Author Note: Alright guys. This is a VERY dialogue heavy chapter. By that I mean there is very little action other than dialogue. Yea I could probably spice it up if I tried harder but honestly this was entertaining for me to write, but I know just listening to two people talk isn't going to be super entertaining to everybody. So fair warning! Enjoy!

Last Chapter

"Now, let's start that lesson."

Chapter 6
On with the story

Hinata

"Do you know why it's important for the both of us to hide our strength?"

"I think so Naruto-kun. I know that you need to hide your strength in order to avoid drawing suspicion to yourself. Especially since you've been punishing the villagers."

Naruto nodded.

"Yes. But why is it important that you hide your strength. And more so, why is it important that we hide our relationship?"

I had to think hard about that one.

"Um...well...you are still considered the demon child and a hyuuga being the girlfriend of the demon child will probably cause a ton of problems. Especially since that Hyuuga happens to be the daughter of the clan leader."

Naruto chuckled and kissed me on the forehead.

"Good answer Hinata-chan."

His encouraging words put a smile on my face.

We were both resting atop the grass in our favorite spot near the waterfall. He laid on his back while I draped my body atop his, resting the side of my head along his shoulder.

"I want to go into more detail about why it has been important for the both of us to be so careful. I've been holding off on having this conversation because quite honestly, I didn't think either one of us was fully ready to have it, given our age."

I sat up now with a worried expression.

"What do you mean Naruto-kun?"

Naruto remained in his relaxed, laying position.

"I wanted to make sure that not only were we both at an age that would make it easier for us to understand our situation fully, but I also wanted to ensure that our relationship was strong enough to handle the truth."

He was scaring me now. I began to fidget.

"What truth is that?"

Naruto gaze settled upon me.

"You are my greatest weakness Hinata-chan."

I gasped, my hands covering my mouth in horror. He sat up quickly and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Ok, before I say anything further you need to calm down right now. It's ok. We'll be fine. This is just a necessary part of the lesson." Naruto tried to reassure me.

Tears were welling up in my eyes. I was overwhelmed with guilt. A deep throated growl snapped me out of my despair. Naruto's intense, overbearing gaze bore down on me. His growl shook my body.

"I said stop it." Naruto commanded.

I quickly raised my arms to wipe my tears away.

"Y-Yes Your Majesty. I'm trying my best."

"Try harder."

"Ok...Ok."

I closed my eyes and began to take deep breaths, just like my mother taught me. When I opened my eyes, Naruto was still staring at me. I bowed my head submissively and stayed silent. After he was satisfied with my compliance he dropped back into his lazing lying position.

"Alright, now that that's out of the way, the lesson continues. Listen closely." Naruto said while staring up at the blue sky.

I nodded in determination. My insecurities were replaced by deep focus. Naruto was very inspiring when he wanted to be.

"When you think about it, it's totally my fault for us having to be so cautious. Being the demon child is enough on it's own but punishing the villagers would be a real big bother if someone found out about it. And by someone I mean either the Hokage or his shinobi. Honestly, I don't even see it as a matter of "fault." Our caution is simply a tradeoff, a necessary consequence of my fun."

Naruto sounded so casual while he spoke. I'd gotten used to how little compassion he showed for the villagers who glared at him. In fact his nonchalant attitude helped calm me down.

"Smacking Sakura so hard earlier today drew attention to you. And I doubt that will be the last thing that draws attention to your strength. It is inevitable. Showing your strength would be completely fine if we weren't together. But we are together and if someone really wanted to investigate you it wouldn't be hard to figure that out. You were right. Just the fact that the daughter of the Hyuuga clan chief is dating the demon child would be scandalous enough, but that extra attention would also increase the chance that my "fun" is discovered."

I nodded. That all seemed to make sense even if I couldn't articulate it as well as Naruto. It seems like he was getting smarter and smarter every day.

"But here is the real problem, Hinata-chan…"

I leaned in.

"...Like I mentioned before, you are my weakness because you aren't strong enough to protect yourself if we are discovered. Right now I'd say you are about as strong as a high level Chunin. I'm just a bit stronger than the Hokage. If the village descended on me I'd be able to escape but I wouldn't be able to ensure your safety during the escape. I might not even be able to guarantee your safety as we run for our lives and live as missing nin."

My guilt was resurfacing.

"I'm sorr…"

Before I could finish the sentence Naruto tugged on my hips, dragging me down atop his body. His lips crashed into mine. He muffled my gasp.

"Stop that. You don't need to apologize. And every time you try I'm going to punish you...with a kiss." Naruto said with a slick smirk.

"Oh...sor…"

He was true to his word, planting another quick smooch against my lips. I was tempted to apologize on purpose just to get more "punishment" from him. But I think he'd done exactly what he wanted. My guilt was completely gone once more.

"Ok, as I was saying. I can't guarantee your protection as you are now. And even if I could manage to keep you safe during an escape I'd rather not leave Konoha at all. It's very convenient living here. After gaining your father's sworn allegiance and the allegiance of the entire Hyuuga clan, the funding they provide me makes it easy to hide the abductions. Plus I now effectively have spies on the Konoha counsel that feeds me very interesting secrets and intelligence. So I want to avoid fleeing Konoha but I also don't want to stop my fun. That leaves us with a few solutions. One in particular stands out."

Something he said gave me pause but I decided not to interrupt. Naruto noticed.

"What's on your mind Hinata-chan? Don't be afraid to ask questions."

He knew me all too well.

"It's about my father. I'm still amazed by that whole night over a year ago. I would have never expected Father to swear allegiance to you. Let alone the entire Hyuuga clan. Up until now I just thought that you scared him enough by killing so many of them that he gave up out of fear. But the more I think about it, the more things bother me."

Naruto had this pleased smile on his lips.

"Go on." He directed.

I took a moment to gather my thoughts before continuing.

"Well, you just said you are only a little stronger than the Hokage. First of all I find that really, really amazing. You've grown so much since we've been together. I didn't even know you were that much stronger than me. I knew you were stronger, just not...that much."

I began to poke my fingers together.

"Yea I'll explain that too but, continue." Naruto stated nonchalantly.

I nodded.

"Well even if you are that strong that's still not strong enough to defeat all of Konoha. You are immune to Hyuuga attacks because of Kyuubi, yes, but like you admitted, if Konoha launched a coordinated attack on you, you wouldn't be able to defeat them. You would have to run. And you are much stronger now than you were when you fought my father. If he wanted he could have retreated, taken a few more losses, but then reported to the Hokage and gathered the entire might of Konoha against you. Instead not only did he give up but he also convinced the entire Hyuuga counsel to swear allegiance to you. They even go so far as to pay financial tribute to you, spy for you, and help hide your abduction of the villagers. How did you make that happen?"

Naruto's grin was huge.

"I'm so proud of you Hinata-chan."

Hearing him praise me like that made me blush as hard as the very first time we kissed.

"Your ability to figure this out on your own is why I'm confident that you are ready to hear and truly understand everything I have to say. Every day you show just how worthy you are to be my Empress."

Again I don't know how I managed not to pass out from the lack of blood flow in the rest of my body relative to my face.

"T-thank you Emperor Naruto-kun."

He chuckled and gave me an eskimo kiss.

"You're welcome Empress Hinata-chan."

A quiver creeped up my spine. He was just...too...much.

"So, to your point, yes it is strange that your father would act as he did. The simple explanation is he had very little choice. You see I wasn't strong enough back then to challenge Konoha, and when we talked I openly admitted that I wasn't strong enough. Well, Kyuubi did most of the talking and pointed out an undeniable truth. While I couldn't fight all of Konoha, I also couldn't be captured. Kyuubi had fought all of Konoha already. He knew exactly what they could do and could not do. Hiashi wouldn't be able to do anything to stop me from escaping and becoming a missing nin."

I just listened, trying to take it all in.

"Kyuubi argued that as a missing Nin my power would rise exponentially with time. Kyuubi promised that within just three years I would return to Konoha and by that time I'd be unstoppable. And Kyuubi was not bluffing. At the rate that my power is increasing I'll mostly be at that level in less than what Kyuubi calculated. So Hiashi had a choice. Swear his allegiance and convince the Hyuuga counsel to swear their allegiance to me or he can inform the Hokage and hope that they would kill me. If they couldn't then Konoha would be destroyed in three years' time."

My eyes widened in realization.

"So allegiance or annihilation." I stated in a dumbfounded way.

"Exactly."

Naruto seemed very satisfied with that set of facts.

"What about me?" I spoke up tentatively.

Naruto's gaze softened.

"You're the primary reason Kyuubi and I even decided to give Hiashi a choice. I wanted to stay in the village because I wanted to be with you without hindrance. If I fled I probably couldn't take you with me. I planned to return in three years and take you back after destroying the village."

I was very conflicted to hear that admission. Naruto let out a light hearted laugh while scratching the top of his head.

"Yea not the most ideal situation. Definitely glad your dad made the right choice. But I really have to thank Kyuubi for being such a good negotiator. I've learned a lot from him."

I sighed and laid my head down along Naruto's chest in exasperation. This was becoming a lot to take in but I wanted to press on.

"Thanks for answering my questions Naruto-kun. I want to finish hearing about the rest of your plans. I don't want to continue being your weakness."

Naruto wrapped his arms around me and squeezed tight, holding me close.

"Yes, I do have a solution to that. I want to start training you from now on. I mean really training you. Up until now we've been training together but not really as Sensei and student. Now I want you to become my student. I need to invest more in your strength but it also means you need to be more dedicated to improvement."

I didn't even have to think about it.

"Of course I will Naruto-kun!" I blurted out without thought.

He chuckled with a small shake of his head.

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me. Honestly, I was ok with the way things were going. I didn't want to put too much pressure on you too quickly. I wanted to just enjoy our relationship without having to bog you down with responsibility. Now that our relationship has developed and you've grown stronger, I feel comfortable moving to the next step."

"I'm glad you trust me so much Naruto-kun."

What he was saying made sense. I was grateful that we were able to just be together for so long. But he's right. I have to pull my weight even if it's hard.

"I've always trusted you Hinata-chan. There is another very important factor to starting your training under me. It's this." Naruto said while suddenly sitting up.

Now I was positioned atop his lap. Naruto took out a small scroll from his leg pouch and made a few one-handed hand signs before slamming his palm on the ground. As he did a larger scroll dropped from a cloud of smoke. He snatched it out of the air and unrolled it.

"These are the instructions on how to perform the Kage Shadow Clone Jutsu. I acquired this a while ago, with Kyuubi's help. It's not the original scroll but I was able to make a copy of it. This Jutsu is the key to my strength and exponential growth. And soon it will aid you in a similar way."

I frowned in confusion, looking the scroll over.

"But I can already make clones, Naruto-kun."

Naruto shook his head.

"Not like these. The clone Jutsu that are taught in the academy are basically just illusions. They aren't physical. The clones I'm going to teach you how to make are physical. You divide your chakra among them when you create them. You've seen my clones do work for me. Well I'm going to teach you to do the same thing. Up until now you haven't had the chakra capacity to sustain these clones for any significant period of time so the technique wasn't very useful to you. Now you do. Through mastery of this Jutsu your strength will rise exponentially."

I was still a bit confused.

"What is the point of making these clones if they divide my chakra? The Hyuuga fighting style is best when focused. I feel like I'd just make myself weaker by making multiple weak copies of myself."

Naruto nodded.

"Normally yes. Which is why you rarely if ever see Hyuuga shinobi using cloning techniques. However the real power of this ability isn't necessarily their combat utility, but their ability to allow you to train at exponentially fast rates.

"What do you mean Naruto-kun?"

"It's really quite simple. The clones share your memories, your abilities, but most importantly, any information they learn will be transferred to the original once that clone is dismissed. Clones take up so much chakra that most people can't actually put this trait to good use. The few that can simply haven't noticed the potential. It also can be dangerous if you overexert yourself. For someone like me who has had the guidance of an ancient demon to help master the technique, I've been able to train virtually endlessly with no drawbacks. This is the main reason I've grown so much stronger than you. At every given moment I have over 100 clones training for me."

My eyes widened.

"What!?"

He gave a proud nod.

"Yep. I have an unusually high amount of chakra. Probably has something to do with being the son of the hokage. My only limitation is chakra control and refining my capacity. However my clones have been doing that for me over the past year or so. My clones constantly practice chakra control techniques. They do chakra strength increasing exercises. Chakra is like a muscle. The more you use it the stronger it gets. Since my clones actually share my chakra, when they improve the chakra they have, that improved chakra comes back to me and I get the benefit. The knowledge they gain in terms of chakra control, also comes back to me. Furthermore, the reason it may seem like I've been getting smarter is because I have a few dozen clones reading books at the library and practicing mental exercises. It actually kind of feels like cheating!"

Naruto burst into childish laughter. I marveled at him.

"Do you really have so much chakra that you can constantly sustain so many clones?"

I was amazed.

"I didn't at first. Kyuubi helped me out by letting me borrow his chakra supply to fuel my clones. I'd mix my chakra with Kyuubi's chakra. Their training wouldn't be as effective but Kyuubi allowed me to kind of speed up the process. And the chakra control techniques were a huge help to increasing my access to my giant supply of chakra. Now I use only my own chakra. I'm guessing that within a year's time I'll be the strongest person in the world by far. And I'll only keep getting stronger because my clones will constantly be working for me. The only limit is chakra and I have a near endless supply. Probably as much if not more than the first Hokage."

"Doesn't that leave you vulnerable though? Splitting your chakra up like that?"

Naruto shrugged.

"Not really. I'm about at half chakra capacity at all times. What I do is I make one clone, splitting my total chakra in half. Then I have that clone make all the other clones so I'm still left with half my chakra. The way chakra works I'm not any less strong by having a temporarily lower chakra capacity. If I start to run low during combat I'll just dismiss clones to give me more chakra. So functionally, in a fight I'm always at 100% strength until I actually run out of chakra completely. If my clone exhausts it's chakra or is destroyed by an enemy then it poofs away and that chakra doesn't return. However, if I dismiss a clone early then I get back most of the chakra I used to make it in the first place. It's pretty efficient actually!"

We were both quiet for a long while after that. My brain was processing all that new information. Naruto seemed to know exactly when I was being overloaded.

"So...that's what you are going to do for me? Teach me how to make clones and have them train for me?"

"Yep! You won't grow as fast as me because you don't have the freakish amount of chakra that I do but I calculate that in about two years, as long as you stay diligent, I will no longer have to worry about you."

That's all I needed to hear. I narrowed my eyes in determination.

"I'm ready Naruto-kun."

Naruto chuckled and nodded his head.

"Ok Hinata-chan. We have a few more things to go over but that's enough for one day. For now let's focus on making your first clone. From now on we are going to grow your chakra so you can have your clones last longer and longer."

I nodded obediently.

"Yes Sensei."

Naruto released a deep demonic growl. He stared at me predatorily. I guess he liked that.

"Training can wait a little while longer." Naruto declared before pouncing.

A flock of birds in a nearby tree flew away when hearing the sudden sound of my delighted squeals.

That's the end of the chapter. Please review