Author's Notes: Someone was kind enough to send me some fan art (imgur dot com / C5eN7D8), which inspired me to clean this chapter up and get it off my hard drive.

~o~O~o~O~o~

Whoosh

Phwap

Whoosh-phwap

Whoosh

Clink

Whoosh-phwap-whish-whoosh-phwap

...

Whoosh

Hey, Kyu?

Yes, meat?

This is...kinda boring.

Hinata and Hanabi were sparring in the center of the dojo. Gentle Fist sparring, as it turned out, wasn't much of a spectator sport. Gentle Fist strikes didn't need to land hard to do damage, and there was no reason to actually force chakra into your opponent's Chakra Pathway System during training. Instead, Hinata and Hanabi would engage just long enough for one of them to get a solid touch in (usually on the torso), at which point the loser would politely bow and both would retreat a few steps before engaging again.

The only moments of excitement came when Hanabi, whose reach was shorter, resorted to projectile weapons to make up the distance. A kunai to stretch her reach a few precious inches, a shuriken to push Hinata back and off balance, simple things like that. Hinata and Hanabi were both too skilled to accidentally slice each other up during training, however, so even with a few sharp bits of metal flying around the duels were pretty dull. Naruto wouldn't be surprised if both of them ended the session with nothing but a few scratches to show for it.

Despite the dullness, Hiashi was watching his daughters very intensely. Naruto might have been imagining it, but the veins around his Byakugan seemed to be standing out more prominently than before.

Meat, despite constant - one might say unrelenting - exposure to your idiocy, the experience never loses the verve and intensity of the very first time I was subjected to your monumentally moronic worldview.

Er-

Boring. BORING! I'm sorry that being an eye witness to the private training of the only two possible Hyuga heirs, under the personal tutelage of Hiashi Hyuga himself, the greatest living practitioner of the greatest surviving Taijutsu in the entire Leaf-

Good thing you don't have to pause for breath, Kyu.

-is too boring for you to stomach. You should give up on this ninja business and become a florist. I'd be willing to sacrifice my own immortal existence as one of the most powerful beings on this plane, just so that I won't have to continue watching you embarrass yourself like this. I'm serious, meatsack, you aren't cut out for it. In fact-

That sounded more sarcastic than serious.

WELL AT LEAST YOU'VE LEARNED PEDANTRY, EVEN IF NOTHING ELSE I'VE TAUGHT YOU HAS STUCK.

The demon fox hadn't been this upset in a long time. Naruto had almost missed it.

Speaking of, since this situation is so important, so interesting, since it must be just lousy with valuable tactical and strategic data, maybe you should be NARRATING instead of CRITICIZING.

...

...

...fine. Observe the younger Hyuga, especially her eyes. What do you see?

Hm?

~o~O~o~O~o~

Once Naruto started looking, it was obvious. In multiple ways. It was obvious what she was doing, and it was an obvious strategy in retrospect. The Byakugan granted perfect 360-degree vision. So, obviously, there was no need to look directly at your opponent.

Obviously, but incorrectly. A major tactic in taijutsu fights was feigning tells. Looking left and punching right. Punching right, briefly, then turning into a roundhouse. Things like that.

Of course, these tactics only worked because most of the time tells were real. It's easier to land a punch if you watch while you do it. So there's a tradeoff, between the quality of a blow and how well-prepared that blow will find your opponent.

Hanabi, however, didn't have to choose. She could turn her eyes to the left, but keep her attention fixed on her right hand. It was a sizable advantage, and she made good use of it.

She would follow her striking hands for one, two, sometimes three exchanges, then lash out with a perfectly placed blow from an unexpected direction. Or she would hold her head fixed, staring straight ahead for long seconds, only to jerk it suddenly at an incoming blow, as if surprised. (Spoiler: she wasn't.)

Hinata was using the same tactic, after a fashion, but her attempts would always degenerate into predictable patterns. She was either following her hands, or not, and she couldn't switch fast enough to keep Hanabi from figuring her out.

~o~O~o~O~o~

In fact, meat, that is a useful case study in why your crush's Gentle Fist falls short.

Naruto decided to ignore the bit about the crush.

She's insufficiently random?

No, she is unable to improvise properly within the bounds of the Gentle Fist. She simply repeats the forms. Think of a show dog, trained to sit, to shake, to beg-

Are you intentionally needling me?

-and compare to a human, who may sit and shake hands and beg, not by dint of endless practice, but simply because they are tired, or are meeting someone, or are desirious of a favor.

So, that's a yes? Also, what?

Naruto felt the Kyuubi sigh heavily.

Hey, I'm trying here!

Very well. Let us descend from metaphor to examples. Do you see how, in their neutral stance, both sisters stand with one arm fully extended?

Yeah.

There is a reason for that. Since a mere tap is sufficient for the Gentle Fist to do great damage, that hand, held at arm's length, is a serious threat. They do not need to draw it back before they strike.

Makes sense.

Every part of the stance is like that. It has a purpose. The purpose of that hand is to keep the enemy from closing freely. Now, watch what happens in this next exchange.

~o~O~o~O~o~

The two sisters stood opposite each other, staring intently. Naruto could tell that Hinata was straining to keep up her Byakugan. Hanabi was harder to read, but she certainly didn't seem to be throwing chakra around wastefully. Which made sense; she was only 7. Actually, wait a minute...7? How the hell was a 7-year-old kid sparring so successfully against-

Later, meat. Focus on the fight.

Without any warning, Hanabi darted toward Hinata's left, throwing a fan of three Kunai toward her older sister's right to block her retreat. Hinata retreated anyway, parrying one kunai with her own and dodging the others, keeping one arm pointed toward Hanabi the whole time.

Hanabi switched tactics, dashing in suddenly with a burst of chakra to her feet, leaning down hard to get under Hinata's guard. Hinata jumped over her sister, who spun upward violently in a whirl of pointy metal and open palms. The two traded inconclusive blows as Hanabi slid through the empty air underneath her sister.

The instant Hanabi's arms could no longer reach Hinata's, the younger Hyuga spun around again, angling sharply toward the wall and gathering up two big handfuls of Kunai. Hinata landed straight and got her arms back in front of her, watching her sister's retreating back, then-

~o~O~o~O~o~ There!

Where?

Did you see what Hinata did when she landed?

Er...

When she landed. What did Hinata do?

Um, she got back into her stance?

Exactly. In particular, she stuck her right arm straight out in front of her in the classic Hyuga stance. Even though her sister was hurtling away from her.

So? No reason not to get back into stance anyway. That seems like basic combat discipline.

Maybe. But have you noticed, in this fight, what excellent use the younger Hyuga is making of her ninja tools? Simple bits of sharpened metal, and she's more than compensating for a frankly overwhelming disadvantage in reach and speed.

In speed?

Yes. Hinata is faster than her sister, or didn't you notice? She's stronger too, not that it matters much with the Gentle Fist in play. But tell me, why is it that Hinata isn't using her own ninja tools?

Er...

If you look at the end of that exchange, Hinata used those precious few cycles after disengaging to re-extend her arm, get her footing perfect, and generally make sure that she was ready to keep her sister at bay. Hanabi, meanwhile, was hurtling away, obviating the entire exercise. It may be good "combat discipline", but those movements were wasted.

And what if Hanabi had flashed back?

Difficult, at that angle, but you have a fair point. Hinata's movements weren't wasted, but they were sub-optimal. She should have followd Hanabi, who was certainly in no position to keep her away after that absurd spinning low dash. Or if she wanted to stay at range, she could have harassed Hanabi from afar with shuriken, or prepared a kunai, or any number of things. But instead she simply resumed her neutral stance. And by the time she was ready to make a decision about whether or not to chase her sister, or throw shuriken, or draw a kunai, Hanabi was already halfway across the room and armed with shuriken of her own.

I'm not sure I buy this tactical analysis, Kyu, but fine. Even if you're right, what does that have to do with anything?

It is illustrative, meat. She resumed a textbook-perfect Gentle Fist stance after disengaging, because she has practiced resuming a Gentle Fist stance after disengaging over and over again for years. She was thinking "I will now resume my stance, which includes extending my arm in this way that I have practiced.", rather than "I will now extend my arm because I believe that if I don't my sister may dash toward me at no cost to herself.".

I...see. And what does this have to do with her inability to fake tells as well as Hanabi?

It is the same thought process, or lack thereof. She is thinking "I will look away from my blows, like I have practiced." or "I've been doing that for a while; now I will look straight ahead for several blows and then feint, like I have practiced.", rather than "OK, my sister has begun expecting my eye movements to be feints, I should look straight ahead for a while instead to confound her." Or, even better, "My sister seems to know all the same eye tricks that I do, and they aren't working; what would throw her off?".

Or maybe "I'm clearly not very good at these eye games, I should stop bothering and focus on something else.".

Exactly, meat. Now, to be perfectly clear, most of the time the motions and tactics that she has practiced are exactly correct. The simple games she plays with tells will work on most opponents who have not faced her. Resuming her stance after disengaging is almost always a good idea. After all, there is a reason that the Gentle Fist style is successful.

So, um...what's the problem?

The problem is that ninja fights are, all too often, won by inches. They are won by fractions of a second. They are won in the drudgery of positioning, the minutia of nicked legs and bruised feet that slow your opponent just one crucial iota. If you do the correct thing 90% of the time, and your opponent does the correct thing 99% of the time, you will give them those inches over and over again. Hinata's inability to adapt will lose her most fights where she does not totally outmatch her opponent.

~o~O~o~O~o~

Hinata's Byakugan was pulsing. Not a steady, throbbing, healthy pulse, but a wobbly stuttering pulse, like a drunk trying to stand. If drunks pulsed. Hiashi stood straight, arms crossed, giving no sign until his daughter's Byakugan collapsed completely. (Hanabi's, Naruto noticed, was still active.) Once it was clear that the fight was over, Hiashi raised his hand calmly, and his daughters relaxed their stances. The two sisters bowed deeply to each other, then walked to their father, both panting slightly. They seemed tired, but not exhausted; Gentle Fist training was less physically demanding than Naruto had imagined.

Hiashi spoke.

"A good match. Hanabi, well done, as usual. Hinata, your fundamentals are getting better, but I'm afraid that you have fallen further behind once again. Do you understand how the fight went?"

Hinata might have cast her eyes downward if she hadn't already been closely examining the dojo mats.

Her voice, when she spoke, lacked her usual stutter. Naruto was uncomfortably reminded of the Kyuubi's joke that Hiashi had beaten it out of her.

"Yes, father. She landed four debilitating blows to my torso, one lethal blow to my neck, and in twelve separate engagements gained an advantage that would have been difficult to recover from in a real fight. I landed only one debilitating blow, came out ahead on only four engagements."

Hiashi nodded.

"And do you understand why this is, Hinata?"

Hinata's voice, still stutter-free, came out softer.

"My...I...that is, I have no excuse. I am stronger, faster, and have more reach. Hanabi's mastery of the Gentle Fist is simply greater, and her Byakugan, for her age..."

Hiashi's nostrils flared. "Say what you mean, and say it about yourself. You lost because you are weak. Your Gentle Fist is weak, your Byakugan is weak..."

Naruto choked, loudly. Hiashi's head swiveled toward him so fast he wondered if it had flickered.

Oh. So that's what Hiashi looks like angry.

Hiashi's voice was stony. "Do you have something to say, Uzumaki-san?"

Meat...

Well, Kyu wasn't shouting at him, which probably meant that he'd fucked up so badly that the fox didn't want to spook him and make it worse.

But no, fuck that.

MEAT...

"Well, Hiashi-sama-"

NARUTO!

That stopped him, just for a second. Had the fox ever used his real name before?

DON'T! For Hinata's sake, if not your own.

Bullshit, letting him tear her down like that isn't going to-

Repeat exactly what I say, meat.

But-

TRUST ME. Repeat: "-er..."

Naruto made a split-second decision. He started repeating after the Kyuubi. When the Kyuubi spoke, he used Naruto's voice, complete with the desired intonation, and Naruto tried his best to copy it. He wished they'd practiced this beforehand.

"-er...well, it isn't my place to say, Hiashi-sama, but I will say it anyway. I don't believe that tearing Hinata down will make her stronger."

Hiashi's brows knit together a fraction, and he frowned deeply. Minor changes, but Naruto was suddenly very, very afraid.

"I see. You believe you know better than me, Uzumaki-san, how to train my own daughter?"

Hinata's eyes had grown wide, and Naruto saw that she was shaking. Was she afraid for herself, or for him? No time for that, the Kyuubi was still speaking in his mind.

"No, I believe that you know better than what you are doing, Hiashi-sama. A ninja as powerful as yourself is certainly well-versed in psychology. It is an inexact discipline, but one of the few reliable results is that making someone internalize that they are weak will not make them strong. Every instructor in the village would tell you as much, and could cite more than a dozen training studies performed in this village alone that confirm it. The training of ninjas is too important to be left unstudied, and you are too smart not to have studied it."

-studied it. Now hold his gaze, meat. Look unafraid, but try not to come across as aggressive.

Naruto locked eyes with Hiashi, watched his Byakugan veins pulse and throb, waiting. Some remnant of his old lonely fatalism was coming back - he'd almost forgotten how it felt - and he decided, right then, that he would rather be killed on the spot then let Hiashi stare him down.

Not that Hiashi wasn't trying. His brow had smoothed out, he had the dangerous look of someone who has passed through anger, through rage and into cold, vicious hatred. Naruto held his gaze anyway.

Hiashi spoke again, softly, and that softness was scarier than anything else.

"So you are accusing me, Uzumaki-san, of deliberately sabotaging my daughter?"

Hanabi had a blank look on her face, but something in her posture seemed uneasy. Hinata was literally trembling at this point, holding her arms tight to make it less visible. As if the other ninjas in the room wouldn't notice. Naruto felt a pang of desperate sympathy. The Kyuubi was speaking again-

"No, Hyuga-sama, I would never make such an accusation. But we do not always do what we know to be right, in the moment. We are human, and we make mistakes; we act against our interests, and we betray our principles, large and small, every day. And sometimes those closest to us suffer. I am only trying to help you do what you already know is right. But they are your daughters, and this is your dojo; if you wish for me to be silent so that you may train them, I will be."

-will be. Alright, I think we got him; he forcibly stopped his eye from twitching just as you said "those closest to us". Maybe we hit a nerve? Ask your girlfriend about that later.

Naruto didn't even register the jab.

Kyu, I am completely lost and about two seconds away from shitting my pants right now. What's going on?

He isn't really angry with you, meat. At least, he isn't experiencing the sort of irrational, consuming anger you're used to. Anger for him is a social tool. It's a sort of commitment to harm you, somehow, even if it's against his own interests, if you don't back down. Since most people do back down, it's a net win, even though the times he has to follow through cost him.

Sure, but-

He was using that social tool to make you shut up. Defusing that tool is a three-step process. First, raise the costs of hurting you. Continuing down this path would make him look malicious and stupid in front of his daughters, since everything you said was correct and respectful. Second, give him a way out: an excuse for his behavior that doesn't look stupid or malicious. In this case, Akrasia. Third, offer to shut up if he asks you in his capacity as father and instructor. By offering to back down, you are yielding to his anger, and so he can let you off without setting a bad precedent.

Wha?

He basically said "I will harm you somehow if you don't shut up.". If you had said "I won't shut up", he would be obliged to harm you so that his threats have teeth in the future. You instead said "I will shut up if you ask me, sir, after having considered these things." He can now consider what you have said, decline to ask you to shut up a second time, and yet his anger will still have force in the future, because you yielded to it and offered to shut up unconditionally if he still wished it.

So why won't he just ask me to shut up?

Because the things you said were right, and it would make him look bad to ignore that. You have made attack costly, and retreat easy.

That sounds pretty convoluted, Kyu. Are you sure you have that good of a read on him?

I don't think I've reminded you of my intrinsic superiority often enough in the last few days, meat. As far as matters like this go, he might as well be a large-print book. It also helps a great deal, as I said, that we are right. The real trick is gaining social advantage even when you are wrong.

Naruto was working up a crack about modesty when Hiashi spoke. The man's face had lost its cold look of hatred, but he certainly didn't look happy.

"Your concern for my daughter speaks well of you, Uzumaki-san. But I do not appreciate you interrupting my lesson to criticize my methods. Respect is as important for a ninja's development as self-confidence. If you wish to continue assisting in my daughter's training, you will refrain from so interrupting me in the future. Are we clear?"

Their eyes were still locked. Naruto swallowed, a little harder than he'd meant to. The Kyuubi wasn't feeding him lines any more. Did that mean whatever danger there was had passed? Rather than risk saying the wrong thing, he simply nodded.

Hiashi turned back to his daughters. The unease had left Hanabi's posture, and Hinata looked a little less like she was about to vomit. Hiashi continued where he'd left off with Hinata, as if no interruption had occurred.

"In any case, you already know the exercises for extending the duration of your Byakugan, so we will focus on the Gentle Fist.."

~o~O~o~O~o~

Naruto went from terrified to bored in a matter of minutes as the Hyuga clan discussed, demonstrated, and practiced an increasingly parochial series of principles related to the Gentle Fist. Naruto's attention started to wander around when Hiashi began to elaborate on angles of the hand in the neutral stance (orienting the fingers forward denies the enemy a larger area, but makes fine adjustments left or right is harder). For once the Kyuubi wasn't trying to get him to pay more attention, and before he knew it the training session had ended uneventfully. Hiashi told his daughters what to practice for next time and turned to leave.

Hanabi spoke up, however. "Father? Excuse me, but is the dojo free for the rest of the evening?"

Hiashi paused and turned around, looking unsurprised, which meant nothing. "Yes, it should be."

"Then," Hanabi said, turning to Naruto, "Uzumaki-san, were you and my sister planning to train together after this?"

Naruto nodded slowly.

"It is a terrible imposition, but might I join you? I feel that my own training would benefit from some variety."

Hanabi glanced her father's way as she said this, and after a moment he nodded. "I did tell you that, but I was expecting you to train with an experienced clan member. Uzumaki-san and your sister must train together to build rapport; you have no such requirement. If you wish for instruction from outside the clan, I can arrange for a tutor."

Hanabi lowered her head politely. "I will do what you think is best, father, but I must admit that I am curious, and I feel that my sister and I might also benefit from a stronger 'rapport'. That is, if you don't mind?"

She looked up at Naruto as she said this. Hiashi turned to look at him as well, saying nothing. He looked to Hinata for help, but she had been even more quiet than usual since his argument with her father, and certainly didn't seem inclined to say anything right now.

Any advice, Kyu?

Are you an idiot, meat? One answer is rude and deprives you of information on the younger Hyuga. Just don't seem too eager, it will make you look amateurish.

Well, when you put it that way...

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Eh, sure, why not? We're going to be doing speed training, so it'll probably be pretty boring, but if you can put up with it we'd love to have you."

Hiashi continued staring at Naruto for a moment, then nodded a second time to Hanabi. "Very well. You may train with them for as long as it pleases the three of you and does not become an impediment to your progress. Do not leave the compound, however. Having both heirs to our main bloodline out together might prove too tempting to some."

With that Hiashi turned smoothly and strode from the room. Not that it mattered, really; he could still see them just fine with his Byakugan, and Naruto wouldn't be surprised if he could somehow hear them, too.

~o~O~o~O~o~

Everyone stood around awkwardly for a few seconds until the new social dynamic clicked into place. Naruto took charge, rubbing his hands and walking toward the two sisters. "Alright, no point wasting time. Hinata-chan, drill three to warm up?"

Hinata nodded, staring at the floor. Before Naruto could blink she had flashed all the way to the other side of the dojo and was dashing doggedly from wall to wall. Her shyness levels seemed to have temporarily regressed several months. Ah well, she'd be fine. Right?

Most probably, meat. No lasting damage was done today. It was a VERY NEAR MISS, however. We will need to have a long discussion tonight about the exact definition of the term "best behavior".

Naruto promptly put that out of his mind. He turned to Hanabi. The young girl took a step or two toward him, then stopped and stood respectfully with her hands behind her back, staring up into his eyes. The stance might have been called demure, but her blank gaze and the angle of her chin made her look poised instead.

"And what should I do, Uzumaki-san?"

Naruto wasn't used to being taller than people. He grinned and squatted down to eye-level with the younger ninja. "Hmm. Hey! You wanna make a bet, Hanabi-chan?"

Hanabi accepted the "-chan" suffix without blinking. "My father once told me that gambling exists solely to transform the indolent into the indigent, that others might make use of their newly liquid funds. So I would be difficult to convince, Uzumaki-san."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and frowned a little. "Yikes! Big words. How old are you again, kid?"

"Seven."

"YIKES! Anyway, I don't want to bet money or anything. I just wanted to say, I bet you've only been taught to run for the purpose of fighting, right?"

Hanabi-chan stared at him blankly, and said nothing.

"Err...I mean, like, I was watching your fight earlier, and your movements are really good, Hanabi-chan, if you're expecting to be attacked. You accelerate at a super-low angle, low enough that you could touch the ground if you had to, and you keep both your feet pretty close to the ground while you run. A high-speed shuffle, if you will."

Hanabi cocked her head, still saying nothing. Naruto couldn't figure out what was going on in her head. But she was listening, at least.

"Um, and that's really good if you need lots of options for changing direction quickly, or if you need to jump on short notice, but it's slower than a sprint."

Hanabi was still maintaining radio silence with her body language, so Naruto pressed on.

"So, anyway, how would you like to learn how to sprint? You'll be way faster, and it's pretty easy to learn!"

Naruto punctuated his sales pitch with a big grin and two thumbs-up. If Hanabi was going to keep acting borderline-autistic, he might as well make sure that he was conveying his emotions clearly.

Hanabi slowly uncocked her head, looking straight into his eyes.

"Is it worth knowing, Uzumaki-san? It seems foolish to run so quickly that no defense can be mustered against an attack."

Naruto rubbed his chin.

"Well, maybe. But it also seems foolish not to have the option. There's a big difference between choosing to run slowly and not being able to run fast. So, yeah, I'd say it's worth knowing."

Hanabi nodded firmly, crossed her arms, and stood expectantly. Or something. She was standing, anyway, Naruto was sure of that. After a few awkward moments, he launched right in.

"Er...alright. Let's start with your stance. Uncross your arms."

Hanabi obliged, face still blank. Naruto walked behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Alright, now, relax your shoulders. Your shoulder blades should be down and loose." Naruto pressed down as he spoke, and he could feel Hanabi's torso aligning properly. "Good! Make sure to keep them like that while you run. We'll talk more about arms in a second. Next, straighten out a bit. I know the Gentle Fist puts a lot of emphasis on spinning and slanting, but good sprinting is very linear. You should keep your head, shoulders, and hips facing straight forward."

Naruto pattered on for a bit about the unimportant parts of sprinting. Keeping your shoulders relaxed was less than a hundredth as important as getting your legs right, but the Kyuubi had taught him to always put the most important part of a lesson at the end.

Hanabi was infinitely pliable. The contrast to Hinata, who had gotten basically the same treatment not too long ago, was striking. The younger Hyuga never flinched away from Naruto's touch, for example. And she certainly didn't blush when he positioned her hips. It was like posing a mannequin.

Well, that wasn't quite accurate. It was like posing a mannequin with super-advanced pose-correction technology. Perfecting Hinata's form was like balancing stones; it was slow, tedious, and prone to falling apart completely if he pushed too hard. Hanabi was more like a set of legos. He'd move her arm or her pelvis or whatever into roughly the right spot, and as soon as he let go it would click perfectly into place. She had a preternatural intuition for lines of force and tension in her own body.

In fact, he was beginning to understand why she was called a genius. Every time he moved her, he could feel the child just below her calm surface. Hanabi was already a ninja on the outside, but on the inside she was nothing but underdeveloped musculature clinging to thin, flexible bones.

Naruto couldn't see chakra pathways, but judging by Hanabi's extended use of the Byakugan, hers were amazingly well-developed for her age. Flashing at full speed would probably fracture both her legs. She was like a master swordsman wielding a rotted stick. The Gentle Fist was unusually well-suited to her limitations, but it was still mind-boggling that she could reliably beat Hinata in a fight. (After all, Hinata was no slouch! She was one of the better Genin in her year.)

"Great, Hanabi-chan! You're a natural. Now let's talk about legs. You want to try to keep your toes as close to your shins as possible, because it makes your leg a shorter lever, and you don't have to work as hard. Every step you want to bring your knees up, like this..."

~o~O~o~O~o~

The problem with speed training in a Dojo, Hinata reflected, was that it allowed far too much time for reflection. At least reflecting on reflection was better than reflecting on Naruto and Hanabi and Father. Oh wait, now she was reflecting on that again. Wonderful.

Hey, I call today an unmitigated success. Naruto STOOD UP FOR US. To DAD. And now maybe we're going to get to know Hanabi better, which honestly would do a lot for our mental health at this point.

But...but he...it was the first day! The first day! And he already almost...with father, I mean...I was so scared...

Yeah, that was really freaky. He handled it fine, though.

Th...This time! What abou...about next time?

Erm...

A...An...And Hanabi! He's over there with Hanabi! And he saw how badly she beat me, and how much less afraid she is, and now he's going to see how fast she learns, and how...how...how weak...

Hey, he wasn't wrong, you know. Naruto wasn't. Earlier, I mean. Dad tearing us down like that won't make us stronger, and neither will tearing ourself down.

But...

And, yes, Hanabi is better than us right now. Maybe she'll always be better than us. That's a real possibility. But so what! That doesn't mean we can't be amazing. And Naruto wouldn't go for her anyway. She's seven! We're his teammate, we're the same age, we're developed, we already sorta-kinda made a move. We're killing it right now!

Hinata reflected that it was definitely a bad sign when her inner self felt the need to be this nice.

Alright, yes, I'm putting a positive spin on things, but seriously, lighten up. Everything's fine.

Hinata hoped she was right.

~o~O~o~O~o~

End