Dutiful Eyes

By Stormlock

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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. (Who reads these anyways?.)

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AN: I never mentioned it, but in the previous chapter, Hinata explained the basic properties of the Byakugan to Naruto; what it can see, the fact that it drains chakra to use, and the fact that it has a blind spot. She didn't go into any major detail, but he knows what the Byakugan does. Oh, and in case anyone doesn't know, a senbon is a metal needle weapon, it's the thing the depressed looking referee guy in the chunin exams keeps in his mouth all the time. And the Hakke is the flashy 64 strike technique Neji uses in the chunin exams. Although I was thinking about it the other day, and isn't it actually 2 strikes short, since he starts with 2 and doubles each time, it leaves a gap right? Well, it's not like it's drawn down to the last hit in the manga or anything, it just struck me as odd. . .

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"Oh, Naruto, were you planning on doing anything when we get back?"

Naruto didn't even pretend to think about Hinata's question. "No, I've just been bothering Kakashi to teach me stuff when we get back early like this, but he keeps giving me lame excuses and running off anyway." Naruto threw a small rock at his teacher's head, causing him to dodge and remain out of sight for the rest of the trip back to town.

Team 7 had been doing 'D' rank missions for just about a week now, and had been completing almost every single one far more quickly than was expected. This left them with a lot of extra time on their hands. Hinata and Neji didn't mind so much, since Hinata had extra duties to take care of at home and Neji could never cram enough training into his schedule, but it had been driving Naruto crazy. Hinata had come up with an obvious solution to that problem and another one that Neji was having recently.

"I haven't been sparring with Neji very often lately because of other things I need to do, so I was wondering if you could train with him for me." Neji tried not to make a face while Hinata talked about him like he wasn't there. Since both she and Neji could tell that Naruto needed some help with his taijutsu technique anyways, she figured Neji could bring Naruto up to speed and Naruto could give Neji someone to practice with. Neji knew it was a good idea, but he didn't like asking for help, especially from someone like Naruto. Hinata had no such qualm of course. Neji finally relented when she pointed out that if he could help Naruto even a small amount, it would be safer for all of them, since they'd be that much stronger collectively.

Naruto was eager to have something worthwhile to do in his spare time. The missions were way too easy, and he was considering pestering Kakashi about getting them some bigger ones, but this would give him something to keep the downtime between missions from being a waste.

"Sure Hinata, I'd love to get some extra training in. You both seem really good at taijutsu, so I can probably learn some cool tricks too."

"Actually, Neji is much better than me at taijutsu, so I've started to work on longer range skills and ninjutsu instead. That's why I haven't been sparring with Neji very much lately."

Before long they got back home and Hinata and Neji showed Naruto to the training ground they usually used. It was a small deciduous wooded area with a number of well worn trails running through it. There weren't any truly open areas, but the trees were sparse enough that one could usually throw a kunai more than 50 feet before hitting a tree, and there was easily enough room to spar while still allowing use of cover and the terrain to one's advantage.

"Nice spot you guys have here! So, what are the rules for when we spar Neji?"

"Well, lets just start out with just basic taijutsu practice, so no kagebunshins or other ninjutsus. You don't have to worry about pulling any punches though. Hinata knows a few medical techniques, so as long as we're just fighting unarmed or with light weapons like kunai she can patch us up. That's one of the reasons she learned that stuff actually, so we could train harder without wasting time recovering."

"Cool. I didn't know Hinata knew things like that. They didn't teach that stuff at the academy at all. Anyways, lets start. I haven't had a good fight in ages!"

With that, Naruto and Neji started sparring while Hinata watched them. Neji of course, was fighting with the Jyuuken style, only without actually using chakra to hurt Naruto. This confused the hell out of Naruto, but he didn't say anything. After a couple of (frustrating) minutes, Neji held up his hand and asked for a time out.

"Naruto, you're pretty fast and strong, but your technique is abysmal! Why don't you know any of the forms or defenses beyond the basic ones?"

"Well, my teachers always told me I wasn't ready for that stuff and made me do weight training and stuff instead. What's with the weird technique you use though? I've never seen anyone else fight like that before, it doesn't seem like you could hurt anybody that way, even if I couldn't really land a hit on you either."

Neji had a good chuckle at the thought of the Jyuuken style not being able to hurt anyone. Just from the things Hizashi had taught him there were a dozen ways to kill an opponent. After reading through some of the intermediate scrolls Neji had realized there were far more. The possibilities seemed to increase exponentially in fact, as one's skill increased. Then his brow furrowed when he thought about what Naruto had said just before that. That's insane, Naruto's got enough physical training to perform techniques that are usually not taught until two or three years after what he knows now. Well, at least that stuff should be easy to learn for someone in as good a shape as he is.

"Well, first of all Naruto, I don't know who the hell told you that, but it was a load of crap. I can teach you a lot of stuff you should be able to use very effectively. Second, the style I use is called 'Jyuuken' and it's only used by the Hyuuga clan. In real combat, we can use chakra to disable an opponent by touching them on special 'tenketsu' points. By hitting the right ones you can cripple or even kill someone, even if physically you just barely touch them for an instant.

Naruto's eyes widened as he realized all the times he had let Neji poke his arms or jab his sides he could have been crippled or killed. I better not take what I know for granted any more, if this had been a real fight I'd be dead right now. Mental note: In the future, never let an enemy touch you, even slightly! "Oh, so does Hinata know that style too?"

"Well actually, Hinata's chakra control and Byakugan -the technique used to find the right spots to hit- are better than mine, so arguably she's got better technique."

"Neji you don't have to say stuff like that about me. You know I'd never beat you in a Jyuuken contest."

"That's just because of your hands though, I bet you could make your own style that works without it if you really tried."

Naruto was somewhat puzzled at their little dialogue. "Wait, is something wrong with Hinata's hands? Why would she need a different style?"

Hinata assumed her best lecture tone and began explaining as though from a textbook.

"Almost all Hyuuga are born with the Byakugan eyes, which is common knowledge. Some have much more powerful eyes than others though, and both me and Neji are fairly gifted in that sense. But only a moderate ability is required to use Jyuuken anyways, so it's the most common technique in the Hyuuga clan. However, it's somewhat uncommon knowledge that nineteen out of twenty Hyuuga are born with another trait thatis also required to use anything beyond the most basic Jyuuken style. They are double-jointed at the wrist. I'm not double jointed at all, so I can only use the most basic techniques."

"So that's how he made all those weird moves while we were fighting! I thought it was just some weird part of the style."

"Actually, Neji's especially gifted; as he's not just double jointed at the wrist, he's also double jointed on six of his fingers, and partially double jointed on his elbows, as well as having extended range of motion in his shoulders. There hasn't been a clan member that gifted in a long time, so Neji will be the first to use some of the most advanced Jyuuken techniques in over twenty years, and will probably end up creating some of his own to compliment his special arms and hands. It's somewhat more dangerous for an amateur to fight with arms like that, since it's easier to hurt oneself with an unusual range of motion, but for someone of Neji's talents it's really no problem at all."

Neji was turning slightly red as Hinata went on praising him, and he decided to change the subject. "Anyways Naruto, since I'm mostly a taijutsu specialist, I know a lot about the standard attacks and how to defend against them. Let me show you some of the more advanced techniques. . ."

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Naruto and Neji trained together for several days in a row, as they kept receiving missions that were far too easy to complete. After the first day, Neji had suggested Naruto use a kagebunshin or two to keep things challenging for him. Since Neji didn't actually land solid hits on the clones anyways, Naruto had no trouble at all using them the entire time they sparred, which both impressed Neji and kept him happy to be able to have an honest challenge by fighting against multiple opponents; a situation he was unable to practice normally. After the first day Hinata moved a little ways away and practiced her own techniques, which as far as Naruto could tell, involved some sort of throwing technique or projectile attack ninjutsu. After a while his curiosity got the better of him and Naruto decided to ask her about it after they finished training one day.

"So Hinata, I'm really curious, what kind of technique are you working on? Neji said you have really good chakra control and eyes, so he figures it'll be really strong. But he didn't seem to know exactly what you were trying to learn either."

Hinata hadn't wanted to talk about the jutsu she had been working on since practicing pretty much any technique other than Jyuuken was rather frowned upon by most Hyuuga. She knew Neji wouldn't really hold it against her, and Hizashi would understand as well, but she felt it would just be easier if she didn't bring it up. Then again, nobody had directly asked her about it either, and there really wasn't any reason she could think of not to tell Naruto.

"Well, it's a combination of a few things. Maybe I should start by explaining why I'm learning it. Neji's already extremely good at close quarters combat due to his talents with the Jyuuken style, and since I really don't have any way of becoming as good as he is, or even advancing past the intermediate level ever, I decided to focus on something else. I decided to specialize in a focused ranged attack. I use senbon, shuriken and kunai to force my opponent to dodge into a predictable position, then attack with a more powerful wind based piercing ninjutsu attack. However, I've been making pretty slow progress. My thrown weapons are acceptably accurate, since they're primarily meant to force an opponent to move and don't need to be exact. However, I'm having trouble with the rest of the technique as a whole. I need to use my Byakugan to accurately attack the opponent's vital points, but that is making it difficult to form the wind needles correctly. I'm also having trouble making the final ninjutsu attack accurate and powerful at the same time; the extra force required to make it that powerful over a long range makes it very difficult to control. Lastly, I'm having trouble reading movements and predicting reactions well. I've been practicing on insects in the forest here, but I can tell that there's too much time between my attacks while I figure out where to aim the next strike for it to be reliable against an aggressive opponent. As it is, I can really only effectively use the final portion of the technique against an opponent too distracted to evade, since it takes so long to adjust my aim with a powerful enough strike. I suppose it would make a useful assassination technique, but I need it to be a battle grade technique to be worth the effort I've put into it so far."

Neji was there while she explained to Naruto, as they were all walking towards the Hyuuga compound together as they often did after training. Neji was pretty impressed; it sounded to him like she was trying to create a ranged and physical version of the Hakke he had been reading about. He had tried to get Hizashi to teach him the technique, but apparently he didn't know it, he said it was a technique only used by the main family, so it was lost with Hiashi, although the Hokage at least knew the Kaiten technique, since that didn't require the Byakugan to perform, only immense chakra control. Neji wasn't that interested in the Kaiten anyways though, since it was a technique used for personal defense, and he wanted techniques he could use to protect Hinata. So he had been privately working on the Hakke technique from what little information he could gather, fearing reprisal from officials if it was discovered he was trying to steal a technique from the main family. He made a mental note to bring it up with Hinata later and share his progress with her, they both might be able to perfect their chosen techniques more efficiently if they worked together.

Kakashi was also there for the explanation, though hidden, but revealed himself before Naruto could say anything. "Sounds awfully tricky for a genin. Maybe I'll help you with that while we're in Wave country."

All three genin did a double take at having Kakashi reveal himself from right behind them. Hinata was the first to find her voice.

"How long were you. . . wait, Wave country? We're going to the Wave country?"

"It seems we've been making the other rookie teams look bad when they get missions with the same employers we get hired to, so I managed to convince the Hokage to set us up with a C rank mission this time. I'm guessing you guys don't mind? I could always tell him you're not ready yet of course. . ."

Naruto looked like he had won the lottery. "Kick ass! We finally get a real mission! So what are we doing exactly? How come I've never heard of Wave country? Do they have a hidden village too? Are we going to fight-"

"Wow, just settle down will you? What kind of lame ninja is so noisy all the time anyways?" at that comment, Naruto was somewhat subdued. "It's an escort mission for a bridge builder named Tazuna. We're to protect him while he builds a bridge in wave country. It's a small country without a hidden village, which is why we were hired for protection. Since it's only a C rank mission, there's no real danger. You guys should be able to handle whatever thugs might try and cause him trouble, and I'll be around to protect you. The mission will take a lot longer than our daily D rank missions however, and since most of it will be spent waiting for Tazuna to finish the bridge, we'll have some free time to train as well. We're leaving tomorrow morning, so you guys get plenty of rest and be well prepared alright?"

With that, Kakashi disappeared before the genin could shout 'Don't be late!'