Life as a genin, it turned out, wasn't all that much better than being an academy student. For multiple weeks after passing Kakashi's 'test', Team 7 was subjected to the gruelling assault of D-Rank missions. They painted fences, carried boxes and planks for construction workers, delivered packages and retrieved the same damn cat again and again for the daimyo's wife. Naruto knew that they should at least be training between all of this, but Kakashi seemed to take some sadistic glee in ignoring that part of his responsibility as a jonin sensei. Every time Naruto so much as uttered a word of complaint, Kakashi simply smiled back and buried his nose in a book.

Just about the only thing that made all this time interesting was Naruto's early morning training sessions with Hinata. They managed to make time most days, since Kakashi was always late for the meeting times he designated, and Kurenai gave Hinata's team much more gentle hours. At the very least, this training kept the two of them on their toes, gave them actual room to grow. After all, how were they supposed to rise through the ranks if they didn't have opportunities to grow stronger?

On the third day of the fourth week as a genin, Naruto rolled out of bed with a groan. The sun had barely come up, and his alarm clock was blaring relentlessly. Tora had been especially difficult to catch the past day, and the poor cat had once again left Naruto wondering if they even should be retrieving the pet for the daimyo's wife. That cat was clearly capable of fending for itself, and did not like its owner's attention. The scratches Tora had given Naruto were all healed already - the blonde had already worked out that this was courtesy of their powerful chakratic tenant. Once out of bed, Naruto showered, ate a light breakfast, brushed his teeth and decided what form he wanted to take for the day. After tying his long hair into two messy braids, Naruto leapt out of his window and made his way towards Training Ground 43.

When Naruto arrived, Hinata was already there, dancing gracefully through some Gentle Fist forms. Her Byakugan was active, so she paused and turned to greet Naruto when he arrived. But what she saw once he got closer clearly caught her off guard.

"N-naruto… is that you?" Hinata asked, suddenly unsure of herself.

"Oh," Naruto uttered as realisation struck - he hadn't transformed prior to training before since he was usually too tired to think about it. "You've never seen me like this before, huh? Yeah, it's me."

But apparently Hinata had more confusion to alleviate. "Why… why d-do you look like that?"

Naruto shrugged. He didn't think Hinata would make a big deal out of it, so he gladly gave a bit more explanation that he usually would. "I've never really seen myself as a boy or a girl, I'm just… me. And with something as handy as the transformation jutsu, I can look pretty much however I want, which makes things easy, since sometimes I feel like I should be one body or another."

Hinata nodded, understanding. "Oh, okay! But… that's not the transformation jutsu, or at least it doesn't look like th-that?"

Naruto paused. "Whaddaya mean?"

"The transformation jutsu is a basic genjutsu that overlays your appearance with that of someone else," Hinata recited. "And my b-byakugan can see through genjutsu, but when I look at you, there's no genjutsu for me to s-see through."

Naruto scratched his head. "So are you telling me I'm using an entirely different technique without knowing it?"

"I guess," Hinata offered, fidgeting with her fingers.

Naruto wasn't really sure what to make of this. He had learned the transformation technique exactly how it was taught in the academy, and nobody else had ever mentioned anything about it being different - but here Hinata was saying otherwise. And according to what she was saying - he was physically transforming his whole body. That was something he would have to experiment with later. But for now, they had an hour-long training session to work through.

A moment later, several shadow clones were up and running about, each going towards their designated tasks. It hadn't taken long for Naruto to realise that memories and skills could be retained when a clone was dispelled, and his first thought had been to use it for training. In moderation, of course. Naruto had first tried with a hundred clones, and the backlash of all the information recall had left him with a splitting headache for the next five hours. So, while each of the clones went off to work on a series of tasks ranging from chakra control practice to ninjutsu training, the real Naruto paired off with Hinata.

The first thing they did was run a lap around the training ground, which was how they always started their training. The rule was that neither of them could use any chakra as a boost, and in the past week they'd started adding leg weights to make it harder. It served as a good warmup, and helped both of them train their stamina and pure physical strength.

Once that was done, they did four rounds of taijutsu sparring. Two without chakra, and then two with. Hinata always won the chakra rounds, and Naruto had quickly adjusted his goals to at least getting a few hits in. His own taijutsu skill was stunted due to the teachers' discrimination at the academy, and the only reason he was able to best Hinata in the non-chakra rounds was because of how overly accustomed she was to using the Gentle Fist. Still, having someone to practice against was incredibly helpful for getting rid of all the bad technique that he had been taught in the academy - perhaps Naruto could ask Sasuke to spar with him as well, so that he could get some more varied experience.

Once the sparring section was over, the duo moved onto the part of their daily training that was their favourite - first, Naruto helped to teach Hinata about mixing poisons and antidotes. Hinata already had a basic knowledge of a specific range of medicinal salves, which meant that she was a rather quick study. And then, in exchange for Naruto's tutelage, Hinata used her Byakugan to watch Naruto's chakra pathways and help him refine his ninjutsu usage. Her enhanced sight allowed her to see exactly what Naruto was doing wrong with any given jutsu, and help by correcting the relevant signs and chakra manipulation.

When it was all over, Hinata surprised Naruto with a question he honestly hadn't expected. "Naruto, can you teach me your version of the t-transformation jutsu?"

Naruto blinked. "Uh… Didn't I say earlier that I do exactly the same thing as everyone else? I dunno how to teach you when I'm not even sure what I'm doing differently!"

Hinata frowned, and Naruto could see that there was something to this, but he couldn't place what. Whatever it was, for some reason, this was important to Hinata.

"What if you watch me do it?"

Hinata's eyes lit up, and she nodded more vigorously than Naruto had ever seen.

Seriously, Naruto thought to himself, why is she so invested in this?

Naruto obligingly returned to his 'boy' form and then performed the technique again. The way Hinata's eyes widened as he switched didn't escape him, and he was quick to ask her what was wrong.

"I c-cant do your version… ever. It's not possible," Hinata declared in a sombre tone.

"What? Why?"

"The Kyuubi… it's chakra is part of your transformation jutsu. It changes the jutsu somehow, p-powering it up… I-I don't think anyone could do what you do," Hinata said, and looked away again.

Naruto stepped towards her, and put a hand gently on her shoulder. "You wanna talk about it? No pressure, I mean, it's just- I can tell this is important to you but I don't know why."

Hinata leaned into him. Through the fabric of his bright orange jacket - which he knew he needed to replace before real missions - Naruto could feel the wetness in his shoulder. Hinata was crying. He still wasn't sure why, but something about Naruto's ability to transform so fully in ways that other ninja just couldn't was deeply affecting her. Not really sure what else to do, Naruto stood and waited until Hinata wanted to speak.

Several minutes later, Hinata pulled away. "D-do you remember how my hair used to be longer back in the academy? I t-tried to cut it short on my own, and father f-forced me to get it redone to look like something befitting of his d-daughter. But that wasn't what I w-wanted. One time I stole some of my cousins clothes and t-tried them on, and father t-tore them up. I- I keep trying, and father keeps…"

Naruto gulped. He always thought Hinata was just a timid person because of the Hyuuga clan's treatment, but it was apparent there was much more to it than that. They didn't even see who Hinata truly was. Naruto looked up, words swimming around in his mouth begging to get free. "Hinata, are you a boy?"

The Hyuuga's head shook, but it didn't feel like denial. It felt like defeat. "I wish I c-could be, but father has made it clear that I c-can't. I told him once and first he l-laughed in my face, before screaming at me. H-he didn't talk to me for the next week. Th-the first thing he said was to stop being so f-foolish. So… I g-gave up."

Naruto raised his voice, entirely unintentionally, as rage boiled through his veins. "That's bullshit! If you feel like a boy, then you're a boy, dammit! All you have to do is tell me that it's what you want, and I'll help you make it your reality, okay?"

Hinata looked up, eyes still wet with tears. "You… you mean it?"

Naruto nodded assertively. "Damn right! So do you like your name, or want a different one?"

Hinata pondered the question. "I g-guess it feels like me."

"One more question before I take you to meet someone I know - do you want me to call you a boy around the others?" Naruto asked.

Hinata shuddered at the question. "I… I can't. Not yet. If father finds out, he'll j-just make everything worse again. Maybe one day, but n-not yet."

Naruto nodded again. "Okay, I can do that for you. Now, can I take you to meet someone? You'll probably be late for your team meeting, but… you won't regret meeting them. They… they helped me feel like I could be me, and they can do the same for you, as well as probably teach you ways to look and feel more like you want."

Naruto stood horizontally on the wall outside the Torture and Interrogation building, followed by a very hesitant Hinata. He knocked brazenly on one of the windows, and it promptly slammed open.

"Well, if it isn't my favourite little brat! Come on in!" Came the voice from within.

Naruto swung in through the window after beckoning Hinata to follow. The office looked the same as always - mostly plain, aside from several menacing paintings of giant snake summons. Within stood an imposing figure with purple hair tied up into a spiky ponytail, a long tan coat only partially covering an outfit that highlighted a feminine figure. Nobody took up space in a room like the Tokubetsu Jonin Mitarashi Anko.

"Anko, it's been too long!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing his arms around Anko's shoulders.

Anko ruffled Naruto's hair, careful not to mess up the already haphazard braids. "Damn right, ya brat! You up and disappeared on me after you graduated. What, too busy to visit your big sibling? And who the hell is this you've brought with you?"

Naruto glanced towards Hinata, who seemed largely overwhelmed by the situation. "Right! Anko, this is my friend Hinata - he's a boy, but he's not ready to tell people yet so I wanted him to meet you so you could teach him stuff about making himself look more masculine. Hinata, this is my big sibling Anko - we're not really related by blood, but they've done a lot to look after me ever since I started all of my pranks. So! I was thinking, Anko, could you maybe teach Hinata how to bind his chest like you do sometimes?"