|
|
Post by Hinata Hyuuga on Jan 17, 2010 20:06:32 GMT -6
~~~Hinata Hyuuga~~~
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- With Konohamaru gone, and the teasing over, the situation had calmed down. Naruto was groaning a little bit about it, though Hinata didn’t feel like criticizing Konohamaru that much. He was sort of like a little Naruto; energetic, stubborn, a prankster. It was very similar, even if Konohamaru’s behavior was a little more childish than Naruto’s. Then again, Naruto had painted the face of the Hokage. There was one big difference in their behavior though; the motive. Hinata could see that Naruto was a good person, but most people saw him as a troublemaker, but at least they saw him. Otherwise, well, nobody would give a second glance towards him; for some reason the adults shunned or despised Naruto. He had no parents either, and the way her father acted towards herself, Hinata basically had no one either. His troublemaking, she suspected, seemed to be a way to gain attention, or at the least to affirm his existence.
That was what made Hinata look up to Naruto; he fought back. Sure, he had his flaws, but in an odd way his flaws were what made him admirable. He was strong, always willing to fight back. Naruto didn’t take being ignored without a fight. Nothing would stand in his way of becoming Hokage, of becoming respected. Hinata simply wished she had that strength of his. For now, however, they could simply work on being friends.
”Don’t be too hard on him Naruto. He’s kind of a little you.” she said smiling a little bit.
As Hinata used her Byakagun to analyze Naruto’s jutsu, she heard him suddenly sound shocked about it. She didn’t see anything though; no enemies, no one sneaking up on them, nothing. What was he shocked about? It was then that he explained it; her veins. Naruto must not have seen her use the Byakagun before. It was a little creepy at first, to see someone’s veins bulge around their eyes like that. Heck, Hinata used to hesitate using it in the past because she scared herself. Eventually she got used to it, so it didn’t bother her at all.
What was bothering her, however, was him coming closer. Naruto was a curious person, so it seemed that he was wanting to get a closer look. Hinata wanted to turn it off then, but that would seem rude. Besides, she couldn’t keep the concentration to deactivate it. Naruto touching her face didn’t help matters at all, but not wanting to ruin anything by fainting, she stood still; deadly still. There could have been hurricane force winds blowing there at the moment and she wouldn’t have budged. It was taking all her willpower to resist blushing at that moment. Though deep down, she was a little glad she was getting all this attention from Naruto over something that was trivial to her. It did make her wonder how he would react to seeing the Gentle Fist style.
”I-It’s the Byakagun, the Hyuuga clan kekkai genkai.”
Things began to go downhill from there; the clones arrived. Naruto had called them over, and they soon rushed over to get a look at the Byakagun. Since they were Naruto’s clones, however, it was quick to see that, well, they were way to eager. Soon the entire crowd had knocked her to the ground, with all of them on top. The weight was crushing her, but there was relief when the clones dispersed. Now would have been a good time to faint, but the pain was keeping her conscious. Still, having Naruto sitting on top of her like that was more than enough to make her blush a deep red color. Naruto began to apologize rather quickly, and once again Hinata was glad she wasn’t on that end of the situation. He even asked if she hit her head.
”N-no, I-I’m okay Naruto. J-just a little banged up is all, b-but don’t worry.”
Naruto didn’t seem to be in a rush to get up though. Instead, he blushed, and just kind of stayed there looking right at her eyes and asking about it. Hinata’s head, however, was too busy processing the idea of Naruto being on her like this to even mutter an answer. She knew very well that she should be telling Naruto to get off of her, but at the same time she wasn’t sure if she wanted him off. Then again, as long as they stayed like this, they risked Konohamaru returning. And in a situation like this, well, the teasing was endless. Besides, it really was a bit of a compromising position, and with the Byakagun still activated she could see every detail on him.
”I-if you don’t mind Naruto, c-c-could you please get off?” she politely replied before moving a little bit away from him. Whenever the two of them were finally free of each other, Hinata decided to just stay on the ground, crossing her legs. It was more comfortable after all. Now then, time to explain to Naruto the Byakagun.
”A-anyway, the Byakagun is my clan’s kekkai genkai. I-it gives us almost perfect 360 degree vision, but more importantly it allows us to see the chakra network. I-I’m not too sure how it works though; the elder members are very protective over it.” she replied, disappointed she couldn’t tell Naruto what he wanted to know. She also left out some very important topics, such as the Main and Side Branch situation. But she didn’t want to concern Naruto with inner-clan politics right now. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~The Heiress of the Hyuuga Clan ~~~ [/font][/color][/center] |
|
|
|
Post by uzumakinaruto on Jan 17, 2010 20:56:01 GMT -6
Byakugan? Naruto attempted to rummage through his brain for any prior knowledge, but instead of finding any information, Sakura's voice popped up. It must have been about a year ago... he remembered her reciting something about clans, but he doubted it had anything to do with Hinata's Byakugan. The thought of Sakura in his current situation didn't do him much good. In fact, it almost made him feel guilty. He had no reason to feel that way- Sakura didn't even reciprocate his feelings. But chasing after her for so long, Naruto's mind had latched on to the idea that he was with her, or going to be at least. Then again, he'd had a crush on her all throughout the academy and she never really seemed to acknowledge him, just like the others. All she cared about was Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke. His male teammates name repeated in Naruto's head with a whiny voice, and that soured his mood a bit.
Naruto's heart fell when Hinata admitted that she had not landed entirely safety. What was with him, anyway? Either he was making her uncomfortable or hurting her. It wasn't intentional, of course, but it sort of felt that way. He told himself that he felt comfortable around her, and yet stuff kept happening that usually wouldn't happen around someone he felt comfortable around, as a friend anyway.
Frustrated and feeling a headache coming on, Naruto pouted at Hinata's request to make his displeasure obvious but complied nonetheless. He sort of rolled off and into a sitting position, with his back turned towards her. To be honest, he was a bit hurt by Hinata's quickness to dismiss him. Then again, he was used to it. What did he expect? Hinata must not like me at all. He figured, turning his head towards her. She must think I'm a clumsy, perverted, and hot-headed scew-up.
Naruto sighed aloud and slowly brought himself up to his feet. He dusted himself off, before shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants. He felt something in his right pocket, and upon further investigation he realized that it was his wallet. He was suddenly reminded of his second intention for getting out of the house- to get lunch at Ichiraku Ramen. He didn't feel quite that hungry yet, but he kept that in mind for later. He thought about inviting Hinata too, but she probably would refuse. Plus, she'd already had a lunch. And by the looks of it being untouched, she didn't seem all that hungry. Though she did need to eat something, especially after training.
"Your turn." He announced, referring to her previous promise. He would have offered a hand to help her up, but he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable again. After causing her discomfort twice, Naruto had resolved to not putting her in any more awkward situations. If he could help it, of course. That last one was an accident, after all. Then again, he'd chosen to not get up, and felt like an idiot for it. Getting up was the obvious thing to do, and it made him feel embarrassed that he had not done that. He avoided her eye contact as a result, still struggling with his blush. |
|
|
|
Post by Hinata Hyuuga on Jan 17, 2010 21:45:35 GMT -6
~~~Hinata Hyuuga~~~
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- As they all returned to their own, comfortable positions, Hinata felt relieved. She was disappointed that she couldn’t have enjoy that situation, but her natural feelings of embarrassment had made it necessary. It wasn’t a rejection of Naruto at all, but a simple expression of her own weakness. Well, even then it was a little odd, but this was the safer option. As long as Naruto was on her like that, she was afraid that she would faint again due to the embarrassment. Being so close to her crush, and with the Byakagun allowing her to see every detail, she couldn’t have lived through it.
Looking over at Naruto, however, Hinata’s heart fell. His back was turned towards her, and he seemed to be in a bit of a bad mood. Was something wrong? Was it something that she had done? When he looked back at her for a moment, Hinata just looked back, saddened a little. She wasn’t used to seeing Naruto so down like this, and so it was really bothering her to see it. The only problem was she really had no clue what it was that was bringing him down. Unless he was upset about falling on her like that, was that it? But she was fine; she had suffered worse in training. Still, there seemed to be a bigger issue at stake.
”N-Naruto, is something wrong?” she said worriedly as Naruto began to stand up.
She was still on the ground sitting as Naruto stood up. Not wanting him to feel weird, Hinata began to stand up as well. Naruto dug in his pockets for something, most likely just to fill up time and to have his hands doing something. The same thing happened to her; she always had to have her hands somewhere. Usually, however, they were playing with each other, or just sitting in her pockets. Eventually, however, his attention returned to her, with a statement that it was her turn.
Her turn for what though? Oh, they were showing off jutsu, weren’t they. Well, her Byakagun was still active, so all she had to do to show off her techniques was get into position and then practice. But, well, Naruto’s voice made her more worried, and his lack of eye contact didn’t help. This was not the Naruto that she knew. He wasn’t being energetic or happy-go-lucky; he actually seem depressed. Obviously she shouldn’t have expected Naruto to be like that all the time; he was human after all. Still, to see him in such a fallen state like this, it was worrisome. There was no way that she could show off her techniques without knowing what it was that was bringing him down.
”S-sure Naruto, but,” since this was a private issue for him, well, it was embarrassing to talk about it. Therefore, Hinata was looking down at her fingers…then she stopped. Naruto was in trouble; there was no time for her to twiddle her thumbs. She looked back at up at Naruto, feeling a little more confident in herself. While she didn’t care much for herself, she cared for Naruto; she was willing to stand up for him at least.
”But, if it isn’t much trouble, would you please tell me what’s wrong?” she blurted out, wanting to get the phrase out before she lost that burst of confidence. Right afterwards it was gone, and so it was back to her fingers. Still, she wasn’t completely quiet yet, as she started to mumble a little more to it.
”I-I-it’s just that you always seem so confident, I-it’s a little startling to see you acting like this…not that there is anything wrong with being sad. I-if it’s too personal of an issue I completely understand I-if you don’t want to talk about it.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~The Heiress of the Hyuuga Clan ~~~ [/font][/color][/center] |
|
|
|
Post by uzumakinaruto on Jan 18, 2010 11:51:26 GMT -6
The moment Hinata's inquiry had reached him, Naruto realized he was shocked. Not as a result of her question, but the realization that it brought. He really was coming off rather depressed and moody, wasn't he? He had reasons to be, of course, but as Hinata had continued to explain, he had never shown that side of him. He was like that as a little kid a lot; gloomy, depressed, and very, very angry. He'd resolved to not be that way anymore, that he didn't want to feel that way either. His solution was not to show those emotions, and he hoped that by doing that he wouldn't feel them. But, he was human and felt negative emotions nonetheless. In a way, he was contradicting himself. He wanted to build good relationships, like the one he had with Iruka. A big part of a healthy relationship was trust, yet Naruto would not reveal any of his deepest feelings to anyone.
The part that baffled him, though, was that he would usually detect these oncoming emotions and bury them quickly, before creating a false, happy facade. But he didn't even bother to do that with Hinata. He barely noticed how he had been acting. Now that Naruto thought about it, Hinata was one of the few people who had seen him genuinely upset. The Old Man Hokage had definitely seen Naruto's weakness, and Iruka too, but that was it. Did that mean he trusted her? Probably not... After all, when it came down to it, he didn't know her that well. But yet he had still...
Wow, I'm so confused. Naruto thought dumbly, squinting his eyes. He didn't really want to deal with that right now, and pushed his worries aside. He'd probably contemplate this later, like when he was in bed or something, but not now. Now that Hinata had seen him without his constant grin, putting on the facade now would be useless. But, Naruto did it anyway. He wasn't taking her for stupid, just hoping that she would get the message and drop the subject.
"Me? Oh, I'm fine! Don't worry about me, nothing's wrong!" The smile and laugh that accompanied his false enthusiasm were close to the real thing. He'd become pretty good at this over the recent years, so it was no surprise there. He sort of did want to confide in her, but he felt a bit embarrassed in doing so. But as he laughed, Hinata's concerned voice echoed in his head and his mask began to falter again. Why is she so worried about me? I never did anything for her....
Naruto took his hands out of his pockets and placed them by his sides. "I just feel bad, that's all." Naruto found himself admitting. "You were just minding your own business until I came in and screwed everything up, and made you feel uncomfortable. I feel sort of embarrassed, and..." Naruto wanted to say something like 'and I don't want you to think I'm a freak'. Just the word sent Naruto spiraling, back to when he had been in the darkness and all alone. Something sharp metaphorically hit him in the chest, and for a moment he had a pained expression. He didn't want Hinata to judge him like everyone else had. She seemed like a good person and he wanted her to be his friend.
"I'm sorry," Naruto decided to say, throwing in a half-assed smile and a laugh oozing with false enthusiasm. So, it had been revealed. One of Naruto's worst fears was losing a friend, even a potential one at that. He wondered if Hinata had realized this. Also, as he spoke those last two words, Hinata's continued ringing in his ears. He wasn't used to anyone expressing such concern over him, and that alone had begun to make him feel better. After her words, a genuine smile was beginning to form on his lips |
|
|
|
Post by Hinata Hyuuga on Jan 18, 2010 15:07:31 GMT -6
~~~Hinata Hyuuga~~~
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hinata waited patiently for Naruto to respond to her questioning. He seemed confused about something, but what she didn’t know. She really did wish she could help, but without knowing the problem, she had no clue where to start. Her eyes could make out every physical detail about him; every twitch, movement, reaction. Because of that she could tell that when Naruto began talking and smiling again, he was lying. To the average eye it would look like he was perfectly fine, but the Byakagun could tell every small detail about a person’s physical behavior, and the smiling and laughing was off just enough that she could see the lying.
Of course, Hinata didn’t tell him that she knew; she didn’t want to be pushy after all. They were just acquaintances from Naruto’s perspective. He knew nothing of her crush on him; as far as he was concerned, they were just classmates. So she understood completely that he didn’t want to tell the truth about his feelings. Yes, she was sad she couldn’t help, but Naruto would have to open up on his own; she couldn’t force him to. Still, this meant that when it wasn’t going to get much sleep tonight, knowing something was troubling Naruto like this.
All of that, however, changed when Naruto started talking again. Hinata felt a little stunned as Naruto began to talk, explaining why he felt bad. He actually felt bad about ‘screwing everything up’ and making her ‘feel uncomfortable’. The later, of course, was completely true, but that was because he was the one touching her and commenting on her. If anyone else had done what he had done, she would have been embarrassed easily, but not to the extent she had been with him. Her uncomfortableness was a sign of her crush, though obviously she couldn’t tell him that without making this worse.
Still, Naruto was apologizing about it, so she had to say something to him. He really didn’t do anything wrong; he didn’t have to apologize for anything. Looking up at him, she saw the fake smile again, but within a few seconds it started to look more genuine. These shifts in his mood were starting to get a bit hard to read. One of these days she was going to have to ask someone else about all of this cause it was starting to get a bit confusing.
”There’s no need to apologize Naruto. Everyone makes mistakes, and you tried your best to fix them. That’s more noble than trying to act as if you’ve never made a mistake at all,” she said, looking down at the ground again, but with a smile. She then looked back up at him, remember that she still had to show him her jutsu still.
”A-anyway, I guess I should be showing you my own techniques now.” she replied, hoping that by giving him the chance to see new techniques Naruto would cheer up some. He had acted so excited about it earlier. Looking at the log she had used earlier, Hinata wasn’t sure if she could fully show off using that. The heart of the Gentle Fist style was attacking the chakra network; logs really didn’t have one. Looking back over at Naruto, she remembered that his clones had one. If she hit them just right, they would be damaged but not dispersed. That would be a better demonstration of her technique than hitting a log.
”Naruto…would you mind creating a few more clones? I-I think I could better show you my technique if I had an actual body to strike than a log. Gentle Fist relies a lot on human anatomy.” she politely asked him. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~The Heiress of the Hyuuga Clan ~~~ [/font][/color][/center] |
|
|
|
Post by uzumakinaruto on Jan 18, 2010 16:43:13 GMT -6
Naruto's good mood seemed to be returning to him rather quickly, especially with Hinata's encouragement. For someone who looked down on themselves a lot, Hinata seemed to have the ability to find the light in situations, or this one at least. After being introduced to Hinata as a whole- her kindness, inner toughness, and optimism, rather than merely being presented her strange, quiet side, Naruto realized that he and Hinata were pretty similar. Of course there were major differences, lack of confidence being one, that set them far apart. Now that it had popped into his head, Naruto wondered why Hinata had a hard time believing in herself. That was the one thing that kept Naruto going, and it came naturally to him. Therefore, he didn't think that Hinata was just born without confidence or something... Something must of altered her perception of herself. Suddenly, Naruto felt like he needed to know, but wasn't stupid enough to ask out of the blue right now. He wouldn't make any more awkward situations, so he had to pay attention to what he said.
A long buzzing sound intercepted their area. Naruto knew that the sound originated from some kind of animal, but he had no idea what it was. Instead, it was just a sound he accompanied with summer. It was that sound that reminded him of the hot sun hanging over them. It was a bit past noon, and the sun still remained high in the sky. Naruto felt himself begin to sweat a bit, and realized his mouth was a bit dry. Technically, it was the end of summer, but here in the Fire country it didn't make much of a difference. "Ah, hold on." He told Hinata, flashing a foxy grin. He trotted on over to the tree stump and plucked the water bottle from the ground. It had become a bit warm during the past couple of minutes, but would be welcome nonetheless. So, Naruto took three large gulps of the fresh water without so much as a second thought. When he was finished, he seemed satisfied and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket. He threw the bottle, now half full, on the ground and quickly returned to Hinata.
As Naruto returned, Hinata announced that she was finally going to show him her jutsu. Yes! It was obvious his excitement had returned, and suddenly it seemed difficult for him to stand still. He didn't know why he was so happy to see Hinata's jutsu. Maybe it was the fact it was coming from her, and he had no clue what to expect. For some reason, it seemed like Hinata would have some kind of serious kick-ass jutsu that she had up her sleeve to shock everyone. Or maybe he'd taken their similarities to far to the point where he assumed Hinata was just as unpredictable as he was. Nevertheless, Naruto had a good feeling about this.
"Yosh!" He easily complied with Hinata's request. As he pumped his fist, he realized how smart Hinata had sounded when she'd asked him to make clones. Or maybe it was just the fact that she was polite. Did being polite make you sound smarter...? Ah, whatever! Naruto dramatically made the hand sign for his jutsu and obnoxiously announced his jutsu, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Five clones appeared in front of him, wearing the same enthusiastic expression as he did. Naruto decided to take a couple steps back just at the last moment, realizing he had no clue whether or not Hinata's jutsu was long range or anything like that. Meanwhile, his clones got in a defensive stance.
The real Naruto crossed his arms and expectantly watched Hinata. He had separated himself far enough from the rest of the copies to distinguish him as the real one, so she wouldn't go after him. Though, a spar match with Hinata did sound sort of like fun. Then again, Naruto would probably hold back too much, especially after feeling guilty about the previous events. "Show me what you got, Hinata!" Naruto shouted from where he was, cupping his hands over his mouth even if that wasn't necessary at this distance. |
|
|
|
Post by Hinata Hyuuga on Jan 18, 2010 21:38:42 GMT -6
~~~Hinata Hyuuga~~~
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Apparently something she had done worked because Naruto’s mood began to brighten up a bit. Hinata felt a sigh of relief as he became happier. Whenever he was happy, she was happy; depression just wasn’t becoming of him. Besides, a little optimism after such an emotional moment was a good thing. In some odd way, Hinata felt like the two of them had gotten a bit closer, just a bit. She never knew Naruto to act the way he had just a moment ago…and she helped cheer him up. Even if this didn’t lead anywhere like she wanted, at least that meant the two of them were becoming friends, right? Hinata’s heart beat a little faster at the thought, but she didn’t faint; it was a sort of excitement at the thought of them being friends.
Hinata simply stood bye as Naruto ran off to get himself some water. She realized she was tired and thirsty herself, and was tempted to ask Naruto for some of his water. Besides, with that jacket on it was getting dreadfully hot, but her shyness was making her keep it on. Naruto’s earlier comment was still ringing in her head, and she blushed at the thought with a bit of a smile. Still, that had been enough for her, but it was getting to be so hot that she might actually end up fainting of heat stroke. Besides, she performed her Gentle Fist better with it off; it did get in the way just a little bit. If Naruto could open up to her, then she could open up just a little bit. But first…
”Naruto, would you mind if I had some of your water?” she politely asked. Naruto agreed, and Hinata slowly finished off the rest of his water before handing it back to him, when he just threw it to the side. One day she was going to have to buy him some water or something to make up for hit; she didn’t like borrowing things without paying them back.
Once her thirst had been taken care of, Hinata slowly slipped her jacket off. Once it was off, she wanted to put it back on so much. But she really didn’t think she’d be able to handle this summer heat much longer. Sure, she survived the last few minutes, but her mind had been rather distracted; now that there was some down time she could actually focus on the heat. Blushing, she glanced over at Naruto to see what his reaction was before turning her attention towards the clones that he soon created.
Each one of them looked rather enthusiastic for beings that were about to be attacked. Byakagun active, Hinata looked over their chakra network systems. They were just like a human network, and they all had a rather large amount of chakra in them. She would have expected the amount in them to be much smaller; Naruto must have had a large store of chakra. That helped her out a little bit; gave her a bigger target, and the flow was easier to see. Naruto’s enthusiasm pumped her up, but she couldn’t help but blush a little at being cheered on like this. Taking a deep breath, Hinata focused…and charged at the targets.
As she ran she aimed at the network as taught, swiping at the clones the best she could, dodging anything that needed to be dodged. With each blow she shot out a small burst of chakra, making contact with the network. It was light enough that the clones would most likely not be destroyed immediately, but with the flow disrupted they would be gone soon. It wasn’t as visually impressive as Naruto’s clones, but there was some beauty behind her attacks. Still, she knew they were flawed; they were far from the perfection that her father demanded. Hopefully it would be enough to impress Naruto.
Once she was done, Hinata stepped back, breathing a little hard. After that training session, and the recent events with Naruto, she was beat. Still, if Naruto wanted another demonstration she was ready to give it, though she wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold on. The hunger was starting to get to her just a little bit. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~The Heiress of the Hyuuga Clan ~~~ [/font][/color][/center] |
|
|
|
Post by uzumakinaruto on Jan 19, 2010 16:25:46 GMT -6
Even though Hinata had her Byakugan activated for a little while now, Naruto still found himself in awe. Her eyes were so fierce and they looked deadly, all of which completely contrasted Hinata. Admittedly, the Byakugan wasn't the most attractive doujutsu out there, but its shocking appearance seemed to only add to the intimidating effect. That's probably why Naruto had set high expectations for whatever Hinata had to show him. However, while he expect something out of the ordinary, he was also sure that he would not be disappointed. Even if he did not remember ever watching Hinata in any sort of combat, he truly believed she could do it. In a strange way, Naruto felt like he probably had more confidence in her than she had in herself. Maybe if he somehow extended his confidence to her, such as his cheering and encouragement, she may have more faith in herself. Naruto resolved to doing this, and made a mental note to be sure that he would display his belief in her. He had no idea how much this would actually affect her, but if it even changed her the slightest bit, then he would be satisfied.
Naruto then smiled at how Hinata had handled the water, politely asking for it before gently consuming it. He seriously wasn't used to Hinata's personality type at all, whether it was male of female. He kind of liked it though, having someone calm and good-natured around. Plus, experiencing someone with a completely different personality then you were accustomed to was a bit exciting. It made him eager to get to know her better, to find out why exactly she was different from everyone else.
Naruto had hardly noticed Hinata had taken off her jacket before she glanced over at him, blushing. His gaze matched with hers for no more than a moment, but in that short amount of time Naruto was able to develop his own blush and felt a flutter of nervousness in his chest. Why'd I have to say that earlier? Naruto thought with flatly
He didn't have much time to mull over this though, because before he had a chance to look at Hinata, she was already off and running. Her demeanor completely changed... Instead of shy and timid, she was suddenly fierce and determined. Naruto could tell she really wanted to show him what she could do, and his blue eyes widened with shock as a result. She seemed to be paying attention to where she struck his clones, whom were throwing themselves at her like crazy. Naruto was about to protest a punch one swung at her head, but Hinata was quick to take care of that. He wasn't entirely sure what she was doing, but he was already impressed. He didn't know Hinata was capable of doing this, to be completely honest. Naruto thought that people with her personality wouldn't make effective ninja, but obviously Hinata was not like everyone else.
Then, Naruto's already wide smile grew wider until he couldn't help but let out a laugh. It wasn't demeaning in anyway, in fact it was more a joyous laugh. "Hinata, I didn't think you could move like that! You're awesome!" Which was true, she seemed to keep defying every previous perception he had of her. "Oh, yeah! The network thingy." Hinata had said that her jutsu attacked the chakra network, and obviously whatever that was, it was in his clones because she attacked them. So, Naruto made a seal that helped him focus on his chakra. He closed his eyes to further concentrate, and scanned each clone. "Hmm..." He said aloud, trying to find words to describe what he felt. "I don't know what you did, but something feels different. Like... that one." Naruto pointed to the clone that had swung a fist at her head earlier. He blinked at Naruto, as if to say 'who, me?' "His arm's kinda weird," Naruto explained, then realized that wasn't much of an explanation at all. "Uh, I don't know how to describe it." Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head while wearing a goofy grin.
"But Hinata, you seem pretty tired." Naruto said, noticing her labored breathing. "You should rest while I get some training in." For some reason, his attention was directed to her barely touched lunch. It probably didn't taste all that great anymore, having laid out in the sun for so long. "If you wanna get something to eat after, we could go to Ichiraku's." Naruto said the name with such adoration that it was no doubt he was practically in love with it. "They have the best ramen ever." He promised, still grinning. It was him who had deprived her of her lunch after all, it was only fair that he make up for it with a late one at least. Besides, he had been planning to eat there today anyway. He had enough money to pay for both of them, so there was no need to worry.
Naruto suddenly became aware of the heat once again, and he let out a breath of annoyance. Maybe taking off his jacket wasn't really a bad idea at all. So, Naruto quickly unzipped his infamous orange jacket and and wiggled his arms out from its grasp. He was wearing a plain black T-shirt underneath, as usual. It was a bit tighter than he was used to, but maybe he just wasn't used to it yet. Once his jacket touched the ground, Naruto scooped it up with a swing of his leg and caught it in his hand. He tossed it over as far a distance as he could. Then, he raised his eyebrows to see if his forehead had experienced any perspiration. He wasn't surprised to find that it did, and after a moment of hesitation, Naruto removed his headband too. He still thought of it more as a prized possession rather than a symbol of his loyalty and therefore treasured it. So, instead of throwing it away like he had his jacket, Naruto trotted on over to his jacket and gently put his headband down.
As he made his way back over to his previous position, Naruto wiped the sweat from his brow with a somewhat disgusted face. He didn't like feeling all sticky like this, and with his plans for training, it was only going to get worse. He almost wanted to just ditch this for today and go swimming, but he had already made a commitment to train today. Besides, he wanted Hinata to watch him now.
As Naruto made a hand seal and began to focus, he couldn't help but feel a bit out of place without his headband. He was so accustomed to wearing something around his head that he felt almost naked with his forehead being exposed. Well, it wasn't really. His hair was getting pretty long and covered his forehead now. He couldn't remember the last time his hair was down like this, minus when he was in bed and getting ready in the morning.
Naruto called up about three dozen clones, exhausting a large chunk of his chakra. He felt a bit tired after this task. Maybe that was a little too much... Naruto worried, but shook it off and decided to proceed anyway. He drew a kunai from his holster, his clones mimicking him as if they were mirrors. Then it was Naruto's turn to charge, and his clones followed in suit. Naruto used the best of his close-combat skills to dispose of the copies of himself. He knew this would take awhile, and hoped Hinata wouldn't mind. Actually, after he had made an especially impressive move by outmaneuvering two clones in one, fluid motion, he looked over at her and grinned. One of the clones took advantage of his distracting, and decided to elbow him in the face. The surprise force almost made Naruto lose his balance. "Ow!" He exclaimed, and began wrestling with his attacker. The other clones just watched, dumbfounded. When Naruto had finally been able to strangle his clone, he made quite the amusing expression to display his annoyance. |
|
|
|
Post by Hinata Hyuuga on Jan 19, 2010 22:17:24 GMT -6
~~~Hinata Hyuuga~~~
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- In that one moment when she glanced over at Naruto, Hinata could see him blush. Even as she turned away, she could still see it (advantages of the Byakagun). Apparently that memory of the comment earlier was still fresh in his head as well. Her heart gave a little flutter at it still; every girl loved having their crush comment on her looks, right? Still, if she was going to show off her techniques, she was going to have to focus. Being distracted while using the Gentle Fist style was a good way to injure yourself; it required precise control and concentration.
Being surrounded by Naruto’s would normally be distracting as well, but she was determined to show Naruto what it was she could do. Every attack had all her skill thrown in it, and then some; Naruto was watching, she couldn’t fail him. One clone took a swing at her head, but she was quick to take care of that. Ducking, she grabbed it by the arm, and then used her free hand to swipe at it right in the gut. She was a little surprised it didn’t poof right then and there, but she had wanted to keep them around so Naruto could see the effects of Gentle Fist after all.
Eventually the clones backed off, leaving Hinata standing by herself, breathing heavily. She was still standing defensively, but the sound of Naruto talking broke her concentration, and so she loosened up some. He was smiling and laughing again; good. Apparently she had succeeded in cheering him up. This was the Naruto she had grown to love, not the depressed one…not that she didn’t love that Naruto too. It was just that Naruto, wherever he went, seemed to radiate confidence. So whenever he was down and out, everyone was, or at least she was. Since she was still trying to catch her breath, however, all she could do in response to his joy was to give him a small smile.
That smile turned into a bit of a small, short giggle when Naruto revealed the cluelessness about the chakra network. Surprised at her laughing (and her still needing of air), Hinata stopped rather quickly. Her breath was finally returning to normal, but before she could begin an explanation, Naruto was already investigating his own clones. While he couldn’t see their network as well as she could, Hinata assumed that he could at least sense something was up. Her assumption proved right when Naruto mentioned one of the arms was ‘weird’. Jumping at the chance to show off a little bit more, Hinata began to explain as best she could for Naruto. But first, she deactivated her Byakagun; she was getting too tired to maintain it anyway.
”You see, the chakra network is responsible for the travelling of chakra throughout the body. I-it’s intertwined with your organs and such, so attacking it allows you to attack the organs. The Byakagun allows us Hyuuga to see the network, and so when we attack we send out a small burst of chakra. Through that we can disrupt the chakra network and damage the opponent’s organs. On the outside it doesn’t look like I did anything, but as you felt it yourself, you know I did something.”
Now that she was done playing teacher, Hinata looked back down and messed with her fingers again. Her head went right back up, however, when Naruto noticed she was tired. However, her entire mind was focused on the second part; Ichiraku’s. While she didn’t go there often, she knew the place. Naruto’s tone told her that he basically worshiped the place…and he was inviting her to go eat there. Too tired to faint, Hinata just stood there, not really sure how to respond. Naruto had just asked her to eat lunch with him at his favorite restaurant. Quickly heading back to her fingers for comfort, Hinata tried to process some kind of a response. Obviously she was going to say yes; it was a massive risk to do so, but right now she felt a little more confident in herself. Naruto was impressed by her skills (no matter how meager she thought they were), he was the one asking her; it was just enough to get her to say…
”S-sure, I-I-I’d enjoy going to Ichiraku with you.” she said, hesitating on the I as she really didn’t want to say ‘love’ in that sentence. It was an odd logic, but she felt that if she had said it, she’d be betraying her secret a little.
Until then, however, Naruto was going to train. Seeing as he was worried about her own condition, Hinata sat down underneath a tree for some shade. Pulling her legs up close to her, she rested her head on them and watched everything but Naruto as he took his own jacket off. The clouds were rather nice today; not too many, not too little. Perfect for shade without making it seem too dark. Trees were looking healthy with all the green leaves, and there some bugs frolicking in the air as well. Glancing back at Naruto, Hinata found that he was wearing a t-shirt underneath, giving her some relief. For some reason she had thought he might not have had anything on underneath that jacket; he had never taken it off as far she could remember. A little bit like her Hinata thought with a bit of a smile.
Hinata looked up in surprise when Naruto made three dozen clones. He had been making plenty of clones lately, and she had attacked the chakra of a few of them. Yet he still had enough chakra to pull off all of those clones. That was not normal for a Genin, that was for sure. Oddly enough, it wasn’t that surprising though. It was appropriate for Naruto to have all this chakra; he was filled with boundless enthusiasm after all. Besides, he wasn’t that great at anything else, so the universe must have deemed it fit to give him the advantage of massive chakra reserves. Well, it would come in handy, especially with training as Naruto soon began to spar with all of his clones.
Naruto wasn’t as graceful as she had been, but he was still being effective. His clones were going down at a nice pace. The fact it was it was a little less polished didn’t matter to her at all; besides, hers was just a little cleaner because she was a specialist in taijutsu of sorts. Naruto, well, he’d probably be a rather rounded out ninja, maybe leaning towards ninjutsu with all that chakra. Also, Naruto had been so supportive of her; she had to support him the best she could.
”Keep it up Na…ruto?”
Just as she gave out her cheer, Naruto was elbowed in the face by one of his clones. Hinata almost jumped up to help him, but he was back up and strangling the clone. Relaxing back against the tree, Hinata smiled and continued to watch the display. It was then that Hinata realized that her lunch from earlier was still sitting there. Leaning over to pick it up, Hinata surveyed the damage done by just leaving it there; it was pretty heavy. Bugs were all over it, munching away heavily. What the bugs hadn’t gotten was rotting away and/or spoiled or on the way to being so. Overall, not the best idea to try and eat it. With nothing else to do with it, Hinata gently tapped it till all of its contents were on the ground. If she hadn’t been nice and done that, Shino would have killed her; he was so protective of bugs. Besides, she had no use for the food now anyway. Securing the box, Hinata set it down next to her and returned to watching Naruto.
Sadly, looking at her ruined lunch brought back the hunger pains, and Hinata could hear her stomach gurgling a little bit. Hunching closer, she tried to hide the noise so Naruto couldn’t hear it. Not only was the sound embarrassing, but he’d probably get concerned about her not eating. He was having fun with his training at the moment, and she didn’t want to ruin it for him. Hinata had the patience to wait it out till Naruto was done with his training to go eat lunch with him; whether or not her stomach did would be a different matter all together. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~The Heiress of the Hyuuga Clan ~~~ [/font][/color][/center] |
|
|
|
Post by uzumakinaruto on Jan 20, 2010 19:33:09 GMT -6
Naruto blinked. Did Hinata just giggle? She was short of breath, so it didn't last long, but it made him smile nonetheless. He couldn't believe it- even her laugh was soft and gentle. Amused, Naruto couldn't help but give his own goofy chuckle. He had an idea of what had made her laugh, it was something most people found amusing about him- his cluelessness. He took no offense to it, though if anyone else had laughed at his so-called incompetence, he'd probably snap at them.
Naruto did his best to comprehend Hinata's explanation of the chakra network, even if it was admittedly simple. Paying extra attention seemed to work, because Naruto felt like he grasped the gist of it. To better understand it, Naruto tried picturing it all in his head. He learned through visuals, which was probably why he had struggled as much as he did in the academy, which seemed to mostly consist of lectures. He tried thinking of the network as veins, except they carried chakra instead. And... apparently Hinata could see that and screw it up? He really wanted to understand, feeling that understanding this would somehow lead him to better understand her. But, Naruto had always struggled with comprehending anything.
As she explained, however, Naruto felt the corners of his lips twitch. Why was she so formal when she was explaining something to him? Then again, wasn't she always formal? She was polite and seemed to have manners and all that, so maybe the Hyuuga were, like, really prestigious or something. Probably rich too, not that it mattered to Naruto or anything.
Naruto watched Hinata's fingers as she responded to his offer. She seemed to have trouble with the letter 'i' for some reason... "That's great!" He responded, resisting the urge to put a hand on her shoulder or something. "Oh, and Hinata?" He paused, to make sure he had her attention. "Don't be so nervous and stutter like that. I don't bite!" His voice cracked on the word 'bite', but Naruto didn't seem to notice.
After he'd finally disposed of the clone that just got a cheap shot on him, Naruto sighed jokingly and continued with his exercise. It wasn't really anything impressive, all he was doing was getting a couple good punches in and occasionally a few combos that he found himself particularly proud of. He felt more empowered than usual, probably because Hinata was watching him. It sort of felt nice to have even a single pair of eyes watching you. He admired her attempt to cheer for him, and picked up his pace. Before long He had eliminated about 2/3 of his clones, and was breathing laboriously. This is going by faster than I thought... Naruto thought as he attempted to moisten his dry mouth and throat. His hair was starting to bug him a bit too, and he wished he hadn't made the decision to take his headband off. Nonetheless, Naruto was determined to finish what he started, and got into a defensive stance as the clones caught their breaths as well.
Maybe it was because he was the host of the Demon Fox, or maybe it was because he just had a good sense of hearing. Or, maybe he was just hungry himself. But somehow Naruto heard Hinata's grumbling stomach even from this distance. He looked over at her, his blue eyes observing her curiously. She had retrieved her ruined lunch, a sign that she was already thinking about food. That, and she had noticed her loud pangs of hunger and was attempting to subdue them by hunching over. Naruto let out a short laugh when he was realized that Hinata was embarrassed. She's not going to ask to go to Ichiraku's... Naruto realized as he shook his head slightly. His hair seemed to glide across his forehead through this movement. Even if he still felt like he didn't know her that well, he felt he could make in accurate conclusion in this situation.
Naruto made a seal to diminish his clones in a poof of smoke. Then, he sauntered over to where his jacket and headband lay. He picked up the headband and carefully returned it to its rightful position around his head. He adjusted it a bit, looking rather proud, before picking up his jacket and hanging over his left arm. He was about to approach Hinata when he spotted Hinata's jacket laying where she had left it. He hurried over to retrieve it, forgetting for just a minute his personal dislike towards the article of clothing that had injured him earlier. He draped it over his own jacket before finally making his way to Hinata.
"If your hungry, you should say something," He said. "I don't mind going to Ichiraku now. It's too hot to train anyway." Naruto knew it would be hard for her to refuse, since he had already gathered their things and abandoned his training. He offered his hand out to her. "Come on, it's not far." Once she got up, he would hand her her jacket, if she wanted it. Otherwise, he didn't really mind carrying it for her. |
|
|
|
Post by Hinata Hyuuga on Jan 21, 2010 6:53:11 GMT -6
~~~Hinata Hyuuga~~~
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hinata heard Naruto laugh in response to her own, which kind of helped her to end it rather quickly. She had been afraid more a moment that he might have been offended, but she was glad he wasn’t. Admittedly, though, his laugh kind of overpowered his. It was just Naruto’s personality to be like that, so she couldn’t blame him.
As she explained the chakra network and the Byakagun, Hinata kept on eye on Naruto to see if whether or not he was understanding it. Even without the Byakagun, she could see his lips twitching; about what she didn’t know. Was she doing something worth smiling about? Or was he simply having trouble understanding it all but was trying to act as if he did? She really couldn’t think of any way she could simplify it anymore though. Hopefully he understood it all; he had been so eager to want to know how it worked.
Hinata glanced back up at Naruto when he said “That’s great.” Even if he was the one who had offered to take her, being told that helped her spirits a bit. However, she had to look up at him for a moment when he started talking about something else. She just stared at him until he replied she shouldn’t be nervous and stuttering, that he didn’t ‘bite’. Of course he didn’t bite! That wasn’t the reason she was so nervous after all. Still, Naruto wanted her to toughen up a bit, so she forced her hands behind her back. At least that way he didn’t see her messing with her fingers.
”Sorry Naruto.” She responded slowly in order to not stutter. Sadly, Hinata couldn’t promise that she wouldn’t stutter. Sure, she could work on it and lessen how much she stuttered, but it wouldn’t go away completely. At least not until she could actually confess to Naruto about her crush; till then it was nervousness all the time for her.
Comfortably sitting on the ground, Hinata simply watched as Naruto attacked his clones. He was going at a pretty good speed, and it wasn’t long before most of his clones had been defeated. Even the one who got a shot at him was gone; strangling sort of did that to you. Even her cheering seem to have had some sort of effect as his speed picked up a little bit afterwards. Eventually he had to stop to catch his breath, leaving a few clones still standing. Hinata looked over at the water bottle, wondering if there was any left. Now she was starting to regret finishing it all off; Naruto wouldn’t have anything to drink, and he still had some training left. That had been rather selfish of her; she would have to pay for a drink or something for him later and hope that it would make it up to him.
Hinata’s focus on the water bottle, however, was broken by the sound of Naruto’s clones being dispersed. Turning her attention back to Naruto, she watched as he picked up his jacket and his headband. Was he done training early? Fighting a couple dozen clones like that would be a tiring way of training; she didn’t know a lot of people who could handle such a thing. Maybe her cousin Neji and his team; she had heard him mumbling about that ‘lunatic in green spandex’ or something like that. She really wasn’t sure what that was about. Hinata was a little surprised when she Naruto started to approach her but soon switched and grabbed her jacket. He then returned, and basically confirmed he had her stomach earlier and was now offering to leave. She had a feeling the ‘too hot to train’ thing might have been an excuse, though it was rather hot…
”I was waiting for you to finish training first…” she responded. It was a poor excuse, but it was the truth; she wanted to see Naruto training at his very best. Glancing at his hand, Hinata was a little hesitant. Remembering Naruto’s earlier comments on her shyness, however, she took it and pulled herself up. For a second she thought about not letting go, but she had to; they were just friends after all.
”I can carry my jacket if you want…” she offered, noticing Naruto’s arms were full. Repeating Naruto’s words over and over in her mind, Hinata had to spend all her will power on not putting it back on. Most likely, however, she’d at least drape it around her. It was easier to carry that way after all, and it was a compromise between wearing it and not wearing it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~The Heiress of the Hyuuga Clan ~~~ [/font][/color][/center] |
|
|
|
Post by uzumakinaruto on Jan 24, 2010 11:18:46 GMT -6
Naruto wasn't quite sure how she should react to her apology. It really wasn't anything to be sorry for, it just bothered him that she was incapable of voicing anything without hesitating. Plus, she was incredibly quiet. He remembered her speaking to him on the rare occasions in the academy, and he would have to lean in to hear her. However, the way she deliberately and slowly apologized like that made Naruto wonder if he wasn't supposed to say that. Was she self-conscious about it or something? One thing was for sure, if Naruto wanted to befriend Hinata, he would have to get used to her speech. He didn't really want to change it, since it was part of what made her Hinata. Plus, it wasn't like it was anything negative. He also noticed that she had stopped fidgeting with her fingers as she spoke. With this, Naruto concluded that she really did feel self-conscious about stuttering and fidgeting, at least around him anyway.
Naruto could feel Hinata's eyes on him as he was gathering their things. He had no doubt in his mind that Hinata would protest his decision. He may not know her that well, but he knew enough so that he was sure Hinata was going to put his best interests before hers. It was part of her kindness or something, he supposed. While it was nice, it made it difficult for people to return the favor and be kind to her for a change, which is what Naruto had decided to do. He also wondered if Hinata was the kind of person to reject gifts because they felt bad accepting them. He really hoped she wasn't like that, and that she knew some people cared about her too... Naruto's grip on the jackets tightened.
However, as she took his hand and helped herself up, Naruto still had a smile plastered on his face. He listened to her expected rebuttal, but didn't show any physical signs that he had been anticipating such an answer. "It's alright," He said. "I kinda feel like eating more than training right now. I just woke up, so I didn't really eat anything yet." He grinned sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. Then, as if on cue, his stomach gave a low grumble of its own. "See?" He exclaimed, pointing accusingly at his stomach. "I'm not lying!" He wasn't implying that Hinata thought he was a liar, he just wanted to poke some fun at her, he supposed.
When Hinata told him she wouldn't mind carrying her jacket, Naruto handed it to her enthusiastically as he chirped, "Okay!" Once he handed it to her, Naruto pulled his own on rather quickly. As he zipped it up, he felt some sense of relief. It was ridiculous how strange he felt without his regular attire. If Naruto wasn't 12 years old and relatively immature, he probably would have done the more gentleman-ly thing and carry her jacket for her. But he was 12, and he wasn't really that type of person to begin with anyway. So, having him carry her jacket willingly was a slim chance.
"Let's go!" He told her happily as he began to casually make his way out of the training field. He felt like he had to do something with his hands again, and was tempted to put them in his pockets as he had earlier. But somehow the thought of doing that put Sasuke in his head, whom often made that gesture. After realizing this, Naruto decided against his initial idea and decided to stretch out his arms by placing his hands behind his head. He wasn't really sure what he should talk to Hinata about... So he looked at her for a few moments before deciding on something to say. "Who's on your team again?" Even though he had no clue, he added the word again in there because he knew he was there when the teams were assigned. He was just too distracted with himself and his own team to care about any others. |
|
|
|
Post by Hinata Hyuuga on Jan 24, 2010 21:45:18 GMT -6
~~~Hinata Hyuuga~~~
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hinata was rather self-conscious about her stuttering and finger playing; she knew exactly why she did it after all. Still, it made her more comfortable, like a security blanket. It allowed her to take her mind off of the situation by distracting it with meaningless gestures. Of course, if Naruto wanted her to stop doing it, then she would work hard to do so. Furthermore, Hinata planned to speak up a little bit. Naruto used to lean in close to her to speak; she didn’t want to trouble him to do that. Besides, Naruto had so much self-confidence in himself that she didn’t know how well he would take her having none. Her mind drifted back to her father, but she quickly suppressed the thought. Now was not the time to dwell on his comments after all; Naruto was here to lift her spirits up.
Naruto reassured Hinata that it was all right that they were eating now. Apparently he had just woken up and hadn’t eaten anything. As if to confirm his story, his stomach began to grumble. Of course, even if it hadn’t, Hinata would have believed him. Naruto was notorious for being tardy and sleeping in late; it wouldn’t surprise her at all if he had just woken up. Still, at least he wasn’t giving up on his training just for her.
”Okay then Naruto.” she responded short and sweetly as he helped her up.
After asking for her jacket back, Naruto was quick to give it back to her. Grabbing a hold of it, Hinata took Naruto’s lead and began to put her jacket on. Enough time had passed she felt cool, and for some odd reason she felt that if she had kept on holding it Naruto might make a comment about wanting to carry it for her. It happened in all the romance stories she had read or told; the boy carries the girls jacket for her. It was a silly fantasy though, so she soon swept the thought out of her head. There was no romance going on between them after all; Naruto was just a friend, nothing more. For the moment, Hinata was perfectly fine with that. Even if she never became Naruto’s girlfriend, she would be happy to have known him.
Of course, she still had to thank him for bringing her jacket to her.
”Thank you Naruto.” she replied just as she finished zipping up her own jacket, readjusting the hood so it hung behind her. She then followed behind Naruto carefully as he started to head out. Realizing he’d probably slow down for her or something, she hastened herself up and got next to him, with maybe a foot in between them.
For the next few minutes things were quiet. Naruto didn’t seem sure what to say, and Hinata was too shy to start up a conversation on her own. That, and it was taking all of her energy to resist messing with her hands, which were safely within the confines of her own pockets. Glancing up at Naruto, she found he had but his arms behind his head. Glancing back down at the ground, she found herself having to look at him again rather quickly; he wanted to know who was on his team.
”Oh, well, there’s Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba, with Kurenai-sensei as well.” She responded, just simply giving off the names. Seeing as that made the conversation rather dull, and knowing how curious Naruto was about her own techniques, Hinata decided to move it a little more and talk about their skills some.
”Shino specializes in using insects, and Kiba has his dog Akamaru with him. We are sort of like a team of trackers between the insects, dogs, and my Byakagun.” She added in to fill Naruto in on the details of the team. There really wasn’t much else to say; they all got along great after all. No problems what so ever, minus some slight creepyness with bugs coming out of Shino at times. Other than that, however, Hinata had no problems. She wondered how Naruto was doing on his team?
”So then, how are you enjoying your team with Sasuke and Sakura?”
Hinata already had a slight idea of how it was from watching Naruto in the Academy. She knew Naruto had a rivalry with Sasuke, so the two of them might have been fighting now. She also knew he had a crush on Sakura; his jumping for joy at being assigned to her team told everybody that. So he was probably real happy about that. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~The Heiress of the Hyuuga Clan ~~~ [/font][/color][/center] |
|
|
|
Post by uzumakinaruto on Jan 25, 2010 15:50:29 GMT -6
"Inuzuka... Kiba and Aburame... Shino?" Naruto flashed her a curious, innocent look before putting a hand to his face in thought. Kiba... Naruto remembered him, of course. He was so annoying, always thinking he's the cool guy or the 'top dog' or whatever you want to call it. The superiority thing was dangerously similar to a certain teammate of his, so it was no surprise Naruto had developed a mutual dislike to the canine shinobi. And Shino... who was that again?
It seemed as if a light bulb went off in Naruto's head as Hinata explained what each of her teammates specialized in. He knew Kiba was all about dogs, but the mention of bugs immediately put a face to Shino's name. Ugh... That guy was creepy. Always keeps to himself, follows the rules, and worships bugs... Wow, poor Hinata he realized, resisting the urge to give her a sorry look. Naruto had no idea how he would handle those two being on his team. Though, she had mentioned that they were a tracking team. He could see that. Shino with his weird bugs and whatever the heck they did, Kiba and his nose, and Hinata with her... Byakugan? He remembered her saying that the Byakugan was capable of 360 degree vision, but that wouldn't be that much of an asset on a tracking mission, would it? He felt like asking her, but decided to hold his tongue this one time. She had explained a lot to him already, most of which he didn't understand yet. He didn't want to, you know, overload his brain or anything. He'd probably ask her sometime later, if he remembered.
"Kiba's not a jerk to you or anything, is he?" Naruto asked. He was a bit surprised at himself because the first thing to come out of his mouth after her answer was his concern for her. Naruto had known Kiba for quite awhile, in fact he would often skip class with him during school. He could tell that Kiba could be brash and less-than-sensitive at times. Maybe Naruto was making assumptions about Kiba, but he couldn't help worrying about his attitude towards Hinata. To be honest, Naruto couldn't really picture anyone who could be mean to Hinata, unless they had some serious issues. She just wasn't someone you got mad at. It was as simple as that.
His face seemed to be a mix of emotion when Hinata asked him about his own team. He went on to explain. "Well, at first I was really happy cuz Sakura-chan was on my team, but once I found out about Sasuke, it just ruined everything!" Naruto crossed his arms in a huff. "Now Sakura-chan's gonna be all over Sasuke, and I'm gonna be left out. With him around, it's almost impossible to get her attention." Naruto smiled then and uncrossed his arms. "But I gotta keep trying, right?" He looked straight at Hinata as he said this, obviously referring to her in his last words. "Oh, and my sensei, Kakashi. I don't even think he's a Jounin!" The blonde boy giggled and decided to fill Hinata in on his immature and senseless eraser prank. Of course he had over exaggerated the story, putting in that Kakashi screamed like a little girl once the eraser touched him. The parts of his story that were false were extremely obvious, so he doubted Hinata would take him literally.
As they walked out of the training field and into town, Naruto noticed that it was less crowded than it had been before. He was relieved, hoping this would be a sign that Ichiraku Ramen wouldn't be full. That would really make my day... Naruto thought sarcastically, referring to his favorite bar being completely occupied.
As they walked, Naruto felt the odd sensation that people were watching them. He was used to stuff like this, but he didn't know if he could tolerate people doing that when he was with Hinata. There was nothing wrong with her, after all. Actually, Naruto would be pretty upset if anyone had singled Hinata out for being with him. Now that he knew exactly why he was getting all those looks, Naruto had felt a sense of relief. When he was younger, he had no clue and would make up ridiculous stories as explanations. Though, he was sort of grateful for finding out recently. If anyone had told him that people hated him because he harbored a demon when he was younger, there was no doubt he would resent everyone. Heck, he had already begun resenting them before Iruka came along. Sometimes Naruto wondered what would have happened if he had never met Iruka. It wasn't anything positive, that was for sure.
They were almost at Ichiraku now. Naruto figured he might as well let Hinata know. "We're almost there." He said this with a smile, and had simultaneously side-stepped two kids wrestling over a toy in the middle of the road. Naruto was tempted to stop and watch the ridiculous conflict, but decided against it. He then slowed his pace the slightest, reminding himself of Hinata's fatigue. He wondered if she noticed, and hoped she wouldn't take it the wrong way. Naruto didn't want to push her endurance when it wasn't necessary. |
|
|
|
Post by Hinata Hyuuga on Jan 25, 2010 22:10:34 GMT -6
~~~Hinata Hyuuga~~~
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hinata waited patiently for Naruto to remember who those three were. She knew Naruto had some trouble-remembering people, but eventually he would remember. Besides, she had given him a pretty basic description of her teammates. All she had to do know was wait patiently for him to remember. Eventually something came to his mind, as Naruto was soon asking her about her teammates.
Kiba, a jerk? Well, he could be a little pushy and, well, maybe crude was he word at times, but he was perfectly fine. He wasn’t a jerk at all. Hinata thought that he was rather forward and honest, if maybe a little harsh. Still, he always seemed to have her best interest at heart; they were teammates after all. They had to rely on each other if they wanted to survive. And while Naruto hadn’t asked about Shino, she might as well talk about him as well; he was her other teammate after all. Well, he was a little creepy and quiet, but he seemed nice enough. Didn’t talk much though, but it wasn’t due to shyness; he was a very serious, stoic type.
”No, of course Kiba’s not a jerk. He’s actually rather nice once you get past the rough exterior.”
When it came to Naruto’s team, his reactions were just as expected. He was happy about Sakura, but mad about Sasuke. Though his concern seemed to be that with Sasuke around Sakura would be all over him. It would be impossible for Naruto to get her attention that way. Hinata, of course, knew exactly how that felt. She had been trying to get Naruto’s attention all this time, and for once it seemed that she had gotten some of it. Of course, she was still having to compete with Sakura…no, that wasn’t how she wanted to describe it. She wasn’t competing with anyone over Naruto; Naruto was free to choose who ever he wanted. Besides, she had to agree with his statement of “gotta keep trying, right?”
”Of course you have to Naruto. You shouldn’t give up trying to get the attention of the person you like.” she replied, blushing again. And while she know she told Naruto she wouldn’t, Hinata had to stare at the ground and play with her fingers again. Her stomach was filled with butterflies at the moment. For once she was hoping Naruto’s thickheadedness would prevent him from getting any deeper meaning in her words.
She was glad to get some relief when his sensei Kakashi was brought up. The following story about the eraser was obviously exaggerated, but she did laugh a little. It was surprising for a Jounin to be hit with an eraser like that. Of course, he could have just been playing dumb; he was a Jounin after all. Besides, Naruto seemed like an idiot when you first met him, but in the end he was really strong. It was an odd comparison, but it worked for Hinata.
Eventually reaching the village, they found the place with light traffic. As they walked, however, Hinata could feel the gaze of people on them. She had always noticed how people gazed at him, like something was wrong. Obviously she never really understood why they did so, but it was a rather sad thing. Of course, now that she was here with him, she was being stared at as well. Deep down she wanted to snap back at them, asking why they had to treat Naruto like this. However, she simply stayed quiet, and simply ignored them. Naruto had already felt rather uncomfortable about the rest of the day; speaking out would make it worse. That, and she didn’t have the confidence to speak out anyway. Still, Hinata did have a little sign of her frustration; she had her fists balled up in a fist.
Soon they were almost there, with Naruto announcing that fact. On the way they passed two kids fighting over a toy, but Naruto moved on. Hinata, however, really couldn’t pass such an incident. Stopping, she began to talk to the kids, hoping to get the two of them to make some kind of compromise. Eventually they had some kind of agreement, and Hinata quickly rushed over to catch up with Naruto.
”Sorry about that Naruto…” Hinata replied apologetically. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~The Heiress of the Hyuuga Clan ~~~ [/font][/color][/center] |
|
