To Those Who Would Achieve Greatness

An: Soooooo, this is my first Naruto fic. Enjoy! This takes place just after the Battle of the Bridge in the Wave Arc.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!


Chapter 1- To Those Who Would Achieve Greatness

It was three days since the fight with Zabuza and Haku, and Naruto couldn't have felt better. He finally had something he had been striving for. Recognition, acceptance, just to name a few. He could walk through the streets of Wave and people would smile at him. They would shake his hand and thank him.

But on the other side of the spectrum, he felt…empty. He may have had people staring at him like he was a human being, but it wasn't his own people. The people of the Hidden Leaf Village. That's who he wanted to accept him. It didn't feel right to have a village accept you when your own didn't. Or, that's what Naruto felt, at least.

Currently, he was lounging on a branch in the woods surrounding Tazuna's house. He was thinking about several things at once. The last three days he'd been thinking a lot, about what Haku said, the fight itself, the damn fox sealed inside him, the people of Wave, the Leaf Village…those being the prominent topics in his mind.

"So, this is where you've been hiding out, eh Naruto?" Kakashi's voice broke Naruto out of his train of thought. He looked down and saw his sensei standing at the base of the tree with his perverted book in his hand, as per usual.

"Oh, hey Kakashi sensei," Naruto said blandly as he jumped from his perch and landed beside the masked Jonin.

Kakashi looked at his student curiously. "You're not as chipper as you usually are. Something on your mind, Naruto?" he asked.

"Uh, actually, Kakashi sensei, yeah. I do," Naruto said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Well, what is it?"

"Just….I've thought a lot about a lot of stuff the past three days and….I just wonder if everything I've done up to this point is worth it."

"What do you mean?" Kakashi lilted his head to the side.

"People here in Wave look at me like I'm somebody. A person. But back home, all anyone sees is the damn fox sealed inside my gut, not me." Naruto sighed. "Since I became a ninja, I thought that I would finally be looked at like I belonged, not like I was trash that didn't desire to breathe the same air as everybody else. I understand changing someone's opinion takes time, but…I don't know anymore, Kakashi sensei. I know I'm not a very good ninja. I've skipped out on classes back at the Academy, sometimes just been kicked out of important lessons. I'm lousy at Taijutsu, the only Ninjutsu I know is the Shadow Clone Jutsu and the Sexy Jutsu I developed, and I'm terrible at Genjutsu." He looked at his sensei and asked, "What do you think, sensei? About all this?"

Kakahsi sighed and put his book away. He never expected this from Naruto, but he shouldn't be surprised. He knew it was only a matter of time before Naruto started to doubt himself. Going from a social outcast to a hero can do that to a person. "I'm not going to lie to you Naruto. You've been given a very big burden to bear. I can only imagine what it's like to have the Nine Tailed Fox sealed inside you, and even then I probably couldn't comprehend it. It's only natural you begin to doubt yourself after what you've been through. I'm surprised you haven't done it already."

He chuckled humorlessly. "Yes, your Taijutsu is bad, but from what I've read in your file, it's highly possible Mizuki just taught you the wrongs katas for the Academy style while you were in there. You being sabotaged during that time didn't help either. Your Ninjutsu could use some expanding, and the only reason you, for lack of better word, suck at Genjutsu is because you have so much chakra and not enough control.

"However, you've proven to be a decent tactician in battle by utilizing the environment around you to your advantage." Naruto blushed at the praise. "Not to mention, you are a master of stealth. The ANBU initiates' first test was usually tracking you down after you pulled a prank."

Naruto looked up at that. "Really? I'm that good?" he asked.

Kakashi chuckled. "You would think that after you started wearing that jumpsuit of yours would make you stand out more, but you somehow could disappear without a trace," he told the blonde shinobi. Naruto beamed at that.

"Anyway, you've also proven you have an enormous amount of chakra by spamming off Shadow clones left and right. No one else could produce the amount of Clones you can, Naruto. Combine that with your unorthodox fighting style, you could be an excellent shinobi in the future." Naruto grinned his usual grin. "And out of curiosity, I've noticed a bit of the Gentle Fist and the Interceptor Fist in your style. Care to explain?"

"Well," Naruto drawled, "I, uh, kinda would watch the others in my class fight, and when I saw something I like, I would it out for myself."

Kakashi's eye widened slightly. "You replicated certain katas of two of the most difficult Taijutsus in the Leaf by simply watching the kids in your class spar?"

"Well, remembering the stances is only one part of the problem," Naruto explained. "The main difficulty is performing it as flawlessly as Sasuke or Hinata did. With Hinata, it was easier because her style was more rigid and stiff. Sasuke's is more difficult because his are more…fluid, ya' know? He moves more often and the attacks flow together better."

Kakashi was amazed. No one short of an Uchiha could do something like that, and the Uchiha could never replicate any of the Hyuga's Gentle Fist. But Naruto admitted he could replicate it without much trouble! Kakashi kind of felt bad he never taught him and the other members of Team 7 anything other than tree walking. If he'd confronted Naruto sooner, he could've made Team 7 the team to beat in the Leaf Village!

Kakashi wasn't the only one amazed. Sasuke had been walking through the woods for a bit of peace and quiet when he came up on Naruto and Kakashi. He didn't give it much thought until he heard Naruto say something about having a 'damn fox sealed in his gut.' His interests were peaked and he snuck closer, hoping he didn't alert Kakashi of his presence. He was wondering what Naruto meant about the fox thing when Kakashi talked about the Nine Tailed Fox being sealed inside Naruto.

He was shocked. Naruto, the dead last of the Academy, had the Nine Tailed Fox sealed in him? Wait, I thought the Fox was killed by the Fourth Hokage, Sasuke thought. He shook his head and thought, This doesn't make sense! He did, however, begin to feel sorry for the blonde. Naruto had a shitier life than he did. Sasuke also felt himself respect Naruto more. Sasuke wasn't too sure he could be strong enough to keep something like the Nine Tailed Fox at bay like Naruto seemed to be doing by simply being alive.

He began to feel sick when Kakashi mentioned Naruto was being sabotaged by the Academy teachers. Naruto was the only person that Sasuke would even consider calling a friend, and his only friend being sabotaged pissed him off to no end. He made a mental note to pull a Naruto and prank the living hell out of all the teachers that dared sabotaged his friend. How the hell do I do that? Sasuke asked himself. He shrugged to himself and thought; Maybe I can get Naruto to tell me some ideas about how to do that.

When Kakashi talked to Naruto about why he seemed to know pieces of the Gentle Fist and Interceptor Fist, Sasuke listened intently. He wanted to know that as well. He noticed some of Naruto's moves resembled his own, but he just shrugged it off as coincidence. He was shocked once more when Naruto admitted he replicated some of his and Hinata's moves by memory and training alone! I don't know whether to be pissed at him for copying my clans Taijutsu, or congratulate him for actually pulling it off, Sasuke thought. What he just admitted to doing is nothing short of genius.

Unbeknownst to all, there was another eavesdropper listening in. Sakura was trying to find Kakashi to ask a question when she came across Kakashi talking to Naruto. Curious, she crept up and began to listen in.

She nearly gasped when Kakashi mentioned the Fox. Suddenly, several puzzle pieces that didn't seem to fit together fell into place. That's why mom wanted me to stay away from Naruto! But Naruto isn't a demon! Certainly not the demon fox! Naruto's the nicest person I know!

She felt sick with herself when Kakashi talked about Naruto being sabotaged in the Academy. Was that why Naruto ended up a dead last? She hung her head in despair. I don't think I helped matters. All I ever did was belittle him and hurt him. She vowed to be nicer to Naruto once this mission was over.

Her self-pity quickly took a back seat to amazement when Naruto began explaining his fighting style. She was intrigued at his ability of replicating moves from Taijutsus that were known to be the most difficult Taijutsus to learn and use. She also noticed that he used the katas Mizuki taught him as a base when he actually used his weird fighting style. Given some time and practice, Naruto will have created a style that will be on par with the Gentle Fist and Interceptor Fist.

However, Sasuke's and Sakura's eavesdropping were soon put to a stop. Sasuke shifted his weight slightly, his foot snapping a twig. He cursed silently as shurikens flew towards him. He dodged to the left, but the damage had been done.

"You can come out now. Both of you," Kakashi's voice called out, making the other members of Team 7 tense up. As they walked out of the thickets they were hiding in, Kakashi was cursing himself. He really must have been interested in what Naruto as saying to not sense Sasuke and Sakura hiding just a few feet away from Naruto and himself.

Sasuke came out into the clearing first, just to Naruto's right. Sakura was to Naruto's left when she came into the clearing. Naruto looked mortified that they were listening in to the conversation.

"How much did you hear?" Kakashi demanded, his right eye narrowed.

"Pretty much all of it," the two answered together, making Naruto pale.

But before Kakashi could say anything else, Sasuke looked at Naruto and asked, "So, you have the Nine Tailed Fox sealed inside you?"

Naruto nodded slowly. All this time trying to gain acceptance from his peers was now up in smokes.

Sasuke, however, scoffed. "I don't know why we were lied to about the Fox, but there is one thing I know. The Naruto I know is a lot of things: cocky, hyperactive, a knucklehead…but, I can't see the logic in calling him a demon simply because he keeps one from killing me." He smirked at Naruto's confused look.

"Y-you don't hate me?" he asked quietly.

Sasuke grunted. "Wasn't that what I just said? I don't see a flaming red furred fox when I look at you. I see a loud-mouth knucklehead."

Naruto was stunned for a second before he smiled brightly. "Thank you, Sasuke," he said bowing his head. "That…that means a lot."

"Hn."

"N-Naruto," Sakura stuttered out. He turned to her and she said, "I-I want to apologize." She bowed her head and continued; "I didn't know about your situation and made your life harder. I can't really see why people see you as a demon when you are the nicest guy I've ever met. It makes no sense to me. So, sorry!" She was trembling slightly.

Naruto didn't know what to say. He stood there stunned for a second before he shook his head walked towards her. He put and hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at him. He smiled softly at her and said, "Thanks, Sakura. Apology accepted."

She smiled at him. She felt a weight being lifted from her shoulders. "Thanks," she nodded to him.

Kakashi smiled under his mask. He was slightly worried that Sakura and Sasuke would reject Naruto because of his tenant, but he was genuinely proud that they stood by their teammate. Perhaps now, they can act like a team.

During his musing, Sasuke turned to Kakshi and said, "Kakashi sensei," Kakashi looked at him, "care to explain Naruto's 'furry little problem' to Sakura and me?" Sasuke smirked at Naruto's disgruntled look.

"Hey! You make it sound like I'm a werewolf or something, Bastard!" Naruto shouted at Sasuke.

They all shared a laugh as Kakashi told them the truth. Sasuke and Sakura were stunned. At the end of the story, Sasuke steeled his resolve and said, "Train us."

Kakashi looked at him pointedly. "Excuse me?" he asked sternly. He didn't like it that a kid was trying to order him around.

"Train us," Sasuke repeated. "It's obvious that the Leaf is full of idiots. Train us to prove them wrong. Wrong about every little thing they think about. Wrong about Naruto. Wrong about me, the precious Uchiha that everyone should bow too."

"Wrong about civilians can't be good shinobi," Sakura put in.

Naruto decided to round out the speech. "Wrong about dead lasts, losers, and failures," he said looking straight at Kakashi.

Kakashi stared at them for a moment before speaking. "There is a saying, 'To those who would achieve greatness, they must embrace their faults, face their fears, and conquer their doubts.' The goals you all want to accomplish are very lofty. Are you three sure you want to do this?"

They nodded without hesitation. Kakashi gave them an eye smile. "Well, Tazuna said it would be about three weeks until he completed and repaired the bridge. Let's see how far you three can go in that time."


Team 7 would later claim that the next three weeks were hell on earth. Kakashi finally started acting like a sensei and pulled out all the stops in their training. He drilled them in physical training mostly. The reason was because Sakura needed stamina, Sasuke needed some fine-tuning with his Interceptor Fist, and mainly because Kakashi wanted to help Naruto perfect his Taijutsu techniques.

Naruto proved to be genius in battle. He utilized the wrong katas Mizuki taught him as his base, and then branched off to moves he had replicated or just created on his own. Kakashi discovered Naruto also had some Inuzuka fighting tactics incorporated into it, as well as some moves only ANBU were taught.

It also occurred to Kakashi that Naruto's style didn't go far into grappling. In fact, the only grab he'd seen Naruto use in his 'work in progress' was a move that reminded him of the Gentle Fist stance. During a spar with Sasuke, Naruto gone into the Gentle Fist stance; and when Sasuke's fist had went in-between Naruto's hands; they closed around Sasuke's arm. Naruto then pulled him in close and slammed his left palm into Sasuke's elbow, his right palm into Sasuke's upper arm, and finally slammed his left palm again into Sasuke's chest, sending the black haired Uchiha back a few feet. All in one fluid motion.

Kakashi decided Naruto had a pretty good start, so he helped him incorporate different moves into his style, which they appropriately dubbed 'Maelstrom Fist,' and taught him how to read an opponent's movements in order to predict their movements.

Sasuke helped out on that by giving Naruto some pointers on how the Uchiha predicted movements. The two became more like brothers after Sasuke swallowed his pride and told the others of what truly happened during the Uchiha Massacre. Sakura was in tears while Naruto took it like a personal attack against him and swore Sasuke would not have to fight Itachi on his own. The two even created a new jutsu together.

Well, truthfully, it was an accident. Sasuke was trying to teach Naruto the Fireball Jutsu when Naruto sneezed and the fireball came out as a large spear of fire. Since the accident, they tried to recreate it. Once they did, they dubbed it the Dragon Lance Jutsu. Kakashi thought it could be considered a low B-rank Ninjutsu.

Naruto also took to teaching the Shadow Clone Jutsu to Sasuke. It took Sasuke several hours, but he finally could perform the jutsu, even if he could only summon two clones. That was where Kakashi told Naruto about the secret of the Shadow Clone Jutsu, that the memories of the clone could be passed to the original. Naruto utilized this by asking Sakura to help him catch up on all the things that he had missed out in the Academy, whether by skipping or being kicked out of class. Kakashi helped with that as well.

Kakashi also started Naruto on Fuinjutsu (sealing arts). He told Naruto (discretely of course) that his mother was a master at Fuinjutsu, making the blonde light up with joy and jump headlong into the arts. Naruto actually took to the sealing arts like a duck to water (the Uzumaki blood coming out in him). Kakashi started him out small with simple seals like the storage seal and paper bombs.

After perfecting that, Naruto began to try out different seals and creating some. One notable one was his Fox Flame bombs. He got bored and tried to see if he could seal some of the fox's chakra into a seal. He wasn't sure how he did it, but he knew he could do it. The result was a powerful blue fire bomb that incinerated everything in the blast zone in seconds. Sasuke, Naruto, and surprisingly Kakashi, being guys, loved them. Anything that made things go boom was worth keeping.

Kakashi was also impressed with Sakura. She had been experimenting with Genjutsu when she flared her chakra, and it stayed suspended around her. She told this to Kakashi and, with his help, Naruto giving some tips on making a jutsu that he used and combining it with the Clone Jutsu, she created herself a new jutsu which she called the Dancing Sakura Petals Jutsu. The technique was simple as she used her chakra to create Sakura pedals around her and used the Clone Jutsu to make it look like she was dancing around her opponents.

Sasuke, in conjunction with Naruto, improved their chakra control by sparring while walking on trees. Their reason was if they could make tree walking second nature to them, they could improve their chakra control immensely. Kakashi was so impressed that he introduced them to water walking, which Naruto and Sasuke dominated at because of their higher chakra levels and could regulate their chakra better on the flowing liquid surface. Sakura had more trouble because of her lower chakra reserves, but otherwise get the exercise down.

Another thing that happened was Naruto stopped asking Sakura on dates. Originally, he asked her during a break and, she decided to humor him. During said 'date', Sakura learned Naruto just wanted to hang out with her, which later became a crush. When asked why he always asked her out, he replied someone had told him if a woman repeatedly hits you, it meant she liked you. She was horrified. He didn't even know what love was. She explained to him that the person who told him that was lying to him and other social graces he'd been denied.

Naruto asked if she could help him with understanding love, but she said she couldn't. She did, however, tell him Hinata could as she had a HUGE crush on him. Naruto, at that moment, saw things fall into place and felt like a damn idiot.

On the same subject, Sakura stopped asking Sasuke for a date. The reason was once she tried to ask him, again, he told her that since being on the team he had thought of her like an annoying little sister. She was crushed, but she began to throw herself into training, much to the boys' pleasure.

Kakashi had feared that these incidents would affect their working together, but that proved false. In fact, they seemed to work together better. It seemed with all their effort on becoming better was stalled by their chasing someone.

All in all, by the end of the three weeks, Kakashi was sure they would all pass the Chunin Exams coming up in a month. They had all improved immensely, especially Naruto. Now that he had people who accepted him for himself, he did everything in his power to get better. He was at low-to-mid-Chunin level, as was Sasuke, who became more open and outspoken. Sakura went from a mediocre kunoichi to being a high-Genin to low-Chunin level one.

If Kakashi was honest with himself, he was sure they would become great.

Possibly rivaling even the great Sannin.


An: Well, there's my first chapter to To Those Who Would Achieve Greatness. Hope you guys like it! Read, review and tell me what ya think. And, please tell me who y'all would like to see paired with Sasuke and Sakura. As you saw, it won't be SasuSaku, so tell me who they should end up with. Naruto, however, will be paired with Hinata. 'Till next time!

And Now…[Drum roll]….for all those who've been reading my stories and waiting for this….the final trailer for my RWBY Harry Potter crossover 'RWBY, JNPR, & HAIL'! So, finally, right? Well, I'll just stop talking and will get on with it. Here's the Grey Trailer for my soon-to-be crossover 'RWBY, JNPR, & HAIL'!


RWBY, JNPR, & HAIL

RWBY and Harry Potter crossover

Grey Trailer

Forever Fall

Lilith "Lily" Nightingale stood in a clearing surrounding by several Ursi. The large bear-like Grimms closed in on her slowly, savoring in what they thought was an easy kill. Lily smirked.

"All you big 'ole boys against little 'ole me?" she asked condescendingly. She scoffed. "Well, you punks asked for it." She pulled out her large hunting knife, Grimm, and held it like a rapier. Grimm was about two and a half feet long and a dark black color with Grimm symbols on it. The handle was gold and had a sight on it.

Lily smoothed out her thick, heavy grey hunting jacket and said, "Let's get crazy!"

(Play Angel of Darkness by Alex C. feat. Yasmin K., Lily's theme song)

An Ursa charged her. It got within three feet of her when she struck. She jumped over the large Grimm and cut its head off. She landed and raced towards another. The Ursa brought up one of its claws to strike her, but Lily ducked under and cut its palm off. She rolled close to and cut one of its legs off. She jumped up and stabbed it in its jaw. Grimm's blade went through and entered the beast's brain, ultimately killing it.

She noticed several Grimm heading to a point in the woods and pulled Grimm out of the Ursa. She quickly turned Grimm into its bow form. The bow didn't have a string, but Lily channeled some Aura into Grimm, and a string appeared. She pulled a Dust arrow out of her quiver and notched an arrow. She aimed for the Ursa in front and shot it. The Dust arrow hit its mark and the Ursa's head exploded on contact. She notched arrow after arrow until the offending Ursi were decimated.

An Ursa charged her from behind. She turned and slashed its arm off with a downward stroke, and then cut its head. She spring boarded off the falling corpse and turned Grimm back into its hunting knife form. She cut off three more Ursi heads and turned Grimm into its bow form. She shot an explosive arrow at an oncoming Ursa. The arrow exploded on contact, turning the Ursa into mulch.

(End Angel of Darkness)

Lily sighed as she turned Grimm back into a hunting knife and walked out of the clearing back into the woods, right where the Ursi were trying to get to. There behind a tree was a little girl about six years old. She had cat ears on her head and her hair flowed around her head like a lion's mane.

"Hey, Maka, it's over," Lily said to the girl.

The looked up and asked, "Are you sure, Lily? Are they all gone?"

"Yep." Lily grinned at her and asked, "Not bad for a human, right?"

"You're not just a human, Lily," Maka said.

"Oh?" Lily raised an eyebrow.

"You're also the best big sister I could ask for!" Maka exclaimed.

Lily grinned again. "Wow, thanks, Maka." She looked around and said, "Let's get out of here before more Grimm show up."

Maka nodded as they walked back down the path that they had been traveling.


An: And Finally! The final trailer is done! I hope you all enjoyed it! Now, I plan on starting my first One Piece fanfiction, and either tomorrow or Monday, I will post the trailers for my crossover under the RWBY and Harry Potter crossover section just so you guys don't have to keep going from one story I've posted to another just to read these trailers. 'Till Next Time!