Chapter 3: Fluctuation-dissipation

- Temporal Distortion -

Of all the things that nobody could take into consideration when Kurama decided to train Naruto away from the prying eyes of the village, one that needs pointing out is that changing one life doesn't only change that one life. Let us take, for example, a gardener.

When they were ten, the could choose to take a left turn or a right turn at a festival. If they turn right, they see some beautiful flowers and decide to become a gardener. If they turn left, they bump into an artist and choose to devote their life to painting.

As a gardener, they would make minimum wage, never marry, and only have a few cats for company. It would be a lonely but satisfying life. As painter they would go on to become incredibly famous, make a ton of money, marry a beautiful significant other whose identity really doesn't matter in this hypothetical, and live a generally successful and happy life. If they had chosen this path, not only do they change their life, but also the life of their partner, and they bring forth new life.

However, if they did in fact chose not to become a gardener, they would never be tasked with keeping their town plaza pretty, meaning they would never plant a certain rose bush. A rose bush that would serve as a town favorite meeting spot for couples. A rose bush that, even indirectly, affected the lives of dozens and helped give birth to dozens more.

Either choice results in more than just the chooser being affected. This fact is the same for every choice made, and applies to every individual that lives. Meaning Kurama's choice to hide Naruto away for almost a decade changed more than just Naruto's life. One such changed life would be Hinata Hyuuga.

Born to the clan head of the Hyuuga clan, Hinata was born into more fame and power than some jounin ninja. She would be trained in politics the moment she could read, and would begin physical training the moment she could walk. Sadly for her and her family, she was born with a soft heart that made it nearly impossible for her to think about hurting another.

In one world this would result in her refusing to put her all in into her training, and trying her best to love and care for everyone. She would also sadly grow up with crippling self-doubt as her entire family nearly abandons her altogether in favor of her less reserved younger sister. This would lead to her latching onto a certain energetic blond, and becoming infatuated with his spirit and determination. She would harbor a secret crush on him for years, choosing to spend her days following him around and learning about him rather than focus on training.

That was that world though, and this is this world. In a world where she lacked a certain blond, certain events played out differently. When she was ten, she was nearly kidnapped by a Kumo 'ambassador'. Where normally this entity would be slowed down by a certain blonde who had been wandering the streets at night out of boredom, in this world it wasn't Naruto they ran into.

A certain dog-faced ANBU had taken to spending every free moment either training or hunting for their wayward ward. This meant that they spent more time taking missions. Returning late at night from one such mission, they happened to cross paths with a mysterious figure carrying a small bundle and looking like the devil themselves were on their tail.

Choosing to question the man, the dog-faced ANBU easily captured them alive, intending to question them before a certain head of house caught up. A head of house who might have killed the man if not for the ANBU standing right there. Uncomfortable questions were asked, plots unveiled, the right people informed, and certain 'trades' never enacted.

One thing that did come from this encounter that nobody could have predicted was that young Hinata saw all of this. She saw how her weakness had nearly cost those she loved more than she could ever believe. She saw how her weakness nearly gave her a fate worse than simply being passed over in favor of her sister. She made a vow that night, that nobody would hurt her loved one's through her.

Starting the very next day, it was a new Hinata that trained at the Hyuuga household. One that did not hold back her punches, or spend her time stalking a blonde haired kid instead of studying. Throwing her all into everything she did, Hinata rapidly went from the weakest Hyuuga to the strongest non-adult Hyuuga in the entire family. Her personality also started to shift. Gone was the soft girl who hid behind large clothing and whispered words, never looking anyone in the eyes.

When a new kid shows up to her class, she volunteers to be the one to fight them for a multitude of reasons. As a Hyuuga, seeing someone dressed in what would appear to be rags while walking about like they owned the place insulted her on a deep level even if she cares a lot less than the rest of her family. Secondly, she could tell just by looking at this wildcard that his frame is covered in hard as iron muscles, and is curious if he'll be strong enough to challenge her, something few in her class could do at this point.

"I want to fight the new kid." Naruto turns his head and locks eyes with the speaker.

At a hundred fifty five centimeters, she's a little shorter than his 170~ish centimeters in height, but Naruto knows not to underestimate anyone based on appearance. Some creatures in the Forest of Death looked pretty docile until they tried to take a bite out of you.

She has dark blue hair that falls to the middle of her back, light lavender eyes without pupils, and fair skin. She wears dark blue jeans on her legs, with her left leg having a green holster attached with white bandages. On her torso she wears a black tee shirt with fishnet extending from the short sleeves up to her wrists and going from her collar bone to halfway up her neck. Over this shirt she wears an open purple vest with a white hood.

"Hinata, you want to fight Naruto?" Iruka asks for confirmation.

At her nod, he sighs and makes a note on a clipboard before gesturing to a certain area of the field. The dirt is more even than the rest of the field, and there's a ring of small shite stones. Hinata walks confidently into the circle, and Naruto follows shortly after. Iruka stands just outside the circle while the rest of the class stays by the main building.

"Alright, let's keep this a clean fight. No jutsu higher than c-rank, any weapons need blunted edges, and if someone steps out of the ring or I call the match it's over. Further aggression will be grounds for detention, or worse depending on the severity. Got it you two?" Hinata resolutely nods while Naruto is distracted by a butterfly who's flying around and waves Iruka off dismissively.

"Alright. Begin!" With that he rapidly takes three steps back to get a better look at the upcoming fight.

Sliding into a clean stance, Hinata keeps her eyes laser focused on her opponent, who simply waves goodbye to the butterfly that had been startled away. Turning to face her, Naruto smiles widely which confuses her.

"So, your name is Hinata huh? Nice to meet you, I'm Naruto!" a soft growl emanates from his opponent.

"My name is Hinata Hyuuga, heiress of the Hyuuga clan and you would do well to remember that we are currently in the middle of a fight. Now, get into your stance and take me seriously. If you don't then your failure will simply be that much faster and more painful." to the bafflement of everyone present, Naruto laughs at the threat.

"Failure? Man, you remind me of Kurama. Let's see, how much do you think will do it? One, or two?" unknown to everyone except Naruto, a voice actually responds to his outloud question.

"One should be more than enough for a simple spar. If you need to use two then we're upping your training."

"One it is." and with that, Naruto raises his right arm and starts to roll it.

Before anyone can try to decipher what Naruto meant by either of his comments, they quiet down as a red glow appears on the back of his right hand. Iruka nearly intervenes right then and there, remembering that exact shade of red from so many years ago. When he doesn't feel the dark, angry, and down right evil maliciousness permeating the air, he holds himself back. Internally he makes a promise though: Should Naruto use any of IT'S chakra, he'll end the kid himself before he can become a danger to the rest of the class.

The red glow envelops Naruto's hand entirely before it starts to shrink back into the back of his hand. When it fades, there's a small tribal design of a snarling fox head, fangs bared. The light show isn't over however, because from the back of the foxes head a thin red line begins to appear before trailing down Naruto's arm and disappearing into his vest. When it does so, Naruto stops rolling his arm and grins wide, showing off his slightly elongated canines.

With a small pulse of her own chakra, Hinata activates her clan's famed dojutsu: the byakugan. Said eye allows the clan to see in all directions and even through walls, and it grants them the power to do what very few others can, which is to be able to actually see chakra itself. when she does activate it, her eyes widen at the sight of Naruto's chakra system.

Aside from being much larger than anyone she'd ever seen before including the Hokage himself, a thin veil of Chakra covers every inch of Naruto's form, which Hinata can now see is far more defined than she had initially thought. A small blush spreads across her face as she's distracted by Naruto's muscular system before it disappears as she gasps in surprise when the cloak of chakra around him moves. It forms two small points over the top of his head, similar to wolf or fox ears, and a chunk of it extends nearly a meter out past his butt and lashes around lazily like some form of tail.

"Now that I'm warmed up and ready to go, let's dance." leaning forward, Hinata snaps back into focus just as Naruto JUMPS.

There's really no other way to phrase it. Despite his trajectory being completely horizontal, Naruto doesn't run. Instead, he simply pushed off the ground hard enough to launch himself forward, leaving a pair of small craters where his feet were. His fist rears back, and the other students gasp as a blue aura similar to the red glow from earlier appears, this time as an unstable sphere around his fist.

Breathing out to center herself, Hinata simply side-steps the assault. Granted it's much faster than she had expected, but since he wasn't touching the ground he had effectively painted his trajectory for Hinata in neon paint. Slipping away from his attack is easy and as she slides into position next to him, her own hand pulled back for a counter attack, she fully expects to be able to land a hit on the fool and end the fight in a single exchange.

What neither she nor anyone else aside from the blond missile could have foreseen is the explosion of dirt that his fist slamming into the ground creates. Raising her arms to defend her face, Hinata is actually forced to take a step back as pebbles rain on her. A step that proves to be her saving grace.

With his right hand now wrist deep in the dirt, instead of recovering his footing and removing his hand to reposition and attack again, Naruto instead uses his embedded arm as a pivot point and curls his torso inward somewhat before lashing his left leg out. The result is a kick that slams into Hinata's still raised arms hard enough to sent her stumbling back.

"What barbaric style is this? If I had been a step closer, the force of that one kick might had broken my arm. And he doesn't even look like he's taking this seriously."

True to her thoughts, Naruto holds his position post-kick for a second longer than needed before bending his arm to lower his torso until his hair touches the ground. At that point he suddenly straightens his arm sending himself a meter into the air, his hand now free of the earth below, where he twists himself until he lands on all fours facing Hinata. His smile hasn't shifted an inch, as if he's completely unfazed by her dodging his first attack and most of his second.

The part that clinches it for Hinata is his chakra. To empower her own fist enough to do a similar feat would drain nearly a quarter or a third of her reserves, yet Naruto's aura of chakra hasn't so much as shrunk in thickness. Sure she had somewhat smaller reserves than your average person, but only by about 25%. Naruto's was literally multiple times larger than that of the most powerful people in Konoha. 'Just what sort of monster is this kid?' is the general train of her thoughts.

"Well, are you gonna come at me?" her opponents voice knocks Hinata from her thoughts, and she curses herself for becoming so distracted.

Sliding back into her stance, Hinata takes the initiative this time, rushing the crouched boy. Granted she isn't as fast as he is, but she's also not flinging herself so she's confident that she can switch directions on a dime if needed. Naruto stretches his hands and digs his fingers into the ground, like a bull digging it's heel into the ground before a charge.

Hinata runs up to about half a foot away from Naruto before she suddenly jerks to the side, sliding around him just as he lunges forward with his ludicrous speed again. As she dodges his beastial attack, she flicks her hands out, lighting tapping his chest, left side, and left leg before she completes her turn, facing him as he lands on the ground where she just stood.

Not taking any chances, she rushes him again, hoping to hit him in the back a few times before he recovers and retaliates. She manages to land a few more taps on him before he pivots on one foot and nearly smashes his right arm into her side. As is, she ignores how her hair is ruffled by the wind pressure of his attack and continues launching rapid fire attacks.

'Why isn't he slowing down?!' this time her attacks hit him in the chest, causing him to slide back across the ground a few centimeters before his grin widens even further. Moving on instinct, Hinata twists her torso out of the way of a clawed swipe from his right hand, followed almost instantly by a similar attack from his left.

Weaving through his attacks with less and less room to breathe each time, Hinata tries a last resort of sorts by pulling out a blunted kunai and slamming it into his side. He completely ignores the attack, and instead uses the opportunity to grab her wrist with one hand. Naruto moves his other hand at lightning speeds, stopping with one pointed fingernail pressed just hard enough to draw a single drop of blood.

"Checkmate." the entire field is silent, save for the faint sound of Iruka's pen falling to the ground.

He's not entirely sure what he just witnessed. True, the two were only moving at low chunin speeds, but that's still a league above where either is supposed to be in terms of physical power. And Naruto barely even looks like he broke a sweat despite handedly beating one of the top three taijutsu users in the class. The other two being the Uchiha kid currently glaring a hole into the back of the blondes head, and the Inuzuka who looks like he can't decide on whether to clap or strangle said blonde.

"Ah, that's right. Ahem! Uzumaki wins! Please return to the sidelines. Next up is-" Iruka is interrupted.

"Me. I want to fight him next." Iruka rubs the bridge of his nose and desperately wishes he had picked up drinking as he could really use a strong drink right now.

"Uchiha Sasuke. You know the rules. Everyone fights once, no more. It wouldn't be a true test of either of your abilities for you to fight someone right after they finished their own fight. If you really want to fight someone, pick someone else." the dark haired so called 'avenger' tsk's and turns his head before pointing his hand at a random student.

"That one. Whatever. Let's just get this over with." the civilian born student bristles at the implied insult that he wasn't even worth looking at, and eagerly steps into the ring alongside the Uchiha who still hasn't taken his eyes off the new kid.

Hinata meanwhile is nearly comatose as she robotically walks back to her spot. She can't believe it. She had lost. Only her father and occasionally the Uchiha emo had beaten her before, and the latter lost about as frequently as he won. For this new kid to so easily trounce her shattered every preconceived notion she had about her natural born superiority.

Naruto meanwhile is busy talking to the fox inside his head. He'd already gotten over the fight and was now impatiently waiting for class ot end so he can get back to more important things, like training.

"Man, those pokes really hurt. What'd they do to sting that much?"

"Idiot. Look at her eyes, she's clearly a Hyuuga." mentally Naruto tilts his head in confusion.

"What's her eyes got anythin' to do with it?" taking a deep breath in, Kurama massages his head.

"Nearly a decade teaching the brat and he still doesn't pay any attention. Why did the sage curse me so?" muttering under his breath Kurama eventually answers his curious and possibly retarded student.

"It's not about her eyes, dumbass, though they are useful. No, the reason her love taps hurt so much is because they weren't hitting your flesh, they were hitting your tenketsu."

"You mean the sickness you get when you step on a rusty kunai?"

"That's tetanus. Tenketsu are the points where your chakra flow out of your body." Naruto's mental avatar bops one hand into the palm of the other.

"Oh those things! That explains it. If she hits those, it'll stop the flow of my chakra meaning I have to force them back open. Man, i'm just thankful that my chakra's so, so...what's the word again?"

"Dense?" 'Just like you, you damn moron?' Kurama doesn't vocalise that last bit, though he makes sure his irritation is transmitted at his host nonetheless.

"Yeah, dense! It's good my chakra's so dense, so all I have to do to reopen them is push a little harder and they'll pop wide open." and with that Naruto's attention shifts back to the real world, and with little more than a thought he forces his chakra to circulate a little faster than normal, nearly causing Iruka to stumble as he announces the swift and unnecessarily brutal win that Sasuke has achieved.

Little does the brunette teacher know, but at that moment he mirrors the thoughts of the thing he hates the most as he questions which deity he pissed off in a past life to earn the torment of having to teach Uzumaki Naruto. The blonde remains completely oblivious to how much he's irritated three people and broken the worldview of a fourth.

- Temporal Distortion -