TSoL Chapter 14 - Etiquette?

Walking with Naruto along the streets of Konoha, Hinata was extremely embarrassed to be so close to the object of her passion. Moreover, she was very nervous, as she was afraid to spoil something in their first moment together. Even though it was more of a friendly lunch outing than anything else, she couldn't help but fantasize about it all turning into something more, which made her even more embarrassed and nervous.

But if Hinata only knew that she was not the only one who was nervous at the moment, then she would be very surprised, because the blonde-haired boy walking next to her was not much less worried.

His nervousness lay in the fact that all this time, Hinata was extremely silent, and he did not know where to start a conversation with her, and was worried that the girl might not like his company, because of which he might lose a potential friend.

As a result, Naruto decided to listen to one of the advice of his mother, which she gave him in one of the lessons of communication with girls. And the advice was to try to get to know her better.

"So, Hinata-chan," Naruto suddenly spoke up, getting the girl's attention, "you're from a big clan, right?"

Looking shyly at Naruto, Hinata nodded and replied:

"T-that's right… The Hyuuga clan is one of the l-largest clans in Konoha."

With Naruto distracting her from her thoughts a little by talking, Hinata began to calm down a bit and her nervousness slightly lessened.

"Then what's it like to be part of a big clan? I mean, you're kind of like the heiress of the clan, right? What responsibilities fall on you, and how difficult is it?"

Hearing his question, Hinata tensed up a little, and slightly averting her gaze, answered a little depressed:

"I am… no longer the heiress…"

Blinking his eyes in confusion, Naruto asked:

"What? Why?"

Hinata looked at the ground and sadly replied:

"Because my father decided that I didn't have enough talent for this, and chose my more talented younger sister instead."

Seeing that this topic was very unpleasant for Hinata, he put his hand on her shoulder, which greatly embarrassed the young girl, and smiling at her warmly, he said:

"Hinata-chan! Don't be upset by your old man's stupid decisions. Your father is just blind if he couldn't see how amazing you are, dattebayo!"

"N…Naruto-kun…" Hinata was glad to hear such words from him, but she was quite aware that he didn't know much about the internal problems of her clan, and just wanted to cheer her up, so she replied, "actually, my sister really has an amazing sense of combat, and her skills in our clan style are very high… in all our sparring matches, she beat me almost every time, so… she definitely fits the role of heiress better than me.

"You're wrong!" Naruto sharply responded to her words, "maybe I don't know you very well, but that doesn't mean I didn't watch you while you sparring at the academy."

Hearing him say that he was watching her, Hinata's face turned crimson. As she blushed, Naruto continued:

"And it was enough for me to see only a few of your sparring sessions to understand that you do not give all your best during the fight. I wouldn't have noticed it if it wasn't for your last sparring, when you defeated your opponent with such cool moves that I was even a little envious."

Blushing and embarrassed, Hinata remembered that moment, and immediately understood what fight he was talking about:

"That was the time Naruto cheered me up before sparring... At that moment I... I really tried... and I was so happy he was looking at me…"

While the young Hyuuga was thinking, Naruto continued to speak:

"As soon as I saw this, I immediately realized that for reasons unknown to me, you don't like to put all your strength into sparring. And if this happens during sparring with your sister, then it is not surprising that from the outside it seems that you are not talented enough!"

His words sounded like a revelation that revealed something to her that she didn't even know about herself. Hinata's surprised look was directed at the blond-haired boy, unable to find words to answer. Looking down at the ground, Hinata thought hard about his remark, and the possible reason for this side of herself, and came up with the only thought that usually comes to her during sparring. That's why she said:

"I guess… I just don't want to hurt anyone unnecessarily, and…" Hinata looked at Naruto timidly, "I'm afraid that even if I give it my all, I still won't be able to cope. Not being able to live up to your family's expectations, even with your best efforts, is... scary."

Hearing her words, Naruto was really surprised, and thought:

«It's strange, it sounds like she's been told for years that no matter how hard she tries, she's going to be a failure. What is going on in her family?» Naruto had a frown on his face, dissatisfied with Hinata's family. After all, in fact, it reminds him of what happened to him. Since almost everyone around him considered him a failure, incapable of even a simple clone jutsu. Fortunately, recently Naruto no longer felt oppressed by such things, since he had people who support him and believe in his abilities.

Naruto looked at the timid girl next to him and realized that he wanted to help her just as his parents and Tenten had helped him. Having made this decision, Naruto said:

"Hinata-chan! Maybe I don't understand your clan's training, and I don't know their fighting style. But I would like to invite you to my joint training with Tenten, the same friend I was talking about," Naruto then poked his chest with his thumb and said with a bright and perky smile, "I'm going to prove to you that you're not nearly as weak as you think, believe it, dattebayo!"

Looking at the confident statement of the guy she admires so much, Hinata herself cheered up a little with his attitude, starting to believe that he might be right. That's why she nodded, and with a gentle smile, she replied:

"Of course, N-Naruto-kun! I… would be happy to!" With difficulty blurting out an answer, Hinata was filled with warm joy in her chest at the thought of spending more time with the whiskered blond. And even the knowledge that there would be that very friend of his, about whom he spoke so highly, could not spoil her mood.

Already approaching Ichiraku, Hinata suddenly thought of something and asked:

"By the way, Naruto-kun, um... Why did you ask me about this?"

Hearing her question, Naruto looked away to hide a slight blush, since after Tenten, this topic was starting to make him a little embarrassed.

Smiling shyly, he said:

"Well… you know, I want to take care of the restoration of my clan in the future, so I try to learn as many things as possible about it."

Seeing how Naruto was embarrassed, Hinata found it extremely cute, but then, as if suddenly realizing his words, she slowly repeated them:

"Restoration of… the clan…?"

As a former heiress of a major clan, she already had some knowledge regarding this matter, and she had quite an idea of ​​how the process of replenishment or restoration of the clan usually goes, so she, like Naruto, became embarrassed and turned her red face aside, thinking:

"N...Naruto-kun wants to restore his clan? But… was there a clan like the Uzumaki?"

At this point, they finally arrived at Ichiraku ramen, and after ordering a few bowls, they continued their conversation. Looking at the white-eyed girl, Naruto nodded and said:

"Right. Before, my Uzumaki clan was kind of quite powerful. And judging by what I found out about it, it was full of cool and strong people. That is why I plan to restore it in the future. Although at the moment, these are just words, since I don't know all the details and moments regarding all this yet."

While looking at Naruto, Hinata had a small fantasy where she was helping him in this "restoration" of the clan, causing her face to turn even redder than usual. Thankfully, they were already served food, and she was able to hide her face behind a bowl of Ramen while thinking to herself:

"I-if I try... I can become a part of Naruto's dream... he-he..." Hinata's face couldn't lose the pink glow from such thoughts.

Thankfully, Naruto was distracted by eating miso ramen, which allowed the young Hyuuga to breathe a sigh of relief.

After a meal of five bowls of ramen eaten (which surprised Naruto since Hinata ate the same amount as him), they said goodbye to old man Teuchi and headed towards the Hyuuga clan's residence as Naruto decided to see Hinata before at home, and the girl herself was only glad of this.

Along the way, the girl was able to overcome her embarrassment, and shared some knowledge of how the clans work, and what he could expect if he really began to restore his own.

The worst thing for Naruto from Hinata's descriptions was not financial difficulties or bureaucratic troubles, but the need to learn the etiquette of behavior when dealing with officials, and constant gatherings with other clan leaders for long meetings.

Just thinking that he would have to be like those pompous old people he once saw when he visited old man Hiruzen made Naruto's stomach ache. Because of this, he could not help thinking:

"Damn, maybe to hell with this 'etiquette'? The Uzumaki clan will definitely not be such a boring place as what Hinata described when talking about the atmosphere in her clan, and the meetings of the leaders of others. Definitely not on my shift, dattebayo!" Naruto seriously considered this.

Seeing his sour face when she mentioned the strict rules placed on the head of the clan, Hinata couldn't help but smile. She really wanted Naruto to succeed and was willing to do her best to become a better person and worthy of Naruto wanting to see the future of his clan by her side. At least she really wanted to.

Finally reaching the Hyuuga clan's residence, Hinata turned to Naruto and said:

"Naruto-kun, t-thank you for walking me home. I… really enjoyed spending time with you… and… I'm looking forward to our t-training together…"

Having said so, embarrassed by her bold words, the white-eyed Girl quickly disappeared behind the gates of her clan, wanting to get to her room as soon as possible so that no one would notice her current state.

Surprised, Naruto remained standing in front of her gate for a while, until he finally realized that he had succeeded, and Hinata was ready to continue her communication with him and start training together. So he joyfully exclaimed:

"Yatta! Great, another amazing friend received."

Turning around, Naruto headed towards his house, while happily thinking:

"I can't wait to tell my mom about this. I think she will be glad that I have another friend."

Upon reaching his apartment, Naruto opened the system and began another practice of Namikaze taijutsu, honing the fighting stances shown in the system's interface. After some time, unnoticed by the boy, Minato appeared, and looking at his son pumping out the positions of his native style, he quickly assessed all his vulnerabilities and weaknesses in his son's movements, and suddenly said:

"Naruto," Minato couldn't help but smile as he saw his son suddenly twitch in surprise, "glad to see you're continuing to practice my fighting style."

Seeing his father, Naruto smiled and happily replied:

"Oh dad. Yes, I decided to continue practicing your style. Although System-chan taught me the basics, I still need to hone the more advanced stances and punching on my own."

Nodding at his words, Minato said:

"That's right, although the System can help you master it, it's nothing more than an auxiliary tool for your self-development. And yes, I have already watched your exercises for a bit, and I noticed that you put too much force into the muscles when you hold your stance. When using this style, you don't have to be too tense, just as you don't need to be too relaxed. The main key to the Namikaze style is balance! The perfect balance of flexibility and strength is the main weapon of this martial art. Try to keep that in mind as you keep practicing your stances, okay?"

"Yes, dad!" Naruto was glad that he now had someone to correct him if he did something wrong. Previously, at the academy, almost no one explained anything to him. The only times he got help was when Iruka was the class leader. Otherwise, Naruto was largely ignored.

Following Naruto's light and precise movements, Minato asked:

"As I see it, you are already used to the seals of resistance, aren't you?"

Blinking in surprise, Naruto realized that he really had already managed to forget that they were even active on him. Embarrassedly scratching the back of his head, the blond-haired boy replied:

Ah, right, I forgot about them. I think I really got used to it.

Nodding his head, Minato said:

"Then, I suppose we can increase the load a little. I think ten extra percent is enough." Saying this, Minato touched Naruto's forehead, after which the impulse from the forehead landed on his stomach, and then, as if receiving a command, another impulse spread to his entire body, increasing the resistance to all his movements.

As soon as he sensed it, a message from the system popped up in front of Naruto's face:

[The strength of the Seal of Resistance has been increased by 10%]

Nodding his head, Minato said contentedly:

"Great, now you can continue your training. The main thing is not to forget about my words, about balance. Now I will return to the Seal, and let you continue with your evening Kushina training."

"Yes! Thanks dad!"

After that, Minato smiled and disappeared, leaving Naruto to continue his training on his own. The blond-haired boy himself was determined to hone his skills to perfection so that no one else could afford the luxury of underestimating him.

Also, Naruto remembered that his Mom had promised to personally take over his martial training once he had become more proficient in his fighting style, as well as more physical strength in his body. She said she would teach him something really cool, which is why his motivation was unusually high.

With such thoughts, he continued his practice.

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