Author Notes: Welcome one and all to the next chapter! But first some responses to questions the following chapter will not answer (well, hopefully).
To forbiddenluv4Naruto who wrote:
'What happened to Naruto's awesome strength and chuunin-ness? I wanted him to at least fight back, even if it's a little... I'm really looking forward to a fight scene where Naruto's true strength becomes apparent!'
It's there, he just worked out that he didn't need it yet. Trust me; I am already trying to plan out his first fight. My full intention is that when it comes; I will leave no one disappointed!
To Hypothetical Spiritual Entity who wrote:
'Cliffhanger! Hiashi forfieted? I didn't see that one coming. Great chapter, keep it up!'
Hah. Well consider this. I was contemplating not putting in that last line! In the end I decided that were it I reading it. That would be a cliff-hanger a bit too… hangy(?)
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Naruto Sempai: Chapter 11 – Pride and Purpose
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'Why?' had been the one consistent thought in Hinata's head since the moment her father, the proud and powerful Hyuuga Hiashi had surrendered a fight which he clearly dominated. Why did he surrender? She had always assumed that he never would. No matter the circumstances. But back then, of all times?
She didn't dare bring herself to question it out loud for fear that it would awaken some sort of logic and cause him to change his mind. This was after all one of the few times his giving up could have been so ideal.
She shuffled in her seat outside Naruto's room. After his 'victory' he had been taken to the hospital. Despite the brave face he had put on, the truth was he had taken a lot of damage. The instant Hiashi had forfeited Naruto's strength collapsed, his body with it. Hiashi saw to it he was properly taken care of, given the fact he was now Hinata's teacher once more. The thought alone caused Hinata to burst with positive energy, in the form of a smile that felt too big for her face. She buried her face into her raised hands, to avoid looking like some crazy person to the people moving past her. Though she was delighted, she still had questions. She glanced at the door behind which Naruto was being treated.
'Was it willpower alone that had been keeping him up?' she wondered silently to herself. She had been sitting here for several minutes, waiting for his exam to be over so she could speak to him. The way he dropped instantly the moment he'd won…
"Hyuuga-san" a soft voice came. Hinata looked back up to find a nurse from the now opened door talking to her
"Uzumaki-san is ready for visitors if you want to talk to him" she smiled, holding the door open for her. Hinata quickly thanked the nurse, and stepped inside.
Naruto was already looking at her with a brilliant smile on his face.
"Hey, Hinata-chan" he called out merrily.
"Naruto-Sempai" she responded with a smile "Are you alright?" she asked, approaching the bed where he lay.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be better soon as we can get back to our dates at Ichiraku's" he grinned. Hinata flushed, her mouth opening in a mixture of surprise and embarrassment
"Oh, right, and in between I guess we can go training" he laughed with a wink. Hinata could only focus on fighting the heat in her cheeks.
Naruto winced suddenly, looking down at his body he rested a hand on one of the bandages on his stomach.
"Are you sure you're alright, Naruto-sempai?" Hinata asked, her expression full of concern. Being taught in great detail of the damage of the attacks her bloodline could inflict, she was surprised he seemed to take so little damage. And from her father no less.
"I'll be fine" he said with a returning smile "Nothing that a good night's rest and a bowl of ramen won't fix!" He finished with a thumb up. Hinata smiled, glad that he wasn't seriously hurt she found herself remembering the questions that had been plaguing her before.
"Um, Naruto-Sempai?" she asked, her fingers fidgeting absently. "Why do you think Father forfeited?" Naruto's smile lowered, his gaze looking at the end of his bed in thought.
"Hinata-san. Do you know what they say about skilled shinobi?" He asked, thoughtfully turning back to her. Hinata slowly shook her head.
"They say that when two skilled shinobi fight they can read each others thoughts. Or along the lines of anyway…" Hinata blinked, leaning forward to find out what her father had been thinking at the time.
"When by clones where destroyed in battle, they weren't destroyed by ferocity. Neither had there been anger behind the attacks. Though the 'Hyuuga mask' is renown for making you difficult to read, it didn't hide what I felt." He paused and looked at Hinata.
"You saw it too, didn't you?" he asked knowingly "Even if it was just for a moment, something was pushing against his normal icy façade, right?"
Hinata thought back to when she was in his study. There was definitely something off about his expression. He even had to close his eyes to control himself, a habit she rarely witnessed.
"Yes. Back in his study, I noticed something off about him then. But it was too weak for me to really see what it was." Naruto nodded thoughtfully.
"What I felt was sadness, Hinata" Naruto said with a sigh. Hinata froze.
'Sadness?' she mentally repeated.
"Your father is a powerful man, Hinata-chan. A jounin level ninja, he's the Head of the entire Hyuuga clan, presumably the strongest. There's no doubt in my mind that if he was serious about defeating me, it would have been instantaneous." Hinata frowned.
"But Naruto-sempai" she began "You challenged him. Doesn't that mean that he had to defeat you for the honour of the Hyuuga clan, and his own pride…" she trailed off. Though she understood her father, she had yet to truly grasp the nature of such things. Naruto smiled, and shook his head.
"I think in surrendering that was exactly what he was doing." Hinata was beginning to feel lost in their conversation. Naruto, noticing her expression continued to explain.
"There are many factors at play here Hinata-san that I regret to say, I cannot tell you. I have my own history, which you will no doubt find out one day. But for now let me explain that there are political difficulties in dealing with me. When your father found out you were training with me that would naturally put him in a position. One made an especially difficult one given the factor that you were improving with my help." He explained.
"When he forbade you from doing so further, I have no doubt he could feel your emotions. Despite how cold a person can seem sometimes, we can never truly know a persons heart. Ninja even train to hide such things as it can be a weakness in battle. I suspect he shared your emotions. You are his daughter after all, Hinata-chan. Like any father he wants you to be successful and happy. In his case he had other obligations to see to, ones that he will often prioritise. But that doesn't change how he can be affected. When I issued my challenge, of course he had to accept it. Due to the uncouth nature of such a thing, it is a very rare occasion thus forcing him to accept it. In doing so he was given his own choice. Winning in always one, or he could have thrown the fight. Of course I never would imagine him to let me beat him, but if I would not lose unless he killed me then the choice becomes truly his own. Giving up and putting it down to the ramifications of killing the Jin-ahem, a chuunin of the village was one option." He explained, coughing to cover up his near mishap.
Hinata merely stood there, trying to piece together everything that Naruto had explained. She often felt emotionally bruised by her father. She had even wondered if one day he might abandon her, or worse. When she thought about that it was hard to believe what Naruto was saying.
"But what was his other choice?" She asked, verbalising her thoughts. Naruto smiled at her
"Though I cannot say I was honestly taking the match entirely seriously either. There is no doubt that Hiashi would certainly be capable of rendering me unconscious, thus claiming victory without killing me in a manner from which I could not stand back up. That was the choice I counted on him choosing not to take" Naruto finished.
There was only silence. Hinata could only stare off into the beyond as she tried to fit what Naruto was saying into her own reality. But it was hard to do. So much had been said that could never be unsaid.
Naruto observed Hinata's reaction to his news without expression. He couldn't know what she would be feeling. The best he could do was to be here for her should she need a friend, or even just a distraction.
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Hinata once again found herself panting heavily from Naruto's harsh training. But she couldn't stop smiling. It was good to be back doing something from which she felt herself moving forward from.
"You kept training I see" Naruto grinned. Hinata only nodded, having no breath to spare the words
"Still, less than two months away you know. We need to step up our game" Naruto said, folding his arms.
"How are we going to do that, Naruto Sempai?" she breathed in between her panting. Naruto looked up.
"Well, your father gave me an idea actually" he mentioned "Have you thought about your nindo?" Hinata frowned slightly, before shaking her head.
"Well perhaps now is a good time to start. Once you become a Ninja you will need to develop your own nindo. It will help carry you through trying times, and complete tasks which can challenge you both physically, mentally even morally." Hinata nodded, understanding where Naruto was coming from. It made sense after all. But how did a person decide something like that? It seemed like a potentially life altering decision.
"Naruto-Sempai. What's your nindo?" she asked, curious. Naruto gave her a grin.
"Never to go back on my word. If I say I'm going to do something, I'll do it." Hinata smiled further upon hearing it.
'How like him' she thought, starting the wonder how she couldn't start guessing these things.
"Like how I told you I'll have you ready to beat Uchiha Sasuke in Taijutsu" he pointed out with a grin. Hinata found herself giggling at his words. Naruto raised his eyebrows.
"Something about that funny?" he teased. Hinata shook her head but at the same time had to admire his self confidence. In the months she had known him, he had never stopped surprising her. She met his bright blue eyes.
'How many surprises are left behind those' she wondered.
"When you think of your own ninja way, it will help. It can be the drive from which I'm sure you'll draw endless strength from. However silly something like that may sound, when you solidify your resolve with purpose, especially one that comes from the heart. You will be surprised how far it can carry you" Naruto said, in a more serious tone. Hinata nodded, her breathing finally returning to normal.
"Ready for some more?" He asked taking up a stance again.
"Yes, Naruto-Sempai" she answered, taking up her own, her smile never fading.
Naruto shot forward, aiming a straight punched toward her. She knocked it aside and aimed her own thrust toward him. Using his free hand he batted it away, then followed the movement swinging around aiming a kick as he did so. She lean backward to avoid it, flicking her own leg upward in a kicking motion.
Naruto had to leap back to avoid it. He grinned to himself, impressed by her move.
'You're using your flexibility against me, Hinata-chan?' he asked to himself.
This time Hinata advanced on him aiming another juuken jab at him. Naruto instead fired a snap kick towards her, causing her to have to abandon her attack and move to the side. He continued aimed several fast, light jabs towards her. She bobbed her upper body and head to avoid them without losing her footing, then aimed a juuken strike at his arm to intercept his jab. Naruto yanked his hand back and caught her attack by the wrist with her free hand, wweeping to the side of her pulling her arm across her body. As he made to complete kicking one of her feet from under her, he assault he felt a palm collide with his leg. The arm he had now caught pushed against him knocking him back.
Hinata whirled around to block the incoming strike from behind her. The Naruto behind her burst into smoke. They paused in the momentary stalemate
"You saw?" he questioned mildly surprised.
"When you leapt back, you placed the clone in front of you" She responded holding her block strong.
"Without even using the Byakugan…" Naruto mused, clearly impressed with her. Her attention to detail was clearly improving.
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During her break periods during the academy, Hinata found herself constantly thinking about what her nindo should be. She had a few ideas of things that sounded good in her head. But the moment she tried to put them in an actual scenario they seemed to fall apart. Just how did someone come up with a nindo? How did they know what was worth fighting, and even dying for?
"Sasuke-kun?" she asked turned to the quite boy to her right. Sasuke looked up at her with his usual expression.
"Do you, happen to have a nindo?" she asked, deciding that he was probably likely to. After all, his focus and concentration always seemed to be unshakable.
"Not really" he said after a pause "I have… goals. But I wouldn't call them my nindo" he added thoughtfully. Hinata looked back towards the front.
'Of course. Goals, ambitions, surely they would all be the same.' She glanced at Sasuke before looking back, deciding not to ask him what they were. Surely if he had wanted to her know he would have told her then and there.
Still that gave her a new idea to explore. Just what were her goals? Except of course scoring higher in taijutsu than Sasuke. She nervously grinned to herself, glancing at Sasuke again, as though he was about to accost her for her thoughts. She leant her elbow on the table and allowed her hand to support her head as she drifted off into her own mind her grin fading as she did so.
She wanted to make her family proud. Her father especially.
She wanted to make herself proud, and not to feel like a burden to anyone.
She wanted Naruto-Sempai to recognise her, and to become an equal to him.
She tried to think of more, but couldn't think of anything that really was as important. She wrote them down as a little note, labelling them as her goals.
'But if those are my goals… what does that make my nindo?' she thought in near frustration. Completely unable to work out how if she knew what she wanted, and would be completely determined to see them through, how was her nindo not obvious?
'Or are they not connected?' she wondered, slightly disappointed by the thought. She mentally sighed at the seeming impossibility of the choice before her.
How could anyone just pick a life defining phrase?
It was easy for Naruto. He had the sheer confidence and willpower to follow through with his own. She envied that. She could only wish that she had that ability. To never go back on her words? If only.
She was more the type to fall into the same self destructive patterns. To want to improve dearly, but she just didn't seem to know how. Sometimes it was her own drive, which was why she could acknowledge working out her nindo to be a great idea too. But were it only as simple to follow through with.
"Something on your mind?" Sasuke asked, not looking up from his work. Hinata nearly flinched at his sudden question.
"Um, just thinking" she answered unconvincingly. Sasuke cocked an eyebrow
"Well you just asked me what my nindo was. Seemed like a pretty important question" he commented, but not forcefully.
"It's just… I wonder if I could have a better drive if I had one" she explained, choosing her wording carefully. Sasuke seemed to consider it before answering.
"Probably." He said simply. Hinata deflated somewhat, hoping that he would eventually have said something that might've put her on the right train of thought.
"It's that the point of a nindo?" he suddenly continued "To have something to honour. Even if you can't always, you can strive to achieve it"
Hinata blinked.
'That's it…' she thought, marvelled by the Uchiha. 'My nindo doesn't have to be something I must follow at all times. It can be whatever I want it to be. I want to be like you, Naruto-Sempai. I want my nindo to be like yours. I too, want to never go back on my words'
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"So do you think you're ready for it?"
"What, the jounin exam?" Naruto asked in disbelief.
"Well, it's a fair question, Naruto" the Hokage asked. Naruto folded his arms and grinned.
"A kid teaching other kids?" he commented humorously "I don't see it working out"
The hokage's eyes narrowed.
"Even if you became a jounin Naruto, I couldn't possibly give you your own team until you become older. Surely you're aware of that"
"Yeah, I know that. But even so, it would put me in a position where I could be made responsible for more things. I'm not ready for any of that stuff. I have my own… projects" he finished with an almost uncertain tone.
"Perhaps you're speaking of young Lady Hinata" The hokage pointed out. Naruto reacted visibly "You didn't think I didn't know about that, did you?" the hokage asked with a mild laugh in his voice.
"I-I, I though perhaps… It was low key?" he half asked. The hokage began laughing.
"Naruto-chan, you challenged the Hyuuga head!" he said in between his laugh. "How is it you thought that was 'low key'?" Naruto flushed at the obvious error in his thought line.
"But I agree with you Naruto. You are not ready for the jounin exams. Even with your impressive strength, you have much else to learn beyond the ninja arts before I will be satisfied in permitting you entry" the hokage said, his laugh having died down. Naruto nodded to the old man words. He agreed with him completely, even excusing his own personal wishes against the test.
Of course it meant being selfish. He had to consider the village. More jounin meant more military power for the village. But his recent experiences around Hinata had educated him that there was far to learn before he could even think of advancing to that level.
"Well it seems we are in agreement on that issue" the hokage said, "But I do have another reason for calling you here, and no it is not a mission" he answered before Naruto could ask.
"In fact it is exactly about your little incident with Hyuuga Hiashi"
Naruto gulped. Whatever consequences awaited him for that, they could not be good.
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Author Notes: Another chapter completed! Not as exciting as the last one I know, but hopefully more insightful. I did want to expand on the forfeiting thing. And although I will be keeping Hiashi as quite an 'ass', I wanted to reveal that there was another side. Even if it is hard to understand.
I hope you enjoyed reading! See you again Friday!