Chapter 4
Of all the ninja in the village of Konoha Ebisu, Ibiki, and Guy shared something in common. On the face of it that statement might seem incredible. After all it would be hard to imagine three more different leaf nins. Ibiki was a sadist. Ebisu a pris. And Guy was… well Guy. On the surface it was hard to see what they shared beyond the fact they were ninja of the leaf. But if you could look underneath the underneath it suddenly became clear.
They were each recognized as the best in their field and each of them loved what they did.
Oh other ninja enjoyed their work as well, but if they were honest all of them would admit that there was something else they preferred. For instance, though Sarutobi enjoyed certain aspects of being Hokage and took great pride in his duty, when he dreamed he dreamed of being a painter and of being able to paint without anyone interrupting to inform him that Naruto was spraying graffiti on his face… again. Kakashi certainly enjoyed the excitement of being on a dangerous mission, and there was no rush to equal life and death combat. But given the choice he'd have preferred to be in a nice shady park somewhere with a brand new issue of Icha Icha in his greedy little hands. Kurenai dreamed of being a farmer in a quiet village. Asuma dreamed of making Shikamaru cry as he beat him for the twentieth straight time playing shougi. Nearly every ninja in the village had some hobby or past time they enjoyed more than they did their work.
Except for Ebisu, Ibiki, and Guy. Ibiki really was a sadist who enjoyed breaking an opponent's will with nothing more than words. Guy was an artist whose art just happened to be taijutsu. Anything that improved his skill or built up his strength and endurance he relished. And there was nothing in the world he liked better than to face a worthy adversary in a desperate battle. And Ebisu? To put it simply he loved to teach. As a warrior or as a spy he was competent, but no more than that. But as an instructor in the ninja arts he really was brilliant. And what Ebisu liked best of all was to bring out the hidden potential of a student.
And at the moment he was really enjoying himself.
Naruto was not.
"Hey you big pervert what is the point to this?!" Naruto shouted.
Ebisu sighed, Naruto seemed determined to ruin his good mood. He took out some shuriken. "I've already told you Naruto, this is to improve your chakra control." Ebisu threw one aimed straight at Naruto's belly.
"Aaack!" On pure instinct the blonde ninja leapt to the right.
Ebisu timed it perfectly and snapped off a pair shuriken aimed at where his feet were about to land. Naruto twisted in mid air and yanked his feet up. He shot out his hands and they both struck the water, for just a second he thought he was going to plunge in. Both of his palms sank about wrist deep into the water but finally stopped. He was actually able to perform an impromptu cartwheel and end up back on his feet scowling at the man who seemed determined to either puncture him or drown him.
Ebisu nodded and even allowed himself a small smile. Early this morning they had been at the hot springs and Naruto had still been struggling to just stand on the water without sinking. Now several hours later they were at training ground fourteen standing on a large pond. Not only had Naruto learned how to walk on water, he was able to leap, dodge, roll, and even cartwheel if necessary. In one day he had figured out how to release a steady flow of chakra out of whatever part of his body came in contact with the water, and he was doing it on instinct, without conscious thought. Even skilled Genin would normally need at least a few weeks to learn how to do this. To come this far in just one day…
Ebisu shook his head. He was really starting to believe the reports that the boy had learned the Kage Bushin no Jutsu in just a few hours. This boy had absolutely unbelievable potential, in his judgment at least as much as Uchiha Itachi or Hatake Kakashi had possessed as children. What had all those idiots at the academy been doing to let all this raw talent go to waste?
They were probably all just as ignorant as I was, well except for Iruka I suppose. He was willing to admit to himself that he had prejudged the boy as nothing more than a demon when they had first met. But Naruto had really surprised him by being a good role model for Konohamaru. And now he was surprising him yet again. Seeing how quickly Naruto could pick things up had left Ebisu shaking with excitement. This was the sort of opportunity that a teacher dreamed of.
Even if Naruto could make things a bit difficult some times.
"So are you done trying to kill me yet?" Naruto demanded.
Ebisu pushed his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose. "Those strikes were all non lethal and frankly a Chunin would be expected to dodge them easily."
Naruto grumbled a bit. "So what now?"
Ebisu glanced at his watch. "You said you wanted to finish by five, it is a quarter to five now. Why don't we go ahead and stop for the day? Meet me here again by 7 a.m. I have a great many things in mind for you and I don't want to waste any time."
Naruto had a relieved grin on his face, the torture was finally over. "I'll see you tomorrow you closet pervert." He waved a cheerful goodbye and leapt away.
Ebisu shook his head. "How rude."
XXXXXXXXXX
As Naruto was rushing over the roof tops his heart was pounding and there was a smile on his face. He was excited, not just about his date tonight, but about his training. The day had been long, tiring, and more than a little scary. But he had learned things! All right, maybe he hadn't learned anything really interesting yet, but at least he wasn't stuck with a teacher who ignored all his pleas for training.
He had never really had any teacher give him a lot of personal instruction. Most of his academy instructors had gone out of their way not to help him. Iruka had been the very first to genuinely try and teach him, but he'd been in charge of 29 other students and just hadn't been able to give him that much personal time. Kakashi had still never given him any personal instruction. The one useful thing that Kakashi had taught him, tree walking, had been taught to the whole squad. Despite begging, pleading for knowledge Kakashi had simply not been interested in teaching him. Though he did seem quite willing to teach Sasuke.
Now suddenly, for the first time in his life, he had a teacher who was totally focused on him. Ebisu might be a pervert, and nowhere near as cool or tough as Kakashi, but at least he actually wanted to show him things. Naruto suddenly wondered if maybe that was part of the problem. Maybe Kakashi was just too cool to bother teaching anyone but the precious Uchiha. Whereas the closet pervert was not cool at all and so didn't have a problem with it. He didn't suppose it mattered, just so long as he had the chance to keep learning new things.
XXXXXXXXXX
Hinata had her hands on her knees and was desperately trying to catch her breath. Her father had spent the last eight hours trying to instruct her in a pair of special clan techniques. One an ultimate defense, the other what could be called an ultimate attack. She was struggling with both, but she was determined to keep trying.
By comparison her father seemed hardly winded at all. He looked at her with a neutral expression. At least he was not openly displeased with her effort. "You will need to continue working very hard Hinata. You must have both of these techniques perfected by the time of the finals."
"Yes father," she got out between gasps.
"We are done training for the day, we will commence again at six tomorrow."
"Father," she took a deep gulp of air. "May I leave the mansion to go visit my friend Sakura?"
He nodded. "You are free to do as you like for the remainder of the day. But I expect you to be asleep in bed by eleven."
"Yes father." It was now a little after five. She would need to take a quick shower and go over to Sakura's. As she hurried up to her room and her private bath her heart was still pounding. All she could think about was that she would soon be on a date with her precious Naruto-kun.
XXXXXXXXXX
"I see," Sarutobi said quietly. "I must confess I was unaware of Kakashi's training methods."
"So far as Naruto's concerned there are no training methods. That's the problem." Iruka spoke unhappily. Kakashi was a friend, but he couldn't stand by and ignore the way he was shirking his responsibilities.
Sarutobi took a long puff on his pipe. "Unfortunately, a great many members of the Council would approve. Many of them would be happy if Naruto got no significant training, just so long as Sasuke did."
"Is that how you feel Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked.
"No, of course not, however where Sasuke is concerned I am required to tread carefully. Anything that is seen as harming his chances in the upcoming finals would draw their immediate opposition."
"What will you do then Hokage-sama?"
"I think I will have a long talk with Kakashi."
XXXXXXXXXX
"Hey Naruto!"
He had just arrived at his apartment. He was eager to take a shower and get dressed. He and Hinata had agreed to meet at the café. But he still needed to pick up the flowers too. Given all that he was in a bit of a rush and hadn't noticed Kiba and Shino waiting outside his apartment building. Hearing Kiba call out to him he came to a sudden stop.
"Hey guys what are you doing here? I'm sort of busy; I have a date with Hinata tonight."
Kiba rolled his eyes. "I know that baka, that's why we're here."
"Say, you're not mad at me for kicking your ass are you?"
Kiba and Akamaru both growled. "You didn't kick my ass! You just got lucky; I would take you apart if we fought again."
Naruto grinned. "Sure."
Shino decided to speak up in his normal placid tone. "We have not come here to discuss the past. Rather my teammate and I are present to express our concern over potential inappropriate behavior in a social circumstance."
"Huh?"
Kiba snorted. "We're here to let you know that if you do anything to break Hinata's heart we're going to break your skull." Akamaru barked loud agreement. "Hinata is a really good girl and we both care about her a lot. So don't try anything with her or you'll regret it."
"Hey I'm not that kind of guy. Of course I'm not going to hurt her."
"Good," Kiba informed him. "After all she's had a thing for you since the academy."
"Indeed," Shino agreed.
"Aw come on! You guys knew too?!"
Kiba laughed. "Everyone who wasn't a total baka knew."
XXXXXXXXXX
"Thank you again for allowing me to come over." Hinata said. "I can't lie to my father. This way I can honestly tell him I'm going out to see you."
Sakura grinned. "No problem, I'm more than happy to help. I mean if things go well with you two I'll finally have him not asking me for dates all the time."
Hinata looked a bit embarrassed. "Thank you for that too."
Sakura looked a tad confused. "What?"
"Thank you for never accepting and going on a date with him."
Sakura had a look of surprise on her face, just before she burst out laughing. "Yeah, like I'd ever put myself through that!"
Hinata looked unhappy. "Sakura…"
"Oh I'm sorry, I mean I know you really like him but come on! He's loud, annoying and dumb. I mean let's face it, he's no Sasuke."
Hinata smiled a bit. "You're right, he is not Sasuke. He is not cold, arrogant, and completely self centered."
Sakura gawked at her. She'd never heard any girl say anything negative about her precious Sasuke-kun. "Don't insult Sasuke!"
"Then don't insult Naruto." Hinata shot back. "I am sick of hearing people say bad things about him, especially when it's people who should know better. Naruto is brave, kind, and he never ever gives up. He is very special and I am not going to let people say mean things about him."
Sakura stared at the girl. Since that whole thing with Neji it looked like shy little Hinata was finally learning to stand up to people. Well I suppose it's only fair. I would stand for Sasuke if he was insulted. "You're right Hinata, Naruto is a good guy." Though he still doesn't compare to Sasuke-kun. "Say is that what you're wearing for your date?"
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" She had on her usual bulky beige jacket and dark pants.
"Well this is your first date with the guy you have feelings for. Don't you think you should wear something special for the occasion?"
Hinata began to blush a bit and press her index fingers together. "I uhm, wasn't really sure what to wear."
Sakura grinned. "Oh I have the perfect thing!" She hurried to her closet and pulled out a light blue dress. "I think this will fit you."
It was a very pretty dress and a modest one. It would show some of her shoulders and her legs below the knee. Even so it would reveal a bit more than she was used to. "Ah, I don't know."
"I guarantee that Naruto would love to see you in it."
Would he? "Do you really think so?"
Sakura nodded and handed the dress over. "I know so."
XXXXXXXXXX
The little bell above the door jingled as it was opened.
"Welcome to the Yamanaka flower shop," Ino called out automatically.
"Hey Ino." Naruto replied.
She actually needed a second to recognize him. "Naruto! Is that you?"
He gave her a confused look. "Who else would I be?"
"I almost didn't recognize you." It was true; he looked completely different without the orange jumpsuit. He had on a long black leather jacket that went that went halfway down to his knees, a white shirt, and black pants. It was basic, but looked really good. He actually looks kind of hot! Ino was surprised at herself for thinking that, but it was true. "Wow Naruto you clean up pretty good."
He gave her an embarrassed grin and rubbed the back of his head. "Uhm, thanks, so do you have my flowers?"
"Right here." She handed him a small bouquet of red roses and white lilies. "The lilies are Hinata's favorite and they symbolize purity and devotion."
"What about the roses, what do they symbolize?"
Ino gave him a sly smile. "Love." He immediately looked nervous. "Relax Naruto, I guarantee you she won't take these flowers to mean you're pledging your love to her." Probably.
He carefully nodded, they were just flowers. "How much do I owe you?"
"No charge," Ino said happily.
"But…"
"Just think of it as my little way of cheering the two of you on."
"Thanks Ino, that's really nice of you."
"So where are you taking her?' she asked innocently.
"To a little place called Café Miruki."
"Oh, I've been there. It's very nice I'm sure Hinata will love it."
"Thanks again Ino." Naruto exited the shop.
As soon as he was gone she shouted. "Mom! Can you cover the counter? There's somewhere I have to go."
XXXXXXXXXX
"So where are the two of you going?" Sakura asked off handedly.
"We're meeting at Café Miruki."
"Well I'm sure the two of you will have a great time."
"Thank you again Sakura." Hinata hurried off not wanting to be late.
Almost as soon as she was gone the phone rang.
"Hello… oh hey pig… yeah I know, Café Miruki." Sakura couldn't help but giggle. "I'll meet you there."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone