Title: Clouds Drawn by the Moonlight
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
AN:
Chapter 5
I carefully extended out a foot, hovering over the body of water before lightly settling it on top of the water. It sunk right through. Great, now I have a cold, wet foot. I sucked in a breath, concentrating my chakra to the soles of my feet once again and slowly placed it on the water. This time, it stayed afloat longer than the last attempt.
Water has surface tension that allows it to resist an external force due to the cohesive nature of its molecules and with that in mind, water walking was a training exercise to gain better control of chakra. The user must constantly channel a stream of chakra to their feet and use the repellent force to walk across the surface. And that's where the difficulty comes in. It required the most delicate application of chakra energy through the most difficult area to do so: one's feet.
Mother and father were incredulous with the idea of me leaving the compound and to be fair, the birthday incident still weighed heavily within them at the time. So, with nowhere else to go but anxious to prepare myself, I ended up using the estate's main garden. I used to practice the tree climbing exercise first, then gradually increasing and steadying my chakra flow to my feet. With the level of chakra control I had back then, I expected to climb a decent amount; maybe a quarter up the tree. But nope, after about three steps, I apparently exerted too much chakra as I was launched away. It humbled me a bit. I was becoming arrogant, thinking I was very much in tune with my chakra and that I could balance the right amount of it from the get-go.
When I reached the top of the tree, I moved on to the pond. Thinking back, I probably drank a gallon of the pond water before actually standing for a mere four seconds and plunging below to once again greet the koi fish.
I slowly stood up, teetering slightly from the mushy consistency underneath my feet. The feeling… how should I explain this? It was like stepping on a squishy sponge or maybe jello was the right description. I extended a foot, lightly touching the water surface with my tippy toe, testing the weight and when I deemed it stable, I stepped forward. One step at a time, connecting, disconnecting my chakra from the surface as I moved towards the center of the river. Over time, water walking was one of the skills that needed to become second nature. I however, still struggle to get to that point.
I glided around the body of water, zigzagging, drawing a lopsided heart, swiveling around. I giggled, it reminded me of ice skating with the way I slid about and used my chakra to pivot and counteract the surface of the water to come to a stop.
I scrunch my face from the glare of the sun as I peered up at the sky. Kakashi sensei said to gather at the training ground at ten o' clock and like always I showed up twenty minutes early. When I first arrived, I walked around the field, trying to keep myself occupied. But then, I remembered about the river from yesterday and here I am now.
"That's so cool!" A voice full of admiration shouted from behind. "How did you do that? No wait, let me try!"
"No Naruto, you're going to fall in!" I darted back to where he stood, lightly pushing him away from the edge of the riverbank. "If you dive in like that, you're going to be soaking wet the entire day."
"Then can you teach me? Please, Hitomi? Please?" Naruto begged, with giant puppy eyes.
I noticed Sasuke also staring from behind, clearly intrigued. I suddenly flushed, embarrassed from the little 'show' I unintentionally displayed as I wasn't aware of their arrival.
"Uh, sure." I replied, trying to get over my embarrassment. I was a bit reluctant to teach both of them, but it wouldn't hurt to start early and I also wanted to bond with them. "Well, we have to start with the first step." I pointed near the two largest trees, big and sturdy enough to use for walking.
I stepped out of the river and led them to the two trees I picked out. "The first step is tree climbing. It requires very precise chakra control and you use your chakra to grasp." I demonstrated by walking up the tree until I hung upside-down from a thick branch.
"However, if you use too much, the tree will break and you'll be pushed away from it. But if you use too little, you'll lose your footing and fall off." I jumped down from the branch I was on. "There has to be just enough of it to grip, like magnetics."
Sasuke looked focused, intently listening to my explanation as he approached one of the trees I assigned them.
"Got it." Naruto eagerly flopped his head back and forth. "I bet I can do it by the time Kakashi sensei arrives!"
I highly doubt it but it was nice seeing the enthusiasm. Or maybe… he can. In the anime, Kakashi discovered that the shadow clones could accelerate training periods. Unlike the clone technique, shadow clones were physically real. They possess the same damage intake, transformations, and down to the weapons the original had. This is because the user's chakra is evenly divided, creating one clone will give half of the user's chakra, two will give third and so on. But depending on the amount of chakra the user has and the number of clones they produce, it causes rapid depletion of their reserves. This is why only jounin could use the standard jutsu while it's classified as forbidden for the multiple shadow technique. Though, this was an exception for Naruto due to his access to the nine-tail's chakra.
Although, I wasn't sure if his clones merely copied his actions or if they were individually capable of thought. Not only that, I also wanted to test if there was some sort of way, like a mental link that connected them and find out how they were controlled.
"Hey Naruto…" I stopped myself. Wait, was this stealing? I mean it wasn't my idea to begin with but I'm sure sensei hadn't thought about it this early on. So, I wasn't technically stealing(?)
"What's it like, I guess controlling your shadow clones?" I asked, "Are they autonomous- like could they think for themselves?"
Naruto crossed his arms, thinking, "I- I think so? I honestly never thought about it."
"Let's try it out."
"Yeah, okay." Naruto made his signature cross hand seal and another one of him puffed into existence.
I searched for another good tree and chose one at the other side of the river.
"You and I will go over there." I said, while looking at the clone Naruto. "You guys stay here for a moment. I want to test something."
The clone Naruto was the exact copy of himself. Honestly, if I hadn't seen him producing another one, I couldn't tell the difference. There might be a possibility with my byakugan but even my chakra senses were having a hard time.
When we got to the base of the tree I immediately queried, "So how does it feel, being a clone? Do you feel any kind of connection with your real self? Is there any line of mental communication?"
The Naruto nodded, "Kind of. It's like a small link that we share."
"Interesting." I placed my index finger on my chin, "Then can you relay information to him with your mind?"
"I don't know." He confessed. "I could try though."
I thought for a moment on what to say to them. "Try telling him to begin practicing the tree climbing with Sasuke."
I should've started with something easier like a word or something as a test but I wanted to see the limits right away.
"I'll try." He pressed his fingers against his temples, while his face scrunched with concentration.
We waited and waited.
"I don't think it worked." The Naruto relaxed from his previous concentrated state.
"Then let's try one word. A sentence might've been too long to relay for now." I suggested, "Try climb."
He again scrunched his face. "Ummm no."
And seeing how the real Naruto looked bothered while watching us, further solidified that it didn't work.
He wilted with disappointment. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine." I grinned, "I just wanted to test how shadow clones worked. Thanks for your help."
"No problem." He scratched the back of his head, apologetically and having accomplished his work, the clone dispersed into chakra smoke.
I was about to wander back to my teammates when I heard Naruto scream in excitement and Sasuke sneering at him.
"I heard it! I really heard it in my mind!" Naruto hollered at me, while waving his arms around. "That's so cool! Oh, and also okay!" He turned to Sasuke, "Hitomi said we should practice tree climbing now."
It worked. This made things a million times easier. But why did it take so long?
By the time I arrived back to where they were practicing, Naruto plopped to the ground, rubbing his bottom from the harsh impact.
"Looks like your chakra is too weak to hold on." I commented, while helping him up.
"I'll get it soon." He clenched his hands.
I nodded, "So, how did you communicate with your clone?"
He explained, "One moment I wasn't thinking about anything and the next, I heard my own voice telling me about what you said. I'm not sure if I'm making any sense… it was like an inner voice?"
Like an inner monologue. Okay, but that doesn't explain the delay. He didn't 'hear' it before, not until the clone disappeared. I felt my eyes widen from the sudden realization. He recalled the information after the clone disappeared. Another interesting aspect of the jutsu.
"Maybe you recall the information after the clone disappeared?" I implied.
"Maybe. But man, this is awesome."
I smiled. "Now that we know, it can help with your training."
"My training…?" He cocked his head.
"Yup. Since shadow clones are divided from your own chakra, they are physically real. So, if you train with one shadow clone for an hour, that means you'll actually end up with two hours of training. Thus, shortening your training period."
"Woah, how did I not know this before? You're a genius, Hitomi!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Thanks." I dryly said. Sorry Kakashi sensei.
I walked away from Naruto, letting him continue practicing and shifted my attention to Sasuke. He hadn't said much during my explanation which prompted me to think he understood.
I watched as Sasuke took a few steps before the bark underneath his last footing cracked and splintered, propelling him backwards. He was the opposite of Naruto.
He landed gracefully, next to me. "Hn."
I shrugged, "You're using too much chakra, but you got the gist of it. All you have left is practice."
He just nodded as a response and with nothing else to say, I went back to the river to practice my water walking.
Around noon, sensei arrived at the scene, surprised with our rather productive selves. "Well, well looks like my cute little genin are busy today."
"You're late!" Naruto barked.
"You see, there were these ducklings that were blocking my path. So, I had to wait until they crossed." Sensei eye curved.
"Liar." Naruto squinted his eyes, while Sasuke and I just stared.
Even with his mask covering the majority of his face, I could tell he was amused with our reactions.
"Today, we'll be having our first mission. Let's go to the mission desk, at the Hokage's tower."
We drifted towards the Hokage's tower; the pace set by sensei. With Naruto's vocal excitement of a mission and the casual pace we were going at, Sasuke became irritated. Evident by his slouched position and the little gap he placed between himself and the rest of us.
"Finally, finally! We finally have a mission!" Naruto bounced. "Come one, hurry up you slowpokes!"
I knew his excitement wasn't going to last as the missions for genin were D ranks. D ranks were basically community services or chores type of missions. The tasks were usually for important figures, like the fire daimyos or the village elders and the clans as they were financed by the village itself.
Like I predicted, Naruto's face dropped when the Hokage read out the possible missions we could take from his scroll. The room was silent except for the loud paper scraping from the scroll the Hokage was holding. I glimpsed back and forth my teammates and the mission desk. So, no one's going to say anything?
The Hokage raised an eyebrow at us, clearly waiting for a speedy pick.
I cleared my throat, "We'll take Shijimi-san's mission?"
The mission was to return a runaway cat to Shijimi-san, the wife of the fire daimyo. Simple enough. It was either that, babysitting a village counselor's son for the entire day, or potato picking. And I vaguely remember the canon team seven taking on the cat mission, so it shouldn't be too arduous. (Little did I know, I will very much regret my choice later.)
"Very well," The Hokage momentarily searched for the said scroll before picking it up and crossing the mission off the list. "Team seven accepts Shijimi-san's mission: retrieve her missing pet cat."
"What!" Naruto exploded after collecting himself. "What kind of mission is that?"
Iruka sensei fumed. "Don't be a fool, Naruto! As genin, you must start with these missions to gain experiences. Then you can work your way up for higher ranking missions."
Naruto pouted.
"Naruto-"
"Please." The Hokage held out a hand towards Iruka sensei, silencing him. "Here is your mission scroll and the wireless radio for effective communication. I trust that you will use them wisely. Good luck."
Kakashi sensei stepped up to receive both and lead us out of the room, with Naruto still pouting. "Alrighties, let's roll out."
As we headed out of the Hokage's tower, sensei passed out the earpieces for us to wear. I got to say, seeing something remotely close to that of my old world made me miss it a little. Technology was strange in this world. It wasn't widely accessible, with only the upper class and elite were privileged to have one. Mother has a camera that looked like a modern camera of my old world that she takes during special occasions. There were also televisions, radios, satellites, and telephones. Hell, even the cameras that took our ninja ID pictures looked archaic, like it came from the early eighteen hundreds. In the world I lived in now, it should seem that technology, such as the one I'm fastening around my neck, shouldn't exist at all.
While I helped Naruto put on his earpiece, sensei read out the important details from the scroll. Like where the cat was last seen, any witnesses, its physical traits and the giant red ribbon she was wearing. According to Shijimi-san, the cat was seen entering the forest just outside of the village outskirts.
"Okay," Sensei put away the mission scroll. "This should be a fairly easy task since we have Hitomi."
"How does it get any easier?" Naruto grumbled, still sulking about the 'lame' mission. "The mission's already easy to begin with. We're just catching a cat."
Kakshi sensei just smiled, "With her byakugan, we can probably track the cat much faster and can all go home early."
Naruto glanced at me, "With her wrinkly, veiny eyes thing?"
Ah yes, the wrinkly veiny eyes thing. I haven't heard of that one before. Back in the academy, our peers would come up with creative names for the byakugan and here is another one to add to the list.
"Yes, for now let's split up and sweep the forest. Sasuke and Hitomi while you will come with me, Naruto."
Sensei probably chose him for damage control and knowing Naruto's boundless amount of energy, it was a good idea.
"When you find anything, alert the others with the wireless radio. Understood?"
We all chorused yes sensei before running into the forest with our assigned partners.
An hour or so had passed and there was no sign of the cat. We quietly creeped around, using the cat's foot technique that we learned from the academy. At first, I constantly kept my byakugan on, but the prolonged use began to strain my eyes and I took small breaks in intervals. Well, they weren't really breaks. Every time I rested my eyes, my paranoia of somehow missing the cat behind a bush or a tree that we passed kept them activated.
Sasuke, noticing this sighed, "You're straining your eyes. Take an actual break."
"But what if she was hiding and we miss it because I didn't have it on." I stubbornly retorted. Okay, I admit. I was starting to get a tad frustrated. This mission shouldn't have taken this long especially with a team of ninjas with one of them having x-ray vision.
"That's why I'm here." He shot back.
I ignored him as I continued checking. Suddenly, I see a chakra pathway system of a body instead of the space behind a thick bush. Sasuke was standing in front of me, blocking my view.
"Uhm." I backed away. "Can you please move."
"Take a break."
"I'm fine."
"Take a break." He repeated.
"I'm fine, now move." I tried walking past him but he firmly stood in front of me.
"Why are you so stubborn?" He ran a hand through his hair, out of annoyance. "Just listen-"
We both froze by the sound of leaves rustling nearby. I redirected my focus to the direction of noise and sure enough, I saw the outline of a cat with a ribbon on its head behind a bush.
"She's there." I whispered.
Sasuke nodded and we both slowly lurked towards the bush. When we got close enough, he pointed at himself before holding up the same finger, signifying on three he'll catch it.
One. Two. Three. He lunged.
The cat jumped at the sudden sight of my teammate and it appeared like he caught her. Or so I thought. Either Sasuke had butter fingers or that cat was slippery as hell. I yelped as she wiggled her way out his clutches, jumped over his shoulder and used it as a platform to make an escape. She landed behind us, hissing and what looked to me like taunting. Fueled by my irritation, I didn't think twice nor watched my surroundings. As a result, we both dived for the feline at the same time as my forehead crashed into Sasuke's shoulder. Hard. I swear I saw stars. I should've chosen babysitting.
"She isn't a cat, she's a damn weasel." I muttered under my breath as I rubbed my forehead, attempting to soothe the pain. I'm sure that was going to bruise.
"She's getting away." Sasuke helped me up and we boosted chakra to our feet, trailing the cat down. He tapped on the little button on his neck, "We have located the cat."
"Alright, I see your chakra signals. We'll be right there." Sensei answered, accompanied by a static noise.
We chased the cat stealthily, masking ourselves between the foliage and our steps light. Thinking that she had lost us, the cat finally came to a stop, resuming its previous grooming secession. I tapped his shoulder, conveying that I'll try catching her this time. I rubbed my hands together, creating the friction needed for a firm grip. I slowly inched forward; the cat still clueless.
"Gotcha!" I snatched her up from the ground and carefully held her in my hands, making sure I wasn't suffocating her.
In response, the cat seethed and squirmed, trying to get out of my grasp. When that failed, she twisted her body to face me and spread her paws. Her claws that were inches away from my skin, inflicted a scratch or two on my arms. She really did not want to return to her owner.
"The cat's been secured." Sasuke announced into the wireless radio.
On cue, Kakashi sensei and Naruto emerged from the trees. Sensei closely inspected the cat, making sure we caught the right one.
"Finally, we caught you." Naruto pointed an accusing finger at the cat.
"Good!" Sensei clapped his hands together. "Mission accomplished, team."
Having enough, I held out the cat, not caring who took her. "Here. Someone take her." Naruto, bless him, took the cat without a word but soon realized his mistake. Not my problem now.
Back at the mission's desk, Shijimi-san thanked us while squeezing the life out of Tora, her cat. Watching her death-hug the poor girl; I can't blame her for running away and I know for a fact she would do it again. I should warn Hinata not to take the mission. The scratches hurt.
I went home and as usual, Hanabi came running out of the door the moment the gate creaked open. I played with her for a bit and helped with her homework while waiting for Hinata. The dinner table tonight was a bit crowded as uncle and Neji came over for dinner. After their first visit, father frequently invited them and now we'll host a family dinner twice a month. When they left, I immediately drifted to my room before mother stopped me and cheerily handed me the sponge while pointing at the mountainous plates on the sink. I swallowed my complaints before my lips betrayed me. After washing the never-ending number of dishes, I plopped onto my chair, opening my notebook on seals.
Since the last time, I learned a great amount of sealing or the art of fuinjutsu. I have to admit, fuinjutsu was the most underrated area of ninja arts as I struggled to find other books about the subject. I exhausted all of the resources in the clan library and recently began visiting the village's public library for more information. To my chagrin, the books were repeats of the clan's.
To succeed in sealing one must assiduously understand the material they're working with, the flows of energy, and how chakra reacts to them. As stated in the first law of thermodynamics, energy cannot be destroyed nor created; it is always conserved and this is the basis for sealing. The circular patterns of the seal dictate the flow of energy, allowing them to be manipulated by chakra. When used correctly, the destruction it causes was unfathomable.
Hence why it became the downfall of the shinobi of Uzuhiogakure, who were renowned for their fuinjutsu during the war.
There were many different types of sealing theories such as the eight trigrams, the five elements, yin-and-yang, or the three states of matter. In fact, mathematical approaches also existed by the geometrical designs and shapes such as triangles. Some seals just had kanji while others used symbols or astrological signs. Blood was also a staple due to its conductivity for chakra. There were infinite approaches to seals and that's why it interested me.
I pulled out a calligraphy brush, inkstone, and the darkest ink I've ever seen in my life. After finding out my interests in sealing, father gave me lessons on the family's fuinjutsu style and techniques. He helped me draw examples of harmless ones and suggested that I continue by gifting me a calligraphy set. Soon, my notebook was filled with my own seals. They say practice makes perfect but that doesn't apply to sealing for me. I sighed as I flipped to a new page.
I stopped midway when I heard a quiet knock at my door. I gave permission and Hinata came in with a plate of melons that I presumed mother had cut for me. Usually, my family members barged in without a thought but Hinata always asks.
"Mother asked me to bring these for you." She said as she placed the plate on my desk.
"Thanks." I replied as I carefully put down the brush and reached for the fork. "Did you have some already?"
She giggled, "I think I'm going to turn into a melon because I ate so much."
We chatted for a while about our first missions and teammates. Her team apparently had to clean the training grounds, which was the most common D ranked mission.
While reaching for the empty plate, she peered at my notebook. "You're learning sealing?" She once again asked for permission before flipping through the pages of my sloppy creations.
"Yeah, just something I was curious with." I casted my eyes downward. Though she was my sister, I was a bit embarrassed to show my clumsy works as I was still trying to figure things out.
"You're learning so much and so fast… maybe I should learn with you." Her voice became strained, much quieter than before and there was a certain degree of melancholy written in her features.
The mood of the atmosphere shifted instantly and I- I didn't know how to respond. Was she angry? No. It takes a lot for her to become angry and this was not how presents herself when she is. Then what was this?
"You can if you want. I'll tell father that you'll be joining the lessons too." I said while gesturing to the calligraphy set.
Hinata abruptly looked up from my notebook, "You've been taking lessons from father? Since when?"
Oof. Okay, wrong response.
"For a couple of weeks now. Whenever father isn't busy." I inwardly cringed. I didn't know how to reply. I didn't know what was happening.
"I see." Hinata placed my notebook back on the table; her smile slightly forced. "You seem busy, I'll get going now."
"Hinata," I deliberately thought of addressing the issue but settled on giving myself time to think: to figure out why she reacted that way. "For your next mission, don't pick Shijimi-san's mission."
"Shijimi-san's mission?" She parroted.
"Just trust me." I simply replied.
The next morning, we seemed to be back to normal. However, I knew deep down there was still something wrong. And when I tried bringing it up, she abruptly changed or avoided the topic multiple times, adamant that everything was fine. For now, I wasn't going to force her into something that she wasn't ready for yet and I'll wait because I won't let it go.
It was easy to fall in routine with team seven. Ninja didn't have set work schedules, like Saturdays off. We worked when there was work or in need of money, took breaks when injured, or tired. With that being said, we continued to complete D rank missions for the next couple of days. Whether it be clearing the dog kennels for the Inuzuka clan, pulling out weeds, helping farmers harvest vegetables, or babysitting. We completed it all and by the third day, Naruto's grumbles for having lame missions died down a little. However, there were some complications along the way.
For instance, when we were assigned to pick the weeds behind a councilor's backyard, Naruto mistaken some of the weeds with the carrots planted. I have no idea how he got the two mixed up as they looked completely different from each other. Understandably, Nakajima-san was outraged when he came back to check on our progress. As a result, we had to stay an extra two hours replanting.
Another incident was with babysitting. We were tasked with watching Mirei Kiritani, the four-year-old daughter of councilmen Shohei Kiritani. She was a sweet kid, with occasional issues here and there. Like the time we took her to the park for fresh air and we unknowingly passed by the candy shop. And let me tell you that was one of the biggest mistakes we ever made that week. We were explicitly instructed by her father to not buy her any sweets as she was prone for cavities.
But the girl will not leave, will not budge until we get her these strawberry jellies. It got to the point where she threw her dolls down and just laid in front of the store, throwing a tantrum. I was lucky I had Hinata and Hanabi to learn patience and have babysitting experience, though I swear they weren't as bad as Mirei. We tried everything. Naruto tried distracting her by showing a cool ninja 'trick' with his shadow clones, I tried bribing her with more play time, and Sasuke- just told her to get up once and when she didn't listen, he shrugged, saying he tried. Eventually, we dragged her back to the house and she fell asleep from her exhausting tantrum.
Today was Friday and as routine, we met up at training ground three. Sensei said nine o' clock, except it was ten now. Typical. I didn't mind it anymore as I got used to his tardiness.
I glanced over my teammates, both bored out of their minds. Sasuke brooding at the distance while Naruto drew circles on the dirt ground with a stick.
Like the last time, we should be productive with the amount of time we still have left till sensei arrived. Maybe sparring was a good idea? Although they had some experiences fighting alongside a Hyuuga, they didn't have any against one. I also wanted them to familiarize themselves with the Hyuuga's fighting style for the possible upcoming chunin exams or other future adversaries.
I stood up from my seated position, dusting the dirt off my pants. Both boys peered at my direction as I turned towards them. "Do you guys want to spar?"
Sasuke unfolded his arms, intrigued. "Not sure if dead last can even put up a fight but go on."
"Hey!" Naruto moped but stayed quiet for the rest of my explanation.
"You and Naruto versus me. I want you guys to familiarize yourselves and to think ahead while fighting against my jyuuken. You know, just in case-to prepare for the future?" I said with a degree of uncertainty.
"Any rules?" Sasuke raised a brow. "Specifically, your gentle fist?"
Right, I had to keep in mind we had a mission soon. "Nothing too grueling and no injuries. Since we have a mission, I don't want anyone to be exhausted. I'll be using the jyuuken but I'll strike at your bodies with minimal amounts of chakra. Just enough to stun."
Naruto accepted the challenge with eagerness. "Although I'd rather fight Sasuke over you, prepare to go down Hitomi!"
I smiled at his enthusiasm. "No more questions?"
The boys shook their heads and we took our places on the field.
"Ready?"
They nodded.
Go.
I promptly activated my byakugan, sending only half of the usual amount of chakra to my fingertips.
Naruto sprang towards me first while producing his signature move of shadow clones. "Get her!" Came their united battle cry.
I dodged and weaved and lashed out but every clone I took out, it was replaced by another. Naruto had gotten in a few good attacks on me and soon I was being overwhelmed. I needed to retreat, plus I had lost track of Sasuke. I scanned the clearing for anything to replace myself with. At the base of the tree that we were previously waiting at, there was a wooden log calling my name. Bingo. I ran through the hand seals for the jutsu and in a blink of an eye, I was now at the base of the tree while the Narutos were punching at the log.
I berated myself for not keeping my eyes out for Sasuke during Naruto's assault and sure enough, I see three kunai barreling at me at high speed. I knocked them away and honed in on the direction. Throwing kunai came at a cost as it gave away the position of the user. So, you have to be one hundred percent sure the target will be eliminated from the attack.
Knowing that the kunai gave away his position, Sasuke lunged forward sending a fist towards my stomach. I blocked and simultaneously grabbed his wrist and twisted it, immobilizing him. He cringed in pain as my other hand thrusted itself in an attempt to palm bottom him.
Sasuke twisted his body, punting me on my side which made me loosen my grip on him. He then flung himself away from me. I in turn, closed the gap in-between us and took the moment to deliberate. What was his weakest spot?
I stepped away from him, and a split second of confusion crossed his face as he anticipated what I was about to do. He seemed to expect a jab to the upper body, as he brought up his hands closer to his chest and so I did the exact opposite. Crouching down on the floor and sliding myself towards him, I kicked out my leg, sweeping his feet off the ground. He crashed onto the ground.
My victory was short lived however, as he got up, using the momentum of his swinging legs and began to weave the familiar hand seals that I had seen before. In response, I quickly ran through my own hand seals, slightly alarmed if I was going to make it on time. I slammed a hand on the ground and lifted my hand just as quick.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
"Fire Release: Wall of Fire!"
The fireball clashed with the wall, creating a firework-like display of flames dispersing around us. There was a momentary look of shock on Sasuke's face, but he shook his head and leaped over the dying flames, dropping down with a high kick. I rolled out of the way and was greeted by a group of Narutos. Fuck. The middle one connected a fist with my waist while the others planted several kicks and blows. I winced.
I quickly stood up, despite the aching sensations and with a brisk move, I avoided his uppercut to my chin and circled around him, pinpointing an opening. With a swift tap, I shot up a small amount of my chakra to a tenketsu point. Not to block, but to stun.
Naruto immediately clutched his arm, as he howled in pain, "Owww! Hitomi that hurt!
The invasion of foreign chakra in the system, violently and forcefully was agonizing. I knew the pain too well as I sparred with Hinata and Neji- especially Neji. The amount of pain Naruto felt just now was not even a third of the pain I suffered through when sparring with them. The sharp, stabbing accompanied by the freezing-burning sensation; it hurt. With Naruto, it wasn't enough to cause serious damage but that doesn't mean the pain wasn't there.
With Naruto somewhat incapacitated, I went after Sasuke. I expected an exclamation of surprise from him but he remained stoic or rather even more focused than ever. This entire fight, I was forcing them to think ahead, to build up tolerance and to think of counters. And eventually Sasuke did. I noted his changed fighting pattern; his attacks were becoming long-ranged, keeping his distance like Kakashi sensei from the bell test.
And soon, Naruto joined the fight after recovering. He too, must have realized the pattern Sasuke displayed while recuperating from the sidelines.
I thrusted my hand forward, now annoyed with Sasuke's agility to avoid me like a plague. He of course, evaded the attack by backflipping and then jumped up, landing on a tree branch. I snickered, thinking I could just tree climb my way up to him.
But then, he pelted me with a rain of shuriken and kunai, pinning me down to my spot and at the same time forced me away from his tree. From there, I felt a crowd of Narutos surrounding me, effectively restricting and cutting off my choices of movement. I couldn't move up as Sasuke was there, ready to pummel me with more weapons and Naruto's clones were ready on standby in case I performed the replacement jutsu again.
All at once, the clones dived in on me and it was a taijutsu free for all. I ducked, kicked, striked, trying to keep up with them and without warning, I felt a sharp tool looming behind my head.
"Surrender." Sasuke smirked, triumphantly.
"Or?" I cocked my head to the side.
"Or we'll force ya!" The Narutos all countered.
After a moment, I laughed. "I surrender. Good fight."
Sasuke lowered his kunai while Naruto's clones disappeared one by one.
"We were awesome!" Naruto fisted the air before remembering he also complimented Sasuke and scowled. "I mean, I guess you were okay too, bastard."
"Hn, you were alright dead last." Sasuke nonchalantly responded.
Naruto's mouth twitched into a small smile instead of his usual scowl after hearing what Sasuke had to say.
We collected our weapons and headed back to the tree we waited previously. I checked my chakra reserves. It wasn't too bad, but it wasn't good either. I had used two techniques and the jyuuken once and my reserves were at half way. The fight was a wakeup call for me, really. It had shown me that my chakra reserves compared to the number of techniques I used weren't as proportional. Another thing I need to work on. I could produce a chakra storing seal like the one of Tsunade's strength of a hundred seal but that was a big fat 'could.' It would take me years to create one from the amount of extremely delicate chakra control it needed.
I sighed, there was so much to do with so little time.
Speaking of techniques, father said after every spar, one should review their fight to see the strengths and weaknesses; to see what to improve and learn from the mistakes.
I looked over my teammates, both slightly battered. "Want to talk about the match?" I said while resting against the tree.
"Why?" Naruto slowly blinked.
"To see what to improve on." I answered, "Every jutsu and technique have their limitations and as such we should discuss those limitations so that next time we will be prepared."
"Hm. I didn't expect that fire wall." Sasuke admitted first. "You were a fire affinity?"
I nodded, "Found out around graduation."
"I didn't expect you to have anything other than the gentle fist."
"Well, most Hyuuga don't use elemental releases as we mainly rely on our eight trigrams and gentle fists. I was planning on not using any until you hit me with that fireball jutsu." I wavered. I wanted to ask him to teach me the fireball jutsu but I wasn't sure if I was overstepping boundaries. The jutsu was created by his clan and I knew that was a fragile subject for him.
"Do you, do you mind teaching me the fireball jutsu too?" I quickly backtracked, "I mean it's completely fine if you don't want to."
He stared at me for a minute and simply replied, "I don't mind."
I softly smiled, a part of me was startled at him readily accepting my request. "Thanks."
"What was that thing you did when you touched me?" Naruto rubbed at the exact spot I implanted my chakra in. "It hurt so much like my arm was about to burn off!"
"Sorry," I shyly apologized, "It's called Jyuuken: Tenketsu Needle and when used correctly, it targets a single chakra point in the victim's body to halt their chakra flow completely with my own. But I didn't want to hurt you too badly so I used less chakra to only stun."
Naruto shivered, "I don't ever want to go through that ever again."
"I could say the same with your clones." I brushed my bangs from out of my face. "You overwhelmed me with your shadow clones and it forced me to perform the replacement jutsu. I paused, "Why did you guys attack the way you did towards the end."
"I just saw how he was attacking you from the distance and the way he kept going behind you." Naruto chuckled sheepishly.
Sasuke glanced at Naruto then back to me, "I eventually realized you had to be in close range in order to inflict the jyuuken on us. So, I started fighting with weapons and used long-ranged techniques. Without knowingly, Naruto became the distraction while I cornered you from behind." He continued, "I also saw sensei that day constantly moving behind you and thought there was a valid reason."
"It's my blind spot." I answered, hesitantly.
Their eyes widen.
"Blind spot?" Naruto sputtered.
"The byakugan gives me a three hundred sixty-degree field of vision except for a small blind spot at the back of my neck above the first thoracic vertebra." I explained.
"I didn't know." Sasuke muttered.
"Now you know." I wasn't sure if it was a good idea that they knew about the blind spot but they were my teammates.
We continued talking and gave constructive criticisms until Kakashi sensei arrived.
"Good morning, my wonderful students!"
"You're late!" Naruto squawked, "Why are you always so late!"
And as routine, sensei ignored him but today he didn't give us his usual ridiculous reason for his tardiness.
Instead, he merely stated, "Well then, off to do another mission!"
I was baffled. What have they done to our sensei?
"How long do we have to do these sucky missions." Naruto complained.
"You heard Hokage-sama," I reminded him. "Once we have more experience, they'll give us a C rank."
I managed to somehow lessen Naruto's complaints for the past week, but I guess today was his breaking point. I, on the other hand, didn't mind. We were at least getting paid for our work.
When we got to the mission desk, the Hokage surprised us by announcing a long-awaited wish of Naruto: a 'real' mission
The Hokage hummed thoughtfully, "What do you think? Iruka, Kakashi? Do you think team seven is ready for a C rank mission?"
Naruto bounced around, cheering how we finally had a real mission.
Iruka sensei nodded while watching Naruto fondly, "I think they are. They've worked quite hard."
"I also agree." Kakashi sensei eye smiled while placing his hand on Naruto's head, trying to calm him down.
"Very well, a C rank mission it is." The Hokage chuckled. "Team seven will escort a client safely to the Land of the Waves."
I felt my eyes narrow. With the amount of changes that occurred, I expected a different life changing mission, but I guess fate had other plans.