A Tale of two Sisters

by Clutus

[Prologue re-written] This is a Naruto fanfiction (slightly AR/AU) based around the two Hyuga sisters. When both were young did Hinata made a bet with Hanabi hoping to help her sister improve. That backfired on her however resulting in her becoming her younger sisters slave. Both are young and clueless to this topic and still family. Who knows what will happen? Rated M to be safe.

11. Chapter 10 - Prepare for things?

Authors Note: Huh? Don't look at me. The real one is at the bottom this time. But don't you dare skip the chapter in between and please enjoy it ;-)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A Tale of two Sisters – Chapter 10: Prepare for... things?

The next days passed uneventful for them all with daily routine in the Academy and some relaxing and hanging out after it. There were no new informations from the Hokage about the scroll they found and their thoughts about ways to become stronger somehow were deadends all together. While it was frustrating to them did they know that they couldn't do much about it.

It was on the next free day that Hanabi was walking around the village alone, heading for a specific location. Her current thoughts were split between two things: becoming stronger and planing her sisters birthday party. And the first thing she needed for the party was to order the present she wanted to give her because she figured it would need some time to get it.

Once she reached the shop she was looking for did she enter, stopping inside the entrance in awe, checking out the interior and all the stuff placed there for sale. It was the first time that she entered this shop and she understood right away why this one was known as the best weapon shop from Konoha.

More or less each kind of weapon thinkable was displayed around the shop, from simple kunai and swords to unique and strange looking weapons only a specialist could use was there everything. And it was said that they would produce nearly everything the customer asked for with all specifications needed by the customer as well. But due to that was the waiting time for custome made stuff pretty high.

"Aren't you a bit young to be here?" a voice called out toward Hanabi, snapping her out of her shock. She looked around and spotted a girl of around ten years standing behind the counter of the shop. She looked kinda plain, the most noticeable thing about her was her brown hair tied into two bums at her side.

"Says the young girl who seems to be working inside this shop." Hanabi countered, approaching the counter. "Actually I do have business here if you don't mind." she stopped at the counter, looking the other girl into her eyes.

"Hey, I don't mind who buys from us, really. I love weapons myself you know. But you aren't even old enough to be in the Academy and we might get problems if we sell something to someone like you." the girl explained, eyeing Hanabi from top to bottom.

Hanabi pouted at that statement. "I am an Academy student, thank you very much. You shouldn't judge people by their appearences, you know?" she gave the girl an evil glance before continueing. "Beside, I'm not intrested in buying a weapon. Not yet at least. Not sure if I could use one to be honest. I'm here to request a custom made item."

The other girl raised an eyebrow at that statement. "You are an Academy student? But you look so young..." she pondered, thinking about it. "Oooohhhh, okay. You must be Hanabi Hyuga, right?" the girl got a bright smile, still watching Hanabi.

Hanabi sighed and let her head drop. "And you are at the Academy as well and heard all the rumours, right?" she asked, sounding frustrated. "See, no matter what they say, it's not true, okay?"

The girl was slightly confused and a bit sad hearing that. "Oh, okay... so you weren't in the northern forest then... aww, and I would have loved to get my hands on this foreign kunai that they said you found there before being attacked by unknown forces. But I guess it sounded too good to be true..."

Hanabi blinked a few times in surprise before answering. "Uhm, that one is true. But the kunai was taken by Hokage-sama." she lifted her right arm a bit higher, showing the girl the burn scar. "I thought you were referring to the ones saying that my sis is my slave."

The girl was silent for a moment before she started to laugh. "Why would I? That one is totally silly and can't be true. When a rumour appears telling that someone did something amazing and stuff, like you and the event in the northern forest, being acknowledged by the teachers and even getting a mission record for it, is it normal that a rumour is following shortly telling something evil about that person."

"Really? I didn't know..." Hanabi said quietly, smiling slightly. "That's good to know I guess. And here I was afraid that you would treat me badly because of that or something."

"Not at all, don't worry. My name's Tenten by the way. Anyway, you were talking about a custom made object, right? Do you have specifications with you? What kind is it? Materials needed? Shall it have special abitlities build into it with seals?" Tenten got all serious and had a shine in her eyes.

Hanabi could tell that her mentioned love for weapons was more then a just a phrase. She really got into them. "Uhm, well, yeah. I have it right here." she pulled out a piece of paper, placing it on the counter. It was a detailed drawing of the item she wanted to get custom made on which she worked the last days after Academy in her room.

Tenten was checking out the drawing carefully, pondering about it and analyzing the mentioned details and specifications. "Uhm... you sure that the rumour isn't true? You know, never mind. I don't care, really. The base material shouldn't be a problem. Reinforced leather do we use quite often for armor and stuff. The attachments might be a bit difficult though. Plus, as you might know, do we have a high request for custom made items so there will be some waiting time as well."

Hanabi nodded. "But you are able to create it, right? So, how long will it take and what will it cost?" she tilted her head to the side, watching the thinking Tenten.

"Well... considering the orders we currently have will it be around two months to finish it. And for the price..." she wrote a number down on the paper next to the drawing. "This is the price we need to charge for it. This contains the materials, our work and custom fitting afterwards if something needs to be changed."

"That's... pretty expensive..." Hanabi said quietly, checking the number over and over again. "No chance to get it a bit cheaper? The time is fine with me, but that's a bit too high for me to afford..."

Tenten was watching the slightly depressed looking Hanabi for a while, before focusing back on the drawing, thinking it over again. Her eyes darted from one detail to a specification, to the next detail and back again, before she gave Hanabi a smile. "Actually... the design is pretty intresting and cute. If you sell us the plans with the right to use them as we see fit could I make you this price." she wrote down another number below the first.

Hanabi's eyes went wide in disbelief, darting between the number and Tenten. "You are willing to reduce the price that much? And all I have to do is give you my drawing here?" she couldn't belief that Tenten was willing to offer her such a price in exchange for the plan. All she did was to draw something she thought would look good with Hinata.

Tenten was slightly bouncing up and down on her feet, nodding to Hanabi. "Uhu, that's what I said. The design is pretty well made and I'm sure that we can sell it quite good. That's why I'm offering that much for the plans." she spoke calmly, noticing the expression on Hanabi's face change toward a confused one. Before Hanabi could ask however did she already answer. "Yes, I'm allowed to offer you that. So, what do you say? Two months and this price and we get to keep your plan."

Hanabi was still in shock, but nodded slightly. "Yes, okay. I agree on that..." she said blinking her eyes a few times to get herself back to reality. "But why do you think that this will sell?"

Tenten grinned at her. "Just a feeling I have. Alright, we accept your order for your custom made item. Is there anything else we can help you with?" she made a gesture with her arm, pointing around the room at everything on display there. "As you can see do we have the greatest lineup of weapons in the whole fire country."

"No, I already said that I'm not sure if I can even use a weapon. Our clan's fighting style isn't supporting anything like that. But..." Hanabi's eyes fell on some blank papers that were displayed on the counter. "What are these? There must be a reason for you to sell paper?" her curious nature got the better of her.

"These? That's a chakra nature test. You take a piece and channel your chakra in it and it will react to your nature, displaying what kind of chakra you have. They should be used before trying to learn elemental jutsu and some jonin do carry a few of these at all times in case they have a genin they want to test." Tenten explained.

Hanabi listened carefully to her explanation and had a smile entering her face. "I'll take a set of them. These are exactly what I need right now!" she exclaimed cheerfully, getting a smile from Tenten in return.

"Sure thing. You know, I'll give you one set for free. As bonus for your plan." she handed Hanabi a set of the chakra tests over and pointed on her scar. "Planning on doing something to avoid these in the future, huh?" she asked.

Hanabi nodded slightly. "Something like that, yes. We realized how weak we are and that our clan's fighting style is only good on close range. But our clan isn't training in elemental jutsu at all, too proud to do anything else than what is our own." she grabbed her scar, piercing her fingernails slightly into it. "And what is it good for? We might have been burned alive because the ones attacking us used fire style jutsu on medium range..." she sighed.

Tenten gave her a small smile. "Well, I'm glad that you made it back. Good luck with your training. Feel free to drop by if you ever need help with a weapon or something. We will send you a message once we finished your item."

"Thank you, Tenten. I'm sure to come back here. And thanks for the tests." she waved and left the shop, having a grin on her face. These chakra nature tests were at least a small first step in the right direction. Knowing their chakra natures will surely help them in becoming stronger or at least to try to learn some matching jutsu.

A park inside the village

Naruto was bored. A whole week passed and he could do nothing to become stronger. His ideas were all bad or not working and of course was nobody willing to teach him anything. He couldn't even hang out with the girls today because Hanabi said she needed to do some preparations for Hinata's birthday party on which Naruto wondered what she is preparing that early already.

And Hinata was visiting Ino because she promised her to help a bit with the flowers of the Yamanaka flower shop. For some reason did these two seem to be a bit closer then before since the events of the kidnapping, but Hinata didn't want to speak about that. That's why he was sitting on a bench inside this park all by hisself, deep in thought about nothing at all. It was a super lazy day for him and he hated these.

At least did the villagers leave him alone at the moment. They were avoiding him, yes, taking their distances and walking around his bench, but at least weren't they staring at him right now and there were no threats against him as well. That was at least something, but this made this super lazy day not that much better.

He wasn't really aware of his surroundings and didn't realize the ANBU that came in his direction. When the ANBU started speaking did he shoot up in surprise. "All by yourself today? That's making my job harder..."

Naruto turned in the direction the voice came from to look into a familiar cat mask. "Don't scare me like that, Cat-san. And what do you mean with making your job harder?" he gave her a curious look.

"Hokage-sama ordered me to get you three and bring you to him. He wanted to talk to you about something it seems." she replied, thinking for a bit. "Any idea where the girls might be?"

Naruto slightly shrugged his shoulders. "Hinata-chan should be visiting Ino-chan at her parents flower shop as far as I know. But I have no idea about Hanabi-chan. She said she needed to prepare something for Hinata-chan's birthday party. But not what and where."

Cat nodded at these informations. "Okay, I understand. So it will be easy to inform one, but I need to search for the other then. Please head to the Hokage tower and wait there. I'll get the girls and join you as quick as I can." she said before jumping on a nearby roof heading in the direction of the Yamanaka flower shop, leaving Naruto behind.

"Great... I just hope the old man has something intresting he wants to tell us. Even if I'm bored do I have no intrest in wasting my time..." he was grumbling to himself while getting up from the bench and walking towards the Hokage tower.

Yamanaka flower shop

Hinata was currently watering the flowers while Ino leaned at the counter, watching her. "So, have you asked Naruto out already, now that both of you know of each other?" and of course had she to start on her favorite topic.

Hinata simply sighed, knowing by now that talking back to Ino or yelling at her about her choice of topic wasn't working at all. "No, I haven't Ino. I'm hoping that Naruto-kun will do the first step. My birthday is coming up ahead and Hanabi already said that she was planning and preparing a party, so maybe..." she smiled slightly at the thought.

"Oh, you hope that he will give you that one special present. While that is a nice thought... you do know that we are talking about Naruto, right? Do you really think he's smart enough to ask you out on your birthday?" Ino tried to supress the giggle that wanted to escape her lips, knowing that Hinata would get mad at her if she would do it right after saying these words.

Hinata turned away from the flowers to look Ino into her eyes. "Yes, I do think he is. And if he won't have this idea by himself am I sure that Hanabi will push him. I'm pretty sure that this is part of her preparations. That and..." she trailed off her sentence and bit her lip, getting a curious look from Ino.

"That and...? Is something the matter, Hinata-chan?" Ino was slightly confused. What might be strange or disturbing on birthday preparations?

Hinata took a deep breath before answering. "I think that Hanabi is preparing a totally embarassing present for me. When she mentioned her preparation did she mention to prepare presents four times. I do have a bad feeling about that." she was putting her fingers together in front of her, something she hadn't done for quite some time now.

Seeing that gesture made Ino realize that this topic might be a serious one when Hinata was falling slightly back into her old habits. "Ah, common. I don't think that you have to worry about something like that. Hanabi-chan is a nice girl, right?" Ino smiled. "But, why am I not invited?"

That question took Hinata by surprise and she stopped her fingers from moving, thinking for a moment. "Uhm, I don't know. As I said, Hanabi is doing the whole planing. Maybe she wasn't at the point of doing invitations yet? You should ask her about it."

Ino nodded and wanted to answer, but got interrupted by the door opening and an ANBU entering the shop. The ANBU gave a slight nod at Ino before turning towards Hinata. "There you are. I was looking for you."

"Oh, hello Cat-san." Hinata gave her a bright smile. "How may I help you?"

"You are so well-mannered compared to Naruto." Cat chuckled slightly. "I have orders to get you three to the Hokage office. Naruto is already on his way and I would appreciate it, if you would go too and wait there. I still need to search your sister."

Hinata nodded at that. "I understand. I'll go right away." she turned to Ino before continueing. "Sorry, but seems I have things to do."

"Don't worry about it. You were a great help so far. I can take care of the rest by myself." Ino smiled back at Hinata who headed for the door, both realizing that the ANBU already disappeared on her search for Hanabi.

In front of the Hokage tower

Naruto was already waiting when Hinata arrived at the tower. "Hello Naruto-kun." she gave him a smile and a small wave. "Do you know what this is about?"

"Oh, hey Hinata-chan. No, I wasn't told why the old man wants to see us. Maybe it has to do with the scroll we found? Or the seals? Or he wants to pay us for a B-rank?" he had a slight grin on his face while talking. They had informed Hinata about the seals they found inside his apartment and how Hanabi twisted the Hokage's words inside his mouth while getting there.

Thinking about this a bit did Hinata nod after a while. "I guess these things would make sense. But we won't know until we see him. So..." she looked around. "How long do you think we need to wait for Cat-san to find Hanabi?"

"No idea. I'm not even sure where Hanabi might be. All she said was that she wanted to prepare things for your birthday." he shrugged. "While Cat-san might be an ANBU will it most likely need some time for her to find Hanabi-chan."

"Are you preparing something for my birthday as well?" she asked quietly, getting a bit closer to Naruto and leaning on his shoulder slightly. 'I can't believe I'm doing this. Not too long ago would I have fainted for just getting close to him, and now? It even feels right to me.' she thought to herself while making herself comfortable at his side.

Naruto was a bit surprised by Hinata's action, but wasn't flinching and simply let her do. "Not yet, no. But I'm thinking about the one or other thing that might be to your liking. Just wait for the day to come." he smiled at her.

"Okay, I will..." Hinata whispered, closing her eyes and relaxing with her head on Naruto's shoulder.

They stood like that in front of the Hokage tower for around 15 minutes in silence, receiving the one or other stare from villagers passing by. Thankfully did none approach them or said anything at all. Hinata was simply enjoying the feelings she had in this situation and Naruto was keeping a watchful eye on the surroundings just in case.

Hanabi had a wide grin on her face when she approached the tower followed by Cat who shook her head slightly at the scene she was seeing. She had to have a talk with Kakashi later that day. After all, by the look of it, did she won the bet they made. Hinata was openly showing affection toward Naruto way earlier then Kakashi said while making the bet with her.

"Hey you two, snap out of it. You can snuggle and hug with Naruto later, sis." Hanabi said while getting close enough for them to hear her. "I think we are needed inside." still grinning while Naruto gave her a nod and Hinata opened her eyes and blushed did Cat take the lead and brought them to the Hokage office.

They entered after knocking and got greeted by a smile from the Hokage. "Ah, Cat, thank you for getting them here. But you sure took your time. Were there any problems?"

"No problems, Hokage-sama. It's just that the three of them weren't together today and I had to search for Hanabi Hyuga." Cat replied getting a small nod in return.

"I understand. And here was I worried for a moment. Anyway, now that you arrived can we talk about a few things." still smiling was he now addressing the kids.

It was of course Hanabi who spoke up first. "You finally decided to pay us a B-rank for finding the scroll with enemy shinobi involved, right? That's a good thing. I figured I will need more money to get all preparations for Hinata's birthday done." she was grinning when she saw the Hokage shaking his head, remembering their talk about that.

"No, that isn't the reason I called for you. But it has to do with the scroll. We were able to find a way to open the seal that kept it closed." he explained, getting the attention of all gathered.

"Hey, that's great. So, what is it, old man? Is it something super special secret?" Naruto grinned as well, when the Hokage remembered that part of their talk. "Oh, I know. It's either a treasure map or some secret information or a super jutsu. You will pay us now, right?"

Cat was chuckling while the Hokage frowned. "No Naruto, I will not. And it isn't anything like that either, well, kind of at least. In fact is it pretty surprising what is in this scroll." he opened the top drawer of his desk and pulled the scroll out of it, placing it on his desk. All gathered got closer to take a look on it when he opened it to show the contents.

The first one to react was Cat who gave a whistle the moment she saw the contents of the scroll. "Is this what I think it is?" she asked, getting a nod from the Hokage and curious looks from the kids.

"It does seem like that, yes." the Hokage replied. "When we finally found out how to open the scroll and after Tenzo did just that were we all shocked by this content."

All three kids wondered who this Tenzo might be, but focused back on the content of the scroll right again. "Uhm... this does look like instructions on how to fight with a specific weapon." Hinata said, checking the content carefully. "Some basic instructions and moves are explained there. And it seems like some harder ones are there as well."

"Hey, that means that we can keep the scroll and try to learn what is written there, right? You said we could, old man." Naruto said excited, grinning from ear to ear. Hanabi sure knew how to negotiate to get this promise from the Hokage.

"Well, basicly yes. However, this weapon style is real hard to learn and master. I'm not sure if any of you would be able to do so. Beside, you don't own any weapons. Not to mention this specific one." the Hokage said calmly, receiving looks from both Hinata and Naruto.

"You are an evil old man. So you won't give us the scroll unless we have the matching weapon?" Naruto asked, getting a nod from the Hokage. He wanted to yell at the old man but was interrupted when Hanabi spoke up.

"Oh, this won't be a problem." she was grinning from ear to ear, when all inside the room looked at her with confusion written across their faces. "Well, I met a girl today who could help us get a matching weapon, but..." her grin got even wider. "I guess none of you took the time to read the scroll til the end?"

The Hokage shook his head. They really haven't checked the scroll completely, but he wasn't sure what Hanabi wanted to tell them. It was just a scroll with basics and training informations about a fighting style.

"Well..." she placed the scroll back on the table. Nobody had realized that she took the scroll at all to read it completely til the end. "You see..." she opened it til the last written things were visible. "Whoever created this scroll was two things. First: a master of this weapon style. And second..." she pointed at the very end. "Smart enough to seal a weapon at the end of the scroll that people who wanted to learn his style would have a weapon to practice with."

She couldn't help but giggle while watching the four dumbstruck faces looking at her and the scroll. She thought at least it might be four, not being able to see Cat's face. But since she wasn't moving just like the other...

However, Cat was the first to get back to reality. "Well, then let's have a look on the weapon, shall we?" she asked before quickly unsealing the weapon. A smoke screen appeared, covering whatever she just released and they had to wait for it to disappear.

Just some moments later was the smoke gone and they were able to see the weapon. Or at least parts of it? The looks ranged from surprise to confusion. "Really now? You haven't even read what kind of weapon style is explained inside this scroll? Or why are you looking that surprised on this weapon?" Hanabi asked, rolling her eyes in disbelief that neither the Hokage nor Cat had taken a closer look into the scroll.

"Hey, don't look at me. I just saw the contents for the first time, just like you." Cat spoke calmly, shrugging her shoulders. "It's just surprising. This weapon type is kinda rare these days. Nobody really uses it and it shall be hard to master."

Hinata picked up a round wooden element that was around 60 centimeters long and inspected it. "And what exactly is that? It kinda looks like a bo staff or something, just shorter. And there are three of them."

The Hokage was stroking his beard, pondering about the weapon. "It does look like a three-segment-staff to me. However, they are usually connected by a chain or something and can be used as a normal staff or as a flexible weapon with the segments. Not sure why these are seperated."

Taking a look at one side of the segment did Hinata speak up again. "There seems to be a chain inside and it looks like you can stick them together as well. Maybe they are seperated for easier transportation?"

"Yes, that might be possible." the Hokage answered, picking one of the segments up as well. "It even sounds reasonable if I'm taking a closer look. Tenzo?" the moment he finished speaking was an ANBU with a fox mask already standing behind him.

"What is it you need, Hokage-sama?" the ANBU asked, taking a short look around the room at the gathered people. He took in the appearences of the three kids, knowing right away who they were and saving that information. He also got a small nod from Cat as greeting.

"Could I please have your opinion on these staff segments? After we needed you to open the scroll at all do I have suspicions regarding the content. Especially considering the scroll was found inside an outpost ruin from the time of the village founding." he handed the segment over to the ANBU named Tenzo.

Tenzo took it and inspected it carefully, feeling the surface with his fingers, sending small pulses of chakra into it before slowly nodding and giving it back to the Hokage. "I am sure that these staff segments were created using the Wood Style. The quality is high, the wood is durable and there a small signs of chakra in it. With other words, the First Hokage must have created this weapon."

All three kids were speechless by this information. Did they really found a scroll that was created by the First Hokage? The current Hokage nodded to this information, thinking about it. 'I should take the scroll and weapon and keep it safe, but... I promised these kids that they could have it for training and use if there was a fighting style or something in it. Hiruzen Sarutobi, you were too quick in giving this promise.' he thought before sighing.

"Well, I have made a decision. Since I promised it may you three have this scroll and the weapon. However, be careful with it. This type of weapon is hard to use and if you should loose or destroy it will this have consequences. Understood?" his look was a serious one when he said this, giving the kids a shiver before they nodded. "Fine. Now then, I need to get back to my work. All of you are dismissed."

Tenzo and Cat disappeared in an instant and the kids quickly snatched the scroll and staff segments before saying their goodbyes and leaving as well. Sarutobi pulled out his pipe to inhale it deeply before releasing the smoke. "I never thought the scroll to be this valueable. But I do wonder... who might he have created the staff for? Well, I don't think I will ever learn that. So... back to work." he sighed before picking up his paperwork.

Outside the tower were the three kids discussing what to do now. Naruto was holding the three staff segments under his arm and Hinata had the scroll in her hand. "So, what are we doing now?" she asked, looking at Naruto and Hanabi.

"You really have to ask, sis?" Hanabi replied, having a grin on her face. "We are going to search for a free training field and will then figure out who of us will train with the staff. Also, I've something else for us. And we should think about a way to transport the staff more easily as well..." she pondered, watching Naruto holding the segments.

"Yeah, we should. Alright, then let's search for a training field." Naruto exclaimed happily and started walking away but stopped after a few meters realizing that the girls weren't following and got back to them who both had a small smile on their faces. "Wrong direction, right?" he asked sheepishly and got a nod from both which he answered with a grin. "Okay, then please lead the way."

They headed in the direction of the training fields in hope of finding one that was unoccupied.

Training field 47. I mean 7. Uhm... 13? Maybe 24?
An unoccupied training field (after visiting some occupied ones)

It took them some time to find a training field that wasn't used right now. It was one of the smaller ones but that was more then enough for their needs right now. They sat down, placing the staff and scroll in front of them, starting to discuss.

"Okay, now we got one weapon and instructions on how to use it and how to train with it. Any idea on how to decide who will get it?" Naruto asked, looking at the girls. "Though I'm not sure if a staff can be really called a weapon..."

"I wouldn't mind if you would use it, Naruto-kun." Hinata said. "We do at least have our clan's fighting style so it would make sense that you get to use the weapon." she gave him a small smile.

"I guess sis is right with that. Beside, we do need our hands to be free to be effective with our style. Another reason why you should take it. Anyway, as I said, I got something else for us." getting intrested looks from the others did Hanabi pull out a small pack with papers and laid it next to the scroll and weapon.

"What are these papers, Hanabi-chan?" Naruto asked, picking up the pack and inspecting it. "They doesn't look like anything special, just like papers..."

"I thought the same at first. But these are chakra nature tests. The place I got them explained to me how to use them and the results and what they mean are listed on the backside of the pack." she explained to the others. "Hand me a paper, Naruto. I'll show you how to use them."

Naruto nodded and took one paper out of the pack, handing it over to Hanabi. "Okay, it's pretty simple I guess. I take it between my fingers and channel some chakra into it..." she explained while holding up the paper for the others to see. Concentrating her chakra for a second and directing it into the paper did it suddenly crumble to dust in her hand.

"Wow. That was cool, believe it!" Naruto exclaimed loudly. "So, what does this mean?" he added this question once he figured that he wasn't understanding what happened.

"Check the backside of the pack, Naruto. I hadn't time to read the possible results yet, so tell me what chakra nature I have." Hanabi said impatiently, looking at Naruto.

"Alright, just a second..." he felt a shiver running up his spine and turned the pack to read the backside. "Let's see... if the result is the paper crumbling to dust... is the chakra an Earth affinity." he read out loud.

Hanabi thought about that information while Hinata snatched the pack out of Naruto's hand. "So my sister is an Earth user, huh? I'll try next. I wonder what my element might be..." Hinata said while getting a paper out of the pack and holding it up just like Hanabi did. She channeled some chakra as well and directed it into the paper and nearly dropped it, when it soaked itself full of water.

She had a small smile on her face. "That surprised me. I can guess what this might mean, but let's be sure..." she turned the pack around and read the backside. "If the paper gets soaked full of water is the chakra a Water affinity. Not surprising. So I'm a Water user, right?" she handed the pack back to Naruto, still smiling slightly.

"So you girls are Earth and Water. I wonder what my chakra nature is. Okay, I'll try it too." he picked a paper and held it the same way the girls did before, channeling his chakra and directing it into the paper. It took just a moment and the paper... did nothing. "Uhm... why is nothing happening?" Naruto asked confused.

"Maybe this one is defect?" Hanabi thought aloud, snatching the paper from Naruto and channeling chakra into it herself just to see the same result she had just moments ago. The paper crumbled to dust in her hand.

"Hmm, it wasn't... maybe you did something wrong, Naruto-kun?" Hinata pondered. "Take another one and try it again. Concentrate on the paper and send your chakra into it. I'll watch if you are doing it right." she activated her Byakugan and focused her eyes on Naruto's hand who was currently picking up another piece of paper.

Naruto did the same as before, channeling some chakra and directing it into the paper again. His concentration was completely on the paper and then it happened . . . . . Nothing. Again. He sighed in frustration.

"From my view did you everything the correct way..." Hinata said quietly, deactivating her Byakugan. "Is there an explanation of this result?"

Naruto looked again on the backside of the pack and shook his head. "No, none. Only five results are listed, for the five elements. Does this mean... I don't have any element? Is my chakra... I don't know... plain?"

Hanabi shook her head. "I don't believe that. Every person's chakra should have at least one element to it. We should ask the old man or Iruka-sensei about it later. Or maybe Spooky or Cat, if we happen to meet them. But I guess it's another good reason why you should take the staff..." she said with slight confusion heard in her voice.

Hinata nodded. "I agree, let's ask someone about it and for now can you train with the weapon. And we will look if we can find some scrolls with training tips for Water and Earth elements for us. I... don't want to end in a situation again in which I'm totally helpless..." she said the last part pretty quiet and Hanabi hugged her sister hearing that.

"None of us want such a situation again, sis. We all will become stronger and help each other. Everything will be good." she said soothingly in Hinata's ear who nodded slightly.

"Yeah, I will become stronger and protect you two, believe it! And I'll start right away." Naruto exclaimed loudly picking up the three staff segments and putting them together.

"Maybe you should start with getting used to one segment first?" Hanabi suggested, but it was already too late. Naruto had finished putting the segments together and split them at the connection points to have them loose and connected by the chain inside, trying to handle the staff that way and hitting his head right away with one of the outer segments. He went down like a rock and wasn't moving.

Both girls were shocked by that and Hanabi hurried to get over to Naruto, checking his head carefully. "Sis, I think one of us should also become a medic." she said while carefully touching the spot Naruto just hit with the staff.

"Might... be better..." Naruto was saying weakly, forcing a small smile on his face. "That hurt a lot... one segment first, right..." he tried to get up but groaned in pain and slumped back down. "My head is spinning..."

"Or the whole staff, but as a staff and not loosely connected." Hanabi giggled at Naruto's beaten form. "But I'm surprised that you haven't knocked yourself out with that."

Hinata was at Naruto's other side by now and was giving him some water to drink. Once finished did she gently take his head in both her hands, stroking the spot he had hit carefully. Naruto was smiling at that treatment before he answered. "I'm strong, you know? I can even take a lot of hits... ask these stupid villagers who chased and beat me up all the time... but I have no style, no skills. I heard what they were talking about me when they held us captive... That's why I need to learn to handle this staff."

"And I'm sure you will, Naruto-kun. I believe in you." Hinata said smiling at him, still stroking his head.

"And you two will master your elements in no time. We will become stronger together." Naruto said, feeling his energy return to his body and finally getting up, creating a small pout on Hinata's face. She wanted to hold him a little longer.

"But let's not overdo it today. We should first set a plan on how to work on our respective task, shouldn't we? And tomorrow starts another week of Academy, so we can ask Iruka-sensei about your chakra nature test. Okay, now then, Naruto, just one segment. Sis, since we don't have clues yet, just go over to the pond there and try picking up the water with your chakra or something. I'll do the same with the dirt here." Hanabi was slightly pumped up as well, finally able to do something. And she kinda enjoyed it seeing the other two following her orders.

Academy, the next morning

The sisters were the first of them to arrive at the Academy and decided to go and wait in their classroom for Naruto. The little training they had the day before wasn't too succesful at all. Hinata was at least able to slightly touch the water with her chakra, creating small waves from the point she was concentrating on. Hanabi however got no reaction from the earth she focused on. They would need to get advice on how to properly train for an element.

On their way to the classroom did they notice that they got quite a lot of looks, some curious, some confused, some pitiful. And the other kids were whispering behind their backs about them, but they couldn't really make out what they were talking.

"Hanabi... what happened? Do you think it's because we hang out with Naruto-kun and they started hating him and us even more now?" Hinata was whispering to her sister. "Or maybe there is another rumour regarding us?" she gulped at that thought. She just couldn't stand rumours.

"I have no idea, sis. But I would like to know what's going on as well. Ino will be able to tell us, I guess. If it's a rumour is she our girl." Hanabi answered. Both of them felt kinda uneasy by all the looks and they hurried toward their classroom.

Once they arrived and entered it did they already hear the voice of Ino calling out to them and with that were all eyes turning on them. "Hanabi-chan, Hinata-chan, you are finally here." she waved at them frantically, beconning them to get to their seats. Seemed like she indeed is informed and want to get some information from them.

"Ino, what's the matter? Did something happen? We were getting lots of looks on our way here..." Hanabi asked her friend, taking her seat. "It was kinda like... I don't know."

"So you didn't hear yet? There is a new rumour around that involves you three again. I don't even know where to start." Ino was talking excitedly and way faster than normal, nearly twisting her own tongue by that. "Okay, see, they say that you got another mission record already. A B-rank this time. And this goes hand in hand with the rumour that you got kidnapped but managed to get free all by yourself after defeating one of the kidnapper."

Hinata and Hanabi both were shocked by these informations. While at least a part of this rumour was indeed the truth, not that they would admit it, were they wondering how this made the round. And they were afraid what might happen if their father would hear that. Taking a look around did they realize that basicly the whole class was watching and listening, intrested in if this rumour was true or not. And one specific person was giving Hanabi hateful glares that promised no good.

"Who is spreading such a thing?" Hinata asked, looking not too happy by this situation and the rumour. "I haven't heard anything of that..." she quietly said, before adding in her mind 'But I was there during the kidnap part...'.

Hanabi was shaking her head. "This is so totally not true. I mean, think about it. While it is true that we got a C-rank record a while ago was this plain luck and we nearly died if it weren't for Spooky who rescued us." there were some noises and confused looks by that name but she ignored them. "And now are you believing a rumour saying that we got kidnapped, rescued ourselfs by beating up one of the kidnappers and got a B-rank record for that? Think about that, Ino."

Ino was silent for a moment, biting her lower lip in thought. "I guess... you are right. Seeing it this way does the rumour indeed sound kinda stupid. And if you are saying it isn't true then it isn't true." she nodded slowly and a majority of the class lost intrest in the conversation, after hearing the rumours were fake. The sisters were reliefed by that, but feared that Naruto might blow the lie once he arrives. And they wondered who might have spread that rumour at all.

They talked a little about this and that now, nothing important at all and just some minutes later was Iruka entering the classroom. The first thing he noted is that Naruto was missing so he addressed the Hyuga girls. "Hanabi, Hinata, can you tell me where Naruto is today? He is missing quite often considering that classes started just a month ago..."

Hanabi was the one to answer. "No Iruka-sensei. We haven't seen him this morning yet. Maybe he is still knocked out from our training yesterday." she shrugged her shoulders while Iruka was raising an eyebrow.

"Knocked out from training? What exactly were you training that would knock him out for so long?" his voice was sceptical and he was watching the girls intensely, figuring they must be up to something or covering Naruto with a lie.

It was this moment that the door opened and Naruto entered, his body covered in bruises and patches. He grinned as usual and was scratching the back of his head. "Sorry for being late, Iruka-sensei, but I had some problems getting here somehow..." not waiting for a reply was he slightly limping to his seat to sit down with basicly every pair of eyes inside the class following him.

"What?" he asked once he took his seat, his voice kinda pissed by all these looks. "Never tried to figure out how to use a new weapon and had problems with that? My mood isn't the best today at all because of at least three reasons, so just leave me alone!"

That was something new for the class. It's the first time they saw Naruto being angry and they averted their eyes to the front, not wanting to push their luck. They figured that if Naruto would go berserk out of anger it might be unpleasant, considering all the things that happened to him when he was younger. There must be lot of anger and fury build up in him.

"Uhm, yeah, right. Well, now that everyone is here can we start class." Iruka exclaimed, gaining the attention of the class. "Our topics today are all important if you want to become a shinobi for Konoha. So better pay attention."

Some time later, at the end of the last class that day

"Okay, that's it for today. You can go home now and I'll see you tomorrow." Iruka closed his class and was packing his stuff as well to leave, but got interrupted by Hanabi who approached him quickly while the rest of the class was leaving. Naruto and Hinata were still sitting at their desks, waiting for Hanabi.

"Iruka-sensei, please wait. We need to talk to you about something." Hanabi spoke up, getting Iruka's attention. "Please, it's important to us."

Iruka nodded and waited for the rest of the class to leave, before he answered. "Okay, what do you need? But if it's about these rumours, there is nothing I can do." he watched his students with curiousity.

Hanabi shook her head. "No, it isn't that. We were doing chakra nature tests yesterday and have two things to ask you now, Iruka-sensei." she explained, getting the full intrest from Iruka.

"Oh, why did you do that? Normally that's something that will be done later. And aren't Hyuga normally not using elemental jutsu? Anyway, what do you want to ask?" he leaned back on his desk, waiting for his students reply.

"Well, we have our reasons..." Hanabi said quietly. "So, we did the tests and I'm an Earth user and my sister is a Water user and we wanted to ask if you might have some scrolls with basic training for us? We really could need some help with that since our family won't help at all..."

Iruka nodded at that. "I guess I can get you some simple ones from our archives, sure. I'll give them to you later that week. And what is the second question?"

Hanabi was silent for a moment and Naruto grumbled from the back of the class. "I don't have one..." It was low voiced and hard to understand, but Iruka heard it quite well.

"You don't have what, Naruto? If you want to ask me something please be more accurate." he gave Naruto a small smile to speak up.

"I said I don't have an element..." Naruto answered louder and pulled a paper out of his pocket, holding it up and channeling his chakra into it, just to get the same result as the day before. "See? Nothing happens. What is the meaning of this, sensei? Shouldn't every person have an affinity?"

Iruka raised an eyebrow at that result. "I'm sorry, but I have no idea. It's the first time I'm hearing about something like that. I will talk to Hokage-sama and hopefully get an answer for you. So please wait some days, okay?" his voice sounded concerned, but he still smiled slightly.

"Yeah, sure. I will be busy training with my new weapon for now anyway." Naruto answered, heading towards the door with a little less limping then before.

"About that... what kind of weapon is it? I don't think you should train with a weapon which you hurt yourself with..." Iruka said concerned just to get a glare from Naruto.

"So you are saying that I, who somehow doesn't even have an affinity in my chakra, shouldn't try to learn the use of a weapon in order to protect my friends? That I should simply give up the next time someone is going to kidnap us? That I should simply watch while these two" he was pointing towards Hanabi and Hinata "my best friends get adbucted and sold as slaves?" he was raging, nearly killing Iruka with his glare if that were possible for him.

Hinata covered her mouth with her hands, hearing the words Naruto said. She realized that Naruto just did what they were fearing, he spilled the information of the kidnapping. Out of rage and unintentionally, be he did it. Hanabi realized that as well and let her head hang in defeat. At least was it just Iruka who might keep silent about that.

"So the rumours really have a true part to it, huh?" Iruka asked, watching the three kids with concern in his eyes. "You should really try to stay away from trouble... Well, I will get you two your training scrolls and for you an answer, Naruto. See you all tomorrow." giving them another small smile did Iruka leave the classroom.

After a few minutes of silence did they finally decide to leave as well, not talking on their way out of the building. Once outside did Naruto kick the ground frustrated, cursing the moment he did due to the additional pain we was feeling right away.

Hanabi giggled at that before giving him a smile. "Hey, you are free now, right? Why don't you go pick up the staff and meet us in the market district? I think I know someone who might help with a way to transport the staff easily and may be able to give you some training advices."

"That's fine with me. Give me 15 minutes and I'll meet you there." Naruto answered before heading towards his apartment to pick up the staff segments while the girls went ahead to the weapon shop Tenten was working at.

Weapon shop

The girls were waiting in front of the shop for Naruto who arrived shortly after them. They entered all together and both Hinata and Naruto were shocked by the amount of weapons on display. They didn't see the girl with brown hair in two buns at her sides standing behind the counter, giving them a smile when she realized Hanabi inside the group.

While the two of them were still stunned did Hanabi walk toward the counter to speak to Tenten. "Hello Tenten. I wasn't expecting to be here again already, but we have some business." she smiled. "Well, at least once they are not stunned anymore."

Tenten nodded and smiled back to her. "No problem, they can take their time. But..." she got closer to Hanabi to whisper to her. "The item you ordered... is it for her? I can somehow imagine the designs you created suiting her quite nice."

Hanabi was blushing slightly, averting her eyes. She clearly didn't want to answer that question and Tenten gave her a warm smile. "It's okay. I figured as much already. And as I said, I don't mind at all. So, what can I help you with today?" she said the last part louder, trying to catch the attention of the other two.

Hinata was still stunned by all the weapons and stuff on display, walking aimless through the shop and checking out all the things. Naruto however did hear the girl talking and got back to reality, heading toward the counter. "Hey, you see, I got this weapon here and I need something to properly store and transport it. You think you can help us out?" he asked the girl while placing the three segments of his staff on the counter.

Tenten's eyes went wide seeing the weapon and snatched one segment in an instant, carefully checking it out. "Wow! A three segment fighting staff prototype with detachable segments for easier handling. And the quality is absolutely high class. Only the best woodworkers might be able to produce something like that. It's even chakra enchanced for higher durability and could easily block the sharpest swords. Where did you get it?"

There was a sparkling in Tenten's eyes that made Naruto gulp and Hanabi suddenly felt uneasy by it. Naruto was fishing for words before he finally managed to answer. "The old man gave it to us and I'm trying to train with it. But it's not that easy..." he said, giving her a big grin. "As you can see I might have hit myself a few times with it..."

Tenten managed to get her eyes away from the weapon to get a look on Naruto and just now realized all the injuries all over his body. "Well, yeah, this weapon is hard to learn. Anyway, you needed something for transport, right? Since it has detachable segments do you have four options. Three if you aren't good with seals."

Naruto shook his head by that last statement and Tenten nodded before she continued. "Alright, three options. Either a strap around your upper leg where you can slip the segments into, a belt able to hold them the same way or you can strap them to your back. It's basicly up to the users preferences and how he feels most comfortable to move around and to draw the weapon."

Naruto was silent after that, thinking about his options and wondering about the knowledge of this girl. Hanabi saw that and spoke up. "Say, Tenten, would you mind if we could get all three of these things that he can try them out? We would return the two of them we won't use later and only pay for the third. Think you could do that?"

Tenten was pondering about it for a moment before nodding. "Yes, I guess. But you need to decide within two days or you'll have to pay for all of them. Oh, by the way Hanabi, I need to ask you to pay half of your purchase in advance that we can cover the costs for the materials. Wanted to contact you about it these days, but since you are here..." she smiled slightly at Hanabi.

"Ah, sure, I figured that much. Here you go." Hanabi handed Tenten some money and Naruto's eyes went wide seeing the amount of it. "And thanks for helping with the weapon."

"It's okay, really. Such a fine weapon deserves good treatment. If you value your weapon will it always be good to you as well. And don't you dare laughing. Weapons do have something similiar to a soul." she smiled brightly. "Anything else you need?" she asked, after getting the holders for the staff and handing them to Naruto.

Hanabi shook her head. "I think we are fine for now. I'll stay in contact for the item." giving Tenten a wave did Hanabi turn to leave, but stopped to talk to Naruto. "Can you catch my sister? I'm afraid she might get lost in here if we don't pick her up." she giggled while Naruto went over to get Hinata who still was walking and watching around the shop aimlessly.

Once outside did Naruto address Hanabi. "What have you ordered there? The amount of money you just gave her is insane. And that's only have of the price?" That also got the intrest from Hinata, who came a bit closer.

"Oh, I'm intrested as well. Did you buy a weapon here? But wasn't it you saying that a weapon would ruin our fighting style?" Hinata asked smiling at her sister.

Hanabi had an evil smirk on her face while answering. "Ah, nothing at all. I mean, it's really nothing worth mentioning. And it will take several months before they will be even able to create it with all these orders they are having. Really, don't mention it."

Hinata saw that evil smirk a few times by now and knew that she shouldn't push the matter. Naruto on the other side... "Aw, common, you ordered nothing for that huge amount of money? That's hard to believe. Why don't you tell us?" he pushed the matter.

Hanabi sighed. "I said don't mention it. Do! You! Understand!?" she hissed the last part but with a voice that send a shiver down Naruto's spine who simply nodded. "See, wasn't that hard. Back to training I guess?" she grinned from ear to ear as if nothing just happened.

The other two were nodding and followed her toward the training ground they used the day before. All of them were determined to become stronger. And all of them knew it would be a hard way. The girls were hoping that Iruka will have some training scrolls for them the next days and Naruto simply hoped to hurt himself less with the staff. And then to somehow learn the first easy steps and moves from the scroll he had for it. They had a long way to go...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Authors Note (the real one): Alright, that was the newest chapter from me. I think I covered most stuff I wanted in order to make a small timejump for the next chapter to get to Hinata's birthday. And some of my cliffhangers will be again explained then (and some new will be added, as usual). No good story without cliffhangers - but I'm aware that I'm using them quite frequently. Am still sorry about that, but hey, I'll pick them up and explain sometime later, as usual. Next chapter, or in two months, or way later - but I will!

I know, it was a quieter chapter but you need some of these from time to time as well in order to advance. Beside... *giggles*
Okay, honestly, you should have had at least one "what the hell" moment in this chapter. Right? I'm pretty sure that I got you at least once.
Two or three "what the hell" moments might be possible as well. In that case is my twisted mind still too much for you to understand. Don't worry, that's normal with me. Plus: it's more fun for you to read if you can't anticipate what I'm writing, right? *smiles*

As usual, I'm always up and thankful for your opinions or ideas so feel free to gimme a call (aka leave a review or write a PM).
Well, now to think about Hinata's party. I hadn't have much free thinking capacities this week because of work so I hope that my brain will come up with a good location and activities this weekend that I can easily start writing the next chapter.