The air in the academy classroom was charged with electricity, but for Naruto, it felt like being underwater. Every sound was muffled and distant, drowned out by the roar of panic in his own head.
Okay. Okay. Just act cool, he told himself, bouncing his knee at a frantic pace. You just have to act normal. Nobody knows you have the complete script of their lives in your brain. And nobody knows you have a date to… to do… that.
A cold sweat ran down the back of his neck. He glanced discreetly across the classroom.
There she was. Hinata.
She looked like a small, frightened mouse in a corner, staring intently at her desk as if it held the secrets of the universe. But Naruto knew the only secret that mattered right now was sitting on the other side of the room, with blond hair and an impossibly bright orange jacket. Him.
Their eyes met. Bam!
The panic in her eyes was so instantaneous it was almost comical. She blushed so violently she looked like she might explode. Naruto felt his own cheeks heat up. He quickly gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile—a huge, toothy, Uzumaki-brand grin.
It had the opposite effect. Hinata seemed to interpret the smile as some sort of manic reminder of their arrangement, and she shrank even further into her seat, if that was even possible.
Great, Naruto! You're a genius of subtlety, he thought, giving himself a mental slap.
He forced himself to look away. He saw Sasuke, with his "I'm-too-cool-to-breathe-the-same-air-as-you-plebs" pose. Beside him, Sakura and Ino were practically vibrating, shooting murderous glares at each other.
The door flew open.
"Congratulations to all of you," Iruka said, and the speech began, word for word, just as he remembered.
Naruto tried to look interested. He really did. But his mind was elsewhere. It was in his messy apartment, thinking about the moment he would have to say the most awkward words a human being could possibly conceive. Hey, Hinata, would you mind…? No! He couldn't even think it. He was going to faint. Or throw up. Probably both.
"...Team 10. Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi."
The groans and celebrations occurred right on schedule. It was creepy.
"Now, Team 8," Iruka said.
Naruto held his breath. This was the important part.
"Hinata Hyuga."
The girl flinched.
"Kiba Inuzuka."
"AWOOO! YEAH!" Kiba howled. "WE DID IT, AKAMARU!"
"And Shino Aburame."
Silence from Shino. Good. Everything was still on script. Naruto let out a sigh of relief so loud the person in front of him turned around to stare.
"And finally, Team 7," Iruka announced. "Naruto Uzumaki."
"Oh, come on!" someone groaned from the back.
"Hey!" Naruto shouted, leaping to his feet. "I'm awesome, believe it! Anyone would be lucky to have me!"
"Sakura Haruno."
Sakura's head turned toward him with the slowness of a horror movie. Her expression was one of pure, absolute devastation.
"No... it can't be. My life is over."
"Hey! It's not over, it's just beginning! Because you're on a team with me!" Naruto retorted, completely offended.
"SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP, NARUTO!" Iruka yelled.
"And the final member... Sasuke Uchiha."
Sakura's emotional whiplash was a sight to behold. Horror turned into pure ecstasy.
"SASUKE-KUN! IT'S FATE! OUR LOVE IS WRITTEN IN THE STARS!"
Sasuke just made a sound that sounded like "Hn."
Iruka dismissed them, and the room exploded. Naruto's gaze met Hinata's one last time. She looked terrified, but she nodded. Once. That was the signal.
The fastest lunch of his life consisted of two bowls of Ichiraku ramen that he swallowed without chewing.
"In a hurry, Naruto? Chasing a girl?"
Naruto nearly choked.
"What!? No! I've got to... uh... train! Yeah, super-secret training!"
He fled the stand before Teuchi could ask any more questions.
The walk to his apartment was a symphony of awkward silences. Naruto walked slightly ahead of Hinata, too scared to walk beside her. He could feel her nervousness radiating off her like heat.
"Nice day, huh?" he blurted out suddenly.
Hinata jumped. "Y-yes. Sunny."
"Yeah. Sunny. Good for... drying clothes," he added, laughing nervously. Why did he say that?
"I... I do laundry on Tuesdays," Hinata whispered.
"Tuesdays! What a great idea!" Naruto said with completely fake enthusiasm.
They reached his building and climbed the stairs. When they got to his door, his hands were trembling so much he could barely get the key in the lock.
"Well, this is it," he announced. "The Uzumaki Palace. Um... don't mind the decor. It's a... post-apocalyptic style."
Hinata entered cautiously, her wide eyes taking in the chaos. Empty noodle cups formed a precarious tower on the table. The milk on the counter smelled... interesting.
"It's... got... character," Hinata said softly.
"Character, yeah. That's what it's got," Naruto repeated, closing the door behind them. The click of the lock sounded like a death sentence.
They just stood there. In silence.
"So..." he began, scratching his cheek. "The jutsu. The super-secret jutsu that makes you stronger."
Hinata nodded, not looking at him.
"Yeah. It's... it's a very, very specific jutsu. For real. The guy who invented it was a super weirdo, I'm telling you!" Naruto laughed, but it sounded like he was being strangled. He cleared his throat. "Okay. The first step is... um... I need you to turn around."
Slowly, Hinata turned, giving him her back.
"Great!" Naruto exclaimed. "And... um... the thing is... the jutsu requires... contact. Direct. Skin on... skin. On the back," he managed to say.
The silence that followed was absolute.
"I know, I know, it sounds super weird!" he rushed to say, waving his hands frantically. "I swear on my ninja life and on every bowl of ramen I've ever eaten that I'm not a pervert! It's just... that's how it works! There's no other way! I've tried! I talked to the jutsu and I was like, 'Hey, couldn't you work on an elbow or something?' and it said no!"
He waited for the scream. The slap. Instead, he heard a small, shaky sigh.
He watched as Hinata's hands went up and grabbed the zipper of her jacket. She pulled it down with torturous slowness and shrugged it off. She was wearing a mesh shirt underneath.
"Um... Hinata-chan..." he began, his voice an octave higher than usual. "The shirt, too... um... I need you to... to lift it up a little in the back. Just a little! I promise! I'll close my eyes!"
He squeezed his eyes shut. He heard a soft rustle of fabric.
"I-it's done," she whispered.
Naruto opened one eye. Then the other. The pale skin of Hinata's back was exposed. He felt all the blood in his body rush to his face. Focus, you idiot! The future of the world is at stake!
He bit his thumb, harder than necessary. "Ow!" He sucked on the blood for a second, then knelt behind her.
"Okay, this might tickle a bit," he warned.
He extended a trembling finger and gently placed it on the base of her back.
ZAP!
In that instant, his vision filled with a cold, neutral blue interface.
[FALNA SYSTEM ACTIVATED] [HOST: NARUTO UZUMAKI] [WARNING: ANOMALOUS POWER SOURCE DETECTED IN HOST. KYUBI PROTOCOL INITIATED. EVOLUTION OF HOST AND SUBJECT MAY YIELD UNPREDICTABLE RESULTS.] [COMPATIBLE SUBJECT: HINATA HYUGA] [INITIATING UPDATE PROCESS. CONVERTING ACCUMULATED LIFE EXCELIA...]
Naruto watched, fascinated, as the stats appeared and the numbers began to climb frantically, like a crazed counter. He wasn't choosing anything, just watching as the system translated Hinata's twelve years of life into tangible power.
HINATA HYUGA LEVEL: 1 STRENGTH: I-88 -> I-92 ENDURANCE: I-74 -> I-79 DEXTERITY: H-152 -> H-188 AGILITY: H-161 -> H-195 MAGIC: I-55 -> I-61
"Whoa!" Naruto gasped. "What is all this? Dexterity H-188? That sounds awesome!"
[ANALYZING QUALITY EXCELIA...] [SIGNIFICANT EVENTS DETECTED: 'PERSISTENCE AGAINST FAMILIAL SCORN', 'SOLITARY SECRET TRAINING', 'DETERMINATION TO BE RECOGNIZED'.] [CONVERTING QUALITY EXCELIA INTO ADDITIONAL ATTRIBUTES...]
The numbers shot up again.
STRENGTH: I-92 -> H-110 ENDURANCE: I-79 -> H-135 DEXTERITY: H-188 -> G-274 AGILITY: H-195 -> G-281 MAGIC: I-61 -> I-99
"Your letters are getting better!" he yelled at Hinata's back, excited as a kid with a new toy. "You've got Gs now! That's way better than H!"
"What... what's happening?" Hinata asked, her voice tense from the strange tingling on her back.
"I'm... uh... calibrating your chakra network!" Naruto improvised. "It's super advanced ninja science!"
[ATTRIBUTE CONVERSION COMPLETE.] [ANALYZING SUBJECT'S SOUL FOR SKILL MANIFESTATION...] [DOMINANT ESSENCE DETECTED: 'PROTECTIVE DEVOTION'.] [INITIATING MANIFESTATION...]
A new section appeared on the screen, forming word by word.
[SKILL ACQUIRED] [LIONESS HEART]
· ACTIVE BURST SKILL.
· ACTIVATES WITH THE WILL TO PROTECT AN ALLY.
· TEMPORARILY INCREASES ALL ABILITIES EXCEPTIONALLY. THE EFFECT IS AMPLIFIED IN PROPORTION TO THE IMPORTANCE OF THE TARGET TO BE PROTECTED.
"Lioness Heart..." Naruto read in a whisper. He looked at Hinata's back in awe. "Hinata, you got a new skill, and it sounds amazing."
[UPDATE COMPLETE. CLOSING CONNECTION.]
The instant he read the last line, he felt a violent pull in his gut. It was as if his energy was ripped out of him all at once. The air rushed out of his lungs and he fell backward, landing on the floor with a thud, his vision filling with black spots.
From the floor, he saw a soft, white light envelop Hinata for a second before fading.
Silence.
"Um... are you done?" Hinata's trembling voice asked.
"Yeah... I think so," Naruto gasped from the floor. He was so tired he felt like he could sleep for a week.
Hinata pulled her shirt down and turned around. She looked at him, lying there on the floor, and concern filled her face.
"Naruto-kun? Are you okay?"
But then she stopped. She looked at her own hands, flexing them. She took a deep breath. A look of pure astonishment spread across her face.
"I feel... light," she whispered. "And strong. I can feel my chakra. It's not a trickle. It's a river."
She walked over to Naruto and, without hesitation, offered him a hand. He took it. Her grip was firm, certain. She pulled him up as if he weighed nothing.
"Wow," Naruto said, staring at her with wide eyes.
"Wow," she repeated, looking at her own hands.
They stood there, in the middle of the messy apartment, one exhausted boy and one girl who had just discovered a new world within herself. Naruto still felt dizzy, but as Hinata helped him steady himself, a strange sensation washed over him. It wasn't the violent pull from before, but a warm current flowing from his core, spreading through his limbs. He felt... clearer. More solid.
Just then, the blue interface flashed into his vision again, this time directed at him.
[CONGRATULATIONS!] [FIRST BELIEVER ACQUIRED: HINATA HYUGA] [THE HOST GROWS AS THEIR FAMILIA GROWS. A CONNECTION HAS BEEN FORMED.] [HOST STATUS UNLOCKED]
A new screen appeared, detailing his own power for the first time.
NARUTO UZUMAKI LEVEL: 1 STRENGTH: H-105 ENDURANCE: H-120 DEXTERITY: I-75 AGILITY: I-81 MAGIC: I-10
My stats... they're almost as low as Hinata's were before... Naruto thought, shocked. He always knew he had a lot of energy, but seeing his lack of technique and control converted into numbers was a reality check. Before he could get discouraged, however, a new section appeared.
[DEVELOPMENT ABILITY UNLOCKED] [FORERUNNER'S GUIDE]
· PASSIVE ABILITY.
· ALLOWS THE USER TO GROW ALONGSIDE THE MEMBERS OF THEIR 'FAMILIA'.
· THE STRENGTH AND WILL OF BELIEVERS ACCELERATES THE GROWTH OF THE HOST'S BASIC ABILITIES. THE STRONGER THEY BECOME, THE FASTER THE USER'S GROWTH POTENTIAL WILL BE.
The realization hit him like a lightning bolt. It wasn't a one-way street. When she got stronger, so did he.
An exhausted but euphoric laugh erupted from his lips. The weakness in his body was overshadowed by overwhelming excitement.
"Hinata!" he yelled, and without a second thought, he lunged forward and wrapped her in a clumsy hug. He stumbled a bit from the fatigue, causing them both to wobble for a second. "We did it! Not just you, me too! I got stronger with you, believe it!"
Hinata went completely stiff, her face exploding into a shade of red that would have matched Naruto's jacket. Heat crept up her neck as the boy's arms wrapped around her, his excited voice echoing right next to her ear.
"N-Naruto-kun?" was all she could whisper, her mind blank.
He let her go, still grinning from ear to ear, though he was swaying slightly.
"This is awesome! We're gonna be the strongest ninjas in the world!"