Chapter 30

With a bit more genuine a smile, she replies, "that's admirable, but Naruto-kun this is also for the village. I can see how much you want to be Hokage, and strong, powerful leaders always put their village first. Help Hinata. You may even make a friend out of it." Desperate to leave, Kurenai lowers herself to his eye level, so her chest swings forward some and he can see a bit of cleavage before sweetly asking, "can I count on you, Naruto-kun."

Eyes wide by her forward posture, he hesitates for half-a-second before aggressively nodding with slack lips and declaring, "okay!"

"Good," she quickly states, standing straight again and already leaving. She can't stay for another second. On her way out she makes sure he meets her at the Hokage tower at six sharp… right in the middle of his training time.

Usually, after missions he tends to have six or so hours to train, but this help Kurenai-sensei needs for Hinata will cut right in the middle of that. Still, he wants to help Hinata since he doesn't recall ever having any problems with her, and so decides to leave clones in his apartment training while he helps Hinata. He doesn't get why she's so shy that she won't talk to him, but hopefully, it won't take her long to become confident.

The young genin learns the very next day that Naru-nii is a big fan of this plan.

'That sounds great,' Naru-nii chimes. 'That means things are working out well over there. Hinata-chan is one of the strongest kunoichi Konoha will ever have. Since she was always so quiet and shy, I never knew how badass she actually was. Trust me, if she can get rid of that early, than it'll definitely be better.'

"Cool," Naruto states surprised to hear the declaration.

Abruptly, Naru-nii asks, 'so, any luck with Ino?'

"No. A clone saw that she's back with her team," he states, taking one of Naruto's suggestion to use a clone for surveillance and reconnaissance. "She looks fine, almost like nothing happened. I figure I'll try and talk to her when she's alone."

'And you haven't told Sakura-chan?'

"She's too busy healing every little scratch on Sasuke-teme to notice me!" he says angrily, blaming Naru-nii for his constant agony of witnessing his teammates. "And I'm the one that gets hit the most when we spar! You would think she can spare a bit of Iryō-jutsu for me!"

'I really wish I could see you to help with your taijutsu,' Naru-nii comments yet again. Prayer beads are for voices and if it does include a visual connection, then Naru-nii hasn't figured it out yet. 'I learned a lot of good stuff I wish I can show you. You should ask Kakashi-sensei if he has any scrolls or something that can help.'

"Yeah I will," Naruto mumbles.

'Are you close to getting the second stage yet?'

"No," Naruto grumbles. "This part is crazy hard!"

'You have to remember to focus and retain until the final second,' Naru-nii reminds him. 'Don't worry, I think you're doing great so I'm sure you'll get it soon.'

Naruto is waiting at the Hokage tower when Kurenai arrives promptly at six. He didn't trust himself to be on time and so arrived ten minutes earlier. Though he was lamenting not training, the mesmerizing sight of her approach made him feel better about it. As attractive as she is, Naruto would still prefer training which is why he has teams of clones training in his place. A team of ten are in his apartment working on the second stage of Rasengan while another team of ten are in the forest working on chakra control, so it's not a complete loss.

Kurenai explains how this play was going to go. "I've already explained to Hinata that she will be seeing a genjutsu version of you, but she will not know that it's actually you. For this to work, it's imperative-"

"What's imperative mean?" he curiously interjects.

Exhaling deeply, she corrects, "for this to be effective, it's important that she continue to think the entire scenario is genjutsu and not the real you."

In hopes of probably getting out of this, Naruto asks, "why not just make an actual genjutsu of me?"

"Because, I don't actually know you and the 'you' that she sees needs to be as authentic as possible for this to cover any and all unforeseen variables. Also, if you see me materialize out of nowhere, you cannot react to me in any way. If you react to me, it may tip her off that you're the actual Uzumaki-kun and then we fail."

"Wait, I said you could call me Naruto."

"I prefer Uzumaki-kun," she returns a little chilly. "Do you understand how this is going to go? Can you repeat everything I explained to you."

As the pranking king of Konoha, he feels insulted but humors her nonetheless. "I'm going to pretend I'm a genjutsu you created to talk with Hinata-chan. And if I ever look at you, she'll figure us out."

"Close enough," the raven-haired Jōnin mutters before they prepare for the play. Expertly hidden by Kurenai-sensei, Naruto watches Kurenai-sensei enter the kitchen where Hinata is washing the dishes. Kurenai asks, "are you ready Hinata-chan?"

Shocked, nervous and red in the face, Hinata asks, "Wh-wh-wh-what? Now?"

"No time like the present," Kurenai easily states while mentally thinking of showing up the girl's asshole of a father. "Now, remember, it's only an illusion, but it will feel very real. And don't use your Byakugan." Kurenai doesn't expect the girl to see through her genjutsu but she wanted to make certain the girl didn't spot Naruto from where he's hidden.

"S-se-sensei," Hinata nervously starts. "D-d-don't you n-n-need a good understanding of Na-Na- of the person you'll be m-m-making an illusion of?"

"You shouldn't underestimate your sensei, Hinata-chan" Kurenai confidently yet playfully relays. "I'm very good at what I do. Now, are you ready?" Hinata takes a few deep breathes before nodding. "Okay, you can keep cleaning if your hands need to keep busy, and keep in mind you can do no wrong here."

When he got the signal, Kurenai disappeared and he walked into the kitchen, casually greeting her, "Hey, Hinata-chan."

Her eyes round to near perfect circles under raised eyebrows and her cheeks blush a deep shade of red. "Na-Na-Na-," she tries and her pupils roll back into her skull as she passes out.

"Hinata!" he calls as he quickly catches her. Whipping his head around in search of Kurenai-sensei, he yells, "is she okay?" Kurenai reappears beside them, checking on the young girl. "What happened? Did I do something wrong?"

"Kami, what are we going to do with you?" Kurenai slowly comments of her ward, ignoring Naruto's concern in favor of checking her pupil. "She's fine. Go and hide and we'll try it again."

Hesitantly, Naruto gently lays her down and returns to his hiding space. It takes Kurenai a few minutes to gently coax the girl to consciousness. Confused as to why she's lying on the floor with her Sensei over her, gently stroking her hair, Hinata asks, "Sensei," when it all returns. Hinata can't help but turn away ashamed of her failure. It wasn't even a real Naruto and she passed out from his close proximity.

"It's okay, Hinata," Kurenai reassures the embarrassed girl. "This is a good first attempt. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

"…I passed out," Hinata weakly counters, clearly alleging it's something to ashamed of.