007 Relearning the Basibsp;- Naruto’s POV

  Naruto sat cross-legged on the dusty crete floor, his arms resting on his knees as he watched the city skylihrough the gaps in the unfinished walls. The distant glow of streetlights and neon signs paihe horizon in hues e and blue. He sighed, leaning back slightly.

  He wished he could have helped.

  Hinata had taken care of the Curses without breaking a sweat, while he… Well, he had just stood there. Useless. It was frustrating. His body still felt strong—he knew he should have been able to fight—but something was missing. Every time he tried to grasp at the power that once felt so natural, he came up empty.

  Was it the Kyubi?

  Naruto frowned, rubbing the back of his head. He hadn’t said anything to Hinata, but the thought of being useless g him.

  Hinata, seemingly unaware of his iurmoil, had already started setting up their camp for the night. They had decided to rest on the middle floor of the abandoned stru site—it was elevated enough to keep them out of sight, and it had plenty of open space. With Naruto's help, they cleared the pce.

  Naruto let out anh and turo her. “Man, I wish I could've helped earlier.”

  Hinata paused in the middle of unpag and g him. “You helped enough, Naruto-kun,” she said simply.

  “Yeah, by carrying bags,” he muttered, tugging at his sleeve. “You were the one doing all the actual fighting.”

  Hinata didn’t answer right away. Instead, she resumed her work, her movements precise ahodical. Finally, she said, “You will be able to fight. Just… give it time.”

  Naruto wasn’t sure if she was just saying that to make him feel better, but he nodded anyway.

  His stomach growled.

  Loudly.

  Hinata looked at him.

  “…Heh.” Naruto scratched his cheek sheepishly. “Guess I’m still hungry.”

  Hinata nodded, standing up. “You must be. We never got to finish our dinner.”

  Right. Naruto had almost fotten about that. They had left the bowls behind when they fled Hinata’s pce, and there had been no time to eat since.

  “…Sorry,” he muttered. He wasn’t sure what he ologizing for, but Hinata shook her head.

  “It doesn’t matter now,” she said, already reag int. She pulled out a small gas stove and a pack of instant ramen. “I brought a lot of them just in case.”

  Naruto watched as she set up the stove, a tiny fme flickering to life. The st of cooking broth soon filled the air, warm and familiar despite their unfamiliar surroundings.

  Naruto’s eyes lit up. “Oh! Ramen!”

  Hinata nodded, p water into a small pot aing it oove. “It’s the fastest option,” she said.

  “Fastest a,” Naruto corrected with a grin.

  They sat in panionable silence as the water began to boil. Hinata added the noodles, stirrily as they softehe st of seasoning filled the air, making Naruto’s stomach grumble again.

  When the ramen was ready, Hinata turned off the stove and carefully lifted the pot.

  Naruto blinked. “Uh… we don’t have bowls.”

  Hinata simply handed him a pair of chopsticks.

  Naruto looked at the pot, then at her. “Wait. We’re just go straight from the pan?”

  Hinata nodded. “Less up.”

  Naruto sidered this for a moment befrinning. “I like the way you think.”

  The two of them leaned over the pot, taking turns pig up the noodles with their chopsticks. The warm broth was f, the noodles filling. For a moment, as Naruto slurped up another mouthful, he could almost fet about everything else—the weird modern world, his missing memories, the strange guy who had given them a business card.

  Right now, it was just him and Hinata, sharing a meal uhe open night sky.

  And for the first time since waking up, Naruto felt just a little bit at home.

  After finishing their meal, Naruto leaned back, stretg with a satisfied groan. “Ahh, that hit the spot.”

  Hinata nodded, carefully pag away the stove and utensils. The night air was cool against their skin, and the hum of the distant city was a quiet remihat the world hadn’t stopped moving just because their own had ged so drastically.

  Naruto stood, brushing off his pants, then walked over to the edge of the unfinished building. He sat down, legs dangling over the side, and looked up at the night sky. The moon was bright, casting silver light over the skeletal framework of the stru site.

  Hinata joined him a moment ter, sitting just far enough that their shoulders didn’t quite touch.

  Naruto let out a slow breath, watg it mist in the air.

  “So,” he said, swinging his feet absentmindedly, “what’s ?”

  That was always the question, wasn’t it?

  Hinata was quiet for a moment, her pale eyes refleg the moonlight.

  “What do you think?” she asked finally.

  Naruto tilted his head, sidering it.

  “Holy?” He scratched his . “I dunno.”

  Hinata gave him a look.

  Naruto grinned sheepishly. “I mean, whatever you decide, I’ll support it.”

  She frowned slightly, shifting her gaze back to the skyline. “Naruto… we have to decide soon. This isn’t something I decide alone.”

  Naruto leaned ba his palms, staring up at the sky. He supposed she was right. As much as he wao just go with the flow, they couldn’t afford to drift aimlessly. Not forever.

  He thought about that Gojo guy. Naruto wasn’t sure if they could trust him, but there was something undeniably intriguing about him. About what he represented.

  “I mean…” Naruto started, watg the clouds pass zily over the moon. “I’m kinda curious about this ‘Jujutsu’ stuff.”

  Hinata g him.

  “Think about it,” Naruto tinued. “We were shinobi, right? At least, you were for sure.” He let out a small chuckle. “And from what that Gojo guy said, these Jujutsu Sorcerers kinda sound like shinobi, yeah? At least that’s the impression I got.”

  He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “So what’s the difference? Is there a difference? Maybe being a shinobi is like being a Jujutsu Sorcerer, and we just don’t know it yet.”

  The more he thought about it, the more his curiosity grew.

  And then—

  Pain.

  Naruto winced as a sharp, splitting migraine shot through his skull. He shut his eyes, hissing under his breath.

  Fragments of memories flickered through his mind—shadows of things he should know but couldn’t grasp. The sensation was maddening, like trying to catch smoke with bare hands. He saw glimpses—an e glow, a massive beast, voices shouting his nothing solid. Nothing real.

  “Ah, damn it…” He pressed his palms to his forehead, his fingers digging into his temples.

  Hinata tensed beside him. “Naruto-kun?”

  “Ugh. Just—headache,” he muttered, f himself to take a slow breath. The pain ebbed, but the frustration remained. His memories were there, lurking in the back of his mind, but every time he reached for them, they slipped away.

  Hinata watched him closely, in her gaze.

  Naruto forced a grin. “Guess thinking too hard isn’t my strong suit, huh?”

  Hinata didn’t smile.

  Still, Naruto turned back to the sky, his mind a storm of half-remembered things.

  “Let’s sleep,” interrupted Hinata, “We’ll need our rest, especially you.”

  The tent was small—barely enough space for the two of them to fit fortably. The fabric was a dull green, patched in some pces, but it held firm against the night breeze. The inside was even tighter than it looked from the outside, with just enough room for two sleeping bags side by side.

  Naruto fumbled with the poles, grumbling under his breath as he struggled to piece them together. “How the hell do people do this so easily?”

  Hinata, already familiar with the setup, k beside him and adjusted one of the joints. “Here, this part slides in first.”

  Naruto blihen gave her a sheepish grin. “Oh.”

  Despite the initial struggle, he caught on quickly. Soon enough, they had the tent standing, though it leaned slightly to one side, giving it a somewhat lopsided appearance.

  Naruto stretched his arms behind his head, admiring their work. “Not bad, huh?”

  Hinata looked at it, then at him, and sighed. “It’ll do.”

  Ihe space was cramped. Their sleeping bags nearly overpped, and any movement from one of them would be felt by the other. The air inside was warm, a stark trast to the cool night outside.

  Hinata pressed her lips together. “Sorry… I should’ve saved up for a bigger one. Or even bought a sed tent.” She sighed, tug a strand of hair behind her ear. “There’s only so much I earn in a day.”

  Naruto shook his head, settling into his sleeping bag. “It’s fine.” His voice was barely above a whisper, already fading into soft, evehing.

  In truth, he wasn’t asleep yet. He could sense Hinata’s tension, the way she shifted slightly, as if troubled. If pretending to be asleep would help ease her worries, then he had no problem doing it.

  Slowly, he listened as her breathing steadied, turning calm.

  Only then did he let himself drift off for real.

  Naruto dreamed.

  He wasn’t sure where he was, only that the warmth in the air felt like home. The sound of soft ughter filled his ears, blending with the king of bowls. Across from him sat a red-haired woman, her expression pyful yet gentle as she pushed a bowl toward him. Beside her, a blonde man chuckled, watg the exge with a fond look in his eyes.

  The words they spoke were muffled, lost to the haze of his dream, but the feeling they left behind lingered. Warmth. Safety. A kind of happihat felt just out of reach.

  Then, the dream faded.

  Naruto’s eyes fluttered open, and he found himself staring at something soft. Something very close.

  Hinata’s face.

  Naruto froze. Hinata was hugging him in her sleep, her arms ed snugly around his torso, her forehead nearly pressed against his neck. Her breath was warm against his skin, slow and steady.

  For a moment, Naruto panicked, his body tensing. ‘How do I get out of this without waking her up?’ he thought, carefully shifting. Unfortunately, Hinata was quite the hugger—her grip tightened as if sensing his attempt to escape.

  Heat rushed to his ears. Okay, okay—calm down. It was just a hug. Nothing to freak out about. At least, he hoped so. As long as the blood was rushing to his fabsp;and not… somewhere else, he would be fine.

  Just when he vinced himself to rex, Hinata stirred.

  Her eyelids fluttered open, and for a brief moment, she simply bli him sleepily.

  “Good m, Naruto-kun,” she murmured, her voice still thick with drowsiness.

  Then, realization struck.

  Hinata’s eyes widened. In a blink, she pulled away, scrambling back so quickly she nearly tumbled out of the tent. Naruto could swear her entire face turned as red as a tomato.

  her of them said anything.

  Five mier, they sat outside the tent, awkwardly sipping on bottles of water.

  They had yet to make eye tact.

  The awkwardness from earlier still lingered, but Hinata seemed determio move past it. Without a word, she busied herself with preparing breakfast, w effitly over the small gas stove she had brought. The smell of warm rid miso soup filled the air, and Naruto’s stomach growled in response.

  As she handed him a bowl, Hinata poioward the far end of the stru site.

  “There’s a water tank over there,” she said. “It’s not the est, but it should be fine for a cold shower. If you want to wash up after training, you use that.”

  Naruto perked up. “Wait, training?”

  Hinata nodded. “I left some clothes you ge into, along with soap and a towel. It’s not much, but it’ll do for now.” She paused, then added, “I’ll try to e back early so I help you with chakra trol.”

  Naruto tilted his head. Chakra. He knew what it was—he was sure of it. But whenever he tried to recall how to use it, his mind hit a wall. Notig his silence, Hinata hesitated. Then, as if making up her mind, she k in front of him and pced her hands over his.

  “Here,” she said softly. “I’ll use Chakra Trary to feel it.”

  A faint warmth spread from her palms. It was weak—barely noticeable—but it was there. A gentle pulse, like a ripple in still water.

  Hinata frowned. “I’m not very good at this… And your chakra is supposed to be huge, so you probably won’t feel much.”

  Naruto closed his eyes, fog on the sensation. It was faint, but… familiar. Somewhere in his body, something reized it.

  Hinata pulled away, sitting ba her heels.

  “Chakra is the energy inside us,” she expined. “It es from both physical and spiritual sources, and we use it to do all kinds of things—climb walls, walk on water, heal injuries…”

  Naruto blinked. “Walk on water?”

  Hinata nodded. “Yes, though it takes trol. The first thing you o learn is how to el chakra properly. If you don’t, it’ll be impossible to use teiques.”

  She lifted her hands into a familiar seal. With a small burst of chakra, her form shifted.

  Naruto stared at… himself.

  Hinata—now a copy of Naruto—offered a sheepish smile. “This is the Transformation Teique. A basic jutsu.”

  The transformation faded, and she returo normal.

  “It’s a good way to practice trolling chakra flow,” she tinued. “Why don’t you try?”

  Naruto scratched his cheek, unsure. “Uh… yeah. I’ll give it a shot.”

  Hinata smiled. “I’ll che you when I get back.”

  With that, she stood up, brushing dust from her clothes.

  “Where are you going?” asked Naruto.

  “Work,” answered Hinata. “And then iigate the lead Gojo Satave us.”

  They talked a bit more. About chakra. About Transformatioc.

  As Hinata prepared to leave, she gave Naruto a firm look.

  “Don’t show your teiques to civilians… or even Jujutsu Sorcerers,” she warned. “We still don’t know if we trust them.”

  Naruto tilted his head. “Not even Gojo?”

  Hinata hesitated. “…Especially not Gojo.”

  Naruto chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. “Alright, alright. I won’t go showing off.”

  With a nod, Hinata turned and disappeared into the early m light, leaving Naruto aloh his thoughts.

  Naruto sat cross-legged in front of a broken mirror, its jagged edges barely enough to reflect his full image. He squi his own face, trating hard as he formed the hand seal for the Transformation Jutsu.

  Taking a deep breath, he tried to focus.

  "el your chakra."

  The warmth he had felt from Hinata’s transfer earlier… he tried to call on that same feeling within himself. The flow of energy, the trol.

  It was slow going. At first, nothing happehen, gradually, he felt something stir—an unfamiliar yet familiar sensation deep within him.

  He ched his fists.

  "Alright! Let’s try that Transformation thing she did!"

  Naruto formed the seal Hinata had shown him, trating hard. The first few attempts were disasters—his form flickered, parts of him shifted randomly, and at one point, he actally turned himself half into a tree.

  "Argh! e on!" He shook his arms, willing the leaves off.

  After multiple failures, his determination only burned brighter. He refused to give up. If his past self could master this, then so could he!

  Besides… if he was really as good as Hinata said, it meant he had to be close to a breakthrough.

  Naruto paused, thinking back to the versation they had before she left.

  She had mentiohat he’d devised an inal jutsu based oransformation Teique… something so well-known that people in his vilge apparently talked about it in hushed whispers.

  When she said it, she had blushed so hard he thought she might bust on the spot.

  It made Naruto very suspicious.

  If it was just a simple transformation, why would Hinata react like that? He tried to think of any hints, but his memories were still a frustrating mess.

  Hinata was the type to get flustered easily, though. Maybe it was just something embarrassing?

  Naruto tapped his . "Did I turn into something weird…?"

  The thought made him shudder.

  Well, whatever it was, he'd figure it out soon enough. Right now, he had chakra to master.

  Gritting his teeth, he got back to work.

  "Okay, let’s try one more time… Alright, focus. Just like Hinata showed me. Visualize the form, el the chakra…"

  He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and willed the ge to happen.

  Then, his witched.

  “Aah… aah—CHOO!”

  The moment he sneezed, a puff of chakra smoke exploded around him. When it cleared, he felt… weird. Different.

  His tracksuit felt tighter in some pces. A lot tighter.

  He bli the mirror. And blinked again.

  A pair e, round, very muot his assets were staring right back at him.

  “…Huh?” Naruto croaked.

  Long, flowing blonde hair cascaded down his back, his face was delicate and soft, and—oh crap—his figure was dangerously curvy. His hands trembled as he reached up and—oh. Oh, wow. That was… was this as good as the real thing or what?!

  Naruto stared, wide-eyed, as his fingers sunk into the impossibly soft—

  He yelped and recoiled, face burning.

  “What the hell?! What did I just do?!”

  He scrambled backward on his hands a, his transformed body moving in ways that made him even more flustered. His head whipped toward the mirrain.

  This… this wasn’t just any transformation. This was—

  His breath hitched.

  Oh no.

  A memory flickered in his mind. An echo of ughter. Of panicked yells. Of angry women chasing after him with brooms.

  His gut twisted.

  "Wait a sec… I ied this jutsu, didn't I?" Naruto whispered to himself in horror.

  Hinata’s deep blush earlier made so much sense now.

  Oh no, no, no, noooooo…

  His gaze drifted lower, down to his pants.

  Curiosity struck.

  …No. No. No. NO!

  He spped his cheeks hard, willing the thought away.

  "Stop, stop, stop—what the hell am I even thinking?!" He groaned, c his face.

  With a desperate puff of chakra, the transformation dispelled, and he was back to normal.

  Naruto flopped onto his back, staring at the sky in shame.

  This chakra training thing was going to be way harder thahought.