Chapter 27 – Academy Life III

"Talk"

'Think'

Flashback

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto sensei. So…yeah.

A/N: Thank you Oblivion168 for your suggestion. I'd like to answer but I've been cracking my head how to answer without spoiling, one of my close friends goes ballistic about spoiler so I've kind of developed strict attitude about spoiling. Sorry, though I do appreciate the suggestion.

Naruto and Noriko were facing each other. They formed the Seal of Confrontation and got into stance-

After her talked with Sandaime and their subsequent sparrings, Noriko noted that she dominated the Henge sparring while Naruto dominated the Kawarimi sparring. They opted for no Bunshin sparring since Naruto required more time to produce a bunshin which was not suitable for fighting.

One day, while Naruto and Noriko were jogging, when they heard loud noises, Curious, they investigated and their jaw dropped-

Kakashi and Gai are sparring and neither Naruto nor Noriko could take their eyes of them. It was awesome!

Noriko would love to activate her Sharingan but she had made promised with Shisui to never ever show her dōjutsu outside home until she has become Konoha shinobi, or in a life or death situation.

After that, Naruto commented that he and Noriko never had a spar where they go all out. Noriko responded that it was probably because they had similar skillset i.e. Taijutsu and basic shinobi.

She also commented that Naruto's attack packed a punch compared to Sasuke and Hinata. Nevertheless, Sasuke's attack was precise albeit Hinata's was more.

When asked for elaboration, Noriko said that Sasuke's attack, if hit, was more critical than Naruto's while Hinata's attack aimed at tenketsus and if hit, will render one to temporarily unable to regulate chakra on the hit area.

Meanwhile, Naruto commented that Noriko was so good at evading that it was hard for him to aim for critical areas.

That night, they discussed with Shisui how to progress from that point. Upon listening to their sparring results, Shisui commented that Noriko was more focused hence she dominated the Henge sparring while Naruto was more in tune with his surroundings.

However, Shisui also pointed out that Noriko's one track focus can be dangerous especially when fighting multiple enemies while Naruto need to increase his focus.

After that, since he had promised and Naruto had fulfilled his part, Shisui taught Naruto Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and suggested that Naruto asked Gai for tips how to improve his taijutsu.

Shisui suggested to Noriko that she needed to play her strength a.k.a her dōjutsus. Shizuka suggested that Noriko asked Tsunade-sama for evasion lessons (Shizuka smiled when she suggested this while Shisui raised his eyebrows).

After that night, Naruto and Noriko decided to develop his and her own style and they will spar again before examination.

Naruto

Naruto took kage bunshin like duck to water. Shisui told him about the memory effect from kage bunshin which he suggested Naruto use it to improve his focus. He also warned about the side-effects when too many memories flooded his head thus he made Naruto promised to check on him if he wants to use his kage bunshin for other purposes.

Gail was ecstatic when Naruto came to him and asked for tips. After listening to Naruto's narration of his training and current skills, he proposed Naruto to increase his physical exercise and wearing weights at the arms and legs to build more muscles thus packed more punch to his attack.

Gai also suggested Naruto to improve his speed. For that, Naruto asked Inuzuka Kiba for a speed challenge since Kiba was the fastest in their class. Kiba was surprised but he grinned toothily, displaying his sharp incisors, and accepted it. While he had beaten Naruto soundly during their first many races, he begrudgingly admitted that Naruto was getting better and better, especially when Sasuke asked to join the race.

Noriko

Initially, Noriko was at loss on how to play to her strengths. Her frequent spars with Hinata and her experiment with Naruto had given her inklings how to use her Byakugan in a fight, but not her Sharingan.

It was after her continuous wheedling to Tsunade which finally snapped and lashed out to Noriko, only to find that she has evaded. This enraged Tsunade more and she chased Noriko who was terrified that she inadvertently activated her dōjutsus. Although she managed to evade most of the attacks aimed at her by Tsunade, the one that she received knocked her out.

Nevertheless, the event had gained Tsunade's interest although she too, made a rule that Noriko has to learn to evade without her dōjutsus. Once she was hit-free without her dōjutsus, Tsunade allowed Noriko to use her dōjutsus. Noriko notice that when she activated her dōjutsus, Tsunade's attack was decidedly faster and more vicious.

The worst is when Tsunade had her summon animal, Katsuyu formed a circle with Noriko in the middle and they shoot acid randomly from all directions. Once Noriko has gotten better, the circle became smaller.

Getting hit by acid was painful and Noriko gritted her teeth through the pain. Nevertheless, it reminded Noriko of the Hyūga's ability to release chakra from any tenketsu and she learnt to do that to lessen the effect from the acid.

Present day

-Naruto formed hand seals and said "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!". Many Naruto appeared and surrounded Noriko. With her dōjutsus activated, she can see multiple chakra pathways.

"Good" thought Noriko. This will test the effectiveness of the taijutsu forms she had practiced from her observation during her spars with Hinata.

Naruto saw Noriko's stance and noted its similarity with Hinata's. He sent his clones to attack in twos and threes to see Noriko's proficiency with Jūken-

He saw that while Noriko's attack form was not at all similar to those of Hinata's, "I guess she has not master it" though Naruto. Nevertheless, he noted that Noriko was not being hit at all!

Grinning at the challenge, he formed a plan and produced more kage bunshin.

Noriko was elated at the multiple attacks from different direction as this reminded her of that painful training with Tsunade-sama. Her Byakugan allows her to see the direction of Naruto's attack as well as the tenketsus for her to attack while her Sharing enabled her to gage the attack more accurately to improve her evasion skill.

Noriko's focus was interrupted when the stone near her feet exploded. Naruto came out from the smoke and aimed a punch at her cheek. As his punch made contact, Noriko's attacked his shoulder blade with Jūken.

"That's a time out!" said Shisui, who was observing their sparring.

Naruto and Noriko made the Seal of Reconciliation and winced. Noriko's face began to swell from being punched while Naruto felt a throbbing pain in his shoulder.

"I'm impressed" commented Shisui "Naruto, good use on kage bunshin and henge. You've learnt to use them effectively during battle. Noriko, I can say it's getting harder and harder to hit you. I've counted more than 20 hits that Naruto could have hit you had you a bit slower"

"However" he continued "Both of you were getting cocky and that was your downfall. Naruto, you got over-confident when you saw you are about to attack Noriko that you are opened. If Noriko used Jūken or kunai on your heart, you'll die. Noriko, I know you did similar training with Tsunade-sama, but unlike hers, you have to move around. Despite of your Byakugan, your lack of awareness was your downfall"

Naruto and Noriko bowed down, ashamed of Shisui's reprimand.

"Well" Shisui said gently "If you took lessons from today and applied it tomorrow, I'm sure you'll get better and better. How about Yakiniku for celebration? Kosuke-san was back from his mission. We'll bring him along"

"Yeay!"

End Chapter 27

Bunshin no Jutsu – Clone Technique

Dōjutsu – Eye Technique

Henge no Jutsu – Transformation Technique

Jūken – Gentle Fist

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Shadow Clone Technique

Kawarimi no Jutsu – Body Replacement Technique

Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Multiple Shadow Clone Technique

Tenketsu – chakra point