Chapter 2 – Promise of a life time
The next day, Naruto had to say the stuff he saw on the ninjutsu book about fuuton ninjutsu and safe to say, he was really cursing himself right now. So much information kept hidden from him and only now did he choose to take a moment of his life to actually read. It was only after the nurse that checked on him came here to discharge him from the hospital that he took his clothes and left straight to a training ground where he could train and incorporate everything he learned through reading during his stay in the hospital. After all, Naruto didn't want to waste any more time than he already did. He now knew that in order for a shinobi to grow strong, he or she had to have the strength and will to never give up and always fight through numerous obstacles that appear through life.
Immediately after arriving in one of Konoha's many fields designated specifically for ninjas to train, Naruto went to one of the taijutsu logs on the field and began to beat the hell of it by going through the katas that he learned from the book. Although he knew his form was still far from perfection, he also knew that taijutsu required practice, so it wouldn't be possible for him to just read a book and immediately know how to do it. Nevertheless, he continued to beat the log in hopes of getting it right. After a while, he looked at his dirty hands and a few wounds from beating a log repeatedly and remembered when Lee was fighting Sasuke right at the beginning of the chunnin exams. Closing his hands once again, forming fists, he looked once again the log and began once again, the katas this time, adding some kicks as well. This time, however, Naruto found he was better than before and he realized that Lee was right. Only through harsh training, can the ninja evolve. Stepping away from the log for a bit, Naruto began the katas on pure air, like he was in a showdown of martial arts.
It wasn't as painful and Naruto could see that the speed of his movements was increasing periodically. It was only after two hours that he sit on the ground and looked up as the sunlight obscured his viewing for an instant. It went without saying that Naruto felt better than ever before. He felt like he already improved a little bit and now his taijutsu wouldn't be considered 'street fighting' like Kakashi mentioned before. Getting up once more, Naruto changed the subject and went to ninjutsu. The three jutsus he saw in the book were, in theory, easy to do, but just like taijutsu; one couldn't hope to master something just by reading it in a book. Picking one shuriken, he threw towards the log, Naruto made the hand seals necessary for Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shuriken shadow clone jutsu), however when approximately four shurikens should have appeared only two did instead and none of them had the same properties as the original one.
Such a result was expected since Naruto took close to an hour to master the kage bunshin no jutsu. This new technique didn't waste as much chakra the shadow clone, but it did require a considerate amount. Taking another one, he tried again, only for the same thing to happen. No matter, though, he would be able to learn it just like he was able to do the kage bunshin. It took him 10 tries to be able to master the technique and the last one, he was able to create close to 10 clones of the shuriken and all of them pierced the log in multiple locations, thus completing the technique, but not without its price, though, as Naruto felt on the ground from slight fatigue. It didn't matter, though; he did it just like he would complete the other two as well. However, his stomach growled, hence why he grabbed some shurikens that was stick on the log and went to Ichirakus for some lunch. Of course, he changed about the way he saw things, but that doesn't mean his taste for food changed.
After setting down on the bench, Naruto asked for some miso ramen to which old man Teuchi greeted him and went to make his bowl. As the noodles were being prepared, Teuchi asked about Naruto's training with one of the sannins and congratulated the boy on the opportunity. Naruto appreciated and said that he would be stronger and don't waste more time than he already wasted for petty reasons. Teuchi was confused at first, but waved it off seeing it was Naruto and Naruto was impossible to understand. After paying the old man, Naruto said to take care since he wouldn't come back for a while to which Teuchi smiled and wished the blond a safe trip.
Upon returning to the training ground, Naruto remembered the needed hand seals for the Gyorai Shin no Jutsu (Torpedo Needles Jutsu) and also the theory behind the technique. According to the book, the ninja must mold his chakra towards creating tons of thin layer shapes and then throwing it at the enemy. Of course, the book made it as easy as a simple henge, but the blond knew better that chakra manipulation was a chunnin level material. Nevertheless, he was committed to doing all three of the techniques before Jiraya could come to pick him up, so he immediately got to work. Little did he know, though, that a few people were looking for the missing blond.
===At the Hospital===
Jiraya, Tsunade and Kakashi were standing in what used to be Naruto's room only to find it was empty. Naruto's close was gone too, except for his orange jacket which was tossed on the ground near the window, thus showing them the obvious, the boy escaped the hospital and now they have to find him. Tsunade was furious at the head nurse for discharging the blond, even after she made it clear that only she or Shizune were authorized for such a thing. "Well, Jiraya I guess you have to find your student out there. You and him are scheduled to leave tomorrow morning, so take your time" – Said Tsunade before leaving the hospital room, thus leaving Jiraya and Kakashi inside.
"Where do you think he is right now, Kakashi?" – Asked Jiraya, actually a little concerned with the blond, since he didn't expect the damn imbecile to run off seconds after being released from the hospital. Kakashi for his part was reading his book and didn't pay attention to what the pervert was saying, earning a vein popping from the sannin's forehead, who in turn, sighed and shunshined out of the room. Seconds after, Kakashi lowered the book and activated his sharingan to see if Naruto left a trail of chakra to follow. True to Kakashi's wonder, looking at the window, Kakashi's sharingan spotted Naruto's chakra as he jumped through the rooftops, heading to what appeared like a training ground a couple miles north. Smiling at the boy for pumping chakra to his legs and increases his speed, Kakashi started following the path Naruto took.
He somehow, knew that the blond wouldn't take long before practicing what he learned and he began to wonder if he, perhaps, he should have done this a long time ago. If Naruto was already able to do one of the techniques on the book and settle for the right taijutsu stance, Kakashi would've been wrong about the blond. Truth be told, the jounin always presumed Naruto would quit being a ninja, since he didn't have what It takes. However, as the time passed and Naruto was able to do stuff that no one would think it was possible. Learning the three steps to the rasengan in little more than a month was outstanding to say the least. The Yondaime Hokage took three years to create it and Jiraya, one of the sannin, took four months to learn. It was amazing that Naruto reduced that timing to only a month.
Kakashi remembered seeing at the book he selected for Naruto regarding ninjutsu and he remembered that apart from the elemental ones, they were three jutsus that Kakashi would've wanted to teach Naruto, since it really matched Naruto's unpredictability attacks; Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shuriken Shadow Clone), Bunshin Daibakuha (Clone Explosion Jutsu) and Gyorai Shin (Torpedo Needle). There were tough to master, but once he manages, he would be able to add three very powerful and very handy jutsus to his arsenal, not to mention the fuuton techniques he would be learning with Jiraya on his travel.
After the last rooftop, Kakashi saw the blond and also managed to see that he was doing the Tatsu (Dragon) seal, which was the last one needed for the Gyorai Shin, before Kakashi's eyes widened out of proportions. After Naruto finished the hand seals sequence, tons of chakra needles formed around him, before Naruto moved his hands towards the Hitsuji (Ram) seal and shooting the needles forward the log, thus making tons of tiny holes which would kill any enemy easily. Kakashi wondered how much time Naruto was training, since the hour of his hospital release was three hours ago. Kakashi couldn't figure out how Naruto already learned this jutsu in three hours and thought about it for a while. How could someone, with no good history at the academy, learn advanced jutsus so easily? Would it be because he got the chakra capacity of a jounin? No, Jiraya already taught him the water walking exercise, so it couldn't be high chakra capacity. It was another thing, definitely was. Kakashi wondered if Naruto was a genius in disguise, but then again, he shouldn't be surprised at yet another surprising feat from Naruto.
After completing the technique, Naruto kneeled on the ground from extreme chakra usage for the day. He cursed not having enough chakra to complete the third technique, but thought again since the Bunshin Daibakuha required a lot of chakra at disposal and Naruto now didn't have enough. He figured that some rest would do the trick and his chakra would come back, so he just went to a tree nearby and sit down near it while admiring his work so far. His taijutsu was coming along nicely and he just added two new jutsus for him to rely on while fighting. The last technique, though, was what Naruto wanted to master the most for the simple reason of using it as a trap. Summoning a lot of kage bunshins and place some of the exploding ones in the middle so that when the enemy begins hitting them one by one, eventually he would be hitting the exploding one and would be sent flying because of it.
Back to Kakashi, he was looking down at Naruto since the blond happened to pick the same tree he was hiding in order to rest up a bit. At first, Kakashi considered just falling to the ground and greeting his student. However, for some reason, he hesitated. He didn't want to meet those same eyes he saw at the hospital. Kakashi just didn't have the words to talk to him right now; after all it was him the one who taught Sasuke the chidori who in turn used it to pierce Naruto's flesh, thus almost killing the blond if the Kyuubi wasn't inside him. The jounin considered saying he regretted doing what he did, but he had a gut feeling that Naruto would close up once more and say 'it was alright' with dejected eyes.
One hour later, Naruto got up and felt that his chakra was beginning to fill him up; albeit slowly so he decided to train more taijutsu. So, he initiated the katas as he beat up all the imaginary opponents in the air. Meanwhile, Kakashi was watching intently and also managing to see some nice punches going on down there, before seeing Naruto alternating between punches and kicks. Seeing the blond training hard sent an unknown wave of pride to Kakashi that never before happened. When he trained Sasuke for a whole month, not one did the Uchiha caused that to Kakashi, but Naruto, in less than a day, made Kakashi realized how deeply he messed up with the team. Suddenly, someone instantly appeared behind Kakashi, but he knew it wasn't Jiraya since his visible eye caught sight of green. "Good afternoon my fellow rival; how about we took advantage of this beautiful day and test our abilities to the extreme, yosh" – Screamed Gai, before Kakashi placed his hand on Gai's mouth in time for Naruto to just look up, since he thought he heard someone screaming.
After Kakashi signaled for Gai to be quiet, he looked down and saw that Naruto waved it off and returned to his taijutsu training. Maito Gai turned to see what his rival was observing only to smile and give his thumbs up to Kakashi. "Oi Kakashi, Naruto sure is filled with the fire of youth, he and student Lee are the same" – Smiled Gai as he saw Naruto's punches and kicks connect to the log repeatedly. Kakashi for his part thought about teasing the green jounin, but he couldn't fault but agree with his old friend. So, unlike any other precedent, Kakashi smiled and nodded. The green beast was astonished with the normal reply and wondered what was wrong with his once hip rival. However, before he could answer, Kakashi filled in the blanks. "Naruto has a kin sense of never giving up and he will use that to become stronger. He doesn't need me as his sensei for that" – Mumbled Kakashi.
Gai, for his part, understood what happened. He heard about what happened from his student Neji and thought about how unyouthful the Uchiha was for trying to kill his teammate with the technique Kakashi taught him. "Did he learn that stance all by himself Kakashi?" – Asked Gai, clearly concerned for his rival's supposed lack of teaching skills. However, to his relieve, Kakashi nodded his head in the negative and explained that he selected some books for Naruto to read while he was recuperating in the hospital, but Kakashi already knew where his rival wanted to go. "I know what you're trying to do Gai and I thank you for that, but all I ever did was show him the books to read, he was the one who draw the conclusions and you can see now how good he is on his own" - Whispered Kakashi to which Gai nodded and looked at Naruto once again who in turn was using both his fists to pound the log mercilessly and he remembered his student Lee doing the exact same thing.
"You know what Kakashi; I think you should go there and train him. He'll be with Jiraya for a long time and maybe, you can at least help him with one technique. Well, I'm off to run some laps around Konoha, Yosh" – Screamed Gai before vanishing and leaving Kakashi alone to watch Naruto. He thought about what Gai said and wondered if really Naruto would be resentful to him now wanting to be a sensei to him. It's not that Naruto ever showed resentment at the jounin, so what was he thinking that the blond would blame him. Sighing in dismay, Kakashi vanished a few meters away, so that he could approach the blond, by walking casually.
===In Tsunade's office===
After trying to search for a little while, Jiraya was called by Tsunade and now both of them began talking. The pervert explained about what he would be training Naruto in and how he would be power up his spirit and resolve enough to combat the kyuubi within his stomach. Tsunade nodded, but still was reluctant to let the blond go. She didn't see the need to leave the village for training all that much but Jiraya was insistent saying that the Akatsuki would come for him when he's vulnerable, hence why they need to stay on constant move. Tsunade also expressed her concerns about the blond being too far behind his peers in terms of rank and that maybe, he could go after the next chunnin exams.
"Tsunade, that kid has potential to come back as jounin level, you know that. With his chakra potential and a few powerful techniques, there is no way he wouldn't be able to do the chunnin exams once we come back. He is already fixing some minor issues that need to be fixed; it's just a matter of time until we'll begin elemental manipulation. I can tell you, for sure; that he is going to become as good as his father was, if not better. He learned the rasengan in only a month, that's got to be saying something" – Explained Jiraya to which Tsunade sighed and zipped some tea. "Ok, he can go. But if I hear that you neglected him training for doing perverted activities, I'll make sure to beat you all the way to Iwa, do you understand" – Threatened Tsunade, earning a nod a gulp from the pervert. "Now, you're not going to search for him?" – Asked the hokage, looking at some scrolls, before seeing the pervert shrugging his shoulders, saying that when the blond was ready, he would appear to him, earning a nod from Tsunade.
===With Naruto===
Back with Naruto, he was just finishing beating the log mercilessly when he heard steps coming his way. He didn't want it to be Jiraya since he wanted to finish the three techniques before leaving, but it was already night time and still one was left. The sound of the steps was increasing, until the figure finally revealed himself as Kakashi smiling. "Hey Naruto, what are you up to?" – Asked the silver haired jounin. Naruto for his part smiled at seeing the man and said that he was practicing the taijutsu and three jutsus he learned from the book. The moon was already up the sky and Kakashi was just watching Naruto pummel the log once more, until he came to a halt and looked to his beated hands. He already had the chakra necessary to attempt the last jutsu, so he stopped and summoned one shadow clone, before Kakashi stopped him.
"Naruto, I think I know what technique you're trying to do, but with the clone so close, you could get caught in the explosion, send him a couple steps further and pump as much chakra as you can in one go, that's the secret of the Daibakuha" – Taught Kakashi to which Naruto nodded and looked as the clone began walking a few steps before stopping and looking to the real one who in turn, focused on the ram seal and immediately molded as much chakra as possible in one go. The clone was suddenly enveloped in a big explosion, thus completing the technique. Of course, Naruto's explosion wasn't as big as Itachi was, but it would certainly cause damage to the enemy. Kakashi smiled upon seeing that Naruto already managed to master two of the jutsus that he set for the blond. Not to mention that the genin's taijutsu was now up to low chunnin level.
Looking back at Naruto, Kakashi saw that he was smiling, but the smile was different. This smile was a satisfied one, one that someone wears it upon being able to overcome an obstacle, after failing a few times before. Upon asking, though, Naruto said that for a long time, he thought he was doing fine as a shinobi, but now he saw that he was just being delusional about his abilities. "Listen Naruto, seeing as you'll be gone for a long time, how about I buy you some ramen" – Invited Kakashi, earning a nod from Naruto.
Some minutes later, teacher and student each took a sit at the ramen stand and placed their respective orders. As they waited, Kakashi asked about how it was to travel and train with the sannin. Naruto thought about it for a while, but in the end, he didn't have much to say, other than the fact that the man would only teach him one time and leave him to practice. Naruto told him about the three stages of the rasengan and how it was, initially, weird to practice with water balloons and rubber balls. "I just hope that this time, he won't be focusing so much on peeping at girls all the time" – Complained Naruto to which Kakashi smiled and nodded, before seeing their orders being placed in front of them. They ate the meal quietly while savoring the delicious noodles.
For a while, no one talked, no one opened their mouth to speak, only to eat. When that was finished, Kakashi extended his dish so that the old man Teuchi could pick up, before turning and addressing Naruto. "Naruto, I'd like to say I'm sorry to you" – Said Kakashi, coming forward with the subject earning a much surprised look from his student who in turn asked about what he was sorry about. "Ever since team 7 was formed, I didn't give the proper attention I should've done to the team, you specially. At the chunnin exams, I ended up training someone who didn't need help and left you under the care of Ebisu. At the hospital, when you asked me about your flaws, I felt ashamed, simply because as your jounin sensei, I shouldn't be the one listing them, but rather working with you towards correcting them. I know that I wasn't the best sensei and for that I seriously apologize" – Whispered Kakashi that last part, before Naruto began looking at his sensei wondering what this all about. Was this guilt? Was this guilt for the Uchiha doing what he did? Naruto didn't forget that Sasuke tried to kill him with the technique Kakashi taught him, so it was really guilt over what he did and Kakashi felt responsible for what happened.
"Sensei, you don't need to apologize. No one could've known that Sasuke would eventually flee for power. Also, about my so called flaws, what good is the sensei when the student doesn't understand what needs to be done? Those books you picked up for me helped understand what needed to be changed in my abilities and for that I thank you. Now, not only I improved my taijutsu, but also just added three jutsus to use out there, thanks to you, once more" – Explained Naruto, but Kakashi was still looking down, when suddenly, he remembered hearing Naruto saying that he added three jutsus. "Naruto, you were able to master the three jutsus?" – Asked Kakashi, incredulously, before Naruto nodded and finished up the last string of noodles. "How many can you multiple the shurikens?" – Asked Kakashi once again.
"I managed 10 clones the last time, though with more chakra, the numbers can double" – Explained Naruto, earning a nod from Kakashi and a thought that maybe, Naruto was a genius in hiding. Furthermore, Kakashi asked some more questions about the techniques and the taijutsu to which Naruto responded, before the blond said his goodbye since he was supposed to be packing his things for the trip tomorrow. Kakashi eyed the blond leaving and wondered how much better Naruto would be if Kakashi found out earlier about the blond's quick learning.
When he turned to walk away, he stopped for a while, before addressing the shadow to simply come out and talk to him. "Ah Kakashi, I didn't want to intrude in student/teacher conversation, but Tsunade-sama wants to talk to you immediately" – Said the shadow, before leaving.
Once Kakashi arrived, Tsunade asked about Naruto's whereabouts. Kakashi said that he went to his apartment after training the whole day. According to Kakashi, Naruto managed to improve his taijutsu form and also the three jutsus that the book contained, aside from the elemental ones. Jiraya was there as well, so you could imagine his surprise upon seeing that the blond was also training ninjutsu. After hearing Kakashi's statement, Tsunade nodded and took a scroll next to her. "Kakashi, tomorrow you'll part along with Genma and Raidou to a mission near Suna. The Kazekage asked for help in pursuing a missing-nin who managed to infiltrate the village, kill some of their ninjas and steal some important documents. Sabaku no Temari will be joining your group to arrest the man and retrieve the documents. Be ready to leave at 10am tomorrow" – Ordered Tsunade, earning a nod from Kakashi before vanishing.
===Inside Naruto's place===
After already packing everything that he needed for the trip, plus some extra money to purchase some new clothing, Naruto was now just taking one last look at his place, before going to sleep. As to his clothes, he remembered some people saying ill about his clothes choice because they didn't offer him the necessary stealth that a ninja must have. So, Naruto made a mental note that the second he spots a place that sells ninja clothing; he would enter the place and change everything. Upon lying on the bed, Naruto noticed the kunai he leaves right next to him, in case someone decides to break in and remembered that one last exercise was a due. The chakra control exercise was something he despised entirely. The tree walking one was, easily, the most unnerving one he ever had to do. After all, who in their sane consciousness, would want to fall on their head so many times? Of course, Naruto didn't need to fall on his head, simply because upon failing, he could simply flip his body and fall safely on his feet.
The water walking one was, also, a pain in the ass. Naruto remembered that he kept falling on that hot water so many times; he didn't know he was wet from the water or he was sweating from the heat. Now, this third one could shape to be just as troublesome as the two other, if not more. Maybe, Naruto would use more chakra and send the kunai flying directly at him.
Just as he took the kunai, he thought better and returned it to the proper place. His chakra system took a heavy blow today and he wanted nothing more than simply sleep for a while. It wasn't long until his mind started playing tricks on him, which meant that, just like every night he fell asleep, he was having a nightmare. Usually, it was just memories of people looking at him with disdain and anger, nothing that he couldn't handle in time, thus didn't bother his sleep. However, this one was different, or at least started out differently. He was inside a dark room, where inside he couldn't say a thing except for a bed that was illuminated. As he walked closer, he noticed that a boy closer to his age was there sleeping with his face looking up. Upon approaching, the person's identity was plainly visible to Naruto. The cursed seal on his neck was glowing with intensity, but instead of reaching Sasuke to see if he was alright, Naruto just stood there impassively. Suddenly, Orochimaru appeared next to Sasuke and extend two white snakes around Sasuke's body slowly, taking possession of his body.
Orochimaru stopped for a while and watched Naruto to see if he would do something to stop the snake-face, but Naruto just remained there stoically, watching as Orochimaru managed to complete his possession of the sharingan, before transforming into a monster and began his havoc and mayhem. Suddenly, in front of Naruto, appeared Sasuke once again looking at him, demanding answers about why Naruto let Orochimaru take over his body. The answer, though, was an easy one to make. "Clearly you didn't expect me to help you after you tried to kill me didn't you, traitor?" – Asked Naruto before seeing Sasuke's spirit leaving, while looking at the blond's eyes, without uttering a single word in response. After Sasuke was gone, Naruto turned to look at Orochimaru who in turn was looking at him while laughing evilly, before preparing a rasengan in his right hand and charged Orochimaru before slamming the rasengan right between his eyes.
The next scene was Naruto's room as he opened his eyes to administer what he just pictured inside his mind. He just saw Orochimaru completing his ambition before Naruto was able to land a rasengan between his eyes. What the dream mean? Of course, Naruto didn't care much for Sasuke, but he wouldn't let Orochimaru do what he intends to do, simply because he is an enemy of the village and therefore, cannot let him live. So, maybe the dream was what the future could entail in case Orochimaru manages to take possession of Sasuke's sharingan? Closing his eyes once more, he fell asleep with those thoughts in mind and only one conclusion. He would protect the village even if it costs his life to do so.
===Day of Departure===
After saying goodbye to his friends, he and Jiraya marched together towards the main gate, therefore beginning their adventure across the elemental countries. After the last step, Naruto stopped and turned to look at the Hokage Monument, especially at the Forth Hokage's head. "I'll come back stronger and protect the village just like you did…with your life…that's a promise" – Screamed Naruto to no one, until Jiraya screamed for him to hurry up or else he would leave without him.