"Hnnn," grunted Hiashi as he turned his attention to the kneeling genin that was his nephew.
"Naruto Uzumaki has come into some bloodline ability. Overnight his muscle definition and mass are higher by at least an additional 50%, and his speed and strength while doing his evening and morning training is only slightly behind what I have observed from Rock Lee. His taijutsu, however, is severely flawed - his stances and movements are more suited for a street brawling civilian."
"And?"
Neji continued on. "Nothing untoward happened during the night. Uzumaki slept on blankets on the floor, while Hinata slept on his bed. The two went on their seperate ways this morning. The only thing that occurred of any note was that Hinata showed a particular determination before rolling her sleeves up and attempting a task I would have deemed impossible."
"Oh?" asked Hiashi, feeling a momentary spark of interest.
"She cleaned Uzumaki's apartment while he was training," said Neji, who was absolutely NOT jabbing a member of the main branch family. Who, him? Couldn't possibly be the case. He had no sense of humor, ask anyone.
"Oh," said Hiashi Hyuga, disappointment showing for a brief flicker of a moment. "Very well, dismissed to return to your team."
"By your leave," said Neji, inclining his head towards the clan head.
"He did what?"
"He's using an iron statue as a punching bag."
"That's nuts!"
"Actually," said Maito Gai, "it's a brilliant idea."
"You're nuts!"
"I have heard that a time or two," said Maito Gai, not particularly caring about that. All part of his brilliant 'act silly or stupid and people won't bother you with trifling idiocy' technique. He hadn't had to have his team catch that damn cat even ONCE - indicating that there was some success with that.
"How is that 'brilliant'?" asked the chunin.
"His strength is such that a wooden target would be destroyed and even an iron statue deforms under the force of his strikes," explained Maito Gai. "So it further toughens his body to strike hard metal, while continuing to challenge his strength."
"I still say it's nuts."
The various "did you hear"s and "I just heard"s and "it couldn't be true"s all died out abruptly among the members of the class who'd arrived early as if a switch had been thrown. The replacement for the whispers was a silent stare.
Naruto Uzumaki scowled. Just THAT was unusual.
Even more unusual, his hair was now long and tied back in a ponytail. For overnight, that was certainly unusual.
That he looked broader and radiated a degree of SOLID was more unusual than the hair or the unaccustomed scowl.
They were ninja or of ninja families. It was natural to react to a newcomer, or severely altered associate, in terms of Threat Assessment. Naruto Uzumaki previously had been No Threat. Naruto this morning was THREAT.
"Uhm, working out?" asked Choji, not immediately realizing a potato chip had fallen from his hands.
Akamaru, who had different priorities, pounced. He'd already determined that Naruto had moved up the food chain several links, and was unconcerned with that as there was no threat directed towards him or Kiba. Therefore, no problem. That potato chip, on the other hand, was HIS now. (munch munch munch) Yumm. BBQ Beef flavor.
"Bloodline ability manifested," said Naruto, having heard from the Hokage during his morning training that those three words would cover all sorts of things.
"Ahhhhhh," went the dawn of comprehension through the classroom as that was heard and then repeated for the more hearing-impaired members of the class.
Megumi pointed out to her circle of Sasuke-worshippers that this also explained the engagement rumors. If Uzumaki had a powerful bloodline, the engagement would have been to secure that bloodline and bring it into the Hyuga clan. Obviously that's all it was, and the really good part about it was that this took Hinata Hyuga completely out of the Sasuke-competition.
That Hinata never had shown any interest in Sasuke Uchiha was completely ignored. If any of the fanclub had addressed the issue they would have concluded that she was merely intelligent enough to realize she had never had a chance compared to THEM despite glimpses in the girl's dressing room of the fabled Second Bloodline of the Hyuga clan.
Hinata herself entering was mostly ignored. A few glances, a few whispers, which increased when Naruto got up from his seat to take a seat near his fiancee.
There were some odd looks at that though, mainly because Naruto was now the most muscular of the guys in the class, while Hinata was the shortest of the girls present and overall slender. Seated next to each other, Naruto practically loomed over Hinata. He also lost the scowl that had been present earlier.
"Okay," said Iruka Umino as he entered the room. "Team assignments."
(Posted Fri, 28 May 2010 16:59)
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