Hey Guys Dune here
this is the reworked first chapter of Whirlpool dream, re-released on June the 13th 2014 at around 00:01 GMT/UTC+2 (summer time)
special thanks goes to "Strange Obsession" who motivated me to write this fic
as well as to my Beta "toofine89"
Naruto whirls around, Chokutō in hand, haori blazing, enemies just a blur of pictures, the sounds of his blade clinging against theirs. Always whirling and whirling, his feet in a staccato of steps. Slowly he makes out the amount of enemies he is fighting. There are five in the immediate vicinity. Another clash of weapons. Step. Step. Step. Clash. Step. Step. Step. Clash. Always whirling.
Finally both sides disengage. Naruto makes out the silhouettes of five ninja, seemingly jounin level, but with his blurry sight he has a hard time recognizing them clearly.
They start making handsigns and his hands, too, start moving, weaving sign after sign. First there is a pop. Two clones on each of his sides.
Hands making signs in a blur.
At once, both sides let go of fearsome attacks. Still he feels totally calm, amused even. The other side calls out several jutsu. He just stands still, smirking to himself. Then he and his clones say only one word.
Boom.
The jounins' jutsu clash with just one of his and disperse. Four more jutsu of the same kind still move towards the jounin at high speed…
In a flash Naruto sat up, sweating as if he ran around Konoha several times in a sprint, his eyes hurting and mind a mess with all the thoughts of this weird dream.
'There can't be someone so powerful as to play with such skillful enemies as if they were kids… right?'
When his vision cleared, he looked at his clock on his nightstand and saw he was late for the academy!
It was only half a year to the next Genin exams and on that exact day there was a Taijutsu tournament in the academy.
With a cry of "Shit!" Naruto jumped out of his bed to get ready and, after nearly falling several times when trying to brush his teeth while pulling his trousers on, he stepped out of his apartment.
Now he just had to race to the academy. While he ran he was so much in a hurry, he didn't see the shocked stares of the villagers instead of the constant glares they usually threw him.
And since he didn't notice this difference, he would not, of course, even notice what triggered these changes.
He reached the academy grounds several minutes before the start of classes. This was the first time he had made it on time after leaving so late, he noticed, even though he always ran as fast as he could. And he did not know why he made it that day.
'Whoa, I was nearly late again today. I made it on time and I didn't even want to play pranks, not that I did. Iruka-sensei would still have been pissed if I did that.' As the bell rang to signal the start of classes he swiftly moved towards Iruka's classroom.
He just reached the classroom door as Iruka started to check everyone's attendance.
"Ah, sorry Iruka-sensei, I kind of overslept," he apologized.
"Naruto! Make sure your alarm is turned on next time! Now sit down." Iruka answered angrily.
Naruto sat down in the only free seat in class, near a weird girl by the name of Hinata. She was totally different than any other girl in class and nearly every girl he'd ever met. I mean, she did not pursue a relationship with Uchiha Sasuke, nor did she cheer for him. At all. How uncommon is that?
Further she was too shy to even speak properly without stuttering and always turned red when Naruto so much as looked at her.
But back to the topic at hand: class.
As always, at the beginning of class Iruka and Mizuki would greet their students and follow it by explaining what they wanted to do today. The latter they did because of special occasions like the tournament to take place that day.
So after checking the class's attendance, Iruka stepped up. "Good morning, class." A chorus of "Good morning, Iruka-sensei" was heard. "As you all know, today will be a Taijutsu tournament. Therefore we will go outside to the academy training grounds. To make it realistic since you are training to become shinobi, girls and boys will compete in the same tournament, not separate ones." A groan went through class at that, but Naruto hoped this time he would be able to succeed in the genin exams and this would only be of use to him.
Now, any other time there was any Taijutsu training Naruto would have been near the bottom of the class. But that day he made it to Kiba in the semi-finals and before he was defeated. No one, not even he, knew how that was possible since he didn't even use a new stance or style but his usual sloppy form of the academy Taijutsu – a form which did not provide any stability. The only differences from past times were his speed and strength which he had not trained enough for those improvements.
Even so, he still couldn't help but brag about it.
That night, though, he lay awake, still thinking about the weird dream he had. How could anyone be that strong? He knew those five shinobi had to be at least jounin level from the scale of jutsu they used and it still was not enough for them to beat the person he dreamt to be in his dream. 'No way could anyone do that! I bet it was totally unrealistic.' But still he couldn't get that weird dream out of his mind. It just wouldn't budge, clinging to his thoughts.
Finally, he made a decision. I'm going to ask Hokage-jiji tomorrow. Tomorrow is Saturday, after all.
The next day, after dressing and eating a morning ration of instant-ramen, he went straight to the hokage tower. After arriving there and going in through the main entrance (where else) he heard the hokage's secretary shout after him – something about a meeting underway and the hokage not having time for someone like him anyways. "Yeah, yeah I get it. Doesn't have time for me whatever he does," Naruto just shouted and ran up the stairs, entering Sarutobi Hiruzen's office without knocking and barking a "Hey Jiji!" Said person looked up along with two other elder people who turned around to glare at Naruto.
Hiruzen just smiled at Naruto, who grinned back, and said, "Good morning Naruto. Meet my advisors, dear friends, and village elders: Homura and Koharu."
"Hello oldies." Of course, they spiked a little bit of KI at him at this which, funny enough, didn't deter him in the slightest.
"Ok, Naruto. I'll just finish this meeting and call you in as soon as I can, alright?" Hiruzen asked.
"Alright," Naruto echoed and went out.
As the door opened again Homura and Koharu left with Koharu shouting "This won't be the last you hear about this, Hiruzen!" Both of them threw a glare towards Naruto who grinned at them just to spite them.
"Ok, Naruto! Come in," Hiruzen called.
"Hey Jiji, I hope they didn't give you too much trouble?" asked Naruto.
"No, Naruto, they didn't. By the way I heard you did really well at the tournament yesterday? Scored somewhere around 3rd or 4th?"
"Yes! I was awesome!" exclaimed Naruto, fist pumping the air.
Hiruzen snickered at that. "I know you were, Naruto. Now, I believe you wanted to talk with me about something?"
"Yes uhm… I kinda had a funny dream the other night."
"What kind of dream, Naruto? Can you describe it?"
"Yeah uhm… It was about a fight between ninja. I was one of them and there were five others. I fought against all of them at once. I was SO strong, Jiji you would not believe it. They even looked like Jounin and in my dream I just played around with them like they were nothing. At first I had a funny sword in my hand, like a Katana but straight instead. I just kind of, well, danced like it was a sunny day and I don't know… It was as if every step I took was, planned, somehow, yet still not."
"So as I said I first fought with that funny sword against those five jounin and then I just jumped back, and they did too, and I made four clones. Four jiji! And then, and then all of them and I made seals. We were so fast, we were done like in a second. Then there were such strong attacks from them! My clones could also use jutsu, by the way, and I just felt like laughing! I don't know what but I said something and threw my own Jutsu, my clones did too, and then my one jutsu just wiped out the jounins' jutsu. And there still were four more of them from my clones! And then I woke up."
Hiruzen had to snicker at Naruto's animated retelling of his dream. "So, Naruto, this was your dream, huh?" A nod from the boy. "Ok now. What made you come here? I mean aside from how awesome a dream that was?"
"Uhm… I wanted to ask you, is that really possible? Are there ninja out there who can toy around with jounin, and I don't mean one but FIVE jounin, and still win so easily? If so, how?" was the desperate question coming from Naruto.
Hiruzen now sighed, sternly looked at Naruto and said, " Yes Naruto, there are. In fact, I may come close to what you described. I'm not as strong as you said you were in that dream of yours, but I'm not too far away from it." Naruto was surprised to hear this and got a thoughtful look on his face.
"Now I'll tell you something else, Naruto, so listen up." This made Naruto look at Hiruzen with wide eyes to take in everything he said. "I believe that there will come a day that you will be as strong as that person in your dream. I truly believe you have what it takes to toy with all the five Kage and come out the victor and more. But do not think you can be arrogant when you get strong. Power means responsibility. Just like being Hokage means being responsible for every person in this village, power means being responsible for what you do with it. So you better train hard and make me proud," Hiruzen sternly said. The end was said with a smile on his face, however.
Narutos' own smile grew with every word he said, until it widened to a grin. Not the grin everyone always saw, the fake one, but a genuine one this time.
"You bet, Jiji!" Naruto shouted, jumping up from his seat in front of the hokage's desk. "I'll be the strongest and the best hokage ever, believe it!"
"That I do, Naruto. I do. Now, I believe you should go and train. The Genin exams are coming up again soon and you will want to do your best, am I right?"
"Yes Jiji!" With that Naruto stormed out of the office and onto the streets of Konoha. From there he went further to a nearby training ground to do what he was supposed to: train.
Several months later we find Naruto carrying the Scroll of Sealing. There's nothing else to say, is there? So he failed the genin exams. Again. And that is just because he couldn't do a simple Bunshin. Again. Now he had stolen the Scroll of Sealing because Mizuki, one of his teachers, had told him that if he stole it, brought it to a certain spot in the woods, and learned one of its jutsu, Naruto would be made genin.
So as Naruto finally found the spot Mizuki told him about, he immediately looked at the scroll. What he found there was the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and since Naruto had problems with the normal Bunshin no Jutsu, a simple Genjutsu (not that he knows that) he decided to try it out.
An hour later, Iruka found Naruto and questioned him about why he stole the Scroll of Sealing. After Naruto's explanation, Mizuki showed up.
Mizuki told Naruto all about the Kyuubi and that is sealed in him. After some denial from Naruto and a little chasing around from Mizuki, wounding Iruka in the process of saving Naruto, we finally come to the point of interest.
Mizuki just threw the big-ass shuriken at Iruka in an attempt to kill him. In a blur, Naruto blocked the attack on his teacher and, with determination in his eyes and stance and holding the scroll like he would a cane, he told Mizuki that it was a big mistake to attack Iruka.
"No matter what you do, I will not let you kill Iruka-sensei! I will beat you to the ground!" he roared, his face in a snarl.
But what he didn't know or see was that his face and fingers changed along with his blue eyes gaining a slit pupil. His chakra spiked to visible levels with a little bit of an orange tint to it. "Ah, so the demon finally shows itself, huh? Still, you think you can beat me in that body? Think again, Demon! What will you ever be able to do when I beat you with one strike!" Mizuki's gloated in reaction to that, confusing Naruto a little with his speech about a demon showing himself.
"I don't know what you're talking about, but I will return every blow you land one thousand fold." With that he formed a cross shaped handseal and roared "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
After pummeling Mizuki half to death, Iruka gave Naruto his very own headband and brought the boy to the Hokage.
When arriving he was once again greeted by Hiruzen. "Hello, Naruto. Come here and give the scroll to me, please." Hiruzen held out his hands in which Naruto lay the scroll.
"I'm sure you have a lot of questions and I'm inclined to answer them - at least most of them. Understand, that I will not be able to give you an answer to any question you might have, since some are village secrets, even some of those concerning you. So, to keep you safe, I will have to keep some of those aforementioned secrets. Do you understand?"
Naruto shook his head, "No."
This got a bewildered look on Hiruzens face. "Why not?"
"I don't understand what 'afro-… something' means," chuckled Naruto, scratching his neck.
Hiruzen had to chuckle at that. "Ah I see. It means mentioned earlier."
"Oh," came the intelligent answer from Naruto. "But… why can't you tell me the secrets about me? Shouldn't I know things like that I'm the fox demon's … uhm… what do you call it… uhm…"
"Jailer, warden, guardian. That's what you are." After Naruto's confused look he decided to explain.
"You are the one to keep everyone safe from the terror that is the Kyuubi. Also, you may not be as human as you thought all the time, even if you are still far from being as demonic as many think you to be, Naruto."
Naruto had a look of fear on his face. "What do you mean? What am I then?"
"You are what is called a hanyou. A half-demon," Hiruzen slowly stated.
"WHAT? SO I'M EVIL?" was Naruto's cry in response to Hiruzen's statement.
"No, Naruto, far from it. In fact, you are not even the child of a demon like most would think of a hanyou, instead you are the last of a long line of hanyou. They are far from evil and so are you. The difference is quite simple, really. The only things that are demonic about you are your wrath and other feelings and perhaps even the amount and density of chakra you have, but your personality is more humane than that of many in this village. Did you not once help little Hinata-chan, saving her from bullies? Do you not try to help out everyone you can? Do you not like to play with Shikamaru and Choji? Did you know that most of the people I just named are looked down upon because of their personalities?"
"Yet you pushed through all the things you had to live through and tried nothing but to be helpful and friendly. The village is more demonic than you! Besides, being a hanyou gives you strength and chakra levels beyond that of a human. Having the Kyuubi sealed in you makes those traits so much stronger. Use those traits, Naruto, especially since it seems like you unlocked more of your hanyou strength today, just before you beat Mizuki. Use it. But use it for the good of the people around you, Naruto. I trust you will do that?"
After this long speech Naruto couldn't help but be in awe of what this meant. True, he was a little anxious of how right some villagers were with calling him a demon, but he was delighted to know the hokage believed in both his human and his demonic traits. "Hai Jiji! Believe it!"
"That's good Naruto. Now, I would guess you need some sleep?" the sun was already rising at the horizon. Naruto nodded at that with a yawn. "So then go ahead home. Make sure to get your shinobi-license done later on. And do NOT make fun of that or ruin your photo with anything. Is that clear?" The last part was said with a commanding voice promising pain if he did such a thing.
Naruto cowered a little at that and with a shaky voice said, "Hai Jiji," after which he left to go to bed.
So the day after his little run in and tutoring of Konohamaru, which, by the way, was after NOT messing up the photo for his shinobi license, he went training at a local training ground.
What he did not expect was his stamina and speed rocketing up. While both were about high genin before, he could now easily go at mid chuunin speeds and not be at his maximum.
It was the same with the strength of his hits that, while sloppy, were strong enough to shatter some of the trees he trained on while his kunai and shuriken went deep into the target logs. He even took longer to tire out on his training regimen.
It was noon when he started tiring, so he decided to take a break. He sent out a shadow clone to get himself some ramen, but after waiting several minutes he received some memories. They indicated that the clone met Sakura who beat him saying - I'm sorry, screeching is the right word - something like "Don't wear a headband just to try and look cool, baka!"
He asked himself what that meant. He wasn't even there but still got the memories of a simple Kage Bunshin. Finally decided he will use it for stuff like reading, which he never liked anyway. Or how about some chakra-exercises? Making three clones, he told each of them what to do. "You," pointing at the first, "are going to get me some ramen!" The first one left. "You," the second one, "will read some of the scrolls from my apartment!"
A groaning was heard. "Really? Do I have to?" the clone asked.
"Yes. Get to it now!" the second one left. "And you," the third one, "are going to do some leaf-balancing." Another groan. "Yes, I know I don't like it either, that's why you will do it. Move it!" And with that the third one sat on one of the logs around the training ground with leaves in his hands and did the infamous (to Naruto) leaf-balancing-exercise. Naruto himself left to relax. It's a break after all.
He trained this way the rest of the week but had an idea just two days after (three days left to the team assignments). 'What, if I could train my demonic abilities?' He then got another one. 'I can just go ask Jiji. Perhaps he knows of a way to do it and maybe I should tell him that I know about the Kage Bunshin's special ability.'
So he went to Hiruzen and he asked about it (of course in absence of the ANBU guarding the hokage). The answer to his first question about his demonic abilities was, "One of my students, Jiraya, might be able to answer this question and help you with this problem, as well as perhaps even using the Kyuubi's chakra. He wanted to be back in some months, but I guess I could ask him to come sooner. I'll tell you when he's back."
To the other question about Kage Bunshin he said, "Oh so you found out already? Good. Now, I should tell you to be careful. Dispelling too many Kage Bunshin might give you headaches or even make you lose consciousness, so don't use more than ten at once at first. This restriction is only for learning and training purposes. In battle, use as many as you have to."
"You should use several of them for improving your chakra control since that's a problem of yours as far as the academy records say. Use one to read up on stuff and the rest for things like taijutsu kata." He paused for a second while thinking about Naruto's training. "Ah, I forgot about something."
He stood up and took a scroll from a drawer, looked at it for a moment, and seemed to decide or reminisce on something. Finally he turned towards Naruto again to hand him the scroll, one with a cyan colored swirl on it
"I want to give you this scroll, Naruto. It contains descriptions of a taijutsu style called Uzuken, the Whirlpool Fist, and its kenjutsu counterpart the Uzusōkon, the Whirlpool Slash. I want you to learn some of the Uzuken and then we can talk about the Uzusōkon. Both are, so you know, the styles of your ancestors, very powerful, and perfect for a trickster like you. Learn well, Naruto."
Naruto gave Hiruzen a big hug and left with a "Hai jiji!" and a big smile on his face.
Naruto was finally on the way to the academy for his team assignments. Of course he was really excited. He hoped he wouldn't be stuck with Sasuke Uchiha and that he would get a good jounin-sensei. He had already questioned his affections for Sakura Haruno since every time his clones (mostly ones that went to get ramen) ran into her, they got dispelled after a meeting with her fist. He already went as far as secretly thinking his bad grades were partially because of Sakura beating the memories out of his brain.
When he finally arrived at his assigned classroom, Naruto sat down in a seat in the back of the room. He was way too early, just as early as he always started his training this last week. It was about 8:30 and assignments would only begin at 9:45, so there was more than an hour left.
He took a scroll on low-level sealing with him to read. It was a scroll that was passed out in the academy to teach the students the principles behind storage scrolls with minor hints at explosive notes as well as a description on how to make a sealing scroll. His clones were still doing their own thing while he waited for the assignments to start and the whole class to come.
While reading, several others came walking in and, while seeing him, no one bothered to care about it, even less bothering to ask him about his presence. But of course one girl was delighted to see him here, even though he was doing something atypical for him: reading.
That girl was Hinata Hyuuga, the totally underrated heiress of the Hyuuga clan, who was not able to do the basic Juuken moves to a satisfactory extent (for her father's standards). What no one saw in her was her ability to be a capable leader and her real potential to see a person for who they were. But, as the Hyuuga-clan only respected strength and power, those traits were ignored in favor of praising the power, talent, and strength of her cousin and her sister instead.
What this does to a girl growing up should be obvious. Her self-respect was clearly non-existent. She even saw herself as weak and unattractive and was too shy to approach her crush. Besides that she stuttered a lot and sometimes even fell unconscious because of nervousness.
Of course Naruto was totally undeterred by the presence of his classmates. Instead he was focused on his scroll on sealing, especially since everything he read instantly made sense to him. He even took out a pen to write down the schemata of the seal's every part and even went as part as pointing out flaws in the presented example.
He found himself fascinated of the workings of seals and found them to be the easiest but most intriguing thing he had ever seen. He had never imagined sealing would be so easy, especially since no one, not even Sakura or Sasuke, ever understood anything in the sporadic sealing lessons they had.
On the other hand the teachers never were anywhere near sealsmasters' abilities. Last week he found out the fourth Hokage and Jiraya of the sannin were the only real, known sealsmasters in Konoha and there were only three others in all of the elemental nations. Each of the other big five nations except Kaze no Kuni (the hidden village Sunagakure lies in the deserts of Kaze no Kuni, also known as Wind Country) had one sealsmaster.
In Suna and Taki there were adept users of fuinjutsu, but no masters whatsoever. That didn't mean their seals weren't impressive. Hell, they were able to seal bijuu and what is that if not impressive?
At some point Naruto was interrupted from his reading by a boisterous boy named Kiba. Kiba wanted to know what he was doing in this classroom and was the first one to approach an unusually sober Naruto.
"Hey Naruto! What the hell are you doing here? Only those who passed are supposed to be here, so get out and come back next year, dobe."
"Kiba, it's good you wouldn't just want anyone to be in our teams but could you please look at my forehead? I even wear it standard," he pointed at his forehead. "Now do you see what I mean? May I keep reading now? This scroll in quite interesting"
"What kind of scroll would be interesting for someone like you, dobe?" That was the voice of the heartthrob of this class and of several other girls in Konoha, Uchiha Sasuke. He was the last member of the Uchiha clan and a supposed prodigy. He came over to look at what Naruto was reading. "So sealing is interesting to you? Such a useless art would only ever be interesting to a dobe like you."
"Yeah yeah, Sasuke, always the cool one. If you don't get something, it's worthless to you. But you should not underrate fuinjutsu. After all, all your explosive tags are just seals, nothing else," Naruto answered and turned back to his reading. He was left alone to do so until Iruka came in, still bandaged.
"Good morning, class. Today you will be assigned to your teams. We tried to balance these teams according to your performance during your stay in the academy and in the genin exams. Team one is…" he started.
"Team seven, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke…" The class was dumbstruck that there was only one yell of "Damn" and then "Hell yeah," both came from Sakura and there was not one sound from Naruto who had listened until his name was called, just to go on reading afterwards.
Besides, in the last week Naruto had lots of time to think about his life, especially considering the ten clones he made each day. And even though he was training or reading, in other words learning, all of them always had time to think of other stuff.(just take into consideration his Uzumaki roots, which he knows nothing about yet, which makes him mentally hyperactive, meaning: he has several thoughts (at any given time) at the forefront of his mind)
In the time he had spent thinking, Naruto came to the conclusion that he wasn't as in love with Sakura as he made people believe and was even less envious of the attention Sasuke got. Of course, he would like to have a little more attention and would like to be treated well by the village, but there is always a fine line between treating someone well and licking his shoes.
Aside from that, Naruto once read of old legends where some demons were considered guardian-spirits. Since he was a hanyou, he started to like the thought of himself being the guardian-spirit of Konoha, especially since he was not only a hanyou but also a jinchuuriki and they were, as he read, considered guardians in Kumo.
Taking all those facts into consideration it wasn't a surprise to see Naruto concentrate more on training in any way he possibly could than on chasing a silly crush when it was clear his feelings were neither returned nor appreciated.
He spent the lunch break as well as those hours he had to wait for his sensei learning the basics of sealing, even going as far as sending a clone to his apartment to get a brush, ink, and sealing paper. When Kakashi finally arrived, he was already able to make his own storage seals in different sizes and with some minor modifications like the unsealing ratio or the velocity with which items were unsealed (yes they DO shoot stuff).
The door opened and in stepped a lazy looking jounin with a facemask and an orange book in hand. He actually looked rather surprised, especially when his eyes met Naruto. "Hm. That's unusual. I thought I would be pranked when entering." He shrugged his shoulders. "Well then. Meet me at the roof." With that he poofed away.
On the roof
"Oh, so you're here already?" Kakashi asked. "Ok let's begin with some introductions."
"What do you want to know?" Sakura asked.
"How about… your likes, dislikes… dreams for the future, hobbies, stuff like that."
"Ok sensei. But why don't you start?" Naruto asked.
"Ohh me? My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you guys about my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future? Hmmm… Well I have lots of hobbies," was Kakashi's answer. "Now blondie, get to it."
"Alright. My name is Uzumaki K. Naruto and no, I don't know what the 'K' stands for. My likes are people who like me, ramen, training, and apparently sealing. The things I dislike are traitors, those who hate me, the time it takes to make ramen, and those who can't seem to help but mistaking a guardian for a monster. My dream is to do my duty to this village, guard it, and perhaps become Hokage on the way. Hobbies are training, sometimes pranking, reading, and, since today, learning about sealing."
"I see…" Kakashi muttered, "Ok. Next!"
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are tons of things I dislike but I don't really like anything. And… I don't want to use the word 'dream' but… I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and… to kill a certain man."
(AN: I'm too lazy to do Sakura's "I love Sasuke too much to care about training to survive a C-rank mission" speech…)
"Ok! That's enough of that. We will start our duties tomorrow with a little survival training."
"Why survival training, sensei? We had lots of it in the academy," asked Sakura.
"Because it's to test if you're good enough to be genin. Tomorrow we will test if you will really become genin. The test has a failure rate of 66%. So don't eat if you don't want to throw up. Meet me at training ground seven at 8 am." With that, Kakashi poofed away. Soon afterwards, Naruto left with Sasuke doing the same and Sakura following Sasuke.
When Naruto arrived at training ground 21, which he frequently used, with a new scroll about basic sealing in hand, he found a sight that intrigued him. There, hiding behind a tree, watching his clones train, was none other than Hyuuga Hinata. Instead of just going to his clones and checking up on them he decided to humor her and sneak up to her.
'If she thought she could really watch me uncaught, she has another thing coming. Besides, what does she do here? Trying to spy on the demon and later on hurt me? I don't really think she would, but why is she here? Didn't the caretaker from her clan once tell her to stay away from me as much as possible?' He snuck up to her as silently as he could so that she didn't notice him until he tapped her on the shoulder.
"Wha..?!" came from Hinata as she jumped from the touch and turned around to be face to face with a curious looking Naruto.
"Hello Hinata!" Naruto smiled with a small smile "What are you doing here? Or yet a better question, why are you watching me?"
"I …Uhm…Naruto-kun…Uhm," Hinata stuttered out.
'Yeah that helps me a lot,' Naruto thought sarcastically. "Ok Hinata. Either you tell me what you're doing here or I'm going to assume you tried to find a way to hurt me. So what is it?"
At this point Hinata started to hyperventilate and panic, trying her best to not faint and to just say why she watched Naruto. "I… Uhm… I just wanted to… see you before I'm… too busy to do so."
"Oh, ok, but… Why did you want to see me, Hinata? I mean, you hardly ever really talked to me before."
"Because I… Uhm… I wanted to change that." Hinata started to invent a new shade of red and started poking her index fingers together. "I… I… I admire you, Naruto-kun."
"Wha…?" Naruto was totally perplexed. 'Why would anyone ever admire me? I didn't even do anything yet.' "Uhm… ok. And why is that? I mean, don't get me wrong, I do like to be admired but my question is what did I do to be admired by you? You're an heiress to a clan; you're talented, strong, and beautiful; and I'm just some guy who nobody even knows what he really is. So why do you admire me?"
"Because… you never give up… even… even if everyone says you should, you don't. You are very strong that way. And… I would like to be as strong as you, Naruto-kun."
"Ah. Ok… I don't think I'm strong, but maybe we could see who's stronger between the two of us?"
"Uhm.. What do you want to do, Naruto-kun?" asked a confused Hinata.
"How about we do a little taijutsu spar? But no holding back, as long as we don't get dangerously hurt. Just your… uhm... I think Juuken was what your fighting style was called?" A nod. "Ok then. Your Juuken against my Uzuken, alright?"
"Uzuken?" asked a confused Hinata.
"Yeah. My Whirlpool Fist. It has to do with certain… circumstances about me."
"But I don't want to hurt you, Naruto-kun."
"Well… Did you know that training is damaging muscle mass and the repairing of that is what makes it stronger? So if you hurt me, I will get stronger through it."
So they set into stances. Naruto was in his basic Uzuken stance - his left foot and arm in front, knee bent in an 120° angle, elbow in an 100° angle, parallel to the ground. His nearly open palm pointing to himself, while his right arm and leg were in the back, knee bent at a 160° angle with his arm pointing down a little and his elbow at a 170° angle. Hinata was in her Juuken stance. A clone that was created before the fight to serve as a referee , waved as a sign for the fight to start.
Naruto instantly attacked, just like described in the scrolls, with half a turn, getting in close to Hinata and trying to hit her head with his right arm which she blocked, trying to counter until Naruto did a 540 to the left and used his momentum to land a right backhand on her face, which made her stumble back. Naruto instantly used this wide opening to make another half turn to the left and punch her in her right side. The Naruto clone saw this and instantly ended the fight.
"Uhm… Ok… Hinata?" she looked up. "Whats wrong with your taijutsu? It looks as if it doesn't suit you, like you fight against your own body trying to do the juuken moves. I didn't see much, but that much was kinda obvious."
Hinata shook her head. "I don't know, Naruto-kun. I'm the failure of my clan after all, so you shouldn't expect me to be any better." Hinata started to sob. "I'm just a worthless disappointment of an heiress and even my younger sister, Hanabi-chan, can beat me."
Naruto led Hinata over to the nearest tree to lean against it and hold her close to himself for comfort (he read about it ;) ). After some time, Hinata was able to calm down. "Better?" asked the blond, gaining a nod from the heiress, after which she stood up.
"Arigatou, Naruto-kun." She said with a bow. "Thanks for that, Naruto-kun. I needed that." Naruto just nodded. "Now I'll need to go home, my father must already await me. Perhaps we can meet up again sometime in the future?"
"Of course, Hinata. I'll have to see how much time I can afford to spend away from my team but I'll meet up with you as much as both of us can." Naruto said with a smile.
Hinata returned the smile with a shy one of her own and said goodbye. "Sayonara, Naruto-kun." With that, she left.
The next day team seven could be found waiting at training ground seven… no news there, I know… But what was new is that Naruto had clones working on stuff in the meantime, being watched curiously by Sasuke and Sakura who both thought Naruto was going crazy in thinking that clones could train.
When Kakashi finally showed up at ten, he was greeted by two shouts of "You're late!" from Sasuke and Sakura and one "Oh, you're early" from Naruto to which his teammates just looked at him like he grew a second head.
"Well… I read he would always be three hours late, so he's early for his standards," Naruto explained, causing Kakashi to give him an eye smile.
"I see at least one of you does his homework," said the copy-cat which gained a foxy grin from Naruto and disbelieving looks from the other two. "And I see you used the time you had to train and rest, unlike the others. That's quite good, too," he continued with an eye smile™ "Now, let's move on. This clock is set for noon. As I told you yesterday you will have to take another test, and that test consists of these," he pulled two bells out of his pocket. "You will have to take these two bells from me. As you can see, there are only two of them so at least one of you will fail. You can use anything you have, even shuriken, and you will have to come at me with the intent to kill," Kakashi explained, still with an eye smile.
"Also, those who don't pass will be tied to those logs over there to watch while I eat lunch and then sent back to the academy for another year. Begin!"
In an instant, all three of them were gone. Sasuke and Sakura were hiding. Naruto, instead, was with his clones, getting some more training in.
"Uhm… Naruto? What are you doing? Shouldn't you hide like the others?"
"Nah. I don't see the point in hiding when facing an elite jounin who could detect me anyway. I also don't see the point in fighting you when I know I can't win."
"Oh. Ok. Be my guest at failing. If you don't attack me, I WILL fail you."
"Ah. What a drag. Even if I already know the purpose of the test?"
Kakashi's eyes (pardon, eye) widened. "You know the purpose of this test?"
"Of course, sensei. I read about you, remember? So, do I still have to fight you?"
"Yes, Naruto. You still have to fight me."
"Alright…" So with a groan Naruto walked over to Kakashi, assuming his basic stance. 'Hidden' in the bushes, Sasuke and Sakura thought along the lines of 'Does he really think that's a correct stance? That dobe is just so dumb to use a made up stance.' The next moment he made the cross sign with his fingers and shouted "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Beside him six clones popped up, three on each side. They got into position instantly.
Two were moving in directly while two went to the sides and the last two – as well as the original – stayed behind, positioning themselves in such a way that they could see every angle. While Sasuke and Sakura thought it was a dumb move, considering they were only clones, Kakashi was quite impressed by the formation and tactical usage of clones by Naruto. He was even more impressed as they threw up their hands, palms facing him.
Suddenly, kunai shot out of their palms at a fast speed. Kakashi's eye widened in surprise as he had to dodge the kunai. He crouched down, giving an opening to the approaching Kage Bunshin.
When the clones reached Kakashi, they used the Uzuken in tandem, able to perfectly time strikes, blocks, dodges, and rearrange position after every move they made.
All of them including Naruto were surprised that he held his ground so well. Even if Kakashi didn't go all out, he was fighting at mid-chuunin level , that of a high C or low to mid B-rank ninja, which was a high level for newly instated genin. Naruto was sure he didn't get that good by the training he did that last week.
Suddenly, Sasuke decided to move in and instantly used Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu, dispelling the clones and forcing Kakashi to use a Kawarimi.
When both Naruto and Sasuke were pulled underground by Kakashi, Naruto dispelled, indicating he already switched with a clone, leaving Sasuke as the only one in the clearing. Some short minutes later he could hear a shriek from Sakura as she was trapped in a genjutsu.
After that the bell rang.
After team seven regrouped at the three training posts, Kakashi decided to brief them.
"All right, this was an interesting test. Now… where to begin…? First of all, Sakura. You suck. I thought genjutsu would be your strength seeing as theory and chakra control are your best points, but you fell for a D-rank genjutsu. Sasuke. The only things you did were endanger a teammate and use a C-rank ninjutsu. While I think you are at mid genin-level in combat, which is quite good for one straight from the academy, you're reckless and self-centered. Naruto. You used a good portion of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and basic weapons skills. Also, how did you throw those kunai at the start of our little spar?"
"I just used some fuinjutsu I learned yesterday and applied this morning. It really is just a basic seal you could also apply to a sealing scroll, but I modified it so that objects coming out will be shot." After that he showed him the seal on each of his palms.
"Ah that's one interesting seal, I have to say. Now where was I? Ah, right. You also used good tactics and could have beaten a mid-chuunin level threat this way. But without your clones I doubt you would have lasted that long. So I'd say you're mid to high-genin level on your own. Now, Naruto, you said you knew what this test was for?" Naruto nodded. "Would you enlighten us?"
"Sure. I looked up information about you and came across a 'Bell Test' you always use on new genin teams. The purpose of this test was said to be dividing the team to see if we would work together, even if we could be the one losing our opportunity to get something we wanted or needed in the end. It's just like when we are on a mission and we have to decide if we want to live or want the others to stay alive." He had read quite a lot the few days before, especially when he found out the name of his new sensei yesterday morning.
"Wow! That's right. So do tell Naruto."
"Huh?"
"Why didn't you try to team up with the others?"
"Well… there was no point trying. You've seen what Sasuke did and Sakura would just have hit me on the head. I may not seem like it but pain is something I'd rather avoid," Naruto explained.
"Alright, then that means you, Sasuke," pointing at him, "and you, Sakura" pointing at her, " won't be sent back to the academy," Kakashi said, earning a smug smile from Sasuke as well as a "Whoop!" from Sakura. "You'll both be kicked out of the shinobi program. Naruto, I'm sorry, but you'll have to repeat a year since your teammates were too incompetent to team up."
"It's ok, Kakashi. I understand, even though I'm unsure as to what it's going to do for me. I mean, I'll learn nothing in the academy I can't learn without it as well," reasoned Naruto.
After that Kakashi paused for a while to think. "Well… you know what? I'll give all three of you a second chance," Kakashi exclaimed. "After lunch I will test you again." After that he tied Sakura to the middle post and gave the two boys the two boxes of lunch he had with him. He left with the words, "Don't give Sakura anything or you'll be failed." After he left, the boys argued about feeding her, with both agreeing to just feed her and be done with it so the team didn't have a member weak from hunger.
With a large cloud of smoke and a loud booming sound Kakashi reentered the training ground. "You guys…" everything seemed to stop, Naruto could swear even the world stopped turning, "… pass!" The three newly minted genin looked at him, totally perplexed.
"But why?" asked Sakura, not understanding a thing of what was going on.
"It's because 'those who break the rules are trash, but those who don't take care of their comrades are lower than trash.'" He turned towards the memorial stone. "That's what my best friend once taught me. His name is now engraved on this stone. It's a stone where all the names of the heroes of Konoha are engraved into. He, along with my sensei, is on this stone. He died a few days after I was promoted jounin. Sensei died on the day of Naruto's birth, the day of Kyuubi's attack. 10 of October." Sasuke and Sakura traded shocked looks and Naruto looked apologetically at Kakashi.
"You don't have to apologize for what you had no control over, Naruto. After all, he was the one to make you what you are now. It's more like I should apologize to you. But… I guess we should talk more later on." This made Naruto's eyes widen and the two others even more confused than before the explanation why they passed.
"Ok, that ends it. Starting tomorrow, team seven will begin its duties."
With that, Naruto jumped around, cheering freely about finally making genin.
"Hey, Naruto!"
"Huh?"
"Stop that and come with me. Team! Dismissed. And we better untie Sakura." Sasuke instantly left to train while Naruto and Kakashi untied Sakura who ran off after Sasuke.
"Ok, Naruto. Come over here, please," Kakashi pointed at the memorial and sat down at its socket.
Naruto followed his example, sat down and asked, "What did you want, Kakashi-sensei?"
"I wanted to talk about you and about what you are, or more precisely what you are NOT," Kakashi explained with a stern expression on his otherwise lazy features.
"Wh- What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, frightened he might have gotten a biased teacher. Again. Aside from Iruka, all the academy teachers Naruto ever had were biased. He still wasn't good at reading people, that's a skill that's hard to learn when major parts of the people you see hate you.
"Relax, Naruto. There is no reason to be frightened. I understand what you are. You're a Jinchuuriki, not a demon incarnate. Besides, I cannot tell you their names, since that's an S-rank secret, but I knew your parents. Quite well I might say. So there is no bias to fear from me.
"However, you have to stay clear about one thing: you were made a guardian to this village by the Yondaime who, by the way, is my dead sensei. This means you will have to be strong. You will hardly be treated well by the villagers and you will have to use the power of the fox someday."
"I also want you to know that I'm a very well-known elite jounin, meaning I have some influence over a large portion of the village's shinobi forces, and I'll always be there for you whenever you are in trouble. My sensei trusted you with the responsibility to keep the village safe from the fox and maybe other threats to come, and even though many think you should be used as a weapon, not as a guardian, a guardian and savior is what you are. NOT a weapon. I just wanted you to know that."
While Kakashi continued with that speech, Naruto's smile widened more and more and, at the end of it, Naruto even had tears in his eyes. "Thanks, Kakashi-sensei. Thank you so much for that."
Kakashi awkwardly patted Naruto's head. "There, there, Naruto. I think you should go back to training, shouldn't you? I, for one, have to go and report to Sandaime-sama, before I am pissing even him off with my tardiness. So I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Naruto." With that he poofed away.
One month and three weeks later
On a sunny day we find team seven walking down a dry road at a leisurely pace. They all had relaxed postures, like there was no care in the world. So team seven was having fun enjoying their free time, wandering…
Uhm… ok they didn't. I mean enjoying free time. They enjoyed wandering. Very much so, but they actually had a client between them while they were walking in a diamond formation. This client was the bridge builder Tazuna, from Wave Country.
The time between the real genin test and this mission was spent doing team exercises and D-rank missions. All this time Naruto did not only attend both, but also trained with his Kage Bunshin. While he was mid to high-genin level without his clones on the test, he was now bordering low-chuunin level.
There was one curious thing that made everyone except Kakashi wonder, he didn't have any backpack with him. This was a longer trip and he should have all the stuff he needed with him… but he didn't wear a backpack. Kakashi, of course, knew he just sealed his stuff in scrolls.
Now as they were walking down the road towards Wave Country where Tazuna's bridge was to be built, they came across a puddle on the ground. No one seemed to pay it any attention but, when they passed it, two shinobi sprang forth from it, wrapping Kakashi in chains and shredding him to pieces.
Instantly Sasuke and Naruto sprang to action.
At the sight of his sensei being shredded, Naruto felt a power spread though him. To him it felt like nothing more than concentrated power of will, but he didn't notice his facial structures gaining more feral traits, his hair gaining a red tint, and his fingernails extending to short claws.
When he closed in on the two enemy shinobi he acted on pure instinct. He swiped with his hands and sent five arcs of chakra towards his enemies, saying, "Onipo: Hikō Tsume" (Demon Art: Flying Claws). The chakra waves pierced though the chain between the two ninja and gave both of them shallow cuts on their arms, just enough to distract them so he could use kage bunshin to knock both of them out at the same time. His team, Kakashi, and even he himself were dumbstruck.
"Naruto-baka? What the hell was that?" Sakura asked, looking at Naruto.
"Uhm… If I knew, I would tell you guys," came Naruto's answer.
"But you used it! How can you not know how you did a move like that on top of being able to move so much faster than Sasuke-kun?" insisted Sakura.
"Look. I don't know how I did it! There's something I suspect is connected to it, but as long as I don't know for sure I won't tell you about it. You don't need to know!" Naruto answered. He knew it was harsh, but what could he do? He didn't know, after all.
So after Kakashi questioned the Demon Brothers, the two chuunin, he came back to question Tazuna. "Now, Tazuna, I guess you have some things to tell us, don't you think?"
Tazuna was shocked at that. "No. I don't know what you mean."
"Look, these were chuunin level missing nin from Kirigakure called the 'Demon Brothers.' They also targeted you and whoever targets you will send someone stronger next time. So either you tell us what's going on and we'll see about going back or we will go back and leave you here for lying to us. This isn't a C-rank mission anymore; it's at least B, perhaps even A-rank."
At that, Tazuna started to talk. He told the team about the oppressive Gatou, how the funds available hadn't been enough to pay for a higher-ranked mission, and how they and his bridge were the last hope for Nami no Kuni.
Finally Kakashi asked, "Alright guys, you heard his story; do you want to go on? Know that whoever we're going to face next will be a lot stronger than the Demon Brothers."
"I'm called many things in Konoha, but coward is not one of those. I won't back out of this!" was Naruto's answer.
"The dobe said it," came from Sasuke. He smirked at the thought of strong opponents and showing Naruto who is better next time.
"I'm with Sasuke-kun," exclaimed Sakura, who thought nothing but 'how cool Sasuke-kun is.'
After a short walk to the coast of Hi no Kuni, they met up with a sailor to bring them to Nami no Kuni. On the ride to the shore they took a first look at the huge bridge, already spanning over a good part of the sea which separated Nami no Kuni from Hi no Kuni.
After leaving the shore of Nami no Kuni and going farther inwards to the main island, mist got thicker and thicker. Naruto heard rustling in a bush and threw a kunai into it. It turned out there was a only rabbit in the bushes. The unusual thing about said rabbit was its fur. It had white fur. It was the kind of animal raised indoor to be used as the target for a Kawarimi.
A swishing sound was heard and Kakashi yelled at everyone to "DUCK!" A second later a huge cleaver was passing just over their heads before embedding blade first into a tree. When they turned they saw a man standing on the hilt of said cleaver.
"Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist," came from Kakashi.
"Hatake Kakashi, also known as Sharingan no Kakashi," retorted Zabuza.
'Sharingan? But the sharingan is the kekkei genkai of the Uchiha-clan!' Sasuke thought, immediately thinking it was stolen.
Naruto thought more along the lines of 'Demon? Is he related to one? Is it just a title?' Of course he wanted to know if Zabuza was actually a hanyou like him or if that was just some title, maybe stemming from unusual amounts of blood thirst?
Kakashi immediately uncovered his sharingan as Zabuza already began to talk about how he would like killing off the genin. Their sensei gave the short story Zabuza's name, all about how he killed one hundred academy students of Kiri at their age.
Naruto began to chuckle. After the questioning look from everyone he just said, "You know, here I thought you would perhaps actually be related to a demon. But you're just some unusually blood thirsty guy with the power to support it. What would actual demons or hanyou say about you?"
This gained him a laugh from said 'demon.' "So you think you're smart, huh, gaki? There only ever was one clan of hanyou and they are extinct, so at least they won't be saying anything, and the demons are all sealed away."
At that, Naruto smirked. "So you say I don't exist?"
As those words left his lips everyone began to stare at him. 'What does that dobe mean? Why wouldn't he exist, just because a clan of hanyou is extinct and all demons are sealed?' Guess who that was.
'What? He can't mean he already knows, can he?' thought Kakashi.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki," he told Zabuza to make things clear. Naruto read up on some things and found out that the Uzumaki name actually is a clan name. The books and scrolls said nothing about anything demonic, but since he was told by Hiruzen, that a parent of his was a hanyou and Zabuza talked about a clan of hanyou, he just put the facts together.
Zabuza gaped at the revelation, but soon straightened up again. "So you're a hanyou, huh? Where is your sword? Shouldn't Uzumaki be kenjutsu masters?"
Naruto shook his head "No. Well yes they were. But I haven't started to train in the Uzusōkon yet, so no sword for me yet."
"A shame. Well then, let's see how long your team will hold against me, demon baby. Ninpo: Kirigakure no Jutsu."
With that the mist increased along with the KI felt in the area. Sasuke and Sakura were shaking from fear, while Naruto once again became more feral, his senses and instincts way faster and more accurate than before. So when both Zabuza and Kakashi finished their speeches and Zabuza appeared in the middle of their manji-formation, Naruto instantly moved.
"Onipo: Tsume no Uzu!" exclaimed a demonic Naruto who started to rotate at high speeds. If he had known better, he would compare this technique to the Huuga clan's Kaiten technique. It still made a semispherical barrier due to rotation, but his was red and, unlike the solid blue barrier of the Kaiten, his was composed of a multitude of tiny chakra blades.
The mizu-bunshin was instantly evaporated. Furthermore, Naruto rushed towards the next one, slashing his claws at it. He and Kakashi were killing mizu bunshin left and right, Naruto with his demon-mode and Kakashi with his own mizu bunshin. It was fine until Kakashi went further out and stepped on the nearby lake, after which he was caught in a water prison.
The eyes of the genin widened at that, even Naruto's. In his shock, he accidently deactivated his demon mode, leaving him weaker than he was before since he was tired out by using it.
"Go! Take Tazuna and run! You can't do anything here! His bunshin can only reach a certain distance, so run!" Kakashi yelled, panicking.
Naruto just shook his head. "I can't do that, sensei. I will not leave you behind. You said it yourself: 'those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash.' There is no way I'll be worse than trash!"
Zabuza formed three new mizu bunshin who then proceeded to stand before him in a line.
"Keh. So you thought, that was enough to really be considered a demon? That's not even enough for me to consider any of you three to be a shinobi. Just give it up! Run away and leave that old man behind or you'll die, just like your teacher will."
"Tazuna. I'll leave you to Sasuke and Sakura. I hope you don't mind?" asked Naruto.
"Of course not, boy. I brought you into this mess. You better get out of it, you hear me?" Tazuna answered sternly.
"Good," Naruto answered.
Now for a plan. He knew he had no chance in overpowering the mizu bunshin even if he would be able to keep up his demon mode, something he didn't even know how to activate. He had to use the Uzuken in combination with shadow clones and his demon mode to be victorious here.
But time ran out. He didn't know how to activate the demon mode and he didn't know if he could use the Uzuken fully in that mode since the two times he fought in that mode till now, he used instincts to guide him, not any type of fighting style.
'Gotta try anyways.' With that he started to move. For every one of the mizu bunshin he made three clones to scout out their specific weakness. All three teams moved from another direction, each in a different formation. One was a v-formation, one a turned v, and one was a line.
The first team was decimated by a frontal attack of their clone. The Zabuza clone stormed at them for the last two meters and slashed at the first Kage bunshin, dispelling him. The second and third were trying to flank him with kunai, but the second got cut by Zabuza while he evaded the third and popped it with a kick in the back.
The second team's clone used a totally different approach. Instead of storming forwards, he picked the one to his right and moved in front of him on the last meter to kill him first. When the others turned, the middle to engage him while the left one tried to flank him, Zabuza proceeded the same way as with group one.
The third group was the easiest to him. As they were approaching him, he just moved in a way that brought him in range to the one to the right and middle, which he killed in one strike, and kicking the third.
Naruto was in a hell of a mess and started to panic slightly. That was when a voice appeared in his head.
'No worries my Boy! I see you got some problems. I'll help you out, but you'll have to visit me as soon as you can after this. I'll activate your demon mode, and you just concentrate on this idiot before you. As to how you can visit me, just go to sleep I'll get you there then,' spoke the voice. It sounded like an older man. Not Hiruzen Sarutobi old, but around 50-55 years of age.
Instantly afterwards, Naruto transformed. His senses were stronger again, his movements held more strength, just like before, but now he was able to think more clearly than the times before.
Naruto started to smirk as he noticed this and suddenly moved his hands to make a cross-symbol, after which he and his eleven clones threw up their hands and activated the seals on their palms. In the safety of the following hail of kunai, the clones and Naruto split into groups of four to each engage one of the Zabuza clones.
Each of the groups used a variation of the formation displayed before. To be exact, the first used a y-formation, the second a diamond shaped formation and the third a T-formation. This meant the extra Naruto was in the back of each formation.
With their enhanced speed, the group of Narutos dashed forward, engaging the mizu bunshin. With their enhanced speed, strength, and senses, the clones were able to bind all of their opponents in a fight using the Uzuken, a style which seemed to be designed for Naruto in demon mode. He fought while swirling, swishing, using his claws as further distractions and using the extra speed and strength to strike. Even though not one of the mizu bunshin were destroyed, that wasn't what Naruto planned anyways.
Instead the last of each group, Naruto being in group one, just moved around the occupied clones to engage the real one through long range attacks. The clones fired their kunai to make sure Zabuza had to move when real Naruto used his attack. "Onipo: Hikō Surasshu" (flying slash) was what Naruto called his attack. It was a one clawed version of Onipo: Hikō Tsume, not unlike a visible, red colored Kaze no Yaiba.
As a consequence, Zabuza's only option was to let go of the water prison, freeing Kakashi. While Kakashi went for the real Zabuza, Naruto's long range group headed for the mizu bunshin, ending them after some tense moments, inflicting minor injuries that, had it been the real one, wouldn't make a difference but easily dispelled clones.
Kakashi then finished his fight with Zabuza, but was interrupted by a Kiri hunter nin who used senbon to kill Zabuza. As the fight was over, Kakashi let himself fell over, unconscious from chakra exhaustion. Naruto was really tired too, so tired in fact, he had problems moving on his own. Luckily, his clones were still intact and they could carry Kakashi to Tazuna's house. As soon as they dispelled, Naruto was asleep, having stayed awake only through forced willpower to not have the clones dispel.
He didn't even get to greet Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, before he fell asleep.
Naruto woke up in a sewer, instantly sitting up and getting to a standing position. After looking around, he heard a voice call. "Find me." It sounded like the same voice that called for him in the fight, but at the same time it didn't.
"Where are you?" Naruto called.
And the voice gave a direction. "Follow the tubes that are tinted red, they'll lead you to me." So Naruto did as he was told. He finally came to a large cage with a huge sealing tag keeping it closed. Behind the bars something started to move its giant body.
When this giant something came into the light, he could see the giant form of the Kyuubi no Kitsune! It spoke, "Hello, Naruto-kun. How is my descendant feeling today?"
Naruto fell on his ass as he saw what was standing before him and it took him a moment to understand what was said. "Who is your descendant, Kyuubi?" was the only thing Naruto could ask.
Kyuubi let go of a big laugh after that. "BWAHAHA! You're a funny one, Naruto. I really thought one of my descendants was about to mutate to a Uchiha, the way you were the last few months. But see here, still a little kid. Now, to answer your question Naruto, YOU are my descendant."
"What? But you're a violent, giant, and unbelievably strong demon! I'm nothing like you!" screamed Naruto in hysteria.
"Well then. Tell me your last name, Naruto. Is it perhaps… Uzumaki?" Naruto nodded at that. "Yeah, well, the Uzumaki clan is the clan I once founded, Naruto. I AM one of your ancestors."
Naruto had nothing to say to that for a while.
"So that means… I… I am really close to you. So the villagers weren't that wrong at all? It wasn't all stupidity, to hurt you through me?"
"No, it wasn't. But there still was no real reason to do so. A man of one of their most prestigious clans, one of the clans of my, uhm – you could call them half-brothers of mine – made me attack the village. I was under his control through a genjutsu." Naruto gasped at that.
"WHAT?! HOW CAN YOU, THE MOST POWERFUL BEING IN THE WORLD, BE CONTROLLED BY A MERE GENJUTSU! YOU'RE THE FRICKING KYUUBI FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" Naruto yelled at him, in total disbelief. Not that he thought of Kyuubi as a liar, but to Naruto it was totally unbelievable for one person to control the mightiest being in the world. Especially through a genjutsu.
Naruto calmed down after a moment. "Who was it?"
"I see you're in control of the infamous Uzumaki temper, huh? Fine, I'll tell you. But you better listen. I'll begin at the actual beginning." At that, Kyuubi lay down, his head on his paws. "You might want to get comfortable as well. It's a bit of a longer story."
"Where would I be comfortable here? Everywhere is water, after all," Naruto asked.
The fox chuckled at that. "Come in here, my paws should be sufficient enough for you to get comfortable."
Naruto stared at him for a while. "Ok, but don't get any funny ideas, you hear me?"
This drew another chuckle from the giant fox. "Come over here, already." Naruto settled down on one of his paws, situated in a way so he could look up at the fox. "Now. At the beginning there was war. Endless bloodshed over things many forgot eons ago. They laid waste to the lands of men and nature alike. This kept up for years on end. In the end rivers went dry, forests were withering, and the seas became unruly. Earth itself began to rise up against humankind. To end this bloodshed, a priestess, Ootsotsuki Kaguya, decided to eat the fruit of the Shinju, an enormous tree, considered the host of god." ('Adam and Eve' meets 'The Legend of Zelda')
"By doing so, she attained the power of chakra and was able to end all human caused bloodshed. But the Shinju once forbid men to eat that fruit, or even touch it. In rage, caused by the sacrilege of the priestess, it went berserk, transforming into the ten tailed beast, the first bijuu, also known as Juubi. Luckily for mankind, Ootsotsuki Kaguya gave birth to a child before she later on faced the Juubi, dying after their fight. This child was called Ootsotsuki Bagoromo, also known as Rikudo sennen and to the Bijuu also known as 'Father'.
"He defeated the Juubi, sealing its body into the moon and its soul and chakra into his body. In his long life he had three children, two sons and a daughter. All of them were seeking for a way to end bloodshed once and for all and inherited some of their father's powers.
"The oldest son, believing power could bring an end to the wars and misery, received the spiritual power of the sage, inheriting what is now called the Sharingan. He later on founded the Uchiha clan."
"The youngest son, believing love would be key to peace, gained the sage's body. He later on founded the Senju clan."
"But the only daughter of the sage, his second-born, knew both were wrong. She knew neither love nor power would be able to bring peace to mankind's hearts. Instead she discovered the truth of both power and love.
Power in itself has no purpose. Its only purpose is furthering one's power, thereby corrupting the one wielding it.
Love without power is not only meaningless, but to love also means to be able to gain the emotion of hate. It's as if you have a string. The fastest way to get to the other end is laying one end to the other. This means extremes are closest to each other. To be exact, love and hate are exactly the same; both are just one side of the same coin.
"Instead she came to understand that there is only one way for man to achieve peace: peace of mind. And that is accomplished through acceptance, which then promotes understanding. She gained the mindset of the sage and his most important power: the ability to change people. She later founded the Uzumaki clan and, well… became my wife." This was the first part where Kyuubi stopped and just smiled.
"At that time I was still able to use an ability every single one of my descendants has: shape shifting. This way I was able to behave as if I was human. Of course, she knew the truth, but as her father created me – as well as the other eight Bijuu – named me, and she preached acceptance, she had a mind free enough to fall in love with me.
"Later on in the time of the clans at war, the Uzumaki, who were known as fuinjutsu-masters as well as kenjutsu-masters, were close to the Senju and helped at the founding of Konohagakure. That is why Konoha has the swirl symbol which is the insignia of the Uzumaki clan. It is worn by Konoha to show their gratitude and loyalty to our clan. Later on when the head of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Madara, used his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan to gain control over me to fight Senju Hashirama over the position of Hokage, Uzumaki Mito, your grandaunt, sealed me into her body to keep me safe from the Uchiha that, in the future, might come after me. I told her after the sealing that I would have killed her using my youki, demonic chakra, if she would have sealed me into a non-Uzumaki.
"This was one of the reasons why Uzumaki Kushina, your mother, was chosen to carry me when Mito was about to die. She was, by the way, a princess and the heiress of Uzu no Kuni and the Uzumaki clan which includes Uzushiogakure, your clans' hidden village.
"Shortly after her arrival at Konohagakure the second shinobi world war broke out with a bang: the destruction of Uzushiogakure.
"As you have witnessed today, in battle the Uzumaki become real demons. In demonic form an Uzumaki's strength is doubled – for some tripled. Aside from that Uzumaki have always been the best at fuinjutsu as well as kenjutsu which they can perfectly use in demonic form and were always proficient with ninjutsu. It is clear the attackers – Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure along with some minor villages – received major losses, leading to the victory of Konohagakure at the end of the war.
"But my clan was nearly extinct. Later on your mother fell in love with your father. Don't worry, I'll tell you who if you let me go on without interrupting after I tell you." This gained him a nod from Naruto. "His name was Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage. You didn't receive his name for two reasons. First, he was an orphan without a clan so you would have received her name anyways. Second, you had to be protected from Iwa. The shinobi there have always been ones to bear grudges so you wouldn't have been safe. Of course, everyone can see how well that worked, but it wasn't my decision after all."
"Well… at the day of your birth your mother had to be at a secured position since there was a chance for the seal to break in childbirth and no one, not even I, wanted that. The problem was, someone interrupted. Just as you were born, your father was forced away from Kushina-chan. A Uchiha held you hostage, nearly killing you. Minato-kun was able to save you, but at the cost of the seal. I was forced out of Kushina and put under another genjutsu which I didn't escape from until I was sealed into you."
"I instantly recognized you as an Uzumaki due to your demonic powers. They are the strongest I have seen in one of my descendants in over five decades, by the way. Because you are Uzumaki, I wouldn't kill you."
"Now that this story is over with, I have to tell you something else. Every single one of the male Uzumaki heirs since the fourth generation of Uzumaki has had a second name: 'Kuramamaru.' That is what the 'K.' in your name stands for. It is simple to explain. My name is Kurama. You are named after me." At the end of this story, Naruto was unable to do anything but gape.
"Uhm… Kurama…-sama?" Naruto shakily asked if that was right.
"Leave the '-sama' kid, we're family. So call me whatever you like," Kurama snorted back.
"Oh, ok. So Kurama-Jiji…" Kurama had to smile at that, "would it be ok if I thought a bit about what you told me? It's all a bit much, you know?"
"Of course, kid. Take all the time you need. Just don't forget to train." He then said in a soft voice, "Goodnight, Naruto-chan."
"Night, Kurama-jiji." With that, the hanyou left the cage representing the seal. Naruto then fell into the blackness that is a dreamless sleep.
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