9 Chapter 9: While The Mentor Was Away

This chapter was going to be a time skip, but one of the readers/reviewers pointed something out to me, that made sense. That I should try and include more of Naruto's training and bonding, and balance out the amount of focus I've put on Raphael.

And so this will be a chapter focusing more on Naruto. Or rather, on characters outside of Raphael. Next chapter will contain the time skip.

Chapter 9

While the Mentor

Was Away

Naruto groaned softly as he felt something wet and a little rough running against his face repeatedly. He shifted, trying to get it off, but it continued, and he could now hear a whimpering noise accompanying it.

The young blonde finally opened his eyes, just in time to see Tomo lick his nose, causing Naruto to giggle. "Alright, alright. I'm awake," he told the little fox, causing the fox to yip happily, tail wagging. He hopped off Naruto and sat on the floor, watching him slowly get out of bed.

Naruto yawned and stretched as he headed into the kitchen, with Tomo padding behind him. He smiled as he quickly got the young fox some fresh food and water, setting the bowls on the floor. Tomo yipped happily, eagerly digging into his food, while Naruto grinned.

With his pet/companion fed, Naruto turned to his own breakfast, making some toast and a small bowl of cereal. He munched on the meal, glancing out the window. It sure looked like it would be a beautiful day.

Elsewhere, Yugito had finished her warm up stretches in one of Konoha's training grounds, glancing around. Her training partner hadn't shown up yet, so she decided to train a bit on one of the nearby training dummies. She began to punch and kick it, grunted softly as she did so.

As she trained her taijutsu, she thought quietly about how things had changed for her. A little short of a year ago, she had been part of Kumo, a village she had hated with a passion. She closed her eyes, trying to ignore memories she had done her best to bury. Instead, she tried to think about what had happened to her. She was now part of Konoha, a village that had been a target of Kumo's both in wartime and in peace. She was not only a chuunin of Konoha, but one of the first members of a secret group of Assassins. It was certainly a strange change in her life, but also a welcome one.

She was brought from her musings as she heard the sound of snapping branches. One of the benefits of being the host of the Nibi was the advanced senses, specifically hearing and smell. She grinned as she kept training, waiting for her training partner. When they finally landed in the clearing, she slowly stopped. "You're late. Not a good thing for a prospective Academy Instructor, is it?" She asked with a mock stern tone.

Iruka Umino sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry. My alarm clock didn't wake me like it was supposed to," he said.

Yugito just grinned softly at the young chuunin as she remembered the routine patrol mission they had gone on, and how she had warmed up to him.

Flashback

The quartet of Konoha shinobi had stopped to make camp for the night. Yugito had been put in charge of gathering wood and making the fire. As she came back with an arm full of branches and sticks to burn, she glanced towards where Iruka and the white haired chuunin Mizuki were setting up the tents.

"C'mon Iruka, why do you want to teach a bunch of snot nosed brats anyway? There's no chance for growing strong or getting famous," Mizuki said, while Iruka shook his head.

"I just want to help the kids out. Try to keep them from making some of the mistakes I made. Plus I know some of them are orphans after…THAT night," he said, his voice going soft, before he shook his head. "I want to be there for those orphan kids. I know what it's like to lose your parents."

Mizuki just rolled his eyes. "You're such a soft heart. How on earth are you ever going to be an actual shinobi with a bleeding heart?" He asked, before going into one of the tents.

Iruka sighed softly as he headed over to the now burning fire. Yugito, who had lit it while listening to them, was quietly adding branches as Iruka began setting up cooking equipment. As he did so, she glanced at him. "I think that's an admirable goal," she said.

Iruka looked at her. "Huh?"

The former Kumo kunoichi smiled at him. "Wanting to help kids. Especially orphans. I think that's a very admirable goal. I know from experience how kids without parents could really use someone to help them out."

"You're an orphan?" Iruka asked Yugito, causing the blonde kunoichi to glance away a bit.

"Yes…since I was four years old," she said quietly.

Iruka awkwardly glanced back at the equipment. "So ummm…would you mind getting me some water?" He asked, holding up a pot.

Yugito nodded, as she stood up. She took a few steps, before turning back to him. "If you'd like, I could help you train. So you can become an Academy Teacher," she said.

Iruka's eyes widened, before nodding. "T-Thank you," he said, smiling a bit shyly. Yugito just smiled back as she left.

Flashback Ends

Yugito smiled as she moved from the training post. "Well, get yourself warmed up. If you want to pass the practical portion of that Instructor Exam, you'll need to get into top shape."

Iruka nodded and started stretching and warming up, before the pair settled into their respective stances. Within moments the training ground was filled with the sounds of combat.

In an apartment back in the village, Anko groaned as she tried to cover her eyes. The purple haired chuunin was still in bed, trying to sleep and failing due to the sunlight streaming through her window and onto her eyes. Quietly she cursed the sun, as she was forced to give up and get up. She lowered her head into her hands, trying to stifle the slight headache she had.

Late last night, she had returned from a mission escorting a merchant back to his home village in western Fire Country. There had been a couple minor altercations along the way with bandits, and she had been more than happy to stagger home after filling out a report. And yet it had felt like she had barely closed her eyes when she was being awakened by the blasted sun.

Anko slumped towards the main living room area of her apartment, glancing around sleepily. She had two choices. Go make herself a cup of extremely strong coffee to try and wake herself up, or fall onto her couch, which was currently not in the path of any sunbeams. She glanced between the two before happily dropping onto the couch.

Naruto hummed a bit as he headed off to the Academy. He was really enjoying his time there. Even if a lot of the students ignored him, and the teachers glared at him, he was enjoying learning about ninja stuff, almost as much as he was enjoying his training time with Raphael. Not to mention he had three people he considered friends in the Academy. There was Hinata of course, even if she was really quiet and tended to stutter a lot, she was nice to him and would listen to him as he talked.

And then there were his two newest friends, Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akamichi. Shikamaru was lazy, and kept muttering about how troublesome things were. But he enjoyed playing chess with Naruto, after Naruto taught it to him. Shikamaru was learning the game fast, and already Naruto had lost several matches to the lazy Nara. Shikamaru, in return, had started teaching Naruto Shogi, and they had taken to alternating which game they would play. So far Naruto had yet to win a single game of Shogi against Shikamaru.

Chouji was fun to hang out with mostly because he and Naruto found a common interest in ramen. They also shared a history of being made fun of by other kids. Though it was obvious why people made fun of Chouji, considering the Akamichi's tendency to be 'pleasantly plump'.

Of course not all of Naruto's fellow students were nice. Kiba was still smarting from his fight with Naruto, not liking the idea that a clan-less orphan had held his own against him. It also didn't help that his mom had gotten wind of what he had said, and had lectured him on treating females and classmates with respect, before grounding him. In his mind, it was all Naruto's fault.

Since then, Kiba was constantly making fun of Naruto afterwards, jumping on every mistake and gloating, doing his best to one up the young blonde. He also kept trying to get a rematch with Naruto, because he wanted to prove Naruto's earlier success was just a fluke. Their taijutsu instructor Ryu had seen this, and had kept such a rematch from happening, for the moment. He knew that if Kiba didn't calm down, such a match would take a turn for the worse.

Sasuke Uchiha wasn't exactly nice towards Naruto either. While the younger son of the Uchiha clan head mostly ignored Naruto, he was angry at the blonde boy for saying his hair looked like the butt of a chicken. He also was a little arrogant like Kiba was, though his arrogance came more from his father Fugaku claiming that the Uchiha were the greatest shinobi clan in Konoha. However, Sasuke kept to himself for the most part.

Naruto was drawn from his thoughts as he found himself arriving at the Academy. With a grin, he eagerly headed inside, making his way towards his class's assigned room. When he entered though, he found his grin fading a bit, as his eyes landed on Hinata.

Hinata's head was currently lowered, most of her face hidden by the shadow of her bangs. Usually she would be writing or reading, or watching for him. Instead, her shoulders were slumped and she seemed to be shaking a bit. Naruto worriedly approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hinata?" He asked.

Hinata almost jerked away from his hand, and turned her head so she wasn't looking at him. Naruto grew more worried now and sat down next to her. "Hinata, what's wrong?" he asked, trying to look at her face.

Hinata just seemed to shudder, as her quiet voice finally answered him. "N-Nothing is wrong Naruto-kun," she practically whispered, though it sounded like she was choking back sobs.

Naruto gently reached up, touching her chin and trying to turn her face to look at him. "Hinata, you can tell me what's wrong," he said, only for his voice to go quiet when he got her to turn her face.

Hinata's eyes were red and a bit puffy, obviously from crying. The reason for it seemed painfully obvious, due to faint and clumsily hidden bruise on her cheek. Apparently Hinata had tried to hastily hide it using makeup or something, but hadn't done a very good job.

Naruto felt anger start to form in him, at the sight of his friend being hurt like this, and obviously being very sad. "Hinata, who did this?" He asked her.

Hinata looked down at the desk, not able to look him in the eyes. "I-It's nothing," she whispered.

"Hinata, who hurt you?" The blonde jinchuuriki asked again, this time a bit more forceful.

The young Hyuuga girl just kept looking down. "I…my father…he ordered me to spar with my cousin this morning. Neji he…he defeated me. My father…my father…," as she spoke, Hinata's eyes teared up, as her mind turned to what had happened, and she haltingly told Naruto.

Hinata had slowly gotten to her knees, after her cousin's last blow had knocked her down to the ground, ending the match. Her body ached form the blows he had landed on her, and she felt tears coming to her eyes. As a shadow fell over her, she looked up, only to see her father glaring at her.

"Disgraceful," he spat out, as he glared at her. "That my own flesh and blood would be so weak."

"I-I'm sorry father," Hinata whimpered, as she tried to stand up. Hiashi yanked her to her feet, causing her to yell out in pain.

"Quiet you sniveling weakling!" Hiashi roared, still gripping her arm.

"F-father, you're hurting me," she said, only to be silenced by the resounding smack and stinging pain that erupted on her cheek, driving her back to the ground. She slowly touched her left cheek, where Hiashi had backhanded her.

"You are a pathetic embarrassment to me and the Hyuuga clan," Hiashi said coldly, glaring at her. "Until such time that you actually can prove your worth as a Hyuuga, I wash my hands of you." With that the Hyuuga head left, as Hinata lay on the ground, crying and holding her cheek.

As Hinata finished, Naruto was trembling in anger. He couldn't put into words how angry he was. Everything that came to mind didn't seem to be enough. As he looked at Hinata, he could see she was crying again, so Naruto did the only thing he could think of. He pulled her into a hug. Overcome with sadness, Hinata instinctively turned and sobbed into her chest.

Both Shikamaru and Chouji, who had entered together, saw the pair, and blinked. When Chouji started to head towards them, Shikamaru stopped him. "Let them be. It'd be too troublesome to bother them," he said. Chouji nodded quietly and the pair headed to seats near the pair, but didn't disturb them.

Their sensei Kurenai entered as well, and stopped when she saw how distraught Hinata was. Walking up to them, she quietly knelt down to their level. "Naruto, what's going on?" She asked.

Naruto looked up at Kurenai. "Kurenai-sensei, I…well…I don't know if I should say," he said.

Kurenai sighed softly, as she placed a gentle hand on Hinata's head. "It involves her family, doesn't it?" She asked. She knew how the Hyuuga were and acted, and given Hinata's personality, she wouldn't be surprised if it caused the young girl problems.

When Naruto nodded quietly, Kurenai shook her head. "Bring Hinata with you," she said softly, as she stood. Naruto did his best to pull Hinata up with him, and he guided her along as Kurenai led them out of the classroom and down towards the Nurse's Office.

There, a medic ninja winced as she examined the bruise on Hinata's cheek. "Don't worry sweetie. I'll make it all better," she said calmingly to Hinata, as her hand began to glow a soft green, and she gently placed it on the bruise. Within a minute, all physical traces of the injury were gone.

Kurenai looked at Naruto, who was standing next to the bed Hinata was sitting on. "Naruto, I would like you to stay with Hinata, until she's feeling well enough for class, alright? I'll be sure to write down notes for the both of you on whatever you miss."

Naruto nodded, as Kurenai and the nurse left the room to talk privately. As they did, Naruto leaned down so he could see into Hinata's eyes. He grinned at her. "See? It's all gone now," he said, indicating her cheek.

Hinata just sniffled quietly, her eyes even more red and puffy now. Naruto sighed as he got up onto the bed next to her. "You know your dad's just a big jerk."

Hinata trembled a bit. "N-No…he's right. I'm weak," she said.

Naruto just shook his head. "Nuh-huh! You were really awesome last time we sparred, remember?! You did that thing with your palms and knocked Chouji back!"

Hinata closed her eyes. "But my father says-."

"Who cares what your stupid dad says!" Naruto interrupted, causing Hinata to look up at him. "Your dad's stupid, cuz he's all mean to you and stuff. And we're going to prove him wrong!"

Hinata blinked at him. "H-How?"

Naruto grinned. "Cuz you're going to come train with me and Anko nee-chan and Yugito nee-chan! We'll all make you really strong," he said with a determined nod.

Hinata felt a small flame of hope pop up, but then it burned out as her own self doubts came up. "B-But why would they want to help me?"

Naruto smiled softly at her. "Cuz like you and me, they know what it's like to have people be mean and bad to them. So what do you say?"

Hinata bit her lip, playing with her hands. "I…d-do you really think they'll help?"

Naruto grinned at her. "Yeah! We'll both be super strong in no time! Believe it!" He said with a wide grin and thumbs up.

Hinata couldn't help but feel better, seeing that smile. She felt a tiny smile form on her own face. "O-Okay then," she said.

Naruto grinned. "Alright! Then you come with me after the Academy's all done, okay?"

Hinata nodded a bit, before blushing. "N-Naruto-kun?" She asked softly.

Naruto just grinned at her, only to blink as she hugged him. "T-Thank you, for being nice to me," she whispered.

Naruto blinked awkwardly, before hugging her back. "I-It's no problem Hinata," he said, smiling. He decided then that he liked hugs.

It took Hinata a few moments to realize what she was doing, and she quickly pulled away, blushing. "S-sorry," she said, looking away. Naruto just grinned, his eyes closed as he rubbed the back of his head.

"It's no problem Hinata," he said. "I actually liked it."

Hinata just blushed more, poking her fingers together. But a small smile appeared on her face. "S-So did I," she whispered, before looking up at Naruto. "S-Should we head back to class now?"

Naruto smiled. "Only if you're ready," he said. When Hinata nodded, he grinned as he hopped off the bed. "Then let's go!"

Hinata just giggled softly at his energy as the two headed back to class.

Later that day, Anko was busy fiddling with the hidden blade bracer she had constructed from the parts Raphael had given her. Along with Yugito and Naruto, she had learned how each part went together, and how to make sure the entire thing worked. Of course Naruto, due to his young age and lack of experience with any weapons, had only been allowed to learn how to put it together. He wouldn't be allowed to train with one yet, until he was older and had a better respect for weapons.

Anko slowly examined the mechanism, checking it to ensure it was all in working order. There were points for different attachments, which Raphael had shown them as well. Raphael's main hidden blade bracer on his right arm not only had the main blade mechanism, but also had a smaller, hollow blade used for delivering poison, and a spring loaded poison dart launcher. It also had what Raphael called a hidden pistol, a weapon which he had demonstrated for them. It had spit fire and smoke and made a sound like thunder when he had activated it, and a nearby training post had splintered badly with a hole going almost completely through it. Needless to say, it left the two kunoichi in awe, while Naruto was whooping and cheering.

Raphael had then told them that for now, Yugito and Anko would start off with a single hidden blade. As their training progressed and they became more comfortable with their skills, he would allow them to choose which attachments best suited them. They could choose to wield dual hidden blades and all the attachments, or mix and match the ones that better suited them, such as a single hidden blade with poison attachments, or dual ones with a hidden pistol. Though he did warn that he would have to do some research and experimentation regarding the hidden pistol, since one of the necessary ingredients for it to work, something he called gunpowder, was not something the Elemental Nations seemed to have any knowledge of yet.

She finally finished checking it over, and slid the bracer onto her left forearm. After adjusting it, she got up, stretching and shifting in her Assassin novice uniform. Flipping the hood up, she grinned as she slid open a window at the back of her apartment and snuck out that way, heading towards the training grounds.

Yugito hummed quietly as she snacked on some sushi, while waiting for Anko to arrive. After training with Iruka, the pair had gone to get some food, and talked for a while. Afterwards, they had parted ways, with Yugito going home to get ready for Assassin training. With Raphael out on a mission with the Hokage, she and Anko spent most of their time sparring with each other, and helping Naruto improve his taijutsu, physical conditioning, and chakra control. Raphael had promised to up the trio's training when he returned.

She grinned as she sensed someone approaching. Having biju enhanced senses made it easier to detect people. Finishing her sushi, she glanced up as Anko landed on the ground in front of her. "Bout time you showed up," she said with a grin, tossing the empty bento box and chopsticks over to a small nearby pack.

Anko grinned, dropping her hood and rolling her shoulders. "Took the scenic route. Decided to try and do some stealth training," she said. "After all, Raphael mentioned learning how to move 'unseen' through a crowd, so I figure the better my stealth is, the faster that training will go by."

Yugito nodded, as she stretched a bit too. "Good thinking. For now, what should we practice? Tracking and hiding, weapons, or just straight up taijutsu?"

Anko grinned. "I feel like some fun. Go and hide, kitty-chan," she said, causing Yugito to huff in annoyance at that nickname as she pulled up her hood, before running off to hide. Anko grinned in anticipation as she pulled her own hood back up, and gave Yugito a bit of a head start.

Naruto meanwhile was walking back to his apartment with Hinata in tow, since the Academy just got out. "Sorry about the delay. I need to pick some things up," Naruto said, as they reached his apartment.

Hinata just blushed. "I-It's okay," she said, as Naruto let her into his apartment.

Almost immediately, Tomo came running to the door, and leapt up at Naruto, yipping excitedly. Naruto grinned, catching his furry friend and holding him as the fox kit eagerly began licking his face. Hinata gasped, her eyes going wide at the adorable fox kit. "O-Oh, he's so cute!" She said.

Tomo blinked at her, sniffing the air in her direction. Naruto slowly held Tomo out so he could sniff Hinata better, before his tail wagged and he squirmed cutely. Naruto grinned, happy that Tomo seemed to be accepting of Hinata. "I think he wants you to hold him," he said, placing Tomo in Hinata's arms before she could say anything.

Hinata blinked at the fox in her arms before yelping and giggling as he began licking her chin. Naruto grinned as he headed to his bedroom to change into his Assassin Novice robes. "Yep, he likes you!" he called from his bedroom. "His name's Tomo by the way!"

Hinata smiled. "H-hello Tomo. I'm Hinata," she said. The fox kit just yipped happily, tail wagging.

Naruto soon emerged in his novice robes and carrying Tomo's pack. "C'mon Tomo," he said, indicating the pack. Tomo hopped form Hinata's arms and into the pack that Naruto had lowered to the ground. Once he was safely inside, Naruto put the pack on his back, grinning. "Ready?"

Hinata blinked at Naruto's new attire. "N-Naruto-kun, what are you wearing?"

"O-oh this is…this is special training clothes!" He said nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "C'mon, we need to go now. Otherwise Anko nee-chan might get angry."

Hinata blinked as she followed Naruto outside, and blinked more when he led her down back alleys, doing his best to avoid people. "N-Naruto-kun, w-what's going on?"

Naruto grinned. "It's part of my training! I'm supposed to be stealthy," he said, his hood now up over his head. He grinned as he kept leading her to the training ground. Once they arrived, Naruto let Tomo out, who happily ran all over the place, sniffing and frolicking.

Naruto was about to say something to Hinata, when a figure dressed similar to Naruto burst from the tree line, trying to run past them, only to be tackled from above by another similarly dressed figure who had leapt from a tree branch onto the first running person. Naruto blinked as Anko stood up, grinning. "And she's down! Repeat, kitty-chan is down!" She said, her arms raised as if she was enjoying the applause of a cheering audience.

On the ground, Yugito growled. "Stop calling me that!" She said, sweeping Anko's legs from under her.

Anko grunted as she hit the ground, before pouting. "Hey, no fair! Dead people can't knock others over!"

They both blinked as they heard an unfamiliar giggling coming from nearby, and their heads turned to see Hinata, who now was blushing and trying to stifle the giggle she let out at watching them. Naruto just grinned. "Hinata, meet Yugito nee-can, and Anko nee-chan," he said, pointing to each of them.

Anko gave a soft grunt as she acrobatically leapt to her feet without the use of her hands. "Hey gaki, who's your friend?" She asked, one eyebrow raised as she lowered her hood. Yugito did the same as well, letting her coiled braid hang loose now.

Naruto smiled at them. "This is my friend Hinata Hyuuga. I brought her with me to train today."

Yugito glanced at Anko. "You sure that's wise Naruto? You know some of the training is…well, not exactly for others to know about."

Hinata looked down at that, feeling bad. She didn't want to get Naruto into trouble, if he was supposed to keep his training a secret. But Naruto just waved off their concerns.

"Naw, we were just going to do taijutsu and some chakra stuff," Naruto said. "Maybe you two could help her as well?"

Anko crossed her arms. "What about her clan? Wouldn't they prefer teaching her themselves? Most Hyuuga I know refuse to use anything outside of their Jyuuken."

Hinata trembled a bit. "M-My father…m-my father f-feels he can't train me anymore," she whispered quietly.

Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder. "She needs better people to train her," he said, with a bit of a glare.

Anko sighed as she squatted in front of Hinata. "Hey cheer up there princess. I didn't mean to make you upset," she said with a smile.

Hinata quietly nodded, as Anko grinned. "Alright. How is your chakra and chakra control?"

Hinata shuffled a bit. "I-I have r-rather small amounts of chakra currently, but I've been doing chakra control training," she said.

Anko smirked. "So excellent chakra control. Then let's focus on those reserves, shall we? When we reach the training clearing, I want you to do ten laps around it. Naruto, try for twenty."

The two nodded, as they headed towards the clearing where the training posts were. Yugito glanced at Hinata, biting her lip. She didn't know if she should tell Hinata about her former home. She finally decided to save it for later. For now, it seemed like it would just be bad to mention it.

As they reached the training clearing, Anko grinned "Alright you two! Stretch, warm up, and run!"

The two young students immediately did that, as Anko watched them. When they finished, the two began their jog/run around the clearing, as Anko and Yugito watched. Anko smiled softly as she saw Naruto slow up enough so Hinata could keep pace with him. "Awww, they're so cute together," she said with a giggle.

Yugito giggled as well. "Yes they are," she said, before sighing. "I wonder how Raphael-sama is doing?"

Anko raised an eyebrow. "Raphael-sama?" She asked.

Yugito blinked. "Well he is our leader, isn't he? He should be treated with respect."

Anko chuckled softly. "Maybe, but I just thought it was funny. He's barely older than me. It's odd thinking of calling someone barely older then myself sama."

Yugito rubbed the back of her head. "I guess that's just something I haven't forgotten from my training in Kumo," she said.

Anko glanced at her. "Can I ask you something? Why did you leave Kumo?"

Yugito's eyes widened, before she turned away. "It's…personal," she said. "I'm not sure if I want to share it with anyone unless I have to."

Anko blinked at that. "Well…alright. But you know me and Raphael are here for you. And holding something in you will just hurt you in the long run," she said, as she turned back to watching the two children run.

Yugito watched her a bit, biting her lip, before sighing. "…I'll think about it, okay?" she said softly. "I'll think about telling you and Raphael."

Anko smiled a bit. "Only if you feel like it," she said, as they watched Naruto and Hinata run. "After they get done with this and then do some meditation, why don't you spar with Naruto, while I work with the Hyuuga girl. I think what she needs most is confidence, and I have that in spades," she said with a grin.

Yugito nodded, as they watched the pair run. As she did, she glanced at Anko, surprised that she was actually thinking about telling her and Raphael the truth. 'But then again', she thought, 'maybe this is what it means to have friends.'

One week later

Raphael sighed happily as he left the Hokage's Tower. They had just returned from the diplomatic mission to Suna, and while the negotiations between Sarutobi and the Kazekage had been less than stellar, his own dealings with the Suna Nezumi had been quite beneficial to both himself and Konoha.

The first thing he intended to do was to get in touch with Anko, Yugito, and Naruto, and see how they all were doing in their training while he was gone. Judging from the position of the sun in the sky, and the numerous amounts of kids running around, he was betting the Academy was out. Meaning that if they struck true to form, the trio would be training. He turned his course towards the training ground they frequently used.

When he arrived though, he was surprised by the presence of a young girl. Specifically, the young girl Naruto had rescued from those bullies. Raphael just blinked as he watched her and Naruto currently sparring, though it seemed to be more Naruto attacking while the girl meekly defended and rapidly gave up ground. He approached Anko and Yugito from behind. "Is there something here I should know about?" He asked calmly.

Both girls were still surprised though, letting out yelps as they whirled around. "Don't scare us like that!" Anko shouted, drawing Naruto and Hinata's attention.

"Raphael-sensei!" Naruto called out rushing over. "Raphael-sensei, this is Hinata! Remember, how you and me rescued her?!"

Raphael nodded. "It is a pleasure to see you again Hinata-san," he said, bowing lightly.

Hinata returned the bow. "A-and you as well, Rpahael-sama. F-forgive me for intruding but N-Naruto-kun….he..he…."

"Naruto offered to train with her after the Academy, because her clan is full of assholes," Anko bluntly said what Hinata was unwilling to say. Hinata just glanced downwards, looking embarrassed and a bit upset.

Raphael sighed quietly, running a hand through his hair. "What exactly have you been training her in?"

"Nothing pertaining to our…'club'," Yugito said. "We've been focusing on chakra reserves, chakra control, and sparring."

Raphael nodded in response. "Good then. Hinata, you are welcome then to continue joining us for training. Though you'll have to leave for some parts of our training. They're exclusive to our little…'get together'," he said.

Hinata blinked. "I-I understand Raphael-sama. I-Is that w-why you all w-wear matching r-robes?"

Raphael waved her question off. "To a degree. Don't worry about it," he said.

Hinata just quickly bowed in acceptance and returned to sparring with Naruto. As they did, Raphael quietly conversed with Anko and Yugito as they watched.

"I think it's about time I train you both extensively in both stealth movement and assassination techniques," he said. "I think I'll need to talk to Sarutobi about help with both. He could maybe lend experienced shinobi to help aid in the training, though we can label it as 'tactical' drills or something."

The pair nodded, as Raphael continued to watch the two young children. Hinata was continually on the defensive, and try as she might, once Naruto started to attack, she simply gave up ground. "I think something's wrong here. Look at her stance and compare it to her movements and reactions."

Both Anko and Yugito followed his instructions. As each spar would start, Hinata would settle into the traditional Jyuuken stance of the Hyuuga. A stance with the legs spread in a somewhat rigid pose, with her left arm and hand extended forward, and the right arm bent at the elbow, with the hand held near her waist.

"The way she's holding her foot. It looks like she's trying to minimize how much she actually moves. It's like she's trying to stay in a specific area. When she attacks or tries to defend initially her feet will move enough to shift her body into an attack, or to help deflect or dodge one of Naruto's attacks. But otherwise there's very little movement from where she is, until Naruto takes the initiative and presses his attack. And that's when she falls to pieces. She tries to hold her ground, but you can see her instincts are screaming to move away, to get out of there. And then her mind will try to keep her stance, and she just ends up tripping over herself, losing her balance and forcing herself to retreat more. She completely loses the initiative. When you add that to her shy demeanor, she loses her will to fight, and loses the spar," Raphael said. "Some of her stance works for her. But it looks like its too rigid, too confining for her," Raphael said.

Anko just blinked at him. "She's using the standard Jyuuken stance that her clan uses. She might only be using the basics, but still, it's the same stance all the Hyuuga use. Why wouldn't it work for her?"

Raphael glanced at her. "Just because all the other Hyuuga use it doesn't mean that every single Hyuuga can. Not everyone can use your style of taijutsu, as it requires speed, agility, and flexibility. For Hinata, I think it's the same problem. The Jyuuken doesn't fit her abilities. Someone's taijutsu stance should fit what they can do, not them being forced to try and fit a taijutsu stance."

Yugito nodded. "So in essence, the reason Hinata is failing is because she's trying to use a stance that doesn't fit her?"

Raphael shrugged. "It's possible. It's also possible that she's simply too afraid to try and hold her ground, and that is what's messing her up. We'll observe them fighting, and see if we can determine which is the problem," he said.

The two kunoichi nodded, as the trio watched Naruto help Hinata up and encourage her. The shy Hyuuga meekly nodded, and the two prepared to face off again.

Elsewhere, Sarutobi groaned as he looked over the piles of paperwork awaiting him. He grumbled a bit angrily as he sat down, hoping for a bit of time to rest and relax after being away on the diplomatic mission. As he set to work reading, signing and stamping papers, his secretary poked her head in.

"Hokage-sama? ANBU Captain Weasel wishes to speak to you," she said. Sarutobi just nodded, and she let the young ANBU member in. Sarutobi glanced up at the current youngest member of his ANBU force, who was currently wearing his full ANBU armor and the ANBU Weasel mask.

"What is it Weasel-san?" he asked a bit impatiently. He froze though at the words that came from the young man's mouth.

"Members of the Uchiha clan are planning a coup against Konoha," Itachi Uchiha said in a perfect monotone voice.

Sarutobi sighed as he gave Itachi his full attention, while through his mind ran one single thought: 'I'm getting too old for this'.

And that seems like a really good place to end this. Sorry for the lateness of this chapter, but I've been caught up in Assassin's Creed 4. LOVE THAT GAME! IT IS EPIC! BEYOND EPIC!

So yeah. Since I've beaten the game, I hope my writing will pick back up now. Guess we'll see.

Next chapter will feature a two year time skip.

Thanks again to my awesome beta's, Bill Alain and Kyuubi123!

So until then. Please review, and I'll see you all next chapter!