Hi again all!

Finally, I've made it back with a new chapter - I hope all of you are enjoying your hlidays (mine is unfrotunantely a working one so I'm very close to losing my mind!)

Will try and update real soon again - work and such is hectic right now, but I'll hopefully have next week off for Christmas then I'll be sure to get some writing done again. ;-) Thank you so much for your ongoing support and I truly do hope that you are enjoying the story so far. Only bigger and better things are to come!!

Lots of love!

Nix

P.s - please review! Mwaz

Chapter Twenty Four

Flirtatious Sparring

Hinata had never felt so anxious before in her life. The tension and electricity that lay dormant in the room was unmistakable, at least, to her it certainly was. Naruto, however, felt the same growing urge rise in his unmoving form as he sat beside the girl he had had the pleasure of holding in his arms only hours before. Hiashi was unaware of all of this, of course, which explained why Naruto was even allowed near Hinata under the current circumstances. If Hiashi had known of the two teenagers fondness for each other he would have made sure to keep them separate for as long as possible, but due to his ignorance the two of them were in a silent, yet blissful heaven.

After Naruto had greeted Hinata with as much formality as he could muster Hiashi had invited him in to observe his lesson with Hinata. Hinata had been surprised by the fact that her father was willing to openly share Hyuuga secrets with the young ninja before her, unaware of the fact that he had secrets of his own that he was keeping from her. Her father, however, cleverly avoided the subject of her new ability, and instead resumed the previous combat training that they had been working on before. Hinata tucked her scroll beneath the pillow she was seated on, along with the scroll her father had been reading instructions from. She promised herself that she would resume her training tonight, in the solitude of her own bedroom, away from the pressure of her fathers gaze. She also wanted to tell Naruto of her new ability as soon as possible; she had been curious of his growing strength since their last mission together, and was hoping that he would fill her in on any new abilities he had acquired once she told him of hers.

The injury Hiashi had sustained from his previous sparring match with Hinata had already worn off, and therefore he quickly drew Hanabi into the training session. As he and Hanabi readied themselves Naruto took his place alongside Hinata, offering her a coy smile as his eyes strayed from her eyes down to her mouth and quickly back up again. She felt the heat jump to her cheeks at this look, and quickly turned her attention to her father and sister, trying to hide the slight shaking of her hands as she longed to reach out and touch Naruto. Naruto also drew his attention to the two fighters, enjoying the slight distraction.

Despite the precise movements of the two Hyuuga's matched with the occasional "smack" as their hands connected, they were unable to draw Naruto's attention for very long. He soon shifted closer, inch by inch, to the dark haired beauty at his side, who smiled slightly as she noticed his advances, but kept her eyes locked on her sister. Hanabi was improving and doing very well for merely a Genin; she had been trained by her father from a young age, just as Hinata had been, but she was given much more attention due to her strong flair for the Hyuuga abilities. Despite all this, however, her sister was still weak in technique and overall chakra control, but these small flaws were being fine-tuned by Hiashi on a daily basis.

"Ne, Hi-na-ta-chan?" Hinata heard as the warm breath of her visitor caressed her neck, his whisper making her shiver slightly. He stretched her name out into separate syllables, lowering his voice and allowing it to become husky and making Hinata's head swirl. She caught her breath and allowed her eyes to stray to the boy beside her. He still had his eyes locked on her father and Hanabi, but the smile that pulled at the corners of his mouth indicated that he was paying a lot more attention to her than he was letting on.

Hinata felt a slight brush at her hand, which was tucked into her lap in her customary fashion, and she looked down at Naruto's hand which he had placed innocently on the floor just behind her, obscured from her father's sight. She caught on to what he wanted and stole a glance at her father, holding her breath. He had his back to them at that moment, giving pointers to Hanabi on the correct approach when attacking a vital organ, so she quickly slipped her hand from her lap and placed it casually behind her back, shifting her weight to look like she was leaning back on it. As soon as her hand touched the floor she felt Naruto's strong, warm grip surround her fingers, and her heart gave a great leap of pleasure.

The two of them remained facing the two that were sparring, but their attention was not directed at them at all. Hinata's thoughts and the sudden electricity that was running through her system kept her so distracted that she struggled to breathe properly. Her breath escaped in shivering gasps as Naruto stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. Exhilaration filled him as he realized that they may be caught by her father, but even the impending consequence of it all was not enough to force him to let go of Hinata's hand.

Hinata was still curious as to why Naruto was there, a special guest in her household, but her curiosity about the situation could wait; her father hated it when people spoke while he was teaching, and she decided to save her questions for another time. Naruto's hand had left Hinata's and was instead curling around her wrist now, caressing her arm up and down with the warm tips of his fingers, and Hinata sighed in pleasure. Her eyes closed slightly, enjoying the pleasant sensation. Naruto began to gain confidence as his small actions caused Hinata obvious happiness, and the fact that the two fighters hadn't noticed them yet caused him to want to pursue further.

He traced his fingers up and down Hinata's arm as he felt goose bumps rise beneath his touch, and he drew his hand lightly away from her arm as he redirected it somewhere else. Hinata gave a small gasp as she felt Naruto's hand rest on the small of her back, finding the small gap of exposed skin between her shirt and her tight training pants. He paused with his hand there, probably to measure her reaction, and when she showed no protest he began to lightly stroke the skin he found at the small of her back. Her skin felt hot beneath his fingers, and he knew it was because she had turned a brilliant shade of red at his touch. The blush which jumped to her cheeks every time she was near him was one of the things Naruto loved most about the girl before him because he knew that reaction was reserved specifically for his presence alone – no one else would see the extent of the blush Hinata had on her face now without him being in the room.

Naruto kept his hand at Hinata's back for some time, tracing patterns on her skin with the tip of his forefinger, and Hinata sighed with pleasure often. A sudden, sharp voice interrupted their moment of happiness, however, as Hiashi took his training to a much further level.

"Byakugan!"

He voiced his technique aloud in order for Hanabi to follow his lead and activate hers in turn. Naruto and Hinata both knew that as soon as the Byakugan was activated it provided the Hyuuga ninja with a 360 degree view of his or her surroundings, and that spelled trouble for the two who were sharing an intimate exchange in the shadows of the dojo. Naruto quickly withdrew his hand from Hinata's back, shifting over ever so slightly and trying to appear normal. Hinata, however, drew a sharp breath and tried to stop an even deeper redness which threatened to caress her cheeks. The impending wrath of her father was too much for her to bear, and her heart rate accelerated in fear, bringing with it a fresh wave of heat which escaped her control and plastered her fear on her face.

Hanabi rushed forward, intending to strike her father at his lower abdomen, closing off the chakra points from his abdomen down. She paused, however, as Hiashi raised his palm as a single to halt, not as a defensive tactic. He seemed preoccupied with something, so she paused, letting her offensive position fall.

"Thank you Hanabi," he said thoughtfully, "I think that's enough for now…Hinata?"

"Y-yes father?" Hinata stuttered, her voice squeaking with nervousness. Had he seen them before Naruto was able to draw his hand away? The fear that she felt was unmistakable to Naruto now, and he longed to take her hand to reassure her, but in the current situation it would only make things worse.

"Why don't you and Naruto spar next?" Hiashi asked, and all thoughts of being punished for her behaviour fled from her mind. She and Naruto spar, in the Hyuuga family dojo with her father watching? It was even worse than being caught in the act – she knew why he wanted them to spar. He wanted to compare her fighting style to that of the other ninja's in the village, and she was sure he wanted to see what Naruto was capable of as well. Naruto had developed so much more from the last time her father had seen him fight against Neji at the Chuunin exam, so he was sure to impress him, but would she be able to use her full abilities against the man she loved just to prove a point to her father?

She debated this in her mind as her father stared down at her, waiting for an answer, and she turned to Naruto to find him smiling in anticipation…Naruto, of course, would never say no to an extra bit of training.

"Checkmate." Shikamaru muttered lazily from the other side of the Shogi board, stifling a large yawn as he did so.

"What! How'd you do that?" Temari questioned in disbelief, her eyes roaming the board frantically to see whether or not she really had just lost the game.

"Years of practice," he drawled, winking in response to her frustrated face.

"One more game," she insisted, not ready to lose just yet.

"Ah, give it a rest Temari," he pleaded, "Isn't me beating you three times in a row enough torture for one day? For you and me?"

"What do you mean 'you and me'?" she asked, imitating his lazy drawl and beginning to set up the board for a game again.

"Every time you lose you get frustrated and demand a rematch, and I'm the one who has to listen to you whine about it!" he explained.

"Aw, boo hoo," Temari smirked, "Just one more game, and I swear we'll call it quits."

The two of them were sprawled out on the floor of Shikamaru's living room, the heavy curtains drawn in order to keep the heat of the late afternoon sun from the apartment. This caused the room to appear very dark, and as a result Temari had lit a few candles to provide them with adequate lighting for their game.

She had also, much to Shikamaru's dismay, dragged the lazy ninja to the market early that morning after their questionable breakfast to buy some proper food and supplies for his apartment. The trip had been mortifying to the shadow ninja– she dragged him through every walkway, stopped at every food stall and negotiated with every salesman until the best bargains were found. Shikamaru forced himself to drag out his wallet every now and then, but Temari always stopped him by saying that the Hokage would cover the costs since he was housing her for the next few weeks. This suited him just fine – until Temari started going a little overboard.

"Aw! This throw would just match beautifully with your curtains in the living room!" she exclaimed, coming up to one of the stands that didn't contain food, and reminding Shikamaru all too much of his mother.

"No," he stated simply, folding his arms.

"But look shadow-ass, it would go perfectly-"

"No Temari …just no."

And they left it there. She seemed to have lost the battle that day, but he knew that she was out to win the war in the end – the dramatic shifting around of the furniture in his front room and the excessive cleanliness of his kitchen, floors, bathroom, and even the ceiling proved that to him. He couldn't help having the feeling that he was living back home with his parents again, but with the developments of the afternoon he seemed quite happy with how things worked out…even if he had to wipe his feet every time he entered the door.

"Where'd you find the time to clean this place anyway?" he asked, looking around at his nearly spotless home as Temari set up the last of the shogi pieces.

"When you were having your meeting with the Hokage," she answered, "It didn't take me long at the Konoha academy today – I just observed one or two of Iruka-sensei's classes and came home soon after. You weren't home, so I figured I'd clean up…a bit."

"A bit, hey?" Shikamaru chuckled.

"Well, I am going to be living here as well, and I can't stand a dirty home!" she defended herself, once again reminding Shikamaru of his mother, "And you have to have food – how else were you planning on eating?"

Shikamaru shrugged, "Naruto has stacks of coupons to eat for free at Ichiraku – I was hoping to get some of those off of him."

He winked again and Temari shook her head at his wittiness.

"But thank you," he said, making the first move on the board, "It's kind of nice to have a woman take care of me...well, a woman who isn't my mom at least. I feel like I'm taken care of, yet I don't feel smothered. It's different. I like it."

Temari smiled to herself, making the next move, and watching Shikamaru counteract her choice of play.

"You're welcome," she said quietly, bringing another Shogi piece to the front, "I enjoy doing it – you're the kind of guy who needs a woman's touch to his life."

She looked up then and smiled widely at him, "Even if that woman is troublesome."

Shikamaru smiled back at her, and turned his eyes back to the board.

The two of them hadn't discussed what had happened the night before; after Shikamaru had told Temari that his intentions were only for friendship she had decided to put her feelings behind her and instead to work on what they had – or had lost and were now trying to regain. Their friendship had been as easy as breathing until her feelings got in the way, and she wanted it back so badly. She wasn't trying to try too hard though; she would simply act as naturally around him as her willpower allowed, which was working fine for now, but every time an inkling of a romantic thought would enter her mind she would scold herself and resume her friendly façade. Not that it was a true façade; she was truly enjoying Shikamaru's company – she just needed to make sure nothing spoiled it.

Shikamaru, on the other hand, had their conversation on his mind all day – the reason he had said no to any romantic intentions was simply because he was afraid to be made a fool of; he thought he was being tested. But after the day's events he began to wonder…

She took care of him so well after only being in his home for one night – she cooked, cleaned, bought groceries, cared for his general appearance as well as that of his home and she still remained some of the best company he'd ever experienced. She was intellectual, funny, stubborn, caring, loving…which was also why she was so troublesome. She must care for him if she showed so much care for him…but did she care more than he had originally thought? Was the reason she had asked him if he loved her because she had feelings for him? Because she needed confirmation on whether he felt the same way?

It was these questions that haunted Shikamaru as he shifted the shogi pieces around absent-mindedly.

If it had been asked only to receive confirmation…had Shikamaru just shattered a chance of happiness with the girl who sat before him? The girl who he knew, deep down, he really did love. And perhaps the only reason that their friendship had seemed strained the day before was because Temari was undergoing exactly the same feelings that he was trying to suppress?

"Checkmate, finally!" he heard, snapping out of his internal battle, and glancing at Temari's triumphant face.

"I win! Finally, I beat the "Great Shikamaru"!" she giggled and punched her fist into the air, but then suddenly turned serious again when she noticed his small smile, "Although I suspect you somehow let me win on that one."

Shikamaru smiled up at her mischieviously, proving her suspicions right. He did let her win, but not out of choice…simply out of preoccupation.

"Rematch?" he asked.

"Breathe Kiba!" Sakura commanded, placing her right hand at her chest for the third time, and the other on Kiba's. She expanded his and her lung capacity, took a deep breath and lent down once more, placing her mouth on his and forcing all her extra oxygen into his lungs. She felt his chest rise and fall again, and she waited anxiously for it to rise by itself again, her mouth still pressed firmly to his, refusing to let the oxygen escape. Six heartbeats followed in which nothing happened, but eventually she felt Kiba jerk, his mouth pulling away from hers as he fought to get natural oxygen into his lungs. She straightened up quickly and allowed him to breathe in sharp, rattling breaths, giving a sigh of relief.

Kiba had arrived back with Akamaru minutes after Kaminari had hopped into Sakura's lap, panting happily after his exercise session with the boys. Sakura had waited the allocated hour and a half until the soldier pill would wear off of Kaminari, and he trotted into sight not a minute too late to wait for his companions along with Sakura. When Kiba had shown up he did indeed look tired, and he immediately lay down to receive treatment from Sakura. She had no idea that he was that exhausted that he'd needed three treatments of it though.

"Thanks Sakura…" she heard him say and she smiled down at him before getting up off his abdomen and dusting herself off.

"You had me seriously worried there for a second! I couldn't believe you were that deprived of oxygen! Or that you could be so unfit that I have to perform the procedure on you three times before you start breathing again…are you even fit to be a ninja Kiba?" she questioned, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh, I am," he said, sitting up with a mischievous smile on his face, "When I got back here I was a little out of breath and a little bit of oxygen wouldn't have hurt, but I didn't need it."

"But then…why?" Sakura trailed off, staring at Kiba's wide grin and the naughty twinkle in his eye. Suddenly realization hit.

"You!" she exclaimed, her quick temper rising, "You were faking it! Why were you…"

She seemed to deepen in colour as her anger rose even further, the reason behind his actions becoming clearer and clearer by the second.

"You little…hentai!" she shouted, causing Akamaru to whine. He and Kaminari were standing nearby, recovering from their own race around Konoha, and they now had a front row seat to Sakura's wrath.

Sakura lunged forward towards Kiba, who realized too late what she was planning to do. He didn't know Sakura as well as the other ninja's did – they had been on a few missions together on which she had proven very helpful with her medical skills, and he was aware of her temperament with Naruto, but he had no idea that Sakura could be just as violent with anyone else. He was still in a half crouch, lifting himself up off the floor, when Sakura leaped at him. He had no time to react, and as a result of the collision the two of them tumbled backwards, heading towards the edge of the mountainside.

As they tumbled Kiba heard continuous threats being thrown at him by the pink-haired ninja, but he barely heard them over the sound of their tumbling, the slam of the ground on his back and the looming edge of the cliff that they were headed towards.

"Sakura!" he shouted, trying to draw her attention to the cliff edge, but all that did was earn him a whack to the back of his head. Stars popped before his eyes as his head hit a stone protruding from the ground a second later, and, despite his disorientation he clung onto Sakura as he felt the ground suddenly disappear beneath them.

Sakura caught her breath, breaking off midway through an insult as she realized the sudden pull of gravity. She tried to throw her arms out to grab onto the edge of the cliff, but Kiba had a firm grip on both of her arms, and they were literally pinned at her sides. She looked up at him, knowing that he had no intention of throwing an arm out in case he lost his grip on her. His eyes seemed glazed over, and she knew he was disoriented from the tumble down the cliff face. She scolded herself momentarily; why did she always let her temper get in the way? If she didn't act fast they could both die simply because of her over reaction. This raced through her mind in the split second that the ground disappeared beneath and they began to fall, almost dreamlike, towards the ground below.

A sudden tug made Sakura snap her attention back above her, and she saw Akamaru leaning over the edge, his teeth embedded in his master's jacket, trying his best not to get pulled down himself. Sakura could feel Kiba's grip slacken as he began to lose consciousness, and Sakura could see a small bump beginning to rise on his temple; he must have hit his head really hard on the way down. She reached forward as best she could to cling onto his jacket just as his grip left her entirely, and she slipped further down, clinging desperately onto Kiba as her legs swung freely. She closed her eyes as fear overcame her, but she was brought back to reality once more as she felt Akamaru's grip on them slipping. She shook her head at herself – was she a ninja or not?

"Akamaru!" she shouted up at him, and he responded with a slight whine, "Please try on hold on a little longer, I'm gonna try and get us up!"

Akamaru growled slightly and she saw him sink his teeth in deeper, yanking them back slightly, but pausing as the ground beneath him gave way slightly in the form of a few pebbles accompanied by dirt. It rained down on Sakura, and she shook it from her hair as she began to swing from one end to the other, still clinging desperately onto Kiba's jacket as Akamaru did the same. She forced chakra to the balls of her feet, and as soon as she was close enough to the side of the cliff she planted her feet and stuck there. She then quickly let go of Kiba's jacket, making the weight that Akamaru had to bear a lot less, and he began to drag Kiba backwards. Unfortunately the ground wasn't about to co-operate with Akamaru's effort, and it gave way where his front paws were planted. Akamaru tried to retreat, not releasing his grip on his master, but it was clear that he was going to fall too if Sakura didn't do something fast.

"Let go Akamaru!" she shouted, reaching out as she forced her chakra deeper into her feet, "I'll catch him, I promise!"

She had already used up a lot of her chakra performing her medical technique on Kiba earlier, but she pushed on, knowing that her chakra would hold out long enough to get Kiba to safety. Akamaru did as she said; he let go of Kiba and quickly retreated from the crumbling edge. Kiba fell immediately, and Sakura reached out, catching beneath both his arms and holding on tightly. His weight was a lot more than she expected and she felt one of her feet slip. She clenched her teeth as she forced her chakra back to her feet and proceeded to run up the edge, placing her one arm under Kiba's knees and carrying him up the cliff face.

She reached the top in three bounds, and quickly placed Kiba on the ground, panting slightly. She gathered some more of the healing chakra that had now become second nature for her to produce, and held it to his head. The bump stopped swelling at her touch, and she knew that Kiba would wake up soon. Seconds later Kiba's eyes fluttered open, squinting at the glare of the late afternoon sun in his eyes, a throaty chuckle escaping his lips.

"Sakura?" he muttered, and he saw the silhouette of her head block the sun from his eyes, "You're crazy, do you know that?"

"And you're a pervert, did you know that?" she retaliated, as Kiba burst into a fit of laughter.

"I'll be the first to admit that I'm a perv," he said between breaths, "But I at least don't throw other people off a cliff with me in tow!"

Sakura reddened in colour, but then found herself laughing along with Kiba. She lay down next to him, the two of them clutching their sides as they laughed, enjoying the relief from the previous shock that had run through both of their systems. Once they both had finally caught their breath Sakura sat up.

"I'm sorry," she said, "Sometimes I let my temper get the better of me…but that was a really mean thing to do!" she said in annoyance, "I was seriously worried that I couldn't get you breathing again!"

"Then, I'm sorry," Kiba said I return, "For pissing you off and making you throw us off a cliff."

He grinned at Sakura's annoyed glare.

"But seriously, I promise I won't do it again. It was just nice having your lips on mine…" he trailed off.

Sakura blushed slightly; her eyes opened wide in shock Was Kiba actually admitting that he liked her or something? She barley even knew the guy…and wasn't he hung up on Hinata or something? She had head Naruto complain about Kiba's constant urge to fight him, and how, lately, the fight had always been about Hinata. So he couldn't be admitting something, could he? And did she even feel the same way?

Kiba winked at her just then, puling her away from her thoughts.

"Psyche," he said, "I only did it to piss you off really."

Sakura coloured once more, her eyes narrowing as she pulled her hand back.

SLAP!

Kiba rubbed his hand to his cheek as he felt the stinging sensation caress his face, and he looked up to see Sakura stalking off angrily. Seemed he'd gone too far again.

"Me and my big mouth," he muttered, standing up and heading home, Akamaru and Kaminari following in his wake, a slight chuckling sound bubbling in Akamaru's throat.

Hinata stood facing Naruto in the outside training area; at Naruto's suggestion they had moved outside because he said he was scared he may destroy the dojo if the fight got too heated. This comment had made Hinata nervous, but he winked and smiled at her as he said it, so she knew he was only doing it as an extra precaution.

As they left the dojo Hanabi and Hiashi walked out first, leaving Hinata and Naruto lingering behind them. Naruto sneaked Hinata's hand into his while he was sure her father wasn't looking, and whispered into her ear: "Besides, it's prettier outside than it is on the inside right now."

And he was right; as they exited the building the red sunset could be seen sinking behind the distant mountains, and the sky was streaked with purple, pink and red stains, a few of the early stars beginning to twinkle here and there. Hinata smiled at Naruto as he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and let go as her father turned around and pointed them towards the training yard.

Now she stood facing him, unsure of what to expect from the fight, and still contemplating whether she should go all out in order to impress her father, or whether she should fight gently in order not to hurt Naruto.

"You two may begin," Hiashi stated, "Try not to get too carried away…" he focused his eyes on Naruto as he said this, proving Hinata's suspicions that he saw Naruto as an incompetent ninja.

Naruto grinned, however, and gave him a thumbs up.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Hinata will put me in my place!" he exclaimed, and looked over at her with a twinkle in his eye.

"Ne, Hinata-chan?" he said more quietly, so that only she could hear him, "Don't hold back, ok? I can only show you how strong I've become if you do the same."

He smiled at her then, and readied himself into a defensive position that she wasn't accustomed to seeing him use. She smiled back at him and readied herself as well; of course Naruto didn't want her to hold back, and she also wanted to prove to him how much stronger she had become.

'This is going to be fun!' she thought to herself, before racing forwards to the waiting ninja before her. He was the man she loved, and the man that she wanted to prove her strength to the most. Her father stood, forgotten on the sidelines, as Hinata focused only on Naruto.

And thats that for now. ;-) Sorry for the cliffhanger!

Please don't forget to review and allow me to wish you all a very Merry Christmas in advance!!!