Yin and Yang

Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter 3 – Slow Going

"Are you sure you're feeling okay, Hinata?"

"Yes," I seethed through gritted teeth. I was tiring of being asked this question repeatedly. "Your concern is noted. Now please, leave me be."

My latest assailant, I believe his name was "Kaiba" or some such, was being rather persistent. I had been asked some variation of "are you okay" by a dozen of my classmates by now. Their concern for me after the previous day's events was touching, but my patience was quickly wearing thin.

"You've been acting funny all morning," Kinto, or whatever, said. "Ino didn't do something to mess up your head when she pulled that stunt, did she?"

"No," I said. "I am fine and would appreciate it if you would cease interrogating me."

I'd known there would be backlash from "my" sudden change in behavior, but I don't think I'd fully appreciated it until coming to class at the academy. I now regretted that I'd arrived to class early. My own clan had a rather subdued reaction, considering the circumstances. Father had asked me a few questions about the match with Yamanaka but he seemed more concerned about the fact that I'd lost than anything else.

I would prefer if it remained that way, but I knew that would not be the case. Once he learned of my new association with Uzumaki, I was certain he'd be wroth. But that fact did not concern me overly much. I would cross that bridge when I came to it, and then burn it if I had to.

"I was just worried about you, Hinata," Katsu said.

"And I'm very grateful," I said blandly. I had tired of trying to sound sincere by then. "But I have much on my mind and am in no mood to discuss the issue further. Perhaps Yamanaka might indulge your questions?"

"Okay," Kudo said, throwing up his hands defensively. "I can take a hint. I'll stop bugging you."

Well, it certainly took him long enough. Finally, though, he walked away and took a seat elsewhere in the room, for which I was glad. The boy smelled like a wild animal. Perhaps he was of the Inuzuka clan. That family of flea-bitten mongrels had little sense for personal hygiene. Filthy beasts.

When I saw another of my fellow students begin to approach me, I rose from my seat. Enough of this. I would stand outside until the lesson started.

"Good morning, Hinata-chan!" said the newcomer in a sickeningly chipper tone.

It was Uzumaki. My new bosom buddy. Wonderful. My day just kept getting better.

"Hello, Uzumaki," I sighed, returning to my seat.

"Call me Naruto," Uzumaki said as he took the chair adjacent to mine. "We're friends now, after all."

"If you insist," I said, not seeing any harm in the request. "Hello then, Naruto."

Naruto beamed at me. He had a pleasant smile, I'll admit. If he'd just keep his mouth shut, we'd get along swimmingly.

There were hushed mutterings around us. A few people pointed at my companion and myself as though we were a circus attraction. Oh yes, how scandalous that two classmates exchange greetings on the eve of a morning lesson. Surely it was a sign of the coming apocalypse.

Idiots.

"Hey, why are you being so friendly with Hinata?" Kenta from earlier came lumbering up to us. I plugged my nose as I saw him approach.

"What's it to you, dog breath?" Naruto snarled belligerently. Ah, so it wasn't just me.

"She doesn't want to be bothered," Kuga growled. "Right, Hinata?"

"Naruto and I are f-friends," I said, shuddering slightly as I uttered the last word. "We have an accord."

"Y-Yeah!" Naruto chimed in. I thought I saw his eyes watering. "I'm not bothering anybody, so get lost, Kiba!"

Ah, so the boy's name was Kiba. I knew I'd been close.

"What?!" Kiba yelled. "Hinata wouldn't want to be friends with a loser like you!"

"She does so want to be friends with a loser like me!" Naruto shot back, leaping to his feet. Then he realized his mistake and amended, "I mean, I'm not a loser! Shut up, dog breath!"

My eardrums did not appreciate their little contest of who could be the biggest loudmouth, so I decided to nip the situation in the bud before I went deaf. I stood and placed myself between the two of them.

"Naruto, sit," I commanded. He pouted at me, but did as I asked. I turned to Kiba. "As for you, I would appreciate it if you did not insult my companion. Whom I choose to be friends with is my business and I'll thank you for butting out of it."

Kiba stared at me, ashen faced. "B-But, Hinata, I was just worried about--"

"Don't be," I cut him off. "I don't need a nursemaid, Kiba-san."

Kiba was speechless for a moment, but then he bit his lip and his face flushed red. "Fine!" he said simply before storming off.

I sighed as I returned to my chair. I was not satisfied with how I'd handled the confrontation but I hadn't exactly had much practice in the social arena. Neither had the other Hinata, for that matter, but we happened to have problems at opposite ends of the spectrum.

I felt a soft tug on my sleeve.

"Th-Thanks…" Naruto said softly without looking directly at me. "You know, for sticking up for me…"

It was the first time I'd seen him like that. He had none of his usual hyperactivity or bravado. He looked small and vulnerable, and I couldn't help but think I'd just gleaned a side of him he'd never shown to anyone else.

He's been all alone, just like you were…

I remembered the words of my counterpart. I don't think I'd really considered the meaning behind them until that moment. I realized that I'd misjudged Naruto, at least partially.

"I…" I started to say, but no other words were forthcoming. What was I supposed to say in that type of situation?

"…you're welcome… Naruto," I finally settled on. He had thanked me, after all. Was it not appropriate to reply as such?

Judging from the smile I received from him, I think it was.

Iruka-sensei arrived soon afterward and the rest of the class passed without further incident. The lesson was on some obscure genjutsu theory and Naruto was soon snoring away next to me. I didn't bother waking him. The material was as dry as a bone, and next to useless except for genjutsu specialists. As my Byakugan can see through most genjutsu, I found very little of the lecture to be of any interest.

Eventually the school day drew to a close and that was when Naruto came to life again.

"Hey, Hinata-chan!" he said excitedly, practically bouncing on his heels as we left the building. "So we're gonna train now, right? For the exam?"

His enthusiasm was admirable, but I wondered how long it would last. Considering how often the other Hinata observed him, I had a fairly good idea of where his skill level was and it wasn't anywhere near where it needed to be for him to be an adequate genin.

Thankfully, the requirements of the graduation exam were fairly lax compared my standards of an adequate genin. But even then, Naruto would need to invest a lot of effort if he wanted to pass.

"Before we do anything, I need a bit of information from you," I told him. "What area do you feel you have the most trouble with?"

Naruto frowned, his face taking on a thoughtful expression. It looked like it hurt.

"Probably bunshin," he said at last. "I can't make a decent one to save my life."

I nodded. "Show me."

"What, here?" Naruto asked.

"No," I told him. "Let's find an empty training field."

"Oh, I know the perfect one," Naruto said. "Training Field Four. It's the one I always use."

"And it's never taken?" I asked curiously.

"Nah," he replied. "It's always deserted. I think people probably think it's unlucky or something."

"Bad luck?" I scoffed. "Luck is just something for people to blame when things don't go their way so they don't have to take responsibility. Bad things always happen. What matters is that you make the most of what you have."

Naruto seemed surprised by my comments. "I feel the same way."

I smiled smugly at him. "Then you're smarter than you look."

"Thanks!" he said brightly. Then, "Hey… wait a minute…"

When we reached the training field, which was deserted as he had promised, I made him produce a bunshin for me. Instead, he gave me the most sorry excuse for one I'd ever seen. It looked more like an amorphous mass with a human face painted on it by a five year old.

"I can see why you think you need work on this," I said, eyeing the abomination he'd created in disgust.

"Well, yeah…" he muttered with a red face, scratching the back of his head. "So can you help me?"

"We'll see," I told him, making no promises. I activated my Byakugan so I could monitor his chakra flow as he used the technique. "Try making another one."

Naruto gaped at me. "Whoa! What did you do to your eyes?!"

I frowned at him. "Haven't you ever heard of the Hyuuga clan?"

He shook his head.

I couldn't believe the boy. He'd never heard of the most powerful and prestigious clan in all of Konohagakure? Had he been living under a rock his entire life? Sighing, I gave him a brief primer on my clan and the abilities of our Byakugan bloodline limit.

"That is SO cool!" he awed. I felt better now that he'd been adequately impressed, but it didn't last long. "Where do I get one of these backgammon thingies?"

"Byakugan," I corrected, pinching the bridge of my nose. "And you don't. You have to be born with it, like any other bloodline limit."

"Oh," he pouted, but quickly recovered. "Well, that doesn't matter. I'm still gonna be Hokage!"

"Let's just concentrate on becoming a genin first, shall we?" I sighed, choosing not to comment on the ludicrousness of his ambition. "Make another… ugh, 'bunshin', please."

He obliged and this time I observed his chakra network as he did so. It was no wonder he couldn't do the thing properly. He was forcing far too much chakra into the hand seal, literally overloading it. Chakra was akin to electricity. Pumping too much of it into a circuit was liable to blow a fuse. In Naruto's case, it was more like a rolling blackout. I relayed this information to him.

"But, how am I supposed to control the amount of chakra I use?" he asked me.

"That's first year academy material," I said testily. "Don't tell me you've forgotten already."

"I didn't forget!" he denied vehemently. "It's just what they said has never worked for me!"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm already using as little chakra as I can," he said. "It's either this much, or nothing."

"Don't be ridiculous," I snapped. "You just need more practice."

"Trust me, I've practiced A LOT!" he assured me. "I used to be even worse at it, but this is the best I can do."

In truth, I didn't believe him. I thought he was lying, hoping that I'd be able to teach him some magical shortcut when none existed. So I decided to call his bluff.

"Give me your hands," I said.

"Huh?" he replied. Ugh, there was that word again. "Why?"

"I can close some of the tenketsu around your fingers and wrists," I explained. "That will limit the flow of chakra you can call on."

Assuming he was telling the truth, his chakra reserves had to be so big that when he called upon his chakra instead of turning on a faucet, he unleashed the force of a fire hose. Obviously, no mere academy student could have chakra reserves that enormous and so I expected that he would fail spectacularly, or rather even more spectacularly, once I'd sealed his tenketsu.

"Oh," he said. "Okay, I guess I'm willing to try anything at this point."

"Your hands, then," I said. I took them into my own and studied them closely. I decided to seal all but three tenketsu on each hand, those being the ones on his thumb and middle and index fingers. I was preparing to make the necessary strikes with my jyuken when I glanced at Naruto's face, by chance, and saw it was red.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"N-Nothing," he mumbled quietly. "It's just… I've never held hands with a girl before…"

I frowned. "If you're not going to take this seriously, we can stop right now."

"I am being serious!" he protested. "It's just that… you're pretty, you know? So this is kinda embarrassing."

I had no idea how to react to that statement. So I didn't, and simply closed his tenketsu with a quick flash of my hands.

"Ouch!" he yelped, pulling away from me. "You didn't tell me it would hurt!"

"You didn't ask," I shrugged. "Besides, don't tell me that the future Hokage can't handle a little pain?"

He reacted to my goading exactly as I expected.

"No way! This is nothing!"

"Good," I said. "Then try making another clone for me."

He sullenly muttered something like "slave driver" but did as he was told. I didn't mind, actually. It just proved he had some spirit.

To my astonishment, he made a perfect bunshin. Were it not for my Byakugan, I wouldn't have been able to tell which one was the real him. I don't think I could have done a better job myself.

"I… I did it!" Naruto gasped, looking even more shocked than I was. "I really did it! Hinata-chan, you're awesome!"

I couldn't believe it. Sealing his tenketsu had actually worked. But that meant his chakra reserves had to be monstrous, and the boy wasn't even a genin yet! I could only stare in awe.

Perhaps my counterpart's interest in the boy wasn't such a waste, after all.

Naruto was jumping into the air, whooping with glee. "I did it! I did it! I'm really gonna pass this time!"

He stopped, shooting me a huge grin, before he walked up to me and clasped me by the shoulders. "It's all thanks to you, Hinata-chan! It's because you believed in me!"

Actually… I hadn't. In fact, the only reason I'd invented the crazy scheme was because I didn't believe in him. But now, I didn't know what to believe anymore. All I knew was that there was definitely more to Naruto than meets the eye… even the all seeing white eyes of the Byakugan.

To be honest, that fact scared me a little. But it also intrigued me. Exactly who or what are you, Naruto Uzumaki?

I shook myself in an effort to regain my senses. "Not so fast, Naruto," I said. "Don't get ahead of yourself. There's more on the graduation exam than just producing a bunshin. In any case, I can close your tenketsu prior to the exam, but then you might not be able to use any more chakra intensive skills. It would be better if you learned finer control. I know a few meditation techniques that will slow the flow of chakra through your body and probably allow you to get similar results."

"Meditation?" Naruto gasped. "But that stuff's boring!"

"Or you can just fail the exam and repeat another term at the academy," I suggested. "And experience another fun filled year chockfull of riveting lectures like the one we had today."

He shot me a sullen glare full of resentment. It was just too easy to push his buttons. Training him might turn out to be an entertaining experience, after all.

"Fine," he muttered. I smiled.

The hardest part after that was actually getting him to sit still for longer than five minutes. The boy was a bundle of nerves and I eventually decided to do some sparring to wear him down so I could make some headway with teaching him meditation, but at least it gave me the opportunity to gauge his taijutsu skills.

He was a mess. His form was all wrong. I wasn't very familiar with the taijutsu at the academy and even I could see that. Moreover, the accuracy of his attacks was abysmal. If I stood still long enough, he'd be able to land the occasional strike but he seemed completely inept at hitting a moving target.

His stamina was impressive, however. No matter how many times I knocked him down, he jumped straight back to his feet. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, considering I'd already established he had an abnormally large chakra reservoir. My breaths had become labored by the end, but he'd barely broken a sweat. He was preparing to charge me again when I motioned for him to stop. I gave him my honest critique.

"I can't be THAT bad," he protested.

"Trust me," I said. "You are."

He grimaced. "Well, what can I do about it?"

I was actually impressed by his reaction. Given how much he liked to boast, I expected him to deny that he needed any improvement. Yet here he was, not only admitting he was less than perfect, but asking me what he could do to better himself.

He wasn't at all like I'd imagined him to be. Appearances really could be deceiving, even to a Hyuuga, it seemed.

"I would ask Iruka-sensei for some pointers on how to fix your form," I told him. "Besides that, the only way to get better is practice. We'll do this again tomorrow, and every day leading up to the exam."

He grinned. "Yeah, that sounds good."

"Now, how about some meditation?" I suggested.

His smile vanished. He groaned. "Aww man…"

By the time I was finished teaching him the basics to breathing properly, the sun was low in the sky.

"We ought to call it a day," I said.

"What?" Naruto blurted. "But we've only just started--" Then he turned his gaze towards my own. "Oh, wow. Is it really that late? Time just flew by."

Surprisingly, it had. The experience hadn't been nearly as trying as I'd expected. I'd intended to summon every last morsel of forbearance I could muster in order to fulfill the promise to my counterpart, but now that my time with Naruto was drawing to a close, I found myself not wanting it to end.

I brought a hand to my forehead. No, I didn't have a fever.

"Say, Hinata-chan," Naruto said. "How about letting me buy you dinner, before you go home? I don't really have any other way to repay you for your help."

"That isn't necessary," I told him. "Dinner will be waiting for me at the mansion." And Father, with it. I wondered what he would have in store for me when I returned home. I had no doubt that his spies had informed him of my activities long before now.

Naruto's eyes widened. "You live in a mansion?"

I sighed. "Yes, I believe I remember telling you about how important the Hyuuga clan is?"

"Oh, right," he said, his chest deflating. "Well, I guess the food they'll have there is a ton better than anything I can afford…"

I felt a pang of some unknown feeling I'd never experienced before. It wasn't exactly regret, nor shame, but a subtle combination of both. What was it?

It's guilt, a voice from deep in my mind said.

Hinata?! Is that you?

I received no answer. Damn you, Hinata. Now I knew that you were still there, observing my every action as I had once done with you. I don't know how yet, but someday you and I are going to settle our score. Be prepared.

"Well," Naruto said as he turned away. "I guess I'll go now…"

"Naruto, wait," I blurted before I even realized what I was saying. "I wouldn't mind eating with you, if your offer still stands…"

His mouth split into the widest grin I'd seen from him yet. "You bet it does! C'mon, Hinata-chan! I'll take you to the best place in town! Do you like ramen?"

"Ramen?" I echoed. I hadn't the foggiest idea of what he was talking about. "What's that?"

I had to clamp down on my ears to prevent them from rupturing from his ensuing bellow.

"WHAT?!?!"

"The best place in town", it turned out, was a tiny vendor stand I likely wouldn't even have noticed if Naruto hadn't pointed it out to me.

"Hey, Naruto!" a middle aged gentleman greeted him from behind the counter as we approached. His face was plain, but honest. He was grinning, until he saw me, whereupon "grin" ceased to be the appropriate term so much as "face splitting". I didn't understand the meaning behind it. "Who's the little lady?"

"This is Hinata-chan!" Naruto declared proudly. What exactly it was he was proud of, I couldn't say. "She's my new friend!"

"Hello, sir," I bowed. "I am Hinata Hyuuga."

The man let out a low whistle. "Polite thing, isn't she?"

I bristled. I was not a "thing". I was about to educate the man when Naruto took a seat on a stool and pulled me down onto the one beside him.

"I'd like two of the usual, old man!"

"Coming right up!" said the man, whom I could only assume was a chef by trade. "Don't worry about the bill today, kid. It's on the house."

"All right!" Naruto cheered. "You're the best!"

"And don't you forget it!" the man said back.

"Excuse me," I interjected. "Don't you think the roof of your house is a poor choice of location for keeping your accounting? How are you going to charge us for our meal?"

Both Naruto and the man stared at me as though I'd just grown two heads. "What?" I asked. "Did I say something improper?"

They broke out into hysterical laughter. I felt my face grow hot.

"'On the house' means it's free, Hinata-chan!" Naruto explained. The superior look he had on his face made me want to hurt him. I think the other Hinata would have taken offense at that, though, so I restrained myself.

"Then he should have said 'it's free'," I insisted. "People should say what they mean. And stop laughing!"

"Sorry, little missy," the man said, wiping tears from his eyes. "Didn't mean any harm. I never learned to speak like a proper gentleman and you'll have to forgive an old dog if he can't learn new tricks."

I could only assume he meant those words to be some sort of apology.

"I suppose there's no harm…" I muttered. I was out of my element in this place. It might be best if I left as soon as possible.

"Naruto, I think I should--"

"Here you go, kids!" the man interrupted me, dropping two medium sized steaming bowls in front of Naruto and me.

"Wow, it looks great!" Naruto said, and then he started shoveling the contents of one of the bowls into his mouth.

"Bah, no need to brownnose, kid," said the man. "I already said it's on the… er, it's free."

I decided not to ask what "brownnose" meant and just ignore anything more that the man might say. I sniffed at the bowl he'd placed in front of me. It smelled appetizing enough…

I looked at the setting in front of me for chopsticks, but saw none. There was only a long, thin white packet. I briefly considered if I would be remiss in tearing it open, but disregarded that feeling. This place had different rules than I was accustomed to so why should I worry about such things? I opened the packet and found my chopsticks, only to discover that they'd been fused together.

I grit my teeth. This place was infuriating!

I liberated my eating utensils and stabbed savagely into my food, which consisted primarily of noodles and broth, with bits of vegetables and a meat I couldn't identify scattered throughout. I collected a small helping with my chopsticks and brought it to my mouth, bracing myself.

It… it tasted… heavenly.

It was a veritable buffet of subtle, yet complex flavors that mixed and enhanced each other until the whole was greater than the sum of the parts. I'd never tasted anything like it. This was "ramen"?

I adored it.

My chopsticks moved in a flurry and before I knew it, I had devoured my entire serving, broth and all. As I set the bowl down, I saw Naruto staring at me.

"Oh," I said, feeling rather embarrassed by my lack of decorum. "Pardon my manners."

He shook his head. "I think I'm in love…"

Not for the first time that day, I had no idea how to react.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed so far!

This was a fun chapter to write. "Other" Hinata might have seemed to have everything together in the previous chapter, but keep in mind she hasn't had any contact with another human being from since she can remember. She's actually very naïve, on a level similar to "Canon" Hinata, but in a completely different way.

I envision her as the "Heiress" persona of Hinata. She is the one who is comfortable with the machinations in the cutthroat world of the Hyuuga clan and has the physical power to back it up. Heiress Hinata using the Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms technique in the mindscape was meant to illustrate that, as well as her somewhat ruthless nature.

I see Canon Hinata as more of the "Girl Next Door". As much as I love Canon Hinata, I always felt this aspect of her was missing and didn't really find it plausible that she didn't have a harder edge buried in her, having grown up in the environment that she has.

So I created it for her in this story. Don't worry, though. Canon Hinata's role in the plot isn't over. The title of the story is Yin and Yang, after all. And if you somehow haven't figured it out, yes this is going to be a Naru/Hina fic. I'm not going to be a dick by pulling a fast one and pairing her up with (god forbid) Sasuke or someone else. Although while we're on the subject, I feel like Kishimoto should just get it over with and rename the damn series after him. No offense to you Sasuke fans out there, but I hate his guts.

That said, from this point forward I don't know how much of a priority this work will be. If I get a lot of reviews (hint, hint), then I will make it a priority. If not, then it'll be on the backburners, but I won't abandon it. So if you want me to continue to update in a timely manner, review. And if not, then don't. I leave it in your hands, my readers.