Chapter 18

He didn't hear the soft 'eep' sound that she made when he grabbed her or how she was blushing bright red, she felt light headed with him hugging her like this and it felt nice as well. She could feel his warm body pressed up against hers and the warmth of the emotions even, it felt so good and she wished she could move her arms to hug him back.

A part of her mind wanted to hug him back so much, and much more as well. She had dreams like this, first the hugging would come and then he would look into her eyes with those bright blue and wonderful eyes of his. He would tell her how beautiful and strong she was and that he loved her. She could tell him that she loved him too and he would gently pull down his mask and she would see that cute face with the whisker marks on it again.

He would smile that smile of his that melted her heart and made her legs shake, and their lips would gently touch.

But as soon as it happened it was gone, the hug ended and so did her little day dream with it and Naruto was running off to see his father. Hinata however was swaying back and forth feeling all warm from his embrace and a smile was on her face, from the hug and from her own thoughts she had just had.

"N-N-Naruto-kun..." She said softly before he fainted and landed onto the soft grass. Kiba and Shino went to her quickly as did Choji as they made sure that she was okay.

Ino sighed and shook her head, "Boy that girl has it bad for him. Should we tell him that his best friend as a huge crush on him because I honestly don't know when he'll figure it out."

"It's too troublesome," Shikamaru sighed thinking on just what it would take to get Hinata to admit to her own feelings let along to Naruto gave him a headache just thinking about it.

Everyone knew about Hinata's crush on Naruto with the exception of the blonde, as they helped her up Sakura had a worried look on her face. She did like Naruto but she didn't want to hurt Hinata given that she was a close friend. She had nearly lost her friendship with Ino over Sasuke but thanks to Naruto smoothing things out between them they were still friends. She still wore the red ribbon Ino had given her years ago and yes they both chased after Sasuke from time to time but Sakura's attention was split so it wasn't with her whole heart that she went after Sasuke and Ino guessed that meant less competition for the dark boy's affections.

Not that Ino or any other girl seemed to get any, Naruto made a joke about him being gay and both Ino and Sakura had hit him for it, plus the other girls of the Uchiha fan club gave him death glares for even suggesting that the boy they all crushed on was gay and they had no chance whatsoever with him.

At any rate until her mind/heart was made up she had no idea which boy to go after but she wouldn't lose a friendship over it. She watched as Choji and Shino trying to wake the young girl up and if she chose to go after Naruto she would give the young girl a fight but she would be fair about it. She would give the other girl a chance to at least admit her feelings to the boy and see where it went. After all maybe Naruto would only like Hinata as a friend?

'But what if he likes us only as a friend?'Inner Sakura said with a hint of worry. Sakura bit her lip but decided she could live with that, after all there was still Sasuke after all.

It took some times but they managed to get Hinata to wake up and she felt embarrassed over what had happened to her. She really wished she could stop doing that but it was just so hard for her

Hinata walked home by herself feeling slightly embarrassed that she had fainted like that in front of everyone but it was just whenever Naruto was that close when he did things like that it always made her hart pound so loud she could hear it and feel it, she just totally lost it and she wished she could just gather the strength to tell him how she felt and to be able to not faint. She sighed, out of all of her friends she felt that she hadn't changed much. Although she had taken an interests in medicine shortly after her mother's death but mainly just medical herbs and such things like that, she didn't want to become a medical nin.

But a good idea on healing salves, potions and antidotes had become a new hobby for her, Sakura and Ino helped her with an herb garden on the Hyuga compound that she maintained to help her with that, even Naruto helped out from time to time much to her joy. She walked into her room taking off her jacket that she had been wearing for a few years now. What no one knew was just how well developed the girl had become over the years but she was too shy to show it hence why she always ware large clothing, well that and she felt it was just very comfortable as well.

She heard someone walk up to her door and looked to see her younger sister Hanabi, she looked very much like their mother hand although she could see a bit of their father in her. She looked like she had just finished a training routine. Hanabi was always training very hard, she knew it was in part from their father trying to ensure his daughters were strong in life, but also she suspected it was because Hanabi didn't want to be put into the Branch family like their uncle had been.

There might have been some animosity in them but there wasn't, they weren't as close as she would have liked as Hanabi acted a lot like their father so she reserved herself a lot of the time.

"Hello Nee-Chan."

"Hello Hanabi-chan how was practice with Uncle?"

"He was helping me with forms today, it was hard but he says that I've been improving a lot lately," Hanabi then noticed some dirk on Hinata's jacket and she tiled her head a bit, "were you training as well sister?"

Hinata looked confused and then Hanabi pointed out the dirk and she grew bright red seeing the dirt there from when she had fallen onto the ground. "Uh, I w-w-was with my friends and I s-s-sort of fell..."

Hanabi knew what that meant having seen it happen before, "You really should tell Naruto-nisan how you feel."

Hanabi had known Naruto all her life and even though she had never seen what was behind that mask he was always there for her big sister and her. She could remember Naruto and Hinata looking after her and even training with her. He was also one of the few people that could make her laugh or smile with his antics. He was always there and over the years she thought of him as the big brother she didn't have. It was also painfully obvious that her older sister had feelings for him and she secretly wished that they would get together.

Although she didn't like boys, Naruto was another story. He was good to her family and her sister obviously looked up to him and was totally smitten by him. Plus if Hinata and Naruto got married then he really would be her older brother even if her brother in law.

Hinata looked down as she did that thing with her fingers again, "I...I want to tell him...b-b-but what if he doesn't feel the same? I know he kind of likes S-S-Sakura and he's got all those other girls after him and they're stronger and prettier than I am."

Hanabi hated it when her sister got like this it honestly just pissed her off, "Where is your Hyuga pride sister? You are a Hyuga of the Main family and the heiress of our clan, you are above those others girls and you should show it. If you want Naruto-nisan then take him as yours as if it were your right. If he doesn't feel the same then he's an idiot for turning down a Hyuga since we don't give our hearts to those outside the clan freely."

Hinata felt a bit ashamed and not for the first time she wished that Hanabi was the heiress and not her, Hanabi even though younger was more confident and stronger and would make for an excellent leader. But she couldn't even get the courage to tell the boy she had liked for years that she liked him and wanted more than just friendship. Not for the first time she wished she was stronger and that she wished her mother was still alive to go to and get advice from. She couldn't go to her father or uncle because it would be awkward for both parties.

I, I just wish I knew I had a chance...I don't want to lose him," Hinata said in a low and soft voice.

Hanabi heard it anyway and sighed, "If you don't do something you'll lose him anyway."

-Hatake Home-

Kakashi was sitting at home reading one of his novels again, he loved the books. Yes they did have some dirty adult content but that was besides the point, well okay it was also a big selling point as well since he had learned some very interesting techniques from the book. Hard to believe that the writer of these books was the sensei to his sensei, but then again he remembered a few times when Minato tried to act a bit perverted around his then girlfriend (and later future wife). The poor blonde man never knew what hit him sometimes.

He sighed remembering them and he hoped that he was doing well by Naruto, he wanted to protect Naruto more than anything and not just because it was out of duty and loyalty for the man that had been like a second father to him. He honestly did love Naruto like a son, it was strange but Naruto helped him to ease away the loneliness of his life had become. With his two best friends and teammates killed, his father dead, and then his teacher his life had been so empty.

He book down his book remembering his birthdays, how the Hokage sometimes liked to have Naruto in his office to babysit while he had been on a mission. Naruto said he liked it because he could learn how to become a Hokage himself one day. He remembered the first time he met Hinata and he could see the bond that had formed over the years with those two. But Naruto had lots of friends now and an extended family as well.

He had to admit things were never dull in his life, although he did like the quiet moments such as now.

A sudden banging sound of the front door was heard all over the home and Naruto's loud voice calling out to him. Kakashi sighed knowing that the only quiet he would get when Naruto was at school. He casually walked to find his son running through the house looking for him.

"Dad! I need you help with something important!"

"What is it son?" Kakashi asked him.

"I can't do a clone because I can't use as little chakra as the other kids but I need to make a clone or else I won't graduate and I want to pass with all my friends, can't you teach me something that will help me pass? Come on there's got to be some trick you can help me use less chakra or something? How about some type of restraining chakra thing, or maybe some kind of jutsu that can get me around it!"

Kakashi blinked wondering how he could have said all that in a rush in just one lung full of air, he shook his head and started to think about it. He knew this issue would come up, Naruto's chakra control was bad at the best of times but he had gain more control now after years of practice. But he still had trouble with the simpler stuff because of the limited amount of chakra you needed to put into it.

Basically it was like trying to force a ton of water through a small pipe. Kakashi knew that the test was coming up and he didn't want to see Naruto fail. But in order to get his chakra control that good would take a lot longer than he needed to train Naruto for this. If only there was a way around doing a simple clone then...an idea hit him.

"Naruto you said that it's a clone test right?" Kakashi asked him and the blonde nodded his head quickly looking up expectedly, "any type of clone at all?"

Naruto thought about that one, "All Iruka-sensei said was the tests would be physical skills outside, then a written one, a henge and finally a clone but he didn't say what kind. Hey are there different kinds of clones?"

Kakashi nodded his head, "Yes there are and I could teach you one but you have to understand Naruto this clone isn't the typical one. It can be dangerous and no one your age should even attempt it, but with your high concentration of chakra you might just be able to pull this off."

Kakashi wasn't kidding about this being dangerous but desperate times called for desperate measures. He had been hoping that Naruto would have gotten enough control to do a simple clone but it looked like he might have to teach him this one. He could use another type of clone than the one he had in mind but in all honestly he felt that Naruto could learn it, besides there was a bit of his pride telling him how great it would be for his son to learn such a high level jutsu in such a short time.

"It's going to be a lot of hard work Naruto and if you can't handle it I'll call it off understood?" He said in all seriousness.

Naruto looked up at him not backing down from his challenge, "I can do it dad, I don't care what it takes I will pass and be a ninja and I'll make you proud of me."

'I already am proud of you Naruto,' Kakashi thought to himself with a smile. "Alright then let's get you started on training for the new clone technique, this Naruto is called the shadow clone justu."

Next up chapter 19: The Final Test