AN: So, another new story. I've really gotta stop this and start updating my other stories. Oh well, sue me why don't you. Anyways, this is a new story, and I hope you enjoy it. If you see a problem or have a question, don't be afraid to ask/tell. Enjoy!
"Report, Kakashi. How did the mission go?" the Sandaime asked, turning to face team 7. Kakashi cleared his throat lightly, frowning beneath the mask.
"Well, the mission was a success, but, there were a few snags that we ran into throughout the course of the mission," Kakashi said, frowning at the thoughts of those missing ninja. This piqued the old man's, as Kakashi should've reported any problems immediately back to Konoha.
"What kind of snags would those be?" the Sandaime asked, putting his hands on the desk.
"We ran into several missing ninja who were after Tazuna. All of them Chuunin level and above," Kakashi said, slipping in the ranks of the ninja at the last moment. The Sandaime frowned at this, planning to have a talk with the Jonin later about this.
"I assume, though, that these ninja were dealt with appropriately?" the old Hokage asked, receiving a nod. The Hokage made a simple hand gesture, allowing the three gennin to leave. They left swiftly, parting ways. Naruto grinned, making his way to Ichiraku's. Underneath that grin, though, Naruto was thinking. He had to improve his ninja skills. He couldn't let that happen to a teammate ever again, even if it was the teme. He arrived to the Ramen stand swiftly, ordering 6 bowls of pork Ramen.
"Naruto, what's wrong? Did something happen on your mission?" Ayame asked, setting the bowls of Ramen down.
"It got complicated, and I need to make sure it doesn't happen again," Naruto said, frowning before he dug into the food of the gods. He polished the bowls off quickly, leaving money on the counter as he raced off towards the Academy. He made it there just as class was letting out, grinning as he walked into Iruka's classroom. The instructor looked up, seeing his former student before smiling.
"Naruto! How have you been?" Iruka asked, curious as to how shinobi life was for the blonde boy.
"Wish I could say it was great, Iruka-sensei. That's actually part of the reason I came here," Naruto said, frowning slightly at the memories of the fight with Haku. Iruka, at seeing the blonde's attitude, became worried.
"What did ya need help with?" Iruka asked, curious. The blonde sighed, before recounting the battles of the mission, all the way from the Demon Brothers to Haku's final battle.
"Hmm, I think I know how to help, but first, I need to clarify. You want me to help you with strategizing, thinking before acting, and taijutsu skills?" Iruka asked, receiving a nod from Naruto, before sighing. "I can't help you with everything, but I may be able to recommend some people to help you. The one thing I can help you slightly with is strategizing. I could give you a few books to read up on that may help you, though I'd recommend talking to Shikamaru's father, Shikaku. The only person I could recommend fro Taijutsu that would effectively help you would be Maito Gai. As for thinking before acting, you need to work on that yourself. A recommendation to help you would be to calm down, slow your breathing, and look at the situation before you act," Iruka said, standing from his desk. He walked over to the storage room, grabbing 3 books on strategy. He handed them to Naruto, who groaned slightly at the thought of having to read.
"Iruka-sensei, do I really have to read?" Naruto whined, receiving a stern look from the Chuunin.
"Yes, you do. But, I think I can help you with that as well. Your Shadow Clone Jutsu, when a clone disperses, the memories of that clone are transferred to the original. So, you could have the clones read or practice jutsu, and you'd receive all the information, thus allowing you to improve with leaps and bounds ahead of anyone," Iruka explained, frowning at the blonde's complaint.
"Sweet!" Naruto yelled, uttering a quick thanks as he ran out the doors. The blonde created 3 clones as he ran, handing each a book. The clones ran back to the apartment and started with their task of reading. In the meanwhile, Naruto ran through the village, searching out either of the two recommended teachers. He found the mighty green beast and his mini-me doing one fingered push ups in the clearing of Training Ground 9, Team Gai's assigned grounds.
"Are you Maito Gai?" Naruto asked, interrupting the two's push up session.
"Why yes, youthful gennin! It is I, the mighty Green Beast of Konoha!" Gai exclaimed, standing up and into a nice-guy pose. His mini-me stood up and copied the pose, slightly scaring Naruto.
"Now, may I ask why you've sought me out? Have the flames of youth lit yet another soul on fire?" Gai asked, smiling.
"Umm... I'm not sure what that means. Anyways, Iruka said that if I was looking to improve my taijutsu, I should ask you for your help," Naruto explained, Gai thinking.
"I see, and what exactly did you need help with in the arts of taijutsu?" Gai asked, looking over the gennin.
"Everything, I guess. I never really excelled at taijutsu," Naruto said, frowning. Gai smiled at the thoughts, a plan forming.
"Well, I will have to gauge your skills first, however, before that, I would like you to wear this. It'll help, freeing up your movement compared to other clothes," Gai explained, pulling out a green jumpsuit similar to his and Lee's. Naruto looked at the horrid green jumpsuit, wondering if it would be worth it. He shrugged, taking the green outfit.
"So, do you want me to put this on first?" Naruto asked, receiving a nod from Gai.
"Yosh! This will be fun!" Lee said, smirking as Naruto left, coming back shortly, wearing the green jumpsuit.
"You will be sparring against young Lee here, so that I can see what you need help with," Gai said, stepping away from the two ninja. "Now, this will be a match of pure taijutsu. No weapons or ninjutsu at all," Gai explained, signaling for the match to begin. Naruto rushed forward, no stance at all. Gai frowned, watching the blonde aim a kick at Lee's chest, who simply vanished in a show of speed. Naruto tried to redirect the attack, sensing the ninja now behind him. He brought his elbow back, hoping to connect. Instead, Lee blocked it, sweeping Naruto's legs out from under him. The blonde hit the ground hard, Lee poised to attack.
"Enough, Lee. Naruto, who is your sensei?" Gai asked, frowning deeply. 'This boy has absolutely no fighting style, and he is horribly lacking in the speed department,' Gai thought to himself, planning.
"Kakashi is, though he hasn't done much with taijutsu. Mizuki taught me in the academy, though," Naruto said, thinking about how the Chuunin had tricked him.
"Ah, yes, this may explain things then. I will help you when I can, and I shall talk to my eternal rival about reviewing your skills and helping to improve them. Now, Lee, do you have those weights I told you to carry?" Gai asked, the bushy-browed genning pulling out a set of leg weights and arm weights.
"What are the weights for?" Naruto asked, curious.
"Ah, yes. We will start with the weights. Your speed is horrible, Naruto, to say the least. The weights will help to increase your speed, but, you can never take them off, not unless the battle calls for it, or I see fit to test your speed," Gai explained, Lee handing the weights to Naruto. Naruto, nodding at the Jonin's words, put the weights on, feeling no difference.
"Hey, Gai-sensei, I don't feel a difference," Naruto said, and Gai smirked.
"These weights are controlled by chakra. You use your chakra to manipulate the weight you want them to hold, however, I have to be the one to decrease the weight. So, channel the chakra to a weight you can handle, and we shall start," Gai explained, a serious demeanor coming about the usually light-hearted man.
"So, what do we do next?" Naruto asked, feeling the weights bearing down on him.
"Alright. We shall start with 100 laps around the village at full speed!" Gai said, him and his student sprinting. Naruto followed as best he could.
4 hours, 200 laps, 200 pushups, 200 situps, and 5 spars later(7 P.M.)
"Ah, young Naruto. This has been a great first training session. Meet me here at 7:30 A.M. Tomorrow for the next one," Gai said, giving a good guy pose as Naruto literally crawled away, utterly exhausted.
"Naruto! We've been looking all over for you!" surprisingly, it was Ino that yelled this, her and Shikamaru approaching the exhausted blonde.
"Troublesome... My dad wants to see you, Naruto," Shikamaru said, looking up into the orange sky, the clouds passing by. Naruto kind of huffed, failing to stand up and greet the two members of Team 10.
"Can I have a little help? Please?" Naruto asked, Ino aggravated at the jinchuriki. But, even though she was mad, helped the blonde to his feet, supporting Naruto until he was able to stand on his own.
"Thanks, Ino," Naruto said, sending a kind smile to the platinum blonde. Ino, having calmed down, sent a small smile back, before asking the question burning through her head.
"What exactly does Shikamaru's dad want with you, Naruto?" Ino asked, trying to be as nice as possible, as to find out information for gossip. Shikamaru turned and started walking away, both blondes following.
"I'm not sure, though I think it has something to do with teaching me how to strategize," Naruto said, wincing in pain at every step.
"Why would he teach you strategy?" Ino asked, trying to not sound like a bitch for once, all because of her curiousness.
"Well, I asked Iruka-sensei for help earlier, and he gave me some books, along with telling me to look up two people he knew could help me, and Shikamaru's dad was one of them," Naruto explained, the pain slowly going away. Ino pondered this for a bit, curious as to the whole situation. She shrugged it off, saying a quick goodbye to both of the boys. Naruto continued on after the Nara heir, straightening up as the pain vanished, and the weights seemed to not be there. He gave a slight frown, confused by the oddness of it all. He shrugged it off as they neared the Nara house, Naruto following Shikamaru inside. Shikaku greeted the duo, a Shogi board sitting on the table in front of him. Naruto groaned as he knew what was next.
3 hours, 23 games of Shogi later
"Naruto, you are improving. From the first game to now, you've improved, however, I suggest you come and visit as often as you can. But, you've got to head home, or else Yoshino will kill me," Shikaku said, whispering the last part. Naruto nodded in understanding, exhausted from his long day. He trudged home, dispelling the clones and falling asleep.
1 month later
Between training with the team and training with Gai, Naruto changed in appearance quickly. He had grown an inch and a half, the training having kicked something into gear with the blonde's body. Also, the weights had toned the gennin's body. Any excess body fat he had disappeared, replaced with quickly growing in shear amount. He even changed outfits, though he absolutely refused to wear the green outfit outside of training. He now wore a dark brown, thin leather jacket. It covered the dark blue shirt, which was quite formfitting. He wore a pair of long, black ANBU pants, pouches for various items all on his right leg. His unruly blonde hair had grown longer, making his resemblance to the Yondaime Hokage even greater. He was standing in the clearing of training ground 7, him and his team waiting for their sensei to arrive.
"Hey, what do you think sensei's big announcement is?" Sakura asked, directing her attention to the Uchiha. He just grunted in response, receiving a chuckle from Naruto.
"It's simple, really. With the increase of foreigners entering the villager, as with the increase of training time the gennin teams are receiving, it's the Chuunin exams," Naruto said, smirking. It was the first time he had shown off his newly found thinking skills in front of his team, surprising even Sasuke.
"Very good Naruto, I see your training with Shikaku and Iruka has paid off. Your teammate is right, it's time for the Chuunin exams, and I'm signing you guys up. Go to room 302 in the Academy, and be there by noon, or else you won't be able to participate," Kakashi said, stopping quickly before heading back off to wherever he went. Naruto sighed, knowing that he wouldn't be able to train with Gai and his team. He'd actually been able to defend against Lee's attacks, while bonding with the rest of the team through spars and simply resting after training. He could still play Shogi with one of the Naras. He smiled at the thought, as he had become friends with them as well.
"Well, see y'all later," Naruto said, running off as he waved bye to his teammates. He grinned, looking forward to Shogi. He was now close to matching the Nara men in moves, resulting in stalemates constantly. He made his way through the village, too deep in thought to notice the people around him. He didn't even know it until he walked straight into Ino, though, he reacted quickly and with a new found balance, stayed upright, reaching out to catch the young Yamanaka.
"Baka! Watch where you're going!" Ino yelled, regaining the balance with the help of the blonde boy.
"Sorry Ino, I guess I wasn't paying attention," Naruto said apologetically, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. This surprised the girl, as the last time she had seen Naruto was when her and Shikamaru had been looking for him. 'Whoa, who is this and what did they do with Naruto? He's actually less annoying, and kind of cute... for a baka,' Ino thought, before Inner Ino popped in. 'This is Naruto you're talking about! How could he be cute?' Inner Ino raged, causing the platinum blonde to blush at her thoughts.
"Hello, earth to Ino. Are you ok?" Naruto asked, waving his hand in front of her face to get her attention.
"Baka," Ino said, rushing away and confusing the poor boy. He just shrugged it off, muttering Shikamaru's favorite word.
AN: So, how was it? I know it's a bit soon to be thinking of a pairing, however, I was thinking of 3 people that I could put Naruto with. Obviously only one person will be paired, and the three choices are Ino, Tenten, or Tayuya. Voice your opinion, even if you want someone else. If enough people want the same person, I'll choose that girl instead( Unless it's Sakura or Hinata. I don't know why, I just don't like those two paired with Naruto). Don't forget to say what you thought about the chapter!