"Anything that's worth doing requires a lot of practice and research, whether it's in a training ground or in a library," Kurenai informs him.
"Well, if I had to pick, I guess Finjutsu," Naruto admits before adding, "does that mean you want me to learn Finjutsu while I'm training?"
"As you have the option to do so without injuring yourself, yes, that's exactly what I want," Kurenai affirms. "It'd mean a lot to this village and to your future to learn as much as you can."
"It's still a lot of reading," Naruto bemoans. "If I'm supposed to learn what my clone understands, it's not going to be much if he's staring at a scroll all day."
"Trust me," Kurenai asserts with a sweet smile. "I have a full-proof method of making sure your clone retains what it reads."
"Tha-that's an amazing skill, N-Naruto," Hinata shyly confesses.
"Hm," Naruto hums as if considering a new idea that he's already discussed with Naru-nii. "How about I learn Finjutsu if I can spar with Hinata-chan? I bet you have some wicked moves," he eagerly tells the indigo-haired girl.
Hinata is shocked by the proposition and instinctively hops back a step, twiddling her thumbs. "I-I c-c-couldn't!"
Naruto wonders if maybe it's too much, alluding, "I guess you'd rather not spar with me. It's okay, I just thought-"
"N-N-No!" Hinata hops forward, eyes wide and fearful like accidentally stepping on a dog's tail. "T-th-that's n-not it, N-Naruto-kun. I-I would like to I-I'm just n-not g-g-good."
"So," Naruto points out. "That's why we train! So we can get super strong. So we can spar, right?
Right?"
Hinata seems trapped and looks to her sensei for help. An easy smile on Kurenai's symmetrical face tells Hinata she won't get out of this and so, despite the tremendously rapid beating of her heart, Hinata nods, 'yes.'
'If you want, I'd start with tailoring, you know, like stitching and stuff, that way you can create seals within the clothes you wear. Forewarning, that takes a LOT of practice to get good. Blacksmithing and woodworking would be cool too. Kenjutsu also helps with hand strength.'
'How,' Naruto gasps. 'How am I supposed to learn all of that in a short amount of time? I feel like my head's going to explode right now.'
'Well, first, I'm definitely helping you out,' Naru-nii asserts. 'This is all stuff I wish I had help with so you can bet your ass I ain't going anywhere until you're the absolute best, unless I'm dead and maybe not even then. Second, we have some time.
We'll do as much as we can and hope for the best. And third, it's in your blood.'
'What do you mean,' Naruto asks.
'I already told you our family's crazy good with Finjutsu,' Naru-nii simply answers.
'Yeah, but just because kaa-chan and tou-chan are good at something, doesn't mean I'm automatically going to be as good at the same thing,' Naruto points out, thinking about his demoralizing Academy days.
'True, but this is somewhere between the Uchiha's Sharingan and the Nara's Shadow Bind,' Naru-nii explains. 'Not quite kekkei genkai but a little more than hiden techniques. It's just our clan's jutsu.'
'Our clan?' Naruto repeats. 'I'm part of a clan!?'
'Yup! And we were wicked awesome too!' Naru-nii energetically asserts, and Naruto can just feel the fist pump. 'It's sad, but, most of our clan were killed and the ones who survived disappeared a long time ago.
I always wanted to reinstate the Uzumaki clan in Konoha but, well, with the war and all, I never got around to it.'
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