I am going to aim for longer chapters, I've been taking my time over the plot lines and how i want all the characters to develop. Please comment or review, i am likely missing things or things you would have liked to see, its difficult to remember ideas especially when i am away from my laptop. I wouldn't be surprised if you could tell where i stop and start.
Thank you for reading this far.
Two weeks later (or eighteen days after Fukushi vanished with Monica.)
Naruto had quickly falling into an intense but steady training routine. Each day he'd wake as the sun rose and left after a shower and some food to the training fields. He would go to the most secluded of the fields, one in which only Lee bothers to go to as other people just take the closer, more handy fields to use. The jinchuriki would go through a warm up regime before splitting some clones off to practice the wind jutsu that Sasuke had given him. It was a simple jutsu which essentially pushed a wall of compressed air into the desired direction. Naruto found out he couldn't use his clones to practice the Haraishin. The instructions were good but the way the jutsu worked seemed to disrupt the clones' chakra just enough that they would fail the jutsu and vanish in a puff of smoke. Naruto had to deal with the disorientating effects of teleportation, that and the intense drain on his chakra as the jutsu requires good reserves and a fine-tuned control. He would work through rain or sun to get used to the effects. He no longer simply moved from one side of the field to the other; Naruto was trying to throw the tri-pronged kunai and teleporting before the blade hit his mark and grab it.
There were some distinct differences to Naruto's haraishin and Fukushi's lightning teleportation. For one thing, Naruto didn't cause two lightning strikes as he moved around. Blink and you would miss the very brief flash as Naruto teleported.
Today he had been training in the rain. The weather came thick and fast, striking the ground and causing mini splashes the water impacted the surface. Naruto was catching his breath after another teleport. He was soaked through and his blond hair took more of a dirty brown colour as the water soaked through his clothes. Not even waterproof material could stop this rain. Naruto didn't care though, he appreciated the cool water against his body as the jutsu also left him feeling overheated, probably from exerting energy rather than a side effect.
Kurama was being surprisingly helpful for once. He would sit within Narutos mindscape and tell him when his body and chakra was ready to move again. Two weeks in and Naruto was too disorientated to move for about ten seconds and wasn't ready to teleport again for another five minutes. While was about four minutes, fifty-nine and two-thirds of a second longer than his father, Minato. Naruto took a deep breath and with all his might he threw the kunai across the field. Easily one hundred yards, and fast enough to create a low whistle as the kunai cut through air and rain alike. Naruto immediately concentrated and once his chakra was aligned he held up his left hand and released the jutsu. In a crack of energy, he was by the kunai he had thrown, Naruto managed to grab the blade before it struck the target but as he spun to hit the target on the side, as was the aim of the exercise, he would misjudge his movement and spun too fast only to fall to the floor feeling dizzy; and wet.
Naruto grumbled at the graceless fall. He got up and patted down his ass. Not helping him other than smearing the mud around and getting hand dirty, not that any part of him was clean at this point.
"At least you didn't land on your face this time." Kurama smirked from within.
"Shut up Kurama." Naruto was too tired to really chew Kurama out but he didn't want the fox to walk all over him. "It's been over a week since a made progress with this, why is it so hard?"
"Wouldn't be worth it if it was easy, remember your rasengan?"
Naruto thought for a moment. "Wow that was a long time ago, I remember I destroyed a lot of trees and rocks to get it right."
"So quit bitching and get on with it. Or I'll win bragging rights over Sai"
"It would be a lot easier if I didn't have to wait so long to get my body ready for it again."
"Why don't you leave the target alone and try to get your speed up?"
"Because last time I tried that I was not only sick you swore to kill me in the most horrific way imaginable, you're in sync with my sensors now remember." Naruto had a good point. Kurama had never felt nauseated, until now, and he hated that feeling almost as much as he hated the sharingan. He scrunched up his nose at Naruto then sighed after taking a deep breath.
"Urg fine just get it over with, I won't eat you, much." He grumbled at a barely audible level.
Naruto took a deep breath, he didn't like feeling sick any more than that fox. He threw the special kunai again. Teleported and immediately threw it across the field before grabbing it a third time. Almost losing his footing he threw it a fourth time and managed to teleport. By now he was so disorientated he couldn't even see the trees around the field, it was all just a blur. He managed a fifth teleportation before his body didn't know what to do anymore and to Naruto he thought gravity was in some direction off to his right. He fell painfully into the mud and stayed still to let his head rest. Rain falling over the tired shinobi.
"Hinata is coming boy, unless you want her to think you're sleeping on the job, I'd get up." Kurama advised, although Naruto only attempt at getting up resulted in him putting his hand in the wrong place and falling back to the mud with a groan.
"N-Naruto!" Her startled voice called out. She saw enough to see him fail to get up. Fearing he was injured she rushed to his side in a blink of an eye. "Naruto!"
"Relax, he's just dizzy." Kurama's voice growled out, Hinata just nodded and reached into a small bag she was carrying with her and took out a couple pills with some water. She helped Naruto up who was swaying as his head struggled to stop spinning. Without a word, he took the medicine and stood still trying to recover. They walked to a small shelter that every field had off to one side and Naruto sat. He drank the water before speaking.
"Thanks for that Hinata, I needed it." He gave her a smile. He would have leaned on her as he was still feeling rough but decided against it as she was filthy and she was wearing a white kimono. "Why the fancy wear Hinata?"
"Oh, I just came out of the Hyuuga compound." She blushed. "I wanted to get you something for the nausea so quickly that I didn't bother changing."
"I managed five in a row, which is better than last time I guess." Naruto grinned over his achievement
"Urg but you certainly feel it." It was now Kurama's turn to get the headache. Hinata giggled, she would have never of guessed the famous nine-tailed biju would have such issues with being sick. They sat in the shelter as Naruto was dripping wet and Hinata had the sense to use an umbrella. They listened to the unrelenting rain on the roof and nearby puddles. It was tranquil sitting there and resting as it rained. Eventually Naruto shivered as the cold soaked through to his bones.
"Would you like me to get you some dry clothes?"
"Hmm, not sure, wouldn't they only get wet and dirty. I have to train for a couple more hours yet."
"I just don't want you to catch a cold, who knows how Kurama would feel about it." She poked Naruto's stomach where the seal once was.
"I'll eat you both." He snapped, Kurama would have been intimidating but he spoke with many groans and if they could see him now, he was laying on his back with a paw on his forehead.
"I'll go and get a change of clothes, at least you could go home dry tonight."
"You're probably right, here, my keys." He handed her the keys to his apartment. She had a brief blush on her cheeks but took them and stood up to leave while checking her umbrella. It was crimson red with cherry blossoms patterned over it and contrasted sharply with her pale while figure. She stood outside the shelter and looked at Naruto for a moment. If only he would know how she felt. They were closer than ever before but she wanted more. Smiling at the dirty blond she walked up the path towards Konoha. Naruto smiled back but couldn't help feel a bit lonely in the shelter once she walked up a small bank and down again out of view. Naruto stood up and wiped his face before throwing the kunai with all his might across the training field once more.
An hour passed and Naruto was back to catching his breath as he had just used the hiraishin again. He was getting the hang of this. The rain was falling as much as it had been all day and still didn't show signs of letting up. Hinata approached him again, under the same crimson umbrella but this time she was in her shinobi attire of a thick jacket, waterproof but also covering her figure and lilac in colour and black ninja pants. She was carrying another bag of spare clothes and set them in the dry before joining Naruto. She walked up to him but stopped a couple yards away and readied herself into a battle stance. Bent low, legs apart and hands stretched out and ready to strike. She didn't say a word but Naruto grinned at her.
"Want some training too?"
"Come at me then, Byakugan!" She called out. Naruto thought about closing the distance with his new jutsu but decided he probably would be too open. He opted to run at her and engaged in hand-to-hand combat. While Naruto was able to push her about she quickly recovered and her gentle fist hurt. Not on full strength but enough to simulate the effects in real combat. They jumped back and shook off the aches from hitting each other's arms and hands.
"Want to make this interesting?"
Hinata smiled, she felt most comfortable around him and she knew that she was at his side, even if they were meant to be sparring against each other. "Sure, what would you like if you beat me?" She stressed the if.
"A massage?" Naruto's forwardness made her blush which was the opening he needed to test his new jutsu, the air fist. He wove the signs before Hinata could recover and sent a wall of compressed air to her. The jutsu picked up the rain making her very wet as she was splashed by it. Knocked over backwards, Hinata landed in a handstand before jumping back the right way. Naruto noted the effect of knocking opponents back.
"Eight trigrams: Sixty-four palms." Naruto gulped as he realised he's unleashed the Hyuuga monster, he'd much rather fight Kurama than face the gentle fist. He parried her first two attacks. Parried the next four but now she was getting too fast for him to retaliate. "Eight palms." she called out and chased Naruto as he tried to back off. She struck him twice in the left shoulder and his arm felt numb as the chakra was cut up. "sixteen palms." Hinata was really letting him have it. But Naruto flicked his special kunai off to one side before she hit him again. Just before her hand would have struck him in the gut he flashed a few paces to her right. He Flicked the kunai back and flashed back in front of her, a fist implanted into the Hyuugas gut followed by a swinging kick to her chest. Going easy didn't help either of them and now with steaks on the table they threw the gloves off. Hinata jumped back after the kick, another summersault and she was after Naruto again, charging her chakra into her fists.
"Twin lion fists!" With her left she punched Naruto in the stomach and with the second she gave him an uppercut to the chin. Naruto flew in the air but before Hinata got a few free strikes the Naruto in front of her burst to smoke. She turned around and expertly palmed the flying kunai out of the air despite being unarmed. She spied the last one was three-pronged and got ready for Naruto to appear in-front of her. No. Behind. She felt a kick to the back as the kunai was used as a good distraction from the real attack. She tumbled into the mud and stood up breathing heavily and now just as muddy as Naruto. Her hair was soaked and stuck closely to her scalp.
Naruto took a deep breath. "Shadow clone Jutsu!" and four Naruto's appeared and charged at Hinata who closed her eyes and channelled her chakra into the rain falling over them. Her gentle fist attacks fall, literally, on the clones and caused them to poof into smoke. Naruto was expecting this, and used the smoke as cover. He threw a mix of regular and special kunai. Teleporting by Hinata and swiped her feet out from under her. She rolled and got up in time to intercept Naruto. Suddenly, the girl slipped on the mud and fell on Naruto who broke her fall but immediately took advantage and rolled over so he was on top instead and held a kunai to her neck signalling that he had won.
Their pair were face to face and in the heat of the moment Naruto leaned in for a kiss. He had to stop himself as he realised they were no longer alone but Hinata still tried to pull him back down before realising herself. Hinata was in deep red blush, almost shining through the mud. Naruto sat up to see Kakashi in his Hokage attire, with him was Anko and Kurenai. They had been wanting to check up on how their old students were getting along. Kakashi knew about Naruto being here. Found Kurenai who was looking for Hinata to catch up and ask her to babysit. Logic being the two were together. Anko just so happened to be at the right place at the right time and had a 'good feeling' that coming along as a good idea. She was not disappointed. They watched the sparring match came to a close, only to see a young couple, wet and dirty fall on each other and almost loose themselves in the moment.
"You did that on purpose Hinata." Anko called out trying to hold back her laughter. Naruto looked like a startled deer in headlights. He quickly realised he was saddling Hinata and jumped up off the now muddy girl. "I get it, you wanted some alone time." She waved her hands dismissively. "But please not outside, or at least not in the village."
"It's not what it looks like!" Naruto begged. Rubbing his shoulder as he realised it was now completely numb, he knew it was going to sting later as well. Hinata had poured her full strength into those strikes.
"Come on out of the wet you two." Kakashi called trying to change the subject. If he hadn't been the one to make his presence known, then Kurenai would remain in a silent shock and Anko in a silent intrigue. "I appreciate you trying to stick you your regime but if you get ill at this rate you'll end up losing more time."
"Mhn Hinata was saying that earlier." He helped her up off the muddy floor.
"Hokage's orders." Kakashi spoke softer but still loud enough above the rain. "Shall we get going? Not like you're gonna get any wetter out here."
Reluctantly Naruto agreed, he had about two-three hours before nightfall but it was too difficult to tell in the storm
"I am too muddy to go back now." Hinata sighed. Her father wouldn't let her back into the compound with a ten-foot pole when she was this dirty. The Hyuuga clan had a thing for cleanness, which made the post training cleaning the bane of her life. "You go ahead I have a change of clothes here."
"Urm." Naruto blushed. "You can get changed at mine, at least it's warm and dry there, and I don't mind the mud." He scratched the back of his head which at this point just swirled mud into his hair. Anko and Kakashi looked at each other trying to hold back a knowing grin, well as best as you could tell behind Kakashi's mask. Both had read far too much of Jiraiya's work in the Icha Icha series to not know where this was leading. Perhaps the blond did know about her feelings. In secret Hinata had been building up the courage by asking, mostly Kurenai, but also had the mistake of asking Anko about it. She had been weaving her influence ever since.
Kurenai, who was the sweet romantic type, smiled at the thoughtful gesture. "If you like, I can lend you some of my soaps, I doubt Naruto has anything a woman should use."
"That would be very generous of you, sensei." Hinata replied and giving her a slight bow which made her heavy hair fall in front of her face.
The pair of young ninja gathered their stuff and started walking back towards the city centre.
Rain. It had been raining all day now and other in Konoha who were braving the weather were few in number and those who were out were rushing to their destination. Many of the drains were overflowing and it felt like there were small streams and waterfalls falling off every building. Kakashi made his way to the Hokage tower in a shunshin as the many duties called him to return as soon as he had finished his break.
The pair of younger shinobi were getting a few looks of pity as they marched through the town caked in mud. Anko and Kurenai were both ahead and talking to each other. Naruto couldn't hear them over the rain but could probably tell what the topic was as Kurenai slapped Anko back and called her a pervert. Hinata was lost in thought and so the two walked in silence. Little did Naruto know she was building up the courage to fulfill the bet and give Naruto a massage.
"Alright we are here, I would invite you out of the rain but." Kurenai tried to break it to them gently.
"You two are more dirty than Jiraiya's mind." Anko continued for her.
"That and if Mirai hugged you…"
"We get it, we will wait under your porch." Naruto finished.
"Thank you for understanding." Kurenai sang as she entered her home with Anko. Five minutes later which Hinata and Naruto talking about the thunder-god technique, how he managed to do it without feeling too disorientated because he was focussing on the match and not on the technique. Hinata, on the other hand, was still apologising for slipping and falling onto Naruto. They had just made up, not that Naruto was offended but the sentiment was there, when Kurenai reappeared with Mirai in one arm and a bag of shampoo, soaps, and oils in the other. Hinata accepted the bag.
"Oh, I would offer an umbrella but I think it's a bit late for that. You two get dry fast unless you catch a cold."
"Thanks." The pair muttered and with a sigh they begrudgingly walked back into the rain. Naruto's apartment wasn't far from Kurenai's house and the two decided to pick up the pace to get out of the wet sooner. After thumbing for his keys, Naruto burst through the door and immediately walked to the dial and turned on the heating.
"You can take the first shower, I'll get you a towel." With that he left for his room and within a minute he throws a towel out onto the sofa and closes the door to get changed. Hinata looked around his apartment. Brand new from being rebuilt when Pein destroyed it before the war. Through lack of use the place had remained clean, Hinata remembered what his old apartment looked like. The apartment contained a central living room with three doors leading to other rooms. To her left was the far door to Naruto's room and the closer door was his bathroom. To her right was the open door to his kitchen to which she could see the oven and a line of cabinets and shelves. The living room had a small coffee table in between a TV and a sofa. The floor was wooden throughout but covered in rugs which she tried to no get mud on. He had one other seat which was part of the set along with the sofa. Hinata smiled as this was the first time she was invited in properly and not faint within five minutes of being asked or enter without Naruto present. She stepped into the bathroom and started to peel off her jacket. Everything felt dirty as she stripped but the feeling of the warm water was heaven to her body once she actually got under the stream. She blushed as she remembered something. She was naked and in Naruto's house!
Naruto wasn't the only one who was freaking somewhat. Hinata was the first girl his age that he had invited in as well. He had changed into clean, casual clothes but still had dirt in his hair and face so he was going to take the second shower. He blushed. After Hinata. For what felt like hours he finally heard a knock on the door.
"C-can I come in?"
"Sure." Naruto tried to hide his blush as she entered his room. She was wearing leggings and a shirt which revealed her shapely figure.
"I owe you a massage, but I take it you want a shower first." Hinata asked with a soft sweet voice although you could tell she was nervous.
Naruto nodded and slowly got up and picked up a towel. He couldn't help but look at Hinata in a way someone should look onto a goddess. To him, Hinata was certainly a goddess. Someone who accepted everything about him and more importantly had his back, now he was doing many missions with her. He could trust her with his life at a moments notice.
Kurama, on the other hand, was looking with intrigue. Her bag was open and he could see a book with an orange cover. An unmistakable orange of the Icha Icha series. Yes, other books have orange covers but he could see enough of the art style to have a pretty accurate guess. 'Oh, this is going to be interesting.' Naruto was too busy looking at the main spectacle to notice this little detail and Kurama smiled a more perverted smile, one that would have made Jiraiya proud. In ways Naruto influenced the biju, perversion is one emotion that the fox didn't mind. It made his relatively dull life within Naruto much more interesting. Sometimes him and Naruto would just sit and giggle about things they had heard in the day. Only when no one is around. The sight of Naruto giggling to himself, alone, would unnerve anyone who saw.
Kurama managed to read with Naruto the Icha Icha series. At first it was all about honouring Jiraiyas memory but it quickly grew into enjoyment and so Naruto's road to corruption was complete. He knew Naruto had a crush on Hinata and often had to slap himself that she was the pinnacle of innocence and would be grossly offended if Naruto let slip that he was a pervert. However, what he saw changed all previous opinion on the Hyuuga heiress.
Kurama although had a more masculine features, outlook, power, and voice he technically is not a male and has no concept of genders, because he was made of chakra and not flesh and blood. Not that he was ignorant to sex or the pleasures it brings. But he never uses it as basis to judge or pre-determine characteristics. Nor did he understand the social ques around it, which had made it awkward for Naruto to masturbate. More-so now that Naruto is aware he is able to feel the same sensations. Often demanding that Kurama shuts off his sensors and not pay attention.
Naruto had finished the shower by now and was getting dressed before returning to Hinata who seemed to be getting everything ready. Kurama at this point guessed she was using the Icha Icha to get ideas of what to do with Naruto. Her face was bright red as she suggested with her hand to lay on the bed. Naruto slowly complied and lay on the bed.
"Erm, could you take your top off." Hinata whispered.
"Wha? Oh? Yeah." Naruto slowly slipped off his top to reveal a toned body, his skin looked like it had faint tiger stipes. The biju healing powers worked wonders on any injury but left small marks which would be invisible but Hinata was close enough to see the slight variations in colour. The Hyuuga girl was blushing a deep crimson by now as she kneeled by Naruto's laying body. She carefully poured a little bit of the oil that kurenai had given her onto her hand and rubbed the smooth liquid in between her fingers. She took a deep breath and placed her hands onto his shoulders. Naruto tensed up momentarily out of reflex but soon relaxed as Hinata rubbed oil down his back. Hinata had never practiced massaging but the icha icha books that Anko advised did have some details on how to do it. She wanted to try out the happy ending that usually follows but she felt that Naruto would judge her for it and all her hard work would be thrown to the wind.
Pressing her thumbs below the shoulder blades and her fingers on the top of the shoulder blades she rubbed up and down on the spot where her thumbs were pressing to either side of his spine. Every minute or two she would move her hands two inches down and continued. Once she reached the small of his back she rubbed up to his shoulders and almost grabbing them only putting the pressure in the palms of her hands. She continued to work over his shoulder muscles. Naruto just had his eyes closed and relaxing as her hands warmed up finally and were working wonders over his back. He hadn't realised how much the strain of training put onto his body until Hinata rubbed all the stress away.
"Oh god yes, right there, please." Kurama's voice suddenly echoed out causing the pair to jump. "Urg I wish I knew you so much sooner, my god this feels good."
"Kurama!" Naruto snapped.
"Heh, sorry, you gotta tell them how good it feels. It's my first massage too you know."
"I keep forgetting you can feel everything." Naruto would have complained more but Hinata had saddled herself into a more comfortable position on Naruto's ass and started massaging with renewed passion.
"Mmm you know how to pick the perfect ones." Kurama growled quietly under his breath.
"Does it really feel that good?" Hinata asked after a few minutes of massage, Naruto looked over his shoulder at the young woman who had her byakugan on and she was tracing out his chakra network with her finger.
"The best feeling I've felt ever."
"T-then could you turn over?" Naruto did as was asked and was laying down looking up at the most beautiful woman he had the luck to know. Her byakugan was now off and left her eyes relaxed and giving him a caring or loving look. "Let me heal where I struck you today." She carefully rubbed his collar bone where Naruto took two gentle fist strikes. At first, he was reminded how painful those sores were but with every touch the pain ebbed away. Hinata was applying some of her chakra to help heal the nodes that were forcibly switched off.
Naruto was grateful he had the foresight to tuck his cock in the right way. She was sitting on his hip and leaning over him while gently massaging his chest now. He didn't want to ruin the moment by poking her with his arousal. However, Hinata was fully aware of what she was doing to him but she wanted him to see her as innocent so she chose not to act on it.
"Hinata?" Naruto blushed. "Could you kiss me?"
She smiled and placed her hands onto his cheeks and leaned in for a kiss. Her heart was racing as they kissed for several minutes before she sat up for air. Her lips felt soft and tingled a bit as she touched them. Naruto was spacing out from the kiss as it must have been equally amazing for him. The girl laid over her childhood lover and snuggled into his chest. Once she got comfortable she sighed.
"I wish I could spend all night like this."
"Why don't you?"
Hinata shook her head. "No my father will be looking for me. But next time I'll let you massage me, see if it feels as good as you and kurama says."
"Trust me, if he could be half as good as you were you'd feel amazing." Kurama butted in.
"I wish you wouldn't butt in these moments." Naruto sighed.
"What are you gonna do? Seal me?" Kurama teased.
"No but I'll beat your foxy ass if you keep butting in."
"I bet she doesn't mind."
"Ermm" Hinata managed but she was blushing too much. "I guess not."
"See kid?"
The pair chatted on for some more but they started to listen to the rain for a while longer before Hinata admitted she probably should be going back to her compound before her dad rips into her. Naruto thanked her for the massage and for sparring with him earlier. With a second kiss, she left the boy to his apartment. He sighed and immediately felt lonely and cold.
"You know you'll see her tomorrow. And you're getting the Hiraishin down nicely too." Kurama spoke quietly. He knew about Naruto's lonely past first hand but until now he never actually was capable of feeling anything but hatred. Naruto threw himself onto his bed and his last thought before sleeping was that he could still smell Hinata's lavender-like scent.