Four Man Squads

[109th Star]

Obito took a minute to process all the information he had just been given, “So, you are trying to fix your past mistakes. That, and you are trying to fulfill a promise to my old sensei. But, if you don’t mind my asking, how would you adopting Naruto impact your clan? Also, why do you need to discuss any of this with me?”

“Adopting Naruto will have no impact on the clan. Since he is not of Hyuuga blood, he cannot take the title of clan head from me, and thus is not a threat to Hinata as heir. All that would really happen is he would be brought in, much to the chagrin of the council, and be treated as a main family member. I wish to discuss this with you, because, as his teacher, you’re really the closest he has to a father figure. I also hope gain an understanding of the boy and Hinata. Shamefully, I have never really given her the time of day. Hikari is probably cursing me in the afterlife for treating our children the way I have.” Hiashi explained.

“Well, I’ll just say he’ll liven this place up a bit. Naruto is nothing if not energetic. He’s loud, brash, and likes to show off. He probably is the complete opposite of what goes on around here. Honestly, I think it would do the both of you a world of good if he stayed here.” Obito replied.

“What do you mean?” Hiashi inquired.

“Naruto didn’t only inherit his father’s looks, but his innate ability to change others. Just like Minato, there’s something about him that just makes people gravitate to him, and change them for the better. However, he gets most of the rest of his mannerisms from Kushina, right down to the incessant love of ramen. By the way, if you do really intend on adopting Naruto, I suggest stocking up on the ramen, he goes through it at alarming rates.” Obito chuckled as he replied, “You’ll help calm him down and show him how to think before he acts, and maybe he can thaw the ice that seems to reside on a lot of your people’s hearts.”

“I see…” Hiashi thought for a moment, “Yes, that would make me happy if he could do that for us. We’ve became so obsessed with our own pride and power, that we are losing sight of what is truly important. One more thing Obito, what can you tell me of Hinata and her relationship with Naruto? I have gotten reports that they train together nearly all the time, and that she has been improving in leaps and bounds since doing so, including developing her own jutsu.”

“Yes, she has created a ‘perfect defense’ similar to the Kaiten. I only know the basics of it, but using her natural flexibility and chakra control, she emits short blades of chakra and blocks all incoming attacks in her line of sight. I’ve seen it only once, and I must admit it is impressive. Speaking in terms of Naruto and Hinata’s relationship, they are simply close friends, though anyone with any sense can tell she wants it to be something more. That’s another thing I should mention about Naruto, he can be very oblivious to the feelings of others. I can only blame it on the lack of human interaction he had as a child. They really are good for each other though, Hinata mellows Naruto out, and he acts as a buffer for her. She has a ton more confidence whenever he is around.” Obito answered.

“Hmm…” Hiashi contemplated this new information, “Do you have any objections to my plans Obito?”

“No, Hiashi, I think it would be good for Naruto. Especially if you get him an inside look at the politics involved in your clan. His greatest wish is to one day become Hokage, and I believe he has the power to do it, all he needs is the knowledge. I believe that is something he can learn here. As long as your serious about changing yourself, I see no problems with this. In fact, I promise you the support of the Uchiha clan as its head.” Obito answered.

“That would be much appreciated.” Hiashi answered. However, inside, Hiashi was berating himself, he had forgotten that Obito was the Uchiha clan head until he decided to pass on the title to Sasuke, the rightful heir.

“However, I just want to make one thing clear, Hiashi. If this is all a ruse for one of your ****ed political games, and Naruto or Hinata gets hurt because of hit, I will make sure you regret it, in one way or another.” Obito warned.

“Warning accepted, Obito.” Hiashi said. He was a little shocked to hear the threat in his own house, but he understood. Obito had come to care for his students as though they were all his own flesh and blood. Hiashi had to admit, it was more than he had ever done.

Obito and Hiashi exchanged pleasantries and Obito left the Hyuga compound. Obito immediately went home, got into bed, curled into a ball, and went to sleep.

[NineTailNaruto]

Infinity on High/10
<33 Loved the chapters!!

[109th Star]

Naruto focus was solely on the water balloon in his right hand. Hinata had helped him understand the concept of what he was supposed to be doing, but he just couldn’t make it happen. He couldn’t sustain enough random flows of chakra out of just his one hand, the way Jiraiya did. Then, he had an idea.

“Hinata-chan, how did you hold the balloon when you popped it?” Naruto asked the heiress.

“I-I don’t see how that matters, Naruto-kun.” Hinata answered sheepishly.

“Just hear me out for a second, could you pop this one for me? There’s something I want to see.” Naruto requested as he handed the balloon out to Hinata.

“O-okay.” Hinata said as she took the balloon and held it in front of her, both hands holding the balloon lightly at the bottom. Naruto watched as Hinata closed her eyes and focused her chakra, the balloons outer surface rippled violently and soon the balloon burst, leaving Hinata’s arms wet.

“Thanks, Hinata!” Naruto shouted as he gave her a hug, not caring about her arms being soaked.

What was that about? Hinata thought to herself. Soon Naruto had grabbed another water balloon, but he held it differently than before, the balloon was held in his left hand as he poised his right as if he was going to strike the balloon. She watched as he concentrated on his chakra and began to strike out at the balloon with his right hand, but never actually touching the balloon. Soon he grabbed the ball with his right hand at the top and the surface began that familiar ripple, soon the balloon burst.

“C-congratulations, Naruto-kun.” Hinata said, “I-I knew you could do it.”

“Thanks to you, Hinata-chan.” Naruto replied.

“I-I don’t understand, Naruto-kun. How did I help you?” Hinata asked.

“Well, it had to do with the way you held the balloon.” Naruto said, “You held it with both hands while Ero-sennin held it with only one. I know my chakra control is pretty bad, and that’s what this is about. So, like you, I decided to use two hands, I make the primary rotation with my left hand then use my right to add all the other currents. That way I’m not doing everything with only one hand, so it compensates for my lack of control.”

Hinata was ecstatic, even if she didn’t show it well. She was always the one who needed help, but this time she was the one who had given up. She was happy for the change.

“Way to go, brat. Step one seems to be complete.” Jiraiya said. He had seen the whole thing since he and Kiyoshi were behind their two young students, discussing current events in Konohagakure and other things.

“So when can we start the next part?” Naruto asked happily. Hinata was also wondering, she was pleased to be training in a jutsu side by side with Naruto.

“Take it easy, kid. We are pretty close to the next town, and Kiyoshi and I are going to be busy gathering information for a few days, at least, since this next town is much larger than the first one we stopped at. You two can take those days to relax, and maybe get to know each other a little better.” Jiraiya said as he gave the two young ninja a sly smile as he said the last.

“Jiraiya, I will not have you perverting these chicks with your twisted ways.” Kiyoshi said, “Especially since one is to be my student.”

“Oh, come on, Kiyoshi. I’m just teasing them.” Jiraiya replied.

For what it was worth, Naruto and Hinata just exchanged confused glances. Neither really had any idea what Jiraiya meant by “getting to know each other better.” After that night in the forest and being teammates for a few months now, they should have known each other pretty well by now, right?

The next few hours passed by uneventfully. Naruto and Hinata continued to walk along the path ahead of their sensei, content to talk about what they thought the great Slug Princess would be like, worrying if Sasuke and Obito-sensei were okay, and what to do once they did get home, considering they were now officially dating. Jiraiya and Kiyoshi also talked between themselves.

“I’m going to take over Hinata’s training after you show her the second stage of the Rasengan.” Kiyoshi told Jiraiya soon after they had finished reliving their golden days.

“I figured you would. The second stage will be hard for her. While she has amazing chakra control and the Byakugan, the second stage is all about power. It could be a while until she’s able to complete stage two. While power is something Naruto has in spades, Hinata still has a way to go to become lethal with anything but the Jyuuken.” Jiraiya answered.

“That is true, but I still want her to do the second stage training, even if she never masters the Rasengan, it will be a good chakra building exercise for her. I plan on having her work on the second stage every day after I’m done training her.” Kiyoshi informed Jiraiya of his plans.

“Fine by me. If you don’t mind me asking, what are your plans for her?” Jiraiya inquired.

“I intend to wean her from her reliance on the Jyuuken, just like I did for Hizashi. It’s one of the major flaws of the Hyuga, they seem to think that their fighting style is invincible, and that they shouldn’t learning anything other than the Jyuuken. This makes them extremely vulnerable to mid-to-long range types, as they never get close to use the Jyuuken. So, I’m going to be training her in long range attacks and jutsu.” Kiyoshi answered.

“What about the eagle contract?” Jiraiya asked.

“I don’t know, I didn’t even let Hizashi sign it. I don’t know for sure if I want her to sign the contract. What about the toads, have you allowed Naruto to sign the contract?” Kiyoshi replied.

“Yes, he can already summon Gamabunta if he calls on the Kyuubi’s power.” Jiraiya answered and watched as Kiyoshi’s jaw dropped.

“He can access the fox’s chakra?” Kiyoshi asked amazed.

“Only in small doses, but it’s more than enough to summon Gamabunta. It’d also make for one hell of a Rasengan, I imagine.” Jiraiya answered.

“That kid’s something else. He has the potential to be the strongest the Hokage the village will ever see. The only thing he really lacks is the knowledge.” Kiyoshi stated as he watched the back of Naruto.

“Yeah, he can be a dunce at times, but I have a feeling that he’ll learn what he needs to be the Hokage.” Jiraiya said.

After that, the two Yonnins conversation changed again. They got reacquainted with each other, and figured out what the other had been up to for the last decade.

Another hour or so later, the group came across their next stop. Naruto had to admit the town was huge, it easily rivaled the size of Konoha. It was surrounded by cliffs, and the only way into the town was to take the various stairs or ramps down into the town.

“Wow!” Naruto shouted as he ran up to the fence surrounding the cliffs, “What’s going on, it looks like a party is going on down there?”

Kiyoshi was the one who answered, “This area is famous for its apple orchards. The people who founded this town were all farmers who made fortunes off their apple farms. In fact, apples are still this town’s number one source of income. So, in honor, they hold an Apple Festival every year before the time of harvest approaches. It’s a week long festival, and it just so happens that we are here when they are having it.”

“Should make gathering information easier.” Jiraiya said.

“Yes.” Kiyoshi agreed.

“Anyway, let’s go get set up in a hotel and we’ll go from there.”

About 30 minutes later, Jiraiya, Kiyoshi, Hinata, and Naruto were standing in front of the hotel they were staying at.

“So what’s the plan, Ero-sennin?” Naruto asked.

“Well, simple for today. Kiyoshi and I are going to ask around about Tsunade. You and Hinata are free to do whatever, I suggest you enjoy the festival.” Jiraiya said.

“R-really? What about our training?” Hinata asked.

“Yes, consider it as a reward for completing the first step of your training.” Kiyoshi said as he smiled down at his new apprentice, “Besides, even ninjas need to cut back and relax from time to time. So have fun, we’ll start training again tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” Naruto said enthusiastically as he took Hinata’s hand, “Come on, Hinata. I bet there’s all kinds of cool things to do.”

“A-alright.” Hinata said as she ran along with her boyfriend.

“Heh, kids.” Jiraiya smiled.

“Did we use to be that innocent?” Kiyoshi asked.

“I guess.” Jiraiya answered, “I’m just glad the kid has made friends. Maybe Hinata can show him something he’s missed his entire life.”

“I believe she can.” Kiyoshi answered, “Even though I just met her, I can tell how much she cares for Minato’s son.”

“Yeah… Well, we should get on about ‘gathering information.’” Jiraiya said with a smirk.

“You’re not thinking what I think your thinking are you?” Kiyoshi asked.

“Well, what do you think I’m thinking, bird brain?” Jiraiya asked in reply, still smirking.

“**** it, Jiraiya, I’m not letting you drag me to one of your **** brothels again, not after what happened last time!” Kiyoshi yelled.

[109th Star]

Naruto and Hinata went from booth to booth trying everything. From squid cooked in something Hinata had never tasted before, to trying their hands at various festival games, Naruto and Hinata were having a blast. So far, Naruto had won her various plushies, a fox, an eagle, and a toad. Out of all of them, Hinata liked the fox the most, it reminded her of Naruto, it even had the same whiskers.

After they had tried out everything the booths had to offer, they went to a small amusement park that had been set up in what appeared to be the town’s park. There was a Ferris Wheel, some more games, a machine Hinata had never seen before, and some other rides, like some giant swings and a fun house. Naruto took Hinata over to the large unknown machine.

“I wonder what this thing does?” Naruto asked as he looked at the large circular thing with interest. Hinata could see the words “Gravitron 5000” on the side of the machine, and a door that led inside.

“I-I don’t know Naruto-kun.” Hinata said as they watched several people walk into the machine. To Naruto and Hinata’s shock the machine started to rotate, with the people still inside. They could hear screams of excitement and enjoyment coming from within.

“What do you think is going on in there?” Naruto asked again.

“Umm… I could find out.” Hinata offered.

Naruto grinned at her, “I got a better idea, how about we try it?”

“Huh? I-I don’t know Naruto..” Hinata said.

“Come on, Hinata. It couldn’t be anything bad, those people are screaming in enjoyment, not pain. Besides, I’ll be with you. I promise nothing will happen.” Naruto pleaded.

“You promise?” Hinata asked.

Naruto nodded, “Promise.”

“O-okay.” Hinata allowed Naruto to take her to the line leading into the “Gravitron.”

Luckily the lines weren’t too long, and the couple didn’t have to wait long before they were on the ride. Naruto and Hinata looked around on the inside, and saw what appeared to be cushions, on the wall. They watched as several people stood in front of the cushions. Naruto and Hinata mimicked what they saw and took up position agains two cushions. Suddenly the room began to spin, and Hinata could feel herself being pressed against the wall. Though it was much heavier than usual, Hinata found Naruto’s hand and grabbed it with hers. Naruto just gave her a smile as something entirely unexpected happened.

“EEK!” Hinata screamed as she was lifted, with her cushion, off of the ground and into the ceiling. As soon as she had launched, she came back down to the ground. She turned to look at Naruto who was shouting incoherently in joy as he too was lifted the small way into the ceiling. After the initial shock, Hinata too enjoyed the ride as she was lifted into the air, each time experiencing that peculiar feeling of weightlessness.

The ride, however, didn’t last long, and Naruto and Hinata departed from the great Gravitron 5000.

“That was awesome! I felt like I was floating there a few times.” Naruto shouted as he left the spinning room, surprisingly neither of them felt dizzy.

“Y-yes, it was quite fun.” Hinata agreed.

“So what do you want to do now?” Naruto asked.

“Well, we could always try the funhouse?” Hinata said.

“Alright.” Naruto said, as he escorted Hinata over to the funhouse.

Hinata and Naruto both enjoyed themselves, making funny poses in the odd mirrors strewn about, and having a small war in a pool of balls. After leaving the funhouse, they noticed that the sun was starting to set.

“Well, it’s starting to get late, what do you think, Hinata-chan?” Naruto asked.

Hinata noticed that most of the people were starting to clear from the attractions and the booths, but where getting to places where they could clearly watch the sky, they were expecting something, “I-I think we should stay for a little while longer, everyone seems to be waiting for something.”

Naruto took a look around, “You’re right, is something going to be happening in the sky?”

“I don’t know, Naruto-kun. It seems that way.” Hinata answered.

Naruto and Hinata made their way up onto a rooftop, sharing it only with a slightly older couple, and patiently watched the sky. They were soon rewarded, as the sky immediately burst into wonderful shade of red, blue, green, purple, and a number of other colors. It was a fireworks display the likes of which they had never seen. Flowers made of color and light danced along the sky as night descended on the town. Naruto stole a glance at the couple that they shared the rooftop with, the both of them locked into a deep kiss. It gave Naruto an idea as he sat there with one arm wrapped around Hinata while she rested her head on his shoulder watching the beautiful display.

“Hinata-chan?” Naruto asked as he looked down at his lovely girlfriend.

Hinata started to turn her head, “Y-yes, Naru..” Hinata never got to finish as she was interrupted by a pair of warm lips touching hers. Oh gods, he’s kissing me…

Hinata was sure she would have fainted at that moment, but she didn’t. She simply wrapper her arms around Naruto, and enjoyed the kiss. It was her first, and she wasn’t exactly sure on what to do, but it seemed to come naturally as she rubbed and massaged his lips with hers as he did the same. After a couple of minutes, the broke contact, and Hinata knew she had to have invented a new shade of red, she could feel the fire on her face.

“Hinata-chan, I’m sorry if…” Naruto said before Hinata shushed him with a finger on his lips.

“I-it’s okay, Naruto-kun.” Hinata said, “I, um…, enjoyed it. It’s just that it was my first time, and you kind of surprised me…”

Naruto just smiled at her, one of those big goofy grins he was known for, “Well, if you enjoyed it, and I know I enjoyed it, want to do it again?”

Hinata simply nodded, and then felt herself melt as he kissed her again. The fireworks were all but forgotten.

[NineTailNaruto]

Cool 10/10
LOL bird brain

[109th Star]

Early the next morning, Naruto, Hinata, Kiyoshi, and Jiraiya were standing out in the forest surrounding the town.

“Alright, both of you have completed step one, so it’s time to start step two.” Jiraiya said as he rummaged through the bag and pulled out three rubber balls. He tossed one to each Naruto and Hinata.

“Not this again.” Naruto complained.

Jiraiya held up his ball. He quickly popped it with his chakra, “The first test was all about spin and control. This is all about power, the rubber ball is about one hundred times harder to pop than the water balloon was. The way to pop it is the same, it’s just you have to make the air inside move much faster with much more power to pop the thick rubber.”

Hinata and Naruto both looked down at their respective rubber balls. They both quickly assumed their respective stances for creating the chakra. Hinata supported the ball from underneath with both hands, while Naruto held his with his left hand and prepared to strike with his right. Both focused for a few moment, then Naruto lashed out at his ball. Naruto’s ball squeaked and distorted like it was going to pop for a few seconds, but then settled back down to normal. Hinata’s ball didn’t change at all.

“****, it is a lot tougher.” Naruto said as he stared at his ball.

“Well, you two have fun with it, we’re going to see what we can find out about Tsunade.” Kiyoshi said, “We’ll bring you up some lunch and stuff later.”

“Umm… Kiyoshi-sensei?” Hinata asked.

“Yes, Hinata.” Kiyoshi answered.

“I-I, umm…, was wondering what you were going to teach me? Y-you really haven’t said anything about what I’m supposed to be learning.” Hinata inquired.

“Well, I wanted you to start the second step of the training for the Rasengan, because even if you don’t manage to master it, the exercise is good for building your chakra reserves. So, for today, that’s all you need to focus on. Tomorrow, I’ll be starting your real training.” Kiyoshi said.

“O-okay-sensei.”

The both Yonnin left the two genin to their own devices to try and pop the rubber balls. For hours both young ninja attempted to pop the balls with no success. Soon, Hinata was laying on the ground, panting heavily, and on the verge of exhaustion. Naruto, having the nearly endless source of chakra known as the Kyuubi, was still going at it.

Naruto, however dropped the ball in frustration, “Ah, my hands and arms hurt so much.”

“I know, mine do too.” Hinata commiserated, “It’s from constantly flooding the area with large amounts of chakra.”

Naruto laid in the grass next to Hinata, staring up at the clouds. “I guess I should take a break too, it’d probably be easier without my arms hurting so much.”

“Y-yeah.” Hinata said as her hand found his.

“Kinda like that day before the final rounds. The day you finished that protection of the eight whatever.” Naruto said.

“Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-four Palms.” Hinata corrected him, “Yeah, we laid and watched the clouds for hours that day.”

“I still don’t see what Shikamaru gets out of it.” Naruto said as he laid there. Hinata giggled, but Naruto continued on, “It feels good to just relax for right now, though. That ball is a lot tougher than I thought.”

“Oh, you two taking a break already?” Jiraiya called out as he approached, both he and Kiyoshi were carrying bags. “We brought back some lunch.”

Hinata and Naruto sat up, a rather painful experience for both, and gladly took their respective lunches from their sensei.

“S-so, did you find out any information about Tsunade-sama?” Hinata asked politely, in between bites.

“We heard reports that she had been in this town for a few days, but left around a week ago, but we haven’t met anyone who knew her destination. We are going to stay in town for a few more days and see if we can find a lead on where she went.” Kiyoshi explained, “How’s the training going?”

“I-it doesn’t seem like I’m getting anywhere…” Hinata said, “While Naruto-kun can at least make his ball distort slightly, I-I can’t even do that.”

“It’s okay, Hinata.” Jiraiya reassured her, “Your Jyuuken is a very powerful maneuver that requires very little chakra, so you’ve never had to really worry about your chakra reserves or making enormous amounts of chakra at one time. The Rasengan was created by the Yondaime, and it took him three years to master the maneuver. After that, he taught it to me, and it took me almost six months to finally get it to where I can use it in combat. So it’s not something I was expecting either of you to learn overnight.”

“Really? It took the Yondaime three years to develop this?” Naruto asked, his mouth still full of food, some of which was promptly sprayed on Jiraiya.

“Yes.” Kiyoshi answered, “Even though I didn’t learn the technique, I have seen it in use, and it is a most devastating attack. Hinata, I’m not going to force you to learn this if you don’t feel up to it, but I do want you to continue this to increase your chakra reserves. While the jutsu and things I will be teaching you won’t be nearly as intense as this is, they will still quickly drain your chakra if you don’t work on improving your reserves.”

“I’ll continue with the training, Kiyoshi-sensei.” Hinata said, “I-I actually do want to learn the Rasengan.”

“Good.” Kiyoshi replied, “I think you will learn the Rasengan eventually, but not as fast as Naruto probably will. From what I know of the training, Hinata, this will be the most difficult portion of it for you. What do you think, Jiraiya.”

“Yes, seeing her superb control, I’ll admit the first and third portions of the training will be easier than the second for her.” Jiraiya answered. “Anyway, training discussions aside, you kids have fun last night? I know I did…”

“Jiraiya…” Kiyoshi warned.

“I know, I know. Don’t pervert the students, yadda yadda yadda. You’re no fun, Kiyoshi.” Jiraiya shrugged off the warning.

“It was a blast!” Naruto shouted, “We went and played all kinds of games and tried all kinds of food that I’d never seen before. Then we went on that Gravitron thing, that was awesome, then the funhouse, and the fireworks…” Naruto then turned red, he had just remembered the fact that he and Hinata had spent at least thirty minutes on that rooftop kissing after the fireworks had been over. He looked over to Hinata, she had turned red as well, reliving the memory.

Their reactions didn’t get by unnoticed by Jiraiya and Kiyoshi. “Oh, and just what happened after the fireworks, Naruto?” Jiraiya questioned, a gleam in his eye.

“None of your business, Ero-sennin.” Naruto answered.

“You and Hinata did something didn’t you?” Jiraiya asked, the deepening blushes of both young genin gave them away.

“Jiraiya, leave the kids alone.” Kiyoshi said, “I’m sure they didn’t do anything naughty. Or, at least, they better not have. It’d be a shame if we lost a lot of valuable time because they were injured.”

“No, sir.” Naruto assured Kiyoshi, “We didn’t do anything bad, it was just a kiss.”

“See, I told you Jiraiya.” Kiyoshi said to his old friend.

“Whatever, none of you are any fun.” Jiraiya said as he turned his attention back to his lunch.

[109th Star]

The rest of the day came and went, and neither Naruto or Hinata made much more progress in popping the rubber ball. Kiyoshi and Jiraiya came back and returned to town with them to grab dinner and turn in for the night. However, instead of immediately going to bed, Naruto and Hinata both headed up to the roof of their hotel to watch the fireworks again. The festival still had two days until their conclusion, and there were fireworks every night, and supposedly the display on the final night was supposed to be better than all the other ones combined. Again, they sat under that illumination of the fire flowers.

“Hinata-chan?” Naruto asked.

Hinata turned her head to him, half-expecting him to jump in and kiss her like he did the last time he said her name as a question, “Yes, Naruto-kun?”

“I know you said you’d show me, but… What is love?” Naruto asked as he looked up at the brilliant lights in the sky.

Hinata found herself at a loss of words, how do you explain love? How do you explain any emotion, really? However, she tried her best, “It’s really hard to explain, Naruto-kun. I really don’t know what to say, it’s something you just know when you feel it. It’s something in your heart that jumps whenever you look at the person that you love, a feeling in your stomach that makes it seem like you can fly whenever your near that person. Knowing that you’ll never be the same if anything happened to him, that you’d rather die than lose him. It’s not the best explanation, but it’s a complicated thing.”

“Then how do you know you love me?” Naruto asked, eyes still skyward.

“Because, I feel all those things when I look at you Naruto-kun. I know in my heart of hearts, that you are the one for me, and that I would never be the same without you. You’re my strength, my courage… my everything.” Hinata admitted.

“Hinata-chan… I don’t know what to say.” Naruto said, finally turning to look at Hinata, “I feel a lot of those things you said. I’d rather die than see you in even an ounce of pain. Is that love? Caring about someone so much that you’d do anything for her? All through the academy I always asked Sakura out and tried to get her to like me, but she never paid any attention to me and would hit me more often than not. While I liked her, I wouldn’t do absolutely anything for her. But, for you Hinata-hime, I’d do anything. I’d give up on being Hokage, I’d leave Konoha, hell, I’d even give up on ramen if it meant I could always have you with me. Hinata, I love you.”

Hinata’s eyes teared up, but these were not tears of sadness like so many of her tears were. This time, and for the first time in a long while for Hinata, she was loosing tears of joy, “I love you too, Naruto-kun.” She said as she hugged him, not caring about the burning pain in her arms.

Naruto returned her embrace, placing kisses on top of her head as took in her scent. “I know, you’ve told me.”

As much as the loved being in each others arms, Hinata and Naruto let go after a while simply because of the pain of having flooded their arms and hands with chakra for almost the whole day. The simply relaxed as they continued to watch the fireworks. Soon after the display was over, Naruto and Hinata quickly went to their separate rooms and went to sleep, both knew they were going to need their strength for the next day.

[NineTailNaruto]

I have to admit the festival has alot of fluff XD jk jk
The NaruHina moment was cute!
10/10

[kakashi8890]

good chapter sorry the card outline isnt done yet i have been a little busy and going between this card and mendos turney so yah it will be done by next weekend at the latest

[109th Star]

Hinata woke up early the next morning, and quickly showered and prepared for the day of training that awaited her. She didn’t exactly know what Kiyoshi-sensei was going to teach her, but she was nervous and excited at the same time. She left her room at the same time Naruto did, he was clutching his rubber ball, already hard at work trying to finish the second stage of the Rasengan.

“Hello, Naruto-kun.” Hinata greeted warmly.

“Uh?” Naruto snapped up, “Hi, Hinata-hime. Sorry about that, I was kinda lost in concentrating on… THIS **** RUBBER BALL!!” Naruto threw the ball randomly in frustration, which was a bad decision. The ball flew in almost a straight line hit the far wall bounced back and beaned Naruto right in the head. Luckily, since it was a rubber ball, it didn’t hurt that much, “…**** it.”

Hinata laughed at her love’s antics, “It’s okay Naruto-kun. You’ll get it eventually, I’m sure.”

“Yeah, I know, but man this is so frustrating.” Naruto said as he bent down and picked up his rubber ball.

“So, I was just going to go get some breakfast, how about you?” Hinata asked.

“Yeah, I was too, Hinata-hime. Gonna need all the help I can get to defeat the rubber ball of doom.” Naruto said as he walked alongside Hinata.

Hinata snaked her arm around his, “Naruto-kun, what’s with the new nickname?”

“Well…” Naruto said with a grin as he rubbed the back of his head with free hand, “You are the heiress to the Hyuuga clan, so you essentially are a princess.” Hinata slightly frowned at that explanation, even though Naruto couldn’t see it, “But, more importantly, you’re my princess, Hinata-hime, and for me, that’s reason enough.

Hinata blushed a little at that, but she returned the compliment, “Yes, then I guess that makes you my knight in shining armor, hmm?”

“You think? I was thinking more like Prince Charming.” Naruto teased with a grin.

Hinata didn’t know what it was, but ever since that night in the forest, and with the events of the past couple of nights, she felt herself becoming more… forthcoming, was the only word she could think of. She wasn’t as afraid to share her feelings with Naruto anymore, maybe he was rubbing off on her, or maybe she just didn’t have anything left to hide. Whatever it was, she was glad for the change in her life, and, as far as she was concerned, she’d be ecstatic if this trip never ended. She was much happier on the road with Naruto-kun than she could ever remember being in the Hyuga compound.

Breakfast was a light affair. Well, light for Naruto anyway, he managed to down five plates of eggs, two and a half plates of bacon, and nearly a loaf of bread. Hinata was really beginning to wonder where he packed away all that food. Was his stomach really that large, or was it a doorway into some other universe?

However, she didn’t have a lot of time to think about it, for, as soon as breakfast was done with, Kiyoshi whisked her away to begin their training in earnest. After traveling a small distance from the town, Hinata and Kiyoshi were standing in the middle of the forest.

“Okay, Hinata first things first. Tell me, what have you learned under the tutelage of your father and the Hyuga clan?” Kiyoshi asked.

“W-well, Kiyoshi-sama, I learned the Jyuuken…” Hinata said.

“Is that all?” Kiyoshi asked.

“Y-yes, according to clan tradition, Hyugas need no other jutsu.” Hinata repeated what had been drilled into her head as a child.

Kiyoshi sighed, “****ed Hyuga pride. Tell me, Hinata, what would you do if you faced an enemy that specialized in attacking from long range? He either uses jutsu or throwing weapons, how would you approach the fight, being limited to your family’s fighting style?”

Hinata thought for a moment, “There’s only one ability in the Hyuga repertoire to combat such an opponent…”

“The Eight Trigrams Air Palm.” Kiyoshi finished for her, “However that ability is fairly weak, and almost useless at the ranges in which a jutsu specialist likes to operate at. You see, your family’s way of thinking is flawed. Due to there arrogance and pride, they believe that their familial taijutsu skills can defeat any and all opponents with no help from outside sources. While this may be true in close-quarters or against other short-to-mid range fighters, your clan suffers greatly at the hands of mid-to-long and pure long range specialists, often having to rely on your teammates or some form of trickery to defeat your opponents. Do you agree?”

“Yes, Kiyoshi-sensei.” Hinata agreed, “It’s another thing about my clan that needs to be changed, we have let ourselves stagnate. I hear father occasionally complain about the lack of jonin in the Hyuga house, because Konoha’s philosophies about what makes a jonin has changed. The newer jonin are expected to be more well-rounded, and be able to work well in a variety of situations.”

“Very good, the key to survival for any ninja is the ability to adapt to any given situation. I know your family’s taijutsu is top notch, and that nothing I can teach you could be better. So I’ll be focusing on teaching long to mid range attacks. Now, can you tell me what your affinities are?” Kiyoshi asked, he hoped she knew because he didn’t have any chakra sensor papers on him.

“Yes, Earth and Wind.” Hinata answered.

“Well, we share one element at least, that’ll make things at least a little easier, sadly I don’t know any Earth jutsu, it’s my weakest element. I myself am Lightning and Wind.” Kiyoshi informed her, “But to start your training I think we’ll stick with simple non-elemental jutsu for the moment. Watch closely.”

Kiyoshi whipped out a single shuriken, and chucked it lazily at a tree, and then quickly ran through some signs, but not so fast that Hinata couldn’t pick up each individual sign. “Shadow Shuriken Jutsu!” The one shuriken became twenty, each as deadly as the original.

“That is a variant of the Shadow Clone Jutsu. The Shadow Shuriken Jutsu uses much less chakra, as all you’re doing is making copies of the shuriken, instead of copies of yourself. It’s good for a couple of reasons. The first is that it allows you to stretch the usefulness of your supplies, obviously one shuriken becoming ten or twenty is makes you supply of weapons last much longer. The second is that the expanded area of the attack makes it harder for your opponent to successfully dodge the attack and if the enemy is bunched up, you can attack multiple of enemies at once.” Kiyoshi explained.

“B-but, there’s weaknesses to it too.” Hinata pointed out.

Kiyoshi was happy, at least his student was observant, “Explain.”

“F-First, you have to be extremely quick, or be throwing over a long distance to have enough time to complete the jutsu effectively, or your shuriken will hit the target before the jutsu’s completion. Also, shuriken, while effective for distracting or mildly injuring, are not very lethal in comparisons with other weapons, making this attack good more for crowd control than actually stopping an enemy.” Hinata answered.

“Very good. That is true. However, even having one longer range jutsu at your disposal can throw your opponent off enough for you to land a telling blow.” Kiyoshi replied, “Now, you caught all of the seals used correct?”

“Yes, sensei” Hinata affirmed.

“Good, I want you to start throwing at a tree fifty yards away, and see if you can usefully complete the jutsu before impact.” Kiyoshi stated.

Hinata nodded and got to work. She had to admit, her speed with hand signs was lacking, she had mastered the molding of the chakra of Byakugan to where she could easily use only one seal or no seals, and since the Jyuuken didn’t require seals, she had little use for them. It took her a few tries before she was able to do it. Even then, she just barely got the jutsu off in time.

“Forty-five yards!” Kiyoshi called out. Hinata stepped closer to the tree and began again.