Shadows Lengthen
Chapter One
"... Naruto I understand what you are asking but I cannot, my role is the Sensei for Team Seven, so I can teach you, but I cannot focus on you alone. The Hokage has given our team the week off due to the circumstances of our mission, I'll see you after that." Hatake Kakashi said with finality, before disappearing in a poof of smoke.
Uzumaki Naruto, shoulders slumped, glanced around Training Ground Seven. He had just finished pleading with Kakashi to train him to no avail. The training area was silent but for the rush of wind through the trees and the soft rustle of leaves swaying. The mission to Wave had been a big deal to Naruto. He had seen a friend die (or so he thought), felt the sting of betrayal, been helpless in the face of an enemy, experienced the power and rage of Kyuubi, and seen what happens when a Shinobi comes through a mission successfully. All of that made Naruto feel... inadequate.
The blonde Genin clenched his fists, he had been weak. First the Demon Brothers, then Zabuza, and finally Haku. In every instance he had been weak, and it was only by luck and the power of a demon he had come through. So Naruto had resolved to change things, as Team Seven made its way back to Konoha a small plan had formed. Uzumaki Naruto was going to become a powerful ninja, he would protect his precious people. His first thought had been that he would need help, and Kakashi was his first bet.
"What now?" Naruto wondered aloud. If Kakashi wouldn't train him, then who? "The Old Man."
\\/
"I am looking for someone to train me Old Man!" Naruto shouted as he burst through the doors to the mission office. Stunned silence met that declaration as everyone in the room stood aghast at the commotion. The silence was broken by the light chuckling of Sarutobi Hiruzen, Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
"Naruto it is great to see you! Especially after your big mission, an A-rank no less. Have you spent all your money yet?" As irritated as Naruto was to have his demands ignored, money always caught his attention.
"What money?" he demanded. As Naruto neared the desk where the robed leader was sitting the mission room got right back into the swing of things.
"Hmm, Kakashi probably forgot to mention that you need to collect your mission earnings at the desk downstairs 500,000 thousand if I recall correctly," Sarutobi answered. Naruto's jaw dropped, that was more money than he had ever imagined. He quickly recovered in spite of his astonishment over his new riches.
"I still want someone to train me!" The Hokage smiled.
"Naruto if you want someone to train you then there are only two options, you either ask someone to do it or you pay someone to do it. I;however, cannot simply assign another sensei for you." Naruto was about to shout out in anger again, but the Hokage interrupted him. "That isn't to say you cannot get yourself another sensei. My recommendation would be to head over to some of the higher level training grounds and talk to the Chunin and Jounin there to see if anyone would be willing to teach you."
"Alright old man, you just keep that hat ready." With that Naruto turned around and went to collect his new fortune.
\\/
Training Ground 37 was Naruto's latest stop, the last four training grounds had yielded little results. Training Ground 37 was enormous, there was a stream bubbling along the path into the training ground all around it was heavily forested. As he walked Naruto began to hear an odd collection of sounds emanating from ahead. He quickly reached the end of the path that opened up into a wide field where the stream he had followed met a larger river. What Naruto saw upon entering the field caused him to stop short.
There before him were two ninja, one wielding a black sword the other throwing senbon needles almost faster than Naruto could see. The man with the sword had a forehead protector worn in the traditional fashion and had spiky brown hair, he was busy deflecting a storm of senbon thrown at him by the other ninja. This one wore his forehead protector on a bandana, but his brown hair was still visible and he strangely had a senbon sitting in his mouth like a toothpick. Naruto watch the scene in awe, hardly believing how fast the second ninja could throw senbon, and amazed by how the sword-wielding shinobi was able to deflect every last one.
As he continued to observe he barely noticed the crow that landed on the ground before him, then, without warning, the crow burst into smoke obscuring his vision.
"Well what do we have here?" came a jovial voice through the smoke. Waving his hands wildly Naruto attempted to clear the smoke.
"Hey, hey! Who's there?" he shouted. The smoke cleared and before him stood the two shinobi he had been watching looking curiously at him, and a third shinobi who wore dark sunglasses and had spiky dark hair.
"Isn't that what we should be asking you? This is our training ground after all," questioned the bandana wearing ninja in an even tone. Naruto began scratching the back of his head nervously.
"Oh yeah sorry, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. That was awesome Bandana-man, how did you throw those Senbon so fast? And how did you block them all Scarface?" Naruto asked excitedly. The three older men took a moment taking stock of the features that had earned them impromptu nicknames.
"My my so many questions, for now I am Yamashiro Aoba," answered the one with sunglasses.
"Shiranui Genma," said the bandana-inn.
"Namiashi Raido, so what are you doing here Uzumaki?" queried the final ninja. All three raised their eyebrows in question. Naruto looked at the three ninja and set his jaw.
"I am looking for someone to teach me, I want to be a better ninja... I want to be the best ninja this village has ever seen," he replied firmly.
"Why do you want to be the best, I've heard you want to be Hokage some day, is that it?" Genma asked. Naruto's features took on a solemn slant.
"I do want to be Hokage... But more than that I want to be able to protect the people who are precious to me." The three Jounin caught one another's eyes as a silent communication took place between the three of them.
"Do you have Team Training tomorrow Naruto?" Aoba asked. Naruto shook his head in the negative.
"Very well, be here at dawn tomorrow," Raido said.
"Are you serious?! You guys will teach me stuff?" Naruto asked with obvious excitement.
"Yeah we'll help you out Uzumaki, but it won't be easy and if we catch you slacking off even one bit its over. We are Jounin and our time is valuable so come ready to do whatever we ask," Genma instructed, and Naruto nodded furiously in agreement. He was so excited!
"Naruto, if we see you wearing that orange monstrosity tomorrow the deal is off," said Aoba with a smirk.
"What?! What is wrong with this jumpsuit? Orange is the favored color of the gods!"
"You want to be a real shinobi, you want to get better?" At Naruto's nods Aoba continued. "Then the first step is to look the part, right now you look like a kid who wants to be a ninja. Tomorrow I expect you to look like a ninja. Use some of that A-Rank money you got to buy some decent ninja gear, try Konoha Outfitter, they are the best in town." Naruto nodded sadly looking down at his first true love.
"Dawn Uzumaki," Raido said, with that the three disappeared.
\\/
It took Naruto about an hour to track down Konoha Outfitter, it turned out to be a huge warehouse on the opposite end of town from his apartment. When the blonde walked in he was stunned at the sheer volume of gear, clothes, and supplies available.
"I'm Higarashi Mu, welcome to Konoha Outfitters! It is good to see a new Genin come to Konoha's finest Shinobi Shop," came the booming voice of an enormous man who swept into the entryway to greet Naruto.
"Uhh, you know who I am?" asked Naruto cautiously, he hadn't had the best of luck with most store owners in Konoha. The man smiled widely and slapped him on the back.
"Of course, Uzumaki Naruto, local hero!" Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, no one had ever said that before.
"Hero?" The man smiled leading him into the store.
"The Fourth Hokage was one of my best customers, and I counted him a friend. I figure that if he wanted you to be known as a hero than that's the way it should be, plus I am familiar with his prowess at Fuinjutsu, sealing that is," he finished with a knowing wink toward Naruto's midsection.
"Thanks Mr. Higarashi! So does that mean I get a discount?" Naruto asked excitedly. The man's countenance turned stormy.
"There are no discounts in this store," he said with violence in his voice. Then, with a flash, he was back to his sunny self. "What are you shopping for?"
It took Naruto a moment to recover from that mood swing before he answered, "Some new clothes." Mu eyed him for a brief moment speculatively before nodding.
"That makes perfect sense, you'll find clothes in that direction, holler if you have any questions," Mu exclaimed as he pointed to the far end of the warehouse.
Naruto quickly thanked the burly man and moved toward row after row of ninja clothing. There was mesh, armor, gis, and everything in between and before long Naruto was simply wandering around overwhelmed by the selection.
"Uzumaki Naruto? What are you doing here?" came a familiar voice. Turning Naruto spotted a pretty blonde girl wearing a purple top with white arm-warmers.
"Ino?" Naruto asked, he hadn't seen the girl in months. She smiled prettily.
"Is Sasuke here?" she asked eagerly. Had Naruto not been nearly comatose from shopping he probably would have been angry but he hardly noticed her excitement.
"No, just me, I am shopping for some new clothes," Naruto said distractedly. Now the gleam in Ino's eye became dangerous, had Naruto been a better trained Ninja or man he would have known to escape and run, run as fast as he could.
"Really?" Ino replied eying him up and down. "Could I help you?" Naruto turned with a wide-eyed look, no one offered to help him, this was turning out to be a great day!
"You would do that? That would be amazing Ino," Naruto said with a grin. Ino's grin took on a predatory look.
"Oh I look forward to it Naruto." With that she grabbed Naruto's arm with an iron grip and began to drag him down aisle after aisle filling his arms with clothing. It wasn't long before Naruto realized that he maybe in trouble.
3 hours 46 minutes and 21 seconds later (according to Naruto's "rough estimation")
"I think you are set Naruto," Ino proclaimed in satisfaction. She had coerced him into buying clothing for everyday use around town, along with what he needed for his training and work as a Ninja. Naruto stood before her in what they (she) had decided should be Naruto's regular ninja garb. It consisted of Naruto's regular forehead protector with a black cloth substituted. He wore a long sleeve black undershirt with a gray flak-vest over the top. Baggy black training pants were tucked into black shinobi sandals that wrapped higher than normal to halfway up his shin. Taped to his right leg was his kunai pouch, and to the left side of his lower back was his equipment pouch. He had forearm protectors with a matte black metal plate one the back of each forearm. All in all Naruto felt dangerous.
"I like it," Naruto said in satisfaction. Ino took a moment to look at the blonde ninja before nodding in agreement.
"It is a big improvement Naruto, I do good work," the blonde member of Team 10 said smugly with a light blush to her cheeks, the boy really did look presentable.
"Thanks so much Ino, you are the best," he shouted giving her a hug, Ino sputtered.
"You can't just hug a lady like that Naruto you idiot!" Naruto just laughed scratching the back of his head. "Oh whatever you are welcome. I need to go Naruto I'll see you around, tell Sasuke and Sakura hi for me." Ino waved as she left. Naruto waved back as he made his way up to the register delicately balancing the load of clothing Ino had left him with.
"It looks like you had a lady helping you shop, someone special?" Mu asked with a twinkle in his eye. Naruto sputtered in disbelief.
"No! Just Ino we were classmates in Academy and she helped me out," Naruto defended. Mu just smiled as he rang up the purchases, he loved it when a woman did the shopping.
"Whatever you say Naruto, now you have got all the clothing you could ever hope for, is there any equipment or weapons that you need right now?" Naruto pulled a Kunai out looking at it carefully, there were some chips in the blade and the balance seemed off. "Are all you weapons in that condition?" Mu asked in a choked tone. Looking up Naruto saw that the man was looked scandalized by the state of his weapons. Naruto nodded in embarrassment.
"I find most of them by looking around training grounds and picking up the weapons that other ninja leave behind, I could never afford my own set." There was a flash of fire in the storekeepers eyes before he responded.
"I'll make you a deal, you trade in the used stuff you scavenge around town and in return I will sell you new weapons at half price." Quick as a wink Naruto emptied all his Kunai, Shuriken, and even a number of Senbon he picked up after the Wave ordeal onto the counter. Mu placed each of the types of weapon into different containers and passed the new sets to Naruto who eagerly stuck them into his weapons pouch.
"Thanks so much Mu you are the man!" Naruto shouted as he paid his bill and took off running.
"No problem kid, it's the least I can do," the man said to himself with a sad smile.
After a quick stop (only 15 bowls) at Ichiraku's for dinner Naruto was back in his apartment crawling into bed.
"Tomorrow is going to be an even better day," he murmured with hope.
a/n – Yo! So Genma, Raido, and Aoba will be taking turns with our hero. No SLASH! The third member of the Fourth's Guard is never named so I am making it Aoba. This story is AU so assume anything that doesn't agree with the canon falls under the AU category. Higarashi Mu is Tenten's dad, I'll stick with the Fanon on that part. Don't expect Godlike Naruto he is 13, but expect him to be competent as things move forward and increasingly powerful. The Chunin Exams will be different because of that. After a chapter describing Naruto's training we'll get into the Chunin Exams.
Read and Review please.
