Hey everyone, thanks for waiting! Without further ado, I present the second instalment of Naruto: Spirit Of Iron!


Chapter 2: Forged from Iron.

The next day the sun shone brightly over the Village Hidden in the Leaves once again, as a certain brunette kunoichi made her way through the marketplace near the centre of the village. Tenten knew that there was no need to hurry, but despite herself she couldn't help but speed up her walking slightly. After the fights in the tower at the Forest of Death, Shiro had asked Tenten if she was interested in helping him train for the final rounds. The weapon user just barely managed to keep herself from squealing with excitement, as she quickly agreed to Shiro's request. Shiro had told her to meet him outside the Forest of Death's outer fence the next day, then he would guide her to the tower.

"Ooh, maybe I'll get to see more of those Gundams of his! Well there's that and...he is pretty cute!" Tenten thought as she continued on her way, blushing at her thoughts. She'd thought the same about other boys before, but there was something about Shiro that seemed...different. She was glad that her team wouldn't be getting any missions until after the Chunin Exams due to the fact that Neji would be fighting in the final rounds, as it meant she had plenty of time to try and sort out what her feelings towards Shiro really were. Eventually, after a fair amount of walking, Tenten reached the fence surrounding the Forest of Death. She was thrilled to see that Shiro was already there, but also disappointed that she'd made him wait for her. Shoving her negative thoughts to the back of her mind she hurried over, smiling broadly.

"Hey Tenten, it's good to see you again." Shiro said, smiling back.

"Oh God, he's so cute!" Tenten thought, her cheeks flushing lightly. "Hey Shiro, sorry I'm late" she replied, resisting the urge to jump on him.

"Don't worry about it, I've only been here a few minutes. Come on, let's go." Shiro told her. Tenten nodded, then both shinobi leapt over the fence and into the forest beyond.


An hour later, Shiro and Tenten finally arrived at the base of the tower. Tenten had expected it to take a lot longer to reach the tower, but she realised that it only took days during the exam because they were slowed down by having to search for the other scroll, on top of fending off the other teams and the various dangerous animals within the forest. Their progress had also been helped by the fact that Shiro already knew the route through the forest that was both the safest and the quickest to reach the centre.

"You really know your way around this forest, huh?" Tenten commented, her face flushed from her exertions.

"I guess so. When you have to pass through this place on a daily basis, you learn the best routes pretty fast." Shiro replied, as the two ninja headed inside. As they climbed the staircase that wound up the centre of the tower, Tenten was surprised at how tall the tower was. It seemed even taller once you went inside and started climbing upwards.

"So Shiro, whereabouts do live here?" Tenten asked, curious to know how much more climbing was involved.

"Well, the very top's split into my room, my workshop, Anko's room, and the living room. It's pretty cosy and it's got a great view. The only problem is that Anko's room is right next door." Shiro explained.

"So that means...every time she catches someone..."Tenten said, knowing what this meant.

"Exactly. After a while I managed to develop a jutsu to get around the problem. It's a kind of Genjutsu that puts me to sleep for eight hours, then automatically wakes me up. And the best part is, nothing can wake me up while I'm under the jutsu." Shiro explained.

"Well that's clever." Tenten replied, even more impressed at Shiro's skill. He was just a Genin, and yet he could already use the Summoning Jutsu and create his own techniques from scratch. After a few more minutes of climbing, they finally reached the top. Shiro opened the door to the living room, only to stop just inside the room, sighing in frustration. Tenten poked her head in, to see what the problem was. She gaped when she saw Anko lying on the couch reading a book, wearing nothing but a pair of panties and a cocky grin.

"Hey Shiro, back already?" Anko asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Anko, if you know I'm coming back soon, could you at least wear a shirt." Shiro asked, trying to keep his eyes from wandering.

"This my house, you ungrateful brat. I'll dress or undress as I please. It sounds to me like you don't like what you see. You sayin' my body's ugly?" Anko growled, glaring at Shiro as if daring him to piss her off.

"No, no, of course not! It's just...come on, have some decency." Shiro asked, not wanting to incur his sensei's wrath.

"So then, this happens a lot?" Tenten asked, stepping into the room.

"Yeah, and I just can't get used to it."Shiro replied, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

"Ooh, I see you brought a girl back with you. Aren't you a bit young for...that?" Anko asked, grinning teasingly. Tenten blushed fiercely as she figured out what the woman was getting.

"W-What are you saying? Tenten's just here to help me train, that's all, nothing more!" Shiro exclaimed, his face flushed. "But still, she is beautiful. Would I even have a chance with her?"

"What? There's no way, Shiro wouldn't...! But, would it really be so bad?" she thought, looking over at Shiro, her blush intensifying as she imagined Shiro making love to her, making her scream his name over and over. Tenten shook her head to clear the images from her mind, but her cheeks were still flushed.

"Okay, I believe you. Geez, you're so easy to mess with." Anko said. Shiro quickly led Tenten out of the living room and into his room, closing the door behind them.

"Geez, I wish she'd grow up already." he sighed. Tenten meanwhile was having a look around Shiro's room. Across from the door was a large window divided into two sections, with one section able to slide open. Shiro's bed sat below the window, covered by a black duvet with a silver Leaf symbol in the centre. At the foot of the bed was a sliding door that led out onto a balcony, which seemed to go all the way around the tower. Next to the bed was a small bedside table, with an alarm clock resting on it. A bookcase occupied the rest of the wall, filled with various books and scrolls. A chest of drawers stood on the same wall as the door they had entered from, with two sword racks resting on top of it. Tenten walked over to the window, gazing out at the view beyond. She could see the very tops of the giant trees in the forest, which seemed to go on forever.

"Nice room. This view's amazing." she gasped.

"Yeah, my own little paradise. Come on, there's something I wanted to show you." Shiro replied, opening the sliding door. Tenten followed him out onto the balcony, then partway around the tower. Shiro stopped in front of what appeared to be a solid wall, with no door in sight.

"Um, Shiro? There's nothing there." Tenten said, confused at why he'd stopped here.

"Is there? As a shinobi, you should know by now that your eyes can easily deceive you." Shiro replied, forming a hand sign. "Release!" As he said this, the wall seemed to warp as a door appeared where before there had been nothing but solid wall.

"Of course, Genjutsu." Tenten said.

"Exactly. I have to make sure that someone can't break in here. If one of the Gundams fell into the wrong hands, I hate to think what could happen. So I decided to hide the door to my workshop with a special Genjutsu, which can only be released by someone who has been shown how to do it. Thanks to this, I can choose who can and can't enter." Shiro replied. Once they were both inside, Shiro reactivated the Genjutsu on the door, hiding it from outside view, while Tenten took in the room around her. The room was well lit, as it had no windows to let light in. Along each wall was a workbench, both littered with various blueprints and mechanical components. Against the far wall was a large object covered by a cloth which concealed it from view.

"So what did you want to show me?" Tenten asked. Shiro smiled, walking over to the far wall.

"This." he replied, pulling the two cloths off to reveal what lay underneath. Tenten's eyes widened at the sight. It was another Gundam, very similar to the Spartan. The armour on this one was mainly red, with the chest armour coloured white and orange. On the front of each shoulder armour was a hinged orange panel. The forehead was red, sporting a large yellow v-fin and two small gun barrels. On the Gundam's left arm was a formidable-looking weapon; it consisted of a small shield with two six-barreled gatling guns mounted underneath the shield's point. On the right forearm was a large hinged knife, similar in size to the knife carried by the Spartan. A box-shaped pod was also mounted on the outside of each lower leg (XXXG-01H2 Gundam Heavyarms Kai).

-Gundam Stats Card-

Gundam: Heavyarms Kai.

Height: 8.5 feet.

Weight: 500 kilograms.

Armour Thickness: 1 inch, 3 inches on chest and shoulders.

Armaments: Dual Chakra Gatling x 1 (mounted on left forearm), Chakra Missiles x 6 (housed in shoulders), Chakra Rockets x 40 (housed in launchers on both legs), Chakra Vulcan Guns x 2 (head-mounted), Chakra Gatling Cannon x 2 (inside chest), Combat Knife x 1 (mounted on right forearm), Chakra Beam Saber x 1 (concealed underneath Dual Chakra Gatling when not in use).

Extra Equipment: Chakra Thrusters x 4 (mounted on backpack, top and bottom).

Special Attack/s: Steel Rain: Zenkai (Steel Rain: Complete Destruction), Steel Rain: Zetsumei (Steel Rain: End of Life).

-Gundam Stats Card-

"Wow, so is this another Gundam?" Tenten asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Yeah, sure is. I just finished modifying this one a while ago. This is Heavyarms Kai." Shiro explained.

"Modifying?" Tenten asked.

"Well, this Gundam was made a long time ago, but I decided I should update it a bit. It's original arsenal wasn't as powerful as it should've been." Shiro explained.

"Hey Shiro, there's something I wanted to ask you about." Tenten said.

"Okay, what is it?" Shiro asked.

"How exactly do the Gundams work? Because puppets tend to be controlled by a puppet master using chakra threads to manipulate the puppet's limbs. And also, if they were made from regular metal my attacks should have done at least some damage, but the Spartan never got a scratch." Tenten replied.

"You certainly are a smart one, aren't you?" Shiro asked. "Well you are right on both accounts. You see, the idea behind the Gundams was first thought of by the founders of my clan, before the village even existed. They realised that as they were, puppets had many significant flaws that limited their effectiveness as weapons. They had to be remotely controlled, leaving the user wide open, and there was always a time lag in their attacks. The reason I can control the Gundams with just voice commands is also why they're so strong. The metal that the Gundams are made from is a special kind called spirit metal. It can only be obtained from the spirit realm by a special jutsu, which is only known to my clan. Spirit metal's biggest assets are that it gives the Gundams each a limited consciousness, allowing one to give them orders like a person. It also means that, if I wanted to, I could use the Yamanaka clan's Mind Transfer Jutsu and control the Gundams as if they were my own body."

"That's amazing. But what about the fact that I couldn't damage the Spartan?" Tenten asked,

"That's the best thing about spirit metal. It's far stronger than everyday metals like steel and iron, although it's not indestructible. But if an enemy somehow does manage to damage one of the Gundams, the spirit metal is able to regenerate and heal itself after a short period of time." Shiro explained.

"Okay, I get it so far. Just one more thing; if you're just giving the Gundams orders, how are they able to move? Where does their power come from?" Tenten asked.

"Well, I guess I can tell you, but you can't tell anyone else about this." Shiro replied. "The Gundams power comes from a device inside their chests, that is able to artificially generate chakra to allow the Gundams to move and to power their weapons. On top of that, it also means that the Gundams are able to use some Ninjutsu as well."

"I guess they really are the perfect weapons, aren't they?" Tenten remarked, amazed by what she'd just learnt. Now she was even more infatuated with the Gundams than before.

"I guess so." Shiro replied, smiling again. The two ninja sat down, proceeding to talk about various things. At first they started talking about the final rounds of the Chunin Exams, focusing mostly on Shiro's fight with Gaara. Shiro explained that he planned to use Heavyarms Kai to hopefully defeat the sand user. Heavyarms Kai's biggest asset was the fact that most of its weapons including its missiles and rockets were hidden, concealed by its armour. What Shiro planned to do was use the devastating firepower of the Dual Chakra Gatling to wear Gaara down at first, then get close and unleash the Chakra Gatling Cannons, Chakra Missiles and Chakra Rockets at close range, which would hopefully stun Gaara long enough to trap him and force him to give up. Even with this well thought out plan, Shiro knew it would be no easy feat; Lee's fight with Gaara had shown that the Sand ninja's attacks were devastating and swift, and his defense was nigh impentetrable. But despite this worry, Shiro felt confident in Heavyarms Kai's abilities and his own. After a while the conversation turned to talking about each other's lives, families etc. Shiro learned that Tenten's family, rather unsurprisingly, ran a weapons shop in the village that specialised in various ninja weapons. As a result Tenten was never short on weapons, a good thing as she always went through a lot with each mission.

"So Shiro, what about your family? You keep mentioning your clan, but you haven't really said anything about it." Tenten asked, hoping to learn a little more about Shiro's mysterious past, of which she knew precious little. At hearing her words, Shiro immediately became silent, his expression turning grim.

"Well, I guess it's only fair that you at least know something. The Yamamoto Clan has always been pretty secretive, to the point where few people other than the Hokage and clan leaders have even heard about us. We always lived a few miles from the village, mostly to keep others from trying to learn our secrets. My father was the head of the clan, making me the heir. For the most part, we've stayed out of any of the village's affairs, but the Hokage can always call on us if the need should arise. However despite our secrecy, we weren't completely protected. A couple of years ago, some unknown enemy attacked our home. The attack was so sudden that no one was able to retaliate before they were killed without mercy. I only survived because my parents managed to hide me before they were killed as well. All I could do was stay hidden and watch, as my parents were killed in front of me. Honestly, I don't know how the enemy didn't find me back then. I almost wish they had, then I wouldn't have had to carry those nightmares around for so long. If I'd been left there alone, I probably would've killed myself or worse. But as it happened, fate seemed to have had other ideas. It turned out the Hokage had sent a group of ANBU Black Ops to my home to deliver a message. When they arrived, they found me sitting next to my parents' bodies, still crying so much that I didn't notice their arrival. They brought me back to the village and informed the Hokage about what had happened. He decided to welcome me into the village and allowed me to become a ninja. After that well, you can probably figure out the rest." Shiro explained, his eyes betraying his inner grief.

"Oh Shiro...I'm sorry...I had no idea." Tenten whispered, wrapping her arms around him. She was shocked by what had been revealed to her. Sasuke may have lost his clan as well, but he hadn't had to watch his parents be killed. And it was clear that Shiro didn't even know who was responsible for his clan's destruction, which must've made the pain even greater.

"Don't apologise, there was no way you could've known. Besides, I've more or less accepted what happened. I know I can't change what happened two years ago, so the best I can do is to keep moving forward and not let it drag me down. But...thanks for listening. I don't know why, but I just feel a lot better when I talk to you, Tenten." Shiro replied, hugging her back.

"Same here." Tenten replied, looking up at him. She blushed when she realised how close their faces were, with barely a few inches separating them.

"Go on, kiss him! What're you waiting for?" her mind exclaimed. Driven blindly by her heightened emotions Tenten moved forward, closing the gap until she felt Shiro's lips against her own To her surprise Shiro didn't pull away, instead he kissed her back, pulling her closer to him. Getting caught up in the heat of the moment Tenten moaned blissfully, as she deepened the kiss.

"Oh God, he's actually kissing me!" she thought, feeling more happy then she'd ever felt in her life. Eventually however, the desire to keep going was beaten by the need to breath, forcing the two to separate, both of them struggling to regain their lost breath.

"Tenten..." Shiro gasped.

"Yes Shiro...?" Tenten whispered, her cheeks flushed from the kiss.

"Is this...what I think it is?"

"I don't know, I just...I'm sorry. I just get this warm feeling every time I see you."

"Me too." Shiro replied, his cheeks now flushed as well. 'So, what should we do now?"

"I'm still not sure what this feeling is yet. I don't really have any experience at this sort of thing." Tenten replied, her blush intensifying.

"How about one date? Then we can see where it leads us." Shiro proposed. Tenten nodded.

"Okay, sure. Sounds like a good idea." she replied. "I don't want you to get the impression that I'm an easy girl."

"Now why would I think that?" Shiro asked, causing Tenten to giggle before hugging him tighter, resting her head on his shoulder.


Darkness was just beginning to close in as Shiro arrived back at the tower, having escorted Tenten back to the village and to her house. Along the way, they had agreed that he would pick her up at around 7:00pm the next evening for their date. Despite everything he'd gone through during what many would describe as one hell of a bad life, Shiro couldn't help but feel pretty nervous about it. He'd never gotten this close to a girl this age before, and he had precious little knowledge on the subject. His own parents, Takahiro and Natsumi Yamamoto, hadn't been able to give Shiro much advice on the subject before their lives were brutally cut short. And even though he had Anko, he didn't want to approach his sensei for two very good reasons. One, he knew she'd tease him to no end about finally finding a girl, and two, she probably wasn't the best teacher in that regard, given her frankly terrifying bedroom escapades.

"Oh well, guess I'll just have to figure it out as I go. Tenten's probably no better at this than I am, so we can help each other out." he thought, entering his room through the sliding door. After placing his swords on their racks, Shiro went through his usual pre-bedtime routine; brush teeth, undress, put pyjamas on, pray for his clan, especially his parents, and climb into bed having turned off the light. However, just as Shiro was about to fall asleep, an unbelievably loud, very high pitched scream of sheer terror came from Anko's room, signalling that his sensei had caught her latest victim just before he'd arrived.

"Ugh, the poor guy will never be sane again. Oh well, better get this over with. Tori! Tatsu! Saru! Hitsuji! Ninja Art: 8-Hours Slumber!" Shiro exclaimed, casting his personally created Genjutsu. As soon as he finished the execution, he immediately fell asleep, oblivious to his sensei's antics.


There's nothing left but for me to say; read, review, and stay tuned! Anzac-A1 out!