The Cloud Over The Leaf

"Haa Haa Haa."

Hii sat down on the grass, trying to catch his breath.

It was another training day for him on the Storm Blade.

"You've gotten better."

Di stood over to his side with a wooden sword in his hand.

The two were in the middle of the training ground.

Di was standing flawlessly while Hii was covered in dirt and sweat.

"You've almost gotten the basics of the first stance down."

Di gazed at the many streaks of blackened grass that crisscrossed over the training grounds with a proud gaze.

"The Storm Blade is a lethal Kenjutsu, so you'll have to practice it rigorously. I'll have to make a blade for you soon as well."

"Really, Grandpa?!"

Hii shot up to his feet as he stood next to Di.

"Hahaha! Excited about having a real sword,huh?! I would be too."

Di patted Hii's head with a smile before walking a short distance away.

"I won't make it until you've mastered the basics of the first stance. Come at me again."

"Yes, Grandpa!"

Hii's hair spiked up as his Lighting Armor clad his body. 

He moved into the first stance, sheathing his sword with his left hand while his right hovered over the handle.

Di also activated his Lighting Armor and held his blade to the side, standing casually.

"When you're ready."

Hii nodded his head.

*zzzzt*

He quickly disappeared and reappeared right in front of Di and swung at him.

*Clang Clang Clang*

"Too sloppy. You need more control. And stop holding back so much."

Di casually blocked all of Hii's hits without even looking!

*Clang Clang Clang*

'Grandpa's reactions are so fast! I should use more power!'

"Haaaaaa!!"

Hii's Lightning Armor reached max power as he zipped around Di, slashing at him at any opening he could find.

"Better, but there's too many gaps. It's useless against faster ninjas."

Di sensed Hii coming towards him and tripped him as he passed by!

"Uwaaah!!"

Hii tumbled towards a tree and crashed into it!

"Owww!"

"Make sure your senses are able to keep up with new levels of speed first, Hii."

"Y-yes, Grandpa! Owww."

Di had a smile on his face as watched his grandson stand back up.

"Still, I'm actually very happy with you."

"Eh?"

"You learned how to use the technique much quicker than I did."

Di looked up into the sky, watching the fleeting clouds pass slowly.

"I can only use the first style, but you'll be able to use the other two and even make your own."

Di looked back down at Hii with a smile.

"I can't wait to see what you come up with. I'll teach you everything I know about the first stance. You'll be mostly on your own for the other two."

"I understand, Grandpa!"

Hii grew excited. He always loved to train with his Grandpa.

It was because when his Grandpa trained him, he could let loose like when he was fighting Akumu.

"Good. Let's go again."

"Yes!"

Hii picked himself up and charged at Di.

Sounds of lightning sparks and wooden sword strikes echoed near the training grounds for some time after that.

******

It had been nearly half a year since the Academy started. Hii had gotten used to his class as he ignored the chatter of his fellow students and continued to read his anatomy book.

'If I want to make that Jutsu better, I would have to use all these points.'

"Hey, Hii!"

"Hmm?"

Hii closed his medical book to find Naruto's beaming grin.

"You are good at using Chakra, right?"

"Yeah, I think?"

"Can you come teach me at my house?"

Hii tilted his head.

"Why me?"

Naruto had an awkward expression as he rubbed his head.

"Well, I don't know anyone else. My mom and Nee-san had tried to teach me, but I don't really get what they're saying half the time."

Naruto smiled at Hii.

"But when I ask you questions about our homework, It's a lot easier for me to understand. I think you can help me get it!"

Hii had a smile on his face.

"Sure. I can help you with what I know."

"Great! Let's go after class!"

Naruto celebrates excitedly as he heads back to his seat. Hii notices Shizuka looking his way. Shizuka looks at Naruto's happy face and smiles before going back into her text book with no expression.

'I wonder how she helps him?'

Hii pondered for a bit, but decided to dismiss it and dive back into reading his anatomy book. The break was almost over.

"Um...."

'Again?'

Hii felt a poke on his shoulder, bringing him to turn to his side. He saw a bright pink haired girl looking at him timidly.

"Yes?"

"C-Can you recommend a book for me?"

'Hmm?'

Hii tilted his head, making the girl explain in a panic.

"Ah! You see. I'm interested in the different styles ninjas can use. I haven't been able to find any easy way into medical Ninjutsu, so I thought maybe you would know. That book seems to be past beginner level"

Hii thought about it and nodded his head. 

"You're right. I have a beginner medical book you can borrow, if you'd like."

Hii flinched when he saw how bright her eyes became as he said that.

"Really?! I'd love to borrow it! The other ones I saw at the bookstore were so expensive!"

" S-sure. I'll bring it over tomorrow before class."

"Great! Thank you very much!"

The girl bows her head, making Hii chuckle. He shook his head as he replied.

"No need to be so formal.By the way, I don't know if I introduced myself personally to you. I'm Hii Kurokumo."

Hii extended his hand towards the girl.

The girl looked a bit embarrased as she realized he didn't know who she was!

"U-um! M-My name is Sakura Haruno! Nice to meet you!"

"Pleasure to meet you."

Hii and Sakura talked for a good while before Iruka-Sensei came back and started the lesson.

'Ah! I forgot to work on the Jutsu. Next time then.'

Hii decided to study it more once he had free time. It didn't feel bad to get introduced to more people his age.

******

"C'mon Hii! Let's go!"

Naruto excitedly ran down the street as Hii and Shizuka walked behind him.

"No need to be so excited. We're almost there."

Shizuka called out to Naruto, but he just continued rushing ahead.

The three came to the Uzumaki residence and Hii once again saw the moderately sized homely house.

'I haven't been here since I got chased by baby Sasuke and Naruto...'

Hii couldn't help, but remember that memory as a wry smile covered his face.

"Mom! We're home!"

"We're home."

Naruto and Shizuka both enter the residence while Hii trails behind them.

Kushina comes from the nearby kitchen area with an yellow apron on.

"Welcome back! Huh?! Is that Hii-chan?!"

"Please excuse my intrusion."

Hii bows his head in respect, but as soon as he raised it,

*Glomp*

His head was securely grabbed by Kushina!

"Awwww!! Don't be so distant! You should treat our home like your own! It's been so long since you've come here!"

Kushina started to spin around with Hii securely in her chest.

"Mom! Stop! You're being weird!"

Kushina turned to Naruto with an angry look.

"Don't you start,Naruto! I heard from Iruka you're slacking off again!"

"Geh! I wasn't slacking off! I just didn't get it! T-that's why I brought Hii to help me study!"

Kushina felt a tap on her arm as she looked down.

"C-can you let me down, Kushina-san?"

"Oops! Sorry Hii!"

Kushina put Hii down as he took in a deep breath.

"You should take Hii to your room, Naruto."

Shizuka starts to take her stuff to her room while advising Naruto as she passed.

Kushina, however, blocked her way towards her room.

The two stare at each other as Hii starts to feel a strange pressure emanating from Kushina.

Kushina begins to smile as she opened her arms wide in front of Shizuka.

"Shizuka-chan~."

"...."

Shizuka's cold expression slowly started to heat up as she avoids Kushina's eyes.

"I won't let you pass without it~."

Her blush covers her whole face now as she shut her eyes and takes a deep breath.  

She then went into Kushina's embrace.

"Hey, Mom."

"Hi, sweetie. How was school?"

"Good."

Shizuka quickly escaped from Kushina after that and dashed to her room.

Kushina giggled as she heard the door open and close.

"Still so shy."

Kushina turned back to Naruto and also opened her arms with a big grin.

"Hehehe!"

"Hehehe!"

The two laughed the same exact way as they hugged each other.

"Keep an eye on your sister, okay?"

"You got it, Mom!"

The two separated from each other while Hii watched them with a smile.

"You should take Hii to your room to get started, right?"

"Right! C'mon,Hii!"

Naruto grabbed Hii's arm, dragging him to his room.

"I will bring you some snacks later for your studying. Make sure you don't waste Hii's time,dattebane!"

"I won't, dattebayo!"

Naruto opened his room door, allowing Hii to see into the room. The room was plastered with many different seals with one of the Leaf symbol above his bed. He had a desk that had many different scrolls spread over it. He had a giant symbol of fire right above that as well.

"Your room....is pretty decorative."

"Thanks! Let me put my stuff away so we can start. I'll get a cushion for you too!"

Naruto put his stuff away and brought out a cushion for Hii and his books.

"Okay! Teach me about Chakra!"

Hii tilted his head in confusion.

"What do you need to know about it specifically?"

"I wanna learn how to make cool Ninjutsu!"

"......"

Hii pinched the bridge of his nose as he realized how tough this was going to be.

'This is gonna take a while.'

*******

'Huh. It wasn't that bad.'

Hii looked up from his notes to see Naruto with steam coming from his head. 

Hii felt that Naruto's learning ability was rather familiar, but he couldn't place where he had seen it. That was until he realized exactly where he had seen it.

'He learns like Moya. That's why he has such a hard time learning from the text.'

Hii remembered his Grandma telling him something like this some time ago.

'That brat, Moya is so strange sometimes. She couldn't figure out how to use the technique until I described it like her favorite food. At least Yozora got it normally.'

Hii closed his notebook and stretched his arms as he thought about a solution. 

'That might work.'

"Ugh!! I still don't get how to use it!"

"I think I figured out why."

"Eh?!"

Naruto suddenly shot up as he looked at Hii. 

"Really! Why?!"

"You're probably an active learner."

"Active?"

Hii nodded his head stood up as well.

"Let's go outside. We'll try and figure some things out."

"Okay!"

Hii and Naruto headed outside and to a nearby tree in the backyard.

"How good are you at Chakra Manipulation?"

"Ugh.... Not very good."

Hii nodded his head.

"To use Chakra, you need to be able to manipulate it to your will. A basic way you can use it is to climb trees."

Naruto looked confused hearing that.

"I already climbed trees as a kid! That trains it?"

"Not that way. You do it like this."

Hii walked over to a tree and started to walk up the tree slowly!

"Huh?! How do you do that?!"

Hii stood on the side of the tree and instructed.

"Send Chakra to your feet and walk on the surface where I am."

"Okay! I'll try it!"

Naruto starts to channel Chakra into his feet and tried to go up the tree. 

"Uwah!!"

*Bang*

But he fell down after two steps.

Naruto rubbed his head and looked at Hii.

"How come you can do it, but I can't? That's unfair!"

"You probably put in either too much Chakra or too little."

Hii thought about it for a moment and clapped his hands.

"Your Chakra should be like...ramen broth. It should be not too thick and not too thin. Got it?"

Naruto crossed his arms and seemed to understand the idea.

"I think I get it!"

'Really?'

Naruto excitedly tried again, keeping his Chakra at a set amount and slowly started to climb.

'......'

Hii watched Naruto slowly make his way up the tree, one step at a time. He could tell that Naruto was putting nearly just the right amount of Chakra.

'So....he really does learn like that.'

Hii shook his head as he watched Naruto slowly climbed up the tree.

"I doing it! I doing it, Hii!"

Naruto waved at him enthusiastically from the higher branch of the tree.

Hii waved back at him as he thought about how similar he was to Moya. 

'I feel like I shouldn't let them meet at all.'

Hii had the sneaking feeling that it would be a horrible decision for those two to meet each other.

'I should hold it off for as long as I can.'

"Is something wrong?"

Hii's head snapped up to see Shizuka looking at him.

"Nothing! Just had a thought about something."

"I see. Where's Naruto?"

"Up here, Nee-san!"

Shizuka looked up in shock as she saw Naruto high up in the tree.

"H-how did?!"

"Hii taught me how to do it!"

Hii was suddenly face to face with Shizuka as she held his shoulders.

"How?!"

"E-excuse me?!"

"How did you get Naruto to understand it?! I've been trying for so long to get him to understand it!"

Shizuka shook Hii back and forth like a leaf in the wind. It was quite fitting since they were on the tree.

"I just told him his Chakra should look like ramen broth."

"....ramen broth?"

"Yeah. He seemed to have picked up on it as soon as I compared it to that."

Shizuka silently thought about Hii's peculiar example.

Hii could see her eye growing brighter and brighter by the second as she seemed to understand something.

"You've dealt with someone like Naruto before?"

"My sister."

Shizuka looked shocked, but collected herself with a serious expression.

" I see. My intuition tells me we can't let them meet."

"I felt the same, but we may only have a year to keep them apart."

"Tch! The Academy is too small. They'll run into each other eventually."

Hii and Shizuka nodded their heads as Naruto quickly headed back down.

"What are you guys talking about?"

"Nothing important. Do you think you can beat me in a race, Naruto? You can't say its unfair now that you can do it too."

"Oh yeah! I'm gonna win this time, dattebayo!"

Naruto was successfully distracted by Shizuka's taunts as the two went to similar size trees nearby.

"Hii-kun, can you give us a countdown?"

"Yeah! Nee-san will cheat otherwise!"

"It's not cheating. It's getting a tactical advantage."

Hii shook his head as he raised his hand.

"Ready?!"

"Yeah!" 

"Yes."

"Go!"

The two rushed up the tree once Hii's hand swung down.

Shizuka easily ran up the tree while Naruto had a bit of difficulty adjusting at first, but he quickly stabilized and rushed upward.

It wasn't enough, however, to catch up to Shizuka. 

"I win."

"Darn it! One more time!"

"Of course, little brother."

The two came back down and got ready to race once more.

Hii gave the signal for them again as both of them ran up the trees. This time, Naruto had a much cleaner start and got much closer to winning.

"Argh! One more time!"

"Sure. You won't win."

Naruto couldn't tell due to his frustration, but Hii could see that Shizuka wad looking rather winded while Naruto was just brimming with energy.

'He has a lot of energy compared to her.'

Hii decided he should help a fellow older sibling out.

"Hey,Naruto? How about you race me instead?"

"Huh!? Sure!! I wanna see how fast you are!"

Hii went to Shizuka's position and takes her place.

Shizuka gives him an appreciative glance as she catches her breath.

"Haa. Ready?"

"Yeah! Let's go!"

"Ready."

"Go!"

Hii and Naruto shot up the tree at the same time! 

Hii monitored Naruto's speed and adjusted his to match.

The two reached the top at the same time.

"A draw."

"Agh! I was close! One more time!"

"You're on!"

'So much energy!'

Hii and Naruto headed back down and got back into posisiton.

Shizuka signaled the start of the race for another 3 times as Hii and Naruto continued to race.

"Hey! Dinner's ready! You guys come in and eat!"

Kushina came out to call them for dinner as the three continued to race up the trees.

Naruto hadn't been able to win over either of the two. He could only lose to Shizuka and tied with Hii.

"Argh!! Just wait! I'm gonna get even faster and win, dattebayo!"

"Hmph. Big sister will always win."

Naruto dashed into the house to eat as Hii and Shizuka slowly caught their breathes.

"Thank you for your help."

"No need. Older siblings have a pride they must keep as long as possible."

Shizuka smiled as she started to stretch her arms and legs.

Hii looked at her and suddenly had a burning question.

"Hey. Why do you and Maka fight all the time?"

Shizuka looked at Hii with a sly smile on her face.

"It's because we're rivals."

Hii had a perplexed look on his face as he watched Shizuka head towards her home.

"Shall we have dinner?"

"...Haaa. I guess so."

Hii shook his head as he followed Shizuka back into the house. 

The mystery between those two seemed to only get deeper the more Hii tried to understand it.

He should just leave it alone and focus on other things.