Today is my brithday!!!
BIRTHDAY SPEACIAL COMMING!
As Naruto ran up to the training stones, Hinata surged to her feet. She had been sitting against one of the pillars, and could not suppress a yawn and a stretch.
"Hey, Hinata," the young ninja greeted her, "Sorry if I'm late."
"You weren't," the Kunoichi's voice cracked slightly in awkwardness, "Uh, late that is. I just got here a little early."
Naruto Uzumaki nodded, and then looked around at the monoliths set throughout the clearing.
"So, what do we do?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" her counter was twinged with confusion.
"Well, to be honest I never really trained with anyone else. Not as a partner. When we did the tree climbing training, Sasuke, Sakura, and I were competing, not working together. And the rest of the timing its been either me working alone, or being taught by someone," he gave her an embarrassed grin, "So I'm not too sure what we should do here. Do we spar? Have target practice? Go for a jog?"
"Actually," Hinata tapped her fingers together and looked at the ground, "I, um, had an idea. If you don't mind?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"Well, can you show me the Rasengan first?" she tapped her fingers again; afraid she was asking too much.
"Yeah, no problem." As he answered, Naruto extended his right hand. Blue streaks of chakra began to circle above his palm, quickly increasing and growing tighter until they formed a spiraling sphere, about 4 inches in diameter.
"Byakugan," Hinata whispered. The veins around her eyes swelled as additional blood and chakra flowed into the pale orbs. She looked down at the chakra globe spinning in Naruto's hand, and she gaped in amazement.
"It's so beautiful."
"You think so?" Naruto asked, staring down at his hand through slitted eyes.
"You can't see it like I do," she told him. Then her voice grew very quiet and she asked, "Um... Would you like to?"
"Really? That would be awesome. How?"
"Kariname Jutsu. It is one of the kekkei genkai techniques of the Hyuga clan. It enables the user to share what they see with someone else," her gaze dropped to the ground, clearly unhappy about what she was about to say, "I am just learning the Jutsu, so I still require direct contact. Neji is able to transmit his vision through a thread over 100 feet already. And my father can send to multiple people several miles away with no connection."
Sensing her depression, Naruto got a little angry.
"Listen, Hinata, you have to stop comparing yourself to Neji. He might be better at some things, but you are better at others. You created the 'Protection of the 8 Trigrams 64 Palms', not Neji," Naruto put his hand on her shoulder as a supportive gesture, "And besides, Neji's like a machine. All he thinks about is getting stronger. You are a more balanced human being, and more fun to be around."
Hinata's head jerked up in shock, but she smiled a bit, "Thank you, Naruto."
"Don't mention it. Besides there's nothing wrong with a little 'direct contact'."
Hinata turned red at that, but Naruto was looking at his Rasengan again and didn't notice.
"So, what do we need to do? Hold hands?"
Hinata flushed again and this time Naruto saw. His face colored as he realized what he had suggested.
"Um, no... I'm not that advanced. I'll need to touch your forehead, the third eye point."
"Ok." Naruto shifted his headband to a higher position to give her access to his forehead. The young woman flashed a quintet of quick hand signs, and then pressed the middle and ring fingers of her right hand to the center of his forehead, just above the brow ridge.
The possessed ninja felt an odd sense of being outside his body as he found he was seeing himself rather than Hinata. Suddenly he was glaring straight up into the sky. Then he was looking at the stones to his left. He realized he could not access Hinata's entire 360-degree vision at once, instead he had his normal field of view, and could change what part he was seeing by 'turning' his 'head'. He remembered why they were doing this, and focused on himself again.
He could see the blue trails of his chakra network through his skin. He turned his attention downward, and realized that the chakra points around his stomach were red instead of blue. He wondered if he always looked like that to Hinata and Neji. Finally he shifted again, and saw the Rasengan in his hand.
Instead of a sphere, under the Byakugan it appeared as a many faceted gem. The colors of the chakra streams appeared both more varied, and more vibrant. The chakra appeared to be moving more slowly, but the 'jewel' itself also rotated gently.
"You're right, Hinata," he said reverently, "It is beautiful. This is.... You're amazing."
Hinata suddenly stepped back, and broke the connection.
"Thank you," Naruto said with heartfelt honesty. He dismissed the Rasengan and asked, "Ok, so what's next?"
"Well... My idea was for you to attack me with Rasengan."
"WHAT?"
"I don't mean to hit me," she explained quickly, " I suspect the Rasengan might be able to break the 8 Trigrams Heavenly Spin. I thought we could test it, and in the process give us both a chance to push the limits of our abilities."
"Alright," Naruto still sounded a little dubious, "But I am going to try it at half power first. I don't want any chance of hurting you."
She nodded, and then stepped back. Naruto also moved away, carefully judging the distance between them. He dropped his hand, and formed a less dense Rasengan.
"Ready?"
She nodded. He took a half step forward, and then darted towards her, his right hand extended. When he was three feet away, she moved.
"Heavenly Spin," Hinata incanted, expelling chakra from her palms as her body rotated. The energy expanded into an opaque dome around her. When the Rasengan struck the barrier, there was a moment of where the two seemed to strain against one another. Then the chakra sphere shattered and the Genin was thrown back almost thirty feet.
"Man, Hinata, that was too strong. I don't think the Rasengan did anything," he shook his head to clear the cobwebs.
"Oh no," she protested, "It did. You made a dent in the Heavenly Spin. I haven't seen or heard of that happening before."
"Also," she frowned as she continued, "That Rasengan was only about thirty percent of the strength of one you showed me before."
Naruto blushed, it was his turn to be embarrassed, "The pervy sage keeps telling me I need to work harder on my chakra control."
"Oh... Um... Lets try again," having pointed out one of his flaws left her uncomfortable, "You just need to make your Jutsu a little stronger."
"Right, a little more," Naruto still looked worried. He formed a weak Rasengan again. Not satisfied, he let it dissipate, and formed the attack a second time. This time the glowing ball met his expectations, and he readied himself to rush the Kunoichi.
"Here I come, Hinata," he warned her as he charged. She braced herself, and when he was in range, activated her technique again. This time, the conflict lasted a half second longer; and instead of shattering, the Rasengan carved through the Heavenly Spin barrier. Naruto's hand followed the spinning sphere in, but the defensive wall closed around his wrist. The force pulsing from the Heavenly Spin shook the Genin like a terrier shaking a rat. As soon as she realized what was happening, the Byakugan user released the Jutsu, dropping Naruto like a stone.
"Naruto," Hinata ran over to him, her face wracked with fear, "Naruto?" She reached out and gently touched his back, "Naruto?"
Suddenly he rolled over, a huge grin on his scratched and dirty face.
"Hinata, did you see that? I got through. Not very far, but I got through."
She let out a sigh of relief and then smiled with him, "Yes, I saw."
"Let's try it again," he jumped back to his feet. She nodded even as he jogged a short distance from her. Then he turned to face her again, with a look of renewed determination.
"Rasengan!" he exclaimed, rushing forward.
"Heavenly Spin!" Hinata countered. This time there wasn't even a moment's conflict. The Rasengan cut right through the Heavenly Spin. But the barrier did not reform; instead, the entire dome unraveled.
Naruto's eyes widened as he realized he was aiming a deadly attack at Hinata's now unprotected heart. He tried to stop, but the Rasengan itself seemed to be pulling him forward. Time appeared to slow as the zipper of her coat flapped in the breeze thrown off by the Fourth Hokage's weapon. As the chakra tracks in the sphere began to slice into her jacket, Hinata moved. Her fingers pulsing, she tapped two places on the top of his forearm, and one on the underside. The Rasengan instantly vanished, and Naruto tumbled backwards from the effort he had been putting into not striking Hinata. The Genin jumped to his feet, and grabbed the Chunin gently by the shoulders.
"Hinata, are you ok?" Naruto asked. She blushed slightly under his intense gaze, and nodded. Her face grew even redder when he hugged her tightly with a sigh of relief.
"I thought I was going to hit you," he released her, and looked down at his hand, "You closed chakra points in my arm, didn't you."
"Yes. Oh, I can fix that." She reached for his arm.
"Wait," he stopped her, "When Neji did this to me with the 8 Trigrams 64 Palms, I was able to overcome it. And pervy sage told me that Gentle Fist isn't the only technique that closes chakra points, it's just the simplest and most efficient. So I want to see if I can do it again."
Naruto formed a fist, trying to force the chakra back into his hand.
"Come on," his nails cut into his palm, "COME ON!"
Finally he let go, stretching out his fingers to work out the cramps.
"Man, I only got one of the three. Hinata, can you..."
"Of course," she answered, elated to be asked. She tapped his forearm again, releasing the restrained energy.
"Thanks."
"Then, shall we try again?" she asked.
"What?" he exclaimed, "No way. You were right, the Rasengan totally destroyed your 8 Trigrams Palms Heavenly Spin. And I almost hurt you. If you have been an instant later..."
"No, that is why we need to continue. I need to see if I can find a way to stop it, I want to improve the Heavenly Spin so it won't have this huge weakness. And you need better control. What if this was a real fight, and your enemy used substitution to switch for one of your teammates? Or an innocent bystander?"
"But..."
"NO BUTS!" she shouted at him, "Now attack me, or I'll shut off all your chakra points." Then she realized what she had done, and collapsed in on herself, "OK?"
"Yes ma'am," he chuckled at her. His laughter calmed her, and she resumed her fighting stance.
"Rasengan."
"Heavenly Spin."
"Rasengan!"
"Heavenly Spin!"
Twenty minutes later, Hinata raised her hand in submission. The front of her jacket was ripped and torn, revealing brief expanses of pale, yet firm skin, or the armored mesh undergarments favored by the Kunoichi of the Hidden Leaf village. The young woman dropped to the ground.
"'m sorry... Naruto... I don't... have... enough chakra."
"It's my fault Hinata," he helped her to sit against one of the rocky columns, and then plopped down next to her, "If I had better control, you wouldn't have had to waste chakra on the Gentle Fists and Substitution Jutsu."
"No, it's fine. Beside, you were getting a lot better at the end. I didn't have to do anything the last four times."
"You too," he encouraged her, "You stopped 2 of my last five attacks. But next time, maybe we could try something a little safer. I'd like to work on overcoming those chakra blocks."
"Next time?"
"Don't you want to?" Naruto sounded surprised, and a little hurt.
"Of course! I just... uh... wasn't sure you would."
"Same for me. You helped me a lot today, Hinata."
She blushed again, "Well, if you are up to it, I did have another idea for you."
"I still have some chakra," Naruto feigned modesty, to spare her feelings, "What is it?"
"I was thinking about your charka control, and the Rasengan. Is it harder to make the Rasengan smaller?"
"Yeah. How did you know that?"
"Well," she leaned back as she explained, "A lot of things are like that. Like how it is harder to hit a small target than a big one. In this case, even though it takes less chakra, a smaller area requires greater focus and control. There's not as much space to work with, compared to what you are used to."
"So I should just try to make the Rasengan smaller?"
"Right, but only if you can keep the power the same. A smaller ball might not hit as much of your target, but it needs to do the same amount of proportional damage. Then, once you can create a full power Rasengan on your fingertip, try creating another one on each of your other fingers. Doing that would take a great level of chakra control."
"A smaller Rasengan on each finger," Naruto looked amazed, "Hinata, that's genius."
"It's not... really," she stammered. Now that she was done explaining, she reverted to form, "But... well, it could help."
"No, it's really good. And it's something I can work on during my spare time."
The impulsive ninja looked down at his hand, forming the rotating orb once again. This time, it was only the size of a baseball, and sweat formed on his brow. After a few seconds, he lost control, and the sphere pulsed outwards to its normal size, before tearing itself apart. Naruto started again, and Hinata simply watched, always impressed by his determination.
"Naruto," she finally spoke after his third attempt.
"Yeah?"
"Could you... could you teach me the Rasengan?"
Naruto looked flustered, and scratched the back of his head, "I don't know, Hinata..."
"Of course," she sounded sad, and upset with herself, "It's your special technique. I shouldn't have asked."
"That's not it, Hinata," he shook his head, "It's just... No matter how many character flaws he has, Jiraiya is a good teacher. And I'm not sure I'm smart enough to teach anyone else such an advanced jutsu."
"But if you are willing to put up with an inept sensei, I'll give it a try."
"Under one condition," she locked his eyes to hers with a determined gaze, "If I'm not allowed to doubt myself, then you can't doubt yourself, either. Right?"
"OK," he grabbed her hand and shook on it, "Next time, I'll bring the water balloons!"
"Wa... water balloons?"