#Hyuga-style taijutsu

[enchantingpeachfury]

Hitting her tenketsu point

[thelavender-lily-2024]

vs. Neji.

[nardo-headcanons]

Hi, I never get tired of saying how creative and talented you are ♡♡♡ I wanted to know if you would write about the Senju Clan. I know it's strange, since I haven't seen you writing anything like that and usually I don't see anything like that. I like the way you write, you're the best

Sigh. I have let this sit in my inbox way too long. I am so sorry. Thank you so much for your kind words, nonnie. I have some thoughts about the Hyuga as well, let me know if you would be interested in hearing that.

Also please note that I will change around some canon things and all of this is fanfiction/headcanon.

tagging some people i think will like reading this post: @narutobrainrotstuff , @the-real-sasuke-uchiha , @spookyphilosophertaco , @danceofthexdragons

cw for mention of genetics, racism, religion, genocide and human experiments

The Senju Clan

People

Compared to the Uchiha clan, who are phenotypically rather monotonous, the Senju clan had a very diverse population with a wider range of skin tones, eye and hair colors. There were generally very little restrictions when it came to marrying into the clan and becoming a part of it. The only traits most of the Senju shared were that of fine, straight hair whilst the Uchiha had thick and dark hair with curls not being uncommon.

The reason the Senju died out were two sides of the same coin - with many of the clan's members birthing less and less children, and those who did marrying outside of the clan to the point where there are many Konoha ninjas nowadays who are part Senju but may not even know it.

Traits and Abilities

The Senju were rather unspecified, wanting to hone their skills in all three fighting styles, though I like to think that Taijutsu was one they particularly excelled in. Once one's movements were fast enough to be evaded by the base sharingan (Mangekyou sharingan was, depending on the source material, either extremely rare or nonexistent), the Senju had an easier time fighting the Uchiha. Many of them became weapons and taijutsu specialists, making me think that Tenten might be part Senju and her idolization of Tsunade was a way to connect with her roots and get to know a fellow Senju.

Another skill of the Senju was wood style, which was a skill many Senju before Hashirama posessed, but they rarely ever utilized it in battle. Said ability was caused by a point mutation in the exome, prompting Orochimaru to later carry out experiment's on embryonic DNA to artificially induce said point mutation, killing dozens of newborns in the process.

Religion

While the Uchiha followed the way of Shintōism, most of the Senju were buddhists, like their distant relatives, the Uzumaki. Initially, the people living in the country of fire were engaging in both buddhist and shintōist practices, but with the continued rise of war between the shintō-believing Uchiha and the buddhist Senju, these two religions were more or less divided.

The Senju and the Uzumaki

The establishment of Uzushiogakure in the whirlpool country was received with mixed feelings from its inhabitants. Most Uzumaki, although practiced in the arts of combat, preferred their pacifistic lifestyle of teaching their ways on paper, and not on the battlefield. This instability made it easier for the hidden mist village to send colonialist forces, killing most of the Uzumaki in fear of their congenital abilities. And with the Senju living more and more decentralized and being too occupied with themselves, Uzushiogakure lacked the manpower compared to Kiri's extermination force.

The Senju's Legacy

Nowadays, after Konoha was founded, the Senju started living more and more decentralized, therefore there wasn't such a thing as the "Senju compound". The language of the Senju was adapted as Konoha's official language, causing the other hidden villages to adapt it as well. (You can read more about my thoughts on language in the Shinobi world here.)

There were shrines for both buddhist and shintō believers in the village, but once Hashirama became the first hokage, more and more citizens adapted the Senju's religion of buddhism, with the shintō believers dwindling in numbers. Tobirama's segregation policy did not help in the slightest; although the Uchiha, who believed in family unity and support, lived closely together, being redlined and pushed into the same profession felt patronizing. But even though the Senju as a clan is no more, their legacy continues on, in good ways, and in bad.

[mata-aetara-if]

[ DEMO (TBA) ] - [ PINTEREST (TBA) ] - [ PLAYLIST (TBA) ]

🍃 This is the dev blog for my interactive fiction set in the Naruto universe titled Mata Aetara ~!

🍃 Sorry there’s not much here at the moment as the story being written is still SUPER early in development ~!  Please keep in mind I’m new to writing and creating an if so it will take a while for things to come out, and I’m doing this for fun so I don’t want to rush or put any pressure on myself. If you’re still interested in following my progress thank u so much I appreciate it 🥰

🍃 My main blog I will follow/like from: @sweetchaosyk

🍃 My interactive fiction side blog I'm most active on: @stephschoices

Summary & Features:

Slice of life, but make it Naruto. It's been 4 years since The Nine Tailed Fox wreaked havoc on your village, and things have, for the most part returned to normal. You start off playing as a genin who graduated from the academy about a year ago. Your team, and your friends teams have only been taking on the lowest level missions, but it's about time to start taking higher ranking ones! How will you maneuver life in The Hidden Leaf Village?

Choices you can make:

name

gender, pronouns, & sexuality

hair style, texture, & color

eye color

skin color & details

height

you are the medical-ninja of your team, choose to master it or learn various jutsus

chakra nature

summoning animal (options)

small weapon (options not decided yet)

dads restaurant type (options not decided yet)

RO info & tags below ⬇️

Asahi Uchiha ( x )

he/him

One of your teammates, a member of team 3

From the Hidden Leaf Village

One of your childhood best friends, and the most talented shinobi in your class. With how humble he is you could almost say it happened accidentally though. Prefers only having a few close friends and would go to the end of the Earth for them

Niko Sarutobi ( x )

they/them

One of your teammates, a member of team 3

From the Hidden Leaf Village

Your other childhood best friend! The opposite of Asahi and will make friends wherever they go! Will always put you and Asahi first though! Is also very flexible

Shikako Nara ( x )

she/her

A member of team 5

From the Hidden Leaf Village

A shy girl from the Nara clan. Tends to think her jutsu is never good enough, but her teammates are always there to reassure her!

Inoru Yamanaka ( x )

he/him

A member of team 5

From the Hidden Leaf Village

Not a fan of Asahi, as he thinks he was the best shinobi in your class (he wasn't). Despite that, he is very talented so he has a right to be confident. As he gets older, his confidence and charisma continue to grow

Rona Inuzuka ( x )

she/her

A member of team 13

From the Hidden Leaf Village

Her clan members can be a little chaotic, so she likes to be the responsible one wherever she goes. Safe to say she's the mom friend of your group

Jun Hyuga ( x )

he/him

A member of team 13

From the Hidden Leaf Village

Jun is from the side branch of the Hyuga clan and tends to be quiet and reserved. He is usually uninterested in the antics you and your friends get into

Might Chai ( x )

she/her

A member of team 13

From the Hidden Leaf Village

Chai can perform minimum ninjutsu and prefers taijutsu, just like her father and older brother. She doesn't let that get her down though! She'll do everything possible to show she's a capable kunoichi just like everyone else!

Mokoto Aburame

they/them

A member of team 9

From the Hidden Leaf Village

As long as you don't squish any bugs around them, you'll get along great. Most people call Mokoto creepy, but it's just because they dress in dark colors, don't talk much, and of course, the bugs.

Ryoku (x)

he/him

A member of the sand team

From the Hidden Sand Village

A member of the Kazekages clan, Ryoku was born with their ability to control sand with their chakra. He has a serious personality and will protect his village with his life.

Kougetsu Hozuki ( x )

they/them

A member of the mist team

From the Hidden Mist Village

Kougetsu is an adventurous and unpredictable ninja from the very dangerous Hidden Mist Village. You never know what their next move will be. They like to keep you on your toes.

Important tags to know:

🍃 "ch: [name]" : any info, answered asks, or aesthetics related to the charater

🍃 "ch: [team name/number]" : any info, answered asks, or aesthetics related to the team of characters

🍃 "ro asks" : any reaction / scenario asks answered about the ros

🍃 ".txt" : general text posts about Mata Aetara

🍃 "info" : information regarding Mata Aetara

🍃 "aesthetic" : and posts that give me inspiration about Mata Aetara

🍃 "q" : queued posts

🍃 "my art" : art / edits I've made for Mata Aetara

🍃 "mcs" : any mc art or edits

🍃 "picrew" : any picrews I do of the characters

🍃 "fanart" : any art of the characters

🍃 "irl inspo" : any irl people or places inspo of the characters

🍃 "character design" : official designs of the characters

🍃 "memes" : blank memes i filled out with the characters

[patchofgrey]

Tenten HeadCannons

NejiTen headcannons: Part One

Here are my individual character headcannons that I mostly use for my fanfictions. I am going to start with Tenten since it took me a long ass time to come up with a back story for her that made sense (years, like years.)

Let's start with the family name:

Tenten's family name is Hua. Kishimoto had originally wanted Team Gai/Guy to be foreigners and even designed them with Chinese influence. I wanted Tenten's name to have some significance to her character traits as well as her abilities. At first, I thought about Chun-Li (yes, from Street Fighter) However, even with their closeness in design, the only connection I could make was their taijutsu abilities (which even then, Tenten really only showcases her summoning and weapons handling anyway). Then, I thought about the Ballad's of Mulan, the great Chinese woman warrior. She fits with Tenten's ideals and-yous are gonna hate me for this one- in the butchered Disney version, Mulan's traits parallel to Tenten's closely (in my opinion), I settled for having her line trace back to Mulan. I chose this name for her with the idea that Tenten was related somewhere down the line to the great war hero Mulan. There are two translations of Mulan's last name; Fa (Canto) and Hua (mandarin); I chose the Mandarin translation due to the connection to Neji's last name that starts with an 'H' as well. (Corny, I know. Let me be corny please.) So, when looking at it; Hua Tenten... Hua Tian-Tian. I liked it a lot. Tenten's last name actually comes from her mother's side of the family. I didn't Develop Feiten that much, and if felt weird leaving him without a last name.

Tenten comes from shinobi parents. I have already sketched out my designs for Tenten's parents and older brother hereeee . This would make sense to me because Lady Tsunade is her idol, and in my mind, her mother probably told her stories of Tsunade when she was young to motivate her in the ninja academy. Her father is Feiten Hua who is a jonnin and specializes in taijutsu and fire style ninjutsu, he is also proficient in weapons. Xiao-Lin Hua is also a jonnin. Shinten Hua is Tenten's older brother who is three years older than her. He shows proficiency in fire style ninjutsu as well, and hold similar abilities to Tenten in terms of weapons handling. Shinten (sometimes referred to as just 'Shin' by Tenten and her parents) prefers fight with swords and has impressive taijutsu abilities. However, after the shinobi war, Tenten surpasses her peers and her brother in terms of her taijutsu abilities; she is only comparable to her teammates (as stated by Kishimoto).

Tenten's mother is from Takumi Village in the Land of Rivers. In order to keep Kishimoto's original idea of Team Gai being foreigners, I figured making Tenten's mother from the Land of Rivers made the most sense. Xiao-Lin (or just 'Lin' to other Jonnin such as Maito Gai, Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai as well as family members). Xiao-Lin had met Feiten through missions he would be sent on to Takumi Village and soon they would work in collaboration. They fell in love and Xiao-Lin relocated to Konoha with Feiten, where they had Shinten and Tenten.

The Hua family is a family of crafters and blacksmiths. Takumi Village is an artisanal village home to merchants, traders, crafters and artists. The Hua family focuses on weapons development and custom weapons; one of their clients being the Hyuga clan. Feiten has worked closely with Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga for business, and when Tenten was born, Feiten would bring Tenten and Shinten to the Hyuga compound for business meeting.

Break down for the Hua family. 1. Xiao-Lin Hua is the youngest of three. Her two older sisters are Chao-Xing and Kai-Ming Hua. Chao-Xing (or just 'Chao' to her family) is the current head of the Hua family and the family business. Chao-Xing is not a shinobi and has one son. Chao-Xing is the last of her siblings to produce a child, and is considered to be jealous of Xiao-Lin due to her agency. Kai-Ming (or just 'Kai' to family) is a shinobi and the middle sibling. Kai-Ming specializes in water style ninjutsu and assists her older sister in managing the family business. She also has two children of her own. All three siblings share similar looks and mannerisms that can be seen through Tenten. 2. Tenten and Shinten are the oldest of the cousins/grandchildren. Even though Xiao-Lin is did not inherit the family business, she was the first to produce children for her parents. This caused great joy for the family, thus leaving Tenten and/or Shin the option to take over the family business once Chao-Xing steps down. The birth order goes; Shinten and Tenten three years later from Xiao-Lin | Nayao (female) and Isamu (male) from Kai-Ming | and Haitao (male) from Chao-Xing. If we were to timeline this; in my fanficiton Frequency ( ffdotnet | A03 ), Tenten is about 20-21yrs old post war, which makes Shinten (even though he is not written in this fic lol) would be 24-25yrs old, Nayao is 17yrs old and Isamu is 16 yrs old, Haitao is 15yrs old. 3. Tenten is technically and heiress due to the birth order of her brother, herself, and her cousins. This means she is entitled to the honorific '-sama' or simply 'Lady Hua'. When Feiten and Xiao-Lin relocated to Konoha (here Feiten is from) they did not use their titles, at the time unsure if they would even inherit the family business due to Xiao-Lin being the youngest of the siblings. Even when Shinten and Tenten were born first, they kept that information to themselves, wanted their kids to grow up 'normally' without the weight of the family dragging them down. Eventually, around the age four, Tenten would be exposed to the family business transactions with her bother and father would be addressed as 'Lady' by Hiashi Hyuga. By request of Feiten, though, Hiashi would drop the title for privacy reasons. Tenten did not mention this to her teammates; in fact, only Maito Gai knew of Tenten's title and still respected her family's choice in dropping it. In Frequency, Tenten doesn't explain herself until an issue arises regarding her family's business. 4. Feiten Hua can come off as intimidating, however is a whole girl dad. There are only two people in the whole wide world that this man will move heaven and earth for and that is his wife Xiao-Lin and Tenten. Tenten is his pride and joy, her headstrong attitude keeps him on his toes and he will usually always cave to her needs without hesitation. When Feiten met her teammates, he was rather blunt and even questioned Gai's ability to handle the kids after watching them interact. Much to his delighted surprise, he was not expecting Tenten to be on the same team as Neji Hyuga. Delight, in terms of he knew the Hyuga clan keeps track of all their members, which means his daughter would be looked after as well to some extent. 5. Tenten get's her attitude from her mother. Seeing how Tenten shows traits of being hot headed and headstrong, Xiao-Lin is usually sweet and gives off very caring vibes, but don't piss her off because she will not hesitate to snap and yes; she will say it with her whole chest. That bad bitch persona is what we love about Tenten, so she has to get it from somewhere.

Here the original sketch I did of the Konoha Hua family;

I changed Xiao-Lin’s appearance so it was evident she was related to Tenten in someway...the buns; she needed buns. I switched her hair with Auntie Kai's.

[orochiposting]

Naomi Senju | In Boruto

amazing commission / settei by @ its.sunjyo on instagram <333 + shorter bio since this is specifically boruto and most of her info is on her part 1 & 2 settei / bio

Name: Naomi Senju 直美 千手 Age: 52 / 54 (Boruto) Date of Birth: July 13th | 07/13 Zodiac: Cancer Status: Alive Current Affiliation: Konohagakure Parents: Tsunade Senju and Jiraiya: The Toad Sage Height: 5’4 or 162.5 cm Weight: 120 lbs or 54 kg Rank: Jonin / Medical Nin MBTI: INTP Gender & Pronouns: Ciswoman & She/Her Sexuality: Bisexual Romantic Interest(s): Orochimaru(husband), Su (oc belonging to @ lemony_su on Instagram), Zanaku (oc belonging to @ cursedjinchuriki on Instagram)

Random Facts✶⋆.˚

She was a Child Prodigy 

Daughter of Lady Tsunade and Jiraiya 

Current Wife to Orochimaru

Referred to as the Mouse of the Leaf

Wood Style User

Her summoning animal(s) are rats, which come in both large sizes (like the toads of Mount Myoboku) and small. Her main summon is 'The Rat King, Tesso,' a large albino rat the size of a Hippopotamus.

Attained one of Orochimaru’s curse marks around the same time as her teammate Anko. (one of the early forms, before Jugo)

Capable of Water and Earth Release. Eventually learning how to perform Wood Style Release due to a mixture of reasons such as; Her Senju heritage, her natural chakra nature being water and her being capable of earth release, her chakra control and ability to mix the natures at will, and the Hashirama cells from Orochimaru’s initial curse mark form. 

Her Curse Mark form's design is inspired by a mouse.

Assigned to keep an eye on Orochimaru, alongside Yamato. 

In her free time whenever she isn't surveilling Orochimaru, Naomi works at and with children from the ninja academy as a tutor. 

While surveying Orochimaru, she began to see his growth - especially with Mitsuki.

She is Mitsuki's personal tutor when he goes to the academy and continues to help train him later on. She views him as a son.

She continues to use the sword of Kusanagi, which she attained in Shippuden. It once belonged to Orochimaru, but when he was killed by Itachi - it was dropped and later found by Pakkun when tracking Sasuke's scent. The ninja hound returned it to Kakashi, who gave it to Naomi.

Uses her Hundreds Healing Mark in the same way as her mother to keep her appearance youthful despite aging.

Does not forget what Orochimaru has done, to both her and the shinobi world, but she does forgive him - slowly.

Runs a free splinter clinic for Su in Konohagakure.

Stats★

Ninjutsu - 5 Taijutsu - 3 Genjutsu - 3.5 Intelligence - 5 Strength - 5 Speed - 4 Stamina - 3.5 Hand Seals - 5 Total - 34 

Personality Traits ♡⸝⸝

Positive – Persuasive, Analytical, Convincing, Intuitive, Efficient, Caring, Honest, Observational, Passionate, Intelligent, Ambitious, Tactical, Creative, Studious, Witty, Merciful, Understanding, Hardworking, Innovative, Resourceful, Resilient

Negative – Emotional, Bipolar, Stubborn, Obsessive, Indecisive, Somewhat Disorganized, Addictive, Temperamental, Snarky, Restless, Sarcastic, Perverted

Life Motto – “If you’re not obsessed with your life, change it.”

Clan Info⟡

Clan Name: Senju Specialty: The Senju clan is known as "the clan with a thousand skills" (千の手を持つ一族, "sen no te o motsu ichizoku") because they can master ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, and other techniques to give themselves a variety of skills for fighting. The Senju clan's name, "Senju" (千手), directly means "a thousand skills" or "a thousand hands." Kekkei Genkai: Wood Release + Hair Manipulation Ninja InformationHome Village: The Hidden Leaf / Konohagakure  Current Village: The Hidden Leaf / Konohagakure Academy Graduation Age / Genin Age: 6 Chūnin Promotion Age: 10 Rank: Jonin Previous Teammates: Anko Mitarashi & Tokuma Hyuga Previous Sensei(s): Orochimaru Nindo: “What is meant to be will always find a way.” referring to how she truly believes if something is meant to be, it’ll happen no matter what. Natural Chakra Nature: Water (although capable of Earth, Wind, and Wood.)

check out my instagram @ mousynaomi or @ ang3licsatin for more info on Naomi and access to the google drive with two bio docs for her !!

[a-girl-must-have-a-new-name]

Part Three

The third time was really an accumulation of all of their time sparring together. 

Since the end of the war it was commonplace to see Naruto and Hinata training together.  At first it had started as Hinata helping Naruto relearn the use of his new arm. But as the weeks and months passed, and as Naruto grew stronger and more confident in his new arm, the training turned into friendly sparring. So much so that barring missions, they had a standing Thursday training session that both eagerly awaited for.

 The rules were always the same taijutsu only, and the winner bought ramen. At the beginning of the meetups many friends would stop by (often wanting to get a free dinner) but at some point they realized that Naruto and Hinata were in their own little world, and it was better to leave them there. 

It was one such Thursday after the night in the club that Naruto realized Hinata’s fighting style was like its own dance.  Sure he’d always thought her style was agile and graceful. But now that he’d taken serious notice of Hinata’s love of dance, he couldn’t help but find it in everything she did. From the mundane moments in everyday life like pouring tea when out with friends, or walking through the crowded village, even sparring, Naruto noticed Hinata.

Noticed the way her wrist would turn out as she served tea, noticed the ease in which she would rotate away from rushing villagers while out shopping with friends. Watched as she would take a child's hand and weave them through the city (back to the academy after catching them skipping) they would all follow Hinata willingly. 

Even now as she stood across from him. Her eyes focused and hard as she waited for his move. He noticed the way she stood. Yes, it was in a similar style as other Hyuga members with a wide stance - ready to attack or defend. But as Naruto watched Hinata he couldn't help but notice the slight differences. Hinata’s bent legs weren’t ready to push back, but to out maneuver and evade. The feet that were planted firmly to the ground were just a quick blink away from side stepping and circling around his own rushed steps. It was only by the grace of his own speed that he was able to meet her quick turn away with a spin of his own. He caught her smiling  and felt his own widened as he reached for her not quite sure what his move would be but unsurprisingly Hinata knew. 

On and on they would go meeting blow for blow, ducking and spinning around each other. It was, (if Naruto was honest with himself) his favorite type of dance. 

But like the last few notes of a fading song Naruto would eventually see the fatigue and weariness creep up in Hinata’s face, and the slight slowing of movements. Signaling the dance was ending. It was always a great match but Naruto would always have that unfair advantage of energy. Not that Hinata ever complained. In fact, Hinata often reassured him she enjoyed sparring with him because of it. They would  both collapse from exhaustion and just lie there in the field. Staring up into the sky waiting to catch their breath.

It had been some time since the club and Naruto had been able to catch Hinata humming to herself on more than one occasion. Like now for example. Naruto turned his head slowly to catch a glimpse of Hinata not wanting to distract the girl. Hinata was laying on the grass with her eyes closed as she hummed a song. It was rare to see Hinata this relaxed and free as she reached to the sky, stretching out her sore limbs as she kept her eyes shut.

She’d eventually sit up with the intention to make sure both Naruto and herself were properly cooled down with light stretches. She would lead the stretches still humming that same tune that Naruto was beginning to think she came up with on her own. Even the stretches when added with the humming seemed like a well practiced recital just between the two of them.  As they packed up from the day’s training and headed towards the village for a meal, Naruto finally asked Hinata a question that had been on his mind for a while.

“Would you ever give up being a ninja to dance?” 

“Dance?”

“Yeah you know, like professionally! People do that right?" Naruto suddenly realized he had no idea if that was even a job people could have. Embarrassment began to creep up his ears at the thought of sounding like an idiot in front of Hinata. Luckily Hinata soothed his worries by giving him a quick nod before she spoke. As they sat down at Ichiraku and ordered Naruto watched as Hinata thought on her reply.

"Yes, but I don’t think I’d be very qualified"

"What? No way!  You’re such a great dancer- and a really awesome teacher! I’d bet you’d be really famous!” As much as he doesn’t want Hinata to leave them and become a famous dancer he still couldn’t let her think she wasn’t talented enough for it.

"Thank you Naruto-kun but what I meant to say was I don't think I'd find joy in that."  

Hinata takes a moment waiting for Ayame to place the ramen down and thanking her before speaking once more.

“Dancing has always been a way for me to relax. Back when we were at the academy my dance lessons were one of the only times during the day where I felt like I was doing something right. You remember how I was, I was always so nervous and timid. Not the ideal future leader.” Hinata spoke with an almost nostalgic laugh. Naruto wanted to interject but Hinata gently held her hand up dissuading him from interrupting. 

“I realize now that  wasn’t necessarily the case. But it was what I was led to believe. So when I had the opportunity to dance I felt like I was doing my clan proud. The only fun I ever really had in the compound after Hanabi and I started to drift apart was when I was allowed to dance. 

“Then it sounds like you were born to dance.” Naruto contemplated at a loss as to what to say.

“I think we are all born to do many things. Look at all of our friends. Sai is an amazing artist. Ino creates beautiful floral arrangements. Sakura has such good insight. Choji is an incredible chef, Shino has a knack for gift giving, Kiba is very supportive of his friends." Hinata went down the list as she counted off all the different hobbies and talents their friends had. "Naruto All of these are amazing qualities and skills our friends have but it’s just one aspect to them. Even for you, you are incredibly optimistic! I've always admired that! You have this natural ability to inspire anyone to believe not only in themselves but in you. But your also funny, and kind. you are resourceful and smart there are many attributes that make you, you Naruto-kun! Just like dancing is one of the millions little things I do that make me, me."

This might have officially been the longest amount of time Naruto had ever heard Hinata speak at one time but he found himself entranced leaning closer in taking in every word afraid she'd realize and go back to shorter replies. still Hinata looked determined as she continued on, turning towards Naruto a passion burning in her eyes. Naruto couldn't help but to disagree with Hinata it wasn't him who could inspire the world

"But what I love most of all, are my friends and family. I love this village and it’s my love towards this village and the people that live in it that make me want to protect it. Just as I know you do and so do all of our friends.”

Naruto felt immense relief wash over him at her conviction to being a ninja. Then the words she spoke slowly began to sink in tattooing themselves unknowingly deep into his psyche. The words she spoke about their friends and wanting to protect their home rang true, but it was the words she spoke of him that kept floating around in his head. Leaving an unrecognizable but heightened feeling inside of him. He didn't understand it but it seemed Kurama did.

Kurama rumbled content with the remarks and Naruto felt that although he couldn't name what he was feeling, he knew that it was good and felt right. He peaked once more over at Hinata who was thanking Teuchi for the meal. Naruto let the unabashed grin spread across his face as he joined in on the thanks. As he easily settled into the conversation between Hinata and Ayame about the upcoming Rinne festival Naruto made a mental note to ask Kurama about the strange sensation he was feeling later. Right then he only wanted to think about his friend.

[narhinafan]

What's the appeal of Sakura anyway? She has to be one of the most unlikable characters in all of fiction I know that's a stretch to say this but she is one of the worst female characters to ever exist in general. Sakura would not have the amount of hate that she currently does if she was a minor character like TenTen. So much time is wasted on this awful character she has nothing to the world. In a world where Hinata hyuga was the main female character of the manga we would have gotten so much more history on the hyuga clan which I think would have greatly enhance the story I mean the possibilities are endless I mean people have done it for years wrote Hinata fanfiction where she was on team 7 and the story only gets better considering the Hyuga clan is such an interesting clan in general in my opinion more the Uchiha clan. There's just a lot more meat in terms of story to chew on with Hinata as the lead then there ever would be with Sakura anyway it sounds like a bias Hinata but to fan I'm really am a huge fan of the Hyuga clan and wish they would have been expanded more and I think it would have been easier with Hinata as a lead if that had happened. This is what I mean when I say that Sakura is a worthless character you lose nothing in the lore with her removal as a character there's other clans in Naruto that could have been expanded upon as well but no we had to waste all of our time on that useless bench you had nothing interesting to add to the Naruto universe Sakura is truly useless.

There is none and what little appeal she does have gets canceled out by the negatives of her character.

You are right about Hinata being on team 7 would have allowed for a much better story. First it would further develop her relationship Naruto and earlier, which can also lead to him opening up about Kurama and her accepting and encouraging him still. It is sad how the show brushes off his friends finding out about the nine tails when it would have been a big insecurity for Naruto haven been mistreated his whole life cause of it.

Since Hinata isn't a fangirl she can have a normal friendship with Sasuke and actually act like a teammate. She would encourage the whole team to train together leading to a stronger bond between them.

During missions her Byakugan and Taijutsu style would come in handy she wouldn't be left on the side lines and she would be more helpful in training with Naruto and Sasuke.

Her fighting style is also OP by nature and the Byakugan would also resolve the weakness of chidori so Hinata could learn it as well if needed. Her Lion Fist Jutsu is OP as hell, but she never gets to show that cause she gets little scenes. Hinata also has the chakra control needed to still learn medical jutsu so she could have studied under Tsunade and made everything her own like how Sasuke and Naruto made up their own fighting styles. Add that the Byakugan would be much more helpful for medical jutsu as well.

Seriously the Hyuga clan are the strongest in the village after the Uchiha massacre and if it wasn't for the MS and how they restrict their jutsu between branches I would even say they even stronger then the Uchiha in some cases when you consider the clans as a whole.

Her involvement would have allowed the Hyuga clan to be expanded on and properly show the Cage Bird Seal being removed. Hanabi and Neji would have been more involved as well.

You could even keep the team 7 love triangle by having Sasuke take an interest in Hinata.

Then the fact the Hyuga are also descendent from Kaguya it would allowed her to a power up from Hamura and the final fight better since there would be no need to force a team 7 moment like how in canon Sakura somehow got a punch on Kaguya and had the strength to knock her down.

Plus since each of them come from important clans you could introduce and focus about their clans. Would have been nice if the Uzumaki clan got shown more and Naruto learned some jutsu related to his clan.

The story would have been so much better and allowed for so much more if Hinata was on team 7. Like Sakura's plot revolves around Sasuke entirely as where with Hinata you can get the Hyuga clan expanded on and her struggles with trying to change her family.

Hinata could understand Haku in wave who could even give her a push towards her feelings for Naruto. In the Chunin Exams Orochimaru could have possibly also targeted her with the curse mark leading to Hinata needing to overcome that without going down the dark path like Sasuke did. Kabuto healed her during the exams I remembered their was talks of him kidnapping her during the invasion, but got cut out due to time. She would be an asset in the Tsunade search and Sasuke rescue arcs. Even fighting Sasori Hinata would have handled it better due to the Byakugan and gentle fist countering Puppet Masters.

Put Hinata in Sakura's place and the overall plot becomes better on all fronts. Even Sakura herself would get better as Kurenai would turn her into the next genjutsu mistress and break her obsession with Sasuke or she would end up taking the wrong path like him.

Sakura isn't useless completely but she lets you down, there are loads of points where she could have done better or more but doesn't simply cause of faults in her character. Also her character simply doesn't let plot expand or develop other things. Sakura's family was never expanded on cause she was unpopular and even if it was she doesn't have any family drama or important family her father is apparently a genin as well. Sakura doesn't have anything interesting to explore about her character her rivalry and friendship with Ino was really the only thing of interest about her character plot and that only lasted for one arc of part 1.

[synergysilhouette]

If you could rearrange the teams, what teams would you form? Let's assume rivalries and relationships still pan out more or less the same:

Team 7: Naruto, Sasuke, and Ino. I feel like Ino's mind transfer jutsu makes her a force to be reckoned with, especially under Kakshi's tutelage. Plus her relationship with Sai would have greater depth, and by the time they face Sasuke, she'd be ready to fight him.

Team 8: Lee, Kiba, and Sakura. Let's be honest: Sakura needs this distance from Sasuke, and Kurenai would teach her genjutsu, which means she'd become a force to be reckoned with (especially since Kiba and Lee focus mainly on taijutsu, which could form a rivalry between them). Plus I imagine she'd still train with Tsunade to get stronger to bring Sasuke back, as Ino would train with her dad. And while I think Kurenai would give Lee support for his self-esteem and he'd eventually develop taijutsu, his style, attitude, and aesthetic would probably be different due to a lack of Guy's influence.

Team 9: Neji, Shikamaru, and Hinata. I love the idea of a Hyuga rivalry (initiated by Neji) with Shikamaru being DONE with them, and Guy being their sensei helps to ease the tension and otherwise serious mood. It'd push Hinata 24/7 like in the Chunin exams, and I think her and Neji's relationship would heal faster.

Team 10: Shino, Choji, and Tenten. They're the underdog team, but I feel like they'd vibe well.

[rico-hyuuga]

" They didnt understand the power of youth fully but they admit that it is a power that they wish to work toward."

The power of youth was hard to explain as the technique was organic to Guy Sensei and now Lee. Even though Rico had first-hand contact he could not fully emulate it but took parts and implemented them into his style. His Taijustsu style was getting better with the training that he did at the side of the taijutsu master.

" They were more impressed by you and your master than me beating them all. "

Walking the thin line of honesty and secrets he spoke. The guardian shinobi twelve did take an interest and how he found a way of using the lightning armor of the Raikage and used aspects of the Hyuga techniwue to inprove it . Also being able to master black lightniong while in the land oif fire was hard. They spoke of his grand parents and how they took down things that others could not.

" Maybe the next time I meet with them You can come. "

"I was with the feudal lord of the land of fire along with the guardian twelve... I showed him why my family was as strong as they were."

Ry spoke doing what he could to relay the less classified parts if his mission. The presence of the new guardian shinobi was a highlight and they had given him many scrolls acquired about their counter parts from the land of lightning. It spoke of a clan that handles niaaions that the feudal lord did not entrust to the cloud. Their leader was never mentioned by name but he knew it was his grand father.

"I mentioned the power of youth to him. And how it improved my technique. Being a little stronger than I was the day before. "

[kishimotomasashi]

What do you mean "all existing Konoha jutsu". You mean he's tried everything? Every single jutsu?

[mira--mira]

Could Sakura, Hinata, and Hashirama figure out some way to combine medical ninjutsu knowledge with Hashirama's super strength chakra control thing and the Gentle Fist style? It seems like there's at least some overlap, as far as knowledge of the chakra network and chakra control, so maybe...?

OoT Spoilers

In theory, yes! Gentle Fist isn't a hiden style/kekkei genkai and I think it 100% can be done by others...so much so a version is done in-fic...sorta 😅 The only canon final in the chunin exams that remained the same is Naruto v Neji and Naruto practices a lot with Madara during the month-long period specifically to combat the Gentle Fist...which means Naruto needs to practice against an opponent that can use it and Neji's not going to volunteer and Hinata can't for reasons I'm still tinkering with. In my mind there are two components 1. seeing the tenketsu points (the issue bc it requires the byakugan) and 2. physically hitting each tenketsu point to block the chakra paths (something that can be done by someone with good chakra control and taijutsu, since they have to envelop their own hands in chakra and do precise strikes, someone familiar with the Hyuga too would definitely be at an advantage)

Now my headcanon is the byakugan is the only kekkei genkai that can see the tiny points...but since they're chakra nodes someone using medical ninjutsu will be able to "feel" them. The solution, rather simple overall, is for Hashirama to feel out Naruto's tenketsu point, have him strip to his shorts and physically draw the points on his skin. They'll be "bigger" than the actual points of course, but it's enough for Madara to work with. Then he, as the person most familiar with Hyuga, does a bastardized version of the Gentle Fist (the sharingan's ability to copy here is also super useful.) It'd work a lot better if a Hyuga was the one doing it, but it does fundamentally "work".

[depressedhatakekakashi]

Holage!Neji au!

When Naruto backs down from the job he wanted for so long, choosing instead to focus on being a Jonin Sensei because he found a passion for the job, Kakashi can only think of one suitable replacement.

Neji isn't super fond of the idea at first, but he also recognizes that he can make a lot of changes in Konoha with that position. Changes that he could at most suggest to another Hokage. plus he's no where near as adamantly against having the job as Kakashi, so he'll happily take it off the man's hands.

There's about five years of training and preparation for him to go through, but when he turns thirty Kakashi is more than happy to hand the job over to him. A little early in his opinion, but he'll give the older man some leeway here because he can tell he's desperate to retire and relax. Which is fair given the life he has led.

The day after Neji is named the seventh Hokage, Kakashi is gone. Off to explore the world with Gai-sensei while Neji takes care of the village.

and take care of the village Neji will. His first act as Hokage is to take Kakashi's age restrictions on promotions and increase them. Where Kakashi was fine with an 11 year old being a chunin, Neji ups it to 16 and Jonin to 18. there are of course some complaints, but he does not care. A 16 year old does not need to be doing S Ranked missions.

he also immediately moves into the Hokage residence. Kakashi and Gai-sensei never lived there, and Neji doesn't like living in the Hyuga compound. He never has, so he moves. make's himself and his family comfortable in their new home and sets to work.

Improvements to Konoha are no where near done in Neji's opinion. there are so many ways to make the village better and his main target is the academy. Providing Sensei's who specialize in all different styles of fighting and have set classes with their students so that they can learn from some of the best. Hinata takes up the job as the Taijutsu specialist, while Shino keeps Ninjitsu and someone else takes Genjutsu. There are also special classes on fujitsu, Kenjutsu and other special techniques. Neji manages to convince Kakashi to teach Kenjutsu once in a while, because he has seen the ex-hokage with a sword and that's someone the kids ca learn a lot from. After his retirement of course. Iruka loves all of the improvements, and the funneling of more money to the academy to support them.

[madara-fate]

I think I ask this before don’t remember if each naruto character had own fighting style what would it be

Team 7

Naruto own fighting style

Sasuke own fighting style

Sakura own fighting style but she still has lady Tsunade version of in it to like analyzation, memorization, and evasion Skill.

Team 8

Kiba own fighting style

Shino own fighting style

Hinata own fighting style while still Has her gentle fist style

Team 9

Rock lee own fighting style but still have might guy training him

Neji hyuga own fighting style however still having gentle fist

Tenten own fighting style

Team 10

Shikakamru own fighting style

Choji own fighting style

Ino own fighting style

I'm not sure, my knowledge of the martial arts found in reality is rather limited, and not many of their in-universe fighting styles translate very well since prominent taijutsu users are very scarce.

[theshinobiway]

I Fix Team Gai’s Endings:

CAN I GET SOME LITERARY PAYOFF PLEASE?

Might Gai

How it Ended:

Gai fails to defeat Madara despite having the ‘best chance’ as a Taijutsu master. 

Gai narrowly escapes death and his leg is shattered, disabling him for life.

One of his precious students is dead. 

He’s forced to retire from the career he’s spent his whole life attempting to build. 

Well, be does get to spend his time with Kakashi (who is also in retirement), so he does have some silver lining.

What SHOULD have happened:

Gai defeats Madara, cementing his reputation as the legendary Taijutsu Master and gaining respect for Taijutsu users worldwide OR

Gai narrowly fails to defeat Madara, but Rock Lee avenges Gai by surpassing him (Possibly inventing a new level of Taijutsu that surpasses the 8 Gates).

Even if Gai is disabled, he gets the fame he deserves by being the most renowned Sensei in history. He becomes the model for all future Jounin instructors, and his training methods and philosophies (and by extension, Duy’s) become ingrained in Konoha’s teachings.

Might Duy receives the honor he deserves post-mortem because of Might Gai’s heroism.

People from all over come to battle Might Guy in his dojo, who still manages to defeat all of his challengers despite the lack of mobility in his leg. He accepts students who show particular grit, and it’s considered a badge of honor to receive tutelage from Gai.

Gai still spends retirement with Kakashi, going on trips and leaving his dojo to Lee and Tenten when he’s gone.

Rock Lee

How it Ended:

Rock Lee is an Average Dad

Despite being a romantic, his wife is nowhere in sight. He was never shown with a happy marriage with someone who loves him for who he is.

He has no particular fame or renown for his part in the war, and he has no major fights in the final war arc.

Lee doesn’t get a rematch with Neji OR Naruto.

We find out in the final war arc that Lee has a…CLAN? And then it’s never mentioned again.

What SHOULD have happened:

Lee needed way more screentime during the war. This would cement him as someone important and give us a chance to finally see Taijutsu at it's most advanced‐and I don't mean just the gates. I'm talking sheer technique and will of the human body that simply decimates.

Lee would either team up with Gai in the final fight (or attack) against Madara. If Gai gets defeated, it's Lee who steps up to the plate, delivering this badass monologue: "You all thought Taijutsu had its limits. You all thought I had my limits. Well, let me say this now: I, Rock Lee, have finally pushed Taijutsu beyond what you thought impossible. And how did I do it? Simple. You decide your limits from the beginning... and I reach them."

Lee, to the witness of the entire world, defeats Madara. No one is sure what to make of it at first, but it's clear: he's unlike any other Shinobi in history. He's created something they've never seen before and it's strong. And now, they believe in him like never before.

In the post-war, Naruto is approached with an offer about about a path to becoming Hokage. At the same time, he learns that the village is banishing Sasuke for the time being until they can sort out what to do. Naruto realizes political corruption exists so our precious war hero chooses going/being with Sasuke/his team. It's unintendedly a major political statement that has the elders clutching pearls and clamoring to pardon Sasuke. In his sendoff amid the uproar about him leaving, Naruto loudly nominates Lee in front of all the other Kage and drops the mic.

When finally confirmed after much drama, Lee makes for a FAR better Hokage. His arc goes from disadvantaged, talentless youth to the most impressive Ninja in existence by sheer hard work, the guiding theme of the series. No one worked as hard or stayed as humble as Lee, and Naruto recognized that.

Naruto can be his ‘War-Hero’ right hand when he returns. The "Hand of the Hokage." He still gets the “heroic” validation he REALLY wanted without the responsibility of governing.

Shikamaru is nervous about working with Lee since he's the opposite style in terms of, ahem, "actually working," but after a few early riffs and some honest communication, the two actually learn to balance each other out: Lee teaches Shikamaru be more diligent, Shikamaru teaches Lee to pace himself.

This also frees Naruto and Sakura up to actually accompany Sasuke on his redemption journey, be more present in the series, have relationships develop naturally, and explore the political repercussions of the war and everything that led up to it. It's a point of humility for Naruto to admit he wanted love and confidence over the real responsibility of governing, and let's just say the most effective ruler is always the one who never asked for the job. Naruto is better suited having his own squad as a jounin.

Shikamaru gets exasperated by the shenanigans Lee sometimes pulls in the office to train while doing paperwork. Lee often overworks himself too much and Shikamaru feels bad on his behalf, eventually encouraging him to delegate work. He has a much easier time guilting Lee into going home, though, because Lee would never choose to miss time with his family when it comes down to it.

Lee Clan? Don’t know her.

Lee surpasses Might Gai to become the most renowned taijutsu user in existence, paves the way for taijutsu specialists in shinobi culture.

Lee happily lives with his wife and Metal, who were definitely introduced either in a stand-alone novel or earlier in the series. They are the quirkiest, but most loving family in Konoha.

Their love story is meant to be cute and has the theme of “loving someone for exactly who they are.” I would love it if his wife was also disabled but excelled in her own field and Lee admired her for it. 

Lee invents a new style of Taijutsu techniques that he uses to defeat Madara. These techniques are on-par with some of the most legendary jutsu in existence.

Lee finally defeats Neji in a match, completing the arc we started in season 1. It’s a legendary fight that's still talked about to this day.

Lee’s condition is finally explained as being from a sickness he had as an infant that almost took his life. Gai had the same illness, but not as bad. 

He spends his adulthood looking for information on this sickness. He doesn’t want a cure for himself, but he has research done so it can save the lives of other children.

Lee does a training routine every morning. Academy students who idolize their Hokage eventually join in and try to keep up. It’s also endearing to the village that their Hokage makes time for the kids. 

Even if they can’t finish the routine (and none of them can) Lee congratulates them every morning on doing their personal best. 

Often, Lee teaches valuable life lessons at the end of his morning training sessions–just like Gai.

Tenten

How it Ended:

Tenten sets out to become a Legendary Kunoichi, but only manages to be legendary because she wields/owns all the Sage Weapons.

Tenten is never given a thorough backstory.

Tenten ISN’T the head of Konoha weapons research.

Tenten finally accepts that she isn’t like other girls and doesn’t want to have relationships or get married, her friends support her.

Tenten embraces her goofy side, becomes more like Gai and Lee and is heavily involved in their lives.

What SHOULD have happened:

Tenten originally sets out to be like Tsunade–the woman who could heal an entire army. She isn’t great at medical jutsu, but later discovers that her abilities mirror the Fourth Hokage.

Tenten vows to be legendary like the Fifth, powerful like the Fourth.

Tenten rediscovers and revives the Uzumaki’s sealing jutsu. This, coupled with her mastery of Minato’s jutsu, make her untouchable.

Tenten acquires all Sage weapons, gains fame for using them in battle to turn the tide of the war. Minato meets her and recognizes her as his successor. He gives her his blessing to revive the Uzumaki techniques as her own.

Tenten instead becomes the “Legendary One-Woman Army” In the war arc, she can teleport entire platoons of shinobi in an instant. She rains destruction down on the Zetsu army. 

Tsunade comments that her “strength of a hundred″ seal would have been wasted on Tenten; Tenten has the strength “of a thousand.”

Tenten’s mastery of seals lets her identify and rig the reincarnation seal; All deceased Shinobi that were forced to fight have their free will restored. Tenten has your army now.

Post-War, Tenten, at Hinata’s command, finds the way to remove the Caged Bird seal from the Hyuga clan.

Instead, a new seal is given to EVERY member (starting with Hinata) that functions to protect the Byakugan after death but has no other effect. It effectively halts all attempts by outside forces to steal the Byakugan.

Tenten keeps her weapons shop only because it suits her and her down-to-earth personality. She also likes the freedom to travel as she pleases, exploring the world and discovering more about the Uzumaki.

Tenten is famous for being Konoha’s #1 desirable single, but she will never settle down. It’s not what she wants.

Tenten deflects suitors with sharp objects as a gag. Everyone, though they may not understand, supports Tenten being exactly who she is, and they protect that. It remains a quietly apparent choice her character has made, and doesn't act as a challenge for the plot to fix.

She eventually becomes the sensei of Metal (and Neji’s child too, if he has one.) She pulls pranks on her team to both train them and remind them of who's in charge.

She still is involved in the lives of Gai, Lee, and Neji.

Neji Hyuga

How it Ended:

Sigh.

He begins his arc by cursing the fact that he’s going to die for the main branch and then…dies for the main branch. (And Naruto, I guess.)

Neji does not see his clan unified.

Hiashi’s throwaway comment during the war meant nothing. Neji and other branch members still had their seals. The Hyuga clan still went into the war with “head” and “branch” families. 

Neji does not get a rematch with Lee.

Neji doesn't speak to his father during the war.

What SHOULD have happened:

Hiashi dies for Neji, proving beyond a reasonable doubt that familial love comes before the hierarchy and reversing the old narrative.

Hiashi declares Hinata the new leader of the Hyuga with his dying breath, and tells her she knows what to do. He cryptically hints that Neji will lead the Hyuga to a brighter future. Hiashi knows the elders wouldn't accept Neji as head right off the bat, but he knows his daughter will stop at nothing to fight for her family.

This is also Hiashi’s redemption, finally repaying his brother’s sacrifice.

Neji gets to speak to his father during the war. It’s one of the most heart-wrenching scenes in the whole anime.

Post-War, Hinata stands before the elders and abolishes the status of head and branch families. She also has Tenten abolish the seal, as well as create an entirely new seal that goes on every member to completely protect the Byakugan from thieves but serves no other purpose.

Neji is the first to have his seal removed, Hinata is the first to have the new seal. 

Hinata then declares Neji the new head of the Hyuga while she finally gets the quiet, peaceful life she’s always wanted. If the opportunity did present itself, however, she may have her own squad with a similarly shy kunoichi. She comes to Neji often for advice on how to best train them.

Neji leads the Hyuga through major reform, abolishing harmful training methods and teaching the younger generation about the importance of family.

Neji is rightfully respected and hailed as the greatest Hyuga as he single-handedly creates new techniques that we see used in the next generation.

The Hyuga clan now selects their future leader from the most capable in the family. Hanabi is fine with this because she ‘knows she’ll be the best anyway.’ Neji teases her by saying he ‘isn’t so sure’, which pushes Hanabi to work harder.

The Hyuga are one of the most fiercely loyal and loving clans. Any affront against a single member will bring the wrath of the others. It's like one giant, close-knit family. Make fun of a Hyuga kid and now you’re getting drop-kicked by their third cousin.

Neji loses to Lee in a rematch, but warmly acknowledges his growth from when they were children. Neji is the first to officially support Lee becoming Hokage and is the one who gives him "the talk" that convinces him to accept Naruto's nomination of him to the council. Neji becomes Lee’s confidant and closest advisor.

Neji is an amazing uncle who is sometimes out of his element when it comes to dealing with his energetic niece and nephew. It’s all fluff.

When no one is looking, Himawari will stare intently (threateningly) at her uncle, who will slowly grimace and hand her a piece of candy from inside his sleeve, glancing around to make sure no one sees him complete the exchange. No one knows where Himawari gets her spontaneous candy and stash from. It's a mystery as to what he seems to be paying her off for, but it'd probably be a delicious secret to find out..

Neji’s relationship with his niece is heartwarming. He constantly threatens Naruto to be a good husband and father to his niece and nephew OR ELSE.

Neji trains Boruto and Himawari. He’s strict, but as kind as he is firm.

Neji teaches Boruto to have a closer relationship with Himawari, mirroring the relationship he had with Hinata. If he has children, they're the "cool older cousins" to the siblings and have their dad's clout for sure.

Neji might get married or have children. If he does, it’ll be the subject of a Gaiden novel. Perhaps also a quick throwaway scene in the epilogue post-war where he meets someone that catches his eye. His child(ren) will be on the same team as Metal, where they will also be rivals.

He might have twin boys if we really want to go hard with literary parallels, but it’s not necessary. He'd name his kids after his father first.

There, I fixed it.

[depressedkakashihatake-fics]

Training Interuption

Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai

3937 words

Edited by: @mireleth

Thirty minutes late.

It was unlike Gai-sensei to be late. Usually he was the first one to the training field, a smile on his face and more energy than an adult had any right to have. And to be late when he had promised to show Neji how to add more power to his gentle fist? It was just inconsiderate, and a tiny bit worrying.

“We should go look for Sensei,” Lee’s voice broke the silence that had fallen between the three of them, his words laced with worry. “What if he is injured?”

“I’m sure nothing bad happened,” Tenten spoke up. “Gai-sensei would only get injured on a mission, and since we saw him at team dinner last night we know he didn’t go on a mission without us.”

A good point. Any mission that could cause Gai-sensei an injury severe enough to prevent him from attending their morning training would take longer than a night. Still, it was out of character for Gai-sensei to be late, and since he doubted that his sensei was taking punctuality lessons from his eternal rival, something had to be done.

“We could check his apartment,” he suggested, cringing when both of his teammates looked at him. “We can’t start training without him. He had the training plan and Lee’s not going to focus if he’s worried.”

“I guess you’re not wrong.” Glancing down at all of the scrolls she had scattered on the ground to work on while they waited for their sensei, Tenten sighed. “L-let me just clean up.”

“No need to clean up.” Neji moved into an attack stance when he heard an unfamiliar voice nearby, his byakugan activating and searching the area for the intruder's chakra signature. “Gai said there was someone on the team I’d like to meet. Should have just told me he had a weapons enthusiast, I would have shown up earlier.”

Spotting a chakra signature nearby, he prepares himself to strike only to see the chakra moving around the area and coming to a stop directly behind him. Doing a one hundred eighty degree turn, he aimed his gentle fist attack at the intruder’s abdomen only to have the man grab his wrist and pull it upwards over his head. 

“He did let me know to watch out for you though.” Turning his eyes up towards the man’s face, Neji narrowed his eyes. “Punchy little shit, aren't you?”

“I am Gai-sensei’s student, am I not?” There was a moment where the man actually looked impressed, but that quickly shifted into disinterest. Feeling the grip on his wrist being released, Neji watched as he was quickly forgotten in favour of Tenten’s scrolls still scattered on the ground. 

“You’re not wrong about that.” There was a fondness in the words. “Gai would have all the punchy students. Speaking of which…”

Turning his attention back to the three genin, he examined each of them individually. From the way his eyes scanned over them Neji could tell that he was trying to size them up. See what he was dealing with.

“My name is Shiranui Genma, and I’m going to be taking over your training for today.” It felt like someone had punched him in the gut. He had gotten his hopes up. Allowed himself to look forward to the training that Gai-sensei had promised him last night while they were enjoying sushi together as a team. “Don’t look so upset about it, kid.” Glaring back up at Gemma, he huffed. “Gai woke up this morning with a fever and no energy to spare. That second symptom would be enough to cause concern on its own. So, after a bit of arguing, he agreed to have me train you this morning in his place while he rests.”

That was… different.

“When Gai-sensei has been unable to teach us in the past, he sent Kakashi-sensei in his place.” Lee made a good point. It was out of character for their sensei to send someone that they didn’t already know. “Why would he send you this time?”

“Maybe he wanted to give you a fun sensei this time?” Neji’s pretty sure that both of his teammates have the same unimpressed looks on their faces as him. “Jeez, ok. Kakashi’s busy today.”

Not a favourable answer, but he was going to have to live with it. 

“And what can you teach us?” Lee continued, the usual excitement in his voice replaced by an uncertainty that sounded completely out of place coming from him. “If Gai-sensei sent you, your taijutsu must be impeccable.”

A moment of silence and they had their answer.

“If your taijutsu isn’t up to par with at least Kakashi-sensei’s, then why are you here?” Perhaps it was a little harsh, but it was true. They needed a sensei who could improve the skills that they already had, not one that would just fill a spot. “Is there anything you have to offer us as a sensei?”

“Punchy and rude.” Genma glared down at him. “Are you sure you’re a Hyuga and not a Hatake?”

Whatever commentary was being made about his personality, Neji ignored it. That wasn’t the point of conversation that he wanted to focus on at the moment.

“Do you have any redeeming qualities?” he continued, ignoring Tenten when she jabbed him in the side. A silent message for him to tone back the ‘rudeness’ that others might pick up in his words.

“I’m Konoha’s top weapons expert.” Useless to him and Lee, but he could already see Tenten starting to vibrate with excitement beside him. At least someone would get something out of this disaster. “A tokubetsu jonin of Konohagakure, member of Team Choza alongside Ebisu and Maito Gai.”

“Oh,” Lee’s eyes widened, “you, you were on Gai-sensei’s team?”

A sharp nod of the head, and Neji knew that Lee was gone. A chance to find out about Gai-sensei when he was their age, from someone other than Gai-sensei? Considering Kakashi-sensei never told them anything, this was as good as a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Still, there wasn’t much here for him. He had no interest in learning about weapons more than he already knew. Tenten was the weapons expert on their team and he wanted to leave that to her. It was her passion, he wasn’t going to impede on it. Plus he really had gotten his hopes up for that training Gai-sensei had promised him. 

“I think I’m going to go do something on my own.” He hadn’t actually meant to say that out loud, but with all eyes on him now he was kind of stuck. “It sounds as though this would be a great moment for Tenten to get some one-on-one training with someone who aligns more with her interests. While Gai-sensei certainly doesn’t leave her behind in our daily training, even helping her find her skills for summoning inanimate objects and creating a unique fighting style with it, he wasn’t the weapons enthusiast that Tenten was. 

“In that case, perhaps it would be best if Neji and I trained together today while Genma-sensei focuses on Tenten.” Lee’s arm came down around Neji’s shoulders as he spoke, a proud smile on his face when Neji looked over at him. “I could use the time to spar with my rival; what do you say Neji?”

Not an optimal situation, but better than nothing. 

“Does that mean…” Tenten looked up at Genma with hopeful eyes.

“I guess we’re focusing on weapons today.” The smile on his face says that the tokubetsu jonin is in no way adverse to this outcome. “Just try to stay out of trouble, you two. Gai will never forgive me if you two get hurt when I’m supposed to be watching you.”

“We’ll be fine,” Neji assured him. “Come on, Lee. Maybe today you can actually land a punch.”

“I will land five punches!” Lee proclaimed proudly, beaming when Neji glared at him. “Just you watch, Rival. You won’t be able to keep up with me during our spar.”

Unlikely, but he’d certainly be impressed if Lee did manage to do it.

Watching as Tenten returned her attention to her scrolls, sitting down beside them while Genma-sensei sat across from her, Neji turned and headed towards the exit with Lee hot on his heel. It would be best if they took their training somewhere else and avoided getting in the way of Tenten and Genma-sensei if they decided to start throwing weapons around.

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Training was not going nearly as well as Neji had hoped. 

Lee was certainly doing better than expected. He had improved a lot since their last proper spar, meaning Neji was going to have to keep a closer eye on his teammate’s training regimes. 

Still, simple spars were not what he had planned for his day, and he was starting to get agitated with the entire situation.

Blocking another kick from Lee, Neji placed his hands on his waist and sighed. “This isn’t good enough,” he grumbled under his breath, watching as his teammate clambered to his feet. “I want to improve. I need to become more efficient in battle.”

“What do you want to do then?” Lee asked with a genuine interest that surprised him. He had no reason to be worried about Neji’s training, but he seemed as invested in it as if it were his own. 

Not to mention he didn’t really have an answer. The only way to get better was to find out what Gai-sensei had in mind for his training, and that wouldn’t happen until he was able to tell Neji himself what he needed to do to improve his gentle fist.

“We could go visit Gai-sensei.” Lee’s suggestion caught his attention, but it wasn’t that easy. If Gai-sensei was sick he was likely in no condition to give Neji his training plans. “I’m sure Sensei has it written down somewhere. He always has notes on our training.”

A true fact. Neji had seen the book that Gai-sensei always brought to their training. The one he wrote down new team formations and training ideas in. An idea he had gotten from Kakashi-sensei one day after forgetting the training plan he had come up with for the team. A common occurrence apparently, since Gai-sensei was used to challenging himself to new and interesting training methods and had never really thought about a set training plan before.

The sporadic self challenges didn’t work for everyone though. Neji himself preferred the well thought out plans that his Sensei kept in the book. 

Whatever it was Gai wanted to teach Neji, he must have written it down in his book. He wouldn’t risk forgetting about something that he spoke so highly of just yesterday. He’d want to make sure he remembered every detail. 

It was decided then.

“Let’s go find Gai-Sensei.” Meeting Lee’s eyes, he tilted his head when Lee gave him a confused look. “Don’t tell me you don’t want to go. He may be sick but we both know you still want to see him.”

“Well, of course I do,” Lee whispered, “but I wouldn’t want to impede on his recovery. Genma-san said that he was sick enough that he couldn’t come to training. For Gai-sensei to miss training he must be extremely sick. If we show up there he may try to push himself too much and impede his recovery.”

Surprisingly thoughtful of Lee, but deep down Neji knew his desire to see their sensei would outweigh such a thoughtful response in the end. Not that he would call Lee out on it. The choice was up to him in the end, but Neji knew what he was going to do.

“If you want to wait here, I’ll be back soon,” he promised, turning his back to Lee and doing a quick calculation of which route would get him to the Jonin apartments as quickly as possible. “I’m sure you’ll find a way to keep yourself entertained in my absence.”

Jumping towards the exit he couldn’t help but smile when he sensed Lee following right behind him. As predictable as always. 

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Gai-sensei’s window was easy to spot even from the streets three floors down. With a large red tortoiseshell statue sitting proudly on the window sill, one that the team had all pooled ryo in together to purchase for his birthday a few months ago, it was hard for anyone who knew the man to miss which window belonged to him.

“Try not to knock down the statue this time.” He glanced over at Lee, who sputtered when he heard the jab. “We don’t have Tenten with us today to catch it before it hits the ground.”

Not that Lee and him weren’t fast enough to catch it themselves if it did happen to fall again. Tenten just always made sure to let them go up before her because she didn’t like being crowded on the small window sill together, so she didn’t have to go chasing after it when it fell during their last visit. She just caught it while she was waiting for them to go inside of their sensei’s apartment. 

“I won’t knock it over,” Lee promised. “But I will be the first one up there, so watch your step when you join me.”

With that said, Lee didn’t bother to wait for Neji’s response before jumping up towards the lowest available ledge. The only stepping stone he’d need to help him get up to their sensei’s window, though at the rate his skills were going Neji wouldn’t be surprised if he could make the jump from the street soon. 

Giving his head a shake, Neji quickly followed Lee, intent on getting the information that he had come for and leaving as soon as possible. There was no doubt in his mind that seeing his students would cause Gai-sensei to disregard what he needed to do in order to heal, and would result in him pushing himself to train when he should be resting instead.

“Oh…” 

Landing on the window sill by Lee’s side, Neji frowned when he heard the discomfort in his teammate’s voice. It was unlike him to say such a thing when it came to Gai-se—

“Oh…” It felt as if he had been slapped in the face. Of all the things to find themselves interrupting, it had to be this? “Didn’t Genma-san say that Kakashi-sensei was busy today?”

Lee nodded his head, but said nothing. His attention was focused completely on the scene in front of them. One that Neji really wished he wasn’t being subjected to at the moment. He was certain that finding your sensei cuddling up in bed with another person was something that every student wanted to avoid in their lives. 

It was awkward and made him wish that he had just continued his training without complaints. It was a much better outcome than… this.

“This hardly counts as busy,” he grumbled under his breath, glaring at the two jonin. “There’s no reason he shouldn’t have been able to train us if this is all that he’s doing.”

“To be fair,” Lee turned to look at him, a soft smile on his face, “Tenten is getting training that she otherwise would not have gotten. We should not be upset about that since it will hopefully improve her fighting style which can only make our team stronger.”

A true point, but Neji was still a little bitter.

Kakashi-sensei was a skilled in Taijutsu. He had to be in order to even stand a chance against Gai-sensei in their spars, or to keep up with him when they were battling side by side. He would be able to explain to Neji what he needed to do according to Gai-sensei’s training plans. They had all seen him using Gai-sensei’s training notes when he had taken over their training for him before.

“You two should be training right now.” Neji glared over at Lee when he responded to Kakashi-sensei’s statement by slapping a hand over his mouth, as if that would solve the problem of them being caught spying. “There’s no point hanging around outside. You’ve already been seen.”

He’d like to think that he could train himself to go unnoticed, but considering the tattoo he had seen on Kakashi-sensei’s arm during one of his competitions with Gai-sensei, he didn’t think it would be possible. The jonin was hardwired to notice everything and everyone around him. To go unnoticed around him would be near impossible. 

“I guess we’re going inside.” Not waiting for Neji to agree, Lee slipped inside of the open window and set his feet on the floor, smiling when Kakashi-sensei glanced over at them from the bed. “Hi.”

Following his teammate into the apartment, Neji frowned as he looked at the scene in front of him. It still made him a little uncomfortable seeing the pair like this. So exposed and open. It was as if he was intruding on a private moment.

“You can stop making that look, Neji.” Kakashi closed his eyes, though for once Neji could see the way his lips turned upwards into a smile. The usual dark blue mask was nowhere in sight and it only made Neji feel worse about being here. “It’s not like you caught us doing adult things. We’re just laying in bed.”

As far as he was concerned that was ‘adult things’. He certainly didn’t know anyone his age that would cuddle up to one of their friends when they were sick, hiding their face in the other person’s neck. Frankly, Gai-sensei looked like he was comfortable where he was. Like he couldn’t imagine being anywhere el—

“Oh.” Scrunching up his nose, Neji glared at the silver haired jonin. How had he not realized this before? “Really? You?”

“That hurts.” Kakashi-sensei threw a hand over Gai-sensei’s back, right where his chest was hidden under the other jonin’s body. “Am I not good enough for your sensei?”

This really wasn’t something that he wanted to be thinking of. His sensei’s love life was none of his business and it wasn’t why he was standing in this room staring at the pair with disgust.

“I don’t understand.” Neji closed his eyes, willing himself not to look at Lee with a look of utter annoyance. “Is there something that I am missing?”

Sometimes he wondered how Lee can be so dense about the things going on around him, but there was also a part of him that wished that he could miss the obvious once in a while. Like now, in this exact moment.

“We came here for a reason, Lee,” he reminded his teammate, cringing when Gai-sensei shifted in Kakashi-sensei’s arms and turned his face towards them with a happy sigh. “W-we really should get going quickly.”

“Gai-sensei looks comfortable.” Lee took a step forward and leaned in close, grunting when Kakashi-sensei reached out and flicked him in the nose. “Owww.”

“If you’re looking for his notebook it’s in the top right drawer of his desk.” Narrowing his eyes, Neji glanced over at the drawer in question, questioning himself for the first time since he had decided to come steal a glance into his sensei’s notebook. “But if I can offer you some advice…”

He wasn’t particularly fond of receiving advice from anyone other than his sensei, but it was unlikely that Kakashi-sensei would let him leave without saying whatever it was that he wanted. 

“Let me guess.” Crossing his arms over his chest, he sighed. “Don’t look in the book and just hope I can improve myself without Gai-sensei’s training plans?”

“Well, it worked for Gai.” Tilting his head, Neji leveled the jonin with a look that told him to explain himself. “When he was young a lot of Gai’s improvements came from his own determination to become stronger. He didn’t rely on his sensei to have all the answers for how he could become stronger, though he did listen to him when he had suggestions.”

Pursing his lips, Neji glanced over at the drawer once more. He really had been looking forward to whatever it was that Gai-sensei was going to teach him. It had been the only thing he could think of since they finished dinner yesterday and all went their separate ways.

The ways he would be able to improve himself. How much stronger he could get.

Of course, he had always been able to improve himself even before he became part of Team Gai. While he was naturally talented he still had to train to keep his skills honed, so why wouldn’t he be able to improve himself with his own hard work as well? Lee and Tenten were able to do it, so perhaps he could as well. Even just a little bit. 

“We weren’t here for the book anyways,” he lied, knowing full well that Kakashi-sensei could see right through him. “Lee was worried about Gai-sensei. It’s rare for him to get sick so he wanted to check in on him.”

For a moment he thought that Lee might argue with him. He had no right to lie for him after all, and nothing to gain from it.

But Lee said nothing, and just smiled when Neji looked over at him.

“I guess now we know that Gai-sensei is in good hands.” Lee smiled back at him. “We should get back to training.”

Nodding his head, Neji turned his back to the bed and made his way towards the window, well aware that Kakashi-sensei was watching him every step of the way. Stopping in front of the open window, he took one more look back at the bed. 

Other than moving his face out of Kakashi-sensei’s neck, Gai-sensei hadn’t budged at all since Neji and Lee’s arrival. Not even the smallest action to show that he was trying to get more comfortable, or that he was restless. 

Sick with a fever and drained of all of his energy, Neji absolutely expected to see his sensei having a restless sleep. It wouldn’t be new to him, since he was always tossing and turning in his sleeping bag whenever he slept during one of their many training days that ended with them sleeping under the stars. 

But he looked comfortable, and somehow Neji knew it wasn’t because he just didn’t have the energy to move. For some reason the jonin with endless amounts of energy and a constant urge to keep moving and stay active was calm, content and comfortable laying there in Kakashi-sensei’s arms.

“I don’t understand his taste,” he admitted, smiling a little to himself when Kakashi-sensei chuckled. “But I’m glad he has someone who’s got his back.”

“Always.” A simple word full of so much promise. Neji didn’t think it was possible for someone to convey so much love and trust with so few words, but there it was. “Now get out of here, before he wakes up. It took me an hour to get him to lie down and go to sleep.”

Somehow that didn’t surprise Neji at all.

“Come on, Lee,” he glanced back at his teammate, “you still have to hit me in training.”

He could see Lee bursting with excitement at the reminder of his own personal challenge, and for the first time that day Neji thought that maybe it wasn’t such a waste. He wasn’t going to learn how to improve his gentle fist, not today at least, but he’d get to see Lee try to hit him in a fight.

And honestly, that itself was entertaining enough to make up for the loss in his training.