Days blurred into weeks as time went on. Kakashi remained true to his word and Team Seven completed only D-rank missions. Although he would never admit it, the true reason behind the bell exercise was to show his students how poor their teamwork was, and that they would not perform well in the Chuunin Selection Exam if they did not work on it. Fortunately, the genins somewhat realized it and improved themselves, though slightly.

After his chance encounter with Hinata in the woods, Naruto was not quite sure what to make of it. Right before he left her, his heart was pounding and he even started to sweat a little. It was as if the last thing he wanted to do was doing something wrong, especially in front of her. When he had left, the demon took ample time to give his opinion.

“That was brilliantly carried out,” it snickered, “You really know how to interact with other females.”

“Ha ha,” Naruto had responded back, “I’m no stranger to sarcasm, that isn’t funny.”

“I especially thought the part where you left suddenly a nice touch.”

The bantering had gone on a long time afterwards until the demon had finally seemed to tire of it. Naruto simply did not pay attention to any of it. Truth be told, sometimes it got on his nerves, but demons were not exactly creatures meant to get a long with. One thing he did notice, though, was that he could not feel the presence of the Nine-tails fox when he was with Hinata.

Over the month before the Exam, he spent as much time as he could with her, but not just because of the demon.  Something about her let him relax completely, something he was only able to do by himself. She was different from the others, maybe it was her reserved shyness, the way she smiled, or how she never looked down on him.

Maybe it was for all of those reasons that Naruto just could not stand to see her sad. From the past, he knew she had low self-confidence ever since her father had rejected her in favor of her younger sister, Hanabi. Being a male, his mind worked in a certain way, so he could only think of one thing to do…and that was helping her.

Being who she was, Hinata had tried to decline, arguing that it was a waste of his time. However, being as stubborn as he was, he insisted, replying that it was no problem at all. Eventually, his eagerness and enthusiasm won her over, just like the first time, and she agreed. So, Naruto showed her an exercise he used to develop his chaka control. He put a leaf on his arm and expelled chakra, sending the leaf fluttering in the air. Of course, for Hinata who was used to flowing chakra out of her hands, it took her no time at all.

It did not stop there though, their meetings were more and more frequent. It was such that he would arrive late to missions. That did not bother him though, his team could think what they wanted of him. As the days went by, the more he trained with her. It was not exactly his fault, ever since he could remember, the only thing he did was pull pranks or train. He did not have any friends to interact with, or parents to teach him. Fortunately for him, Hinata did not seem to mind.

With the demon’s memories, Naruto helped her learn more of the Hyuga taijutsu, since her father ceased to teach her. He showed her how to reinforce her body with chakra and everything he knew about pressure points. He even showed off how he climbed trees. Even though he was host to a millennium old demon, Hinata was still able to teach him about medicinal plants and herbs that grew in the area.

The afternoon before the Exam, they were walking together along a path in the village. Neither said much, preferring the silence of each other’s company; after all, some things are said best without words. Naruto sometimes stole glances at her when he thought she was not looking. There was something about those white-within-white eyes that captivated him. But when she felt his gaze on her and turned her head to meet his. He quickly averted his eyes and tried to suppress his growing blush.

“Umm, Naruto-kun?” Hinata spoke up suddenly.

“Damnit, I messed up again,” Naruto cursed himself. “Yea?”

“Well, uhh, my house isn’t too far away, would you like to come with me?”

His mind paused for a second after the invitation – it was not exactly what he expected to hear. “Phew, safe,” he thought breathing a sigh of relief. At the same time, though, he did not really know what to do. Nobody had ever invited him into their home, not even his teammates. A strange feeling settled in the pit of his stomach, but he said nothing of it.

“Yea, sure,” he managed to say with a grin.

Approaching the Hyuga estate, Naruto’s eyes were darting in every direction. The place was bigger than anything he had ever seen. “When you said house, I wasn’t expecting a mansion,” he said which caused Hinata to giggle.

“Well, it’s meant for housing the entire clan.”

“There are that many?” His question was answered for him as he saw several white-eyed individuals dressed in traditional robes walking along a different path. It was as if the estate was a village entire of itself. As they continued further on, Naruto saw several buildings surrounded by vast gardens. “Those are the Branch family houses,” Hinata explained to him.

“So then, where do you live?” he asked.

Before she could answer, a voice from behind stopped them. “Hinata, what do you think you’re doing?” Both turned around at the same time to find Hyuga Hiashi standing before them.

“N-Nothing, Father,” she stammered out a response, “I just wanted to…”

“Don’t you know outsiders are not allowed except for important matters?” he said cutting her off. Turning his glare on Naruto, “You…leave at once,” he ordered.

“Geez, this guy too,” Naruto wondered to himself, “He has the same cold eyes I see everywhere.” Deciding not to cause any problems, he offered a quick smile to Hinata and left the way he came from. Before he could walk ten paces, he heard something that made him stop dead in his tracks.

“Hinata, I thought I forbade you to associate with this one.”

“But, Father, why? There isn’t anything bad about him.”

“Because he is of a worthless clan, and is not worthy of us.”

Although it was a poor front for the fact that he was the host for the Nine-tails, nobody had ever insulted his family, and it both hurt and angered him more than anything. How strange for him to feel pride for people that were dead before he was born. He could feel his blood beginning to boil, while his heart thumped in his chest. Adrenaline poured into his veins and it was almost as if he could feel the chemical mixing with his blood. “I can’t lose it, not here,” he determined, but he could already hear the sweet promise of power.

Whirling around, Naruto faced the haughty Hyuga Hiashi. “I’ll make you regret those words,” he growled through gritted teeth. “Shit, what am I doing? I have to stop this.” It was too late though, his navel began to tingle which always happened when the demon’s chakra slipped through the seal. There was no stopping it, a crimson aura surrounded him as the chakra exploded outwards.

Hiashi narrowed his eyes as he saw Naruto’s chakra wrap around him. “Damn, that’s the Nine-tails chakra,” he thought to himself, “And that killing intent, I’ll need to be careful.” In this situation, he decided it would be better if he pretended he was unphased by such a display of power. “Cease this foolishness immediately,” he called out, “What do you hope to accomplish by…” but he did not finish as Naruto suddenly blurred out of sight and re-appeared by his side. It was all he could do avoid a swing directed at his head, but he was not ready for the follow-up kick to his chest.

Stumbling backwards, he regained his balance with difficulty. The genin had kicked him so hard he knew the bruise would last for a long time. “Even in his frenzied state he attacked me from my only blind spot…this might be harder than I thought.” Outwardly, he put a slight smirk on his lips. “Boy, you may have been lucky to land a hit, “ he said launching his hands in a series of seals, “But that is about to change…Byakugan!” Slipping into the Hyuga stance, he added, “You will feel great pain at my hands for your defiance.”

Fighting a Gentle First master was not exactly what Naruto wanted to do at the moment, or ever if he could help it. Now that he had slightly calmed down, he could not help but wonder why he let this happen. “Damnit, look at what you did.”

“What I did?” the demon complained, “You were the one that attacked him.”

“Yea, well sending me your chakra wasn’t a great help either.”

At this point, his options were running out. Running away was out of the question with a Hyuga master as his foe. Essentially his only way out was to fight and hope his stamina allowed him to last longer. So, he lined up his feet, raised his guard, and settled his face into a dark glare. “Is that so?” he replied, “You shouldn’t underestimate me.”

Both fighters faced each other, neither moving an inch, trying to find a weakness in the other’s guard. Meanwhile, Hinata was glancing back and forth in between the two, all the while wondering how the situation had escalated so. She knew her father tended to have a harsh tongue, but she never expected Naruto to react so strongly. “Naruto-kun, please,” she pleaded desperately once more, “You don’t have to do this.”

No response. It was not that he refuse to answer, but if he diverted his attention even slightly, Hiashi would quickly take advantage of it. The evening sun drew long shadow from the still forms of the two combatants…but then they were gone. At the same time, both of them blurred away and reappeared a several meters away as Hiashi blocked a palm strike, but was not able to connect his own hand as he lashed out aiming for the heart.

Ignoring the obvious danger, Naruto ducked down low and sped for his opponent, arcing around him. As he approached he could already see Hiashi adjust his stance, ready to strike. Closer now, the palm was heading straight towards his face, but he pressed on. Collision was imminent, and at that moment, he focused chakra to his feet and lept up to meet Hiashi eye to eye. From there, he gathered his chakra to the ridge of his hand and aimed it at the Hyuga’s neck. Closer, and closer it went, but it stopped a hair’s breadth from connecting. Did he misjudge the distance? Impossible; he must have dodged it, but now was not the time to think about such things, since all his chakra went into his hand, his body was virtually defenseless. Already, he could see the counter-attack, but where would it hit? Head, chest, or stomach; it would have to be a gamble. Hoping he made the right decision, he flowed his chakra into his head and prepared for the worst.

Sure enough, Hyuga Hiashi’s open palm rose up to catch Naruto squarely in the jaw, sending him flying back several feet. Rising to his feet, he gave his jaw slight rub and chuckled silently – no damage except for a slight scratch. “I’m surprised you survived that last one,” Hiashi called out.

“I’m surprised you were able to dodge mine,” Naruto responded in kind.

“I must say, for a genin, you are quite a handful.”

“Well, if one’s a handful, how about four?” At his words, three other Naruto’s appeared next to him in a puff of smoke. Without waiting for a response, all four launched themselves in unison. What ensued could only be described as a dance of death. For a while, neither side gained the upper hand. With Hiashi in the center, the four Narutos had him circled. It was a beautiful intricacy of footwork. While a clone swept at his legs, Hiashi lifted his foot and spun out of another clone’s range. A quick shuffle of feet and he thrust his palm out to a third Naruto who in turn rotated out of reach while the last clone countered.

On and on the dance continued until one of the clones stumbled slightly over a slight crater in the ground as it tried dodging a strike to its heart. Unfortunately, the blow landed in the upper abdomen, and the clone’s life was snuffed out into smoke. “That’s one,” Hiashi counted to himself. With one less person to take up space, the movements became even more dangerous. The Narutos renewed their attacks with even vigor, but they had already lost the initiative. After a short skirmish, another clone was struck head on, and then the last clone disappeared soon after. “And now the last one,” he thought as he whirled around to face nothing.

Where did he go? He was not behind him, nor to the sides. He was not behind any of the trees either. Where could he be?

“Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu,” he heard from underneath him as two hands pulled him neck deep into the ground. Behind him, he could see Naruto pop out of the ground and brush himself off.

“Your Byakugan is really powerful,” Naruto said coming around to Hiashi’s front, “To be able to see three hundred and sixty degrees like that. But, that lulls you into a false sense of security and you do not expect attacks from your blind spot, underneath.” He finished while pointing to the ground for effect.

“That is quite an impressive jutsu,” Hiashi complimented sarcastically, “Unfortunately, you forget than I am a Jyuuken master.” Suddenly, chakra exploded out from his entire body. It was so much more than he had ever seen. It caught up to him in the blink of an eye, before he could gather chakra into his body he was pushed away as Hiashi spun around. He stood up as quickly as possible but his opponent had already jumped out of the hole that was created from Hakkeshou Kaiten, and was rapidly advancing towards him.

“I’ll end this foolishness now, young brat,” Hiashi announced with a cold face.

Still shaken, there was no way Naruto could dodge. He could not tell where he would be hit, so he gathered chakra and hoped it would not hurt. The very next second, he felt the palm violently strike his heart. He heard Hinata gasp, and then a look of puzzlement spread across the stony face of Hyuga Hiashi. “Why is nothing…I see now. You filled your Inner Coils with chakra. So, my gentle fist was useless all along.”

“That isn’t the only thing useless,” Naruto murmured. As he spoke those words, he grabbed the hand on his heart, holding so it would not move. With his right hand he stabbed his two foremost fingers into his opponent’s shoulder. A slight grimace of passed over the Hyuga leader’s face. Clutching his shoulder with his left hand, he retreated backwards and examined it.

“Hehe, it isn’t responding,” he chuckled despite his predicament, “What have you done?”

Naruto made a face he thought was a smirk, “Chakra on your ligament, it’ll go away after a while.”

“This is definitely interesting, but now the real battle starts.”

“How can you say that with one arm that isn’t working?”

“That is irrelevant now. Come, you will see the true power of the Hyugas.” The stance he assumed was different than normal. His body was positioned even more perpendicular, and his outstretched arm was in perfect alignment. The faint glow of chakra surrounded his entire body.

“That looks oddly familiar,” Naruto thought to himself. He shrugged at the thought though. “If you’re read to get serious, so am I.” Clasping his hands together, he concentrated for a little bit and was rewarded with another crimson red eruption of chakra, even more than the previous time. This time, he chose his favorite fighting position for whenever he needed to be serious – open palm in front, hand pointing down in the back.

For him, the fight had gone on too long for his tastes, it would be better to end it as soon as possible. There was no telling if he were to get out of hand. Recklessly, he charged forward and aimed for his opponents useless side. Try as he might, Hiashi was too swift, and dodged every single attack and then countered himself. It was not something Naruto expected, but he was no surprised either. “Oh no! He’s using the same thing as me.” Quickly, he focused fifty percent of his chakra to his left arm and the rest to his left leg. As he had expected, Hiashi’s leg was charged with chakra. He blocked the kick with his arm, but it was not  enough and he felt the pain in his arm.

Whilst still blocking the leg, Naruto crouched down low on his right leg and whipped around with his left, taking out Hiashi’s legs from under him. Spreading the chakra from his left leg evenly into his right, he pushed off the ground as high as he could. From there he focused everything into his right hand…and there lay his first mistake.

Gravity violently pulled him back down and he drove his first into the ground where Hiashi had rolled away and launched his open palm at Naruto who barely had time to stand up. He anticipated an attack to his chest, so he was already prepared. As the palm glanced off his body, Naruto shifted his weight jumped straight into Hiashi’s raised knee. “The palm strike was a feint?” It was too late to react. He was already doubled over and coughing up blood. “But if he focused that much chakra into his knee, he’s basically defenseless.” Gambling on that last thought, he all his chakra into his left hand and rammed his foremost fingers into a pressure point on top of Hiashi’s liver.

Success! Pain was clearly etched on Hiashi’s face as he stumbled back, clutching his side, desperately trying to breathe. As for Naruto, he immediately fell to the ground, coughing more blood up, but he managed to climb back to his feet, though he was barely able to. It was only now that he noticed Hinata’s terrified expression. He wished she did not have to go through watching this, but the demon spirit had taken over him, even though it was only for half a moment. He promised himself he would explain everything to her, but now he had to focus on getting out of here alive.

“This farce has gone on long enough, boy. It’s time to end it.”

“Father! No, please!” Hinata seemed to be begging for something, but he could not concentrate very well due to the pain. In front of him Hiashi clearly ignored his daughter. Instead, he focused his attention on Naruto. “If you concentrate too much chakra into one area, it escapes such as with the Chidori. But if you can contain it, the damage increases, such as with the Rasengan. The trick you see, is to contain it while still in the body.”

As Naruto looked with his blurring vision, he saw the bright blue glow chakra around Hiashi’s left hand. It was just like with the Chidori, except it did not lance out. It was a pure aura of energy surrounding the hand. “Damn, even if I concentrate a hundred percent at the area of impact, it’ll still heavily damage.” He only had one card left up his sleeve. Again, clasping his hands together he tried to concentrate. “Come on, just a little more. I’m gonna die here.” He was going to need more time if he were going to draw out more of the Nine-tails chakra, and time was something he did not have. Hiashi began running towards him and then it was all over in a blur before he even knew what happened.

During the whole time, Hinata was pleading her father to reconsider, but he had paid her no attention. Right before Hiashi reached Naruto, she jumped in front of him. By the time Hiashi realized what had happened, it was too late for him to stop. Hinata, realizing she just might die attempted the only thing that could possibly save her and Naruto. Remembering the leaf exercise Naruto had shown her, she relaxed, and expelled chakra from all her opening points, just in time for Hiashi’s to crash into it. Although it was not large, it was enough to stop the attack. Realizing she had done the hardest part, Hinata spun around, though it only knocked the fist away.

Panting heavily, Hiashi dropped to the ground as if he had no energy left. “Perhaps,” he started, “Perhaps, I underestimated you,” he said directing it both towards Naruto and Hinata.

Naruto, who was panting equally as hard, chuckled a little as the pain from his stomach caused him to pass out.

Author’s Notes: End Part I. Part II will be the Chuunin Exam.

This chapter is a little longer since I didn’t update in a while. Anyway, I’m starting college on the 29th so no doubt my updates will be even fewer than before. I do plan on continuing though, so no worries.