Once More by ItsHardToFindAPenName

Chapter 7: Returning to Wave!

Naruto was skipping on the street of Konohagakure.

Well, to be fair, he had done a lot of useful things during the last week.

He had completed his wind element training. Still not as good as it was during his time, but hey, it's just a week and he already got it to that level. And he was stuck in a ten-year-old body, so that was a plus.

He had managed to gain respect from Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi-sensei. Since after the tree climbing training, Kakashi-sensei hadn't called him a dead last, and Sakura hadn't punched him silly like before, except for when they were sparring, of course. Sure, Sasuke was still a jerk, but at least he had opened up to everyone in the team more than ever.

He had managed to make the old Hokage tell Sasuke the truth about the massacre of the Uchiha clan. Maybe it was the reason why Sasuke had mellowed out that much. And even jiji didn't look like a senile old man like he was before; he looked somewhat happier, and somehow... stronger. Naruto didn't understand why, but that couldn't be a bad sign, could it?

And he, together with his team, had managed to complete a lot of D-rank missions. Thanks to the shadow clones, anyway.

So there, what was the reason for him not to be in a very happy mood?

CRASH!

"Ow!"

"Ow!"

But despite how happy you were, you should have kept your eyes on the road while you're walking, Naruto.

Naruto rubbed his nose while wincing. That hurt. He snapped his head up, ready to throw an insult to the face of the bastard who rammed into him...

Then he stopped abruptly. Because he realized that the one who just crashed into him was Hinata.

The anger in his head was gone in an instant, replaced by honest concern. He jumped toward the fallen girl and shook her lightly.

"Hey, Hinata-chan... Hinata-chan, are you okay?"

The girl groaned meekly and opened her eyes, only to face the concerned blue eyes of her crush directly above her, staring straight into her white orbs.

Ohmygodohmygodohmygod... I crashed into Naruto-kun... He is staring at me...

Her face immediately heated up to a dangerous level. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and her consciousness started fading...

"Oh no you don't," Naruto cursed. He had almost forgotten about Hinata's strange habit. "Don't go fainting on me now. Wake up Hinata-chan! Wake up!" He slapped her cheek gently.

Hinata groggily opened her eyes again. And she saw Naruto's face, even closer to hers than before. She fainted again.

"Damn it!"

'Well, I don't know how to say this, but maybe it would be better if you GET YOUR DAMN FACE OFF HERS?!' Kurama snapped in annoyance. The boy was still as dense as always.

"Ah. Good point."

"Hey, what are you doing to Hinata?"

The voice from his back almost made Naruto jumped. He turned back, and realized he was facing Kiba. He smiled nervously.

"Ah... I just crashed into her a few minutes ago, and I was trying to get her back up. Then she just fainted like that." Then he realized the backpack on Kiba's back. He saw that Hinata was also wearing a similar one. "Hey, is your team going somewhere?"

"Ha! We're having a C-rank mission out of the village, so we have to prepare for it!" Kiba bragged. "A dead last like you will not going to have anything like that!"