This chapter has been revised as of 8/8/2021

Chapter 4: Learning Together

Their first weeks as a team weren't quite what Hinata expected. In the mornings, they gathered in the same field Kakashi-sensei used to test them, and he assigned what he called "training drills". That ended up being tasks they were all familiar with from the Academy, like sparring, taijutsu, and chakra manipulation, but he pushed them to a more rigorous level.

"Why do we have to repeat this stuff if we already graduated?" Naruto asked. A long set of laps around the lake left him wheezing, despite his stamina.

"Think of them as...warm ups for the day," Kakashi said. He still kept his eye on that book, even as he instructed his students. "It's important to continue daily exercises even after you begin taking on missions. They keep all of your skills habitually sharpened, even if you don't think you need to train in that area anymore. It'd be a shame if you missed with a shuriken in the heat of battle just because you hadn't thrown one in a few days. Chunin and Jounin like myself are expected to stay in top shape between assignments, so you might as well start now. I expect you three to keep them up even if I'm not here to remind you." Kakashi turned a page. "Now give me a set of 50 push ups, then switch to crunches."

"Yes, Sensei…" Naruto groaned and rolled onto his stomach to get in position with her and Sasuke. The exercises weren't difficult, just tedious and draining. But Kakashi did have a valid point. This sort of repetition was good for constantly building strength and endurance. She only began to strain towards the end of the drills, but each day she did find herself lasting longer.

At midday they were permitted an hour's break, and then Kakashi-sensei led the squad to the Academy grounds. After years of attending school, the large building was familiar to every ninja. But in a secure back room, almost all missions were catalogued and assigned from there too. She'd never been allowed inside to see it before then, and knowing that the Hokage would be there to observe everything put her on edge the first few times.

Hinata had seen Lord Sarutobi before, mostly when he discussed issues with her father at the clan compound or gave a speech to the Academy students. Even after reading of his exploits and achievements in history books, she found it genuinely difficult to connect the Third Hokage's quiet, grandfatherly disposition with the ninja who once held the title of "God of Shinobi", teacher of the Sannin and survivor of two great wars. But she could see the genuine respect in her father's eyes and the sobering effect the Hokage had on older ninja when he walked into a room.

That kind of reputation intimidated her, yet Naruto and Sasuke didn't seem shaken in the slightest when they entered and approached the banner decorated assignment tables. Had they met with the Hokage before? By the time they actually reached the desk, Hinata acted so stiff that the Hokage laughed and told her to stand down. She could already tell that Sasuke wasn't letting her forget that embarrassing performance anytime soon.

As they left the room with a D-rank mission, she put aside her mortification to ask her teammates about their lack of reaction.

"Huh? I see the old man all the time." Naruto shrugged, to her further amazement. "He's not that scary."

"We've spoken a few times…" Sasuke's eyes stayed focused on the ground as he talked. Whatever relationship he had with the Third Hokage, it was certainly different from Naruto's. Hinata didn't push him to elaborate.

Their first D-rank mission seemed too simple. Calling it a mission at all was generous. While they rebuilt a local farmer's fence, Naruto complained that it felt more like doing someone's chores. These probably were someone's chores, but paid for the privilege of having a ninja do them more efficiently. They did at least a mission per afternoon, each D-rank task just as action-less and menial as the last one. At least they earned good income for their effort, even if she came home covered in paint, scratches, or dirt from hours of whatever had been assigned. Though the sheer boredom of babysitting, farming, and locating lost pets did entice the three into finding ways to make their afternoons a little more interesting.

Burning dead wood became target practice for fireballs and explosion tags. Finding stray dogs turned into an exercise of stealth and tracking. And repetitive labor somehow ended up as a race to finish their selected section first, though that one client was not happy when Sasuke and Naruto pulled up a flower bed instead of weeds in their rush to the end.

"I can't believe she made us replant her whole garden…" Naruto was smudged with potting dirt all over his hands and clothing. Sasuke almost matched how dirty he looked.

"I still won," Sasuke said.

"Yeah, well my clones fixed everything like five times faster than you did!"

"When they weren't trampling all over the rest of the yard."

Kakashi shook his head as he walked behind them, and Hinata was glad she stayed out of that particular contest. It'd been unfortunate enough that she had to help clean their mess up, though it did remind her of the garden her mother kept. She hadn't visited it since graduating, now that she thought about it…

It'd been two weeks into this new routine when Kakashi began to leave their training sessions early.

"Sensei, how are we supposed to see our mistakes if we're doing something incorrect?" Hinata asked.

"Use each other. You three are a team, surely one of you can act as a spotter. Use this time and your own individual strengths to fill in any flaws you see in your skill sets." Kakashi tucked his book away. "For example, Naruto's chakra control is less than ideal."

"Hey!" Naruto dropped the leaf he'd been trying to stick to his forehead with chakra. "I'm way better than I was before!"

"Not by much. You should be able to handle more than one leaf with ease by this point. What I'm trying to get at is that you have two other team members here to assist you."

"So you want us to teach him?" Sasuke didn't sound excited. "Aren't you the teacher here?"

"Yes, but the lesson I'm teaching is teamwork."

"I'm not seeing how this isn't a huge waste of time…

"It builds camaraderie, and it also makes you familiar with what everyone on the team has to offer. And…" Kakashi paused, possibly for dramatic effect. "If I think you three improve enough, I'll see if I can dig up a new technique. You guys like flashy ninjutsu, right? How does that sound?" A new technique? That sounded like a decent reward for once. Naruto's eyes lit up.

"Oooooh, is it a cool one, Kakashi-sensei?" Kakashi shrugged.

"Hm. I guess that's more fair," Sasuke said.

"Good, I'll see you this afternoon then. Don't burn yourselves out practicing now!" He teleported away, and Sasuke turned his attention to Hinata.

"Hyuga, you should fix his chakra control."

"W-what?" Her voice shot up an octave. Hinata looked from Sasuke to Naruto and back again. "Why should I do it?"

"I thought your clan was famous for its chakra control and manipulation. Are you saying you can't at least get him to be decent with it?" Hinata knew bait when she heard it, but she couldn't back down from his words either. That'd be insulting her own abilities, though she didn't think being great at a skill made someone a good instructor of it.

"Come on, think of the jutsu, Hinata!" Naruto begged. She couldn't believe his sudden excitement at the prospect of being taught by her. Her mouth formed a thin line as she debated it, and then she gave in. She just couldn't reject him after that.

"I'll attempt to help you, but there's no guarantee it'll work if you don't listen to what I say."

"Alright! So what do I do first? It was always so boring just sitting around and spinning leaves in the Academy."

"You're going to sit down and spin leaves more," Hinata said immediately. He groaned, and she fixed a sharp look on him. "There's no getting around hard work, no matter how much you complain."

"Yeah yeah, there's no easy path…" he said. Hinata didn't expect him to bend so quickly. For a moment, Naruto looked serious. "I can't be Hokage if I skip the tough parts of training." Sasuke bit back a snort.

"Hokage.." he mumbled, before starting a set of kata.

Hinata found herself frozen in place after hearing that declaration. Hadn't she heard the same thing from someone else? She never paid Naruto much attention back in school, but that reminded her of something from long ago. The memory faded too much for her to recall though.

"Hinata? You still there?" She came back to Naruto staring at her.

"I'm fine, you can start the exercise now," she said. The strange feeling left her. Hinata activated her Byakugan with a single hand seal. "This time, I'll be watching to see where you're having issues." Naruto fidgeted under her stare, but grabbed a leaf and got to work. They spent the rest of the morning correcting Naruto's mistakes as he made them, slowly guiding him by trial and error to the correct technique.

Sasuke began to spar more with Naruto as the week went on, claiming that his taijutsu was sloppy and he refused to be dragged down by it. It sounded significantly less caring when worded that way, but Hinata did catch him stopping to adjust Naruto's punches and kicks as they fought.

And he steadily improved, at an unexpected rate too. There was something Hinata found satisfying about watching someone who was dead last turn into a salvageable ninja with intense training. Proof that anyone had a chance if they put their all into growing stronger. At this rate, she'd no longer be concerned that Naruto would die as soon as he left the village.

Naruto swung his fist at Sasuke. He tilted his head to avoid it, only for the punch to change directions and become a vicious elbow strike. Sasuke caught it with his forearm and pushed it aside. Naruto backed off with a few strategic hops. The match left them both sweating and huffing for air, but neither were really injured.

Over the last two weeks, Sasuke's lessons in taijutsu with Naruto turned into an interesting set of bouts. Naruto didn't quite fight like a textbook Leaf ninja, but his attacks had a better, more efficient form to them now that they'd been corrected by various beatdowns and pointers. And combined with his ability to find a way to hit someone from what felt like any angle, he slowly but surely became a threat. And even if his skills were less sharp than Sasuke's, he lasted for a much longer time, and he just kept going even after getting knocked down a dozen times.

"One more round, I almost got a point that time!" Naruto said. A handful of minutes, and he was back on his feet. The corner of Sasuke's mouth turned up as he nodded. He wasn't finding it tedious to fight him now, something he could never say just a month ago.

"If you think you're up for it…" At those words Naruto settled into his new stance, and then he paused.

"Wait…" Naruto looked around the training field as if something was wrong. Sasuke came out of his stance as well.

"What?"

"Hinata still isn't here yet."

"...I guess that is weird," Sasuke said. Hinata either ended up early or exactly on time to their morning training, and he'd switch between fighting her or Naruto over the course of the morning. She refused to full-contact spar with Naruto in an actual match, no matter how much he bothered her over it, yet she still helped him in any other area.

Her being late was off, but Sasuke attributed it to a one time fluke and assumed she'd turn up soon. And that was a whole two hours ago, long after their daily conditioning exercises were done.

"You think something happened to her?" Naruto asked.

"Like what? The village isn't dangerous." Usually.

"Maybe, uh…" Naruto scratched his cheek while he thought. "Maybe she got sick!"

"She was fine yesterday, don't you remember?" Sasuke went to grab his water canteen. Naruto deflated a little.

"Aren't you at least interested in why she's not here?"

"She's not my responsibility, Naruto. She's probably at home, busy with something." Being from the Hyuga Clan most likely required training beyond the average ninja, just like his own father had taught him outside of school.

"We should go to her house! Let's see if she's there!" Sasuke almost spat his mouthful of water out. Instead, he swallowed hard and coughed.

"You can't just barge into a clan's territory, idiot! You'll get removed if you aren't invited there." All reason seemed to go in one ear and out the other with Naruto. He was clearly stuck on this new idea.

"We can say we're her teammates, and then maybe they'll let us in or tell us what happened! Come on, it's better than just waiting and wondering."

"...Fine, if you're that determined. I bet you don't even know where the Hyuga Compound is." Naruto opened his mouth, and then closed it again with a sheepish smile.

"Yeah, you've got me there." Sasuke felt the start of a headache.

"I guess I have to come now, or else you'll be lost in the residential district for the rest of the day."

Naruto stared at the building Sasuke led him to, not even sure where to look first. It had to be at least 100 times bigger than his own apartment.

"So this is where Hinata lives?" he asked, trying to absorb the entire view. Sasuke nodded, though he looked really tense now. His eyes were laser focused on the gates ahead and the doors beyond them.

The Hyuga Clan's compound shared the same design as many of the older structures in Konoha, constructed of stone and ever plentiful wood in the Land of Fire region. The wall around the entire property stretched out of view as it turned a corner, made of thick,off white bricks. The family name was carved near the front gates and over the building's entrance itself in well defined kanji. It had slanted, ceramic tiled rooftops of a darker brown color, and a foundation of cut, pale blue stone, accompanied by wooden beams for support. It looked two stories high, the windows covered in wooden bars, and the doors set on sliding frames instead of hinges.

They didn't have any guards standing by, or at least no one they could see, but maybe they just watched people through the walls?

"Well…" Sasuke stuck his hands in his pants pockets. "You first. This was your idea, after all." Naruto swallowed hard and tried to cover up how creeped out he felt.

"Y-yeah, sure!" He led the way up the decorated stone walking path, Sasuke following, and then paused again on the porch area. Did they knock? There wasn't a doorbell in sight…

The doors slid open without warning, causing both boys to take a step back, and they were met by a taller man dressed in a black set of traditional robes. His brown hair was short and spiked, but brushed back to give it a semblance of neatness. He kept his pupiless eyes trained on them, and then frowned.

"Do you have any business here?" he asked. The neutral question was tainted by the irritation in his tone. "If you don't, I'll have to ask you to leave." Sasuke took over before Naruto could even think of anything to say.

"We're looking for Hinata," Sasuke explained, making eye contact with the man. He seemed to stand up a little taller, like that would impress this guy. Maybe that was just how clans did things. Naruto didn't know much about any of this. "We're part of the same genin cell." The man's expression changed on the spot.

"You're here for Lady Hinata?" he asked.

"Wait… Lady?" Naruto whispered. Sasuke elbowed him like he said something wrong. The Hyuga at the door ignored it as he hesitated to respond, and then stepped aside. He slid the door all the way open.

"She's occupied at the moment, but if you insist on staying here, you may wait inside until she's finished. Follow me."

"Thanks, uh..." Naruto grinned at him and scratched the back of his head. "What's your name?"

"It's Ko," he said with a curious look as they entered. In the large foyer two more Hyuga clan members hovered near a desk, dressed in standard Leaf ninja gear with headbands over their foreheads. One busied himself with paperwork while the other stayed at military attention, but Naruto noticed them watching while he passed. So they did have guards on the inside…

The main house had an old feel to it, with beige walls and wooden floors lining the hallways. Only a few side tables, decorative weapons, and wall scrolls took up space. All the inner doors were ornate sliding panels too, making it difficult to find them at a glance, but Ko navigated the maze of paths easily.

A few other clan members passed by, looking for only a moment at the unfamiliar ninja before going back to their own business. Eventually, Ko turned into a quieter section of the compound. Ahead of them loomed a heavier set of shut doors.

"Please wait over there," Ko said firmly, gesturing to a padded wooden bench beside it. "I'll tell Lady Hinata you're here. Do not wander around the compound." Ko entered the closed off chamber, leaving Naruto and Sasuke alone in silence.

"Again." Her father stood at the front of the dojo, supervising Hinata's progress. She backed away from the padded human shaped sandbag set up in the room's center. It'd been marked with tiny red dots all around the dummy's front, showing the major chakra nodes of the body. She needed to have all of their positions memorized at a glance, but for now the dots were necessary. Her Byakugan didn't possess the depth to see the individual nodes, which would've made this far easier to achieve.

She knew she had team training, but when her father told her the night before that he thought she was ready for advancing the Gentle Fist, she couldn't find it in herself to refuse his tutoring. She finally worked up enough speed to start on her accuracy, and she wanted to master it as soon as possible.

The secrets to the 8 Trigrams 64 Palms Strike technique were kept within the Hyuga Clan's main family. It passed from generation to generation behind locked doors to maintain its secrecy, along with a select number of other powerful jutsu, all pinnacles of their unique taijutsu combined with their Byakugan. The fact that her father bothered to teach her the preparation work for one of them was a sign of his explicit approval, and she had no desire to lose it.

"Once more, whenever you're ready," he said. Hinata finished catching her breath and settled into her regular stance. She had to pretend this was a real opponent to get in the right mindset. She glared, and her Byakugan cut into her target. She widened the stance, spreading her arms apart. Now to visualize the correct spacing she needed. In her mind's eyes she imagined 8 Trigrams, and she served as the center. Anything within its range was in her grasp.

The air went still, and then she lunged forward. Her fingertips touched the sand bags right on the first two marks with near blinding speed. 2 palms. She continued, increasing her pace with another set of strikes. 4 palms. 8 palms. 16 palms. 32 palms… She needed to hit as many of the points as she could, all without repeating one.

She felt her father's gaze on her as she moved into the final set of strikes, but then he called for her to stop. Hinata froze, breaking her tunnel vision. The 8 Trigrams were gone, leaving her panting in the middle of the dojo once again.

"Once again, the speed of your hands are optimal, but…" Her father touched his chin. "During the last 32 strikes, your accuracy plummets." She chose to stare at the floor, hiding her disappointment. She doubted he didn't notice.

"I understand." She knew he was right, but it always felt worse when someone else pointed out her shortcomings.

"That tends to be the most difficult portion to master. Focus on perfecting the steps before it, and study the chakra point locations until they are second nature." The nearby wall panel slid open, and Ko let himself in.

"My apologies for interrupting, Lord Hiashi," he said. "Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki requested entry to the compound." Ko looked like he expected Hiashi to be angry, but he gave no sign of it. Hinata couldn't hide her own confusion. Just what were they doing?

"And what was their need?" Hiashi asked.

"They were looking for Lady Hinata." She couldn't help but stiffen as Hiashi contemplated something. They were looking for her? She intended to meet up with them before they noticed she was gone for too long, but the time must've slipped beyond her notice.

"Hm…I suppose we're done for the moment. You shouldn't keep your team waiting," Hiashi said.

"Understood, I'll go meet with them…" Not sure how to react to his odd acceptance of the situation, she bowed to her father before taking her leave. After gathering her jacket and equipment from her personal quarters, Hinata found Naruto and Sasuke sitting by the entrance to the Main Branch's housing. They looked more bored than upset with her. Sasuke noticed her first and stood up, and she could tell he'd been agitated by something.

"Are you satisfied now?" he asked Naruto, who busied himself by playing with a kunai.

"Huh? Oh hey, you're alright!" Naruto got to his feet and smiled at her. "You didn't show up today, so we went looking for you." Sasuke sighed.

"You went looking for her," he corrected. "I made sure you didn't make everything worse."

"I had an unexpected training session come up," Hinata said. Why Naruto felt so concerned eluded her. "It shouldn't happen again. You can follow me out..." Satisfied that he had been right in the first place, Sasuke didn't hesitate to leave the compound. Was it her house that made him this impatient? She could understand how being on another clan's grounds would unsettle most people to a degree, especially knowing about her family's eyes.

"Come on, let's get a mission already," he insisted, forcing her and Naruto to catch up.

Ko observed Hinata leave, and then turned back to Hiashi while he stepped down from the raised platform at the edge of the dojo.

"I don't mean to question your authority or decision making, but… did you really approve of Lady Hinata as a member of that team?" He looked worried. "Those two aren't exactly… normal Genin."

"I understand your concerns, Ko." Hiashi walked past him as he spoke. "But if Lord Hokage feels that they would do well together, I have no objections. I'm sure Kakashi Hatake is more than enough to handle their squad and any complications that may arise." Ko's eyes widened.

"He assigned them the Copy Cat Ninja?!"