For the people who follow me for other stories, I know I started another story that I may or may not finish readily. This is something I needed to get out and I liked it so I wanted to publish it. I have started work on all the other stories that I have yet to finish, and I will get those out as soon as possible. Also, Naruto Hinata and Lee will all be OC. This chapter takes place before the Chuunin exams, and continues to afterwards.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the characters belong to Kishimoto, whom I've started to forgive for a lot of the things he's done during Naruto. This story may not follow canon to a T but it should for the most part. Changes here and there.
The Village Hidden in the Leaves was peaceful on this particular day. Civilians wandered about the streets, content with the weather, while tending to their everyday doings. Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the town, away from the prying eyes of travelers and other wayward ninja, a few of the town's ninja sparred lightly under the tutelage of their Jounin teacher.
"Naruto, we need to work on your speed. The hits mean nothing, no matter how powerful, if they don't actually hit." The man stated to the young blonde, who glanced up just in time to take a strong round house kick to the face.
"We also need to work on your attention span." The teacher muttered, taking his eyes off of his book in time to see the boy hit the ground.
"Kakashi, this is pointless. Naruto will never be as good as my Sasuke. Its not worth your time." The pink haired female member of the group voiced.
"That is not true Sakura. Naruto can be very beneficial, he just needs help." Kakashi muttered, almost distractedly as he glanced into the bushes nearby. A chakra signature had appeared somewhere in the middle of their spar, and while he knew it was another genin, he hadn't met this one before.
"Well, I think that's enough for today, meet here tomorrow by 8 o'clock sharp. And don't be late." He spoke one last time and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
"Sasuke! Want to go on a date with me?!" The girl shouted as her "beloved" jumped away briskly. Naruto, who had been knocked unconscious by the powerful blow to the head, lay on the ground where he'd been left.
"Oh Naruto…" A quiet and meek voice came from where Kakashi had glanced at. A small girl exited the brush and slowly made her way over to where the boy lay. This girl was Hinata Hyuuga. The "heiress" to the Hyuuga Clan. However, she was weak, and had too kind of a heart to fight, and was deemed unfit for the title.
"I can't believe they did this again." She muttered to herself. Hinata wore a mask in public, figuratively of course. She was stronger than she seemed, and did not actually stutter. However, because of how she was treated by her father and her family members, gained two faces. A face she never let anyone see, and the mask she covered it with. As the girl prepared to treat him however, an ANBU ninja appeared nearby.
"The Hokage wishes to see you and Uzumaki-kun." Hinata nodded, placed her hand on the fallen boys shoulder, and felt the ANBU shunshin back to the tower. When they reached their destination, the Hokage, an older man by the name of Hiruzen Sarutobi, paused for a moment before he spoke.
"Why is Naruto unconscious? I asked you to bring him in without hurting him!" The older ninja demanded.
"Sir, it was not her fault. Naruto-kun was knocked unconscious while he was distracted by Kakashi-sensei during a sparring match with Uchiha-san." Hinata stood up for the nervous ANBU. A quick thank you hand signal behind her back the ANBU confirmed the story.
"I apologize Panther-san, I was quick to judge without thought." He apologized and waved her off.
"Now, I have received a rather mysterious mission scroll from outside the village addressed to both you and Naruto. However, I would much rather going over its contents if both of you were awake." Sarutobi stated, and proceeded to wake Naruto up.
"HUH?! WHAT?!" He jolted up from where he was sitting in the chair in front of the Hokage's desk. Hinata barely held her laugh back as the blonde ninja looked around.
"Oh! Hey there Oji-ji! What's up?" He asked after realizing he was in the office.
"I have a mission for you two, however I am very concerned about sending you both without an escort, mostly because it is against the rules for genin to leave unescorted." The man replied with a sigh. And the council will never let Naruto leave the village without their permission. Before the two genin in question could respond however, there was a knock on the door.
"Yes?" The Hokage asked. The door opened, and a man stepped in. This man had a blue cloak on his shoulders, covering his back down to the middle of his calves. He wore a simple fighters tunic with leather armor above, and a pair of black pants. His shoes were strong, and made of leather as well, showing that they'd been used quite often, but were not worn out yet. His face was round, with blonde colored scruff growing on his chin. His hair was blonde as well, wavy and pulled into a low pony tail that went to the middle of his back. Purple eyes, narrow but gentle, shown from behind dirt that seemed to pepper his face. His lips were narrow, and while he seemed to take care of himself, dust covered a good portion of his clothing.
"I will escort the two young ones." The man stated simply, not introducing himself at all.
"I do not know who you are, but if you think you can just walk into my office and try and take these two 13 year old children away from where they are safe, you are sorely mistaken." The old ninja stood up preparing to fight. The mysterious man smiled, showing bright white teeth, with slightly pointed canines, and shook his head.
"I am the sender of that scroll. I wished to speak with you in person as to what I needed these two children for. I realized their safety was important to you, and so I thought to come here and explain."
"I still do not know your name." Sarutobi sighed and glanced at the two genin. Hinata was weary of the man, and she had every right to be, while Naruto seemed excited and curious as to who and why the man was interested in him.
"I am Andreas Valevar. Draconic Prince under the Rule of the Sky. Fancy titles meaning I am the head of the temple." He smiled at the end, showing his teeth one more time.
"I am here to train young Naruto to be a Draconic Knight." The Hokage nodded slowly, still taking in the information given to him. He'd heard of the Rule of the Sky before. It was almost comparable to a Hidden Village, however no one had ever actually seen it before so "Hidden" wasn't taken lightly.
"And what of Hinata? You only mentioned Naruto." The older man sighed.
"I cannot take her to the Rule of the Sky, because that is an order of men only. However, I know someone in the Rule of Water who wishes to train our young girl. My good friend Talise M'ai is the Lady of the Water. She wished for the young girl to be brought to her for training." Hinata's eyes widened slightly. Someone had wished to train her? Someone who seemed so important?! Sarutobi gauged the girls reaction and decided then that maybe it would be good for the two outcasts to be trained.
"I originally only thought of these two young ones, however there is a third that I would like to bring along with us as well. He goes by the name Rock Lee. And he would fit magnificently in the Order of the Earth, under the tutelage of Greyleaf Alderblade, Master of the Earth." Andreas added, holding out another scroll to the Hokage.
"This child has no chakra coils, he wouldn't be able to learn anything that involves chakra."
"I understand that Hokage-sama, that is why this Order would be perfect for his training. None of the branches of our society use chakra. We are not ninja. We use a different source of power, and for each branch that source is different. For that Order in particular it uses Earth Energy, which we can tell that child has an abundance of because he has connected somewhat to it with his clothing style and fighting style. He would make a great Earth Warrior. Just as young Naruto would make a great Knight, and Hinata would make a great Maiden. There is a place for these children where they would not be seen as outcasts. Or monsters." The prince added the last statement onto the end of his lecture, casting a quick glance at Naruto. Sarutobi sighed. He knew that the kids this society had chosen were outcasts. They did not fit into the standard for the village. An heiress to a clan who was too gentle to rule, a boy who could not use chakra even as a ninja, and a boy who held a burden that most people would never wish on their enemies.
"When must you leave. And for how long will they be gone." The statements were not questions. They held power behind them, and an unspoken promise for a world of hurt should anything happen to the children.
"We must away today, after they are given the chance to say goodbye to their friends. They will be back before the Exams you are holding next month."
"How will that be enough time for you to train them? That is less than a month in time!" Sarutobi roared. This man was making a mockery of these children.
"We have our methods and they are just as protected in our society as your 'clan techniques' are to you here in Konoha. We will train them. They will get stronger. They will prove themselves to be stronger than this village has given them credit for. I assure you." A dangerous calm gathered around the man that stood before them. Naruto shook with anticipation. He couldn't wait to prove to the village that he was there to help, and not to hurt. There was so much that he wanted to learn, and he wouldn't need chakra for it which made it even better! Hinata felt conflicted. She knew that if she told her father of what she was doing, not only would he ridicule her for seeking help from outside the clan, but Neji-kun would say something about it being the right of a MAIN house member to be given special training. She couldn't fathom what it would be like returning. However, on the other side, she was excited, with the prospect of proving to her family that she is strong, that being kind and gentle did not mean she was weak. Andreas was picking up on their feelings of anticipation, and knew that these children would grow to make their village proud.
"You all are dismissed. I would like to speak with Valevar-san just a little more before you set off. Go pack, let your family and friends know of what is happening, and when you are ready, meet at the gate." Sarutobi stamped the scrolls officially and called an ANBU into his office.
"I want you to bring this scroll to Lee-kun. He should be training with Might Guy, around training grounds 13 if you are lucky to find them there."
"I want you to know, that when these children return, they will be better adapted to working together than they will with the teams they currently have. You may want to make the proper arrangements." Andreas stated after the genin and the ANBU had left.
"I understand." Sarutobi nodded. Walking out of the tower, Naruto gave his best foxy grin to the cute girl next to him. Sakura was a fun person to be around when she wasn't beating him up and trying to fawn over Sasuke, but he'd started to realize that she wasn't at all interested in him. Hinata however had been a good friend lately, helping him heal faster, making him feel better for making mistakes while his own team would ridicule him. Therein developed a friendship. He started to talk to her more, paid her more attention and she started to come out of her shell. Soon they came upon his apartment, and Naruto bid her farewell. He'd tried to make as little noise getting back into the building, due to the fact that he would be abused if the neighbors were given the chance to catch him before he'd gotten through the door. Without having a lot of money in the past, Naruto had bough what clothes he could, same for food. While he love Ichiraku's, he knew that it wasn't healthy for him to eat all the time. Without money, it made it hard to eat as well as he needed to. As he finished packing what little he'd had, there was a very noisy knock on his door. Normally the only people who knocked were ANBU and his team, and he had a sneaking suspicion of who was there. Being smarter than he'd let on had its ups and downs. People didn't take him seriously, which worked both in his favor and against it. He could get away with stupid shit because they didn't think he knew the consequences, while in reality he did. On that same note, people thought he needed more lecturing than normal, and tried to treat him like a smaller child than he was.
"I'm coming, just give me a minute." He called, putting some of the clothes that he had into the backpack he'd been packing. On the other side of the door stood both Sakura and Sasuke.
"Hey! Come on in, I'm just packing." Naruto opened the door wide enough to allow his teammates to enter. Sakura looked at the ground hesitantly, while Sasuke hadn't even bothered to look at Naruto.
"Hey Naruto, we actually came here for something else." Sakura started seemingly nicely however Sasuke but in.
"We want you to stop being a ninja. You are a failure, you slow me down and you annoy her with your constant asking about dates, you will never make it in the ninja world." The black haired boy said frankly.
"Is that really how both of you feel?" Naruto asked, not able to think of a cheery response to the request. Sakura opened her mouth to say something, however she shut it again a moment later.
"I see. Well, I guess its for the best that I'm going on this trip then. Maybe Kakashi will give you both some better training as well." Naruto sighed, and before Sasuke could ask about the training trip, Naruto shut the door in their faces. He was upset that his own team wouldn't try to help him get better, and were more willing to just drop him altogether. It was then that Naruto vowed that he would train hard, become a Draconic Knight and show both of his former teammates just how wrong they were. Meanwhile, Hinata had walked home, and was standing at the front gate of her families compound fidgeting with her fingers nervously. This news wasn't going to go well with her father and the council of elders, however even worse was her cousin's potential reaction. She knew that he was bitter about the past, having lost his father in the service of the Main Branch, and blaming Hinata who was involved in the incident. He saw her as a failure and as an anomaly. She didn't fit with the clan, and because of his hatred for her, she lost a lot of confidence in herself to perform as she knew she could.
After having entered the home, she made her way to her bedroom, where she was going to pack up her belongings, and make sure everything was ready so that she could leave on a moments notice. Staying would prolong the torture and her own feelings of helplessness. If there was one thing she wanted to get out of this trip, it was hoping that she could have more confidence in herself. Finally finished packing, Hinata brought the bag with her to her fathers office, and placed it outside the door. She then knelt on the ground and knocked on the door.
"You may enter." The deep voice of her father came from the other side of the door after a moments hesitation. Hinata skillfully opened the door and slid inside on her knees in one motion, highly practiced. Hiashi Hyuuga regarded his daughter critically. While on the outside he wasn't allowed to show his love for her, it tore him up inside to have to treat his own child, a beautiful girl who looked just like her mother, with contempt that he did not hold. The cruelty that he was forced to show her by his own council and elders, made him want to leave the family and take her with him.
"Hinata. What have you come here for." He cringed at his own tone. This poor child had so much pitted against her all her life.
"I have come to tell you of a training trip that I have been assigned. It has been awarded an A ranking. I leave this afternoon." The young girl stated, bowing her head. Hiashi paused for a moment. This could give her the chance to improve herself both physically and mentally. He knew that when he was forced to make her spar with her younger sister Hanabi she held back. He knew that she didn't want to hurt her sister, but it made her look weak and incapable. Hopefully this trip would help her realize her potential.
"Alright. When do you arrive back? I will have you spar with Hanabi or myself when you return." He stated. If she sparred with him maybe she wouldn't hold back as much.
"I do not know. I will train hard otou-sama. I promise." She muttered the last few words, however Hiashi still heard them. The young girl then burst from the room, grabbed her bag and turned to leave, only to run into the one person she'd hoped she wouldn't see.
"Hinata-sama, what is your hurry?" Neji sneered, making it obvious that he was sarcastic.
"I-I h-h-have a t-training t-t-trip." She stuttered out, trying to walk around her cousin who was blocking the hallway.
"Oh? Of course the Heiress of the Main Branch would be awarded such an opportunity. This will be good for you to finally see that you are weak, and destined for nothing." He ground out through his teeth.
"Neji." Hiashi called from the office sharply.
"Yes, Hiashi-sama." Neji jumped, not having realized that the head of the family had been within earshot of his mistreating of the man's daughter. Hinata took this opportunity to run away, not bothering to stop for Hanabi when she called out to her. Meanwhile in the office.
"Is this how you treat family, Neji? She is your younger cousin, and you will do well to remember that she is also my daughter. Next time I hear you talking to her in that manner I will use your seal." Hiashi threatened. It was known throughout the household that Hiashi disliked using the Caged Bird Seal. He was the least often of the Main branch to use it. This threat made Neji stop for a moment. Had he really misjudged the family heads hatred for indifference? Or even protection? That couldn't be possible, the cruelty shown was far greater than something like protection.
"I understand Hiashi-sama. I will correct my mistake." He bowed and exited the room.
"I have done what I can for you my daughter, the rest is up to you." He glanced at a small picture frame on his desk, which held a younger looking Hiashi, next to a beautiful woman with navy blue hair, holding a small baby with tufts of blue hair on top of her head, pulled into a small bow. Both the parents looked down lovingly to their child, and while the woman was pale, both the husband and baby were a healthy pink.
"Hikari, I have failed you." Hiashi sighed, a single tear leaving his white eye. Hinata was making her way over to the gate where Lee and Naruto both stood already. Andreas had walked up not long after and smiled at the younger ninja.
"Are we all ready?" He smiled to them. Each of the three looked at each other and nodded enthusiastically.
"Just know, we are not taking a normal method to get to our destinations. This is something that you will not see in a Hidden village." Andreas smiled and put his fingers to his lips. A sharp whistle came soon after and there was a pause in the air. A deafening roar could be heard, and a large creature flew overhead and landed outside the gates of the village. The guards were startled from their idle chatting and prepared to call the Hokage, however Andreas tossed them a scroll, and they settled down slightly, though still weary of the now identifiable dragon. Naruto was stunned, he'd never seen one of these creatures before, and not only that but it was an astonishingly beautiful Dragon. From some gut feeling he knew that the dragon was a female. Her scales were a bright gold color, and her eyes were a deep red. She had two large horns that sat at the top of her head, just at the back of her skull with lighter golden hair under it. She had spines that ran down her neck, with a break at her shoulders, but starting again around her ribs. Her long tail had a tuft of fur like hair at the end.
"She's beautiful..." Naruto smiled at the proud creature. Andreas felt the pull of a grin at the corners of his mouth.
"How did you know that Rithrania was female?" He asked. Naruto blushed and ran his hand over the back of his head.
"Somehow I just knew." Naruto glanced back to the dragon, who was then identified as Rithrania, and bowed slightly. The creature looked at him curiously and bowed her head back.
"We shall be taking all of you to your training destinations, be warned, we will train you differently than you have ever been trained before. As well, time moves differently for these places than they do for those who live on the surface world like you did. For this training, we will change you back to the earliest stage in your life that you can comprehend teachings, and raise you again in our customs. That being said, your memories shall remain, however you will regain them as you train, to keep from a sensory overload. It sounds more complicated than it is." Andreas explained, helping each of the children onto Rithrania's back and then joining them.
"How long will this take? If we are to start over, then we will need to grow to our current ages once again." The boy called Rock Lee stated questioningly.
"That is correct. However, like I said our time moves differently, and can be controlled. So while you will be twice the age that you are now, you will not age a day older than you are currently. We will return you to your current age by the end, and you will have a lifetime experience to show for it." The Prince explained. Naruto was even more excited, because he could grow to be stronger than he was now, and not need to grow up living a hard life. There he will be trained, and treated like a human being, and not a monster. He couldn't wait to get a better start to life. The flying felt amazing to Hinata. The wind blew through her hair and made her feel alive and free. Lee was far more nervous. He liked being on the ground, and as far as being on the back of a creature that could easily kill him, he knew that the ground was where he was going to stay.
"May I sit on your head?" Naruto asked the creature as she was flying.
"Little one, because you are small, and respect not only my beauty, and my pride, you may join me at my head." The dragon spoke back, a rich velvety voice coming from the large and powerful maw. Naruto scrambled up to Rithrania's horns and held on tightly, taking in the view from her perspective.
"When you join the ranks as a Draconic Knight, you shall hatch your own dragon. I pray that you achieve that goal of yours, you have the heart of a Draconic Lord." Rithrania spoke to Naruto, nudging him gently with her horn.
"I hope you haven't become too smitten with my dragon, she is a beauty but she hatched for me, she is my life partner." Andreas joked from her back, relaxing lazily at the base of her neck.
"I wouldn't dream of trying to take her from you." Naruto laughed. Lee admired his bravery to want to be on the head of a flying dragon, but still wished that he were on the ground instead. Soon the dragon started to fly closer to the ground, somehow having made it over a certain distance without having been noticed by most ninja villages.
"We have arrived in the town where you both will be picked up by your instructors. We will spend a day here after they have come in contact with you to orient you to your new bodies." And with that statement, and a wave of his hand, Andreas changed the three children all to the age of 3. Naruto shrunk only a little, having been very small for his age because of maltreatment, while Hinata and Lee had slightly more significant size changes. Hinata's hair grew longer again, back to what it was when she was a child, and Lee's hair changed to a less bowl shape, and more wild look. None of the children knew where they were in that moment.
"I am Andreas Valevar, this is Talise M'ai, and Greyleaf Alderblade. We are going to teach you all! Naruto Uzumaki, you are with me. Hinata Hyuuga-chan, you are to go with Talise. And Rock Lee, Greyleaf will be your trainer. Work hard, do well, and we shall evaluate your progress." The tall man with yellow hair said, having the children take the hands of the three adults. Hinata looked back at the yellow haired boy, not wanting to be separated from him, and Lee enthusiastically grabbed the hand of the tall gentleman who went to stand next to him. Greyleaf was an older man, with a long grey beard he kept braided until it reached his lower chest, and long grey hair pulled back into a high pony tail. He had caring eyes and dimples on his cheeks, but an aura of strength surrounded him.
The woman who knelt next to the shrunken Hinata was beautiful beyond words, her hair was a combination of multiple shades of blue and green, working in long luxurious curls that flowed down to the ground looking like cascading water. Her face was heart shaped, and her eyes were a bright ocean blue.
"Come my little dear. We must leave now. You shall see your love again." Talise's voice was even more beautiful than she was, coaxing Hinata towards her with little effort at all. Something clicked inside Hinata, and she remembered who the boy was. The boy she held closest to her heart at all times. A swell of warmth hit the young girls heart and she knew that she would see him again. Hinata and Talise both began to walk towards the inn in town, which was also where the shops were, and where Talise would provide Hinata with the proper clothing for her training. Greyleaf led Lee to the training fields, already itching to start his training. Andreas picked Naruto up and put him on his shoulder and decided to walk around town with him.
Inside Naruto's Mindscape
"These damn Knights. I would have been free!" The giant fox sealed inside Naruto shouted angrily. He knew that when the Knight used the aging jutsu, it reverted the seal back to a stronger form, helping to keep the demon trapped even better than before. That being said, Kurama, as he was named, didn't hate the boy he was sealed in. He re-watched the memories from the time he was sleeping and realized that the poor kid had been given a worse life than he'd thought before. That doesn't mean he likes the brat. Anyone could tell from looking at Naruto that because of his maltreatment, and all around malnourishment on an everyday basis since he was born, the kid had no brains whatsoever. If he'd been fed and nourished and taken care of, chances were he'd be smarter. Kurama couldn't do anything for the kid either, because if he stepped in, the influence of his chakra would just overpower the kids genetic code and turn him into something that wasn't human anymore. That would just make matters worse for him, so Kurama did what he could to heal the boy and let him live a relatively peaceful life without his influence.
"Do your best kid. They probably can help you better than I could." The giant chakra being muttered and put his head on his oversized paws for a nap.
~SIGNIFICANT TIME SKIP!~
Three pre-teens, all looking confident and strong stood on the outskirts of a town they hadn't been to in just about 10 years. The first, a tall blonde haired boy with three whisker marks stood, with eyes that changed from blue to gold, smiled as he whistled strongly. This boy, a sworn and trusted Draconic Knight, watched the skies as a very large shadow passed over the group of people.
"Ohen, I thought I told you to be here by now!" The boy called to the dragon as it landed in the open road outside of the gates.
"Hunting took priority, thank you very much." The dragon replied lazily, still munching on a bone of some animal he had caught just before being summoned. Ohen was a large male dragon, having grown to full size since having hatched to the boy called Naruto Uzumaki. He was a black in color, with red starting to show in his scales. His eyes were a bright gold color. The only female in the group of three chuckled and pet the head of the blue and purple dragon lazily draped over her shoulder. This dragon would never get any bigger than she was, and that was perfectly fine with her owner. Hinata stood firmly, holding herself proud and strong as she prepared to represent the Maidens of Water in her home village. She'd spent much of her time focusing on training, that the relaxed pace of the village would be a nice change. The finally member of the group smiled at his companions and glanced at the dragon that he himself had hatched. Unlike the first two, this dragon never grew wings. He was a deep forest green, with scales and horns that looked as though they formed a slicked back mane. He sat near the boy who's clothes matched his scales and huffed at the actions of his companions.
"Oh hush Ladon. They are merely excited. Are you not feeling the excitement of being able to travel finally? Stretch your legs?" The boy, who's name was Rock Lee, Earth Warrior, asked his dragon with a smile.
"I would enjoy to travel, however if it is going to be in such a frivolous manner I would rather travel alone." The dragon huffed again. Lee chuckled again.
"We have one last goodbye to give you all. May your travels be safe, your lives be lived well, and your strength never dwindle. We grant you our blessings, and pray that you continue the paths we have taught you." The three teachers, all beloved by their pupils, spoke in unison. While time may have passed for the three young children, only 23 days had passed for the world around them. They anticipated a world of difference, forgetting that they were the only ones changing.
"I think we are all ready to head out. Thank you for all of your tutelage and your love over the last 10 years. I really would never have made it far in life had you not shown me the way." Naruto bowed to his teacher, who nodded and gave his pupil and surrogate son a hug.
"Talise-okaa-sama, I love you so much I will miss you and I will make you proud of everything you've taught me to do!" Hinata spoke for the first time, with a voice that would make anyone fall for her.
"I am already proud of you my daughter." The beautiful lady smiled and kissed the girl on the forehead.
"I will be expecting to hear of your exploits through the men in town." Greyleaf spoke, wacking his pupil on the back very hard. Lee nodded, used to the lack of affection, and knowing that that was the best compliment he could get. With that, the three teens took to their dragons. More specifically Naruto and Hinata climbed onto Ohen's back, while Lee and Ladon took to the ground. Both dragons were swift, and made the travel back to the Elemental Nations quite a lot faster. It was when they came to the outskirts of The Land of Fire that they decided to use their own feet to walk home. Hinata's dragon, Avrae, yawned as she woke up from her nap.
"I want to fly," was all she said before stretching much like a cat and taking off from Hinata's shoulders.
"Do not fall behind little one!" Hinata called. She glanced over at her taller companion and felt a small blush rise to her face. He had gotten so much more handsome than he was before, there was less baby fat on his body and more muscle. His face was lean, and she couldn't help but notice that he resembled the Fourth Hokage. Brushing that thought aside, Avrae, who by nature was a lazier dragon, flew back down and landed on Ohen's back.
"Is there a reason you like laying down on me?" The much larger dragon asked, glancing back at the young female perched between his shoulder spikes.
"You are warm, and the sun is warmer on your back than it is on Hinata's." She sighed, stretching. Ohen nodded and continued to walk behind the group of teens. Lee had told Ladon that he was free to roam the area and hunt if he wished, and that is what he did.
"Are we ready to face our village again? Most people won't want to believe that we got this much stronger in the short time its been for them." Lee asked, he seemed concerned, but there was a fire in his eyes.
"I'm sure they will have a fit, but that's what I'm looking forward to. Pissing them off used to give me such satisfaction, and now that I'm stronger, and not nearly as stupid, I can't wait to make it worse for them." Naruto rubbed his hands together deviously. Whenever he got that look on his face, or whenever he got fired up about fighting, his hair started to take the color of his dragons scales, only on certain strands however. To Hinata it made him look more regal, if that were possible. She chuckled at the antics of her companions. Her father has gone without seeing her for only about a month, when she has been missing him for a decade. While she knew that he would probably treat her indifferently like normal, she wanted nothing more than to throw her arms around his neck like she used to when she was a child.
Soon the gates of the Village Hidden in the Leaves came into view. The hundred foot tall wall that surrounded the village an impressive sight, even to those who have lived in it for all of their lives. Naruto clenched his fists in anticipation, he was excited to prove that he was stronger than before.
"State your name and business." The guard at the gate demanded.
"Kotetsu. Izumo. I'm surprised. Its only been a month. Training group 343 returning." Naruto smirked, walking passed the stunned chuunin guards. Hinata chuckled and followed, along with Lee as they walked to the Hokage tower. As the three entered the secretary at the desk just let them pass, unsure of what to say or do. The outcasts had returned. While in a meeting with his personal advisors and former teammates, Sarutobi sighed hoping that the endless stream of complaints for letting the "demon brat" out of the village would stop, and the requests to sending the Uchiha heir out on the trip instead. A knock on the door was heard. Relief filled the Hokage as he allowed the group to enter. Three young shinobi entered, all strong looking but familiar.
"Team 343 returning for duty Hokage-sama." Naruto spoke, bowing his head slightly. Sarutobi's eyes widened. He knew that voice anywhere.
"Naruto…and your teammates! You have returned sooner than I thought you would." He smiled at them. The advisors turned to face the newcomers and glared at one in specific.
"You have yet to address us brat! Know your place, you can't come barging into the Hokage's office unannounced. We can have you arrested for that!" Koharu growled through her teeth.
"We should pass a rule that whatever these three learned on their so called 'training trip' they should teach to Uchiha-sama. He must grow stronger if he is to defeat his enemies." Homura looked to the third of the advisors, a war hawk called Danzo.
"Pardon me, but we can't share what we learned with others. We are not permitted to do so by our leaders and teachers." Lee stepped in, politely declining.
"Insolent brat! You will teach what you learned or you will be tried for treason." Homura raised his voice.
"SILENCE! Since when do we force our shinobi to share their clan secrets? How is this any different from forcing the Hyuuga clan to teach the Jyuuken to the entire village. They will not be forced to teach others, end of discussion, and if I hear word of any of the three of you attempting to force these young shinobi in anyway again, I will have you stripped of your positions, your chakra, and your clan head titles and you will be forced to live the life of a civilian, with absolutely no say in the NINJA village. Have I made myself clear?" Sarutobi glared powerfully at his advisors letting killing intent fill the room.
"You all may leave. I must debrief this team." The older Hokage dismissed his council, fed up with how they were acting. They left in a hurry, glad to be away from so many issues.
"I can't believe they actually were able to completely train you all in that short time!" The three kids smiled at each other.
"It will be more believable once we explain how it went. But first, shouldn't we show you what we've learned?" Naruto smirked. He couldn't wait to show that he was stronger.
"I will prepare a current team. We will take into consideration your words on where you are however." Sarutobi nodded to the kids.
"I'd say low Jounin for all of us. However we would like to level up at the same rate as the rest of the ninja our age, and anyway as far as ninja techniques, we are the same as when we left. We didn't work on our ninjutsu at all. Although what we learned can be considered some form of hidden art, so all the same." Hinata spoke. Blinking, the Hokage nodded and wrote down what she'd said.
"I will send in Team 7. They were a stronger power house team anyway, so it will be fitting to see where you fair." Naruto's smirk grew even wider. He'd wanted to test up against the "genius" Uchiha once again.
"Please wait in the training ground on top of the Hokage Mountain. I will have the team meet you there. If you can, disguise yourselves without the use of ninjutsu, I don't want any personal agenda's getting in the way." Naruto chuckled, knowing that Sasuke would definitely hold some issues against him. With that all three exited the office via the window. Naruto used some wind magic to float his way over to the mountain, while both Lee and Hinata roof hopped until they arrived. Once there Naruto pulled a black face mask over his lower face, and used a red bandana on his hair. Lee did the same with a green bandana, and Hinata tied her hair back into a high ponytail and used a purple bandana. She also used a pair of contacts that gave her a black pupil for here eyes. All three stood ready for a fight when four presences appeared around them.
"Who are you and what are you doing in the village?" An annoyed sounding Sasuke asked.
"We are here for a test of our strength. Why else would we be here?" Lee asked, changing his voice slightly.
"Don't get smart with us." Sakura bit back using a small amount of killing intent. Hinata snorted to herself and let some of her own out, having a higher potency than Sakura did, the pink haired girl paled slightly.
"So are we going to stand around all day, or are we going to fight?" Naruto asked getting annoyed with all the bantering.
"Are you going to get that stupid looking creature off of your shoulder?" The third and unidentified member of the genin team commented offhandedly.
"You will regret insulting Avrae." Hinata glared powerfully. Her voice had changed slightly and Lee and Naruto knew to activate their own powers if they wanted to be able to fight around her. Without a warning all three of the genin opponents leapt into the fight, brandishing their weapons and preparing to take care of the perceived threat to the village. Kakashi stood off to the side knowing what it really was about but allowed his team to take care of it. He couldn't identify the team they were testing however, and was a bit concerned about the level that they were going up against. Sasuke went after the taller boy in the black and red, while Sakura was forced to go against the green clad member. Saburo Honda was fighting the girl who's pet he'd insulted. He'd just barely been on the team for a week and he'd already been dragged around by the annoying other members of the team. While his skills didn't necessarily mesh well with theirs, he knew he was still valuable.
Sasuke attempted to swipe the intruder off of his feet using a leg sweep, however it was dodged and soon followed by a kick to the abdomen. Sasuke attempted to block the kick, and realized that the force was stronger than his guard, and he was thrown off of his feet into the tree behind him. Sakura paused in the middle of her fight to shout about her Sasuke-kun, when Lee stepped in with a hard glare.
"It would do you well not to take your eyes off of me, pink hair onee-san. I am your opponent." He spoke with hardened words. His only thoughts on the matter had been that she was a useless genin who didn't work hard enough. Naruto waited for his opponent to right himself from the tree that had splintered upon impact. Winded Sasuke could only cough to catch his breath.
"Why don't you attack me, I'm weakened." Sasuke spat angrily, noticing that his enemy had given him a grace period.
"What use is kicking a boy when he's down. I'd call you a man but you hardly qualify as of now. Also, you still haven't realized what we are actually doing here, so until you do, we fight." Naruto explained, keeping his voice changed for the sake of his current identity. Hinata was fairing better, having dominated her opponent without needing to use any of her other abilities. Although the boy was still smart mouthing her.
"Why is it that I always have to fight the weakest of the enemies? And why are they always women?" He asked more to himself than to anyone else, however it was still within earshot of everyone from team 343.
"Oh shit…. Katsu! Get out of earshot now!" Naruto called, using the code name they had given to Lee.
"HIKARI!" Lee yelled attempting to get the angered woman's attention.
"Its no good, get out of here." Naruto grabbed his companion, and without bothering to get the other team out of the way, fled the scene. With a whistle, Ohen came soaring in and grabbed the two teammates and flew them high above the village, where they could see what was happening still, but couldn't here Hinata.
"Think they are doomed?" Lee asked, hoping she would take it easy on them.
"Oh hell no. She's used that voice thing on me before, it took me a month to recover, but that was without help, surely the village will take care of the precious team." Naruto replied, smirking.
"You little shit. I am not the weakest on the team. We are all equal in strength." Hinata murmured, her voice changing again to something almost more soothing. It was then that she released her limiter. It was a small tattoo on her shoulder in the shape of a dragon that helped to keep her abilities in check.
"SIREN SONG!" She cried, her voice becoming extremely shrill, and causing the surrounding area to be filled with a very dense fog. Much like a genjutsu, it was an illusion that shows a person exactly what they want to see. For example, Sakura was seeing Sasuke, waiting for her with a picnic and asking her to be his girlfriend. While in reality, each and everyone of the other team fell into a trap. They were seeing what they wanted, but not realizing that they were drowning in the fog. The water content in the air was becoming so dense that oxygen was becoming harder to get.
"Alright, time to bail them out." Naruto sighed. He sucked in a large breath of air, and using a wind technique blew the fog away from the suffocating team. He landed with Ohen nearby and found Hinata in the middle of the barely breathing group of genin.
"I think they learned their lesson dear." He smirked kicking Sasuke out of the way of his path. Hinata glanced at Naruto, realizing that she'd taken it a little too far. Sarutobi stepped out into the clearing and called some ANBU to take the genin to the hospital.
"And you are sure you wish to be genin still?" He asked, as they took off their disguises.
"Yes we want to go through all of the tests to become Jounin on our own, no shortcuts." Naruto nodded.
"Now, I think its time for us to talk." Hinata mumbled, not convinced that the team had learned their lesson entirely.
"I believe you are correct." Sarutobi nodded, and led the group back into his office.
End of Chapter AN:
For those of you who noticed that not only did I not go into what their training entitled, I also did not show what they all learned completely. That will take up the next few chapters, because trust me, it will be a long process. I planned on detailing each of their training at different times, such as Naruto first, Lee second, and Hinata last, because they weren't all training in the same place all at once. I also didn't describe their clothes or their looks, mostly because their looks didn't change all that much, but I was going to make those observations from the Hokage once he calmed down enough to make them.
IMPORTANT!
For people who follow me for my other stories, I have started to work on all of the ones that I've not finished yet, realizing that I am a terrible person and unable to finish what I've started without a kick in the butt. That being said it will take a while for me to get everything out because I am still in school and its gotten worse as far as scheduling goes. Never take up Paramedic school if you don't want to lose a year of your life that you wont get back.
Rambles over, I promise.
Please review with what you think so far, its rough but I wanted to get it out. Please look forward to the updates to the other stories in the future!