I have most of the next few chapters for both Kaizoku and Hiding Naruto ready, and I'm working on getting them done. This came out of nowhere and has no real course of action yet, for the most part I wanted to take a poll with people over what they thought I should do. I'm not accepting any flames because thats just bullshit.
Summary: Having been taken out of the village at the age of 5, Naruto was raised away from the hatred of the villagers. He never forgot however, and he never forgave. After returning (without much of an alternative choice) he joins the ninja ranks as a genin. However he isn't the same as he was before, in fact, he isn't really human anymore.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Naruto had thought that his life couldn't get any worse. From what he knew 5 year olds weren't supposed to be living out on the streets, alone, without anyone to care for them. Yet there he was. To second that notion, 5 year olds weren't supposed to be beat within inches of their lives, to be healed and then beat again. To add the kicker, 5 year olds, no, no one, should have to live the life his father bestowed on him. Yes, Naruto knew who his father was. The man's face was carved into the mountain that loomed over the city, and it wasn't like Naruto hadn't looked in a mirror before. People of the village, including their Hokage, assumed that Naruto was an idiot. A thought he'd allowed them to have to keep him safer. Living on the streets had taught him more about life than any classroom would, and while he'd been caught before, more times than not it was because he wanted to be. There were only a few members of the village that he still respected. One of them was Anko Mitarashi. The former apprentice to Orochimaru, she was hated for having associated with him. Another person was Sasuke Uchiha. The boy was similar to him, pushed away from all that he loved, and forced to train until he collapsed. Hinata Hyuuga, Hayate Gekko, and Shikamaru Nara were the last of the people he'd respected. They saw him for who he was and not what he carried.
"Hey look. It's the demon spawn. Let's kill him now! He's alone now!" A few villagers smirked at each other. Naruto cursed and attempted to run away, however he was caught by another member of the group, who went running passed him to cut him off.
"Why are you doing this?!" Naruto demanded. He knew exactly why they were doing what they were doing. He was the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. He was the one his father chose to seal the beast into.
"You deserve to die!" One of the villagers shouted, and struck Naruto over the head with a bat. The small child fell to the ground, and could only stay in blissful unconsciousness as he was beat mercilessly. The villagers marveled at how easy it was, when normally the boy had at least two or three ANBU around him at all times. It wasn't until the boy was nearly dead, that the villagers considered that to be a trap. They were normally caught by then, and while the Hokage allowed them to do virtually anything to the boy, He'd never allowed them to kill the child. Naruto was still on the ground, and while the villagers had stopped, a pair of eerie violet eyes peered through the darkness at the people standing over the child.
"This village doesn't deserve your bravery, they will learn though." The voice, deep and haunting muttered to itself, before stalking through and killing every one of the villagers. The hulking figure, who looked like a combination of man and beast, scooped the boy up from the ground and disappeared from the village.
In the days since the boy's disappearance, many people in the village celebrated. A few other people mourned the loss of the energetic child. The Hokage sent search parties of trustworthy ninja to find the boy, however all they could find were wolf tracks. Many then theorized that the boy had been eaten by wolves. Sarutobi Hiruzen felt only guilt for how he'd treated the boy. He'd acted on what he believed would have been best for the village however recent events have proved him to be wrong. Some of the ninja who knew Naruto were outraged. He was just a child, and when it rose to the surface that he'd been abused, many of the ninja began to revolt against the civilians. They would refuse to serve them in ninja owned restaurants, and would refuse to do the chores set out for them via D-rank missions. The Hokage was forced to reveal the true nature of the boy, because many of the villagers had began to break the law he'd placed previously that hid the fact that the boy was the jailor. Outrage spread across many of the ninja who didn't know, and they called for another search party in order to find the lost hero. One lone figure in the village smirked as he did his shopping, listening to the recent news. The Hokage had revealed that the boy was the son of their savior, having been forced to do so by his Advising Council.
"These stupid people will finally realize what they are missing." The man spoke, his voice low. He wore a mask over the lower part of his face, with a black bandana that covered most of his black hair, while the rest spilled down his back in uncontrolled spikes. He wore standard ninja clothing, and was currently picking out child sized clothing, ranging from small child to young adult. All of the clothes were black or dark colors, and all of them were made for ninja training.
"Preparing your son for academy?" The lady behind the counter asked, ringing up the clothes.
"Not for this one. My son and I travel a lot, as such I have been teaching him myself." The man asked, hiding his smirk behind his mask. What was also hidden was his facial features, which were much more animalistic than even the most feral of Inuzuka's. His teeth resembled a wolfs teeth, while his eyes were violet in color with a slit down the middle rather than the normal pupil.
"Good luck!" The lady smiled.
"How stupid are the people of this village, to allow a stranger freedom to roam." The man spoke out loud.
9 Years later
Two years after Naruto disappeared, there were rumors of wolves roaming in the woods surrounding Konoha. As time had passed, many people were afraid to travel outside of the village, because of the rumors of wolves attacking campers and travellers. None had been killed, but many times people were left with debilitating injuries, and sometimes unable to perform everyday tasks. It was discovered that ninja who were loyal to Konoha were left untouched. Konoha had also started to lose some of the ninja, who were discovered to be traitors. They would be discovered dead, behind locked doors, with explanation for how they died. Evidence of their betrayal would be left where it was obvious. Sitting on top of the Hokage Monument, was a boy who had no distinguishing features. His face was covered by a mask, which featured a snarling wolf, while his hair and even his eyes were covered. He wore black sunglasses, and a black bandana. His skin was tanned, and he wore only a white tank top over black cargo pants. His feet were covered with black boots. His skin was covered in white markings that resembled tattoo's, bandages covered both of his wrists up to his elbows, and even though they were covered, he had multiple piercings in both his ears.
"Why did we come back here? You know how I feel about this place Mamoru-san." The boy spoke, his voice sounding as if it has recently changed.
"You must rejoin the village Naruto-san. However if you can avoid being discovered as who you truly are, they will have no reason to harm you." The man standing behind him spoke. He was dressed similarly to the child sitting before him, however his hair could be seen below his bandana.
"I despise this place, Kurama despises this place, and yet you are insisting we come back, where to? This hellhole. They abused me until I was 5!" The boy now identified as Naruto ground out.
"I understand that, however no other village would accept you as a rogue ninja, as well as a jinchuuriki." Mamoru spoke, a small smile on his face.
"Fine. I will hate it. But fine. And don't expect me to be a good boy about it, I'm going to make as many lives shitty as I possibly can." Naruto spoke, pulling his facemask down and taking his glasses off. His eyes were both blue and violet, never staying one color for very long. The whisker marks on his cheeks were still there, however they were more pronounced than before. His teeth were all sharply pointed, looking similar to a wolfs did.
"I didn't expect you to like it. I did everything I could to help you learn to survive. I gave you my curse, without any complaint by you. You took everything I had to teach and more without argument. You may not have understood the reasons, however you still obeyed me. I have viewed you as my son, however now is when I must part with you. You have learned everything I had to teach you." With that last statement, the man who raised Naruto to be the person he was to that day, disappeared once again.
"Fuck him. Really though. What kind of person trains someone for 9 years, builds that sort of bond, and then fucking leaves." Naruto asked.
"That just seems like his personality. You've developed a similar habit as well you know." A voice spoke from next to him. Not long after leaving the village, Naruto and Kurama worked out a deal. The 9 tailed fox biju would give Naruto access to all of his abilities and strengths, if Naruto would create a summoning contract with him, to allow the fox some freedom. Naruto agreed, however he couldn't figure out part of the summoning, and ended up permanently summoning the Kyuubi back into existence. The fox did not have control over all his abilities, because he had given them to Naruto, in doing so he now was bound even further to the boys soul. At first he resented that, however as time passed they began to get along and eventually had a friendship.
"I never once left you like that." Naruto protested.
"Yes you did. When we got back from the Land of Tea, you accidentally left me in the Land of Iron." Kurama spoke, his face flat. Naruto remembered that instance, and smirked running his hand over the back of his companion's head.
"I only did that once, and that was 3 years ago." Naruto chuckled. He pulled the face mask back up over his mouth and placed his glasses back on.
"Can you take a different form? From what I remember the villagers dislike foxes with a burning passion." Naruto informed, watching the fox change from his normal shape to a boy who looked to be the same age as Naruto.
"That's just weird." Naruto muttered. He could do the same thing, because of gaining access to all of Kurama's abilities, however he never thought to do it because he was happy with how he looked. The now human looking Kurama had red hair that was wild and untamed down his back, with red eyed. His smile was mischievous while his teeth were brilliant white.
"It's the best I can do. I'm not changing into another animal, that's just strange for me." Kurama spoke, his voice sounding more like a child's. Both of them jumped down from the top of the mountain, using natural platforms in the rock to make it down the faces without using chakra. Once they reached the bottom they got some strange looks from villagers, however they were easily ignored as the two made their way to the Hokage's office.
"I'd like to speak with your Hokage." Naruto spoke, changing his voice slightly so that it was deeper.
"May I ask what it pertains to?" The secretary asked.
"I am hoping to become a ninja of this village." Naruto spoke. The secretary regarded him slowly. He stood up straight, however he did not remove his glasses.
"Hokage-sama, we have a boy here requesting to be made a ninja. Would you like me to send him in? He has a young friend with him." The lady spoke pleasantly. From what he could remember from when he was young she hated him.
"Yes you may." The old voice sounded from the speaker.
"You both may go in." Naruto nodded and lead Kurama into the room. Inside there was actually a genin team with their instructor standing behind them.
"I presume that you both are the prospective ninja?" The Hokage glanced over them.
"He's the one who wanted to join your forces, I'm indifferent." Kurama spoke. It was true, mostly because he didn't have his control back.
"I am Arashi Kurokawa, this is my brother Hisoka Kurokawa. I am the one who wished to become a ninja." Naruto announced, keeping his real name secret.
"I am willing to accept you as a ninja, should you prove that you are capable of doing so." The Hokage spoke. Naruto glanced over the team in front of him, realizing that the boy seated in the middle was once a good friend of his.
"I will take any test you wish of me." Naruto bowed. He hated acting like he was, because it wasn't as if he actually respected the old man.
"I'll have you spar against the three genin in front of you. They look to be the same age. Hisoka-kun, are you going to join him in the test?" The Hokage asked. Kurama used his mental link with Naruto to ask if they could work out allowing him to use some more of his own chakra. It would be unrecognizable by any of the ninja, because it wasn't his chakra they felt the night he'd attacked. Being a demon, by nature he exuded an aura that covered the signature of his chakra. It helped to protect him from being recognized. Naruto promised they'd work on allowing him access when he needed it especially since he had an infinite amount, and then they both nodded.
"We can use the training ground that is beyond the mountain here. I will escort you all there now." The Hokage spoke, standing and instructing the group in front of him to do the same. The group walked to the flat grounds before standing on the opposite sides of the field from each other. The team in front of Naruto was made up of two girls and one boy. One of the girls Naruto recognized as Sakura Haruno, a girl who had annoyed him greatly as a child. The second girl Naruto did not know. Her hair was brown and pulled back into a stylish ponytail, with a blue shirt and brown shorts. The boy of the group Naruto would know anywhere.
"Sasuke Uchiha, your name precedes you." Naruto smirked, getting a chuckle out of the other boy. The girls looked at each other in confusion.
"I work hard to be recognized." The boy took his first stance, while Naruto and Kurama did the same. Kurama was going to have to hold his own without chakra, while Naruto was going to have to hold back.
"I am Sakura Haruno, this is Kaori Yoshimura." The two girls bowed to Naruto and Kurama. They bowed back and glanced between everyone.
"Begin!" Naruto nodded, waiting for the first attack. Sakura made the first move, charging towards Kurama with her fist ready. Kurama blocked a punch and used her momentum to flip her over his shoulder. She righted herself in the air and skid back on her feet. She charged in again while Kaori stepped into their fight.
"Looks like its just you and me, Kurokawa!" Sasuke lunged forward, kicking towards his midsection, where he stopped it with his arm, before grabbing it and chucking him away.
"You both fight the same, deflect and throw, don't you know any other moves?" Sasuke asked.
"Of course we do." Naruto and Kurama responded at the same time, smirking as they both stepped in on their opponents and landed punches. Naruto threw a punch at his opponents stomach, continuing forward to punch at Sasuke's chin. His second attack was blocked, and a punch was thrown at his chest as he was in range. Kurama had a bit of better luck with his opponents, neither of them being stronger than he was. Naruto and Sasuke were even for a while, before Naruto began to use his natural speed. When Naruto was removed from the village as a child, his "father" had given him what he'd described as a curse. Naruto however viewed it as a perk. Mamoru had given him lycanthropy. Without the use of the moon, Naruto could transform completely into a wolf at will, he could transform any part of his body to that of a wolf, however the moon forced a complete transformation out of him. His trainer saw it as a curse because he'd made mistakes in his youth without the instruction of an older wolf. The abilities gave him a heightened sense of smell, hearing, and motion related vision, as well as higher strength and he was faster than a normal human. Naruto could also run for a very long time, and his endurance for a fight was impressive. Many people would consider him a demon, and in theory, lycanthropy was passed to humanity by demons.
"How are you getting faster?" Sasuke asked, his own stamina running out.
"I was holding back." Naruto smirked. Finally the Hokage called the spar.
"I have seen what you are capable of. However because we already have balanced teams, I must add you both as extras onto teams already in circulation. Hisoka-kun, what would you say is a strong point of yours?" The man asked.
"I would say my tracking. I'm very good at stalking prey." The biju smiled, showing his pointed teeth and mischievous tendencies.
"I will place you with team 8 then." The Hokage nodded, he wrote down his info onto a piece of paper.
"How about you Arashi-kun. What are you good at?" Naruto paused for a moment.
"I am a brawler. I'm good at fighting and I'm alright with some jutsu's." He answered. He didn't want to mention that he was actually good at stealth and assassinations, having been the one to catch and kill the traitors to the village.
"I will place you with team 7 then, which is the team you just fought." Sarutobi nodded. When the group got back to the office, Sarutobi handed both boys their forehead protectors, and they both placed them in different places. Naruto placed his on his belt, tying it to a belt loop, while Kurama placed his around his bicep.
"You will both begin your training tomorrow. I will give you both an apartment to live in, and also because you are new I will give you a monthly allowance to help you while you get settled. I will send an ANBU with you to the apartment building." Naruto nodded, itching to get out of there. He wanted to scope out the forest he'd seen before, not only as a place to continue some of his training in secret, but also as a hunting ground.
"Team Kakashi, I will have you meet tomorrow morning to do better introductions between your students." Naruto nodded, grabbed the scroll and leapt out the window, unable to sit still any longer. The ANBU member who followed him, a woman with a cat mask, chuckled as she used the rooftops to keep up with the new genin. Arashi reminded her of Naruto, he was enigmatic and almost impossible to control.
"Arashi-kun, we are stopping here." She called, getting the boy to come back to her. The other boy joined them soon after.
"This is where you will be living. I will speak with the landlord to inform him of your residency. This is the first of both of your allowances." Neko handed envelopes to the two boys. The one with red hair smiled to the other, whom she presumed was smiling as well however she couldn't see past his mask. These were two children she'd need to keep her eyes on. As soon as Naruto and Kurama were settled in, Naruto removed his coverings and his bandana. Blonde hair tumbled out from underneath where he's tied it up away from sight. He used a seal that was on his wrist to take out all of the clothing he owned.
"Are you content wearing my clothes or do you want some of your own? I don't know what style you like." Naruto spoke, tossing some clothing to his new roommate.
"I'm not going to be picky with you, although I did tend to dress a little more…classy when I took human form before. Women like a sharply dressed man." Kurama chuckled, changing how he looked once again. He grew at least two feet, and his clothes changed from the t-shirt and shorts he'd been wearing to a sharp black suit. The shirt he was wearing was blood red, and the tie was black as well. His face grew longer, and went from handsome in a childish way to devilishly drop dead gorgeous. His smile could melt hearts, and his voice was deep, like listening to molten lava.
"If you don't find me for a few hours, check the bars." He saluted Naruto, and disappeared out the window.
"What the hell is with perverted foxes for friends." Naruto muttered. As he was unpacking, there was a knock on the door. Thinking quickly, Naruto changed his appearance. He managed to do it successfully, having never done it before, changing the shape of his face slightly, getting rid of the whisker marks. He kept his hair, because it was way longer than it had been when he'd left as a child. He took away his sharp teeth as well, maintaining a human-like appearance.
"Arashi, open up." The voice on the other side spoke. Naruto could have guessed it was Sasuke by smell alone, however his voice was what sold it. Naruto opened the door, watching as Sasuke glanced him over.
"Kakashi wanted me to tell you where we were meeting tomorrow. There is a training ground not far from here. I'll grab you in the morning to help you find it." The boy spoke. He made it sound as if he'd been nagged to show up, however his tone of voice suggested he'd wanted to go.
"Thanks, wanna come in for a bit? I'm just unpacking." Naruto spoke, stepping back and allowing his teammate inside. The boy was about the same height as he was, if not a little shorter, however he was leaner than Naruto was, and looked as though he had spent most of his time inside if his skin tone was any indication.
"Thanks. Got any tea?" Sasuke asked, rummaging through the cabinets.
"Dude, I just moved in. Let me do some shopping first." Naruto chuckled. Sasuke shrugged and dropped down onto the couch.
"If you want tea that bad, why don't you come with me to the store. It won't take that long, Hisoka and I don't eat that much." Which was true, because both of them took to hunting in the forests more than cooking at home.
"Fine. Do you have money?" Sasuke asked, standing up again. After his family had all been killed he'd been left with a substantial amount of money.
"I'm good." Naruto shrugged, pulling the facemask back up, and putting the bandana over his head.
"Why do you hide?" Sasuke asked.
"Why don't you? If your enemy knew what you looked like wouldn't that be dangerous?" Naruto asked. He left his glasses off, and glanced at Sasuke who looked as though he was seriously considering his question.
"I get what you're saying." He shrugged again. After locking the door, Naruto and Sasuke when to the store, where Sasuke picked out some of his favorite foods to leave at Naruto's. Sasuke abhorred being alone, and his compound was lonely since the death of his family. He didn't hate his brother, contrary to popular belief. His brother spoke to him before leaving, while he was trapped in the Mangekyo sharingan's hold his brother explained everything to him. He held no grudge, and was actually proud to have been spared. The village held him as an avenger, and he played the part well. Naruto shook his head, realizing that there was more in his cart than he thought there would be when he started shopping. They finished up in silence and Naruto paid for his groceries.
"Where is your brother? Are you two even related?" Sasuke asked, helping Naruto to carry the bags home.
"We aren't related. It was simply easier to give us both the same last name. I have no clue where Hisoka ran off to." He shrugged. The bags were light to him, and he could have carried all of them, however Sasuke insisted.
"Are you not using your real name?" Naruto turned to his teammate and gave him a wink. The black haired boy blushed slightly, while his eyes narrowed.
"I'm not sure I can trust you. You know all of our real names, however we don't know yours. That's not all too reassuring." Sasuke stepped away.
"If I were from another village and came to kill someone, I wouldn't have joined the military force of this village. I didn't join willingly I'll give you that, but I am simply protecting myself. If people of any village knew of my name, I'm sure I would be killed." Naruto spoke truthfully. Sasuke glanced over him one more time. He didn't want to trust the other boy. He could tell that he was proficient in hiding who he was and what he could actually do.
"Fine." Sasuke said after thinking. He was speaking to a ninja. A ninja who had been one longer than Sasuke had, and because of that he knew there was nothing he could do. After helping to unload the groceries, Sasuke left to go to the one place he could truly unwind. However sketchy it was according to most members of the community, training ground 44 was a pleasant place to train, because no one would bother you.
"Stupid blonde teammates. Why the fuck did you even join up if you wont be truthful with your teammates." Sasuke muttered to himself, kicking up some dirt as he went. The pent up frustration inside him was building, and in a fit of anger he unleashed a Giant Fireball from his mouth. He'd figured out how to do that without handsigns after he was left alone. Without his father breathing down his neck, he actually could focus better on improving. The fireball struck a few trees, taking them to the ground.
"You know, I'm sure there were some birds who were living in those trees." A voice came from behind him. It was deep, and he'd never heard it before. Preparing a kunai, he rounded to find the largest black wolf he'd ever seen in his life. He'd seen some pretty large creatures, seeing as how the Inuzuka's raised ninja dogs. This wolf was at least three times bigger than one of those dogs were, and most of them were able to be ridden by their owners.
"I must be going crazy, you didn't actually talk to me did you?" Sasuke asked.
"I did, although I still could say you're crazy." The wolf responded. Sasuke's mouth fell open, and he fell back onto his ass.
"No no no no no no no. This isn't possible." He muttered.
"It is. And are you going to sit there all day?" The wolf asked. It padded around him and sat down not far away, tucking its paws neatly in front of it.
"How are you talking? How are you here? What are you?" Sasuke blurted out in one breath.
"I am able to talk just like you can. I am here because I walked here. I am a werewolf." Naruto answered honestly. The Uchiha heir would never figure out it was him, mostly due to his fur color being different from his hair. That was due to his creator. No matter the hair color of the victim, they took on the fur color of their creator.
"You…you're just a myth. There haven't been rumors of werewolves in centuries. You can't be real." Sasuke countered. Naruto was getting fed up with the denials, and he wanted to hunt so he did the first logical thing that came to his head. He snapped at Sasuke. Not to bite him, just to scare him. The boy fell back onto his back. Naruto's hairs were raised, as well as his lips in a snarl.
"Believe it or not stupid boy, I am very much alive, and very deadly. Don't take my word for it however. Watch from above, I do not need you disturbing my prey." The werewolf spoke, turning away and stalking into the forest. Sasuke took to the trees as he was instructed, not wanting to anger the beast again. He watched silently as the large wolf blended into the forest, however because he was looking for him he could find him, even just barely.
Naruto was slightly apprehensive about Sasuke. The boy had been his friend when they were children, however after he'd left the village, he heard about the slaughter of the boys entire family. He was tempted to go and attempt to question Itachi as he fled, however he knew he wouldn't have been able to do anything. Movement caught his attention up ahead, and he dropped his head low, sniffing to pick up the scent. All sound filtered out from around him, and he focused on the deer that was 20 yards away from him. His ears went back, while his paws soundlessly moved him forward. He kept his head low, and used his fur color to blend in, as he stalked closer to his prey. He could feel Sasuke's eyes on him, however he focused on the deer. When he was within 10 yards to the creature, he leapt out and charged at the deer as fast as he could. The poor creature didn't have a chance, as his teeth sunk into her neck, piercing the arteries and trachea that were within. One swift motion and he'd thrown the creature to the ground, jaws clamped down. The deer struggled for a while, however as her warm blood flooded into Naruto's jaws, he could feel the life draining out of her.
"Dear kami…" Sasuke muttered. He'd seen death before, many times over, however what was in front of him was raw and animalistic. The death of the creature was brutal and bloody, and even though the werewolves fur was black he could see the shine of the red blood.
"If you wish you can cook up some of this, but I can eat it all on my own." The deep voice came from the forest below. Sasuke turned green and fled to another part of the forest. Naruto chuckled and turned back to his meal, reveling in the taste of the meat.
Kurama, you missed out on a good hunt. The forest is prime; Naruto spoke through the link between them. He could feel the frustration from his friend through their link.
You could have waited! The deep voice came back through in an angry fashion. Naruto chuckled, feeling his ribs shake in the motion. He still loved the feeling of changing into a wolf, and while Mamoru saw it as a curse, Naruto loved the feeling. It was freeing and helped to create the feeling of being without limitations for Naruto. He finished his meal, taking a quick swim in the river that passed through the training ground to wash the blood from his fur, before returning back to his home. Kurama came storming in, still covered in blood from his hunt.
"I can't believe you went without me!" He growled.
"You seemed content to picking up girls in bars. Did it work?" Naruto asked with a curious look on his face.
"It did until you reminded me that I hadn't hunted for a few days!" The biju in human form shuttered. He went into the bathroom and showered to clean off. That night the both of them worked to fix the seal, when finally they were able to modify it. It had been made to be modified, and Naruto found that even though he slightly resented his father for dooming him to a horrible life, he also respected the man for all the work he put into making the seal amendable. Both boys prepared for bed then, and to meet up with their new teams. Naruto hadn't bothered to change his transformation from yesterday, and so when Sasuke knocked on the door, Naruto answered as he was when he'd slept. Only in a pair of boxers. Sasuke's eyes strained to stay on Naruto's face, as the groggy not yet awake genin turned back around and began to get ready in his room. Sasuke spared a glance over his new teammate, and realized that he was muscular for a 14 year old. His body was tight with muscles, not an ounce of fat on him. He had washboard abs and muscles on his arms that moved perfectly as he pulled a black tank top over his head. The tattoos on his body went all over, starting at the middle of his chest over his heart, and spreading out like vines with thorns. It was easy to see them in the contrast over his tan skin. Sasuke himself was pale, and while he did his best to exercise he knew that he was skinny by comparison to the other boy. Naruto pulled a pair of grey cargo pants over his legs, and then went into the bathroom. After he had emerged, he looked significantly more awake, and he had his hair pulled back.
"Ready to go now?" Sasuke asked, watching as the other boy wrapped his wrists with bandages. He had multiple characters all over his wrists. Sasuke must have been making a face because Naruto responded with an answer.
"Seals; they were drawn by my former teacher. He explained that keeping multiple sealing scrolls on me would take up a ton of room, when I can use the same principle with my own skin." He explained, glancing at Sasuke over his sunglasses before going back to what he was doing. Sasuke nodded, agreeing that it was a good idea. After finally walking out the door Sasuke led Naruto to the training ground, finding Kaori and Sakura already there.
"Good morning. It was good of Sasuke to grab you because I'm sure you didn't know how to get here." Sakura smiled. She was a bit of a loud mouth as a child, however it seemed as though she'd gotten more mature over the years.
"Glad to see you join us. You look…groggy." Kaori chuckled. Naruto nodded, sitting down under the tree nearby and immediately falling asleep.
"That was a waste of time…" Sasuke muttered. He realized that it would have been a few hours before Kakashi arrived, and even then they weren't doing anything worth the time waiting. Sasuke wanted to test his teammate, in his own way and so he took out a kunai, attached an exploding tag to it, and chucked it at Naruto. In succession three things happened. The kunai and tag both disappeared, followed by Naruto. The tag then exploded, high above them in the air, and Sasuke felt a sharp point against his neck.
"You should know to never wake a sleeping wolf." Naruto spoke. His voice had gotten slightly deeper and he had his hand at Sasuke's throat. Pulling it away Sasuke caught a glimpse of his teammates hand, and realized that the nails that should have been normal were sharp and jagged like claws.
"Sasuke! He was sleeping why would you do that?!" Kaori shouted, more amused and impressed than angry.
"If I thought it would kill him I wouldn't have done it. He proved that even while asleep he's competent." Sasuke shrugged. Outwardly he wasn't showing any emotions, however inside he was more than impressed. He'd never seen such a strong defense on a genin, on top of having responded with enough time to attack back after having been sleeping.
"I dislike being attacked while I'm sleeping. Plain and simple." Naruto shrugged. Kaori laughed as he sat back down and fell back asleep. Sasuke shrugged, jumping into the tree and meditating. Two hours after everyone had arrived, Naruto awoke from his sleep to the sudden arrival of a new scent. Kakashi had just arrived, and walked into the clearing to find that Sakura and Kaori were chatting, while Naruto stood to one side, staring him down, and Sasuke was nowhere to be found.
"Where is our final teammate?" He asked. Naruto hit the tree he was leaning up against, hard enough to shake it nearly out of its roots. A strangled cry sounded from the tree and Sasuke tumbled out. Naruto caught his friend as he fell.
"There he is." Kakashi eye smiled. Sasuke was embarrassed to have been caught off guard by not only his teacher but also his new teammate, as well as having literally been caught by him. Sakura was attempting to hold in her laughter, however Kaori did nothing to conceal her amusement. The brown haired girl was rolling on the ground laughing, ribs heaving with the effort it was taking to calm herself down. Sasuke felt his whole face turn red, before flailing out of the slightly taller boys arms.
"Now. Lets all sit down and have a chat, then we will head over to the Hokage's office to get a mission." Kakashi spoke, before settling down and gesturing to Naruto.
"You first." Naruto nodded before sitting down next to Kaori.
"My name is Arashi Kurokawa. I like my privacy, my brother Hisoka, nature, sleeping and hunting. I dislike cats, idiots, bigots, assholes, and this village. I won't go into why but I just despise most people of this village. I want to one-day travel around as much as I can without being tied down. I don't want to be stuck here all my life. My hobbies are a little private, and we all know I value my privacy." He spoke, smirking to his team. Kakashi sighed, realizing that the boy was a bit of a problem.
"I am Kakashi. I like many things, and I hate a few things. My hobbies are for me, and my dream is for you all to survive to be great ninja." The man spoke, giving almost the same introduction as he had before.
"Kakashi Hatake, Jounin of Konoha, most famous for his creation of a lightning jutsu. He is constantly reading from his porno, Icha Icha Paradise, and he has a dream to prove to those he's lost that he can carry on." Naruto spoke. He'd asked Kurama to snoop around on the sensei while they were waiting, and figured out a few things about him.
"Where did you get that info?" Kakashi demanded.
"You aren't exactly a secret to the village." Naruto shrugged.
"Well then, before we forget, I am Kaori Yoshimura, I like spending time with Sakura and Hinata, and I like singing. I dislike perverts and those who judge others based off of how they look, as well as onions. My hobbies are singing and spending time with people. My dream is to be a strong kunoichi." Kaori spoke, standing up and pushing her chest out.
"I am Sakura Haruno. I like spending time with Kaori-chan, Ino-chan, and Hinata-chan. I also like spending time with my team and reading. I don't like perverts, assholes, or stuck up people. My hobbies are reading and hanging out, and my dream is to be a great medical kunoichi." The pink haired girl spoke. Finally it was Sasuke's turn.
"I am Sasuke Uchiha. I don't like a lot of things, but I do like tomatoes and training. I hate more things than I like but they don't pertain to you. My hobby is training, and calligraphy, and my dream is to restart my clan to be better than it was before." Sasuke spoke. Naruto was surprised to see that he didn't plan on killing his brother.
"Great, now lets go get our mission." Kakashi stood up, and lead them towards the tower. They were buzzed in by the secretary, and then allowed into the office.
"We would like a mission." Kakashi spoke, bowing respectfully. All of his genin did as well except for Naruto.
"Well, all of the other teams have covered the D-rank ones already, having started early, but I do have a minor C-rank for you." The Hokage spoke. He got a strange look from the man sitting next to him, who had similar hair to Shikamaru and a scar across his nose.
"Hokage-sama, they are just genin, they have not had enough training to handle a C-rank!" The man protested.
"I don't know about them but I've lived in the woods surviving bandit raids for over 5 years. I can handle a 'c-rank' mission." Naruto shrugged. Everyone in the room glanced at the boy. The bandits that were always outside of Konoha had been a problem for many years, however about five years go they stopped coming around, and no one had heard about them since. The location of the bandits hideout had been bloody and abandoned
"You took care of those bandits?" Sarutobi asked.
"My father and I did. He was training me and decided to take them all out at once, so we both went in and took them out." Naruto remembered that night, because it was a full moon.
"There were rumors that they were taken out by wolves though. The campsite was torn apart!" The man next to the Hokage spoke.
"I can assure you that it was my father and I." Naruto spoke. They were wolves however they were also not wild, and attacked out of frustration not territory.
"Anyway, the client is a man named Tazuna, he is a bridge builder from Wave. He arrived this morning on a supplies run for his bridge, however he requested to be guarded on his trip back. You will be escorting him, you leave in three days." Hokage spoke, handing Kakashi the mission scroll, and they left the office.
"Who was the man sitting next to the Hokage." Naruto questioned.
"That is Iruka Umino. He is a chunin of the village and a teacher for the Academy students." Sakura answered.
"Why is it that the genin aren't strong enough to do a C-rank? If the academy trained you properly you should be able to handle a simple escort mission. The D-ranks are just odd jobs that the villagers struggle with right?" Naruto asked. He'd looked into the D-ranks, and started to send out his clones, which he'd gotten the jutsu idea from Kurama, to handle some of them for money. It was easier to get the experience of going to the mission center and asking for them and getting money then waiting for the team to be given them, because he could handle two or three of them a day. He'd already weeded a garden, walked some of the Inuzuka dogs which was easy because they saw him as their alpha while they were on the walk so they followed him without a fuss. He had also already helped to walk a few of the markets patrons home with their supplies. The pay wasn't great, but sending clones did its job.
"That is very true. The academy however did not focus as much on training its ninja as it did helping them with their worldy knowledge. The village felt that we had less ninja going into the force than others did. As such they opened the academy to more civilian ninjas, however they couldn't keep up with the curriculum. As such they made the academy easier. " Kakashi answered, however he sounded as though he didn't agree with the system.
"Who decided that?" Naruto asked.
"The advising council. They are the key members of all of the major clans, as well as voted representatives from the civilian part of the village." Kakashi answered.
"And they decide the fate of ninjas?" Naruto continued. Kakashi had seen where the conversation was going from the start. He knew that the system of the village was very relaxed compared to the others, but for it to be laid out in front of him by a boy no older than 14, it showed the flaws. Naruto knew then that he had no better way to fix it than to bring these up to his leader himself. However he also was better off not doing it in his own body. He'd also be best waiting until after the full moon, which was unfortunately going to happen during the mission. Normally he wouldn't have minded, however keeping that one aspect of himself secret was important. He had already let Sasuke see him in his full form, even if the boy was unable to put two and two together. He had let that slip and now Sasuke was aware of werewolves. The next few days he'd need to prepare for the inevitable.
This came out of nowhere, and I have plans for maybe two more chapters but beyond that, I want people to come up with some ideas for where this could go! I want something unconventional and I really don't want to follow canon on this. I already plan on skipping over the chunin exams, mostly because nothing will change too much except for Sasuke avoiding getting the seal...like I said, I don't want to write canon. Let me know what you think!
