2/8/07
Chapter 2:Meeting
Orochimaru felt his two teammates' chakra just disappeared and decided to go there to see what was wrong. For a second he thought that he also felt another person's chakra. When he reached the placed where he felt his teammate's chakra disappear he saw that Jiraiya and Tsunade we're lying together under the most disgusting thing he saw, an orange jacket.
He gave them each a slight kick to wake them up.
To their horror, they were holding each other. Immediately they moved away from each other and stood up.
"I know you need Jiraiya for a rebound because you've lost Dan, Tsunade. But the ugly jacket has got to go," Orochimaru said to them both.
"We weren't doing anything Orochimaru," Tsunade replied in a venomous tone.
Orochimaru gave them a smile indicating that he didn't believe her.
"We have no time. An enemy just attacked us and he might be heading towards our sensei right now," Jiraiya said to both Orochimaru and Tsunade.
The thought of someone besting both Jiraiya and Tsunade at the same time excited Orochimaru.
"Let's go," Orochimaru said and they took off to the Hokage Tower.
Hokage Tower
"Sarutobi-sensei?" Naruto said when he assessed the man.
The man looked up and gave stared at Naruto curiously for a second.
He couldn't believe it with his own eyes. Naruto was sure that it was Sarutobi. He's been looking at the mountain faces ever since he was young and there was no mistaking it. Sarutobi still had a lot of hair unlike how Naruto remembered him. His hair was also brown and spiky. Sarutobi still had his goatee, but it was also brown instead of the white that Naruto remembered. He also didn't have any wrinkles yet. Naruto saw a little line coming down right at the corner of Sarutobi's eyes.
He looks like 30 years old or so, Naruto thought.
Sarutobi looked at the young man. He figured that the man was around 20 or so. Even though he had a Konoha forehead protector Sarutobi has never seen his face before.
"And you are?" Sarutobi asked him. "I don't ever remember seeing you." Sarutobi already had his hand in his pocket holding a kunai in case of an ambush. Of course everyone knew his name, who wouldn't know his name?
Naruto didn't know what to say. What can he say? He lost his words when he saw Sarutobi.
"Hi, my name is Uzumaki Naruto and uh…" Naruto said.
Sarutobi didn't sense anything harmful coming from the young man so let his guard down a little bit. He sensed that the young man was more confused than anything else.
"I see that you have a Konoha forehead protector, but I don't ever recall see your face before. Where are you from?" Sarutobi asked him.
Naruto told him about touching the black sphere and getting knocked out afterwards. He also told him how some sand-nins had attack him while he was traveling back towards Konoha. Naruto also mentioned his encounter with Jiraiya and Tsunade. He decided to leave out the detail about the Kyuubi though.
"Well, that was quite a story," Sarutobi said to him.
Naruto sighed. Of course it seemed like a ridiculous story. He didn't even believe it himself, how could he expect Sarutobi to believe him?
"I'm sorry if it sounds like I don't believe you, but do you have any proof to your story. I can't just go believing anyone," Sarutobi said.
Naruto thought for a moment. How can I prove that I'm from the future? Then it hit him. He reached for neck and took out a necklace.
"Tsunade gave me that in the future. I've held on to it ever since," Naruto said happily. He handed the green jewel necklace it to Sarutobi.
Sarutobi looked at the necklace and there was no doubt that it was Tsunade's necklace.
Even though it would seem weird for anyone knowing about Tsunade's necklace, Sarutobi still wanted a little more proof. He gave the necklace back to Naruto, "I'm sorry, but you said you confronted Tsunade. You could have killed her and took the necklace and claimed that she gave it to you."
This idea did seem a little far-fetched even for Sarutobi because it would be hard to kill Tsunade without being injured.
Naruto thought for a while. This time it was a lot longer than before. Naruto snapped his fingers and reached inside the pocket of his vest. He took out a small scroll and put it on the desk.
"Jiraiya gave me this. It was the first move that he thought me," Naruto said.
Sarutobi opened the scroll and it had names on it. It was the names of the people that had sign the frog contract. While Sarutobi didn't have a contract with the frogs, he immediately recognized the scroll because it was him who gave Jiraiya the frog contract to sign. The signatures were identical to the one he gave Jiraiya except it had two extra names on it. He was surprised when he saw the name that was before Naruto's.
Base on the fact that Jiraiya rarely carried the scroll with him and that the scroll had another name that was from Konoha, Sarutobi believed his story.
"Well Naruto, as weird as your story sound this does prove your from a different time-line," Sarutobi said.
Naruto gave a relieved sigh when heard Sarutobi. He didn't know what else could prove that his story was true.
"Right now we are at war Naruto. The Hidden Village of Leaf is at war with the 3 other nations: The Hidden Village of Sand, The Hidden Village of Rock, and The Hidden Village of Cloud. They have an ally agreement and that's why the sand-nins attacked you. Did you kill them?"
"No, during my time the Hidden Village of Sand are our allies," Naruto replied in a small voice.
Well, that couldn't be helped, Sarutobi thought.
"We do need more shinobis right now and you would be welcome to join us if you want."
Naruto nodded his head. He would protect the Hidden Village of Leaf no matter what time-line he was in.
"So, just tell me your rank from before you came here and I'll give you that position," Sarutobi said.
Naruto pause for a second
"Well, I'm the Rokudaime," Naruto answered.
Sarutobi's eyes widen and smiled when he heard Naruto's answer. So this is the 6th Hokage?
"Well, I guess I lied. I can't give you that position," Sarutobi laughed. "It would be weird if someone that no one knows replaces me."
"I guess you can be a jounin then. Is that alright with you Naruto?"
Naruto smiled, "Yes that's okay."
Just then the door slammed open and Naruto turned around to see who it was. He saw Jiraiya and Tsunade and they were a lot younger, about his age. Jiraiya hasn't grown his ponytail yet, but Naruto could see that he was starting to. The hair reached his lower traps. He was wearing a green vest. Underneath he wore a red long sleeve shirt. His pants were complete black and his kunai holder was one his right leg. Jiraiya didn't wear a forehead protector, in fact none of them did.
Tsunade looked even younger than her fake genjutsu that she uses on herself later in the future. She hairstyle was the same pigtail style, only the hair was a little longer. She wore a fishnet underneath her purple short sleeve shirt. She covered this outfit with a blue vest. Tsunade also wore the same blue pants that all shinobi wore. She also wore her kunai holder on her right leg.
To his surprise he saw Orochimaru behind them. Snake-man's alive? Orochimaru was wearing a black long sleeve shirt underneath his purple vest. His face was a lot younger than Naruto remembered. He had dark gray pants and taped the bottom half of his leg.
Without thinking Naruto immediately grabbed a kunai from his pocket and threw it at Orochimaru's face. Jiraiya grabbed the kunai before it even came close to Orochimaru. The 3 immediately got in their fighting stance.
"Just like we suspected, he's trying to murder sensei," Jiraiya said.
The trio was just about to charge Naruto when Sarutobi stepped between them and Naruto.
"Stop it, you three. I can take care of myself. I need to speak with this individual some more. Can you leave us?" Sarutobi told them.
"But sensei," Jiraiya said.
He was interrupted by Sarutobi, "I said don't worry about me. I can take care of myself. I trust this person and you should leave, we have some private things to talk about."
Did I just hear sensei right? He said that he trust this stranger, Tsunade thought to herself.
"Did you put him in a genjutsu?" Jiraiya yelled at Naruto.
"Of course he didn't. Do you sense anything strange?" Orochimaru responded.
Orochimaru began to leave.
"You're just going to leave this stranger with our sensei!?" Jiraiya said to Orochimaru.
"Didn't you hear what sensei said or are you deaf? He said for us to leave them alone and it's not like he can't take care of himself," Orochimaru said as he was walking further down the hall. Tsunade followed and so did Jiraiya, but before leaving both of them gave Naruto an intense look of distrust.
Sarutobi closed the door, "I'm sorry about my students. They can get quite rowdy sometimes."
Naruto nodded stating that he understood.
Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade were walking together down the hall.
"So what do you guys think?" Jiraiya asked them.
"I thought he was pretty weak as first because I didn't sense any killing intent coming from him, but I sure was wrong," Tsunade said.
Orochimaru smiled when he heard this and said in a cocky tone mainly to Jiraiya, "Well, it looks like he knows a great shinobi when he sees one. He had an intent to kill me when he threw that kunai."
"Shut-up," Jiraiya said.
He knew this was true though. The young man had intended to kill Orochimaru. Also, that shinobi could have killed him already if he wanted to while he was knocked out. Jiraiya was furious, Orochimaru had beaten him once again and this time he didn't even have to lift a finger.
"So where were we before my students interrupted us," Sarutobi said, mainly to himself.
"Oh yes, our short supplies of shinobis. I'm pretty sure you've already taken a genin squad because you're a Hokage so it'll be good if you can train a new squad."
"Sorry, but I was never a jounin instructor."
Sarutobi was surprised, "What? It's one of the requirements before becoming a Hokage. Are you guys that easy going during your time?"
Naruto had no answer.
"Well, it looks like you'll get some experience then. You be taking care of team 3. I'll leave it up to you whether you pass them or not. Go to room 115 at 9 o'clock tomorrow morning. I'm sure you know where the room is at."
Naruto gave him a nod.
Sarutobi said to Naruto, "We don't have much room except a couple of rooms in the orphanage area. I know that it's not what you're used to, but I hope that you don't mind it there."
Naruto thought back to his younger years, "I don't mind Sarutobi-sensei."
He gave him a key. There was a number on the key tag.
"It's on the second floor."
Naruto knew exactly where it was because it was his old house.
"We should also change your last name just in case someone might know you're surname. What do you want it to be then?"
Naruto thought for a moment. He liked his surname, but Sarutobi was right the Uzumaki clan was extremely talented and feared throughout history. "How about Takahashi?"
Sarutobi thought for a moment, "Sure, no one in this village has the surname. From now on you'll be Takahashi Naruto. Everything you do during this time period would be put under that name. I'll make you an identification card tomorrow. Just come by and get it. How old are you?"
"I'm 21," Naruto said.
Sarutobi smiled, "Don't be lying your age now just so you can buy sake."
"I'm not Sarutobi-sensei," Naruto replied.
"Fine, I believe you."
Sarutobi reached into his pocket. He took out a wad of cash and two bells.
"What's this for?" Naruto asked.
"That's to get you some supplies for the house. There won't be any shop open right now, but I'm sure you can get a few supplies tomorrow. I'm sure you know what the two bells are for," Sarutobi answered.
Naruto thanked him and went to the door.
"Wait Naruto. I know this sounds real stupid since you're a Hokage and all, but we should keep your history just between us two for right now."
Naruto turned around and nodded his head.
He left outside and looked at the faces on the mountain. There were only 3 faces. I didn't even notice it. He really was in a different time period.
When he got to his old apartment, he opened the door and saw that nothing was inside. The kitchen was to his left and the living room was straight ahead. The apartment had a single bedroom and a single bathroom. The only supply was an old refrigerator and a small stove in the kitchen.
It was getting pretty late now and he decided that it was time to sleep. Naruto reached in his pocket and took out a scroll. He did a few hand seals, "Unseal." A sleeping bag, a pillow, a toothbrush, and some soap popped into existence. Naruto laid in his sleeping bag thinking to himself, I don't even know my new students yet. I should have gotten the information when I was still in the office. Oh well, guess I'll find out tomorrow.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Naruto woke up and went to the grocery store to get some food. He came back to the house with some eggs, steak, bacon, orange juice, vegetables, fruits, and of course a whole lot of ramen. He decided to shower before cooking his breakfast. It was about 8:30 when he finished showering and eating.
As he walked out the door something caught the corners of his eyes. It was a little boy around the age 6. He had just run around the corner of the building with his arms swinging wildly sideways while holding a forehead protector. Naruto was just barely able to see the boy because he had ran around the corner, but Naruto picked up a few details. He was wearing a white sweater that had a blue stripe coming down from the shoulders. The boy was also wearing a blue pants with his leg taped and blue sandals. The most noticeable feature though was his hair. It was yellow similar like Naruto's. His hair was also spiky just like Naruto's and it also had two long bangs that came down his side.
There was no doubt in his mind who this was, it was the Yondaime. It was his father. He learned about his father after he became the Rokudaime. Somehow, Naruto always knew in the back of his mind why he was chosen to bear the Kyuubi, but it was actually confirmed that day when Tsunade named him Hokage and he had the right to check the files.
Naruto almost collapsed from the shock. He grabbed his chest and dropped down to a knee and his breaths were heavy. Naruto never met his father before and the thought of meeting him never even crossed his mind when he was sent back in time. It took him a while to get back up. He took a few more breaths and finally stood up. He knew that he couldn't get close to his father even though he really wanted to because it might be catastrophic if Yondaime found out who he was.
He went to the academy to room 115. When he opened the door he saw 3 kids. He also saw that the Yondaime was one of the kids and a jolt went up his spine.
"Hi, I'm your new jounin instructor," Naruto said.
They all gave him an interesting look.
"Let's go on the roof so I can get to know you all better," Naruto told them. They nodded and followed him. Okay… guess I will get to know him. Just stay calm now, Naruto.
When they reached the roof Naruto was leaning on rails.
"So, let's get to know one another," Naruto said to them.
"What do you want to know sensei?" asked the little girl. She had black hair that she tied up in a bun. She wore a purple short dress that went down to her knees.
"Stuff like your names, hobbies, goals, and dreams," Naruto said.
"How about you first," Naruto pointed a young boy that had short brown hair. He was wearing a black short sleeve shirt and black shorts. His eyes were almost completely closed. His face had a round shape, almost chubby, but not quite there yet.
"My name is Saitou Seishin. My hobby is playing ninja. One of my goals is to be a good father to my future family," Seishin said in a loud voice.
The girl immediately answered in a low voice when Seishin was finished, "Hi, I'm Kobayashi Kioko. My hobbies are drawing, painting, and reading books. One of my goals is to become a strong female shinobi. My dream is also related to my goal so that's it."
"I'm Nakashima Arashi. My hobby is training. My goal and dream is to become the best shinobi that I can so that I can protect my important people," Arashi said.
"What about you sensei?" Kioko asked.
"My name is Takahashi Naruto. My hobbies are training and eating. My goal and dream is to be able to one day shake the hands of my enemy without any grudge between us."
Arashi raised his right and Naruto nodded for him to speak.
"I've never seen you here before. We know all the jounins and I don't ever remember you." The other 2 nodded in agreement.
They know all the jounins? Damn, I didn't even know who was a jounin or chuunin when I graduated except for Iruka.
"I was on a long mission," Naruto lied, not knowing what else to say. Luckily they didn't question him further.
"Okay, is that it? Are you guys ready for your first test then?"
"I thought we went through all the test already at the academy?" Seishin asked Naruto.
Naruto smiled again, "That was just to see if you were qualified to become genins. It doesn't mean that you will become genins. If you fail this test, then you go back to the academy."
All of their eyes grew larger when they heard this.
"So are you guys ready? Get your gears and meet me at training ground 6," Naruto told the group. They nodded.
Naruto went to the training ground first. There was a huge field about the size of a football that was surrounded by many trees. There was also a huge river.
Did fate bring us together?
He was still thinking to himself when he felt three familiar chakras coming towards him. Arashi, Seishin, and Kioko landed on the open field where Naruto stood.
The team saw Naruto take out two bells.
"You're objective is simple. Retrieve the bell before 11 o'clock and you pass. Fail to get the bell and you fail. Two of you might pass or maybe no one will pass. Come at me with everything you have or you won't get it," Naruto told the group. He tied the two bells on his waist.
"Are you sure?" Arashi asked him.
"Yes, that's why I told you to get your gear," Naruto said.
"Okay, begin."
The three immediately went behind them towards the trees. Naruto also jumped behind him to the other side. He made a clone and sent him out.
They were all squatting on a tree branch.
"So, do you think we can get the bells?" Seishin asked the group.
"I don't know. One of us will get the axe though," Arashi said.
"It's okay, we're all friends. No hard feelings for the one that doesn't get the bell okay," Kioko said to them.
They all nodded.
"Do you guys have a plan?" Kioko asked them.
Arashi snapped his fingers, "Okay, got it. Here's what we'll do." He told them the plan.
"Everybody got it?" Arashi asked.
"Yea," said Kioko and Seishin.
"Let's go," Arashi said and they left.
Naruto was lying down on a high branch. So that's what they're doing. Pretty good considering they don't know that much jutsus. I'll guess I'll play along with them. He knew that there was no way they could get the bells from him, but it didn't matter because he also knew that they passed the test already. Naruto still wanted to test how strong they were though.
Kioko, Seishin, and Arashi came out into the field. They ran towards the clone trying to attack it. The clone easily blocked and dodged all their attacks.
Meanwhile the real Kioko, Seishin, and Arashi were going to the tree where Naruto was located. They had sent clones of themselves to face Naruto's clone.
They were at the tree squatting and watching the fight. They were waiting for a moment when Naruto would drop his guard.
Now, Arashi thought. He was going to rush Naruto when he felt something holding his right wrist.
"What is it? You made us miss our chance Kioko," Arashi said.
"It's a clone," Kioko answered him. She didn't know it was a shadow clone though. Naruto purposely did this to see if they would figure out that the clone wasn't him.
"How do you know?" Arashi asked.
"He hasn't even made contact with our clones yet," Kioko answered.
"What do we do know then?" Arashi asked.
"I know," Seishin said. He told them his plan.
"Where's he at though?" Kioko asked.
"Let's move around, we'll find him sooner or later," Seishin said.
Naruto felt that they were coming closer. Good, they figured out that he was a fake. They're sending another set of clones after me.
The group split up, but they still close enough to each other to send hand signals.
Naruto was still lying on the branch when he saw the 3 of them jump at him and he immediately ran to the real ones. Naruto already figure out where they were hiding by sensing their chakra.
Even though they were about 40 feet from them he got there so quick that they couldn't react. Naruto was about 10 feet from Seishin. He pulled out two shurikens that were attached with a long wire. He threw it at Seishin and the wires wrapped around him which caused Seishin to fall to the floor.
"Seishin," said Kioko. She pulled out a kunai and jumped to his side to cut the wire.
Naruto was still 20 feet from them.
"Always be prepared that you're enemy might also know your plans," Naruto yelled to his team.
"Damn it, he already knew," Seishin said when he stood up.
"What now?" Arashi asked.
"We've got to attack," Kioko answered.
"Cover my back guys," Seishin told them. They nodded. He knew it might not do much, but he had to try. He ran towards Naruto and did a few hand seals, "Kanraku Irixyu-jon (Sinking Illusion)." Naruto immediately began sinking. He closed his eyes and focused, "Kai."
Kioko immediately ran after Seishin and did a few hand seals of her own, "Ki Shibu Kakuhan (Tree Branch Whip)." The tree behind Naruto immediately tried to strike Naruto. He managed to jump forward and dodge the tree. He turned his head back to look at the branch, whew that was close.
When he turned around he could see that Arashi was almost at his stomach now. Arashi reached for the two bells with his right hand. Naruto's eyes became a little bigger. Pretty fast. Just as Arashi was going to grab the bells, Naruto turned his waist and Arashi just grabbed air.
"Ohh man," Kioko and Seishin said when they saw Arashi miss. They were holding their hands in prayer when Arashi was trying to grab the bells. Their hands immediately dropped when they saw that they missed.
Naruto smiled at the group, "Almost, but almost doesn't count."
Arashi jumped back to join the group. They were about 10 feet away from Naruto now.
"That's all I can do," Kioko said.
"Me too, I'm out of ideas. If Arashi couldn't get it then I don't know which one of us can," Seishin said.
"Are you guys giving up already?" Naruto asked them.
"Of course not," Arashi replied.
They all ran and attacked Naruto. He easily blocked their attacks. After a minute or so he jumped back about 15 feet to distance himself from them. Let's see how fast you are then. He took out three shurikens and threw it at Arashi. One straight at him while the other two lower and to each of Arashi's side. He didn't throw it at his fullest potential, but it was still pretty fast.
Arashi saw the shurikens coming at him and immediately tried to dodge it by going to his left side, but he lost his footing and began to fall.
Naruto's eyes became wider. He looked at the lower shuriken that he threw. Oh no, he's not going to make it, Naruto thought. As the shurikens came closer to Arashi, he closed his eyes getting ready for the impact and he felt two bodies covering him.
Naruto immediately dashed in front of Arashi and blocked the shuriken with the palm of his right hand. The shuriken made a deep hole in the palm of his hand and blood was dripping from his palm. He couldn't catch it, but it didn't matter, as long as his team wasn't injured. He turned around and could see Kioko and Seishin on top of Arashi, covering him with their bodies.
"Whew, that was close." Naurto said. He wiped his forehead with his uninjured hand. "Let's say we call it a day, shall we?"
They all looked up.
"We can't yet, we have to get the bells," Seishin said.
"If we stop now, none of us will pass. It's not time yet, we still have about 4 minutes left," Kioko pleaded.
Naruto made a grin. They really wanted to pass, "You all pass."
"What? We didn't get a bell," Kioko replied.
"That wasn't the purpose of this test. The purpose was to see if you would put the team goals before your personal goals. You guys worked as a team and that's all that mattered," Naruto told them.
"Yea, we all passed guys," Kioko told them.
Arashi and Seishin just smiled at her.
"I'll go to the office and see if there are any missions for us. I'll contact you if there are. As for know you're free to go home if you like. Team 3 is official," Naruto said to the group and gave them a thumb's up.
"Oh wait up," Naruto took out a seal and did a few hand seals. 'Poof' there was a camera in Naruto's hand.
"Since we're official now, we have to take our picture." He set the camera on a low branch and went behind the group. Arashi was in the middle and Kioko on his left side while Seishin on his right side. Everybody gave their biggest smile.
"Okay, now we're done," Naruto told the group.
He went to the Hokage Tower and knocked on the door.
"Come in," Sarutobi said and Naruto went inside.
Sarutobi gave Naruto his new identification card and ask, "So how did your team do?"
"That's why I'm here. They all passed and I was just wondering if there were any missions that you would like to assign to us."
Sarutobi sorted some of his paper, "Alright here's one. It's a C-class mission. You are to patrol the western border tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. It's daylight and there aren't that many enemies running around in daylight, but you still got to take caution."
Naruto frowned a little, "Don't you think a C-class mission is kind of high for a group of genins who barely passed their test today."
"Yes, but they have you with them. I'm sure you can handle this."
He knew why Naruto was asking, "There aren't a lot of D-class missions Naruto. Remember that we're at a time of war."
Naruto nodded, "I know where Arashi lives, but I don't know where Kioko and Seishin lives."
Sarutobi grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down their address. He gave the paper to Naruto.
Naruto left the Hokage office and thought about what to do with the rest of the day. Naruto decided that he would go to the store first to get some bandages and develop his pictures there. He would then buy some supplies for his house and go grocery shopping again, this time buying more things like some sauces, spices, and more vegetables. By that time the picture should be finished. After that he would go to the local restaurant to grab something to drink because he knew that he would need to relax. He would tell the team about the mission tomorrow.
