\ -Sasuke- \Ino etc.) I would love to see opinions on which parings you think might work, or even challenge existing obvious ones.

Sasuke will probably not appear, unless I'm reprimanded by reviews for this statement.

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Stay tuned, that's NOT all, folks,

Arboreal Verdance.