"Hey! What am I supposed to do with you, sis?"
Hanabi sighed. She had always looked up to her older sister, hoping that when she grew up, she would become a gentle and strong person just like her.
But if being gentle meant letting people bully her, she didn't want to be!
Hinata fell silent. She truly didn't want to hit anyone or hurt other people.
Suddenly, Hanabi's eyes lit up. She'd had an idea.
"How about we learn Taijutsu from Kiyotaki-kun, sis?"
"Hm?"
Hinata and Naruto both stared at Hanabi in surprise.
With one hand on her hip and the other resting on her chin, Hanabi spoke with the air of a little adult.
After spending this time together, he had gained a deep appreciation for how strong Qinglong was!
"Big Brother Qinglong is amazing at Taijutsu, and it can help you control your strength, too. You'll definitely be able to hit people without hurting them!"
Hanabi was even more confident about this than Qinglong was.
Qinglong: ...
He really wanted to say, My Taijutsu is known for dealing high damage. Don't you know that?!
"Can I really do that?"
Hinata looked at Qinglong timidly.
"Hm?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Qinglong, you'll teach her, right? You will!"
By the end, there was almost a pleading note in Naruto's voice.
"Hahaha! Of course. You can all train with me if you want to learn."
Qinglong certainly wouldn't refuse. Training with one more person was still training.
"But becoming strong isn't easy!"
Qinglong said solemnly.
"Have you ever seen Konoha at three in the morning?"
"No!"
"No!"
"No!"
The three children answered in quick succession.
The guard behind Hanabi felt he ought to join in, so he timidly raised a hand.
"I have!"
Qinglong: ...
Even I've never seen Konoha at three in the morning, okay?!
All right, let's ignore him!
Qinglong pretended not to notice.
"You'd better be prepared. Training Taijutsu with me is hard work!"
"I'm not afraid!"
Hanabi jumped up and declared firmly.
"Mm! I can do it, too!"
Hinata might have seemed shy and fragile on the outside, but she was a very determined person inside.
"Good."
Qinglong nodded.
"Then come to my house before sunrise tomorrow."
As Qinglong was heading back, he suddenly turned around.
"Oh, right! Martial arts training burns a lot of energy, so be prepared. Hinata, especially—you absolutely mustn't restrict how much you eat."
The next day, before dawn.
Hanabi arrived with Hinata, followed by several Hyuga guards. Naruto came along, too, still half-asleep and not even fully awake.
"Come on in!"
Qinglong welcomed them inside.
Naruto rubbed his eyes and shuffled in like he was sleepwalking.
"I practiced with my kunai too late last night. I haven't slept enough. Let me sleep a little more."
As he spoke, he walked over to Qinglong's bed, flopped onto it, and promptly fell asleep on his stomach.
Everyone was speechless.
"See, sis? I told you we shouldn't have woken Naruto-kun up and brought him along when he hadn't slept enough."
Hanabi sighed as she looked at Naruto, who was sleeping like a log.
"Is Naruto all right?" Hinata asked worriedly.
Qinglong took a look. Naruto really hadn't slept enough. That brat had definitely stayed up late training again last night.
"He's fine. Just let him sleep."
Qinglong pointed to the turtle shells hanging on the wall.
"These are the training weights I used."
He picked up the smallest one, set it to the lowest weight, and handed it to Hinata to wear on her back.
Hinata staggered. So it was this heavy!
Hanabi cried, "I want one, too! I want one!"
"Hmm..."
Qinglong studied her for a moment, then found a pair of weighted wrist guards in a box and turned them down to a low weight, too.
"Here. Wear them around your ankles."
Hanabi stared at them for a moment, then held out her little feet.
Uh...
Qinglong stared for a second, but still crouched down, took off Hanabi's shoes, and fastened the weights around her ankles.
"Ahh, they're so heavy!"
Hanabi took a delighted step.
"They're supposed to be heavy!"
Qinglong clapped his hands.
"Come on! Let's go train!"
When they stepped outside, a sliver of light had just appeared in the east.
In the dim morning light, the group began their training in Konoha.
When the sun rose, its rays shone through the window and fell across the bed.
Naruto rolled over. Only when the sunlight landed on his face did he stretch and get out of bed.
He rubbed his bleary eyes.
"Huh? This is Qinglong's house."
Then he suddenly remembered.
"Ah! I forgot I was supposed to train with them today. Ahh..."
"Naruto-kun, you're awake!"
The door opened, and Hinata came in carrying breakfast with a turtle shell strapped to her back.
Her face was flushed red, partly from the heat of training and partly because she was embarrassed to wear a turtle shell in front of everyone.
Running around with a turtle shell strapped to her back while the villagers stared and whispered—it was so embarrassing!
Ah, Qinglong had just wanted to make her feel embarrassed so she'd become bolder during training.
"Naruto, get up and eat breakfast. Then get ready to go to the Ninja Academy!"
Qinglong called out. If they waited for the shy Hinata to tell Naruto to eat breakfast, they'd be waiting forever. He might as well say it himself.
Hinata shyly and awkwardly held out the breakfast in her hands to Naruto.
"Ah! Thanks, everyone!"
Naruto picked up his chopsticks and clapped his hands together.
"Let's eat!"
After breakfast, they all headed to school together.
Naruto was still feeling guilty and apologizing for sleeping in that morning.
"Ahh! We said we'd train together."
"But I broke my promise. I'm really sorry!"
"It's okay. Naruto-kun just trained too hard last night."
Before you continue