The Reincarnate

Chapter 3

After several days of waiting, Neji never did come back to the clan compound.

Hinata was worried, but surely she hadn't hurt him that gravely in their battle? According to her father, Neji was fine. It could only have been his pride that was truly wounded. So while it might take him a while, he would come back eventually.

Until then it was better to give him his space.

So instead she focused on her training. She dove into the scrolls her father left her to study and afterwards meditated to spend time with Kali and learn the proper application of that knowledge. The progress was hardly what one could call slow, but Hinata felt it was far from fast enough.

Her opponent was that Gaara of the Sand, after all. The favorite to win the whole thing. Not to mention a blood-hungry monster. She had witnessed what he did to those Amegakure Shinobi in the Forest of Death and while she hadn't been there for his fight against Lee, he had been an acquaintance of hers.

She needed to get stronger; much, much stronger.

That meant training outside of just her mind, though. She supposed that meant going to Kurenai for assistance. Maybe even sparing with Kiba and Akamaru would be a good idea?

"You should go find Asura's reincarnate." Kali suggested suddenly and out of the blue.

"N-Naruto-kun!?" Hinata stumbled, losing concentration. She had been practicing her drills just now inside the eight trigrams space that she had gotten more and more comfortable with as time went on. She still didn't care for the pitch darkness all around them, but it also didn't bother her as much anymore either.

"That's right." Kali was in her usual position, floating above the center of the diagram. "I mentioned it before, but Asura and I are cousins. The circumstances and condition of his reincarnation are different from mine, but I have long been his ally. So I like to be able to lend him aid when I can. Besides, there's no way you're opposed to meeting with your precious Naruto-kun, am I wrong?"

"Well… no, you're not wrong." Hinata blushed, averting her eyes and looking into the darkness. Nevermind it was just the two of them in this dark world. "But I thought I should be focusing on the exams right now?" Kali had mentioned that while she had a purpose to her reincarnation, she had promised to at least allow Hinata to finish the exams before burdening her with that mission.

"That's precisely why I'm telling you to go visit him." Kali said matter-of-factly. "Training with another reincarnate will help you to better harness this power. There is a kind of resonance when reincarnates train together that should allow for explosive growth. It wouldn't be wrong to say your power properly manifested specifically because he was the one there cheering you on that day."

"B-but…" Hinata protested meekly, pressing her index fingers together as she looked for some kind of excuse. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Naruto again. Nothing would make her happier than to spend time with him. It was just… it was too embarrassing.

"I really don't get you." Kali sighed, but smiled gently. "Then again, I also didn't have time for romance in my lifetime. I died being fully committed to my duties as a Shrine Maiden." Those words hit Hinata deeper than she expected. Was Kali trying to tell her that if she didn't try now, she wouldn't have the chance?

That thought by itself was terrifying. Perhaps even more-so than approaching him.

"...Alright." Hinata relented. "But I don't even know how to find him right now. He's probably busy with his own training and might not even be in the village."

"Just use your eyes." Kali pointed at her own Tensei-Byakugan. "If you look for him, you'll find him. Trust me."

Hinata had little choice but to do just that and trust her words.

So after finishing her meditation, she activated the Tensei-Byakugan and began looking. The range of the enhanced Byakugan was wider than her vision had been before, but it hardly came close to covering even a small section of the village. A wide search range wasn't her only ability, however.

After some time getting used to the ebb and flow of natural chakra, Hinata found it. What exactly "it" was, she couldn't really say. It was just a trail of Natural energy, looking more like a gentle breeze to her than anything. Yet something about it was different enough that she knew this was what Kali had to be talking about. So Hinata followed that.

It led her towards the hot springs and then into the mountainous forests on the outskirts of the village. It felt like she was walking for a long time before the trail finally reached its end. And there she found him.

Uzumaki Naruto.

He was standing on the bank of a river, seemingly practicing his water-walking. Not that he looked to be having any difficulty with it. In fact, he seemed to have it more or less down.

Now the problem was… how did she call out to him? She had to be natural, but how exactly did she do that? It wasn't like she could just call out 'oh, what a coincidence' or some such blatant lie. This was too far out in the middle of nowhere for such a stupid lie to work.

What was he going to think of her if she just came bursting out of the bushes and called out to him? On second thought, this was way too embarrassing. She should just forget the whole idea and go back home.

Resolving just that, Hinata turned around- and came face to face with a massive toad. It let out a large croak and in that moment, Hinata forgot herself.

"Ahhhh!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, jumping backwards and falling out into the open.

"What the hell-?" Naruto's own surprised yelp was cut short as he lost control of his chakra and fell into the river.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata called out to him in dismay, trying and failing to get her footing as she frantically crawled towards the water's surface. Not that she needed to worry, as he made landfall a couple seconds later, coughing and spitting water as he hoisted himself from the frigid river.

"What's the big idea, huh?!" He accused her, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Eep!" Hinata recoiled from him out of reflex, hands coming up to her mouth in order to try and stifle her latest shout. It was only when the sound left her mouth did Naruto seem to realize exactly who it was that had just barged in on him.

"Wait a second… Hinata?" He asked, his anger seeming to evaporate on the spot.

"I-I'm sorry, Naruto-kun!" Not that it stopped Hinata's frantic apology. She pointed behind her into the bushes she had leapt out from. "There was a giant toad…" The excuse died on her tongue as she turned around to find nothing there. "Huh?" She wondered aloud. It had been there, surely it had been there.

"Well, whatever." Naruto didn't seem to care anymore. "Anyways, what a coincidence, huh? Running into you all the way out here." He used the same excuse she had been so sure wouldn't work. In a way it was just like him.

"Yeah… a coincidence." Hinata agreed, averting her eyes in shame. She had a long way to go with lying it would seem. Which was a problem, considering her life might depend on it someday.

"So anyway." Naruto sat up and unzipped his orange jacket, taking it off to wring out the water. "Looks like you're all better then. Everyone was pretty worried when you collapsed, y'know. Something about your heart being damaged during the fight."

"Ah, yeah…" Hinata kept her gaze from returning to his direction, but for a different reason this time. "I'm fine now." She murmured.

"And?" Naruto continued, otherwise oblivious to her bumbling. He probably just thought she was being her usual weird self, which to be fair she was. "What brings you out here then, doing some training?"

"S-something like that…" Hinata gulped, not sure how to take control of the conversation. Before she left, Kali had given her instructions on helping Naruto connect with his own Reincarnation, but she had to be delicate in the way she handled it. "What about you, Naruto-kun?" She asked. "Are you training by yourself?" She didn't see anyone else, so it seemed like he was on his own for the time being.

"I'm waiting for this perverted sage geezer." Naruto answered blunty. Hinata wasn't even sure which part of that description to focus on, nor did she have any idea who he was talking about. "So I met this weird old guy yesterday and he did this weird technique that helped me with my chakra and then promised to teach me a super secret technique. But today he's late…" He continued to ramble.

"I uh… I see." Hinata said, although she wasn't really sure she did. The important thing to note here was that he was alone for the moment. "Umm… do you want to maybe, train together?" She asked, not giving herself the chance to chicken out again.

"Really!?" Naruto yelled. The joyous grin that split his cheeks surprised her. Yet she couldn't deny it was infectious, a small embarrassed smile gracing her own face as she nodded. "That would be awesome!" Naruto jumped to his feet and whooped. "I always thought you were dark and weird… but that way you took down Neji. You're like, actually super strong, y'know!"

"...Ah." Hinata didn't know how else to respond. On the one hand, he thought she was dark and weird. On the other, he also thought she was strong. And he did agree to train with her, more than that he looked happy at the offer. So she supposed all in all this was a good thing.

"So like, who are you matched up with again?" Naruto suddenly asked her. That question was enough to bring her mood crashing right back down as the face of her opponent floated to the surface.

"Gaara of the Sand." She answered rigidly. Even Naruto's boisterous smile quickly slipped, his mouth forming an o-shape.

"That's uh… yeah." He mumbled awkwardly, otherwise at a loss for words. Even he wasn't confident in her chances, which just went to show how fearsome this Suna Shinobi truly was.

"Naruto-kun?" She asked him, probing for his opponent. In truth, she just wanted to forget about her own circumstances for the moment.

"Ah, yeah." Naruto nodded, his smile returning slightly. "I'm finally getting the chance to go against Sasuke. In the first round no less." She thought that might have been awkward, having to fight your own teammate. But Naruto looked eager for it. Of course, Hinata knew how much of a rival he considered the lone Uchiha. Their relationship practically reminded her of brothers.

Naruto and Sasuke had fought several times back in their academy days, but Sasuke had always won. It wouldn't be fair to assume things would be the same this time, as Naruto had already proven in his match against Kiba. He was stronger. Just like Hinata, he too was changing himself.

"So how do you wanna do this?" Naruto asked, holding a hand to help her to her feet. She shook her head, not trusting herself to take his hand and maintain her composure, instead standing up with her own power. "Should we spar? I kinda wanna see you do that awesome ground destroying technique again. If I can overcome the thing that let you beat Neji, then Sasuke should be a piece of cake for me!" He laughed proudly and confidently, throwing his head back.

"Umm… before that, maybe we should stretch a bit?" Hinata proposed, just like how Kali had suggested. Naruto's face immediately showed his displeasure at the idea, but she powered through anyway. "If you want, I can press some of your tenketsu points. It will allow your chakra to flow a little more freely and should help with the training."

"Tenketsu?" Naruto asked, tilting his head. Then it was like a lightbulb went off and he held a finger up. "Oh, that thing Kakashi-sensei was talking about! So you can see them too, huh? Makes sense, if you have the same eyes as Neji." He nodded to himself, as if proud he remembered all on his own. "Sure, I kinda wanna see what it feels like to have these tenketsu pressed. If you can do it, show me." He gave her permission.

"Okay." Hinata nodded. She was just happy things seemed to be going to plan so far. Now that he had agreed, the only thing left was to activate her Byakugan. She once again began the process of absorbing Natural Energy. Her vision changed and she was able to see the flow of the universe around her.

"Whoa…" Naruto noticed the change in her eyes immediately. Despite most people dismissing him as being unobservant, Hinata knew he was exceptionally talented at noticing the little details in people. She wondered if that was part of why he had cheered her on, noticing her distress in the arena when no one else seemed to.

"This is the Nichiren-Byakugan." Hinata explained, using the name she had been instructed to give to anyone not of her clan. "It's a little different from Neji-nii-san's, but you don't need to worry." When was it that she had started exchanging words with him so naturally? She had no idea, but somewhere over the course of this small conversation it felt like she was talking to him like a normal person. Never had she imagined such a day like this would come.

"So this isn't going to hurt, right?" Naruto asked, snapping Hinata from her thoughts. She shook her head, instead focusing on what it was she had to do. Now that she was up close, she could see Asura's visage clearly. It was like a ghost, hanging behind Naruto's back in the same way Kali hung behind Hinata.

Asura didn't really seem to have anything like a consciousness, he was simply there. Existing through Naruto, but otherwise completely unrelated to his host. It was like they were disconnected. They shared a chakra pool, but their very nature was separate. That was what Hinata intended to fix.

"I'm going to start." Hinata said gently, walking up and around to Naruto's back. Standing this close to him now, she could smell his scent. It reminded her of a warm summer day. Fighting back her nervousness at being able to touch him, she began gently pressing several of the tenketsu located around his shoulders and back. She didn't press them hard, with the intent of locking them. But instead gently, her intent to increase the flow of chakra in those areas.

After finishing with Naruto's tenketsu, she started working on Asura's. It wasn't necessary for her to press more than a dozen or so points. So long as she lined them up and increased the chakra flow between them both, the process should take hold automatically from there.

Several minutes passed by in silence as Hinata did her work. Only once she saw the stream of chakra between them cleanly begin to merge did she step back. The visage of Asura was already beginning to fade. He wouldn't disappear completely, but as his chakra nature merged more with Naruto's it would be like they were one being rather than two separate entities. The same way Kali's visage was more of a shade now than an actual person.

"Okay, I'm done." Hinata announced, sweat dotting her forehead. It hadn't been particularly hard work, but it was delicate and required every bit of concentration that she had.

"Yeah…" Naruto's own response was uncharacteristically sullen. He was looking down at his own hands, slowly clenching and unclenching them. "This feels… strange. Not bad, but somehow different." It seemed like he could somehow feel the different chakra nature. She hadn't expected him to be able to sense the change so quickly.

"Will you be okay?" Hinata couldn't help but ask. She was starting to worry that maybe she had messed something up. However, Naruto clenched his hands into fists and flashed her a feral grin that immediately alleviated her doubts.

"I think I'm gonna feel a little better than okay." He answered. "It's weird though-" His expression changed to one of contemplation as if he was just now realizing something. "I've always felt like there's been two different colors of chakra inside me; one red and one blue. But after what you did, it feels like there's a third one now. This one is green."

"Three kinds of chakra?" Hinata furrowed her brow. Naruto thinking he had two different kinds of chakra wasn't weird. But three? Where was the third one coming from? She examined his chakra system more closely and this time she found it.

There was a seal. What it was she had no idea, but from that seal there was a small stream of an indeed third source of chakra. It was mixing naturally with Naruto's own so by the time it entered his actual circulatory system it was unnoticeable. The only reason she found it at all was that she knew to look for it. Even still, she couldn't fathom what this was.

She would have to ask Kali later.

"Well, it don't matter." Naruto dismissed the topic, even though he was the one that had brought it up to begin with. It wasn't necessarily something to be suspicious of by itself, but something with which the speed he mumbled those words told her something was amiss.

"Okay then." She agreed, and her suspicions were only further confirmed when he showed relief at her willingness to let it go. Still, she wasn't brave enough to dare broach the topic further, nor did she want to make him uncomfortable. Everyone had things they couldn't share, and she was no exception.

"But man, that old fart sure is late." Naruto complained, looking into the surrounding forest as if he expected his teacher to come popping out at any moment. Hinata used the opportunity to scan the vicinity with her Byakugan as well, but she didn't see anyone approaching. At a nearby waterfall she did notice some civilians playing near the base, but they were the only other people even remotely nearby.

While she was at it, she looked around for that large toad that had startled her earlier but to her surprise there was nothing. Surely it hadn't fled the scene fast enough that it was out of the range of her vision? But she also doubted that she had just imagined it either. So where was it?

"Anyways, let's get to the sparring already." Naruto noted impatiently, already skipping around and rolling his shoulders. Not seeing any point in continuing to search for a toad that obviously wasn't around, Hinata turned back to him and nodded.

Now that she thought about it, this was going to be the first time she ever personally stood against Naruto. During their bouts at the academy, the spars had always been divided by gender so she only went up against the other girls in their class. It wasn't until she was in a team that she began training against Kiba and Shino.

The very thought of having to fight Naruto should have made her a nervous wreck. Yet it didn't. In fact, she found the same strength beginning to flow through her now as when stood against Neji. The common denominator between then and now; Naruto's approving gaze.

When he looked at her, he wasn't looking at some failure. He saw potential in her, even when she hadn't been able to see it. Even as an opponent, he was giddy with anticipation. Somehow, those same feelings flowed through to her.

She had always wanted to show Naruto what she was capable of. Now was her chance.

She held up her hand in the Seal of Confrontation and he mimicked the gesture, confirming that they were both ready for the match to begin at any moment.

Several moments of intense silence went by, neither one of them so much as budging a muscle. Hinata still hadn't deactivated the Tensei-Byakugan, watching the flow of energy around Naruto more carefully than she was paying attention to him.

It was one of the many tricks Kali had taught her. While most people couldn't interact with Natural Energy directly, their chakra still had an indirect effect on the world around them. So when people began channeling chakra to move and fight, the natural energy around them shifted as well.

It wasn't quite as precise as the Sharingan's ability to read muscle tension to predict movement, but it was close. Only this would be more accurate to say she was readying the intent to move rather than the physical attributes of it.

So when the natural energy around Naruto whirled to life, she already knew his patience had reached its limit and that he was going to strike. She knew this likely before even he himself did.

Naruto, contrary to what many believed, wasn't an idiot. If anything, he had a natural affinity for combat and outside the box tactics which usually led to him being unpredictable. Yet even he knew not to get close to her Jyuken strike after hearing all about what it could do.

So he opened with a volley of shuriken, pulling the projectiles from the pouch on his back and letting them fly in a single fluid motion. In truth, Hinata had been hoping for such an opportunity. She had no weapons of her own, not bringing her usual Shinobi equipment out with her today. But she could see the tenketsu of the Shuriken. In other words, the points at which they were weakest. This was her chance to practice striking such points that were on the move.

The first shuriken entered striking distance and she raised a single finger, poking the Shuriken right at the point only she could see. It shattered into pieces, those hunks of metal flying uselessly past her. With her other hand, she stabbed a finger at the second one. In a series of precise movements, she destroyed every Shuriken, just like how she had practiced it over and over again in her mind.

She was still too new at using this technique. True, she had succeeded. But it took every ounce of concentration to pull it off. In that same time, Naruto proved how unpredictable he truly was, throwing all caution to the wind and charging her straight on. By the time she had returned her attention to him he was practically on top of her, swinging a kunai at her face.

Hinata didn't have time to look for the tenketsu on the kunai, instead leaning back and dodging the swing. Naruto stepped in, pressing the advantage, but he seemed to have forgotten one thing: Hinata was a user of the Jyuken and she didn't need to strike him hard to win. Even flat-footed, as her twin palms slammed into his stomach he was sent reeling backwards and coughing in pain.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata froze up in shock. In the heat of the moment she just reacted, striking at him out of instinct rather than any desire to hurt him. She wasn't used to her Jyuken strikes landing so cleanly either. Most people she spared against were far more cautious of her and her clan's special Taijutsu techniques.

"Yep, that hurts alright." Naruto gasped. He had doubled over, holding his gut and face contorted in a pained grimace. However, he had also sounded strangely smug just now. As if proud of himself for endearing a direct strike of the gentle fist.

"Wait, did you want me to hit you?" Hinata was dumbfounded. It wasn't that Naruto had forgotten about her Jyuken. It was his aim all along to test what such a strike felt like. He had seen it in action, but simply seeing a gentle fist strike and actually feeling it were completely different.

"Of course." Naruto admitted, forcing a smile through the pain. "I can't go all out if I don't know what your hits even feel like." It seemed that blow had been enough to satisfy his desire. As he righted himself back out, he held up his hands and formed a single seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He yelled, creating four shadow clones to join him.

Even with Hinata's now enhanced reserves, she doubted her ability to so easily create four solid masses of pure chakra. What's more, Naruto didn't even use any of Asura's chakra to do it. He now had this external nature of chakra floating around and mixing with his usual reserves, but he didn't seem to know how to tap into it quite yet.

"The real battle starts here!" The four clones called out in unison, each one of them drawing a kunai and charging her head on. Hinata's eyes shifted back and forth, reading the currents of natural energy to try and predict what Naruto and his clones were aiming for.

The first two charged her head on, stabbing at her with the kunai. Hinata turned her body, ducking low and under the thrusting daggers. She then side-stepped past the clones as they also ran past her. The other two attacked her from the sides, catching her in a pincer movement. Hinata was still crouched low, and pushed chakra into the bottom of her feet. Just before the clones reached her she jumped up, flying high over either clone's head.

As they passed by underneath her, the real Naruto also joined the fray. He ran up to his clones, jumping on the shoulders of both of them and using them as a boost to give chase to her in the air. He thrust upwards, but Hinata could already read the path of his trajectory. She spun around, performing a backflip and dodging his kunai by a hair's-breadth.

She reached the ground several seconds later, landing in a crouch. The two clones that attacked first were on her again, this time striking from behind. Hinata didn't stand up, spinning around in a sweeping kick that caught both clones off guard. As they tripped over themselves and fell into her she struck them both with a Jyuken strike that caused them both to disappear.

The remaining two clones came at Hinata while crouching low. The real Naruto flew at her from above. Hinata slid at one clone, tripping him and sending his full weight crashing on top of her. She refrained from hitting this one with the Jyuken, instead knocking him aloft and into the unsuspecting Naruto above. He crashed into his clone, the two turning into a tumbling ball of limbs that crashed into the ground, destroying the clone.

The last clone was still caught unaware, distracted by the sight of the original flailing on the ground. He didn't even react as Hinata stepped into him, striking him with the full force of a Jyuken that turned him into a cloud of smoke.

"Dammit" Naruto cursed. He rolled away from Hinata, flinging his kunai as a last ditch effort to fend her off. She struck it in the tenketsu, shattering it before it could reach her. But she didn't pursue him as he bounced back to his feet. Instead she settled back into her Jyuken stance, waiting for him to come at her again. Being on the offensive wasn't her strong suit, and she needed a moment to catch her own breath.

While the way she moved just now might have looked effortless from the outside, it was far from that. Every step, and every strike required her full concentration. She had to read the changes in the natural energy around her and follow their guidance, using the flowing energy like a trail to find her targets. If she had diverted even slightly and the result would have ended in her being hit.

"So even that much wasn't enough, huh?" Naruto grumbled to himself in displeasure. Hinata tilted her head, not understanding what it was he was talking about. "I'm gonna make you use that ground shattering technique you used on Neji, just you wait!" He declared, answering her unasked question.

Hinata thought to tell him that it wasn't a technique she could just use freely. Kali had warned her against using it except in cases where she was sure it would win the fight. That was because destroying the tenketsu of the terrain was a double-edged sword. Worst-case scenario and she could possibly catch herself in her own attack. On top of that, a damaged battlefield made it more difficult for her to properly use the Hyuga Clan's Jyuken stance so she would only be putting herself at a disadvantage. However, knowing Naruto as well as she did, it was unlikely he would accept such reasoning.

"Let's try this then!" Naruto didn't wait for her to try and explain herself anyways, once again forming the clone seal. This time he poured far more chakra into the technique, likely intending to form a miniature army of clones to overwhelm her and force her into using destructive force. However, the use of such great quantities of chakra also inevitably ended up pulling at Asura's chakra nature as well. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto called, but nothing immediately happened. "Huh?"

The two of them were both dumbfounded, waiting for his clones to pop into existence like they usually did. For several seconds it seemed like nothing would happen. Hinata saw it as Asura's chakra took over the jutsu and transformed it. She had no idea what was about to happen, but it wasn't going to be Naruto's usual clones that emerged from this transformation.

Instead of clones popping up around him at a distance, Naruto's chakra looked to push out from his body like an erupting volcano. For a second it looked like something out of a cheap body-horror flick, the chakra becoming visible to the naked eye and taking on the shape of a dozen faces. That chakra solidified into hard wood in the shape of Naruto that peeled themselves from him one by one. Until standing around him were a dozen wood clones, completely identical to the original in every way. If Hinata had seen them form from wood in the first place, she wouldn't have even known their nature.

"Umm… okay?" Naruto appeared just as clueless. This wasn't something he had intended and judging by his reaction it was the first time he had ever produced such a technique. "Did you see that just now too?" He asked her for clarification. She could only nod, dumbfounded. "Not just me then, that's good." Naruto sighed in relief, stepping up to one of his clones and gently rapping its head. There was a solid thunk as if he was knocking on a tree or a wooden door. So there was no denying that it happened exactly as they had both seen it.

Hinata studied the clones more closely, looking at the flow of their chakra. They didn't otherwise seem any different from the shadow clones that Naruto usually summoned. Except for the fact that they didn't seem to interfere so much with the flow of natural energy around them, but more meld with it. Which in and of itself may not have been an insignificant difference. Hinata supposed she could ask Kali later, but…

"Maybe we should take a break, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, surprising even herself.

"Huh?" Naruto scowled, clearly not fond of the idea. They could both continue fighting well enough, but they were dealing with something neither of them had any idea about. Gathering information was crucial.

"I-I'm just saying…" Hinata forced herself to continue. "There might be something strange with your chakra. We could go look it up." This wasn't a ploy to spend more time with him, she lied to herself knowing all too well that was exactly what this was.

"Eh…" Naruto didn't look convinced. "I'm more the type to just wing it, y'know. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?" He placed a hand on the shoulder of his clone when something else strange happened. Usually when he dismissed his clones they disappeared in a burst of smoke. Instead, he absorbed the clone back into himself, like a vacuum sucking up a wad of goop.

"..." He and Hinata once again stared in complete silence at where the clone had just been. "On second thought, maybe you're right." He acknowledged, apparently that event having been over the line enough for him. Despite himself, he absorbed the rest of the clones too, an uncomfortable look on his face the whole time. Once done, he turned to her and hiked a thumb towards the village. "Shall we go then?" He asked.

"You don't have to wait for your teacher?" Hinata wondered aloud, still not even sure of the identity of the person Naruto had so animatedly described earlier.

"Bah, if he ain't here by now then that's his problem." Naruto waved a hand dismissively. "Besides, it seems like I learned some new ultra secret Jutsu without him. Or more like… my clones got an upgrade or something?" He shrugged it off, apparently not all that concerned about what it was in the end.

"Okay then." Hinata felt a little bad, but she wasn't about to complain after he agreed to go back into the village with her. Just as the two began to set off, Naruto's stomach made a loud, low growl. "..." Once again, several awkward seconds of silence passed between them, before Hinata was the one to interrupt it this time with a small giggle. "Perhaps we should get something to eat first?"

"Yeah." Naruto agreed, his turn to be embarrassed for once. "You don't mind ramen, do ya?" He then asked, his mood seemingly brightening at the idea of his favorite meal.

"Not at all." Hinata shook her head, a certain bounce finding its way into her step as the two of them walked side-by-side. She really hadn't been sure about this idea when Kali first suggested it. But she had to admit…

This day was shaping up to be pretty good.

Chapter End

AN: Hello again.

Thank you, as always, for making it to the end of another chapter.

This chapter should hopefully give a more solid idea of what Hinata's fighting style will properly look like going forward. Of course, her abilities will also continue to develop and she will get new powers as time goes on as well. This is just the base.

As I mentioned in the first chapter, but I've also committed to going with a Mokuton-ability Naruto for this fic. So this chapter got to set-up the beginnings of that along with Naruto and Hinata's budding friendship.

Next chapter should also have a lot of them interacting. So please look forward to that!