A/N: Chapter 6 updated.
CHAPTER-6: Training continues
One day after bursting a water balloon, Naruto was standing in a clearing in front of a tree, sweating heavily due to the continuous jutsu practice since the last two hours. The blond was practicing "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough", a D-rank Wind style (Fuuton) jutsu, his very first elemental ninjutsu. His task was to break several branches of a tree, some 15 feet away from him using the said jutsu. So far, the endeavor hadn't succeeded.
*Flashback*
"So Ero-Sennin, are you going teach me any kickass elemental ninjutsu today?" Naruto asked to Jiraiya, who was feigning ignorance towards the boy.
"Not so fast Gaki, and can't you call me Jiraiya-sensei ever?"
"I call you the way I see you, you are a pervert and you call yourself a sage, so it's pretty easy to give you a nickname.", The blonde replied somewhat irritated.
"I have told you several times already, I am not a pervert, I am a-" Jiraiya was cut-off by Naruto's grumbling.
"Oh! COME ON I GET IT YOU ARE A SUPER PERVERT. NOW SHALL WE GET BACK TO SOME AWESOME NINJUTSU ERO-SENNIN?", The blonde shouted. Jiraiya sighed thinking how much his apprentice resembled his mother.
*In the meantime, within Naruto's mindscape*
"IF I EVER GET OUT AND SEE HIM, I'LL BLOODY CASTRATE THIS PERVERT, DATTEBANE!" Kushina shouted. Meanwhile Minato was thinking why he had made the said pervert Naruto's godfather.
*Back to Naruto and Jiraiya*
'Why do I feel like I might get the beating of a lifetime if I keep showing off the ways of the pervert to this kid…Err-Well never mind' Jiraiya thought and then brought his attention back to his apprentice.
"Gaki first let's determine your chakra affinity." Jiraiya said while giving Naruto a chakra paper. The blonde looked at it attentively.
"So, Naruto, channel a bit of your chakra to this paper. If it gets wrinkled it means that you have Lightning, it gets soaked if you have water, gets burnt if you have fire, sliced into two for wind and earth if it crumbles into dust."
Naruto nodded, held the paper between his middle and fore fingers and channeled a bit of chakra into it. The paper got cleanly sliced into two pieces and the both pieces burnt down. Jiraiya raised an eye brow.
"So, both wind and fire huh! Not bad, not bad at all, 2 attacking type chakra natures. Interesting, but seeing the refinedness of the cut, I guess your wind affinity is stronger than the fire. So, we should start with wind nature.
"Can you tell me what's special about Wind Element Ero-Sennin?"
"Well, it's an attacking type element and good for medium range attacks. However, it can be applied in ways that both short and long ranges fairly well. Short range especially, if you ever see Asuma fight with those trench blades of his, it's pretty emblematic of how Wind is best used at short range by concentrating it to slice opponents to chunks. Can be used to keep your opponents at a distance. It's stronger against lightning and weaker against fire. Luckily, you have a fire affinity that compensates for the weakness of the wind element.
"Wouldn't wind strengthen fire if the two elements combine?" (Astute observation)
"Yup, that's how it works after all." Jiraiya replied.
"Okay, so what jutsu will you teach me, how to raise a storm, create a tornado maybe?" (Ven Gaar Nos? Sorry Naruto, you aren't Dragonborn…I typed that and then the Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim theme started playing)
"Hold your horses Gaki, you can't do stuff like that yet. Besides I have never heard of any Shinobi who can create a storm through a jutsu. Somethings are just the nature's forte."
"Here, I got a basic jutsu for every element for you, since we are starting with Wind, you should get this one down first." Jiraiya added.
Naruto opened the scroll
'Wind Style: Great Breakthrough
Rank: D
When mastered, the user can release a blast of wind from his mouth.'
'Hmm, interesting. Let's see if it can throw that bastard Neji's ass out of the arena or not.' Naruto thought. (ehh, might shove the stick even further if Neji lands just the right/wrong way)
Jiraiya demonstrated him the jutsu and showed him the hand-signs. Then told him that if he can break at least ten branches off a tree with the jutsu, he could consider it done. Then the sage left the blonde to do his research.
*Flashback ends*
"Damn Ero-Sennin and his damned research. He really has it easy." Naruto grumbled to himself. It has been two hours since Jiraiya had left. So far, the blonde had been able to cut a few leaves off a branch only. Naruto sighed, and then suddenly a bright light bulb went off in his head blinding all the three tenants there.
The blonde created 50 shadow clones.
"Let's get this damned jutsu down in three hours boys! Naruto ordered."
"YES SIR!" All the clones replied saluting. The clones then left the area and went away a bit further to practice.
Then the blonde created 10 more shadow clones and had them transformed into birds, insects and even rocks.
"Keep an eye out for Ero-Sennin around the area and dispel if you see him." Naruto ordered and the clones got to their work immediately. (if only Jiraiya was this meticulous when peeping…)
"Son!" Naruto heard Minato call him from inside his mindscape.
"Yes Dad?"
"There are some special exercises to master wind manipulation and every other element. For wind manipulation, pick up a leaf and try to cut it with your chakra just like you sliced the chakra paper into two. If you do it then mastering wind based jutsu becomes easier."
"On it, Dad!"
Naruto then created twenty more shadow clones and had them working on the leaf cutting exercise. He had also left ten clones in his apartment to work on bursting the rubber ball.
4 hours later, Jiraiya returned to see Naruto's progress. The clones that had transformed into birds had alerted the blonde in time and Naruto had dispelled all the clones present in the area. Then the exhaustion of all the clones hit him. Jiraiya found him lying on the ground totally worn out.
"Looks like you worked really hard Gaki, so how much progress did you make?" The Toad Sage asked. Naruto, already out of breath, pointed at a tree. Jiraiya saw that 6 branches were cut off and thrown at least 20 feet away from the tree. Jiraiya knew that the blonde won't get the jutsu down in one day but cutting six branches off was still good progress.
"I must say you made good progress Gaki, I am sure you will get it down tomorrow. We still have 25 days for the finals so don't get too worked up on this and get some rest. Let's call it a day here."
"All right Ero-Sennin, I will get this jutsu down tomorrow for sure. Just you watch" Naruto replied as he got up head home. The teacher and student then parted for the day. As far as the leaf cutting exercise was concerned, Naruto's clones had succeeded in cutting the leaf almost halfway. The jinchuuriki was confident of getting it done the next day.
The next day, early in the morning Naruto joined Maito Gai in his early morning workout. Gai asked him to make 10 laps around the village and 100 sets of push-ups after that. Then the two worked on Naruto's basic Taijutsu stance. Gai worked with Naruto for 2 hours and made him try various stances of various taijutsu styles to see which one suited the blonde the most. Unfortunately for both, none of the stances seemed to come naturally to the blonde. Gai then had an idea. He made the blonde try out the taijutsu style of the "Dragon's fist". To Naruto's pleasure he was able to naturally settle into the stance.
"LOOKS LIKE THIS STYLE CAN BRING OUT YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE NARUTO-KUN!" The spandex wearing jonin exclaimed. So as to not insult Gai, Naruto struggled hard to not cover his ears.
'So how exactly do Bushy-brows and his teammates put up with Gai-sensei's ultra-loud yelling. Haah! And I am called loudmouthed. I swear I can be considered a silent person compared to him' Naruto thought while Gai gave him his nice guy pose.
"Yes Gai-sensei. This stance feels quite comfortable and natural to me."
"This is the initial stance of the Dragon-fist style, an ancient taijutsu form not seen ever since the Warring-states period and there were very few people who were able to master it." Gai explained a bit seriously.
"So, if I master this, I will be a legendary ninja Dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed.
"INDEED! I BELIEVE YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH BURN BRIGHT ENOUGH TO MASTER THIS YOUTHFUL STYLE."
"Let's get to training quickly Gai-sensei, I will get this form mastered in no time."
Gai raised his hand and Naruto immediately got into attention.
"Naruto-kun, this is an ancient technique which does not follow a set of stances or hitting styles like the Jyuuken (Gentle fist) or Goken (the hard fist). Rather a master of dragon-fist unpredictably switches through moves of various stances. The only known user of this form are the Shodai Hokage Hashirama Senju. Again, this style is ancient and I doubt if any useful scrolls for this style are still here in the village. However, I will talk to Hokage-sama about it and I am sure we will find something out. Till then we will work on your speed and dodging."
"Understood Gai-sensei." Replied Naruto, a bit depressed that he will have to wait till Gai obtained any scrolls for the Dragon-fist technique.
"TOMORROW WE WILL DO 20 LAPS AROUND THE VILLAGE AND 120 PUSH-UPS. MAY THE FLAMES OF YOUTH BURN BRIGHTLY WITHIN YOU!" Gai exclaimed as Naruto bid farewell to his new and overenthusiastic taijutsu instructor. (Is it just me or does Gai's training method feel like Saitama's? Also, Naruto, these would be drastically improved with a certain someone there to suffer/train alongside you…)
Naruto had a quick breakfast at Ichiraku's. Then he went to his apartment and created ten clones to work on bursting the rubber ball and he went away. He then set ten more to work on the leaf cutting exercise. However, the blonde found out that leaving so many shadow clones at home was not a very bright idea. The clones would empty all his instant ramen whenever they felt hungry. So, the blond decided to change the situation.
Jiraiya and Naruto met up near the same cliff where the Sanin had pushed the blonde over the edge, it had become their regular training spot.
"Hey Ero-Sennin, yesterday I figured something interesting about my 'Shadow Clone Jutsu'.
"And what is that Gaki?"
"You see yesterday after leaving from here I decided to spar a bit with a clone. After I landed a hit and dispelled it, I felt like watching myself get hit. Then I summoned another clone and hit it again and the same feeling came back when it dispelled. It seems I get their memories back when they dispel!"
Jiraiya smiled.
"So, you finally figured it out Gaki. Good for you. You see that's a property of the shadow clone jutsu. The user gets the memories of the clones back when they dispel."
"So, if I use them for training here, I suppose I can get the jutsu down faster?"
"Yeah! You can kid."
"All right, you'd better go get some new jutsu for me, I will have this one down in three hours Dattebayo!"
Then Naruto summoned 100 clones and had them all practice the 'Wind Style: Great Breakthrough' on a similar number of unsuspecting trees. Jiraiya as usual left to do his 'research'.
True to his word Naruto managed to break 10 branches. He then decided to strengthen this jutsu and continued practicing. Setting himself the blow out a tree with 'Great Breakthrough' alone by the time of finals.
Seeing that Jiraiya was not around yet, Naruto set out to continue the leaf cutting exercise and just like before he had some clones to keep watch. Three hours later he had managed to cut the leaf 70%. He hoped to complete the exercise by the next day or two. When Jiraiya came back, he found that Naruto had exceeded his expectations by taking out 15 branches of a tree. Impressed, the toad sage decided to get the blonde working on his next jutsu.
When Naruto got back to his apartment, he groaned at not making any progress with the second step of his Rasengan training however his parents assured that he was making progress. Before going to bed, Naruto decided to head to the hospital to check up on Hinata, or we can say that he felt being pulled there. So, at night he sneaked into Hinata's room bypassing all nurses and doctors there. This was no big deal for Konoha's No.1 prankster, he can sneak into places with even higher security without breaking a sweat and a hospital was nothing for him.
When Naruto got to saw Hinata still unconscious lying on the hospital bed, being fed by a saline tube and all sorts of instruments wired to her, he felt a sharp pen in his chest. It hit him harder than the memories of the clone that had visited her earlier. The blonde pulled a stool and sat down by her side and kept looking at her. Seeing her like that he became teary-eyed without even realizing. Slowly he reached for her hand and gently held it with both of his hands.
"Hinata-chan I-I don't even know how I started calling you '-chan' but it feels just right for me and I feel a lot of pain seeing you like this…" Naruto then gently held her hand and rubbed his thumb over it. He felt another warm sensation in his heart along, similar to the one he felt when he met his parents. 'This feeling is similar to when I met Dad and Mom, Am I really…' The blonde was indeed coming to terms with what exactly what he felt for Hinata. He then proceeded to place her hand on his own forehead and held it there while closing his eyes. He couldn't help shed a few tears while watching her like this.
"Sakura-chan told me that I somehow inspired you. I don't know if there is anything about me that can be inspiring for anyone but I am honoured if you feel like that for me…and I will be glad if we could be much more, much…much more than friends…Hinata-chan", saying that Naruto carefully put her hand where it was. Moved his fingers through her hair for few minutes and rubbed her cheeks. He spent almost two hours in Hinata's hospital room that night and while leaving, somehow, he felt like an invisible force pulling him back towards her and under the influence of the same invisible force, somehow Naruto ended up by her side again, somehow his face came closer to hers and somehow his lips got pressed against her forehead. Suddenly Naruto came to his senses and jumped back, his face all red.
'WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST DO? AAAH WHAT WERE YOU THINKING KISSING HER LIKE THAT NARUTO?' He screamed to himself. Then a random thought of what would have it felt like if he had kissed her on the lips entered his mind and made his face even redder. Naruto shook his head violently to throw out any such thoughts. 'Bad Naruto! Bad! You can't kiss her without her consent! Damned Ero-Sennin is rubbing off on me.' Then Naruto took some deep breaths to calm himself. 'All right! Must ask her out after she wakes up and confess everything to her' the blonde thought to himself. He then again went to her side and rubbed her hand with his.
"Get well soon Hinata-chan", He almost whispered to her and then left.
Inside his mindscape, Minato, Kushina and Kurama had thoroughly enjoyed the whole scene. They were quite pleased with Naruto being so considerate and affectionate towards Hinata. Minato and Kushina had already chosen her as their daughter-in-law. Unlike Naruto they had no reservations about Hinata ever rejecting their son because of his burden and quite rightly so.
That night Hinata stirred of for the first time since being hospitalized.
A/N: Again nothing too drastic in this chapter, Naruto's training continues, he gets introduced to the 'Flames of youth' and gets down his first elemental jutsu. Along with wind, I have given a secondary fire affinity to Naruto in this story. We had a bit of fluff towards the end. Some might complain that I may be going fast in terms of the NaruHina romance but this is how I like the couple to be. The only awesome fanfic (in my opinion) that I've read, in which Naruto and Hinata were not made a couple until the 100th chapter but the story was still cool is "New Chance" by Hektols. As far as I am concerned, I will be making them a couple fairly quickly within the next 2-3 chapters because I believe that these two deserved to be together early in the story. I would respect the opinion of those who feel otherwise but in return I hope they will respect my feelings about the matter. I hope this chapter was a good read. Once again, I thank you for your support and love. See you in the next chapter.