(A/N: I'm pretty sure my formatting was erased, sorry for confusion on it. 10/25/08 - Some minor corrections made in response to reviews)

Regarding Failures

You once heard someone say that life had its ups and downs, but the closest thing to a real "up" that you're able to recall from the past year or two is talking with Iruka-sensei after cleaning the Hokage monument yesterday. Or when the Hokage joked with you after another prank, or maybe even when one of the others at the academy would laugh at another one of your jokes. Every night spent at Ichiraku's was always a little bump in life. Lastly, hanging out with some of the guys from class was usually a good little plateau in the grand scheme of things.

Of course, the moment you decide to go shopping at the market it becomes painfully obvious that karma has some sort of grudge against you, and it will hunt you like some sort of vengeance demon. A giggle escapes your lips as you remember the horror movie that you watched through the hole in the wall last night. The relentless chase that the spirit gave, only to find contentment in the sadness of her/its prey. Your giggle spreads into a perverted grin as you recall the other events you watched through that peephole - your neighbors get rather frisky when frightened, bored, angry…hell, they're always randy as all get out. Regardless, your thoughts are getting off track from reality.

'Third time's the charm!'

That's another thing you've heard around town. But this third time is the same as the last two attempts. A few of the other kids returned after the second failure, but they all passed this time. You even remember some of them managing to pass the Genin exam before, but they must have been sent back for some reason. Not that you have any resentment for most of the kids or anything – O.K. that's a lie. You do have a little bit… but it's not like they chose to be put in the position of successful young academy students. Hell, some of the guys are pretty cool to hang out with, and their parents usually don't mind if you drop by for a bite to eat – as long as you stay away from the animals, younger siblings, and anything breakable. Actually, Chouji's mom is the only one that let's you into the house, but a few of the other parents at least turn a blind eye to you picking up leftovers out back.

Looking around at the happy people, rejoicing with their children is a little bit depressing. Even some of the kids who failed are getting reassured. Lucky little bitches. One of the women, probably a mother or sister, meets your eyes with a fierce glare. Her eyes are piercing, full of hate and pain. You look down, not willing to provoke her any further right now. Any other day you might grin back and maybe flip her off or something, but not today… There's no point in doing something like that today, when they're actually right about something. Today you are a failure – again - and the glares seem to be the only acknowledgement you'll ever get from the village. Maybe it won't even matter if you do become a Ninja. Maybe they'll never give you anything but contempt.

Okay, you can admit that it may have been a bit more than just contempt. They can also check the boxes for giving out spit and screaming confessions of just how much they hate you. Some of them can probably check a few more boxes, like pain, extortion, harassment, conspiracy to commit murder, etcetera, etcetera, and end of report.

"…Demon brat…" someone mutters in the crowd.

It's been the same for so many years that there's no reason to even notice anymore. They hardly make an effort to hide their hatred, and then you make an amazing effort to not seem totally confused about it. Probably something your father did… or maybe your mother, possibly a distant cousin or even a pet. On a more cheerful day, the idea of your pet causing that much trouble would be hysterical. After all, it's not like the Kyuubi was your little baby doll or something. Not that it matters one way or the other, since you never knew them. Apparently it's not uncommon among Ninjas to hold grudges across generations.

Bringing your eyes back up, you take a moment to look around you. Oh, there's the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, once again acting ridiculous and getting berated by their wives for acting like fools in public – like those three have ever acted like anything other than fools in public. You used to have some concerns about the quality of Konoha's ninja, until you saw them in a serious training session. Never again will you believe that experienced Jounin are anything less then amazing. Even if they do act like a) drunkards, b) fools, or c) just totally whipped three-quarters of the time. Shikamaru once told you that the Ino-Shika-Cho trio is the poster child for some Post-Traumatic-Stress-Syndrome… or was it disorder? Either way, you're well aware that the three fathers have seen far too much and do just about everything to avoid thinking about it.

Their children are much more stable, but they're all trapped in their parents' shadows. Ino understands a lot of the kunoichi stuff on the surface, but you don't think that she's quite accepted what all of the courtesan training is for (you're slightly less sheltered, and sneaking into those lectures was always a blast). Her father plays the overprotective dad pretty well, and the few conversations you've had with him always seem to end with him interrogating you to see if you're thinking impure thoughts about his daughter – once he put you in a headlock because you remembered what color her blouse was. Really, you don't spend very much time with Ino…primarily because any interest you have in Sasuke is more focused around your desire to beat his arrogant, pretty-boy face in.

Shikamaru thinks too logically, and spends too much time in the library – he knows the life expectancy for a ninja, and he's afraid for everyone. Really, it's making him kind of like an old man for someone so young. Maybe you'll invite him for a sleepover one night, he can check out the peephole. In fact, you decide that one of these nights you'll have to get the gang together and do something. Even if they graduated and you didn't, it doesn't mean that you're all alone again, right? In any case, Shika looks like he's trying to sneak off, probably going to watch clouds again. Parents proving too embarrassing, avoid any and all contact with them while keeping track of the deer. He makes a second of eye contact with you, giving a little wave before he saunters away from his family.

As his mother's screeching voice brings his escape attempt to a halt, you give a sickly smile at the bittersweet connections in families.

Chouji's family is better grounded in reality than the other two; it comes from their differing ninjutsu specialties. Whenever Chouji's dad gets too drunk, Chouji usually ends up being the one to drag his father home from the bar, alleyway, or training field. Choza talks to his dead friends when he's that far gone, sometimes he cries and starts talking in 'what ifs'. You know all of this because after eight months of hanging out with Chouji after class, you're able to tell when he's exhausted the next morning after carrying his dad home. A few times you helped carry the heavy-set man home, those experiences have you firmly convinced that Chouji is the most patient soul on the planet.

You slouch a little bit, being well aware that the three families will be having one of their massive family dinners. That means scavenge elsewhere for an evening meal. You grimace, realizing that after failing… again… you might not be the best company to the successful students.

The Inuzuka clan is here in force this afternoon. They seem to take any excuse for a public clan gathering and then push it too far. You like the Inuzuka clan and everything, or at least you like Kiba, Tsume, and Hana. Hana wins a prize for being the hot older sister, even if she's a total bitch most of the time. She does appreciate it when you bring stray animals to the clinic, even if it does turn the clinic into a cacophony of animal noises when you set foot in the place. To be totally truthful, the other twelve members of the Inuzuka clan don't ring bells in your memory. Other than baby Yuki, who is universally loved by everyone, they all have their own rivalries that seem to be in continuous competition. It doesn't help that Tsume is in a perpetual struggle with Uncle… what's-his-face? Well, Kiba always calls him Asshole. Tsume has to continually fight with him for control of the clan, since she's only an interim clan leader until Kiba is old enough to fight for clan-chief.

Kiba's parents were the clan Alphas, but since his father's death during the Kyuubi attack Tsume has refused to accept an Alpha male in the pack. She's strong enough to back it up against her challengers within the clan, but it's given the whole group a kind of constant tension between them. Hana is also under some serious pressure to either marry her cousin (those screaming matches have sent Kiba to chill out at your house more than a few times) or find a man both willing to change his name and strong enough to join the clan. Needless to say, Hana has rejected all of her suitors in favor of avoiding the subject all together, and uses her three dogs to back her up whenever she needs a little bit of assistance in getting rid of suitors.

You and Kiba actually intimidated some civilian guy out of it one weekend. About a block from the Inuzuka compound you ran into a well-dressed young man with a fairly expensive bouquet. Needless to say, when discovering that Hana's little brother has very well-developed canines, and that her little brother's friend seems to carry an endless supply of pranks; he handed over the bouquet and gave up. Actually, to the best of your memory he broke down crying and begged for mercy, and then ran off after pissing himself. That was a good day.

The Aburame had left as soon as they showed up. If you hadn't spent a good six months scrutinizing Shino's body language, he wouldn't even have picked up that his former classmate was nervous. Actually, the whole meeting was kind of surreal in this setting. Three people – two large and one small - in large coats and sunglasses walked up to an identically dressed, but small individual. Really, there were hardly any visible differences between Shino and his younger sister at a first glance. It was like she made it her mission to look exactly like her older brother. It was much easier to tell the difference the first time you saw them together, because she was still noticeably shorter – she's grown though, so it's only because of extensive practice that you kept track of the elder sibling. When Shino's other sister ran up behind them, you would almost think that somebody's baby got lost until Shino picked up the diaper-clad toddler and gently placed her on his shoulders.

Honestly, having been put in that position in the past, you're more than aware of precisely how badly it can end for you. That little girl is lucky she's so damn cute, otherwise you would never be willing to put yourself back into a position to get pissed on again. How Shino does it so calmly, you will never know.

The only other family here you're acquainted with is the Haruno's. They don't like you. None of them like you. Really, it probably didn't make Sakura interested in you when you started pranking her dad's shop. It's not her fault that her father is a jackass. Maybe if he would just sell you some fucking books when you ask nicely, you wouldn't have to take dumps on their porch. Sakura is actually the most neutral towards you. Her mother once beat you with the broom when you had the audacity to walk in front of their shop while she was sweeping, as though you were somehow defiling everywhere you walked. It might have been the stink bomb you were trying to throw in the entryway though.

Hokage-sama kind of saved your ass that time. He's not here, the Academy graduation being pretty far below his current priorities. Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei are in charge. It looks like Iruka is taking the opportunity to talk to the parents; Mizuki is watching you like a hawk for some reason. You give him a big shit-eating grin and flip him off. He doesn't flinch, but you're getting creeped out at this point and wonder if he has some grudge against you.

After all, most of the other families here seem to have grudges. That makes it interesting when your eyes notice that there is one more person alone than usual.

Hyuuga Hinata.

Speaking of grudges across generations, they must have the veritable grudge of the decade. From the size of the stick rammed up that clan's collective ass, that grudge must be freaking amazing. Hell, the stick is probably serrated and being rotated in a continuous pattern. Probably some kind of complex polygon… Maybe it spells out the entire list of crimes against them, both real and imagined, using the most complicated wordings it can come up with…probably some kind of legal-speak, or maybe textbook-speak. Maybe they have their own holy book that it writes out.

Of course, you might have made that list yourself a few times, but they probably deserved it in the end. You know for a fact that your punishments certainly made up for the crimes. Really, they have themselves a little bit too high up on a pedestal, all you did was try to remind them of their place. Honestly though, cleaning all of the graffiti off of their clan walls should not have taken an entire weekend. Doing under the dispassionate, nitpicking expression of that cleaning hag Kei-sama was one of the most unpleasant experiences of your life. Though when the clan head – Hiachi? Hiashi! – came by and did his own inspection, the old lady was trembling with fear, that totally creeped you out.

You wonder what was done to them that made almost all of them such stubborn jackasses. Of course, no matter how stubborn a clan is, there's always an odd man out – or girl as the case may be. Hinata wasn't the worst student in your class –

You have held that dubious honor since you started at the academy, except for one year, where… well let's just say it was a technicality –

But she was far from the best. Of course, considering how well most of the clan-bred kids did she was probably not in the top ten. Even that lazy Nara guy managed to perform all the required tasks with a suspicious quantity of skill and precision. You write a mental note to yourself about that, 'Look into Shika's real abilities'. Anyway, her real problem is just that she's too nervous to do anything with an audience.

You laugh quietly to yourself as you remember when she would perform techniques in front of the class, stuttering and blushing the whole time. Of course, you failed at those same techniques, so you shouldn't really be laughing.

Oops, it looks like she noticed you. She's getting pretty red in the face, but you're grinning like a fox who caught a rabbit, when you suddenly wonder how long you've been looking over there and glance away, your own blush staining your cheeks. It's always embarrassing to realize that you've been making a fool of yourself – especially when you aren't trying to. Your eyes move lazily over the rest of the crowd, picking out your buddies from this year until they are inexorably drawn to the only other kid that you know will be alone this day.

Uchiha Sasuke.

He is alone by choice. Well, at least to some degree. You have sneaking suspicions that some of the girls here may be reduced to a quivering mess if Sasuke even glanced at them in the right way. It seemed to take Kato-san a little bit more effort to get Maki-chan to that point last night, but you're not sure that peeping is really the best way to judge these things. You know that had Sasuke wished to have any company, he could probably have girls lined up from here all the way back to his precious Uchiha Sector of the village.

That's not a nice thought though, since you also know that the Uchiha compound is abandoned, and that Sasuke is the only one who lives anywhere in the sector. His pain is somewhat similar to your own, but he has so much support that it doesn't matter. He could go home with any of these families – well, nearly any of these families - after some paperwork and the Hokage's signature.

Standing there gazing at the crowd, no, through the crowd, looking at some long lost memories probably. You send a little mental message to him, 'At least you have those memories to look back on fondly,' then you glare at him, 'And a forehead protector to wear with pride!'

At that, you lean forward slightly to catch his attention, trying to summon up a little bit of that 'killing intent' that Iruka has mentioned. You must have flared your chakra or something, since he looks over, and you bare your teeth at the top student in the class. He glares back. Damn he's got a good glare going! Thankfully that glare is nothing to you, after years of glares from everyone else, and you hold his gaze with your slightly sickened grin. Clenching your teeth and pulling back your lips, you mock him like a maddened animal. It probably looks a little crazy, but at this point, who cares. You know that pretty much everybody hates you anyway. Uchiha can only hold the glare for so long before he starts bristling a little bit. Then he smirks, which totally throws your whole act off.

You glance around quickly, trying to locate the source of his amusement. Behind you is nothing of notice, so you turn back around with a questioning gaze. You make eye contact, a little bit annoyed with his audacity to smirk for no reason. Then he totally crosses the line, and grins back, reaches up slowly and taps his forehead protector!

On top of that, you notice he's mouthing a word at you. "Failure."

That rat bastard is taunting you, but then he notices that in his time spent playing with you, several of the girls of the class have seen that he let his guard down and are starting to drift into his bubble. Of course, his bubble is pretty huge, so you think he's a little bit mental for it. A small victory for you, since he's the one getting mobbed by preteen girls who think he's the greatest thing since… What do girls think is the greatest thing? It can't be sliced bread. That's another point of interest to research at the next session of thought. Shaking your head, you chuckle at his predicament, thinking that no matter what the size of his bubble; your bubble is infinitely more useful. Of course, then you remember exactly why your bubble seems to be so damn effective.

Damn, is it your goal in life is to ruin your own mood?

It's like you can't get away from the fact that there's something different about you. Definitely not different in the same way that boys and girls are though. You don't see people glaring at their precious children like that. Actually, now that you really think hard on it, you can't think of anyone they glare at quite like you. Sure, there were a couple of street punks in the market area, but they always seemed to get away with all of their crimes somehow. Maybe when you were a baby you got used in some sort of demonic summoning ritual.

Yeah right, as though the innocent sacrifices survive those kinds of ceremonies. At least it wasn't like they were looking for a virgin sacrifice. Shuddering, you hope they didn't use you for something like that. Those kinds of demonic summoning rituals always ended up in all sorts of weird-ass shit, with some girl getting raped by no less then three tentacles at once. The maximum limit on number of tentacles would have required him to count them, so you'll just estimate it at infinity. In any case, a sacrifice that required a baby probably wouldn't be too specific anyway. It's not like every day you run into babies that aren't innocent. But hey, this is the ninja world; maybe someday you'll see some sort of kick-ass Ninja baby that's beating everyone down with the wet end of the umbilical cord, it's mother flailing around at the end as she is used to –

Err… let's not go down that train of thought. It only ends up in bad places with even worse images. Yet again you curse the day you did that research for the Sexy no Jutsu. First there was the adult section at the bookstore, then the video store, and then you just had to get downright scientific about it and went to the anatomy section at the shinobi library. The diagrams, the pictures, the frank descriptions of most human bodily functions, actions, and responses; any sort of hope for your innocence was lost there. You wouldn't go so far as to say it made you perverted, but it might have taken a little bit of you and let you watch it die… painfully… probably after long torture and subsequent salting of the wounds.

Kato-san and Maki-chan also have been pretty bad for your perverted tendencies and thoughts. They seriously need another hobby, because their current one usually keeps you up until two in the morning just from the noise – unless the guy downstairs gets pissed off and yells at them. Their film selection most nights hasn't helped much either, seeing as your TV doesn't get any channels you usually end up watching their stuff through the hole in the wall.

You decide to take another look at all the kids that you would probably never say another word to. The party seems to have died down in the last half hour, with kids going home bouncing on their parents' shoulders and such. You remember reading in that history book about how during the war these kids would be old enough to be Chuunins. Some of the parents are Ninjas, and you know that a few of them get that haunted look every once in awhile, as though remembering that their own initiations into the Ninja world were quick, bloody, and far too young.

'We've trained so much to become warriors, but I wonder why they never talk about it much in the Academy,' you muse. 'Spying, tracking, fighting, killing, and seducing… but all we ever fight here is dolls and each other, the knives are blunted and the consequences don't scar us in ways we will remember.'

This time when you look at around, you decide to see if there's any reason to stick around here and feel sorry for yourself. As your eyes cycle through the training field you realize that you would give anything to trade with any of them, but you have nothing to trade. Almost everybody is gone now anyway, the janitor is picking up bits of trash from around the temporary meeting place. It's interesting, even without all of the kids, the school still feels the same to you, calling you back for a fourth time. "Heh." You laugh, painfully aware that you don't have very many tries left at the whole 'become a ninja thing'. You lean back on the swing, taking a look at the sky and getting lost for a moment.

Sighing, you look down and your eyes come to rest on Hinata. 'She's still here? What's she waiting for?' you wonder.

You notice that she's closer then before. In fact, damn, she would be inside Sasuke's precious bubble at this distance. She's mumbling to herself some sort of mantra, and even though you're kind of sad that she seems even more nervous then usual for some reason, you decide to give her the benefit of the doubt and hope she's coming to talk to you. It's not like you have anything better to do. After failing twice you know perfectly well that the Academy is on a two-week break after the exams.

She could say something. 'Though in all honesty, if she wants to invade my personal space she can be my guest. Of course, it would be a welcome invasion, seeing as nobody – ' and ending that train of thought. You can't get too bitter now, there's another exam in six months anyway. Maybe the fourth time is the charm?

"Hyuuga-san, what's up?" you finally ask, getting a little bit tired of the waiting game.

"Naruto-kun –" she squeaks out, before continuing breathlessly, "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself; no one succeeds every time. I believe that you can achieve your dream if you keep trying," at this point her face turns completely red before she finishes, "I want to help you achieve your dream."

It takes a second to compute exactly what she said. At the end of her sentence, she quickly spun her back towards you, muttering to herself and likely filling her little head with any number of imaginary rejections coming from your lips. Then, your eyes widen, as your body freezes into a shocked position.

"Ow!"

Damn. Since you froze up, you fell off the swing and hit your head on the ground. Hinata is down on her hands and knees trying to help you up, apologizing every step of the way. As you get back up, you critically examine the girl, running through the short list of 'Things you know about her'. You knew that she was quiet, an average student, afraid of public speaking/performing/doing anything, that she must have noticed you in class – seriously, if that Nara guy noticed you and complained, then everyone had noticed you – and that she was a member of the most powerful clan in Konoha.

Yet, here she was, bowing and apologizing for something that was completely not her fault. You also notice that her feet seem to be taking her farther away from you, and she seems to be getting to the point where she might just break and run away from you. Darting forward, you grab her hands quickly, taking note of how her hands seem very strong.

"Hyuuga-san! It's okay. I fell over because you surprised me." You say, trying to keep your voice comforting on such a dismal day.

"Oh! I am so sorry for surp-p-p…" she trails off as she looks down at your clasped hands, and then suddenly faints.

You grab her body quickly to stop her from falling all over the ground. "What the hell?" Asking unconscious people questions never serves much of a purpose. Looking at the girl you have gathered in your arms, you realize that she's kind of cute. Finally, blushing the whole time, you lower her body to the ground. "Hmmm… is the politeness really so unbecoming of me?" That brings a smile to your lips, the idea that simply being polite can scare timid girls into fainting spells.

'Well I suppose that I should keep an eye on her, since she was nice to say all that, and even that she wanted –' your eyes widen at the memory, 'to help me achieve my dream…'

'But why would she want to help someone she barely knows?'

Suddenly you look around, trying to sense if there's anyone watching the scene by the swing. The whole training field is empty and, looking up at the Academy, you notice that most of the teachers seem to have gone home for the day.

You talk to yourself, thinking about the situation that has landed at your feet, "I wonder what Iruka would say about this." You shake your head in disapproval, "Meh, probably nothing useful, it might just be another rant about how I need to study more. Maybe old man Hokage might have some ideas." You shake your head, shooting down that proposal, "Nah, he's busy. I guess…I'll just rely on the knowledge of Uzumaki Naruto here!"

In your mind's eye you see yourself a proud conquering hero, with the ladies of Konoha grasping at your legs and the men looking up at your face in awe. Your muscles bulge with their testosterone-filled prowess, and the flexing flesh glistens in the fiery sunlight from atop the Hokage Mountain. It all comes crashing to a halt quickly. You manage to ruin your own fantasy when you realize that the hero in your mind is wearing a forehead protector, and the people in the scene have a strange resemblance to the same people who were glaring at you only hours earlier.

You flop down to the ground in defeat. Looking up at the sun through the trees, you realize that it's late afternoon. 'Well, I suppose that I have enough money to get us some ramen at Ichiraku's, or maybe I can get old man Ichiraku to put it on Iruka's tab…' you grin at the idea of running up your teacher's bill, but you know it won't work.

Sprawled out next to Hinata on the ground of the training area, you wonder if she was serious. You don't know why, or how, but you do know that for the first time, someone is offering to help you – no – wants to help you. It isn't just someone older like the Hokage or someone assigned like Iruka, it's not old man Ichiraku or Ayame; it's Hyuuga Hinata, a girl who you might have spoken ten words to before today. Probably not even ten, since you usually ended up paired with people near your performance level or social status – two things where she trumps you by many levels.

Suddenly grinning, you realize how easy the choice is. 'Hell yeah! Now we just have to work out all the details over ramen. I wonder if I have enough for more then one bowl for each of us…' You start mentally counting the change you have left, thinking about the bills for this month. 'Hmmm, the rent is paid, which covers water and gas, and the electricity will take up around that much…' Sighing, you realize that you'll need to talk Ichiraku into a free bowl of ramen anyway.

Realizing that the breathing coming from the girl next to you changed speed, you nudge the girl next to you. "Hey, Hyuuga-san, you feeling okay?" You keep your voice soft, trying it's damnedest to be soothing.

"N-Naruto-kun?" she whispers in a high-pitched squeak.

"Yup! I kept an eye on you after you fainted. You've been out for a minute or two." You sit up before continuing. "I'm really sorry for grabbing your hands, I didn't realize that you didn't like to be touched Hyuuga-san. It just looked like you were so scared and about to run away."

She looks over at you with wide eyes. Then she looks down at the ground between you, obviously realizing your close proximity and quickly gets up. "I'm so sorry for fainting…" you stop paying attention here, having already heard her apology. Rising to your feet, you decide to cut her off before she gets too into this whole apology crap…again.

"Hyuuga-san, you have nothing to apologize for. How about we go over to Ichiraku's for some ramen and we can talk about helping each other."

She looks up at you in surprise, poking her fingers together nervously.

"B-but Naruto-kun! I wouldn't presume –" she manages to get out, before you cut her off again.

"Please," You think of how to phrase this as delicately as possible, "Please calm down Hyuuga-san. Let's go get some ramen and we can talk everything." Then you put your hands behind your head and start off at a leisurely pace. After a few steps, you look back and notice that she hasn't moved yet.

"Ne, Hyuuga-san, I haven't eaten much since this morning and I think the milk I have is going bad."

At the sound of your voice, she jumps, before hurrying over to your side. As you start walking, you notice that she's poking her fingers together again. 'Just how nervous is this girl? It's not like I'm well known for killing and eating people or anything. At least, not to my knowledge,' you grin a little bit at the thought of people being scared of you. Maybe passing through the village would be less annoying, since people would be scurrying from his path like rats fleeing from a ship. There's an idea to file away for later, to keep you warm on cold nights when the apartment manager is cheap and turns down the heat at night. You shiver a little bit in anticipation, 'Fun times ahead, at the Chez Uzumaki' you bitterly recall.

"Naruto-kun…" Her voice has gained a little strength.

You turn your head at the mention of your name. "Hmmm, yes?"

"W-what did you mean helping each other?"

A fearful expression goes across your face, 'She's not taking it back, is she?'

"When you came up to me, you mentioned that you wanted to help me. I figured that if you're willing to help me I should help you out too. Even if you're a Ninja," you bit that word out bitterly, "I would think that I could probably help you out a little bit with training or something. Unless you don't want to help me anymore, or were playing a prank on me…" You trail off, slowing to a halt as your mind races through the possibilities of betrayal. She takes a moment to stare at you, while your usually smiling face descends slowly into fear and uncertainty. She shakes herself a little bit, while your face begins to switch from fear to anger.

"No N-naruto-kun, I want to help you achieve your dream."

At this your mood pulls a complete one-eighty, falling into a happy smile as you resume walking – backwards this time. "Then what's the problem, eh, Hyuuga-san?" Bobbing your head to an imaginary beat, you watch her reddening expression for a minute.

You think you hear her mumble out, "Hinata…" Her face is starting to resemble a tomato, so you flip back around, keeping the pace steady. After a minute, she gathers her thoughts and plows forward, "I didn't know why you wanted to help me of all people." The amount of self-esteem she has is incredibly uplifting.

"Ah, you did say you would help me, so I should return the favor. Right?" You see Ichiraku's coming up in front of you as you continue, "I'm not quite sure just why you want to help me, but I'm fine with it. I don't think the Hokage would have ordered you to be nice to me," you take a moment to grimace at the thought, "But I didn't see you leave the training grounds after you graduated, so I don't think you have any missions yet." Ending your little soapbox on that note, you stop in front of Ichiraku Ramen. "Now wait here for a second while I try to weasel a free ramen out of the old man," you step up to the restaurant, "Hey old man, Ayame, do you think that you could give me a free bowl today?"

The old man shakes his head, "Naruto, you know I can't do that, no matter how good of a customer you are. People would start asking for free bowls all the time."

However, Ayame looks at you searchingly, "Why would the old man change his mind today Naruto? Did you blow a bunch of money going shopping without me again?" Ayame obviously knows you too well – as told by the warning note in her voice, not to mention the raised frying pan - but she's pretty fair about giving you a little bit of leeway on a tab.

As you and Hinata sit down, you point your thumb at her and look at the two chefs with a quick glance. "Could you put a bowl on my tab then, you know I'll be back when I've got the money," you whisper to them pleadingly with your puppy face out.

The two cooks look over at her, then back at you. Then the old man pats you on the back with a smile on his face, "Naruto, you sly dog, when did you get a girlfriend?"

Ayame nods quickly at this, then adds her own congratulations, "I'll make it both bowls free if you introduce us."

Hinata turns bright red, and then she proceeds to faint onto the bar. Once again, you catch her before she hits her head. Slipping off your jacket, you use it to pillow her head on the counter. Steadying her on the stool a little bit, you carefully remove your hands so that she doesn't fall over. Then you bang your head down on the bar. 'Not again.'

"She's not my girlfriend!" you growl out, "We just met today really. We were in the same class at the academy," you wince at this admission – the past tense on 'class' driving the point home for you - "She just offered to help me with some things and we were going to talk about it here."

"Yo, Naruto, it's okay," the old man said, "It was an honest mistake. I'll even put that bowl on your tab, but you owe me, okay?"

"Thanks old man."

Ayame refuses to let the idea die though, "Hey Naruto-kun, why did she pass out at the idea of being your girlfriend?"

You shrug, "I don't know, I hadn't talked to her until today really," you sigh, realizing you should probably tell them about graduation, "It was after the graduation exam, and she offered to help me…"

They both look at you questioningly, neither one willing to commit to an assumption based on your hints. Too many times getting burned when you use your abilities to appear pathetic made them wise to your tricks. Ayame prompts you to continue, "And?"

"Okay already, I failed the exam again and I was watching the other kids…with their families," you blurt out, looking at the ground.

The old man pats you on the back, "Sorry Naruto, you can have that one free bowl. But only one, and only this time because I know you're probably running out of money this time of the month." Maybe you need to come up with more tragedies to get free ramen, if only they weren't so hard on the spirit.

The old man gets to work on your bowl, but Ayame keeps critically examining Hinata. The pale-eyed girl is slumped forward on the counter, your jacket cushioning her face from the eating surface. Suddenly you see a devious expression pop up on Ayame's face. "So Naruto, she graduated, and yet she wants to help you become a Ninja?"

You nod your head, uncomfortable with the predatory expression on the waitress' face. Hinata begins to stir, so you steady her with a touch; but keep watching Ayame carefully, being well acquainted with her own ability to be devious and evil. Hinata slowly rises, freezing for a second when she looks at your hand. You remove your hand when she looks, flicking your eyes curiously to her reddening cheeks. Then you shrug it off, nodding your head to the father-and-daughter ramen squad. "Ne, Hyuuga-san, meet old man Ichiraku and Ayame Ichiraku."

The old man glares over at you for a second, "Hey, remember who's giving you a free ramen!" then he smiles at Hinata, "Teuchi Ichiraku, nice to meet you."

"Hyuuga Hinata, nice to meet you too." Hinata does her little bow.

Ayame has a little grin on her face as she watches Hinata. Her eyes seem almost feral as she watches the younger girl squirm at the examination. Hinata looks down as she fidgets on her stool.

"Old man, isn't Ayame supposed to serve to the customers?" you ask, raising an eyebrow at the behavior, "Not look like she's getting ready to serve the customers on a platter."

Ayame's eye twitches as she shifts her grin to a glare, and shifts her target from Hinata to you. The old man is nodding his head sagely. "Naruto, I believe you may be on to something here. Perhaps we can sell this idea and become rich –Ow!- Ayame! You should respect your elders!"

She snarls at him, even as she raises her bowl again. "Father! Just get to work making the ramen, while I entertain the customers." She shoos him back to the cooking zone, trying to reclaim the upper hand in the conversation.

The old man mutters to himself as he retreats to the burners in the back of the stand, "No respect I tell ya. The kids these days."

"Ichiraku-san, I am pleased to meet you too," Hinata directs that at Ayame. Funny, it was almost like we forgot about her during our banter.

"Ah, Hinata-san. I'm sorry to see you get caught up in our arguments," Ayame pouts for a second," We've been playing around like that for years with Naruto-kun," the grin returns to her face, "And please, don't be so formal with us. The old man is simply 'Old Man'," the venom in her voice is quite obvious, "And you can just call me Ayame."

"Thank you for your kindness, Ayame-san," Hinata bows her head again.

You snort at this, as you have been watching the Ichiraku's play around for years now. "Hyuuga-san, it's not like this is a formal dinner or something. We're at a ramen stand; if you were expecting a high-class waitress then I must disappoint…" you trail off, noticing Ayame's glare and Ichiraku's awe-filled glance from the back.

"Yes. Naruto-kun. You. Were. Saying. Something?" Ayame looks irritable; perhaps it's that time of the month for her. Looking at the fist clenching its way over to your collar, you make your decision.

Of course, your self-preservations instincts were never very strong, so it's the highest risk decision. "Old man, can I have a second bowl free if I finish what I was saying?"

High risk, high reward!

Ayame turns her glare on her father, daring him to confirm the statement. The old man is obviously contemplating the wisdom of the choice. You raise your eyebrow, even as Ayame raises your body from the stool by your collar. The standoff commences.

Finally the old man snickers softly, "Sorry Naruto, but I have to sleep in the same house as her. I'm rather fond of my throat."

You sigh, then wince, accepting that the fruits of your labor may weigh more in bruises than in profits. Are bruises considered losses though? Technically they're like damages, but they could be considered acceptable losses. I won't be visiting the hospital, so it will be like respawning resources.

Yeah… Resources. Along with pain…Lots of physical anguish.

Ayame purrs, turning back to you with her eyes sparkling with contained rage. "Well then, Naruto-kun," she grins threateningly, even as you cringe away from her.

You give a final, proud rebuttal, "Do your worst! You cannot defeat me! I will only grow stronger! Old man, could you please make sure to pour my final bowl of ramen down my throat," the old man has tears glistening in his eyes as he gives you a thumbs up, "Hinata!" the girl looks over, surprised to be included in your conflict, as it rapidly spirals out of control, "You can have all of my stuff, just please take care of my plants," your rebuttal seems to have degenerated into your last will and testament, "Tell the Hokage and Iruka-sensei that I love them, and that they can settle my tab here!"

Ayame is looking down at you with an unimpressed glare. The old man freezes in his furious nodding at the thought of your ramen tab. Hinata simply looks confused, but hesitantly nods anyways. "Yes, Naruto-kun. But I would hope that Ayame-san doesn't kill you."

Suddenly Ayame freezes. She looks over at Hinata. She looks back at you.

"Na-Ru-To-kuuuun!" her voice rings out melodically. She's planning something now. It makes your destruction all the more evident.

You find yourself let go of unceremoniously, and you catch yourself on the counter and return to your stool warily. Looking around quickly, you catch a glimpse of Ayame flouncing her way over to Hinata. Never mind the fact that Hinata is one stool over. This is quite obviously flouncing. Possibly bouncing. Some sort of movement that ends in –ing that sounds relatively silly though.

"Oi," Ayame is now whispering to Hinata in a stage whisper, "Hinata-san. Would you happen to be at all curious about a-n-y-thing that our little Naruto-kun has been doing over the years?"

The old man's eyes widen, even as he makes a sign against evil. You're simply frozen. Ayame-neechan has been a part of your life for many years now, and her memory for good blackmail material is unflappable.

"I might even have some photos," you drop your head to the counter, "Of Naruto-kun from a young age. I know that I still have to one the Hokage gave me of him as a baby."

Hinata turns red, and they begin speaking in whispers as they move down to the other end of the counter. Ayame giggles the whole way. Hinata gives you an apologetic glance. You prepare to bang your head down on the counter, hoping that the pain will cause this whole incident to disappear. That's right! This is actually a dream. You are now going to wake up, take the Genin Exam (and pass this time), and not have to deal with Ayame-neechan giving Hyuuga Hinata all the sordid details of your past. Really…why would Hinata ever speak to you in the first place?

/BANG/

Of course, your antics fail to bring you back into consciousness. It is probably in your best interest to just accept the current events as reality a move on to a better place. Sighing, you rub your head a little bit before putting your elbows up on the counter and resting your face on your hands. The two girls giggle lightly in the corner of the stand, engaged in whatever illicit deals they choose to make. They're traitors, both of them. You stick your tongue out at Ayame-neechan – careful to keep it out of her sight - before crossing your arms on top of the counter and putting your head down.

"Neh, Ichiraku-san, how was business today?" Making small talk with Ichiraku always makes the cooking go by faster.

"Eh, forty, fifty bowls today," he pauses for a second, grunting as he does something that required more effort than stirring noodles, "Not too terrible of a day for this time of the year, especially with most of the kids eating out at bigger places with family or at home."

You readjust your head on your elbows, sighing your acknowledgement, "Hmmm…"

"Actually, I'm surprised to see you here with a Hyuuga, they're usually pretty big about family solidarity." You can here the question in his voice. "Much less the clan heir…"

Turning your head the opposite direction, you look back at the girls, specifically the Hyuuga that led you here tonight. Why was she alone tonight? Did she disgrace her family by not being the top of the class or something? Really, you can't recall ever seeing her with parents at school. In fact, whenever you ran into her before and after school, she always seemed to be walking to school or back to her clan compound with some red-eyed chick in a little dress-thing… "She's the clan heir? Never would have known." You look at her critically, there's barely anything to make her seem like anything other then an average, timid girl. "I don't think I've ever seen her with anybody that looked like her parents."

Teuchi grumbled disagreement, and you look up out of the corner of your eye. He's bustling away lightly, finishing everything up. "No, I don't think you would have." The old man looks you in the eye, "Be nice to her though, the Hyuuga clan is pretty heartless sometimes." Picking up the bowls, he slides one in front of you with a final warning, "She's got her own story to tell. Talk to her about it sometime."

Watching the old man softly interrupt the two girls, you know that you'll listen to him. Teuchi is probably the closest thing you have to a father figure, and it was his advice that often leads you in the right direction. Naruto had suspicions that the old chef was a ninja once, but never asked the old man. There were just qualities to the Ichiraku that screamed 'Ninja!' even if he was only a ramen chef. Ichiraku was a concern for another time though, this moment needs to be devoted to the worship of Ichiraku's holy ramen offerings.

You fall upon the bowl like a pack of wolves upon the body of a buffalo, ravenously digging in and enjoying yourself. A nudge from Ichiraku's spoon slows you down, and you look up to the old man's face in curiosity. He's making some sort of slow gesture with his spoon, raising it to his mouth slowly. Then he looks at Hinata meaningfully, 'Oh yeah, I'm here with a girl,' you think. You slow down your eating to a manageable level, remembering the etiquette lessons that Ayame beat into your skull over the course of the past few years.

"Hyuuga-san…" you look over at the girl, thoughtfully stirring through the ramen with your chopsticks. You caught her with noodles in her mouth, and her expression is priceless. You grin at the face she's making, and plow forward, "I think we should just set up a time to meet for training, research, or whatever you want to do." She's gotten through that last bunch of noodles, and no longer looks like she's caught in the act of deeply enjoying her meal. You look down at your own noodles, considering how to continue. "This will be the last time I can try to make Genin," you whisper, only half audible to yourself even – as though speaking the words quieter makes them any less real. "I will do anything if you think it can help me graduate," you grin, your eyes wide and a little bit tearful, "But even if I fail again…"

"No!" she exclaims sharply. You look at her, surprised at the outcry. She looks around frantically, afraid of being too loud as she shrinks back into herself. "You won't fail. You t-try so hard and nobody ever helps you, so if someone is helping you…" Her voice loses volume throughout her words, but her silent conviction in your success is enough.

"Alright! And I'll be there to help you with whatever you need!" You cheer, jumping up on your stool in triumph. "Together, we'll make me Hokage and you the most badass ninja ever!" you wink at her, "except for me."

"Naruto!"

You flinch and hit your head on the awning, falling off the stool to the ground.

"Stop yelling! And no standing on the stools!" Ayame's angry voice pierces through the pain like a kunai.

"Ah! Naruto-kun." Hinata's soft tones are very soothing to your pounding head. She crouches next to you, "Are you okay Naru—to…… kun." You reach up and hold the warm hand that she touched your forehead with. Then you hear a slumping noise. Did she collapse again? You open your eyes and look over. Yes… she collapsed again.

"Oi, loverboy, your ramen's getting cold." Teuchi always knows the most embarrassing thing to say.

You let go of her hand like a hot potato and glare at the old man. Once again, you take your jacket (from the countertop this time), and put it underneath her head. Then you look both ways, determining that this street has low enough traffic for a minute or two. Grumbling, you return to eating the rest of your noodles in a sullen manner, displeased with the encouragement offered by the Ichiraku clan. "I swear, you two will drive me to drink pretty soon."

"Ho-ho-ho-ho… I'd like to see you get alcohol in the first place," Ayame raised a speculative eyebrow, "You have enough trouble buying milk, and I don't think anything that you really aren't allowed to buy would be any easier to get a hold of."

"Neechan, you should be nicer to me," you pout a little bit, "I am your best customer."

Teuchi snorted at that, "No… The Hokage and the Akimichi family are our best customers. You just happen to be on the same bill as them sometimes."

"Too true," Ayame nodded sagely.

"Awwww," whining, you try to put on a cute pout. No dice, the old man just rolls his eyes and cleans up the counter a bit. Ayame doesn't even dignify you with that, just staring you down with a disappointed look on her face. You give up and start eating your ramen ravenously, it's pretty good for sitting so long. Looking over at your soon-to-be training partner, you swallow some of your noodles and poke her in the side speculatively. "Oi, Hyuuga-san." She's motionless. "Hyuuuuuuga-saaaan! Ramen's gonna get cold!"

The girl brings her head up quickly, a blush staining her cheeks as she starts to apologize, "I'm sorry, Na-"

You wave your hands to cut her off, "Just wouldn't want you to waste good food." One eyebrow goes up on your face as you look her up and down speculatively, "I can't tell very well through that jacket, but maybe if you ate more you would faint less?" Hinata turns bright red at your gaze, and mumbles something softly. "Neh? What was that Hyuuga-san? Ow!"

Ayame smacked your skull with her ladle. "Naruto! Show some respect!"

Jeez, she's been pretty mean tonight, you open your mouth to raise a question about her time of the month, but think better of it when you see the look in her eyes. Ayame's eyes seem to be speaking to you. 'We dare you. Double-dog dare you to ask it.' This is one occasion where the opening is so tempting, but you know it won't be worth it. You need Ayame to go shopping for you soon, and antagonizing her is really never in your best interests.

"Ano" Hinata's voice breaks the sparks of intensity flying between you and your 'Onee-chan'. "T-this ramen is good." The note of truth in her voice is so innocent and beautiful; Teuchi takes the opportunity to come forward and clasp her hands.

"Thank you, Hyuuga-hime." The old restaurant owner bows his head a little bit.

Hinata nervously begins stuttering, "I-I have nev-v-ver e-e-aten here, b-but will b-be sure t-to p-pas-ss word of it to m-my family."

Tears in his eyes, Teuchi speaks in a loud voice from his heart, "Hyuuga-sama, we humble folk do not have much, but if Naruto ever causes you trouble, may he never eat here again!"

"Oi! Old man!"You shout.

'Smack!' Ayame's ladle falls on her father's head too. "What are you going around saying father?" The sound of her ladle echoes from Teuchi's skull as she hits him on the head repeatedly, as the old man releases Hinata's hands and tries to protect his head as he retreats to the other end of the small stand. "Making," 'smack', "Stupid," 'smack', "Promises," 'smack', "Like," 'smack', "Some," 'smack', "Samurai!"

You chuckle as the two family members go around in a circle, Ayame lightly tapping her father with the ladle at every word as he tries to fend her off. The sound of a giggle comes from beside you, and Hinata's smiling face looks nice in the lantern-light. Pushing her ramen closer with one of your sticks, you wink at her spectacularly before digging back into your own ramen. She blushes looking over at you, before picking up her own sticks and starting to eat. In this wonderfully scented atmosphere, the two of you attack your food hungrily (or at least you attack it, Hinata is much more refined about the whole eating operation) and you start to think, 'This has been the best failure I've ever had.'

Waving goodbye to the Ramen King (and Princess), the two of you begin the long walk to the Hyuuga compound. After realizing what time it was, Hinata mentioned that she needed to get home soon, so you offered to walk her home as a gesture of friendship. Of course, you didn't exactly spell that out for her, you just started walking with her. Being as you know how to get to the Hyuuga compound and she didn't exactly refuse you the opportunity, there was no real agreement on it. In fact–

"Naruto-kun, you don't need to walk me home."

- She doesn't really seem to believe that it's important to your working relationship. Your eyes lazily looking at the fading sky, hands held behind your head, relaxation dominates your appearance. In sharp contrast, she appears the picture of nervousness; fingers pushing together, strangely patterned steps – as though she expects you to turn off at every intersection and alleyway.

Your voice is a sample of ease and tranquility, the ramen putting a damper on any nervousness you had about the arrangement. "Hyuuga-san, if we're going to be training together, I think it's okay for me to walk you home," you slouch forwards, turning your face to watch hers blossom into a new blush, "Anyway, we haven't set up a time to meet yet."

She looks down, watching her feet as she walks. Really, you can't quite explain that kind of behavior, it just seems like it would be inconvenient for walking, especially right…now! You yank her out of the way of a trash can that she was about to walk into. "A-a-a-!" She makes a sharp noise.

"Breathe Hyuuga-san, don't faint on me again." Stopping for a moment you let her catch her breath. Examining her hand in yours, it seems to be shaking more then ever. Other than that though, you notice that her fingers have decent calluses forming on the tips, likely from her gentle fist practices. There is no nail polish on her nails, no soft, lotion-massaged skin. There's even decent musculature on them, and a little bit of an indentation from where she would grip a kunai. She has the hands of a warrior in training. Not like the rest of the kunoichi in this years' class. You look up at her face and nod reassuringly to her, a silent compliment implied, but left unspoken. She seems to be calming down, her eyes closed in meditative trance.

The whole fainting business might make it difficult to train together, but you're fairly confident that she'll get over it as time goes on. It's not like whatever is making her faint will be a continuous thing. Anemia or some medical disorder would get caught in the first medical check-ups, so her life as a ninja would be over rapidly if that was the problem. In any case, you release her hand and proceed with walking towards the general district that the Hyuuga compound is located in. Her halting steps catch up with you a moment later, as she murmurs an apology.

You walk for a ways in silence, enjoying the warm autumn night as you try to decide when you want to meet for training. After all, she doesn't have her Jounin-sensei yet, so she doesn't have her work schedule to work around yet. Necessity drives you more than courtesy in those thoughts. After all, there's only six months until the next graduation exam, and you know that there are gaping holes in your –

"Naruto-kun."

Hinata's voice brings you from your musings, "Mmmm?" You respond monosyllabically.

"I have tomorrow off to get my ID taken care off," she's looking away from you as she speaks, you watch her expression from the corner of your eye. "Do you want to meet to train sometime around noon at Ichiraku?" When she's not looking at anyway, it's like her confidence levels skyrocket immensely. She looks focused on her goals, and truthfully, a tiny bit frightening in the level of intensity that flows from her.

"Naru-" her voice cuts off as she notices you examining her with curious eyes. She swallows and the timidity returns, "Naruto-kun?"

"Haaaai!" You lengthen the word for the hell of it, confident in your happiness as you see the outside wall of the compound coming into view. After all, it's not like this day could get any better.

As the two of you approach the entrance, you notice the two guards conversing quietly at your approach. One of them signals someone behind them and then returns to watching the approach of you two. Looking the place over brings back memories of good times had running around this place. Despite the difficulty involved in actually getting into the gardens, it's totally worth it every time you break in to see their beautiful trees. Off to your side, Hinata appears to be getting steadily more nervous again, and you break the silence with her name, "Hinata-san." She looks over at you, startled at your use of her given name. Perhaps she suspected that you simply didn't know her name and called her by her family name out of forgetfulness. "Don't worry about it, it's not like you're coming home late with a boyfriend or anything. There's nothing to be nervous about."

'Or maybe there is?' You silently question yourself as a blush blossoms over her cheeks and she begins pushing her fingers together faster. Either way, it is a question for another night, as you've reached the entrance, the two guards, and… Hiashi?

The Naruto-proclaimed 'biggest-stick-up-his-ass-of-them-all' member of the Hyuuga clan is there to meet you for some reason. Why the clan head is investigating your activities – again, you might add – is near the top of your list of concerns. Looking at the man you wonder exactly what would lead one man to be so incredibly… angry. Angry so often that you've never seen him in a state that didn't look angry. Was it permanent constipation? Did he need more fucking fiber in his diet or was he trying to make his eyes shoot lasers from them. "Hinata." Hiashi's voice is like a death sentence as it speaks her name. It makes you shiver at its intensity, and you vaguely wonder if this is why Hinata faints so often.

The older man glares at Hinata, who bows to him and flightily stutters out a "G-good night, Naruto-kun."

You give her a jovial wave – or at least as jovial as anyone can manage under Hiashi's glare. Or is that just his face? Those eyes must be judging something every minute of every day.

"Uzumaki-san." His voice is cold as ice addressing you.

"H-hyuuga-san," damn, that was a little bit of Hinata's stutter, maybe this guy is at fault for all of it.

"Should I be aware of any reason for you to be walking my daughter home?"

"Oh Shit." You hear a voice in your mind say, or is that you saying it aloud. The frown on Hiashi's face becoming even deeper leads you to believe that you spoke aloud. You didn't know that she was his daughter. Suddenly your actions tonight seem far less innocent, but thankfully you can remember the precise reason that you two were talking with each other.

"Hyuuga-san, she was going to help me become a Genin, since I failed again." You consider prostrating yourself before him, as though that would somehow soften his wrath. "I have also offered to assist her in her training in any way I can, as long as we don't interfere with her duties as a Genin of Konoha."

Hiashi quirks an eyebrow at this knowledge, never hesitating as his glare stays completely static on his face (though you are becoming more convinced that it's just his face). "Did you consider asking for permission before you began training with the Heir to the Hyuuga clan?"

Ah, that was what Teuchi was babbling about. You were ignoring him in hopes that he was just screwing around this time. You search your mind for the correct answer to his question, but encounter intense difficulty in framing the question in such a manner that won't get you executed by his death rays – also known as 'Eyes'.

"Uzumaki-san, the correct response is, 'May I have permission to train with Hinata-sama?' Do you understand?" he says, as though speaking to a child.

You bristle a little bit at the condescending tone, but are quite aware of your position at this point in time. "Yes," you say, watching his face for recognition. The glare intensifies before you realize exactly what needs to be said, "May I have permission to train with Hinata-sama?" you dutifully recite.

Hiashi lowers the power of his glare down a notch, grudgingly accepting your response as adequate. He nods acquiescence before raising a hand to dismiss you. As you bow and back away from the scarily intense Hyuuga clan head, you turn away and prepare to bolt before a last phrase stops you. "Uzumaki-san, I expect to see her here before seven o'clock, in time for dinner. Are we in agreement?"

"Hai, Hyuuga-san!"

"Begone from my sight." His words are full of disdain and chill you to the bone, but you take the opportunity to flee as quickly as possible.

Escaping from death by Hyuuga glare, your thoughts turn back on the day. Failed the Genin test, met a girl, had dinner at Ichiraku, found a training partner, and then met said-girl's father. Three out of five things going right is a fairly good score – or it would be on one of Iruka-sensei's written tests, for you at least. In the mean time, you've just got to get home, get a good night's sleep, and be ready tomorrow at noon. Glancing up at a neon-scrolling clock, you see the numbers 8:30 flow by and realize how late you brought that girl home. Mentally you take a permanent note about Hinata's curfew, hoping to never have another terrifying encounter with Hyuuga Hiashi in the next few months.

Peering around you, you notice that there's already a steady flow of civilians and ninja heading for the bars, so you duck into an alleyway behind a bookstore and start down it. The smell of rotting food wafts from one of the boxes, and you get the impression that the trash collector does not frequent this alleyway very often. The rat peering out at you from farther down gives you another hunch. Maybe you should see if the Hokage will hire you to collect the trash in these alleyways, since nobody else seems to want to.

Really, the decision for what you're doing for the rest of the night is made for you, in an unexpected and most irritating manner.

#PAIN#

Your head falls to the concrete in an excellent example of why forehead protectors are so nice.

--

Author's Note: Well… this makes story number 3. And will end the posting of stories that have the potential to turn into serious chaptered ones (drabble-type stuff doesn't count, but I'm not sure I have many of those that deal with popular universes). Actually, I could have spent this evening working on the chapters for the other ones, but this has been so close to complete for quite awhile, and it really needed to be done or I would just keep adding shit to it. I'm happy with the point it has reached. There's a decent balance of underlying character development that will hold bearing on future events, strange ramblings, Hinata fainting (as the cliché had to hold true, even if it is annoying as shit to write), and miscellaneous Naruto-isms.

As we can all see, this is definitely a cynical Naruto. There's two major plot options that will come up soon, mostly dealing with my own desire to write an interesting saga that deals with one of the major Naruto characters, and my dislike of adding OC's to a fairly vibrant world. Though I don't watch the anime, so I couldn't say a damn thing about what happens in the filler arcs and all the craaaaaazy characters that pop up. Meh, don't look for a new chapter for this in awhile, depending on my dedication to it. Mostly this has just been bouncing around for the past year or two, since before I started posting anything whatsoever.

Writing in second person is a pain in the ass, at least if I want to stay interested in the story. If there's any romance, it won't hold any bearings on the Genin, so nobody need be interested in that. Yes, I seriously created a Naruto story that begins without him getting anywhere near the Scroll of Forbidden Seals or becoming a Genin through any other means. He just failed, like any other student. As you can see, his relationships with the other characters will be fairly important, or at least his relationships with some of them. I'll probably have to make a list of OC's that are important, but the only one that I remember naming was Aburame Yuki at this point. And Kiba's Uncle Asshole. The two people that Naruto watches through the peephole (Kato & Maki) haven't actually spoken to Naruto directly, so I find myself quite unconcerned with them.

People who love Sasuke need never fear, people who love Sakura may be on notice, since she's not written in very much at this point. We'll see how many important OC's I feel like creating. Hopefully I didn't write any plotholes into this chapter, but if there's any there I would put it to the fact that Naruto is still twelve and fairly forgetful. Grammatical errors I apologize for and mention that I don't have a beta, and editing for me is less editing and more adding to the story.

Information on my other stories for those of you on Author Alert: Kenpachi is alive and kicking, but it's a matter that I have to write several days because I hate updates that seem insignificant or uninformative.

Harry is on nervous breakdown watch, so don't worry about his sanity, cause he's doing fine. Really I'm having fun with the parts of the chapter available, but need to address some serious issues now.

Other…. I looked at a School Rumble drabble that I started writing years ago. Meh, I don't have anything invested in the series at this point, so I might just throw it out there for the hell of it. It's not earthshaking, it might be a little bit sappy though. The other stories in my plotbunnies folder are basically 200-500 word summaries right now, with no signs of change coming.