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Chapter 3.5 [28]
As usual, Naruto was the first to arrive for morning training. Choji's usual morning cry came from over a small hill as they arrived. "Yo-ho!"
Hinata knew that the morning runs Choji shared with Naruto—and more recently, Team 3, sans Neji—always put him in the right spirits for the day and helped him approach the dreary D-rank run with a big smile on his face and today was no different. Her lips curved up as Naruto came into view and waved them over, joining him in warming up.
Asuma arrived towards the end, smoking his pre-breakfast cigarette.
He liked to smoke one before breakfast and after every meal—and that was just standard, ignoring the dozens he smoked out of boredom. His proficiency in the fire nature change meant he wasn't doing much damage to his lungs but Hinata disliked the smell, even if he dispelled it right as he was finished.
Once they were finished, he stamped out its butt and smiled. "You all look to be in good spirits. Any reason for that?"
Choji stretched out his arms. "Yeah! We did all sorts of things these past few days—there was an All-Comers Taijutsu Tournament that Gai-sensei was running for an afternoon."
"Any of you enter?"
"Naruto did," said Hinata. "He fought Rock Lee."
Asuma was grinning now. "So, how did you like getting your ass handed to you?"
"How do you know I lost?" Naruto asked, glaring.
"Since it's open for civvies, I'm guessing it forbade jutsu and the use of chakra to make things fair. Your taijutsu is good, but Maito Gai is a taijutsu specialist and if what I saw of his mini-me is anything to go by, so is he."
He shrugged. "Yeah, fine. I lost—but it was fun. In a real fight, I think I'd win but I can't deny Lee's taijutsu is something else."
Hinata's lips tugged into a frown at the hint of defeat in his voice. It frustrated her to no end that Naruto—despite his strength—was his biggest critic to the point that he blinded himself to his own capabilities.
She caught Asuma's eye and shared a nod in understanding.
"How was your weekend, sensei?" asked Choji and after a moment, he added, "It probably wasn't as fun as ours."
"No, it wasn't." Asuma heaved his shoulders and slumped slightly. "I drank tea with an old man and played some shogi."
"My condolences, sensei. Depending on the old man and their playstyle, it can be a particularly mind-numbing way to spend your time," said Hinata, her voice smooth—so smooth that the amusement within almost went unnoticed.
Naruto snorted.
"Not this old man, but it doesn't beat a tournament so you guys have that on me." Asuma laughed. "But let's get this started. Choji, come with me. I think you're ready for your next earth-release jutsu."
As the two walked away, Hinata and Naruto were left alone.
The first three days of the week were dedicated to one-on-one training—though Asuma checked in every so often to give out pointers. Today was Choji's turn, tomorrow would be Hinata's, and Wednesday would be Naruto's. The final two days were mostly freestyle; sometimes they sparred with Asuma as a team or were instructed to tail one of the shinobi without them noticing.
Other times, they did joint training with the different genin teams, but after the last one, Hinata suspected that they wouldn't be doing one for quite some time.
"Are we doing the same as usual?" Naruto asked, adjusting his forehead protector.
He was the only team member to come to training in standard battle gear, wearing a heavy-looking brown vest fashioned after the chunin flak jacket. However, there were no sigils weaved into the fabric and it seemed to be an older model since the thick collar had neck and shoulder guards.
The long-sleeve mesh shirt he wore underneath the vest extended into plated fingerless gloves. Naruto crouched over his knees, adjusting his boots and momentarily revealing the velcro weights wrapped around his ankles. "Because if we are, I'll make sure to give you some space to use your genjutsu in live combat—but don't think that means I'll just let you land it for free."
According to Choji, he and Naruto had decided to take after Team 3 in their physical training, which explained the weights Naruto was wearing.
"Since we're sparring, we'd be extending the fight for long enough for us to learn from it otherwise it's pointless." Hinata shook her head, shaking her long, dark hair. "I've finished reading the theory on the Wavering Palm and my clan has been helping me practise it."
"Did you land it?"
"Regrettably, no—but I was close."
"Well, maybe today's the day."
She considered his words for a moment before perking up when a question came to mind. "How about you? You've been trying to add a cutting property to your wind jutsu, right?"
"I've managed to cut leaves with my chakra." He trailed his thumb inside the palm of the other hand while he spoke. "I'm trying to infuse it into my ninjutsu but it's like I'm back to square one again. I've got one hell of a habit when it comes to wind ninjutsu."
"You've used those jutsu hundreds of times, so it's not a surprise that you're finding it hard to change your method," she said with a smile and an incline of her head. "But maybe today's the day."
He stepped back and pulled out two kunai, holding the blades out to the sides. "Very funny."
Hinata engaged as he leaned in, ready to do the same but before the weight forced him to commit to a step-in, Naruto lurched back and threw both kunai. Hinata continued to close the distance as they left his hands. He blasted them forward with Gale Palm; she stayed calm, following the blades' trajectory with her eyes and dodging without disturbing her run.
"Goddamned dojutsu," she heard him curse, spewing six tennis-ball-sized air bullets towards her.
Hinata didn't have the option to dodge.
She was moving too quickly to jump over the air bullets and their sheer number stopped her from dodging in any other way, so she took up a somewhat ready stance while she ran. The hazy blue glow around her hands betrayed her plans to him—luckily, this was a spar and Naruto explicitly said he'd give her the chance to spread her wings a little.
The various air bullets froze in place inches before making contact and using her knowledge of tenketsu, she directed her moulded chakra to the palms of her hands. Her training in the Main Family's techniques was going well—and even if she wasn't capable of performing them to perfection, she still understood enough to make things easier.
Directing the moulded chakra, Hinata expelled it from her palms and used the momentum of her spin to defend against the air bullets. What she was doing was an inherently flawed technique; Heavenly Rotation required chakra to be expelled from all her tenketsu points but Hinata was solely using the ones in her palms.
Not only did it lack the impregnable defence of Heavenly Rotation, but it also lacked the stability that came with expelling chakra from every tenketsu point. By all means, it was a stopgap until she could master its full form—but it would work for now.
Naruto sprinted into range while she struggled to rein in her chakra. He ducked underneath a deflected air bullet, transitioning into a sliding kick, and obliterating her shaky balance. For the moment that she was motionless, Hinata saw the air bullets burst through clusters of foliage, drill through the bark, and the ones that missed eagerly dug into the earth below.
As she fell, her heart dropped at the realisation that her hands would make contact with the ground first. The world slowed down for an instant, and Hinata could see it all with perfect clarity—her left arm coming up over her and arcing below her body—the visible surge of chakra exiting her palms—and the initial clumps of soil unearthed by that same surge.
She shot into the forest, destroying bushes and splintering branches as she tried to right herself. Her back slammed into a tree trunk and she nearly choked, hastily reeling back the chakra flow so that she didn't plummet to the ground. Hinata didn't make a sound—and three deep breaths later, she swung herself onto a branch and waited, the beginnings of a plan forming inside her mind.
Naruto edged into the forest, sweeping the recent wreckage in search of her. Regrettably, the two of them hadn't managed to spar as much as they used to and back then, she barely managed to spend an hour or two after school with him, Shikamaru, and Choji before one of the branch family members came looking for her.
Things had only become busier for her since graduation.
That lack of usual sparring meant their once similar fighting styles had diverged and become wildly different. These days, he favoured Asuma's dual-wielding style, just with kunai instead of trench knives. Regular kunai weren't exactly the most chakra-conductive material but it was possible to have one's chakra flow through them.
It was just costly—though Hinata supposed Naruto wouldn't find that cost a problem. He only needed to master the free use of slicing wind chakra first. For some reason, he chuckled, but the momentary distraction allowed her to descend from above and take him by surprise.
She exploded into motion, instantly wiping the smile off his face. Naruto's style had become more passive, seeking opportunities to slip in heavy enhanced blows and create enough distance to use ninjutsu. He favoured limb traps, maneuvring both his body and her own to control the direction of the fight.
Each time he shoved her away, Hinata doubled back with renewed intensity. Otherwise, she'd find herself on the end of a jutsu. Tenketsu-blocking strikes slipped between his arms, hidden behind regular palm strikes, and while the phantom glow around her hands was a dead giveaway of chakra usage, she maintained airtight control over it.
Taking account of all of that, Naruto's actions, and her plan—she was slowly losing ground. Here, she was the aggressor but why did she feel like she was on the back foot? Physical differences aside, her style was generally the more aggressive one and while things were mostly going to plan, fighting Naruto was like trying to bottle a storm.
He was always looking to dart out of range using chakra repulsion and if he didn't do that, he was looking to blast her away.
After a deep breath, Hinata kicked it up a notch and used the strongest taijutsu technique she knew, the Eight Trigrams. While she could only perform the most basic sixteen palms—a derivative of the already-simplified thirty-two palms—it was more than enough for what she wanted to achieve.
Naruto blocked the first two just in time, trying and failing to trap her limbs as she continued her onslaught, striking at and disabling his shoulder. He tried to escape but she darted after him and continued the Eight Trigrams, unleashing four more attacks. With one less arm, he only managed to intercept the initial strike, leaving him open for the next three.
It threw her off for just a moment, but she course-corrected and continued. She disabled his other arm, preventing him from escaping or making the Confrontation Seal to gather his chakra—she knew he could gather chakra without any hand seals, but he'd formed a habit of using the seal for convenience's sake.
"Ah, fuc—" Hinata decided to strike just below his Adam's apple on the sixth to stop the expletive. She pulled back the knife hand and frowned, though she couldn't stop the smile from breaking through her stern expression. "No need for foul language, Naruto."
He opened his eyes wide, using his eyebrows to communicate the extent of his outrage, and like two infuriated worms, they writhed up and down, wrinkling his brow.
Her smile faltered and she once again struck his throat. "There you go."
"N-Next time you want to do something like that," he let out a hacking cough, "maybe kill the actual sensation or something."
"Not possible as of now," Hinata replied. "I don't trust myself enough to start deadening your nerves—because that's what I'd be doing."
"Yeah, that." He nodded, not in understanding but rather in acceptance. "Why can't you do it?"
"Deadening nerves in a controlled environment with a professional observing your every move is a lot easier than doing it in the wild." Her lips twitched at the joke. "Besides, I haven't tried it on people yet. Are you still eager to have me deaden your nerves?"
"A professional? You didn't tell me you're interning at the hospital. Since when?"
"I'm not. There tend to be quite a few Hyuuga medics, even if it's considered second-class within the clan."
"Mainly branch family members, then," Naruto said grimly.
Hinata brushed past her displeasure at the reminder of inter-clan politics. "Natsu—my nanny—is in the shinobi reserve but she used to be a chunin-ranked medical ninja."
"What, the one with green hair who makes sure she's staring at me whenever we all hang out at your place?" he asked, rolling his eyes. "Gee, who would've thought."
"Don't be mean, Naruto."
"Hey, she's not here to defend herself and I'm nice enough in person when she's not glaring at me."
Because he wasn't slandering Natsu, Hinata didn't take any issue with his words—but she felt conflicted about it, which was why she took a little satisfaction in her final and seventh strike: a gentle tap to his nose using her index finger.
He puzzled over the gesture for a moment. "Hinata… why did you… boop me?"
"Boop?" she laughed. "Is that even a word?"
He was going to reply, but her plan had come to a head. Naruto lurched to the side, gasping. He spread his feet to stop himself from falling but it was only a temporary measure and his feet gave out mere moments later.
"G-Gen…jutsu?" he belched out, not waiting for her confirmation to close his eyes.
Hinata stepped back and watched, satisfied with her win as the genjutsu continued to exert its influence over her friend.
Genjutsu were self-sustaining after successful use, manipulating the target's chakra flow to cause its effects. They relied on the target's ignorance and used their chakra to continue working but that didn't mean they were permanent. Most genjutsu existed as a set-up for a subsequent attack since they were almost always recognised and dispelled, either by the target or their ally.
Using her Byakugan, she could see his chakra flow slowing down, disrupting her technique. He opened his eyes with a belch, clearing his throat noisily. "...Well, that sucked."
Hinata simply beamed and got to work unblocking his tenketsu. They stayed seated in the grass in companionable silence while he recovered before leaving the forest at a slow pace.
"Genjutsu, huh?" he muttered. "When did you do it?"
"When I dropped out of the tree," she replied.
"Is it a touch-based genjutsu? Because before you started using the Eight Trigrams, you made a hand seal. I don't know of any genjutsu that works with just one hand seal and there's no way you trained it to that point in a few weeks."
"That was the last hand seal I made, you just didn't see the rest of them. Wavering Palm requires me to land seven hits while I get a little bit of my chakra to enter your network. The Eight Trigrams was the easiest way to do it because of its overwhelming aggression."
"But I only counted six," he said with a frown. "You didn't land anything else because I either dodged or deflected them."
She circled in front of him, walking backwards and tapping his nose again with a smirk. "And there's seven. The last one doesn't require me to send any more chakra into your body. It just activates the jutsu with the chakra from the other strikes."
His face fell. "No way."
"Yes way," she said, flashing a small grin before returning to his side. "By the way, what does boop mean?"
"Boop? It's what you did to me when you tapped your nose." He demonstrated it on himself. "See? Boop."
His voice rose in pitch towards the end of the strange word, drawing a snort from her. It sounded so ridiculous yet, somehow, it fit. After that, Naruto dragged his feet, travelling a few paces behind her and complaining about losing to a boop of all things.
Once he was over it, he caught up with her with a statement in tow. "Every day, I only become happier with my choice to be a ninjutsu specialist."
"Wouldn't we all be one if we could?" Hinata asked with a roll of her eyes. "Unfortunately, not everyone has humungous chakra reserves."
"And they're still growing," he said in a sing-song voice, specifically to irritate her. He dodged a light shove from her, dancing out of range. "Hold on, now. Do you want to know why it makes me happy?"
"Why?"
"Because I get to keep nausea-inducing shinobi like you far away from me."
"I…" she narrowed her eyes, "...sense an insult somewhere in that sentence."
"I don't know," he shrugged, not bothering to hide the mischievous glint in his blue eyes, "but nothing I said was untrue."
Choji's exhilarated yells interrupted her retort before they stepped foot in the clearing. He and Asuma had practically dug up a stretch of the earth, inevitably caking their trousers in dirt and dust. Choji had stripped down to a dark vest, revealing impressively thick arms that shone under the sunlight. His green haori and clan t-shirt were strewn across a tree branch alongside Asuma's flak jacket.
"This looks like the site of a massacre," said Naruto.
"The Stone Fist Jutsu is a nightmare when you pair it with the Partial Expansion Jutsu—and the best part is that Choji caused all of this." Asuma chuckled and spread his arms, gesturing at the surrounding wreckage.
Naruto peered at the deep craters in the ground and let out a low whistle and Hinata couldn't help but be impressed as well. Choji's usually expanded blows cratered the ground on their own and couldn't be walked away from by most genin.
"...We're not a team for subtlety, are we?" said Hinata with a wry smile.
"Says the person who put me in a genjutsu and has all-seeing eyes," replied Naruto. "Not a team for subtlety my ass."
She laughed and he seemed like he was about to as well until Choji swayed on his feet. Naruto lurched forward and caught him before he could fall, almost falling on top of him in the process when he started to sag.
"Please tell me we don't have a mission in the afternoon," said Naruto. "Because I think Choji is flirting with chakra exhaustion right now."
Hinata gave him a once-over with her Byakugan. "His knuckles are bearing the consequences of all of this—but a week's rest should be enough."
"Or a medical ninja and a day off—which I was going to get to right after this," said Asuma. "And no, we don't have a mission, Naruto, but we're going to meet up again at 4."
"Why?" Naruto asked, keeping an eye on Choji—who was doing his best to stay aware of his surroundings—so he shook his shoulders. "Stay awake."
His eyes snapped open. "I-I'm not sleeping, dude."
"Stay standing and I'll leave you alone," he replied and proceeded to pull him up by the arm.
Grinning, Choji puffed out his chest and looked at Asuma with renewed attention. "Why are we meeting up at 4, sensei?"
"Would you look at that? He's not completely out of it," said Asuma. "We've got a meeting with my old man at 4."
Hinata straightened at the mention of the Hokage. The flagrant disrespect by her teacher had long since become routine so she focused on the information. "Is it important?"
"Very," was Asuma's reply; he looked strangely serious for once.
"Then we'll be on time," said Naruto. "But I swear, if you make it sound like it's something interesting only to take us to Yakiniku-Q with Lord Third, I'll fill your cigarettes with grass."
It said a lot about the sort of man they had for a teacher. When he wanted to teach, he was exemplary, if a tad informal—and the schedule they had was evidence of that—but when he didn't want to teach, he went to incredible lengths to ensure that he didn't.
Every once in a while was fine but sometimes, he took it too far.
Asuma tried to stop himself from smiling but gave up in the end. "I'm being honest this time, I swear."
"Good." Naruto stared at him for a few seconds. "I'll get going then—got somewhere to be today."
"And miss team lunch?" Choji asked, sounding put down.
"Sorry, man."
Asuma clapped his shoulder. "It's too late—he is lost to us."
He rolled his eyes at their theatrics and walked away.
"Naruto?" Hinata called out, catching up to him with a brisk walk. "You never miss team lunch. Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine," Naruto replied, tilting his head as confusion crept into his voice. "I've just got somewhere to be is all."
"Is it important?" she asked again.
He snorted. "You know that's the second time you've asked that, right?"
"I know."
"It's important—I've got to talk to Ino about… the incident."
Without another word, Hinata nodded firmly, turning on her heel. Inwardly, however, her stomach was doing backflips and somersaults. The three-day break had given her a decent enough glimpse into Naruto's state of mind.
While shaken by the encounter with the Nine-Tails, he'd come out of it with a renewed determination to not let it and his status deter him. Asuma had prevented Choji and herself from talking to Ino about Naruto or the Nine-Tails—so had Naruto and Hinata still didn't understand the reason why.
Expanding the circle of those who knew about Naruto was a good thing, right?
Everyone except her and Choji seemed to disagree. It was why Shikamaru still didn't know about Naruto being a Jinchuriki despite the two of them being in on the secret—and she felt the weight of that secret every time they met up—even if, again, Naruto asked them not to reveal it to him.
Had Ino not taken the news well? She'd faced the brunt of the Nine-Tails for an undefined amount of time, so if she was afraid or upset at Naruto, then Hinata could understand.
She didn't agree with it, but she couldn't blame her for it.
At the same time, Ino cared about Naruto in a way that no one else did—Hinata knew it because she did as well. It was why her stomach was still twisting into knots now, more than half an hour after Naruto left.
Despite the unease that admitting that to herself brought, all she could hope was that Ino didn't confuse the boy with the monster.
Less for her sake and more for Naruto's.
Ino had been on countless delivery runs for the last few days, bundling bouquets in her arms and running across the village. The work wasn't particularly tiring and it certainly didn't stimulate her enough to take her mind off things—but it kept her busy and busy was good.
She climbed down yet another roof and gave herself a once-over—the bouquet was fine, her clothes weren't wrinkled, and she wasn't a mess.
Good.
Raising her fist, she knocked on the door and waited five seconds. She was going to knock again but it clicked open, revealing an old woman standing a head shorter than herself.
"Oh, are those the flowers?" she smiled.
Ino returned the smile, but it felt hollow. "Are you Mrs Miyazaki?"
"I am, young miss."
"Then they're yours."
Ino offered the bouquet. The old woman stretched her hands out but stiffened. "Wait one moment. I left the money upstairs."
"But, ma'am, you've already paid—" Mrs Miyazaki was gone before Ino could say another word. Basic decorum stopped her from crossing the threshold and following the old woman upstairs. She sighed. "... already paid for them."
There was nothing she could do except wait for her to return. Thankfully, she wasn't left waiting long and Mrs Miyazaki happily took the bouquet before fishing through a thick, weathered purse. She retrieved a single 1,000 ryo note so fresh that Ino could probably smell the ink off it.
"Here."
"Oh, no, ma'am." Ino clutched her hands to her chest. "I couldn't take it—besides, you've already paid for the flowers."
Mrs Miyazaki smiled and pressed the note into Ino's hands. "I insist, my dear. It's for the trouble."
"What trouble?"
Instead of answering, the elderly woman closed the door, singing her goodbyes from behind it.
"Honestly." Ino put her hands on her hips and sighed heavily—but she was smiling.
Her cheeks dimpled with an ease that she'd sorely been missing the last few days but after a few, blissful moments, the memory came back—the oppressive hatred returned—and wiped it off her face.
"Dear?" Mrs Miyazaki's voice came from behind the door. "You've been standing there for quite a while now. Is everything alright?"
"Oh!" Ino flinched, her mind returning to the present. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine, ma'am. Have a nice day!"
In two jumps, she was back on the rooftops, the village splaying out across her field of vision. It was only midday when she returned from the delivery and the village was busy at work as lunchtime approached.
Yamanaka Flowers only got busy in the mornings and the evenings. Between then, the shop went undisturbed, save for the frequent order run from previous days. Usually, her parents hired genin to do it, but Ino volunteered. It was tough work and was hard on her body but she needed to feel something.
The joint training events had left her numb after the fallout. The things she learned, the promise she'd made, it was too much but Ino refused to shut down. If she shut down and stopped moving, that monster would be the only thing she'd think about. She bit her lip and fiddled with her arm warmers, flicking her eyes around the various display plants.
"You're back?" her mother walked to the front till. "How was the delivery, honey?"
She shrugged. "The same as usual. Mrs Miyazaki gave me a 1,000 ryo tip."
"She gave me one as well," said her father, placing a steadying hand on her shoulder. "I don't know what for—I've got nothing to spend it on—so here."
Her mother took it and slipped it into the front of her apron. "I'll be having that."
The two of them agreed to Ino doing the deliveries on the condition that her father accompany her and while she would have preferred the solitude, her father was a comforting presence. He didn't poke or prod—and she loved him for it. He humoured her requests to spar her every night, letting her tire herself out enough that the nightmares stayed at bay.
They caught up just before sunrise sometimes and when she opened her eyes, those demonic red eyes would linger.
"Take all my money, why don't you." Her father huffed and folded his arms. "You money-grubbing thing."
Her mother smiled and tilted her head without disturbing the brown locks tied into a bun sitting atop her head. "Now, honey, don't pout. It'll wrinkle your forehead."
"It's fine. I wear my forehead protector all the time so no one will notice."
Ino rolled her eyes but couldn't help her smile.
They'd been like this since she could remember. When she was younger and they'd go out on family dates more often, she remembered seeing husbands and wives arguing and talking over each other. It was strange to her because her parents had never raised their voices at one another—not in her presence anyway, and if they had a problem, they talked it out calmly.
She was nothing like them.
If she had a problem she made it known, often by raising her voice. Her mother said it was unladylike and her father pretended to cower in fear of her rage. Her temper was a running joke in their household and that was another reason why she loved her parents so much.
But it was also something that she was incredibly self-conscious of and she hated the slight shrill to her voice whenever she lost her composure.
"Come on, you two," said Ino, folding her arms. "We have more orders, don't we?"
Her parents looked at each other, not managing to hide the concern in their shared gaze. It wasn't the first time they'd looked at her like that—and Ino wasn't surprised that they were. She knew she wasn't okay at the moment and maybe she never would be. Perhaps returning to how she was before meeting the Nine-Tails was an impossibility, a daydream, and she'd continue with her life carrying that experience forever.
Right now, that thought scared her.
"We don't have any more orders for today, honey," said her mother. "We've got to prepare the rest."
Her father patted his chest. "This is my last day off, so let's make the most of it—how about a bit of familial competition?"
Ino blinked and, all of a sudden, she realised that it had been three days. Lord Third had been kind enough to give her father three days off—and while it wasn't as long as the week afforded to Team 8, she was grateful to have him around when he'd otherwise be out till late.
Those three days were over now and he'd be leaving soon.
"Chin up, firecracker." Her father placed a hand on her head. "Don't look so down."
"You know I hate that nickname," she mumbled.
He sighed and Ino felt the vibrations of his exhale down his arm.
She closed her eyes and moulded just a little bit of chakra to comfort herself in his vast chakra reserves. It was like receiving a hug that encompassed her entire being. When the nightmares became too much, Ino extended her sense of perception to the room across from hers and touched her father's reserves.
Like her, he was a sensor-type shinobi and did his best to extend her the comfort she desired when she reached out—like now—and didn't push her for more. Because she'd extended her sensory range, Ino picked up on a familiar chakra that couldn't be mistaken just by its sheer size—let alone the usual calm flow.
The ringing door slowly opened but Ino didn't turn around, unsure of what expression she was wearing, but knew exactly who had stepped foot into the shop.
"Excuse me, Mr and Mrs Yamanaka?"
"Naruto. It's lovely to see you again." Her father stepped around her. "Look, honey—it's our little hero. You didn't get to see him before but he's here now."
"Indeed. Quite the handsome young man, isn't he?" Her mother's smile was a little too smug for Ino's liking. "We have a lot of thanking to do, don't we? How about you stay for lunch?"
"Oh no. I couldn't impose on you like that during working hours," said Naruto. "I've come to talk to Ino, you see."
"Ah."
Ino felt the atmosphere shift.
"In that case, feel free to go up to my daughter's room," her mother said. "Come here, behind the till."
Ino went on first and from the sound of it, Naruto followed her. They walked up the stairs to the building's upper floors, where she and her family lived, realising with a start that Naruto was the first boy to see her room.
She stopped halfway down the carpeted corridor and without turning around, said, "Wait one sec. I'll be right back."
"Uh… okay?"
Her pace was brisk, but unsuspicious and, once inside, she took a moment to stare at her slightly flushed face in the wardrobe mirror before kicking up a storm. She cleaned up her cluttered desk, dashed her childhood stuffed teddy bear under the bed, and eyed the room for anything else before sticking her head into the corridor.
"You can come in now."
Naruto came into the light spilling out of her room and now that they were out of the dark corridor. He'd taken off his shoes at the foot of the stairs but was dressed in combat gear for the most part. The light glimmered off the long-sleeved mail shirt underneath his plain t-shirt and she noticed his bandaged cargo pants were holstered on the sides of both legs.
Knowing him, he probably had two weapons pouches at his back as well.
"Did you come straight from a D-rank?" she asked, closing the door behind him.
He let her pass and she sat at the foot of her bed. "No. I came straight from training."
"You train in mission-wear?"
"Yeah," he shrugged, "if you get used to moving in gear, you'll be more comfortable during combat."
Nodding silently, she decided to start doing the same. Her sensei was pretty strict but even she hadn't informed Ino of a particular dress code. Maybe it was one of Naruto's unique quirks, like wearing weights. She looked at his wrists and ankles and, sure enough, he had a velcro band wrapped around each limb.
Before running into the Nine-Tails, she would have thought that doing things like training in mission gear and wearing wrist and ankle weights was too much. Being so helpless had made her painfully aware of one thing, though.
Ino never wanted to be that helpless ever again.
"Do you want to sit down?" she said with a sigh. "You've been standing at the door for a while now."
He blinked and pulled a chair from her desk, positioning it in front of her. "...Yeah. Sorry about that."
"So…"
"So," he wrung his hands, "where do we start this?"
"I'll start with a question. How long have you known?"
He sat up. "My whole life."
"...How?" Ino asked, her stomach turning. "Did… did you meet the Nine-Tails?"
His face darkened. "No—I know what I am because of the villagers. Let's just say my childhood wasn't very fun and leave it at that."
"Oh."
Ino remembered the way people used to look at Naruto—they still did, but it was less hate and more fear even since he graduated. She didn't know why they looked at him like that but never bothered to learn either. Knowing the reason why made her feel a lot more guilty and she managed to look at Naruto's face long enough for it to gnaw at her.
"Don't," he said, not unkindly. "I don't need pity. It sucked, but I've moved past it."
She swallowed. "I… uh. Okay."
"Any more questions?"
Ino shook her head.
"Then it's my turn. How are you?"
She squashed the reflexive, "I'm fine", forming on her tongue and looked into her lap. In the few minutes that they'd been in each other's company, Ino had looked at Naruto's face for all of five seconds. After finding out what he was, she saw things in his face that—quite frankly—terrified her.
His canines were sharper than normal people's and when he smiled—he did that a lot when he was nervous—they looked like fangs.
Until a few days ago, she hadn't known what the Nine-Tails looked like. There weren't any pictures or paintings—just the memories of everyone who'd survived that night, including her parents. She once dismissed the whiskers on his as cute birthmarks—but what if they weren't? What if the fangs and the whiskers and his freakishly strong body were all signs of the monster's influence on him from early on?
The worst thing was that Ino liked him—his face, the whiskers, the way his sharper canines made his usually harmless smiles look mischievous. She liked him but was terrified of the monster inside him.
"I'm… not okay, Naruto. You have the monster that killed the strongest Hokage inside of you. It managed to somehow get through the seal the strongest Hokage made and..." She breathed in deeply, settling down with a quick, rattling breath. "...So, no. I'm not okay."
"I understand," said Naruto, his voice heavy with… with something she couldn't recognise. Hatred? Guilt? Sorrow? She didn't know. "Not being okay is fine, you know?"
"Feeling like this is okay?"
Naruto paused halfway through a nod. "Not exactly. It's not a good thing, but it's not bad that you feel the way you do."
"I'm surprised you're not worse," said Ino. "You've had that thing in you since you were born. Everyone who lost anyone to it hates you for it—and that's not fair."
"Who said I'm not?" He levelled her with a gaze so… dead that it stopped her in her tracks. "Worse, that is. When I'm alone and I don't have Choji or Hinata to prod at me," he snorted softly, "or Shikamaru to bug me, I won't lie, it gets to me. Do you know how terrifying it is? The idea that the thing responsible for killing my parents and so many innocents could smother my own free will if it breaks free?"
Ino pulled her lips into a thin line. "I've got some idea now."
"Yeah." He snorted. She looked up and he tilted his head, making the sadness in his eyes swim around. "I suppose you do, don't you? So, what now? Where do we go from here? If you want, I can give you some space, and let you sort things out. I want to help, but my being here might make things worse…"
"No!" She nearly stood up and looked him right in the eye before averting her gaze—she couldn't look at him without… without seeing it.
Admitting that to herself made her burn. He saved her from it and stood against the monster that even the Fourth Hokage couldn't beat and she couldn't look him in the eye?
"I…" She grabbed fistfuls of her skirt and squeezed until she could feel her palms through the fabric, tears pricking her eyes.
"Are you okay?" Naruto stretched his hand out.
Ino jerked back and then whipped her head up and widened her eyes so fast that the tears slipped down her face. Her mouth opened and closed wordlessly as she tried to push the apology up her throat and out her mouth.
It wasn't working.
The hurt on Naruto's face lasted for an instant— just an instant—but she saw it.
"...Ino, I think some time away from me might do you some good," he said, putting on a false smile—like the ones he wore during the first year of the Academy—and the pain in her chest almost made her stop breathing for a second. "Just for a little while, okay?"
He walked away, growing smaller in her vision and closed the door. She could hear her father's voice from behind it but neither he nor Naruto were speaking loud enough to make out any words. Their footsteps grew distant so she drew her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her shins, and hiding her face from the world.
No tears fell from her eyes; instead, the frustration—the pain in her chest—grew and grew with no outlet for minutes. Ino's breathing turned short and she scrambled out of bed, staring at her reflection in the mirror. It could have been seconds or hours, but she stayed still, staring at herself, unblinking and unmoving.
She was completely and utterly empty.
Hiruzen considered the masked man kneeling before him over his paperwork. "Report, Saru."
Of course, he was aware of the man behind the mask but protocol had to be followed at all times. After his son and daughter-in-law joined the Shinobi Reserve to properly lead the Sarutobi clan, the mantle of Saru had fallen to his protegé and the newest addition to Hiruzen's personal ANBU guard, Sozen Sarutobi.
"Yes, Lord Third," replied Saru.
Hiruzen noticed that he had overcome the nervousness of being in his presence and smiled.
"Genin Yamanaka has been taking a rather active break. Her schedule is as follows: she wakes up irregularly through the night but always leaves her room at 0730 hours, helps the family business with deliveries until 1630 hours, and spars with Jonin Yamanaka before retiring at around 2045 hours."
"Any deviations from that schedule?"
"No—" Saru strangled the rest of that sentence. "Apologies, sir—yes. On Saturday at 1340 hours, she visited Genin Inuzuka at the hospital as he was receiving treatment for a soldier pill he consumed during training. More importantly, at precisely 1205 hours today, Genin Uzumaki entered the establishment shortly after Genin Yamanaka returned from a delivery run and left at 1235 hours looking mildly upset."
"...Interesting." Hiruzen filed that information away and nodded at his subordinate. "At ease, Saru."
Saru immediately relaxed. "Permission to remove my mask?"
"Granted."
Sozen sat in one of the two armchairs in front of Hiruzen's desk, releasing an audible sigh of relief. He clutched his hands in his lap and Hiruzen could feel the young man's eyes roaming restlessly.
"What's the matter, Sozen?"
"Enzou has been watching Genin Yamanaka while she sleeps—if you'll beg my pardon, sir, I don't believe she'll reveal Genin Uzumaki's Jinchuriki status to anyone."
Without looking up, Hiruzen asked, "And what has led you to that conclusion?"
"She has had ample time to do so—such as visiting Genin Inuzuka alongside Genin Nara and Haruno. However, she did not. Instead, she seems to be doing her utmost to prevent herself from thinking about her encounter with the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox."
"Noted," Hiruzen replied. "Is there anything else you wish to report?"
"No, sir."
"Then you are dismissed. Enjoy your lunch, Sozen."
The young man put his mask back on and opened the window to Hiruzen's left. "Ready the table weights, sir."
After ensuring his paperwork wouldn't follow his subordinate out of the window, Hiruzen gave him the go-ahead before closing the window after him and returning to his work. Each member of his guard liked to leave the room in their own clandestine ways after reporting. It was one of the few sources of amusement in Hiruzen's otherwise dreary day besides his grandson's frequent so-called assassination attempts.
His office fell into a peaceful silence but the solitude did not bring him any peace—not when he had learned that Naruto was not doing well off the back of his friend's confrontation with the Nine-Tailed Fox. Contrary to popular belief, Hiruzen Sarutobi was not an ignorant man, even in his old age.
Softer, perhaps, but never ignorant. The Professor, he was called these days, a softer title in softer times. He hadn't been referred to as the Bloody Ape in decades. He wasn't sure he still had it in him, truthfully, which was why he was so hesitant to take the hat back.
His personal ANBU briefed him on things many would consider unknowable—like his old friend Danzo's machinations regarding his son, yet he let it happen for the sole purpose that his son seemed to be all the better for it and his experiences at the Fire Capital would ensure he didn't stray into the darkness.
Naruto, however, was an entirely different kettle of fish. He was vulnerable, malleable, and a weapon for war if needed—not that it would be needed on his watch.
Danzo seemed to have given up his ambitions of turning Naruto into his emotionless toy and wholeheartedly supported the boy's efforts to grow strong. That he let Asuma take charge of Naruto's training was evidence of that—but it also ensured he would be kept up to date on the boy's capabilities.
To what end, Hiruzen did not know, but for now Danzo's schemes helped Asuma and Naruto, and so he would tolerate them.
He had distanced himself from his advisory counsel in recent years after allowing himself to be pressured by them until young Itachi took the burden of choice upon himself and massacred his entire clan. Worse, the loss of the Uchiha was a terrible blow—they were a source of incredible military strength and struck fear into the hearts of their enemies.
That same strength was ready to turn on the village and because he could not make a choice in time, his counsel had seen fit to make it for him, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of innocents when the heads of the conspirators would have been enough. All because Hiruzen lacked the firmness to take a stand on his own.
His teachers fought for a world where children would not see death and decimation so easily yet it happened right before his eyes and, on that night, he promised himself it would never happen again. He would not put himself in that position again. To ensure that, he needed to put his counsel at arm's length and remind him that he was the Hokage, that their job was to advise him and nothing else.
However, he only had cause to punish Danzo for brazenly establishing an independent faction for personal gain within the ANBU—a fact he'd turned a blind eye to until Danzo manipulated a volatile Itachi into doing something rash.
Danzo adhered to his order to disband the ROOT by joining the shinobi reserve, separating his faction from the ANBU. The order was meant to overtly kneecap Danzo's influence more than anything else. He would still have the prestige of an elder, but none of the power he previously held as Hiruzen's shadow.
It was the frustrating game they had been playing for years now, with Danzo skirting along the edge of Hiruzen's capacity to forgive.
The Sage knew that the only thing saving his old friend was his usefulness to the village—a fact Danzo had reminded him of repeatedly in the years after the Uchiha Massacre. In truth, he knew the usefulness of the ROOT to the current village ecosystem and knew that despite its missteps, especially in the Land of Rain, ROOT had hamstrung many of A and Onoki's ambitions.
The other two members of his advisory counsel were far simpler to deal with. Utatane and Homura had used his indecision as justification in backing Danzo—and so he rewarded them.
He made Homura the headmaster of the Academy at the beginning of the year following the Uchiha Massacre. Shortly before that, he also commanded Utatane to focus on her duties as head of the Intelligence Division in light of such a tragedy and in doing so, ensured that the burden of responsibility sat squarely on his shoulders thereafter.
Once more, he faced his duties with a clear mind and with the knowledge that every decision he made was his—and this time, he had no one to outsource problems to. He could discuss things with his jonin, with the village's many divisions, touch base with the ANBU Commander, and call on his advisory counsel.
But just like in the Great War, the ultimate decision—both above and under the table—resided with him; only this time, his job was ensuring the current peace lasted.
He hummed and looked through the recent mission requests—it was about time for the new jonin teams to leave the village's borders. Kakashi had come to him, reporting as much; as had his son.
Hiruzen hadn't expected the jonin to carry out regular joint training so regularly, least of all Kakashi. It was as close to live combat as the children had seen so far and their skills were improving every day. He had the confidence to send Teams 7 and 10 on C-rank missions and believed they would be able to survive most unforeseen circumstances.
Team 8 was in a difficult spot that required a more delicate hand. Luckily, Kurenai was better suited for that.
All that was left was deciding which missions to send each team on. It was a village tradition for new jonin teams to request their first out-of-village mission from the Hokage. Ordinarily, they would go to the Missions Office and collect a request from the board. However, the missions posted on the ranked boards never exceeded B-rank, meaning all the other missions were issued through the village's divisions after passing through him.
For the first time since eight in the morning, Hiruzen set aside his usual paperwork and looked through the mission scrolls he had requested the day before. Three C-ranks: an escort mission, a request to identify and apprehend the head of a human trafficking ring, and the elimination of just under three dozen bandits—half a dozen of them being rogue ninja.
He put away the trafficking mission with a long sigh. It would have to be sent back down to the missions office for the Genin Corps batch to take instead of giving it to Team 8 as he had originally planned.
The intercom positioned on his desk crackled to life and his receptionist's voice hissed into clarity. "Lord Third? Team 10 has arrived for their scheduled meeting at four."
"Is that so…" His eyes lingered on the mission scrolls for a moment before he pushed down on the respond button and leaned towards the microphone. "Send them up, Hanako."
Hiruzen heard them before he saw them and, as expected, none of them knocked. His son entered first and saluted him with an easy grin.
"Yo, old man!"
His greeting left his students in various states: Choji Akimichi was stuck between horror and awe at his teacher's behaviour; Hinata Hyuuga's face was dead set in disapproval; and Naruto Uzumaki sent Hiruzen a half smile in apology for Asuma's greeting.
Hiruzen pinched the bridge of his nose. "Asuma, Team 10, welcome."
The three genin bowed in unison and even Asuma gave a small bow of his own.
"Judging by your curiosity," said Hiruzen, quickly sweeping his gaze across the three children, "you three are not aware of this meeting's purpose."
They looked at Asuma who shrugged. "They're not, no. I thought I'd make it a surprise."
"And the surprise is?" asked Naruto, voicing his teammates' concern.
Hiruzen smiled. "Why, a mission, of course."
Choji Akimichi gasped. "Is this really happening?"
"That appears to be the case, Genin Akimichi." He chuckled and picked one of the three scrolls he'd gathered. "Team 10, listen closely: Yasuhiro Ohashi of Tenka Village has requested the elimination of the Jagged Blades, a brotherhood of bandits three dozen strong. Further information is included in this scroll. Read it and commit it to memory—you leave in thirty-seven hours."
His words had the intended effect on the children, exciting and scaring them in equal measure. Even the usually unassailable Naruto looked shaken by the news but Hiruzen had full confidence in their ability to return successfully. The mission he gave them was, in some respect, the most difficult one out of the three.
Unlike the other two, combat was a certainty and they would return having taken human life for the first time. As a frontline vanguard squad, combat and killing was unavoidable and would be something they needed to get used to.
Asuma walked closer to acquire the mission scroll, stashing it safely inside his flak jacket. "That'll be all, right?"
"Not quite. Let me deal with them first and then stay behind for a moment," replied Hiruzen. "Genin, I have one more announcement. As I'm sure you're aware, the standard mission split is forty-sixty—40% to you, 60% to the village. That percentage will then be divided between the four of you at 10% each."
Naruto immediately raised a hand to interject but Hiruzen held up a hand to mollify him.
"However, any extra money that a shinobi earns while on the mission, like the mission rank being adjusted in retrospect—be it higher or lower—will affect the sum that each of you receives. In your case any bounty money you make is yours to keep—do you understand?"
The three children nodded with a seriousness that only made them look adorable—but that was the danger with most fresh genin. They ran headfirst into danger out of sheer ignorance and it was the responsibility of their elders and superiors to protect them while they learned to do better.
"Good. Team 10, dismissed." As the children turned to leave, Hiruzen added, "Asuma, stay."
The genin froze and looked back at Asuma, who ushered them to the lobby below, promising that they'd look at the mission scroll together. When the door had closed behind them, their footsteps padded down the corridor into silence. He fell into the chair opposite Hiruzen, making his curiosity apparent by asking a question.
"Why the secrecy, old man?"
Hiruzen sighed. "I must enquire about young Naruto. The next time I will see him personally—and outside the walls of this office—will be his birthday. I do not know if he wishes to continue a relationship with me after clearing that… misunderstanding between myself, yourself, and Danzo but it has come to my attention that I have let us grow apart for too long."
"Ah," Asuma grimaced, "so, it was about that. Honestly, make the effort, Dad. Go and visit his apartment and talk with him instead of just doing the bare minimum. From what I hear you've been dancing around his identity as our Jinchuriki for years."
The, "From Danzo", went unsaid but both Hiruzen and his son knew where that particular bit of information had come from. Asuma had no reason to suspect Danzo was planning anything nefarious but Hiruzen?
Hiruzen had known his old friend since they were children—long enough to see him adopt more of the world's darkness until he became it.
"So, I say you clear the air."
"Perhaps… perhaps I will, my son. I've spent so long discounting that option that it's become second nature." Hiruzen scratched his goatee. "But more importantly, how is Naruto handling the week's revelations? How is he coming to terms with being a Jinchuriki?"
Asuma smiled. "He's been taking it better than I thought—even if he's having some doubts about the fox's influence on him, but as you said, the seal's airtight. I think it's more his guilt about the Nine-Tails harming Ino Yamanaka than anything else."
"I see. Keep me updated on his progress, Asuma."
"Will do." His son gave him a final lazy salute and left the room to find his students.
Hiruzen looked between the two scrolls and decided which mission he would give to Team 7. It was a simple enough decision and, once it was made, the daily drudgery resumed and he sat up, intent on making a sizeable dent in the week's paperwork.
As Lord First had loved to say—a Hokage's work was never-ending.