Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Shinigami no Naruto: Power of the Soul ❯ One Month ( Chapter 18 )

Chapter Eighteen: One Month

Tower of Death Infirmary: Day One

The shadow clone that Naruto had sent in after Hinata initially dispelled itself when it saw the original approaching. Naruto closed his eyes for a moment to assimilate the memories of the clone. He pressed his lips into a thin line when he had reviewed everything, anger and hatred flaring towards Hinata's supposed guardian once again.

Neji had really put Hinata through the wringer. Virtually every organ had sustained some bruising, with her heart and lungs lightly lacerated. Her stomach was so battered that she could barely hold broth down and her urine was red with blood. She had nearly bitten the tip of her tongue off, as well as shredded the inside of her cheeks. The only good news in all of this was that she was out of the ICU and had been moved to a regular room, but the nurses were being assholes, as usual. “Hinata-sama is recovering right now, sir, and is not accepting visitors.”

Given all that had happened in the last two hours or so, Naruto was not inclined to take anything less than a “yes sir, right this way sir.” Allowing a trickle of the Kyuubi's chakra to color his eyes red, Naruto replied, saying “Nurse-san, which room is my wife in?”

Having felt the monstrous killing intent earlier, the chunin medic-nin, thought her answer over for a pair of seconds before deciding it wasn't worth her life to screw with the demon brat. “Room three,” she replied quickly.

Channeling enough Kyuubi-chakra to keep the red in his eyes, he smiled and nodded as if she had answered to his satisfaction the first time. Walking down the corridor, he noted the name plaque with Hinata's name on it, he opened the door, letting it swing shut behind him.

Hinata was hooked up to a number of medical machines, one of which he recognized as monitoring her heart and another her brain activity. Picking her chart off the foot of the bed, he browsed through it, understanding maybe one word in five. Still anything was better than looking at Hinata's abnormally pale face, at least until he was sure that he wouldn't go murder Neji if he looked at her.

Finally confident that he would not go and do something that would likely land him in jail, he replaced her chart and picked a chair up, placing it by the bed, at an angle so he could keep an eye on both the window and door. Carefully cupping one porcelain-skinned hand in both of his tanned ones, he stared at Hinata's placid features, absently rubbing small circles on the back of her hand.

“Hello love.”

“Hi Naruto-kun,” Hinata breathed back.

“You were really awesome out there Hinata-chan. I mean, using that mask thing, and your Inferno technique, you really deserve to have won your match. If you had gone up against anyone else, you would have thrashed them, no doubt about it.”

“You really think so, Naruto-kun?” Hinata was barely able to crack her eyes and her voice was weak and thready, but she slowly rolled her head to look at Naruto.

“Shhh, hush love. Yes, yes you were. You were absolutely spectacular. There is no one out there that could have expected more from you. I cannot express how proud I am of you.”

Hinata lips curved in a weak smile, likely all she could manage, before speaking again. “You really think so? You think that I changed? Even a little?”

“Your change was more of a metamorphosis. No matter what Neji-bastard or anyone else says, you did better than anyone else out there.”

“I'm glad you think so.” Hinata let her gaze return to the ceiling before she broke the silence once again. “Naruto-kun, please don't hurt Neji-nii-san. He, he has had a hard life. What he said was not his fault. Neji, he is really the one who should have been born into the Main House, not me.”

Naruto cut her thready rambling off with a finger to her lips. “Hinata, I cannot forgive him for what he did and said to you. I will promise not to kill him, but I will make him pay for what he did. Please don't ask me to do any less. I cannot do any less. Not and be able to look at myself in the mirror. Not and be able to respect myself. Hinata, you are one of the three people that I love without reservation. Seeing you like this, it is almost more than I can bear. So, please do not ask me not to hurt him.”

Hinata was silent for a long moment. She studied his face through her slitted eyes. There was a look of such... pleading desperation, terrified that he would not be able to repay the one who had hurt her so. She found that however much she loved her cousin, she loved her husband more, and though he would leave Neji be if she asked, he would hate himself ever after. She realized that she could not cause that inner turmoil in him, so settled for his promise that he would let Neji live.

Naruto sighed at her acquiescence. Naruto stood up and kissed her. He tasted the metallic tang of blood and saline on her lips. “Rest now, love. I will be here when you wake.” Hinata nodded drowsily, the brief effort of holding a conversation with him too much for her to hold off any longer and she slipped into warm blackness.

“How long have you been there?” Naruto asked the woman standing in the doorway.

“A couple of minutes, but I wasn't eavesdropping. Even the pervert here had the sense to leave the two of you alone.” Anko sent a light elbow into her white-haired companion's midriff.

“Hey, I may be a super-pervert, but even I have limits.”

“Good to know Jirayia-sama. 'Cuz if I ever find out that you based a scene in one off your filthy books on any member of my team, not even Tsunade-sama would be able to save your testicles.”

“Ahem. Yes, well, anyways, there is a more important reason why we are here.” Naruto nodded and created a shadow clone in the doorway, so as not to bother Hinata's rest with the smoke. The clone went back to her side while the original followed his mother and part-time teacher out, closing the door quietly behind him.

“What is it that you two want?” Naruto asked brusquely. Jiraiya glanced down at Anko in surprise. Naruto was many things, but solemn he was not. Anko shook her head, signaling to Jiraiya not press the issue.

“Um... yes, well, I just wanted to tell you that I am going to be taking over your training for the month until the Chunin Final Exam. We will be leaving Konoha to do some of this training, but we won't be far off. Gather whatever you need for a month of camping and say goodbye to anyone you as you won't be seeing them until we return for the exam.”

“What about you Mom?”

“I am going to be training Tenten while you are off with Jiraiya-sama. I would train you myself, but Jiraiya-sama is miles above me in skill. I honestly think that you would do much better under him than myself for the time being.”

“Where is Tenten-chan right now?”

“Um... I don't really know. Went back home maybe? I just told her to meet me at the training grounds tomorrow to resume training and come here.”

“Okay then. When do you want to leave Jiraiya-sensei?”

It was not often that Jiraiya was caught off guard, but finally hearing the blond brat call him sensei was certainly worthy of a double take. “Tomorrow at the east gate, eight o'clock sharp.”

Naruto nodded silently and started to walk down the hallway and out of sight. Before he had gone more than half a dozen paces, he paused, as if he remembered something. Reaching inside his coat, he lobbed a large scroll in an underhanded toss. “Almost forgot. Found some dead Sound-nins in the forest during the second test. I took their heads and sealed them in that scroll. Thought they might give us some useful intel on them. Give that to whoever I guess.”

Once Naruto had left for good this time Jiraiya turned to Anko. “Jiraiya-sama? What the hell happened?”

“It's a little complicated, but basically Hyuuga Neji, the Branch House genius, put Hinata into the ICU, and Naruto, well, he did not take that very well. He almost killed Neji on the spot, and would have succeeded had the Hokage not intervened. He has become very protective of the girl, especially since our last mission.”

“Well, this sounds like something best heard over some strong alcohol. I know a place with pretty good jiu. I'll pay.”

“Sure thing. I certainly don't want to talk about all this while sober.”

OoOoO

As soon as he emerged from the Forest of Death (a safe path having been cleared for the fighters,) Naruto blitzed the whole of Konoha with a thousand clones searching for Tenten. A few minutes later, one found her and sent him the knowledge by dispersing itself. Landing behind her after jumping off a wooden fence, he leaned down and wrapped his arms around the girl, nuzzling her neck. Tenten turned her head and smiled briefly as he kissed her in greeting.

“So what are you doing here?” Naruto asked, gesturing to the Konoha Shinobi Academy that Tenten was looking at from the tree swing.

“I don't know. Just thinking.”

“Ah. About what?” he asked as he lifted Tenten out of the swing and set her down in his lap sideways once he sat down in it.

“About being a ninja. It has barely been, what, eight, ten months, since we graduated? Everything was so simple in the Academy. So easy. Everything was safe. There was no pain or anything, just eagerness to learn,” she said, subconsciously fingering the scar from where she had been stabbed in the heart back on the way to Kiri.

“What brought this on?”

“Ah, who knows. I'm kinda tired.” Tenten leaned back against Naruto, resting her head in the crook of his shoulder.

“Yeah, well it has been a long day.”

“You can say that again. And us normal people don't have a nine-tailed demon lord to draw on either.”

“Heh. Mom talk to you already?”

“Yeah. She told me that she was sending you off with Jiraiya-sama for training until the Final Exam is here. It's going to be weird to be in Konoha without you. We haven't been separated since we became a team for longer than a day or so.”

“Don't worry about it. I'll send a couple clones back here every day. Ero-sennin said we weren't going far, just a few miles out. So it's not like I will be completely gone.”

Both teens were quiet for a few seconds before Tenten spoke again. “How is Hinata doing?”

Naruto unconsciously tightened his arms around Tenten before forcing them to relax. “Hurt badly, but recovering. The docs say she should be fine in another two or three weeks.”

“I really feel sorry for her. Her life has been such a crapshoot. We've been a team less than a year, and she has already nearly been killed twice, got beat half to death by her cousin, and still gets crap from her father. I just wish there was something more we could do for her.”

“So do I, more than you know. I love her, and want to protect her, but it seems every time I look away, she is back in the hospital for something. It... it just feels... wrong. She is the kindest person I know, and yet...” Naruto sighed. “I don't know. Just feels like there is something more I should do for her.”

“I know, Naruto-kun. You already do plenty. Neji looked scared enough to shit his pants back there.”

Naruto gave a halfhearted laugh at Tenten's attempt at humor. “Yeah I know. He is lucky that Hinata-chan made me promise not to kill him. Otherwise, there isn't anything to keep me from turning him to paste next month.”

“You will beat him though.”

“Definately. There is no way I can lose, 'specially with Ero-sennin teaching me for the next month. Although I will probably spend as much time trying to get him to train me as doing actual training, knowing him. You know that he introduced himself as a super-pervert when I first met him?”

Tenten giggled. “No, but that seems to fit his personality. He is nothing if flamboyant.”

“Yeah, he is that.” Naruto and Tenten sat there for a few seconds, rocking back and forth gently. “You do know I love you, don't you?”

“I know you do Naruto-kun.”

“It is just, I don't want to seem like I am abandoning you, things have been so hectic recently, it is hard to find time for anything other than work. When was the last time we went on a date?”

“Before the mission to Kiri, I think.”

“Well, once the Exams are over and we have some time to think about something other than training and tests and fighting, we will go out, anywhere you want, completely on me. Cost is not an issue, the sky is the limit.”

“You don't have to do that Naruto-kun. I understand, between Hinata getting put out of commission twice in the last month and the tests and training, there hasn't been time for anything else.”

“I know I don't have to, I want to. I want to spend some time with you, alone, no Mom, no teachers, no friends, just you and me together. I want to spend money on you, take you somewhere you haven't been before, make you feel like the woman you are. If I have to, I will get Mom to make you take a day off.”

Tenten giggled softly again, tightening her grip on Naruto's chest again. “If you insist then, it is a date.”

The pair spent a few more minutes on the swing, until the main doors to the school opened and released a horde of six to twelve-year-old munchkins come charging out of the school.

Standing up, he made his way to the Hyuuga complex after parting ways from Tenten, barely enough attention paid to the road to get him there in one piece.

Naruto waved the offer of dinner off, instead jumping into the shower and then climbing into the futon in his room. His and Hinata's suite seemed eerily silent as he rose the next morning, servants moving about in quiet efficiency, bathing, dressing and arming him with sure motions. He left the Hyuuga complex without having said a single word to anyone there. He created a shadow clone which raced off to the hospital, racing to arrive before Hinata woke, so he would be the first thing she saw when she woke.

Adjusting the bulky scroll, filled with everything he would need for a month-long stay in the wilderness, Naruto set off at a walk to the great gates of Konoha to meet Jiraiya. He returned half-hearted waves and smiles to the few people who greeted him, ignoring everyone else. Clad in the dark clothes and trenchcoat he had bought for the Chunin Exams with his ninja marker tied on his arm, he had no problem making good time through the early morning traffic, mostly women, both servants and freemen heading to the market to buy food for the day.

He nodded to the to chunin on gate duty and set in to wait for his sensei to arrive. He was so wrapped up in thought that he startled when a heavy calloused hand settled on his shoulder. Ninja instinct took over and he slipped out of the straps attaching him to the scroll, rolling away from his assailant. He drew a kunai from a holster in the same motion that brought him to a crouch facing his opponent.

“Heh, you need to go back to the Academy if I you didn't notice me not sneaking up.”

“Whatever Ero-sennin. You ready to go?”

Jiraiya quirked an eyebrow at Naruto's rather flat response. “Yeah, got everything we are going to need right here. You?”

“Yep.”

Once again wondering at his protege's lack of verbosity, Jiraiya nodded and handed his passport over to the two gate guards for inspection. Passing muster, Jiraiya immediately took to the canopy, ignoring the wildlife startled by his swift passage. The only sound to reach the elderly sennin's ears during the trip was the whooshing of his flight. Naruto kept up with him, but was obviously distracted by something, and equally unwilling to discuss it. Knowing the kinds of teenage drama that was a unavoidable part of growing up, Jiraiya was content to let the boy be, to try to work things out by himself.

Once everything had been unloaded (which was limited to dumping the scrolls to the ground), Jiraiya addressed Naruto. “Okay brat, listen up. As is, your chakra control sucks, and for the technique I am going to teach you, it needs to be better. So, to do that, I am going to start teaching you a technique that your father invented.” Holding one hand out, fingers clawed, a tightly controlled sphere of chaotic chakra materialized without any hand seals. Turning around, Jiraiya drove the chakra-ball into a nearby tree, boring completely through the trunk.

“The Rasengan is the pinnacle of shape manipulation, so difficult that even the Yondaime took three years in creating this technique. Hell, it took me ages to learn it myself, and I am the great Jiraiya-sama. So don't expect to have mastered this in a month, or even a year. This is just another exercise to increase your chakra control to the level it needs to be to learn what I have to teach you.”

Jiraiya reached into one of his pockets and withdrew a bag of balloons. “There are three stages to learning the Rasengan an A-rank ninjutsu. First, by combining the skills you learned by tree climbing and water walking, you have to release a set amount of chakra in your hands, learned from tree climbing, while maintaining that set amount over an extended period of time, learned from water walking. The goal of this exercize is to make the water balloon pop by spinning the water in it. Like this.” Jiraiya filled a water balloon, doing just that, bulging in various places just before exploding.

“Ah, Ero-sennin, there is something else I need you to do first. You know how my and Sasuke's teams ran into Orochimaru during the Second Exam?”

“Yeah, I heard about that. I offered to take a look at Sasuke, but Kakashi said he had it under control.”

“Yeah, well, Orochimaru messed with my seal.” Naruto lifted his shirt and channeled chakra to make the seal visible. Jiraiya quirked an eyebrow.

“Yeah, that is certainly Orochimaru's work. Sloppy, unrefined and crude, but effective nevertheless. Classically him. I can see how it would interfere with your chakra flow, but why didn't you just remove it yourself? You know how.”

“Yeah, well, I didn't want to screw it up and accidentally kill meself or something. So I figured that it could wait until I could get you to do it.”

Jiraiya shrugged. He flicked his hands through the seals and pressed his glowing fingers over Orochimaru's symbols, the two seals negating one another. “There. Easy as pie.”

Forming the seals for the Hidden Shadow Snake Hands, he nodded in satisfaction as a pair of king cobras shot from his sleeves. “Now that you are fixed, get going.” Nodding silently, Naruto filled a balloon, and set to.

OOoOo

Konoha

Clone-Naruto ignored the nurse manning the front desk that squawked at him when he entered the hospital to visit Hinata. She was already awake, sitting up and eating the porridge that was fed to you when you could handle broth, but not solid food. The stuff had the consistency of paste and the taste of the ninja ration bars, all health and no flavor.

“Good morning Hinata-chan.”

“Good morning to you too Naruto-kun.”

“How are you feeling?” Naruto asked once he had seated himself.

“Tired. And sore. But mostly sore.”

“No pain?”

“Not much. Just when I breathe too deeply, or move too much.”

“Well, that is good I suppose. The doctor say when you can come home? It is very lonely at home without you there.”

“The doctor said I could go home next week, as long as I take things easy. I should be good enough to resume training a week after that. The doctor said that there was only so much that they could repair with chakra. The rest had to be done by my body.”

Naruto was silent for a long couple of seconds. “You know that I cannot forgive Neji for what he did.”

“Naruto-kun...”

“Hold on please Hinata-chan. Let me finish. I will honor my promise, but even that much... You know something of my childhood, how I was mugged when I was ten?” Hinata nodded solomnly. “I have so few things I care for in his world, and even fewer people, that, well, I have to protect what I have. And I have to do it with all my being, lest I lose what little I do have. So just know, I won't kill Neji, but that doesn't mean that he will be leaving the fight on his own two feet. I love you so much, I don't know what I would do if I were to lose you.”

Hinata, who up until the formation of Team Nine, had been neglected almost as badly as Naruto had, couldn't think of anything to say. She realized that his shoulders were shaking because he was crying, tears dripping onto his knees. Reaching forward, she hugged him, letting the blond cry onto her shoulder, not complaining when he squeezed too tightly and made her ribs hurt. It felt odd, she thought, to be the one comforting Naruto. As long as she had known him, he had been an iron pillar, indomitable and unbeatable. Even when he was wounded in Wave Country with a wound that would have incapacitated a lesser man, he still found the strength to hurl his then zanbato-sized zanpakuto thirty or forty feet, with enough energy left to kill. He managed to kill the masked monster that had stripped her of her Shinigami powers and stop her cousin with nothing but killing intent. To see him crying was surprising to say the least. Nevertheless, she said nothing, murmuring nonsense syllables into his ear, allowing him to vent.

Hinata didn't know how long it took him to cry out, but when he did, he gave her a beaming smile. She ignored her sodden shoulder, wet from tears and mucus. But her attention was completely diverted when Naruto when digging in the black trenchcoat he still wore, finally revealing a still-hot cinnamon roll. Her mouth watered at the sight, hands making grabby motions to the cinnamon confection.

Naruto handed the sweet over, watching Hinata devour it in three bites. He offered a second bun, but withheld the third, as in his words, “there is a reason why the doctors have you on gruel.” Hinata just thought he was being mean, her cute pout failing to net her the third pastry. Naruto admitted that the buns were good, if a little sweet for him.

“What happened to you when you were fighting Neji yesterday? That white mask, something happened to you when Urahara took you away to get your shinigami powers back, didn't it?”

Hinata nodded slowly, carefully wording her answer. “You know what Urahara-sensei said about shinigami and Hollows?” Naruto nodded. “Well, to become a shinigami again, I think I almost became a Hollow. Normally, my zanpakuto looks like a giant green manta ray, but when I went back to my soul plain, and had to fight myself, only not. There was someone who looked like me, except all her colors were reversed. She called herself Minazuki and said that I had to beat her to be able to see the real Minazuki. I think she was the part of me that was turning into a Hollow.”

“And that white mask was a sign of her taking over again?”

“Yeah, I think so. I had to break that same mask off when I finished training with Urahara-san the first time too.”

“I see. Well, it seems that this Hollow-Hinata only come out in the middle of a fight. You just have to find a way to control it, to make sure that it doesn't take over again. Think of how strong you could be if you could control it. It was thrashing Neji uncontrolled. Once you master it, you will be unbeatable.”

Hinata let out a small smile in the face of Naruto's confidence. Somehow, she doubted that gaining control of this new power would be easy.

OoOoO

Naruto's Training Camp

Naruto was glaring at the red water balloon clutched in his hand in the fading light of the setting sun. The thing deformed like mad, turning into a disc nearly a foot wide, but it still wouldn't freaking pop! No matter how fact he swirled the water, he couldn't get the balloon to pop. Letting the water stop swirling, the balloon eventually resumed its normal shape. Jiggling the balloon slightly, he frowned. Charging the water with a little bit of chakra, the balloon started to deform yet again.

Sitting down, Naruto tried to think of what Jiraiya did differently to get the balloon to pop. Squeezing the balloon with his fingers rhythmically, he started when the balloon popped in his fist. Staring at his wet hand in surprise, a slow smile curved his lips. Grabbing another water balloon, using his tapping fingers to separate the single stream of chakra into many different ones, the balloon popped once again.

Leaping up from his seated position, he punched a fist into the air, screaming “YATTA!” for all to hear. Racing back to camp, Naruto proudly announced his success.

“Huh, you really have? Show me,” Jiraiya told his student. Producing another balloon, he proceeded to pop it. Outwardly, Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at the sight. Inwardly, his chin had punched a hole in the ground. It had taken him a week to figure out how to pop the balloon, and here Naruto did it in a day. “Well, damn. Whoda thunk it? A brat like you mastering it so quickly. You know, I wasn't planning on giving you the second step, as it focuses on power, but what the hell. What you gotta do is use the first step but crank the power way up. That rubber ball is approximately a hundred times harder to pop than that water balloon was.”

Catching the ball, Naruto took a breath and focused on the ball. Creating the chaotic vortex wasn't that hard, but instead of the wild distortions that the water balloon suffered, the ball ball barely deformed. Releasing the flow and trying it again, concentrating harder still failed to pop the balloon. Naruto's scowl only succeeded in eliciting a wide grin from Jiraiya. Plopping down, Naruto pocketed the ball and filled a bowl with the stew that was simmering over the low fire.

OoOoO

Konoha Training Ground Nineteen

Morning, same day

Tenten was yawning and rubbing at her eyes sleepily when she arrived at the training ground at five a.m. Stuffing a fist in her mouth to stifle a yawn, she peered into the surrounding foliage, knowing that she would not spot Anko, but compelled to give at least a token attempt. Sure enough, she heard some rustling to her left, so turned to her right to see Anko emerging fro the undergrowth in a flying leap. Groggy as she was, she was still a shinobi, so she whiled in a circle, drawing a pair of kunai and letting instinct take rein. What followed was a brief but vigorous struggle that resulted in Tenten sprawled flat on her back. Her usual confident smirk firmly in place, Anko squatted down beside Tenten as the younger woman lay there.

“Morning Panda-chan.” Tentnen cocked an eyebrow at the new address, but didn't respond. If Anko wanted to give her a nickname, there was nothing she was going to be able to do to change her mind. In fact, if she were to protest, that would only encourage Anko to keep calling her Panda. So she chose the path of least resistance and just accepted it. It wasn't a very original nickname, but wasn't offensive or embarrassing, so she could accept it.

Tenten grunted her own greeting and let Anko pull her to her feet. “Not bad reaction there, kid. A little sloppy on the number four parry, and you didn't follow though on the number eight thrust, but overall, you are doing okay.” Tenten nodded and waited for the punchline. “However, okay is not good enough. We will warm up by doing a lap around Konoha and then we will get down to business.”

Tenten looked over her shoulder to where the sun would be if this were a reasonable hour. The grey light of the false dawn was beginning to show, but it was still very dark. The Green Desert, the massive forest that Konoha was hidden in, grew right up to the walls in most places with the accompanying roots and undergrowth coupled with the darkness would make it a long run. Rubbing the last of the sleep from her eyes, Tenten sighed and headed for the nearest gate. It was an exhausting hour spent half-tripping, half stumbling, Anko hard on her heels in the undercanopy, ready to sic her snakes on her is she showed any sign of slowing. Breakfast was silent after they ordered a large breakfast at an early morning cafe called The Hat, (referring to the Hokage's hat of course.) Anko surprisingly paid the bill before returning to the training ground. Arms crossed over her breasts, Anko dropped her cheerful demeanor and switched to Instructor Mode.

“As you are well aware, you are an earth-natured person,” she began without preamble . “What we are going to be spending the next month on is training you in earth manipulation.”

“Anko, hold on. You are saying that you are going to teach me elemental manipulation? That is a jounin-level ability!”

“Yeah, it is. So it just means that if you can manipulate your earth element, it would definitely qualify you for promotion!”

Tenten sweatdropped. “Anko, it's elemental manipulation. It is supposed to take years of training to master, and you want me to do it in a month?”

“Oh, no. That would be ludicrous. I am going to be teaching you the barest basics of earth manipulation. No matter how hard you try, there is very little that you are going to be able to use during the tournament.”

“So if I am not going to be able to use a lot of what I will learn, why teach me it at all.”

Anko smirked and leaned in close. “Two reasons. One, nobody will be expecting you to know it, and even what little you will learn will be deadly.”

“Alright. I guess I get what you are saying. But how will you teach me earth manipulation?”

“Oh, easy. It is because I am an earth-type too. Didn't I ever tell you that?” Tenten shook her head. “Hm, could have sword I did. Oh well. Anyways, where was I? Oh, right. There are two immediate benefits to learning elemental manipulation. One is that any Doton ninjutsu will require less chakra than it used to. Remember, you mix your spiritual and physical energies in your hara before it is sent to your hands to be shaped into jutsu. Before now, the hand seals were forcing your chakra to change into earth-chakra, which is the easy way to do it and also the reason why you can use elemental ninjutsu your are not attuned to. But if you know how to recombine your chakra, you can create earth-chakra in your hara and then send it to your hands. Since you are changing your chakra to earth-chakra internally before it is used, more of your concentration can be directed to other things, such as measuring the amount of chakra to be used and forming your hand seals.

“The first stage of nature training is to familiarize yourself with your element. With a wind user, they would try to cut a leaf, a lightning user would study the flow of electricity through power lines, a water user would study the currents in a body of water. You are going to meditate and try to feel the earth below you. To anyone but an earth-natured person, the earth is an inanimate object. But to us earth-types, the earth is a dynamic and violent force. A warning in advance: never try to force the earth to do your bidding. To control the earth, one must submit to it's will and guide it to what you want. Now sit.”

Tenten lowered herself to the ground, crossing her legs and setting her palms on her knees. Anko settled herself facing Tenten, knees touching. “I am going to guide you through your first study of the earth. Close your eyes. Calm yourself. Think of nothing. You are nothing. Now, gather your chakra, let it pool in your hara. When it is ready, let it drift down into the earth. Let your conscious follow it down, mingling with the ground beneath you. Let your chakra spread out, saturating the earth, becoming the earth.” Anko's voice started at a normal volume, but seemed to fade, as if coming from a distance, barely audible, but still distinct. She let her thoughts flow down into the brown earth beneath her with her chakra, seeping into each composite particle. She felt the incredible slow and subtle shifting of the earth beneath her, a heartbeat spanning millennia, centuries passing between each titan beat.

As she meditated, she felt the earth almost... reciprocate her seeking, seemingly extending itself into her, trying to learn her as she was trying to learn it. As soon as the feeling began, she was ripped awake by a sharp stinging pain across her cheeks. Wrenching her eyes open, for they seemed reluctant to do so, she gazed on Anko, who was now standing, an arm extended, hand open. Sluggish moving one of her hands to cup her stinging cheek, she felt a hand print there. Tenten was about to ask why Anko had slapped her when Anko answered it for her.

“Son of a bitch, that was a surprise. What the hell did you do Tenten?” But before the brunette kunoichi could answer, Anko answered herself. “Look down, Tenten-chan.”

Doing as told, Tenten lowered her gaze and instantaneously noticed two things. One, she was buried chest-deep in a pool of drying mud, and two, her skin had taken a dark, loamy tone. Tenten looked back up to her instructor, speechless in her confusion. “Come on, give me your arms, let me pull you out of there.” Anko and Tenten locked limbs and Anko leaned back, trying to pry her student out of the clingly mud. Finally with a wet shloop Tenten stumbled to her feet.

“Hot damn, but I bet you are wondering what the hell just happened.” Tenten nodded numbly in affirmation. “Kid, you somehow managed to simultaneously do one of the easiest and hardest things to do as a earth-type. The easy part was letting the earth take you too far in, which is the cause of death for more earth-types other than combat. The hard thing was taking the earth into you.”

“Huh?”

“Alright, let me explain. You gave too much of yourself to the earth, and in return, the earth started taking you also. It is the easiest and deadliest mistake you can ever make. When learning the earth, you have to learn how much to give to the earth, so you can find your way back to your body. It is not easy, but will come with time. The other thing was that you managed to draw the essence of the earth into yourself. That is the highest level of earth manipulation possible. It requires an empathy, an intimate knowledge a dozen times beyond what you should be able to have already. Basically, you were taking on the attributes of the earth.

“The technique is called elemental assimilation. As you can imagine, each element modifies different attributes. Earth increases skin density, physical strength and weight. Wind allows limited flight by decreasing body density. Lightning increases speed far beyond the human norm, in certain cases almost able to move faster than the Sharingan can track. Water allows manipulation of body chemistry, for example letting you turn your body to water to let objects pass through. Fire, suprisingly, is the healing element, not water, as many would think. Fire lets a person alters the patient's body chemistry to fight off infection. Also, elemental assimilation allows a person to manipulate the element directly. For example, a fire-type can wreathe herself in fire, burning others who come into close contact with her while remaining immune. Additionally, the person, with a few exception, will have a temperment similar to their element. Both lightning- and fire-types are quick to anger, but lightning-type's will be short lived while a fire-type's is longer lasting, will continue to burn long after the argument has passed. Earth types are stolid and unyielding, wind is chaos incarnate and water is gentle and accommodating.”

“But Hinata is a lightning-type, yet I dont know anyone who is gentler or kinder than her.”

“Well there are exceptions to every rule. I agree, judging her solely by her temper, Hinata is a classic water-type. On the othe hand, I can't think of anyone who is more suited to fire than the Uchiha. I can't think of the last time I saw him smile, and he can hold a grudge. If you think about it, you can match up the Hokages to their elements by heir tempers and the roles they played. the Shodai was a wood-type, the element of life, created Konoha. The Nidaime was a water type, responsible for our survival through even-handed negotiation with the other countries. Once Konoha had attained a position of power, the Sandaime, who is an earth-type, kept the quid pro quo, and when the Third Ninja War broke out, it was the Yondaime that ended the war like his lightning element. Anyways, I seemed to have gone a bit off topic. How about we break for lunch before continuing?”

Tenten wrinkled her brow in confusion. “Lunch? But I was only meditating for a few minutes. “

Anko smirked at her. “Look around kidd.” When she did, she saw that the sun, which had barely risen above the horizin when she had started, was now reaching it's zenith. “What the hell,” she mumbled.

“One of the properties of earth is that it is timeles. When immersing yourself, as you have already found out, there is virtually no sense of time. That is why I will always supervise you while mediatating. It is possible to starve to death while meditating with the earth.”

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, lunch a barbeque restaurant and then back to meditating with the earth. She didn't manage the elemental assimilation this time, and only sank down to her navel in mud rather than her chest. Tenten slogged her way home that evening, filthy from training, smelling faintly of decomposed organic matter. She left her sandals by the door and tiptoed upstairs, so as to track as little dirt and mud as she could. She smacked her clothes against the outside window sill, dislodging fistfuls of mud before dumping the clothes in the hamper.

She lingered in the shower for almost half and hour, letting the heat saok into her clammy skin. Once properly clean and smelling of ocean breeze shampoo and conditioner, she shut the water off, wrapped a towel around her torso and went to her room. She froze in surprise when she saw a blushing Naruto on her bed. After a second she blushed too. While the towel did keep her modest, it did expose a lot of leg and a fair amount of chest.

“N-naruto-kun, what are you doing here?” Tenten stammered.

“Ah, I was looking for you. It is late, so I figured I would wait for you at your house, rather than run all over town,” he replied, averting his gaze as he spoke. Hopping off the bed he shuffled to the door, keeping his eyes on the floor. Tenten moved out of the way, letting him close the door behind her. Changing into a set of black silk pyjamas, she opened the door. Naruto stole a quick glance at her, as if she would open the door if she were naked, then steeped inside.

“I don't suppose my parents know you are here,” she asked him.

“Do you think your dad would give me the time of day, let alone leave me in your room alone?” Tenten smirked. “Yeah, me too,” Naruto continued. Tenten approached him and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him soundly. Tenten made an agreeable noise when he hoisted her up to his waist, Tenten wrapping her legs around him immediately. Naruto carried her to the bed and threw her down before settling himself beside her.

“Did you miss me?” Naruto asked as Tenten pillowed her head on his bicep.

“Like you wouldn't believe. Anko has been her usual slavedriver self when it comes to training. I've been lea-” Tenten was cut off by Naruto placing his hand over her mouth.

“Don't tell me anything about what you have been learning Tenten-chan. After all, we might have to face each other in the tournament. And I don't want to have an advantage over you at all. I want you to surprise me with what you have learned from Mom. But there is something I want you to promise me.”

“Anything Naruto-kun.”

“Promise me if we should meet in the tournament, you won't hold back. Fight with everything you got and I will do the same. I don't want you to lose because we are dating. Okay? But no talk about training or fighting or anything work-related right now.”

Tenten nodded. Neither one said anything for a few minutes until Naruto spoke again. “Tenten-chan, I want to ask you something.”

Turning her face up to his, she was troubled by the indecision that he seemed to be dealing with. “Ask me. You should know by now that you can ask me anything.” She sat up and crossed her legs, wondering what he was doing, then abruptly very sure what he was doing. Naruto reached into his pocket and withdrew a dark velvet box. Her breath hitched in her chest as he snapped it open, revealing a very respectable engagement ring.

“Higurashi Tenten-san, would you honor me by giving your hand in marriage?”

Tenten was momentarily captivated by the sparkling diamond set into the thin gold band, designed to be one of a pair. Slowly, she raised her gaze from the begemmed ring to Naruto. “Naruto” she choked out, dropping the usual suffix as a sign of intimacy, “I would like nothing more than to marry you. But I can't.” she continued hurriedly as his face fell. “You are already married to Hinata. You can't marry me too.”

“Don't worry about the legalities. If I were completely unencumbered, would you say yes?”

“You can't imagine how fast.”

“I will take that as a yes then.” And before she could protest, he deftly caught her hand with both of his and slipped the gold ring onto her hand. She knew she should take the ring off, that there was no possible way for Naruto to manage what he said he could, but she couldn't bring herself to remove the ring he had placed on her finger. It was sure to draw attention and bring awkward questions, but right now, those uncomfortable questions were far and Naruto was right here in front of her. In the end, she decided, she really didn't care what anyone other than those on her team thought about her. If they wanted to disapprove, well, let them. As long as she was with Naruto, the world could burn, although Naruto would be troubled to know to what lengths he would go to keep him. When everything was through, Naruto was a good man, willing to do whatever was required of him to protect the village that had never accepted him in the least.

She was drawn out of her brown study by Naruto's lips, warm and insistent, determined to keep her from thinking about his proposal too much now that it was done. He would go to the ends of the earth to marry his love, laws, societal customs and prohibitions be damned.

OoOoO

Twenty-nine days until the Final Chunin Exam

Naruto spent the night, sleeping on a pallet of blankets on the floor while Tenten was in her bed. He unmade the pallet and put the blankets away while it was still dark. He left a note on her nightstand and kissed her goodbye. He did not want to be caught in her room by her parents under any conditions. They were normally friendlier than most, but had cooled towards him since he married Hinata and kept dating Tenten. Slipping out the window, he headed toward the Hokage Tower, still dark, but not for long.

Sarutobi was startled by the lounging figure of Naruto in the large leather chair specially commissioned to help ease the old-man pains in his body that accumulated after six or seven hours of hunching over paperwork.

“Well hello Naruto-kun. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company this early in the morning?”

“I have a question for you Old Man.” Sarutobi nodded for him to continue as he set his things down and started brewing a pot of coffee. “What would you say if I asked Tenten to marry me?”

Sarutobi stilled his hands and turned to face Naruto. The boy was regarding him with what would be uncharacteristic seriousness as short a time as a year ago, but since graduation, he had been forced to mature abnormally fast. Admittedly, any genin matured faster than was normal for a person of their age, but Naruto had grown up even faster than that.

“Naruto, please do not do this. You are treading on very dangerous ground here.”

Naruto narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Bigamy is illegal, and has been so since I was originally named Hokage. The Clan Repopulation Act was created by the Shodai as an effort to create a functional ninja force. I abolished it as it had become an excuse for a man to marry more women than he could financially support and discard when convenient.”

“That wouldn't happen to me. I would never neglect or discard wither Hinata or Tenten in the least way.”

“I know that. But it does not change the fact that it remains illegal.”

“Alright then. Hypothetically speaking, what would happen if someone were to mainatain more than one wife?”

That man if a civilian, would be exiled from Konoha for life. If he were a ninja, the situation is a little more delicate. For a genin or chunin with no official duties, he would be imprisioned indefinately until he were to declare his intent to keep only one wife. For an assigned chunin or jounin, tokubetsu or full, it would result in a severe fine and ordered to separate from one of his wives, or face indefinate imprisonment.”

Naruto considered the Hokage's words while he continued to speak. “Naruto, I will warn you, attempting to marry Higurashi-san will earn you no friends in the village. You know that are not doing yourself any favors by continuing to see Higurashi-san socially. Most people take a very dim view on bigamy nowadays. I fear for both your and Higurashi-san's wellbeing should you do this thing.”

“I am already despised for having the Kyuubi sealed in me. How much worse could it get?”

“I know that you are treated badlt by most of the civilians, but what about Higurashi-san. She has lived a normal life thusfar. Do you honestly want to subject her to the hate and ridicule that she would be forced to endure? And what about your first wife? She would surely endure much of the degradation that Higurashi-san would face, for many of the same reasons.”

“Yeah. But it would not be the first time that someone else was hurt because of me.” Naruto stood up and opened one of the floor-to-ceiling windows. “Thanks for nothing Old Man.”

“Naruto, hold on.” Naruto turned partway to face him, holding the window open. Sarutobi hesitated. He knew of a way to let Naruto marry both Hinata and Tenten, but he wasn't sure if he should tell the boy. After Sarutobi held his silence for a handful of seconds, Naruto turned to leave again. “Konoha disallows a bigamous marriage, but upholds the sanctity of a marriage performed in another country.”

Smiling slightly, Naruto nodded back at the Hokage and dropped out of the Tower. It was only then that Sarutobi realized that he had been played.

OoOoO

A/N: Well, that's a wrap. Sorry that this took so long to get out. It has been sitting on my computer mostly completed for almost six weeks now, but I got arrested and it took me a while to get bail posted. I have said it before, and will say it again, but my life is so hectic that I can never tell how long it will take for a chapter to come out. Just know that they come out as fast as I can get them to.

I want to let everyone who reviews know that even though I rarely get the opportunity to reply to your review, it is not ignored. Whenever I reach a writers block in my storytelling, I go back and read the reviews submitted. That is usually sufficient to get me past the problem section and get the figurative ink flowing again.

Next time on Shinigami no Naruto: Training Continues.