C's Scouting Report: Timejumps
"It's been some time, isn't it? Two and an half years have passed, more or less. Well, actually a bit more, but whatever. It was a major timejump that just happened here and it happened for good reasons.
Each story will eventually reach a point at which it is necessary to make a timejump. Often it's just a few days which isn't critical at all. That's normal and happens on a regular basis in nearly every story. Sometimes it's a few weeks or maybe months. This can be risky, but it shouldn't be too hard to set things right before the jump, that the skipped time can be explained, like "they planned to do and now after the jump have they done". But sometimes is it necessary to do a big jump - what just happened here. And these are critical without doubt.
The creators of Naruto did the same between Naruto and Naruto Shippuden, a timejump of three years, simply stating that he was on a training trip. Okay, sure, that's two different series, but it's still a timejump within an ongoing story. But all together did this work out and it was needed cause they ran out of things to tell. They had reached a point that was suitable for the jump.
Now is it the same within this story. It reached a point at which wasn't much more to tell. The girls built relations, had two nasty adventures, decided on changes in their life because of these and other events and so on. Basicly every story aspect was set on track and the story ready for the jump.
What if the creators would have shown Naruto's three years of training? That might have ended boring and energy draining for everyone. Same goes for this story here. Two and an half year of attending the Academy? I'll pass.
Now is this story around the time the Naruto series started, close to the end of the Academy. Much happened already, changing some things, resulting in a different story than the original of course. Still, this story is going to follow the timeline of the original now, adapting major storypoints. On one side can you guess what is to come if you know the original (becoming genin - Wave - chunin exams, etc. you know it, you name it) - on the other side will it be different due to all changes that already happened. I hope you are looking forward to it."
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A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 17: Time can be nasty
"You ready, sis?" Hanabi asked, slightly bouncing up and down on her feet, standing on one of the training fields. She had grown up a bit, being a bit taller now and she let her hair grow a bit longer as well. It was only a bit over a week left til the tests for becoming genin would be held and she felt pride to attend them with her young age of 10.
Opposite of her stood Hinata, she too having grown up a bit. "Don't think I'll make it that easy for you." she gave her younger sister a sweet smile.
"You are pretty confident today, huh? It's true that I haven't seen your training progress lately, but you sure that you have a chance against me?" raising an eyebrow at her older sister was Hanabi slightly grinning, not believing that her sister actually had a chance to win.
They were training together during the first year of Academy, encouraging each other when they stumbled, but it often happened that their elemental manipulations backfired somehow. There was a time at which Hinata's body was full of bruises because of flying stones hitting her, stones her sister tried to move and work with using her earth chakra. This also resulted in lost concentration, making it hard for Hinata to actually work and improve with her water manipulations.
On the other side had Hinata often problems in the beginning to hold the water she was using together with her chakra. While it worked quite good with her Bubbles jutsu, it was a simple beginners training jutsu after all, was she struggling when she worked on a bit more complex jutsu. It often ended with Hanabi being drenched and because of that always having a second and third set of clothes with her for training.
Because of these events did they decide at some point to train on their elemental manipulations alone, to avoid distracting the other with failed jutsu. Training on their clan's taijutsu did they still do together, but none of them had a current knowledge of the elemental progress the other sister reached by now - which was one of the main reasons for their current sparring match. To see how far they have come before attending the tests for becoming genin.
Tilting her head to the side a bit was Hinata thinking for a short moment. "I wouldn't call it confidence. It's just that I didn't really liked the look on your face when you told me that you had a surprise for me, depending on my performance, once this fight is over. I'm your big sister after all and knowing you won't I like this surprise if you are not satisfied."
"You want to tell me that you are afraid of a surprise a ten year old girl, your little sister, has for you? You shouldn't let anyone else hear that, sis." there was a mocking tune within her voice that Hinata clearly heard.
"It really does sound bad if you put it that way. But the answer is no. I'm not afraid of a surprise from my little sister." she looked around the training ground to make sure that nobody else was around before she continued. "I'm more afraid of a surprise from my mistress if she is not satisfied with my performance."
Hanabi kept her word that she wouldn't refer to their relationship over the time, that they could focus on their training and that there wouldn't be anyone suspicions about them. It might have been ugly for both of them if their father would have gotten another hint about his daughters. Or if someone would have seen something, spreading rumours about it - again. They were pretty succesful in keeping that a secret by not acting on it at all during this time.
That however doesn't meant that Hanabi hadn't reminded Hinata about it from time to time. Most of the times when she did was it subtle, by taking the collar out of her sisters shelf and placing it prominent on her desk, dresser or bed. These were the things in her room Hinata used on a daily basis and she always had to take her collar and put it back on her shelf.
Another thing Hanabi did from time to time was to remember her sister that she had to make it official at one point after all. While Hinata wouldn't mind if none would learn about it, could she understand that her sister wanted to follow the rules. They did research how it exactly worked within Konoha and learned that a slave must be registered under any circumstance. They also learned that a slave holder actually needed a license within this village, which might or might not be the complicated part. There were several ways of getting this license and some of the requirements were actually already fulfilled by Hanabi. There was just one important thing missing, but that would be solved in slightly above one week.
Shrugging her shoulder was Hanabi playing innocent. "I haven't done anything to you during our Academy time. It does hurt that you aren't trusting me, sis..."
"Said the girl always reminding me that she is going to officially register me as her slave." Hinata rolled her eyes. "That's psychological warfare and I think it's not fair. Still... I know that I brought myself in this situation after all, so I shouldn't complain, should I?"
"So glad you understand. And this will happen regardless of your performance, so I don't really know why you brought that up in the first place." Hanabi was grinning again. "Well, we should finally start. The day won't last forever."
Getting a nod from her sister did both of them activate their Byakugan, preparing themselfs for the sparring match. Hinata was the first to make some handsigns, grinning at her little sister. "Water Style: Bubbles!" she shouted and created a dozen water bubbles out of the nearby pond on the training field, spreading them around Hanabi.
Said girl was a bit surprised by that, looking confused at the bubbles before speaking. "You are still using that jutsu? You know that it is pretty useless, right?"
"If it is distracting my opponent to ponder why I'm using it, is it fullfilling it's purpose." came the reply from Hinata who already closed half of the distance between her and her sister, charging to get into a taijutsu fight with her.
Realizing that she indeed got distracted by the bubbles was Hanabi starting to make handsigns of her own, pressing her hands on the ground while shouting "Earth Style: Stepping Stones!". Several smaller stonewalls of around 40 centimeter each appeared in front and below of the charging Hinata, trying to get her to struggle or at least slow down. It was the same jutsu Hanabi used to knock out Akamaru back then and she improved it by now to create a lot more, having in mind to keep the opponent occupied with the earth and to distract him.
It wasn't too hard for Hinata to dodge the raising earth due to her Byakugan. In fact could she even predict where they would raise because the ground at that place had an increase of chakra that she could clearly see. However, it was enough distraction, giving Hanabi the time to get through another set of signs.
Being hit by a stone at her left arm surprised Hinata and her eyes got wide when she saw dozen more small stones flying in her direction. Having a smirk upon her face was Hanabi now calling out the name of her jutsu. "Earth Style: Rain of Stones. Does it remind you of something, sis?"
Having to stop her charge and being pushed into the defensive was Hinata trying side- and backsteps to dodge the oncoming projectiles, even doing a backflip on the ground. However, there were too much for her to dodge and she entered her clans fighting stance, destroying the last of the stones with precise gentle fist attacks, surprising her younger sister who hadn't thought about that use of this style yet. "It does. On your first attempts with your earth chakra and all the bruises I got from your failures... and you thought it would be funny to make a jutsu out of it?"
Hanabi shrugged. "It isn't complicated. Kinda like what shinobi do to increase the speed of their kunai, channeling some chakra to throw them faster. Just that I can do it with stones and don't need to touch them, controlling them with my earth chakra. Simple, but it is working."
Shaking her head did Hinata sigh. "And it hurts. Fine, I should show you something as well.". She went through a set of signs herself and got a grin on her face when she reached the end. "Water Style: Water Needles!"
Flashback - Training Field, early during the second year of Academy
Hinata was standing right in the middle of the training field, the earth in her surroundings drenched by water, some of her water bubbles still floating around her. She was currently trying to move multiple bubbles around in addition of deforming one at the same time. It was after all just a trainings jutsu and she was using it as such, working on her concentration to work with as much bubbles as possible at the same time while performing other things as well.
Trying to shapeshift the form of one bubble did she suddenly loose concentration when a voice called out to her "Hey there, girly, what are you trying there?". All of her bubbles exploded, drenching her completely. Turning around to see who distracted her and ready to shout at the person did she saw C standing at the side of the trainings field.
"I was trying to concentrate on multiple tasks at the same time when you disturbed me..." she said through gritted teeth. "After all are water style jutsu all about forming and moving water, so I thought I should try to improve on that before working on learning anything new."
Nodding in understanding was C quite impressed. "That was a good thought, girly. If you don't get your basics done will you always have problems with advanced stuff. But the jutsu you are working with is pretty useless, you know?"
She couldn't help but roll her eyes at that statement. "No kidding? You expected me to know an A-rank water style jutsu or what? I'm in Academy, working with a training jutsu to improve. I don't see a problem with that.". There was slight anger raising in her and she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. All I wanted to say with that is that I actually have an idea for you. But if you aren't intrested..." he shrugged and turned to move along. "I got a meeting with Tenten-chan on another training field. She said she had a new prototype of my cards ready for testing."
"Wait!" Hinata shouted. "Sorry for that. What kind of idea? Please tell me, if it will help me improve..."
C stopped in his track, turning back towards Hinata. "Well, I saw that you had your bubbles spread across the field, all around you. That reminded me on something, the way I lost to Spooky back then. He used a low D-rank jutsu called Water Needles, surprising me with them shooting at me from all directions. All I thought is that you could distract your opponent with your bubbles and later surprise him with needles from all directions. If you are able to get your concentration right, that is."
"You mean you lost because of a D-rank technique? Hard to believe..." Hinata looked at C wary, not really sure if she could believe that. However, his idea sounded quite good to her.
"Ask Spooky if you want. About our fight and the jutsu as well. Though you need to persuade him to teach you." he shrugged and moved away. "Well, gotta go. Don't want to keep Tenten-chan waiting. She can be a bit obsessed when it comes to weapon testing..."
Watching him leave did Hinata sigh and walked over towards her belongings, picking up a towel to dry herself. She learned from the times she still trained with her sister and had always a towel and one set of spare clothes with her when working with her water chakra. Making a mental note to search for Spooky soon did she go back to her concentration training.
That evening did she randomly met Kakashi on her way home and asked him right away about the fight. He explained to her that C only lost to that jutsu because he was immobilized by his own jutsu and couldn't dodge it - making her understand why C lost to that specific technique. It took her a good five minutes to persuade him but eventually did Kakashi agree to show and teach her the Water Needles under the condition that her concentration and multitasking were good enough in his opinion. It was six months later when he finally teached her the basics of the jutsu.
Present - Trainings Field
Hanabi's eyes went wide the moment she realized that the bubbles around her, that she ignored after figuring that her sister used them only as distraction, changed form and all started shooting water needles in her direction. It was an effective attack from 360 degree around her, an attack hard to dodge.
Doing the only thing that came to her mind went Hanabi through a set of signs and pushed her hands on the ground again. "Earth Style: Earth Walls!" she bit on her lower lip while concentrating all her chakra into this jutsu. She understood how she needed to work with the earth, and she managed to control it using her chakra. Something like rising her Stepping Stones out of the ground was doable for her. Or creating one solid wall to block something. But right now was she trying to create four walls at the same time, surrounding her in a square to block the attack from her sister.
This happened to the surprise of Hinata who hadn't thought her sister would have come this far. And she soon realized that her sister wasn't that far yet, because all four walls started to crumble quickly under the attack. Her worry increased when she heard a high pitched scream coming from her sister. She wasted no second and quickly rushed toward the crumbling walls, climbing over the remains to get to her sister.
Hanabi laid in the middle of the formation, her eyes closed, her breath quick. Sweat was running down her forehead and her face was red. The moment Hinata reached her did she kneel next to her sister, taking her head in her lap and carefully stroking her hair. "Are you alright, Hanabi? What happened?" Giving her a quick check-over were their no visible injuries, so no hit by the needles or falling stones.
It took her some effort and long breaths before she could answer her sister. "I'm... exhausted... and... it hurts..." the voice quiet, the eyes still closed. "I used up... all of my chakra..."
"Stupid..." Hinata said quietly, still holding her sister and caressing her head. "You are stupid. Why have you done that? That's dangerous..."
Slowly opening one of her eyes was she barely able to see her sister, but tried to smile at her anyway. "Because... you are better than I thought... sis..." her breath calmed down slightly. "Don't wanted to be pierced and drenched at the same time..."
"Thanks..." Hinata had an honest smile on her face. "Common, let's get you up slowly. I'll take you to the hospital."
Helping her sister to her feet did Hinata support her by holding her tight and taking her arm over her own shoulder, carefully walking her to the hospital. They should be sure to get her checked, that the chakra exhaustion didn't effect anything inside her body.
Konoha Hospital
Hanabi was laying in a two person room within the hospital, the second bed empty right now. The medics checked her completely and haven't found any internal damages, telling the girl to rest up for some hours and everything should be back to normal. Hinata was sitting on a chair next to her sister, still having a worried expression on her face.
"Stop that, sis. You heard the doc, I'll be okay." Hanabi spoke calm, trying to reassure her sister that everything was okay.
"But what if something like that happens when we are somewhere with no hospital or medic nearby? What will happen then? You know that this would be a situation we don't want to get into... not again..." Hinata's worries were increasing, her head thinking about possible situations that fueled her worries even more. She was trapt inside a downwards spiral.
She couldn't help but sigh, still, Hanabi knew that her sister was right. But thinking about dangerous what if-scenarios wouldn't help anyone. "Pull yourself together, sis. You know that you shouldn't think about that. It isn't helping anyone. Better take some pride that you put me into the hospital. I really wasn't expecting that."
A small smile entered Hinata's face. "Actually, I wasn't either. But when you used this Rain of Stones... that really hurt, you know? Well, there was something telling me to use the needles. You were distracted by my bubbles after all. It worked." sticking her tongue out at her sister did she suddenly remember something. "But you aren't going to punish me for that?" a slight fear was present in her voice.
That confused Hanabi for a moment before she started to giggle. "Why would I? It was a fair sparring fight and you won. It's not like you would have disobeyed me or something, sis."
Hinata nodded at that and relaxed on her chair, watching out the window. "So your plan still stands?"
"Uhu. We're going to talk with the old man tomorrow and I will request him to prepare everything to make it official. And once we succeeded on the genin tests can we get the papers together with our shinobi license." Hanabi nodded.
"That means I will have to wear my collar as well very soon, right?"
"Yeah. You got a problem with that? From what I can tell do you like it and all. It is comfortable, right?" their was slight worry in Hanabi's voice.
"It's not that." Hinata shook her head. "I'm still not comfortable with the thought of wearing it in public. That's all."
"Or in front of father..." Hanabi agreed her sister. "I'm sure we can manage that, somehow. If anything fails can we still ask C for advice."
"True... speaking of... remember how we met him here in the hospital?"
Hanabi got a grin on her face, remembering the situation two and an half years ago.
Flashback - Konoha Hospital, around one week after their talkout with C
A nurse was bringing Hinata into a room with a wheel chair, gently helping her up in one of the beds. Groaning in pain by the touch was she glad when she finally lay down on the bed, not moving at all anymore. Her whole body was covered in bruises and each movement brought her discomfort. Hanabi, who followed after the nurse into the room, stood silently in a corner, waiting for the nurse to walk away.
Once the nurse was gone was she getting close to her sister, starting to appologize again. "Really sis, I'm totally sorry about that. I never expected something like that to happen. That the use of too much chakra would let the rock explode and cover you with all these fragments..."
"Just... be silent and leave me alone..." Hinata answered somewhere between a whisper and a painful groan, getting Hanabi to wince at the sound. She was currently extremely worried about her sisters well-being after this training accident.
"But... sis..." Hanabi started quietly, looking on the ground, not finishing what she wanted to say. She could understand her sisters feeling, that she currently wasn't too fond of having her around.
Both of them hadn't paid any attention to their surroundings and both of them flinched, with Hinata letting out a painful groan by that movement, when a voice spoke up to them. "Seriously, girls, can't you be a bit quieter? This is a hospital and it would be great if you would consider the other patients here..."
While Hinata couldn't even turn her head to see who spoke did Hanabi turn around to look at the second bed inside this room, her jaw falling open when she saw the person occupying it. It was a grown up man with blond hair, half of his body covered in bandages. But even with this condition could she clearly see that it was C laying inside the second bed. The person that had great influence on their life, the person they visited just a week ago to talk things out.
With the room being silent again, on one hand because of Hanabi's shock and on the other hand because of a worried Hinata who didn't knew why her sister was shocked, did C lay back in his bed and relaxed, mumbling a quiet "Much better." while closing his eyes. All he wanted right now was to simply let his body recover.
The silence however wasn't lasting for too long when Hanabi got out of her shock, starting to speak again. "What the hell happened to you? Why are you here?"
He knew that he shouldn't be surprised but he still was. Opening his eyes again did he turn his head to look at Hanabi. "What does it look like to you, little one? I'm recovering from some injuries here. And judging by your sisters state do I see the general problem here: the girls of this village tend to sent you to the hospital."
"What?" Hanabi exclaimed loudly, watching C in disbelief, trying to figure out what he meant by that comment. Did he try to lay his hands on another kid?
"Don't give me that look and relax... it was a joke, kinda... Tenten-chan had the first prototype of my playing cards ready for testing. Well, turned out to be an unstable prototype that backfired on me when I tried to use it." he shrugged slightly. "Things like that happen during weapon development."
"Prototype?" it was Hinata asking quietly, but still loud enough for C to hear. She figured by the voice and the words spoken that it had to be C in the other bed. "But you already have cards, right?"
"Huh, sure, I do. They are my ninja tools, my weapon of choice. And like with any other ninja tool can they get damaged or destroyed, lost or stolen. You need a steady supply of it and I lost mine when I left the Organization. That's why I approached Tenten-chan and the weapon shop owner to figure out how to recreate my cards." watching the girls for a moment did he decide to tease them a little by adding another sentence. "Though there is one kind of ninja tool that is hard if not impossible to replace, which is why it should always be treated properly."
That got both girls into thinking, trying to figure out what he meant with that. Taking this opportunity was C closing his eyes again, savoring the few minutes of silence the thinking girls gave him. It was Hanabi who broke the silence again, some confusion and curiousity in her voice. "And what kind of ninja tool is that?"
Keeping his eyes shut was C smirking. "A tool that you, little one, actually own for yourself already. I don't know for how long because you won't tell me, but still..." now opening his eyes and sitting up in bed did he want to see the expression the girls might make right now. "I'm talking about your sister. A slave is just property, a tool nearly impossible to replace cause you'll never get your hands on an identical one."
Hinata was blushing crimson red by C talking about that openly inside a hospital room and because she wasn't able to move and hide. Realizing that there was some kind of truth to these words, she wouldn't admit the property and tool part but he had a point of her sister not being replaceable, did Hanabi start to sob and sank down next to her sisters bed, quietly starting to appologize over and over again.
He waited patiently for the girls to calm down before he spoke again. "There is one thing you shouldn't forget, little one. You are responsible for her. For her actions, for her needs, for everything. That is if it is serious between you two."
"It is..." Hinata said quietly. "I'm bound to her by my word and honor."
"I see..." C nodded slowly. "I will be gentlemen here and won't pry into it any further. Though, feel free to get in contact if you need informations of any kind.". Seeing that both girls were kinda down right now did he sigh and decided to get them on other thoughts. "That is if you will let me see you in the first place. I think to remember that we still need to negotiate, right? Why don't we do it now, right here?"
Hearing that brought a small smile on Hanabi's face and she shrugged. "You are aware that I only said that for teasing, right?" gaining a confirming nod did she continue. "You see, we are fine with you around, really. All we would ask for is that you might give us some information or a helping hand whenever we might struggle. But I guess you were planning to do that anyway, considering that you are intrested in us."
"You got me there, little one. I can agree to these terms. Though, any hints on how to negotiate with the boy? I still need to get some tensions between us settled."
It was Hinata speaking up without skipping a beat. "Treat him to some ramen to talk about it. That's the best scenario you can prepare. But you should bring a good amount of money with you.". Raising an eyebrow in slight confusion did C nod to that advise, wondering what he might need the money for. Surely ramen can't be that expensive.
The three of them talked about random topics for the rest of the day. It was evening when Hinata recovered enough to walk back home and the girls left the hospital. At least had this training accident the positive side of them now being on agreed terms with C - that was worth the week of complaining about the pain Hinata was going to give Hanabi.
Present - Konoha Hospital
"Wasn't C sitting a whole day at the market a few days later, cursing about stupid negotiations while taking the villagers money with his card tricks gambling?" Hanabi wondered aloud, trying to remember the whole event.
"He did indeed." Hinata nodded. "Though I think that is fine. After all did they indirect pay for Naruto-kuns meal that day. But to think that he would eat over 20 bowls of ramen..."
Hanabi was shivering by that thought. "I know, right? That's crazy... I really wonder how long they sat together that he managed to eat that much."
"Actually..." Hinata started, getting a curious look from her sister. "I know that you weren't around Naruto-kun often and even less lately for meals, but... he can really eat a lot but isn't gaining any weight. I really wonder how he is doing that."
"How is it going between you two anyway? You had over two years of figuring things out. Any progress?"
Rolling her eyes was Hinata trying to avoid the question. "Really now? You spent too much time with Ino. If she is the queen of gossip did you become the princess of gossip..."
"With other words haven't you kissed at all yet." Hanabi concluded, looking at her sister worried. "I do wonder if your shy personality is still somewhere inside of you. If I didn't worked hard enough to help you get over it..." an evil smirk entered her face. "Though I would go and kiss him real soon. Who knows how he might see you once it's official?"
Letting her shoulders hang and watching the ground was Hinata mumbling quietly. "I have faith and trust in him. He won't be abadoning me, even then..."
"Better make sure of it. You don't want another girl taking him away from you just because she actually is going to kiss him and stuff, won't you?" she couldn't help but continue to tease her sister. It was fun after all. That and she knew it would hit her hard if Naruto would leave her, so she tried to push her sister a little.
That brought the energy back into Hinata. "You wouldn't dare to try that, Hanabi!" her face was red, her eyes furious. The thought of her little sister, mistress or not, taking away her boyfriend was too much for her.
Displaying mock hurt by that statement was Hanabi raising her hands in defense. "Me? Never, sis. I would never do something like that to hurt you. I got access to a whole other things for that." she started grinning at her sister who in return felt uneasy. "But I would be worried about Ino-chan, if I were you. Weren't these two training together, lately?"
Another Training Field
Naruto was standing in a defensive position, holding his staff at one of the outer segments with the other two segments hanging down loosely. Opposite of him was standing Ino right next to a small river, a bucket by her side. Ino was covered in sweat while Naruto was completely drenched, a determined look on his face.
"Common Ino-chan, do it again. I need to somehow manage that before I can try doing the real stuff." he told his friend, his attitude to never give up sometimes surprising even the people knowing him for quite some time.
Taking a deep breath was Ino replying. "Okay, fine. But that's the last time for today. You are working on that for months now and still got problems with that and I'm pretty tired already. I'll finish for today after that."
Getting a nod from Naruto was she taking the bucket and filled it with water, before getting in position a good five meters away from Naruto. Channeling some chakra in her hands to get a bit more strength for the next move was she releasing the water in one fluid motion of the bucket in the direction of Naruto. He in return waited for that and started to swing the loosely hanging segments of his staff around like a windmill with high speed, trying to block and divert the water that way. This move was marked as difficult within the scroll for this weapon style, but if mastered was the user able to block even the fiercest elemental attack that way - if the used staff is of proper quality and the attack not larger than the area covered by the rotation.
Ino only agreed to help him with this training because she took that as opportunity to work on her strength and endurance. Having released the contents of the bucket was she waiting for the same result she saw countless times by now, Naruto being drenched in even more water. To her surprise however was Naruto kinda succesful this time, diverting most of the water flying his way.
"Hah, I knew it would work! Now are you speechless, huh? I tell you, I will become the greatest. Believe it!" he exclaimed loudly, a happy grin fixed on his face.
Being speechless indeed was Ino staring at Naruto open-mouthed when he brought her out of her stupor with the next thing he said. "Alright, now do the real stuff, Ino-chan. I want to try it out."
"What?" she looked at him in disbelief. "No way. I'm not going to do that. You just managed to block one time after months of trying and that not to 100% at all. There's no way I'm going to do that and put you into the hospital. Hinata-chan would kill me for that."
"Why not? Come on, Ino-chan. Why stop now when I finally managed it? Just once. Please?" he used an evil tactic against Ino he knew would work. Getting on her nerves til she would agree that he would stop nagging her.
Letting out a long sigh was Ino fixing him with her eyes. "Alright, just stop that already. I'll do this for you, but just once right now, got that? And don't you dare complain to me afterwards."
"Sure thing, Ino-chan. No complaining. Let's just start the last training for today!" Naruto was totally excited, his grip on the staff pretty firm, his stance ready to block the oncomming attack.
Sighing again was Ino walking on a position opposite of Naruto a good ten meters away. Looking at him one more time and seeing his determination was she shaking her head before going through a short set of hand signs. "Fire Style: Flame." she whispered her words and blew some air slightly on her outstreched hand, creating a small fireball hovering above her palm, basicly just a flame giving this jutsu it's name.
When she decided to extend her repoirtoire of skills was Ino pretty unsure on what she should focus and she tried different things during the first year of Academy. She quickly realized that her body wasn't that strong, giving her a disadvantage in taijutsu. That was the first idea she scratched out, even so it would be the perfect addition to her families mind transfer techniques.
She also read up on genjutsu which work in a kinda similiar way than her clans techniques, but these were too complicated for her at that time and she figured that in the end would she have the same problems as with the clan techniques. She would be pretty defense- and useless once an opponent got close to her.
At the end of the first year was she complaining a lot that she didn't made any real progress on anything and it was that time when the sisters gave her a chakra nature test, which resulted in the paper burning to ash. Ino had the chakra nature most people of Konoha own and having nothing to loose was she trying if she could work with it.
It was hard at first, being from a clan working with non elemental techniques that actually never really cared about investing time into elemental ones, but in the end did she realize that she could manage at least some, as long as these were small. Her clan's main jutsu requires precise useage of chakra directed on one specific point - and working with that was she able to learn the jutsu she was now holding in her hand. Her fire nature chakra focused precisely on one point.
In addition to that did she later agree to help Naruto in his training in order to increase her own strength and endurance, to somehow get at least a bit better if it came down to taijutsu. After all, no matter what you might be able to use, if the enemy gets close would you loose if you can't defend yourself.
"Here goes nothing!" she shouted towards Naruto before throwing the flame in his direction, the speed of it slightly enhanced by her using some of her chakra at the throw. Watching it advance towards her friend did she grimace, realizing that this jutsu got the same problem as her clan technique: it was too direct and would leave her wide open if it misses. Maybe she should start working on using multiple flames next?
Naruto was having a grin on his face, determined to defend himself against this attack and to never let anything happen to his friends anymore. He started spinning his staff again like a windmill with high speed, willing to deflect the flame aiming for him head on. Though when it was only two meters away of him did he become nervous, unsure if this was a good idea at all or if he would regret asking Ino for that favor.
Ino watched in worry when her flame hit the spinning staff and increased in size shortly before the contact due to the winds Naruto was creating. The next thing she saw was her flame hitting the staff and actually being deflected in different directions, becoming smaller. She was just relaxing her body in relief that everything went fine when Naruto let out a painful groan. Without even thinking about it was her body moving towards the river where she left the bucket.
Naruto was happy that it was working, he really was deflecting a fire attack with his staff. Sure, it was only a small one from his friend and nothing compared to the attack that gave Hanabi her burn mark all these years ago, but he was still deflecting it. Unlucky for him was he celebrating too early, loosing concentration and slowing the rotation of his staff down, which he regretted on the spot. There was not much left of the flame, but the last impulse of it, before dieing down, managed to slip through the slowing staff, hitting Naruto dead in the center of his chest.
He groaned in pain by the heat and his surroundings were covered in a steamy mist when it made contact with his drenched clothes. Figuring that he was lucky right now for being totally soaked with water from the earlier training and with that probably coming out of it unharmed, was he still dropping his body to the ground, pressing his chest on the ground in hope of getting rid of anything that might ignite him after all.
Though this worry was taken away as well just seconds later when he got hit by another wave of water. Looking up in surprise did he saw Ino standing above him, the now empty bucket still in her hands. She was looking down at him with worry written all over her face and he gave her a weak, reassuring smile in return. "Thanks, Ino-chan."
"That's why I said I don't wanted to do it, idiot..." she said angrily at him before kneeling down and knocking him once on his head, but then suddenly pulling him in a sitting position as well and giving him a hug. "Never do that again."
"Alright. I will be more careful in the future, I promise." he was scratching the back of his head and a slight blush crept on his face. "Uhm, you can let me go now, Ino-chan."
Realizing that she was pulling him at her chest did Ino push Naruto away, giving him another knock on the head. Looking back at her was he starting to complain. "Hey, what was that for just now? You were the one pulling me close to you."
"And what are you trying to say with that?" Ino asked sweetly, though her eyes sent a message that he shouldn't say anything wrong just now.
"Uhm... nothing?" he asked sheepish, getting a caring smile from her in return. That answer seemed to be good enough.
A Bar at the outskirts of the village, evening
A group of jonin was sitting around a table, sharing some drinks with each other and playing cards. They were five of them, two women and three men, having a good time enjoying each others company and talking about different things. Though it wasn't too long before the talks landed on the one topic they all had in mind.
"So, just one week left and this year will get the chance to graduate from the Academy and become genin. What do you think of the candidates?" a man with short black hair and beard asked, taking a deep inhale of his cigarette.
"It's an intresting group for sure. All major clan's are present and also some promising clanless kids." Kakashi answered, watching his friend. "Already making plans on what kind of team you want to take?"
The black haird man shrugged at that. "Kind of, yeah. We still need to see who will pass and discuss it with my old man, but he is always willing to listen to the thoughts of the upcomming jonin instructors, so why not plan ahead?"
"Really now, Asuma? You are already playing the 'son of the Hokage' card? The evening is still young, it might be wasted." a blond man asked, shuffling the cards and giving each person present a new hand.
"I wasn't playing it." Asuma shrugged again. "I simply stated that my old man always had an ear for suggestions and would take them into consideration. Though I'm surprised that you haven't have information on that topic, C."
Taking a sip of his sake was it C's turn to shrug. "It's not like I would spy on everything. So, what team to you have in mind?"
"Ah, yeah, you see, we always had some famous shinobi in our village and some clans are real close to each other. You could call it tradition, but the Akimichi, Nara and Yamanaka clans always formed a team. And since we have the childs of each clan head in this years class... thought about taking on these three. As member of the main clan of the village would this be a good thing I guess." taking another inhale of his cigarette was he looking into the round, waiting for others to say their thoughts.
"Hadn't thought of you to be a traditional man." the one woman said. She had shoulder length black hair and red eyes. "Anyway, seeing which kids we have this year, maybe a tracking team? With the sons of the Inuzuka and Aburame together with one of the Hyuga girls. They could find anything."
Kakashi nodded at this thought. "You are right about that, Kurenai, but..." he wasn't finishing his sentence, getting a curious look from Kurenai.
It was C who decided to finish this thought. "It wouldn't be a good idea to pair the Inuzuka together with the little one. Haven't you heard? These two hate each other to the core. I don't really know all the details, but they would have killed each other already if they weren't stopped."
The last person at the table, another woman, burst out into laughter at that, gaining some confused looks from all around the bar. "You don't know all the details? Now that sentence is rare coming from you. I would most likely guess that you do know the details but don't want to share them."
Shrugging it off was C not paying much attention to it. "Think what you want, Anko-chan. It is the truth and it won't change."
"Is it really that bad?" Kurenai pondered aloud, thinking about this information. "But there is still the older one, Hinata. Might work with her then." Seeing the look she was getting from C did she sigh. "Okay, and why is that a bad idea? Please do enlight us non-spies that don't always know everything."
"Huh, I haven't said anything." C answered in mock hurt. "But since you are asking... I wouldn't seperate the sisters at all. The younger is pretty protective over the older. And if you pair the older one with the Inuzuka boy, who the younger one hates..."
"...would this create a situation endangering most likely two teams at the same time." Asuma finished for him. "But it would be a waste to put two Hyuga into the same team. What can you do with them together anyway? Create an all-out close range team? There should at least be one capable of ranged attacks to cover them. But they would still have the same taijutsu style."
"Why not?" Kakashi asked, getting the looks of everyone. "Put them together with the Uzumaki and you get an effective close range team. They are also friends with each other for years and work well together. I'm sure that will work out."
The table became silent for a moment, everyone thinking over the setups they just discussed, when Anko spoke up again. "So, none of you is intrested in the Uchiha brat? Thought he would be the hot stuff to be bartered about."
Kurenai was the first to answer. "I'll totally pass on him. Have you seen his character? That's nothing I could work with. Guess he would be a candidate for Asuma."
Raising an eyebrow was Asuma thinking that over for a bit. "Well, you are right that I could work with his character. But wasn't he all about revenge for his slaugthered clan? That would mean so much work actually training him..."
"You are just too lazy, Asuma." Kakashi countered, getting looks from everyone else. "What?"
"Really now, Spooky? You are calling others lazy while you are the one we meassure lazyness against?" Asuma asked in disbelief.
"And? Doesn't mean that my statement is wrong. You are too lazy to actually train a genin team. I don't even know why you even consider taking one on." Kakashi replied without missing a beat.
Scratching the back of his head and shrugging his shoulders was Asuma trying to avoid the topic, but decided to speak anyway. "Ah, well, it's all because my old man wants me to take on a genin team. That's the whole reason."
"I don't really believe that the Uchiha will actually become genin at all." it was C who changed the topic, the whole table falling silent at that statement. "You see, first of all is he missing one year of Academy and trying to take the test early. While the requirements these kids have to fulfill aren't that high are there hidden requirements as well, giving the teachers the opportunity to still fail them. But even if he gets past this point, I don't see him pass the real genin test that will follow after that."
"That's a first for me of hearing about hidden requirements. Care to share your informations with us, C? But you are right about the real test. I don't see him pass mine." Kakashi stated in thought.
"Sorry, but I'm not allowed. The old man asked me to create a report regarding the genin tests. He is clearly testing my possibilities to better judge what I'm capable of. What kind of spy would I be if I can't dig deep enough to find things nobody knows about?" he had a grin on his face.
"Fair enough. My old man loves his secrets. Anyway, I'm not sure whether the Uchiha would pass or not if he had to take my test." Asuma lighted himself another cigarette and took a deep inhale.
Kurenai shook her head. "He would fail my requirements before even starting I guess. His character is just not fit for me."
Anko, listening to her friends and comrades, had a wide grin on her face. "I never knew all of you would be that sadistic. And with kids that is. Intresting..." getting guilty looks of her friends was she focusing C now. "Hey, care to bet what you got from me?"
"Huh? Sure, if you make it wortwhile for me. I wouldn't risk loosing it for nothing." he replied calmly, ignoring the intrested looks around him. Especially Kakashi seemed intrested, considering he wanted to knew what Anko lost to him since back then.
"How does an A-rank payment sound?" Anko asked, throwing the money on the table.
Nodding his head in agreement did C pull out a joker card out of a hidden pocket, flipping it on the table as well. Though it was no normal joker. Instead of the normal joker image did it showcase the image of black panties.
"Don't tell me you got..." Kakashi's jaw dropped open, clearly visible behind his mask, not believing what he was seeing.
"Hehe, finally I'll get it back from you. Now cry, C!" Anko said grinning, showing her cards. "Four of a kind, all Aces!"
"Sorry to disappoint you, Anko-chan. But they will stay with me. Straight Flush with clubs, nine to king." he showed his cards to her and took the pot, clearly ignoring the glare he got from Anko and the envious look from Kakashi.
Somewhere unknown
It was cold. A feeling Hinata got used to with time passing. She didn't even need to look around to know her situation. She was in a window-less room with a door right in front of her. She also knew that she was naked and down on all four, wearing her collar and unable to speak or move. It was the same nightmare she had when she wore her collar for the first time during sleep. In fact did the nightmare appear from time to time to her, but she never told her sister. Remembering Hanabi's reaction when she told her of having the nightmare for the first time, was she now fearing that telling her of still having this nightmare might escalate the hate between her and Kiba.
Though it wasn't exactly the same nightmare every time. Some small things were always different. The one time could she actually spot the red Inuzuka face markings on the figure standing in the doorframe, another time was a small white dog visible behind the figure. And the things the figure said to her were always different, though they always aimed on training the "puppy" he got here in some way.
But something was totally different this time. While she got used to having this nightmare and waking up covered in sweat could she clearly tell that it felt different this time. She wasn't able to point on anything particular, it just felt differently for her and she didn't liked that feeling. When the door finally opened was she expecting the usual to happen. The shadow of the figure talking to her out of the doorframe. To her surprise however went the nightmare differently this time.
Instead of just standing there was the figure actually walking into the room, becoming clear for her to see. It was indeed Kiba Inuzuka hunting her in her dreams and he had a feral grin on his face. Following by his side was his partner Akamaru, a curious glance in his eyes. "Look partner, the cute puppy came back again. I can tell with just one glance that it's still not trained. But it want to take on a test in that state, what a joke."
A shiver ran down Hinata's spine. She didn't like the look in Kiba's eyes. And worse, she hated that he was still coming closer. She tried her best to wake up, to end this nightmare at this point. Even knowing that it was just a nightmare was she afraid of how this one would develop.
"Now, now, don't be afraid, little puppy." Kiba spoke suddenly to her, looking her right into the eyes from above her, seeing her discomfort. His hand moved in her direction and she wanted to back away, but was still unable to move at all. The moment when he started to pet her head was she totally confused. It kinda felt good to her, the touch was gentle. "See, all's good, little puppy. No reason to be afraid of anything.". Feeling Hinata slightly relax under his hand was he smiling. "Alright partner, feel free to start."
That statement worried Hinata again and she saw Akamaru coming close, stopping right in front of her face, starting to sniff at her. Her eyes got wide when the dog started to slowly walk around her, disappearing out of her sight. She started to blush slightly, feeling his breath on her flank. When a bark came from exactly behind her became the blush even deeper, knowing quite well where exactly the dog was at that moment.
"Heh, you like the smell, partner? I can understand that. It's really a cute puppy." Kiba was carefully stroking her shoulders and the neck. "But you know the rules. A estray needs to be trained first. So, what do you say we start training it now?" he got a confirming bark from Akamaru, sending a new wave of fear through Hinata.
At that moment did she finally got out of her nightmare, sitting upright in her bed, completely covered in sweat and breathing heavy. Her hand snaked to her chest, placing itself right above her heart, trying to calm it down on a normal level. While she got used to these nightmares did she hate the state she was in when she woke up. And this time was it even worse compared to the other times. It was more intense and it was more all together.
It took her some minutes to finally calm down. Once being back to normal was she now taking in her surroundings. It was still her bed in her room and there was nothing strange or different in it. She just couldn't explain her nightmares at all. The moment she lay back down, unsure whether she wanted to go back to sleep or not was she feeling a light pressure around her neck.
'Must be my collar...' she thought to herself, slowly closing her eyes before suddenly opening them wide. 'Wait, my collar?' touching her neck was she confirming that she indeed was wearing her collar right now. 'But I haven't put it on before going to bed. Why am I wearing it? I... that's strange... Maybe I should tell Hanabi after all...'
With this final thought was her mind falling asleep with her body following shortly, the rest of the night being dreamless. Also forgotten for the moment were the things that would happen the next day, the things her sister had planned...