Thank you all for your reviews, for a side story, it got quite the nice amount of attention already.
Responding to every review would be too much, so I'll mention some that asks something important.
*KHARAKI_TAKAN - we already talked about this, but so that the others would know : Yes, Naruto knew about the Kyuubi ever since the Mizuki incident, however, in the canon, his first actual meeting with Kyuubi took place during his training with Jiraiya, so if I made him meet Kyuubi this soon, of course he wouldn't know where he ended up. The rest of the review... we'll see :D. About the water walking - Naruto simply forgot about it and I want him to learn things in time... he'll get to water-walking. I'll explain what happened to Naruto in past sometime in the future, when it'll become relevant.
*mugetsudude - glad you decided to read it ;). I already changed the summary, thanks for pointing that out. While writing the second chapter, I decided what pairings I'll do soo... you'll see. For now, Naruto remains my side story.
*saltyuchiha - I always welcome criticism so I get your skepticism. However, the seal isn't as simple or convinient, I'll explain in later chapters. Naruto is behaving OOC, but I'll try to write him as how he would be in canon, if he was smart... I read too much fics, where he suddenly started to curse like an old man, behave psychotic or superior and worst of all, some fics where while being a 12 years old he starts fucking other 12 years old girls. That is disgusting.
Don't worry about Naruto being overpowered too soon. Just because his IQ rose from an idiot to an average person, he's not suddenly strong. He has to train and I'll give him free only small things.
Many thanks goes to TheVastEmptiness - thank you for beta ;)
Chapter 2 – How to train your shinobi
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
"Normal speech"
'Inner speech/thoughts'
'Kyuubi/Tailed beast speech'
xxx
When Naruto woke up the following morning, he sported a small smile on his face.
'This is it. It's the beginning of the new Naruto. Today marks the day when I'm leaving the old Naruto behind... just you wait Konoha... number one unpredictable ninja will show you just what he can do.'
The sleep in his own bed did him wonders and he was feeling rested and fresh.
Eager to explore the new possibilities.
He quickly changed into his orange jumpsuit and prepared a light breakfast for himself.
While he was eating in the kitchen, his mind was running through many things he wanted to try and learn.
However, with his new... 'ability' to think clearly, he also realized that even with his army of clones, becoming a ninja on par with Kakashi, or Hokage, was still a long and painful road.
Yes, he was in possession of a cheat in form of Kage Bunshin, but since he actually paid attention to what Kyuubi told him, he knew that he couldn't overuse the technique.
Being the forbidden jutsu, it had its drawbacks and the increased mental stress was the worst thing for Naruto right now.
Just over a week ago, his brain was working on low capacity and even if Kyuubi broke the seal, it would take some time for his brain to adapt and overloading it with information influx from his clones would be suicide.
No, he needed to heed Kyuubi's words and take things slowly.
'I guess for now I'll focus on the things I need most.'
Slurping the rest of the noodles, he propped his head on his hand and concentrated on the most important thing.
'Where the hell should I train?'
Naruto wanted to keep his new training regimen a secret from the rest of his peers... from the rest of the Konoha.
His new skills were meant to be a surprise, so training at the usual spot was out of the question.
'What is a place that nobody goes near... that is remote enough... and has enough room for me and my clones to train...'
A small light bulb lit up above his head.
He punched the palm of his left hand with his right fist.
"Of course, the Forest of Death." His grin slowly faded, when he realized what he said.
Shrugging, he finished his meal and cleaned the table.
'Well, I can't be scared if I want to become a real shinobi.'
With that thought, he emerged from his small apartment, heading towards the abandoned forest.
...
Outskirts of the Forest of death
As he was nearing his destination, Naruto thought of one thing.
The Forest of Death could very well serve as a dangerous form of survival training, aside from practicing jutsu, as there was probably only a handful of people that would willingly go into the forest.
'...but maybe later. Right now, it would be a stupid thing to do. I'm still barely a Genin level ninja, even if I have Kyuubi in my belly. It'd be pointlessly dangerous. Also... my clones would get dispelled too quickly, they don't possess high durability...'
After a few more minutes, wandering through the outer part of the place, he found a small clearing just before the fence that was surrounding the Forest of Death; preventing civilians from entering it by accident.
Inspecting the place, he repeatedly nodded to himself, smiling lightly.
'Yep, this'll do.'
Just as he went to create his clones to start training, he heard a familiar, quiet noise and, with wide eyes, he rolled to the ground, barely dodging a kunai that flew by him.
"Who's there?!" He yelled after standing back up, holding his own kunai in defense.
'So much for a remote place...'
He gulped when he felt a cold steel of a kunai pressed against his neck and a voice from behind him.
"Well, well, well... what do we have here? A brat with deliciously smelling blood... hmm, why are you here kid? Don't you know why this place got its name 'Forest of Death'?" A young sounding feminine voice hissed quietly into his ear.
Shivering slightly from the feel of breath on his skin, Naruto scoffed, trying to sound brave.
"Yeah... I know what this place is, I've been here before."
An amused smirk came from behind him, as the kunai slowly trailed his vein.
"Oh... do tell, why would a kid end up in here?"
Naruto clenched his fist, apparently recalling something not pleasant.
"What's the better place to run to when villagers are trying to kill you? It's just the right place for a 'demon', right? You can also drop that kunai, I've been threatened too much to be scared by it." He replied snidely and felt the hand with a kunai slowly drop before a laughter filled his ear.
"Bwahaha, you almost got me kid! For a second there, I almost believed you."
The blonde sighed in resignation.
"Too cliché?"
"Nah, you just suck at acting. When you lie, your brow cutely creases. However, you're 'that' kid so you probably met with some sort of nasty reactions from the idiots in the village."
Naruto snorted and turned around to see a young kunoichi, staring at him with a small frown.
She was most likely a woman in her twenties with purple hair tied into a short, spiky, fanned-ponytail. Naruto had to avoid looking at her torso in embarrassment, as she was wearing only a mesh shirt with an overcoat on it, barely covering her developed bust and an orange mini-skirt.
Registering what she said, he tilted his head.
"That kid? So you know about the... about my ... tenant?" He asked before he could stop himself.
She mirrored his reaction and snorted loudly while shaking her head.
"Of course I know. Most of the Jōnin and even Chūnin know about 'it'."
A slightly shocking revelation forced Naruto to sigh loudly.
"Pff... and it's supposed to be a secret... yeah, right." He mumbled, irritated.
"So... then you probably know my name, Uzumaki Naruto, but who are you?" He continued.
The woman grinned widely and pointed at herself.
"Me? I'm Mitarashi Anko, the sexy Torture and Interrogation kunoichi, the devilish Tokubetsu Jonin of Konoha and one of the best kunoichi of this village!" She yelled with a wink.
"..."
Naruto sweatdropped at her, forcing her to pout with crossed arms.
"Uhm... okay... Mitarashi-san... I don't mean to be rude, but I've already wasted too much time as it is so... you know. Could you leave now?" He asked with a twitching eye.
She gasped theatrically and resolutely shook her head.
"What, you don't enjoy my company? I'm hurt... but if you'll call me Mitarashi-san again, you'll be the one that's going to be hurt." Anko stated with a threatening voice, but still grinning.
'Oh come on... she's so annoying.' Naruto whined in his mind.
"If you want me to call you Mitarashi-sama, then forget it." He grimaced at her.
"Nah, Anko is enough."
"Anko-san then."
Sighing, she raised one eyebrow and folded her hands under her breasts, unconsciously raising them a bit.
"So, what are you doing here kid? This really isn't a place for a Genin... and I assume you are a Genin with that forehead protector you're wearing."
Contemplating about revealing his intentions to train here, Naruto went silent for a moment. However, finding nothing bad about it, he shrugged.
"Yeah, I'm a Genin and I came here because I was looking for a nice, remote place to train myself. Before you ask, no, I don't want to train with the rest of my team, as we barely trained at all until now."
Anko raised her second eyebrow.
"You're telling me that your Jonin-sensei hasn't taught you anything? He hasn't trained you? Who's your sensei?" She asked in disbelief.
"Well, he taught us tree-walking. His name is Hatake Kakashi." Naruto retorted and watched in confusion when the kunoichi in front of him started to laugh.
She quickly raised her hand and wiped a small tear from the corner of her eye.
"Oh, sorry about that... but... damn, you got some bad luck. Getting Kakashi... no wonder you want to train..."
Waiting for her laughing fit to end, Naruto kicked the dirt in irritation.
'Giving me those gravity seals and some advice just saved you from me agreeing with her, Kakashi-sensei...'
"Okay, I get it kid... you know what? Since I know Kakashi's reputation, I'll give you a bit of free advice... if you want." Anko offered him after finally calming down.
'If what I hear is true, the kid needs a little help... ah, I already see him doubting me... thanks to those morons in the village, he must have been ostracized for a long time... yeah, I know how that feels kid...' She thought grimly, but outwardly, she kept a happy expression.
Naruto squinted his eyes.
Not counting Hokage, Iruka and Kakashi, nobody had ever given him advice before. Not to mention voluntarily.
That's why he was suspicious.
Anko let him stare at her, still grinning at him.
'Well, she is a Jonin, maybe she can actually help... aw, what the hell, I have nothing to lose here.' Naruto thought about it and, after a moment, he nodded.
Anko's smile widened further.
"Good for you, kid."
With that, she started to circle him, analyzing every detail on his attire, nodding to herself.
It took Naruto by surprise, as he was baffled by her actions.
"Uhm, what are you doing?" He asked, confused.
Whistling quietly, she nodded once again.
"I'm observing. If you're willing to train here, with Forest of Death behind your ass, it means that you're at least serious with your training and that's a good thing. However, if you want to be also taken seriously, you need to change your clothes. Orange is like screaming at your enemies at the top of your lungs 'come and kill me'. It does have a nice amount of pockets and looks comfortable, but a respectable ninja should wear something different." Anko explained.
Naruto pointed at her and asked with a small hint of amusement in his voice.
"And your clothes are good for a shinobi?"
With a small chuckle, Anko raised her finger and wagged it at him.
"For a shinobi? Definitely not. For a kunoichi? Absolutely."
"Eh?"
Seeing his confusion, Anko spun around, revealing the lightly transparent mesh shirt and forcing Naruto to look elsewhere.
"This is the answer." Anko stated.
"Uhm... your clothes are good for a kunoichi, because your boobs are showing?" Naruto blurted out without thinking and then blushed after realizing what he said.
It only widened Anko's grin.
"Close enough, kid. What did you do when I spun myself? You averted your gaze, which is by the way cute of you, but if you were my enemy and you'd done the same, you'd already be dead."
"So... a diversion?" Naruto asked, looking at the ground with pink cheeks.
"Yes, partly. However, something like this can't affect more skilled shinobi. But these clothes, or even showing my body... it's good for seduction and that sometimes comes in handy, when your mission requires for you to get close to your target. A civilian target." Anko replied honestly.
That answer left Naruto with bad taste in his mouth when he realized that in the future, his female peers, like Sakura or Ino, who was Sakura's best friend, would maybe need to seduce their targets. Anko noticed his disgusted grimace and waved her hand.
"Don't think about it, kid. When you'll be older, you'll be able to think about it more clearly... but right now, time for my advice. Get rid of your orange clothes and get the following... " She trailed off when an amused smirk played on her lips.
"... get yourself a standard Konoha-nin uniform, meaning dark blue or black pants and a mesh shirt with a suit in corresponding colors, flak jacket on top of it and blue or black sandals. Can you afford it?" She continued and, after listing all of the items, she looked expectantly at Naruto, who was deep in thought.
'Can I afford it? Yeah, just tell the store-owners to offer me the same price they offer the rest of the Konoha shinobi and I'm good. They are as mean as the instructors in Academy. If only I could send someone else to do... the... shopping...wait... Academy, someone else...' A foxy grin appeared on his face.
'That's it! I can use Henge for any kind of shopping! Now that my chakra control is better, I'm confident I can hold it until I'm done with the shopping... heh.'
He looked up at Anko, who was still watching him and frowned.
"Not to be a smarty-pants but aren't such colors as bad as my orange jumpsuit? I mean, I will still be visible in a forest or in a similar environment."
Anko shrugged.
"Maybe, but other shinobi will respect you more if you wear clothes like the others and not this excuse for clothes. No offense."
"None taken."
Waiting for him to nod, she tilted her head until he grinned.
"You're probably right. I think I'll manage. Thanks, Anko-san."
"Yeah, yeah, no biggie." She exclaimed, rubbing her head in embarrassment.
Being the former student of Orochimaru, one of the three legendary Sanin that betrayed his village, Anko wasn't used to being thanked just as Naruto wasn't used to getting free advice. Winking at the Genin, she flared her chakra and disappeared in a Shunshin. Naruto blinked at the sudden smoke in front of him and whistled quietly.
"Damn, I need to learn that too."
After walking to the center of the clearing, he molded the needed chakra for his signature jutsu.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu." He said and, with a popping sound, a hundred Naruto clones appeared, filling his new training area.
Naruto turned to his clones that were calmly awaiting his orders and called out to them.
"Okay guys, here's how it's going to go. I need to go buy new clothes and, after that, our team will probably go do some D-rank mission. In the meantime, you will do the following."
Pointing to ten closest clones, he nodded to them.
"You ten will Henge into some random Konoha shinobi, create your own design, it doesn't matter how it'll look but it should be plain so that you would be forgettable. I want you to go to the Konoha Library, where you'll split up. I have two elemental affinities, Wind and Earth, so I want you to find some low-rank jutsu for each of the element. Since my biggest asset is large chakra reserves, why shouldn't I use it to my advantage? If I have numerous jutsu in my repertoire, I can simply overwhelm my opponents with the amount of jutsu I'll spit on them. When you're sure you've read enough about the jutsu and you've memorized the hand seals, dispel so that the rest of the clones can try to learn them. That would be a job for three clones. The other seven... find some useful books on chakra control, elemental control, military strategy... whatever catches your eyes... and find out how to do the damn Shunshin... it's way too cool for me to not learn it. Read until you can hold the Henge and after that, dispel quietly. Go!" He watched as the ten chosen clones nodded and ran to the village.
Originally, he wanted them to Henge into civilians, but, after thinking about it for a moment, he changed his mind. Shinobi had more privileges in this village than any civilian and they would be allowed into more sections of the library.
Not to mention that the librarian that worked there never bothered Konoha shinobi and as soon as he saw the forehead protector, he let them pass without asking unnecessary questions.
It meant that Konoha's Library had a poor security, which could end badly but right now, it played in Naruto's cards perfectly.
Glancing at the rest of his army of clones, he rubbed his chin.
"The rest of you... until you have the memories of those three clones, practice kunai throwing as our aim is only slightly above average so no marooning... Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, intelligence, strength, speed, stamina and the speed of forming the hand seals. All of it must get refined. Without the Kyuubi's chakra, we are only a Genin... and a weak one at that. I'm no fool and I'm sure that Sasuke could beat our ass. That will change." He trailed off and cracked his neck joints.
He pointed at the large group of clones.
"...thirty-nine, forty. Okay, you forty will focus on the jutsu from the clones which would take care of the Ninjutsu part." Naruto stated and motioned them to separate from the others.
"Thirty of you will spar in Taijutsu until I can find some particular style of fighting. I know that I can't use clones for physical training but reaction time is more of mind strength than the physical one... "
He watched as another group separated itself and he adopted a thinking pose.
"Hmm... that leaves twenty clones. I don't think I will be able to learn some high-level Genjutsu... like ever... at least not with my chakra reserves but the better chakra control, the better chance I may be able to do some low-level ones, or be able to dispel them. That's why, ten of you will concentrate on chakra control to try and improve it."
"What about us?" A clone from the last group, consisting of ten clones, asked loudly.
Chewing on his lip, Naruto squinted his eyes.
"I can work on intelligence mostly only by reading stuff in the library or by getting experiences in the field... on missions. Strength, speed and stamina... those three will get better with me wearing this gravity seals while I'm doing virtually any movements and only I, the original, can improve them. The only thing that is left, is the speed of forming the hand seals... and maybe throwing kunai... hmm... well, five of you go over any hand seal to try and speed up their forming and the other five, practice throwing kunai until you run out of the chakra."
The group of clones nodded and five of them immediately sat down, closed their eyes and were slowly going over the hand seals.
Just before he exited the area, Naruto stopped in his tracks and quickly turned around.
"Oh yeah and don't forget one thing. When some of you'll run out of chakra, always dispel only in groups of ten, never more. I don't need a splitting headache." And with that, he was on his way to the village.
...
Konoha
Emerging from a small clothes shop was a short kid with short brown hair and a grin that went from his left ear to the one on his right.
In his hands were two bags full of new clothes. Jacket, suit, flak jacket, pants, sandals, shirts, mesh shirt and more were safely tucked in.
As he got to the corner of the shop, spotting a dark alley, the boy looked around and, seeing nobody suspicious, he quickly jumped in.
When he was sure he was completely hidden, the boy was suddenly surrounded in a small cloud of smoke that after a moment revealed a chuckling Naruto in his orange jumpsuit.
'Aw yeah, Mission: Clothes shopping with fair prices – successful!'
He carefully dropped the bags and took out the clothes Anko told him to buy. With a wide smile, nodding appreciatively, he changed into them.
'Hm, for shinobi attire, this is actually quite comfortable.'
As per Anko's advice, Naruto bought standard Konoha-nin uniforms, the only thing that forced him to stay longer in the shop was the choosing between the colors. Since he couldn't decide, he bought a black set and a dark blue set, choosing the latter to wear right now. His flak jacket was however, a different design than the one Kakashi wore since the shop clerk told him that shinobi in Konoha usually got their flak jackets after becoming a Chūnin. That's why the one he currently wore was so different.
Taking the bags into his hands, he turned to leave, when he remembered the orange jumpsuit lying on the ground behind him.
He frowned when he set his sight on it.
'I can't take it back to my apartment... they are the clothes the old Naruto wore.'
Slightly grimacing, he picked the jumpsuit and walked to the nearby trash bin to throw it away.
However, his hand trembled a little just before he dropped it in.
'This is the first thing the old man gave me after I entered the academy...' He angrily wiped the small tear in his eye.
'Pathetic... I call myself a shinobi and I cry at this? It's just clothes... '
Clenching his jaw, after he threw the jumpsuit away, he turned around, grabbed the bags and resolutely hurried to his apartment.
After he placed the clothes into the drawer, Naruto checked the clock and cursed.
"Damn it, I should have been at the training grounds already."
Just as he was reaching to the door-knob, he glanced at the mirror he was passing by and froze.
It was his first time seeing himself in his new clothes.
Another time, his first reaction would probably be that he looked damn good.
However, in that moment, his legs buckled under him and he fell on his butt.
'I... I know someone who looks just like this... it's the man on the picture the old man keeps in his office... the Fourth Hokage!'
He wanted to smile that he looked just like his idol, when a myriad of thoughts, connections that tied up the loose ends in his head, links between the information in his brain ran through his mind like a most destructive jutsu, completely eradicating his beliefs.
'Am I... am I the son of the Fourth Hokage?'
Widening his eyes at the ridiculousness of that thought alone, he tried to reboot his poor brain.
'... but it would make sense when I think about it. I already know that the Kyuubi was sealed in me on the day I was born, when Kyuubi attacked the Fourth Hokage died doing it, which would explain why I never had a father, or even why I never heard anyone mentioning him... but what about my mum?'
A cruel thought crept on his mind.
'Did she... leave me after the Kyuubi was sealed into me? Did she view me just like the rest of the Konoha does? Like a demon?'
He shook his head violently.
'No... I refuse to believe it... the only other explanation would be that she died along with the Fourth... but I never heard that he had a wife... damn...'
He punched the floor.
'... but if he was my dad, why would he seal the Kyuubi in me? In his own son?'
With an angry snarl, he tried to pull out every bit of knowledge in his brain he had on the Fourth Hokage.
'Think... think! What was said about him... yeah, I remember. He was hailed as a genius, a prodigy of his generation, the term that is by the way handed out too loosely these days, a shinobi like nobody else. He was strong, fast, and intelligent but for his whole life he stayed as he was when he was a kid. He stayed kind, gentle and thoughtful, always treating the rest of his peers and his friends without looking down on them. The whole village loved him, his shinobi respected him, kids adored him and he cared about them too. It's one of the reasons he became my idol in the first place. He was still a human being... having no cruelty in him, aside maybe from the battlefield... if I try really, really hard to think about it... I can't see him just use the first orphan he could lay his hands on for sealing the Kyuubi. He wouldn't put a stranger, not to mention a child, through something that cruel if he didn't have some other motive for it... is it possible that he thought that the village would do something he thought was only logical?... that the village would view me as a simple jailer, holding his demon prisoner at bay?... that they would view me as somebody that actually protected them from Kyuubi?'
Gritting his teeth, he allowed a tear to drop on his hand.
'But even knowing this... knowing that his actions saved Konoha from utter destruction... I can't bring myself to forgive him for it... I was able not to think about it since Mizuki told me about me that day when I stole the Forbidden Scroll... but if he really is... if the Fourth Hokage really is my dad... it only hurts more. If it's true and I'd meet him in this moment... I don't think I'd be able to forgive him...'
He wiped the tear and lay down, trying not to think about anything for a moment. Trying to empty his mind.
'Haaaah... there is too much that I don't know or that I'm not sure about. But I think I can be sure of one thing. It doesn't matter if the Fourth was my dad or not, he was a genius... a person that never did anything without a plan. That tells me one thing.'
Suddenly forcing himself to stand up, Naruto squeezed his fists.
'It tells me, that the Fourth Hokage sealed the Kyuubi in me, thinking that one day, I'd be able to harvest its power for good. In case I'm right about him being my father, I still don't know why the old man never said anything about him or what the location of my Mum is or if she's even still alive... I'll try to find out about this on my own until Hokage-jiji decides to tell me. But until then... I have a promise to fulfill.'
Something clicked in his mind.
'Huh, now that I think about it... why would Hokage-jiji take care of me if I was some random orphan kid? Yes, he is a kind old man, but it would make more sense if it was because of who was my Dad, his successor. On the other hand, maybe he did it because I'm holding the Kyuubi in me... on the yet another hand, maybe I'm overthinking this. Ino and the Yamanaka clan for example are blonde. I may very well be related to them just as I can be related to the Fourth. This, being his son, is just my wishful thinking… but still… argh, enough...'
Breathing steadily, trying to calm his emotions down, he emerged from his apartment and headed to the training ground reserved for Team 7.
He was still deeply focusing on his breathing, so he didn't even notice that his surroundings changed and that he arrived at the training grounds. So the thing that actually woke him up from his musings was a loud yell.
"You're late, stupid Naruto! We've been here with Sasuke-kun for almost half an hour!"
Naruto grimaced as her voice echoed in his ears, hurting his eardrum. He rubbed them and with a frown glanced at the girl.
"Calm down, Sakura! Sheesh, do you want me to lose my hearing?"
Before Sakura could retort in angry snarl, Sasuke interrupted her with a bored question.
"What's with the clothes, dobe? You're finally trying to look like a shinobi?"
After he mentioned it, Sakura actually tried to get a look at Naruto with raised eyebrows. Surprising Sasuke with his calm demeanor, Naruto turned to him with a small smirk.
"You said it, tomoe-eyes."
Sasuke unusually widened his eyes a bit and with a small smirk of his own, he nodded appraisingly.
"About time, hmph." He grunted with no malice in his voice.
Naruto shrugged lightheartedly and walked to the nearest tree, slumping down while humming a quiet melody.
Sakura was looking between the two boys with horror on her face.
'No way! Did stupid Naruto just get acknowledged by Sasuke-kun? But they hate each other!' She thought with wide eyes.
'He's trying to get friendly with Sasuke-kun! We have to do it before him, cha!' Her inner-self declared resolutely.
So with that Sakura spent the next half hour trying to get Sasuke's attention...
... and failing miserably.
Naruto glanced a few times at the duo, thinking lightly.
'Wow... now that my head is clear, I can in fact see the frustration in Sasuke's eyes. He's not angry at Sakura nor is he irritated by her gibberish... he completely tuned her out and he doesn't hear even a word of what she's saying. It seems that what he said is true and his only goal really is just getting stronger so that he could kill that person... he's still a jerk, but a jerk with a strong resolve.'
Sitting next to Sakura, Sasuke was surprisingly thinking something similar.
'Well, it looks like the dobe is trying to be a proper shinobi. He's calmer, more level-headed than before... but that won't be enough. Hmph, if he'll show some actual improvement he may stop holding me back.'
He glanced at the girl next to him, animatedly talking about some nonsense and sighed without her noticing.
'If only this idiot would get it through her big forehead... she was almost useless on our mission in Wave country.'
In that moment, Naruto slightly jerked.
The three clones from the library dispelled themselves, sending their memories to the rest of the clones and to the original.
'Hm, so what do we got... I see, Wind release: Great Breakthrough Jutsu and Wind release: Gale Palm Jutsu, both C-ranked offensive techniques. Interesting. Though only C-ranked, these jutsu's strength can increase by applying more chakra. Useful, very useful and since I'm still a Genin, even a C-rank would be quite impressive for a starter... what next? Ah, two more for Earth release: Double Suicide Decapitation Jutsu and Earth Shore Return Jutsu. First one a supplementary technique while the second is defensive... makes sense. I can use Wind element for attack and Earth element to defend... it's logical. Both are... no, the Decapitation Jutsu is D-rank... oh, I remember that one, Kakashi pulled it off on Sasuke during our bell test. Earth Shore Jutsu is C-rank and... whoa, what the hell?'
His eyes showed surprise when he came across the next memory from the clones.
'Fire release: Great Fireball Jutsu, a C-rank technique... why would the clone read about this. I don't have a Fire affinity... I mean, Kakashi-sensei said that it isn't impossible to learn jutsu of the elemental affinity you don't possess, but it's still tiresome...'
Suddenly, a small chuckle escaped his mouth, fortunately, the rest of the team couldn't hear it.
'... oh, I get it. This jutsu is commonly used by members of the Uchiha clan, who used this jutsu as a coming of age rite... hehe, if I can actually learn this, I bet my new pants that Sasuke will explode.'
As he thought more about it, his chuckles became full-blown laughter, finally getting Sakura's attention. She stopped her babbling and turned to Naruto, looking at him as if he was crazy.
'What's up with that idiot, laughing his ass off like an asylum patient...?'
A moment before Kakashi finally appeared, one thought went through her mind while looking at Naruto.
'... now that I think about it, the stupid Naruto called me Sakura and not Sakura-chan...'
"Yo!" Kakashi greeted them jovially.
Forgetting about Naruto, Sakura snapped and yelled again.
"You're late, Kakashi-sensei!"
The Jonin waved his hands exaggeratedly.
"Mah, mah, no need to yell, I just stumbled across an old lady that needed my help to carry her groceries and when I finished that, a black cat crossed my path so I had to take an alternate route..." He was rambling until Sakura yelled at him again.
"While I do appreciate a good excuse, being a main Konoha prankster, Kakashi-sensei, we could have already been done with the mission." Naruto called out to him while slowly getting up.
"Ah, now that's where you're being mistaken as our next mission will take lon-ger..." Kakashi trailed off when he noticed Naruto's new look and his only visible eye widened.
"...sensei...?" He whispered, barely audibly for anyone to hear, unfortunately, Naruto caught it and clenched his jaw.
'Sensei? ...so he was a student of the Fourth Hokage? It must be... there wasn't anyone that looked like me in this village when Kakashi-sensei was still a Genin... so, I have a new piece of the puzzle...' He thought.
"Are you alright, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked the Jonin instructor tentatively.
Hastily shaking his head, Kakashi broke out of his surprise and eye-smiled at Sakura.
"Yeah, sure, nice outfit Naruto. So, about this mission. We are going to help a farmer at the edge of the village with..." He explained the details of the mission to the Genin, however, his thoughts were elsewhere.
'I don't know who told him to buy this particular set of clothes, but he's now almost a splitting image of Minato-sensei. If the rest of the Konoha shinobi see him, most of them will probably instantly realize who he is... and I'm not sure that it's that of a great idea.' Kakashi thought with a hint of uneasiness in his stomach.
Everyone missed Sasuke's raised eyebrow.
'Sensei? What did he mean by that?'
...
In the evening
Naruto was jumping across the village in the direction of where his new place for training was, grumbling all the way.
Kakashi took a D-rank mission for them that consisted of helping a simple farmer with plowing his soil, harvesting the planted vegetables and more manual labor, which left the whole team quite tired. Even Naruto himself felt the fatigue. On top of it, Kakashi prohibited him from using his Shadow Clones to help them with the mission.
It was as if the man knew that Naruto already had some clones training elsewhere and didn't want to overwork the Genin.
In the end, Naruto almost had to thank him, as when his clones that were training dispelled, he felt even more tired.
Never before had he felt it when he used his Shadow Clones in a fight.
'I guess that until now, my clones got dispelled in fights too quickly so they couldn't have gathered any kind of experience... which is the root of my exhaustion. I still have enough chakra, it's my mind that's tired.'
Arriving at his new, remote training place, he sported a big grin.
'But I'm very much interested in how much progress my clones made... huh, so that's where that clone's jutsu exploded, looks nasty.'
His eyes scanned the small devastated area at the edge of the clearing where one of his clones got dispelled after failing to execute one of the jutsu, resulting in a small explosion.
Shuddering at the thought of having the jutsu blasting in his face, he exhaled deeply and ran over the hand seals for the first jutsu in his head.
'Tiger, ox, dog, rabbit, snake... '
After forming every hand seal, he raised his hands with palms directed at the trees and exclaimed.
"Wind release: Great Breakthrough!"
"... eh?" He sweatdropped when instead of a huge gust of wind that should have blown off every leaf on the tree in front of him, a light breeze emerged from his hands, barely shaking the tree branches.
'Ah crap. I should have known that it would be too much to know how to do a C-rank jutsu perfectly just after a day, even with my Shadow Clones... it just stresses how much work I have ahead of me... and just how poor my chakra control still is.'
He glanced at the palms of his hands and grimaced.
'One more try with more chakra.' He thought stubbornly and formed the necessary hand seals.
"Wind release: Great Breakthrough!"
When the tree branches bended themselves against the sudden gust of wind, Naruto tiredly smiled and nodded.
"That's better. On to the next one."
'Okay, pump my chakra and clap my hands, then release the pressure in them forward...'
"Wind release: Gale Palm!" A weak gale flew from Naruto's position, forcing the leaves on the tree to flutter.
Scratching his head, the Genin was thinking furiously.
'I see... great breakthrough is to blow the enemies away, creating an opening to strike them, while gale palm seems to be more isolated... like it's meant only to be used against one opponent. It consumes a lot less chakra than the first jutsu so it's safe to say that it should serve more as a supplementary jutsu. But what should it supplement?'
He accidentally brushed a kunai in his pouch with his left hand, making him suddenly slap his forehead.
"Of course, it's so obvious... damn I'm dumb." Naruto sighed as he pulled out a few of his kunai.
Aiming at the more distant tree, he threw his kunai and immediately after that, he clapped his hands and shouted, pumping more chakra into his arms.
"Wind release: Gale Palm!"
He smirked victoriously when the slightly stronger force of his jutsu increased the speed at which his kunai flew, forcing them to plunge a little deeper into the wood.
'Good, that's all for this jutsu. So, the remaining ones are earth jutsu and one fire jutsu...' He wiped the sweat from his brow and concentrated on the next technique.
Striking the ground with his hands full of chakra, Naruto looked up, awaiting a large wall of earth in front of him...
... only to see a thin, barely holding barrier, that would most likely shatter if he so much as sneezed at it.
More sweat appeared on his brow and he gulped.
'This will be tough.'
...
An hour later
Naruto was laying on the ground, heavily panting from over-exerting himself while trying to correctly execute his new jutsu.
It took him a lot of attempts and a lot of chakra to at least form a wall that could hold against a light gust of wind without crumbling down. He succeeded and, to his joy, managed to perform Earth release: Double Suicide Decapitation jutsu quite nicely on his third try. His fingers still hurt a little when doing the jutsu, meaning that his execution of the technique wasn't nearly perfect but still... it was already usable.
The fact that it was a D-rank jutsu didn't break Naruto's excitement.
The fact that he completely failed at his attempts to perform Fire release: Great Fireball jutsu however, did.
Even after trying it over and over and after spending so much chakra that even somebody as sturdy as Naruto Uzumaki got exhausted, he only managed to create a smoking cloud in front of him that he almost choked on.
So there he was, sprawled on the ground, trying to catch his breath.
There was only one thing on his mind.
'Damn I'm beat. Gravity seals, Shadow Clones training, doing missions at the same time... I think I can endure it for about a week before my head explodes... and it'll be a long, painful week.'
Three days later
The next few days flew by in high speed that Naruto spent in the same routine.
Get to his training place, create a hundred Shadow Clones, send ten of them in a Henge to the library to snuff out some new information, knowledge he didn't have before, and leave the rest of them to train. He, the original, then did an obligatory mission with his team and, in the evening, after reporting in, tried to perform the jutsu, to see how much he improved.
To his frustration, the progress was slow even with the help of his clones, which was greatly undermining his confidence.
If he was doing so badly with his Shadow Clones, how bad would he be without them?
His anger got the best of him and, yesterday morning, Naruto decided that it was time to kick it up a notch and created two hundred clones, thinking that the difference would show itself.
It did.
By creating the most painful headache he'd ever had until that evening after his clones finally dispelled.
When the clones started to dispel in groups, it was going smoothly. But after the last one puffed out of the existence, the joint experiences overloaded his recovering brain and made even the Kyuubi yell at Naruto, after he dived into his mindscape.
The fox itself felt the effects of Naruto's headache and they manifested in his mind as catastrophic weather that was sending bolts of lightning at the Kyuubi, greatly infuriating it.
When Naruto, with an amused expression after seeing Kyuubi's fur, fluffy from the electricity, said that he couldn't understand why his headache manifested as a storm, the Nine-tailed fox roared at him and threatened to never help him again.
While Naruto was already smarter than before, he wasn't arrogant to think that Kyuubi's rare help wouldn't help him to get stronger.
So he, begrudgingly, promised never to use more than one hundred Shadow Clones for his training, or until the Fox deemed it safe for his brain.
That's why, this morning, Naruto woke up slightly tired, the effects of the previous day still showing.
His only luck was that today his team wasn't going on any missions as Kakashi was busy with something for the Hokage.
Deciding that he would postpone the start of his training until he was feeling better that day, Naruto ate his breakfast and was now sprawled across his bed, thinking.
'Why do I suck so much at my new jutsu? Earth element is my second affinity and I can do earth jutsu already better than wind ones. But Wind is my main affinity... what am I doing wrong? If only I could ask Hokage-jiji...'
Naruto's eyes shot wide and he hastily got up.
'Right! Kakashi mentioned that there is one person in this village that has a Wind affinity too, Asuma-san. I heard old man talking about him, it's his son and Konohamaru's uncle and he's Shikamaru's Jonin sensei... maybe he could give me some pointers? There's no point in refusing to find a help when I clearly need one...'
With a hopeful smile, Naruto sprinted out of his apartment, heading towards Shikamaru's favorite cloud-watching spot, hoping that the lazy Nara would be there with his sensei.
...
With Shikamaru
'Aw man, those clouds are so lucky. They only have to float... from one place... to another. If only I could do it... but nooo, we have to train... what a drag...'
The Nara offspring sighed heavily and bit on the small stalk of grass he held in his mouth. Ever since Asuma Sarutobi picked up his team and became its Jonin instructor, Shikamaru was forced, more often than he liked, to participate in shinobi training.
While he knew that with shinobi work came responsibilities and many dangers that could potentially kill him, for now, he was content with being a lowly Genin and doing a D, at most a C-ranked missions, which held only minimal risk.
"Oi, Shikamaru, don't you want to play another round of Shogi?" Asuma called out to the Genin.
Shikamaru sighed again.
'Maaan, since he gave me that IQ test he's so content on playing the Shogi with me that I have no time to just watch the clouds.'
A shadow that suddenly hovered above him, made Shikamaru open his eyes in curiosity. He came face to face with Naruto, who was grinning at him and raised an eyebrow.
"Yo, Shikamaru, what's up?" Naruto greeted him.
'Oh, it's Naruto... troublesome.'
With a minimal movement, a lazy genius nodded to him, acknowledging his presence.
"Hey Naruto. What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be on a mission."
Naruto shook his head.
"Nah, we have a free day... and I actually came to talk with your sensei, Asuma-san."
This got Shikamaru's attention and the Genin slowly sat and stared at his former classmate.
"Why?"
Shooting a big grin at him, Naruto raised his finger.
"That's a secret." Shikamaru only sighed and didn't pursuit the question further.
He closed his eyes again, but when Naruto's shadow didn't move for a moment, he blinked and noticed that the blonde was looking at him with some sort of silent question in his eyes.
"What?"
Naruto pointed behind him, where Asuma was talking to the rest of his team, Chōji and Ino.
"You realize that I never met your sensei so could you introduce me to him?"
With a sigh, Shikamaru lazily got up, mumbling "troublesome" all the while.
When they walked over to the group, Shikamaru called out to his instructor.
"Asuma-san, this troublesome blonde wants to talk to you. His name is Uz-"
"Uzumaki Naruto, I know." Asuma interrupted his student after a quick glance at Shikamaru's friend.
Both of them raised their eyebrows in silent question. Asuma only waved his hand.
"Kakashi often talks about you, Naruto. It's actually very surprising coming from him. He rarely has students he really likes."
'Kakashi-sensei talks about me?' Naruto thought in surprise.
"Nice clothes by the way, they suit you better than your old ones." Asuma continued and lit his cigarette with a small frown.
'I guess this answers the question of why Kakashi likes him. He really looks like the mini Yondaime... I'm surprised that more people haven't connected the dots already. I'm sure that I would have guessed it even without dad telling it to me.' He thought and sucked on his cigarette.
"Hey, Naruto, how's it going? Want some snack?" Chōji greeted the former knucklehead warmly, but before the latter could answer, Ino interrupted them.
"Why is stupid Naruto here?" She snapped.
Before he could defend himself, Ino's eyes widened and she almost grabbed his shoulders.
"You left Forehead with Sasuke-kun?!" Ino yelled, a pure horror in her eyes.
"I'm sure he has a reason... so, you wanted to talk to me?" Asuma quickly shot Ino a warning stare that forced her to sit back down, although with a huge frown.
Finally having a room to talk, Naruto dismissed Ino's ranting even though it hurt him to hear that some of his old classmates still clearly hated him.
"Yes, I wanted to talk to you but ... uhm, could we talk in private? It's kind of a secret." Naruto asked and shot an apologizing glance at Chōji, who only chuckled.
Asuma, on the other hand, curiously raised his eyebrow. Seeing Naruto pointing his eyes at the near tree, he sighed and followed the Genin.
"So?" He leaned on the tree and exhaled a cloud of smoke to his right.
A surprise awaited him when Naruto switched from his previously cheery attitude to a serious look.
"I heard from Kakashi-sensei that you're the only one beside me, who has a Wind affinity in Konoha." Naruto stated calmly.
Asuma stopped his hand from moving after hearing this and he raised his eyebrow.
"That's true. Along with Fire, I possess a Wind affinity... but I didn't know that you do too. I'm also a bit surprised that a Genin is interested in elemental manipulation. You have to forgive me for saying this, but your Academy record would never suggest that of all the new Genin, you'd be the first to ask this kind of question. Did Kakashi tell you anything about it?" He replied seriously.
Naruto shook his head.
"It's alright, I realize that I did poorly in Academy, that's why I want to improve myself... but secretly, that is the reason I wanted to talk to you privately. Kakashi-sensei only explained the basic attributes of each of the element and told me that you have a Wind affinity, same as me, while Hokage-jiji has an Earth affinity like me."
Asuma raised his second eyebrow.
"You have two elemental affinities? Heh... now that's interesting, a dead last with two strong affinities, what are the odds... so, you want to know something about the Wind element?"
"Well, kind of. A few days ago, I started to teach myself a few jutsu and while I progress nicely with the Earth jutsu, I just can't seem to grasp the Wind ones. My Wind Release: Great Breakthrough and Gale Palm are not strong enough and even though I can create quite a strong blast of wind, it's harmless... so I thought that there must be something I'm doing wrong." Naruto grunted, irritated.
'He's trying to learn two Wind jutsu AND Earth jutsu at the same time? This kid must be sturdy as hell. And to think that he can already perform them... the only thing that's missing is the key element, but from what I hear, his jutsu are already usable... not bad. I think that I can give him one bit of advice.' Asuma nodded appreciatively.
He suddenly reached to his pouch and took out two knuckle-knives, holding them for Naruto to see them clearly.
"These are my chakra-knives. They are made of a special metal that absorbs the chakra nature of the holder. Try holding it and flow your chakra into the knife like this." The knife in his right hand suddenly glowed in blue, a sharp looking aura surrounding the knife.
He handed the other knife to Naruto, who concentrated for a moment and after a few seconds, his knife was glowing too, although the aura was bubblier.
"Hmmm... it's different from the way your chakra looked, Asuma-san."
Asuma grinned and raised his hand with a knife.
"Listen up. When manipulating the Wind type chakra, you've got to imagine splitting your chakra into two and grinding them together. Do it so that the chakra fields sharpen one another into fine pieces." He explained slowly and watched Naruto frown.
"Sharpen them into fine pieces, huh..." The blonde trailed off, already picturing the image in his mind.
"Exactly, the thinner and sharper, the better."
Naruto glanced down at his glowing knife, an idea coming to his mind.
"Hmm... from the way your chakra looks, I guess it's supposed to make these knives even sharper, right?"
'Good, he understood... but maybe a demonstration would be even better.' Asuma thought.
"Yes. When two weapons clash, the one with the sharper blade wins...hmm, this should explain things faster. Keep the chakra in your knife and we'll both throw these chakra-knives at that tree together." Asuma proposed and pointed his finger on Naruto's left side, at the tree with a boulder behind it.
"Okay." Naruto nodded and quickly followed Asuma's example, both of them throwing their knives at the tree.
Naruto widened his eyes when he watched the knife that Asuma threw easily cut through the tree and sink deeply into the boulder behind it.
"W-wow... amazing. So that's what the Wind chakra can do?"
'It didn't just cut through the tree... the knife pierced the hard rock behind it too... and that much...' His eyes widened further after Asuma's next sentence.
"Well, it can get dangerous, so I limited my chakra use but if I tried, that knife would cut through that rock as well."
"What?"
"Yeah... the Wind element has the strongest offensive power for close and middle-ranged fights. It's actually quite rare, you know... this Wind type..." Asuma stated with a smile.
"Can't argue with that..." Naruto said, glancing at the pierced rock again.
He turned to Asuma and lightly bowed to him.
"Thank you Asuma-san, I can already picture what I could do with the proper use of Wind element. What do you want in return for this advice?"
Asuma stared at him for a moment, the smoke steadily rising from his cigarette.
"You owe me nothing. As you are first Genin to ask this, I'm doing it for free... but next time you want advice, you'll have to pay for the Yakiniku."
'Huh... more free advice? I seem to be getting a lot of that these days. I'm almost suspicious, but I guess that even I can have some luck after the past twelve years of misfortune.' Naruto's mouth bent itself into a smile and he thanked Asuma, who watched him leave with a smile.
After getting back to his team, Shikamaru called out to him.
"What did Naruto want? I saw you throw something..."
The Jonin smirked at him.
"Well, if you weren't so lazy, I would tell you."
'... so you say, Asuma-sensei, but I'm sure that those were your chakra-knives, that must mean you talked about chakra natures. But Naruto can't be working on elemental manipulation, can he? Ah, troublesome, the blonde made me think...' Shikamaru thought with a sigh.
...
With Naruto
Feeling better after eating ramen at the Ichiraku stand, Naruto decided to head to his training place to start his daily routine.
After arriving, he created once again a hundred clones and, after giving them the usual orders, he was on his leave when a leaf landed on his forehead.
He grabbed it and looked at it speculatively.
Paying no actual attention to the leaf, instead thinking about what Asuma told him that day, he accidentally tore the leaf.
He glanced at it in surprise and his face lit up, an idea hitting him from seeing the two pieces of the leaf.
'That's right... Asuma-san said that I have to picture splitting my chakra in two and grinding them together. I wonder if I'd able to split a leaf using only my Wind chakra.'
Hastily grabbing another leaf from the branch hovering above him, he concentrated on what Asuma told him earlier.
"... in two... together..." He mumbled and when a bead of sweat formed on his forehead, he glanced down on the leaf and noticed a little, truly a tiny cut on the edge of the leaf.
He wiped the sweat into his sleeve and grinned widely.
'This... this is a great practice idea! I'm sure that after I'm able to cut the leaf completely, using only my chakra, I can master my jutsu!'
His clones raised their eyebrows when they saw the original speeding back to them. After an abrupt stop, he waved at them with a leaf in his hand.
"Listen up, I'm changing the orders. From now on, until you can get it done, all of you that were practicing the Wind jutsu, grab a leaf and try to split it using only chakra and keep Asuma-san's advice in mind." Exiting the area after the big group of clones nodded, Naruto thought resolutely:
'I'm sure that this will be of great help.'
...
A week after raising the gravity seals
It was a cloudy morning when Naruto woke up with a splitting headache.
His eyes twitched in pain and he grabbed his head.
"Damn it... I guess a week is as much as I can train continuously with my Shadow Clones. My head is killing me."
Even though he was in pain, Naruto managed to smile a bit.
Last evening, after his clones dispelled and he got every piece of their memories, he was ready to celebrate.
The group of clones that was handling his Wind chakra managed to split the leaf.
The group of clones that was handling his Earth chakra managed to perfectly perform the D-ranked jutsu and the C-ranked one needed only slight tweaking.
The group of clones that was handling his kunai throwing managed to strike every target with nice precision. It still wasn't on par with Sasuke, but he was slowly getting there.
The group of clones that was handling his chakra control greatly improved this skill and that was one of the reasons the first group managed to actually split the leaf.
And finally, the group of clones that was handling knowledge and was regularly in the Konoha Library found a book for beginners in Fūinjutsu that almost instantly caught his attention, so he secretly took it home as a reading in his free time. Also, they found a D-rank Genjutsu, Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique, a rather weak Genjutsu that Naruto remembered Kakashi using on Sakura during the bell test. It was listed as one of the basic Genjutsu and Naruto vowed, that by the time of the Chūnin exams, he would learn at least this one Genjutsu, even if he would have to spend dozens of his clones on learning it.
His plan for the next week, in which he wouldn't use his Shadow Clones for training, was simple.
He would use the time to try and find a suitable Taijutsu for him, as his clones that trained it managed to somewhat master the Academy style but it proved to be weak and easy to counter. Not to mention that it didn't suit Naruto.
Also, he would try to get used to this level of Gravity seals, so that he could, by the end of this second week, raise the level again.
'But first things first. I want to know if my Wind jutsu are stronger after I learned how to cut the leaf in two.'
In a matter of a few minutes, he arrived at his training place and took a breath to calm his muscles.
Calling out to the memories of his clones, he concentrated on sharpening his chakra and, when he was confident, yelled out his jutsu.
"Wind release: Great Breakthrough!"
"..."
His eyes almost bulged out of their sockets after seeing the effects of his jutsu and he glanced at the destruction.
'This-this is how I imagined the jutsu to work... damn what a difference...'
He used a good amount of chakra for this jutsu and the results showed themselves.
A whole line of trees in front of him was quite damaged. The trees had gashes in them, many branches were either cut off, or they broke against the force of the jutsu, almost all of the leaves were ripped from them... one smaller tree was even ripped from the ground, its roots sprawled on the grass.
All in all, for a C-rank jutsu, it was a good amount of damage...
... and it made Naruto grin widely.
'Just you wait, Sasuke, I'll catch up with you soon... and you wait too, Haku. I'm getting stronger and I will fulfill my promise to you.'
End of chapter 2
I'm looking forward to more reviews. Until next time.
