Naruto: Tornado of Souls
Meeting Hinata
Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or RWBY
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
A big thank you to my kind readers leaving positive reviews! Since it was brought up, I seriously considered dropping the Typhoon release in its entirety but decided to keep it in the end because it adds a little uniqueness to this version of Naruto. Here is chapter 5. Enjoy!
Last time:
The Hyūga Compound
Hinata came strolling home after her mind walk was completed. ANBU Hawk assured the heiress that her secret was safe with the Hokage and Inoichi and everyone else was to be sworn to secrecy. Feeling relieved about the situation, she decided to return to the compound and have dinner with Hanabi-chan. She smirked thinking about the earful her Father had received from Natsu earlier that day.
Coming into the family dining area, she saw Hiashi looking battered and Hanabi looking excited to see her. Actually, the two girl's Father didn't look like he wanted to be there. "Welcome home Hinata." He said in a defeated tone.
Hinata sat down at the table and asked with an evil smile, "…So how is Natsu-san doing?"
Hiashi cringed and said, "She's…as lively as ever."
The clan heiress's smile widened. "You don't say. I never realized she had such a colorful vocabulary."
He groaned and Hanabi said, "Nee-chan! Do you think you could teach me Fire Juken?"
Hinata's smile turned kind and she said, "I don't know Hanabi-chan. We'll have to learn your chakra affinities." She picked up a corn kernel and channeled fire chakra causing it to pop just like popcorn. Seeing Hanabi's excitement, Hinata said, "Obviously my main affinity is fire…"
…
Chapter 5
Konoha, Yamanaka Residence
Yamanaka Inoichi was sitting down after mind walking Blake Belladonna. It had been a rough morning for the Yamanaka Clan head. He saw the former battleground that was the mindscape the insane Tsuchi Kin, and the White Fang hardened Belladonna Blake fought a war of genocide in. It looked like a wrecked, burned-out metropolis. For all intents and purposes Blake fought for every centimeter by bloody centimeter to destroy Kin's madness that afflicted the tortured Oto kunoichi's soul to the core.
Blake's mind was organized like a fortress to keep the madness out. Kin did her best to invade but only scattered snippets of her personality, memories and skills remained now. It seemed the things wired into the original Kin's body like chakra control and genjutsu were mostly what remained of the Oto genin. Recent memories survived as well. Also, a few personality traits such as Kin's temper and things like biases against weaker kunoichi were there but for the most part Blake was forced to exterminate Kin to save herself.
All was not lost though. The scorched landscape was fertile. Seeds of new thoughts and new memories were rapidly being made. What scraps of Kin that still existed be it knowledge or personality were being quickly integrated into the new Blake. It turned out Blake was an avid reader and was soaking up information that was filling the damaged areas of her psyche. Inoichi felt it was a tremendous testament to Blake's strength of will that she came out of such a hellish situation intact.
Most people would have snapped or been mentally broken forever. Unlike Pyrrha's psyche that had large gaps that were slowly being filled at a leisurely pace, Blake's mind was rebuilding and repairing itself rapidly. Inoichi found that Blake's main anchor as things stood was Mitarashi Anko. The two young women seemed to have formed a sisterly bond in the short time they had been living together. Both had dealt with prejudice against them and both hated Orochimaru with a passion. They were also both very serious about their jobs as kunoichi.
The Yamanaka Clan head was originally going to recommend moving Blake and Pyrrha into their own place together but seeing how well both young women were doing in their current environments; it convinced Inoichi that their present living situations were for the best. If Blake and Pyrrha were thriving, then helping them flourish was Inoichi's job. He also felt it would be good for Anko to have someone close to her again.
Inoichi had an idea or two though and planned to present them to Blake and Pyrrha once the faunus girl woke up…
…
Training Ground 53
Hinata was sparring with Naruto, and he was using chakra to deflect her strikes as best as he could. She explained as they circled each other, "My Father Hiashi-sama seems bound and determined to have me come home for lunch Naruto-kun. If he hadn't practically ordered me, I would have said no."
Naruto put chakra in his palms and started intercepting her incoming strikes. "Well, I hate for you to not be here when you made us lunch again. Do you want to take it home with you?"
The Heiress shook her head. "No, you and Jiraiya-sama enjoy it Naruto-kun. I'll just take the empty basket back so I can bring something special tomorrow. Besides, unless something comes up, I should be back this afternoon."
Jiraiya carefully watched as the two teens increased their speed and soon were blurs in motion. He noticed tiny wisps of steam coming from Naruto as the orange loving ninja moved. "Freeze!" he called. Naruto and Hinata separated. The Sannin said, "Hinata, look at Naruto's arms where you managed close his chakra points."
Hinata focused her byakugan and saw Naruto's chakra points that she had closed were reopening with tiny bursts of red chakra. "Jiraiya-sama, Naruto-kun's tenketsus are reopening on their own with chakra…red chakra! Does it hurt you Naruto-kun?"
Naruto grimaced as he realized Kyubi's chakra was reopening his chakra points. "It stings a little but I'm okay Hinata-chan."
She held his hands and watched in fascination as the last chakra point opened. "This could be a huge advantage for you in combat! How are you doing it Naruto-kun?"
"It's something unique to Naruto; Hinata-chan." said Jiraiya warmly as he placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Consider it an S-Class secret. Only Naruto and the Hokage can talk about it for now so please don't pry."
Hinata saw the fear in Naruto's eyes, and she placed a hand on his cheek to comfort him. Smiling softly, she said, "Your secret is safe with me Naruto-kun."
Naruto gently laid his hand over hers and said, "Thank you Hinata-chan. It means a lot to me. I'll explain it all to you…someday." The blonde's stomach suddenly growled. "It must almost be lunch time!" said Naruto with a grin.
Hinata could tell Naruto was relieved at the change of subject. 'I wonder why the secret frightens him so.' she thought sadly. "Well, unfortunately I have to trudge back to the Hyūga Compound to freshen up for lunch with my family. I'll try to be back later Naruto-kun. Otherwise, I'll see both of you in the morning." Acting before she had a chance to think it through, Hinata gave Naruto a peck on the cheek before she ran back home with a huge blush on her face.
Naruto blushed and touched his cheek where Hinata kissed him…He had such a faraway look in his blue eyes and was so distracted that he didn't even notice Jiraiya was giggling and scribbling notes like a madman…
…
Yamanaka Residence
"You want us to set up a time for us kunoichi to train together?" asked Blake puzzled.
"That's the idea." said Inoichi. "Given we are mobilizing it would be in everyone's best interest to work hard together." He turned to Pyrrha. "What do you think Pyrrha-chan?"
The redhead smiled. "I'm always up for training. I need to master my magnet release bloodline better."
Inoichi steepled his index fingers. "How about this; you two, Ino-chan and Sakura-chan; (Blake sighed) and…Hyūga Hinata."
Pyrrha looked shocked and Blake looked angry. " Cinder Fall put us through hell." growled Blake. "She murdered Pyrrha. How can you expect us to work with her?"
"I do understand your relationship with Cinder Fall." said Inoichi in a placating tone. "But you have to realize that Hyūga Hinata is not Cinder. Hinata is a new person just as you two are. The main difference is Cinder and Hinata chose to merge peacefully to assure their survival. Blake, the battle that you had with Kin was horrific and you became dominant as a result…"
"…And in Pyrrha's case the kunoichi Temari simply gave up and passed on which left Pyrrha the sole personality. She alone is mostly intact personality wise. But both of you have noticed changes in your knowledge and the way you think and act. Hinata is the same. All three of you are more than sum totals of your forebears; you are new people."
"So, what exactly do you make of this new Hyūga Hinata Inoichi-san?" asked Pyrrha. "Cinder Fall was an evil, power-hungry woman who wasn't afraid to sacrifice as many lives as necessary to complete her goals! Blake and I know nothing about who Hinata was before."
"And that is precisely what I want to talk about Pyrrha-chan." said Inoichi. "Hear me out. If nothing else all of you are Konoha kunoichi and will have to work together and trust each other as professionals even if you don't get along on a personal level."
Blake looked irritated but said, "Fine, tell us about this Hinata. I doubt I'll ever like her, but I'll listen."
"If Blake is willing, I guess I am too." said Pyrrha in a resigned tone.
Inoichi nodded in approval. "That's all I can ask. Besides, the three of you are keeping each other's secrets about the soul mergers. None of you are to ever make that information public as you well know." Both girls nodded. "I'm going to tell you a bit about the new Hinata from my observations, but you should both talk to Ino-chan and Sakura-chan about the past Hinata because they went to the Academy with her…"
…
The Hyūga Compound
Hinata arrived at the compound and had finally gotten her blush under control. She was squealing mentally, 'I KISSED NARUTO-KUN!' and doing mental back flips inside her head. After taking a deep breath to calm herself; the excited young kunoichi put on an air of cool composure and went to her room to wash up from sparring with Naruto…
Thirty minutes later Hinata came out of her room wearing a red kimono with gold patterns that matched her battle dress but wasn't nearly as revealing. She also had her still short hair worn over to her left side much like Cinder wore hers. Her left eye was hidden by her bangs. Hinata looked quite stunning and regal for a simple lunch with her Father and little sister. The Heiress thought to herself as she closed her bedroom door behind her, 'Come what may; I am armed for battle. Nothing was said this morning but Hiashi-sama has a purpose behind this meeting. I wonder if Hanabi-chan will even be present.'
Hinata came to the main family dining area where she, Hanabi and her Father traditionally had their meals together. Unfortunately, as Hinata expected; her Father was there along with her Grandfather, the Head Elder. Hanabi was nowhere to be seen. Hinata activated her byakugan for a split second and saw the family dining area wasn't lined with armed guards. As Hinata entered the room she gave a slight bow –enough to be polite but not enough to show deference. "Hiashi-sama, esteemed Head Elder; I bid you greetings. I wasn't expecting such company for a mere lunch."
The Elder bristled slightly. 'Hinata is deliberately trying to anger me when all I want is to discuss her Fire Juken in regard to the clan. Why?'
Hiashi saw a gleam in his daughter's visible eye. It was as if the Elder was nothing but a tender, juicy and defenseless deer and Hinata was stalking him like a tigress. 'This isn't good…I should have brought Hanabi-chan. I knew Father's insistence on being here instead was a bad idea…' thought Hiashi.
Hinata said nothing and gracefully seated herself in the seiza position opposite of her Grandfather with Hiashi at the head of the table. Lunch was served and Hinata didn't even attempt to engage in conversation. Hiashi resigned himself to not commenting on Hinata's more flamboyant wardrobe. 'At least it shows less skin than her new battle dress…and Natsu is still angry with me about the parka business…' he thought with a shudder.
Finally, not being able to stand the silence, the Elder asked, "So how are you doing today Hinata? The Elder Council has been very interested in your Fire Juken that you created. We would love to see a demonstration of your new art."
The Hyūga Heiress retorted in a trivializing tone, "I believe I gave Elder Hiraku all the demonstration he needs to assess my abilities. He is supposedly the most powerful juken practitioner in the clan save for Hiashi-sama. No doubt that burnt handprint on his chest has already been dismissed as a foolish girl's folly and of no consequence to the clan. After all, the clan head himself deemed me unworthy of training. I shall continue to practice this little hobby of mine in private so as not to distract anyone with my actions." Her voice was so thick with sarcasm that the Elder felt like he was being verbally slapped in the face.
"The Hyūga Council wishes to see a demonstration Hinata." said the Elder in a patient tone though his eyebrow was twitching. "I do not think that is too much to ask of you, my granddaughter."
Hinata's visible eye narrowed and then she asked politely, "I hold the position of Heiress in the Hyūga Clan do I not Elder?"
The Elder nodded. "There is no question of that now Hinata. We just wish you had shown this power sooner."
"Then there is nothing left to discuss." said Hinata dismissively. "Regardless of any political or monetary power in the Hyūga Clan the Elder Council cannot order or demand anything of the Heiress or Heir of the Clan. They serve in an advisory capacity only. As laid down in our Clan Laws the hierarchy is the Clan Head, the Heiress or Heir and then the Hyūga Elder Council. I have the option of granting or denying your requests and I deny you this one." She turned to Hiashi with a glare and said, "Only the Clan Head Hiashi-sama has the right to command me in this matter and I would ask that he respect my wishes for once in his life."
Hiashi cringed inside. His daughter's tone was cold as a grave in winter. Hiashi said in a stoic tone, "It is not urgent that Hinata's Fire Juken be displayed to anybody at this time. I believe she wishes to perfect it further which is why she took it upon herself to train with Jiraiya-sama. We will discuss this at a later time when it is not a point of contention."
Hinata nodded ever so slightly in affirmation and the Elder sagged a bit seeing his son Hiashi had taken the path of least resistance. Hoping to appeal emotionally to Hinata; he looked over at her and said in a saddened tone, "I was truly looking forward to a demonstration from you Hinata. I'm sure the others will feel as disappointed as I do."
Hinata's chopsticks clattered onto her plate, and she let out a fearsome amount of killing intent aimed at her Grandfather. The Elder's eyes widened when Hinata's byakugan glare literally ignited. He gasped at the flames blazing in her eyes and Hinata said in a cold tone that would peel paint from the walls, "You're nowhere nearly as disappointed as I am in the Council. You don't know the meaning of the disappointment of being crushed and ostracized by your so-called family! Mark my words; every one of you will regret crossing me. I am done here; this conversation has ruined my appetite." Hinata stood up quickly and left without another word…
…Both men considered it a minor miracle that she left in a quiet, stately manner instead of slamming the door off its rails behind her. Hiashi could have scolded Hinata for her abrupt departure but instead he let her walk out without saying a thing. The Elder said, "Hiashi, why didn't you say something to her?"
The Clan Head sighed. "I never visited Hinata-chan while she was in the hospital in a coma because I had clan issues to deal with. I was wrong. Just leave it be Father. I want to reconcile with my daughter before she gets even angrier with me."
After a moment the Head Elder put his hand on Hiashi's shoulder. "It wasn't just you Hiashi. We were all wrong about Hinata my son."
…
Training Ground 53
Meanwhile, Naruto and Jiraiya had stuffed themselves on the delicious lunch Hinata made for them. Naruto sighed happily while rubbing his stomach and Jiraiya said, "There's nothing like having food made for you by a beautiful woman eh Naruto?"
The orange-loving ninja nodded. "You said it Jiraiya-sensei! -Hey Ero-sennin! Leave Hinata-chan out of your pervy fantasies!"
Jiraiya smacked Naruto on top of the head and said, "I'm a super-pervert, not a sicko! Hinata is way too young for me! I meant she was just right for you moron!"
Naruto was taken aback. "Oops; sorry Ero-sennin. My bad."
Jiraiya got a gleam in his eye. "But you did agree that Hinata-chan is a beautiful woman…" he said in a knowing tone. Jiraiya laughed as Naruto blushed atomic red and choked on his water…
…
Yamanaka Residence
Pyrrha and Blake were talking to Ino and Sakura about training together as Inoichi suggested. Inevitably they changed subjects to Hyūga Hinata though…
"You want to know about Hinata?" asked Ino. Both Blake and Pyrrha nodded. "Well, she's a very dedicated and loyal kunoichi. But…she has major confidence issues and is really shy. Her own cousin Neji beat her up really badly because of clan issues."
Sakura interjected, "It was worse than that Ino; Neji almost killed her! He must hate her for some reason. Naruto told me that Hinata was in a coma for three days. Of course, the knucklehead didn't tell me until after she was out…he never does think too much."
"Weren't we discussing Hinata?" asked Blake irritably.
"Sorry, I got off topic." said Sakura. "Anyway, Hinata is a very kind and sweet girl. She's the only other kunoichi that graduated in our class."
"Sweet and kind?" asked Pyrrha in disbelief.
Ino smiled. "Yeah, I wish we could break Hinata out of her shell. She always wears those baggy clothes like she's ashamed of her figure. The poor girl needs some serious confidence building."
Both Blake and Pyrrha had the imagery of Hinata in her red battle dress with a look of complete self-assurance on her face. 'Are they even talking about the same person…?' wondered both girls.
"On top of that the unfortunate woman has no taste in men." said Ino with a sigh. "I just don't understand how she doesn't see Sasuke-kun as the ideal man."
Blake looked down to hide the fact her eyes were about to roll out of her head.
"Of all boys in the world she likes Naruto!" groaned Sakura melodramatically. "Gods, she's practically a princess and she likes the dead last!"
Blake's eyes narrowed. "I met Naruto, and he seemed like a nice enough guy. He was training really hard for the Chunin Exam Finals." 'Is it because he's a faunus that they dislike him?' she thought defensively.
Ino replied, "It isn't like Naruto isn't…ummm; an okay person, I guess. He's just a clown and a troublemaker. He was in trouble more often than not back at the Academy."
"I still think it's a miracle he passed the academy genin test." said Sakura shaking her head. "Come to think of it; he never did explain how he did that to me."
"Well, you got Sasuke-kun and Naruto on your team Forehead." said Ino.
Sakura growled, "And Naruto asks me for dates and won't leave Sasuke-kun and I alone! Sasuke-kun and I would have been engaged by now if it weren't for Naruto-baka interfering."
"Hardly! Sasuke-kun is destined to be with me Forehead!" declared Ino.
"Ummm; what about Hinata?" asked Pyrrha.
The rosette and the blonde stopped glaring at each other. "Well anyway, Hinata really is a really nice girl if you meet her." said Ino.
"Come to think of it we haven't seen her since the Chunin Exam Preliminaries." said Sakura. "Would you two like to meet her? We could go out to the Hyūga Compound and visit her this afternoon. I've never been inside. I'm sure Hinata would like to make some new friends."
Blake and Pyrrha looked at each other. Blake finally said, "Well, we kind of met her in passing. We were just wondering what kind of a person she is."
"All the more reason to visit her then!" trumpeted Ino. "Let's go to see Hinata-chan!"
…
Training Ground 53
Naruto was working on the 'power' stage of the rasengan with a rubber ball. He watched with wide eyes as the ball swelled slightly. "I think I've got it!" he thought aloud. Then a hole popped open in the side and the ball went flat much to his chagrin.
"Better luck next time Bro!" said Gamakichi as he ate some candy.
Naruto sat there staring at the deflated ball in his hand. "Curse you evil rubber ball! I will smite you and your kind yet or my name isn't Uzumaki Naruto!"
Jiraiya came over to his apprentice and said, "Leave that to your clones for now Naruto. Show me the wind jutsu you are working on. Do a wind slash and then the gale palm technique in conjunction with shuriken."
"Okay Jiraiya-sensei." answered Naruto. The blonde ninja turned to face a training post. After focusing for a moment, he said, "Wind slash!" A razor-sharp blade of wind hit the post and bisected it. The top half of the post slid off the base noiselessly and hit the ground with a thud.
"Excellent!" said Jiraiya. "Let's examine the cut Naruto." Jiraiya propped up the top of the post and saw the cut was as smooth as glass. "That's the way Naruto. Well done! Practicing cutting rocks like they do in Suna has really helped. Let's work on your aim with the wind blade." He scored the severed post several times and said, "Get back about ten meters and aim for the top line. Don't worry about the angle of the wind blade for the moment; your goal is to hit the mark I made."
"What about the gale palm Jiraiya-sensei?" asked Naruto.
"We'll pick that one up in a bit." said the Toad sanin. "You're coming along much faster with the wind slash than I expected. I want to see what we can do to improve it."
Naruto nodded and once Jiraiya was clear he started to work with Jiraiya gradually upping the difficulty and checking Naruto's work. 'This kid is going to be an absolute monster with wind soon. It's hard to believe he's still a novice.'
Jiraiya's shadow clone was sitting to the side against a tree reading the scroll on Typhoon Release he obtained from the Hokage's personal library that morning. 'This looks even more promising than I expected.' thought the clone as he watched Naruto mow down the post. 'Right on target…superb.'
…
The Hyūga Compound
The guards at the gates of the Hyūga Compound were a bit startled seeing four young kunoichi there to visit Hinata out of the blue considering Hinata-sama seldom -if ever- had any guests. The guard hid his surprise and stated, "Well yes, Hinata-sama is here but I do not know if she is receiving visitors at this time." Flagging down another sentry, the first guard said, "Hoheto-san, please see if Hinata-sama is entertaining guests at this time. Four Konoha kunoichi of her age group wish to visit her."
Inside…
Hyūga Natsu was talking to several of the other maids in the kitchen as Hinata rounded the corner having changed back into a fresh battle dress. Natsu said with a giggle, "Well, I watched part of the show, but I was more or less hopped up on cold medicine and sake at the time, so I don't remember it…"
One of the other maid's byakugan eyes were wide as saucers when she saw Hinata appear behind Natsu with a raised eyebrow and amusement in her eyes. "H-Hi-Hinata-sama…!" choked out the maid as she pointed behind Natsu.
All the other maids gasped. Natsu quickly whipped around to face the Heiress and said, "OhMyGodsHinatasama!" with a huge blush on her face.
Hinata gave a pleasant smile and said, "Please do continue Natsu; this sounds most entertaining."
Natsu was about to faint when the sentry Hoheto came around the corner and said, "Ah, there you are Hinata-sama, you have four kunoichi guests at the Compound gates."
The heiress looked at Natsu and said, "We'll have to continue this enlightening conversation later Natsu." Turning to Hoheto she said, "Well, this was unexpected. Let's not keep my guests waiting then."
…
Coming out of the Main House Hinata activated her byakugan briefly and saw her visitors. She was very surprised but hid it well enough. 'Sakura and Ino being here makes me curious as to why but Pyrrha and Blake? They don't look particularly happy but on the positive side they don't look hostile either. I wonder what's going on.' Hinata strolled over to the gates with a sway in her hips and said with a congenial smile, "Hello everybody; this is an unexpected pleasure. What brings you by the Hyūga Compound?"
Ino and Sakura were gaping in awe of Hinata's new look. Ino finally managed to pick her jaw off the ground and said, "H-Hinata; is that really you?"
Hinata said in a gentle tone, "Of course it's me Ino; who else would be living here?"
Sakura said, "Hinata, that dress and your hair! You're just…wow! I mean really wow!" 'She's been hiding all that?! Since when has she had such a hot body? Oh no, what if she likes Sasuke-kun?!'
"For once I am in total agreement with Forehead." said Ino. "You gave yourself quite a makeover!" 'I never dreamed mousey little Hinata would ever be so daring! I have to stake my claim on Sasuke-kun now in case she's interested!'
Not realizing that Ino and Sakura were having mild panic attacks over Sasuke (who she had no interest in at all), Hinata said in a kind tone, " Blake Belladonna and Pyrrha Nikos; I welcome you both to the Hyūga Compound. All of you please come in and join me for some tea."
…
The Yamanaka Residence
"I wonder if those girls will be able to work together." mused Inoichi aloud. He had just finished his full reports to the Hokage regarding Hinata, Blake and Pyrrha. "It would be in everyone's best interests for them to put their differences aside but that is easier said than done. Hinata being a combination of a very sweet and gentle kunoichi, and a vicious criminal mastermind is still mind boggling. The fact she turned out to be a balanced individual is nothing short of miraculous. Of course, convincing Pyrrha-chan and Blake of that is going to be difficult. At least Hinata doesn't seem to have any animosity towards them as previous enemies. It's a strange case; that much is certain."
Going over his three reports one last time he made the notation that he had recommended they train together under supervision in case tempers ran hot. He considered who might be a good sensei to them but currently Anko was the only qualified kunoichi that knew of the circumstances involved. 'Blake will probably ask Anko to be involved anyway considering they are close.' Putting the finishing touches on his reports and signing off on them he headed to the Hokage Tower to present his findings…
…
The Hyūga Compound
Hinata and her guests were in the main sitting room where the Hyūga Heiress served them tea and cinnamon rolls (Hinata needed her cinnamon roll fix after the abysmal lunch). "So, you wish to start training together?" she asked.
"My Daddy suggested it." explained Ino. "It would be all of us kunoichi training together! It could be fun. What do you think Hinata?"
Hinata hid her grimace. 'I should have known Ino wouldn't train seriously of her own accord.' "Do you have a sensei in mind to help us? I've been training with Naruto-kun and Jiraiya-sama."
Blake got a gleam in her eye. "Training with Jiraiya-sama would be great!"
"You mean Jiraiya of the Sannin?" asked Sakura in surprise. Seeing Hinata and Blake nod the rosette asked, "How do you even know him Hinata?"
"He's Naruto-kun's sensei and he's been helping me a bit too. He's mainly focused on Naruto-kun because of the Chunin Exams." said Hinata. "Blake met him too while she was training with Mitarashi-san."
"Anko-san would be a great teacher from what I've seen!" said Pyrrha enthusiastically.
Blake nodded and smiled. "I'll have to ask but I bet Anko would be willing to help train us."
Sakura and Ino had identical looks of terror on their faces. "A-Anko-san?!" squeaked out the blonde and the rosette as one.
"That's a fine idea." said Hinata. "I might be able to get Kurenai-sensei to help too. I know she and Anko-san went to the Academy together and they are friends." Hinata was barely able to keep a straight face at the looks of horror on Sakura and Ino's faces. 'Bwahaha! If they want to train, then we're training for real.'
Hinata saw her sister Hanabi peer into the sitting room shyly. Hinata smiled and said, "Hanabi-chan! I missed you at lunch. Come in and meet my friends."
Hanabi squeaked in surprise at being caught but was very curious and came in before bowing properly. Hinata said warmly, "Everyone, this is my little sister Hanabi-chan." She pulled Hanabi into the chair beside the one she was sitting in, so the two siblings were sitting together and Hinata happily introduced everyone to Hanabi one by one.
Blake and Pyrrha were both shocked seeing the obvious affection Hinata shared with her little sister and how she encouraged Hanabi to join the conversation. Neither of them had siblings but the concept of Cinder Fall caring about anything or anyone, but power was astounding to them. They both thought Hanabi was very cute as well. It was obvious that Hanabi looked up to Hinata a great deal.
"Nee-chan, I wish I could come training with you too." said Hanabi.
Hinata gave Hanabi a gentle hug. "You're just starting in the Academy Hanabi-chan. You aren't ready for real weapons training yet. You will be soon enough though."
Ino asked, "How old are you Hanabi-chan?"
"I'm 10." answered the younger Hyūga sister. "I'll be 11 soon though."
"Well, you'll have to work hard but you'll be graduated before you know it." said Sakura in an encouraging tone.
Blake said kindly, "I'm sure you will do well."
Hanabi beamed thinking about being a fully-fledged kunoichi someday.
…
Training Ground 53
After finishing their tea, Hinata led the way out to the training ground and soon spotted Naruto and Jiraiya hard at it. All the kunoichi saw Jiraiya say, "Go!" as Naruto released a multiple wind slash jutsu on his target.
…The wooden post was sliced into tiny pieces and basically exploded. Gamakichi and Naruto cheered at the destruction and Jiraiya patted the orange loving ninja on the shoulder.
Sakura's eyes widened. "What did Naruto just do…? That training post is nothing but scraps!"
Hinata saw Jiraiya wave and motion for the young kunoichi to come over. Naruto looked over at them and waved excitedly before he and Gamakichi went over to examine what was left of the training post.
When the girls arrived Jiraiya said, "Welcome ladies; what brings all of you out here?"
Hinata said, "We're planning to do some group training and I thought I'd ask for your advice Jiraiya-sama."
The Toad Sage nodded and was about to say something when Ino cut him off. "What the hell did you just do Naruto?! What kind of jutsu was that?" It was obvious Ino was dumbfounded by all the destruction.
Naruto looked up and said, "A jutsu that isn't good enough yet Ino. Not all these cuts are clean enough. I'll have to work harder."
Jiraiya said, "Take a break and have some water and a snack Naruto. You're getting tense. Besides, you are doing well. After you relax for a few minutes, we'll switch to the gale palm for a while."
Hinata smiled shyly and came over to Naruto. "It looks like you've been working hard Naruto-kun. That was very impressive. Was that a variation on the wind slash you were telling me about this morning?"
"Yeah, I'm finally getting a feel for it." said the orange loving ninja. He looked over at the others and gave a friendly wave before he sat down in the shade of a tree to relax.
Blake brought Pyrrha over and said, "Hello Naruto; you really pull out all the stops when you train!" The faunus girl motioned to the redhead. "Naruto, this is my good friend Pyrrha Nikos. Pyrrha, this is Uzumaki Naruto."
Pyrrha smiled at the blonde. "It's nice to meet you Naruto. I've heard a lot about you. That's some jutsu you were using; I'm impressed!"
Naruto smiled. "It's nice to meet you too Pyrrha. I'm still working on it. What brings all of you out here?"
…
Over with Jiraiya…
"So, you are Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura." said the Toad sanin. "I wouldn't mind giving you all some tips, but I'm pretty committed to helping Naruto. I think Mitarashi Anko would be a great help to your group. She's a very dedicated kunoichi after all."
Both young kunoichi had a sinking feeling at that declaration…
…
Back with Naruto…
"Well, there is no doubt in my mind that the Crazy Snake Lady is as tough as nails." said the orange loving blonde. "If you want to learn, get someone that will really teach you instead of slacking off. My jonin sensei Kakashi is always three hours late for everything."
Blake stifled a chuckle at the comment about Kakashi. "I'm not sure Anko likes being referred to as 'the Crazy Snake Lady' Naruto." she said humorously.
Naruto just gave Blake a toothy smile. He turned to Hinata and asked, "Hinata-chan; have you girls thought about getting help from Kurenai-sensei? She seems really smart to me."
"She is a very smart and very competent kunoichi." agreed Hinata. "She's also friends with Anko-san. I hope she'll help us as well."
After the group chatted a bit Naruto got back to work, and Jiraiya's shadow clone had the girls do some light sparring to see what the kunoichi could do. Jiraiya advised them to find Anko and Kurenai after they finished. He suggested a bit of group training along with him a Naruto to liven things up a bit as well.
'A bunch of young kunoichi nearby could be a great inspiration to my apprentice.' thought Jiraiya with a perverse giggle. He saw that Hinata, Blake and Pyrrha were cheering Naruto on. It seemed that Ino and Sakura were in a state of denial currently…
…
Soon, Naruto was working on the Gale Palm jutsu in conjunction with kunai and shuriken. Jiraiya had decided they'd done enough with the wind slash for one day. Hinata was helping by observing the flow of his wind chakra with her byakugan. It was obvious to both Blake and Pyrrha that Naruto was a kind, hardworking ninja and neither of them could comprehend why Sakura and Ino had such an aversion to him.
As for Ino and Sakura, they were both in shock at just how strong the orange loving knucklehead ninja had become. Simply watching his spars with Jiriaya was enough to frighten the pair. The Toad Sannin would send his apprentice flying but Naruto would get back up from staggering blows like they were nothing. On top of that, the blonde prankster was giving as well as he got. It wasn't so clear cut that Neji would have such an easy victory now…
Inevitably that led back to discussing how strong Sasuke must be if Naruto was that much stronger. "Just imagine how much stronger Sasuke-kun is by now!" said Sakura. "I mean, Kakashi-sensei is focusing solely on him!"
"I can't wait to see Sasuke-kun in the Chunin Exam Finals!" agreed Ino enthused. "He's going to be unbelievably strong by then!"
Blake whispered to Pyrrha, "Jiraiya-sama is a Kage level ninja. If this Jonin Kakashi is as lazy as Naruto indicated, I have to wonder if he's training this Sasuke nearly as well as Jiraiya-sama is Naruto."
Pyrrha rubbed her chin in thought and smiled. "It will be interesting to find out won't it, Blake?"
…
POSTSCRIPT:
See you next time. Blue out. 11/11/23