Chapter XV

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Naruto didn't open his eyes. He had been having such a pleasant dream and he didn't want it to end. He tried to hang onto he images, but they were already fading him, leaving him with only the afterglow of contentment. After a few minutes, during which he had made no attempt to get up, he flexed his fingers, wishing to get rid of the cramp in his right hand. When he moved his hand, however, he discovered that it was wrapped around someone else's. He opened his eyes and raised his head to see who it might be and was greeted by the sight of a small, dark-haired girl. Hinata's eyes were closed and her breathing soft and even. Clearly, she was still asleep. Careful not to disturb her, Naruto slid his hand out from under hers and propped himself up to look around.

Seeing his peers littered around the floor like so many dead bodies was an eerie sight, until Naruto remembered why they were all there. Standing up, he picked his way over to Oscar, noting, as he did, the fact that Sakura was sleeping without a pillow and that Shino seemed to have two. He knelt down and shook Oscar's shoulder, clamping a hand over the sleeping boy's mouth as he did so. Oscar's eyes shot open and then narrowed to slits. Realizing what he was about to do, Naruto pulled his hand back fast, not wishing to be licked or bitten that early in the morning.

"What?" Oscar moaned.

"Well, we need to be down at the training field in an hour or two. Wanna help me wake everyone up?"

"Why can't we just let them sleep? We have a while."

"Because hardly anyone brought clothes to change into, so you need to give them time to go home before training."

"Oh. Right. Well, you have my permission to try and wake people up while I go back to sleep." Oscar buried his face in the pillow and pulled his blanket up over his head.

Naruto did not feel quite equal to the task of waking up his peers so early, so he enlisted the help of Choji, Ino and Sasuke. It wasn't that he didn't consider Hinata tactful enough to handle this kind of thing; he just wanted to let her sleep a little longer as a favor.

When he had at least most of the genin awake and tottering around, eyes still half closed, he announced that those who had not brought a change of clothes should go home before training began.

Soon, the only ones left were Kiba, Hinata, Sasuke, Oscar and Naruto. Hinata and Sasuke took turns in the tiny bathroom changing into the clothes they brought. Kiba waited in the hallway. He hadn't brought a change of clothes, instead opting to stay in the clothes he had worn the day before and slept in. Naruto got the impression that the Inuzuka was damned if he was going to walk all the way back to his clan compound for just clean clothes. When everyone was ready, they headed off to the training grounds.

Naruto and Hinata lagged slightly behind the other three. They didn't speak, or even try to hold hands, but the silence between them wasn't awkward. Since they were in the back of the small party, they were unprepared when Kiba stopped right in front of them. Naruto prodded Kiba in the back to make him move. When the Inuzuka complied, Naruto and Hinata stepped forward past the trees to join Sasuke, Oscar, Jaitan, and a woman whom they had never seen before.

Jaitan hadn't yet acknowledged them, so they took a moment to inspect the woman who accompanied him. She had short purple hair and was wearing a miniskirt with a mesh shirt above that. Over the mesh shirt she wore a trench coat that hung carelessly open, leaving little of her undoubtedly impressive figure to the imagination. Hinata glanced over at Naruto to find a look of wistful admiration growing on his face. To dispel this, she gave him a small kick in the ankle. He winced and looked over at her. Well, perhaps the kick hadn't been that small. She communicated her feelings via a slight widening of the eyes and a dangerous smile, accompanied by the threat of the kunai she held down by her side. Naruto gulped and submitted, keeping his gaze on his sensei, rather than giving Hinata any reason to maim him even a little.

Jaitan looked over to see several of his students. A look of mild puzzlement crossed his faces. He checked a watch and spoke. "Far be it of me to criticize, but you are a bit early today."

"Yes. We are," Sasuke replied. "Who's she?" He pointed an accusatory finger at the purple-haired woman, who treated him to a smile and a raised kunai.

"Careful, brat. If you're not prepared to use that finger, I may as well save you the trouble and cut it off," The woman said.

"Trust me, she would," Jaitan said under his breath. Sasuke hastily pulled his finger in.

"You still haven't answered my question."

"This is Anko Mitarashi. Anko, these are my students Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyuga, Oscar Junomaru, and Kiba Inuzuka."

"Aw, come on!" The woman pouted. "I'm doing you a favor! Don't I deserve a better introduction that that?"

Sasuke was not impressed. "What are you doing here?" he asked, addressing himself directly to Anko.

"You know what, Jaitan?" Anko asked, "I don't like the brats you're teaching. They're awfully rude." Overriding the splutters and protests of Naruto and Oscar, she continued, "Maybe I should come back later, when they've learned to behave, in, say, a few months?"

"What?" Jaitan looked panicked. "No! I've been trying to get you out here for weeks! You can't just leave now!"

"Can and will, unless that brat apologizes." She waited, staring pointedly at Sasuke.

Sasuke went slightly pink and muttered something that could have been mistaken for an apology, if one were hard of hearing.

"What was that?" That woman asked, clearly enjoying the consternation she was putting Jaitan in beside her.

"I said 'I'm sorry,'" Sasuke said, loudly enough for everyone to hear.

"Damn straight," Anko said. "For your information, I'm here to do your sensei a little favor. I wouldn't normally bother, but having someone in my debt is a position I enjoy." She grinned viciously.

"W-wait, will you be helping to t-teach us?" Hinata asked.

"Yep!"

Sasuke paled.

"Perhaps the full introduction could wait until the other students have arrived," Jaitan put in. "They shouldn't be too long," he said, speaking from the previously silent body, for a little variation.

While they waited for the others to turn up, Naruto and Hinata drifted off a little ways to talk. Kiba tried to follow, but at a look from Naruto, he desisted. Sasuke sat in the grass and much to his irritation Oscar sat down beside him. Jaitan resumed speaking to Anko. After a quarter of an hour, just when everyone was beginning to get restless, the other genin straggled in through the trees.

Jaitan clapped one pair of hands. "Okay, right into it, I have asked a friend of mine who working in the Torture and Interrogation department to assist me in teaching you certain topics. For those of you who were not present for the previous introduction, this is Anko Mitarashi, Snake Mistress of Konoha." Anko stepped forward and made a theatrical bow. The effect of this was slightly muted for Naruto, who was studiously observing the ground at his feet and not two other specific body parts that shall remain nameless. The reason was that Hinata had caught his eye, her expression daring him to try it. Naruto was slightly taken aback, but not entirely displeased; Hinata was becoming bolder.

The only thing Naruto could think to do was to say under his breath, "I thought Mitarashi was a type of dango."

"What's that, fishcake?" Anko asked in a teasing voice.

Naruto's face flushed as his peers turned to give him puzzled looks. "For the love of Log it means maelstrom, not fishcake!"

Sasuke snickered quietly. "I don't know, Naruto. You seem more like a 'Fishcake' than a 'Maelstrom' to me." Sasuke then had to duck a kind flying skewer that had once held dango and had been aimed straight for his eye. To everyone's surprise, the projectile had come from Anko, not Naruto.

"Stay out of it, mini-Uchiha," She said mildly. "That was my line."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the indignity of being called "mini-Uchiha."

Jaitan was willing to overlook the insults, but he drew the line at wooden projectiles. "Anko, you agreed not to physically maim anyone under the age of fifteen until after you started to teach," his body on the right said sternly, while the body standing slightly behind that one wagged a finger.

Anko gave a deep ironic bow. "My sincerest apologies, I'm sure."

"You are? I'm not," Jaitan said dubiously. "Anyway, my students are probably confused enough as it is, so we may as well tell them what exactly you are going to be teaching." He turned to better address the amassed genin. "Anko has more experience and expertise than I in the areas of flexibility, poison, illusions and torture. For the most part, that is what she will be teaching you."

"Wait," Ino piped up, "will you still be teaching us, too?"

"Of course. The things that I have taught you and will teach you in future will become more effective when coupled with Anko's lessons."

"Can you go back to that 'maiming' part?" Choji asked, nervously crunching a handful of chips.

"I could, be you would be too scared," Was Jaitan's only reply. The eerie silence stretched.

Anko broke it. "Anyway," she said brightly, "Flexibility is first on my list. For some reason," she frowned, "Jaitan refused to let me teach poison and flexibility together. Instead, I'll be having you run an obstacle course while I throw boring non-lethal projectiles at you. 'Kay?" No one objected. They were all too caught off guard by her cheerful, offhanded manner.

"Actually," said Shino, raising a finger, "wouldn't it help you to instruct us if you knew our names?"

Anko shrugged. "Fair point. To save time, just give me your last names, starting with you," she indicated the Aburame. When all surnames had been given, Anko led them to a different training ground. By that time, Asuma and Kurenai had showed up and were following behind their teams with bemused expressions. Kakashi had no yet showed up. When the gray-haired Jounin finally did arrive, he had missed the first half-hour of stretching and training.

"Keep your knees up!" Anko yelled gleefully. Naruto tried and almost failed to regain his balance. He was standing on one leg near the center of a beam that was several meters long and raised him half a meter off the ground. A large bucket of water was strapped to his head and a cord wound around his wrists, securing them behind his back. His instructions were to not fall and to not spill any water. When he had mounted the beam, Anko had not told him that she would be chucking things at him and that he would have to dodge while still adhering to his instructions. His only consolation was that his fellow genin were engaged in similar activities nearby.

"Isn't this more of a test a balance than anything to do with flexibility?" he called, taking one step forward and then two back to avoid the knee-height senbon that streaked past.

"What does it matter which I start with? You'll learn both in the end or die trying!" The purple-haired woman yelled. "Next I'll make you do it on your hands!"

Naruto groaned. "How do I stop the water from spilling if I'm walking on my hands?" he asked, bending his knees and taking three long smooth strides. He couldn't afford to run, or he might tip the bucket.

"I wasn't planning to make you carry water," Anko said with a nasty grin. "I have something else in mind." Pausing only to hurl two wooden senbon and one metal one, she dashed off to heckle other people.

Naruto dodged and wondered if he could cheat the balancing test by sticking his feet to the beam with chakra. He decided against it, however. If he relied too much on his chakra to hold him on, he could end up face-first in the grass with his feet stretched above his head, still stuck to the beam. He advanced a step. If only he could use his arms. Could he perhaps reach a kunai to cut his hands free? He tried, and nearly toppled off trying to reach his bound hands around to where his holster always hung. Then he remembered that he had removed his kunai pouch before getting up on the beam anyway. Damnation! He took a few steps forward, but was forced back when an unexpected kunai came whirling past his face. He was close to the end of the beam…if he could just make it…. "Ah!" seemingly out of nowhere, a long strip of wood poked him in the face. He flinched, his balance lost momentarily, but it was enough. He toppled sideways off the beam and lay on the ground, no even caring about the puddle he was lying in. It took a few minutes to muster the energy and will required to just sit up.

When he had, he began twisting his wrists and flexing his fingers, trying to get free. When he saw it wasn't working, he tried to pull his legs through his arms and bring his hands around to the front. All this succeeded in doing was rolling him onto his back. He stared at the sky, acutely aware of the cold water soaking into his shirt. This isn't such a horrible way to die, Naruto thought miserably.

Suddenly, a purple-headed face loomed into sight, grinning. Naruto felt a blush spread across his face and forced his eyes closed against his will. The view of Anko from his position was unbelievably good. If I don't die of embarrassment first, Hinata will disown me, Naruto thought. It was a minute or so before he felt a small digging and twisting as Anko cut him free of his ropes. Hastily, he sat up to unfasten the bucket from his head. He turned to find his peers, all on the ground in similar positions that he had been in, varying due to the challenge they had been assigned. It was only when he stood up straight that he fully appreciated the aches of his muscles. His arms hurt from being twisted around behind him and his neck and back hurt from the heavy bucket of water. On top of that, he was soaked as thoroughly as a water-walking practice would leave him. His wrists burned and his legs shook from the strain of running and balancing simultaneously.

Rubbing his wrists, he retrieved his kunai pouch and went to help Anko release some of his peers who had also been tied up. When all were free and sitting up groaning, Jaitan gathered them all together, graciously allowing them to remain seated. Anko leered from beside him. "Alright," he said, "what did you learn?"

A silence greeted his words. Mostly what they had learned was how crazy and ruthless their new sensei was, but they had no doubt that it need not be said aloud. Jaitan gave an exaggerated sigh, his second body stepping up to stand directly next to him. "How about, 'training is hard?' That's a simple concept. Most likely all of you can grasp that." He received a chorus of fervent nods. "You see, I've been going relatively easy on you guys. From now on, we shall have to multitask in your training regime. If you do not train hard, you'll never make it past the chunin exams, not to mention surviving your first B- or A-class mission. So, now you've had a bit of a rest-"

Kiba interrupted with a howl of anger. "A rest! We've only been sitting here for a minute!" Kiba was rubbing his left arm with his right while his hand was cupped over his eye. There was no evidence that this was the case, but Naruto fully expected for that eye to come out ringed by a truly spectacular bruise in a few hours. In fact, as Naruto looked around, all of the others were nursing minor injuries and sitting in a way that suggested sore muscles and bruises. He looked down at his own wrists, searching for evidence of the rough ropes that had bound them. When he had been untied, there had indeed been red, flayed-looking patches of skin there. Now however, his skin was pale and smooth and whole looking. He sat up straighter, noting the absence of most of his aches. He gave silent thanks to the Kyuubi, and could almost fool himself that he received a gruff 'Don't mention it' in return. But not quite.

Jaitan overrode Kiba's objections of overwork with a forceful, "Get used to it. You're a ninja, tough, resilient, deadly. Now act like it. I want you all water walking by the day after tomorrow at sunrise. Yes, even you Naruto," Jaitan said, noting Naruto's jerk of surprise. "I've been letting you take your time, experimenting and testing your strengths. Now, I want definite results by sunrise the day after tomorrow, or I will not allow you to enter the chunin exams when they come this year. They're only a few months off. It may seem like a long time now, but trust me, you'll need every minute of that time to plan and strategize."

Dismally, Naruto resigned himself to spending the next day and a half soaking wet. All of his peers could at least stand on the water for a minute or so with varying degrees of success. Almost all of them could actually walk already. The best he had managed was a weak sort of water-standing that kept him just under the surface for a few seconds, before he slowly sank until his feet rested on the sandy bottom of the pond. He just could not hold himself up for longer than that.

So, when Jaitan dismissed them to start working, Naruto went straight to Hinata. She could water-stand forever and a day and could take a few steps at a time if she rested in between every couple of steps. She was second only to Sakura, who could walk on the water, but didn't have enough chakra to hold her up for very long. Even the memory of the pinkette standing on the water in the middle of the lake and suddenly yelling that she had run out of chakra and promptly falling right in as if dragged from below couldn't cheer Naruto up at this point. His face must have looked grim as he approached Hinata. At any rate, she looked rather nervous as he came closer. He noticed and struggled to arrange his face into a more pacific expression. "Hinata," he said, "Can you give me a little help? Pointers? Anything?"

"Of course, Naruto-kun," the lavender-eyed girl said without hesitation. She led him over to the pond where the other genin were already floating, taking tentative steps and whirling arms for balance. Naruto dimly noted that Kiba had taken it upon himself to teach Akamaru water-walking. The little puppy could now do it better than the Inuzuka. Akamaru was running in little circles around Kiba's feet, barking shrilly.

Hinata took hold of Naruto's forearm. "Now," she said quietly, "show me what you've been doing." Naruto complied. He lifted up his left foot, concentrating hard on the chakra flowing from the sole of his foot. He took his time and, when he was sure of the diffuse layers of chakra radiating from the soles of both of his feet, he stepped forward. He stood, wobbling slightly, trying valiantly to maintain the flow of chakra to his feet. After a moment or so however, he was aware that he was gripping Hinata's shoulder quite unacceptable hard in order to keep himself up. He loosened his grip slightly and found himself sinking. Hinata helped him out of the water, his tan cargo pants wet and brown at the cuffs. Morosely, he took off his sandals, first tipping water out of the heels where it had pooled and then wringing out the sodden footwear.

"That was pretty good," Hinata said. Naruto raised his eyebrows. "W-well, I guess you don't r-really need to hear that. How to improve. Okay. Is concentrating on your chakra f-flow the problem? Too m-many distractions?"

"Not really. I mean, sometimes I get distracted, but that doesn't seem to affect my chakra flow."

"I can make a s-suggestion. I know Jaitan told us that making a layer of chakra on the bottoms of our feet to float isn't the solution, but I think you should try it anyway. Make a layer on the bottoms of your feet, th-then step onto the water and start pushing your chakra past the layer and into the water and condense it to make surface tension. Then stand on the surface tension while you keep the layer of chakra on the soles of your feet."

This plan sounded plausible to Naruto. He did have ridiculously large reserves to draw on, so chakra exhaustion wasn't an issue. This time, Hinata offered her shoulder for Naruto to lean on. He did so reluctantly. He kept asking if he was leaning on her too hard. She kept denying it, insisting that she would be fine. As little as he wanted to, Naruto decided to do as she suggested; stop worrying about her and get a move on. He only had until sunrise the day after next.

He lifted one foot after another, concentrating on creating a buoyant layer of chakra on the sole of each. When he was satisfied, he did not, though tempted, step straight onto the water to begin the test. His experiences with tree-climbing had taught him that it was best not to rush tings like new techniques. Instead, he prepped himself to channel chakra through the layers and to stiffen and bond the extra chakra into a skin of tension. He then refreshed the layers on the soles of his feet and set the first foot down on top of the water. Quickly, his second foot followed. He balanced for a moment, barely aware of the vice-like grip he was exerting on Hinata's shoulder, too intent was he on channeling and diffusing chakra through the buoyant layers already in place. When the extra chakra was plentiful enough, and without a moment to lose, he gathered it together, pressing the chakra tight and thin and allowing for enough flexibility and buoyancy to let it sit on top of the water. Slowly, he felt the thin invisible skins bear him up. He was concentrating fiercely, the effort of maintaining the two different sets of chakra forms etching a deep furrow across the bridge of his nose.

He barely noticed when Hinata shifted under his hand, transferring his grip to her own hand. She stepped out onto the surface of the lake alongside him, letting him use her hand to balance. Carefully, her eyes fixed on his, she took hold of his other hand and spread that arm out for better balance. She began to slide her feet along; an action that she had discovered was easier to perform than lifting up her foot to take a step. Unconsciously, Naruto mimicked her, sliding his foot up to follow hers and pulling the invisible area of tension with him. His eyes flicked up for the briefest moment to connect with hers. It wasn't a large distraction, but it was enough to break the fragile double concentration he was exerting. He overbalanced and sat down hard in the water, drenching his clothes and hair and dragging Hinata down on top of him.

Hinata made only a half-hearted effort to stand up, aware that all of the other floating shinobi had turned to seek the source of the splash. She turned a little red when she realized that Naruto was making no move to get up, either. She turned to face him, cheeks flushed with embarrassment, mouth open and already forming an apology, as though it was her fault that she had been pulled down on top of him. The words died in her throat, however, as she met his piercing blue gaze. His face was flushed from exertion to match her own and his mouth was spreading into a grin of excitement. With the air of one acting without conscious thought, Naruto threw his arms around her, sending up sprays of sand-choked water. For a dizzying moment, Hinata was sure that he would kiss her right there in front of everyone.

Naruto really wanted to kiss her. She was a genius! A total genius! He struggled internally; arms clasped around her wet coat, holding her tightly to him and chin resting on her shoulder. Though his instinct was to kiss her firmly on the lips, he resisted, not without difficulty. He knew she would be mortified at such an emotionally colored display made in public where anyone could happen to see it. He bit his lip, but still could not hold back the smile.

Then he heard a single word from her. "Again?" Naruto had to fight not to do something a little more drastic than kissing. Such a thing as he was thinking of would cause Sakura and Ino to leave him with lifelong scars.

He contented himself with tightening the embrace and whispering a single word reply, "Naturally." He felt Hinata's thin arms slid up around his back and give him as good as she was getting.

When then finally broke apart, Hinata helped him to his feet, soaked through and blushing furiously, but standing straight, as if daring any of the people watching her to comment. They had the sense not to say anything outright, though small whispers broke out across the pond.

Hinata led Naruto back to the shore. They repeated the process in rather less time than it had taken the first time. Naruto let Hinata tow him across the water, sliding his feet and concentrating hard on his chakra flow. They practiced for hours, until all spectators had left. It was only then that Naruto felt the slightest confidence in his own ability. This time, he had Hinata tow him out a little way and then released her, holding his arms out for balance. When he was sure he wasn't going to topple over, he shuffled along, sliding his feet and focusing mainly on his chakra flow. He was out to the slightly deeper part of the pond before he realized it and promptly fell in. Hinata hung back, waiting for him to resurface. Then she remembered he couldn't swim. She rushed over to him and hauled him up. He quickly formed buoyant casings of chakra around his bare feet to help him back up to the surface. When he was floating, tipping dangerously from side to side, he hastily reformed the surface tension of chakra that he was now adept at making. He then towed Hinata back to the shore, insisting that it was good practice.

When they finally made it back to solid ground, Naruto picked up his sandals in one hand and Hinata's hand in the other. They determined that he would walk her back to the gates of her clan compound and she would stop by his apartment building the next morning to collect him on their way to resume water-walking practice.

Naruto held his arms out and bent his knees slightly. He had never thought of balancing on two legs as particularly difficult before now, but he suddenly felt like a second pair of legs would be really useful right about now. He made a mental note to ask the Kyuubi about this. He didn't need his balance thrown off by taking a step and expecting there to be more legs than he had. He gave his head a little shake to clear it of such thoughts.

Refocusing his eyes, he saw Hinata coming over, worried that he hadn't taken a step yet. Naruto waved her back. He didn't need her to walk all the way over to him for nothing. She had her own water-walking to improve on.

It was morning. He and Hinata had been practicing for only an hour or so, yet they still had the whole pond to themselves. Jaitan had decreed that there would be no formal training that day, so the responsibility of mastering of water-walking was entirely up to the genin. Naruto expected most of the others to drift in at about noon, except for Shikamaru. He fully expected it to be four o'clock before Shika bothered to turn up. For now, at least, the space was empty but for Naruto and Hinata.

Naruto closed his eyes, adjusting the flexible skin of chakra he was standing on as the breeze ruffled the surface of the water. He was going to try to lift his foot and take an actual step. Hinata had offered that he hold on to her when he tried this, but his pride had forced him to (politely) turn her down.

Careful not to stop channeling chakra to the sole of his right foot, Naruto slowly lifted up his left foot and balanced on the right. He left the thin coating of chakra surrounding his left foot as he moved it forward. As soon as it touched the water again, he began channeling more chakra in order to make a skin as quickly as possible. As usual, he overdid it. The chakra, instead of forming a skin, gushed outward in a thick spray, rebounding and creating choppy waves in the water.

Naruto lay facedown, floating on his front. Not quite right, he thought grimly. Okay, try again. He got up and retreated to shallower water before trying again. This time, as he was meticulously gathering chakra under the foot he was putting down, he forgot to maintain the chakra cushion under the stationary foot. He landed with a jarring bump in the sand, miraculously still upright. Unsteadily, he floated his feet back up to the surface and tried again. It was half an hour before he succeeded in taking his first step. An hour later, he was able to take three in a row without falling in.

When others started coming to practice, Hinata came over beside Naruto and they practiced together. Hinata's water-walking was reasonably good, but she had trouble taking more than a dozen steps in a row without resting and still tipped and slid dangerously if a large wave disturbed her. Her presence by Naruto's side, though he wasn't sure if he should tell her, was giving him a crash-course on water-walking while being constantly and fiendishly distracted. It helped a little, and Naruto knew that the next day Hinata would not be right there beside him while he was being tested and he would find that his concentration had improved at least comparatively to when Hinata was in his line of vision if not otherwise.

By the time the sun was staining the sky Naruto's former favorite shade of orange at one end and dark watery blue at the other, Hinata was completely drained. She had managed to walk clear across the pond only stopping for two five-minute breaks during a time when the pond was mirror smooth and still. She was even able to run for a few seconds, something that was Naruto's fault that she knew.

Naruto in turn could walk about nine meters if he took it really slowly. He did not have to rest out of chakra exhaustion, but occasionally he would be distracted and his chakra would lose shape for a few precious seconds. To that end, he found that leaving the thin layer of chakra around his feet at all times was a good idea; it bought him a few seconds to work with so that he wouldn't be submerged if he stopped creating surface tension for a moment or so. He fervently hoped that his achievements would be enough for Jaitan to pass him during tomorrow's test. After bidding Hinata goodnight, he went back to his apartment and fell into bed, wondering if it was even worth it to change into his pajamas. Before he had reached a decision, he was out like a light.

Naruto was up at dawn. He sat fully dressed on the edge of the bed, debating if he were actually naïve enough to go and disturb Oscar. He decided that he was. He knocked on the door in the hallway rather than the one between the rooms. After a moment of silence, he knocked again, louder this time. There was a sound of swearing and the unmistakable clang of a forehead protector that has been hurled at the wall with great force. The door was opened a tiny crack and a single brown eye peered out, hostile and aggressive. "What?" the dark boy asked flatly.

"The sun's up," Naruto said nervously, taking a prudent step back. "Jaitan-sensei said that the test was at sunrise."

Oscar covered his eyes with one hand and groaned softly. "I'm sure he was exaggerating, Naruto," he said.

"Have you ever known Jaitan-sensei to exaggerate?"

"Point. Go on, then. I'll catch up. On the off chance that sensei was exaggerating, please send a shadow clone back to tell me. Thank you and goodbye." The dark boy shut the door with a snap. After a moment's hesitation, Naruto left.

When he reached the training grounds, he found that everyone else must have assumed that Jaitan had been exaggerating when he said 'sunrise,' as well. Not even Sakura, who made it a point to always be punctual, had yet arrived. Naruto was in time to see the two Jaitans form identical seals. Very familiar seals. Recognition kicked in when there was a small puff of smoke beside each of Jaitan's bodies and five shadow clones appeared at the center of each cloud. The true Jaitans held hands, presumably so as not to be separated as all of the shadow clones set off, scattering and streaking out of the field as though each was certain of his individual destination. When the clearing was empty but for the two originals and Naruto, the Jaitans dropped hands.

"Uh," Naruto said by way of announcing his presence, "I hope one of those wasn't meant to fetch me."

Four gray eyes found Naruto's face, betraying not a flicker of surprise between them. "It is true, I did just send a clone for you, but that can be easily rearranged." Jaitan closed one pair of eyes, formed a seal and dispelled the clone. Naruto was impressed that he could do it from such a distance.

"I have a question," Naruto said, "If you dispel all of your clones at once, does it give you a headache?"

"An interesting question. If I were to dispel my clones simultaneously, I suppose it might handicap me for a short time, depending on how many clones I had dispelled. However, I am careful to dispel my clones only one at a time so that I may avoid that side effect. Frankly, the rate at which your clones normally die, I am astounded as to how you keep from ending up more severely incapacitated than by experiencing a headache."

Naruto shrugged. He had a suspicion that it had something to do with the Kyuubi, but that was a question to pursue another time.

"So, Naruto, are you prepared for this morning's test?" Jaitan asked.

Naruto feigned horror. "We have a test today?"

"Yes." Naruto face-faulted. He could almost hear his sarcastic comment's leave as it made a tiny whistling noise above his sensei's head.

"Can I take mine before the others get here?" Naruto asked. If he went first, the water would be calmer and much easier to walk on.

"If you prefer," Jaitan shrugged.

The two, or rather three, of them crossed the short distance to the pond, where Jaitan stepped onto the surface, politely waiting while Naruto removed his sandals. When Naruto was ready, Jaitan gave his final instructions. Naruto had to walk one third of the way across the pond and then back to shore. He could take his time, but would have to start over if he fell in. Naruto nodded, glad that no one else was around to see his insecurity. Things had gone so well the day before, but Hinata had been there… Here his thoughts trailed off and a new shell of determination encased his nervousness. He had to succeed for Hinata. She was the first to have looked up to him and he couldn't let her down.

For what seemed like the longest time, Naruto just stood on the bank, lifting up one foot, then the other until his was sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that the jutsu would work. It was only then that he dared to place one foot on the water, quickly followed by the other. When the skins of chakra under his feet were as firm and stable as he could make them, he began to walk, lifting one foot, molding his chakra, setting it down and repeating. By the time he was one third of the way across the pond, all of the other students had arrived. He was so focused that he didn't realize they were there even when he turned around to walk back. Halfway back, a sound caught his attention and he chanced a glance upward. He desperately wanted to seek out Hinata, but he knew that the distraction it would cause would be too great for him to handle. Even the tiny flick of a look had been a little too much. He was already sinking and it took him a few precious moments to struggle back up to the surface, by which time he was shaking and worried. He put out a foot to take a step and put it down a little too forcefully, causing him to scramble to create more surface tension.

He stood still, relaxing his shoulders and focusing only on chakra flow. If possible, he would have closed his eyes, but that was out of the question. He resorted to keeping his gaze fixed on the water beneath him. He took a step, then another. Before he knew it, his feet rested on grass and mud rather than water and Hinata had thrown herself on him, hugging him so tightly that he though his ribs would crack. Her energy nearly knocked him backwards, but he steadied himself in time to put his own arms around her. It was only then that he became aware that every one of his fellow genin was applauding and whistling as loudly as he had ever heard anyone be at the crack of dawn. It gave him a warm, cared-for feeling as he broke apart from Hinata in order to face his sensei. Jaitan gave a single thumbs-up and mouthed the word, "Pass."

A/N: Okay, well, this was the longest I have ever taken to write a chapter, but in my defense, it is the longest chapter I have yet written. On the up side, there are now some really interesting events planed for post time skip!

-For those who remember the mention that Jaitan made in a previous chapter about his 'friend' he would have to talk to, Anko is not this friend. You will find this out later
-Unfortunately, Naruto and Hinata did not kiss in this chapter, much to my annoyance
-Anko will be teaching more later and so will Jaitan. I plan to spend more time on those lessons than I previously have, though not as much as I did in this chapter. I really beat water-walking to death :P
-If you got the veiled Artemis Fowl reference, you impress me very very much
-Next chapter, all the things that Naruto wanted to talk to the Kyuubi about will become clearer

To those who celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas. To those who celebrated Hannukah, I hope you enjoyed it. To all others who may have been overlook, my most profound apologies and sincerest best wishes. Have a good one!

The Log willing, the next chapter will come out much faster. and be a little better on the humor front. Bye! Read! Comment cause I really need it and it will make you feel better! Maybe! Definitely!