Naruto: Ren the Sealmaster

It has been several days since Ino's first training and she was slowly getting used to it. After the first day when Hinata sucker punched her in the face, she had her reality check and grudgingly accepted that she wasn't as good as she thought. She even stopped complaining... much.

Ren took that as a win. The girl wasn't so bad. Oh, she was still annoying at times but she was slowly growing on Ren. Like fungus.

The girls formed a strange form of rivalry and he bemoaned having his own version of Naruto and Sasuke under his tutelage. He had to intervene a few times but by now, they started to understand his rules and mostly abided by them.

The rivalry was good, but it shouldn't cross into animosity just because one of them did better than the other for the moment and Ren had to do a bit of policing to ensure it stayed healthy. Ino was way weaker, after all, and he didn't want her to be bitter because of it. He wanted her motivated to improve.

It put a bit of pressure on Ren, too. He spent his evenings thinking about how to help Ino level the playing field, but so far, Byakugan has been proving to be just unreasonably good when it came to learning how to use chakra.

Fortunately, Ino also already knew tree walking due to her clan training so she was on water walking right now. But unlike Hinata, it was slow-going for the blonde girl.

So far, Ren had nothing outside of a harebrained stupid idea from Potterverse fanfic whose name he didn't even remember about using Ino's Yamanaka techniques to train in her mindscape.

The problem was he didn't know if it was even feasible.

Sighing, Ren gestured at the girls who were running laps around the pond that it was enough. They approached him, Hinata as cool as a cucumber, while Ino was panting like a dog.

He quickly hid his smile. He still remembered when Hinata was left in a similar state after running but right now, the girl was milking it for all it was worth, throwing Ino a teasing look and making sure the blonde saw it. Only Ino's panting prevented her lips from stretching into a highly annoyed scowl and starting a verbal tirade.

Ren gave Ino a few minutes to calm down while having Hinata practice the second step of Rasengan. Fortunately, for Ren's mental health, the girl didn't finish the exercise in a moment like the last time.

Ren came to understand it happened mostly because the first step was about chakra control and as a Hyuga, Hinata had a leg up in that. Once she knew the trick to it, which she could see with her Byakugan, it was easy for her.

The second step, however, was much more demanding. It required the user to be able to generate a certain force with his chakra. To tightly condense it to generate the grinding pressure.

But Hinata was neither a ninja with decades worth of experience like Kakashi or Jiraiya nor did she have as dense chakra as Naruto. She had a lot of trouble learning the second step because her chakra just wasn't very dense or powerful yet.

But a little bit of struggle was good for her. She practiced with the rubber ball for days now and her chakra was slowly becoming better, more dense. That would help her immensely in her life as a ninja later on.

Ren came to understand during his stay in this world that Madara and Hashirama did not have that much 'more' chakra than others. The body could contain only so much chakra when it came to quantity. They simply had so dense chakra, so powerful chakra, that it might as well be ocean compared to the cup of water your usual jonin had.

For example, that wooden ANBU guy whose name Ren already forgot, could make a tree by using one percent of his chakra. But Hashirama's chakra was so powerful that his one percent could summon an entire forest of poisonous trees.

It was simply an issue of quality. But ninjas had no idea how to improve the quality of their chakra other than use it a lot, which was extremely slow. Ren had an inkling the solution would lay in yin and yang release. But his research into it was just in the beginning stages.

When Ino had enough rest, she approached Ren and Hinata, "I just remembered. My dad told me to give this to you." Ino gave him a scroll.

"What's that?" Hinata curiously asked as Ren pocketed the scroll.

"Just some theories and exercises on yin chakra." Ren waved her off and she stopped asking, understanding he would not be answering her.

"Now, then..." Ren said and created a shadow clone. "Ino, you are going to fight my clone and try to score a hit." He gave her an encouraging smile as the clone beckoned her to follow him, sporting a cheerful grin and throwing a paint bomb up and down in his right hand.

Oh, the girl had no idea what was about to hit her.

"Wait, is that?" Hinata's eyes widened. She probably did not think she would ever be on the spectating side of this exercise.

"Yes." Ren nodded, patting a spot on the grass next to him in an invitation, which she quickly took.

"Oh! I will enjoy watching this." Hinata licked her lips with an eager expression as she approached him and Ren had to use his chakra to hide a blush.

She was starting to become... sexy.

And oh, how it burned him inside to think that. But Hinata's bluish-black hair now sported blunt bangs covering her forehead while the rest of her straight hair started reaching her shoulders.

It wasn't just the visual aspect that was good when it came to her hair. Ren said a few random things to her during her training, advice and details he noticed and thought could help her, and she seemed to take one of them to heart with her hairstyle choice. Due to her blunt bangs, her hair framing her face, and her tendency to duck her head, her hair could hide her eyes quite well. Which could be invaluable for a Hyuga ninja. The initial few seconds her opponent wouldn't realize they were fighting a Hyuga and haphazardly engaged her in a taijutsu battle because she was a girl could prove very fatal for them with her gentle fist.

Hinata's hair reminded him a bit of Samui, just in a different color. Her dark hair contrasted very well with her pale complexion and... 'Wait. Did she start wearing lipstick?' He mentally furrowed his eyebrows while outwardly keeping his expression calm.

Honestly, he hadn't noticed. And he was supposed to be the observant one here. 

'Damn. Good for Naruto.' He thought, hoping the kid would appreciate how much effort she was putting into looking good.

They sat next to each other on the grass, Hinata still trying to do something with her chakra to the rubber ball while Ren had his fuinjutsu notebook open now but his attention was more focused on the spar between his clone and Ino that was just starting.

Ino did the same exact thing Hinata did during her first try. Just in a lot bolder manner. She ran straight at Ren's clone, her fist cocked back.

The result didn't change and Ren enjoyed the squeal of horror as Ino found herself covered in pink color from her head to her toes. Naturally, his clone couldn't just let it go and started teasing her, using the tried and proven method of comparing her to Sakura, which turned the squeal into a scream of impotent rage as she tried to rush Ren's clone again... the pink became mixed with neon red.

Ren heard Hinata giggling and he couldn't help but snicker himself. He was almost certain the next color to be added to the mix was yellow.

His clone was clearly going for a very hot combination of colors to fit Ino's fiery attitude.

After having a good laugh, Ren glanced at Hinata. Speaking of Naruto... "I met your classmate a few days ago at the Ichiraku ramen stand." Ren idly breached the topic.

"Is that why he asked me for help with the academy stuff?" Hinata blandly asked, quickly putting two and two together. Seeing Ren nod in affirmation, she huffed, "I had to refuse."

"Why?" Ren turned his bewildered gaze away from the entertaining spar and toward her. 

"My father forbade me to interact with him." Hinata sighed, biting her lower lip and clutching the rubber ball in her hands as she refused to return Ren's look. "I'd rather not receive his punishment again."

'Oh!' Ren inwardly facepalmed. He had totally forgotten about that.

"Sorry, I did something unnecessary." Wryly smiling, Ren apologized, realizing he meddled somewhere he wasn't needed nor wanted.

"It's alright." Hinata said and her hair covered her face, making Ren unable to tell how she truly felt about it. "He really didn't like that. Even called me stuck up." She chuckled in a self-depreciating way and Ren felt very bad.

This was the problem with somebody who has foreknowledge meddling. He meant well but the circumstances were different and he didn't take that into account, therefore, fucking things up.

An awkward silence spread between him and Hinata as they watched Ino get embarrassed and cosplay as a human canvas for modern art.

She didn't realize it but her forehead now had 'I love a duckbutt' written on it and Ren surmised that she was going to go ballistic after she returned home today and had a look at the mirror. Because Ren was not going to tell her.

It was funnier that way.

Who knows? Maybe it would cure her of her duckbutt obsession.

Seeing it lifted his spirit a bit so he decided to start a conversation again and try to get Hinata's focus away from the previous topic.

"By the way, did your father mention something about me getting another student?"

Hinata turned to him and tilted her head, "No, why?"

"I just expected to be called to explain why I am not putting all my attention on your training by now." Ren hummed.

"Father does not care." Hinata rolled her eyes, but her tone was a bit sullen, making Ren wince.

Another miss. He was on a roll today, wasn't he?

"I am sorry." He grumpily sighed.

But Hinata just chuckled, "It's alright." Her eyes narrowed and gained a strong determined glint, "I will get ridiculously powerful and then I will punch him in the face." She said, reminding him a bit of the resolution Ino made during the dinner.

Ren had to hide his smile with his notebook. He now understood why so many people liked teaching. The thought that this confidence in the usually timid girl was inspired by him was very heart-warming.

The good feelings did not last long as Hinata's face suddenly fell, "Is it wrong that despite how he treats me, I still love him?" She quietly and unsurely asked, ducking her head.

"No." Ren gently patted her head with a fond smile before turning back toward the spar, "I am proud of you." He said the words that made Hinata's heart flutter.

"Thank you." She whispered, keeping her head ducked to hide her blush and happy grin with her hair.