Previously:
Naruto had just waited for his favorite cup ramen to be ready, when there was a knock at the door.
"What? Who could this be?"
He opened the door to see a bear masked Anbu standing there.
"The hokage wants to see you now!" The Anbu said
"Can it wait?" Naruto asked. "I was just about to have breakfast"
"Now" said the Anbu.
Naruto looked up at him and growled, but agreed.
'When I get there I'm going to let the old man have it. Naruto thought to himself.
Naruto walked into the hokage's office, angry to say the least.
"What is it now old man?, I was about to have breakfast you know".
The old man just laughed and ignored Naruto's question. At this Naruto became even more annoyed.
Before Naruto could say anything, the hokage began,
"I have a mission for you Naruto"
"A mission?" Naruto asked. "What kind of mission is so important for you to interrupt me and my ramen?
The Hokage smiled a little, then a serious look came over his face.
"Naruto Uzumake!" The hokage said firmly. At this Naruto straightened his back and responded
"Yes!"
The hokage continued, " There is a serious situation developing in the village of Kowari on the northern border of the fire country. You are being sent there as the body guard of the young prince Kai, and you are to treat this mission with the determination of a trained Konoah Nin. You are to depart in 1 hour so prepare to leave immediately"
A little confused, Naruto raised his hand. You see, Although Naruto was on better terms with the Hokage than most of the other ninja, or villagers, he still had great respect for the old man, and treated him as such when necessary.
"I don't understand, why do I have to protect some prince, where is Kakashi sensei, and the rest of my team?" Naruto asked.
"You have been requested for this mission by the prince himself, and because this is a secret mission, your team is not being notified. You understand Naruto? This is a chance to prove that you are not the little child everyone thinks you are, but a real ninja of the leaf village."
Naruto thought for a second, and replied, "Yes".
"Now here is the informations you will need", the hokage said as he handed Naruto a scroll. "Make sure you read it well and leave as soon as you are ready".
As Naruto walked back to his apartment to get ready, he was lost in thought. He was happy to have been personally requested, but didn't really understand why, or how dangerous this mission was. He was happy though, and that was that.
Finally he could prove that he was worthy, worthy of being the Hokage one day.
Naruto read through the scroll several times, and prepared all the ninja tools that he would need. He was now motivated and determined to accomplish this mission.
Kowari wasn't that far away from the leaf village, but it would take at least one day's journey to get there. Along the way, he stopped to grab a bite to eat, but mostly kept moving.
It was night time when Naruto arrived at Kowari. He stopped at the gate of the village to introduce himself to the village guards, and to show them the authorization from the Hokage. After the guards checked everything, they led him to the small palace where prince Kai lived.
When Naruto got to the palace, he was greeted by a man that looked about Kakashi's age, but a little more rough looking.
"You must be Naruto" said the man. "I am Kenshin. If there is anything you need, please ask me. If you have a problem please see me, if you need to die...well you can do that on your own"
At this Naruto looked up at the man with a confused look.
"hahahahaha' the man laughed, and a more friendly look came over his face. "sorry about that, I just loved to see the look on your face. Don't worry young Naruto, you are safe here, and I thank you for coming so quickly".
At this Naruto removed his hand from his ninja pouch, and relaxed a little. He was on guard at first, but eased up a little at how the man laughed with his eyes closed, and was not threatening in any way.
"The prince is asleep now, so I shall take you to your room so you can get a good night's rest. I know you must be tired from your journey"
Up to this point, Naruto hadn't said a word, which was unusual for the young genin, but this was his first solo mission,
and he was not taking it for a joke. He wanted to prove himself.
Kenshin led Naruto to his room, and showed him in. He stopped at the doorway, and told Naruto that he would be back at 6 am to pick him up, and he should be ready by then. They would meet the prince in the morning.
Naruto spent some time looking through the window of the large room at the village. He was on a mission alone, and was comparing his village to this one. It was smaller than Konoah, but it felt warm, and he saw many smiling faces.
For a little, Naruto thought about his lonliness, but shrugged it off and began to get ready for bed.
Next morning:
Naruto was up before 6 am, and was ready by the time Kenshin knocked on his door.
"Still alive i see" said kenshin when Naruto opened the door. Naruto just shrugged, and said
"You won't be for much longer"
Kenshin immediately stopped smiling and gave Naruto a cold bitter look. At this Naruto flinched a little, but Kenshiin just burst out laughing.
"Good, you have a great sense of humor Naruto. I think we will get along very well"
Naruto just sighed, as he turned to follow Kenshin who started to walk away.
"Now Naruto, you are about to meet prince Kai, and although he is a prince and should be respected as such,
please don't feel threatened. You are welcome here"
What is this mission about?" Naruto asked Kenshin, but was greeted by silence.
They walked a little, then Kenshin stopped suddenly and turned to naruto.
"You are here to be trained Naruto" Kenshin said to Naruto's surprise.
"Trained?" Naruto asked. "what do you mean?"
Kenshin then began to actually explain what the word training meant.
Obviously annoyed, Naruto shouted, "HEY! I know what training means!"
Kenshin then let out another of his now infamous laughs, which annoyed Naruto even more.
"You will soon find out everything Naruto. Just be patient"
Patience wasn't something that naruto had in abundance, but he had to learn because the Hokage was depending on him to accomplish this mission. He just couldn't fail.
They walked some more until they came to a door. Kenshin opened it and they entered into a room that looked like it was really a palace. There were gold ornaments, and diamonds and rubies everywhere, and the walkway was pure white. Naruto was a bit surprised, because the outside of the palace didn't seem to match the room they were now in.
They turned a corner, and Kenshin fell to his knees pulling Naruto with him.
"Good morning Prince Kai, lead us forever" said Kenshin
Naruto looked up to see the prince sitting on his throne. There was silence, then the Prince spoke:
"Kenshin, please stop saying that. Althoug I'm the prince, I really hate it when you say those words"
Naruto looked over at Kenshin and saw him smirking. Naruto knew that Kenshin wanted to laugh, but he was keeping it in.
"And you must be Naruto. I am happy that you arrived safely' said the prince.
"Ahhh...hehe, oh it was nothing. I'm a ninja you see" Said Naruto
"That you are" Said the prince.
"i called you here Naruto because I have seen a dream. I shall tell you this dream, and then I shall explain why you are here".
'A dream?' Naruto wondered. 'I'm here because of a dream?'
The prince continued, 'Please sit Naruto"
Naruto sat down, and thought, 'This better be a good dream or the old man's gonna get it'
"in my dream, I saw you fighting a great force. It was a force that could destroy this world and everything in it. You will be the deciding factor of victory or defeat, and it will be because of the Kyuubi that dwells within you"
At this Naruto was shocked. Only he and juryai knew about the kyuubi so far, and now here was this prince talking about it like he always knew.
"Naruto, you are not yet ready to control the kyuubi, but you are here to train to prepare yourself for the battle to come.
Our village has a ver special ability to see the future in our dreams, and we shall help you in any way we can. We have a special connection to the leaf village that was established with your father the fourth Hokage. Your father..."
Naruto gasped and looked up at the prince at the mention of this, but the prince continued without giving Naruto a chance to say anything.
...and my father were very dear friends, and i was born just before you were. As such, I feel a sort of connection with you, as I have also lost important people. Now that you are of age, and I have gained the special ability of my village, I want to help you as much as I can. I know that you have questions about your father, and I promise that I will answer them all, after you have trained with Kenshin.'
Naruto thought about everything that was said, and with determination, he simply asked, "When do we start?"
"Good", said the prince, "We shall start now"
Although Naruto was unsure about this force he would have to fight, or about the dream the prince had, he never knew his father and now he had the chance to find out.
"...wait...you said that the village had a connection with the fourth hokage...what...?"
"Yes Naruto, your father was a hokage, but I shall answer all your questions after your training is complete'. said the prince. "Kenshin"
'Yes Prince Kai, lead us forever, I shall begin Naruto's training immediately"
Kenshin then got up, as Naruto did the same, and proceeded to another door with Naruto in tow.
'My ...father...was...a...Hokage?" Naruto thought.
Kenshin led him through the door to a room that had seals all over the floor and walls. Every inch of the room had a seal, and at the center was a circle with the face of a dragon painted in four directions. THere were four points evenly spaced at the edge of the circle, and the line that formed the circle had a strange low glow.
"sit here Naruto" Kenshin said, as he lead Naruto to the circle and pointed to one of the points. As Naruto sat at the point, Kenshin sat at the point opposite.
"We shall now begin your training" said Kenshin.
"Just what kind of training is this? It better not be anything pervy" Naruto asked and said.
Kenshin just laughed at Naruto, and began to go through hand signs.
"You see Naruto, one of the special abilities of our village, is accellarated training. This room is specially designed for those of us with especially large chakra pools, so that we can quickly gain the experience needed to protect our village from attacks and disasters. Normal people with small chakra pools cannot handle this training and die within seconds,
but due to your enormous chakra pool, this is perfect for you."
"Huh? I don't think I get what you're saying. I've never been able to understand difficult things, so people always make fun of me and call me an idiot. Please explain it again".
Kenshin looked at Naruto, and saw the depression on his face. He was quiet for a moment, as he began to think about how hard Naruto's life must have been.
"Well Naruto, I think it is better that I show you, than to tell you again. With that Kenshin said, "Time Transfer Jutsu"
With that, all the seals, the dragon faces, and the line, began to glow a brilliant white, and suddenly Naruto's eyes widened as he was taken in by the jutsu.
25 years passed as Naruto was trained by Kenshin. During that time, though, Not once did Naruto think about his village, his team, or anything else. All there was, was his training. He fought with Kenshin and learned everyting Kenshin knew about fighting, and using chakra. At the end of the 25th year, Kenshin said:
"Ok Naruto, I have taught you everything I know. Now it is time to release the Jutsu"
Natuto looked at him with surprise. You see, Naruto had been training for so long, that he completely forgot that he was still in the jutsu.
"Time transfer jutsu release", said Kenshin, and suddenly they were engulfed by the same glow as when they began.
Naruto began to slowly open his eyes, as he noticed something was different about himself. His body was the same and judging by the look of Kenshin, he was the same also.
"How much time has passed?" asked Naruto
"just about 5 minutes' Kenshin replied.
"WHAT?!" screamed Naruto. "But we spent 25 years training, and..."
It was then that the results of the training began to hit Naruto.
"...i understand" Naruto said, as he held his head down and looked at his hands.
"Yes, you have been given a very special opportunity Naruto. When your father was here last, our king made a promise to him, to help you in anyway he could. You see, our king had a dream about the death of your father, and felt great sadness about the loss of his friend."
Kenshin then began to tell Naruto everything he knew about his father and mother. Naruto sat in silence as tears flowed from his eyes. He listened to everything in silence, as he considered his life, his lonliness, the harsh treatment from the villagers, and the few people in his life that really cared about him.
"There is nothing that we can do about the Kyuubi sealed within you Naruto. That is something that you will have to learn to deal with on your own. I can say, however, that you will make a difference to this world, and both you and the Kyuubi will play a role. I must warn you Naruto...If the Kyuubi is removed from you...you will die."
With that, Naruto looked up at Kenshin with a frozen stare.
"What do you mean I'll die?" Naruto asked, almost unable to get the words out.
"Every person that has had a tailed beast removed...has died. So you must find a way to make peace with the Kyuubi because that is the only way to save yourself, and this world. You must find a way. Well, you won't have to worry about that for quite some time anyway, so don't worry too much. For now, do what you can with what you've learned, and remember that you have friends here in our village."
There were very few people that ever consideredn Naruto a friend, and hearing those words from someone that he had just met, made Naruto smile, just a little.
"I will remember" Naruto replied.
"Ok naruto, your mission here is complete, and you may return home. We didn't actually tell the Hokage the real reason for your mission, so you can keep this a secret if you like. As far as your official mission is concerned, it was completed successfully. You may stay here as long as you like, or you may leave right away. It's your choice."
"I think I will stay one more day, if that's alright.' Naruto said, as he had learned a lot of things, and needed time to process.
"that's fine Naruto. Kenshin replied. "Now it's time for some Ramen, don't you think?' Kenshin said with a smirk.
At this Naruto's demeaner changed completely, and he was the happy go lucky Ramen loving ninja he always was again.
The next day:
Naruto said his goodbye, and started on the way back to the leave village.
Meanwhile at the village, Naruto's team had just realized that Naruto was nowhere to be seen. Kakashi had learned from the hokage that naruto was 'busy', but nothing else. Sasuke and sakura, though were a little stunned, but thought that the 'idiot' had gotten into trouble and was being punished. In any case, they didn't really care. Sasuke was full of himself as always, and sakura was still the sasuke fangirl.
She knew Naruto as a child, but didn't care much for him. Naruto loved her, but didn't have a chance to be with her because she only treated him like the other villagers that hated his guts. Because Naruto caused trouble because he was seeking any kind of attention he could get, she only saw him as a bother and a waste of skin.
Kakashi, although Naruto's father was his sensei, didn't show any real affectoin to the boy, and kept a great distance from him.
It was about 2pm when Naruto arrived back at the village, and ignored the gate keepers as he went straight to the hokages office to report in.
"I'm back old man, and you'd better treat me to Ramen for the completion of a successful mission" Naruto said proudly.
"Welcome back Naruto. I'm glad that everything went well. Did anything special happen?" asked the Hokage.
Naruto remembered what Kenshin said, and replied, "nope, nothing happened. You'd better give me a better mission now because of this boring mission. got it?"
The Hokage just laughed as he dismissed Naruto, and gave him the day off. Naruto took this time to head to his favorite Ramen shop, had some, then went home. He spent the night thinking about everything that happened on his mission,
and fell asleep to his thoughts.
The next day he was summoned to the hokages office. When he got there, his entire team was there waiting for him to arrive. Sasuke didn't turn around, but sakura turned and said,
"Why are you late? Didn't you get the summon the same time we did? Why are you always causing trouble for everyone?"
Normally Naruto would apologize to Sakura, but this time he didn't. He was still thining about what happened on his mission and was almost oblivious to her questions.
He simply replied, "hmm". This surprised Sasuke a little, but Sakura was annoyed even more. Even though he was a nobody to her, she didn't like that he was ignoring her. He had been after her for so long and now he was just shrugging her off.
The hokage broke in at this point. "Team 7, you have a d class mission today. You will go to-"
At this point Naruto cut him off, "What?! A D class missoin? I don't wanna! Afer all didn't I-"
Naruto was himself cut of by Kakashi, as kakashi reminded him that although they had the mission to the land of waves upgraded to an A class mission, it was by accident, and they were not ready.
Naruto scowled at this, but decided to play it cool. Everyone was actually surprised that Naruto actually let it go.
Sasuke decided to speak up at this point
"Don't pretend that you're grown up idiot"
Naruto didn't even look at Sasuke or respond. THis made everyone even more surprised, as the two of them usually were at each others throats.
"Well, ok, I think you earned something'. Said the Hokage, Which kept everyone's surprise level very high.
"there is a village that is being plagued by ninja thieves, and they've requested that we help them. Team seven will go and eradicate the ninjas". Everyone was surprised, but kept their cool. "You shall depart right away" With that, the hokage dismissed them, and they left for their mission
As team seven walked to the village for their mission, Kakashi was in front with his book covering his face, Sakura and Sasuke was behind him, and Naruto was behind them. Sakura was bothering Sasuke for a date, as usual, and Sasuke was ignoring her, as usual. The only one that was different was Naruto. Kakashi and Sasuke noticed this, but kept quiet about it.
Naruto was lost in thought. He was thinking about his parents, and the training he went through with Kenshin. He was happy that he had learned about his parents, and was a little angry that no one from his village would tell him anything about his parents.
He had learned that everything about him was cause by a masked man that tried to destroy the village and that's how his parents died. He wanted to meet this man, and make him pay, but he didn't know where to find him. He decided to keep his eyes open for any evidence of him, and when the time came, he would...kill him.
2 hours later they came to the village. It was a poor village, but everyone was happy to see the ninja with their Konoah head bands.
"Thank God that you came. We can't take it anymore", said the village elder. He was a frail looking man, and he was dressed in torn and tattered clothing.
"I understand the situation you are in, and we will do everything we can to help you" Kakashi replied. "Please take us to the scene of the last attack" Kakashi continued.
"ah this way" the old man said.
Sasuke turned to Naruto and said "Try not to look like a fool this time idiot"
Naruto just continued to ignore him, and that made Sasuke even more annoyed. just where had Naruto been, and why was he acting differently. Sasuke swore that he was going to make Naruto look bad.
As they walked to the scene, naruto instantly jumped in front of the old man, and pulled him to the ground.
"Naruto wha-" Sakura started, but as soon as she began, several shurriken flew right pass where the old man was walking.
After making sure that the old man was ok, Naruto jumped off in the direction the Shurriken came from. Needless to say, everyone was shocked, Kakashi included. How was it that Naruto was able to know?
Unknown to everyone, even Naruto, Naruto had began to focus chakra into his eyes. Because of this, Naruto could see the chakra signatures of the enemy ninja.
As Naruto went after the ninja, he thought to himself- this must be because of the training i did. ok.
Kakashi told Sasuke and Sakura to stay and guard the village, as he ran to meet up with Naruto. When he caught up, Naruto had already taken out the ninja and tied him up. As kakashi landed. Naruto turned to walk away.
"Wait naruto" Kakashi said, and Naruto stopped. "We need to talk later" Kakashi continued, "but first" as Kakashi turned back to the enemy ninja.
"Who are you working for?" Kakashi asked the ninja, who replied,
"I'll never tell you anything", and proceeded to laugh.
"Oh really?" Kakashi replied as he lifted his headband from over his left eye.
"Sharingan" kakashi said, as the man froze then started to tell Kakashi everything.
Kakashi turned to see that Naruto had already left, and sighed.
He returned to the village with the enemy ninja in tow, and tied him up then knoched out the ninja to prevent him from escaping.
Sasuke and Sakura were sitting together, but Naruto was siting on the branch of a nearby tree, looking out into the surrounding forrest.
"We need to talk guys" Kakashi said as all the genin came together.
"The enemy camp is 3 miles from here, and they are planning a raid on the village again tonight. We will now plan how to deal with the threat" Kakashi said.
"Naruto, you will take the lead on this, while Sasuke and I will stay in the village. Sakura will guard the captured ninja,
and be support as needed" Kakashi informed them.
"why does the idiot get the lead?" Shouted Sasuke and Sakura
Sakura continued, "He's just an idiot"
Well," Kakashi started, "he's the one that spotted that first attack. Did any of the three of us see it coming?"
Sasuke and Sakura instantly shut up at this point.
"Good" Kakashi said. "Now Naruto, we need to talk"
Naruto turned to walk away as Kakashi followed.
When they got a good distance away from the rest of the team. Kakashi told Naruto to stop.
"What do you want Kakashi?" Naruto asked sort of dementedly
Kakashi paused for a second, then continued
"How did you know about the shurriken and the ninja?
Naruto also paused for a second then responded with his own question
"Do you have secrets Kakashi?"
Kakashi knew exactly where this was going, so he stopped and thought for a few seconds
"Ok Naruto, so are there any more surprises to expect?"
Naruto just responded, "I don't know, are there?"
Kakashi knew at this point that there was nothing to get from Naruto unless he used his Sharingan, so he decided to give up on questioning him, for now.
As Kakashi turned to walk away, Naruto asked a question that made Kakashi sweat
"So you knew my dad huh?"
At this Naruto just walked calmly back to the village.
Kakashi knew instantly that trouble was brewing, but decided that now wasn't the time to deal with it.
Later:
Kakashi Sasuke and Sakura were sitting together going over their duties for the night, when Sakura asked
"Where is Naruto? I bet he's being an idiot now when he should be here. He know's he's an idiot."
She laughed as she said this, but Sasuke and Kakashi didn't. Maybe she had forgotten what happened earlier,
but they sure didn't.
"Let's leave Naruto out of this for the moment." Kakashi answered. "Now focus sakura. You are the weakest one here."
This made Sakura cringe, but even worse...it was true. She was the weakest one, and everyone knew it.
After the plan was formulated, Sasuke got up
"I'm going to see what the idiot is doing"
"Don't start anything" Kakashi warned, but sasuke just hmphed and walked away.
A hour later Sasuke came back, and reported that he couldn't find Naruto.
"I knew it!" Sakura said defiantly, "He probably ran away. He's really not like you Sasuke" she continued.
Sasuke smirked at this, but Kakashi began to get a little worried.
He got up and went behind one of the huts in the village.
"Sharingan" Kakashi said, as he tried to use the eye to pick out naruto's chakra since Naruto had it in abundance.
To Kakashi's surprise, it took him several minutes to actually notice naruto in a tree not far away.
"When did Naruto learn to hide his chakra so well?" Kakashi said to himself
That night:
As the villagers settled in for the night, Kakashi and the rest of the team got ready for the night attack.
"Are you sure Naruto's ok Kakashi sensei? Sasuke asked at which Sakura interjected
"Why are you worried about him for Sasuke, you know that idiots never die first." after which she started to laugh.
"Just be ready" Kakashi said to her, then told her to go to where the prisoner nin was being held.
All night they waited, but no attack came. When the morning came, Kakashi got the two genin and started to where Naruto was.
To their surprise, there were 30 ninja knocked out cold on one of the paths to the village.
"Wha...who...did...this? Sasuke asked gingerly
Kakashi sighed because he had a pretty good idea. He didn't know how, but he was sure that Naruto was the reason.
At the same time Naruto jumped out of a tree, and started to stretch and yawn.
As the three looked at him, he started to walk away.
"Idiot, who did this?" Sasuke barked at him. but naruto simply responded
"You must be the idiot. Who else is around?"
Shocked by Naruto's response, Sakura doubled her fist. She wouldn't let Naruto talk to her Sasuke that way, and she was going to make him pay. As she was in the middle of her punch, Kakashi shouted to her to stop, but it was too late.
Before he could stop her, Blue chakra seemingly errupted from Naruto and formed the shape of a large fist, and smashed her into a tree.
Needless to say, Kakashi, Sasuke, and most of all Sakura was shell shocked.
Kakashi shouted to Naruto, "Naruto! She's a member of your team, how could you do that?!"
Naruto simply responded, " Do you know what 150 pounds of pressure can do to the human face travelling at a speed of 60 miles per hour?"
Shocked by his question, Kakashi responded, "ok, so what?'
Naruto responded, "That is what she has been doing to me all this time, every time she hits me. If you knew this, why haven't you ever stopped her?"
Kakashi was dumb struck at this. He began to say something when Naruto started again:
"You don't have any right to tell me anything!"
Kakashi was again stricken for words. Here was Naruto, the last in the academy, telling him things that left him speechless.
Neither Kakashi or Naruto noticed that Sasuke was still there, because he was still stuck between looking at Naruto and looking at sakura, who was doubled up on the ground in pain.
As Naruto was walking away, he turned to her and said, "The next time you try to hit me will be your last".
Sasuke couldn't stand it any more. He turned to Naruto and said, "Fight me!"
Naruto just turned back to the village and responded, "You wouldn't last 1 second Idiot".
This made Sasuke wince, because he heard the deathly tone in Naruto's voice
Sasuke shook of the effect of Naruto's words, and rushed at him. Again Kakashi was just too slow, as he was focusing on Sakura as she tried to stand
Sasuke jumped with the intention of drop kicking naruto in the back, but was suddenly frozen in mid air.
"air prison jutsu" Naruto camly said, as Sasuke and Kakashi were again shell shocked.
"Sasuke...this is the first and last time I will tell you. If you try that again I will erradicate the last Uchiha", Naruto, again calmy, said.
At this, Sasuke started to struggle. Naruto then started to exhale almost making the hissing sound of a snake, when
"Naruto!" Kakashi shouted, which broke Naruto's concentration.
Naruto then released his jutsu, and walked away letting Sasuke fall to the ground.
As Naruto walked away, he started to think about everything Kenshin taught him, and smiled. He made a mental note to thank Kenshin.
Back At The Village:
Everyone was cheering as the threat to their village was now gone. Kakashi had summoned one of his ninja dogs to get word to konoah to send reenforcement to properly take care of all the ninja that Naruto had defeated.
Sakura was in one of the huts with one of the villagers that was skilled as a medic, with Kakashi and Sasuke standing in a corner. Naruto had taken up his now favorite spot in the same tree he had been in before, and was now thinking about his mom and dad. He had learned so much, and now was just happy that he knew something about them.
1 hour later a group of anbu that specialized in large scale containment arrived to deal with the enemy ninja. As they were getting ready to seal away the ninja, Kakashi went to look for Naruto and found him in the tree.
"Naruto, we really need to talk" Kakashi said.
Naruto looked at him, and for a moment, Kakashi actually felt fear.
"Listen Naruto, yes your father was my sensei. After I lost my father, Minato took me under his wing and treated me as his own son.
It was a difficult time for me, but he gave me direction and purpose, and that set me on the path to be saved from darkness. You said that I have no right to tell you anything...and you are right. For many years, I didn't even come close to you. I was really affected after his death,
and even now I still remember all of the experiences we had together. I should have been there for you...I should have reached out to you, but I was caught up in my own problems, and felt that I would have only passed them onto you. I really have no right to say anything...but I was happy when the hokage placed you on my team. I was happy to see that you hadn't been affected by all the things that happened to you, and you became a source of strength to me. I owe you a lot, and...if you will let me, I promise that I will help you in any way I can. You have the strange power to change people, and you have changed me. I just hope that I'm not too late to help you. I'm not expecting to be best friends, but if there's anything I can do..."
"It's ok Kakashi sensei" Naruto interrupted, "I heard about you and my dad. I just wanted to hear it from you, but I didn't know how to ask.
I'm glad I was able to help you, and to tell you the truth...I really look up to you. I know you're friends with Iruka sensei, and so you couldn't really be a bad person. I was just reacting from the lonliness I experienced. I'm sorry..."
Kakashi held his head down at the words Naruto spoke, and hid the tears that came. Naruto really changed him, and he vowed to help him any way he could.
"Naruto..." Kakashi started, but stopped. "It's ok. We're getting ready to leave, so let's get going."
"Ok." Naruto responded.
After the anbu left with the ninja sealed away, and Sakura on a stretcher, Naruto Kakashi and Sasuke started on their way back to the leaf village.
Sasuke was still reeling from the overwhelming defeat at Naruto's hand, and wanted a 'fair' rematch.
"Kakashi," Sasuke started, "I'd like to have a friendly match with Naruto". Sasuke knew that he couldn't possibly get Kakashi to sign off on revenge,
but friendly competition was another thing.
Kakashi looked at him and sighed. He started to talk with the intention of denying the match, when Naruto spoke up.
"It's ok kakashi sensei. After all the things I've been through I still love my village and wouldn't really do anything to hurt a fello ninja."
At this point Kakashi knew that a rematch was inevitable. It could either happen when he was there, or when he wasn't there, and it would be easier to stop them when he was there.
"Ok" Kakashie replied, "but you'd better stop the moment I say so. Neither of you really know what I can do, so you don't want to make me angry".
At this both ninjas felt a chill in the air from Kakashi's words, and knew that he was serious.
All three landed in a small clearing, so Naruto and Sasuke could have their rematch.
"ok," Kakashi started, "No broken bones, and no blood flow, got it?"
"yes' They both responded.
"ok" Kakashi said.
When both Naruto as Sasuke got into position, Kakashi camly said, "Begin".
Sasuke immediately dashed towards Naruto with a speed that caught Kakashi off guard. He had never seen Sasuke move so fast. He was an Uchiha after all.
Naruto on the other hand held his ground. He watched as Sasuke drew closer, and still stood as Sasuke jumped into the air aiming to broadside Naruto in the face with the kick of a lifetime. Expecting his foot to meet with Naruto's head, Sasuke started to motion as if planning to kick Naruto into the ground after the first kick...but his first kick never connected. Sasuke was shocked. How could Naruto dodge from so close? As Sasuke landed, he quickly began looking for Naruto...but Naruto wasn't anywhere he could see. He looked and looked, but no Naruto.
Suddenly Naruto spoke, and both Sasuke and Kakashi were surprised to find that Naruto was right behind Kakashi. Kakashi spun around to see a wide grin on Naruto's face.
"Are you just going to run?!" Sasuke scowled. Naruto simply replied
"Completing a mission is more important than holding a grudge."
Kakashi started to smile under his mask, as he knew this very well. It was better to complete a mission than to get injured fighting to satisfy a grudge.
"Good job Naruto" Kakashi said.
"Stand and fight you idiot, this is not a mission!" Sasuske shouted, but Naruto was not influenced by his words.
"No this is not a mission, but we may have a missoin when we return, and I want to be in the best shape". Naruto camly replied.
This made Kakashi smile even more. It was as if he was listening to Minato again after all these years.
"AHHHHHHH!" Sasuke screamed.
"Ok, ok, ok." Naruto relented. "If it's a fight you want i'll give it to you".
Naruto then rushed after Sasuke, and Sasuke prepared for Naruto's attack. As Naruto got closer, Sasuke jumped again, intent on kicking Naruto in the head, but his kick only hit air again. Before Sasuke could land, Naruto appeared behind him and gave Sasuke the same kick he had been trying to use all this time.
Sasuke let out a grunt as he was thrown forward about 15 feet.
'How? How could he get behind me without me seeing?' Sasuke thought.
"i won't tell you" Naruto said, as if answering Sasuske's thought question.
Sasuske turned towards Naruto and flew through some hand signs, put his pointer finger to his lip and blew. From his mouth Sasuske let out a giant fireball in Naruto's direction. Kakashi would have stopped the match here, but he was now confident that Naruto could avoid it...and he was right. But Naruto had something else in mind.
As Naruto was about to be engulfed in flames, and Sasuke stood with a smirk on his, sure that Naruto was now caught, Naruto whispered
"Cancellation Jutsu".
Sasuke watched as his jutsu attack got smaller and smaller and smaller, until he could see Naruto with a smile on his face. Sasuke's smirk became as frown, as he saw Naruto's hand.
Naruto was holding a sword of fire.
"You'd better dodge this Sasuke" Naruto scoffed, as he raised his hand with the fire sword and lowered it as if stricking the air in front of him. With that strike, a wall of fire erupted from Naruto's fire sword and rushed towards Sasuske. As Sasuke got ready to dogde, the fire wall suddenly expanded sideways, upwards and into the ground, kicking up massive amounts of molten rock. Sasuske was so shocked by what he saw, that he was frozen. Kakashi started to go through hand signs in an attempt to save Sasuske, but suddenly the wall of fire disappeared.
When the dust and smoke cleared, Naruto had a kunai at Sasuke's throat.
"I think this is my victory, right Kakashi Sensei?" Naruto asked rather proudly.
'...Yes Naruto...this is your victory" Kakashi said, still stunned.
Sasuske fell to the ground as he realized that he wouldn't be bbq'd today. Naruto then turned to Sasuske, and held out a hand to help him up. Sasuske looked at his hand and was filled with rage, and tried to smack away Naruto's hand, but Naruto pulled back his hand and Sasuke hit air once again. Realizing that it was futile to get any angrier, Sasuske just let out a sigh and held his head down.
'What have I been doing all this time? How could the idiot get so strong so quickly? How, how how?' Sasuke thought to himself, when Kakashi broke the silence.
"Ok Sasuske, you've had your fair rematch, so that's that. Now let's get back to the village." Kakashi said.
"ahh" Sasuske replied totally void of life.
As they walked back to the village, Kakashi decided to qiestion Naruto as to his new found abilities. Naruto was happy that he had a new 'fan' but was weary about telling his entire secret.
"I had a mission the other day, and I met someone on the way. He didn't tell me his name, but he was old, so I didn't think much about it. He told me that he had to pass on his legacy, and told me that I had an affinity for wind chakra just like he did. Well, he taght me 2 jutsus and how to manipulate chakra, and then we had a fight to see how much I had learned. After the fight he was pretty out of it and collapsed. I tried to go and get someone to help him, but he told me that he was dying, and no one could help. After that he told me that I resembled someone he knew, and that's when he told me about...the fourth hokage. We talked for a little and then...he died."
Naruto didn't really want to reveal what exactly happened, so he made up that story. It seemed convincing enough so Kakashi let it go. All three then made their way back to the village.
When they got there, they found out that Sakura had made up a story about falling from a tree, so they left it at that. Kakashi, though reported to the hokage what Naruto could now do, and was questioned as to why it wasn't in his mission report. After Kakashi relayed Naruto's believable story, the Hokage let it go, especially after considering that Naruto actually learned the Kage Bunshin Jutsu in a few hours.
All in all the mission was a success, and Sakura was expected to make a full recovery. As Naruto sat on the head of the fourth Hokage's monument, he thought about everything that happened on the mission, and realized that he was almost overcome by hate. Sure it felt great for a moment, but that wasn't who he really was. He Jumped up and shouted:
"You watch me. I'll become Hokage no matter what!"
Not too far away, but still far enough away that they couldn't possibly hear what Naruto had said, someone said, "yes you will Naruto". Hinata then deactivated her biyacuugan and smiled as she went back inside the Hyuuga mansion. Her father then walked from around the corner, up to the spot where she was, his biyacuugan still activated. Hinata didn't know that he was there the whole time though. He stood there for a few seconds more, then deactivated his biyacuugan and walked away.