A light tickle on my nose woke me up. I blinked, opened my eyes and looked directly into the light of the rising sun. Small shadows fell on my face as a few birds flew across the sky. They settled on a nearby branch, chirping happily. Tired, I lifted my head. Memories flooded through it. Images flashed up from the previous night. We had sat around the fire for quite a while, laughing and telling stories, exchanging experiences and talking about past battles.

The fire was just a small, smouldering spot in the middle of us. I lay there curled up and listened to nature. A stream trickled in the distance. I slowly straightened my tired body, at least I tried to. But the arm that had wrapped itself around my waist stubbornly prevented me from doing so.

Turning my head, I caught sight of long dark hair framing a pale face. When I saw the graceful body, I breathed a sigh of relief as it was only Hinata. Naruto had curled up next to her and was snoring contentedly. That would give good Hinata the heart attack of her life when she woke up later.

I carefully removed her arm from my waist and stood up quietly. Barefoot and careful not to wake anyone else, I crept towards the nearby pond. Sunlight filtered through the trees, warming my head and tickling my nose. It was a beautiful day. And I was more than happy about the fact that I didn't have a mission today. Tsunade hadn't informed us of any upcoming projects.

The clear water was pleasantly cool around my bare feet and I exhaled with relief. That made me a lot more alert. Taking care not to stand on any slippery ground, I squatted down and clapped a handful of water over my face to wake up my eyes. Blinking, I stepped out of the cool water and looked around. This place was perfect for a little workout. I had often practised there in the evening or in the morning. Whether it was the use of invisibility or a few new fighting techniques.

I closed my eyes in concentration and began to stretch my arms and legs before imagining an opponent in front of my closed eyes. I tried to pay attention to my surroundings, the chirping of the birds paired with the rippling water. I put my hand on the ground and listened for vibrations. The grass was still slightly damp from the morning dew, but that didn't bother me much. After my senses had sharpened, I blindly threw a kunai in the direction of a tree opposite. Then I waited.

It wasn't long before the air began to buzz. I skillfully fended off the incoming shuriken. In the middle of the fight, a hissing sound reached my ears. I paused. It was coming straight towards me. It seemed big. I threw myself flat onto the grass and it flew over my head. Then it was over again and I opened my eyes to take in my surroundings. Shuriken lay criss-crossed around me.

I patiently collected the small weapons and returned them to their place of origin before I stood back on the square in front of the pond and this time really started to fight the imaginary opponent. I ducked, channeling raiton chakra into my feet to escape the imaginary blows, trying to think of new tricks and techniques. I was not allowed to stop, because I wanted to expand my knowledge.

My surroundings changed in my mind's eye. Kunai in hand, I stood on a battlefield surrounded by friends and foes alike. Dark warriors were running towards me. I twitched under the blows, trying to hit sensitive parts of my body such as my solar plexus, temples or knee bends. I fell further and further into this frenzy. A dangerous dance that became more and more real the more I fought. I created a shadow clone in Kabuto's shape and began to attack him.

He disappeared, appeared behind me and attacked my back. I jumped to the side in time, threw the kunai and he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Well, I had to admit that this single shadow clone was nowhere near as powerful as Kabuto. But it was a good opportunity to practise.

Hearing a sudden noise, I jumped and recognized a dark figure between the trees. It moved slowly towards me. Then it emerged completely from the shadows to reveal the shy face of Hinata.

„M-morning Tora. Have you been training?" she asked.

I nodded and she took a few more steps towards me. She stood right in front of me. I was amazed to see that we were exactly the same height.

„Do we want to train together?" I asked, suspecting that this was the reason she had approached me. The hyjuga nodded in confirmation and I handed her a few kunai with a grin, but she refused.

„It's you against me. Without weapons. I want to get faster."

Surprised by her demand, the blue-haired girl looked down to the ground for a moment, before she turned her gaze back to me and I nodded to her to convey my agreement.

We stood directly opposite each other. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes, sensing her confusion.

„This is part of my training. I'm trying to teach myself to fight blind. I already did that when I fought my father, because in war I might even lose my sight, so I try to get by without it. Because when I concentrate on my other senses, they become stronger. Do you understand?"

Hinata nodded.

Then, without warning, she attacked.

My hand darted forward to intercept the blow, but immediately felt a rush of air followed by a sharp pain in my stomach. I felt nauseous as I fell backwards, rolled over and rammed a kunai into the ground to catch myself.

I pulled the weapon out of the ground and ran towards Hinata, ignoring the pain in my stomach. Feet scraped across the ground. She spun around. One leg lifted off the ground and I jumped, foot outstretched, hitting the surprised Hinata in the shoulder, sending her staggering backwards. As she fell, her hand grabbed my leg and dragged me to the ground. At least she tried to. I reflexively kicked at the firm grip, not hard, but she let go of me. I quickly rolled away and stood up, bracing myself for the next attack.

She shot towards me quickly. Within a few heartbeats she had reached me and lashed out with her glowing hand. So now she had decided to fight with her Kekkei Genkai. Also good. I resolutely deflected the blow to the side, ducked under the next one, dropped to my hands and made a scissor motion with my legs. At the last moment, she jumped aside, staggering a little from the attack. Seizing the opportunity, I jumped forward, leapt forward and knocked the other girl over.

As she fell, she managed to hit my shoulder with her glowing hand. All chakra was immediately blocked there and I gasped in surprise.

Nevertheless, I wrestled her to the ground. Ignoring the ugly feeling of losing chakra there, I tried to pin her arms to the ground with one hand and keep her legs in check at the same time. This was not so easy, as her body suddenly began to glow strangely before she threw me off her with enormous effort.

I rolled a few meters over the grass without slowing down before the kunai found its way into the ground again, bringing me to a halt once more. Out of the corner of my eye, I recognized a bluish shimmer and heard her push herself off the ground. As if of their own accord, my fingers began to form a few signs that I had practiced a few times with Genma.

However, it had always been too risky for me to use this jutsu in a real fight, as I had only ever managed to do it halfway. And to waste chakra unnecessarily against my father, especially in a fight for life and death... no, I wasn't that stupid.

She came closer and closer to me and I concentrated on the jutsu with narrowed eyes, feeling the chakra flowing through almost every part of my body. Hinata came closer and closer, but I refused to be intimidated, even though those determined eyes sent a little shiver down my spine. I felt happy that the Hyjuga had developed the will to improve herself, I liked her very much.

It roared and within a few seconds she was stopped by a wall of water from throwing herself at me. Her body was thrown back a few meters before the elemental wall collapsed and soaked us both to the bone.

Breathing heavily and soaking wet, we stood opposite each other before I finally approached her and held out my hand. Signaling that the training was over. A loud clap sounded behind us and we wheeled around. Kiba, Naruto and Shikamaru were standing there. Wait a minute. Had they been watching the fight?

„Interesting to see you two fight each other," said Kiba.

„The fight was cool." Naruto added, his eyes shining. Hinata turned bright red.

„Th-thank you Naruto," she stammered as the initial cherry red began to change to a dark blood red.

Naww. Good thing I had promised myself I wouldn't fall in love. Otherwise I'd probably end up in situations similar to Hinata's, or worse, have those horrible freak-outs like Ino and Sakura when Sasuke crossed their path. No thanks. I could do without that.

We spent the rest of the afternoon together by the pond, leaning back in the now sunlit grass, letting the wind blow across our noses and enjoying the natural idyll. It wasn't until the evening that we set about clearing away the things that were still there from the day before.

With one last look at my old camp, I followed the others back to Konoha. Everyone went their own way there, except for Naruto and me. We walked side by side to our accommodation. The Uzumaki talked incessantly about the past day and the next missions he was imagining. I grinned wryly. Let's see what the next few days have in store for us.

When I entered the apartment, I almost tripped over a large box standing in the middle of the entrance area. Irritated, I picked it up, dragged it to the kitchen sideboard and put it down. I hurriedly locked the door before turning my attention back to the unusual gift. There was no lock to be seen, instead there were just two small holes in the same place. As I continued my examination, I noticed a small note hanging almost invisibly on the side.

Tora,

Happy 14th birthday.

By the way, your mother became a member of the ANBU at this age.

Open this box when you are ready to face the past.

Genma