So here's Chapter Fifteen! It's a bit short, sorry. Please read, reveiw, and most importantly enjoy! Now it has been revised a litte, I added more. If you want the new stuff, just skip to after Hinata and Neji leave. The festival is changed and I added more to Naruto's training with Jiraiya. I didn't add all the details because I wouldn't have had Jiraiya didn't teach him anything different, just better.
I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto and the other creators do, and until they relinquish their rights... I can't take credit for originality of the franchise.
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'What happened?'. Hinata slowly sat up, taking in her surroundings. 'This is Naruto's apartment. We were making pancakes and then…'. Hinata's ears turned pink, remembering what had caused her to faint. 'He was so close. Too close. And why would I faint over Naruto? He's a friend. Do all girls do this or am I the odd ball?'. Hinata was broken out of her thoughts when Naruto softly called out to her. Focusing on him, she saw that he was holding a glass of water for her.
"It'll help clear your head," he explained. Hinata delicately took it, hoping it'd help her from having such strange thoughts when she was around Naruto. "So I saved your pancake. Then I went to make a few more as you slept, you don't need to eat them all, I can package them up for you to take home". Hinata nodded in understanding, and handed the water back to him.
"What happened?" Hinata asked, making sure Naruto was oblivious to the actual reasons behind the faint.
"Well I'm not entirely sure why, but you fainted. I'm guessing it's because you haven't been having enough water though. It's not all that hot in here and I don't think you were in pain or in shock. Were you?" Naruto asked apprehensively.
Hinata shook her head, "I must not have drank enough water this week and it's finally caught up to me". 'Let's just hope he forgot all the times I had the team stop for water breaks somehow'.
Naruto seemed to be confused a little, 'How does that… I'm not going to question it'.
"Anyways, pancakes? You still haven't eaten, and I still have yet to learn how to flower press". Hinata welcomed the change of conversation and gave a smile nod and smile as she sat down to dig into a few pancakes.
Hinata was dabbing her mouth with a napkin when she finished, a small content smile on her face. Even though Naruto had offered to package some to take home, none were left. With a little guidance from Kurama, Naruto was a polite host and took her plate away and placed it in the sink to be washed later. Hinata had pulled her sleeve up and unsealed the gladiolus in her wrist seal.
"Now we need a book, one that you wouldn't really miss; so wax paper, and we need some items for weight". Naruto gathered the needed items. Placing a dictionary, some wax paper, and a piece of paper on the table. Hinata looked skeptically at the piece of paper. "I think we're going to need something a bit heavier than that". Naruto had a foxy smile on his face.
Naruto put a finger on the piece of paper and concentrated on it for a second, then he removed his hand and said, "try to pick it up". Hinata tried, surprised when she found the paper stuck to the table. She couldn't even slide it.
"I've been working on hiding my seals, and this was my prototype for a weight seal. At the moment that paper is about 30 pounds". Hinata was impressed, although she didn't care for the smug look off of Naruto's face.
"Turn the seal off or else you won't get to learn how to flower press". Naruto complied immediately, not risking his chance to learn flower pressing.
Using a water jutsu, Hinata hydrated the flower, and then used a kunai to cut any leaves off. Taking the book, Hinata laid a piece of wax paper on both sides before laying the gladiolus down on one piece and closing the book, making a doggy ear in the corner before closing. She then took the piece of paper and laid it on top, signalling for Naruto to reactivate the seal.
After a couple of seconds Hinata asked for something to heat the book up with. Naruto looked around, not knowing what he could use for such a task. 'I help you with this one brat. I know an easy fire jutsu that you should be able to use with me here'. Naruto thanked Kurama before turning back to Hinata and making a few hand signs, "heater jutsu". His hands didn't look like they changed, but Naruto could feel the warm flowing through his fingers. He placed his hands on the book and soon some steam could be seen rising from the book pages. Hinata's eyes grew wide at the fact Naruto could use a fire jutsu.
"How are you able to use fire jutsu too? I thought your elements were earth, air, and lightning". Naruto froze, "ah… yeah I decided to practice fire a little and found this jutsu". Hinata narrowed her eyes, but decided to ignore Naruto's hesitation to answer the question.
"Well you're going to also have to learn water jutsu". Naruto raised an eyebrow at this. "Assuming you're going to do this on your own, you're going to need my jutsu. Otherwise you'll be waiting a week or so before you can actually press the flower" Hinata explained.
After a minute, Hinata told Naruto to cancel the jutsu and seal. Once those tasks were done, Hinata opened the book to where they had placed the flower.
It looked like a photo. Naruto was spellbound with the results, amazed at how such little work could make something so beautiful. Hinata enjoyed seeing the fancisnation in Naruto's eyes, and how easily he could be amazed.
With Hinata watching Naruto, and Naruto being utterly fascinated with the flower, neither noticed the presence that had come out of hiding by the door. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything". Naruto and Hinata instantly turned to the sound, both terrified that Neji was standing there with a smug look on his face.
Hinata internally panicked. The implications of her being here alone would put her in a worse position than she already was in with the clan.
Hinata recovered her composure and tried finding a way to avoid this secret getting out. "Cousin Neji. It is quite a surprise to see you. What brings you to Naruto's apartment on such a lovely day?". 'Why the hell are you following me!'. Neji looked from Hinata to Naruto before answering.
"I had heard some of your conversation yesterday, and decided to follow you. I saw you make the clone and as Ko followed it, I decided to follow the real one. I watched from the window for a while, and nearly broke my cover when you fainted, but decided to instead watch how Naruto would react". Naruto was sweating bullets. He didn't mean to do anything inappropriate, but in the eyes of a Hyuuga, the standards of what is appropriate are much higher than his own.
"I was pleased to see he didn't try to take advantage of you. However, you can't be running off on your own Hinata! That is why we'll be going back to the compound this instant to train".
"And if I don't?" Hinata asked, a surprising act of defiance that was almost unheard off within the compound walls.
"If you don't, I'll have no choice but to tell your father about this". Hinata met Neji's hard stare with her own. Naruto was looking from one to the other, struggling to survive in the tension that had filled the room.
'Is there anyway I can help her here?'. 'Sorry kit, but I think you're going to have to let her fight this battle. For now just stay quiet and support her'. Naruto did as told and waited for the two cousins to continue their staring contest. About a minute later, Hinata looked away in defeat. Silently she stood up and turned to Naruto.
"Sorry about this inconvenience Naruto. The Pancakes were delicious and I was happy to teach you flower pressing, however I am being called home to train for the upcoming exams. Please excuse me". Having finished her over the top formal goodbye, Hinata walked to the door, shooting a glare at Neji on the way. Neji seemed to be unfazed by it.
"Thank you for taking care of Hinata-sama Uzumaki-san. Enjoy your month of training". Neji then followed Hinata, leaving Naruto confused and worried. 'Now you see why you had to keep out of it kit?', 'Yeah, now I see why. But it's not fair! Why should Hinata have to face her family alone?!'. 'I never said she'd be alone. I told you to support her, not fight her battles for her. She'll never be able to stand on her own two feet that way'. Naruto sucked in a breath, ready to release a slew of curses and reasons why he should be able to fight some battles for her, but instead let it out in one large sigh. "You're right. She needs to fight this battle herself".
'Good, now you have training to do, and it's going to start with me teaching you about the abilities you gain being my jinchuriki'. Naruto groaned, but sat down none-the-less to enter his mindscape. 'Good. Now first order of business, change the landscape in this place! I'm tired of sleeping in a sewer!'.
"How do I do that? Do I just say I want this place to be a meadow or something?". Within an instant the sewer system vanished, and was replaced with a beautiful meadow of followers that was found on the outskirts of Konoha. "Woah!". Naruto looked around in amazement. It took a second, but then he remembered Kurama and turned to see the giant fox with the containment seal around his neck on a collar of sorts.
'Not bad kid. Although I think we'll have to visit my home some time. I'd much rather spend your lifetime in that'. Naruto's sweat dropped at such a blatant reminder of how Kurama was out of here as soon as he died. 'Now let's get down to business. I am a tailed beast made of chakra. While I am usually linked to fire, I am equally powerful in all of the elements. I just prefer fire. We tailed beasts also can alter our jinchuriki's appearance to resemble our own for them to gain an ability. Thankfully for you, it requires very little of my chakra to do'.
"But Kurama, when I used your chakra, I lost control of myself. While I've made a deal with you about your release, I still don't trust you enough to take over my body".
'I was getting to that brat, now just listen. The chakra of the tailed beasts are the rawest and most powerful forms of chakra. Because of this, it puts the user's emotions to an extreme when they use it. In wave country you were already angry and my chakra just enhanced that anger. However, there's nothing you can do about it until you're older and have adapted to my chakra more. For now you'll only be using about half a percent of my power to transform, and a full one percent as a boost in chakra. In wave country you were using five percent and lost control so we're going to start slow'.
Naruto's eyes were saucers, "Wait! That was only 5% of your power?!".
'Of this half of me, yes. Although technically in my true completed form, that would have been less than 3 percent'. Naruto's jaw hit the floor in amazement at how powerful tailed beasts are.
"Wait, this half of you? Where's the other half?". 'Not important. Now let's begin training. Let's start with the transformation. Start by trying to tap into as little of my chakra as possible'. Naruto narrowed his eyes at Kurama, but shrugged off his suspicions, and got to training.
After an hour or two of no success, Naruto remembered the fact he could use shadow clones. Deciding to use a smaller group today, Naruto only made about a hundred. In Unison they attempted to channel Kurama's chakra and cause a transformation. Unfortunately, they would poof away after a few attempts, or would sometimes go crazy when they channeled too much chakra. Naruto had to remake and destroy clones multiple times before one clone finally got it. "Yes! I did it guys!" the clone called out. The rest of the Narutos rushed over to see. The clone now had yellow fox ears sticking out of the top of it's head, orange slitted eyes, and an orange fox tail behind him. Fortunately the clones clothes had changed to fit the tail and the shorts hadn't been ripped.
Kurama was satisfied with the transformation and told Naruto to continue transforming until it became second nature. An hour later, Naruto was extremely tired, but could now go between normal and "fox form" as he called it with ease. After a brief lesson on a jutsu to make his pants shift with him in the real world, Naruto left his mindscape to the sight of his dull apartment. According to his clock it had barely been ten minutes since Hinata had left.
"What?! I spent hours with Kurama! How is it only ten minutes here?!".
'Oh yeah, time works differently in the mindscape, now shut up and let me rest'.
If there was such a thing as slamming the door in the mindscape, Kurama did that, and Naruto was left with a small headache for a few seconds. "Cranky fox". Standing up, Naruto went to grab his ninja tools to go see if Kakashi could train him as well, although before he left, he decided to transform, just to make sure it worked in real life. He was not let down with the results, Naruto did it as easily as a Hyuuga master could activate Byakugan. However, what was a problem was that he now was one pair of shorts and underwear down from his total this morning.
Before putting on a new pair of shorts and underwear, Naruto went and performed the jutsu Kurama had taught him on all of his clothing, which added up to 7 articles. Only 2 of those shorts. Now with new and transformation possible shorts, Naruto set out to find his sensei.
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As Naruto walked around Konoha, he was reminded of the festival the next night. He grew sad as he thought about how now he had things he actually cared about in his apartment and would have to bait the mob away from his home personally.
When he spotted Sasuke, he was thankful to have a distraction, although he soon noticed that Haku was there too and they were looking at yukatas and kimonos. 'Are they going to the festival together? I wonder if it's as friends or lovers,' as Naruto walked past he noticed the two holding hands. 'Oh they're definitely going as lovers. Way to go Sasuke!'. It was then Naruto realized that Sasuke and Haku would be at the festival, same with some of his other friends. He knew that the mobs were noticed by everyone, and he didn't want to ruin his friend's night. 'I guess I'll be running around the outskirts of town tonight'.
Naruto instinctually put on his goofy facade, an act that he had spent many a day performing.
After an hour of looking, Naruto still hadn't found Kakashi. 'Where could he…' it was then Naruto remembered that the Book Club leader was arriving today. 'Of course! He must be greeting the leader'. With a goal to focus on, Naruto jumped across Konoha to get to the large gates that allowed entree into the village he called home.
He instantly spotted Kakashi. It was hard to miss hair that looked like a piece of an iceberg. Kakashi didn't even look up from his book as Naruto landed beside him. "Is there something I can help you with Naruto?".
"I was hoping you could train me for the third exam, Kakashi-sensei. So what do you think, can you do it?!".
'Naruto's enthusiasm is something to admire, I'll give him that'.
"I can teach you a few lightning jutsus, but I think I can get you a better teacher to help you out". Naruto was confused by this, and was about to ask what Kakashi meant by "a better teacher" when a man that resembled a hedgehog waved at Kakashi and Naruto. "And here he is now".
"Kakashi! How have you been?" the man asked. The two engaged in a friendly conversation, but thanks to being in the club, Naruto picked up on the subtle hints and messages they sent to one another. 'Wait is this guy the leader?! How is he supposed to train me?'.
"Kakashi-sensei, who is this?"
The man smirked and zoomed in front of Naruto to start the strangest introduction dance Naruto had ever seen. It started with three little hops to the right before the man really got into it. "I have travelled the world… I have defeated the strongest of enemies… I am loved in the east and west… I am a Sage among Sages… Legend among Legends… III… AAMM….JIIRRRAAIIIIYA!". He finished in a manga pose. Naruto's sweat dropped at the sight.
"As he said, this is Jiraiya and he will be helping you train for the third exam".
. . .
"WAIT, WHAT?! I don't remember anything about training some kid in part of my visit! You can't just leave me with…". Kakashi had shunshined away, leaving Naruto and the supposed Sage. Jiraiya said some nasty curses under his breath before turning towards the nearest inn. Naruto followed, hoping he might actually get taught by this guy.
"So the a legendary sannin is the leader of the Icha Ichm cmunb?" Jiraiyra was quick to cover the boy's mouth.
"Keep your mouth shut kid. That club is not meant for public eyes. Now scram. I have research to do". With that, Jiraiya performed his own shunshined technique and vanished. Naruto looked around for a second before kicking the ground in frustration, letting out a few curses in the process.
'How about you go to the hot springs kit. Take a break after the second exam. It'll also give you a chance to work on water jutsu… and give me a chance to not have to deal with your problems'. Naruto grumbled about useless teachers and walked around Konoha a little more before listening to Kurama and going to the springs.
When he arrived, he was surprised to see the HedgeHog man there. Not only at the hot springs, but peeping into the woman's hot spring! 'What a perv!'. Naruto smirked and thought of a way to get some training from this old pervert. "Yo, Pervy-sage!". Jiraiya froze and looked at the boy. He then rushed towards Naruto, once again covering the boy's mouth.
"Shhhh. Keep it down kid, otherwise they're going to hear us". Naruto smirked and in a loud voice responded, "I don't know if I can keep quiet when a Perverm…".
Jiraiya was desperate now, "what do you want, kid?".
"I want you to train me," Naruto said, crossing his arms to emphasize that he was upset with the man.
"And why would I do that? I can just find another spot and not have to deal with you with the time I'd spend training with you".
Naruto smiled at this, "you would be able to do that, if I didn't alert the women you peeped on by using the tracking seal I placed on you to find you". Jiraiya's eyes widened at this before narrowing them in skepticism.
"You expect me to believe that you can use fuinjutsu kid? Yeah right". He then started walking away, only to find himself becoming ten times heavier and struggling to stand. Turning his head, he saw Naruto was holding a weight seal to his arm with a smug look.
"Now do you think I can do fuinjutsu pervy-sage?". Jiraiya ripped the seal tag away from his arm and gave Naruto a stern look.
"Fine, I'll teach you. I'll see you three days from now, at noon here. Now leave or join me". Naruto turned and walked away with a big grin.
"My reputation in the village is bad enough, I don't need peeping added to it". Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at this, and shrugged it off. He turned back to the peep hole he had found. Unfortunately his discussion with Naruto was heard by some of the ninja female members inside. They now stood at the top of the wall, death promised in their eyes. Jiraiya's sweat dropped and he let out a sheepish laugh before making a mad dash to try and escape the wrath of Anko and Kurenai.
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Sasuke had very few memories of going to festivals with his families, most of the memories just brought pain. Standing in front of Haku's house, Sasuke found the butterflies in his stomach had multiplied by 10. He had found a nice blue yukata with Haku, but Haku refused to let Sasuke see the one he had picked out for himself. Sasuke was using all his will power to not start pacing.
When Haku had come out, Sasuke had sworn he had died and gone to Kami. Haku had left his hair down and had picked out a light blue kimono, with a small charm bag tied around his wrist. 'Absolutely Beautiful'. To top it off, Haku had tilted his head as he smiled asking, "Are you ready to go, Sasuke?". Sasuke felt his heart throb and was frozen in amazement. Haku walked up to Sasuke and took his hand to lead him to the festival.
They had made it halfway to the festival when Sasuke regained his wits. Although, Sasuke found that Haku was the one to lead the date, and that he was absolutely terrible at festival games.
They had seen some of the other Konoha 9, but tried to avoid really running into anyone. Sasuke didn't want to deal with fangirls and make Haku feel uncomfortable. Haku personally didn't want to see any of the Konoha 9 for multiple reasons. Haku was still new to the village, and wasn't quite ready to reveal his and Sasuke's relationship. He was already an outsider, he didn't need another reason to isolate him.
For the most part thought, Haku enjoyed himself. The food, the games, but most of all, being able to do it all with someone who he could be himself around. With Zabuza, it was always an infiltration mission or assassination that put him in festivals and parties, so Haku could never enjoy it like the other people. When they passed by one of the Konoha 9, he always worried about someone figuring out he was a boy and was on a date with Sasuke.
But it was all worth it whenever Sasuke looked at him with that smirk smile. Haku's heart would flutter at the sight. It seemed to just build up throughout the night. It was finally during the fireworks that Haku lost control. They had gone to a secluded place to have some privacy as they watched, and Haku let his barriers fall. He scooted closer and softly grabbed Sasuke's face. Sasuke was confused at what Haku was doing, but was quickly informed by the pair of lips that he found on his own.
Time had frozen. The light from the largest firework yet, and Sasuke felt his insides explode with it. They stayed like that for a few seconds before Haku realized what he had done, and pulled back. Scared he had gone too far, too fast, Haku started getting up to leave. He was stopped when Sasuke grabbed his wrist with one hand and used the other to cup Haku's face as he pulled Haku into a passionate kiss. Tears streaming down their faces.
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Just like Jiraiya had told him, Naruto returned to the hot spring three days later. And just like three days ago, Jiraiya was found peeping. Naruto groaned at how immature the scene was. In a voice he knew those inside the hotspring could hear he shouted, "Yo! Pervy-S….". Jiraiya was quick to cover Naruto's mouth and gave a boy a hard look before letting go.
"So you actually came, I'll be damned kid". 'Great, now I actually have to train him. I thought I still had a couple months before I had to do this. What the hell!... I guess I can start him on some things. That'll make things a lot easier later on'. "Follow me". Jiraiya led Naruto to the stream that ran throughout the hotspring, bubbles making it clear to everyone that it was hot. Naruto was confused at what Jiraiya was getting at, but decided to let things play out before complaining.
"For your first task, you are going to learn to walk on boiling water. The hotter the water, the more difficult it is to walk on it because there's less atoms that you're stepping on. Once you master this, call me over and we'll walk over to a training space I know of".
Naruto didn't like the idea of practicing walking on water again, but he held his tongue knowing that this would help his chakra control and he also knew that if Pervy-Sage was really a sannin then the future training would be incredibly valuable. As Jiraiya walked away he remembered something and was almost instantly beside Naruto again. "One more thing, when you finish. No yelling. You are to quietly tap my shoulder. Anything else and I'll put you through hell for the rest of the month". Naruto gave him a foxy grin as an answer.
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at Naruto before turning to leave. Naruto watched Jiraiya walk away for a little while before turning to the boiling stream. Making some shadow clones, Naruto went to work. While his clones would poof away when they failed, Naruto would be like a cat in a bathtub and scrabble to get out of the river. It was after the 14th personal fail that Kurama decided to stop the madness. 'Kit, just send your clones to practice the water walking in instead practice your water jutsu. You getting burned every 30 seconds is disturbing my sleep'. Naruto facepalmed at his stupidity.
Little to say, he no longer was suffering burns and by the end had mastered the use of a very basic use of water jutsu. With his clones now being able to walk on the water, Naruto dispelled them and felt the knowledge flood into his brain. To make sure, Naruto slowly walked out onto the water, relieved to not be falling into the scalding hot water. It was the stream that Naruto used as a walkway to search for Pervy-Sage with.
And while he did find Pervy-Sage, he also found himself with a direct view into the hotsprings with plenty of shrubbery to hind anyone who tried peeking. Naruto became a tomato and looked away, shuffling sideways as he continued. In a whisper he spoke, "I've finished my exercises Pervy-Sage. Now show me this special training area you were talking about".
Jiraiya sighed. His fun coming to an end. 'I'll have to bring out the club president card to keep the kid's mouth shut about this spot. If only I could stay a little longer. The one with the big jugs just started washing herself too'. Jiraiya turned and led Naruto to the training area, making a mental note of this peeping place in his list of peeping locations.
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Since it was getting late, all Jiraiya did was show Naruto the training spot. It was a small waterfall in the woods with a small pond forming in front of it. "This will be where we train. It's too late to start today so any training here will be saved for tomorrow. Now, I have more research to do". With that Jiraiya shunshined away, hoping that another well matured beauty would be washing herself when he got back".
Naruto's sweat dropped at this as his disappointment grew. Eventually, he shook himself back to his senses and lazily hopped home for a nice shower, trying to forget the sights of the day.
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By the end of the month, Naruto had learned to completely summon toads, identify and release genjutsus, basic control all the elements, and several places that Pervy-Sage used to conduct his "research". He had tried to purge his brain of many images he had seen, but it seemed Pervy-Sage didn't want him to forget. He had been able to finish repairs on his apartment relatively quickly this time. Only a few people tried destroying it this time and with his seals, he was able to better protect it. He flopped onto his bed, his weariness of the month catching up to him finally and within 3 seconds was in a state of sleep that not even Gai Sensei could get him out of.
Hinata had been drilled with taijutsu and was given two days of rest to let the bruises heal enough. Luckily she had been able to spend more time with Hanabi, and was able to find a little information on Neji's crush on Tenten, which was some very valuable information on the topic. Unfortunately, it would require Naruto's invisibility genjutsu in order to investigate further. Neji had caught her last time due to seeing her as she tried spying from across a restaurant that he and Tenten had met up. She had found this information during her today days of rest after finding Sasuke hard at training, and not being able to find Naruto.
Sasuke had trained almost non-stop with Kakashi throughout the month after the festival, Haku had been sent on many missions so Sasuke didn't feel like he was missing much. With his new relationship with Haku, he was working twice as hard to protect himself and Haku. Since Haku had come into his life, Sasuke's PTSD had slowly started to fade away. Haku had healed him, and Sasuke would be damned if he lost Haku.
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So this is the partly revised version. Like last time, I put more time into my other story. I wanted to add more to this to keep things consistent. NExt time it will be chapter sixteen. Please comment. They're a highlight of my day, and something I could use in today's craziness. I'm sure you guys and gals feel the same. I'll respond to you if you want for a sense of socialization. We could all use some of that. I hope this brought some happiness or relaxation in your day, it definitely helped me out. If you haven't tried writing, I would definitely recommend trying it. It's not like school assignments at all. I'm sure you all have you're own ideas or desires to see in fanfic. Try making some. That's how I started.