A young man of around five foot two inches in height, with lightly tanned skin, bright, sunkissed blonde hair, and azure eyes stormed out of the doors of a small house in the middle of a slightly misty forest, grumbling.
"Damn brat. He has no idea how hard life can really be." He grumbled, before sighing heavily. "Welp, if I'm out, I might as well do some more training." He chuckled as he walked back to the clearing he had met the strange person earlier in the day.
When he arrived, he started with a few stretches, before doing fifty laps around the clearing, totalling to around five miles, give or take a few hundred feet. He sighed as he dunked his head in the nearby lake, and looked at the tallest tree there, which looked to be about a hundred feet tall.
In an hour, he was able to make it up to the top of the tree before falling down, now the goal was to run up, then down. He tried, and got about two feet back down before falling. He repeated this process for another hour, before he got a little lonely, despite his progress. He created two kage bunshin to keep him company, the little deviations in personality helping to make him not feel so alone, but after five falls, they both dispelled, which made Naruto sigh before he ran again, and was shocked that his progress was multiple times the usual.
Now he may be oblivious, and not analyze obvious social cues well, but when it came to fighting, or training, he was a genius. He had a theory, but it needed testing. He created another kage bunshin and told it to go two hundred feet west, making sure to remember the surroundings, before dispelling itself. It did as told, and when it dispelled, he was shocked. What they did, and saw, he remembered.
"Oh… My… Kami…" He murmured. If this did what he thought it did, he could learn hundreds of Jutsu in a matter of hours, and then get their control down in the same amount of time. He just learned the biggest cheat code ever! He grinned to an almost insane level, before creating a dozen kage bunshin to run up and down the similarly sized trees. An hour later, all the clones dispelled, and Naruto jumped down from his tree, a slight headache making him wince.
"Ok then, too much at once causes a headache, so, I can train in large numbers, but dispel them slowly, good to know." Naruto mumbled before taking a deep breath. He looked to the tree in front of him, before he dashed at it. He ran up with no effort whatsoever, hell, it had become second nature at this point. He then turned and ran down, similarly, with no difficulties.
"Ok then, now what to do?" He mused, before his eyes trailed to the lake, and he flashed back to Kakashi and Zabuza standing on water. He grinned like a fox and created two dozen more kage bunshin before they all ran at the lake and applied the same technique for wall walking.
[]Two Hours later; One AM[]
"YATTA!" Naruto jumped for joy, standing on the surface of the lake, in the center. It had taken two, well, technically fifty hours, but he now had it mastered. No matter how big the waves or how deep the water, he could stand. He ran back to the shore, and sat down in a patch of flowers. "Now, time to-yawn- sleep." He mumbled, quickly falling asleep.
[]Six Hours Later[]
Naruto's nose twitched as he noticed an amazing scent, then another, stronger one, invaded his nostrils, the first one, was light, difficult to explain, and mostly pleasant, like a mixture of fruit, honey, steel, blood, and sweat. The second, was fish. He opened his eyes, sat straight up. He looked around the clearing. He noticed that just a few feet directly in front of him, the person from the previous day had found him again. Though it couldn't have been hard, he was in the same clearing.
"Good morning." They said with a smile. Naruto smile right back before looked at their hand, more specifically, the fish and rice that was on a platter, in their hand.
"Good morning to you too." Naruto grinned as he took the proffered food, and thanked them, before eating. He took a big whiff of the air though, when the first smell hit him again, before mental lightbulb went on. "Hey, hey, Onee-san. You lied." He said, a cheeky grin on his face. They looked panicked for half a second before calming, and giving him a questioning gaze.
"What do you mean, Naruto-san?" They asked. Naruto took a long gaze at the other person in the clearing. They had deep black hair that went down to the small of their back, pale skin, doe brown eyes, and a feminine, though almost androgynous face, and was wearing a light brown kimono that was held closed by a blue obi.
"You are a girl." He said, his grin widening. The previous day, Naruto had kept calling her Onee-san, due to the fact that she looked very much female, though when she left she had said she was male, which, due to their face had been possible, but she couldn't fool Naruto's nose for more than a little while. "I have really good senses, better than even Dog-boy's, and you have this scent to you that only a few others i've seen here do. Females smell like a mix of different aromatic fruits or berries, and then honey. The fruit mixture always different though." Naruto said.
"Okay, so what are you going to do now that you know i'm a girl?" She said as she reached into her obi.
"Nothing, I just wanted to make sure you know I knew. It's your secret, and you should have an idea of who knows." Naruto grinned at her.
"Then you won't make it too far as a shinobi then. A pretty decent guy… Yes, but a shinobi has to know how to keep secrets, even from those who's secrets they are." She said, a faint smile on her lips as she withdrew her hand from her obi, leaving the senbon she had hidden within the sash.
"I know, but your secret isn't part of the mission, and it's not like it's going to really affect me or my village in a negative way, if at all." Naruto shrugged, before he put down the, now empty, wooden plate. "So getting more herbs?"
"Yeah, wanna help again?" She asked.
"Sure, but what's your name, Onee-san." Naruto asked.
"Haku." She said with a smile aimed at him.
"Well then let's get to it, Haku-chan." He said, grinning like a loon, trying to hide his blush. She chuckled a bit before getting to work. He suddenly had an idea, before crossing his hands. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He shouted, and five clones poofed into existence. "Alright, let's get to work!" He said, before he and the clones went about collecting herbs.
"N-Naruto-san, how many of those can you make?" Haku asked shakily.
"Eh? Well, about a hundred, give or take a dozen, before I get winded. Why?" He said nonchalantly.
"Just curious." She said, a sweatdrop appearing on her head.
"Ah." He hummed.
[]Twenty Minutes Later[]
"Here ya' go, Haku-chan!" Naruto said as he handed over six bundles of herbs to Haku, who then put them into her basket.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun…" At this she blushed. She didn't mean to call him that! Naruto grinned brightly, to try and cover his atomic blush, though it didn't work. "This should last us for a few days at least." When she said that, his eyes fell, and she couldn't help but compare him to a kicked puppy. And like always, she wanted to help that puppy. "So maybe we can just talk until I need more." She said. He immediately brightened up.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Haku-chan!" He said as he hugged her and dashed away. But right at the edge of the clearing, he turned around, with a fox-like smile. "And tell Zabuza-san I hope he gets better!" He shouted, before taking off.
Haku froze shock still, not literally, though ice was gathering at her feet. He knew about Zabuza, but he helped her gather herbs. She looked through everything in the basket, and found them to be fine, exactly what she needed, and some things she needed but didn't tell him she did. She got a worried look on her face, before she turned to go back to her base, keeping an eye out the entire way.
[]Thirty Minutes Later; Tsunami's House[]
As soon Naruto walked in the door, he was assaulted by a fist to the face by Sakura, and a scream of "Where were you?!" from said pink-haired banshee.
"I was training." He said simply, before going to his assigned room, which was right next to Tsunami's. "Call me for lunch, please." He said. Naruto plopped down on his bed, and sighed, covering his eyes. He looked down to his jumpsuit, growing angry for a moment, before he ripped off the top and threw its remains to the side of the room.
"Well, looks like I have to get new protection when we go back to the village." He sighed. He hated the suit. It was the only shit that the shinobi stores would sell him. It was padded, but it was bright orange. He loved orange, but a bright version of it sucked for his shinobi attire. He looked down to his ragged black sleeveless shirt, and orange puffy cargo pants.
He sighed. 'So, good news, I think i'm in love with Zabuza's accomplice. Bad news, i'm in love with Zabuza's accomplice!' He thought to himself. 'Well, what else did I expect, my life is just that fucked in'nit.' He groaned. "What the fuck ever, i'm just going to sleep!" He exclaimed.
[]Around Four Hours Later; Noon[]
A gentle knock came at Naruto's door, but it didn't wake him. The knock came a bit louder the second time, but again, it didn't rouse him from his slumber. The door slid open, and Tsunami walked in, and looked sadly upon Naruto's sleeping, yet crying face.
"Naruto-kun~" She whispered. He groaned a bit, causing her to chuckle. "Wake up, Naruto-kun, it's time for lunch." She said, this time at normal volume. He sat up with a gasp, a fearful expression upon his face. Tsunami saw this, and slowly wrapped him in a gentle hug. "It's alright, Naruto-kun, you're safe here." She said.
"Y-Yeah, thanks, Tsunami-san." Tsunami shot him a comforting, motherly smile, not that he could identify the second part.
"It's time for lunch, so come on down when you're ready, ok?" She told him.
"Sure, and again, thank you." Naruto said sincerely.
"It's not a problem, Naruto-kun." Tsunami said into his hair. She broke the hug and smiled at him for a moment. From the doorway, a small space between the frame and the door showed Inari, giving a warm smile while his eyes flashed into greenish yellow ones, with slitted irises.
Tsunami got up, followed by Naruto and made her way downstairs. She spotted everyone was already at the table, bar her and Naruto, and she could even detect a hint of happiness from Inari, though for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why.
"Hey, Naruto, just in time. I was just telling Sakura and Sasuke that we are continuing in training, then guarding Tazuna in shifts until Zabuza makes his move." Kakashi explained.
"What will we be doing when not guarding Tazuna?" Naruto asked as he sat down.
"Here, doing whatever." Kakashi shrugged.
"Then, do you think you could give me any taijutsu or ninjutsu scrolls to train with while I'm here?" Naruto pled. Sasuke look disgusted, while Sakura looked like she was about to tell him off for asking something that she thought was ridiculous.
"Sure, but you'd have to tell me what kind of style you want, and we'll have to find out what affinity you have. You can tell me the first in a minute, but the second we can do now." Kakashi explained as he pulled out four cream colored pieces of paper. "Just channel some chakra into it, and it'll show you." He did so with his, and it crumpled up into a tiny ball. "I have a very, very strong lightning affinity, even greater than my sensei's. If you have Raiton, it'll crumple, Doton will crumble into dirt, Katon will burn it, Suiton will dampen it, and Fūton will cut into it. The more of whatever reaction, the stronger the affinity." He handed a paper to each of his students.
Sakura's had about a fourth of the paper crumble, showing an average Doton affinity. Sasuke's crumpled a bit, not nearly as much as Kakashi's, but it also burned a small bit. Showing a moderate Raiton affinity, and a secondary Katon one. Sakura gushed at this, while Sasuke puffed his chest out a tiny bit.
"So, just so you know, Doton has the least offensive capabilities, but the greatest defensive, while Katon has the third highest offensive, just behind Raiton there, while Katon has a good few defensive qualities, Raiton has almost none." Kakashi looked at Naruto, and ushered him to get on with it.
"It'll never be as good as Sauke's, Naruto-baka!" Sakura jeered, getting a wilting glare from both Kakashi and Tsunami, not that the pinkette noticed.
Naruto channeled a small amount of chakra into the paper, and what happened surprised everyone in the room. The paper split in half, from the bottom right corner to the top left, and the upper half crumpled into a ball almost as small as Kakashi's, while the lower half got so damp, it fell apart into clumps, squelching on the table.
"Huh." Kakashi said lamely, a sweatdrop on the side of his head. Sasuke leveled a very heated gaze at Naruto, while Sakura was seething. She slowly stood up, and turned to Naruto, a rage in her eyes.
"HOW DID YOU CHEAT, NARUTO-BAKA!" She screamed, causing everyone else to cover their ears. "THERE IS NO WAY YOU COULD BE BETTER THAN SASUKE-KUN!" She proceeded to screech, before, for the safety of everyone's ears, Kakashi knocked her out.
"That's quite impressive, Naruto, Those three are all incredible together, especially since you won't have a definite element disadvantage. Fūton has the greatest offense and an amazing defense, though it is very hard to master, while Suiton is the most versatile and easiest to learn, and I already explained Raiton." Kakashi congratulated his student with an eye-smile.
"Ah, thanks, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto thanked the cycloptic Jonin with a sheepish grin on his face. Kakashi reached into the small pack on his hip, and took out three scrolls. The biggest had a yellow edge, with the kanji for lightning (雷), the second biggest had a blue edge, with the kanji for water (水), and the smallest had a light green edge, with the kanji for wind (風).
"These all have some beginning exercises for their nature transformation, as well as some lower level jutsu. I'll give you them, if you can complete the tree walking exercise." Kakashi finished with an eye-smile. "The same goes for you as well, Sasuke. I'll give Sakura hers when she wakes up.
Naruto frowned for a moment before a fox-like smile came to his face. He picked up the wet clumps of paper from the chakra paper.
"Ne, Kakashi-sensei, you got anymore of this stuff?" Naruto asked. Kakashi looked confused but gave Naruto a large stack of the slips of the off-white paper. Naruto grinned wider, before pushing chakra into the paper, trying to use more of the Suiton chakra. He ended up with almost two pounds of soaking wet paper. He walked up to Sakura, the clump in his hands, and dropped it on her face, then dashed away.
"NA-RU-TO!" She shouted after being rudely awoken. She chased after him a moment later, the paper sticking to her face. Naruto dashed and zig-zagged around the trees, finally running up one, and leaping to another, hiding in the watched as Sakura ran right past the tree he was hiding in, and into the clearing it was at the edge of. She looked around for a moment, but quickly let out a sigh and gave up. She wiped the paper off her face, and called for Kakashi and Sasuke.
"Yo." Naruto heard from behind him. He turned around robotically, and saw Kakashi's eye-smile.
"Oh, it's just you." Naruto heaved a sigh of relief.
"When did you finish the exercise, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, greatly curious.
"Last night, I got it done really fast after I realised that Kage Bunshin can transfer muscle and normal memory. Oh yeah, thats a thing I wanted to ask you about. I know that if I have a clone read something, I'll know it, but what If I have one of em' run laps. Will I get those benefits as well?" Naruto asked.
"No, you will remember everything it saw, but that's it. Also, good job on that, I have something special to teach you as a reward." Kakashi said, giving him a pat on the head. All of a sudden, Naruto had a flashback to a younger man that looked like Kakashi, without the headband, showing his Sharingan eye, and a porcelain white and red dog mask on the side of his head, crying as he pat the head of a baby Naruto. 'It's ok, Otouto, it's going to be ok.' He heard the whisper in the back of his mind.
"Naruto, you ok?" Kakashi asked, a worried tone in his voice, causing Naruto to shake himself back to reality.
"Y-Yeah. Sorry, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto apologized.
"It's fine, besides, I think it's time we get down there." Kakashi said. Naruto nodded and the duo jumped down from the tree they were in, landing silently behind the other two.
"Where ARE they?!" Sakura whined.
"Where're who?" Naruto asked, a cheeky grin on his face. Sakura and Sasuke both whirled around with shocked faces.
"Don't DO that!" Sakura shouted.
"Please stop shouting Sakura-chan, or i'll have to knock you out again." Kakashi said with another eye-smile. Sakura quickly shut up and shrunk back. "Now then, Sakura, Naruto, since you two have completed the tree walking, i'll be giving you your scrolls." Kakashi promptly handed them each scroll that corresponded with their affinities. Naruto got the Suiton, Raiton, and Fūton, while Sakura got a Doton that had a brown edge and the kanji for earth (土). "Each scroll has three jutsu after the exercises, and yes, the thing we talked about will work, Naruto. The jutsu are things that are easy or not too hard to learn. Now go!" Kakashi said the last part firmly.
"Hai!" Both Naruto and Sakura sounded, leaping off in opposite directions. Sasuke glared in Naruto's direction and got back to training.
[]Naruto's Clearing[]
Naruto leapt into the clearing where had met Haku twice now.
Haku.
He wasn't an idiot. She smelled like Zabuza, in fact, she had his scent all over her. Like how Konohamaru smelled like the Old Man's daughter, like that person's child, but more of the acquired scent, not the born one. People don't often realize it, but feelings, and what kind of relationship you have with someone leaves a scent, the kind that can't be erased, and could only be picked up by animals, a few of the more powerful members of the Inuzuka Clan, and him.
Naruto didn't want Haku to lose someone who was basically her dad, so he helped her gather the herbs, it also didn't help that he had quickly developed a crush on her that had crushed the one he had on Sakura into a fine powder. Naruto sighed as he thought about Haku.
He shook his head and slapped his cheeks, then created a hundred clones all to train. He made sure to charge one with enough chakra to last in a decent spar with him, and sent the other ninety-nine into three groups of thirty-three to practice the nature transformation exercises. He narrowed his eyes for a moment.
"Dammit, I forgot to ask Kakashi-sensei for a taijutsu style." Naruto groaned and leapt back in the direction of Kakashi.
A minute after he left, Haku came back into the clearing, as she had said she would, and her eyes widened at seeing a hundred of Naruto.
"U-Uhh, what's going on?" She asked, completely lost, before a blush formed on her face. 'A-Am I dreaming of a world of only Naruto? That would be so weird, I know I talk in my sleep, so if something steamy happens Zabuza-sama will hear me moaning… This could be bad.' She thought to herself, for some reason not considering the clone possibility.
"Ah, hey! Haku-chan!" All of the Naruto clones said at once.
"We're training in nature transformation so that boss can focus on the physical side." The clone that been created for sparring explained.
"Oh? What affinities do you have?" Haku asked, curious, after she had shook herself out of her daze.
"Well, we have what is basically a godly Futon affinity, the paper split from corner to corner, and pretty strong Suiton and Raiton affinities, though they aren't as strong as Kakashi-sensei's Raiton affinity, well my Futon is, but you get the point." The clone rambled, causing Haku to giggle, before she caught herself and blushed.
"Impressive. I myself have pretty strong affinities for Futon and Suiton." Haku revealed, a small, competitive smirk on her face.
"Really?! Can you teach me some jutsu when I get the exercises down?!" The clone begged. Haku chuckled, and just gave a nod.
"I'll wait here until Naruto-kun gets back." Haku shot the clone a smile, and it blushed, going back to the training until the real Naruto came back for a spar.
Naruto came back a couple minutes later with a scroll in hand. Upon entering the clearing, he immediately spotted Haku, and dashed over to her.
"Haku-chan!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. He abruptly stopped right in front of her, a blush on his face. "I'm glad you came again today."
"I like spending time with you, Naruto-kun. Even if we are technically enemies." She said the last part sadly, but Naruto just gently grabbed her hand, and gave her a smile that warmed her entire soul.
"Let's not think about that right now. So, wanna spar and talk at the same time?" Naruto asked.
"Why both?" Haku questioned.
"Well, Jiji always said that the best way to get to know someone was a fight. Combine that with the normal way, and it speeds up! 'Ttebayo!" Naruto grinned, not noticing his verbal tic slip.
"All right then. Let's do it!" She said with a warm smile. 'I'll do my best to go easy on him, I can't risk hurting Naruto-kun!' She thought to herself. They got into their positions, and Naruto tossed the scroll to his reinforced clone, and told him to practice the kata in the scroll.
As soon as the clone caught the scroll, Haku launched a volley of half a dozen senbon. Naruto dropped to his hands and knees, and as soon as the needles cleared his head, he dashed forward, using his arms to pull himself forward and give him a boost. He shot a wild swing off at Haku, who caught it and threw him over her shoulder. Naruto landed on his feet and smiled.
"So, did you think more about what I said the other day?" Haku asked as she threw more senbon. Naruto sidestepped them and tossed a shuriken her way, but she intercepted it midair with a pair of senbon.
"About my precious people? Yeah." Naruto rushed her and threw a fist to her left side, and as she went to block it, she realized too late that it was a feint and he slammed a kick into her right thigh. Naruto backflipped to get away from the slash she made with a kunai she had taken from his pouch. "I have a couple precious people, though I have one I would want, no, need to protect, I decided and…" Naruto blushed at this, and looked away, causing the kick that Haku sent his way to hit him in the face, instead of dodging like she thought he would. He landed on his back, a bright red footprint on his face, his eyes swirling.
"NARUTO-KUN! I'm sorry, I didn't mean too… I-" Haku started apologizing, but was cut off by Naruto giggling.
"That was a good kick, Haku-chan. But it only connected because I got distracted. Though I admit you're really strong, it isn't like I'm going to give up yet, dattebayo!" Naruto shouted as he kipped up, a grin on his face.
He spun on his heel, and slammed the back of his foot into Haku's rib, but she leapt at just the right moment to minimize the damage, and go with the momentum, sending her ten feet away, with her landing on her feet. She shot him a small smile, and dashed back at him, she leapt into the air, and her foot shot off at his face again, he ducked down and attempted to grab her leg, but she brought her other leg forward, and slammed her shin into his shoulder.
Naruto hit the ground, but spun on his hands, lashing out towards her legs with his own. She leapt up, but he pushed off the ground and landed a kick on her chin, lifting her higher off the ground, "U!," he spun in the air, landing, then immediately jumping and hitting her in the stomach with a punch "ZU!", then another "MA!", shooting her almost ten feet in the air, before he substituted with a leaf that was right above her, and did a mid air somersault, before he grabbed her"Ki.", landing safely on his feet, Haku in his arms.
"The precious person I want to protect… Is you, Haku." Naruto said seriously. Haku blushed as she looked up at him from his arms.
'His arms are so strong… And, and he smells so… Nice.' Haku's blush grew to atomic levels as she leaned in closer to his face. She closed her eyes, and while she did so, she noticed him lean in and do the same. 'So close…' She moaned in her head.
"Naruto-baka! What are you doing?!" Came a screech to their right. Standing there was a seething Sakura. "What are you doing to her!" Sakura shouted at him as she drew a kunai. He wasn't even able to say anything before she dashed at him, albeit slowly. Haku couldn't help but scoff at the girl's presumptuous nature, as well as her lack of speed.
Haku hopped out of Naruto's arms, and when Sakura was within range, she grabbed her by the wrist, took the kunai, and held it at Sakura's throat.
"What do you mean, 'What are you doing to her'!? If you hadn't noticed, we were having a romantic moment! And if your flat-chested ass wouldn't have barged in, I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN MY FIRST KISS!" Haku was clearly peeved, and if the way she was yelling at Sakura wasn't enough to prove it, then the fact that she was letting out enough killing intent to make Sakura piss herself, which she was currently doing, should be. "Now, you, are going to run away, and pretend like this never happened, and you will, stop being a bitch to Naruto-kun, clear!" Haku demanded she comply, and when she did, she let her go, and watched the banshee scamper away, wet spots on both sides of her qipao.
Haku looked back at Naruto, nervous that she may have made him mad, threatening his teammate and all, but to her surprise he was smiling brightly, with a blush set firmly on his face. She was confused for a moment, before she realized what she had admitted.
"So, um, back to what we were doing?" Haku asked nervously. Naruto gulped a bit as Haku walked up to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he wrapped his around her waist. Naruto's blush intensified as he leaned in, slowly. Haku got a bit tired of the slow route, and she pulled his face to hers, and as their lips interlocked, sparks flew. Not literally. They kissed until air became an unfortunate necessity, and they had to part, both panting as a string of saliva connected them for a moment.
Naruto's blush absolutely lit up his face, and Haku wasn't far behind. They smiled at each other, and in that moment, they both knew that the other was the most important person in the world. After that they just sat in the clearing by the edge of the pond, hand in hand.
"So, Naruto-kun, what kind of taijutsu style was in the scroll?" Haku asked with a small smile.
"Its called the Freezing Wave, it was the Yuki Clan taijutsu style. Apparently, Kakashi-sensei copied the style from a member of the clan who he worked with from Kiri a long time ago." Haku's eyes widened at that.
"Apparently they were going to do the same moves or something and confuse some rookie warlord. Its mainly sliding around enemy attacks and striking while they do. Though it has low defense, so I want to augment it. I'm thinking of adding some sort of style that relies on rapid, heavy hits." Naruto went into a small explanation on what he wanted. Something fast, and that kept him right up close to his enemy, and has huge power behind it's hits. He wasn't too worried about defense thanks to his amazing healing, but he didn't tell Haku about that.
"Naruto-kun… Do you think I could learn the Freezing Wave as well?" Haku asked nervously.
"Hm? Sure! All my clones have been practicing, so I should have all the kata down when I dispel them, so i'll give you a hand. Though if you don't mind me asking, why do you wanna learn it?" Haku was surprised, and very appreciative of him letting her learn from the scroll, so she didn't mind telling him her other 'secret'.
"I'm the last member of the Yuki Clan, at least as far as I know I am." Haku explained sadly. Naruto's eyes widened, before he called over the clone that had the scroll. He handed the scroll to Haku with a small smile, and gestured for her to join him in training.
"I'm going to practice the jutsu Kakashi-sensei gave me, if you need any help, just call." Naruto shot a smile at Haku, who returned it in kind.
Over the next few hours, Naruto dispelled all of his clones, leaving him as a practical master of the Freezing Wave, and Haku had begun training it with help from Naruto on the few things she had trouble with. Naruto had also become proficient and familiar with the use of the nine jutsu Kakashi had given him. For Raiton, he had learned Raiton: Gian (B-Rank), Raiton: Sandāboruto (B-Rank), and Raiton: Raijū Tsuiga (C-Rank). Kakashi had even said he would eventually teach him one he had created himself.
For Suiton he had learned Suiton: Suigakure (C-Rank), which he had seen the Demon Brothers use earlier in the mission, Suiton: Mizurappa (C-Rank), and Suiton: Suirō (B-Rank), which Zabuza had used to trap Kakashi.
And finally, for Fūton, he learnt Fūton: Renkūdan (A-Rank), Fūton: Daitoppa (C-Rank), and Fūton: Shinkūha (B-Rank). The easiest for him was the Raiton, as he had a larger affinity for it than Suiton, though Suiton wasn't very hard either, though Fūton was a little difficult, he got it down.
It took ninety-nine kage bunshin, with two hours experience each, for him to become a master in each technique. So a total of a hundred ninety-eight hours of practicing each move. He had created more kage bunshin to practice his nature transformation and chakra control over the night as he went back to Tsunami's house after Haku said she had to go home.
[]That Night[]
Naruto's eyes snapped open as he heard dripping. He sat bolt upright, and took in his surroundings. It looked like he was in a huge sewer, with red and blue pipes lining the walls, though he spotted a few white ones as well.
The young Uzumaki suddenly felt a weak tug to go forward, and being the impulsive person he was, he followed.
The feeling took him through the maze that was the sewer, and despite walking for who knows how long, he never got tired, or bored. Eventually, he found himself in a chamber even larger than the already large hallways.
On the other side of the room, there were large bars that went all the way up into darkness, though on the front of said bars, was a large piece of parchment with the word 'seal' written in kanji.
The blond shinoi cautiously approached the bars, but stopped quickly when a huge pair of blood red eyes snapped open, right behind the bars. Naruto could feel something brushing up against the back of his head, but it quickly disappeared, right when the being behind the bars chose to speak.
"Ah, so my jailor finally decides to come to visit. How… nice." It said.
"Who are you? And what do you mean by jailor?" Naruto asked, slightly nervous.
"Really? You're a smart boy, aren't you? Think about it, just for a moment." The voice was dark, almost malicious but not quite, and with the teasing tone, Naruto was made even more confused. But then it dawned on him. The Fox. "You've figured it out now, haven't you, little shinobi."
"Did you bring me here?" Naruto asked, unafraid, surprising the fox.
"No. Though since you're here, I have… a proposal." The fox said, as its body shimmered into view. A giant fox, with nine long, sweeping tails. It has red-orange fur with black fur around its eyes that stretches to its ears, red irises with black slits for pupils and the upper-body structure of a human, complete with opposable thumbs on its clawed hands.
"What kind of deal?" Naruto asked, suspiciously, causing the fox to grin.
"Well, if you let me share your senses, and change things around this place so its less horrible, then I'll help you train to use my chakra, and a few of the techniques I've seen humans use in the past. And if I feel like it, a few of my own invention as well." The fox was very matter-of-fact, Naruto noticed. Cutting straight to the chase, and leaving little to no room for loopholes for either of them, which was unexpected.
"Alright, though how would I change this place?" Naruto asked as he looked around the large chamber.
"This is your mindscape, just imagine even a vague idea, and your mind will fill in the rest." Kyuubi said. Naruto thought for a moment, before the entire place shimmered. Suddenly, they were on a small, relatively at least, it was still big enough to hold the giant fox, circle of land that was surrounded by a huge river that split off in six directions, with large masses of land, all hundreds of feet above them, with red and blue veins of crystals going throughout the cliffs. Though all but one of the cliffs was covered in thick fog, and the one that wasn't was a huge snowy forest.
"It's… beautiful." The fox said in awe, causing Naruto to grin brightly.
"I've dreamt about this place since a long time ago. It just seemed… fitting that I would do this, since its apparently been on my mind for so long." Naruto said. Naruto turned to look at the fox, and burst out laughing when he saw the collar that had the seal on it.
"SHUT UP! You got rid of the bars, so this was what they automatically turned into!" Kyuubi shouted, though it did nothing to stop Naruto's laughter. "If thats how it's gonna be, kit, then prepare for training hell!" At that Naruto paled.
"Shit."
[]Three Weeks Later[]
Naruto had spent the last three weeks going through Kyuubi's training from hell, practicing his jutsu, developing new ones, and augmenting his taijutsu, and last, but certainly not least, he had been getting closer to Haku. By now, he had made both a Raiton jutsu that Haku had said was at least B-Rank, and a Fūton that she guessed was S-Rank. The S-Rank, he had called Fūton: Fokkususuīpu (Fox Sweep), which when purposefully underpowered to about forty percent of its actual power, swept away well over a mile of forest.
He had been able to incorporate another taijutsu style that Haku had taught him into the Freezing Wave style, it was the one that Zabuza used, and he had renamed it Daiku no Taiha, or Ninth Maelstrom. It had nine strings of movements that could transition into each other at any point, allowing for a wide range of possibilities in battle.
Plus, with the deal with the Kyuubi, and the extra training he was going to get from said fox, Naruto had been more determined than ever in training.
In short, he had gotten more done in the last three weeks, than he had in the last three years.
Naruto woke up when he heard a loud shout and some banging from downstairs. He tossed on his pants and black sleeveless shirt. He quietly ran downstairs, and what he saw made him both proud, and angry all at the same time. He saw Inari pointing a small crossbow at two thugs, who were holding a tied up Tsunami. They laughed at him after he told them to let him go, and one of them went to grope Tsunami, and the next thing that thug knew, was that he had no more hand.
As Naruto saw what was going on, his eyes turned red, and he threw a kunai infused with Fūton chakra at the thug's hand, and severed it just before he could touch Tsunami. He leapt out while the thug was still confused, and couldn't process the pain. He twisted in the air, and landed a kick to the side of said thug's chin, spinning his head one hundred and eighty degrees, killing him. The other thug looked on in shock as Naruto spun around his strike, which he thought would be unnoticed by the brat, and stabbed him at the base of his skull, killing him.
"So, sorry I'm late." Naruto said with a lopsided grin. Tsunami burst into tears and latched onto Naruto.
"Thank you! Thank you for saving us, Naruto-kun." She cried into his shirt. Inari gave him a teary smile, and ran and hugged him as well.
"Thanks, Naruto-nii." He mumbled gratefully.
"No way…" Naruto heard Kyuubi in his mind.
'What? What's wrong?' Naruto asked back.
"Nothing, if he doesn't tell you soon, I will, just wait." Kyuubi promised. Naruto sent a mental nod to the biju.
"Sorry, but if this is happening here, then they're probably being attacked at the bridge, I have to go." Naruto said. The two civilians nodded, and watched amazed as he created fifty kage bunshin to stay with them, most of them hengeing into household objects. Naruto gave them a reassuring smile, before shooting off through the woods, enhancing his leaps with chakra.
Once he was coming up on the bridge, he used Kyuubi chakra to enhance his eyes, a technique that he had gotten down after a lot of pain, and saw where everyone was, it was difficult through the mist, but he could just barely make out Kakashi fighting Zabuza, and Haku's ice mirrors, as well as flashes of light from Sasuke's fire jutsu. He could clearly see Sakura protecting Tazuna.
Naruto leapt from the tree to the water below the cliff, and ran to one of the bridge's beams, and up it, until he leapt off, shooting ten feet into the air over the bridge, and launched a lightning infused fuma shuriken at the mirrors, which broke when impacted. It turned mid-air, showing the glint of ninja-wire.
'I have no shame in stealing your tricks, Teme.' Naruto thought to himself with a smirk. Naruto landed on his feet, and ran his hand through his hair. "Sorry I'm late, I got lost on the path of life." Naruto could feel Sasuke glare at him, and he could definitely hear Kakashi laughing.
"Get out of here, Dobe! This is my fight! A clanless orpha-" Sasuke started his rant, but was abruptly cut off by Haku appearing behind him and knocking him out with a chop to the back of his neck.
"That is enough out of you." She said coldly, while Naruto tossed him over toward Sakura, who screamed at seeing him looking like a porcupine..
"So, let's get this party started." Naruto said with a playful smirk. He launched himself at Haku, who blocked the knee he shot at her face.
She jabbed to his left, but he moved less than a centimeter out of the way, and stayed right up in her face, before he punched her right in her ribs, half a second later he spun around her, grabbed her around her waist, and started a suplex, but she channeled Hyoton chakra through her body, and the sudden cold caused him to loosen his grip enough for her to twist free and send a kick to his side, which he ducked under, and landed a rising knee to her solar plexus, causing her to cough up some spittle.
Naruto looked worried for a moment, before Haku smirked at him, and turned to ice, a large crack right where he had kneed her. He suddenly felt a senbon at the back of his neck, causing him to smirk.
"A Hyō Bunshin, clever girl." Naruto chuckled, before he thrust his neck back, shocking Haku until a cloud of chakra smoke enveloped her entire field of vision. She looked around for a moment, before letting out an involuntary squeak as her legs were swept out from under her. Naruto straddled her stomach, held her hands above her head, and a clone held her at the knees. She looked up to see Naruto smile down at her. She was about to lean up and kiss him, but they both heard a high pitched chirping noise.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto's eyes widened as he realised what that was. Kakashi had shown him the jutsu when he had asked about making his own. "C'mon, Haku, we have to save Zabuza!" He shouted as he ran to the two Jonin. Haku reacted on instinct, and a mirror appeared next to Zabuza, and behind her, and she dashed between them, slightly surpassing Naruto's youki enhanced speed.
Haku appeared in front of Zabuza, arms spread wide. Both Zabuza and Kakashi's eyes widened in horror as the jutsu neared her heart. But then, Naruto appeared, grabbed Kakashi's arm, and redirected the move into the ground, creating a small crater. Both Zabuza and Naruto breathed sighs of relief, while Kakashi stared wide-eyed at Naruto. Zabuza tried to strike out at the two Konoha-nin, but Haku blocked it with an ice pillar, causing both Jonin to look at her with wide eyes.
"Ah, Zabuza-sama, you might want to take a look over there." Haku said as she pointed to the unfinished end of the bridge, which was still misty. Naruto went through two one-handed seals, and shot a Fūton: Daitoppa through the mist, dissipating it. At the end of the bridge, was Gato, and a virtual army of bandits.
"So, you've turned traitor, eh, Zabuza?" Gato sneered at them. "Well, doesn't really matter, I wasn't planning on paying you anyway. Bandits are so much cheaper." He chuckled. "Get em'." The bandits charged at the group of shinobi, but no one panicked, except for Sakura.
"So, Naruto-kun, you wanna handle this?" Haku asked with a raised eyebrow, her mask in hand.
"Sure thing, Haku-chan. You wanna help, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked as he took out three kuani.
"I'll watch your back, I can't let one of my cute little genin get hurt now can I?" Kakashi said with an eye smile to hide his confusion. 'How the hell do these two know each other, and they seem really close, what am I missing.' Zabuza was having similar thoughts to Kakashi.
Naruto sent a bone-chilling smile towards the bandits, causing most to stop in their tracks, but the two that didn't were cut down via kunai. Naruto made three one-handed seals, and a ball of lightning formed around his hand, and arced off towards the bandits, frying a dozen of them, while twice that were stunned. Naruto threw the three kunai, but they all hit the ground in the sea of bandits, causing some to laugh.
Naruto went through eight seals in a second, and called out "Fūton: Fokkususuīpu!" and a wall of wind battered the bandits, knocking many of them into the large triangle the kunai had created. "Raiton: Torikago!" He cried, and a bolt of electricity shot from him, to the kunai closest to him, and created a cage around the last hundred bandits. Naruto leapt above the cage, and made one seal, and called out, "Suiton: Mizurappa!". The water blast went through an arc at the top of the cage, and wet the ground under all the bandits, frying all of them. All of this took about forty seconds, and Gato stood there shocked, while the other shinobi were all impressed, even Zabuza.
"I did not expect him to get this good with the jutsu I gave him so fast." Kakashi mumbled, a proud smirk hidden under his mask. Naruto reached down and grabbed Gato by the back of his suit, and dragged him, none to gently, across the bridge as the mist on the other end cleared, showing the citizens of Nami no Kuni, all dressed in improvised armor, with improvised weapons, Inari at the forefront.
"Wow, I see you've inspired your neighbors kid, I'm proud of you. Now, I think you all should decide what happens to this scumbag, but first." Naruto held up Gato, and turned the short man to face him. "Tell me all of your account numbers, and safe codes, and I might just tell them not to be so rough on you. And don't lie, I could tell." The last part, was actually not a bluff.
Ever since he had established the connection to Kyuubi, he had what the fox called 'Negative Emotion Sensing'. It took his natural sensor abilities, which he had no idea he had, but it explained a lot, and made it so he could also sense emotions, specifically negative ones, and apparently, lying counted. Gato gave him all the info, and was surprisingly truthful, and then Naruto threw him to the villagers.
"I'm gonna ask you all not to be too rough on the tyrant…" He started, and Gato smirked. "But im just some random Konoha genin, you don't have to listen to me." He said with a smile. The villagers for the most part smirked, while others laughed. "On a different but related note, you all might just find a large amount of extra ryo filling your coffers to help the village." The villagers nodded their thanks, and dragged Gato off, Tazuna following, and seconds later, screaming could be heard.
Naruto turned around, and started back to the others, but spotted something that made his blood run cold.
"HAKU! WATCH OUT!" Naruto cried, but it was too late. As Haku turned around, a sword from one of the downed bandits burst through her chest, blood splattering everywhere. Behind her was Sasuke, holding the blade shakily, while his eyes were now blood red, one with one black tomoe circling the pupil, and the other with two.
"Die, bitch." Sasuke huffed out.
Naruto saw red, and his eyes turned the same color, and became slitted. Immediately, a red chakra cloak formed around him, and two, tail-like structures formed from said chakra. Naruto let out a guttural roar, and launched himself at Sasuke, with both Jonin too shocked to do anything. Naruto grabbed the Uchiha, and pinned him against the ground, his collar held tight in the jinchuriki's hands.
"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Naruto shouted in his face, his voice rough, and double layered.
"Get off Sasuke-kun, Naruto-baka!" Sakura screamed at the enraged jinchuriki. He turned to her, and his baleful red eyes burned into her soul. A third tail formed behind Naruto, and the chakra over his upper back, bubbled, and an arm made from the stuff shot at Sakura, forming into a fist halfway. It knocked her back and unconscious, leaving burns on her now exposed stomach.
"You will die, painfully, you little shit!" Naruto growled at Sasuke. Chakra burns were already forming on the boy's chest, and he had a look of pure fear in his eyes, though that didn't stop his stupidity.
"What are you angry about?! She was an enemy! Plus what does it matter?! She was just a weak kunoichi!" Sasuke shouted back.
"Mikoto-oba-san is probably rolling in her grave!" The chakra cloaked Naruto roared.
"AGGHHH!" Sasuke screamed as Naruto plunged a hand into his side. Any blood that came out was instantly boiled, and either dried to Naruto's hand, Sasuke's clothes, or evaporated.
"Gaki, stop! She's still alive, but slowly fading, we can gut him later, but she wants to talk to you!" Zabuza called as he held the dying Haku.
"Haku-chan, I'm here, I'm right here, ok?" Naruto said as he ran to her side, the cloak fading.
"Naruto-kun, i'm sorry I have to break my promise." Haku choked out.
"No, you're gonna make it, I know it." Naruto said through budding tears. "Please, please don't leave me, Haku-chan! I-I know it's selfish, but I don't know what I'd do without you now. All I had keeping me going was a mask, but then I had you, and that mask was destroyed, now I don't know how I would live!" Naruto sobbed.
"Please, Naruto-kun, know I love you, and if you need something to keep going just think of me, all the things I couldn't do" Haku spluttered as blood flowed from her mouth."Become a great shinobi, raise a family, make a mark on the world, Naruto-kun. Move on, but don't forget." She said with a smile. "And Zabuza-sama, I know you've always thought of me as your tool, but I have always seen you, as my Tou-san, please don't think any less of me, I just, I needed you to know." Haku said,, as tears cascaded down her cheeks, finally accepting her fate.
"Oh, kid, I always thought of you as my daughter, I just, I, I don't know why I never told you. I'm sorry." Zabuza said, a few tears on his cheeks.
"I love you, Tou-san. And I love you, Naruto-kun." Haku gasped out as she leaned up and gave Naruto one last, passionate kiss. She gave both men, one last smile before her heart stopped beating.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Naruto shouted to the heavens as his biju cloak surrounded him, immediately going to four tails, the chakra surrounding him and Haku's corpse. The chakra strangely didn't harm Haku's body, but seeped into her still warm skin, and she herself started to radiate the youki. Suddenly, her eyes opened, now red, and her heart started beating again, her wound healing before Kakashi and Zabuza's shocked eyes. Haku groaned in a bit of pain as white fox ears popped up on her head, and a tail appeared on her tail-bone, before suddenly disappearing.
"Kit, bite her neck, just after the shoulder, it might save her!" Kyuubi cried urgently. Naruto didn't even think about anything except for the fact that it might save the person who had now become his heart.
As Naruto bit into her, a swirl mark appeared on her neck, like on the Konoha flak jackets, but the swirl looked to be made of a fox tail. It was white, and moved slowly in a circle. She gasped as her lungs screamed for air, and blinked tears from her eyes as she focused back on Naruto.
"I-I'm alive." Haku stated, dazed.
"Yeah, somehow." Naruto mumbled, as chakra exhaustion started to overtake him.
"NARUTO!" Kakashi cried as his student passed out.
[]A/N[]
So… Here we are… Once again.
I promise you guys I'll start on the next chapter for either Infinite World Dragon or Fox of All Trades this weekend. I'm not gonna lie, I've been lazy, playing video games, and starting a shit ton of new stories. I mean seriously, I have two Bleach ones in the works, two Percy Jackson ones, a Fairy Tail one, this one, and more. I have to stop starting new stories when I have old ones that haven't been finished, or are anywhere near finished. I hate when people do it, and here I am… Doing it.
Also, just in case y'all have been looking for other, longer fics then check out Epsilon110, and specifically his story 'Total Command', it's a My Hero Academia fic that's been cross posted on here on FF and Ao3. Its really good. Also check out 'Delinquent Dragon Emperor' by Melkor's Mercy for a really good, if slowly updating, DxD fic, and check out 'Distortion' by LordHellPheonix for a fixin of a slightly dark, Jaune-centered RWBY fic.
These are some of the people who have been enabling my laziness by giving me things to read, so if you want a few things to pad out that time between my updates, or just better reads than all my crap, check these authors out.
Anyway, thank you guys for reading my stuff, seeing the numbers really makes my heart swell, and if you can leave a review with some constructive criticism then do so, and remember that flames will be used to fuel my pyromania.
Now then, as for things relating to this story. The main thing im anticipating people complaining about, is Naruto and Haku growing so attached so soon. This is purely because they both have almost no one to hang onto for support, Naruto doesn't feel like burdening the Ichirakus, Iruka, or Hiruzen, so finding Haku, and her wanting to get to know him fully, allowed him to open up to her, and she did so in turn, feeling that she could trust him.
Next-ly, Sasuke is going to be an asshole, and a main rival. I personally don't like Sasuke that much, same with Sakura, so in most of my fics they'll be even bigger pieces of shit that in the source material, and that's saying something. But fear not, all you Sasuke and Sakura fans out there! I am planning a fic with both of them as not assholes.
Thirdly, yes this will be a harem. Going into this I didn't intend for this to be, but my friend gave me an idea for 'fated ones' when I had him read part of this a while ago. So that's what the mindscape thing is. The harem has already be set, and i'll tease two that aren't Haku. We got flute girl and the big heals up in here. Two of them will be fairly difficult with what I have, but I'll make it work and make sure it doesn't feel shoehorned in.
I promise that I have a single pairing fic in the works. Its a RWBY one with Jaune/Blake. I love Knightshade, so i've been wanting to do this for a while. While its not my favorite single pairing in RWBY, Jaune/Yang, it is definitely up there. So thats gonna be a while away. Plus I have a DxD fic a guy asked me to make two years ago that I promised to start a year ago, that I havent even touched. Add that to me wanting to finish Origins soooo bad, im almost there, and I have set myself up for failure.
Anyway, sorry for boring you guys, but thanks for listening if you did. Please check out some of my other works, and take a look at the authors I mentioned earlier. Have a good [insert time here].