Chapter 5: Left Hand

Despite getting cleared by the hospital, he had to go back from time to time to check his missing right arm. Tsunade was planning to replace his arm with a new prosthetic arm using the Shodaime Hokage's cells. Apparently, using that kind of artificial replacement for his arm was the most suitable way of replicating the control and sensation of a real arm. Baa-chan told him that it will make him feel like he never lost his right arm in the first place. That's good news! But there was a downer when she followed it up with the time it will take to make one suitable for him: almost a year. What a bummer.

'I guess I really need to get used to my left arm for everything.'

Re-learning just about everything with his non-dominant hand was pain. Eating, writing, holding a kunai, channeling chakra, wiping his a…errr it's really everything. When he sees Sasuke after his prison sentence, he's going to give him a big bump to the head!

As he returned home, he couldn't help but sigh deeply. It would be hard to catch up to his peers if he's this useless right now. The mere thought of it made him feel depressed.

Then Hinata's words to him the last time they were together echoed in his mind.

"Naruto-kun, it doesn't matter to me if you lost an arm. It is a reminder that you are the hero that saved us all. To me, Naruto-kun is the coolest in all of nations because of his beautiful smile, his kindness to everyone, his strength to fight for what he believes in, his warm soul that keeps enduring all the pain, and his unshakable will to never give up. So never look down on yourself, okay? You taught me that before, right?"

He felt like he's getting set of fire just thinking about her words with her gentle voice narrating then again and again…

"To me, Naruto-kun is the coolest in all of nations…"

"To me, Naruto-kun is the coolest…"

'Hell yeah I am the coolest!'

With an invigorated spirit and reignited motivation, he was determined to endure being one-handed for the meantime and train hard to get used to his left hand as if it's been his dominant hand since forever.

Several months have passed, and with the help of his friends, he eventually got used to do everything with his left arm. Those one-handed push-up challenges and endurance runs by Lee and Gai-sensei (while on handstand, ridiculous!) were pure torture, but the results can't be denied. He got help from improving his left-handed kunai usage from Tenten, which when he thought about it is now much better than we used his right hand before. His left-handed handwriting was still disastrous according to Sai, but he commented that it was at least legible compared to the first time he asked for advice (his handwriting has always crap to begin with). And when he asked her, Hinata scheduled her time so they can do some sparring, since she somehow knew what he wanted to improve on without really saying things directly.

For most of those times, he noticed that he spent a lot more time with Hinata. Getting up to speed with his Shinobi duties, it seemed Hinata was the most available and the best person to help him. He asked once with Sakura to help him with single-handed chakra manipulation and ninjutsu, and Sakura mentioned that aside from her busy schedule with the hospital and helping Tsunade and Shizune with the development of his prosthetic arm, it would be hard for her to guide him with his own techniques using his left hand because she can't see the chakra network. She mentioned that maybe somebody with Byakugan can help him, hinted with a wink. What was that wink about? Her suggestion led him to ask Hinata once more for this type of training.

And Sakura was right. Byakugan was really helpful, and in fact, it was far easier and faster than when he was doing it alone before. Hinata's guidance on his hand signs and channeling chakra to parts of his body with her Byakugan active helped him adjust how he manipulated his chakra to do all the techniques he knew. At first, he made a blunder at every first try because it involved her touching his hand. When he tried producing multiple shadow clones, Hinata moved his fingers and repositioned them in a hand seal that optimized his chakra control to perform the technique. He was so shocked with the touch than made him shiver, and was staring at her with a spaced out look that when he performed the technique, it produced a deformed clone, just like his blunders at the academy.

'Dammit, that's so uncool!' He hoped that Hinata didn't notice him staring at her. Of course she noticed, her Byakugan was active, Naruto. Her focus just prevented her from getting embarrassed with his stare.

A bit more of attempts and awkwardness from him later, he finally succeeded producing multiple perfect shadow clones. He succeeded with 2, then with 3, then he tried Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu…and bam! A massive group of his shadow clones appeared in an instant!

"Thank you Hinata! I am back to my awesome self again!"

Hinata only giggled at his antics. Hearing her giggle made him blush a little and scratched a non-existent itch at the back of his head.

Their next training exercise involved him creating a Rasengan in his left hand. Ever since Kurama stopped messing around his chakra control, he learned to do Rasengan one-handed. Unfortunately, he only learned it using his right hand. He tried doing it before using his left hand multiple times, but maintaining a marble-sized Rasengan was the best he can do. It would be pitiful if he can't do his signature technique until his right arm arrives.

He told Hinata all the information to create a Rasengan to give her an idea on how to help him create one again on his left hand. With her Gentle Fist, Hinata guided the back of his left hand on top of hers to control the flow of his chakra and be able to manipulate its shape much easier. She told him to remember the current sensation of the flow of chakra from his arms down to the palm of his hand. The only thing he can remember that moment was the sensation of Hinata's hands. It was small compared to his, but equally as warm and much smoother. The tingling sensation and comfortable feeling suddenly made him sigh. Oh shit…did she hear that?

Panicking that he embarrassed himself to her presence once more, he lost control of his chakra and the Rasengan he produced burst out, blowing them away a little and making them sit on their butts.

"Oh shit! O-oh no, I ah-I'm sorry, Hinata! Are you alright!?" He crawled towards her.

"I am fine, Naruto-kun. Just got surprised? How about you? Does your hand hurt?" She stood up.

"No, no I'm okay too! I'm really sorry I lost control!" He bowed his head in shame. That was a huge flop from him!

"Don't worry, Naruto-kun…it's alright. Let's do it again?" She reached out her hands to him, with her beautiful warm smile. He was really happy that she's just so much patient with him. If it were others, he would either get a scolding or a huge bump in the head. The thoughts of her kindness were enough to motivate him to try again.

"Okay, let's!" he grabbed her extended hand and got up to his feet.

He tried to focus more on the task, but it was difficult. The touch of her hand was getting him distracted. He was getting so conscious and shy for reasons he couldn't understand. Hinata noticed he's bothered and out of focus, so she called him out to snap him out of his thoughts.

"Naruto-kun, please look into my eyes."

Naruto obeyed her. He looked into her eyes while her Byakugan was activated.

Normally, that would intimidate him. When he remembered his fight with Neji, the look of his intense eyes with veins protruding at the sides of his face made him nervous and scared. The look Neji gave him before when they fought at the Chuunin exams had the all the intent to hurt, or even kill. He had to match the intensity with his own anger to not back down.

The look Hinata was giving her however felt so different. It was intense, but it was filled with determination and not hatred. It made him feel warm and more confident. Her determination seemed to pass through him with their eye contact. Her eyes did not scare him. He was in awe.

"Focus, Naruto-kun. Believe in yourself. I believe in you, too."

Her words were enough to steer him in the right direction. He smiled back at her with full confidence.

"Yes!" That was enough of a promise to succeed. Never going back to his word was his nindo, after all.

Several seconds had passed, but his level of focus was so high he felt like he was concentrating his chakra shape for much, much longer. His trance-like state was snapped when Hinata deactivated her Byakugan, changing her demeanor from determined to happy. She was smiling at him. He then felt that her hand was no longer holding his. What was going on?

Looking at his own hand gave him the answer he was looking for. A perfectly shaped, palm-sized Rasengan was on top of his hand. He approached a tree like he was attacking somebody and launched his Rasengan on the tree trunk. The results amazed him.

"You did it, Naruto-kun! Congratulations!"

He couldn't contain his happiness and excitement. He ran back to Hinata and hugged her, not hearing her sudden yelp.

"Yes! Yes! I did it Hinata! Did you see that!?"

"Ummm…yes, Naruto-kun…"

When he recognized that her voice was shy, he realized what he did and released her, suddenly stepping back a little.

"Oh…ummm…errr…I'm so, so, so sorry about that, Hinata!" He was well aware of his developing furious blush. He regretted making things a bit more awkward. The scent of her shampoo smelled so nice and the feel of her body felt so good…

'Please stop thinking more weird thoughts, dammit!'

With a few more attempts, this time with Hinata only observing him, he practiced his Rasengan until he felt satisfied with the results. He finally did it…

"Thank you Hinata…I don't think I can do it without your help."

"I-it was nothing, Naruto-kun. But I am glad that I can help you in any way I can."

"You already have done so much for me, you know!"

He knew his words weren't enough to express her gratitude to her.

There were days where there's not much going on. If this happened with his very much younger self, he would rant and cause a riot throughout the village. He was very excitable, impatient, and can't stay still back then when he was considered to be an annoying kid. But now, he had a much greater appreciation for these peaceful, uneventful days.

Well, not exactly uneventful, especially with Hinata around. Because of how frequent they were together outside of their training sessions, he enjoyed a lot of his lull time being with her. They ate out a lot together at Ramen Ichiraku for example, in which Hinata taught her an easy way to use chopsticks left handed. According to her story, there are times where her one of her hands or arms get injured, either through training or missions because of her fighting technique, so she adapted to use any of her hands for almost any activity. He can finally gobble down his ramen just like the old days…

He's still a bit more awkward to Hinata than he wants to. It's still a mystery to him why he suddenly felt that way. Even still, he enjoyed chatting with her, making jokes with her, telling a lot of personal stuff that he sometimes doesn't tell anybody but her. He's thankful that even if he had fumbling moments here and there, Hinata looked so comfortable with him.

When he's about to sleep, he can't help but stare at his left hand and remember the feeling of Hinata's hand holding his and fingers grazing his skin. While the touch is long gone, the lingering feelings remained. Once upon a time, he felt gloomy about feeling useless with only one arm that he wasn't as actively used as his missing one. But as he stared longingly to his left hand, the thoughts of the good times with Hinata made him think…

'Having only one arm isn't that bad, after all…"

-Chapter 5 End-

End notes: The idea behind this came from Boruto the movie when Naruto helped Boruto create his son's Rasengan. Though I think Naruto can learn everything again on his own because he's a natural hardworker, it's easy to make a scenario where his friends, especially Hinata, will assist him in any way they can.