NaruHina Part 1: Training

Disclaimer: All characters from Naruto are owned by Masashi Kishimoto. Also, from here on out this'll be rated PG13. yeahhh



     Naruto sighed and craned his neck to look at the clear, blue sky. His belly felt completely bloated -- he had just consumed five helpings of ramen at Ichiraku's -- and strained uncomfortably against his pants. Konoha seemed to be pretty quiet lately; no major threats appeared among the Leaf or any of their allies for several months now. It put Naruto in a bad mood. He longed for a good fight; he needed it like a drug. He missed the exhilaration, the suspense, the satisfaction of victory. Without interesting missions to go on, Naruto's life was... extremely dull. Train. Eat. Sleep. It was a simple, very predictable lifestyle that didn't suit Naruto at all.

     The blonde ninja drew a deep breath and began walking down the street, to no where in particular. The streets seemed crowded today; it was such a nice day outside. He eventually found himself in a busy marketplace, and couldn't help but notice a familiar fruit vender visibly glaring at him. His stall was placed just to the left of a main crossway, and there had been numerous occasions where Naruto knocked down one of the old man's fruit stalls in his rush to get to Tsunade's office or training -- whichever one he was late to at the time.

     Naruto grinned sheepishly in his direction before quickly dashing down a hidden alleyway. Where, to his surprise, he bumped into Sakura.

     "Sakura? Hi! I haven't seen you in ages!" Naruto beamed at his long-known companion from team 7. It cheered him up a little to see her, so he didn't give the mumbled greeting he had taken to lately.

     "Hey, Naruto..." She sighed and casually combed through some of her shiny, pink hair. She looked tired and irritable -- never a good sign when you happened to be near her. She paused as if she suddenly remembered something and shook her head. "Wait a minute... Where are you going? All the Jounin were supposed to meet in the training fields in twenty minutes! I know I'm early... but I just had to get out of that hospital! There have been aLOT of common folk in there lately with minor injuries, and let me tell you, they are downright rude." By the end of her short rant, Sakura's hands were balled up into fists.

     But Naruto was hardly listening. He sprinted down the path in the direction of his apartment, shouting, "Bye, Sakura!" Over his shoulder. He wanted to grab some more weapons before heading to the training grounds. It was a bit foolish -- they would be given time to prepare for whatever task after a brief introduction -- but Naruto was too excited to worry about such things.

     It took about twenty minutes for Naruto to gather more supplies, which meant he was going to be late. Again.

     And just like tradition, Naruto accidentally knocked down a large pyramid of watermelon at the same vender's stall, as he shot back through the marketplace. Watermelon rolled off in all directions, a few squashed, and the old man cursed loudly at Naruto's diminishing figure. It was to no use; he was already several blocks away.

     Finally, Naruto reached the designated spot. Standing in a neat line in front of Kakashi were Sakura, Neji, Kiba, Chouji, Tenten, Lee, Shikamaru, Shino, and lastly, Hinata at the end. He quickly took his place beside her, where he was greeted by nine pairs of impatient eyes. Everyone was glaring at him, besides Hinata. Her eyes were averted to her feet, her face a deep shade of pink.

     "You're late." Kakashi stated simply, his usual expression of boredom on his face.

     Naruto snorted and crossed his arms. "You're always late, Kakashi. B'sides, I wouldn't have even known about the meeting if I hadn't run into Sakura!"

     Kakashi ignored him and turned to face the group as a whole. "As you know, Konoha has been fairly quiet lately... This doesn't mean anything. There are always enemies where there is power, and if we haven't seen any of them yet, it just means that they're planning their attack or waiting for a good chance to reach their goal. Thus, this is a good time for us to train and strengthen our numbers,"

     Several people in the line groaned, and Naruto stomped his foot in a very child-like manner. "Kakashiiiii... We've been training so much and -"

     Kakashi interrupted him and shook his head. "This is a command from Tsunade herself. Be greatful. This training will be alot different from your previous methods of training, and it should be more challenging than the D-Rank missions you've been assaigned so much lately," The Jounins grudgingly remained silent and waited for him to continue. "Now. Good training comes from fighting or consulting with someone of high level. Preferably the same level as you or higher. So you guys will be training amongst yourselves. This time, though, we've broken up your usual teams and paired you up against rivals who have skills that compliment your own. That is to say, skills that you could use some work on."

     The nine ninja were clearly crestfallen -- especially Naruto. More training. Great.

     "As I've said earlier, there's no doubt that there are enemies out there. So you guys will scatter amongst your groups, but stay extremely close to town. No more than three miles away, preferably. This way, you're close to eachother should an enemy suddenly attack, and you're close to the village should we need you for something more urgent. Work hard. If taken seriously, you can gain alot from this. It will be good leadership skills, too; you will not be supervised so you will need to make decisions on your own. Bring whatever materials you think necessary for your type of training. We've provided one large tent for each group, so there's no need to bring one. Any questions?" Kakashi stared at everyone individually, amused slightly at how their bored and expressionless faces mirrored his own.

     Naruto clenched his teeth. He could barely refrain from shouting. Why in the hell were they training? Still?

     "Some of you will be in groups of two, while others will be in groups of three. You will be paired up as follows: Sakura with Chouji, Neji and Hinata with Naruto, Kiba and Shino with Tenten, and Shikamaru with Lee. You should head out tomorrow morning. Plan out your training and head out to places that go well with the style of fighting. We'll round up the groups when the time seems appropriate. This could be in a week, or several months. It all depends. Good luck..." And with that, the Copy Ninja disappeared.

     Almost instantly, the group rounded on eachother. "What the fuck is this?" Kiba shouted angrily; Akamaru barking in agreement.

     Sakura nodded and groaned. "Me with Chouji...? For possibly several months?" Chouji was standing near her but showed no sign of anger towards the insult. Instead, he mearly pulled out a bag of chips and tossed a few in his mouth. "Geez, Ino's lucky she was able to stay at the hospital!"

     Tenten and Kiba were arguing about where they should train, while Shino stood there as nonchalant as ever. Shikamaru was discussing tactics already with Lee, who could be heard distantly over all the commotion, shouting, "Springtime of YOUTH!"

     Hidden behind a nearby bush, Kakahi silently watched the group banter with eachother. He lowered his novel, Come Come Paradise, to get a closer view.

     It was obvious how the teams were selected. Neji and Hinata could use some work on pure brute strength, while Naruto needed to work on agility. Tenten was a master of weaponry, while Kiba and Shino relied purely on themselves (and Akamaru in the case of Kiba). And Lee needed to strategize better, just as Shikamaru could use more Taijutsu skills. Chouji and Sakura... Well, they were leftover so they were thrown in a group.

     This would be interesting to see how well they'd cooperate... They'd spent time together like this on extended missions, but in those times they were always distracted or rushed. This time would be different.

     Many of the Jounin were still shouting... Sakura looked like she wanted to hit something and Kiba was muttering angrily to himself. Only Lee seemed unphased by the training; he was eagerly performing pushups on the ground, probably as a "warm up" or something. Naruto was pacing back and forth, while Neji stared at him, a murderous look in his eyes. Kakashi frowned slightly. Where was the other Hyuuga?

     Oh. There she is. Much to Kakashi's amusement, Hinata was lying face forward on the ground, clearly unconscious. Once again, she had feinted. And Kakashi was willing to bet all of his latest novels that it was due to the fact that she would be spending a lot of time with Naruto in the near future... and sharing a tent with him...

     This would definately be quite interesting.