"Enough is enough, I'm not gonna do more of those sorry excuse of missions! I want something real, something with action." An angry Naruto chidded.
"Anoo, baka! You're still an academy fresh genin you still need to do these D ranks mission" screamed Iruka sensei forgetting the hokage was beside him. When he realised he apologized while Hiruzen just chuckled it off.
"These are not even missions Iruka sensei these are chores. Babysitting brats, finding daimyo's cat or mowing someone's lawn. They're freaking chores!" Exasperated Naruto.
'tch, this dobe is right' Sasuke thought.
"I would've given you a c rank mission or something like that but you're not ready for it. You 3 still need to work or teamwork, communication, knowing each other's weaknesses strong points."the sandaime said clamly whilst puffing his cigar.
"Pops! We're more than ready! Kakashi sensei has been training whenever we don't have any missions-cum-chores." Naruto said annoyed.
"Okay if you're insisting so much I'll have to ask your sensei talk to him about your development capabilities, if he says you're good enough then I'll give you a higher rank mission." As this was said the genin looked at their sensei with a 'please say yes' face while Naruto was giving puppy eyes to Kakashi which was very hard for him to resist.
"Hokage sama, there actually have been a lot of development in these three like as for Naruto - He's working more on his shadow clones so that he's able to share thoughts or talk to them if they're far away or doing something else, it's not much he can just telepath few words only to first 3 clones but it's still progess. He also has discovered new technique with help of little one here, Sasuke the books from the library, we call it 'Fox sheen' as he has huge chakra reserve he can actually sorta form a cloak of chakra infusation around him in the shape of fox, which enhances the speed, works as a shield but not too strong also heals faster. But I think this technique has more potential to it as it's just a scratch about 10% of limit."
"As for the little one here, she is literally the heir of Hyuga has a byakugan. She's also started to incorporate ninjutsu in her gentle fist even though the Hyuga clan doesn't like to adulterate their gentle fist style, she still is training on that. As her affinity is water wind, she can make her vaccum palm even more intense powerful she's still having problems with incorporating water style with gentle fist but she can use water based jutsu as they are perfectly. Her taijutsu is being steadily improving. She too discovered her own defense technique similar to Hyuga's rotation but she's working on it still. She Sasuke have also been practicing fuinjutsu."
Hinata blushed furiously as she heard her sensei praise her.
"& The emo brat, well a former brat. This guy here has learn how to rig weapons & incorporation of weapons with wires, seals, bombs, etc. He has a great aim. He also started practicing kenjutsu with me & is improving greatly in it. He's studying in konoha lab about
various types of poisons & also has basic knowledge bout toxicology. He has managed to make his body immune to level 1-2 poisons which are basics poisons, he can create antidotes for poison of level 4. His affinities being fire, lightening, wind nature, he's learning jutsus based on of them. He also has something similar to Naruto's Fox sheen, he hasn't been able to train on that much but it works like Tsunade sama's byakugou seal, which basically stores extra chakra that's left from everyday's chakra portion keeping another chakra reserve which he can use in battle which will provide him chakra boost we call it 'snake mantle' as it's in a snake form this too increased speed better taijutsu & as a shield but it's better than Naruto's as it can hold off multiple normal kunais & shurikens."
finished Kakashi. Sasuke smirked at this but was feeling really happy that his sensei appreciated, acknowledged him & his abilities
"So I think they're more than ready for it"
Everyone in the room including Iruka & hokage were amazed at the genins creativity & progress they made it. The anbu were shocked as they stared at the genins.
Hokage smiled softly & said "They all seem to be progressing very well I hope you will continue to train & strive towards more greater goods in the future. I have a C rank mission for you to escort an important person who demanded security to from konohagakure to kirigakure." as the 3rd finished he gestured the appointed anbu to bring someone in.
A tall man, with tanned skin with glasses wearing a black kimono shirt & khaki pants & traditional Japanese sandals. He wore a cane made hat & had a bottle of sake in his hand.
"You're saying that these brats will protect me? You expect me to believe that little boy with idiotic look on his face is a ninja or the arrogant emo freak next to him who reeks of fangirls & this small timid girl with weird creepy eyes- are ninja?" Said the so called escortee. As Naruto & Sasuke were bout to knock the man down Kakashi intervened. He was bout to lecture the man but he was cut off by a surprising angry Hinata
"Sir, I'd warn you to watch your words. You don't even know a thing about us so I advice you to keep your judgement bout me & my teammates to yourself. That little boy with idiotic look on his face? He works hard everyday & train till he drops to accomplish his dream. That arrogant emo freak reeking of fangirls? He's one of the best genin konoha has ever had & a rookie of the year, he has potential to be a great ninja someday & complete his goal. As for creepy eyes timid girl like me? I can't help with my eyes. It's a family thing & kekkai genkai so I'm sorry my eyes creep you -a fully grown man so much." Hinata gritted.
Team 7 Kakashi Iruka & Hokage were shocked by the calm Hyuga's sudden outburst at the insult of her teammates.
Naruto was grinning at Hinata while Sasuke gave a small smile & was happy that she stood for them. Kakashi was having a proud sensei moment while he was crying anime style & fanning over how much his little one has grown & progressed, which made hinata realised what she just did & apologised to the man.
They were informed of the mission to protect Tazuna the bridge builder to the land of waves. They all left to pack & were suppose to meet at the gate in 3 hours.
"Hinata-chan!" Naruto called.
"Y-yes Naruto-kun?"
"Hinata-chan thank you for standing up for me & Sasuke teme. We really appreciate you as our teammate & friend." Naruto said bowing slightly with Sasuke.
"An-no Naruto-kun, S-sasuke-kun I didn't do anything I just t-told him the truth & that I have 2 very s-strong ninjas for teammates which do n-not deserve to be degraded." Hinata said blushing slightly.
"Ne, Hinata-chan you don't need to be modest. We 3 are strong ninjas with not only great individual abilities but we also work pretty decent for a team. As much as I dislike Naruto-dobe & I can't believe I'm saying this I couldn't have asked for a better team. Like Naruto said, we really cherish you as our teammate." Sasuke said surprising both.
Naruto was in tears after hearing Sasuke's not-so-soft-soft-words clinging on him & hugging him while he was trying to get away from him, slapping his arm away & throwing insults towards him. Hinata was just standing there giggling at her teammates antics while internally thanking kami for giving her a great team.
Kakashi stood behind a pillar & was watching the whole scene unfold. He smiled thru his mask grateful for the team he got.
All 5 met at the gate on the fixed time. Kakashi was forced to reach on time by Iruka. They left after a few minutes. They were walking in 2 groups with Tazuna & Kakashi in the front talking bout god-knows-what. The genin were together walking behind their sensei, Sasuke was a little ahead of Hinata g she was ahead of Naruto, who was greatly enjoying the scenery around him as this being his first time out of the village.
They were more than halfway through their journey when Hinata saw a puddle, she grew suspicious of it. She looked ahead to see if their sensei noticed, the sensei was calm & just talking with Tazuna. She looked at her teammates & saw Naruto blabbering bout ramen g sakura feeling a little at the mention of how he misses sakura. She went ahead to see Sasuke quiet calm & thinking of something not wanting to disturb Naruto of his ramen-sakura thoughts she decided to inform Sasuke bout it without being suspicious as anyone was following them.
Sasuke was walking with his hands in this pockets, Hinata went next to him snake her arm around his clinging onto him which surprised Sasuke as he felt her next to him he grew a faint blush on his cheeks.
"Calm down, S-Sasuke-kun. I'm sorry for this but I think someone is following us. We need to be on alert. I c-came next to you & clinging onto your side so it wouldn't seem s-suspicious to the ones f-following us that we know a-about them. I can't use my b-byakugan as they will
notice the h-handsigns. I just wanted to warn you to be on y-your toes." She said smiling looking at him. The expression & the context of the conversation weren't matching as he knew she was tricking the ones following us that she's just talking normally.
"Yeah okay, but what made you think someone is following us?" He said smiling towards her now snaking his arm around her waist, if it was normal situation she would've blushed at having a guy's arm on her waist but she knew better that Sasuke was playing along.
"I saw a p-puddle few metres back, but it hasn't r-rained in 2 weeks & it is a shsunny day too. We are heading t-towards kirigakure, there's a c-chance that maybe some bandits henge themselves looking like p-puddle or it was a r-remnant of a water jutsu used." Hinata said calmly looking in the front.
"We you do have a point but why didn't you warned Naruto first?" Sasuke asked.
"Well, if I warned him first, he'd a-act way too normal making t-them suspicious of u-us being in the known. That & he won't stop t-talking bout Sakura-chan s-so loudly I think even the ones following u-us know her now. It would've seemed suspicious for me to go talk to h-him suddenly so I h-had to come to you" Hinata said with a sad expression evident on her face as she talked bout her crush talking bout his crush.
'tch that dobe, he doesn't care that his blabbering towards that annoying sakura is hurting hinata-chan, having her next to me so close feels nice for some reason' Sasuke thought.
"Don't mind that dobe, he's blind & he lacks taste." Sasuke said.
"Why would you say that Sasuke-kun?" Hinata inquired.
"Well I said he lacks taste because he would go chase behind that stupid sakura girl instead of a strong, beautiful & kind person like you who's waiting for him to notice you & I said he's blind because he can't see your feelings towards him." Sasuke said calmly.
"WHAT!?" Hinata yelled almost blowing their cover 'did he knew? If he did then how does he even know?'
Sasuke trying to cover her outburst said a little loud & smiling "Yes Hinata, will you please go on a date with me?"
Hinata stared at Sasuke trying to make sense of why he was asking her to date until she realised he was keeping their cover.
She blushed lightly & said "yes, Sasuke-kun I'd love to go on a date with you" trying to play along.
"Nani? Hinata-chan why would you agree on a date with someone like teme? & Teme why are you asking hinata-chan to a date ?" Naruto panicked after seeing them so close to each & talking bout going on dates.
"Shut up dobe, me liking hinata-chan or asking her out is none of your business." Sasuke said annoyed at Naruto.
•••
They all were proceeding towards their destination. Suddenly few spiked chains wrapped around Kakashi ripping him apart into pieces. Everyone was shocked. Naruto panicked & froze on his spot just after witnessing his sensei being ripped into pieces. Sasuke gained his composure seeing that his teammates were too shocked by the incident. He brought out his kunai, to scurry away the bandit's spiked chains.
Now getting his time to analyse the enemy, he saw they're were 3 tall men with their faces covered & their forehead protector horizontally scratch indicating them as rogue ninjas. After hearing the clanging sound of Sasuke's kunai colliding with the chains, Hinata snapped out of her trance gained her posture. She started analysing the whole situation, comforting herself to mourn for their dead sensei later.
She saw one of the man heading towards zabuza while Sasuke was facing two of them alone. She activated her byakugan, then closed off the chakra points of his right arm which was crawling towards Tazuna. When the man who seemed like chunin level was distracted by his numb hand, she used her clan's jutsu 'gentle fist: 8 trigrams 64 palms' the man went flying away into a tree, she noticed over Sasuke's side that he was outnumbered.
Confirming that there was no threat to bridge builder for the time being she went towards her teammates. As a kunai was about to hit Sasuke's back, she deflected it with her shuriken. Sasuke realised Hinata helping her & internally thanked her. She went over to the other guy engaging in taijutsu with him, trying to shut off his chakra points while doing so. Sasuke was busy with the other guy as he looked towards Hinata who was fighting him. He kicked his opponent sending him flying through & used the jutsu he recently learned 'lightning style: sparked snake bite' this jutsu resulted in a spark of lightening coming out of Sasuke's palm in the form of snake, this finished off his opponent in an instant.
He turned towards Hinata to her kicking the opponent away but unfortunately he skidded half way & went to Naruto who was still very frozen. Hinata & Sasuke realised this as they ran towards him, the opponent threw few shurikens towards Naruto. Hinata threw her shurikens to deflect the other ones, only one shurikens scratched through Naruto's hand.
The two genin jumped in front of Naruto fighting the opponent off as the three started off with taijutsu. Sasuke decided to make sure to keep the opponent distracted enough for Hinata being able to close his chakra points. As she did that, the chunin kicked her in the gut sending her back off a few feet. This angered Sasuke, he punched the in the face sending him off a few feet removing a scroll from his ninja pouch infusing chakra into it & removed his sword. The guy got back into the battle clanging the sword with his kunai but Sasuke was a great kenjutsu user for a genin ranked ninja. He fought him off & finally pierced his sword into his chest, looking towards him intensely with Scarlett red eyes with 1 tomoe & ring in each eye.
The man instantly died, he heard scuffling behind him, he turned to see the guy he used lightening snake bite on weakly trying to attack him with a kunai. As he was about to do that, a very alive Kakashi came in & snapped his hand which was holding the kunai.
"S-sensei you're a-alive!?" Hinata splurted.
"Oh yes I am very much alive little one, sorry for making you three worry" he said giving his eye smile.
"W-why would you scared u-us like that Sensei!" Hinata scolded her sensei.
"Gomena-sai, little one I didn't mean to. By the way, great work with gentle fist & taijutsu we will train your fist style stance more & Sasuke great response time you didn't waste a second to engage in fight while it still took hinata few seconds you didn't hesitated, also I'm glad you awakened your sharingan. You & Hinata have great team work & Naruto I honestly didn't expected you to froze up but it's okay everyone has their days." Kakashi said.
"Gomena-sai sensei, I couldn't do anything" Naruto apologized.
"Ne ne, it's okay." Kakashi reassured the blondy.
"How did you even notice us? We were very well hidden & made sure you didn't know we were around." Asked one of the chunin as he was being tied up by Kakashi.
"Well, your hidden is good enough." He turned towards Hinata & Sasuke.
"...you noticed it little one didn't you? you also warned Sasuke." Kakashi trailed off.
"Hai sensei, I n-noticed the water puddle a-as we were walking but it didn't r-rained in a few days & it was a sunny day so there's no way a n-normal puddle could've been a-around." She finished.
"Just what I expect from my favourite student, good work & I also saw through your little 'dating & liking' each other thing. Good skillsets." Kakashi finished
"But how did you know you weren't listening or paying attention to us at all?" Sasuke inquired.
"I'm a jounin for some reason Sasuke"
"Tch" was all he said
"Anyways I have to talk to you about something Tazuna-san" Kakashi said Angrily.
He & Tazuna went off to talk while he walked towards hinata asking if she was okay.
"A-ah Sasuke-kun, are y-you okay?" Hinata asked worried.
"Yes I am, you?" She nodded.
She sprinted to over to Naruto to see him a little pale than usual realising he scratched his hand with the poisoned weapon. As she told Naruto that he's been poisoned Kakashi came over with Tazuna.
"Okay so it seems our client lied to us bout this being a simple escort mission"
(If you've seen the Zabuza arc I'm sure you know the whole Zabuza gatou bridge shit & if you haven't seen it then idek why you're reading this. Go watch it now)
"So what do we d-do now sensei?" Hinata asked.
"Well we could still take this mission & you all did just prove you're good enough to protect yourselves but Naruto's injury might be a set back." Kakashi said.
Naruto took a kunai & stabbed his wound. "I, hereby, pledge that I will protect that bridge builder with my life."
"All that was very cool & great Naruto but if you bleed more then the more poison will spread so you'll die." Kakashi said calmly as if he didn't just said that his student will die.
Naruto sweatdropped & started panicking bout how he didn't wanted to die yet.
"Ne naruto, it's okay don't worry Sasuke knows good enough toxicology he'll heal you up good in no time"Kakashi assured his very pale & panicked student.
"What? I don't trust this teme! What if instead of removing the poison he'll add more to kill me?" Naruto asked.
"Naruto, if he wanted you to die then he'd let that bandit do it when he had the chance." Kakashi finished.
"A-n-no, Naruto-kun I'm sure S-sasuke-kun isn't going to t-try to kill you, please let him help you." Hinata asked.
"Okay if you're saying so."
"Tch, why do I have to help this dobe when he's always so annoying." Then they started bickering.
Sasuke removed the poison from Naruto & they started their journey back.
As they were about to reach kirigakure, they heard some scuffle around the bushes were Naruto carelessly threw a kunai, resulting a rabbit jumping out.
"Ahh just a rabbit" Naruto sighed relieved.
"Why is t-the furr of the r-rabbit white?" Hinata said.
"It's should've shed his furr after winter as it's spring now" Sasuke continued.
"But seems like it was raised indoors to act as a perfect substitute for substitution jutsu" Kakashi finished.
Naruto & Tazuna were staring at the 3 with a blank face.
"DUCK!" Kakashi yelled.
A huge sword came flying through over them but luckily everyone ducked down in time except Tazuna but fortunately Naruto pulled him down.
"No wonder the demon brothers failed, with an opponent like Kakashi the copy ninja of the Sharingan they were bound you fail. It's a great honor to meet you in real life." A tall, dark man with bandages covering half of his face & being shirtless with grey camouflage pants & a huge sword hung on his back while his forehead protector was worn sideways.
'Sharingan?! He isn't an uchiha then where did he get a sharingan from?'
"Zabuza Momochi, demon of the hidden mist, one of the seven skilled swordsman owner of the executioner blade if I'm not wrong & I didn't fought with the demon brothers I'm way out of there league, my students here did it alone." Kakashi trailed off.
"Bunch of genins!? You're telling me these 3 brats defeated the rogue nin siblings? They 3 were high-chunin to low-jounin? Pftt,Who are you kidding?"
As Zabuza finished, the three took there fighting stance, with the Hyuga activating her byakugan & readying her kunai & gentle fist stance, Sasuke & Naruto activating their Snake Mantle & Fox Sheen at 10% which resulted in chakra forming in the shape of snake & foz around the 2 & Sasuke's hair having silver sheen with his sharingan activated, Naruto's hair had a red sheen over it with his eyes red whiskers enhanced & fox pupils. Kakashi finally revealed his Sharingan.
"On second thoughts, I think these brats just might have fought them." Zabuza finished.
"Well kids, I know you wanted to have a good nice fight but I'll be doing this one myself." Kakashi went in front of them.
Then the 2 elite Jounin started realising K.I intensely. These made the genin lose control of their body & fall on their knees trembling. After a few seconds they gained their composure, still feeling uneasy from the amount of K.I being released.
"Don't worry you three, I'll protect you with my life if I have to" kakashi said giving his eye smile.
"K-kakashi sensei, good luck" hinata encouraged her sensei.
The 3 genin stood in front of Tazuna in a protective way.
(Kakashi & Zabuza's fight is on YouTube if you don't remember it you can watch)
"Don't try to fight it, this water prison is stronger than steel" Zabuza finished.
"You 3 take Tazuna & run his water clone can't get too far from the original body." Kakashi yelled to his students.
The three genins knew running wasn't an option.
They got into their fighting stance, Naruto created 10 clones, Hinata & Sasuke activated their visual prowess. Zabuza's clone walked towards the trio, Naruto's clones engaged with him first he swiftly managed to dispose few clones for Naruto just to create 20 more clones.
Naruto's clone started attacking Zabuza in Swastika formation. As he disposed few, he gained more confidence & didn't worried about dodging the clones blows much. As he did that one of Naruto's clone crept besides his waist, staring back with Scarlett red eyes, capturing the clone in genjutsu. While another clone came in with veins popping around his eyes, that clone swiftly used '8 trigrams : 64 heavenly palms' the water clone dispersed.
"Wow I must say I'm impressed you actually managed to defeat my clone." Zabuza stated.
All of Naruto's clones dismantled. Using the clones smoke to their own gain Sasuke & Hinata transformed back into themselves & the Naruto's henges clones dispersed.
They activated their dōjutsu & their chakra forms & hinata her fighting stance being in a surrounding with water, mist & windy area favoured the situation towards her side more.
He created another clone, Sasuke went first to attack him he threw kunai & shuriken but it was blocked with ease by his sword. He went ran towards the clone engaging in kenjutsu. He kicked his leg while blocking his huge blade with his own sword but was kneed in the back which sent him flying back. Naruto came in with his clones but Zabuza swig his blade across, the real Naruto was running towards him with a kunai, he held his blade off for few seconds before Naruto created clones who attacked him simultaneously managing to land a few blows at him but the real Naruto was send flying back with a kick & his clones were dispersed.
Hinata wanted to go help her teammates but she couldn't leave Tazuna unprotected. She readied herself as the evil clone walked towards her, she threw shurikens but were dodged by him with ease. They clone came running towards her with the huge blade swinging she dodged a few swings before poking sharping into his chest yelling 'gentle fist : one finger blow' the clone froze & lied on the ground lifelessly for few second & then dispersed clone dispersed.
Sasuke removed a demon shuriken from his looked over at Naruto's & both nodded a look off, Naruto created another set of clones. Meanwhile Sasuke unfolded the shuriken yelling ''Wind Style : Demon Windmill Shuriken" & threw it spinning at the real Zabuza. He was ready to dodge it off with the blade from his vacant hand, just when the huge shuriken was about to reach Zabuza Naruto yelled ''Shadow Style : Shadow Shuriken jutsu" then the incoming shuriken created another replica, he hardly dodged the first & blocked the second with his blade.
As he was about to pass another snarky comment & a 'click' sound came off, as Sasuke pulled his rigged shuriken apart as few pieces stabbed him, Kakashi didn't get hurt as he was shielded by the water prison. Another hoard of Naruto's clone ran towards the injured Zabuza with his one had keeping the prison up, few seconds later he let go Kakashi as Naruto threw shurikens towards him.
As Kakashi was freed he charged towards Zabuza. They got into a long battle as Zabuza was about to land another blow on Kakashi, a few senbons came in stabbing Zabuza's neck.
•••
Kakashi went towards Zabuza's body checked for any vitals but found him dead.
"Who are you?" Sasuke asked after seeing the nin who threw the senbon towards Zabuza. The ninja had long face framing bangs tied up On the side a mask with red designs, dresses in a haori & wore a gi on top it, the nin also wore traditional black chinese shoes. It ssemed that the nin was very young & around the age of genins.
"He is a hunter nin judging by the mask I think you're from kirigakure." Kakashi answered.
"You're very well informed Kakashi the copy ninja it's an honor to meet you." The ninja answered.
"What are hunter nins?" Naruto asked.
"H-hunter ninjas are a special track & hunt u-unit of elite jounin level who hunt rogue ninjas as a s-shinobi body contains many secrets t-that could be very harmful i-if they land into enemy's possession like m-my & Sasuke-kun's kekkai g-genkai if we die while being in enemy's land they c-can use our eyes & other clans or v-village secrets to use against t-the ninja village. Hunter n-nins are appointed to hunt them & are supposed to destroy their c-corpse. As a requirement, t-they must possess a thorough and i-intimate knowledge of human a-anatomy. D-due to their reputation f-for utterly and c-completely obliterating the remains of their targets, t-they are code named 'The Undertaker Squad' of Oinin Butai." Hinata finished thinking deeply.
"Wow, well aren't you too smart for a genin yourself Hyuga Princess." The nin said.
"Hyuga Princess what do you mean? How to you know her?" Naruto asked.
"Some teammate you are, your pretty teammate here is the heiress of the strongest clan in konaha after the late Uchiha clan. She'll be one of the most important people of the village due to her status as heiress & her great potential for perfect byakugan." The nin said.
"You know quite a lot about konoha for a kirigakure ninja." Kakashi said.
"My job is to track & hunt so I need to know what's going around in other villages too. Anyways I thank you for hunting Zabuza Momochi I've been trying to get ahold of him since quite a time, I'll take it from here."the ninja said.
Naruto started to oppose them about trusting Zabuza to the nin but Kakashi calmed him telling it's their job. Hinata felt uneasy as she saw the hunter ninja picking up Zabuza's body & exiting. As they left Hinata turned towards her Sensei.
"He's still alive s-sensei. Zabuza's still alive." Hinata said with her byakugan on.
"What are you saying? he was dead when Sensei checked his body." Naruto said.
"Yes, but the kiri nin was skilled as a hunter he knows the human body like the back of their hand, he used the senbon to put Zabuza into a death like state making us think he's dead." Sasuke said.
"I just tracked t-them with my b-byakugan the chakra points & n-network of Zabuza are still on. They can create a d-death like stated by s-stopping heart but they can't hide the chakra n-network." Kakashi thought deeply at what the genins said.
"Didn't you said that the hunter ninja suppose to destroy the corpse the moment they find them?"Sasuke asked Hinata nodded.
"Then we should go behind them & finish them once & for all" Naruto said.
"We can't do that N-naruto-kun, they might already be far gone as they're no longer in my byakugan radius. P-plus we've all e-exhausted almost all of chakra from constant use of our e-eyes." Hinata stated.
"Hinata's right Naruto, we should go back to the village for now & Zabuza is fairly injured it'll take him time to recover so he probably wouldn't attack anytime soon, now that he knows we're capable enough he won't send anyone to attack us. Till then we'll train you 3 more & you maybe able to learn few jutsu too." Kakashi said.
Naruto offered Hinata while they were walking to Tazuna's house for carrying her bag but she declined politely smiling, he insisted her more & she finally gave in with a blush in her face. Sasuke was walking with a usual scowl on his face.
They all reached Tazuna's house, they had 2 seperate rooms, one being slightly bigger for the genins & the other for their sensei. Kakashi was the one who exhausted the most chakra from fighting Zabuza, he needed atleast 4-5 days to heal fully.
The genins entered the room where their mattress were laid out, Naruto settled Hinata & his bags in the corner when he saw Hinata sprawled on the matress sleeping soundly. Naruto was about to wake her up to tell her to freshen up & then sleep but Sasuke cut him off as he picked hinata & laid her straight on the corner matress.
"Let her sleep, she used too much chakra today for helping everyone & fighting, she did good; she deserves it." Naruto nodded towards Sasuke.
Sasuke went to bath first g came out to see Naruto staring towards sleeping Hinata, he had his clothes & towel ready for shower. Sasuke scowled, "Why are you staring her while she's sleeping like a creepy pervert?"
" I wasn't staring like a pervert or a creep! I was just looking at her skin." Naruto yelled.
"That's right there creepy & perverty thing to do" Sasuke smirked.
"Baka I wasn't creeping or staring at her. I was looking at her skin, look it's so shiney" Naruto almost yelling the last part while Sasuke shushed him.
He was right the moon light in the dim room made her pale skin sparkle. Her now medium length mid night blue hair were spread across on the pillow, the light made her hair shine making it look like a halo on top of her head. Sasuke stared at her taking in every detail of her.
"Now who's staring? " Naruto mocked.
"Tch" Sasuke broke his eyes off the sweet creature sleeping in front towards the ugly annoying creature.
"See even you couldn't resist yourself from staring at her! Was she always this pretty & cute? Why didn't I noticed it before." Naruto said
"You were too busy chasing behind that ugly haired annoying girl to notice just how beautiful Hinata was & has always been from the outside & inside." Sasuke gritted.
"What? Teme! How dare you call Sakura-chan ugly haired or annoying!?" Naruto whispered yelled taking in consideration of their sleeping teammate.
"I never said Sakura's name or any of her description..." Naruto sat dumbfolded.
"...that means even you think Sakura is annoying & ugly haired girl" Sasuke smirked.
"Haww, wait why would I think that it was Sakura I always thought her hair was pretty & yeah she wasn't nice to me but she was nice to others so why would I think that? I love Sakura-chan still why I'm thinking such things bout her..." Naruto stared panicking, Sasuke cut him off
"You're too dense for your own good." Sasuke grinned.
"Wait, what's that suppose to mean you didn't answer me!" Naruto said Angrily.
"Tch, I'll tell you some other day now go take a shower & sleep" Sasuke said drying his hair a little. As Naruto was about to enter the bathroom he paused
"So you think hinata-chan is beautiful,eh?" Naruto wiggled his eyebrows grinning.
Sasuke threw his towel on Naruto's face annoyed. When Naruto finished Sasuke was already asleep in the middle matress next to Hinata. He eyed him as saw him they were facing each other & Hinata's hand was on top of Sasuke's, it would almost seem like they fell asleep holding hands. Hinata barely stayed in her own matress lane as she was rolled into Sasuke's. Naruto shrugged & went to sleep.
The next day Hinata woke up feeling warm, rested & fresh after a very long time, she found herself hugging Sasuke from behind while he held her hand near his chest. She had her legs on top of his while taking up almost half of his space. She blushed heavily as she was embarassed then slowly unwind herself from him. She knew she's very space hogging sleeper & remembered to apologise to him for her sleeping habits.
She went towards her bag & thanked Naruto internally for settling it nicely in a corner. She got her clothes showered & went downstairs to help for breakfast.
She saw Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami in the kitchen. She greeted her politely & offered to help, they were doing breakfast while chatting a bit bout each other. Hinata was happy because it had been very long since after her mother's dead that she talked to another women who was very nice & understood her very much. Tsunami asked her to wake up her teammates while she went to give Kakashi his breakfast.
As she reached in their room, she tried to wake Naruto up who had drool all over & eyes half closed. She told him that the breakfast was ready. He got up & left to freshen up. She scooted on Naruto's mattress trying to wake Sasuke up & failing. She literally shooked him with all her might but the Uchiha didn't budged. She tried other ways to wake him up, finally he opened his eyes sleepingly & saw Hinata panting over him looking like she ran around 10 labs.
"You're a...very heavy... sleeper! I got warmed up... for training trying... to wake you up" She said between breathes.
He watched Hinata talk, he smiled a little mumbled 'mom, 5 more minutes just to rest my eyes' & was about to lie down again giving her. But before he could hinata held his shoulder
shook him like how you shake a cough syrup bottle before consuming. That seemed to awake the Uchiha.
Hinata thought bout him mumbling about his mom, she knew bout the massacre & she bad for him as she herself knew the loneliness from the lack of mother's love.
"Pftt you're f-finally up" hinata said in relief.
Sasuke was embarassed that Hinata saw his heavy sleeper self.
"Yeah, I'm am heavy sleeper & I also talk in sleep sometimes" Sasuke said a little red
"Yes I k-know" hinata giggled.
"Did I mumbled something in my sleep again?! Oh God why does it happens with me. Hinata-chan I'm really sorry if I said something offending or bad I was aware of myself or surrounding" hinata shooked her head.
"Don't worry, y-you didn't said something bad in your sleep when I came to w-wake you up for breakfast you o-opened your eyes half first you s-saw me you smiled & said '5 more m-minutes mom t-to rest my eyes mom' it seemed like you were very c-close to her" Hinata gave a soft smile.
"Yeah, my mom had to face hell before just to wake me up she was the only one who could wake me up..." His face got a little saddened.
"...ever since the massacre no one was there to wake me up, so I wasn't able to sleep in the night without waking up atleast 4-5 times. After that incident, I think today was the first time I've slept a whole night without waking up once & doing the whole ' 5 more minutes' trick. It was a great sleep just like how I used to get from before" he said smiling sadly.
Hinata remembered how it felt in her mom's embrace & how much she craves it still & misses her. Knowing that the Uchiha went through the same. She slowly went closer & hugged him. He was shocked at first. But then he wrapped his arm around her. She softly said " it's okay I get you" they broke the hug feeling empty again after the warm embrace. Sasuke was thankful for the hug, he didn't knew he needed it.
"Anyways sorry you had to go through all the trouble to wake me up & listen to me sleep talk."
"Heki heki, I should be the o-one apologising" hinata said while looking on the floor.
"What? Why?" Sasuke asked confused. He was surprised that he was comfortable enough to talk to someone about her mother or Uchiha massacre. He knew why he mistook hinata for her dead mom. Hinata was a lot like her, they both had dark midnight blue hair, they both cooked amazing food infact Hinata's food reninded him of his mom's food. Like Mikoto, hinata was kind, beautiful, gentle, loving basically they were probably angels in disguise.
"Well you see you're n-not the only one with s-sleeping habits. I have a habit of cuddling & rolling around hogging others s-space & blankets in my s-sleep but i got it under control f-few years back but it j-jumped right back last night I don't why. When I woke up I was hugging y-you from behind while h-holding your hands & practically took your sleeping space & b-blanket. I'm really sorry for invading your private space & h-hogging your blankets or-r cuddling you." She bowed
He remembered her sleeping next to him & snuggling near him when he was about to fell asleep. He smiled lightly realising her embrace reminding him of his mom's.
"Ne ne, hinata-chan it's okay , I guess I have your cuddles to thank for a great deep sleep. It wasn't much of an issue & I throw away my blanket while sleeping all the time so it's no big deal" he smiled lightly towards her
They both got up & exited, Hinata went downstairs feeling happy while Sasuke freshen up & joined for breakfast.
"A-n-no Kakashi sensei, you said we'll be training b-but you're suppose to rest till heal yourself completely" Hinata said
"Yes yes little one, I will take my rest but I'm healthy enough train you three" Kakashi eye smiled.
They all left for the training.
•••
As they reached the woods Kakashi informed them that they were doing tree walking training today.
"You need to infuse right amout of chakra from your feet to be able to walk on tree or water. Infusing too much or too less will just drop you off." Kakashi explained.
"You need to evolve yourself to have chakra as your second nature, if you learn how to do this training & a few others then your chakra control would improve, the chances of you being able to learn new jutsus easily increases."
"You'll mark your progress with your kunai."they nodded
He showed them the signs on how to infuse chakra & how to concentrate on it.
"Okay now Sasuke you go first" Kakashi stated.
Sasuke did what Kakashi said bout infusation. He walked towards the tree picking his pace up & running towards it. He got few good feet distance covered before his foot smashed the barked from too much chakra infusation.
'he did pretty good for his first try' Kakashi thought.
"My dear blondy" Kakashi said.
Naruto did the same but he fell after just a few steps the mark reaching bout his forehead while Sasuke's was few inches above Kakashi's head.
"Little one your turn." He gave her an encouraging smile.
She turned towards her teammates while Sasuke gave a kind nod, Naruto was busy trying to understand why was his progress lower than Sasuke's. She sighed at him & did the necessary work before she stared running at a normal pace, she reached the top easily waved at everyone then came walking downwards.
Kakashi knee he had great chakra control, Naruto was shocked & annoyed that he couldn't do it but she was able to do it. Sasuke was shocked at how amazing her control over her chakra was, he smiled proudly towards her but turned into his expressionless self back after noticing his sensei eyeing him.
Hinata did notice the smile & returned it with a soft one of her own.
"You did good Hinata-chan." Sasuke said with a nod.
"Thank you Sasuke-kun" she smiled lightly.
"I guess she did okay" Naruto said annoyed at himself for not being able to progress but unintentionally took it out on Hinata.
"She did way better than your sorry ass did. Don't be a sore loser, just accept it that she's way good at it than both of at this." Sasuke scowled towards the blonde.
Naruto realised what he did & felt bad about it, he turned towards Hinata.
"Gomena-sai hinata-chan I didn't mean to be rude or offending. You did great work there." Hinata shooked her head.
"It's okay Naruto-kun"
"You did great Hinata. By the time they learn to do tree walking I'll teach you how to walk on water so your time wouldn't be wasted." Kakashi said.
"A-no Kakashi sensei, I already k-know how to walk on water." Hinata said.
They were amazed "you do?"
'just how much ahead is she than us' Sasuke thought.
"Yes, in H-hyuga clan we're taught c-chakra control the moment we become byakugan holder & in academy when I came to know that o-one of my chakra affinity was water I use to go to the waterfall in the woods, to s-swim stay calm & stuff. One day, my foot slipped on the moody r-rock & I infuse chakra unintentionally & was standing o-on water by that I slowly started to learn how to walk on water of v-various temperatures. I never really learned t-tree walking but as my control was honed good enough it came n-naturally"
"Woah, that's amazing even I wanna learn how to walk on water." Naruto claimed happily. Hinata just blushed a little & smile.
"Well, looks like I need to catch up with you very soon." Sasuke smirked. He expected a 'you're on' or 'you'll never be able to catch up with me' comment as he was staying with Naruto & his competitiveness too much but instead Hinata replied with a kind smile.
"It's okay, I'll wait for y-you to catch up with this & then w-we three can p-oroceed together" Naruto went on an emotional haze about how touching it was, while Sasuke just nodded quietly surprised & delighted.
'she wants all of us to be stronger together, she's something else' Sasuke thought
"Little one here do something for me." Kakashi asked.
"Yes Sensei?" Hinata asked.
"Can you transform into a leaf?"
"I don't know I haven't tried yet. Should I try it now?" Kakashi nodded.
Hinata infused chakra, did the hand signs & a poof of smoke rose as it cleared, they looked for her but found a single small leave on the ground.
Kakashi had his eyes wide then smiled proudly.
"Okay you can turn back."
She turned into herself with another poof of smoke.
"How long do you think you can maintain the transformation?" Kakashi asked, the genins were still confused about the whole thing.
"About few hours I guess when it's windy" Kakashi nodded.
"Why does that mean sensei?" Naruto impatiently asked.
" Well you see you not everyone can transform themselves into small things & a leaf transformation is very hard..." Kakashi continued.
"...as a leaf is delicate & light, it's position can also be influenced by water & wind & to be able to fit the henges self into that shape & maintaining it is not easy."
"Ohhh..." Naruto said.
"When I said not everyone can do it, I meant only one of the legendary sanin Tsunade Senju can do that, she practiced for 5 months to be able to transform into a leaf. She's the strongest medical ninja & healer in the shinobi world. She has the greatest chakra control in the whole of 5 village."
"What the-?" Naruto said wide eyed.
"You're n-not joking right sensei?" Kakashi shooked his head.
"Damn hinata-chan, you're so good at it." Sasuke said smiling shocking his blonde teammate & his sensei.
"Eh, thank you I guess" she said confused still not being able to believe it.
"Easy up hinata-chan. Give yourself a little more credit." She nodded smiling.
"Just how good is she?" Naruto finally spoked after processing the whole thing.
"Well right now, her chakra control is about of a low to high kage level which is about as good as if not more than Tsunade sama's but she's experienced years of practice to reach here. Little one here is just a genin, she can maybe surpass Tsunade sama. Due to great chakra control she can also be a great medical ninja. Ne little one you have any interest in medical ninja?"
"Yess ik the basics & I can do level 4 of healing but then the that takes a bit toll on me next day as it creates chakra dents in my chakra network from healing."Hinata answered.
"Kage level?! Like hokage, raikage kage?!" Naruto Screamed.
"What's level 4 healing?" Sasuke asked.
"It means she can heal broken bones & dislocated joints to internally injuries or organ failure as she has byakugan to see what's wrong & the talent to do it right." Kakashi answered ignoring Naruto.
They nodded & the boys wents back to practice. Kakashi asked Hinata if she wanted to sparr on water, hinata agreed.
After they sparred which left them very tired then when they reached to the boys. Hinata collapsed on the ground panting looking beat up, Kakashi was in a lot better state than her.
"I'm dying g-gimme water" Hinata said.
They laughed Sasuke passed her water. Kakashi asked them bout their progress. Naruto was able to reach till where Sasuke reached when he first tried & Sasuke was able to gain 6-7 feet more then his previous one.
Hinata dozed off on the ground.
Kakashi analysed their training before getting up & saying "I'll go now, make sure little one reaches her room safely her chakra level is quite low as I made her practice few jutsu & tested her healing ability."
They nodded after an hour Sasuke decided he was done for the day as it was dark now.
"I'm going now & I'll take hinata with me. You coming?"
"Nahh, I'll practice a bit more you go ahead."
He nodded & picked Hinata up slowly walking out of the woods.
Halfway through Hinata woke up. She got down & thanked him for helping her. As they were walking they heard some shuffling in the bushes, they followed & looked around, they saw an injured forest bear. It was whimpering loudly in pain as they saw that a huge branch was halfway pierced through him, Hinata gasped at the horrific sight feeling sorry for the bear.
As they stepped towards the bear it started to struggle because he thought they were gonna hurt him. Hinata was scared when the bear growled but she saw Sasuke slowly nearing him. They bear was eyeing his movements, Sasuke slowly reached near the bear & was lightly rubbing his furr gently.
"We're not gonna hurt you." he activated his sharingan trying to tame the bear in pain. After seeing his eyes, the bear stopped struggling & slowly whimpered indicating that he was in pain.
Hinata slowly stepped towards the bear, the bear again thought she was gonna hurt him & started struggling. Sasuke rubbed his furr again making the bear look at him. "Don't worry, she's here to help you"
She reached near the bear slowly rubbed his furr like how Sasuke did. Then she reached towards the huge branch as she tried to remove it but it was too big for her, Sasuke came in & helped her. The bear was growling loudly from the pain, they finally removed the branch. Hinata turned towards Sasuke.
"Sasuke-kun, Could you bring me s-some water to clean wound?" Sasuke nodded & left.
She then examined the wound & saw hint of purple shade around the wound, she activated her byakugan & realised the bear got hit with a poisonous arrow it was half broken so that's why they didn't noticed it in the dark. She plucked the arrow out carefully & started to examine it, Sasuke returned with water & rag pieces to help clean it.
"Sasuke-kun,the bear was poisoned by this arrow, it weakened him which is why it couldn't pulled the branch by itself. You know toxicology, right? You might know the antidote or something?"
"Here lemme see the poison type" she handed him the arrow.
Hinata cleaned the wound & Sasuke went to pick up the herbs to cure the poison.
Sasuke came in with few herbs & started preparing them with other stuffs. Hinata had a blue-ish purple sheen over her palms indicating that she was using her chakra to lessen the pain for him.
"The poison has already spreaded to many parts."
Sasuke prepared chakra absorbed fluids & herbs to cure the poison.
"Hinata-chan, I've prepared the antidote & chakra fluid but I'm no medical nin so I need your help." Hinata nodded.
"Now do you know how to spread antidote faster in the body?" Sasuke asked.
"Instead of letting the antidote reach the poisoned area, why can't we extract the poison out of him with the help of chakra fluids?" Hinata asked.
"You have a point. Let's do that." Hinata nodded.
Sasuke handed her chakra fluids. She readied the fluid on the wound in a bubble shape. She looked the bear in the eyes & said "it'll hurt a little I'm sorry" Then she pushed the bubble into the wound making the bear growl very loudly, she activated her byakugan & sensed the bubble towards the poisoned area. Once she extracted all the poison, she dissolved the extracted poison bubble, the bear fainted from the pain.
Sasuke applied the antidote on the wound, Hinata started to heal the wound from the branch with her purple-ish chakra palm illuminating. 30 minutes passed in which Sasuke was fascinatingly watching her heal the bear.
"Hinata-chan, I've seen a few medical ninja heal people before many times but they have green chakra light on their palm, yours is blue-ish purple why is that?" Sasuke asked.
Hinata took a break to infuse her chakra & was wiping her hands
"Eh, I don't know Sasuke-kun. It use to be light green c-colored when I was small & my mom use to teach m-me basic healing properties. After she died, I didn't practice medical s-studies for 2 years until I was very desperate to heal m-my injured sister, s-since then it's been of this color only." Hinata said with a fake smile. Sasuke walked & sat beside her.
"You know your mom would be very proud of you & the person you've become today." Sasuke smiled.
"You really think so?" Sasuke nodded.
"Your mom seemed like great person, I'm sure she would've loved me way too much." Hinata chuckled.
"Yep, she would've. She was amazing in her own way, she taught me many things from how to hold the spatula while cooking to how to press flowers. I really liked spending time with her & dad in the evening while we sat in the clan's garden watching sunset & having tea. But after mom's death, dad shunned me away. He stopped acting like a father but more like a clan head having high expectations from the failure of an heiress who lost to her her 5 years younger sister. Everyone around me thinks I'm a weak stuttering sorry of an excuse ninja" Hinata sighed.
"Hinata-chan?" Hinata turned
"Hmm?" Sasuke hugged her slowly. She was shocked but still wrapped her arms around his waist giving into the tight embrace.
"You know you're not a failure, hina-chan. You're one of the strongest person I know, you're too kind to hurt people around you just for some heiress title. I know you could easily win against your sister or anyone else but you don't because you don't want to hurt them. You fight for what you stand & help everyone around you. You do too much for too little & what others think bout your strength or personality doesn't matters because i know you're strong.. Kakashi sensei, Naruto know this too that's what should matter. If they think you're weak prove them wrong & when I say you're strong I mean it hell if you go all out me, Naruto together at our best won't stand a chance against you. Stop loathing yourself & start loving yourself instead, don't dwell on mediocre things when you deserve the best." Sasuke stated.
They broke the hug sitting there for a few minutes, Hinata had a faint blush on her face.
"Thank you, Sasuke-kun." Sasuke nod with a small smile.
Hinata went back to healing the bear after pumping her chakra back.
They heard some shuffling Sasuke readied his fighting stance with his Sharingan activated in front of Hinata who was healing. They saw Naruto run towards them with a worried face.
"Ouu so it's you guys! Are you okay? Is Hinata-chan okay? I heard some loud growling & struggling noise so I decided to follow. What are you doing here?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke explained everything to Naruto while he quietly nodded.They were sat on the ground quietly, hinata finished healing the wound from the inside.
"Sasuke-kun, can you use your fire nature to heat up the kunai?" Sasuke nodded & did as she asked. Hinata pressed the kunai gently on the poison wound to prevent infection.
They started heading toward Tazuna's house, they saw a girl with long slick black hair wearing a pink kimono, it looked like she was picking herbs. Hinata walked towards her.
"Hello, I'm sorry to pry but what are you doing her at this hour. It's dark & also dangerous for you to wander around." Hinata softly spoke.
"Ahh, yes i know that thank you for your concern. I was collecting some herbs for my father he's injured nothing serious though." The girl replied.
"Well if you want we could help, i know little bit of medical jutsu my teammates too have a vast knowledge in poison herbs & other stuff. Don't worry we're ninjas from konoha." Hinata smiled.
"That's very kind of you, I appreciate your help but I'm almost done here I just need few more & I wouldn't want to bother you three for that." The girl replied.
"It's okay, we'll help you find the rest so you can help your father as soon as possible." Naruto said happily, Sasuke nodded.
"Okay if you say so. Thank you, you 3 are very kind."
"You're welcome now could you tell us the herbs you need?" Sasuke asked.
They were all searching for herbs.
"What are konoha ninja doing in the woods at this hour?" The girl asked.
"We were training in the woods." Naruto replied.
"Oh...What were you training for?" The girl asked.
"To get more stronger duh" Naruto smirked.
"Why do you train so hard to get stronger? Is there someone precious to you who you want to get stronger for?" The girl asked.
"What? Someone precious? What is that suppose to mean?" Naruto dumbfolded.
Sasuke sighed & answered.
"She meant that is there someone who you want to protect or a goal to reach or a purpose to fulfil by getting stronger." Sasuke deadpan.
"Ouuu... well Im gonna become hokage, so obviously I'll have to be more stronger & I want to protect the people I care about." Naruto stated proudly.
"As for me, I need to get stronger so I'll be able to know or demand the real truth, for learning that I need to go through a quest of obstacles to conquer them I need to become much more stronger than I am now. I also wanna protect my team from others." Sasuke said
"Aww Sasuke I never knew you care about us so much." Naruto cooed.
"I said I'll protect you from others, I didn't said anything bout not hurting you myself." Sasuke threatened which immediately shut Naruto up.
"& You?" The girl pointed towards hinata.
"Well I want to get stronger to protect the people my friends, family & my village. I want to be able to be good enough to not be looked down upon or be a burden to my clan. I want to show my family I'm not a dissapointment & I also want to be strong to help others whenever I can."
"Ohh that's good to know." The girl smiled.
"What about you?" Hinata asked.
"Huh?" The girl asked confused.
"I mean why do you train to get stronger for? Do you want have someone precious too?" Hinata asked.
"Well, after my parents died due to various exhausting reasons, I was an orphan I had no goal, no reason to live forward for. Then a man came in, he nourished me when I was starving & half death from hunger. He took me in as my adoptive father, he gave me a purpose, he trained me a little to be able to protect myself. I'm no skilled ninja or a ninja for that matter so I had no other way. I want to be able to protect my father that's why I want to get stronger, he gave me purpose & will to live for. I wanna repay it by protecting him by any harm." The girl finished.
"That's great, I'm sure you'll be able to get strong & protect your father." Naruto gave a thumbs up.
"What made you think I train?" The girl asked Hinata softly
"Well, your fingers are a bit calloused from mostly weapons & you have the posture of a ninja, youe body has worn out many times which I'm guessing from chakra exhaustion & injuries, the herbs you want aren't for mild injuries they're for chakra replenishment. You're suppressing your chakra, your chakra network is too developed for a non ninja it's around high chunin to low jounin level & above all you're a boy." She finished calmly.
The girl now boy had an amused look on his face, Sasuke was processing the fact that Hinata got so much just from that & Naruto was more shocked bout the beautiful person in front of him was a boy.
"YOU'RE A BOY?! YOU'RE EVEN PRETTIER THAN SAKURA-CHAN & ALL THE OTHERS GIRLS IN THE ACADEMY. HELL YOU'RE AS PRETTY AS HINATA-CHAN HERE & SHE'S VERY PRETTY AS YOU CAN SEE." Naruto shouted while the unknown boy nodded as reply, Hinata blushed at being called pretty by Naruto.
"Shut up dobe" Sasuke was annoyed. Very annoyed
"You're very smart & observant, to notice all that in few minutes that too in dark while you were searching. You don't have to worry about being a burden, with that skills you will be much strong." The boy answered. Sasuke was more pissed when the boy in front who he thought was girl was too close to Hinata for his comfort.
"Thank you" Hinata smiled.
"Well we've got all the herbs you need now we're good to go." Sasuke stated.
"Yes I'll be on my way too, Thank you for helping me I really appreciate it." The boy bowed.
They part their ways, hinata was walking slowly but the boys slowed their pace for her knowing that she used too much of her chakra.
"Hinata-chan, if you feel tired or fatigue I could carry you till the house." Hinata blushed lightly & declined the offer thanking him still. Sasuke scowled at the thought of Naruto carrying Hinata.
•••
Hinata will be having crystallizing ability like Guren did as her mother's side of kekkai genkkai.
They reached Tazuna's house. Hinata quickly rushed to take a quick shower till then Sasuke & Naruto decided to tell their sensei what happened with the bear & their training progress.
"You know Sasuke, You & Hinata can make a good compatible 2 man cell." Kakashi stated.
"Why is that that Sensei? even me & hinata-chan can make a good 2 man team." Naruto reasoned.
"I'm sure you'd make a good 2 man team Naruto with her but I said that for Sasuke & Little one because their strengths compliment each other & fit together very well; there team work too is not bad." Kakashi explained.
"Compliment strength what does that even mean?" Kakashi sighed.
"You see Hinata is good in medic & Sasuke in toxicology, majority of the ninjas tend to use poison as their main weapon. So they were in a battle or something Sasuke could cure the poison by making an antidote & hinata can heal the wound, he could also use Hinata's byakugan to analyse the damage or type of poison. They both have the 2 most powerful visual prowess, them being in one team is utter destruction of the opponent & plus with Hinata's ninjutsu, gentle fist, fuinjutsu with Sasuke's genjutsu, kenjutsu, his snake's mantle & both of their taijutsu they'd be deadly." Kakashi finished.
"Ouuuu..." Naruto was still processing it. He was annoyed that his teammates were progressing so much when he couldn't climb a tree properly.
They talked a bit, Hinata joined them they had dinner & went to sleep. Kakashi wanted to talk to Sasuke about his Sharingan training. When he finished & went to his room he saw Hinata in the corner sleeping soundly while Naruto was snoring off next to her. He scowled at seeing them next to each other, deciding not to wake my his tired Hyuga teammate he didn't hurt Naruto. He went to sleep next to Naruto.
Few days past with the genins training, taking turns to guard Tazuna & helping Tsunami with dinner. They aced their tree walking training & were about to complete water walking training, meanwhile Kakashi taught hinata few jutsu that compliment her affinity, she was now able to crystallize things out of thin air & also successfully dispelling them. The boys mostly did walking training but Kakashi taught them a few jutsu to add a bit variety when they were bored.
Sasuke was still fascinated by Zabuza's kenjutsu & his sword, even though he was an enemy he couldn't help but admire his skills. He genuinely respected him as ninja & swordsman. He started to practice more on his sword skills, genjutsu skills & his 2 tomoe Sharingan with Kakashi. Naruto sparred with Kakashi & his clones. He made all of them beat each other up everyday which improved his endurance, dodging skills & his attacks, he was getting very good at it. He could make his clones endure pain & give the illusion of bleeding & other stuffs which he was getting good at it.
They were done with their trainings, next few days Kakashi decided to take all the three genins with Tazuna. They all guarded him but Naruto felt uneasy so he left 3 clones for protecting Tsunami & inari.
They were more than halfway through building the bridge. The weather was windy & cloudy, due to the water resource nearby there was a mild mist. Few workers already quit due to Gato's goons, the rest took a lunch break while Tazuna was inspecting the railing of the bridge. The mist slowly grew thicker, the genins noticed & gave each other a look.
They all gathered around Tazuna.
"Be in alert it's Zabuza." The jounin warned.
"Sensei, he's not alone I sense another chakra." Sasuke stated.
"Sorry to keep you waiting Kakashi, I see you've still got those brats with you. Don't worry I'll kill them & free you from babysitting them, I'll go for the Uchiha first." a voice echoed.
"Yeahh well these brats did knock you down so I guess it good to babysit them around.i get to see them kick your ass it's entertaining." Kakashi said smirking knowing it would hurt Zabuza's ego.
"Tch, the Hyuga princess is trembling with fear how pitiful!" Zabuza said refering Hinata's trembling & shocked with mix of unknown emotion.
In a split second 8 Zabuza surrounded them, he thought the genins will be atleast shocked startled or something they didn't even flinch. Hinata calmly looked into the Zabuza in front of her with amused face, Sasuke smirked.
"I'm trembling with excitement." Hinata smirked feeling confident & bold. She was shy innocent & kind girl but when someone threatened her team or the people she cares about she wouldn't think twice to eliminate them. She adores her team dearly & she'd give her everything to protect them & complete the mission. Her team knew this, which is why they knew never to do something that'll make her innocent kind self to thirst for their blood, they knew she could kill & defeat anyone if she out her mind to it & Zabuza just hit a nerve.
"Sensei?" Hinata said as if asking the permission to allow her into the battle
"I understand Little one, Sasuke go ahead." Kakashi eye smiled.
Naruto got the clue of guarding Tazuna as he was defensive while his other teammate will be offensive.
Hinata smirked again, she was scary when she wanted to be. The clones were confused as to what the female genin could do, they gave each other a look. The clones saw a blur of dark shadows, within a blink of eye all the 8 clones dispersed while Hinata & Sasuke were standing infront of Tazuna & their team. They both had their dōjustsu active with Sasuke who had his Snake Mantle active & sword ready; Hinata had her gentle fist stance with kunai in both her hands.
"Huh, looks like you've got rival haku." Zabuza said in an amused tone refering Hinata.
The fake hunter nin from Kiri named Haku & Zabuza were standing in front of them.
"Oh I'm going to enjoy this." Hinata smirked.
Her teammates were honestly scared seeing that side of her, they knew better than to mess with her.
"So all that bull about hunter nin & village was just an act huh?" Naruto asked.
"Well they look pretty chummy to me, looks like they've been pulling this act for a long time." Sasuke said.
"Well he's decided to face us again, I just hoped that he'd learn his lesson & back off but it doesn't seem like that." Kakashi smirked through his mask.
"Enough! You may have be able to defeat me but you cannot defeat Haku, he's the best of best! & As for you brats I'll slowly kill you myself." Zabuza said.
"Sensei, can I fight the hunter nin myself?" Hinata asked.
"Little one, I know you're more than capable of doing it yourself but just for insurance let Sasuke help you, it'll be a good chance to practice your teamwork. As for Zabuza I'll handle him myself." Hinata nodded.
"You're him aren't you?" Hinata asked.
They were all confused as to what Hinata was talking about. Haku chuckled & removed his mask.
"You!" Sasuke scowled.
"You know him?" Kakashi asked.
"More like we ran into each other." Hinata answered.
"Is it true Haku?" Haku nodded.
"Well, just what I'd expect from the Byakugan princess." Haku smirked sickly.
"Stop calling her that you sick bastard!" Naruto yelled.
"That's enough!" Zabuza shouted.
"You'll have to take the brats down." Zabuza said & headed towards Kakashi's direction. Kakashi jumped towards Zabuza & got away from Tazuna to avoid getting him into the crossfire. They were now facing each other.
"Haku, finish them quick." Haku nodded.
"Ahh Kakashi I'll let you see Haku finish off your brats then I'll kill you. Intervene to help them & I'll kill the bridge builder." Kakashi did not like that, he wanted to help his students he cursed under his breathe.
"Looks like it's my turn." Haku said.
Then suddenly the wind started forming & rotating in circles with great speed as Haku tried to attack Hinata with her senbons. His senbon & Hinata's kunai clashed.
'how could she see Haku coming' Zabuza's thought.
"You should forfeit, you're a great ninja with good skills but you're no match for me. I don't want to kill you, I just want the bridge builder." Haku said while pushing off Hinata's kunai with equal force as hers.
"Well you can't have the bridge builder, it's my duty to protect him. So I guess you'll just have to come at me with killing motive." Hinata said while realising heavy amount of killer intent. Haku froze for a second aa her KI was more intense than Zabuza & Kakashi's. The two jounin lost their posture & stumbled due to that & wondering how it's possible for a genin to do so. The boys fell on their knees & Tazuna fainted.
"You're a stubborn one aren't you? You don't get it, I'm fast you can't match my speed." Haku smirked.
"Does it look like I care bout your speed?" Hinata glared deadly.
"& I also have 2 advantages here."
"Yeah? What are they?" Hinata said annoyed.
"For starters we're surrounded by water & I'm a water user..." Haku said smirking.
Hinata chuckled internally but still maintaining her stoic face.
"...& your one hand is already occupied so you just have one hand to defend yourself." Haku chuckled in evil way.
He started doing handsigns with his free hand. Everyone was shocked, it was very rare for someone to use one handed hand signs.
"How can he do it with one hand? I've never seen anyone do that." Kakashi said with wide eye.
"That's the difference even I can't do it, I taught Haku everything I know & then he learned everything himself evolving into a greater ninja than me." Zabuza said chuckling.
A few handsigns later the water around the duo started to raise then they transformed into water needles pointing towards them.
"Don't say that I didn't warned you." Haku smirked.
Just as the water needles were going to attack & Haku was about to jump off further away from Hinata to avoid the needles himself. He found himself unable to move his legs, he looked down to see his legs crystallized into rocks. His eyes were wide he saw Hinata smirking, the needles we're about to stab the 2 ninja when Hinata did few handsigns herself with one hand shocking everyone.
The needles piercing through to attack them were clashed off by Hinata's crystallize needles.
"You're not the only one who can do the handsigns with one hand." Hinata smirked.
Haku made a clone & send it to attack Sasuke
"Alright, I'll undo the crystallization on your legs. Don't want you to have a disadvantage at the beginning & making it an unfair fight." The crystal rock wittered & broke.
Haku gained his posture back & jumped away from Hinata.
"Huh, maybe after all you aren't that bad." The fake hunter nin said.
"You were talking bout advantages, weren't you? Huh well guess what I'm a water & wind user myself. So again you're not the only who has advantage here, plus I have my byakugan to see through the mist, how will you ever manage in the mist." Hinata did few handsigns & the mist thickened.
Zabuza chuckled "she's a crystal user with byakugan not bad, but if she thinks that one she can manage through the mist then she's so wrong."
"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked worried.
"You see the name silent killer of the mist, wasn't for me but was for Haku. He has the best hearing, he can hear your heartbeat 10 feet away from you." Zabuza said proudly & Kakashi got worried for his student.
Then few kunai & senbon clanged , they both were side by side fighting haku & his clones. Haku did a few handsigns, suddenly there was a dome made of ice mirrors around them.
Then the clone & Haku vanished into the mirrors.
•••