Burdens of a Sensei

Hinata was aware that harsh training was necessary if one wanted to meet certain standards. She was by now used to it, always trying to use it as an opportunity to improve despite her own inadequacy. Today, however, she had learned just how different two seemingly similar training philosophies could be.

At home, training -if not alone - consisted mostly of sparring, which went on until her father called them off. She often had some light bruises afterward, but the pain subsided after a day. Tanya's training was completely different. Her approach wasn't as 'hands-on', taking more of a guiding role, but in return, she was completely relentless. On top of that, she kept insisting that something was wrong with Hinata's Gentle Fist style, and the fact that the young Jōnin seemingly couldn't figure out what exactly seemed to annoy her to no end. The Hyūga heiress had tried her best, one because she felt bad for hogging her attention even though she was trying to train all six, and two because Tanya's gaze made her feel very uncomfortable. As the training progressed it slowly became better, but she couldn't help but to feel constantly on the edge regardless. The girl's overwhelming presence combined with what Hinata knew about her was simply too much, it was close to a miracle that she didn't faint from the mental exhaustion. Normally, training together with Naruto would've been a dream. But the two had barely interacted, if at all. Add to that Tanya being there, and the dream had become a nightmare.

And mental exhaustion was far from the only one she felt at the end of the day. While she was used to merciless training methods, never had she trained to the point where her body was completely unable to take any more exertion. In the end, a single sentence echoed through the training facility:

"That's enough for today, make sure to be on time tomorrow!"

Kiba and Naruto grumbled some complaints as they let themselves fall on their butts, but didn't voice them too loudly. Sasuke leaned with heavy breath against the wall, Sakura panted as she fell to her knees, and even the normally stoic Shino had to get a hold. Then, Tanya left them alone, and as soon as she was gone, Hinata's knees gave out. She barely managed to catch onto a nearby training post to prevent herself from collapsing to the ground. Since the tension had now left her body, she too felt the full brunt of exhaustion that her Teammates and her fellow Genin had slightly earlier. Almost unable to catch a breath, she just stood there hunched over for a while. By the time she became aware of her surroundings again, the others had already left. With a sigh, she exited the Sarutobi compound, and once on the fresh air, she noticed two things: one, night had already fallen, and two, she was hungry. VERY hungry. They hadn't stopped for a lunch break, and while the mental pressure Tanya had caused her had suppressed it, it now hit her full force. She'd better hurry home and get something to eat.

As fast as her exhausted feet allowed, she made her way back. Which, granted, was NOT very fast. Her eyes also hurt, never before did she have her Byakugan active for such a long time. Her chakra reserves were so drained that she wasn't even sure if they would fully recover until tomorrow.

On her way, however, a smell hit her nose. One that she was very familiar with: cinnamon. The next seconds were almost like a haze, and before she realized it, she stood before a display of cinnamon rolls, drooling.

"You want some, young miss?" the man behind the counter laughed.

"S-sorry!" she hurriedly apologized, whipping her mouth with her sleeve.

"Don't worry, I'll take it as a compliment. I was about to close for today, so I would have to throw those out. A shame, really, they might be a day old, but they are still good. Are you hungry? I can give you one for half the prize. I'll re-heat them free of charge if you want."

"Yes! U-um, I, uh, I-I mean, i-if it's fine, I'll t-take them. Warm please."

"Alright, how many? One? Two?"

Hinata wordlessly put some money on the counter. The man cocked an eyebrow before doing a quick count and realizing Hinata wanted them all.

"…I'll heat the oven, give me a second."

The re-heated rolls were indeed almost as good as fresh ones, and Hinata eagerly wolfed them down. A slightly cozy feeling had spread from her filled stomach when she finally reached her home, though it instantly disappeared upon running into her father.

"You were gone for quite a while. What did the Sarutobi clan want from you?"

"N-nothing. Tan- Team 7 wanted to train with us while K-Kurenai-sensei is at the hospital. We were allowed t-to use the training ground of the S-Sarutobi estate."

Mentioning Tanya-sensei in front of Father is probably not a good idea.

"I see."

"I-I'm expected there tomorrow as well."

Her father closed his eyes for a moment before answering.

"Fine. But I will test you afterward. If I find your progress is inadequate, your time is better spent here."

"Y-yes, father. Um, d-do you have a moment?"

He gestured for her to continue.

"C-can you watch and tell me if I make any mistakes?"

She quickly went through a few of the katas Tanya had make her do all day.

"Your form is a bit sloppy, as usual," her father concluded once she was done. "But no real mistakes. Why?"

"Oh, j-just to make sure."

So, he didn't notice any mistakes either. Just what in the world did Tanya-sensei see?

It was a question she didn't manage to ponder over for long. As soon as she fell onto her bed, the exhaustion from the day combined with a freshly filled belly made her fall asleep almost instantly.

"And you are sure it is true?"

Hiruzen crossed his arms at this question. Across from him sat Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, his two former teammates and now his advisors.

"Not completely, no," he clarified, "but the circumstances add up to well to simply dismiss them, so we must at least consider the possibility."

Homura's permanent scowl got even deeper than usual.

"If it is true, then we must act. I wouldn't care whether or not the Mizukage really went crazy if he stayed on his own soil, but if he tries to annex a country right at our borders, no matter how insignificant the Land of Waves is, we cannot ignore that."

"Did Jiraiya manage to find something out already?" Koharu inquired.

"According to his last report, not much yet. They did announce a death sentence to all who side with the rebels, but asides from some bounties and a lot of Hunter-nin on the streets, there doesn't seem to be an open civil war just yet."

"The potential of it being true is big enough of a risk to warrant action," Homura argued.

"True," Koharu agreed, "but if Mist really is behind this, they did this rather cleverly. If we just help the Land of Waves without demanding payment, it will look like we are the ones trying to take them by making them indebted to us. And Stone is just waiting for an excuse to attack us."

The Hokage leaned back and pondered over this for a moment. While he wasn't so sure that the Tsuchikage really was as much out for blood as Koharu was portraying him to be, she was right about appearance. They weren't allied with the Land of Waves – alliances were bilateral after all, and Wave didn't have any military in the first place – so stepping in with seemingly no reason to do so would cause problems.

"Unless we somehow manage to expose the Land of Water as the mastermind behind Gatō's actions, we would need to be hired in order to go against him," he mumbled more to himself than to the other two. "And the Land of Waves can't afford that."

"How exactly is that an issue?" a rough voice called out. In the doorframe stood a scarred man with half his face covered in bandages. His cane clacked against the floor as he walked over to the trio.

"Danzo," Hiruzen greeted him. He hadn't called him to this meeting, but that was a fact his old friend never really cared about.

"If it is so important how it looks," Danzo continued unperturbed, "then you just have to make it not look like anything at all. Simply sent a squat of Anbu to take care of it. According to the report, Zabuza Momochi got grievously injured in his fight, so they could easily kill this Gatō without ever being seen. One single Hunter-nin won't be able to stop them."

"Since you apparently read the report," Hiruzen countered, "you should also be aware that Gatō is likely to be just a figurehead."

"I am. But that doesn't mean they can replace him on a moment's notice, especially with a civil war on the horizon. Killing Gatō will give us more than enough time to devise a plan for how to continue."

Hiruzen's face hardened.

"Continue? You are not suggesting that we should partake in the rebellion?"

"There are arguments to be made for either side. Yagura is without a doubt a troublesome character, and removing him would solve a lot of variables. But if his sanity is not as lost as the rumors suggest, he could also be useful. Be it the Fourth Mizukage or the potential Fifth, having either indebted to us could prove to be invaluable."

"Helping rebels overthrow the current Mizukage would aggravate the other nations even more than helping the Land of Waves unasked would."

"Not if the Hidden Mist shows aggression to us, first."

"But it hasn't."

"Yet."

Danzo's last word hung in the air for a moment while the two looked at each other quietly. After a few seconds, it was Homura that broke the silence.

"Danzo makes some good points. Who knows what else they are plotting that went unnoticed?"

The Hokage sighed. The fact that the plot in the Land of Waves was just a hypothesis for now no longer seemed to be part of the discussion. From his experience, there was no point in continuing the meeting for now. Their opinions wouldn't change, so it was time for him to make a choice.

"Even with Zabuza out of the picture, we don't know enough that we can afford to be hasty. For now, we will wait and see how the situation develops."

To that, Danzo merely scoffed.

"Your unwillingness to act quickly and resolvedly will one day be your undoing, Hiruzen."

He left, and the two advisors followed suit. Finally alone, Hiruzen began to stuff his pipe. While he didn't agree with Danzo's militant attitude, not everything he said was wrong. But before he made a final decision, there were two more opinions he wanted to hear.

In the last moment, Shino was able to pull his arm out of the way of my kunai, making it harmlessly bounce off the wall behind him. The next one I threw at Kiba, who tilted his head slightly too late and received a shallow cut on his cheek.

"Ah! Shit!" the Inuzuka cursed, making his small dog wince. Then, among the people outside of the training hall, one certain chakra signature rapidly closed the distance to us. Shortly after, the doors flung open and revealed an out-of-breath Hyūga girl.

"I'm… apo… logize," she panted.

"Five were on time," I noted without turning around. "But number six was a whole fifteen minutes late in return. If we add it up in total, that's worse than yesterday."

"Huh? Hinata?" Kiba asked, seemingly having smelled her. Despite me not telling him so, he took off his blindfold and earplugs. Oh well, I had an entire day to make him regret that.

"Took you long enough!" he growled.

"I o-overslept. I-I'm sorry," she apologized meagerly. Interesting, going by her school records, that might've been the first time she overslept ever. Maybe something had happened after training yesterday?

"No need to be sorry," I answered. "Those two already are."

Noticing the kunai on the floor and the many cuts in Kiba's and Shino's clothes, she gasped.

"B-because of m-me..? B-but I was the one late!"

"If you are on a mission and are unable to follow the time schedule, the ones suffering because of it will most likely be your teammates. As a Shinobi, you are responsible for more than just yourself. Just because you bear all the guilt of a mistake doesn't mean you alone are affected by the consequences. Anyway, let's start the real training!" The last sentence I called loud so Team 7, currently busy with warm-ups, heard me as well.

"Wait! Why are we the only ones being punished?! She is the one who was-"

Kiba's rant ended abruptly as another Kunai hit the wall right next to his ear. Unlike the previous ones, however, this one didn't bounce off. It instead embedded itself deep into the stone, causing cracks to web out from it and making some shards fly off.

"Quit your yapping," I growled at the boy whose eyes had become wide, "or I will make you detect incoming kunai just by smell all day!"

Not that it was far off from what I planned anyway. The nose of an Inuzuka was a great asset, after all. The kid's one was exemplary when it came to detecting, that much he had already shown yesterday. What proved to be more difficult for him was to pinpoint incoming attacks precisely enough to fight them. Sure, he smelled the kunai coming, but that was useless if he couldn't make out where exactly they were. He would be at a huge advantage if he could do it to the point where he could basically fight blind and deaf. For example, most Genjutsu didn't bother to go after your sense of smell. My goal was to get him there by the end of the day.

His sister Hana had been far more receptive when we had trained together at the academy. A shame she couldn't finish the same year I did - which was admittedly mostly my own fault. Maybe she would've even been our third teammate. Would've definitely been better than the brat we got stuck with instead.

Shino would be training something similar, but instead of his nose, I wanted to make his insects communicate through touch with him. In theory, he already could do that, I primarily needed to increase the speed at which he could receive information from his bugs. All in all, the kid was highly capable and would probably have the basics nailed by the end of the day. Starting tomorrow, the three would be with Asuma, and I would probably advise him to focus on team building because these kids definitely needed it. Granted, so did my team. While Team 7 had improved in that regard, they were not yet at the point where it would like them to be.

"Alright, back on topic. We're doing individual training today," I announced as I put my hands together.

'Kagebushin no Jutsu!' [Shadow Clone Jutsu]

In a puff of smoke, three identical copies of me appeared.

"Kiba and Shino, you come with me," the first clone declared.

"Sasuke and Sakura, with me," the second one called out, which made Sakura grin and slightly blush. I seriously needed to beat that lovestruck schoolgirl attitude out of her.

"Naruto, the two of us go over there," clone number three directed the blonde boy.

"And you stay here with me," the real me finally said to Hinata, which made her flinch. Had she been lost in thought?

"I didn't know you could use shadow clones as well," Naruto pointed out with a mixture of awe and disappointment.

"Most Jōnin can," the clone explained. "But no one else can use them the way you do. The reason why shadow clones are considered a dangerous technique is because it spreads the chakra out evenly among them. Just making one clone cuts my combat power in half. They are meant to be used as resonance, NOT as troops in battle."

Naruto cocked his head.

"…meaning?"

"To say it in a way even you will understand," my clone said and rolled its eyes, "If any other Genin had tried to do what you did that night, it either would've not worked, or they would have spread their chakra so thin that it would have killed them."

"K-killed?!" he almost shrieked.

"Yes, there is a reason why this Jutsu is only taught to Jōnin. It can kill the user. But considering your neigh infinite chakra pool, it's not something you need to concern yourself with. Now let's get started!"

Meanwhile, Shino and Kiba got further trained in their detection skills, while Sakura and Sasuke received some tactics training. In the afternoon, I had some team building exercises planned for all of Team 7.

"Okay Sasuke, what's up?" My clone asked shortly after they began.

"I'm paying attention," he answered dismissively.

"I know, that's why I haven't yet thrown a shuriken at you. But you still pay less attention than usual, so spill the beans or that changes."

"… those guys we met on our way back," he finally said after a defiant look.

"Kakuzu? What about him? He is just an old acquaintance of mine. I don't know the other, probably his colleague."

"He was a Missing-nin."

"Yes, but not of the Hidden Leaf. As long as he doesn't act against the Land of Fire or an ally of us, he is not our enemy. On the contrary, he has probably killed more Missing-nin than any other shinobi."

"He also told you he would kill you once your head is worth more."

My clone sighed and pinched the bridge of its nose.

"Sasuke, I know humor is a foreign concept to you, but even if you don't know how to laugh, at least learn to recognize a joke if you don't want to embarrass yourself. And now back on topic!"

That only left my real self and Hinata.

"You're moving better than yesterday," I concluded after a few katas.

"R-r-really?" Why was she always so tense? And for some reason, her stutter seemed to become worse when she talked to me. Was she that bad with authority figures?

"It's still not right, but I think I might know the issue now."

"Um, T-Tanya-s-sensei? Wh-when y-you said my m-movement was w-wrong, I d-didn't find any e-e-errors. I a-asked m-my f-f-father, he di-didn't either."

Wow, look at that, she got out two whole sentences. You would think a clan heir would radiate more confidence.

"I didn't say your movement was wrong, I said you were moving wrong. Your form itself didn't have any mistakes. But as I said, I think I got it now. Take that bulky jacket off for a moment, I need to confirm something."

She hesitated, but in the end, she complied. Why did her entire team were those unpractical things anyway? It wasn't padded, so it didn't even offer any real protection. Under it, she sported a pair of simple dark grey pants, a shirt of the same color, and, judging from the edges I could see peaking out of her collar, the common mesh armor many shinobi wore under their clothes.

She hung the jacket over the training post when suddenly, she stopped. Then, with an "Eep!", she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"What now?"

"I f-forgot my b-binds," she almost whispered.

"…do you always wear binds?"

She nodded.

"Did a doctor give them to you or did you do it yourself?"

"M-myself."

I felt like a lightbulb popped up over my head.

"THAT was the problem!"

"P-problem?!" she asked almost panicked

"Yes. The reason I couldn't find out what was wrong was because TWO things were wrong. Without one, I now could see your other issue more clearly. No more binds from now on!"

"B-but…" Her arms tightened around her breasts as she tried to make herself even smaller. "I h-hate these."

I sighed.

"Look, I get that your chest is big for your age and that you don't want it to restrict your movements. But amateurishly used binds will restrict you even more, not to mention the damage they can cause when they aren't put on correctly. It would be better if you just accept the extra weight and learn to move with it. I mean, the Akimichis deal with MUCH more body fat and they're doing quite alright I would say."

"Th-that's not it…" she mumbled so quietly I almost couldn't hear her.

"Speak up, girl!"

"THAT'S NOT IT!"

Suddenly, Hinata was standing upright, fists clenched.

"I don't want these useless lumps of fat, I don't want this ugly body! But when I see delicious food, I can't help myself! And that all instantly goes into my breast again! I am sick of it!"

She panted after her outburst, and I massaged my temples in an attempt to stop the incoming headache.

Fucking hell, does every kid in this generation need a psychiatrist?!

Going by what she had said, it either sounded like severe body insecurities, an eating disorder, or a mixture of both. Great. Besides her breasts, there was rarely any fat on her body, and while her arms and legs were a bit thicker than Sakura's, I knew for a fact those were muscles. But I could recall hearing that merely pointing that out didn't do anything in these cases. There was also the fact that looks should be of secondary concern at best to a shinobi, but I doubted pointing it out to her in this state would achieve much.

If I manage to become Hokage I'll make regular psychiatric check-ups mandatory for all shinobi! Is there even one in the Hidden Leaf? Well, one thing after the other. I promised my comatose friend to take care of her team, and I will deliver on that!

"And what exactly makes you think your body is 'ugly'?"

In the first place, weren't big breasts usually seen as desirable? I mean, I would be glad if mine stayed as non-existent as they were now, they would only be in the way and I couldn't give two fucks about sex appeal. But her issue was the opposite!

Her gaze fell to the ground.

"It's obvious! N-Naruto only has f-for Sakura. I wish my body was as p-pretty and slender a-as hers. Or y-y-y…

…

…yours."

I gave my utmost best to not stare at her with my mouth agape. Naruto. This girl had a massive crush on Naruto of all people. How?! And because he was crushing on Sakura, she viewed the pinkette as a beauty ideal. Which was twice ironic because I had already heard Sakura saying that she wished her breasts were bigger.

Argh, all of this was just meant to show off my capabilities as a sensei and my ability to handle responsibilities to the Hokage, where did all this pointless teeny-drama suddenly come from?!

I needed to get this idea out of her head, otherwise, she would end up restricting herself to the point where it surely would get her killed one day. But where should I even start? How do you address such an issue? Doesn't that normally need an expert, a lot of time, and grappling with the-

Hang on, maybe I can solve this with shock therapy.

"Naruto! Come here for a moment!"

The blonde came jogging over, and it didn't even take a second for Hinata to put her jacket back on.

"Yes, sensei? Do you want us to spar? I'm down for it!"

"No, I want you to show us your Sexy Jutsu."

"…come again?"

"You heard me."

Several seconds passed, in which he confusedly eyed both me and an equally confused-looking Hinata.

"And this isn't some trick to make Sakura hit me, right?"

"Sakura is occupied, she won't see it. But I could call her over and tell her to do it if you don't get on with it already!"

"Okay, okay!" he said while defensively weaving and clearing his throat.

'Oiroke no Jutsu!' [Sexy Jutsu]

With a puff of smoke, Naruto transformed into an adult, female version of himself, completely naked.

"Hellooo~", a female version of his voice called seductively. I already knew about this due to my research, but I could see why in the heat of combat, something like this could throw you off, even if it was just for a second. After all, a second could make the difference between life and death. So while this 'technique' perfectly encapsulated Naruto's character, it was possible to use it strategically.

"Alright, so the point of this is to transform into a sexy woman, correct?"

"Um, yes," the female Naruto answered, clearly not used to not having any kind of reaction to this.

"In other words, this form is 'sexy' by your standards, correct?"

"You think not?"

"Just answer my question."

"Yes, obviously, otherwise I would have made it different."

"And that includes the chest?"

"Well duh, boobs are hot!"

"Thank you. That would be all."

In another puff, Naruto was again a kid, a boy, and - thankfully - clothed.

"So, what was that all about?"

"Nothing important, continue your training."

With another confused look, Naruto went back to my clone. I then turned to Hinata who was currently red as a traffic light and completely petrified.

"So, can we get back to your Gentle Fist now?"

Shikaku Nara watched his son raise an eyebrow as he placed his rook on 5h.

"What, were you expecting me to go for a 4th-file Rook?" the Jōnin Commander asked with a laugh. Shikamaru just shrugged.

"Asuma-sensei always does it, guess I got used to it."

Shikaku smiled. His son's attitude had given him worries when he started his shinobi career, but thankfully, his Jōnin-sensei managed to connect with him in a rather unique way: Shogi. Seeing that Asuma was… occupied at the moment, Shikaku had decided to take it upon himself to make his son do something other than watch the clouds.

Shikamaru made his next move, and he was about to answer when suddenly, a tiny bird landed on the shogi board. Tied to his back was a small scroll.

"It seems Lord Third needs me," he confirmed after a quick read. "We can continue later."

"No need to hurry," Shikamaru yawned and went back to his resting spot on the grass.

Reaching the Hokage Villa, Shikaku entered the office with a quick bow.

"Good evening, Shikaku," the Hokage greeted him. "A situation arose to which I would like to hear your opinion."

What he heard next made his eyes go wide. A potential plot of the Hidden Mist village, so devious that it would've never come to light, had it not for some lucky coincidences. Once the Hokage was done, Shikaku thought for a while.

"Well, I'd say we first need to try and confirm whether or not this plot is actually happening or if these things are just coincidences. If that isn't possible, we must find out what the exact situation in the Land of Waves is. Should we then decide that we need to act, the easiest way would be to find a way for that bridge builder to acquire enough money to pay for an S-rank mission, without the money being traceable back to us."

The door opened again.

"You wished to see me, Lord Third?"

Well, if he didn't know that voice. With a smile, he gave Tanya a slight nod for a greeting which she answered likewise, both doing so quietly to let the Hokage speak.

"Tanya, it is about the Land of Waves. After discussing the topic with my advisors, I would also like to hear your opinion on how to proceed."

"With the Land of Water as well or just with the Land of Waves?" she asked without hesitation.

"Just the Land of Waves for now."

"Well, the main issue is money, or the lack thereof. The best way to ask Tazuna's investor."

"Investor?" Shikaku asked surprised. The Hokage hadn't said anything about an investor.

"Yes, considering a large bridge needs a lot of materials, it wouldn't be unfeasible that he has an investor. Since the bridge would massively increase trade, he would get his money back through a small tax all merchants that cross the bridge have to pay, less than they would have to spend on a ship. Having invested a lot of money already, said investor would naturally want to see the bridge completed, and therefore be willing to loan Tazuna the money he needs. Or hire someone himself."

"And there is such an Investor?" the Hokage inquired.

"None that we would know of."

Shikaku couldn't help but laugh as he realized what his young colleague was getting at; an economic solution to the problem rather than a military one.

"Well, we can't know everything about everyone," he joined in on her spiel. "But do you have an idea who could take on the role of this Investor?"

The golden-haired girl grinned.

"Well, as coincidence dictates, I know an independent businessman who knows a profitable deal if he sees one."

A/N: And that's another one done! Two things though before I let you off to the comment/review section:

1) I apologize for the long wait, the next one will definitely be done sooner.

2) Yes, two chapters in a row where not much happens story-wise. I am aware. To be honest, I didn't expect this section to end up this long, but I also didn't want to cut anything. I don't think rushing character moments like these just so I can get back to the action will be good in the long run. After all, this story is not just about Tanya, but also about how she changes the course of the story. And for that to be believable, her impact has to be set up properly. Therefore, all I can do is hope for your patience and promise that the next one will not be another training chapter.

…alright, let's go to the comments and see who didn't read the note, shall we? ^^