Hi guys this is I'mNoOneSpecial, I've been reading fanfic.s here for some time and finally decided to sign in and write my own stories. I've got some big projects planned and started but I need to see first if people will like this story; I need some motivation and confidence in my skills first.
Don't hesitate to review, as a newbie I'm really looking forward to the reviews. Any tips, comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated.
And please tell me if I made any clerical or grammatical errors anywhere!
I don't own Naruto or anything related. If I did Naruto would have learned to use the chakra chains instead of Karin.
Compatible Jutsus
Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho (literally: Protection of the Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms); it was a jutsu that Hyuga Hinata had invented herself. It was a jutsu that reflected her way of fighting and her personality. It was a jutsu that proved that she too was strong, and that she too was a capable ninja. Truthfully, that jutsu was her greatest achievement so far…
But there was another reason why Hinata loved this jutsu so much: Thanks to this jutsu, Hinata was able to impress her Naruto-kun.
It was of no surprise than that Hinata decided to that jutsu even more 'amazing' as Naruto would put it. So she spent a lot of time refining the jutsu and perfecting it. And her teammates were more than happy to help her.
Until one sad day…
...
"Sorry Hinata, we can't help you anymore with your training", an apologetic whine from Akamaru accompanied Kiba's sorry voice.
"B-but… why?" Hinata couldn't stop now; the jutsu might have been awesome to Naruto, but it was far from perfect; there was still a lot room for improvement. And hopefully it could impress Naruto-kun more…
At this point Shino decided to explain (as was in his nature) in his monotone voice, which somehow managed to convey regret.
"Regrettably, I have to agree with Kiba. Why you ask? It is due to the fact that we are running low on shuriken and kunai."
This was one of the drawbacks of the technique: Not only did it require multiple partners to help you with your training; it also required a large number of projectiles, such as shuriken or kunai, every session. And sadly after each session, most of these weapons would be unusable for combat. Now Kiba and Shino did not often use kunai or shuriken but going unarmed on ninja missions was a no-no.
Hearing his words Hinata couldn't help but lower her head in shame and guilt, wondering how much her teammates had sacrificed from their arsenals and savings just to help her get stronger.
Sino perceptive as usual proceeded to offer some words of comfort; at least he made his words as comforting as he could.
"If you still wish to continue we will have to use stones instead."
This was actually far from ideal; due to their irregular forms and weights stones were actually poor for target practice.
Nevertheless, Hinata still appreciated the help and tried to give a smile.
A few seconds later their jonin sensei Yuuhi Kurenai arrived and Team 8 started their team practice.
Having ended their training for the day, Kurenai and her students were having lunch together. Of course, as their sensei, Kurenai knew her students well enough to notice if anything was wrong with one of them; that was especially true if the student in question was Hinata. After all the little Hyuga was Kurenai's favorite student (even though she would never admit it in front of the boys); both were of the same sex and close to each other. So naturally the alluring kunoichi could tell at first glance if Hinata was feeling down. And naturally Kurenai was quick to offer support.
"Why are you so down today Hinata? You have been doing so well lately."
"W-well…" At first Hinata was a bit hesitant: she didn't want to be a bother and it wasn't such a big issue; but then she proceeded to explain her problem.
...
Knowing Hinata's problem, Kurenai wondered what she could do to help. Her team was somewhat too limited to offensive combat, so she strongly supported Hinata's desire to perfect the, most probably, best defensive technique in Team 8's arsenal. Then again she had to admit that refining the Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho was expensive. You could use a single a kunai or shuriken several times during target practice but during Hinata's training sessions dozens of kunai and shuriken were broken or dented in an instant; it really was somewhat of a waste.
What Hinata needed was an endless supply of disposable projectiles. It didn't matter if they survive a single session as long as they flew as steadily and as fast as any normal shuriken or kunai.
Senbon perhaps? They were faster and cheaper to produce, and thus cheaper in price than shuriken or kunai. But then again senbon were also not as commonly used, and thus there was not such a high supply of them. Also, no one in Team 8 used kunai or shuriken on a regular basis, and as for senbon, never, so Hinata would have to ask someone who prefers the use of senbon such as Shizune.
Another possibility would be to buy a large quantity of high quality kunai or shuriken that were strong enough to survive Hinata's jutsu several times. But that didn't seem to work out either: First of all; quality comes at its price, thus a large number of high quality weapons would cost a small fortune; probably more than her genin team should spend for now on weapons. Second; high quality shuriken and kunai were intended for real combat, for skilled ninja. To use them as practice tools for genin didn't seem quite right.
Finally Kurenai started thinking if there was an offensive ninjutsu that might solve Hinata's problem. It would have to be a ninjutsu that materialized several projectiles, preferably from all sides. Being a ninjutsu, thus depended on chakra, the problem about supply was solved; as long as the ninja could use this jutsu as many times as Hinata could pull off her Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho, there was no need to worry about not having enough shuriken per session. And since you could recover chakra by resting all you had to do was to decide on a schedule and Hinata would have all the necessary practice tools for her jutsu. Even better, since the projectiles were products of a ninjutsu, upon cancelling the jutsu the projectiles would dissipate into thin air. That way the ninja could prevent any injuries if Hinata didn't keep up or missed to deflect one of the projectiles. Kunoichi or no, Kurenai didn't want Hinata to get hurt.
Yes, it seemed that a ninjutsu was the best answer to Hinata's problem. Now to find a suitable ninjutsu as well as a ninja who could use it and was willing to help Hinata. Kiba didn't know any ninjutsu that fit the requirements and Kurenai herself preferred the use of genjutsu.
Shino could do it; he simply had to have his bugs swarm around Hinata. Unfortunately his destruction bugs were not chakra constructs; every training session would significantly cut his hive down and while he could breed more, he probably would not approve of using his allies as disposable training tools over and over again.
Kurenai continued her mental survey: First she would try to remember any jutsu that she heard or knew of that fit her demands, than she would check if she knew anybody who knew that jutsu. Eventually Kurenai landed on a jutsu invented by the late Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen: Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.
Suddenly Kurenai's red lips broke into a mischievous smile; she just got an idea, one that was simply irresistible.
"Kurenai-sensei?" Hinata had noticed her expression and couldn't help but wonder what it was about.
"I think I know who could help you Hinata." He might not be the best choice, but it was almost impossible to pick another.
...
The next day Team 8 was again at its usual training ground. The day before Kurenai had left early in search of the person who would help Hinata with her training, but she had refused to tell who that person would be, saying that she wanted it to be a surprise.
Hinata though, being a bit worried, decided to ask her sensei again.
"Um, Kurenai-sensei? Who did you ask to help with my training?"
That was of course the perfect cue for the person in question to announce his presence.
"Oi! Shino, Kiba, Hinata!"
Hearing that voice Hinata froze. She could recognize that at an instant, but she could not figure out how to deal with that person. Or rather how to deal with how she felt about that person.
Just to be sure Hinata glanced over her own shoulder to look behind, which really didn't make much sense; there was no way that she would mistake that voice for the voice of someone else.
Sure enough, running up to them was a small boy with spiky blonde hair; clad in orange.
Whipping her head back to her sensei Hinata looked at her with shock, disbelief and rising panic; Kurenai though simply responded with a knowing smile of mischief.
"Hey Naruto," Kiba casually greeted Naruto as he reached Team 8, "What are you doing here?"
"Huh? Kurenai-sensei asked me if I could come today and help Hinata with her training; didn't she tell you?"
'Did I hear that right? Kurenai-sensei had NARUTO to train with me?!' Hinata had to fight hard to stay conscious.
"So Naruto…" Kurenai decided to take it a bit further, "Is it really okay with you to help Hinata?"
Hinata held her breath; hopeful and fearful at the same time.
Naruto gave Kurenai his nice-guy pose: "Of course I will! I'll help Hinata get stronger in no time!"
'Of course I will?!' Hinata couldn't believe her ears! Not only was her Naruto-kun willing to help her; he was happy to! And eager too!
That was the last blow; that was too much for her! And so Hinata-
...
After Hinata woke up (the clueless blonde still didn't get why she had fainted once again and had wondered what she had been dreaming about, seeing that she had looked so blissful when she was unconscious) Kurenai decided to check first if Naruto could really help Hinata.
"First of all Naruto, let me ask you a question," seeing him nod Kurenai continued, "When you form a kage bunshin, do you also replicate the ninja tools that you carry?"
"Huh?"
Okay, he didn't get it; take two: "When you form a kage bunshin, does he also carry ninja tools in his weapons pouch?"
"Umm…" Naruto's face scrunched up as he was thinking, "…dunno?"
Kurenai gave a small sigh, "Very well… could you make a kage bunshin so that we can see?"
One hand seal, a few words and a poof of smoke later a second Naruto was standing before Team 8.
Turning to the clone the red-eyed kunoichi asked: "Okay, now check if there are any ninja tools inside your weapons pouch."
The clone did as told and, thankfully, his weapons pouch did contain weapons.
Kurenai nodded in satisfaction.
"Good, could you pass me one of your shuriken please?"
After taking the offered projectile from the clone, Kurenai proceeded to examine first the weapon before she threw the metal star at a nearby boulder. The beautiful kunoichi didn't throw much force so the throwing weapon bounced off the rock, leaving a small scratch behind. A couple of seconds later, the small chakra construct poofed out of existence.
Kurenai thought about what she had just seen: While the cloned weapons were stable and lasting enough for one throw, it only took a good hit to destabilize the construct, causing it to dissipate; Hinata would have no problem doing that, especially since her byakugan should allow her to target the shuriken's weak spots.
Now to check on something else…
"Now, Naruto, I want your clone to throw another shuriken, but I want you to disperse it before it hits its mark, understood?"
"Eh?! Why should I do that?"
Well, seeing that he was asked to throw a shuriken only to stop it from hitting its target, his confusion was not unexpected (and perhaps not totally ungrounded). Come to think of it, it might have been to explain to him in detail how he was supposed to help Hinata.
So Kurenai decided to explain: "Naruto, I asked you to come to see if you can help Hinata with her Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho. To do that, have your kage bunshin surround Hinata, and then throw their shuriken and kunai at her, and Hinata will practice her jutsu by deflecting the weapons of your clones."
"Ah! So you want me to use my Shihappo Shuriken against Hinata's Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho? Got it!"
"Shihappo Shuriken?" Kurenia wasn't too familiar with Naruto's jutsu library and apparetly so were her students; the only jutsu he ever seemed to use was the kage bunshin no jutsu.
Seeing a chance to show off how awesome he really was and what sorts of powerful ninjutsu he knew, Naruto formed his favorite hand seal and shouted:
"Tayuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
One second later dozens of Narutos rushed to surround their target; a training dummy. A moment later over half of them leapt into the air and a perfectly uniform, multi-voiced cry was heard all over the training field:
"SHIHAPPO SHURIKEN!"
The next moment all the clones turned to smoke and Naruto landed back on the ground; proud of his handiwork, seeing that his audience couldn't help but be impressed by his display.
And Team 8 had every reason to be impressed; every square inch of the training dummy had at least 3 shuriken stuck in it, and it practically happened from one second to the next. Seeing that the attack came from all sides at once, it was difficult to block or dodge. And if Naruto chose to stay behind, dispelling and replacing the kage bunshin who had used up their arsenal… it would be a nonstop bombardment of sharp metal from all directions. If Naruto had used that jutsu during his match with Kiba… Kurenai wasn't sure what Kiba could have done to survive that attack; in fact, most of Naruto's classmates would have been helpless against such an attack.
Thinking about it Kurenai suddenly wondered if she really should permit this training; after all Hinata would be in some serious danger! Then again, her teammates had used real kunai and shuriken before to help Hinata. Besides if Naruto could dispel the cloned shuriken…
That's right; they still had to check if Naruto could dispel them, and if he could do so in time! With his demonstration Kurenai had almost forgotten what all this was about. Time to get back to the issue at hand! But first…
"That was a very impressive jutsu you just demonstrated Naruto."
Said person was visibly swelling with pride…
"But if you knew that jutsu, how come that you didn't know that your kage bunshin carry shuriken just like you do?"
And the next second all that pride was gone and Naruto was left feeling completely dumbfounded and stupid. Looking at his audience, who were most curious about his answer, he took a moment to curse before he furiously thought what he could say to explain himself that wouldn't make him look (once again) like a complete idiot. Unfortunately for him, there was hardly any way to do so, and if there was, it was beyond his sad mental capability.
Oh well, no other choice but to tell the truth:
"Well… like… I just invented this jutsu in the middle of a fight; it was an emergency, and I never got to wonder where all the shuriken came from…"
While his honesty was appreciated, the fact that he had created such a deadly ninjutsu on instinct, not knowing whether it was even possible or not, was… Naruto.
Shaking her head, Kurenai decided to continue where they left off. The results were somewhat Naruto as well: Whenever Naruto tried to dispel the cloned shuriken; he ended up dispelling the corresponding kage bunshin as well. And when the kage bunshin himself tried to, again, the clone ended up dispelling himself as well. Still, that was no big issue; after all, the purpose for the kage bunshin was to provide the shuriken and throw them, once they had done so it was alright if they dismissed themselves.
Smiling gently, Kurenai decided that she had found the best training partner for Hinata.
...
Hinata was on edge; she was walking alone through the forest and she knew that she would be attacked sooner or later; although knowing who else was in the forest the attack would probably come sooner than later… Listening carefully for any sounds, Hinata kept her eyes searching for any opponent that might be hiding from her.
Of course she could have simply activated her Byakugan, but her opponent was clever enough to check for it first and if he discovered that her Byakugan was active he would simply move out of her eye sight and hide; waiting for the right moment to strike, the moment when she would let down her guard. Besides that, keeping her Byakugan active over a long period of time would eat up her chakra reserves and stress out her eyes; both of which she couldn't allow to happen, especially not against the opponent who was going to face her.
Still, she was anxious for the attack…
"SHIHAPPO SHURIKEN!"
And when it came she was more than happy to answer with an attack of her own! One eye blink later her Byakugan was active and she saw each and every shuriken and kunai that was coming at her!
"Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho!"
The next second her arms were flying through the air; in graceful, flowing curves. At first Hinata had no difficulty deflecting the projectiles and was ready for more. And almost on cue Naruto decided to make the training more interesting; gradually he quickened the tempo and added more clones. Then he got another of his sneaky ideas: He moved almost all of his clones to one side, causing a much denser barrage of shuriken to come at Hinata from one side. There were so many shuriken coming at her that Hinata had to give it her all to deflect them. Before long, Hinata was facing towards that direction and using both hands to ward off the incoming shuriken.
But Naruto the tricky devil still had a couple of clones stationed at the other side, which was now behind Hinata. Normally that would have been no problem for Hinata with her Byakugan but in her current situation it was. With most of her attention focused on that one direction any attack coming from another was a serious threat to her right now. She had both her hands full warding off that hail of shuriken, she needed both hands to do that, there was no way that she could deflect all those throwing stars with only one hand and use the other to deal with any more coming from any other side.
But that was exactly what that damned prankster had planned; and so when the clones behind Hinata were sure that she was too busy to deal with another attack, they threw a couple of shuriken at her back. Hinata had known that there were a couple of kage bunshin behind her, she had seen them with her Byakugan, just as she saw the incoming shuriken, but she was pretty much helpless to stop them.
However, there were a couple of options open to her: One was to simply move out of the way while deflecting the shuriken. Unlike the Kaiten, which would be difficult to execute or maintain while moving around, attempting to do the same with the Shugohakke would not be such a big problem. Still, Hinata hadn't tried it yet, and now was not the best time to do so.
Option two was somewhat related to option one: While the Shugohakke was less chakra-consuming and less body-taxing than the Kaiten, Hinata still wanted to cut down on its chakra cost; after all her chakra reserves were not the largest and her Byakugan continiously required chakra inorder to stay active. Inorder to make her favorite jutsu less demanding, Hinata planned to incorporate evasive movements into the technique: Using her natural flexibility, she would doge as much as possible and anything that still threatened to hit her she would ward off with her hands and precise chakra control. Keyword being: Planned; she hadn't tried this out yet as well.
The third option was the most risky: Hinata would use one of her hands to deflect the shuriken coming from behind her and than quickly bring it back before the hail infront of her overwhelmed her. Eith the right speed and the right timing it was possible.
Out of reflex Hinata attempted the third option, but she misjudged her speed and her timing was off. A wave of sharp metal was about to shred her to pieces…
"KAI!"
…and a multi-voiced cry turned all danger into harmless smoke.
Exhausted, Hinata fell into a sitting position. She couldn't help feeling down; Naruto had devised a method to counter one of her most powerful jutsu and to make things worse, despite her having seen his clones get into position, she had been unable to do anything about it…
"That was awesome Hinata! You got a whole lot better than you were yesterday!"
Hearing his praising words Hinata couldn't help but smile (and blush). This was perhaps the best aspect about Naruto that made him the perfect training partner for Hinata: He was empathic to the pain of others so he could immediately tell when Hinata was feeling down and seeing how caring he was about his friends he was quick (and loud) to cheer her up, It was something that Kurenai had overlooked when she had evaluated Naruto (or maybe she hadn't?)
"How about we finish early for today? We both worked hard and I'm starving."
"Eh? Um… okay…" To be honest Hinata wanted to continue, but she was quite tired and there was no way that Hinata would her Naruto from eating if he was hungry. Besides…
"Okay then, I'm off for some ramen; see you tomorrow!" He turned to leave-
"Wait Naruto-kun!"
Stopping in his tracks Naruto looked back expectantly; after all ot wasn't everday that Hinata called out to him in a loud voice.
"A-ano… u-um… well… y-you see…" But as always, being the center of Naruto's attention would turn Hinata into a mumbling, stuttering mess. Oh, and blushing as well.
"Nah, Hinata can you speak up? I can't hear you!"
That, of course, just made it so much harder to speak.
"A-ano… I made… lunch for us… b-both… so-"
"Eh?! You made luch for me too?" The idea tha one of his friends made lunch for him got Naruto all happy and excited.
"O-of course I did-"
'No! I shouldn't have said that; that was too direct!'
"A-as thanks for the training-"
'No! Now he will think that I consider him only as a friend or that I'm just returning the favor…' It sure wasn't easy being a shy girl in love with a rather dense boy.
"Thanks a lot! C'mon, let's go; I can't wait to have your cooking again!"
Despite still feeling like she had just made a major mistake in her relationship with Naruto she couldn't help but smile as they both went to where she had left the lunch that she had prepared.
...
A few seconds later Hinata and Naruto were about to have lunch; or rather, a picnic. It was just the two of them; after a few days of training under Kurenai's supervision, she was convinced that the two genin could continue by themselves and Kurenai took the time to give some additional training to Kiba and Shino. Hinata had wondered if this was another part of her setup but then decided not to think too much about it; everybody (except for one stupid blonde) knew what happen if she did!
So here they were now on a picnic; and Hinata was nervously bringing out all the food she had prepared. Naruto though took no notice of her emotional state, his eyes were fixed on all the deliciou-loooking food before him (the fact that there was no bowl of ramen almost didn't register.) Hinata though was not unaware of how Naruto was feeling or how he was thinking, and the knowledge made her happy and proud of herself.
"Y-you may help yourself, Naruto-kun…"
"Really?!"
"H-hai!" It was going so well that it was starting to be too much for her…
"Man, this is awesome! I'm so lucky that my jutsu is compatible with yours!"
Naruto, as dense as always, had no idea how much of an impact his words would have on the shy little Hyuga.
'We… we are compatible?!' Hinata went beet-red. Sure, it was only as training partners and in terms of their jutsu but still…
"Huh?! Hinata! What's wrong?! Hang in there!"
After a few moments of panic, during which Naruto tried to find out what was wrong with his new training partner (he didn't), he put her gently down and made her comfortable. A couple of seconds passed, and Naruto decided to start eating (she did tell him to help himself, didn't she?) so he reached into the basket.
Seeing what he had picked up (he was still looking at Hinata the whole time) he couldn't help but frown; it was well-made, it smelled great and considering that Hinata made it, it would probably taste awesome, but-
"I just don't think I look delicious…"
It was another one of Hinata's Naruto-faced riceballs; and these ones looked even more like him than the ones he had eaten back during that unsuccessful mission to catch that thief.
Another moment of inner conflict passed before Naruto finally took a bite.
Meanwhile Hinata was slowly waking up. Naruto though didn't notice because Hinata was lying on her side, facing away from him. She woke up just in time to hear him say: "Wow! These riceballs taste even better than her last ones! Like, these ought to be the best riceballs ever!"
Hinata, still lying on her side and facing away from Naruto, couldn't help but smile in utter happiness. To hear such a compliment from her crush; this day just couldn't get any better-
"Man, I want a wife just like Hinata!"
"EH?!"
"Hinata? You awake?" He peeked over her shoulder to look at her face.
No she was still unconscious…
"Weird…" and he went back to eating his lunch.
Actually, Hinata was not still unconscious… she was unconscious again! She had fainted away just before Naruto had checked on her. Her last thought before everything went black?
'Naruto-kun…'