Training
The days leading up to the chunin exams were extremely repetitive. Naruto and Sasuke would pair up and shoot their Akarai at their respective trees, and Sakura would go exercise with Kakashi.
Mostly, Sakura just sprinted back and forth between two points, and then would collapse from exhaustion. Fifteen minutes later, she was rested up and ready for endurance running. She realized she needed this, but damn if it didn't HURT. Her muscles always seemed like they were killing themselves over and over again.
She could already see the results, though. Sakura knew she could run easier now than before, and faster. That didn't mean she had to like Kakashi for it. Her healing powers gave her an extreme advantage over normal people, for her muscles repaired themselves rapidly. They still got sore, however. They killed her when she ran, but thankfully weren't sore for long.
"Kakashi-sensei, how much longer are we going to do this?" Sakura panted as she was running up a tree.
"Mah, not long Sakura. The Chunin exams are in a week, so I can't do this forever." Kakashi said, leaning against a tree and reading his little orange book.
Sakura grunted as she flipped off the tree and positioned herself to land in a way that would let her sprint back up the tree. She miscalculated, however, and snapped her leg.
Kakashi rushed to her side. Her shin was piercing her skin and blood coated the white bone. Sakura muffled her scream of pain. She tried to push the bone back into place, not enjoying the feeling of touching her own bone. Kakashi winced at his student. How can she stand that pain?
"Sakura," Kakashi started, "a few weeks ago you passed out without getting touched. Now you're pushing your bones back into your body. Wasn't that painful?"
"Yes sensei." Sakura said, rising to her feet to repeat her process. "Ever since I've gotten this ability, pain has been getting less and less intense. I know pushing my own bone back into place should be more painful than it is for me, but it's muffled." She grunted and sprinted back up the tree, apparently tired of talking to Kakashi.
She's changed… I hope it's for the better. Kakashi sighed and flipped open his book yet again.
Naruto was frustrated at his Akakrai. He had opted for a big tube of chakra, to stuff more Akarai in. If he put too much Akarai in a thick shell, the shell broke and the lightning fell apart. If the shell was too thin with less Akarai, and the same effect occurred. However, if there wasn't enough Akarai in a thick shell, the shell collapsed on itself, snuffing out the lightning. It was like trying to balance a scale with a scale on each plate.
He could see his training was paying off, at least. The tube took longer and longer to collapse or explode, but the tree was relatively untouched. If his attack reached the tree, it just barely singed the bark, instead of breaking the tree in half, as Naruto had hoped it would.
Sasuke had tried to make his Akarai fit in a narrow tube, basing the width off of his index and middle fingers. Sasuke figured if the Akarai was more concentrated, it had a better chance of piercing the tree. So far, he had no luck. He needed better control over his chakra. The shape of his cylinder kept fluctuating when he fired his off, randomly growing and shrinking, making his attack vary in power. It was like he needed something wrapped around it to focus the power…
"Naruto," A voice behind them said. "Come with me. We're going to practice some more."
"But Sylar-sensei!" Naruto complained, "I need to work on this attack! Sasuke-teme can't beat me at this!"
Sylar looked at Sasuke performing the attack and then told Naruto to do the same. He scoffed, "This kid," he pointed at Sasuke, "is much further from completing his attack than you are."
Naruto pumped his fist in the air. "Yes! Take that Sasuke-teme!"
Sasuke glared at Sylar and got back to mastering his technique, his efforts redoubled.
Sylar drug Naruto back to the three posts, where a girl with dark blue, chin length hair and white eyes was standing, almost hiding, behind a log.
"Hinata? Why are you here?"
(Note: I'm not good with stuttering people. Just imagine her voice mumbled and quiet)
"Ano… Sylar-san told me to c-come here. He didn't tell me why…" As she said this, her body shrunk behind the log farther, making her even harder to understand.
"I brought her here to let you learn how to touch one person, and not absorb their ability. Right now you're in a state where the natural thing to do is soak up everything you touch. We want you to get to a point where you don't absorb anything unless you want to. Before you ask a stupid question, it's useful if you have a good ability and don't want to lose it."
Naruto shut his mouth at that, as he had planned to ask that very question. "Okay. So, how do we start?"
"You're going to absorb this girl's power. While you're using it, you'll touch me, and if you absorb my power, then we try again. Got it?"
Naruto nodded, eager to advance himself.
Naruto-kun... is going to touch me? Hinata felt her face get warmer and redder at the thought. It didn't help that Naruto noticed.
"Hey, Hinata, are you alright? It looks like you have a fever, datteybayo!"
Hinata could feel herself losing consciousness as Naruto's hand got closer to her to check her temperature.
"Naruto, stop that." Sylar said, clearly annoyed. "Hinata, let Naruto touch your hand."
Hinata shakily nodded and held out her hand, which Naruto quickly grabbed. She had to suppress a "Meep" and very nearly fainted. "Wow Hinata, you have really soft hands."
And down went Hinata.
Naruto wasn't fast enough to catch her, and she hit the ground. "Hinata? What's wrong? Are you ok? Snap out of it!"
He must have lost my ability. Good. "Now, think about Hinata."
"But she passed out! She could be hurt!" Naruto yelled, panicking about what to do.
"Ignore that. She's fine. Focus, Naruto." Sylar said, his words condescending.
Hinata passed out! She's hurt! Oh man, she freaks me out every time she does this! I just… am I floating? And indeed he was.
"What? Is this what Hinata's power is? Floating?" Naruto asked, slowly spinning in mid-air circles.
"What else would it be, you idiot? How else would you explain suddenly being off the ground? The ability is flying, by the way."
"Uh…" Naruto looked at Sylar, and then quickly changed the subject. "Is Hinata doing any better?"
Sylar glanced over at the girl on the ground. "Yes."
A few seconds after that, Hinata started to wake up, and remembered where she was. Naruto-kun... touched me. Remembering made her face red again. Naruto was suddenly beside her, hovering slightly off the ground.
"Hinata, are you ok? You passed out again! Do we need to take you to the hospital?"
Hinata stuttered out a "no."
"All right then… if you say so." Naruto turned back to Sylar. "So what now?"
"Now," Sylar started, "you hover a little, just enough so we know you have her power. Then you're going to touch me, but not take my power. Clear?"
"Got it." Naruto gave a short nod. "But, um, how exactly do I do that?"
"Just focus on trying to stay off the ground. It should start to come naturally soon."
"Okay! Let's go!" Naruto pumped his fist in the air, and then sweat dropped. "Neh, Hinata… how do I move?"
Sylar wanted to cut the kid's head open. Such an idiot…
Hinata blushed, looked at the ground and started tapping her fingers together. "Naruto-kun… umm… you just kind of…" Naruto floated closer, to hear her better. This made her face red yet again. She raised her face to meet him inches away. Nartuo… kun….
"Neh Hinata, are you-" Naruto was pushed away by an invisible force and flipped through the air, eventually stabilizing several yards away. "Hey! What the hell was that??"
Sylar's lips curled into a small smile. "There. You can move now." If that girl had fainted again, I it would have been annoying. "Now, come over here and try to keep her ability."
Naruto dropped to the ground and bolted back to Sylar and Hinata.
"Activate her power." Naruto nodded and closed his eyes. He rose a few inches off the ground. "Now, touch my hand." Naruto opened his eyes and reached out his own hand to touch Sylar's. He promptly fell to the ground.
"Damn it!" He yelled, and turned to Hinata. "Hinata, would you mind if I got your ability again?"
Hinata nodded and held out her hand, still red.
Naruto reached out his hand and thought, "Why does she always turn red and faint around me… It's really weird, datteybayo." Naruto's eyes widened as he touched Hinata's hand. "No way."
Naruto stood stunned for a moment until Sylar snapped him out of it. "This time, try flying up-side down. That way you're more motivated to not bash in your skull."
"Huh? Oh, right." Naruto snapped out of his trance and started to hover. She can't. No way! Maybe it was a slip up in Sylar-sensei's ability. There's NO WAY she likes me. He continued these thoughts and flipped himself. He didn't even notice the blood going to his head. How could she? She never said anything. Hinata Hyuuga does NOT like me like that. He touched Sylar's hand and Hinata cringed, expecting him to fall. When nothing happened, she gave a small smile.
"Good job, Naruto. Hinata, was it? You can go now, if you want. I'm going to leave." Sylar turned and left the two alone. Naruto was still floating, up-side down.
Maybe I misunderstood. He thought, Sure she's cute and all, maybe as cute as Sakura-chan, but she was told to hate me just like everyone else. Maybe I can figure out what it is if I hang around her a little. "Neh, Hinata, can you show me how to fly better? If I need your power later, I'd like to use it as good as I can."
Hinata was caught off guard by that. Naruto-kun… wants me to teach him… She got slightly redder at that. "Sh-sh-sure Naruto-kun. H-how should w-we do it?" Hinata stuttered out.
Naruto flipped and landed cross-legged on the ground, his head on his fist, deep in thought. He looked up quickly and yelled, "I know! You could fly around and I could try to catch you!"
"L-like tag, Naruto-kun?"
"Is that what it's called? Okay then! Go!" Naruto waited a second until Hinata understood and flew off, then another few seconds to take off after her.
Naruto, being over-enthusiastic, shot far ahead of Hinata without any control, and flew smack into a tree. "Owww…."
Hinata flew next to him, worried. "A-are you ok, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, relatively loudly.
"Yeah… I'm fine Hinata-chan. Thanks." Well, she cares if I'm hurt or not. That could mean she's just nice. "Let's try that again. I'll go slower this time."
Hinata nodded, blushed, and took off once again. Naruto jumped off of the tree limb, and caught himself in mid-air. He shakily rose through the sky and eventually got to where he could stay still and stand on air. Hinata was staying in one spot until he started slowly going after her. She drifted backwards just as slowly as he advanced. He grinned and went as fast as he could toward her. She simply flew up higher, letting him pass her into some trees. He threw on the brakes as hard as he could, and narrowly avoided the painful wood.
Gotta go slower… but fast enough to catch her. Naruto took off again, a little slower, and trailed after Hinata. They flew above the trees, Naruto growing more and more comfortable with each passing minute. She is fun to be around. Maybe… it's not so crazy to like Hinata-chan. Datteybayo!
Hinata was as happy as she'd ever been. I'm helping Nartuo-kun train! M-maybe I'm not such a failure… Hinata heard Naruto call for her to slow down, so she stopped flying and hovered still.
"Wow Hinata-chan! You're great at this!" Hinata blushed at the compliment. Naruto's thoughts again drifted to the thought that she may like him. No, Hinata's just modest. It doesn't mean she likes me. "So, Hinata, how high up can you fly?"
Hinata turned slightly redder, "Um, I've flown p-pretty high. I had to s-stop though, because it gets c-cold too high up."
"Wanna take me up? I'd like to know my limits with this power if I ever have to use it again." Naruto asked.
Hinata nodded shyly. "Of c-course, Naruto-kun."
"Great! Race ya!" And with that, Naruto took off towards the sky, going as fast as he could. He started off so fast, he created a vacuum where we used to be, collecting water droplets and making a soft "boom." Naruto Uzumaki had just broken the sound barrier.
"N-Naruto-kun! Wait!" Hinata yelled, flying as fast as she could after him. "If you go too high you can't breathe!" Hinata franticly followed the orange dot that was Naruto. Please, let him be okay…
Naruto was laughing giddily. The wind was flowing through his hair, and his jacket was flapping wildly. He shut his eyes and thought; this feels like… pure freedom. No evil stares, no mean villagers, … no nothing. Just me… and Hinata-chan. He was starting to like that idea. He was reflecting on his thoughts heavily; too heavily. He didn't notice his light headedness. His eyes were shut, so he didn't notice his spotty vision. Before he realized what was happening, Naruto had passed out.
His upward motion carried him a few hundred feet further, until gravity caught up with him. Naruto started to fall back down towards the ground.
--
Hinata saw Naruto stop flying up and hoped he had realized there was no air this high up. Hinata had taken a deep breath before chasing after Naruto, knowing the dangers. She stopped and watched Naruto slowly start to fly back towards her. She smiled, glad he was okay. As he came closer to her, Hinata was ready to explain the dangers of flying too high, hopefully without fainting.
When he shot passed her, she figured he was being his over-enthusiastic self. Then she realized he was facing up. And his eyes were closed.
Hinata gasped and activated her Byakugan. His chakra was out of balance, and she immediately knew he was unconscious. No! Naruto-kun! Hinata sped after him, flying as fast as she could. Please, let me catch him!
Hinata was growing closer each moment, but so was the ground. She gave an extra burst of speed she didn't know she had in her and grabbed his arm, slowing down little by little. Oh thank God…
Naruto weighed a lot more than she thought he did. And he was slipping.
They were still about four hundred feet off the ground, and a fall from this height would kill him. Hinata frantically dropped as far as she could before his hand slipped from her grasp. Hinata tried to catch him at a different angle, but it was too late. He was going to hit the ground, and it was going to kill him.
"Naruto-kun!!" Hinata screamed, flying at top speed to catch him.
--
When Naruto hit the ground after free-falling for two hundred feet, everyone noticed. Kakashi and Sakura hurried over to see what had happened. Even Sasuke was walking towards them.
"Naruto??" Sakura asked no one in particular. "What happened Hinata?"
Hinata had arrived moments after Naruto crashed, and was on her knees crying next to Naruto's badly broken body. "H-he passed out w-while we were f-flying." Hinata said through her tears.
"We need to get him to a hospital." Kakashi hurriedly picked up Naruto's mess of a body and started to jump off when Sasuke spoke up.
"The dobe's alive, isn't he? I heard Sylar tell him he absorbs anyone's ability unless he's trying not to. I don't think he's trying right now."
Kakashi understood and told Sakura to touch him. All eyes were trained on Sakura's hand to Naruto's. After a small shimmer of light, Naruto's skin started mending, but his bones still protruded his skin.
"W-why isn't he h-healing?" Hinata asked, a little less frantic now.
"His bones have to be put back in manually." Sakura said, hoping she didn't get picked for the disgusting task.
"Hn. Maybe not. Let's see if anything happens…" Sasuke shot a ball of Akarai at Naruto that dispersed throughout his body and after a moment the bones began to retract into his body. Sasuke smirked, "Tell Sylar he was wrong." Sasuke walked back to his training spot, not wanting to be a part of the scene.
Naruto's eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the light for a moment. "What just happened?"
Hinata was holding back tears, Sakura looked horribly pale, and… did Kakashi look a little less nonchalant than usual? He couldn't tell. They both sighed a sigh of relief and walked back to Sakura's training.
Hinata spoke softly "I-I couldn't c-catch you when you f-fell Naruto-k-kun. I'm s-sorry."
Naruto gave a wide smile, "But I'm okay now, Hinata-chan! We'll just train some more and next time I fall you can catch me no sweat, datteybayo!"
Hinata gave Naruto a puzzled look. "E-even though I a-almost killed y-you, you s-still want to t-train with me?"
"Of course, Hinata! Who wouldn't want to train with you? Besides Sasuke-teme. He doesn't count."
Hinata gave a small smile and burst into tears again.
"No, Hinata-chan! I didn't mean to say anything to make you upset!" Naruto jumped up and rushed over to her side, his arm around her.
"N-Naruto-kun… I'm not s-sad. I'm crying because I-I'm so happy."
"You can do that? But that's so weird, datteybayo."
Hinata turned to face Naruto and realized their faces were inches apart yet again.
Don't faint, don't faint, don't faint. Hinata fervently thought. Naruto's hand gave an almost unnoticeable squeeze to her shoulder, but Hinata noticed. Is he… hugging me?
Hinata's head landed between Naruto's shoulder and chin, making him smile. Well, at least I know she likes me now. He looked down at her dark blue hair. Well, better get out of this position before she passes out again. He laid her on the ground face up and took her ability.
When Hinata came-to, Naruto was floating around, throwing shuriken at targets on trees. "N-Naruto-kun?"
Naruto turned around quickly and shot over to Hinata. "Hinata! Are you ok? You freaked me out there for a second, datteybayo!"
"I-I'm fine, Naruto-kun. Thank you for asking." Hinata blushed, and stood up.
"So, Hinata, do you want to fly some more?"
"I-I wish I could, Naruto-kun… b-but my team has training as well today. S-sorry." Hinata looked down ashamedly.
"Eh, it's ok. Want to fly around later today? After team training?"
"I-I wish I could, Naruto-kun, but father expects me to be home so I can train with him." And be called a failure over and over…
"Maybe when we both have time then, datteybayo! I'll see you around Hinata-chan!" Naruto landed and ran over to Sasuke to absorb his ability and train more.
Hinata… chan? Hinata was light headed all the way back to Team 8's training ground.
--
"What do you want, dobe?" After Sasuke had charged Naruto, he went back to his routine of training. His control had gotten strong enough so he could consistently reach the tree, but something was still missing. The power behind it was never consistent, and the chakra tube would have a bump in it where the Akarai was most concentrated. He knew he needed to make the tube more rigid, but didn't know how.
"I just came over to train my Akarai, teme."
"You mean MY Akarai?" Sasuke was frustrated at his own incompetence at training and Naruto was the perfect target to take it out on. "Why can't you just get your own attack to work on instead of taking everyone else's!?" (I didn't intend for this to be the epitome of irony for a Sharingan user to say, but it fits, no?)
Naruto looked at him confusedly. "What's your problem, Sasuke-teme?? If you want me to stop training in your Akarai, then fine! But if you're in trouble and I could have saved you using this attack, don't blame me!" Naruto stormed off towards Kakashi and Sakura, leaving Sasuke to seethe in peace.
Damn bastard! I hope he never understands how to perfect that stupid attack! "Kakashi-sensei, is there anything I can do to train some more? Sasuke-teme won't let me borrow his stupid Akarai, datteybayo!"
Kakashi sighed. "And why would he not let you?"
Naruto kept yelling, "How should I know?? He's just being a big baby about me getting a better ability!"
"Sorry Naruto, but I'm busy with Sakura. Maybe later?"
Naruto seethed with anger. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN LATER? YOU'RE NOT DOING ANYTHING!"
"Mah, Naruto, just ask nicely if you can use Sasuke's Akarai." Kakashi flipped a page in his book.
Naruto was shaking with anger. He shot into the air, leaving an indention in the ground a few feet across. He flew up high, and let out an angry scream. He crossed his fingers in the appropriate seal and yelled, just as loud as before, "Tajū: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Hundreds of Narutos came into existence, creating a large shadow below. All of the Narutos immediately started to beat each other. Naruto flew directly into a few, making them disperse. They were all throwing punches at each other, throwing shuriken and kunai, anything to make the others disappear.
Tem minutes later, all that remained was the original Naruto and one other clone. Naruto yelled and flew his fist straight into the clone's face, dispersing it. Naruto was panting form exertion. "I feel better."