Chunin Exams arc
Recovery
Waking up after having a happy dream was always the worst thing that could happen early in the morning. Opening her eyes to the darkness of night, she remembered where she was, and why. Even though several doctors had ensured her that she was doing fine, Hinata still felt weak. Her mother had forbidden her to use chakra. And the doctors kept their troubled looks whenever they thought she wasn't looking at them.
Even getting out of bed, and walking towards the chair, which stood barely two meters from her, was exhausting.
In her dreams, she remembered what had happened when Naruto started to live at the Hyuga estate. How Haruki, who had resigned from his position as a shinobi a few months before, now was struggling to keep Naruto under control. How he had laboured to teach Naruto proper manners.
Hinata remembered how foreign Naruto had seemed to her. An entity which stood free from all the rules and pressure people put on him. A silent and withdrawn little boy, who stood independent of all others, who faced his loneliness with more bravery than anyone she knew. For someone like her, who always clamped onto her mother, and was too shy to speak her mind, the way Naruto lived in solitude was a small wonder.
How quick had it been before she had noticed she admired him. Not because her father told her that Naruto had saved her, but because Naruto had the will and mental strength that she lacked. In the years where she had been a constant disappointment to her clan, Naruto stood alone and cultivated the strength she could now see in her teammate. How long had it been since that admiration changed into something stronger?
Hitomi had tried, more than once, to get both the children to grow closer. But Hinata recalled how she was too shy, while Naruto had remained formal, even a bit distant; doing what Haruki had taught him to do when someone of the main family was near. And the more she got to know him, the harder it became for her to act naturally to him.
But now that she thought back, Hinata recollected that Naruto had never been comfortable around people of his own age. He had eventually accepted Haruki, just as he had done with Jiraiya and the Hokage himself. But most of the time, Naruto had just kept his distance.
From everyone.
Hinata sighed. 'And I never dared to get close either, always failing because I was too embarrassed. Just like the coward others say I am…'
And the longer she had kept her distance from Naruto, the harder it had become for her to step forward. Until she thought he would abandon Konoha, that was. And now Naruto had left to train, or so Kiba and Hitomi had told her. Why was there always some reason that kept them apart?
She sighed. 'Not that it would matter.. Even if Naruto-kun saw me..' she blushed at the thought, 'Even if, it would be impossible… I'm expect to marry someone important, father would never even consider someone who is barely more than a clanless man.'
She expected that her clan would be in turmoil, now that she had failed against Neji, the main family's reputation was at stake. And it could not use that the clan's honoured guest had just threatened the branch's 'champion,' and defied the fighting style that the Hyuga had cultivated for centuries.
Even though Hinata knew that she was useless, she was not stupid. Her mother visited her every day, but neither her father nor her little sister had taken the trouble to come see her. She had embarrassed her father, and he would likely follow the main family's stance that she was unfit to be heir..
Hinata closed her eyes again. She wanted to sleep, to dream about the time her team headed out for those ruins. She wanted to see the enthusiasm from Kiba and Akamaru, who only looked worried recently, no matter how hard they tried to hide that. She wanted to relive the cautious acceptance from Naruto towards them, and his unyielding determination. She wanted to see her sensei without a worried face, and see her as she was when she was scolding Jiraiya for insinuating something that wasn't proper. She wanted them to return to how they were on their last mission outside Konoha.
'I wish I was someone else,' her last thoughts were, before she fell asleep again.
"Sensei," Tsunade bowed slightly when she saw the Hokage. Hiruzen had been notified they would come through the main gate, and despite the early hour, he was already waiting.
"Tsunade," the old man smiled. "I am glad to see you return to Konoha once again."
"Don't get too happy," she warned. "I am only here for a few days. After the exam, I am gone."
Hiruzen nodded, not showing his disappointment. "So you still.."
"Some wounds cannot be healed, sensei. You know that. But those are not the wounds why I am here."
"I see.. So you two had success. Is that.. Shizune?" Hiruzen eyes widened a bit. "Last time I saw you barely reached my shoulder! And now it's the other way around. I have surely grown old," he laughed.
"Hokage-sama," Shizune said politely, as she bowed. Even Tonton bowed her head, something which amused Hiruzen.
"And who is this?" he added, looking at Karin.
"We found her while we were looking for Tsunade," Jiraiya told the lie they had prepared. "Karin has some unusual sensory abilities, perhaps she hails from some lesser known bloodline. She helped us locate Tsunade, and in return I promised her she could enter Konoha. I think she would make quite a good shinobi. Shizune even thinks Karin has the aptitude to learn the mystical palm technique, and that she has talent to become a fine healer."
"I see," Hiruzen slowly spoke, recognizing that not everything was told. "Well, if you say she can be trusted, I will trust you." He knew full well that Jiraiya was not the fool he usually pretended to be, and combined with Naruto's 'other' sense, it would have been nearly impossible for a young girl to fool them.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Karin said, relieved.
"Genma," the hokage called his guard to him. "You ensure Karin gets a place in to live, and that her skills and knowledge is assessed before she is either allowed into the academy or assigned to active duty."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Genma bowed slightly, and led Karin away.
"Now, shall we go?" Hiruzen gestured at the direction of the hospital.
When Hinata woke, she still felt exhausted. Though dreamless, her night had not given her much rest. Though Kiba, Akamaru, and her other visitors, tried to cheer her up, Hinata felt like she was locked away. Imprisoned. Like a caged bird. Unwilling to open her eyes to another long day wherein she could do nothing but look at all the flowers, she turned to her side and decided to sleep another few hours. In this hopeless world only the flowers seemed to have some colour, still, the tranquillity of dreams was preferable.
But something was different this morning. There was a smell of food, mixed with the smell of the hospital and the flowers. The latter was still a mystery to her, Konohamaru brought new flowers every few days, but refused to tell her why, aside from mentioning that it was his 'mission'. And she refused to believe Ino's gossip. She didn't dare to hope for such a thing. And somewhat annoyingly, Kiba seemed to find the whole situation rather amusing.
Her half-conscious mind started to figure out why it she could smell food, and she noticed the soft sounds of someone eating.
Hinata groaned a little, as she turned around to look at the source of the sound. She spurred open her eyes. "Naruto?" she whispered with a hoarse and dry voice. "Naruto?" he looked up from his dish when she called him for the second time.
Her green-clad teammate had a small box with food from Ichiraku's with him. Hinata smiled at the sight.
"Hinata," Naruto put the box on the table, and moved towards her. "How are you?"
"I.. I'm fine."
"Not really," he said with a wry smile. "But you will be," he promised.
"Naruto?"
"I'm sorry I was away for all this time," Naruto apologized, but before she could answer, he continued. "But at least my mission was successful. Jiriaya, Karin, and I, we retrieved someone who can completely heal you," he smiled.
"So you finally came back?" Kiba opened the door. Akamaru jumped towards Naruto, demanding attention. "And why do you smell like pig?" Kiba frowned, noticing the smell.
"Ah, that would be Tonton.. Her pig. And yeah, it took a bit longer than expected, but she agreed to come to Konoha," Naruto smiled while patting Akamaru. "Tsunade-baasan is still downstairs, discussing with the doc. And with Hitomi-sama, who also knew we had returned, somehow. Seriously, are mothers all-knowing?"
"Probably," Kiba smirked. "Outsmarting them is impossible. Not to mention dangerous," he shivered a bit.
Hinata had somewhat recovered from the unexpected situation. "Tsunade-sama, the Sannin?" she realized.
"Yup," Naruto sat down and finished what was left of his food. "She's the pervert's old teammate, and they say she's the best healer in the world. In addition to being a short-tempered drunk," he laughed. "And a damn coward."
Hinata looked a little puzzled, so Kiba decided to tell. "There is some damage that the doctors could not treat, Hinata."
"Wait, you didn't tell her?" Naruto asked.
"What damage?" Hinata sounded a bit worried. "Is it.."
"There is nothing to worry about now, Hinata," Naruto ensured her. "That bastard of a Neji damaged your heart.. But now that we have retrieved Tsunade-baasan, you will be fine!"
"That's right," Kiba added. "Though I'm sorry we kept it a secret. But we did not tell you because it is bad for you to worry too much.."
"But.. Naruto-kun… Your training.. You should not have wasted you time on.."
"I trained while travelling. Kiba is right, you know. You really do worry too much.. Relax a little. I know we are pretty much lost without you, I mean: Kiba has too much energy focus on anything, and I am even worse. But we'll manage."
Hinata smiled weakly while Kiba protested. "You are the eyes and brains of our team, Hinata-sama," Naruto added, deliberately using the honorific to make sure she knew he was scolding her. "But even so, you don't have to worry about us. Let us worry about you for a change."
"But.."
"No objections," Kiba smirked. "For once I agree with Naruto, so you lose the vote. How I love democracy in these situations!"
"You focus on your recovery," Naruto chuckled, "I'll focus on putting that Neji down."
"If he doesn't forfeit first," Kiba laughed softly.
"Why would Neji-niisan forfeit?"
"Because I nearly killed him last time," Naruto shrugged, before adding darkly, "He was lucky that those jonin interfered. But he won't forfeit, he's far too stupid to do such a thing. At least, I hope so.."
Hinata was startled when Kiba told her all the details of what had happened. How Naruto had pulled Hinata out of the fight, and how he had nearly choked Neji to death. What surprised her was how Naruto laconically described how Neji's juuken had struck his chest, like he hardly took it seriously. Sure, Kurenai had hinted at Naruto's actions, telling her he saved her, but this..
She knew Naruto was far stronger than she was, yet she still wanted to warn him not to underestimate Neji.
"Don't waste your breath on trying to lecture that brat, he will never listen," Tsunade grimaced as she barged into the room. "Nor does he care about who he is fighting."
"Baa-san.." Naruto protested, though Hinata could see he was not serious.
"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me like that!" the blonde woman started to protest, the bulging vein on her forehead obvious to all.
"Told you she was short-tempered," Naruto said to Kiba. "So, will you help Hinata like you promised?" he continued with a serious and cold voice. 'Because I'll kill you if you don't..' he added in thought.
"I made a promise," Tsunade narrowed her eyes, noticing Naruto's sudden change in demeanour. "And I don't treat lives like I treat money. I never go back on the bets I make, brat."
Shizune couldn't help but sigh. "Will you two ever stop your ceaseless bickering?" she said, before she walked towards Hinata. "You will make a full recovery, Hinata-sama," she promised the girl.
"Yeah, I was shocked those doctors couldn't even treat it themselves," Tsunade scoffed. "Perhaps it is not so bad to return here for a little while.. Those amateurs certainly need some training. Could give us a nice amount of ryo too," she mused. "I bet they would be pretty desperate for a good teacher here."
"You three get out of here," Tsunade looked at the two genin and the dog. "Just go to the waiting room, this should only take an hour or so.."
"Jiraiya-sama," Kurenai bowed. She was somewhat surprised to find one of the Sannin on her doorstep, at this time in the morning. Good thing she always got up early.
"Kurenai," Jiraiya said with serious face. "We just returned this morning, and Tsunade is going to heal Hinata today."
"That is great," Kurenai replied, relieved that they had succeeded in their mission. "But why are you here?"
"I need to leave Konoha for a few days, something I need to check. I would like you to look after Naruto these last five days before the exam. He says he still wants to test something, so training him will probably won't be much of an effort, but I would like it if you took him in for these days. Keep him safe."
"What? Is this because of the Hyuga clan?"
"I don't know the details, but it seems there is a little unrest within their clan. Hitomi asked me to keep Naruto with me for these days, but that would be a bit difficult now," Jiraiya sighed. "So I would like to ask you to take over from me."
"It is no problem, Jiraiya-sama. Naruto is my student, after all. I could take him to the edge of Konoha for a few days, under the cover of him not wanting to be disturbed while training."
Jiraiya nodded. "Good plan. But don't get too far from Konoha.. And don't let the brat do anything stupid, like overexerting himself right before the exam.."
Kurenai smiled. "Don't worry. I'll keep him under control. Even if I have to resort to genjutsu to do it."
"Thank you," Jiraiya bowed slightly. "And be careful. Also for Naruto himself.. His anger.. I pity that Hyuga brat who pissed him off," Jiraiya frowned. 'Angry enough to charge at someone like Tsunade. Sure, she may be far past her prime, but she is still one formidable adversary. Yet he didn't even flinch before attacking her. And it wasn't like he was unaware of what he was getting himself in to either.'
"Thank you, Naruto," Hitomi bowed to the surprised genin. When he, Kiba, and Akamaru entered the waiting room, they saw that she was already waiting for them.
"A.. T-There is no need to thank me," Naruto said while he scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. "I mean, Jiraiya-sensei and Karin-chan did most of the work."
"But you were the one to convince Tsunade-sama to go with you," she countered. "And what Tsunade-sama told me about the bet was quite impressive. She even refused my offer to compensate her, because she lost that bet."
"What bet did you make?" Kiba frowned.
"Ehh.. Nothing much, only that I could make her fight me seriously," Naruto said casually, not waiting to sound like he bragged about it.
"You fought one of the Sannin?!"
"Well, it was just a little duel.."
"It was more than 'little,'" Hitomi remarked. "At least, Tsunade-sama acknowledged you forced her to take you seriously."
"They should just give you an exemption from the finals," Kiba laughed, "Would make it fairer to the others as well, if they just promoted you right now."
"Then who would stop Gaara?"
They chattered on for a little while, but mostly waited in silence. Neither of the genin was capable of completely hiding their concern, despite their bravado. Hitomi was glad her daughter found such teammates.
"Are you sure this is far enough? This is still a training ground," Kurenai said when Naruto stopped.
"Nehh, I didn't plan to go too far from Konoha. This open space should be enough, especially for the first few tests."
They had walked towards the edge of Konoha, and Naruto had more or less told her what he needed for his test. Though she did not particularly liked his restraint regarding what it was he wanted to test. "You will see, sensei," he had told her.
"Sensei, I will create two bunshin and start my first attempt. I think it would be smart to keep a little distance. In case something goes wrong," he scratched his chin. "Don't worry, fire doesn't hurt me, remember?" he added after seeing her look. "But it might be a bit destructive if it goes wrong. Though I did all the math, and it should work properly."
She moved back a little, and looked on as Naruto and two of his clones sat down on the ground. They formed a triangle, with a few meters distance between them.
When Kurenai had explained her plans to him, after Hinata had woken up half a day after the surgery, Naruto had first objected. Even after she had convinced him, with a little push from Tsunade helping her, he was still adamant about not wanting to go too far away. On their way to the training area, Naruto had told her why: he wanted to visit Hinata. "Hinata-chan always worries about everything, and never trusts herself. I think her defeat only made that worse. What kind of teammate would I be if I ignored her and just continued training?" he had said.
While Kurenai was lost in thoughts, waiting until Naruto would do something, Naruto had created some kind of fiery pattern on the ground. When he stood up, Kurenai shifted all her attention towards the sight. Flames rose from the lines that formed the pattern.
"Fuinjutsu: Ennetsu Jigoku," Naruto said firmly. His bunshin vanished, and his face grimaced in concentration. The flames dwindled for a moment, and a fire spread within the circular form of the seal.
Kurenai almost fell over when the small fire suddenly ignited into a raging pillar of flames. The pillar was at least as tall as a five-story building, and a few meter in diameter. The flames roared, as if the demonic voices from hell itself called out to her.
"These levels of chakra.." Kurenai whispered. "A fitting name.. Ennetsu Jigoku: the flames of hell."
Then she noticed something… something urgent.
"Naruto, end the technique!" she shouted. Naruto frowned, and struggled for a few seconds before the pillar of fire quenched.
Though he was covered in sweat, and looked exhausted from the strain the seal had put on him, Naruto was still somewhat surprised at her outburst.
"Why, sensei?"
"These levels of chakra are far too dangerous," she scolded him. "Don't be so reckless!"
Naruto shrugged. "Sure, it isn't easy, but I knew that.. Though my calculations were a little off, I guess I need to alter the seal a little to reduce the strain a bit.." Naruto scratched his chin, concentrated on the problem he just seemed to have noticed, while Kurenai was still shocked about something else.
"That is not the issue here-" she started.
"It has no escape mechanism," Naruto didn't seem to listen to his sensei. "But if I altered that part a bit, it should be easier to stop the technique.. Or would it reduce the output as well? No, not if I expanded the left quadrant, and widened the chakra conductors.."
Kurenai rubbed her head. At least Naruto was aware of the danger of the technique. Not that she understood how he managed to cancel a technique which had lacked the option to bail out..
Kurenai was surprised at the ease at which Naruto managed to tweak seals. After a few small attempts, he had created three more pillars of fire, before the genin was too exhausted to continue for the day.
"At least the last one worked properly," Naruto smiled. "The escape mechanism doesn't reduce the power anymore. But it is a bit harder to create now."
"So that is why you added another bunshin?" Kurenai guessed.
"Yeah.. Sometimes that is the only way. Focussing on four things at once is harder than spreading my chakra over some bunshin who each focus on one or two things," Naruto shrugged. He sat down on the ground, wiping the sweat from his head. He took off the shirt, which was also soaked.
"So, how did your training with Jiraiya-sama go?" she asked, noticing the exceptional quality of the mesh armour he wore underneath his shirt.
"Could've been better,' Naruto admitted. "Still haven't completed the jutsu the pervert wanted to teach me. Rasengan he called it. My chakra control still isn't good enough for it. Not yet at least. He said I was still to angry to focus properly. But at least the raiton training was reasonably successful."
"Lightning?" Kurenai's eyes widened in shocked, after hearing him casually talk about several crazy things that should have been impossible for a mere genin. 'Hell, even most jonin would not be able to do the fourth's jutsu..'
"Yeah, seems like I messed up while I was working on one of my seals, and it turned out accidentally was training to use raiton.. Well, it is still harder than katon or futon, but at least it works now."
"Do you realize.. Three elements…"
"I was told that the fire affinity is due to my guest. Wind is my own, and lightning is something I have trained for a while now, even though I was not aware of it. I'm still bad at it though. I tried to create a seal, but the notes didn't say it was raiton-based, so it took a lot of work before it worked to some degree," he added after seeing his sensei's confusion.
"If you continue like this, you should ask Kakashi-senpai to teach you some new jutsu.."
"Neh, don't need it much," Naruto shrugged. "Tsunade-baasan taught me a new one, because the jutsu I tried to use before was too complex for starters."
"What jutsu did she teach you?"
"It's called 'numbing hands,' and basically works similar to how the juuken does: focus raiton to the hands, and it numbs the person you touch."
"That would be quite useful to support your taijutsu."
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, that is still a bit of my weak point. Along with genjutsu.."
Naruto lacked the precise chakra control which was needed for genjutsu, which was something Kurenai had figured out the first time she had seen him.
"Gai! Keep your distance!"
Gai, Lee, and Tenten looked confused as Kurenai rushed towards them, screaming. "What.." the green-clad jonin started.
A gigantic pillar of fire erupted a short distance from where they stood. Whatever Kurenai said, it was unintelligible due to the roaring sound of the inferno. Kurenai had seen the display of Naruto's jutsu when he used his full power a few times now, and could understand the trio's awe.
Half a minute later, the pillar got smaller, and eventually dwindled down until it could not be seen behind the bushes that stood between the shinobi and whatever the source of the fire had been.
"Naruto is testing something," Kurenai explained dryly. "Which is a bit dangerous, that's why we went to this remote place.."
"What.. What was that… that thing, Kurenai?" Gai asked, no trace of his usual bravado to be heard.
"Was that fuinjutsu?" Tenten asked, with a perplexed expression.
Kurenai nodded at the younger kunoichi. "You saw it anyway, so just come along, though I would ask you to keep this knowledge to yourselves."
Naruto released the jutsu, and fell backwards onto the grass. Thirty four seconds, while trying to use none of the Kyuubi's chakra. "Still too weak," he grumbled, sweating despite having taken off his shirt and mesh armour. And though his pants were fireproof, there were some spots that looked charred.
"You call that weak?!" Tenten exclaimed. "Are you completely nuts?"
Surprised, Naruto rolled over a bit to look behind him. "Well, it didn't last very long, did it?"
"You… what would you…"
"Don't worry, I won't use the Ennetsu Jigoku seal against you," Naruto smiled. "Though, I would like it if you don't tell anyone."
"Do you plan to kill Neji?" Lee asked worried.
"He isn't going to live if I am lucky enough to meet him," Naruto admitted coldly. "But that wouldn't require such a jutsu," he shrugged. "Why did you guys come here?"
"Kurenai, what are you doing with him?" Gai asked after his two students had ran off towards Naruto.
"I did not teach him something like this. I doubt I could even teach him anything about fuinjutsu," Kurenai admitted. "He works very hard, and there is enough he has yet to learn. But that is not just it.. Naruto is simply a prodigy when it comes to fuinjutsu."
"I.. See.." Gai hesitated. "I will believe that, after witnessing the way defeated Lee, without using any jutsu that could have put Lee in danger."
Kurenai saw the look his face. "Naruto did not want to harm Lee, Gai. It was not because he did not take Lee seriously. Besides, you should know that he has to hold back most of his power."
"What does Naruto-kun plan to do with Neji? Despite his actions, Neji is still my student."
"I do not know Gai.. I begged him not to give in to hatred, but I do not know whether my words, Jiraiya's words, or even the Hokage's words will reach him."
Gai looked downcast. "Listen, Gai.." Kurenai started.
"I know what Neji did was cruel and wrong," Tenten tried. "But killing him? What good would that do?"
Naruto frowned. "As much as his attempt to kill Hinata," he replied darkly. "I do not care about what people do to me, but I will not tolerate them hurting my friends."
Lee sighed, recognizing his fellow genin's resolve. He put a hand on Tenten's shoulder, stopping her from speaking against it. "Naruto-san, if you try to kill Neji, you will only create more problems. But I doubt anyone could change your mind."
"We came here because of the promise you made," he continued. "You promised Tenten to teach her a little about fuinjutsu. And I wanted to talk about our fight," he admitted.
Naruto blinked, having forgotten the promise he had made. "Ah yes.. I totally forgot that one, sorry Tenten.. What did you want to learn?"
"Ehm.. I do not know how difficult your seals are," Tenten hesitated somewhat. "But the technique you used to defeat Lee.."
"The weight seals? They are pretty doable. The seal itself it easy, but proper usage during fights is a bit complex."
Lee watched on, not understanding a thing of what Naruto explained to his teammate, but the heavily browed boy could see the amount of effort it would have taken to learn such techniques from books and scrolls. 'So Naruto-kun is also a genius of hard work,' he concluded with a smile.
"So it you have used that seal to weigh me down?" Lee frowned. "But how did you.."
"My kage bunshin. Every clone you popped added a seal on you."
"You said something like that before," Tenten remarked, "But timing it would be impossible!"
"There was a small window between Lee touching the clone, and the clone getting destroyed. Each clone used that fragment of a second to transfer all of its chakra onto whatever hits them. Basically, I programmed them in such a way that they can only do that jutsu properly. Those bunshin are pretty weak in whatever else they do."
"That's.. Pretty smart," Tenten said, impressed.
"Nehh, it was just a thing I used because I can't figure out the gravitation seal. And I did not want to use anything too dangerous. I mean, Lee never did anything bad to me, so why would I have to burn him down, only because of some stupid exam?"
"You restrained yourself.. While I… I went too far," Lee said with a sorrowful voice.
"Well, I always knew you were fast, but those gates really caught me off guard," Naruto admitted. "But that move also caused damage to your own body, didn't it?"
"Lee has already paid the price for his mistake," Gai said, as he and Kurenai joined them. "And will train even harder to pay you back, don't you?"
"Hai Sensei!" Lee smiled.
"So.. About that storage seal…" Naruto turned towards Tenten. The kunoichi now was a bit uncomfortable to explain her seal to Naruto, whose knowledge seemed to surpass her's by quite a large margin.
And the end of her explanation, including a small demonstration, Naruto frowned. "So the lower parts… They are used to quickly draw the weapon from the seal?"
When Tenten nodded, Naruto took off his left hand guard, and drew the seal on it. Putting a few kunai in them, Naruto finished the seal. "I guess this seal will be quite useful! Thanks, Tenten. This really makes my old storage seal look stupid," he laughed.
Tenten blushed a little. "Could I.. Would you be willing to teach me more about fuinjutsu?"
"Eh?" Naruto frowned, not sure if the girl was serious. "Teach you? Erm.. Well, fine, I guess. Though there are several jutsu which belong to the Uzumaki clan, I guess that it does not matter much, seeing how I am the last of my clan."
Gai looked with some surprise at Kurenai. Not that the older kunoichi had seen this turn of events coming, and looked equally stunned.
"I guess teaching you just some seals won't work though.. Better deal with the basics first," Naruto said thoughtfully. "The basic knowledge in Konoha seems to suck compared to what I've learned from the Uzumaki-scrolls. No offence," he quickly added. "Why don't we strike a deal: I teach you something about fuinjutsu, and you help me training to use weapons. Hell, even the others can join in, for all I care."
Lee looked confused. "Naruto-san, I can't.."
"Everyone would benefit from learning the basic theory," Gai agreed. "And having a sparring partner would benefit you as well, Tenten."
"Hai, sensei!" Lee bowed, though not entirely convinced that someone like him, incapable of performing jutsu, could learn much about fuinjutsu.
Tenten looked thoughtfully. "What sort of weapon do you want to master, Naruto?"
"Spears or pole arms," Naruto smiled thinking of how he planned to eventually use the Gekihoko which was sealed in his right hand. "Tridents always seemed pretty interesting to me.. And seeing how you pretty much mastered every weapon that exists…"
Tenten blushed at the compliment. "Well… I don't often use spears, and never used a trident, but we'll work it out," she smiled.
"I take it that would be after the exams?" Kurenai said.
"Hmm… yeah, it would be a bit pointless to work on learning new fuinjutsu right now.. Perhaps I should ask if Hinata and Kiba want to join in as well.." Naruto mused. "Though, I should warn you guys that most of the seals require considerable amounts of chakra. So the more advanced jutsu will probably be impossible."
Tenten and Lee nodded, and Gai put up his thumb. "A wonderfully youthful promise, Naruto-kun!"
"You already look a lot stronger than yesterday," Naruto smiled. Hinata blushed weakly when he had looked at her inquisitively. "Do you want me to bring you some proper food tomorrow?"
"Ah.. I.. You don't need to.."
"Nonsense, the rubbish they call food in this hospital only makes people feel even worse," he smiled her protests away. "Though I should have thought about that earlier.. I could've made Konohamaru bring you some decent food as well."
"You really were the one who.." Hinata blushed, the shade of red now approximating her usual colour. "You made Konohamaru-chan buy those flowers?"
Naruto shrugged. "Yeah, I wanted to do something, but to go out of Konoha as well. Konohamaru agreed to help you, so I lent him Gama-chan."
"Th.. Thank you," Hinata bowed her head, still annoyed she was forbidden to get out of the hospital bed.
"No problem," he smiled. "I've been in this place a few times when I still lived in the orphanage, and it almost stinks as much as the orphanages themselves. I thought some flowers would make it a bit better.. And you I thought that you once said you liked flowers," he added, somewhat uncertain.
"I.. I do! I.." she stuttered.
"Calm down," he laughed at her. "Baachan said you should be able to walk a bit tomorrow, but that you should still keep calm today."
"So fast?"
"Why not? I mean, you don't want to miss the finals, do you?"
Hinata looked downcast.
"Though if you don't want to, you should do what you want, alright?" Naruto said, thinking Hinata was still sad about her loss.
"No… Neji.. What will you do if you have to face Neji-niisan?"
Naruto frowned a bit. "Depends on what he will say, and do," he decided to be honest. "Though I suspect he is too proud to forfeit, or apologize for what he did to you…"
"Please don't be too harsh on him.. Neji.. The entire branch family, they suffer because.."
"I don't care how righteous the source of their rage is, if they take it out on someone who has nothing to do with it, I will end them," Naruto said resolutely. "If those idiots from the branch used their famous eyes for once, they would see that you would be the ideal clan leader to them."
Naruto frowned and looked away. "And this friendship thing.. No one harms my friends and gets away with it."
Though, when Naruto left, half an hour later, his resolve had dwindled a little. Hinata pleaded him not to make the situation worse. Naruto could understand that executing vengeance would only increase the problems within the clan, but he could not fathom how Hinata seemingly forgave Neji for what he had done. Or even worried about her cousin's wellbeing.
'Perhaps I should instead admire Hinata's strength,' he mused when sprinting back to the training ground. 'People always say Hinata is too gentle, and call it weakness… But weak people would hate the ones that hurt them. True strength is more about someone's character than it is about their actual fighting ability..' Naruto realized, frowning when he considered how weak he was.
"Getting the two of them to fight each other in the first round would be too conspicuous," Jiraiya warned the Hokage. "We don't want to offend the Kazekage, at least not before we know what he plans to do."
"You are right.." Hiruzen mused. "Perhaps it would be better to switch Gaara from the fourth to the first place?"
"So that Naruto would face him in the second round? And.." Jiraiya chuckled a bit when he saw what his sensei had done. "I am sure he would appreciate it if you gave Naruto the chance to fight him in the first round."
"It is a test," Hiruzen explained. "A test to see whether we can depend on Naruto, even when he hates his opponent. If he desires to take my position one day, he will have to show the restraint and wisdom needed."
Jiraiya nodded. His sensei may have lost some of his strength on his age, but his wisdom only seemed to grow. At times, the old man was still capable of giving Jiraiya the feeling of when he was that fresh genin who had just left the academy.
Though that was also the reason Hiruzen had been able to keep the position for so long..
"Naruto!" a voice called up from behind him.
Naruto had just visited Hinata. Like Tsunade had promised, Hinata had been able to walk a little yesterday, and today Tsunade would test her, though Shizune had given away that Hinata's recovery was ahead of schedule.
On his way back to the training ground, now was halted by Haku.
"Haku! And Zabuza-'sensei' too?" Naruto smirked. Zabuza never seemed to like it when Naruto joked about his new occupation.
But the woman who stood behind them was unfamiliar. Two green eyes looked at his face, revealing a lot of curiosity. Wearing a somewhat revealing blue dress over mesh armour, Naruto thought she looked quite attractive for a woman of her age. Not that she was old, but Naruto had become a bit weary of people who looked like they were in their early thirties. Something he had to thank Tsunade for.
"Mizukage-sama, this is Uzumaki Naruto," Haku introduced him to the woman. "Naruto, this is Terumi Mei, Godaime Mizukage of Kirigakure."
After a moment of surprise, Naruto bowed to the woman. "My apologies, Mizukage-sama."
"Please, no formalities," she said with a gentle voice. "So you are the genin who defeated Haku?"
"Yes, madam. Though I hope you don't want to take revenge on his behalf?" he added with a grin.
"No," the woman laughed, shaking her long auburn hair. "I came here to restore diplomatic relations, not to create more problems."
"Mizukage-sama has recently been appointed," Zabuza added. "That's why Haku and I went back.. I couldn't stand the old ways, and our new kage agreed with that. OW!"
Mei had smacked Zabuza on the back of his head. 'He can't stand my ways?' she thought, completely mishearing him. Zabuza looked quite surprised, while Haku struggled not to chuckle.
"It is rather impressive that you managed to defeat Haku," Mei continued. "Were you not using your mirrors, Haku?"
"I was at full strength, my lady," Haku replied politely.
"Well, that Gato-guy had angered me," Naruto tried to explain, "So it wasn't really fair."
Mei looked curiously. Power was not related to emotion, at least not to the extent that he could defeat Haku as smoothly as was described to her earlier. And the boy felt.. Unusual. "I see.. So I should thank you for that as well.. The shipping magnate Gato also held great influence in our country. With his demise I could solidify my position."
"He was scum, so there is no need to thank me," Naruto replied dryly.
"But I thank you nevertheless," she chuckled. "But if I may ask.. You and your sensei could have beaten Zabuza, why did you not do that?"
"Why would I?" Naruto shrugged. "His employer died, so his battle was lost anyway. If he had tried to avenge Gato, things might have gone differently. Right then, there was no reason to murder Zabuza."
Mei nodded. "I agree, Naruto-san. I wish you success in the finals, though of course not against our Haku," she chuckled.
"Thank you, Miss Mizukage," Naruto smiled. "I hope Haku and I do not meet before the final round."
Naruto bowed, and continued his path towards the training grounds.
"Interesting boy," Mei said, pleased with her title of 'Miss Mizukage'. "I think your guess is correct Zabuza."
"I highly doubt any genin would stand a chance against someone like him," he replied. "And there is another as well.."
"Do I have to forfeit against Naruto, just as I have to do when I have to face Gaara?" Haku asked.
"This Naruto is very different from what you told about Gaara…" Mei said slowly. "Naruto has his sanity, so even though a fight is probably futile, he is not as dangerous as the other one."
"You haven't seen him angry, Mizukage-sama," Haku remarked dryly, before he bowed and they continued their path. The Mizukage had to meet with the Hokage first, something she had looked forward at for quite some time.
"Sensei?" Jiraiya asked, somewhat surprised that the Hokage had called for him.
"Jiraiya," Hiruzen nodded. "Please take a seat, I wanted you to be here when our guest arrived."
"Guest? You mean the new Mizukage?"
"Yes, she arrived in Konoha today, and I figured we had several things to discuss… and I wanted your input on these matters as well."
Jiraiya nodded, and the two waited until one of the guards knocked on the door. "Hokage-sama, Mizukage-sama has arrived, and wishes to enter."
"It's fine Genma, I told you that earlier," Hiruzen sighed. "Welcome Mizukage-dono," he bowed his head to the new arrival.
"Zabuza, Haku, you two wait outside," Mei ordered.
"But, my lady.." Zabuza wanted to argue, looking at Jiraiya and not wanting to leave the Mizukage alone without protection.
"Outside," Mei repeated, with a frown.
"Yes, Mizukage-sama," Zabuza and Haku bowed and left.
"Guards.. So annoying," Mei sighed. "You mind if I skip the formalities, Hokage-dono?"
"Not at all," Hiruzen smiled. "Please, take a seat."
"Thank you. Well now, might I ask why you requested me to come to Konoha earlier?" Mei asked. Hiruzen sighed and gestured to Jiraiya.
"Well.. You want me to tell her the entire situation?" Jiraiya frowned, and waited till the Hokage nodded. "Well, we are currently facing a potential dangerous situation. One of the most powerful missing nins of Konoha, Orochimaru, recently attacked a few genin during the second stage of the Chunin Exams."
"What?"
"He claimed to have a special interest in the exams, but that is not the only thing that worries us. Orochimaru alone is strong enough to face the Hokage by himself, but we recently received information that seems to point out that he joined a band of mercenaries, named the Akatsuki. If Orochimaru acted on his own, it would have been a problem, but not something we could not handle… but him being a mercenary-"
"The worst case scenario," Hiruzen continued. "Is that he has been hired by Sunagakure."
"What?! Why would Suna break their treaty with Konoha, while their relation with Iwagakure is so strained right now?"
"We do not know either," Jiraiya admitted. "But we know that the Kazekage sent a single team to the exams, with a very unstable jinchuriki being one of the genin in that team. As said, this is the worst case scenario, but if you add things up.. A ticking time bomb being sent into the exams, a mercenary with a long history of hatred against Konoha suddenly popping up, and like you yourself just said: their relations with Iwa. I suspect that the Kazekage would figure that declaring war on Konoha would only improve their relations with Iwa, seeing how much Iwa hates us.. It would make us the common enemy."
"And a sudden attack could be the start of a war which would spread through the world.." Mei massaged her forehead. "Shit! Why does everyone also want war?"
"This is why I decided to share this information with you, Mizukage-dono," Hiruzen answered on a formal tone. "You declared you had intentions to repair the relations between Konoha and Kiri. Our previous correspondence gave me the hope that we could perhaps work together to avoid another war."
"I.. I understand," Mei frowned. "Yes, it certainly is my desire to make Kirigakure part with its past and its former nickname of 'the bloody mist'. But I admit I had not expected a situation like this coming up.. May I ask, how did you prepare for the possibility of an invasion?"
"We strengthened our defences, and changed most of our older protocols as a precaution. We gathered nearly every chunin and jonin, so we will be at full strength if an attack would come. Beyond that, we have our own trump card to face Suna's jinchuriki," Hiruzen explained.
"And Senju Tsunade agreed to return to Konoha," Jiraiya added. "Though, she will not be present at the finals itself, she will be reinforcing our defences. So you don't have to worry that you bet on a lost cause," he sneered.
Mei laughed. "Sorry, but I had to be that blunt, I cannot carelessly risk the existence of my village."
"We understand," Hiruzen smiled. "But I would like to ask what your position in this will be. The representative from Kumo agreed to help us in case she feels threatened or if someone attacks her."
Mei chuckled. "I think I can answer your question pretty easily." She presented them a scroll. "This is my offer, Hokage-dono. Though I had written it before being aware of this situation, I promise you nothing about this offer will change, no matter the outcome of this possible invasion. As for direct aid, both me and my jonin guards will assist Konoha, and consider any attack on Konoha during the exams as a breach of the treaty between the five nations regarding the Chunin Exams."
Hiruzen stood up and bowed as he received the scroll with the Mizukage's proposal. "I thank you, Mizukage-dono."
Kurenai looked down upon the exhausted Naruto. "So, this was a success?"
"Yeah.." Naruto panted. "This time, the seal functioned properly, and managed to keep it up for over forty seconds without the Kyuubi's chakra, while the output was still on its highest."
"Without…" Kurenai started. "So you succeeded in telling the difference between your own chakra, and that of the Kyuubi now? Can you contain it?"
"I must. I've been able to tell the difference for a while now, but the hard part is that I still seem to draw it in whenever I get angry. It's actually just too easy.."
"So can you promise me to keep calm?"
Naruto smiled. "Probably, but I won't make promises that I cannot keep."
"How do you plan to fight Neji?" she knew he wanted to fight the Hyuga most of all. "You know many people will look at you tomorrow."
"Neji is not the problem. The only one who is a threat to me is Gaara. Well, perhaps Sasuke would be tricky, but after you taught me the basics on dispelling genjutsu.. Well, I hope that will be enough."
Kurenai remembered how quickly Naruto had picked it up, and nodded. "Performing genjutsu will probably still be impossible for you. And remember: do not look directly into the sharingan.." Kurenai knew that Naruto used the Kyuubi's chakra to disturb his own, when she tried to use genjutsu against him.
She sighed. "And Gaara? Do you plan to use this Ennetsu Jigoku against him?"
Naruto sat up, and looked seriously. "I guess it would be best if anything I do against Gaara is kept within the boundaries of the exam, but telling my sensei will probably not be a violation of any treaty between Konoha and Suna.." Naruto mused. The woman had been very kind these last few days. In all senses of the word, she was actually his teacher. Much more than Kakashi, who had only left his students to fend for themselves, this woman actually cares for her genin. Even for him. Naruto was not one to easily trust someone, but she certainly had made an impression on him.
Kurenai frowned. "I guess not.. Why?"
"We spoke to Gaara's teammate, his sister," Naruto explained. "She told us that Gaara is only the way he is because his demon's influence is too strong. The seal which should keep the demon in check is far too weak, and that's why the demon corrupted him. She also described the seal which was placed on him, after I had promised her to do everything I can to help him."
"Help him?" Kurenai exclaimed. "How? Are you out of your mind?!"
"Well.. If I could do something besides killing him, it would probably avoid a lot of trouble right? Even war.. I can think of two methods… First: I repair or reinforce his seal, but that will probably be quite difficult to do during the match. The second option would be for me to reduce the influence his demon has on him."
"How is that possible?"
"Basically, I experienced the same thing. After the Kyuubi exhausted a large amount of its chakra, it needed some time to restore from that. Seems that, because of the sealing, their recovery is somewhat slower. If I do something similar to Gaara, he should be able to regain control."
"So you.."
"I have never met someone like myself, at least not before the exams started. I don't plan on killing Gaara if I have the chance to avoid it."
"And yet you trained using this hellfire seal?"
"I do not know what Gaara's demon is capable of," Naruto shrugged. "So I need to have some kind of countermeasure if it seems to go wrong."
Kurenai could see that Naruto had thought this true, but was worried none the less. "You realize what the implications of Gaara's death would be, don't you?"
"War," Naruto said with on an even tone. "And that's why I will try to save him. But on the other hand, Sunagakure sent Gaara into this exam, knowing the risk that he might die."
Naruto stood up and gathered his things, but Kurenai noticed that her student kept a serious grimace.
"Sensei… I wanted to ask something.." he started. "I.. How would you define strength?"
"What do you mean, define?" Kurenai frowned.
"Haku.. When I talked with him, Haku talked about strength. How people need a reason, like someone or something, to be strong for."
"That sounds similar to the Will of Fire.. I think Haku would be right about it: only if people have a good reason, they can truly become strong. That is why all the kages are strong, because they fight for an entire village."
"So they fight to protect?" Naruto wondered.
"They serve their village, and act to protect the people they serve."
"And yet people think that shinobi are similar to tools?"
Kurenai nodded. "It is expected of us, that we give our lives to those why have sworn to serve. But it goes beyond just an oath. Everyone have people they care about, who they love. We fight for our families, our friends, our loved ones."
Naruto remained silent for a moment, consumed by his thoughts. "So that is why the fourth did that to me… And because of him, I became a weapon that is expected to protect a village which hardly cares about me."
"Is there no one you care about?" Kurenai said, trying to suppress the sorrow she felt.
Naruto blinked. "The old man himself, and Jiraiya. Haruki, Ako-san, Hitomi-sama and some of the Hyuga… Hinata, of course. And Kiba, Akamaru, and you, sensei. I guess those are my reasons to fight."
Kurenai smiled a bit, happy that her student was not as heartless as she had initially feared. Though, heartless.. 'How can I blame him from distancing himself from all the others, when all he got was the scorn of the people?'
When he had first joined team 8, Naruto had felt rejected because he was put into another team. The fact that he had started to trust others a little, and then got rejected again had made him even more cautious of others. But slowly, and with help from Hinata, he felt that he changed again. 'Perhaps I really could lay down my life for them.. Perhaps strength is indeed about more than just fighting for myself. And dying for my friends would at least be a meaningful death. Rather that, than being consumed by that fox,' Naruto mused. He felt the fox's unease while he thought that, and smiled. To the demon that ruined his life, the least he could do is to take his enemy down with him.
"Sensei, would you forgive someone who hurts you, someone who tried to kill you?"
"I take it you refer to Hinata and Neji?" Kurenai said. "Well, Hinata is aware of the laws within her clan, and the effect that those laws have on people like Neji. I cannot say if I would do the same thing, but I do believe that understanding another's pain is the first step to forgiveness. And forgiving people is the first step to ending hatred."
Naruto nodded, and turned away to continue collecting his things so that they could travel back to Konoha. 'Even if I cannot forgive Neji, I guess I will do it for Hinata.. At least, if Neji apologizes for what he has done. If he doesn't.. I'll make sure he never forgets he lesson..'
A/N: "Let the carnage begin!"
Let's say that one of the central things of the Chunin Exams is Naruto's struggle with his own hatred. Well, his own, and that of the Kyuubi. His actual 'darkness' has yet to be revealed. Hell, I'm even wondering if I'm not making the story too dark..
Yeah, long chapter this time. Had most of it written previously, considering I had planned out several of the politically important things that I threw into the chapter. So adding and rewriting some of the parts went pretty easily, despite the shortage of time. Still, there are a few things I've had my doubts about. So, please leave you thoughts!
I suppose that every writer loves to receive reviews! I'm certainly not an exception in that area ^^
-Z-
Edited: 01/03/2015