Thank you to all of my readers, especially those of you who posted reviews and inspired me to write more!
onigiri (rice ball) kawii (cute) nani (what) gomen (sorry) tempura (food fried in a layer batter) Itadakimasu (expression of gratitude before meals)
Awakenings 4
Naruto strolled down the streets of Konoha wondering what it was that Hinata wanted to meet with him so secretly about.
"Meet me tomorrow in the thicket of trees past our usual training grounds at lunch." She had managed to say this to him rather quietly, even for Hinata standards, as she was letting him out of the Hyuuga mansion compound after another morning of training with her father. They had been at it for almost a month now, with Naruto spending almost every morning training with Hiashi and had been invited to join the Hyuuga family breakfasts. He had never eaten so healthy before.
He stepped off of the paved ground onto grass and dirt under trees bursting with autumn colors all around him. The sky was a bright blue with the occasional wisp of cloud floating by. The rays of sunlight that broke through the foliage and the shadows of leaves played on his features. Walking past their training ground, an opening in the thick of the forest, Naruto thought of the accident and how it had happened. He looked down and shook his head. As he entered the tree line, a breeze gently weaved in and out of the branches. Leaves fell lightly, drifting lackadaisically to the ground. Naruto felt the urge to test out the Hidden Kunai—or at least his own rough version of it. They had advanced to the stage of training where they were able release their chakra from their bodies, allowing it to seep out of their clothing, and then forming it into multiple solid forms floating outside their bodies.
Even a hidden kunai blade would be great to try out right now. Naruto thought about the thrill he felt when he watched the wooden pole target 10 yards in front of him slice in half when he finally mastered forming one solid chakra form 1 inch outside his body and sent flying through the wood. The multiple forms have proved to be the most challenging part of the training sequence so far. Hiashi, however, had forbidden them from using the technique or any part of what they've learned so far outside of the private training grounds. It drove him crazy not being able to practice the Hidden Kunai for more than a couple hours a day.
The trees grew thicker, growing closer and closer together, allowing little ground unmolested by their roots. Naruto scanned the area, listening intently. Hinata was pretty good at hiding.
"Naruto-kun," came a soft voice from up in a tree with especially thick undergrowth and plenty of dark shadows to disappear in. Up in depths of the shade, Hinata's head popped out. Naruto's face broke out in a smile.
She jumped down lightly from her perch with a large brown satchel slung over her right shoulder.
"Oi, Hinata, so why the secret meeting on our day off from training? Heh heh hehe…" He tried to laugh naturally to cover up the butterflies in his stomach. He was grateful they were hidden in shade that would cover up some of the blush he could feel burning his face. The night before he had had waking dreams of what might transpire during their clandestine meeting that had him tossing and turning for awhile. Why had Hinata wanted to meet with me in this hidden place? Maybe…
Hinata's face was full of furtive looks over her shoulder and trepidation, like she was guarding something others would readily rip from her arms. This was quite unlike her and took Naruto off his guard.
"What is it Hinata?" he asked in a more serious tone.
"Ano…" Hinata started nervously. To his further surprise, Naruto watched as the veins and nerves around her pale, pearl eyes bulged. She had hyper-activated her byakuugan 360 vision and was taking one last survey of the area. Satisfied, she allowed the chakra to move more evenly around her body away from her eyes. The large brown bag was put gently on the floor and Hinata kneeled down to it. With one hand she beckoned Naruto to kneel down as well and to lean in closer to her. The proximity of their faces was a little unnerving for Naruto, but Hinata seemed unphased, too focused on what she was about to tell him.
"Ano…I was cleaning my room two days ago. I usually don't clean out my closet too often, but I did this time, and when I did I found a trick door in the back corner," she said quickly in her usual soft and timid voice, but Naruto could hear the urgency and excitement in it nonetheless.
"It popped open when I wiped it with a cloth. I must have triggered it somehow. Well, inside I found this."
At that she pulled out something large and long wrapped in a brown cloth. She held it to Naruto in a gesture that asked him to take it. Naruto held it in one hand and unwrapped it with his other hand. Inside the folds of the brown cloth was a thick old scroll. He stared at it for a moment in awe. Its labeling cover was blank.
"I didn't know what to expect from it, I didn't think much of it at first," Hinata's voice trailed off, her wide eyes full of amazement.
Naruto undid a strip of cloth tied around the scroll that kept it closed. Slowly and carefully he unfurled the old paper and began to read its contents. After a moment or so of silent reading and Hinata looking intently at his face as if waiting for him to confirm that her conclusions were right, his jaw dropped.
"This…it's some kind of secret technique that the first hokage used?"
"That seems to be what it claims. I don't know. It won't identify the technique. It looks like some sort of copy of the original. It must have taken weeks to completely copy the original into this scroll."
"You know, back when we were taking our genin exams, I was tricked into stealing a scroll that contained the instructions for the kage no bushin. That's how I learned it. When I took the scroll, it actually had a lot more techniques in it that I didn't get a chance to learn. There were other scrolls, too, probably full of techniques."
"Do you think this is real?" Hinata whispered in disbelief.
"There's only one way to find out."
Hinata nodded in agreement as she stuck her hand into her bag and pulled out a large cloth. She spread it on some flat ground next to the tree. She sat down on it with her bag and began to pull out sandwiches, fruits, bottles of various drinks, and onigiri triangular-shaped rice balls. It looked like she raided the local convenience store.
"It'll take us awhile to read the whole thing."
Naruto smiled and sat down on the cloth next to Hinata, leaning back against the tree. He unrolled the scroll across their adjacent laps as Hinata picked up a sandwich and handed it him and then unwrapped an onigiri for herself.
The sun moved slowly across the sky and the shadows of the trees around them changed angles accordingly like giant sundials marking the late afternoon hour. The cloth that Hinata had spread on the floor was now littered with used food wrappers and empty bottles. The two of them had spent the afternoon intensely reading the scroll, pausing here and there to discuss the finer details of the technique. Finally, they reached the end of it. Hinata rolled up the scroll loosely and leaned it against the tree while Naruto tossed their garbage in a small trash bag that Hinata had brought along. Hinata pulled the cloth up from the floor, dusted it a bit, then folded it up and put it back in her satchel.
"Well," said Naruto, "let's try it out, see if it's any good."
He stood up, stretched his body and jumped around to warm up a bit and loosen up his stiff joints. He kneeled on the ground, put his hands together in front of him and began forming a series of seals. He suddenly hit his hands down against the ground, palms down. His eyes were fixed on a grassless spot on the ground directly in front of him. The soil suddenly began to shift slightly and out popped a small sprout with two tiny leaves opened up over a white, newly germinated stem.
Naruto heaved a sigh of disappointment. This was just like when he was learning the Toad summoning technique and started out with just a tadpole.
Hinata let out a amused laugh. He looked over at her with an self-conscious smile.
"This always happens to me," he said. He looked up at her cringing in embarrassment.
"I think it's kawaii," Hinata said, feeling that urge again to give him a reassuring hug, but she held back and just smiled.
"Now, you try," Naruto encouraged with a toothy smile.
"Mmh," Hinata nodded cheerfully.
She got down on her knees as well at another patch of grassless ground a yard away from Naruto's little plant. She formed the seals and then hit the ground with her palm. A tiny sprout about the same size as Naruto's came out. Naruto went over to her, crouched down, and examined the fruit of her efforts. The two of them were on the floor staring at the little plant for a moment. Naruto gave her a delving look, asking an unspoken question.
"I didn't hold back, I swear," Hinata responded in her soft voice and the shrugged. He was always demanding that she give her all during their trainings. Naruto gave her one more inquiring look before turning his attention back to the little plant.
"aaaaaaaaAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he suddenly said loudly and pointed accusingly at Hinata's plant with a look of indignation on his face.
"Nani?"
"You're plant has THREE leaves!"
"Where?"
"Right THERE!" he pointed with emphasis.
Hinata looked again.
"I only see two."
"There's a mini one hiding under that one! See it? Right there!"
"Oh,…I don't think that counts."
"It COUNTS!" His pointing finger swung over to Hinata and his eyes stressed the finality of his statement.
Before Hinata could say anything else, Naruto was back at his own plant, gently lifting the two baby leaves. Grunting in dissatisfaction, he was back to making seals again and slamming his palms against the ground. Hinata followed his lead. Their respective plants grew with each execution of the technique. At the end of over an hour of repeating this process, the two of them had what looked like miniature trees that that came up to their knees. They were panting with noticeable exhaustion. So much for their day off from training.
"I think we need to stop now. This technique uses a lot of chakra and we've been pushing our chakra to the limits with the Hidden Kunai," Hinata said as she caught her breath.
"You're right. I feel worn out all ready. And starved. We don't have any more food, do we?"
"No. Gomen."
Naruto waved her apology away with a loose hand.
"I'll treat you to ramen tonight."
"No, it's okay."
"No, really, you brought our lunch. I'll get dinner. Is it okay with your family?"
"Oh, my mother and father are out on business tonight. It's just Hanabi and me."
"Okay, then let's go get Hanabi and have some ramen. It's the least I can do after everything your family has done for me. Plus it'll be fun."
He turned his head towards her and smiled in response to her look of inquiry. He got to his feet, turned to her and held out his hand. She took it and was pulled to her feet. "We can come back here and try this again later," Naruto said as they gathered up their things to go.
The sun was setting when Hanabi, Hinata, and Naruto sat in front of three, large steaming bowls of house special ramen brimming with vegetables, noodles, fish paste, and shrimp tempura. Floating around in the soup were dissolved miso paste, various spices, and small circular slices of green onions. They clapped their hands together simultaneously and said,
"Itadakimasu!"
The roads and buildings around them were golden in the disappearing sunlight and changing hues of orange, red, and yellow. The streets were winding down as people made their way home for dinner. Strolling down a path perpendicular to the one the ramen stand stood on was a girl in a red dress and short, pink hair held back with a blue forehead protector bearing the sign of Konoha. She had spotted Naruto but what stopped her in her tracks was when she noticed the company he was in. For a moment, she stood and watched as the three ate, talked, and laughed as if they had done this every night of their lives.
Screams of pain filled the air.
"You understand your role as a member of the branch family."
More screams.
The members at the meeting watched on uncomfortably as the Hyuuga branch family member grabbed his forehead in pain. He was on his knees in front of Hiashi.
"Do not forget your place."
Hiashi walked away as the man who had been screaming in pain threw him a murderous look.