Hssss!!
A harsh sizzling sound accompanied the plume of white smoke that billowed from the iron sand pot in front of Hinata. The source of that noise was nothing exotic—just Hinata's left fist, driven into the iron sand with every ounce of strength she could muster.
Even at full power, her fist had barely penetrated three centimeters into the sand. The searing heat radiating from its surface was already pushing her past the limits of what she could endure.
Still a long way to go...
Withdrawing her left fist, Hinata gritted her teeth and examined her hands, both of which had turned an angry red. She'd pushed her chakra coating to the maximum today—enough, at least, to keep her skin from actually charring. But after an entire day of training, her chakra was nearly drained, and the damage to her hands fell just short of severe burns.
"Cough, cough..."
Sasuke's ragged coughing drifted over from nearby. Clutching his left arm, the Uchiha clan's second young master was equally spent. Like Hinata, he'd reinforced his hands with every scrap of chakra he could channel, yet still couldn't punch through the iron sand's surface.
Naruto, off to one side, fared no better. Compared to Hinata and Sasuke, the blond's fists were a raw, bloody mess. Even the iron sand in front of him seemed tinged with red.
On the whole, though, this session was a marked improvement over their catastrophic first attempt. At least the three of them had learned to cope with the brutality of this training.
And this was already day five.
"...Training's done for today. Clean up. We're going for yakiniku."
Walking over to the herbal basin beside the training station, Hinata unwound the bandages from both hands and plunged them into the herbal solution. The potent medicine stung viciously against fresh burns, and beads of cold sweat instantly dotted her pale forehead.
But the remedy worked fast. Amid the fierce stinging, a cool relief gradually spread across her hands. These rare herbs were far more effective than anything from the real world, capable of rapidly catalyzing cellular regeneration and reinforcement. That said, this only applied to injuries that weren't too severe. Burns as bad as the ones Hinata had sustained during her very first session—the kind that landed her in the hospital—were beyond what an herbal soak could fix.
Sasuke and Naruto left their iron sand pots and immersed their own hands in their respective herbal basins. Both wore identical expressions of sweat-soaked, teeth-gritting endurance—yet neither made a sound, as if competing to outlast each other. Clearly, Hinata's stoic silence during yesterday's treatment had wounded their pride.
After soaking for roughly ten minutes, Hinata confirmed that the injuries had mostly healed. She exhaled slowly and led the way out of the training cave. This level of training devoured stamina at a terrifying rate, so tonight she intended to treat herself at the yakiniku restaurant.
And while she was at it, she might as well check in on how everyone else was doing.
"Yakiniku! Yakiniku! I'm starving!"
Rubbing his deflated belly, Naruto stretched his back with his usual boundless energy. Hinata, walking at the front, glanced sideways. The yakiniku place sat on a busy street, and at this hour they'd be arriving right around dinnertime. As they passed a storefront window, Hinata stopped in her tracks.
Under the glow of the shop lights, the reflections of all three were clearly visible in the glass. Their outfits were virtually unchanged from canon—Hinata still wore that drab gray-white jacket paired with dowdy black trousers, while Sasuke and Naruto sported their respective eternal uniforms: the navy blue top with white shorts, and the orange tracksuit.
Honestly... what a pathetic look.
Hinata's white eyes narrowed with distaste. She wasn't someone who fussed over appearances, but their current image was genuinely unbearable.
"What's wrong?"
Sasuke arched an eyebrow. After these days of training side by side, he'd more or less adapted to interacting with his two "companions." He still didn't talk much, but compared to the stone-cold silence he maintained at school, this was a vast improvement.
"You two... have absolutely zero fashion sense."
Hinata delivered this verdict while staring at their reflections. Naruto immediately bristled. "Hey! That's so mean, Hinata! My outfit was carefully picked out, I'll have you know!"
"Sure. You look exactly like a chatty orange. Very on-brand for someone as dumb as you."
Sasuke seized the opening without hesitation. Clearly, this Uchiha boy had been itching to say something about Naruto's eyesore of a tracksuit for a while now.
"Both of you, shut it. We need proper outfits before anything else."
Stepping back, Hinata surveyed the storefront before them. It was clearly a high-end boutique. The neon sign above the door read: Nijimura Styling House. Not just a clothing shop, then.
"Boring. Who cares about appearances."
Sasuke struck his signature hands-in-pockets cool-guy pose. Naruto, for once, nodded in agreement. "Yeah, exactly! What a pain. Let's just go eat yakiniku already!"
"Shut up. I refuse to comment further on how atrocious you both look. You have two choices. One: follow me inside and get a makeover. Two: keep your idiotic refusal and get lost."
Hinata's icy ultimatum drew uncomfortable grunts from both boys. She pushed open the door without waiting for a response and swept the interior with a quick glance. The place was tidy and well-stocked—ordinary clothes, unusual accessories, everything neatly displayed behind glass.
A middle-aged woman with wildly multi-colored hair straightened up from behind the counter and greeted them in a syrupy voice. "Oh my! What a cute young lady, and two handsome young gentlemen! Welcome, welcome! I'm Nijimura Yoshiko, your stylist. How can I help you?"
"You just landed a big payday."
Hinata pulled out her wallet, peeled off thirty 1,000-ryō bills, and dropped them on the counter. Her tone was as blunt as her approach. "Give all three of us a proper makeover. The money's yours."
"Oh my! It would be my pleasure!"
Yoshiko's eyes lit up. She scooped the bills off the counter and counted them, suppressing any questions about where children this young had gotten this kind of money. Business was business.
"Trust my skills! I guarantee all three of you will be absolutely satisfied!"
Hah... life's been exhausting lately...
Rubbing her sore arms, Sakura let out a weary breath. She'd just come back from the hot springs, but the fatigue clinging to her body had barely faded.
The culprit was the medical scroll she'd gotten from Hinata.
The theory behind healing ninjutsu wasn't hard to grasp. It boiled down to precisely channeling one's own chakra into a patient's cells and tissue, granting them enhanced vitality and regenerative ability.
So the single non-negotiable requirement for healing ninjutsu was chakra control.
Following the scroll's curriculum, Sakura had spent the past week practicing on fish. She'd made some progress, sure, but the training consumed enormous amounts of her time and energy.
Still—if it meant being useful to Sasuke, every bit of effort was worth it.
Psyching herself up with a silent pep talk, Sakura suddenly found her view blocked by someone walking straight into her. She stumbled back a few steps and instinctively bowed her head in apology. "Sorry! I was spacing out!"
"Watch where you're going..."
A cold yet familiar voice reached her ears, making the pink-haired girl's head snap up in surprise. "Sasuke, it's y—huh?"
The person standing before Sakura was unmistakably Sasuke—and yet unmistakably different.
His signature black short-collared top and white shorts had vanished completely, replaced by a black jacket over a dark inner layer, paired with black trousers. Metal bracelets glinted on his wrists, and a chain necklace hung around his neck. The whole look radiated a subtle but undeniable magnetism.
"What are you staring at?"
Despite the words, Sasuke was visibly uncomfortable, turning his head to one side. The clothes and accessories had been complimentary additions from the styling house, and the effect was... pronounced. Nearly every woman who walked past did a double-take, and for someone accustomed to cold indifference, the attention was excruciating.
"You do... look really handsome, yes! But... what made you switch to such a, um, bold look, Sasuke?"
Sakura fought to maintain her composure, while internally she was screaming: So cool!! That's Sasuke for you!! This look is absolutely incredible!!
"Well, well! If it isn't Sakura. We were just heading out for yakiniku."
Hinata strolled out of the styling house looking thoroughly pleased. Her own transformation was subtle—the same general silhouette, but the old jacket had given way to a short trench coat over a black mesh undershirt, with riding pants and tall boots below. The new look made her feel genuinely comfortable, and her mood had lifted accordingly.
"But Hinata, this feels so weird..."
Trailing behind her was Naruto, freshly restyled. Strictly speaking, the blond dead-last hadn't changed all that dramatically. The godawful orange tracksuit was gone, naturally, along with those hideous goggles. His golden bangs now hung naturally over his forehead and temples, and he wore a teal jacket over a white shirt with sky-blue shorts. The overall impression was clean, fresh, and effortless.
Well, obviously. Minato and Uzumaki Kushina were both stunners—as their son, there was no way Naruto was actually ugly. Turned out the kid had simply never learned how to dress himself, squandering perfectly good genes.
"Shut it. You're finally presentable. If you dare switch back to that old look, I'll strip you naked and make you streak through the village."
Rolling her wrists, Hinata turned to find Sakura standing there in a daze. A glint of satisfaction flickered in Hinata's white eyes.
"Alright! Sakura, come have dinner with us at the yakiniku place."
"I also want to check in on how your healing ninjutsu is coming along."