Eyes are the mirror of the soul
Chapter 3: At the Hyuuga compound
'The transition of Yin and Yang will help you find hard and soft'
Boruto was inside the training hall of the Hyuuga compound. The golden haired boy, wearing a black silk changshan suit, was practicing martial arts, but not the usual "Jyuuken-po", the Hyuuga "Gentle Fist" style, but another fighting method he learned from some scrolls he found days prior in the main library of the Clan estate. It was a very ancient style, created a thousands of years ago in a far away by some temple monks from a place called "Wudang Mountain". They called it "Taijiquan" or "Art of the supreme ultimate fist". By what he read in these scrolls, this style has a different approach to fight. Where the Jyuuken or any standard Taijutsu resorted on the practitioner own physical power and strength in order to strike, Taijiquan philosophy was based on "using the opponent's power to subjugate him" and the internal power, or "Qi", which could be interpreted as "Chakra". Stances were relaxed, forms were open and ample, every movement was done slowly. It wasn't just a fighting style. It was also a meditation practice.
The young Uzumaki was performing the "103 Traditional Long form", consisting on 103 actions, the equivalent of Taijutsu katas.
He could feel the chakra in his lower abdomen stir and starting to flow. If he recalled correctly, he was "sinking Qi energy down in his tan t'ien".
He executed a move the scroll simply called "Brush the knee". His left hand slowly went from his right shoulder to his left knee in a semi-circular motion, while the right hand pushed forward. Again, he could feel the energy flowing from his tan t'ien to his arms and, finally, to his palms. The result was that his hands were very warm, a sign which meant he was doing everything correctly.
He really enjoyed practicing Taijiquan, as it was soft, relaxing but also very similar to the Jyuuken style.
From one of the sliding door of the dojo, an Elder Hyuuga Hiashi was carefully observing his nephew's practice, curious about the style he was training in. Of course he also has read the scrolls, but never seen it in real practice.
An idea came up with his mind and the old man activated his Byakugan.
What he saw was the youngster chakra flow increasing in speed, emanating a white aura around the pathways inside his body.
"Very… interesting." he murmured by himself.
Sarada was in the kitchen of her house, happily whistling a tune, while preparing some sandwiches.
She carefully cut the creamy pieces of bread in triangle-shaped ones, then stuffed them with salad (no pun intended), tomatoes and ham or chicken slices alternatively.
She took some bananas and apples and placed them inside the basket.
She was determined to make him eat healthy, at least for today.
The young Uchiha, then, went to squeeze some oranges in order to collect the resulting juices. She filled a wooden bottle with the orange nectar, putting them, afterwards, inside the aforementioned basket.
She went to the fridge and took out a small cake she prepared the past evening. It was a cheesecake, with crunchy crust and creamy cold white spread cheese on top, covered in strawberry jam.
Well, surely she didn't inherit the awful cooking skill of her mother, at least…
Speaking of which, while Sarada was cutting the cake in pieces, Sakura entered the kitchen for a tea and noticed her daughter and her preparatives.
Smiling, she went to her. "My my, Sarada-chan..." she looked inside the basket, eyeing the meals and feeling a very small pang of jealousy at her daughter cooking skills. "Let me guess: you and Boruto-kun are going on a pic-nic." Like it was magic or fate, Sasuke was making his way to the kitchen too when he heard the word "Boruto".
Immediately he showed up in the area and, with the most neutral face and voice tone, he asked Sarada: "Where are you going, my dear?"
Still blushing from her mother question of before, she simply stuttered her answer.
"I-i am having a pic-nic with Boruto this noon, after he finish training."
"Oh, then it's a date. How cute!" The pink-haired mother chirped while clapping her hands together.
"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" Sarada squealed "We are just having a friendly meal, that's all" she finally scoffed.
"It better be." Sasuke spoke up with a neutral, yet deadly, voice, while glaring at her Daughter. She could have sworn that she saw his Sharingan activated.
Sakura veins popped in her forehead and silently stomped in his foot, causing his husband to winch in pain. She just shot an apologetic look at Sarada.
"H-heh he, Sarada-chan, have fun!"
The young girl just raised her eyebrow. "Uhm… okay, I guess?" and then went off, with her picnic basket.
Meanwhile, Sasuke was blowing air in his damaged foot.
"...the hell, Sakura, why did you just do that?!" he whined.
"Because you were being a stupid idiot."
"Sarada's too young for this kind of..."
"She's 15 years old, Sasuke-kun." Sakura interrupted him, while deadpanning.
He just scoffed and went for the fridge, noting that there were some spare slices of Sarada's cheesecake inside it. He grabbed one and tasted it.
"Well, at least at 15 years old, she's a better cook than someone else I know." he said with a teasing voice.
Sakura just threw a wooden spatula at him.
"Taijipo: Gensoku Yang!" (Taiji style: Yang Principle)
Boruto made a clockwise 360° spin with his arms extended then he threw forward his right hand, with its palm open, while he threw back his left closed fist. An white-colored energy bullet sprung from his right palm with a small crack sound, like a whip crackle, and an air ring around it, signaling that his chakra was literally shot at a sound barrier breaking speed. Then he made another spin, this time counter clockwise, and reversed his attack, putting the closed fist forward and the open palm backward.
"Taijipo: Gensoku Yin!" (Taiji style: Yin Principle)
The chakra flowed from his abdomen to his arms, then to his hands.
A blue wave surrounded his left fist. If it collided with something or someone, the latter would be seriously damaged, as it was a chakra-fueled punch.
Last, Boruto made a counter-clockwise 720° low-to-high spin, using his left leg to acquire speed while shifting his barycenter to his spine, twisting his body at high velocity like a maelstrom.
Then he shot forward his upper body, arms and open hands, while rooting his lower body to the ground, transferring both chakra flow and kinetic energy onwards.
"Taijipo: Taijitou Jiten!" (Taiji style: Rotation of Yin and Yang)
A small shotgun-like explosion accompanied the blast of spinning chakra that erupted from his hands. It lasted for five meters, before dissipating.
Boruto panted heavily. The three attacks were part of a technique called "Wudang Cannon" or, in the original chinese language: "Wudang pao". This particular sequence took a toll on Boruto's energy, as it was harder than the Hyuuga Jyuuken Supreme Rotation, not for the physical energy required itself, but for the amount of chakra needed that has also to be spinned internally, requiring a very good chakra control too.
He was on his knees, breathing and sweating, his arms warm. He could feel his energy flow slowing to a normal pace.
Hyuuga Hiashi approached him from behind, his hands hidden into the long and large sleeves of his kimono.
"That was impressive, Boruto-kun. Although it would be effective on close range, that is indeed a nice feat you already mastered."
Boruto looked up to his grand-father.
"Arigatou, oji-sama." he thanked the elder, who took from his sleeve a small bottle of water and handed it to him.
"Here, drink." Boruto grabbed the treat and slightly bowed his hand to thank him.
Hiashi didn't say nothing more, and left the dojo.
Sarada was hiding on a tree, carefully analyzing Boruto's training, with her Sharingan activated.
"Impressive..." she murmured.
The improvement of his teammate was indeed something to be admired and she felt a little bit of envy at him.
"Oh, well. You saved me a lot of work, Boruto-kun" she smirked, as her Sharingan had already copied and memorized the style his blonde friend was training in. Truth to be told, if she was caught spying and trying to copy the Hyuuga taijutsu, she would be in trouble, as it was technically a clan secret. But Taijiquan was not an original part of Hyuuga Jyuukenpo, so it was not like "stealing" clan secrets.
"Looking to something interesting?" a voice from behind her spoke up and Sarada turned back, only to find a purple-haired woman with indigo eyes.
"Hinata-sama!" she bowed to her blushed, embarrassed at being caught in such situation.
Hyuuga Hinata just smiled and sat on the tree branch, while looking at her own son in the distance.
"No need to be so formal, Sarada-chan. I guess you are here for Boruto, right?" she pointed to the picnic bag beside the Uchiha girl. "What were you planning today?"
Sarada sat down on the branch too "I was hoping to have lunch with him..." she took out an apple "...at least something more healthy than his ramen addiction…"
Both girls sweatdropped. Boruto indeed inherited Naruto's passion for the tasty nipponic noodles.
"Good luck on that, then..."
"Thanks."
Silence fell on the tree, as they watched Boruto practicing the "Wudang cannon" again.
"I wonder where he takes all the energy to keep going..." Sarada inquired, observing the blonde while he went down on the sequences once more.
"He's an Uzumaki. All of them are naturally gifted with huge reserve of chakra and life energy." Hinata mused. As a matter of fact, Naruto too was capable of lasting long in battles and training (and in an other field, she thought while blushing madly). The merit was also of the Kyuubi chakra. What was again the name of the Nine-Tailed fox? "Kurama"?
Oh yes. Now that they were… friends, the fox was allowed to exit his husband's body, leaving a small part of him inside, as the total removal of the tailed beast would kill its host.
The Kyuubi no Kitsune always took the shape of a fox and wandered in the forest around Konoha, hunting preys, mating with vixens, or simply enjoying freedom.
Even the village itself has slowly adjusted to its presence and no longer considered it a menace. In fact, many children would pet the small animal, should they encounter him somewhere, and the adults would throw it pieces of meat.
In exchange, Kurama protected the village and its inhabitants. For example, the fox saved a kid from falling down a roof, defended an old woman from bandits in the woods around and so on…
Part of its chakra was passed down on Naruto's and Hinata's children, and it was clearly visible by the whiskers marks on their cheeks.
This allowed them to increase their energy ten-folds, enduring more fatigue than any others and healing much faster than anyone else.
Boruto right now was an example of these features. Normally, the Taijiquan Wudang Cannon would exhaust anyone else after two times of performing it, but the Uzumaki was going for the sixth time of practicing it.
Sarada watched his friend and recalled his past words...
(Flashback)
"I believe for all ninjutsu, taijutsu and dojutsu, there is no single one that is superior. All of those who practice different styles, they would naturally have a different level of skill."
(Flashback ends)
That sentence was still lingering in her mind. It was a reminder that no style is superior, and only the skill of the practitioner defined whether he was or was not skilled. Through practice, anyone can improve, regardless of the style.
A smile softly made his way on her white visage. Boruto kept training and training day by day. He was becoming her inspiration. Her resolve to improve herself.
"He's cute, right?" Hinata spoke to her. Sarada just blushed.
"H-he's just a baka, shannaro!" she stammered out.
Hinata let out a soft chuckle, then got up from the branch.
"Well, you better go to him, or he'll never stop his training."
And with that she jumped down.
Boruto was going to repeat the steps when a fist collided with his head. Stumbling down, he turned to look at the offender, finding Sarada standing there, glaring at him, with an evil aura.
"Boruto, you baka! If you keep straining yourself with all this training, it's just a matter of time before you collapse." She placed her hands on her hips. "I don't want to find myself doing CPR on you one day." she grunted.
The Uzumaki just smirked. "Well, I would not mind receiving a… mouth-to-mouth breathing, you know!" he teased her
Sarada forehead veins popped: "HENTAI! SHANNAROOO!" and she blasted her fist on his head again, punching him down and creating a hole in the ground.
Naruto, who was entering the Hyuuga compound, assisted at the scene and tried his best not to laugh at the scene that was unfolding in front of his eyes: his son down on the grass, holding his head with tears coming down his eyes and Sarada shaking her fist to him, in a menacing way.
"Well… it certainly brings me memories..." Naruto thought as he recalled the old days, when Sakura punched him everytime he commited some bullshit.
Shaking his head, he went inside the manor, a soft smile on his head.
He went to his office, and found Sasuke already sitting there. They nodded at each other.
"Good, you are already here. Let's discuss about the Kumogakure..."
And they discussed of various things.
"Mph."
The two of them were now standing below a tree in the Hyuuga compound garden.
A red-and-white sheet was layed down, and food was already placed on it.
"Sarada-chan..." he tried to talk to her friend with an apologetic tone, to no avail.
"Shush. Mph" she silenced him, while looking away. They stayed like this form some minutes and Boruto was starting to get depressed when a plate with a sandwich was placed in front of his face, her arms extended, still not looking at him. He happily grabbed the food and tasted it.
"Mmmh… Sarada-chan, you're the best!" he yelled.
She just scoffed and started to eat.
Suddendly a wasp flew near them and the girl started to panic.
"YIKES! Get away from me!" she cried in a non-kunoichi manner.
"Hold still, i'm gonna get it!" Boruto jumped in an effort to catch the insect, in a clumsy way…
The result was Boruto standing on top of Sarada, who lost her glasses during the stumble, looking at each other in the eyes, their faces mere inches apart.
They blushed, but didn't move for quite some moments.
That same moment, Naruto, her daughter Himawari and Sasuke were taking a walk down the garden, when the trio saw the two chuunin in a very compromising position.
"Oh look! Boruto nii-san and Sarada nee-chan are making a baby!" Little Himawari chirped casually and innocently.
Naruto froze in his feet, and felt a very deadly killing intent. He slowly turned his head to Sasuke, who was engulfed in a dark aura.
Both Boruto and Sarada turned to the older Uchiha and started to tremble.
"Otou-san!" she yelled uncomfortably, given the position she were with Boruto!
"Hey, uncle-Sasuke..." Boruto was sweating profusely
"What. Are. You. Doing. With. My. Hime." he said in a threatening tone.
Boruto crawled back from the Uchiha. "Look, I can explain it was an accident, and there was this bitch, I mean this wasp that..."
"Did you just called my daughter 'bitch'?"
"What? No, I mean the wasp was..."
"Naruto." Sasuke voice came out in a dark way. "You better make another child..." He drew his katana "...because I'm taking the life of this one today."
"DAD, DON'T!"
"SASUKEEE!"
"HELP!"
"DIE!"
From the entrance, Hinata and Sakura, who went shopping earlier, sweatdropped at the scene: Sasuke pursuing Boruto with a katana, the young Uzumaki running away, Sarada yelling at his father to stop and Naruto who was running behind Sasuke with a Rasengan on his right hand.
"Well… another day in Konoha, I guess" Sakura just deadpanned.
"Yeah… I guess..." Hinata murmured.
A/N: Thank you for reading. A few words if I may:
To the one reviewer that told me he "can't understand the spanish words in the story"… ehm, that's japanese, y'know. I like to use japanese words in order to add more feeling to the story. (Laughs)
Anyway, for those wondering, Taijiquan is a real martial art (I, myself, practice it, Yang Style). Legends says that it was created by a chinese monk, "Zhang Shanfeng". Mount Wudang also is a real place and is home of many "Internal Martial Arts" school (Internal means that they focus especially on interior energy or Qi, compared to the External schools that focus primaly on physical strength like Shaolin).
Example of Internal Schools at Wudang are: Taijiquan, Xing-Yi and Baguazhang, the latter which was Masashi Kishimoto's inspiration for the Hyuuga "Jyuukenpo" or "Gentle Fist technique". For those wondering, the "Wudang cannon" technique doesn't really exist. I just invented it, taking inspiration from Taijiquan and Baguazhang movements and philosophy.
The final sequence of the cannon, the "Taijitou Jiten", is like throwing a DragonBall "Kamehameha", while having a short-range radius.
"Tan t'ien", "Qi" and other chinese words are also taken from real life martial arts concepts.
And last, but not least: you may notice that Sasuke may act a little bit OOC. Well, while it is... true, I also like to hink that he's a father and it would be normal to be jealous and overprotective, especially when Sarada is his only child and the heir of the Uchiha clan... (Laughs again).
Please, read and review!
See you at the next chapter!
Until then
The Alternate Writer
