Chapter 25: Elemental
"Sasuke!" shouted Sakura, meeting up with him in the street. Sasuke turned towards her with his typical slightly annoyed look. Not only had Kakashi left him back there, but now Sakura was bugging him again. He was hoping to get in some good training today with Kakashi, but it looked as if that wasn't going to happen.
"Sasuke, I just wanted to thank you for saving me from that Sand…demon thing the other day" Sakura said.
"I'm not the one you should be thanking. If it wasn't for Naruto, we would all be dead right now" admitted Sasuke.
"No way, you're just being modest" said Sakura in disbelief. "Sure Naruto is getting stronger, but there is no way he could take on that sand guy. Even with the help of, well…you know."
Sasuke knew what Sakura was talking about, referring to Naruto's demon. "It's the truth" said Sasuke. While Sakura took everything in, Sasuke ran off to the training ground, hoping to actually get something done for the day.
He found himself at the training grounds and soon began using his Chidori to determine the extent of the power he could unleash with that technique. "Damn it" he swore to himself. "What do I have to do to become stronger? Even with his source of power, he shouldn't have that much. I need to catch up…but how?"
Sasuke went to seek out Kakashi, hoping to get his sensei to train him a little.
"That guy still hasn't found Naruto" said Gai. The four jonin were in the Kakashi's appartment as Kakashi was trying to recover from the excessive mental strain of their previous encounter.
"In this village, finding Naruto is pretty simple" Asuma explained. "Plus Itachi knows his face." Gai hurried to shush him as Sasuke came knocking on the door and entering the room.
"Kakashi?!" he said, startled to see his sensei laid out on the bed like he had just been hit by a truck. "Why is Kakashi sleeping? And why are all the jonin gathered here?" he questioned.
"Is the story that Itachi has returned and that he's chasing Naruto true?" Aoba, another village jonin, said bursting into the room.
"Idiot" Kurenai said, face palming herself.
Sasuke got that look on his face as he slipped into avenger mode. Suddenly, he burst out of the room and began searching for Naruto, knowing that even Naruto stood no chance against Itachi. Sasuke arrived at one of Naruto's favorite locations, Ichiraku Ramen. He burst in there, but saw no Naruto.
"Old man, Naruto usually comes here for lunch, do you know where he went?" Sasuke asked Teuchi.
"Let's see" thought Teuchi. "Naruto stopped by just a few hours ago to grab some ramen before Jiraiya came and got him. Apparently they are going on some trip to find a certain woman."
"Jiraiya?" asked Sasuke, surprised that Naruto had left with him on a trip.
"Jiraiya is one of the Legendary Sanin" explained Teuchi. "Spotting him is easy. Just look for that big white hair of his." Much to Teuchi's displeasure, Sasuke went bolting out of the ramen stand in search for Naruto, without buying any ramen.
Kisame and Itachi were sitting on top of a rock, planning their next move in search of Naruto and the Kyuubi.
"You can fight how and where you want, but I don't know" said Kisame. "The time is wrong."
"Ah. To meet those two and kill them. It's a good place to fight" said Itachi. "So they can't increase the number of people they have."
"It was good we found him at the ramen shop, but now he's protected by one of the Sanin" Kisame explained. "That guy might be a match for the #1 Leaf ninja and the Mist's 7 strongest."
"Yes, but it is said every strong man has a weak point.
Unfortunately for Jiraiya, the first day's journey had been rather uneventful. Naruto had been blabbering on about why Jiraiya asked him to come along and Hinata, who he hoped would act as a buffer and quiet Naruto down, was a few paces behind them, too shy to do anything else.
"Eh, Pervy Sage! Why did you choose me?" asked Naruto. "What sort of jutsu are you going to teach me this time?"
"Pervy Sage?" Jiraiya was irritated by this name. "Hey you! Don't you know what an amazing person I am? It's been said that I'm the Toad Sage. And that's not all. In the north, in the south, east and west…The Legendary Sanin's white-haired frog summoning child! The handsome man that can silence a crying child! He's Jiraiya-sama, that's me!" chanted the Toda Sage.
Naruto just looked back at him with an empty look. "Huh?" he said. "What are we going to do with this guy?"
"I don't know, as long as you don't start introducing yourself like he does" Kurama responded, also slightly irritated at the Toad Sage.
"So, Pervy Sage!" said an increasingly irritating Naruto. "Why did you bring us along? You're doing a sage class in cool jutsu and we were the only who ranks high enough to get in?!"
"Heh…" Jiraiya smiled, patting Naruto on the head. "It's because you resemble a certain former student of mine and Hinata's father actually was a student of mine."
'Hmm…I wonder. Naruto, could you be?'thought Kurama, who had also begun to pick up something familiar about Naruto.
Naruto, Hinata, and Jiraiya arrived at their first stop, Hima town. Hima town was known more for its red-light district and adult night life. However, the three of them were still able to find a normal hotel to stay in.
Suddenly, Jiraiya's pervert senses were tingling as a beautiful woman, with a slim and busty figure approached them, sending them a seductive look.
Naruto's sweat dropped and Hinata was left speechless. "Ahh!" Jiraiya called out, putting on his pervert face. "Naruto!"
"Huh?" Naruto said as Jiraiya was trying to get rid of the kids with him. "Here's the key to the room. Go up to the room and refine your chakra training."
"What?! Are you going to do adult stuff? You Pervy Sage!" shouted Naruto as Jiraiya tried to shut him up and shuffle him to the room.
"Pitiful, absolutely pitiful" commented Kurama at Jiraiya.
"Umm…N-naruto" said the shy Hyuga. "W-why d-do you call the great Master Jiraiya a p-p-pervy sage?"
"Trust me, he may act all cool and know some great jutsu, but in reality, he's just a big pervert" said Naruto, Hinata's face turning red.
The two of them found themselves in a rather large room and decided that they should just get working on their chakra control. Hinata had become rather relaxed in her meditation. Naruto on the other hand, was in a heated debate with Kurama regarding just how big of a pervert Jiraiya actually was. "Damn…this sort of thing always happens when I'm training with Pervy Sage! Training my ass, I can see what he really had in mind!" complained Naruto.
Sasuke had just arrived at the same village that Naruto had arrived in a few hours ago and began frantically searching hotels for Naruto.
'Knock, knock' was heard on Naruto's door.
"Hmm, he's already been rejected and came crawling back?" said Naruto as he went to answer the door as Hinata was awakened from her meditation. He opened the door to see Itachi staring down at him. Naruto looked up with a mixture of puzzlement and fear. Who was this strange guy at the door?
"Sasuke?" he thought as the man did have a striking resemblance to Sasuke. "Wait, it's not him, but he's got the same Sharingan as Sasuke."
"Kit, I have a bad feeling about these two" warned Kurama.
"Could this really be the Nine-Tails child?" asked Kisame.
"Nine-tails?!" thought Naruto. "How did he find out? Was I not careful enough?"
"Yep, this could get ugly…"
"Naruto, we would like you to come with us" offered Itachi. "Come out of the room."
"N-naruto? W-who are these t-two?" asked Hinata appearing behind them. Naruto was being hesitant here. The Fox was constantly sending him warning signs, hoping to buy time for the Perverted Sage to pick up on something and maybe come to the rescue. With the presence of Hinata, he knew he couldn't lash out with the Fox chakra. If there was one thing that Naruto had realized about Hinata, it was that she had been one of the very few people who had always been nice to him. He couldn't remember a time where she had ever insulted him or hurt him. In fact, she had tried to do the complete opposite and help him. Even he knew that she was one of the few people he could actually call a friend, even if she was a little weird, and he was afraid the Fox chakra would just scare her off like it did with most of the village.
"Itachi, it's time we got started" said Kisame. "We don't need him running around, we should cut off a leg." Kisame reached for his sword.
"N-Naruto!" cried Hinata as she now realized the situation they were in.
"Hmm…it's been awhile…Sasuke" Itachi said, his attention shifting down the hall.
"Itachi…Uchiha" Sasuke said, stepping around a corner into the hall that Naruto and the two Akatsuki members were standing in.
"You are…Today is a special day indeed. This is the second time I've seen another Sharingan user" replied Kisame.
Sasuke's face lit up with a massive amount of killing intent. "I will…Kill you!" declared Sasuke, activating his Sharingan
"Itachi Uchiha?" said Naruto starring up at the older Uchiha. "This is…that man Sasuke is always talking about!" "Who are these people and what do they want?"
"Hmm… you seem to be familiar with him, Itachi" said Kisame. "Who is this guy?"
"He's…my brother" Itachi replied.
"This is the man…Sasuke needs to kill?" thought Naruto.
"It would seem so. Where is that pervert? I can sense that these two are well out of yours and Sasuke's league" said Kurama. "It just sucks that your Vixen is here. That's going to make me helping that much more complicated."
Itachi and Sasuke locked eyes, both Sharingan looking into the other's soul. "I've been waiting to say this…I've lived hating you…and I've only lived to kill you!" shouted Sasuke. "I have lived for this!" Sasuke activated his chidori and began charging full speed towards Itachi, tearing up the wall of the hallway in the process. Sasuke lashed out at Itachi with his attack, only for it to be deflected into the wall next to them. The two of them locked eyes, filled with hatred for one another.
"This is bad…Kurama, I need some chakra if I'm going to save Sasuke" Naruto said.
With a quick flick of his wrist, Itachi snapped Sasuke's arm and sending him to the ground in pain.
"Sasuke!" shouted Nartuo. "Summoning…"
"Too late" smiled Kisame as he hit Naruto with his sword, draining the chakra that the kid had collected for the jutsu.
"What the?! I can't feel my chakra!" said Naruto in shock. "Did you do something?"
"No, it's that sword of his I think" replied the Fox.
"Heh, my sword, Samehada, eats up chakra" explained Kisame. "Now that your jutsu is gone, you shouldn't be any more problems. Now should I cut off an arm or a leg first?" Naruto tried to gather some chakra as Kisame swung his sword at Naruto. The attack was blocked by a toad wearing arm guards. Jiraiya had arrived just in time.
"You don't seem to know much about me" said Jiraiya. "I'm better than getting girls than they are at getting me. Even though I don't look like it, it's my specialty." Jiraiya had the woman from before draped over his shoulder. She was unconscious from something, most likely Jiraiya giving her some sort of drug.
"I, Jiraiya, this epitome of manliness! I will fall for no woman's feminine wiles!" shouted Jiraiya, beginning one of his introductions. "When you're someone like me, you only have to flash that sexiness to have woman fall to your feet!" After all was said and done, he was in his pose. Hinata's sweat dropped at Jiraiya's introduction.
"Kit, I've changed my mind" said the Fox, who almost face planted into the floor of Naruto's mindscape. "I think we are better off going with that Uchiha and Fishface." Sadly, Naruto kind of agreed.
"Oh yeah!" shouted Naruto. "That girl just winked at you and you were scampering after her! And now you're trying to look all cool and classy, you Pervy Sage!"
"Hey, can't you stop calling me that in front of others?" asked Jiraiya. Hinata was slowly realizing that Master Jiraiya may in fact be a big pervert. Why did she come? Oh yeah, Naruto.
"Screw that, it's those guys over there we should be worrying about, Pervy Sage!" shouted Naruto.
Sasuke was still on the ground in pain as Kisame and Itachi turned their attention to the Sanin. "So it's one of the Sanin, the great Jiraiya, eh?" asked Kisame. "You like beautiful women but we weren't thinking that such a simple method could successfully stall you."
Jiraiya set the woman down. "So you guys used genjutsu on her to get her to draw me away? Not a very manly way of doing things" claimed Jiraiya. "So you really are after Naruto!"
This realization shook Naruto. Itachi looked at Jiraiya. "No wonder Kakashi knew about this, you were the source of his information." Said Itachi. "To abduct Naruto…those were the orders given to us by the higher echelons in our organization."
"A-abduct N-naruto?" said Hinata, looking over at Naruto.
"Hmm, you won't get Naruto" said Jiraiya. "Because you two are going to die right here at my hand!"
"Don't do it!" Sasuke shouted, standing up. "This guy is MINE!" The hatred and rage was gathering inside him as he looked at his brother, the man who killed his entire clan.
"I'm not interested in you now, Sasuke" replied Itachi. Sasuke charged at Itachi in a blinded rage. Itachi quickly countered, slamming his fist into Sasuke's stomach, causing him to drop over and cough up blood. Itachi slammed Sasuke into a wall, causing him to cough up even more blood and Naruto was forced to look on as his teammate was beaten to a pulp.
"Damn it…there is still such a gap" thought Sasuke as he was getting thrown into the wall. "Why is there such a big difference?" Sasuke fell to the floor, exhausted and ready to pass out from the beating; however, Itachi wouldn't even afford him that luxury. He picked up Sasuke and stared into his younger brother's eyes, activating his Mangekyo Sharingan.
Sasuke woke inside the genjutsu world of Tsukiyome. In front of him was his entire clan on their knees with Itachi standing behind them, sword in hand. "Sasuke, for the next twenty four hours, you will relive that day!" With that, Itachi began to slaughter the Uchiha clan in front of Sasuke…again.
"Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrggggggggggghh hhhhh!" Sasuke screamed out in pain.
"Itachi, I advise you against using your eyes so many times in a single day" warned Kisame.
Naruto began running towards them, hoping to save Sasuke. "Assholes!"
Jiraiya made a few hand seals and suddenly the hallway began to turn into a slimy pink tube. It was like they were inside something's stomach. "Ninpou: Toad mouth bind!" shouted Jiraiya. "Too bad, Itachi, Kisame. You are already inside my stomach!"
"Sasuke, why are you so week?" Itachi asked as the wall began absorbing Sasuke. "Still not enough…hatred!"
"I summoned the esophagus of the giant toad from Myoki Mountain" exclaimed Jiraiya. "I hope you wanted criminals enjoy being food for Iwagama!" Naruto began freaking out and Hinata was even a bit grossed out by what was happening. "Don't worry you two. Just stay still. It's my jutsu!"
Kisame and Itachi tried to flee before they were digested. "The wall of flesh is closing in!" shouted Kisame, panic setting in.
Jiraiya and Naruto followed them, only to see a hole in the wall with black flames burning around the edge. "The black flamed of Amaterasu…surely the wall was torn apart by them" Jiraiya realized. He pulled a scroll out and began to scribe a seal on it. After making a quick hand seal, the black flames were absorbed into it. "Fuuinjutsu: Fire seal, highest rank!"
Jiraiya recalled the esophagus and the hallway returned to normal. Sasuke was sitting against a way. He was in the same state as Kakashi was after taking the mental beating of Tsukiyomi.
"Dynamic Entry!" shouted Gai as he lashed out at an unsuspecting Jiraiya, sending him back into the wall. After a quick apology, Jiraiya informed Gai that he needed to be taken back to the hospital. Naruto was wondering if Sasuke would be okay and Jiraiya informed him that it was now more imperative that they found Tsunade as she was the only one who could fully heal Sasuke. Gai also mentioned that Kakashi had suffered from the same jutsu. Naruto tried to talk Jiraiya into letting him go after the two Akatsuki, but Jiraiya tried to shut him up. After some talking, Jiraiya finally got Naruto to realize that their best bet was to find Tsunade. Gai departed to take Sasuke back to the hospital to try and recover.
The three set off on their journey. And now Hinata was the one left wondering. "M-master Jiraiya, w-what d-did those men want with N-Naruto?" she finally asked. It was now that Jiraiya was regretting bringing her along.
"It's not so much of Naruto that they were after, it's well…I can't really say right now" said Jiraiya.
"I-is this a-about the K-K-Kyuubi?" asked Hinata. Everyone was shocked, frozen in place. Even Kurama was hit by this.
"H-H-How?" now it was Naruto's turn to stutter.
"W-well, w-when I was 8, o-one of the clan elders…well, t-they told me, h-hoping that I w-would h-hate you and stay away from you" explained Hinata. "B-but, I-I could n-never hate you Naruto. That only made me admire you more. You had a demon inside yet you were always so positive." Jiraiya knew this would make good ammunition against the Hyuga elders should it be needed.
Naruto's jaw dropped and so did the Fox's. "This Vixen is definitely a keeper" Kurama thought to himself.
Naruto felt something warm inside him. He had no clue what it was, but it was there. It had came from Hianta's little confession about knowing his secret and the fact that even still, she wanted to be his friend. "Hinata, thank you. You don't know how much that means to me" replied Naruto.
Jiraiya hated to ruin the moment, but they had to move on quick. "Oh, and Hinata you know you can't refer to the Kyuubi inside of Konoha. We usually just call him 'Fuzzball'" joked Jiraiya.
"…Let me out so I can rip that mouth of his off! I'm the Demon Nine-tailed Fox, not 'Fuzzball!" shouted Kurama inside Naruto
"Hehe, you made Fuzzball angry" laughed Naruto. Kurama just growled at the two. "Oh lighten up, it's just a joke."
"W-wait…y-you c-can actually t-talk to t-the K-Kyuubi?" asked Hinata. Naruto sighed, he would have to do something about recording this conversation. As they traveled, Naruto told Hinata basically the same thing he had told everyone else so far, that the Fox was just misunderstood and that he really wasn't evil. Hinata, being Hinata, easily accepted what Naruto was saying. This was before Jiraiya confirmed to her the power of the contract between the two. "A-alright, but the Kyuubi, what exactly is he anyways?"
"The Kyuubi is an ancient demon. People of old would fear it" explained Jiraiya. "As to why they would want it? I don't know. However, I guess they are trying to find a way to harness and control its powers. They are going to keep coming after you, but I'll be there to protect you so you don't…"
"And that's why I need to become stronger!" claimed Naruto. "They hurt Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei and they would no doubt hurt other friends of mine. I need to become stronger so that I can protect them. Plus, I can't just let them have Kurama. I made him a promise and I won't let it go because that's my nindo!" This as well strengthened Hinata's resolve. She was going to get stronger with Naruto so that he wouldn't have to face this 'Akatsuki' group alone.
"Heh, now that's Naruto for you" thought Jiraiya. "Just remember, we need to make YOU strong. You can't continue relying on the Kyuubi's power. I think the two of you realize that or else you would have gone full Kyuubi-mode back there. Don't worry, I said I was going to make you strong and I will."
"Alright! Then let's hurry and get started on finding this Tsunade so she can heal Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei and we can get to training!" shouted a hyperactive Naruto. He calmed down as something came to mind. "So this Tsunade, she's one of the Sanin? Like you? Then how old is she?"
"My age" Jiraiya smiled.
"Wow, she's old then. What's she like?" asked Naruto.
"Well, she's kinda annoying. She's a compulsive gambler and well known in lots of countries." Jiraiya continued on with his explanation.
"Well, she'll be easy to find if she's famous!" said Naruto.
"Oh yeah, she's famous alright. She's know far and wide as the Legendary…" said Jiraiya.
"I want to turn all my money into chips!" shouted Tsunade, slamming a case full of money down onto the table in a local gambling hall. The guys around the table just looked at her with odd looks.
"Who is she?" whispered one of the men to another.
"This person has a nickname, don't you know?" responded one of the other men.
"Nickname?" replied the first man.
"Yeah, the Legendary…Sucker!" the man said. Suddenly all the other men sitting at the table had a big grin beginning to show on their face. Tsunade's assistant, Shizune, started freaking out, realizing that they knew who she was and that they were going to be taking full advantage of that.
"Hmm, she may have a name, but I don't think she'll be easy to find" said Jiraiya. "She ain't the type to age gracefully, so she'll probably be using a special jutsu to change her appearance. She may be 50, but she'll probably look to be in her mid 20's. And, I've been hearing that she changes her age from 10 to 40 to 20 to get away from her gambling debts."
"Humans. Some just can't seem to accept mortality" snickered the Fox.
"Hey, so how old are you?" asked Naruto.
"Hmm, me? Well I've been around for a little over 1000 years" responded the Fox.
"Wow!" said Naruto in awe. "So how old is your father?"
"Well, the one I considered my old man died almost 1000 years ago. He was a mortal like you, but the first thing that I respected. I have some stories, but I'll save those for another day" responded Kurama.
"Tsunade as a kid loved to gamble more than anything" continued Jiraiya. "Unfortunately, she sucked at it in both skill and luck. She earned the nickname 'sucker' a long time ago. Back then, she was always borrowing money and then running away…ahh those were the days."
"Heh, so you must miss those days" said Naruto. "Well, so how are we going to find her then?"
"Since we are going by foot, there are many ways of doing this…" Jiraiya said vaguely.
"That means we don't know…So how long is it going to take?" asked Naruto.
"We don't have much time to spare, and we will be spending most of that time…" stated Jiraiya. "On the two of you."
Naruto and Hinata were slightly confused as they came to the edge of the next town. After checking into the hotel, Jiraiya took the two genin to the outskirts of town. "So, Pervy Sage! What's this training? What makes it better than Chidori?"
"Well, you could say this is the same type of training that Sasuke went through to get his Chidori" explained Jiraiya as Naruto got excited. "Now, the first thing I want for you to do is teach Hinata here, your shadow clone jutsu."
"What?!" they both said in unison. "I guess I'm fine showing it to her, but why does she need the shadow clone jutsu?" asked Naruto.
"Hmm, you don't know about the other benefit of using shadow clones?" asked Jiraiya. Naruto questioned him as to what the 'other benefit' was. Jiraiya explained to Naruto that any knowledge and experience gained by the clones would transfer back to the original. "This training requires a lot of time, so we are going to use shadow clones to make the most of it. Think of it this way, if you train for an hour with three clones, that would be the same as three hours of training."
"Wow!" exclaimed Naruto. "So if I were to train with over a hundred clones, that would be a hundred hours of training in an hour?"
A hundred clones? A hundred Narutos? Hinata was having trouble comprehending this without turning bright red. Of course, a hundred clones was nothing for Naruto, who created over a thousand to beat up Mizuki once. If Hinata thought of that, she would most certainly faint.
"More or less, but you don't get the experience until you dispel them" explained Jiraiya. "This method will help both of you and you two will be using shadow clones to master each step of this training. I don't expect Hinata to be able to create anywhere near as many clones as you can, but even two or three will help."
"Alright, let's get to it then!" shouted Naruto. Jiraiya went into the town to collect 'information' on Tsunade's whereabouts, leaving Naruto to work with Hinata for the rest of the day.
Their training continued for the next day that they were in town and on that evening, Hinata finally got it as she stared at an exact, physical copy of herself. Despite not having a large chakra reserve, her superior control greatly helped with creating the clone. "Yeah! You did it, Hinata!" shouted Naruto, testing that the close was actually solid. Like its original, the Hinata clone even possessed the ability to faint when Naruto got too close. For the first time in her life, she actually saw what it was like to faint in front of Naruto as the original Hinata was a little embarrassed that she had been doing that now for a few years.
"Well, it looks like the two of you are done" said Jiraiya, returning to the outskirts of town to join them. He looked down to see the unconscious clone before it was dispelled.
"Y-yes, w-well I can only make a few, n-no m-more than two" said Hinata as she felt a rather large drain on her chakra reserves.
"So does this mean we can start working on that Chidori training?" asked Naruto, eager to get on with this awesome training Jiraiya had promised.
"Like I said, you are probably not the right type for Chidori" restated Jiraiya.
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" asked Naruto.
"For jutsu, there are five basic elements: Fire, wind, water, lightning, and earth. These five elements are the foundation for all jutsu" said Jiraiya. "Most people have chakra that naturally leans strongly towards one of these natures. For example, the Uchiha clan was full of people with the fire affinity."
"Wait, but what about Sasuke? I thought Chidori was a lightning technique?" asked Naruto.
"Yes, well it turns out that Sasuke also has a strong lightning nature to his chakra as well" explained Jiraya.
"So it's possible to have more than one element?" asked Naruto.
"Yes. In fact, most jonin are able to use two or more elements. For example, my main element is fire, but I can also use earth and water elements with my jutsu" said Jiraiya. "Most people have one nature that they are particularly strong in and some people even have two. Just because you are strong in one element, doesn't mean you can't use other elements. With the appropriate training, you can master elements that you are not as strong with, although they will never be as strong as your main element."
"Alright, I think I get it. So I have a main element, but I can learn other ones as well." Jiraiya nodded. "Wow! Hey Hinata, do you know what element your chakra has?"
"W-well, my entire clan has an earth element, so I-I should as well" said Hinata. "I hope my element is earth. What would father say if it wasn't? If I don't have an earth element, then would he see me as a complete failure again?" worried Hinata.
"You mean you don't know? Well then how do we check? And what is my element, Pervy Sage?" said Naruto, irritating Jiraiya.
"Calm down Naruto. We'll check with these cards." Jiraiya pulled out a few chakra litmus cards from his pouch. Jiraiya channeled some chakra into them and the paper burst into flames. "Just channel some chakra into them. If you're fire natured, the card will burn. Wind cuts it in half. Lightning crumples the paper. Water gets it wet. Earth crumbles to dust."
Jiraiya handed a card to Naruto and Naruto did as instructed, channeling chakra into the paper. When he looked at the paper, it was cut in half, indicating a wind nature. "Hmm, wind. It actually fits you. You seem to prefer close ranged attacks and wind will enhance the power of those attacks for you, at the same time, it also does give you some mid range capabilities."
"But wait, you're don't have a wind element. How are you going to teach me?" asked a concerned Naruto.
"Don't worry, I had a past student with a wind nature and I trained him just fine." Jiraiya reassured Naruto. "Just to let you know, I also suspect you have a strong fire nature as well. Just ask Fuzzball about that sometime when you get a chance."
"Wow! Really?" shouted Naruto. "That's awesome! I'm going to get so powerful! Sasuke won't know what hit him!"
Jiraiya turned to Hianta and handed her a card. "Please be earth. Please be earth." She thought, closing her eyes and channeling chakra into her card.
"Wow Hinata, that's great!" shouted Naruto as Hinata opened her eyes. He card had not crumbled to dirt and instead it had split into two like Naruto's. Jiraiya's eyebrow rose as he examined what had just peaked his interest. This little Hyuga had a wind element, just like he had hoped Hiashi would have had.
Hinata began to panic a little. "Oh no. I don't have an earth element. What's father going to say?" worried Hinata.
"Huh? Why's that?" asked Naruto, now curious as to why she was freaking out.
"M-my c-clan is r-really strict with this sort of t-thing" she said. "The elders will s-surely l-label me a f-failure now."
"What?! That's just dumb. Wind is a great element…uhh, hey Pervy Sage, what's good about the wind element again?" Jiraiya nearly face planted.
Jiraiya bent down, trying to cheer the now depressed Hinata up. "The wind element is almost like a blade. To be honest, I was hoping that Hiahsi would have had a wind element and I can see the potential it has within the Gentle Fist. The idea is to make the chakra as sharp and thin as possible, increasing its cutting power."
"Y-you mean l-like my Protection of the Eight Trigrams?" asked Hinata, remembering how she had developed this. This actually interested Jiraiya even more and he requested her to show him that technique. After analyzing the attack, there was indeed wind chakra mixed into it. To have been able to unknowingly transform her chakra like that, Hinata was a natural when it came to the cutting nature of wind. "B-but Jiraiya-sama, w-why d-did you want my father to have a wind element?"
"Hmm. Think of it this way. The Gentle Fist relies on blocking the tenketsu and chakra flow of opponents. Just like the earth blocks the flow of water in a stream. That's why they Hyuga have strong earth elements" explained Jiraiya. "Now, if you add wind chakra to your gentle fist, you wouldn't be attacking the chakra network with a simple burst of chakra, but rather a blade of it. It's the same way as if I took a knife to a blood vessel inside you and cut it. However, unlike blood vessels, the chakra network is harder to repair. With enough refinement, you could develop a style that effectively destroys the opponent's chakra network rather than blocking it."
"R-Really?!" Hinata sounded surprised and now a bit excited. For ages, the Hyuga have been looking for a way to actually destroy an opponent's chakra network instead of just blocking it.
"Woah! That's so cool Hinata!" exclaimed Naruto, causing the girl to blush a little. "Hey Pervy Sage, if the wind element is that awesome, how come I haven't seen it more?"
Jiraiya chuckled a little. "A wind affinity is rare. As far as I know, there is only one other person in Konoha with a wind chakra nature."
"Really?! Who?" asked Naruto.
"Asuma Sarutobi" stated Jiraiya. "If you want, you can go ask him for advice when we get back, but like I said, I used to have a student with a wind element so I know how to teach the two of you."
"Well what are we waiting for then?! What do we do?" shouted a now hyper Naruto. Hinata smiled at the energy displayed by her crush.
Jiraiya went over to a nearby tree and picked a few leaves off the tree and handed it to the two of them. "Using only your chakra, I want the two of you to cut the leaf into two. I recommend you each use shadow clones as that will increase your experience.
With that, Jiraiya left the two to their training, much to Naruto's displeasure. Regardless, the two began training for the rest of the evening, creating their shadow clones. For Naruto, he had just over 100 clones, while Hinata only had 2 other clones, which had started off the session unconscious as the sight of a hundred Narutos.
It wasn't long until Hinata had her leaf cut in half. Having already developed her Protection of the Eight Trigrams, she was already able to sharpen her chakra to the point where she could cut the leaf with ease.
Neji had just woken up, the excruciating pain still pounding in his head from when the elders activated his seal. He heard a knock on his door and instructed whoever it was to come in. It was Hiashi. Neji wasn't sure what to think right now. On one side, Hiashi had talked to him the other day and was finally glad that Hiashi had revealed the truth about that night. On the other hand, the main family had just used the seal on him.
"Neji, I came here to apologize for the inappropriate and unjust actions of the elders" apologized Hiashi. "However, there is something I wish to discuss with you. Come to training ground 16 in an hour." With that Hiashi left and Neji was left contemplating what it was that his uncle wanted to talk to him about.
About an hour later, Neji was standing at training ground 16 with Hiashi approaching him. Hiashi activated his Byakugan and scanned the surrounding area, they were alone. "Uncle, if I may ask, what is this about?"
"Neji, I came here to tell you something. Something regarding the seal on your head" said Hiashi. This instantly caught Neji's full attention. "As you know, it is the elders who are in charge of branding Hyuga with the caged bird seal and recently, they have become more carefree about activating it. I just had a little chat with them and they have agreed to lay off activating the seal."
Neji felt relieved by this. "I am thankful for that, but what is to stop them in the future if they ever start abusing it again?"
"As of now, not much. The real reason I asked you to come here is that I am currently looking into a way to remove the seal." This shocked Neji. The removal of the caged bird seal? He would give just about anything to have it removed. "As you are aware, there is no current method to remove the seal. However, I have asked Master Jiraiya, my old master and the best seal master around, to look into finding a way to remove it. I have faith that he will be able to do so and once that day comes, I fully intend to have yours removed."
Neji was speechless. The head of the main branch was actually looking for a way to get rid of the seal that practically subjugated the branch families. "But…why?" was all he could say.
"I will admit my reasons at first were rather selfish" explained Hiashi. "At first, it was because I didn't want either of my daughters to suffer the fate. For the past few years, I figured that Hanabi would be the heir unless Hinata began showing some potential, which she did these past few months. The one thing I have always regretted, and you have helped me see this, was that the whole idea of the Caged Bird Seal drove my brother and I apart. I didn't want to see my daughters suffer that same fate, as the day would most likely come where they would have to compete against one another as to which became the heir and which one was sealed. I realized that there was no way I could let that happen."
"I see" replied Neji. "So you are looking for a way to save your daughters from that fate should the day come that it befell one of them."
"Yes, that was my original intentions; however, with the recent activities of the elders, if that seal is not removed, they could potentially drive this family into ruin, especially you" said Hiashi.
"Me?" asked a surprised Neji.
"Yes. You were born into the branch family; unable to become the heir, yet it is obvious that you have more potential than anyone in this clan. I can't let the elders take away the opportunities that you still have, and this is now something I want to do, for my brother and the one who reminds me so much of my brother" explained Hiashi. Neji felt a few tears come to his eyes as Hiashi mentioned his father. "Like I said before, I have dealt with the elders for now and you shouldn't have to worry for awhile. I am also offering to take you as my student to learn the techniques of the main family."
Now Neji was shocked. Hiashi had just offered him all the Hyuga techniques. No longer would he have to reverse engineer them like he did with the Kaiten or the Eight Trigrams. Neji gratefully accepted Hiashi's offer.
A/N: Yes, Hinata has known about the Kyuubi for a few years, thanks to one of the Hyuga elders trying to frighten her away from Naruto.
A/N: Here is a little explanation on how Hinata was able to get the Shadow Clone technique down fairly quick. The jutsu itself is not entirely that difficult. What makes it a B-rank technique is the chakra requirement. Also, Hianta's Byakugan allows her to observe how Naruto moulded the chakra for the jutsu and thanks to her superior control, she was able to replicate the technique after about a day of training. Although Naruto did have to do the jutsu and slow it down for her at the beginning. This is nothing compared to the Sharingan in the sense of observing techniques, but it gives Hinata an edge in training chakra and chakra control. As her chakra reserves are not that large, the most shadow clones Hinata will be able to make for a while will be 2.
Hope you enjoyed. The training sessions in here were a little difficult to write, but hopefully I did them correctly, along with Hinata's revealing she knew about the Kyuubi. Reviews and comments appreciated.