Arc One: Chapter Two: Teams and The New Shōgun
Naruto reappeared in his home, in which he unsealed some food, and ate quietly. He held Senbonzakura up, and she materialized in front of him. She was smirking.
Naruto was weary of her smirk. He could sense the trouble he was going to be in later.
(There's a disturbance in the Force...) he thought.
'Little Naruto, we're going to be doing some training. You need to be able to wield my power.' she said. 'So...After you're finished eating, we're going to the Team 7 training grounds. You will be cursing me in a while, but you will be stronger than you are now.' she finished.
Naruto was thoughtful. "How long will the training be until I can completely wield your power?"
She grinned. 'Well, from the way I'm going to be training you, you should be able to use my strength in about half a year.' she informed the boy.
Naruto sighed, before getting slapped in the head. "Lady Senbonzakura, can you please stop slapping me on the head? He asked.
She shook her head no. 'As soon as you quit sighing. You're in front of a lady!'
He was about to sigh, but stopped himself.
'Good.' she smirked.
Naruto finished the last of his onigiri. "I'm ready Lady Senbonzakura. What are we going to do first?" he asked.
She gave him an insane grin, which unnerved the boy. 'Well Naruto, we're going to do some exercises, ones to strengthen your body and mind. Then for the next three months, we're going to build your speed, since you will be using Jinton. Then we will be teaching you about poisons, all different kinds, from paralyzing poisons to ones to put people to a death-like state, to lethal ones that melt through any surface. Finally, for the last couple of months, we will be training you for using my Bankai form.' Senbonzakura explained.
Naruto was curious. "What is Bankai?"
She gave a happy smile, and she got excited. 'Bankai is the second release for my Zanpakutō form. You remember when we killed Mizuki, and I said, Chire Senbonzakura, well, that was my first release. My Bankai form is about ten times as powerful. When we get close to the time to begin your Bankai training, I'll tell you more about it.'
Naruto was in awe. "Kami..." was all he could say.
She nodded. 'Kami indeed. Well, let's go out in the training grounds.'
They both disappeared in the usual swirl of cherry blossoms. They arrived at the Team 7 Training grounds. Then Senbonzakura started going into 'lecture mode'.
'Ok...This is what we're going to do. First I want you to run three laps around the entire training grounds. Then, I when you are done, I will give you leg weights. You will not take them off, until I say so. They will build your speed and endurance. That will be it for tonight.'
Naruto set off around the huge training grounds in a light sprint. While he was on the first lap, he thought about how much his life changed. His life went from terrible to great by a huge amount of luck, and a blessing from Kami herself. He life still wasn't all that good, but it was a big step up. It was all because of Senbonzakura. He would do anything to obtain the peace she spoke of.
He finished two laps without even noticing it. His stamina was holding out, and he barely even had a bead of sweat on him. As he finished the final lap, he noticed that he was done. He saw Senbonzakura standing, waiting for him to finish.
'Good job Naruto. Now, when we're going back home, I want you to drop by the Shinobi store, and get some arm and leg weights. You will wear them at all times, until you are learning to obtain Bankai. Then you will not need to wear them anymore. And you will be gradually adding more to your limbs.' she told him.
Naruto did as asked of him, and went by the shinobi outfitting store. He bought three sets of weights. One set was a set of 50 pounds, which he would be starting off with. The second was a set of 150 pounds, and the final set was 300 pounds on each body part.
He paid for the weights, and went to his compound. He put on the set of 50, and asked Senbonzakura to go back into her Zanpakutō form. She said no, because she wanted to help him from the outside, however, she made a sturdy katana out of her cherry blossoms. He warmed up, and began getting used to 50 extra pounds on his body, and took her out of her sheath. He went outside, and trained his body.
'Naruto, you will not be swinging like a madman. You will have to have a form, one that is quick and precise. So, I will add learning a person's anatomy to our training regiment. For now, I want you to try to defend.' the woman instructed. She made another sword out of the blossoms, and charged him. Naruto couldn't even dodge most of them, but they only left shallow cuts on him. 'Dodge, or else I will stop being merciful!' she warned.
Naruto tried to dodge, but she was insanely fast! Would he be this fast when his training was over? He got in a lucky upwards block, but he wished he hadn't. As soon as he blocked, he caught a foot to his gut. He folded up, and again wished he hadn't. She struck him in the back with an open palm, then the butt of the Zanpakutō. 'You can do better than that! How can you find peace by being weak-willed? I'll answer the question. You can't! You have to be strong to find that peace. You will be fighting a lot to have peace in the end. You will have to kill to protect your loved ones! Now DEFEND!' she yelled.
Her words struck something deep inside of the boy. All of his life, he was weak. Everyone always ridiculed him for being a "dobe". He always wanted to be stronger, and now he had the chance to be exactly that. And he wouldn't ever give it up! Naruto's resolve increased tenfold. He roared. "Prepare yourself!" he roared loudly. He disappeared...
He parried her strike, and went on the offensive. He sped up almost as quick as she was. He slashed about twenty times, but to anyone watching, it looked like five. Senbonzakura was impressed. She was also very intrigued.
'He shouldn't be this fast, especially with 50 pounds on his limbs...I wonder...' she thought.
Naruto kept striking, and finally cut her, albeit shallow, but that only made her speed up her thrusts and parries. She blocked one strike with her hilt, and spun around and kicked him in his chest, and went back on the offensive.
Naruto's legs buckled in surprise. He didn't expect her to pull something like that. They were about 10 feet away from each other.
Naruto, calm with the sheath in his right hand, and the katana in the left. He was staring her down.
Senbonzakura, was in the opposite stance. Her sheath was in the left hand, and the katana was in the right. She had a thin smile on her face. There was a leaf floating down, and it would be the signal for the finishing strike.
As the leaf fell down, they exploded.
Nine feet...
'Give up Little Naruto.' she said .
Eight Feet...
"Never! I won't back down!" he shouted.
Seven Feet...
'Very well...' she taunted, as she sped up.
Five Feet...
Naruto sped up as well, turning into a blur. "You ready?" he asked.
Four Feet...
'Do you really have to ask?' she replied calmly.
Three Feet...
"I guess not...Here I come!" he shouted.
Two Feet...
'It's over Naruto...'
One Foot...
'Hyaaaaaaa!/Hyaaaaaa!"
CLANG!
The two katanas clashed against each other. They jumped back, and quickly were back at each other's throats. Naruto growled, and gripped the katana in the reverse position, and screamed, "Jinton: Kuikkurirīsu – Quick Release. Naruto blurred away multiple times, and tried to strike her. If not for millennia of experience, Senbonzakura would have been hard-pressed to defend, but alas, it was child's play to her. She matched his strikes, and started speeding up her strikes, and cut his torso multiple times.
She caught him by his belt with one hand, and dropped him. The spar was over.
'Good try Little Naruto. However, your form is terrible. We will have to rectify that as soon as possible. I was surprised by that Jinton jutsu though. That would have hurt anyone else. Now, let's go home, you need your rest for the test tomorrow...' she said, as she grabbed the now sleeping Naruto, and disappeared into the night.
Naruto woke up in the morning, with his torso bandaged. He groaned, as he remembered what transpired last night. "Lady Senbonzakura..." he whispered.
She came in the room. She asked him, 'Are you ok, little one?'
He nodded. He spoke after a minute of silence. "Though it feels like I was put in a blender. Thanks for sparring with me..." he said gratefully. Even though he went through the ringer, he was glad to be training with her.
'It's no problem. I also told you that you never have to thank me. I'll always be here for you.'
He nodded, and he slowly tried to get out of bed, but to no avail. "AHHHH!" he exclaimed, finding that walking would be very hard for him right now.
Senbonzakura sighed, and walked to him, and wrapped one around him, and wrapped one of his around her. 'You owe me...' she muttered. She heard, "Hai Lady Senbonzakura." She, along with Naruto, disappeared into blossoms, and reappeared at the training ground, just in time.
Sakura yelled, "Naruto-baka, why are you late? If we would've failed because of you..." she threatened, well attempted. She and Sasuke saw the tall woman carrying Naruto, and his bandages. "Who the hell is this?" she asked rather rudely.
Naruto, tired as hell, still had the energy to defend her. "Shut up," he growled. "Show some respect!"
Sakura turned up her head, and she saw Kakashi sitting on a tree branch.
He shunshined to the ground, and began to speak. "Well, now that you're all here, we can begin the test." he pulled out two bells. "Your rest is to get a bell. Whoever doesn't have one by the time the alarm rings, will be forced to watch the others eat. You have one minute to prepare yourselves!" he said.
Naruto stood up on his two feet. "I can manage Lady Senbonzakura. I'll need you in your primary form, if you will."
She nodded, and turned into cherry blossoms, and went back into Zanpakutō form, which surprised his teammates and sensei.
(What the hell was that?) the three of them thought.
Naruto unsheathed Senbonzakura, and stood firm. The other two shook their thoughts out of their heads, and looked at their sensei.
Kakashi looked them over, and said, "The exam begins...NOW!"
He poofed out of existence, and two of the three Genin hopefuls hid away, secretly watching Naruto.
Kakashi looked impassive, which was a look that Naruto matched perfectly. He drawled, "You're quite weird Naruto."
Naruto shook his head. Naruto replied, "Not weird, just different, now you may want to be on guard."
Kakashi heard the warning, and smirked. "And why would I do that? You couldn't wish to hurt me."
The bandaged blond scowled, and did some handsigns. " Jinton: Kuikkurirīsu – Quick Release"
He blurred away, and struck quickly.
CLANG!
Senbonzakura clashed against two kunai. The two kunai cracked under the pressure. Kakashi's eyes were wide. "That jutsu...Interesting."
In the bushes, Sasuke and Sakura were watching. Sasuke, to contrary belief, was actually a modest person. Like Naruto, he wore a mask to protect his true feelings. (That jutsu was interesting, it made him move at the speed of sound!)
Sakura scowled. (Impossible! He shouldn't be this powerful. I will have to report this to Danzo-sama...) she thought.
Naruto disappeared as soon as they jumped back for a breather.
Sakura jumped in. She pulled out a pair of brass knuckles, and went on the offensive. Kakashi dodged the blows, but she got in a couple of hits in. She infused her weapons with Doton chakra, which made the hits twice as hard.
Kakashi was dodging, while thinking, "Damn it! It seems as if all three of my potential student's files were sabotaged.) He just pulled out a tanto, and blocked all of the hits, and barely cut her tendons, rendering her useless...
She groaned, and couldn't even more her legs. She was about to fall, but Sasuke caught her, and ran off, and Naruto covered them.
(So...They understand the objective...)
Five Minutes Earlier
Naruto went searching for his teammates. Senbonzakura was talking to him while he went on with the search.
'Little one, I think I understand the point of this useless test...' she told him.
Naruto sighed. "And what would that be Lady?"
She didn't answer him, but she told him, 'I'll tell you once you find your teammates.'
He nodded, and went to find Sasuke.
He found Sasuke watching Sakura challenge their soon-to-be sensei. Sasuke heard the leaves crumble under someone's feet, and he saw Naruto. "What do you want Uzumaki?"
He sighed. He then realized what the objective. 'See? You didn't even need me to tell you...I'm so proud.' she told him. Naruto ignored it for the time being. "We need to team up to pass..." he said.
Sasuke sighed. "I suspected it would be that reason. I came to the conclusion that teamwork could be the answer, but look at Sakura. She's actually doing good. How are we going to get her to help us?" he asked softly.
Naruto and Senbonzakura thought about it. "When she looks like she needs help, you will get her, and get out as fast as you can. I will create a distraction."
Regular Time
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were alone. "Uchiha, Uzumaki, what do the hell do you need? I was doing just fine." Sakura asked, shocking the both of them. She never acted like this.
Naruto shrugged. "Well I guess I just wanted to help you pass. We need to work together...And I got a plan..." he said deviously. 'Ooh Naruto, that is horrible! Not even he deserves that...' his partner thought.
Sakura jumped out in the open.
"Didn't you learn your lesson the hard way?" he taunted.
It almost worked, before she remembered the plan. (This better work for BOTH their sakes, or there will be hell to pay!) she ranted in her head. She saw Kakashi reading his Icha Icha smut, and she smirked. She ran at her fastest, and feinted like she was going for the bells, and grabbed the book.
The jounin looked murderous. "Give. Me. My. Icha Icha!" he ground out.
She taunted back, "You'd have to pry it from my cold, dead hands Sensei."
He didn't even notice Naruto and Sasuke preparing their separate jutsu.
"Katon: Karyudan no Jutsu! – Fire Dragon Missile Jutsu" he shouted.
A huge dragon was targeting the silver haired jounin, so he attempted to prepare a jutsu on his own, but he saw Naruto doing one as well. "Dokuton: Dokukiri! – Poison Mist" he said calmly, as the mist combined with the dragon.
Kakashi had to actually try to get out of the situation he got himself in. He did, just out of experience.
(Phew, those two jutsu could have killed me...At least I'm alive...) he thought happily. "Well, I guess you understand the objective of the test, so would any of you mind telling me what it was?"
They looked at each other before Sakura answered. "Teamwork. There's no freaking way a mere genin could defeat you, a Jounin." she said, then looked away.
The other two nodded.
Kakashi eye-smiled. "Great! And you passed, so be here at 7 sharp! Now Sakura, can I have my book please?" he asked sweetly.
She threw it to him, and turned away, to walk home. Kakashi shouted, "Ja Ne!" and left in a cloud of smoke.
Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other. "Haruno-san was acting quite..."
"Weird?" Sasuke finished.
Naruto nodded, "Hai...But it doesn't concern me, as long as her new behavior doesn't drag me down, she can act like she has three heads for all I care."
Sasuke didn't say anything else, just left to go home to think. Naruto did as well, and if they were paying attention, they would have noticed a blond haired teenager in the trees, smiling...
(So that's the one that has been selected to be the newest Shogun? Interesting...Naruto Uzumaki, you will be mine...) the mysterious woman thought, still smiling, as she retracted into the darkness...