"So Kurenai-sensei, who is this friend of yours?"
Kurenai looks at her redheaded student as they make their way to training ground 38, where he typically can be found training with his team. "He was one of my teammates. A fair warning however, he's a bit . . . eccentric" That was an understatement, to say the least. Most thought the man had lost his marbles years ago. But he was undeniably strong and he did in fact still have his sanity (well as sane as any ninja can be). He was an S-rank nin for a good reason and is practically unmatched in Taijutsu. Not to mention he had never once failed to be their for his teammates. Truly the man had a heart of gold.
"Kurenai-sensei I think most of the ninja in this village are eccentric." Kurenai chuckled, she wasn't wrong that much was for certain. Perhaps something about being strong made people become weirdos. It was hard to say.
"Do I fall into that category?" The red eyed woman says quirking an eyebrow. Naruko gestures to her and says.
"You wear sealing scrolls as clothes." She had no argument against that. Sure she wore mesh armor underneath, but it didn't change the fact that her manner of dressing was strange. But it was convenient.
"Point taken."
"Oh yeah, Hina-chan sung me a lullaby and said I should ask you about it. Do you know anything about it?" Kurenai's breath hitches. She wasn't ready for this at all. She loved the girl like a little sister but she wasn't mentally ready to let the girl know personally how deeply she failed her.
"We, uh, should talk about it later, see we're here." She says as they step into the training ground. She winces as she hears the impassioned cries of her teammates favorite phrase. Of course it wasn't her teammates voice.
"Youth!" Naruko looked thoroughly confused by the sound, Kurenai didn't blame her, it was a natural response to Gai. "Gai-sensei!"
Naruko followed behind Kurenai-sensei while lost in thought. It was odd she sort of recognized the way that person yelled about 'Youth' but she couldn't really recall where she had heard it. She is snapped out of her thoughts as she sees the strangest combination of people she had ever seen, she also realized she recognized two of them, one better than the other. The first she recognized was Hyuuga Neji, Hina-chan's cousin. He had long brown hair, and wore the Konoha forehead protector over his forehead. She wonders if he just prefers it there or if he's covering the caged bird seal. He was also wearing black ninja pants and sandals, along with a beige jacket.
The other person she recognized seemed to have split in two. It was the weird green guy who told her about her abnormal weights. He had black hair styled in a bowl cut. In addition to that he was wearing green spandex and had the Jonin flak vest. He was also wearing orange leg warmers. He had the largest eyebrows she had ever seen. Were they alive? Oddly enough when he smiled his teeth seemed to twinkle.
He also had a smaller version of himself that had a softer face and larger eyes. Along with that he didn't have a flak vest of any kind so he was likely a Genin. Both men had their for head protectors around their waist like she did. Only they had a longer version of the standard cloth rather than a custom sash like she did.
If asked Naruko would have to say the last person was the weirdest of all. She had brown hair tied into two buns that kind of gave her the appearance of a panda. On top of that she was wearing clothing foreign to Konoha with a pink tang shirt. But the odd thing was she reminded Naruko eerily of the bland kids from her class. It's like she had somehow retained that blandness while also making herself stand out. She didn't understand how someone be so unremarkable but also be so easy to distinguish at the same time. The girl was a paradox and Naruko didn't like it.
The Jonin seemed to notice them and turned. "Kurenai! It's great to see you my most youthful friend!" The man seemed to only know how to shout. Naruko could have sworn the eyebrows seemed to be moving on their own.
"It's good to see you too Gai, we should really catch up sometime, maybe over coffee. But I'm actually here to introduce you to my student." She says gesturing to the redhead. Gai looked towards her and his eyes seem to light up in recognition. He smiles at her, his teeth twinkles and he gives her a thumbs up. Guess he remembers her too then. He had helped her in the early stages of her training and it had really set her on a better trajectory than trying to stick with Academy Taijutsu. Of course she didn't really have a style right now, but it was better than one that was actively harmful.
"I've already met the most youthful Naruko-san she's only grown more like her mother." Naruko had to remind herself that he was Kurenai-sensei's teammate so of course he knew her mother too. Maybe that was why he had bothered to help her back then, he knew and wanted to do what he could. She appreciated that.
"I didn't realize you two were acquainted." Kurenai-sensei was probably surprised. Naruko speaks up in response.
"I met the weird green guy, I think you called him Gai, about a year ago while running laps around the village. He had also told me about my weights being abnormally high, at least in comparison to most ninja. Helped me figure out that my stances were wrong too." Kurenai nods and says.
"Well Gai, we're here to see if you'd be willing to show her the basic forms of Uzuken and Uzuashi." From the way Kurenai-sensei had told it to her, the Uzumaki Taijutsu style was two fold, there was the Uzuken, which focused on the use of the upper body in combat. Then there was the Uzuashi which focused on the lower body. Each one was formidable on it's own but it was the strongest when both styles were put in practice together. Apparently Gai had taken much inspiration for his style from the basic principles of the Uzuken and a few minor principles from the Uzuashi.
"Yosh! I would be honored to teach young Naruko-san her mother's style! And if I cannot do so then I will run around Konoha with only my hands and 1 ton strapped to each leg! And if-" Naruko blinked, that sounded absurd even by her own weird standards. She got the strangest feeling that he would do it anyways. He seemed like the type who trained for fun.
"Don't worry Gai, if anyone could teach her the style it's you."
"Come Naruko-san, join my team and I in our exercises, we were just about to climb the Hokage Monument with only one hand. Once that's done I'll teach you the first form of each style." Naruko nods. It will probably be hell, even for her, but apparently this style suits her. And somewhere deep inside she has to admit it also connects her with her Kaa-chan, which made her happier than she would readily admit.
"Gai-sensei, why are you wasting time on this failure?" It was Neji who spoke up.
"Neji-kun it will never be a waste of my time to help those seeking to improve themselves."
"She is weak and she is fated to always be weak." This earns the ire of Kurenai-sensei who speaks up with a scathing voice.
"Gai what are you doing Saturday, because I was wondering if perhaps you'd like to have a little tournament between our two teams, if only so your Genin would put his money where his mouth is." Ooh would she finally get a chance to kick Neji's teeth in for insulting Hina-chan so much? This would be great!
"That sounds most youthful! We can work out the details over coffee later. Now come we have a monument to climb." Without another word the group of five leave Kurenai-sensei at the training ground. Naruko waves good bye and prepares herself, she had training to do.
Gai sipped the coffee and grimaced. He hated the taste. Of course he knew damn well that his teammates did too. Kushina-sensei hated coffee and had passed that hatred down to her students with a passion. But she had also used it to teach a code unique to her team. It was simple really, they just used common things as stand ins for other meanings. Things that Kushina-sensei didn't like were used to represent code for various bad things that need to be kept secret. Things that she did were used for good things. So since Kushina-sensei despised coffee they had started to use it as a stand in for something bad happening to someone they cared about. The last time they had brought it up was when Yugao needed advice after Itachi betrayed the village.
Gai and Kurenai sat across from one another in the woman's apartment. After several moments of silence Gai finally speaks up. "You know Asuma-san might get jealous if he found out you invited another man into your home, even if we are old friends."
"Depending on what happens in the near future I might break up with him."
"Oh is that what's troubling you?" He didn't think that was the case, Kurenai always went to either Anko or Yugao if she was having relationship issues. Of course he would always be a shoulder for her to lean on, but he wasn't the gentle type and he wasn't so good at giving answers and soothing, instead he was the type to suggest they just work off their stress, and maybe go tackle the problem head on. They may be ninja but they didn't need to be ninja at all times, and that included while handling relationship issues.
"No, not him specifically, but he could be part of the problem."
"So then what is the problem?"
"Someone has been stealing most the money I've been sending Naruko."
"What?" That couldn't possibly be right. The thought itself was repulsive. He had to have heard incorrectly.
"You heard me, someone has been making sure Naruko barely gets enough money to survive, while pocketing the rest of my money."
Gai couldn't believe it, He knew how much of Kurenai's money was being sent to the girl. The woman as an Elite Jonin could have afforded much more than the modest life style she's living. She had instead chosen to live a spartan lifestyle so the redhead could live comfortably. This was most unyouthful.
"Do you have any idea who?"
"It's most likely someone in the process of moving the money, so either Hokage-sama or whoever brings the money to Naruko."
"Remind me how does Asuma-san play into that?"
"Hokage-sama often has him drop off the money as he claims his son wouldn't mess with it because of our relationship." She couldn't choose who drops off the money as otherwise she would do it herself or have Anko, who had never been banned from the child but also never had a personal connection, do it. He knew as much, it was the same reason he himself was barred from doing so. Kurenai paused for a moment and continued. "I've also been given reason to believe that Hokage-sama incited Asuma into dating me so I would lose Naruko." He felt an ugly feeling start to brew in his gut. He knew it well. It was raw hate. If what she said was true then the man not only used his teammate and had been doing so for years but then his own Kage had gone much farther in Naruko's suffering than he initially thought. Farther than he was willing to grit his teeth and accept.
"So we have two known suspects along with whoever Hokage-sama gets to do it when Asuma-san isn't here." His expression was grim, this was serious. Someone had been going out of their way to screw both Kurenai and Naruko over. "Next time you deliver the ryo to Hokage-sama I will watch for the package. What should I look for?"
"It will be a red envelope. I'll be delivering it directly to Hokage-sama on Monday. That's our time frame." Gai nods, they would catch whoever has been appropriating his friends funds.
"What do you want to do about the possibility that the Hokage had him ask you out? That will be far harder to prove."
Kurenai shook her head and looked at him ruefully. "If he is the one who's been stealing from Naruko then that is proof enough."
He raised an eyebrow and waited for her to continue. After a moment she did, "He seemed like he got along with Naruko as a child, if he's been stealing then that was false. And then it would have been done as a way to get close to me."
"He could still be a rat, that alone doesn't prove the Hokage's involvement." Even if they both would choose to believe it did.
"We hadn't spoken in years, he asked me out right after I started getting tougher missions. Even if we prove this is true it doesn't matter. The Hokage won't care. We can't do anything as loyal ninja."
They both knew it. Even if the man screwed them over he had absolute power. No one would side with them if they called for justice against the Hokage. Maybe if it involved someone other that Naruko, but it did involve Naruko. At the very least they could cut off Asuma if he's really the culprit. Either way the true culprit (assuming it's not the Hokage) would face justice, that much was inescapable.
"We'll get to the bottom of this, Kurenai."
"Thank you."
As it turned out using a janky style of Taijutsu that wasn't really a style at all hurt her ability to learn her mothers style. She hadn't realized it but she had developed a lot of bad habits that needed to be removed first before she could even start on either the Uzuken or Uzuashi (she had wrongly assumed that she wouldn't have to many negatives thanks to not practicing the Academy style). She had also been told not to increase her weights anymore than she currently has. Apparently the type of strength gained from weights doesn't greatly benefit the style and it would be better if she used resistance seals. When she said she couldn't afford them Gai merely stated he would make them for her free of charge.
So Gai simply asked her for something she would be fine with him drawing the seals on. As long as the object with the seal was connected to her then her whole body would feel like she's wading through mud. She was told once it felt like she was walking around normally again she should put chakra into the seal until it felt like wading through mud once more. After much deliberation she decided to have him draw it on the spiral charm attached to her hair senbon. He had also recommended that because movement will noticeably change for her she should practice transitioning between the seal being active and inactive. There was the added benefit that if she struck an enemy with it the surprise of the change in speed (on both ends) could be enough to end a fight.
And so the rest of the week passed by relatively uneventfully. They kept doing D-ranks, which Naruko still found enjoyable. And as ordered they had taken turns bringing lunch for everyone. It had been weird feeling like she was wading through mud all the time. It still felt weird frankly, but at least she would get both faster and stronger from this. She had also learned how to do her hair on her own now so that was good. Although truth be told she still liked letting Hina-chan do it, it was just one more way to bond with her girlfriend.
When Saturday rolled around she was wondering just how Kurenai-sensei was going to have the two teams fight each other. She had met up with her girlfriend and Sasuke and they simply talked about how their mornings had been. It was mundane but Naruko always enjoyed the feeling of being normal.
"I'm looking forward to our date tomorrow."
"Are you sure you're not just looking forward to my cooking?"
"I always look forward to your cooking. But in this case I'm looking forward to some time alone between the two us." Hinata meant it, the last time they had anything resembling truly private time was after graduating but that got interrupted by Mizuki defecting. Her thoughts turn negative as she considers what she had overheard last night, she hadn't gotten a good opportunity to tell Naru-chan yet, she would do so during their date tomorrow for sure. Even if it meant ruining the mood.
Before the two girls can continue discussing their date, Kurenai-sensei appears in the training ground with a Jonin she didn't recognize. They don't say anything until a minute later when his Genin arrive. Hinata had no idea what to make of the man. He definitely had that same aura of danger that most other Jonin had, but he was hand down the most absurd looking of the bunch. A few minutes later and the mans Genin arrive. Hinata sighs in annoyance at the sight of her cousin. Of course he was here. Along with him was clearly the Jonin's protege if his choice of clothes were anything to go by. And then a fairly average looking Kunoichi. Hinata noted with amusement that Naru-chan seemed most put off by the Kunoichi. She knew how her girlfriend felt about bland people, but Hinata suspected that it was intentional on the Kunoichi's part. She was constantly ready to blend into a crowd and that worked to her benefit. Of course when she looks average and is surrounded by more outlandish people then she is the one who ends up sticking out.
Kurenai speaks, "As I told you all before, on Saturdays we will be doing actual mock battles. Today you'll be up against another Genin team. Meet last years Team 3 now simply known as Team Gai." She gestures from right to left. "This is Tenten, Rock Lee, and Hyuuga Neji. Today you will be fighting in a team battle. As per our usual rules for sparring fight to kill, unless your opponent is already incapacitated, Gai and I will interrupt any killing blows long before they can land. Any questions?"
"Is the objective just to incapacitate the other team?"
"Yes, for today there is no hidden goal. If there are no other questions then begin." With that the two Jonin leap backward and out of the way.
Sasuke starts to fly through the hand seals for the Fire Style: Grand Fireball but he is unable to complete them as an orange leg warmer comes sailing toward his face. Before it can connect he finds his white eyed teammate blocking it with her arm guards. "You should activate your Sharingan sooner rather than later." She already had her Byakugan blazing. He nods and his eyes bleed red as the world slows around him. Lee had jumped back, just on time to avoid a kick to the head by the Uzumaki.
The three had unfortunately ended up grouping up perfectly for Tenten to unleash a hail of kunai and shuriken at them. The three dodge easy enough and Naruko calls, "Just defend me for three seconds." The other two nod and deflect the kunai being aimed at Naruko. Hinata turns and deflects a Jyuken strike aimed at her heart. She had seen her cousin moving into position a while ago. She fires back with one of her own that he also deflects. Hinata quickly finds herself stuck between a rock and a hard place as she blocks both kunai and Jyuken strikes at the same time.
"Sasuke, Lee is trying to move past you."
"On it!" He turns and dashes toward the older boy. Blocking his strike that was aimed at Naruko's temple. His arm stung just from blocking. "Wow you pack a punch." His block comes just on time too as she finishes her hand seals.
"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique." Lee and Tenten stop moving at the same time both falling prey to the Genjutsu. Sasuke holds a kunai up to Lee's throat. Gai appears and takes him away, good. Things were starting to swing their way.
"Naruko why are you taking longer to cast Jutsu now? You cast that almost instantly before."
"It's the new resistance seals, they make my whole body have to work harder to move properly and that includes my hands." Sasuke nods, that made sense and things worked out for now. "Now, do you think you can handle Tenten while I help Hina-chan with Neji?" The raven haired boy nods and rushes off towards the girl who had just broken the Genjutsu.
"It's no use Hinata-sama even in a two on three a team comprised of two failures will never be able to match me, it is fated for you to lose. And you are in my range of Divination." Of course he was also in hers and she easily blocked each of his strikes.
"Neji-niisan, you do realize I could activate your seal at any time and win this instantly correct? If I truly cared about winning this fight it would already be over." It was the truth, she had already learned how to activate the caged bird seal, she just never did so because she thought it an unnecessarily cruelty. She would be quite the hypocrite if she claimed she wanted to do something about that miserable seal only to then use it.
"You refuse to activate the seal because you are too weak to do so. To be a real ninja." The boy was delusional, she had graduated Rookie of the Year just as he had and she had already started to learn the Kaiten. If he thought she was weak then he was sorely mistaken. The boy turns on a dime and blocks Naru-chan's kick. Just as Hinata had seen him earlier he had seen her. "You cannot even fight me alone."
"It's not that I cannot, it's that we are ninja and ninja do not fight fair. That is what a real ninja would do. The only reason I don't activate your seal is because I have no interest in ruining your career." The boy sneers as he hears her throw his words back at him. He quickly finds he can't handle the two on one fight. It was to be expected. She and Naru-chan had spent years perfecting their teamwork and both had ample time to learn how to fight a Hyuuga. Neji had failed to recognize the fact that he's outgunned and is losing because of it.
She watches as he pivots and moves to attack Naru-chan. She had no doubt that Naru-chan would be able to dodge even with the seals and so Hinata quickly lashes out with her own strike towards his heart. It fails to connect as Gai pulls him out of the way. Neji turns his gaze towards Gai in anger and confusion.
"You lost Neji." Neji looks even more confused before he notices her hand mere inches away from where his heart would have been. She stares at him, no fear or remorse. He was her cousin and she cared for him, but she wouldn't hold back against him. Well technically she had by not using the seal."You got frustrated and stopped paying attention to your enemies. More than that you underestimated them. It was most unyouthful of you."
Hinata turned her attention to Sasuke as he continued to push Tenten back. He was handling himself fairly well. She couldn't help but chuckle when she saw him being so protective of his hand. He seemed to be a bit scarred by Kunoichis wielding swords. She pushed the thought aside as she rushed forward. She recognized the hand seals Naru-chan was using and she was going to capitalize on it. Tenten never saw her coming as she quickly disabled her arms and legs. Finally Kurenai-sensei called the match.
"Alright Team 7 wins. That was excellent work you three, it's not easy to defeat someone older and more experienced than you. But don't let this go to your head. You would have been in a lot more trouble if Lee hadn't fallen to Naruko's Genjutsu." She wasn't going to lectures Gai's Genin on what they did right and wrong, she'd leave that to the man himself. He is more familiar with their strengths and weaknesses anyways. "Thanks for agreeing to coming here today Gai, I think this has helped my Genin greatly." The man nods and gathers up his own team. She watched as they left. Kurenai had to resist the urge to feel smug as she saw the anger on the Hyuuga's face. Hopefully it would put his attitude in check.
"Now you three, before I explain what you did wrong during the fight I want to know if any of you can tell me."
"We shouldn't have grouped up in the beginning. That would have been much more deadly had we been against a team with an area of effect attack. The closest they had to that was Tenten's kunai storm and that was only barely an AOE." Kurenai nods, her redheaded student was completely right.
"We also shouldn't have vocalized our plan about Naruko's Genjutsu or should have used a code word for protect her. They could hear her ask for time so they knew they needed to target her."
"Very true Sasuke, that's an issue we'll be working on when we do team training on Monday. It's important for you guys to develop your own code between each other so that enemy nin will have a harder time knowing how to infiltrate the group. My team and I still have code we use to this day. Even though all of us have long since made Jonin." Of course Yugao wasn't in the public eye anymore, most the time, she wasn't an Anbu captain to be famous.
"When Naru-chan and I were both fighting Neji-niisan we stood side by side rather than going to either side of him. While the Byakugan would have let him see both of us he still would have had to work harder to actually block both of us."
"Another good point, unless you are doing a combination Jutsu or something similar you three should always be opposite each other with an enemy in the middle, assuming you're fighting only one. It will make fighting much harder and much more tiring for your opponent. And when that happens they are more likely to make mistakes. We'll discuss individual problems during your one on ones, that being said Sasuke you're up first today."
Naruko had her hair down for the first time in several days. She loved the hair senbon Hina-chan had given her but she hadn't realized just how much she enjoys letting her hair fall loose. She had spent the morning getting ready for their date. She wasn't in her usual ninja clothes. She didn't have mesh armor underneath her dress, which went down to her knees unlike her battle dress which went to her mid thighs. She was even wearing a dark black eye liner and matte red lipstick. She didn't usually dress up for their dates, but this was their first date in a while and she wanted to. She had also spent last night making the lunches for their picnic. It was a great time of year for the picnic anyways. It was currently early to mid spring and the flowers around Konoha were all starting to bloom. The weather was perfect.
Three sharp knocks on the door is enough to let the redhead to know her girlfriend has arrived. Hina-chan always knocked in threes (Naruko had a suspicion that her girlfriend had practiced knocking to get it just how she likes). She only has to call, "Enter!" For Hina-chan to know she's not walking around the apartment naked at the moment (it was comfortable what can she say). Her girlfriend was so cute sometimes, well more like all the time, she was weirdly intent on giving her privacy when she's nude. Naruko didn't really get it, she knew the girl wanted to look but for some reason she just refused to. Hina-chan walks through the door and Naruko smiles (she had given Hina-chan a key to her apartment years ago). "You look amazing, well more than usual."
The other girl was also in a dress, it was far more rare for the lavender themed girl to do so. She notices her girlfriend wasn't wearing makeup, but that's okay. She always thought Hina-chan had this ethereal beauty about her. The taller girl was wearing a lavender colored dress with the Hyuuga clan crest emblazoned on the back. It contrasted nicely with Naruko's own navy blue dress with an orange obi.
"You look gorgeous as always." The white eyed girl walked up and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "You ready to go?" Naruko was admittedly a bit satisfied to see some of her lipstick come off on Hina-chan. Something about it warmed her heart.
"Yep, just let me grab the basket and we can be on our way." It wasn't like it was far, just a few steps away. She returns quickly and they made their way out of the apartment, with Naruko locking the door behind her. "So where did you have in mind for the picnic?" Hina-chan only ever asked for picnics when she wanted to enjoy a specific part of Konoha's scenery.
"Do you remember that waterfall, behind the Hokage Monument, we found a few years back? I was thinking with weather like this it would be great."
"Maybe I should have grabbed a swimsuit, sounds like we should go for a swim after we eat."
"You could always skinny dip, I can pretty easily make sure there are no voyeurs."
"Yeah but then you might just faint." Naruko doubted she would. Hina-chan had only done that once when accidentally seeing her naked. And to be fair it wasn't entirely because she was naked. Hina-chan had been doing some intense training that day and was already tired and dehydrated. So when she saw her and the blood went to her head it was to much and she fainted. The other rare times Hina-chan had seen her nude (always by accident) had certainly made the girl blush. Naruko didn't really understand it, couldn't her girlfriend just use the Byakugan to peak? Surely if she enjoys the sight of her body that much then she could. It's not like Naruko would mind or even know most the time. But Hina-chan was adamant about not peaking until she was fully confident Naruko was ready.
Naruko had claimed she was ready numerous times, but Hina-chan always said that was because she was more interested in pleasing her than keeping her own emotional well being safe. She wasn't exactly wrong, so Naruko never argued it.
"Fair point. And don't worry I thought you might want to swim so I brought swimsuits for the two of us in a sealing scroll." Even if they weren't on duty they were still ninja, and still had access to the equipment that made life so much easier. Why would they not take a sealing scroll when it could fit far more than some ridiculous civilian good like a purse.
"Ah I see, you wanted to pick out a swimsuit for me to wear and show off for you." Naruko was teasing her, they both knew it. Of course she suspected that there was some truth to the statement. Hina-chan wouldn't prepare a swimsuit that she wouldn't want to see her in, even if she didn't necessarily want Naruko to show off. Naruko had no doubt that it would fit, she always made sure Hina-chan knew her three sizes since the girl liked to gift her clothes so much, it was more convenient than having to return gifts because of some stubborn embarrassment about her proportions.
"Naru-chan if anyone can show off between the two of us it's me." Naruko had to concede that point. While Hina-chan may have liked the fact that Naruko had a smaller physique, the other girl, undeniably, was already starting to fill out like a grown woman. But she guesses that's just puberty, they're all growing and developing differently. It's not like she really cared to have a curvy figure. In fact the only reason she really cared about her body image was because she wanted her girlfriend to like her figure. Otherwise she would probably wear baggy clothes all the time. Well she still likes dresses. They're just so fluttery. But it was nice some times to wear clothes that were far to big on her. It gave her a similar feeling to burying herself under a mountain of blankets. It was just so comfortable.
The two girls continue to make idle chatter until they reach the waterfall. And the river it flows into. It was right on the edge of Konoha's northern border. The wall was only half an hour north. The waterfall was as beautiful as they remember it. It's water was a crystal blue that shimmered nicely in the late morning light.
They sit down next to the bank of the river, the waterfall roaring quietly in the background. Naruko had prepared them sandwiches along with packing in fruits and a thermos full of green tea. She had also packed a surprise for Hina-chan.
Hinata for her part unseals a blanket for them to sit, or lay, down on. She can't help but notice something extra nice smelling coming from the picnic basket. Naru-chan noticing her expression says.
"I don't think I have it perfect yet but I thought you might enjoy the fruits of my labor." And with that she pulls out a cinnamon roll. "I've been practicing making them since I know they're your favorite." She was going to keep explaining but her Hinata interrupted her girlfriend to maul her lips with her own. What can she say, she just made her day. Hinata of course loved her cinnamon rolls, but she loved the fact that Naru-chan had gone out of way to learn for her far more. Whether she succeeded or not only mattered a little (cinnamon rolls still deserve to be enjoyed) the gesture was much more important to her.
Naru-chan breaks away gasping for breath. "I thought you would be happy but not that happy."
"My favorite person made my favorite food, and by the sounds of it with a lot of effort. Of course I'd be more than happy." Hinata moves in to kiss her again but Naru-chan says.
"Well if you want to eat it while it's still warm then you'll have put off kissing me for a bit." Hinata felt torn. On the one hand Naru-chan's oh so soft lips were calling her own. But on the other hand the wonder that is her girlfriends home cooked cinnamon roll was begging to be eaten while it was still warm. She sighs and goes for the roll, eliciting a laugh from the redhead. Her moan of delight as she tastes the food is enough to make Naru-chan blush. And the girl says she still doesn't have it perfected? She could only imagine how amazing that would be.
The two girls fall into a comfortable silence while eating. It's not that they didn't usually talk while eating or on dates, but they were just enjoying the sounds of the waterfall and each others company. And that was enough. Meal finished they decide to go for that swim.
Naru-chan didn't even have to ask if Hinata would make sure no one was spying on them, the girl was doing so the moment they decided to get changed. Though she did have to focus all her attention any place other than the naked girl she could still see behind her. It was easier when she focused on getting changed herself.
Naruko looked down at the bathing suit Hina-chan had pulled out of the scroll for her. It was a red one piece swimsuit that was otherwise fairly plain. Though she did notice it showed a bit of her stomach and back. She quickly puts it on and finds it fits her quite nicely. When she turns around she finds her girlfriend in a bikini, which was surprisingly black (a color she hadn't seen Hina-chan wear very much). It contrasted rather nicely with the girls pale skin. Her hair was also hanging loose for once, instead of the usual braid that went down to her shoulders. It seems they were both letting their hair down today.
"You ready Hina-chan?" Naruko asks with a gleam in her eyes. Speaking of she just realized her make up is going to run, but that's not a big deal to her. If she had known they would be swimming she wouldn't have bothered, or put on something water proof. Well Hina-chan likely wouldn't care to much, but Naruko made a mental note of it.
"Naru-" She can't even finish her thought as the other girl scoops her up and dives into the river. Well she called it a river, it'd be more apt to call it a stream. Just deep enough for them to swim through but not moving so fast that they would be washed down stream. Naru-chan let's her go underwater and she rises up above the surface and levels an unimpressed stare at her girlfriend. Then she smiles and splashes the shorter girl.
They were here to play in the water, why would she be mad about getting in (Although it was a little cold, but that was no real issue)? Her thoughts are interrupted as a veritable wall of water comes rushing at her. Right her girlfriend wasn't wearing weights or resistance seals today, she was far stronger than usual. Well two can play at that game.
She performs a quick and imperfect Kaiten. She still didn't have it down enough to repel other people or Jutsu or even kunai, but she could at least repel a bunch of water that's not augmented by chakra. When she stops spinning she finds her girlfriends lips crashing into her own. She should take Naru-chan out more often this was great! She pushes back the dark thoughts that threaten to surface. She was here to enjoy her date.
The two girls fall into a relaxing rhythm of just swimming around, playing, and making out. Every now and then Hinata would pulse her Byakugan just because she wanted to make sure this stays private. She never found anyone so she assumed it was fine.
It's about an hour later that the two girls get out of the water. They halfheartedly dry off then lay down on the blanket. It would be more accurate to say the two girls were cuddling, with Naruko resting her head on the other girls shoulder. She was trying to make conversation but Hina-chan wasn't responding.
Something was obviously wrong and she would get to the bottom of it. Her first priority is and always will be Hina-chan's happiness, so to see her mood so obviously sour meant there was only one thing to do. Ask what's going on.
"What's wrong Hina-chan?" It wasn't the most tactful way to go about it but the redhead wasn't really known for her tact.
"I can't hide anything from you." Naru-chan doesn't say anything, she merely waits for her to say what's on her mind. "I overheard Otou-sama and the elders speaking the other day." Well not so much as overhearing but more like she was reading their lips and spying with her Byakugan. She didn't tell them her true range for this exact reason, they wouldn't hesitate to move behind her back if they thought she was weaker than she is. "They want to make me available to suitors when I become a Chunin." Or when she turns sixteen, but they saw her talent and figured that Chunin would come sooner.
"So are you saying I should start formally courting you when you become a Chunin?" Hinata smiled weakly, she would love that, but she knew it would work.
"I certainly wouldn't mind, but more to the point they plan on making me end my, "dealings," with you." She says spitting the word 'dealings' like it's toxic. She knew they had only accepted her friendship (and they had never accepted the relationship) with the redhead for the power the girl could provide as a "demon." But they had also figured out that since Hinata won the majority of their spars the "demon" wasn't as useful as they thought. They knew of her relationship but to them it was just some sort of teenage angst and something she would gladly move past for the good of the clan (or they would forcefully if she didn't comply). "According to them it wouldn't be proper for the heiress to be having an affair."
"Why can they not just let our relationship be?" Hinata sighed. If Naru-chan wasn't the demons container, they may have let it slide. They would have been against her marrying a commoner and an orphan at that, but they would have grudgingly accepted it under the condition that she allows a member of the clan to father their child. She wouldn't have liked it but she could have accepted it. But unfortunately Naru-chan was an orphan, a commoner, and the demon container. Well she was a member of a clan but it held no political power anymore and was functionally the same as being a commoner.
"Because I'm the heiress and future head of the clan. Not only are we both women so we can't produce a future child to head the clan, but you are not a noble, a member of the clan, or someone of high status. So to them my marrying you would be worthless." They of course couldn't care less about her own happiness.
"Can you not just leave the clan?"
"No, the Hyuuga clan is the most powerful clan in Konoha. The only way I could leave is if I leave the village." The pull of the clan would be enough for the Hokage to not legalize her own emancipation.
"Then lets just leave." They both knew Naru-chan had zero loyalty to the village, she only cared about a few people within, and stayed exclusively for them. She had lied to the Hokage's face when he asked if she was loyal. But what was she going to do? Tell the military dictator that the girl with a giant demon, that almost destroyed his village, sealed in her gut isn't loyal? That would go great.
The white eyed girl shakes her head. "As much as I would love to I can't, Otou-sama and Kaa-chan would both suffer for it." As would the Ichiraku family, who would likely go bankrupt if the two of them left. "Not to mention there would be hunter nin sent after us." Of course if it really came to it where they were truly exhausted of all other options then they could run. Perhaps she should start looking into getting a skilled assassin to deal with the elders. The branch family had no power and her father wasn't against her relationship. Something to consider then.
"Well what about if you become the clan head before getting married, can't you order the elders to back off?"
"The elders have more power in the clan than they like to let on. Not only that but the only way that could work is if my parents both died a premature death." She loved her parents and that's the last thing she wanted.
"So then are we breaking up? Because it sounds like we're going to have to anyway." Naruko couldn't even blink before she finds herself pinned under the heiress. The other girl was looking at her fiercely.
"Absolutely not! Whether the elders like it or not you will be my wife, you got that Uzumaki!" Wow this was new, and kind of hot. But also really scary. Did she mention how hot it was? Because Naruko found it stupidly hot. Naruko nods meekly. Wait did Hina-chan just propose? And if so did she just accept? She figured the other girl would be more romantic about it. Well that's okay, she can't imagine marrying anyone else anyways.
Sure she was a little young to be marrying, but she already knew that the only person in the world she could spend her future with was Hina-chan, so there's no real issue to her if it happens. Although she somewhat suspects that Hina-chan didn't think of the implication of what she said in the moment, and was instead just acting on passion.
Hinata realizes what she just did and feels the heat rise in her cheeks, but before she can justify herself Naruko asks. "So then how are we going to fix this problem?" Hinata still hadn't moved, what could she say, she was kind of enjoying having the older girl under her.
"The only thing I can think of is if I intentionally start losing publicly and more importantly to my little sister. If I throw my skills into question then so too will be the question of who the heiress should be."
"I don't think that will work, it will likely seem to abrupt, unless you intentionally avoid promotions for the next four years and degrade your skills in the public eye during that time." Well it was actually more like three years and eight months, but whose counting? "Not to mention the fact that a field promotion could ruin that."
Naru-chan was right, this plan wouldn't work. The redhead speaks up again. "What if we just assassinate them or frame them for committing treason?" Hinata had thought much the same earlier. Although she hadn't considered the treason angle. Both were risky but she was starting to feel like the benefits were outweighing the negatives.
"How would we frame them for treason?" That would work better than assassination, as it would give her father the chance to finally remove the elders from power and make sure future ones can't control the clan from the shadows.
"I don't know yet, we'll have to figure something out. Maybe we could use Kaguya-san somehow. She had a pair of Byakugan as well and was apparently the demon that attacked the village. There's always a chance your clan knew about her."
"Wait you didn't tell me the woman had a pair of Byakugan."
"Oh, it must have slipped my mind." Hinata didn't know what to think. This makes things much more complicated. But this could work. The elders are required to have read all ancient clan texts, though some were oddly indecipherable to the Byakugan, and if this woman had the Byakugan then there is a chance they knew about her and the demon. It would take tremendous effort and this could still backfire horribly but this might just work. "Hey Hina-chan do you mind getting off me now, I kind of want to go back to cuddling." Oh yeah, she still had the other girl pinned. She grins and says.
"I've got a better idea." She captures the other girls lips and puts the issue behind her for now. In this moment she just wanted to think about the other girl and how much she loved her.
A month had passed since the two girls date. Hinata had taken to reading through all of the ancient texts, pouring over anything that matches the description of either the demon or the woman it stems from. So far she's been largely unsuccessful, but she had yet to attempt the indecipherable ones (she figured there had to be a secret to those), along with well over half of the ones that are readable.
The team had kept up their training. Hinata had quickly found that her skill in poison had gone up immensely, and much to her chagrin her resistance to poison had as well (there was only so many times she could be poisoned before it got annoying). She had also found out she had an affinity for three elements, those being Suiton, Doton and Raiton. She had been practicing Raiton as Naru-chan was already learning Suiton and it could potentially synergize with the Jyuken. That would require some experimentation. She, like everyone else on the team, had been taught Genjutsu, now knowing the jutsu her girlfriend was so fond of, the Demonic Illusion: Seeing Hell Technique. While she had an affinity for the art thanks to her impressive chakra control she had found she didn't enjoy it much. But it was useful so she learned it.
Sasuke had found he spent the better part of his ninjutsu practice actually doing chakra control exercises. By the end of the month he had mastered both the tree walking exercise, and the water walking exercise. Once both of those were done he had been giving an exercise that saw him burning leaves over and over and over for the remainder of the month. He had just completed it by burning a leaf until it was ash. He saw the benefit when he found that his flames were much hotter than before. He had also learned the Demonic Illusion: Seeing Hell Technique, as Kurenai-sensei had made him aware of the fact that he could cast Genjutsu through the Sharingan. His appreciation for the art went up when he learned that. He had also found that by unlocking his Sharingan his ability to train properly in the Nagareken, or the flow fist, had gone up considerably. It was a style focused primarily on counters and speed, that used the Sharingan as a tool to predict and react to the opponents moves. He found once he started getting proper practice in Hinata was a little less difficult to face.
Of course beyond all that there was one significantly larger change. He had made friends. He couldn't deny the fact that he considered Naruko and Hinata his friends. He trusted them implicitly and he genuinely enjoyed spending his time with them. He was glad he had opened up to them. Training with them had been far more productive than it ever had been when he was alone.
He was beginning to understand what Kurenai-sensei meant when she said they would be unstoppable together. His strength was much greater than it used to be, but he was confident that with his teammates by his side he would be able to take on far greater challenges then he could alone.
It would only be a matter of time now. He would come for Itachi, and justice will be served.
Naruko had a weird month. She had learned two more Genjutsu the first being the Demonic Illusion: Cajolery of Glamour which was a genjutsu that was cast orally, it was more or less hypnosis as it made the victim more susceptible to the users will. The second genjutsu was the Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique which placed a Genjutsu on the surroundings to create a false image. Not only that but she had progressed in her Kaa-chan's Taijutsu style as well. She only had the first two forms of each sub-style complete, and no where near mastered, but it was at least better than she had before. She still felt like she was wading through mud all the time thanks to the resistance seals, but she at least wasn't completely debilitated by it anymore.
The weird part came from how Kurenai-sensei had been acting. It was like she suddenly took a really keen interest in her personal life and it was kind of weirding her out. The older woman was usually so strict during training but then when they were alone she was a massive softy and the young girl didn't know what to think. She had also apparently felt the need to give her a bunch of money for no reason. Like she's talking hundreds of thousands of ryo just out of nowhere one day. For a girl that had lived in poverty most of her life it was a strange change to suddenly have more money than she knew what to do with. Apparently she had broken up with her boyfriend of ten years as well. She didn't really get why the woman was happy about that. Naruko would be losing her mind if she broke up with Hina-chan.
The weirdness aside she had also mastered the Suiton exercise she'd been given. She had only just finished it however and hadn't gotten a chance to learn any jutsu for it yet. Oh and she finally started learning Fuinjutsu. Kurenai was only high Chunin in the art but it was enough for her to learn how to make her own sealing and explosive tags. Kurenai-sensei had told her it would likely take a while for her to learn but she seemed to just have an instinctive understanding of the art.
Kurenai had a busy month. Gai had done as asked and found the culprit. Much to her dismay it had turned out to be Asuma. The man had secretly been pocketing the vast majority of her money. She had gone through many emotions at that. First she felt angry, how could he do that to her?! Then she felt dirty, she had given him so many of her firsts. Then she felt stupid, she had been too blindly in love to think about how he treated Naruko when the girl was young, she was 18 and far more naive back then. And by the time she would have been old enough to notice those days were far behind her. She had sorted out her feelings and then went to the Hokage with Gai as a witness.
He had seemed genuinely surprised by the information. But they both knew Gai was nothing if not honest with him. He still had to check this of course, as was standard procedure. He had quickly sent out Anbu to gather further proof of the discrepancy from Naruko's apartment. Kurenai was more than a little surprised by the results. Apparently Asuma had been going so far as to forge fake documents about the whole farce. It actually made it painfully easy to prove him guilty as it couldn't even be argued that Naruko was just spending the funds poorly or the amount she was receiving was being countered by the village at large.
The Hokage clearly didn't want to go through with Asuma's punishment but he folded and did so. While it's true that the man had absolute power in the village it meant nothing if the entirety of the village suddenly felt like he would betray them at the drop of a hat (even if he would actually do so). So the Hokage ordered Asuma to pay her back with interest. And of the forgeries he was on a temporary probation. He had gotten off easy and everyone knew it, but Kurenai accepted it. She felt a bit relieved to know someone who had been leaching off her and Naruko's lives couldn't anymore.
Kurenai had of course broken up with the man and she had wanted to see him punished further. But he was an Elite Jonin and had been given the privilege of not being sent to prison for his crimes (because they did not directly betray Konoha in any meaningful way). If he was any rank lower, then that would be the case. In some ways it would be argued that his punishment went beyond the payment. Word had spread quickly and by the end of the day every high ranking ninja in the village knew of what he had done. While they may not all like Naruko stealing from another elite was unacceptable. For all intents he had been forced into isolation. Reputation was everything in a ninja village, odd given that secrecy was the name of their game, and his had gone as low as it would go without him defecting outright.
When it was all said and done Kurenai had actually felt pretty good. It was like a weight was off her shoulders for the first time in years. Maybe she'd even accept Anko and Hana's offer for that threesome. Probably not because she wasn't gay or even bi but she didn't have a boyfriend chaining her down and the freedom felt kind of nice. In a way it was almost intoxicating.
Her male Genin was currently complaining, surprisingly loudly, about the cat struggling in his arms. His face had several angry red marks across it from scratches delivered by the creature. The other two looked on amused. Well really Hinata did, Naruko was being forced to stand about ten feet away from them so the cat wouldn't have a panic attack.
They delivered the cat to the mission desk and were surprised to find both the Hokage and Iruka there. He rarely visits the desk himself, usually just having his secretary bring him documents. Well he was right there so she'd just report to him.
"The Tora mission has been completed Hokage-sama." He doesn't even have to say anything as an overweight noble, who had been waiting patiently for her cat, runs up to them and grabs it. She practically squeezes the poor thing to death.
"Oh Tora I'm so happy to see you're alright!" She nuzzles her face into the cat as she walks out of the building.
The Hokage speaks. "Excellent work Kurenai, don't suppose you'd like another mission? We have a bit too many D-ranks today." Hinata speaks up. Not wanting to even be offered the cat mission again as she could already hear the noble crying about it running off once more.
"Kurenai-sensei, Hokage-sama, would it be alright for us to take on a C-rank?" Iruka looks like he wants to tell them not to but Kurenai speaks.
"Finally one of you asked."
"What?" Sasuke asks dumbly, he thought they had to wait, that's what they learned in the academy.
"A Genin team is not given a C-rank until a member of the team requests it. It's because as a ninja while you will be assigned missions, you will also be expected to actively try and take on missions. It's another reason we give frustrating D-ranks, to encourage you to seek higher level and better paying missions." The trio nods, well that made sense, even if it did make them feel stupid.
"Well if Kurenai is alright with it then I have a mission you three can take. Please send Tazuna-san in."
"Long time no see."
"Indeed. Before she arrives let me ask you, do you still feel guilty?"
"Of course I do. But I've grown to accept it. It no longer leaves me feeling innate." It simply wasn't so soul crushing anymore, the guilt had dulled with time.
"Given that you've become a world famous porn writer I would certainly agree."
"You can have my autograph if you really want." He watched as his teammate barked out a laugh.
"I'll get back to you, maybe once you write something worth reading."
"You wound me."
"If your pride was that easily damaged I would say you're not my teammate."
"True enough."
"So what made you decide to send invitation for us to go drinking?"
"Even if you're a traitor you're still my best friend. Plus, I want your side of the story. You're a bastard and a psychopath but I've never once believed you're evil."
"Aww you're almost making me feel happy, Jiraiya."
"Right, so what happened back then?"
"Sensei wanted me to look into reviving the Shodaime's legacy. Hime wasn't in the village and he didn't want it going extinct."
"And you agreed?"
"It was that or have him force her back. You and I both know I would rather sacrifice strangers than her." They both would. They were only humans, at the end of the day they prioritized the people they cared about first and foremost.
"So you went through with it. I guess you took the fall then?"
"Indeed."
"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. Hell I wasn't even there for Minato."
"Damn right you weren't, fuck you're still not there for his spawn." A crude feminine voice cut into the conversation. Jiraiya smiled at his busty teammate, "Long time no see you two."
"Glad to see the first thing you do is insult me Hime."
"Is it an insult if it's the truth?"
"It is when I'm under orders that keep me out of the village at all times."
"You could ignore those orders. You know as well as I do Sensei wouldn't do anything if you were adamant about staying in the village."
"Perhaps you're right, but he assures me she's well taken care of. Apparently she's fallen in love with the Hyuuga heiress." He noticed Orochimaru choke on his drink. "What's got you surprised?"
"Did you forget that Hitomi was one of my Genin?"
"Oh yeah, she was wasn't she?"
"So I guess our students children are getting together huh?" Jiraiya hadn't thought about it but it was true. "Does that make us grand-sensei?
"That was lame even for you Orochimaru." He smiled fondly as the snake rolled his eyes.
"Well it doesn't surprise me, Kushina-chan and Hitomi-chan could have convinced me they were dating back in the day. If the two are anything like their mothers then it wouldn't surprise me." Tsunade said with a laugh. It was true, Kushina and Hitomi were both straight but they could pull of a lesbian couple any day of the week. Hell they had used that fact to make Minato and Hiashi red more times then he had count. Jiraiya was willing to bet their kids were already breaking hearts just by being together.
"Well if what Sensei says is true Naruko looks just like her mother."
"It's true, I only had one chance to see her before I left the village, but she had red hair just like her mother. Though she had her fathers blue eyes." He hadn't realized Orochimaru had ever seen his goddaughter. Well it was more than he could claim. He wanted desperately to meet her, but he couldn't not until Sensei was willing to recall him. And with Ame suddenly accepting missions outside of their country the man was feeling more paranoid than ever. He had to have faith that she was safe and happy.
"Did you ever get a chance to see the little heiress?" Tsunade asked looking towards the snake summoner.
A look of guilt crossed the mans face, "No, last I saw Hitomi she was still pregnant."
Jiraiya and Tsunade didn't press him. They sat in silence for a few moments before Jiraiya raised his cup "Well here's to us miserable survivors unable to see the people we care about most." The two looked at him for a moment before tapping their cups against his.
"Fuck now I know you're trying to get me wasted."
"Why else would I ask to see you two again at a bar?" The two shrugged and the three spent their day together drinking with the ghosts of their pasts.
A/N Well Happy Valentines day everyone. As promised last chapter here's chapter 7 early, consider it my gift to all of you. Or don't, it doesn't really matter. Anyways, we saw the date, we saw the Saturday mock battle, and of course we saw a bit of the Sannin. Next chapter kicks of Wave so I hope you all are looking forward to it, I know I am. Not much more to say, hopefully I'll have chapter 8 written and edited by Wednesday or sooner.
Until Next time
CM 02/14/2020