The training with Hinata began the next day.
This training was great for everyone involved, as the boys and Hinata learned to function as part of a team, with the sides changing day to day, either in one on four matches, or just in teams of two and three. The most common tended to be, at Hiashi's insistence, Heero and Naruto vs the team of Hinata, Sasuke, and Shikamaru. The two worked well together, having trained for years with each other, showing a level synchronization to their attacks that the other three just couldn't match. Worse, after a week of such matches, Heero learned a new trick with his armor. How to expand it, and cover the original Naruto, allowing him to make clone after clone and send it against the other three.
Not that those three let them win every time. They had their own prides to think about. Sasuke especially was relentless when it came to combat. Within the indoor training ground of the Hyuga, ringed on all sides by chakra blocking seals, he was able to cut loose fully. He tended more towards Katon techniques, showering the arena with fireballs and swirling vortexes of flame. He also proved to be the fastest of the five Academy students, often able to vanish to the naked eye, only to reappear somewhere different, launch a single attack, or move into a taijutsu combination, and then vanish again before any retaliation could be had.
Shikamaru was less driven, but didn't want to let his clan down, especially after learning from his dad he would be informed of how well his son did, and would act appropriately if he embarrassed the Nara's in front of two orphans and two other clan heirs. So he fought on, revealing as he did, something important regarding Heero's armor. It didn't work against his shadow jutsu, so he was able to hold him, and since his chakra still lasted longer than Heero's, he could literally just stand there waiting for the other boy to run dry. Worse, he seemed to enjoy the technique, often using it against all four of the others just to show off.
Hinata was just as driven as Sasuke, and had more to lose, as it was her clan's ground she was fighting on. She didn't disappoint either her father, who would sometime come down for the matches, or her uncle and cousin, both of which were always there egging her on, telling her she could do it. Their confidence in her was her pillar, and she would ram that pillar into the defenses of the boys, disabling every Naruto clone, taking down Sasuke by barreling through his flames, assaulting Shikamaru so fast he had no time to use his shadow, and dodging Heero until her chakra ran out, and she could lay the finishing blow on him.
Not that Heero and Naruto learned nothing during the training. Naruto learned that his clones, if they used henge they did not just seem to change shape, they transformed physically. At first this was used merely to give them longer reach, or make them larger, at that cost of some durability, but eventually he learned he could make weapons with them, a single clone throwing a dozen shuriken at a time, and any that missed would then transform back into clones, and throw even more of the same, overwhelming his opponents. Worse was when he used the cover of chakra smoke to have them change into floor tiles or the ceiling, having them transform back at the perfect time for an ambush.
Heero's learned himself how to both expand the Armor of the Tortoise, and how to reshape the Claws of the Tiger. Bringing his fingers together would turn the five small blades into a single large one, as wide as his hand, and the added width allowing them to hit when he would otherwise allow an enemy to dodge. They also learned that no matter how you touched the blades, they still cut, even if what you were slicing at didn't appear to be an edge. Luckily, the unfortunate person to learn this was one of Naruto's clones when he tried to leap onto the wide blade, only to have his feet torn to tattered shreds, before dispelling.
On the third week of their training, the five were happy to find Neji wishing to join them. They allowed him of course, and his first session was a five on one match against him, one he won with surprising ease, dancing through Sasuke's guard, and then paralyzing him, before tossing the younger shinobi into Shikamaru, who found his shadow technique stopped by the body, only to then be stiffened himself by the older boy's gentle touch. Hinata didn't stand a chance, as she knew she wouldn't, her fluid, water technique unable to come close to actually breaking his solid, rocklike guard, while he let her crash against him like a wave against a shore, and then shut her down with two quick jabs.
Naruto, despite his advantage in numbers fared very poorly against the elder Hyuga, who always seemed to know exactly which one was the real Naruto, despite Hinata and the others of her clan assuring them that Shadow Clones were indistinguishable from the original. Of course, Neji knew this, and also knew that Shadow Clones were more mental copies, than physical ones, taking on the appearance of the clone maker using them as they knew themselves to be. That made it easy for him to slip a small magnet onto the original Naruto's person, in such a way that he hadn't noticed, and the technique failed to copy it because he was unaware of it, allowing Neji to always know which one was the ture opponent.
Heero stumped him for a while. The Armor prevented him from simply paralyzing him as he had done to the others, but the young Yuy-san's speed had been improving with all the training. Whereas before he had moved like a normal person weighed down by heavy metal armor, now he moved like a ninja...weighed down by heavy metal armor. The difference was still extreme, and made it hard to dodge him, but then Neji made a discovery. The armor came out of Heero's tenketsu points like a geyser of chakra. This geyser left a small gap right in its center, as long as the Armor was skin tight, so miniscule that one couldn't see it if it wasn't right in front of them, but just enough that precision strike rendered the boy paralyzed, though still unable to be attacked as only the nerves in his body were disabled, not his chakra network itself.
This total rout caused the other five to look up to the young man, who, being a branch family member, if one of excellent skill, was not used to such accolades. Even in his class, where he was top of his game, and where it was widely known that he was the most skilled user of the Gentle Fist style of his generation, he was still looked down upon by a few. Most didn't care, of course. To them, he was of a clan, and that meant status, and more importantly he was skilled, but even those had a doubt in the back of their mind, always thinking that maybe he wasn't as good as they thought he was, and maybe he would one day be surpassed by the heir of the main family. To have said heiress sitting there, hanging on his every word as he critiqued her stance, like he'd done when they were children, was very gratifying for Neji.
So they trained, pushing each other harder, faster, stronger. Their bodies became the weapons known as shinobi, and their spirits became the free flying hopes and dreams of the young. Hizashi reported everything about the matches to his brother, of course, who would then summarize them for the Hokage, Itachi, and Kakashi, all of whom listened to tales of children displaying skills far beyond their years. Each fight seemed to grow more complex, and with Naruto, an almost unending wellspring of chakra, able to use an advanced medical jutsu to recharge them, they fought many times a day. At some points, the Hokage had to wonder what sort of people they would grow up to be, fighting the way they did, but he always smiled as he heard Hiashi report on how they acted at meal times, breaking bread, sharing jokes, and above all being children.
Then the break passed, and the five plus one returned to the Academy. Soon, the five in Class B dominated their peers. No one could touch them as they fought like demons, a comparison that sometimes seemed to make the teachers nervous when it was applied to Naruto, not that any of the students making the statements noticed. Still, they had to admit, the results were just fantastic, and every teacher was placing bets one which of the five would be the first to get to each ninja rank, from genin to jonin. Some had even started a pool based off which of the ones might becoming Hokage one day, with Sasuke being the stand out favorite as he showed both power, great control, and the fact that he would one day awaken his Sharingan, despite said fact not being true in every member of the Uchiha clan.
More noticeable to some though was Neji. Always at the head of his class, if only for his kekkei genkai, he had improved so dramatically over the month long winter break that the teachers were having to dream up more difficult scenarios for him to fight under. First against two other students, then against three, then limiting him to only his martial skills. And yet it did not stop. Where before at least one of his class could take him down from time to time, either someone using weapons or techniques that used ranged attacks, or by just being Rock Lee, who was hands on the best taijutsu user the Academy had seen in at least a generation, and was going to be Might Guy's apprentice when he came of age, at least according to the pair, who would often launch into declarations of their admiration for the others skills.
Still, even his might was unable to penetrate the barriers Neji threw in front of him. Either his arms would move with such suddenness that it was impossible to get between them, or he would simply not be where you thought he was a second ago. Every fight against Neji ended the same way, with his opponent on his butt, and Neji standing there. He didn't try to earn animosity from this though. Instead he was always there to help his fellow students. Offering a hand to help them rise, and then walking them through their stances to improve their own speed. That one student was able to start bringing his fellows up with him was a marvelous thing for the teachers of the Academy, and they thanked Kami that this year might not end with just one team being selected, as had been the case for the previous five years of the Academy.
Time moved forward, as the other students, seeing how good their classmates had gotten drove themselves harder, pushing either their families to teach them more of the ninja arts at home, or just doing research on such things if the family were not known to be skilled ninja. Everyone found a niche and stuck to it, while those who found themselves overwhelmed decided to pull out, going back to the civilian life that was full of far fewer hurdles. Soon enough, the summer had arrived, and Class B, which had started out with over thirty students, had been pared down to just ten. Each one had grown into a ninja though, sharpened to a razor's edge, and able to do things that would have seemed like magic to a normal person. Better, this constant give and take of training seemed to have created friendships that the teachers knew were the kind to last a lifetime.
Over the summer break, and at the insistence of their remaining classmates, the five and one, became the ten and three instead. The ten were everyone left in Class B, their skills enough now that they could keep up with the five who had been so dominate throughout the year, while the three were Might Guy's team, Neji and his two teammates, the boy known as Rock Lee, who was quite simply the best taijutsu user in the village barring only his sensei, and Tenten, a girl with the eye of a hawk, and the weapons of an army. These three tended to watch, along with their sensei, but every once in a while, it would become a ten on three brawl, as the young class tried to take down the three elders. It tended to turn into a chaotic melee when that happened, with the younger students abilities being so eclectic a mix, while the elder genin simply showed off better team work, often isolating a single opponent and taking them down, before moving onto the next.
Parents were invited to watch, along with the Hyuga who now made a habit of going into the training room whenever they had a free moment, just to see the kids fighting. Many commented on Naruto's creative use of clones as healers when they saw it, as the boy's near bottomless well of chakra allowed him to recharge his friends, allowing for the matches to go on for hours, even when their teachers knew that such things should have been beyond the younger generation. Some, like Sakura's civilian parents, were more thankful for the invitation to the Hyuga clan compound, and barely seemed able to follow the matches, despite their best efforts. Others, like Shino's parents, would often just sit there, impassive until the matches were done for the day, whereupon his mother would run up to him to congratulate him, while his father would give him a much more subdued congratulations as they made their way home.
Even Fugaku, a normally somber man, seemed to light up as he watched his heir grow in power. He had selected Sasuke as his heir, over his brother who had indicated he had no desire to lead a single family, and wanted to guide the village itself to power. Fugaku had always, somewhere in the back of his mind, resented his eldest son for that, as the boy's strength would have given the Uchiha even more power within the village, but as he watched the fights, he came to see the wisdom in Itachi's course, as the students his son had been teaching for two years became a fighting force on par with any he had seen. Many a conversation were being had between the heads of the Hyuga and Uchiha clan regarding this behind closed doors, about what this could all mean for Konoha, but few things could ever be agreed upon between the two, and they tended to leave angry at some slight they believe the other had made against them.
Soon rumors spread, as they tended to do. Though only immediate family had been invited to the Hyuga compound, every member of that clan knew of the matches, and that allowed the news out, if a bit garbled. Apparently there was a new fighting force of veteran shinobi being trained in secret. The Konoha Thirteen, who's skills would surpass even the legendary Sannin. It was said they could cut through mountains, part seas, and take cannon blasts from battleships straight to the face, and still go on. The Hokage, at first, tried to suppress the idle chatter, but Itachi actually encouraged him to let it spread. After all, while a few words would slip, the sheer amount of rumors regarding the children made it all but impossible to find out the truth, and what was more believable? That Konoha had thirteen students who were growing in power like stars shooting into the heavens, or that Konoha was training a new fighting force?
So the rumors spread. Iwa, Kumo, Suna, and even Kiri heard the news of Konoha's new strength. Some in the halls of power in those villages began to feel threatened, but none would challenge them. Konoha was already first among the villages in strength, and they all knew it, so instead of wasting resources on an attack, they merely increased their own power as each saw fit. Some outside the villages heard the rumors, and had their suspicions about the sources, but they were either too wrapped up in their own worries, or had plans already in motion. In the shadows some things moved, most merely to stay well away from Konoha's borders, others to strengthen a wall between them and the Land of Fire's ninja village.
So the summer turned to Autumn. The Ten and Three became the Ten, as Might Guy took his team on their first C Ranked mission. Meanwhile the Ten were forced to return to the classroom, Itachi reminding them that though they were now skilled, they were not yet graduated. He made sure the next year tested each and every one of his students, pushing them even farther than they had thought possible. Teams and bounds were forged, as combat practice focused on group tactics now. The class divided into teams, which Itachi seemed to take a perverse pleasure in changing on a daily basis. Sometimes it was a single student against the class. Sometimes one side had to rely only on their taijutsu, while the others could use any skill they desired. And then came weapon training, which revealed something interesting for the class.
Heero, who's armor still tended to be a trump card in any fight, had rarely showed off his claws to his classmates, but when it came to weapons training, he enjoyed carving his way through every sword, staff, kunai, and chain the others could muster. No mortal forged steal could stop his claws, though he was always careful to avoid hitting his classmates with them. It was discovered that if a weapon was charged with chakra, it could resist those shining white blades, but only a little. It would slow down his swing, but never stop it, so the class mostly learned how to dodge him, getting around him as his kekkei genkai slowed him enough that even Choji could run circles around him now.
The training in teams forged bonds, strained friendships, and began to teach the children tactics that they were otherwise ignorant of so far. They fought hard, trained harder, and they learned from the older generation, taking each lesson to heart. Soon enough, Autumn gave way to Winter, which then gave way to Spring at last. When Spring had finally arrived, Ten young shinobi took their graduation exam, and as a one, they passed. Everyone had high marks, with Class B averaging out to have the highest ranking of any class in the Academy's record. So Ten youths were thrust onto the scene, and decisions needed to be made. Team assignments had to be arranged, parents had to be contacted, and Jonin had to be tapped to be sensei to the youth. The Academy was over, now began the life of shinobi for those would would one day be known to every corner of the Elemental Nations.