Never Alone Part 1.

Never Alone by Hazy Vision

Naruto© does not belong to me and I do not make money from this fan fiction.

“” = talking
‘’ = thinking
Bold Italics = Kyuubi talking in Naruto’s head

Prologue

6:30 A.M. October 10 (morning after the attack on Konoha)

The smoke cleared, but the smell of blood lingered in the air as a shinobi came upon a bundle wrapped in the tattered robes of the Forth Hokage. The white haired ninja had seen the Fourth seal the Kyuubi; he now stood before the bundle as the wail of a child filled the morning air. As he came near he saw a patch of blonde hair and a small face with thin markings shaped like whiskers appearing along the child’s face and the red fading from his eyes which were now a cerulean blue. He lifted the child and rocked him in his arms and just stared into the eyes of the child in his arms.
The white haired shinobi stood in a clearing holding a bundle in his arms, the blonde hair poking out of the clothe wrapping. He had heard of the Kyuubi’s proximity to the village hidden in the leaves, Konoha was in trouble and as a leaf Nin he had a responsibility to help. He had reached the village as the fighting stopped, it was daybreak and the Sannin came across the clearing to find a child in the midst of all the destruction.
“Jiraiya is that you?” asked an old voice behind the Nin who he had already known was in the area.
“Yes it is, Sarutobi-sensei. Is this who I think it is?” spoke Jiraiya as he held up the child he had been holding.
“Yes, it’s the Fourth’s son and the container used for the sealing of the Kyuubi. His name is to be Uzumaki Naruto it’s what his parents wanted to name him. But as you can see, his father gave his life for the village to seal the Nine-Tale Fox and his mother died in childbirth.” spoke the man surrounded by four ANBU Elite guards.
“I will take him.” said Jiraiya without so much as a thought as the toddler Naruto held a firm grip on the shinobi’s index finger.
“Jiraiya I would like to thank you for doing this so soon after the attack. I had hoped for a good home for him and believe you to be a good man, but he belongs in Konoha.” spoke the old man.
“I know first hand how this village treats orphans, but what if the people believe that Naruto is the Kyuubi in human form they will never trust him and no one will take him in.” stated the long haired shinobi,” Besides you, Tsunade, and even Orochimaru had always told me to grow up.” spoke Jiraiya.
“I will let you take him as long as you bring him here to take the shinobi exam twelve years from now. And if he wishes he can stay to take the other exams to rank up but between exams he must be a resident of Konoha which means if he wishes he could take the Hokage exam by the time he is eighteen.” said the Hokage with a hint of hope on the tip of his tongue as he said those words.
“Sarutobi-sensei, I see the potential of this child and will raise him with all the knowledge I have. Even if it means he will not see this village for twelve years. He will go by only Naruto and not by his family name; Uzumaki from this day forward is a dead clan until he can inherit the family legacy. The boy will grow in power like no other.” emotions seethed from the eyes of the long haired shinobi, as he slowly began to walk away from the group of ANBU surrounding a frail looking old man.



Chapter I
The Summon of a Sannin’s protégé.


Twelve years later.

“If I’ve told you once I’ve told you a thousand times you can’t write a volume of Make-Out Paradise!” spoke the irritated voice of Jiraiya.
“Come on old man I am twelve years old, and I am the strongest shinobi next to you, and old lady Tsunade within all top five countries.” spoke the voice of a short blonde, with long hair looking like a miniature of Jiraiya except with a loud orange outfit.
“You will only write a volume over my…” Naruto’s face grew stern; Jiraiya just then sensed the chakra of a very powerful shinobi nearing fifty yards. ’I wonder if this is a messenger from Sarutobi, after all we just celebrated Naruto’s birthday three days ago‘.
“Hello Jiraiya-sama, I am…”, “I know who you are Copy ninja.” interrupted Jiraiya with a commanding voice. “Is that scroll from the Third?” asked the Sannin as he grabbed the object from the kneeling shinobi.
“Naruto, how would you like to visit the village hidden in the leaves?” asked Jiraiya with a smile on his face.
“You mean Konoha, the village with some of the strongest Nin in all of the countries? Of course I want to go, so I can finally find a rival that will challenge me.” The blonde shinobi began jumping up with excitement as the face of Jiraiya grew grim with the idea that he would no longer be traveling with his adopted son, his protégé, and his friend.
Naruto had caught a glimpse of Jiraiya as the look of sadness lingered in his face, but chose not to let his mind wander from the thought of making friends. He had not stayed in any place long enough to make friends what with Jiraiya’s “research” taking them to a lot of places around all the countries, mainly staying at inn’s with coed baths.
They were led by the silver haired shinobi, making camp after every other day. While taking a break from their running and walking down a long dirt road that led towards Konoha, they were blocked from their path by no less than twenty men most of them wearing headbands from different villages with a scratch across the symbols. After a brief talk in which they asked for the three shinobi’s money and belongings, one threw a kunai at Jiraiya but it was stopped by his hair surprising everyone except Naruto, who most likely had already known of the jutsu beforehand. The weapon bounced off of the hair but before the kunai hit the ground every one of the men blocking the way were immobilized; hitting the ground at the same time as the kunai that had been thrown.
There he stood, the silver-haired shinobi blinking very surprised at what he had just seen, or lack there of. He looked at Jiraiya and expected him to explain what happened, but Jiraiya just looked at Naruto who had a big smile on his face. ‘So it was the boy who took all those men down, I didn’t even see him do seals’ unless.’ These were the thoughts of the shinobi who now led them to gate of Konoha less than a mile and a half away; the top of a very large gate broke the horizon. “You can go ahead without us Copy Nin, I know where the Hokage’s office is.” spoke Jiraiya.
“Naruto, I have to tell you something that I have been holding from you since you were born. When you were born I was told by the Third Hokage to bring you to Konoha and for you to become a registered shinobi. I have enjoyed the past twelve years as your guardian and your surrogate father but Konoha is where you belong, it’s where your parents would have wanted you to live. I agreed to the plan of the Hokage and took you in as my protégé, but it is time for you to test to become a shinobi and the deal is that you become a resident of Konoha while you test. Your parents were very powerful ninja and lived to protect the village of Konoha; they hoped you too would have grown up to love the village as much as they did.” that same sadness creeping into Jiraiya’s voice.
“What are you trying to say Jiraiya?” a confused Naruto asked.
“I need to continue my search for that man I told you of and I need you to be the best ninja you can be, but to do that you need to stay in Konoha. Promise me Naruto, that you will stay in the village and take the tests. It’s been years since they changed the rules letting the tests take place only once a year, meaning you could become Hokage, only if you stay in Konoha.” Jiraiya spoke calmly to Naruto.
“I will go meet with the Hokage, but I want you to get yourself something to eat. If you need money go to the nearest bank and use these slips to withdraw whatever amount you believe to be fair.” spoke Jiraiya as he walked to the gates that lead into what was to be Naruto’s new home.
He thought he had enough in his frog shaped coin purse for something fair so he decided against going to the bank and wasn’t too hungry so he chose to walk around a bit to get the feel of the village. There were a lot of shops on Main Street, so he reminded himself where he could find certain things when he would shop. “Okay so there’s the weapon shop and there’s a grocer next to a flower shop. What I need to find is…” Naruto had tripped over a step he had not seen and fell onto someone he didn’t know, almost immediately getting up and apologizing as he helped that person up.
“I didn’t see you and I think I caught my foot on the step over there…” he stopped talking as his eyes met those of a raven haired girl whose eyes were light lavender and lacked pupils.
“No I’m sorry I’m so clumsy and…” she said in a hushed tone as she too met his eyes, her face began to blush as she stared into the blue eyes of a long haired blonde she had never seen in the village before. They stared at each other for a long time, which was until someone called out her name,” Hinata-sama we must return to the manor or your father will be cross” said a woman who seemed to be a handmaid of some sort. The girl turned and left; leaving Naruto there in what to passersby looked like a daze.’ Hinata, such a beautiful name, I’ll have to seek her out. I can tell this village will be a good place to live.’ A smile snuck out of the blonde’s face as he came across a street side ramen shop named Icharaku’s. The old man working there greeted him with a smile and the waitress said hello. He asked what Naruto would like and he told him he would like miso soup with as little vegetables as possible. “Do you know where I could find an apartment that’s not too cramped and is close to the shinobi training grounds?” asked a grateful but hungry Naruto who had been slurping soup as he spoke.
“Well there’s this apartment complex near here where my daughter” pointing at the waitress, “used to live. The landlord keeps to himself as long as you keep up with the rent, and it’s only a couple blocks from both the shops and the training grounds.” spoke the old man.
“Sorry for not introducing myself to you earlier, but the names Naruto and I am the strongest ninja in all of the five countries. I didn’t get your name old man.” asked Naruto finishing his second bowl.
“It’s Icharaku, and that is some claim you have there young man.” spoke Icharaku.
“Just stating the facts.” said Naruto finishing his fourth helping.
“Thanks for food and the conversation; how much will it be?” Naruto asked very politely as he pulled out a small coin purse shaped like a very large frog from his pocket.
“It’s on the house kid, since your new and all.” spoke Icharaku with a large smile.
The old man turned to check on the soups, he then turned back to find enough bills on the counter to pay for twenty bowls.

Naruto decide to find where this Hokage’s office was, and he knew he had been followed since before he had stepped into the village premises. He surprised the ANBU captain that was tailing him before the man knew he had disappeared. “Don’t freak out, but can you tell me where I could find the Hokage’s office.” spoke Naruto as he tapped the shoulder of the captain.
“Follow me, and keep up.” said the masked man as he sped of to the north.
Naruto more than kept up as they arrived, in front of a building with the insignia of the Hokage above the entrance. Naruto climbed the stairs and came up to an office on the top floor. He was told to wait by the receptionist, and he did not have to wait long since he was called in soon after he sat down. “There you are. We’ve been waiting for you for the last ten minutes.” spoke the easily recognizable Jiraiya. Naruto then saw why Jiraiya had said “We”; another man was in the office with them, odd since he had not sensed that the man was there. “Hello Naruto, I am the Third Hokage, and would like to personally welcome you to the village of Konoha as an official citizen just as soon as you sign this form.” spoke the old man standing behind the desk.
Naruto neared the desk and grabbed the pen from the Hokage, took one last glance at Jiraiya and signed the form. “Your parents would have been proud to know that you returned to Konoha after so many years.” spoke the Hokage.
“Let’s all get some sleep and we will see Jiraiya off tomorrow after a good breakfast. I would like to ask you if you have found a place to stay tonight.” asked the Hokage.
“A man told me of an apartment complex that’s pretty nice and I would like to see if I could move in as soon as I could, maybe tonight so as not to burden you; I could go get a lease signed without much trouble.” with that Naruto waited as Jiraiya spoke to the Third.

Minutes Earlier

“I’m here Sarutobi-sensei, but I told Naruto to go and get some thing to eat.” spoke the white haired shinobi.
“Did you tell him of what he will need to do if he wishes to be the best shinobi he can be?” spoke a man in a white robe that only a Hokage may wear.
“Yes and he agreed to the terms, but if you would allow it, I would not like you to tell Naruto how dangerous my mission is.” said Jiraiya with a gloomy look about his face.
“So you are still after Orochimaru, even after all these years?” said the old man in the robes.
“He has hidden himself very well over the years, and it’s gotten harder to get any information on the man.” spoke a tired sounding Sannin.
“Naruto’s home, and at the moment that is all that matters. It is good to know he is safe in the walls of Konoha.” spoke the Third
“Keep me informed and tell me if he’s happy, but please don’t trail him with ANBU because he will stop trusting you and you do not want him as an enemy. I trained him well, as if I was training my own son, and he will know if he is being followed and he will begin to distrust you and the village.” Jiraiya spoke with such certainty and sadness.

Present

“On a different topic, my new volume will be out in a month or so, and as always you will receive one of the first issues.” Jiraiya told the Third as Naruto could easily be seen eavesdropping. ‘Dirty old men and their perverted novels, always “Researching” they aren’t even all that interesting. If I wrote one they would all be bleeding out of their noses for weeks.’ thought Naruto as he simply watched the Third and Jiraiya talking about old man things.
“Old man, I’m going out to go get the apartment, if I don’t see you off I’ll write to you at the secret mail drop. Keep me in mind and comeback if you come up with a new technique to teach your apprentice.” with a large grin he vanished into thin air. He left the two old men to their catching up and laughter.
Naruto reached the complex at around six and spoke to the landlord, who after some convincing and the near emptying of a small frog shaped coin purse decided to lease out a small apartment to a minor. He left to go stock up on food from the grocery store the old man had told him of, but when he got there all that was left was ramen cups on a nearly empty shelf. He felt generous and took all of the ramen and left without taking his change which was about fifty dollars. He picked up a five gallon container of water at a well he had passed. He got to his new home and placed everything where it belonged, it was around nine, he wasn’t hungry so he decided on going to sleep so he could get a head start on the day ahead of him.
‘Have you come to ask me something child?’ spoke a low raspy voice.
‘I wanted to know what you think about living in one village for six years.’ thought Naruto as his figure stood before the cell, where “He” was kept, the Kyuubi no Kitsune who had explained why he was in Naruto when the boy was old enough to understand him.
‘It doesn’t really matter to me boy, why do you ask?’ said the deep voice in Naruto’s mind.
‘Other than the old man, you’re the only one I would listen to. Even though I’ve never told Jiraiya that you can talk to me, I still think you are a good source of advice. After all, what concerns me concerns you.’ thought the blonde boy still before the large cell.
‘As long as you don’t get yourself killed I’m fine with wherever you decide to stay.’ the loud voice sounding almost caring in its approving comment.
‘Now let me get some sleep we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow.’ his last thought barely a whisper in his mind as he drifted of into a deep slumber.


Chapter II
It starts today.


The sound of resistant groaning broke the silence of the apartment room, as the hand of a shinobi reached for the clock he had bought the night before. ‘What time is it?’ the sleepy-eyed shinobi thought as he lifted the frog shaped alarm clock. ”Nine thirty!!! I was supposed to be at the academy by nine o’clock. I hope the tests haven’t ended yet. And I thought today was going be a good day.” He spoke to himself as he rounded a corner lost in his thoughts, as he navigated the streets of Konoha and he ran into yet another person.
“You need not worry, because the beautiful green beast of Konoha does not bruise easily.” spoke the boy who Naruto had run into. He easily lifted Naruto to his feet without so much as a grunt, and helped brush some dirt off of Naruto’s clothing. As Naruto looked up he first noticed the boys’ bright orange legwarmers then the green leotard he was wearing and lastly his unique eyes. Naruto tried his best not to laugh but the eyebrows were the clincher, he burst out laughing. The boy just stood there as Naruto began rolling on the ground clutching his ribs and laughing. Again the boy helped Naruto up, this time introducing himself, “I am Rock Lee the beautiful green beast of Konoha, and I would like to apologize for bumping into you, and if you do not accept my apology I will do one thousand one armed pull ups!” said the emotional Rock Lee.
“It’s okay, after all it was my fault that I ran into you.” spoke Naruto apologizing and rubbing his hand behind his head. ”I have a favor to ask. Do you know where I could find the Gennin exam room, I’m kind of lost?” asked an awkward sounding Naruto.
“I will gladly escort you to the academy. Follow me.” spoke Lee.
With that they were off in the direction to the academy, hopping across roofs and street lamps as they went. Naruto could tell that Lee was testing his speed, with every step Lee’s pace grew, but Naruto stayed with him all the way to the academy.
“We’re here, the exam should be in the room down the hall from the entrance there would most likely be a line of others waiting to take the test along with you.” spoke Lee as a single bead of sweat rolled down his brow.
Naruto was last through the door as the teacher shut it, nearly losing his chance to become a full fledged shinobi. “Yamanaka Ino” asked the Chunnin with a scar above his nose, “Here.” spoke a platinum blonde girl fawning over a dark haired boy in the second row who earlier answered to Uchiha Sasuke when the teacher called out the name. The examiner ended with his name “Naruto.”. Obviously to the others, it had been written in at the last few moments because no one knew who the name belonged to. The teacher called Naruto to the front and told him to introduce himself, seeing as he will be teamed with any of the other people who are going to take the test. “My name is Naruto, and I just arrived here yesterday. Apparently I am now a resident of this lovely village, and I would like to be the best shinobi in all the counties.” spoke Naruto with a wide grin on his face.
Take your seats and I will call you to the exam room in a few moments. Naruto’s eyes fell upon a person he thought he never would have seen again, the hair the eyes, yes it was her the raven-haired girl from the incident when he had arrived. She was alone in the corner, and no one seemed to talk to her so he thought this was his only chance. “Hello, it’s me from before; on the street.” said the blonde boy to the lavender eyed girl who he was currently staring at. “I do remember you, but I had not gotten your name earlier.” she spoke in a muffled tone, yet with his sensitive hearing he had heard her just fine.
“I had heard your hand maid call you Hinata, and that name stayed with me till today.” as he said that Hinata blushed almost glowing like a police siren.
“Well since I’m new here I was thinking you might show me around town and maybe we could grab something to eat?” Naruto’s face also began to glow red seeing as he had never asked a girl out before and what he knew about women was what he read from the old mans novels and he couldn’t very well rely on those now.
“Yes.” the sound was faint but he still heard it and the girl smiled a shy smile. Naruto put on a really big smile and just looked at Hinata who he couldn’t believe had agreed to go out with him. “So what time would you like to go out?” asked the now red blonde boy clutching the back of his head pinching himself so as to see if this was a dream; it wasn’t.
“Well first you would have to ask my father, but if it was up to me I would go.” spoke the pale girl. At the thought of having to ask her father for permission his hopes fell, but when he heard what she said at the end and his hopes flew he then knew that he could ask her father without a sweat. “Where do you live and do you know if he’ll be there tonight.” said the blonde who of course was not paying attention at the fact that his name had just been called.
“Naruto!” spoke the teacher known as Iruka. “Can you please go to the room next door to take the Gennin exam you came here for?” finished the Chunnin.
Naruto left a note on the table he had shared with Hinata that had his address and where else she could reach him. He left and all the others went silent as they thought what the new guy would do.
“Welcome Naruto to the village of Konoha. This is the Gennin Exam for those exiting the Academy, but since you are a citizen of this village you will be allowed to take this exam.” spoke a lavender haired examiner who had a look of a secret in his eyes. Naruto paid no attention to the look in the ninjas’ eyes but took in what he had to do to become a ninja.
“We need to see if you know how to make clones and if you can do a copy jutsu? Along with that we want to know if you would not mind joining a three person team to take missions until you have reached the requirements to test for ranking up.” you could have heard a pin drop in the silence that ensued when those questions were asked.
Just then a large group of scantily clad blonde women appeared as of nowhere, answering “I would not mind joining a team and on the question if I want to rank up, it’s yes, because I will become the Hokage!” with that all the men in the room except Naruto fell back on their chairs with their noses bleeding and wide eyes dazed.
After returning to the classroom he looked for Hinata but she was nowhere to be seen. Naruto grew sad, but he remembered the girl the Hinata had said was named Sakura. He went over and asked where Hinata had gone, and she told him that Hinata had left with her handmaid soon after he had left the room. So he decided that tonight wasn’t too soon to pay Hinata’s father a visit, so after he asked where the Hyuuga Manor was he took off towards the grand house or at least that’s what came to mind as Naruto turned the corner and it filled all his vision and surpassed his peripherals. He was intimidated but he was determined even more, so with that he knocked on the door and was answered by a man with a stern look on his eyes also a light lavender with the look of annoyance on his face.
“I’m here to ask Hyuuga Hinata’s father for the permission to take her on a date, could I please have an audience with him.” Naruto spoke as formal as he could.
“You may wait in the foyer while I speak to the lord of the manor.” said the stern looking man.
Naruto waited in the foyer but did not have to wait too long as the man came back in a few minutes. “He is ready to see you now.” stated the man.
Naruto could feel eyes on him but could not tell who was watching him. It felt odd to him and he became even more nervous with tension growing between his shoulders. He tried to remember what Jiraiya had told him about the Hyuuga clan, something to do with their eyes and why their some of the best ninja’s around. He saw someone training in the courtyard; he had long black hair and wore one of the head bands on his forehead. He was lead to a door and was told to wait inside, ‘More waiting.’ he thought with a long sigh. Then a man with long hair walked in and he was introduced as Hyuuga Hiashi the head of the Hyuuga clan. The surprise wasn’t expected, but Naruto didn’t show it, he merely bowed in respect and spoke “Hello Hyuuga-sama, my name is Naruto and I have a request to make of you. I would be honored to take your daughter Hinata out on a date.” Naruto asked with all the courage he could muster.
“There is one condition that I will allow my daughter to go out on a date and that is if you can beat my nephew Hyuuga Neji in a sparing match.” said the man behind his desk in a very confident voice.
“If I have to fight to take your daughter out on a date I can see why she seemed so shy earlier. As long as I can finish before tonight I agree to your demand.” the confidence in his voice was a surprise to the head of the Hyuuga clan. “Who is this nephew of yours anyway?” Naruto asked Hiashi.
“He is in the courtyard practicing his taijutsu, but I can call him up to fight in a few minutes. Meet him and I’ll be there in a few minutes. I will also be the judge of the bout.” Hiashi told the blonde as if he thought him an imbecile.
“I will do what I can to have the honor of taking your daughter out.” Naruto said.
Naruto walked to the courtyard and saw a servant speaking to Neji who then glared at Naruto with blank eyes; these unlike Hinata’s were not warm and left a cold feeling in Naruto. Naruto stepped into the courtyard and was met with the call of Hiashi gathering around the clan to watch Neji’s and Naruto’s fight. “We have here today a fight between the Hyuuga genius and a stranger who goes by Naruto. The fight will be the best of three rounds, but there will be no blood drawn today.” Hiashi saw that Naruto had not let his chin drop the whole time he was here.
“Let’s get this fight started. I still have to take out Hinata tonight.” Naruto got into a fighting stance that not even Hiashi knew. Neji also got into his fighting stance, the Hyuuga style that was a close guarded secret. Hiashi called for the fight to start and that’s when Neji hit the ground gasping for air as Naruto stood before the genius. So many eyes were popped out of their sockets it was hard to tell who was who; along with that there was a lot of muttering. “How did you do that?” Neji spoke with short gasps of air as he began to stand up.
“That’s one out of three, and if you can still fight can we continue?” Naruto stood back and returned to the unknown fighting stance.
“You will not do that again.” the short breathed genius told the blonde boy. He again took up the Hyuuga fighting stance. The area around Neji’s eyes grew veins and he called out the word Byakugan and charged Naruto at full speed. Neji was not the only one to use that technique with his eyes as Naruto noticed the whole clan’s eyes grow veins to see how he had done what he did to Neji.
“I will win this and I will take out Hinata.” Naruto said it with all the confidence he had.
As soon as he spoke Neji lunged at Naruto’s heart, but hit air as Naruto appeared behind Neji and roundhouse kicked him in the head, dropping Neji like a rag doll. “That makes two out of three and that means I get to take out Hinata” Naruto strolled to Hiashi and tolled him he would come around eight to pick her up.
Most of the clan stood there blinking in disbelief, that a strange boy had beat their genius in but a few minutes. Hiashi felt worried at why such a strong boy would want to date his daughter, he wondered if the boy might be an assassin out to get the Hyuuga heir.
‘He seems too strong to just want a date with my daughter.’ Hiashi wanted to get answers and he knew that he could only get them from the Hokage.

‘Boy, I can’t wait to see Hinata later on.’ thought the blonde boy with the widest smile any person could ever see.

7:30 That Evening

‘I need to get ready for my date tonight or I’m going to be late.’ Naruto thought as he wrapped the sash around his waist and slipped on his sandals. Before he ran out the door he grabbed his money purse shaped like a frog and locked the door behind him. He formed a few seals and left knowing full well that he didn’t want anyone breaking into his apartment right after he got it.
He saw a clock on a store window and saw it was 7:40 and he didn’t want to be late so he picked up his pace and as he was a few blocks away. A flower caught his eye when he passed the Yamanaka flower shop, it was a single raven colored lily and it was alone in a vase behind a large amount of roses. It hit him like a ton of bricks, when he looked at the lily he saw Hinata’s face. He had to have it, so he could give it to her for the date. He ran in asked for the flower from a platinum blonde girl and placed a rather large amount of bills on the table, with that he grabbed the flower and took off towards the Hyuuga manor. He got there at 7:55, ‘Just enough time to catch my breath.’ thought the boy who was just about to go out on his first date.
“What do you want kid?” spoke the guard with the same voice as the one before.
“I’m here to pick up Hinata for our date tonight, my name is Naruto.” he began to think about why the guard wouldn’t let him in after all he had done to get the date.
“Oh yeah, the one who beat Neji in a sparring match. Hiashi-sama told me to lead you to the foyer to wait for his daughter. She is still preparing for the night out. Hiashi-sama said he needed to lay out some rules.” the guard spoke as he led the way to the foyer where Naruto had waited before, he didn’t have to wait long because Hiashi soon entered.
“Since you bested my nephew under my rules I will honor my part of our earlier agreement and allow you to date my daughter but there are a couple of rules we need to go over. First is her safety, I expect you to protect her incase something happens and if she does get hurt it will be your head. The second rule is the dining arrangements, if you do not have the money I will pay for the meal. Lastly if you wish to continue dating her after tonight you will have to defeat one of my personal guards for every consecutive date.” Hiashi seemed as to not blink during his speech and yet all Naruto could think about was what he would talk about on his date.
He noticed Hiashi’s mouth had stopped moving and immediately tried to remember what Hiashi had said. He agreed to all of Hiashi’s demands but thought that they were easy enough to follow. Just as Naruto was about to ask for Hinata a servant entered the room “I would like to introduce Hyuuga Hinata the Hyuuga Heiress and your companion for the night.” There she was, she entered and his heart stopped he held his breath while she walked to the side of her father. She smelled of incense and bath oils, she wore a kimono plain white with the Hyuuga clan symbol on the back. The kimono made her eyes almost glow with light and her hair looked even more raven than before. He finally caught his breath when Hiashi called his name and told him “I want you back before 11 o’clock and remember I told you that if you can not pay for the date I will.”
He stood up and walked over to Hinata and handed her the flower and said “This is for you; I saw it and thought of you when I passed by the Yamanaka flower shop. Do you like it?” Naruto couldn’t keep his eyes on Hinata because he felt a little embarrassed.
“It’s really nice.” she took it and smiled as she handed it to her handmaiden asking her nicely to put it in a vase. She moved to Naruto’s side as they were going to leave the manor.
They were lead to the door by a guard and Hiashi, and just as they went through the door he heard Hiashi tell his guards to have a team follow them. Naruto walked alongside Hinata silently for a couple of blocks and then finally spoke asking her where she would like to eat and to his surprise she said she liked ramen and that she wouldn’t really mind eating anywhere. While they were walking they passed a small shack and a man called out to Naruto and tolled him to sit down and have a bowl on him. Naruto looked at Hinata and asked her if she wanted to eat there with a small nod she said yes and they sat down.
“So what’ll it be young man?” the old man asked as he prepared a set of noodles in a strainer which looked new along with the gas stove. ‘How much did I leave on the table?’ Naruto thought as he was deciding on the meal.
Naruto ordered the miso soup and asked for extra noodles, while Hinata asked for the same but in a smaller serving. They ate until Naruto began asking questions and he started with “Why did you say yes to the date?” a question which had been bugging him when the offer had been accepted.
“I am the heiress and the next head of the of the most influential clan in all of Konoha, and that also means that most boys are afraid to ask me or are to intimidated to ask. But I’m also not the most beautiful girl in the village, I mean look at Sakura or Ino; both are a lot better looking than me. So when you asked me I was a little shocked and had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.” Hinata told all of this as she stared at her food, blushing as she told the story to the blonde blue eyed boy.
“You shouldn’t talk about yourself like that; I mean you have a lot going for you. It wasn’t Sakura or Ino who caught my eye when I walked into the room was it. Besides what I heard was you passed your gennin exam with flying colors and didn’t even break a sweat. Would I have fought your cousin if I didn’t want you to be the one to go out with me? The answer is no.” Naruto just stared at Hinata and saw a smile form and a blush of color in her cheeks.
“Let’s not talk about this anymore. So where did you grow up?” Hinata asked a sincere question and Naruto answered with a sincere one. “Well if you haven’t heard from rumors then I’ll tell you that Jiraiya, one of the three sannin, raised me from birth and I helped him with his research, if you can call roaming from village to village with him peeping into bath houses doing “Research”. I never got to know anybody until I met Tsunade-sama when I was six years old. She was another one of the sannin and Jiraiya’s friends. We spent some time with her and her apprentice Shizune; I was taught some medic Nin techniques but only the basic stuff and learned some needle throwing from Shizune. After about six months we parted ways and I haven’t seen them since. But it’s okay because I have a permanent home now and I have a great opportunity to make friends. Now that we’ve talked about me, we can talk about you. Tell me about yourself Hinata?” Naruto made eye contact and waited for her to say something.
“I haven’t done anything as important as you.” Hinata looked away and Naruto could see she grew a little sad. “Come on. I don’t care about importance; I want to know about you. Okay then just tell me about your family then.” Naruto again made eye contact which made her blush a little.
“Well there’s my father Hyuuga Hiashi, the current head of the Hyuuga Clan. Next is me, the heir of the clan. My sister Hanabi, she is stronger than I was at her age and most say that she’s the one who should be the next heir. Then there’s the branch families strongest, my cousin Hyuuga Neji who has been a Gennin for a year now. He was the one who you beat so fast the other day. Those are pretty much the most important members of the Hyuuga family.” Hinata seemed to have held her breath the whole time she talked because now she let out a large breath.
“Why didn’t you tell me about your mother?” Naruto seemed puzzled that she had not talked about her mother. He had not known his own mother and never knew what one was like, which didn’t bother him all that much except when he meets somebody who doesn’t appreciate their parents. That is one of his pet peeves and he didn’t know why she hadn’t just said something about her mother, then it came to him when he saw her eyes go blank. Her mother had died and he had made her remember, ‘I’m such a Baka.’
“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me; after all she is your mother.” He tried to apologize without seeming like the idiot he felt like.
“It’s okay, and your right, you told me about your life so I should tell you mine. She died when I was six; a year after Hanabi was born. She had an incurable disease and it was hard on my father and the rest of the Hyuuga household because she was loved by everyone. She took care of both me and Hanabi but she doesn’t remember her too well. But I can still smell the perfume she used and feel the softness of her hands. She smelled like the flower you brought me and they say I look so much like her. That’s probably why my father doesn’t like me and why he rarely looks me in the eyes.” Hinata’s voice began to get a little hoarse and that was when Naruto noticed that she had begun to cry, and it hurt him to see her like that.
So with one movement he hugged her and they stood over the bridge they had stopped on for what seemed like a lifetime because even if it was sudden he could feel Hinata burying her face into his chest and then he noticed something on the water, it was a shadow and it was moving under the bridge. He told Hinata to not move for any reason and asked her if she could use her Byakugan to see under the bridge and tell him what was under them.
‘Byakugan!’ thought Hinata and she immediately saw what was under the bridge, “It’s a Group of ninja and they seem heavily armed.” she told Naruto as softly as she could.
“Close your eye’s and don’t move.” he said it as softly as he could. He let go of her and a split second later was dangling upside down under the bridge ace to face with what seemed to be the leader. He then dispelled their attachment jutsu’s and they fell to the water but caught themselves. Naruto saw that and was then able to tell if they were Jounin or Chunnin and the way they moved suggested a higher rank for at least three of them and maybe one Chunnin making up the four. He let himself fall and before he hit the water he disappeared and stood behind all four of them with their masks in hand. Three of higher ranked ninja he didn’t know but the fourth was the lavender haired teacher from the exam room. They were all shocked to see that their masks had been taken. Naruto heard a small gasp and knew that Hinata had been looking with her Byakugan and had also seen the proctor’s face. Naruto began a quick series of seals and touched the water with his palm and spoke “Water Type: Twenty Hand Ice Prison” and a series of hands sprang forth from the surface of the water and surrounded the four men grabbing each of their limbs and held them in mid air. Yet before he could begin to question them one of them called out “Fire Type: Surrounding Flame” and fire was emitted from his body.
He landed and the other two also called out the same jutsu, but the purple haired one had to be helped out of his captivity. The three unknown came at him and he did a single back flip and when they tried to kick out his hands from under him his palms barely touched the water and they missed. His body had disappeared and they were about to leap from the surface of the water and onto the bridge but they began to feel weak and they didn’t know why, until one of them tried to dispel them from a Genjutsu but found that he began to feel even weaker as he tried to use his chakra, but they still had enough energy to jump onto the bridge. When they landed their eyes fell on Hinata and she saw that she must have been their objective all along. She thought back to the many times she had almost been kidnapped because of both her eyes and her destiny to become the head of the Hyuuga house. Almost at instinct she readied herself in the Jyuunken style and figured they would at least have a hard time taking her down, when a strange orange glow emanated from the surface of the water. For a second they all just stood there. There was a loud splash when they noticed that the lavender haired one had been kicked into the water and then there landed a long haired and wet orange glowing twelve year old who just found out they were trying to hurt the girl he had promised to protect and it was not a good thing to be any of them right now.
Whilst the purple haired one pulled himself out of the water and was trying to catch his breath near the bank of the river he had just been kicked into he saw what he was lucky to miss out on. The long haired blonde was tearing all three of his partners a new one, he took out the first one with a series of fast punches into his abdomen and then finished him with a roundhouse kick to the head and the ninja fell to the ground and bounced off of the bridge. The lavender haired ninja saw his chance and took it while Naruto was occupied with the other two, he shot a dart at Hinata and hit her on the back of her neck. She fell but Naruto did not see it as the two ninja’s he was fighting were distracting him, because they felt they could not take him on their own. And they were right but what they didn’t know was that he didn’t want to kill them. He needed to know who had sent them so he could hurt their employers.
That was when it came to him he hadn’t checked on her yet, he grabbed both of their heads and pounded them together knocking them out.
He caught her scent and found it was mixed with the lavender haired one’s smell; he bounded off into the direction the smell came from and soon found he was on their trail. He followed the scent for five minutes, he then found himself face to face with the proctor and who had Hinata over his shoulder unconscious. Naruto was almost blind with rage but he wanted the man for questioning and he couldn’t very well kill him but it did cross his mind.
“Put her down now!” Naruto yelled at the lavender haired man and he clenched his hands cutting into his palms but did not flinch. The proctor put her down slowly and ran into the forest after throwing a smoke bomb. Naruto ran to Hinata’s side but as soon as he leaned over to check her, a gigantic shuriken was flying towards them. But just before it hit them Naruto yelled “Spiked Buddha” his hair grew outwards and surrounded them, the Shuriken just ricocheted off. In the next second when the purple haired proctor stood there shocked, Naruto appeared next to the man and held a kunai to the man’s throat. Though he did not kill the man he just stuck a thin senbon needle into the other side of his neck instantaneously knocking him out but not killing him.
Naruto walked his way back to the village and most of the time was spent staring at her face. Then as he neared the village she began to wake and when she opened her eyes she just saw that she was being carried by the blonde boy, she got quite red but enjoyed the moment. They passed the gate and Naruto told the guards that the purple haired proctor from the gennin exam was unconscious in the forest about five minutes run from here and three others on a bridge in the village. Hinata jumped in and told them that they had tried to kidnap her and that she was okay when they asked her if she was okay. He carried her all the way back to the Hyuuga manor and set her down outside the gate just in case her father was watching them. They said goodnight and just as he was leaving, they both spun around and kissed each other, almost lost in the moment they could have stayed there for hours. They separated and said goodbye again, Hinata went through the gate and boy was she red. Naruto red as a beet began walking down the road, the last five minutes playing over in his head over and over. Then both thought at the same time ‘I can’t believe that just happened, I just got my first kiss.’, that night both of them slept like babies and dreamt about what their next date would be like.