Chapter 20

Fates of Burning Passion

The following morning, Naruto stumbles out of his bedroom with Yoko at his heels and his fists rubbing at his eyes. He's barely dressed, not that anyone in his home would give a damn at this hour as Iruka's his dad, and Anko is kind of a slob. He's stunned when he lowers his hands to find two more at the table, though. Sasuke has come to join them, which isn't too much of a shocker with him right next door, but is one regardless with his emotional distance lately. The real shocker is Kurenai-sensei seated next to him and enjoying some heavily spiced Furikake as Iruka and Anko argue over control of the stove. Yoko trots over and hops up into Kurenai's lap, and she immediately pets her with her free hand. "Well, good morning to you too, dear."

Sasuke peeks up and raises an eyebrow as he catches sight of his teammate. "Frog boxers? Really?"

"Oi." Naruto narrows his eyes. "You're one to talk, Tomato Tighties." Sasuke's jaw drops as he glares in indignation, stammering for a moment while Kurenai sputters and nearly chokes on her food.

"Hey, that was four years ago! Speak another word of it, and I'll throw you in the Inuzaka kennel covered in bacon!"

"Try it and I'll replace myself with you, and you know you don't have the chakra to reverse it on me." He grins. "Nice to have ya back, ya bastard." He drops into his seat. "So what brings you over at this hour, Kurenai-sensei?"

"Ah, well, I was training Sasuke a bit last night, we got carried away and it was rather late when we stopped. I ended up crashing in his guest room instead so I could come over and enjoy breakfast with Anko for the first time in months."

Anko groans and tilts back to stare at Kurenai over her shoulder. "Again, I'm sorry! I rarely even stay at my own apartment anymore!" She grumbles. "I swear, I'll find more time for ya, ok? Just the two of us tonight."

Kurenai giggles softly through her food, but refuses to reply until it's swallowed. It's a true mystery how such a proper kunoichi can be best friends with such a slob as Anko. "Well, I'm just glad Iruka's managed to tame you a bit. I could have sworn you would have ruined the man instead."

Iruka shrugs. "Who says she hasn't at least a bit? I'd say it's a two-way-street."

Naruto nods. "There's a reason I gave them a ton of my silencing seals for their bedroom."

Sasuke almost spits out his orange juice.

"Aaanyway…" Naruto shrugs as he digs into the omelet his father's just served him. "I've gotta meet with Hinata on our join training ground at three. Until then, I'm hammering out the seal I was working with Inoichi on yesterday."

Kurenai raises an eyebrow at him. "Inoichi? What kind of seal were you working on with him? Cerebral interface seals are incredibly advanced. It may be one of his clan's specialties, but it makes Inoichi one of the village's top sealmasters, just a few ranks beneath Jiraiya."

Sasuke look sup form his meal. "Oh, did he finally help you get the fox and Hokage-sama in contact?"

Kurenai drops her chopsticks.

"Yeah, that conversation went pretty well. He was in a pretty good mood, but I think that was largely because he was entertained by how scared shitless Inoichi was."

"Inoichi may be a tricky bastard…" Anko cuts in. "But he's also a complete fucking wimp. That man doesn't have half the stomach Ibiki and I have, and the only reason he's allowed into interrogation is his jutsu. No practical skills in the field at all."

"Hold on one second!" Kurenai leans in towards Sasuke. "You know about that?!"

"Yeah. Naruto's my teammate. I probably know more about it than you do." He smirks. "Now doesn't that sting?"

She stares incredulously, then flops back into her seat and huffs. "Your generation is going to be the death of me, I swear. Ok, fine. So what's up with this seal you're making, then?"

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Across town, the village's most adorable bun-haired badass is hard at work in her father's weapon shop, restocking shelves of basic weaponry that's been purchased en masse recently. Thankfully, Gai-sensei didn't schedule training this morning, so she's not running on fumes out the gate as the store opens. Today should make for an easy day then, but also… remarkably boring after yesterday's training.

Thankfully, the answer to her boredom comes in just a few minutes after opening, as a familiar puppy rushes to her feet and yaps up at her. "Oh, Akamaru! What brings you here, huh?" She kneels down to pet him as Kiba catches up.

"Eh, just out for our morning run, and figured we should stop in for a few. Actually had a few questions for ya that just popped into my head after training yesterday."

"You too, huh?" She huffs as she stands. "Training with the other sensei really expanded how I view my own skill set, and got me thinking on how to improve on parts I've ignored. Kurenai's creativity kinda rubbed off on me, I guess." She clenches her fists. "I wanna put that to use, but I just can't settle on an idea!

"Really?" Kiba grins ear to ear. "Because I might have a solution for ya, and I think you'll be seeing a lot of our classmates for the same sorta thing."

Tenten peeks up from her clenched fists and tilts her head. "Um… ok? What've ya got in mind?"

"Well…" He scratches the back of his head as he pulls a scroll from his hoodie pockets. "I'm no good at math, but this is the details that my sister wrote up after studying the scoring pattern made from my Gatsuga. She said you could apply this to building something to advance my techniques a bit."

She takes the scroll and slowly rolls it open, reading over the details bit by bit until she starts to develop patterns and molds in the back of her mind. Eventually, she grins ear-to-ear as she sees where this is going. "Kiba… I think you just brought me my second calling."

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Sakura's morning routine has changed drastically since becoming part of a team. Early mornings for training have become a habit, and she can't manage to stay in bed or at home for long in the morning anymore. So this morning, she finds herself out for a jog, seeking to improve her biggest weakness: her stamina. That weakness became greatly apparent during her training yesterday, and she's more determined than ever to fix it.

That ambition ends up catching the eye of one of her upperclassmen. Lee slows himself to match Sakura's pace as he catches up, but he's bringing his knees uncomfortable high to make up for the lack of speed. "Sakura-chan! This morning was already wonderful, but running into you has certainly only made it better!"

Sakura giggles nervously. She certainly appreciates his kindness, but Lee's always seemed a bit uncomfortably overzealous to her. "W-Well, thank you, Lee. How many laps are you on already, then?"

"This would be my fifth! After yesterday's more laxed training for the majority of my time, I find that I'm far more refreshed and handling this morning's run with relative ease. Perhaps there's merit to taking some time off occasionally?"

"Oh, definitely." Sakura scoffs. "That's medicine 101. You 're constantly overtaxing yourself, the way you and Gai train. Spend a bit more time focusing on mental training and techniques, and you'll get results faster than ever."

"Is that so?" Lee looks away and tilts his head, pouting faintly. "Have I really been so wrong for so long? That's a lot to think about." He sighs and hangs his head. "But, that does give me more time to focus on my newer techniques."

"Speaking of new techniques…" Sakura looks over the bandages on his arms. "I've been learning plenty of medical jutsu. I usually practice them on my teammates, but your injuries are sure to be pretty different from theirs. Mind if I tag along to patch you up and test myself? May give you a chance to test your more volatile skills and not be at a deficit after."

Lee suddenly turns to jog sideways as his eyes appear to be on fire with pure passion. "Sakura-chan, that's a wonderful idea! COME! We must make our way to Training Ground 9 at once!" Regardless of Sakura's own speed, Lee takes off with almost religious fervor and leaves her in the dust.

"Damnit, Lee… Well, I guess I need to train my top speed up as well." She breaks into a sprint to try and catch up, but it still takes her three minutes longer to find him waiting in a field and doing stretches in front of a log he's prepared to test his biggest jutsu on. Gai-sensei might be angry at him for using it, but he's never had a medic on hand before during training…

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Chouza sits beside his son atop the cliffs on the village's outskirts, far off to the left from the Hokage monument. It's quite the climb to get up here, but there's plenty of space for the training he has in mind. "Now, Chouji… as a legal shinobi, there's a few things you need to know. For one, you're now of a legal drinking age, although you really shouldn't yet, but I do believe you're ready to apply that to some severely underused techniques in our clan's repertoire." He takes a sip of his own sake. "It won't be too potent at first. Our clan's flavorful palate makes drinking a bit of a hassle until you've had enough to develop a taste for it. But, I believe you've got the stomach for it, and the results will speak for themselves."

Chouji nods faintly as he stares out over the village. "You must mean great uncle Raichou's Ryū no Iki (Dragon's Breath) techniques. I've certainly heard a lot about those jutsu, but…"

"Yes, I know…" Chouza sighs. "His time away from us at the temple has been long and quiet. But, I know the basics of them, and although I'm no good with them, the fire in your heart and an in your gut will make you a prodigy with them. The ability to apply the foundation of our jutsu, converting raw fat to chakra, and then augmenting it with alcohol, and further with your fire chakra, will produce flames that although limited in range, will be incredibly potent. The only fire jutsu in this village to reach its potential have been cast by the Uchiha, Sarutobi, and Lord Jiraiya." He reaches into the basket between them and pulls out another saucer, then a bottle wafting a rather sweet aroma. "This is a sake blend preserved for clan members who are just starting to drink. A nigori-zake blended with taru-zake and infused with a bit of cherry harvested from the Aburame orchards." He pours some for his son and slowly stands with his own saucer in hand. "It will help you to start developing a proper alcohol tolerance, and eventually, you may be able to perform your great uncle's techniques with a far greater efficiency and strength than even I could muster." He downs his saucer, but rather than swallowing, he charges his mouth with chakra, fires up a bit of lightning between his teeth, and breathes out a concentrated stream of alcohol-fueled flame that burns blindingly bright. Its distance is only as great as a beginner's Fireball, but its potency clearly outranks it. The heat rolling off this flame is intense enough to force Chouji to reel back, and when Chouza ends the technique, he turns to show his lips are already blistering. "I could never master this jutsu. But you, my son, just might."

Chouji stares in awe for a few moments, but slowly nods and dives at his own saucer, quickly sipping it down- only to flinch and spit it out a moment later. "I thought you said this was watered-down and sweeter!"

"Boy, you'll quickly learn that alcohol is a strong taste that's very hard to mask."

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Naruto wanders into yesterday's training grounds to find Hinata in the middle of a few kata drills, and he can't help but just stop and watch her for a few moments, until she turns enough to realize he's there and she trips over her own feet. She flails on her way to the ground, and Naruto can't help but laugh a bit as he makes his way over. "Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you." Yoko beats him there and she starts licking at Hinata's face right away, knocking her out of her stupor almost instantly.

"Y-Yoko, please, t-that's enough! I missed you too, sweetie!" Hinata gently pushes her back and starts to pet the fox as she sits up. "I-it's fine Naruto, I was just a bit too focused on my training. I should work more on keeping my senses honed while I'm at it."

"Yeah, I get that. You know how I get when I'm making seals." He reaches into his hoodie's collar and brings out a strip of cloth with a seal painted on the side facing him, and clips the top of it in place under his headband on his right side. "Alright, field test two. Running smoothly, fox?"

"Yes, boy, I can hear you fine. How is it on your end?"

"Works fine so far, but it might get a bit rough during combat. Jostling the seal too much might interrupt contact a bit."

"Um… Naruto-kun?" He's broken from his thoughts to find Hinata looking him over with her Byakugan active "That seal…" Her eyes dart around to make sure nobody is nearby and listening. "… is he speaking to you through it?"

Naruto's mouth drops open, but the Kyuubi just barks out in laughter from within his mind. "Smart girl! Thought she would have known by now, with all the stalking she does."

"Wait- stalking?! Ok, we're talking about that later!" Naruto clears his throat and nods. "Um… y-yeah, he is. Normally, I have to meet him in my sleep, but this seal will keep us in contact as long as it's connecting his seal and my head." He looks away and scratches the back of his head. "It's just a prototype right now, so I'm not putting it on my body until I'm completely sure there's no faults in it."

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata slowly smiles and pushes herself to her feet. "I've known for a long time… and never thought any less of you. So… please, don't look away. I'm not afraid…" She closes her eyes and shivers. "and I've never hated you like all the fools in this village that only see you as a demon." She clenches her fist, fighting the rising heat in her cheeks and constant urge to faint purely by proximity to him. "When I saw them ruining your home, it made me angrier than I thought I was capable of…"

"Wait…" Naruto steps closer. "That was you? You reported them all?!"

She looks up and drops her Byakugan finally, shocked out of her focus as she realized what she'd said in the heat of the moment. "I-I, um…"

She freezes completely as Naruto throws his arms around her and pulls her into a tight hug. "… I can't thank you enough for that, HInata-chan…"

She stares wide-eyed over his shoulder for a few moments, until she reaches critical blush and goes limp in his arms.

"H-Hinata-chan? Oh, SHIT!" He gently sets her down and starts fanning her. "C-Come one, please wake up!"

Yoko whines and covers his face with her paws at her master's foolishness, while the Kyuubi start laughing himself silly, but refrains from sending his thoughts to Naruto. "Oh, I like this girl! Hope you pull your head out of our ass and treat her right soon, boy!"

About twenty minutes later, she manages to wake up and pull herself together, stumbling back to her feet as she prepares to train. "S-So, you um.. w-want to go over our w-wind training?"

"Yep!" Naruto stretches a bit, having removed his hoodie, now in a burnt orange Tee and mesh shirt beneath it. "Honestly, mine's been a bit shaky. I'm sure you're way further along than I am. I only managed to pick up a couple wind jutsu Kaka-sensei had, and otherwise I've been trying to channel raw wind chakra to cut things more easily."

Hinata nods faintly as she channels wind chakra into her fingertips. "Producing enough chakra for a strong wind jutsu is tough, but I can manage to make it sharp enough to cut most anything I've tried so far." To demonstrate, she turns and swings her hand at a rock nearby, grazing it with her fingertips, but cutting an inch-deep gash into it with no resistance.

Naruto whistles as he steps up to inspect it. "Wow, that's awesome! With your precision, you could cripple just about any foe in close combat with one well-placed swipe. Cut tendons, critical veins, whatever."

She nods. "And an opponent is less likely to notice it. If I wield a kunai in one hand, they'll focus more on the kunai than my free hand and expect the actual cutting implement is the bigger threat."

Naruto stands and pinches his chin. "Well, that's sure to throw people off and give you a few easy victories. If you wanna improve your capacity though, all you can really do it just repeatedly force yourself to use a lot at once. I never really need to, and you know why that is. You might be best off asking Kakashi-sensei, since he's had to do a lot of that to support his huge jutsu library."

She nods a bit and cuts off the flow to her fingertips. "W-What about your wind jutsu, N-Naruto-kun?"

"Mine? Oh, well…" He smirks and faces across the field, chaining together a few handsigns. "ATSUGAI!" He belts out a massive burst of wind, blowing unburied training logs and smaller rocks around with ease, rolling to a stop on the other end of the training ground. "Not much damage in it, but it's great for defense and setups." He cracks his knuckles. "I also have Reppūshō as a more concentrated version from my hands, but there's nothing sharp about that one either. Then there's this one…" He inhales again and runs through three handsigns, ending in Tori. "Fuuton: Kūdan!" He spits multiple compressed air bullets, burrowing holes into a few logs, but not getting clean through them. They're still clearly enough to be lethal with a hit to the right place, though.

Hinata claps and bounces a bit. "N-Naruto-kun, that was amazing! I'm sure Asuma-sensei would be proud of you for being so good at wind!"

Naruto chuckles nervously and rubs the back of his head. "M-Maybe, but I'm really not that good. I had clones working on learning these for what equated to weeks when you put all their experience together. For each jutsu!"

"Naruto…" She sighs and steps closer, despite how nervous she is to be so close. "Y… Y-You might learn and t-think differently, but… y-you're still great at what you do, a-and you make it work, to become someone i-incredible. Seeing you work so hard…" She gulps nervously. ".. I-It makes me really believe you will be Hokage one day."

Naruto is frozen in place by those words. He's heard it from his team, his dad, even Anko by now, but almost always a tad dismissively. Supportive, but not fully believing, save for his dad- but the honestly in her voice, the passion in her eyes, almost brings him to tears. His world slows to a stop for a moment, barely feeling the wind at his back, but it feels like the start of something new. For the first time in his life, he feels a blush rendered by something besides embarrassment or his former foolhardy crush on Sakura rising in his cheeks. After a few moments, he gives her the strongest most genuine smile of his life. As wide as the fake smile he once flashed to trick the world into thinking he was ok, but the moisture in his barely-opened eyes, this time, is purely out of unbridled joy. He simply cannot hide it. Months ago, he wouldn't have known how to react at all. He might have been too shocked, suppressing his reaction entirely and nearly becoming comatose at the idea of someone having that much faith in him. Even now, he barely knows how to react, but can't bring himself to speak. He just throws his clenched fists into the air in victory and collapses backwards into the grass, giggling like a madman.

Hinata can't help but find that reaction adorable.

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In his office, Sarutobi Hiruzen watches his crystal ball with a gentle, knowing smile across his face. "Finally… that girl stalks him more than I do with this jutsu, and he's finally noticing her. And her confidence is growing fast…" He hums thoughtfully, then returns to looking over the letter on his desk. "But, they won't have too much time together too soon. Hinata's not suited for this joint mission I need to assign." He huffs and shuts the jutsu off, causing the crystal ball to lose its image and become nothing more than chakra-conducting glass once more. He rubs the bridge of his nose. "Damnit, Taki. How many times do we have to bail you out?" He waves for one of his anbu to come over. They appear at his side instantly. "I need you to inform Kakashi and Asuma to have their teams ready for a mission tomorrow evening. Tell Zabuza and Haku they will be accompanying them for the first leg of their trip, shortly after tomorrow's training session, so all six students need to avoid training with Gai."