No Shortcut to Power
Summary: As Naruto once said to Konohamaru, there aren't any shortcuts to true power. But even Naruto never thought there might be more than one. As it happens, there are several...
Fall, 4 1/2 yrs. after Kyuubi attack.
Naruto was running as fast as he could, taking every shortcut he knew as he tried to keep up with the man that took his best friend. His eyes blazed a powerful, deep blue that seemed to shine in the night. He HAD to save his friend. She was his first friend, and she needed him now...
Flashback no Jutsu
Naruto was climbing a tree, trying to see over the wall he had found. It was HUGE! There had to be some kind of treasure being guarded on the other side. Oh, how right he was...
Looking over the wall, Naruto saw the single most beautiful place he had ever seen. There were thousands of flowers. Blue ones, pink ones, red ones, and even orange ones – every color he could think of was there! It was so wonderful.
Naruto had to get in there and see what they smelled like! If they smelled even half as good as they looked, it would be worth any trouble he might get in for breaking one.
Carefully, the small blond lowered himself from the branch of the tall bendy-tree. Just before letting go, a memory surfaced, causing him to look around for a good sized rock. Tying it to the branch with some string he had, Naruto made sure it was going to stay inside the wall before moving on to explore.
"Never go in without a way out, that's what Jiji said. This should stay long enough for me to get back," Naruto thought. Looking around he whispered to himself, "So many flowers! Maybe I can find a butterfly?"
Moving through his new garden – that's how Naruto saw it, at least – Naruto gave a small yelp of surprise when he came upon a small girl wandering through the garden with a pretty smile on her face. The girl, hearing the yelp, turned and yelped back before quickly hiding behind some roses.
Naruto was the first to recover, being more used to being surprised. The four-year-old turned to face his new acquaintance and spoke. "Hi, I'm Naruto! Do you want to be my friend?"
Hinata Hyuuga was not used to people being so blunt, but thought that the boys smile looked nice, even if it intimidated her a little bit with its energy. "Hi, I'm Hinata. I could be your friend if you want to." Then her faced scrunched up as she wondered something. "How did you get over the wall? It's really tall! Not even my tou-san climbs it!"
Poor Hinata didn't realize that her father was perfectly capable of scaling the wall and had simply never done so because of clan propriety. Naruto, eager to talk to someone who didn't look at him in a mean way, told her of his latest adventure in treasure hunting, before deciding that he needed to show her the tree, as proof. Other people didn't tend to believe him, after all.
"Here, come on, I'll show you the tree I came over on! It's really close to the wall, and the bendy branches are great for swinging on. That's how I got over; I grabbed a long branch and swung down."
It was at that exact moment that Hinata's mother began calling for her to come inside. Naruto panicked. "Ummm, I've got to go now. Can I come back again tomorrow and talk to you?"
"You can't stay anymore, Naruto?"
Naruto shook his head vigorously. "If I stay, the grown-ups will find out, and then you won't play with me anymore. It always happens. We gotta keep it a secret, okay?"
Hinata nodded. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow. Can I meet you in the flowers again?"
Naruto nodded with a huge smile. "I'll see you in the flowers Hinata!" With that, Naruto took the branch off the rock, and with a running leap he was over the wall.
Flashback no Jutsu: Kai
Naruto kept running, even as he started to get tired. He was slowly losing sight of his best freind. The older mean man wasn't using chakra in order to blend in, so he wasn't going as fast as he could be, but he was still moving pretty fast. The only things the blonde would-be-hero had on his side was an unreal stamina and the trick his best friend had taught him in the time since they got to know each other. Quick as he could, Naruto started twisting his hands in the weird way the blonde's first friend had shown...
Flashback no Jutsu
The two had met up many times since that first day. They each talked about the things that bothered them. Hinata talked about how some of the old men in her family could be mean to her tou-san when they thought no one was paying attention. Naruto talked about how the grown-ups at the orphanage would sometimes give him mean looks and leave him alone for hours when he got hungry. Hinata started bringing large snacks to the flower garden, and Naruto started drawing pictures.
It was on one of these days that Naruto came over to find his new friend practicing these weird shapes with her hands. One of them looked like the way Naruto would do to make a dog shadow.
"Hey Hinata, what's that you're doing? Is that practice for shadow puppets? Let me show you this cool thing I drew the other day; it looks like a DRAGON!"
Hinata giggled at her friend. The short blonde said funny things sometimes, but that was her favorite thing about him. "These are the hand signs that ninja use to do their jutsu. Tou-san has me practicing them for when I start doing ninja training later."
Naruto's eyes got steadily wider as his first friend talked about getting started on ninja training so early, before a pout set in. "Awww, Jiji won't let me start ninja training until I'm five! You're so lucky!" Then his pout turned into a wide smile. "Ne, ne, Hinata-chan, do you think you could show me how to do those cool hand-thingies? I really want to be a good ninja when I grow up, and I'll need to be able to do those things just as good as everyone else. Could you please show me? Pleeeease?"
Hinata giggled. "Of course I would show you how! You are my best friend, Naruto, and we're going to be friends FOREVER!" For the rest of the day – indeed, from that day forth – Naruto and Hinata shared everything they had.
Flashback no Jutsu: Kai
Naruto panted heavily, desperately trying to keep up with the ninja. He was starting to run low on energy. Just when he thought he would collapse, Naruto felt a warmth begin covering his limbs as energy he didn't know he had flooded forth. It was like chakra, only… more. Naruto thought back on the day they vowed to be friends forever.
Forever onward, Naruto would mark that day as the greatest day of his life. The two grew closer than ever. Naruto brought his drawings and the various small treasures that he found each day, and Hinata helped him learn all the ninja things she was taught. When they both finally found their chakra, the two friends were ecstatic, laughing and hugging each other for hours as they worked. This continued until the day that would change both their lives forever...
Flashback no Jutsu
"Here Naruto, tou-san showed me the most important symbols of our family today. They are what make our eyes work right – that's what he said, at least. The symbols are like this..." Here Hinata demonstrated, showing off her Byakugan. "It's really wonderful. I can see so many things; I can even see behind me!"
Naruto, being who he was, was determined to do the same thing, imitating the hand signs she had shown him, Naruto finished, only to have nothing happen. "Awww man, nothing happened! I thought I did it right!"
Hinata had not been told the nature of the Byakugan. She simply knew that they did it and it worked. Thinking this, she spoke, trying to cheer him up. "Try again, Naruto. I'm sure you can do it! Just keep going; you can make it!"
Naruto did it again, this time making sure to try and make his chakra go into his hands. Still nothing happened. "Try again, Naruto. It will work, I just KNOW it."
As they say it, third time's the charm. As he did the final seal, Naruto channeled as much energy into his hands as he could. When nothing happened, Naruto slapped his hand to his face in frustration. Instantly, Naruto's head was flooded with information as his brain got impulses that it wasn't used to dealing with. Unable to cope fully, Naruto fell onto his butt as his surroundings swirled. Shortly after that, he collapsed as the strain upon his young mind overwhelmed Naruto.
"You were right, Hinata. This IS really awesome, even if it's making me feel dizzy right now. I'm going to use this so much. Now I can sneak out even MORE often than before, 'cause the ladies won't catch me when I can see them."
Flashback no Jutsu: Kai
It had been several months since then, and Naruto had come a long way. While he still had some trouble with the full vision all around, it was really simple to look in one direction and just see through objects. It was this that allowed him to track the bad man that took Hinata.
Naruto heard swearing as the man prepared to jump down from the roof to evade the sudden patrol of ninja that had taken to the roofs since word of the Hyuuga heiress's disappearance had spread.
Instantly, the young blonde knew what he had to do. Getting ahead of the bad man, Naruto hid himself in the shadows and waited until the man was nearly upon him before coming out of the shadows and... WHAM!
The ninja from Kumo collapsed as his crotch found out first-hand what the rest of Konoha had learned over the past four years: Naruto had a VERY hard head.
Naruto had intentionally leaned into the blow to cause maximum damage. It was a really mean thing to do, but fortunately for his conscience Naruto could pass it and the subsequent 'crotch-drop' by each of his elbows and knees as a total accident - he WAS pretty clumsy after all. Bad Man had found out the hard way just how vicious the special Uzumaki brand of justice was when properly motivated.
Naruto quickly untied the sack on the man's back and pulled Hinata into a hug. She was shaking like... well like a leaf. Seeing her so scared, Naruto decided to lighten the mood. "Who said you're allowed to leave? You're my best friend, and you're going to stay that way FOREVER, just like you promised, 'ttebyo!"
Hinata's crying subsided as Naruto spoke; by the time he called out his catch phrase, she was giggling into the shirt of her best friend. He really WAS her best friend. "Don't you worry, Naruto-kun. I won't ever try to leave you, I promise."
It was unfortunate that the two, in their haste to assure each other that they were okay, forgot about their prisoner. The Kumo ninja got up and slowly approached the two, pulling out a kunai as he prepared to wreak painful vengeance on the little blonde brat that had gotten in his way. Closer, closer, just a few more steps and...
A pained, high-pitched whine filled the air. Hinata's head shot up just as the man collapsed, revealing their savior - Itachi Uchiha, knee still raised from the crotch shot he performed. To understand how he got there, we need to look back a few hours...
Flashback no Jutsu
"What does that boy think he's doing? Doesn't he realize that entering a clan compound in secret can make Very Bad Things happen?"
Itachi Uchiha was confused, frustrated and irritated - in that order. The day had been going so well. He had met up with Shisui to wait in line for the next shipment of pocky. For introducing the young genius to the wonder outs sweet, Shisui had been designated as Itachi's best friend.
After getting his necessary crate of guilt food, Itachi had gone wandering around. He had fun at the various stands, and even managed to win a cute puppy plushy to give to his younger brother. Wandering away from the hustle and bustle of the crowds, Itachi reveled in the peace the village was enjoying that night.
"This is what love. I fight for the peace of the Village. I want to see the simple joys - children laughing without care, mothers commiserating about their troubles with their husbands, fathers conspiring with children to confound their wives with mischief..."
Itachi's thoughts began to darken as he thought of the plots that were being contemplated within his clan with increasing frequency. Recent rumors had unsettled the joy the Uchiha found in serving the village. If the Hokage could not find a way to ease the clan's worries, drastic measures might be necessary. War could even break out.
It was most fortunate that he would be encountering Naruto that night.
It was as he was walking back to the compound that Itachi noticed a small blonde boy go past at a rather fast pace for someone his size. Curiosity, more than anything, drove Itachi to follow the boy, trying to figure out where anyone could be off to in such a serious hurry, especially during a festival.
So engrossed in focusing on the blond was he, that the young prodigy completely failed to notice the reason said young blonde was out at such a late hour until it literally fell INTO the boy.
Let it not be said that Uchiha Itachi cannot be surprised. Naruto, who would one day earn the title of 'Konoha's Most Surprising Ninja', began earning it that very day when he managed to bring down a fully vetted shinobi using the most viable weapon available at the time: his head.
"Hmmm… that looks like fun. I think I'll give it a try." He drew back his leg and… POW! Thus we see Itachi's first steps towards… the Dark Side…
Flashback no Jutsu: Kai
As they waited, Naruto and Hinata kicking the ninja in the crotch or dropping a knee onto his head whenever he showed any signs of coming to. Itachi had to hold in many a wince as the man's voice gradually progressed from a baritone to a soprano. It was almost twenty minutes later when Hiashi Hyuuga found them together.
He came upon them just as Hinata and Naruto had reared back to each kick him in the head and the crotch, respectively. When the blows came down, Hiashi heard what seemed like a voice from the past that made his blood run cold in prophetic terror: "...and stay down or face the further wrath of Uzumaki justice, dattebayo!"
Deciding that the poor ninja – he had only been doing his ninja duty, after all – had been through enough, Hiashi made his presence known. Giving a discreet nod to the Uchiha, the clan head cleared his throat.
"Tou-san!" Hinata quickly ran over and hugged Hiashi's legs as tight as she could. Feeling her shaking in relief, Hiashi couldn't help but think, "Perhaps he deserved some of it after all... I still wouldn't wish more 'justice' on him."
Itachi, seeing the situation resolved, decided to make himself scarce. Naruto quickly tried to follow his example, but it was not to be.
"And just where do you think you're going, young man? You weren't about to leave the scene of the crime were you? That could be very suspicious, you know." Even as he said this, Hiashi allowed a small smile to curve his lips. "It really is fun to finally get to intimidate an Uzumaki, even if it is only her child."
Naruto, of course, instinctively knew he could not allow this. His inner redhead came to the fore as he spoke. "I can't be leaving the scene of a crime. I didn't do anything! So nyah!"
Hiashi's smile dropped flat, even as he laughed all the more on the inside.
"He really is her son. There's no mistaking that brash behavior. Even the Inuzuka aren't so nonchalant around authority figures." Shaking himself, Hiashi decided to get down to business.
"I need to ask something, Naruto Uzumaki. How did you manage to find my daughter and capture her kidnapper before any other ninja in the village?"
Naruto froze before becoming somewhat sheepish... right before his story-telling nature sent common sense flying out the window. "Well, I was sneaking in to find Hinata that night because..."
Flashback no Jutsu
Naruto really wanted to show his friend the book he had found. Even though it was night time and he probably shouldn't have, he needed to show her. It had his name in it – his NAME!
"Why does this book have my name in it? Is this where I got my name? Maybe someone knew how awesome I was and came back from the future to write a story about how I was a big hero!"
Naruto continued running until he came to the familiar spot in the wall that he had always climbed over... only to see a grown ninja about to climb over the top.
"What is he doing? Who does he think he is?! That's MY sneaking spot! He can find his own!" Then Naruto saw the bag on his back. "He's stealing from my friend's secret garden! Why did he do that?"
Deciding he had to know, Naruto went through the various hand signs to do the eye trick his best friend had shown him a few months ago. What he saw made him absolutely red with rage. "Oh no he DIDN'T! He is NOT going to steal my best friend. She's the only one I've got and NO ONE gets to take her away, DATTEBAYO!"
Enraged, Naruto set off after the Bad Man that was about to have a Very Bad Night, Byakugan still activated to keep him in sight...
Flashback no Jutsu: Kai
"Now wait just a second, what do you mean that you have my 'eye trick'?"
Naruto, foreseeing the disbelief of yet another grownup, decided that simply showing him proof was the only way out of this. Flying through the various hand seals, Naruto put his hands in the final seal. "Watch this!"
When his hands landed on the final seal, Naruto yelled out, "Awesome Blue Eye Trick!"
Just as his description said, Naruto's eyes turned solid blue, his iris expanding into the rest of the eye to make it solid blue. If one looked closely, they would see small black lines almost forming a circle in his eye.
Hiashi immediately tested it, getting behind Naruto and holding up three fingers in one hand and four in the other.
"That's a lucky seven Hiashi-san, roll again," Naruto called out cheekily.
Hiashi stared incredulously for a moment. "Do you mean to tell me that you have the Byakugan?"
"Is that what it's called? I just called it 'the cool funny eye trick'! So it actually has a name? Awww, man, that's not even half as cool as some of the other names I came up with for it! Lame..."
Hiashi sweat-dropped as Naruto went on a diatribe about the lackluster naming conventions of the Hyuuga clan – clans in general, actually. Inside, his mind was a whirlwind of activity – a fitting reaction given Naruto's name.
"How did he perform it without knowing the proper name? Why does it look so different? How the hell does he even HAVE it? I know for a fact that Kushina had red hair, and there were only a few people with that color of yellow when she died. The women are out, so that leave a handful of civilians and unimpressive shinobi, Inoichi Yamanaka and... No it JUST DOESN'T MAKE SENSE! Curse you Uzumaki and your unpredictable nature... Ugh, I'm going to have a massive headache for this, I just know it."
Seeing the look on Hinata's face, however, as she giggled at her friend's antics, he could only think one thing of his next decision and its inevitable consequences: "...worth it."
Coughing, he regained Naruto's attention. "Naruto, how would you like to come learn with Hinata and her family?"
Naruto's eyes grew impossibly wide as his excitement began to bubble out, his body vibrating with joy.
"Really? I could be with Hinata all the time? I wouldn't have to sneak in anymore? I mean, it's a whole lot of fun acting like I'm a ninja sneaking into an enemy fortress, but sometimes it would be nice to stay and talk with her some more and I could-"
Hiashi cut him off before the blond really got going. "Yes, Naruto, you can stay. I'll let you learn the shinobi arts along with Hinata and Neji."
"Yatta! I can finally meet Neji-neesan! This is going to be awesome! We can pull pranks together and hide together and..."
Hiashi sighed and decided to just let the blond have his time to talk about the turn for the better his life had just taken. He groaned, however, upon remembering what he just KNEW would come next: Council meeting. "At least I can keep it to just the ninja half. God knows how annoying some of the guild representatives can be."