Thar'n-Da S' Yin'tekai

A/N: I've decided to remove the sub-plot with the Hyuga Elders. Why? Because it makes no damn sense now that it was pointed out by a reviewer. Clan or no, the Elders can't do anything to Hinata that will affect her shinobi career because she is military now and the Hokage controls the military.

Chapter 3: Exams, Assholes and Teams

Naruto smiled as he carried Hinata on the way back to Konoha. Seems the excitement and late hour had taken its toll on the Hyūga heiress as she passed out shortly after they kissed, guess all the excitement tired her out. His smile widened as she snuggled into his chest, a soft barely audible snore coming from her slightly open lips. 'What did I do to earn such an angel?' Naruto quickened his pace as the gates came into view.

(Hyūga Compound, several hours later, Hinata's room)

Hinata was in her bed; sound asleep with a blissful smile. "Naruto-kun…" she mumbled dreamily but then bolted up from her bed. She looked around her room before falling back down with a disappointed sigh. "It was just a dream…" she whispered with tears just barely welling up in her eyes. But then she noticed a stuffed fox with a piece paper pinned to it on her nightstand and, with her curiosity peaked, she took the note.

"Dear Hinata-tenshi

Seeing as you fainted last night I thought I'd leave you a letter in case you thought it was all a dream.

I'm back. Your favorite blond, well former blond, is back home. I'm glad I came back when I did…if I had taken much longer I would have lost you before I could tell you how much I like you."

Hinata blushed as she kept reading.

"I bet it felt kind of random how one minute you were being kidnapped, the next a weirdo in armor takes out the kidnapper, and then after that you're kissing me. Well, I've had a HUGE crush on you since I first saw you, but because of the difference in social standing I didn't think I, the street rat village pariah, had a chance with you, the Hyuuga Princess.

Imagine my surprise when I see a video feed of you saying you feel the same way."

Again Hinata blushed the deepest cherry red with embarrassment; she can't believe he saw that!

"But enough teasing, I'm going to be joining the academy today and take the exams with you. Kami willing we'll be on the same team. Don't wait for me outside, just go ahead and act as if it were a normal day. I'm going to surprise the class when they see the 'dobe' return.

I'll see you in class.

Love Naruto "Slicing Maelstrom" Uzumaki.

P.S: You have a really cute little snore when you're sleeping."

Hinata's heart fluttered and she hugged the fox to her chest. Until her alarm clock went off and she bolted to her private bathroom to get ready for what was sure to be her best day at the academy.

After she washed she wondered if she should wear something a little different for Naruto as she rummaged through her closet.

That was when she pulled out a lighter lavender colored jacket that would go down to mid-thigh that would remain mostly unzipped, a black tank top that would show off a little bit of her stomach, a chainmesh shirt and slightly tighter fitting shinobi pants. Overall it would show of her figure a little bit without deviating far from her normal style.

(Konoha Shinobi Academy, a few minutes before class)

Naruto was crouching on the roof of the academy, cloaked from the naked eye thanks to his active camouflage. He shook his head as he saw two girls bickering, one platinum blond the other bubblegum pink, Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno, if he remembered correctly.

"Fat chance Forehead! I'm going to sit next to Sasuke-kun!" Ino exclaimed before bolting into the main building.

"Not if I get there first, Ino-pig!" Sakura screeched, quickly following after the blond.

Sasuke, Naruto frowned, he remembered him. His entire clan was murdered by his own brother and was purposely left alive. Naruto could sympathize with the guy's situation, left alone with no family. But that's where it ended. Sasuke believed that because he's the last Uchiha in the village, and because of what made that happen, entitled him to anything he wanted. And anyone that even tries to be his friend is met with rude comments and resentful glares.

"He will be put in his place soon." Naruto said to himself.

He had just missed Hinata as he re-centered his attention to the grounds.

Hinata was walking through the hall towards her class and she couldn't help but blush at the stars she was receiving from boys and girls alike.

While the girls gave her looks of jealousy, and general confusion for her sudden change in attire, most of the boys (and the occasional girl) gave her confused or hungry looks as she went down the hall, making her feel uncomfortable and self-conscious.

This was why she hid her figure under heavy jackets and baggy pants, she developed a bit faster and earlier than most her age and it embarrassed and frightened her to know that it would make her a target for hormonal boys that did they're thinking with the wrong "head."

But today was different. She would tough it out so she could see how her Naruto-kun would react.

As she entered her class she almost went neon red when all the students stopped what they were doing to stare at her. Like in the hall, all the girls gave her jealous or confused looks while the boys looked confused or hungry.

Taking a deep, calming breath, she kept walking and went up the isle to her seat, which had her passing a boy in blue and white with raven hair and onyx eyes.

Sasuke Uchiha smirked as he saw Hinata come near him. Out of all the girls he's known Hinata was probably the only one datable in his opinion but she was so weak he didn't bother…but with the new look she was sporting he could overlook that flaw.

With an arrogant smirk that was once common among Uchiha males He stood up and blocked Hinata's path to her seat. She looked startled and blushed as she noticed his gaze settle a bit lower than her face. "Hello Hinata. You look lovely today. How would you like to go out to dinner with me?"

Almost like a switch was flipped every fangirl in the room was glaring at Hinata, K.I radiating off them like the heat of an incinerator.

"Um…no thank you Sasuke-san, I'm waiting for my boyfriend to come in." Hinata's statement quelled the wrath of the fangirls but K.I began to leak from Sasuke. With a scoff he went back to his seat, his brood-meter reaching new heights.

"Wonder what fool would date a weakling like you?" The Uchiha commented rather childishly. Out of nowhere Sasuke bashed his head on his desk; he immediately shot back up rubbing his forehead.

All the boys in class snickered as Sasuke's two most…fanatical? Yeah, Fanatical fans Ino and Sakura rushed over to tend to "their Sasuke-kun."

By now Hinata was in her seat, thankful for the distraction. She felt a light tap on her shoulder and a presence near her ear. "I like your new outfit Hinata-chan." A familiar voice whispered in her ear but when she turned around there was no one there.

"QUITE DOWN!" a Chunin with a scar across his nose suddenly yelled as he entered the room. Like clockwork all the students bolted to their desks, even Ino and Sakura didn't fight over a seat near Sasuke as they had temporarily gained the commonsense and intelligence to see that there were two empty seats on either side of the object of their…affections.

"Now." Iruka Umino said in a much more subdued tone. "Before we start the exams I would like to tell you that a new student will be joining us today."

Students began shouting in protest. "But Iruka-sensei it's the very last day of academy training! Why does he get to skip all 8 years!" Sakura practically screamed like the psychotic pink banshee she was.

"That would be true under normal pretenses Sakura." Iruka said quitting down the class. "But 6 years ago he was taken in by a nomadic clan to be trained and has permission from the Hokage himself to take this year's Genin Exam. He has also proven his loyalty to the village yesterday by rescuing Hinata Hyūga from the traitor Mizuki Akuma who kidnapped her during his defection."

"Should have just let him take her." Sasuke mumbled and like before he suddenly banged his head into his desk for no apparent reason. Getting snickers from the boys and gasps from the fangirls.

Iruka raised an eyebrow at the rookie of the year's peculiar behavior when a knock came from the door. As Iruka went to answer the knock all eyes were on the door.

"Hello?" Iruka greeted as he opened it but there was no one there. But then Iruka heard something like electricity behind him and he turned to the front of the class to see a figure seem to appear out of nowhere. Like flames burning paper, light burned and rippled around the figure as more and more of him became visible.

His hair was black with highlights of blond on the tips and roots of the dreadlocks. His body was covered in gray layered armor with a black bodysuit underneath it and his face was obscured by a scared mask with an emblem of an insectoid reptile skull pierced by 2 spears on the forehead.

Slowly the boy plucked the tubes out of his mask before taking it off, giving the students a good look at the thick claw like fingernails, and clipped it to his belt. A collective gasp left the lips off all the students and teacher.

The boy's blue and green rimmed eyes opened, and as he smiled they could see the almost snake-like fangs were his upper and lower canines once were. "Nice to finally be back."

"Naruto!?" The entire class minus Hinata yelled out at once.

Naruto chuckled at the outburst. "Looks like I left an impression during the first 2 years of class."

"Naruto-baka is good enough to skip 6 years!?" a certain pink megaphone blared almost compromising the hearing of everyone in a 50 foot radius.

"Yes apparently." Iruka answered while picking his ear and checking it for blood.

"But he's the Dead Last!"

"He took out a Chunin. Now shut up and quit whining, you're a shinobi in training act like it!"

Sakura shut her mouth and sat back down. Iruka turned to the former blond and smiled. "It's good to have you back Naruto, you can take your seat now."

Naruto gave a nod before he began ascending the stairs to the upper most desks. He smiled at Hinata who blushed redder and redder as he neared her seat. Once Naruto was close enough he bent down and captured the Hyuuga's lips in a kiss earning wide eyes from the class. Hinata's eyes bugged and her blush intensified 10 fold but she returned it getting even wider eyes from the class before they broke it.

"No way, Naruto's your boyfriend!?" Ino exclaimed excitedly.

Hinata nodded while her blush seemed to reach neon levels.

"But how? When? He's been gone for 6 years and only just returned."

"Um…last night when he s-saved me."

"Enough chit-chat…!" Iruka interrupted. "We have exams to take and we don't have time for delays."

And with that Iruka began calling out students one by one in alphabetical order by their last names. "Shino Aburame!" A boy with spiky brown hair, round rim sunglasses and a coat that hid his face stood up and walked into the exam room.

"How have you been these past 6 years Hinata? We haven't had a chance to talk." Naruto asked his Hyūga princess.

Hinata was caught a little off guard but answered. "Well, um, I've been training really hard with my father; I was having a lot of difficulty with the traditional style of the Jyuuken because I have a water type chakra affinity instead of the earth type most Hyūga have, so we found a way to adapt it to a water type." Hinata looked down. "The Elders didn't like that. They said I couldn't learn the traditional style because I was being lazy and soft and the Hyūga don't need to change to adapt."

"Idiots." Naruto commented getting a wide eyed stare from Hinata and the students eavesdropping. "Anyone that refuses to evolve is just going to get themselves and others killed." Hinata looked at Naruto as if a small hideous creature burst out his chest. "Well…anyway why don't you tell me how your family has been, your immediate family not the clan."

"Well. I've gotten closer to my father over the last 6 years. It's almost like before…before mother died." She said the last part sadly and Naruto kicked himself.

"Sorry I didn't mean to bring up any soar memories." Naruto apologized.

"No, no it's alright. I just miss her." Hinata then went back to the previous subject. "I've gotten closer to my Imōto, Hanabi. Before we were kind off distant but now we hang out and talk." Hinata smiled, she has never been closer to her sister and father, her smile dimmed a little though when she remembered how her cousin Neji still resented her though she decided to not mention him just yet. "How was your time with the…um…what were they?"

"They call themselves the Yautja but Predators works to." Naruto began getting the attention of the eavesdroppers and a certain Uchiha. "They spend most of they're time hunting or looking for something worthy of hunting. Humans are a favorite." Naruto said the last part just loud enough for the eavesdroppers to hear and scare them. "But don't worry, they won't attack anyone or anything that can't hurt them back, and the Hokage is working on a treaty with them for exactly who they can hunt." He added more for Hinata's benefit than the others. "They're training was brutal to say the least. They had to give me transfusions of they're blood just to toughen me up enough to survive it, hence the claws, fangs and hair. I had to earn the weapons I use after I learned how to use them, either through a gladiatorial battle in an arena filled with hostile creatures or a hunting trip. But I had fun too. Elder Dark has told lots of good hunting stories."

"Hinata Hyūga!"

Hinata jumped slightly at the sudden call of her name; she reluctantly she got up from her seat and followed Iruka to the examination room.

As soon as Hinata went past the doors Sasuke Uchiha was standing beside Naruto's seat, glaring holes into him.

"What happened to you." It was a demand, not a question.

Naruto returned the glare, his feral eyes giving his a far more intimidating edge. "What makes you think I should tell you?"

"Because I'm an Uchiha, and your street trash." Sasuke said as if it was obvious.

"So I should treat you with the respect you deserve?" Now he was just playing dumb, loving the annoyed expression on the stuck up pricks face.

"Yes…" the prick strained.

"Well in that case…" Naruto said with a grin. "Kiss my ass!"

Sasuke's face turned the loveliest shade of purple as his anger rose, Naruto absently wondered if he was going to have a stroke when Hinata came back looking confused at the two.

Sasuke composed himself and left.

Naruto looked at the headband hanging gently from Hinata's graceful neck and flashed his fangs at her. "Good job Tenshi-chan."

Hinata blushed, playing with her fingers in that adorable manner.

"So…ya wanna go out after class?" Naruto asked out of the blue.

"Huh!? W-w-well umm…sure." She answered awkwardly, her fingers almost a blur as her nervousness rose to new heights.

Naruto chuckled at the reply. "Great! I'll take you to an old favorite of mine, then you can pick were we go after words. Sound alright?" Getting a nod from Hinata, Naruto grinned and was about to put his arm around her shoulders when…

"Naruto Uzumaki!" Iruka called earning an irritated sigh from Naruto and a slight pout from Hinata.

*Swish*

A small object flew through the air and Naruto caught it without missing a beat. He opened his hand and saw it was a head band, the swirling leaf in the center of the semi-flexible plate.

"Hokage-sama said you don't need to take the graduation exam since you took out Mizuki one-on-one. Said if you can kill a high chunin you can be a genin." Iruka explained before continuing the exams. Nodding, Naruto took out the plate and clipped it to his belt.

As Naruto and Hinata waited for the exams to end Sakura Haruno marched over to the pair and placed her fists on her hips, trying and failing to intimidate the young Predator.

"You think you're so cool, don't you baka, what makes you so special?" She questioned rudely, glaring Naruto down as if she could destroy him with a thought.

Naruto gave the rosette a bored, but critical glance. Sakura couldn't help a cold shiver run down her spine, those eyes seemed to study every aspect of her, as if she were stripped bare upon a lab table and examined from every angle.

After what felt like hours, but in reality were only seconds, the blond spoke. "I don't think I'm anything Haruno, I simply trained hard and worked my way up. I was able to skip 6 years was because of my practical skills, nothing more nothing less, and you have no say in the matter, the Hokage himself allowed this and his word is absolute." Naruto stood up, towering over Sakura like a mountain of meat and leaned over until his was face to face with the girl. "So would you kindly shut the hell up and leave me alone." It was a demand, not a request and the terrified rosette could only nod in affirmation before shakily returning to her seat.

"Alright!" Iruka called out gaining the classes attention. "That is it for the Genin Exams. I am proud of all of you that have passed and encourage those who didn't to persevere and try again next year, those who passed return here next week at 3pm for team assignments." He paused for a second for the students to digest what he said. "Now get the hell out of my classroom!" He exclaimed good naturedly.

The students jump in surprise before laughing and bolting out of the class like bats out of hell.

(Konoha Market District)

A furious blush was burning cross Hinata face as she walked down the street with Naruto, hand entwined with his.

Now, it wasn't the hand holding that was making Hinata so flustered but all the people staring at them.

Although, if you saw a small, cute, 5 foot 5 girl holding hands with a 6 foot 8 boy covered in layered armor with weapons of various shapes and sizes, animal skulls, and what looked like a mask hanging of his belt, you'd probably stare to.

Naruto either didn't know, or didn't care about the stares as they continued they're journey and deciding to try and do the same she asked towering blond. "Um, where are we going Naruto-kun?"

Naruto gave the shy girl a cheeky grin, which scared the hell out of passersby because of his freakishly long canines. "You'll see." He said teasingly. "Besides they'll want to see this." He added mysteriously.

After a few minutes of walking they approached none other than the modest Ichiraku Ramen Stand.

"A ramen stand?" Hinata inquired curiously.

A sheepish grin came to Naruto's face as he scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "Yeah, not the most romantic eatery, but I've known the owner and his daughter most of my life and they've been good to me. I thought I'd showoff my girlfriend to them." He finished with a teasing smile.

A blushing smile graced Hinata's lips, happy that Naruto called her his girlfriend.

Being the gentleman he was, Naruto pulled the privacy curtain that hung from the overhang of the building to chest level aside and let Hinata in first, she smiled gratefully as she entered and was soon joined her boyfriend.

With a mile long smile, Naruto called into the kitchen door from the counter. "Yo Teuchi-Jii-san Ayame-nee-chan!"

Two people poked they're heads from the beck room, a older man in his 40s and a young woman in her late teens probably 17 to 18, maybe 20.

"Ah, Naruto back already?" Teuchi greeted mirthfully.

"Who's your little friend Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked with a teasing smile causing the girl to turn red with embarrassment and the boy to gain a slight pink to his cheeks.

"Well, this is Hinata Hyūga, my girlfriend, Hinata-chan this is Teuchi Ichiraku and his daughter Ayame." Naruto introduced the three.

"Sunny Place, huh, that's a lovely name Hinata-san." Ayame complimented earning a bashful "than you" from the heiress.

The couple sat down and after a moment to read the menu ordered they're meal, 6 beefs for Naruto and a miso for Hinata.

After a few minutes of just talking about this and that Hinata noticed eight deep gashes carved into the counter on either side of her bowl, she noticed that if her hands were larger her fingers would glide through them perfectly.

"Um, Teuchi-san, what happened the counter top?" She asked curiously.

The elder Ichiraku examined the grooves along with his daughter.

"Oh, sorry about that Teuchi-jii-san." Naruto spoke up while sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "I couldn't help it."

"Naruto-kun, why did you do that!?" Hinata exclaimed loudly to her, but to anyone else would be normal speaking volume. It was kind of funny seeing her scold…well anyone actually, she was normally so reserved and polite but seeing such a small girl scolding such a large boy.

"Well, I was here yesterday catching up with the Hokage, when an Anbu reported your kidnapping. I was so mad; I carved up the counter with my nails without thinking and ran off to save you. Sorry again Teuchi-jii-san, I'll pay for the damages after I earn some money as a shinobi."

Hinata's slightly angry face softened immediately and she smiled at his concern for her, Teuchi waved of the apology dismissively. "Eh, don't worry about it kid, it's no big deal. A little sandblasting will fix it right up good as new."

After a while of talking Naruto paid they're bill and said they're goodbyes to Teuchi and Ayame. They were once again walking through the streets hand in hand.

"So where do you want to go Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked his lover.

Hinata adopted a thoughtful look, looking off into space with a finger on her chin, it was late into the evening and the sun was beginning to dip into the horizon. After a moment she looked up at Naruto and said. "Anywhere we can watch the sunset is fine with me."

The perfect spot instantly came to the forefront of the Ooman Predator's mind. He swept Hinata off her feet, who gave an "Eep!" in surprise, and leapt from roof to roof.

Naruto moved at a blistering speed that had Hinata looking in awe at the blurs off colors that she could just barely make out without activating her Byakugan, and he jumped so high without using chakra he could easily jump from the streets, clear one roof and land in the middle of the next roof.

It was not long before they reached Naruto's destination, the top of the Hokage Monument Mountain.

The pair sat on the Yondaime's head, Naruto's arm around Hinata's shoulder, and her head on his shoulder.

"Did you have good time Tenshi-chan?" Naruto asked as they looked toward the horizon, the sky turning a beautiful cascade of purple, orange, pink and blue.

Hinata blushed at the nickname, but nodded with a smile as she too looked at the sunset. "Emhm, I had fun and it was nice to meet the Ichirakus."

"Yeah, they have been good to me over the years."

Naruto waited for some kind of reply but got none, he felt Hinata shift and upon looking down at her, he saw her beautiful eyes looking into his, like pale lavender moons peering into his azure/viridian pools.

Neither knew when they started leaning closing the distance between they're lips, nor did they care, all they knew was that when they're lips met and molded into the other's was that it felt good, it felt right, like they were meant for this.

'It's good to be back." Naruto thought as he embraced the little woman with his large arms, and a smile formed on both they're faces.

(One week later)

Naruto and Hinata sat next to each other as they waited for the team assignments.

"I hope we get on the same team." Hinata said to Naruto, hugging his side as she did.

Naruto smiled as he rubbed and ruffled her hair affectionately. "Me too Tenshi-chan."

Iruka called for the class' attention and began reading off the team assignments. Naruto had decided to tune the man out until he heard his name.

"Team 7 will consist of Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, your sensei is Kakashi Hatake."

A slight wobble came to lower lip and tears began to swell up in her eyes. She sadly looked down at her desk. "We're not on the same team…" She whimpered out.

Naruto gently wrapped his giant arm around her shoulders and hugged her. "Hey…" He cooed. "It's okay. We might not be on the same team but we'll still get to see each other on our free time, and we might even get joint team missions together. It's not the end of the world." He said this gently and added a kiss to the top of her head for good measure.

Her boyfriend's word gave her some comfort and she smiled as she wiped away the unshed tears. 'Yes.' She thought. 'It's not the end of the world."