ᴅᴇꜱᴛɪɴʏ ʀᴇʙɪʀᴛʜ|ⁿᵃʳᵘᵗᵒˣⁿᵃʳᵘᵏᵒ

Dilemma p.6

Only one word that Naruko could accurately describe the older male Hyūga's attitude: asshole. Naruko fought a scowl that was forming on her features as she thought about the destiny-obsessed young man, the more she thought about him, the harder it was for her not hold back her scowl.

At the ego department, he could go head-to-head with the Last Uchiha and none of them would come out the winner because their inflated egos were just that evenly matched, and that was saying something. Along with the stick-up-his-ass attitude, superiority complex that bordered on ridiculousness, and his pure and utter hatred for the Main House of the Hyūga Clan, Neji was not in Naruko's potential friends list anytime soon.

But what made Naruko not favor him any more than a stranger was that his hatred was directed solely at one individual: Hinata. According to him, his father died protecting the Main Family because some foreign diplomat turned out to be an enemy shinobi that threatened to kidnap Hinata when she was three years old, and Neji's father was sacrificed in place of his twin brother, Hiashi, for the good of the clan. And Neji had hated the Main House ever since . . .

Naruko inwardly sighed at the tragic and utter senselessness of it all, and couldn't help but feel pity for the Hyūga Prodigy . . .

Naruko chanced a glance at her bedside alarm clock to see that it was nearly nine in the morning.

The seams of panic started to unravel within her and as she was about to bolt straight up and wake her brother up, she suddenly stopped as brother's words from last night floated into her mind.

It was just before they were about to go to sleep when Naruto had said it, and Naruko couldn't help but feel slightly foolish for panicking.

'Don't worry about getting up late, Naruko-chan,' he had said, 'Even though Kakashi-sensei says it's seven in the morning, he meant seven plus three more hours...' Naruko remembered his deadpan reply that made her laugh her heart out, and the memory put a faint smile of her beautiful face. 'Also, take breakfast too since we shinobi need all the energy we can get to pass this test. Kakashi's order was to test us to see if we were blindingly following his orders, even if his orders are wrong...'

Naruko smiled to herself as she snuggled deeper into Naruto's embrace. Her wise and knowledgeable Onii-chan, who looks thirteen, had a mind of a seventeen year old and a mentality of a thirty year old. A kind, honest, caring and fun-loving young man, Naruko had always thought those qualities alone would qualify him as a grade A bachelor in many a woman's eye. And to add icing to the cake, Naruto was one of the most powerful shinobi to ever live back during his time and possibly this time as well if he could remaster his techniques, and combine that with his qualities and roguishly handsome features, he was the very definition of a heartthrob – the perfect male.

Well, maybe not entirely perfect, Naruko thought with a smile and a small blush, as it was a true pipe dream that anyone was perfect, and call oneself perfect was arrogance in itself. She was broken out of her musings when she felt her mental bond being probed, causing her to look up into the half-lidded eyes of Naruto, who was smiling a mischievous smile...

"So... a perfect male, huh?" he grinned widely, causing Naruko to develop a full blown blush on her cheeks, before burying her head into his chest, utterly embarrassed.

"S-Stop reading my mind... dattebane..." she said, voice muffled by Naruto's shirt but the embarrassed edge in her voice was clear.

Naruto chuckled as he patted her head. "Sorry..." he said sheepishly. "But if it's any consolation...thanks for the compliment!" he added cheekily as he grinned.

Naruko pulled away and pouted cutely, still embarrassed as evidenced by the light tinge of pink on her cheeks. "A-Anyway, good morning Onii-chan!" she greeted with a smile.

Naruto smiled. "Morning, did you sleep well?" he asked, and was answered with another yawn from the blonde girl, making him chuckle.

"Tired?" he prompted.

"No, just nervous that's all . . ." Naruko replied as she got up from bed, making her way towards the joined bathroom; she had slept in Naruto's room last night because she didn't have the strength left to trudge back into her own room due to chakra exhaustion. Last night's training session slash outing was exhausting as Naruto literally drilled her about the fundamentals of trap-making, strategic positions, rudimentary fūinjutsu and tactical thinking, which the blonde girl took to like a duck to water.

Another thing that Naruko had noticed was the constant encouragement and praise Naruto was giving her for every achievement, no matter how small, and it made her feel happy for earning each and every praise, even if it's small one. Naruto's constant support and wise demeanor that belied his age made her feel safe and loved... and Naruto wasn't even aware that he was doing it.

And yet another thing to remind her of the warped perception of love her brother had.

Naruto shook his head with a warm smile as he put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry imōto, you'll do great!" he said, trying to cheer her up, "Remember the plan we talked about last night?" he asked.

At the mention of the plan, Naruko smiled as she nodded, "Of course . . ." she replied with a small giggle as she smiled deviously. Naruto had talked to her about a plan – a last resort just in case everything else went wrong or if their teammates wouldn't cooperate with them – and Naruko had to say, Naruto can be bit ruthless at times . . .

'Alright then, let's get going!" Naruto said as he jumped out of bed, "Wouldn't want to keep our team waiting, and I'm willing to bet that they've been there since this morning . . ." he said with a smirk.

Naruko sighed as she shook her head, exasperated. "Poor Sakura..." she giggled, not feeling the least bit sorry.

"Poor Sasuke..." Naruto said with a chuckle as the Uzumaki siblings got ready for the day ahead, feeling more confident about their chances than ever before.