The genin were training seriously, at least most of them were. An hour has passed and Sasuke was not making fast progress, always adding too much chakra which Kakashi pointed out to him. After a few more falls, Sasuke was able to walk up with ease. Kakashi moved him to water walking, deeming that he was ready.
Sakura on the other hand was resting because she insisted that she couldn't make it any further. The jonin did not want to push her the point of chakra depletion.
Naruto was still going at it with the clones, his punches and kicks still being blocked but he was getting more and more creative on finding ways to land a hit. His defence was slowly getting better as well, seeing as he was getting hit less than when he started. Akira on the other hand wasn't faring as well as Naruto was against the clone, but she was able to block the hits being thrown at her. Her attack needed some work.
'These kids are giving it their all, but Sakura isn't fairing as well as the others. She needs to understand what being a kunoichi really means and I know just know the people who can help her with that,' Kakashi thought to himself as he pretended to be absorbed in his book. 'But it is too early for that. She won't listen yet.'
Before they knew it was already nearing sunset. "Okay, that's enough. I have something for you guys."
All the genin immediately assembled in front of Kakashi. "Starting today, all of you will be following this training regimen," he said handing them each a piece of paper, which had come up with the night before. "I expect all of you to follow this everyday. I'm also going to give you these," he continued as he handed them four thin black bands each.
"What are these, Sensei?" Akira asked curious about the bands that now lay in her hands along with the paper that was handed to her.
"Yeah, they are so ugly and unfashionable." Sakura added, agreeing with her teammate for the first time.
"Those are bands which I have gravity seals on. You wear one on each wrist and ankle. I will then activate the seals making them heavier. Basically, they will do what weights do but without all the bulk. I will also increase the weight when I think you are ready," the Hatake said all in one breath. He thanked Gai for giving him the idea of giving them weights.
'This is a better option versus getting actual weights. Cheaper too,' Naruto thought to himself inwardly thanking his sensei.
"That's it for today. Meet all of you here tomorrow, same time." With that the jonin shunshined away leaving leaves in his place.
"Would you like to get something to eat Naruto?" Akira asked her blond teammate.
"I would love to. Ramen?" He replied as they walked away leaving their other two teammates. His female teammate agreed with a nod. "That was tough training. I'm not too good with taijutsu," the Kojin confessed.
"I'm not too good with weapons. Maybe we could help each other?" The blonde suggested to his fellow teammate.
"That would be extremely helpful. Thank you," she said grateful from his suggestion. They continued their light conversation until they reached the ramen shop. As they entered they were greeted with the cheerful smile of Teuchi and Ayame. Their orders were taken and the old cook set out to cooking.
"Different girl again? Naruto you're such a player!" Ayame teased.
The Kojiin smirked at this and said, "Who was he out with? Let me guess. A certain Hyuuga heiress?"
Ayame and Akira began having a in-depth discussion on what the blonde did the day before. Naruto on the other hand rolled his eyes and began talking to the older chef. "So when are you meeting her again?" Ayame asked, catching everybody's attention.
"I don't know actually. I just said that I would see her tomorrow so I hope that she would come here," he confessed, blushing just at the thought of her. He was nervous too. The heiress was too cute to handle.
This made the two girls look at each other and they began to lecture Naruto on how to properly talk to girls. "You don't just leave them guessing, they might take that as a sign that you are just being nice and forcing yourself to talk to them!"
"I think she's outside," Akira said interrupting her joint lecture with Ayame. Naruto immediately got off his seat, grateful to leave the conversation and headed outside. He saw Hinata almost instantly, "Won't you come join us, Hinata-chan?"
The said girl blushed at that fact that she was found out by her crush but nodded anyways. He always seemed to never notice her before, but now she was alleys being found out. Naruto parted the curtain for her and she entered blushing once again. "What would you like Hyuuga-san?" Ayame asked as the Hyuuga took a seat on the otherside of Naruto. The heiress answered softly and they began cooking.
"I don't think we have met yet Hyuuga-san. Nice to meet you I'm Naruto's teammate, Kojin Akira," the said girl said as her order was put down in front of her.
"N-nice to m-meet you Kojin-san. I'm Hyuuga Hinata," the blue haired answered nervously albeit two kunoichi hit it off and were very comfortable with each other in a matter of minutes. Hinata had stopped stuttering and was holding the conversation with the group. Naruto was smiling the whole time at the fact that Hinata wasn't shy around him anymore.
"I hate to leave now but I have to get home to my brother," Akira said as she put down money to cover her meal and thanked the chef and his daughter. "I'll see you soon, Hinata-san. See you at training Naruto."
Akira was leisurely walking home when she heard someone call her name. She turned and found that it was the Nara she met yesterday. He just came out of the Yakiniku restaurant with the rest of Team 10. His teammates looked at him like he had a death wish, remembering the encounter with Sakura. Asuma just looked at the girl curiously, as far as he knew the Nara never initiated conversations with anyone.
"What are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked lazily, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He didn't even know why he just called her out. Weren't girls supposed to be troublesome?
She greeted his team politely and then replied saying, " I'm walking home from the ramen stand. Why?"
Shikamaru turned to his team and bid goodbye and the team walked towards the young Kojin. Team 10 stood there dumfounded. "I'll bring you home."
"You don't need to. I'll be fine," she told him, feeling bad that he was leaving his team because of her. She would be fine by herself she thought to herself, she was used to it. He sighed at her stubbornness, "I insist, my mom would kill me if she found that I let a girl go home on her own and that would be very troublesome."
Akira had no choice but to agree and they walked together. There was a comfortable silence between them as they headed in the direction of the kunoichi's house. 'Why am I doing something this troublesome for this girl? I literally just met her. What a drag,' he thought to himself. He was going out of his way to do something troublesome for a girl he just met. This was not normal for the young Nara. Before he knew it they reached an apartment complex.
She turned to him and said, " Thank you for accompanying me, Shikamaru. Good night."
"Oh and maybe you should tell your teammates to come out of the shadows," she said turning to him with a small smirk and a wink as she disappeared up the stairs of the building.
"How did she know that we were her? It's all because of you Choji!" Ino exclaimed, getting mad at the Akimichi boy who was still munching on his chips. Shikamaru had a small smile on his face as they all walked home.
After Akira left, Naruto and Hinata stayed for a bit more until Hinata was finished with her food then they left. Naruto insisted on bringing the girl home and he did like the day before.
"I really like hanging out with you Hinata-chan." The blonde stated as they walked. The leaves were rustling, their surrounding was peaceful and calm. This was a different setting compared to the loud bustling street in the morning.
In the morning they would certainly get stares from the civilians. The shinobi among them would even go as far as to asking if the blonde jinchuriki was disturbing the young heiress. The young
blonde liked the fact that they could just be in each others company without complications at night.
"I like hanging out with you too Naruto-kun," she said back softly. She still couldn't believe that she was talking to the person she had been crushing on since the academy. Their relationship changed in an instant, from admiring from a far to actual talking and seeming dates.
"Do you want to hang out on Saturday?" Naruto asks her. "I know that's like at the end of the week but I think we are going to start being busy with our teams and missions. Don't you think?" he rambles.
"I would love that," she said all too quickly before blushing.
'She is too cute for her own good,' The fact that she immediately answered made the blonde smile.
"That's settled then, good night Hinata-chan. I'll pick you up on Saturday at 10. Sweet dreams," quickly giving her a hug before disappearing via shunshin.