Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This is fanfiction, after all.

Two months later

Training grounds, Konoha – February 28, AK 22

Hanabi Hyuuga was a powerful ninja. Despite being only seventeen years old, she was one of the powerful twenty-five or so Konoha ninjas classified as A-ranked or higher in the data books. She could count the number of Konoha kunoichi stronger than her on one hand and still have fingers left over. Power was what continued to give her breathing room within her clan. It had saved her from getting sealed at a young age. It kept her father and the elders of the Main House wary and respectful. Strength was what kept the danger away. She had always felt that the clan's ways and traditions were like a boa constrictor squeezing the life out of her. She would not live her life as a trapped bird or a cornered rat. She was strong.

Despite her strength, however, she was not a natural genius like her late cousin. Her skills were earned through blood, sweat, and tears.

It was this mindset that led Hanabi out of her clan compound and towards the normal training grounds. Once Neji had died in the war, Hanabi realized that her family's style of fighting was insufficient in the face of overwhelming power. Neji had been a genius of the Gentle Fist; there were even whispers that he was even more powerful than her father, especially since her father was out of practice. But even someone as skilled as Neji had perished in the war.

The original Gentle Fist was a highly defensive style that forced the practitioner to move within a relatively small radius close to the ground. The midrange Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm, her sister's unique Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms technique, and a larger Kaiten radius somewhat extended the reach of the Gentle Fist user, but that did not change the fact that the Gentle Fist was highly limited.

Hanabi initially tried to make simple modifications in the Gentle Fist techniques to make them less rigid and more fluid. Instead of using abrupt turns and sharp strikes, she flowed with her blows and used her agility to slide into her next move instead of pulling back. To allow her to fight even in the air, she added jumps and chakra-releasing kicks and jumps to give her more maneuverability. The last thing her enemies would see would be a captivating dance before their lives were cut short.

Boom!

She froze when she heard an explosion going off nearby in one of the training grounds. Her eyes narrowed and she turned her Byakugan on. No one trained at this time of the night and especially not with loud and destructive ninjutsu. It probably was a fight.

It took a few minutes and a couple more explosions before she arrived on Training Ground 7. She saw a blond young man about to throw what looked like a chakra shuriken at one of the few trees remaining on that side of the training grounds. Given the appearance, it probably was the legendary Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, the technique of the legendary Toad Sage Naruto Uzumaki, the clan head of the newest noble clan Uzumaki.

"Lord Uzumaki?"

"Ah," the young man turned around and the ball of chakra dissipated. Hanabi saw markings disappear from his eyes. "You're Hanabi, right?"

"I was not aware that we were on first name basis, Lord Uzumaki," Hanabi answered in an irritated tone. She wasn't nearly the stickler for formality as her father was but she still valued in maintaining outward respect for others.

"Well, I give you permission now. You can call me Naruto! And I'll call you Hanabi. It would be strange to call you Hyuuga since I'm familiar with some others in your clan."

"Lord Uzumaki," she said coolly, ignoring his displeased look. If he wanted to annoy her, then she would annoy him by disregarding his wishes. "What are you doing out at this time?"

The immediate response was a deadpan look.

"What do you think?" the Sage said, pointing to the craters in the training grounds. "I'm practicing my ninjutsu."

"At this time?" she inquired, slightly surprised. She hadn't thought a legend like Sage Naruto would even need to practice. "I highly doubt that this is a part of your regular training routine."

"Ah, well about that," Uzumaki's mood suddenly plummeted, "I'm trying to distract myself."

"Distract yourself?"

"Well that and let anyone who might be watching know that I have everything under control."

She gave him a strange look. She wondered if it was an unspoken law that S-ranked ninjas had to have some kind of strange quirk. The Sixth was an open pervert. And the teacher of her cousin's teammate Lee was rather unusual as well.

"How does destroyed half a training ground with ridiculously dangerous ninjutsu at midnight convince anyone that you're in the right state of mind?"

"Well because I'm known to be rather brash and rowdy. One of my missions was successful, but ended up with a ton of collateral damage and took the lives of a few of civilians that I had been protecting. If I went back home and acted as if nothing were wrong, Kakashi-sensei would never leave me alone. I'm fine and I understand that being a ninja is risky business, but they don't think I know that. By showing him the tantrum that he expects, I'll have to deal with fewer people trying to fuss over me."

That made sense.

Sort of.

Although…Hanabi wondered why Uzumaki didn't bother trying to change the opinions of those around him instead of just reinforcing the negative reputation he had. It was almost as if he wanted to be known as an immature child.

"Well, anyway, enough of me. So little firecracker, what brings you out this late?"

Hanabi was jerked out of her thoughts.

"I'm not 'firecracker,' my name is Hanabi (fireworks)," she quipped immediately before realizing that the response just made her sound childish.

She was tempted to glare as the Sage laughed. "Aren't you a cute little girl? But, you didn't answer my question."

"Well…I…" Hanabi started out slowly.

She didn't want to tell him about her training routine. She was trying to incorporate ninjutsu into her style to give it more range and versatility. The only problem was that her father and the elders would not be pleased. They strictly followed the Hyuuga tradition of using purely the Gentle Fist to fight. Her modifications already were stretching the rules. So she decided to do her new training late at night and out in the training grounds instead of the clan compound so that no one would find out.

So it would be bad if the news somehow got back to her clan.

"Aha! I know. You were doing something naughty!" Uzumaki crowed in victory.

Hanabi controlled herself as best as she could but she felt her face flush red in anger and embarrassment at the insinuation. Still, it was best if he thought she was doing something perverted rather than find out about her training. So she would further mislead him.

"Lord Uzumaki…" she growled out. "How and where I spend my nights is none of your business!"

The blonde ignored her comment. "Aww…Hanabi is being a rebellious little teen," he cooed. She was about to retort angrily when the Sage became completely serious. "Don't worry, you can tell me. My lips are sealed."

"What?" She looked at him incredulously. Did he think that she was going to tell him details about her love life just because he wasn't going to tell anyone else? Admittedly, being the daughter of an intimidating clan head and a princess of the strongest noble clan in the village, she had no love life, but she wasn't going to say that to anyone.

Uzumaki rolled his eyes. "Look, it's crystal clear that you're doing some kind of forbidden training that you don't want your clan finding out about."

Hanabi was floored. Did the man read her mind? "Um…h…how?"

Did the man know how to read minds? She had given no indications that she was training or that she was trying to avoid detection by her clan.

The mood suddenly became light again. "Ohh, I get it! You thought I implied you were doing something perverted, huh?"

She wanted to growl in frustration but settled for repeating her previous question politely. "How did you know?"

If someone as notoriously unobservant as Uzumaki was able to find her out, then she needed to figure out where she went wrong.

"Wearing training garb with training gear, chakra levels at nearly full capacity, wide awake, heading towards direction of Training Ground 41 before turning to come here."

"That couldn't be the case! Even if you were a sensor, I wasn't even using chakra before I changed directions. Tell me the truth! How did you really know?"

Uzumaki grinned. "Now that would be kissing and telling. In any case, like I said, my lips are sealed. I promise. And I never go back on my word. So don't feel too upset that you were caught."

Uzumaki and his promises were famous throughout the village. There were rumors that because he used to house the greatest of the bijuu, he was subject to the laws of demons. And there were plenty of old folklores saying that demons were unable to break their promises. Hanabi didn't really believe in any of those tales, but she knew that Uzumaki had never broken a single promise to date. Her secret was safe.

"It's not just that," Hanabi murmured softly, calming down with a few deep breaths.

"Oh?" Uzumaki just raised an eyebrow.

"I'm also frustrated that I got caught. It just reminds me how far behind I am compared to a legend like you."

The Sage nodded. "You're an elite in the ninja arts, one of the strongest in your clan's history. But you're trying to break out of the shell of an A-rank and move into the territory of the masters. In strength, you seek to remove the shackles placed on you by your clan. In power, you hope to find freedom."

Hanabi didn't even react to the comment. She figured by now that the Sage was somehow able to read her mind. She would have to settle for not outwardly embarrassing herself. She was skilled at maintaining her distance from others behind a wall of formality, but the Toad Sage managed to tear that wall down in less than ten minutes. She briefly wondered if this was why Hinata still had the tendency to blush brightly and even occasionally faint in front of the man. The Toad Sage just had a way of getting reactions out of people.

"There are many days that I wish I hadn't been born as a Hyuuga. My sister has found her purpose in trying to fix our clan. But for me, I feel that the clan is preventing me from discovering my own purpose. Father tells me that the clan is everything and the bonds of family should be placed above all else, but…" she trailed off.

"You want to be acknowledged as your own person." Uzumaki said knowingly. "I understand how that feels. At first, people saw the Kyuubi instead of me. Eventually, they acknowledged me, but they saw me as the one holding a bijuu. They saw me as an instrument of war. My life has been defined by that. Even now, they fail to see me as me. They see the Toad Sage, the apprentice of the Lord Jiraiya, the Uzumaki clan head, the son of the Yellow Flash, and the Golden Sun of Konoha who led the Grand Alliance to victory in the Fourth Shinobi World War."

Hanabi noticed something change in those blue eyes. She couldn't determine exactly what it was, but it reminded her of the first time she saw him.

Flashback

"Hanabi, pay close attention to this battle. Neji possesses the thickest Hyuuga blood. His eyes surpass those of your sister."

"Even more than big sister's?" Hanabi asked.

"Yes, and mostly even yours," her father replied.

As her father had commanded, she paid close attention to the battle. But her eyes were drawn towards the orange-clad boy.

"Byakugan," she whispered.

She looked at his body movements, his eyes, and the atmosphere around him. Even after he was hit with the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms and had no chakra flowing through his chakra points, he never lost his confidence.

She heard some people laugh at the boy's bravado, but she noticed something different. She couldn't figure out what was drawing her attention to the boy, but she knew that there was more to this boy than what most people saw.

"Father?" she tugged at her father's sleeve. "Who is that boy that Neji is fighting?"

"His name is Naruto Uzumaki. Be wary around him."

Hanabi could certainly agree with that. There was just something odd about Uzumaki, even beyond the strange red chakra he was using to defeat her cousin.

End Flashback

Hanabi reflected on that. Perhaps that's what she saw in him all those years ago. A kindred spirit not only searching but also struggling to find an identity.

"Well?" She snapped her attention back to him.

"Yes?" Uzumaki was giving her an expectant look, but she didn't know what he wanted.

"Don't you think this is a grand opportunity?" Uzumaki said with a happy look. "The setting is perfect, with the nice calm evening wind and the moon is bright. Some would say that something 'magical' could happen tonight."

For a second, Hanabi just stood there as she processed his words.

Then…

She felt chakra raging around her hands and feet menacingly before realizing just who she was about to assault and calming down.

"Lord Uzumaki, don't you think you have better things to do than to make passes at someone you have only met a handful of times?" she tried to say the words in the most polite way she could, but couldn't hold back the annoyed tone in her voice.

Uzumaki ignored her and fixed her with a stare before circling around her like a hawk. "Hm…not bad. Not bad at all. You look quite flexible too."

Hanabi found her self-control beginning to crumble. She was respectful and polite, but there was only blatant flirting she could take without retaliating in some manner.

She snapped when she found him completely ignoring her and ogling at certain private areas of her body. She was wearing the traditional Hyuuga training robe, which didn't show much at all, but it was the principle of the matter.

She struck at him with chakra-coated feet and palms and took a stance as he jumped a few meters away with a small smile.

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm," she screamed out, trying to blast the pervert away.

Her eyes widened as she felt a change in the atmosphere and saw the Sage backhand the invisible pulse of chakra and knock it to the side where it detonated on a tree.

What a ridiculously fierce aura. This feeling!

She suddenly discovered that her breath was ragged from the incredibly pressure around her.

But that feeling disappeared as quickly as it came.

"The Gentle Fist techniques," the Sage said in a serious tone, "with the sole exception of the chakra-intensive Kaiten, are most effective with direct contact. Aside from issues with lack of agility, which are resolved by a primarily defensive stance, there are nearly no flaws in the Gentle Fist, so a fight at close range with a Gentle Fist user is usually deadly. The only way to fight Gentle Fist user is to attack from distance since they have neither the range nor the mobility to reach beyond a certain distance. Even if the attacks themselves do not work, the Gentle Fist user will eventually tire."

Hanabi stood there stunned at his sudden change in attitude and his skill. Not only was he completely right about the weaknesses of the Gentle Fist style, the Sage had initially been less than half a meter away from her, well within the fighting range of a Hyuuga, and he had still taken no damage.

"A…ah…" she stammered.

"Okay," the Sage smiled. "I'll train you for tonight! We'll magically transform you to a kickass kunoichi by the morning!" he frowned and put his finger to his chin before adding, "not that you aren't already, of course."

"Huh?" She was so confused that she was reduced to using one-word responses.

Uzumaki looked at her and sighed dramatically. "You're out here to train, right? I just got a glance at your stance, which tells me a lot about how you fight, and one of your signature techniques. I've thoroughly examined your body so I know what types of movements you are capable of. I'm offering you a rare chance to be trained by the Toad Sage. Isn't that great?"

"B…but…" she stammered again, "weren't you flirting with me? Weren't you making comments about my body and how you wanted to…um…sleep with me?"

He looked confused at that and then smiled innocently before pointing at himself. "Who? Me?" She nodded dumbly. "Nope," he said after thinking for a few seconds. "Can't recall doing so. I remember commenting on the weather, saying that it's great for some magical training, and then commenting on your stance and physical condition."

Flashback

"Aha! I know. You were doing something naughty!" Uzumaki crowed in victory.

~break~

"Don't you think this is a grand opportunity?" Uzumaki said with a happy look. "The setting is perfect with the nice calm evening wind and the moon is bright. Some would say that something 'magical' could happen tonight."

~break~

Uzumaki ignored her and fixed her with a stare before circling around her like a hawk. "Hm…not bad. Not bad at all. You look quite flexible too."

~break~

The mood suddenly became light again. "Ohh, I get it! You thought I implied you were doing something perverted, huh?"

End Flashback

Hanabi groaned out loud, not even caring that she was in front of someone else. "You tricked me again."

The Sage laughed at her. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I did no such thing! You just have a dirty mind, accusing me of flirting when I was just trying to help you out."

"I wasn't on expecting something like that…" she pathetically said, ignoring his denial. Ninjas often spoke in double-speak and triple-speak so it was obvious that the man wasn't going to admit to anything openly. She held her head down in shame. The Sage had been testing her and she hadn't even come close to passing.

Uzumaki put his finger on his chin to think. "Now, I'm assuming that you're trying to build upon your Gentle Fist rather than starting over from scratch. Judging from your strikes, it seems as if you developed a Gentle Fist style that incorporates jumps and kicks instead of only the traditional palm strikes. No offense, but your range still sucks and your ranged attacks suck even more."

Hanabi looked glumly at the area that had been completely blasted to bits by her technique and pointed. "That pathetic, huh?"

"Not pathetic," She had expected to see him taunting her or making another annoying comment but he was giving her a serious look, "but not well suited to your style."

There was a strange confidence in his words. The Sage was stating things as if they were simple facts.

She was confused. Almost everything she heard about the young Toad Sage seemed to be wrong. From the older generation she learned that he was brash, loud, immature, and disrespectful. From the younger generation, including Hinata, she learned that while he was incredibly powerful, compassionate, and loyal, he was lacking in intelligence. But her own experiences told her something else altogether: he was deadly. She could feel the power in that aura of his just waiting to be unleashed.

"You know," she replied, nodding when he asked her if he could touch her, "you're not at all what people say you are."

"That so?" Uzumaki laughed softly at that before walking to her and holding her arms in different fighting positions to see which of them would best suit her. She noted that he was taking extreme care not to be indecent. He was simply touching her as a master would his disciple than a man would a woman.

"Yeah…" For some reason, the fact that he was so proper made her feel more self-conscious than if he were actually enjoying being that close to her and touching her. Why is my heart beating so quickly? Hanabi thought. I…I barely met him and he's having such a strange effect on me.

"Tell me…what chakra natures can you use?"

She found herself responding automatically without even thinking about the consequences of freely giving away information. The Sage's charisma somehow had greatly affected her. "My chakra leans towards wind, but I can also use water. I don't have too many techniques though. I just learned the bare minimum to become a jounin. Until recently, I focused almost exclusively on the Gentle Fist."

The Sage nodded before fixing her with an intense gaze. "Wind and water, huh?" he paused, "What a coincidence…"

She kept staring at him with her white eyes as his blue eyes bore into her. There was so much in emotion in that gaze of his but, despite those emotions being in plain sight for her to read, she could not decipher any of them.

He was definitely not what people said he was. He was the perfect example of what a shinobi should be. Powerful. Intelligent. But most of all, deceptive.

AN: Just saying...some reviews would be nice so I know what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong. And it might encourage me to update a bit faster =)

I also noticed that it had said THREE months instead of TWO at the very top before I recognized that something was wrong lol. I initially had it set up to be March 28 instead of February, but I wanted most of the next few chapters to be set before Hanabi's 18th birthday. I'm sure people noticed the mistake, but not a single person mentioned it. Ugh. Now I have to go chase down and correct every mention of "three months" in subsequent chapters.

Oh well.

Thanks!