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"Ah!"
Startled by the voice so close to her ear, Hinata nearly leapt out of her skin. Her pale pupils instantly misted over with a layer of pure panic. She spun around, and the moment she locked eyes with Naruto's smiling gaze, her entire face turned a shade of crimson that rivaled a ripe tomato.
"N-Naruto-kun! I... um... I was just..." She twisted the hem of her jacket with enough force to tear the fabric, her voice barely audible.
"Big Sister came to watch you train!" a sharp, childish voice chirped from below.
Hanabi had stood up, placing her hands on her hips with a look of immense gravity. She looked up at Naruto and added helpfully, "She's been coming every single day lately, you know!"
"Hanabi!" Hinata squeaked, looking like she might actually faint from the sheer weight of the embarrassment.
Naruto squatted down to Hanabi's eye level, ruffling her hair with a grin. "Thanks for letting me in on the secret." He then looked up at Hinata, his expression softening into a gentle, encouraging look. "If you wanted to train together, you should have just said so. I've been curious to see the Hyuga Gentle Fist in action!"
"You always seem so constrained during our practical classes, Hinata," Naruto continued, his tone sincere. "You're probably afraid of hurting the other students, right? But you don't have to worry about me. I've been working on my conditioning, and my body is pretty sturdy. You can attack me without holding back."
"I... I..." Hinata's heart was pounding so loudly she was certain he could hear it. Part of her yearned for this—to finally stand in the same circle as Naruto-kun—but the fear of her own clumsiness held her in a vice-like grip.
Seeing her older sister paralyzed by indecision, Hanabi flashed a mischievous grin. She raised a small hand and announced, "If Big Sister is too shy, can I spar with Big Brother instead? Hanabi knows the Gentle Fist too!"
To prove her point, she immediately dropped into a crisp starting stance, her tiny face filled with a fierce, competitive eagerness.
"Hanabi..." Hinata murmured, her voice laced with a mixture of helplessness and a tiny, stinging spark of envy. She wondered when she would ever be brave enough to be as straightforward as her little sister.
Naruto looked at the bold girl before him and laughed. "Of course you can. My name is Uzumaki Naruto."
"Then I'm calling you Big Brother Naruto from now on!" Hanabi declared. She tilted her head and shot a triumphant look at Hinata. "Big Brother Naruto is way more direct than you, Sister! Come on, let's go!"
She grabbed Naruto's large hand and pulled him toward the center of the clearing. Naruto followed her lead, a genuine smile tugging at his lips. Once they reached the center, he gently released her hand and formed a seal, dispelling the "performance" Shadow Clone that had been training earlier.
Poof.
The clone vanished in a cloud of white smoke. Naruto took a moment to clear the field, picking up the scattered kunai and shuriken and stowing them in his pouch. When the space was clear, he looked back at Hinata, who was still standing by the tree looking utterly lost. He pointed to a wooden bench in the shade.
"You can sit there and watch us, Hinata," he said gently. He rubbed his nose, adding, "Don't worry, I'll go easy on her. She won't get hurt."
His attempt at reassurance immediately ruffled Hanabi's feathers. "Then I'll go easy on Big Brother Naruto, too!" she declared, puffing out her chest. "Sister, don't worry! Big Brother won't get hurt either!"
The sheer confidence in her tiny voice made Naruto pause, then he burst into a fit of laughter. "Hahaha! Alright then! I appreciate the mercy, Hanabi." He dropped into a defensive stance, his eyes twinkling. "Show me what you've got."
"W-Wait!"
Just as the two were about to clash, a faint but firm voice cut through the air. Hinata was standing with her hands clasped tightly against her chest, her face still flushed but her eyes showing a flicker of newfound resolve.
"Hanabi is still too young..." Hinata stared at the ground, unable to meet Naruto's eyes, but her voice carried across the clearing. "L-Let me... let me spar with Naruto-kun instead!"
Naruto and Hanabi exchanged a quick glance. Hanabi gave him a secret, tiny thumbs-up—a "plan successful" signal that only Naruto saw. The little girl skipped over to the bench, swinging her legs and looking quite pleased with herself. "Good luck, Sister! Try not to lose too fast!"
Hinata approached Naruto with the stiff, mechanical movements of someone whose brain had partially short-circuited. Her arms and legs moved in unison as she walked. She tremblingly raised her hands to form the Seal of Confrontation, her voice a mere whisper. "Naruto-kun... please... teach me!"
"Let's begin," Naruto replied.
The "spar" that followed was perhaps the strangest combat encounter in the history of the training ground.
Naruto was holding back so significantly that his movements were slow-motion caricatures, designed to give Hinata every possible opening. Hinata, however, was so overwhelmed by his proximity that her "Gentle Fist" strikes were as soft as falling leaves. Her eyes darted everywhere but at her target, her brain clearly overheating.
From the bench, Hanabi let out a long, exaggerated yawn. Her sister wasn't fighting; she was basically waving her hands to clear away a fly.
Naruto realized the "Little Sun" persona wasn't going to get results here. If he kept this up, they'd be doing morning exercises for the elderly. As Hinata swung a particularly unstructured, soft palm, Naruto moved. He decisively raised his arm and firmly blocked her wrist, bringing the "combat" to a complete halt.
The gentle, playful smile faded from his face. His voice dropped into a deeper, more serious register.
"Hinata."
He looked directly into her evasive white eyes, forcing her to acknowledge his presence.
"If you're tired, or if your heart isn't in this, go sit down and rest. You're wasting the daylight." He didn't look away as he added the final, stinging truth: "Let Hanabi do it."
The words hit Hinata like a splash of ice water, instantly shocking her out of her shyness and back into the reality of the training ground.
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