Towards a Different Future
Chapter 2: Re-engage
Effort and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.
- John F. Kennedy
Naruto didn't just take a step, he moved.
He turned around his enemy with well honed footwork, years of training and practice with his former teachers suddenly showing his hard work as he moved ever so fluidly around his enemy. He weaved; he ducked, spinning around, evading, parrying, blocking and countering. Honed senses telling him where his enemy will strike, where she will try to attack next.
Naruto could tell that his enemy, despite her physical advantage over any human, had poor reflexes compared to a honed warrior.
'She's too straightforward.' He thought, reminding him of how sloppy he was during his younger days as a ninja when he relied much more on surprise tactics and a whole lot of elbow grease and luck.
He leaned back as a swipe barely missed his neck and he countered with a rising kick to the creature's chin and then turning into a textbook perfect back flip. The creature was suddenly dumbstruck at how a simple human was able to keep up with her.
Seeing as the monster was stunned while in mid air, Naruto saw the perfect chance. He charged forward straight with another kick, this time on the monster's chest. Naruto twirled in midair, performing his signature jutsu, the Kage Bunshin as two clones popped into existence, the billowing smoke left behind as the clones moved before it could dissipate. Two clones linked with the monster's arms as they took her down on the pavement and stop any form of escape.
Naruto then thought of a way to finish the fight. Obviously, without any ninja tools, he had to stop the fight with as little chakra expenditure and less destruction as possible.
The Rasengan was out and although he could technically perform barehanded finishers, he didn't want to take a chance of blunt force ending the fight so suddenly because that worked so well last time.
He thought of something, and remembered his training with Asuma back then and the pen he had tucked away from Mamoru since the first day that they talked. He reached behind his shirt and pulled out the pen he had secretly kept.
By application, the pen was harmless, but to a trained soldier such as Naruto whose job specialty was assassination, anything could become a weapon.
He poured chakra on to the pen, and started grinding the chakra against each other, forming a highly pressurized blade of wind at the lines of the pen. It straightened and honed its form until it was smooth and forming a sharp point at exactly the tip of the object.
The monster looked down as it was on the ground, and Naruto saw his opportunity to finish it.
SWISH!
The blonde let the object fly from his hands, straight and true, it hit his opponent dead on the forehead, tearing through skin, bone and brain before going through the other side and impaling itself on to the cemented floor with an obvious crack.
The monster, too shocked to even know what had just happened, fell down in death, not knowing what had just killed her. Her eyes were still open and expression as she lifelessly fell down had said it all while a weird colored substance fell from her head before she turned to ash and vanishing with the wind.
Naruto finally took a sigh of relief as the clones vanished from sight in a plume of smoke.
Up above, Ami watched in a mixture of emotions. Whatever she felt, it surely made her conflicted.
Was she surprised? Most definitely, she was.
Disturbed? Probably, she had never seen a brutal and bloody ending to a Youma before in her life.
Scared? Yes. She was scared out of her wits. The blonde acted efficiently, acted like he knew what he was doing. And he had done it without hesitation, without as much as a care to what he saw, as if he had already seen such form of carnage from where he was from.
Suddenly, Naruto looked up to her with concern written all over his face. He jumped from his position and landed on the wall and scaled the building upward before coming back on the sixth floor.
The blonde approached her with but a single question escaping his lips.
"Are you okay?"
Ami, getting over her initial shock, now became much more fascinated about the blonde rather than feeling scared now, experiencing some of the battles, even though she was relatively new, made her get over her emotions much easier.
"Ah, yes, I'm fine. Thank you for what you did."
Naruto simply nodded, "Anybody could have done it back home. I'm a warrior and it's in our rules to help out civilians in their time of need."
With that, Naruto turned towards the ward, asking the nurses if they had other rooms to occupy seeing as the last one was trashed by the monster (and partially because of him).
She turned her head back at the blonde. No doubt the resulting event would surely interest her mother.
One Day later:
Dr. Mizuno looked down on Uzumaki Naruto's chart. She re-examined the status of the boy, rechecked his tests, his lab results, his last assessment coming from the nurse and narrowed down her eyes.
The boy's vitals skyrocketed from the day he was awake. They all seemed to normalize in just a matter of twenty four hours. Yet she was certain that Naruto had some form of nerve damage since he found it hard to move his body coming from his therapist. Yet when they examined his reflexes, they were all normal. All muscular reflexes were checked and they all functioned well indicating his motor nerves were intact as was his sensory nerves because of some stimuli exercises he had done. So how was Naruto not able to perform well with his therapist?
That only meant that the blonde was faking it and that he was most likely hiding something, or it was just a case of hypochondriasis, a condition that results from health anxiety.
Ami had told her about what happened the day before, how some strange monster invaded the hospital and how Naruto had saved her. She asked the staff members if her story was true and they confirmed it, along with the fact that the blonde had apparently tackled the monster and jumped along with the creature from the sixth floor all the way down below.
Common sense would tell her that her daughter needed an appointment with the hospital's psychiatrist but with the emergence of these monsters lately in their quaint little town and even coverage of it from the news, she was inclined to believe her daughter.
She wanted to remain suspicious, but her daughter was saved by this boy, that she wanted to believe that the boy simply had no idea what to do with his memory loss and that he was a good person because of it.
To her front, Mamoru was eagerly awaiting the good doctor's judgement on Naruto's case and finally, she nodded.
"Looks about alright, I've seen the boy this morning and he's doing well after I assessed him. You can discharge him now."
Mamoru looked at his superior and inwardly gave a sigh of relief.
All those cover ups and times of keeping Naruto's background a secret would finally be over.
"What about his expenses?" He asked, suddenly being brought back to the world that the blonde had no money to pay for his hospital bills and that he was most likely stuck here until someone was willing to pay for his stay.
Mamoru palmed his face at that. He forgot that it was hospital protocol.
"Don't worry about that, I've paid for his bill. Consider it as thanks for saving my daughter. I don't think I could ever repay the boy enough." The doctor smiled.
Mamoru once more sighed in relief this time, more openly.
"What's with that gesture?"
Mamoru stood up and shook his head frantically.
"Nothing, Dr. Mizuno, just glad that I could discharge one of my patients now! Workload and all that…"
Dr. Mizuno raised an eyebrow at her subordinate but decided to let it go.
"Just before you let him go, I want you to bring him to my office later for one last test. Can you do that, Mamoru?"
Mamoru was sweating profusely now but he complied nonetheless.
An hour later, Naruto had arrived to Dr. Mizuno's office, bewildered.
The good doctor had asked for him to go to her office earlier and he complied. Instead of wearing his trademark orange suit however, he settled for his black shirt and orange pants.
"Naruto, I see you're doing well now that you're about to leave."
The blonde merely gave a small chuckle, a little humbled, "It was nothing, Dr. Mizuno. Anybody could have done the same thing."
"Except surviving a drop from six floors, you mean. It's either your physique is built like Superman or you're just extremely lucky."
Naruto tilted his head at this, who was this 'Superman' that the doctor was speaking off? A second lapse of his expression was soon buried from his façade as he sat down when the doctor ordered him to.
"Now, before you go, I'd like to let you have some tests involving this piece of paper. Now don't give me that look, Naruto…" She said glaring at the blonde who was looking like he was ready to pout.
"You're taking this test to see how you would do well in school." At the mention of the word, school, Naruto was already hitting his head on his desk. He became a ninja just for the purpose of trying to get away from school. Now they want him back there?
Dr. Mizuno knew that the blonde hated school. Not something she would expect from a supposedly boy genius that knew how to read ancient texts like the back of his hand.
"Naruto, this is for your own good. Now come on, we'll see how well you'd do and where to place you, exactly."
It was at this time that Naruto was reminded about the importance of academics here by Ami and how you were supposed to be better off the more you were educated. With a sigh, Naruto took the test anyway seeing as Dr. Mizuno would remain suspicious if he just upped and ran away at the sight of the paper. He reminded himself that he needed to blend in with the crowd and remain inconspicuous.
It wasn't his style, but he saw no obligation to grab the attention of an entire population that will simply think of him as crazy.
Dr. Mizuno watched in mild fascination as he saw the supposed boy genius' reaction from question to question, frustration, to rage, to surprise and despair, she saw the blonde answering the questions as if he had gone through some form of hell.
An hour passed and Naruto looked like he was about to resign himself when he gave the paper to be checked by the doctor herself.
Dr. Mizuno looked at the paper in amusement as she checked it. Unsurprisingly, Naruto was just about average in some areas of science, average in math and very poor in English. He did, however, scored perfect with Nippongo and literature, leading her to believe that the boy either had a good teacher in that subject or he was raised here in Japan. Still, that shouldn't put him in Mamoru's description of a genius in her book. She needed someone else to look over at that particular field.
"Well, it seems you're doing rather average and below average for someone of your age, Naruto. Do you remember what school you came from? It's either you had very poor teachers or you didn't listen to them enough. Though Mamoru tells me you can read ancient texts very well. Something college and above level graduates should ever hope to achieve and there's a specific profession and course for that. This leads me to believe you have a priority more in your hobbies than your actual school work."
Naruto scratched the back of his head at that. It wasn't as if he had very poor teachers, he had excellent ones at that barring one. He just never listened to all the academic stuff when he was still back in the academy.
"I don't remember much of what happened, but I guess maybe that's why I was so screwed up with that test."
"I was right of you spending time more with your hobbies than anything else." Dr. Mizuno shook her head at this.
"No matter, I can see why you were doing so poorly at school. If your mind had more focus on the matter at hand then you wouldn't be like this." Dr. Mizuno stood up and patted the boy on the shoulder.
"So I'll set the record straight, I want you to go to school. I'll pay for all your expenses until you can recover your memory. At such a time, should you recall anything, tell me and we'll see what we can do to help inform your loved ones where you are."
In all respects, Naruto's train of thought was derailed when the good doctor told him that he was going back to school.
"You're about as Ami's age and you did save her, I feel like I can't thank you enough. With this, I'll help you build your future. You'll do well to stay in school and you'll thank me later for realizing your priorities."
By this time, Naruto was sweating bullets. This lady just told him that he had to go back to school. He felt like he shouldn't say no, which was because he himself did not know what to do next and it would do well to have someone like Dr. Mizuno, Ami and Mamoru. Unlike before that he could charge right through a problem with shuriken flying, he couldn't do that here. For fear, as Ami stated, of being discovered by people that only want to use his power for their personal gain, Naruto had to agree with that sentiment. He didn't want another Akatsuki hunting him down to the ends of the earth and them harming innocent people.
Going to school sounded like a small price to pay compared to the people that would most likely take interest in his abilities.
So, with that, the blonde had to agree with the good doctor to let himself be sent to school in exchange for some form of sanctuary.
Mizuno Household:
Ami was surprised that her mother would suddenly do things like this. Was her mother feeling indebted to the blonde that he was now living under the same roof as her?
Ami had never been one to socialize that much, she was always cramped up in her room trying to study to become like her mother. But by the way that her mother oh so readily spent their money on the boy's medical bills and studies, it seemed a bit too much even for her.
"Sorry about all of this, Ami-san. But your mom insisted and I couldn't exactly…"
"No, it's fine." Ami had cut the blonde off. The girl simply sighed and helped the blonde move on to the spare bedroom just to the right of her room.
She looked at the blonde who was wearing the same clothing he had when she first saw him at the park minus the jacket and the cloak. He still had his scroll with him, but he carried it with his hand rather than wearing it.
"That reminds me, Naruto-san, do you have any spare clothes left for you to wear?"
Naruto shook his head, "During the fourth shinobi world war, I rushed to the battlefield and didn't think anything else after it. I don't have much of clothes other than weapons I stored just before setting off. I think this maybe my one and only set."
Ami sighed at this, for her, this would be a long day in helping her new housemate.
"Alright, we can go look for clothes once you set your stuff here. It would be terribly unhygienic for you to wear the same clothes for more than three days."
Neither of them wanted to do the prospect of looking for clothes. For Naruto, it was because he wanted to get the day over with and take a good night's rest. For Ami, it was because she wanted to finish her studies for the day since she had been unproductive for the last two days fighting off Youma.
When Naruto was ready, the two left the reasonably large house and went to the nearest mall in their place. During their trip of awkward silence, Naruto tried to start a conversation about some part of their lives, likes, dislikes and maybe dreams of the future while Ami answered as promptly and as simple as possible.
That made Naruto looked up to the sky once more when he mentioned the word future.
When Ami noticed Naruto's sudden mood change, she couldn't help but feel compelled to ask.
"Is something wrong?"
Naruto shook his head, "No, it's nothing. It's just that there's something I've been meaning to think about for the past few weeks or so."
Ami raised an eyebrow at this, "Well, whatever it is, I hope it doesn't involve people coming after you, Naruto-san. Dealing with this town's Youma is bad enough."
Naruto chuckled lightly at that statement, "I've dealt with them shortly after I got here. Besides, I doubt they could even reach me in this place."
Naruto's laugh, however, was hollow. It was full of bitterness and uncertainty. Ami wouldn't be able to notice, not when Naruto is a master of hiding his true emotions.
Two weeks ago, Naruto might have shown just how much he was a wreck, both physically and emotionally, but not now. He disliked being pitied on. He may accept help from time to time but he still had some sort of pride.
As they made their way into the mall, Naruto looked somewhat in awe of the place. It was large, larger than any building he had seen in Konoha and the building was bustling as if it was a market place. People going shop to shop, looking and buying something, the fast paced life inside this mini metropolis amazed him.
"Ami, is that you?"
His musings were cut short, as a voice called out to Ami. He turned around and could have sworn that he saw a clone of himself under a Henge and a lot slimmer than he imagined.
Ami turned around and saw Usagi who was walking her way towards them. Inwardly, she gave a sigh. She just hoped that Usagi didn't take anything she saw the wrong way today what with being with a guy and all.
"What are you doing here, Ami? I doubt you'd come to a mall just to have some fun." Usagi mentioned and looked over to the blonde on Ami's right who was looking around the mall.
"Who's your friend?" Usagi asked once more, adding one more question before Ami could answer.
Ami politely introduced the boy, "His name is Uzumaki Naruto and he's someone my family is taking care of while his parents aren't here. He's a family friend, Usagi. And we're shopping for some clothes that Naruto needs right now."
Usagi looked at Naruto as if she was gauging the boy. Naruto looked at Usagi with unease and took a step back when she leaned in closer. A few seconds later, Usagi grinned and Naruto blinked at her weird gesture before patting the boy on the back.
"Well, you're okay with me, Naruto! Being cute is just a bonus as well!" She shouted to him before turning back to Ami.
"You got a good catch! If I wasn't so in love with Mamoru, I'd be jealous!" Usagi mentioned to Ami who just shook her head and gave another sigh.
"Usagi, don't take this the wrong way, we aren't involved in that kind of relationship. Our parents are just good friends and it just so happened that Naruto's parents had to go to a business trip for some time."
Naruto simply nodded to Ami's answer and not said a word. He wasn't the one fabricating excuses. If he added more details, it would surely confuse both him and Ami.
Usagi didn't look quite convinced though, "Are you sure? You two aren't making this up as an excuse about what you truly feel right? I've read about something like that in a manga."
"Usagi, please don't relate this to a manga, it isn't the same. Naruto and I are just friends, nothing more." Ami finalized while Naruto added with an uneasy smile, "Yeah, having some sort of feelings for a childhood friend can be awkward."
Usagi raised an eyebrow at this, obviously not yet convinced.
"Well, if you say so. But I…" Usagi pointed to herself then pointed to Naruto then to Ami, "… Am keeping my eyes on you! So I'll come with you with your shopping!"
She mentioned that last sentence with glee earning Ami to look at Naruto with an expression that clearly meant she was slightly vexed. The male blonde simply looked amused with Usagi's bubbly expression.
"She's alright with me. You've got good friends here, Ami." Naruto commented as they went, with Usagi bothering Naruto with several questions about his life before he got here.
"So… Where'd you come from, Naruto?" She asked, leaning closer as Naruto replied, "Way up north. My parents went overseas because of their work and they didn't want me to come because I wasn't interested in their line of work and it's hard adjusting to a place you've never been in."
"Wow, you guys must be loaded like Ami's if you always go overseas like that." Usagi mentioned this with wonder in her eyes as she looked at Ami who simply coughed slightly at Usagi's statement.
Naruto looked at Ami who didn't look concerned as much and then grinned, "You can say it's like that. Though, I still miss them…"
My friends…
My village…
"But what can you do? I'm stuck here for the time being until further notice." Naruto mentioned as they entered the department store.
Usagi nodded and then asked, "So what are your hobbies?"
Naruto looked thoughtful about this for a moment and then answered, "Well, I guess you could call gardening a hobby. But when I'm bored I had to practice writing. My sensei always made it a point to practice my penmanship."
Usagi looked curious at this, she had never heard of a guy their age taking interest in gardening. Heck, she never heard a girl their age taking hobbies in gardening. To her, Naruto was a weird boy. And writing? Seriously, why is that?
"Why gardening and writing?" Usagi asked, obviously curious. Naruto looked sullen for a moment but regained his composure before replying, "It's because I couldn't get out much when I was a kid and I found Gardening as a way to relax with my parents always going and my sensei tutoring me."
In truth, gardening was something the Sandaime introduced to him when he was a boy. He had tried, countless times, to vent Naruto's frustrations into something positive. But again and again, Naruto always had to come back pulling pranks around the village. Sarutobi had even come to Naruto's apartment once or twice a week to see how Naruto's plants had come along.
Not wanting to disappoint the old man, Naruto took good care of the plants he had and developed a sort of green thumb in taking care of them.
Writing, however, came from his former master. Jiraiya had always encouraged him to take up the sealing arts. He didn't know why until much later after he discovered his heritage. But he felt indebted to the man, it seemed like Jiraiya was trying to ease the fact of introducing his heritage to him.
Usagi noticed the melancholic look from Naruto's face and felt like she had asked something sensitive to the blonde, she looked concerned and asked Naruto, "Did I say anything wrong?"
Naruto gave a smile and shook his head, "Nothing, just brought up a lot of memories from my old sensei."
Ami glared at Usagi from this gesture as the girl simply backed away for a moment. It was obvious already that Naruto was easy to identify as quickly depressed. He had no way of going home until he discovered a way back. And from what she could tell from the expression of the blonde, it was his stoic look that she should watch out for. That's because she couldn't tell just how dangerous or how disturbing Naruto's thoughts were when his face wore that expression. It was that look that reminded her how efficient and deadly he was days ago when she bore witness to him brutally killing that Youma.
She shuddered at the thought. She did not want to be reminded of that.
Naruto noticed that Ami had been staring at him for the longest time and simply gave her a smile, "Is something wrong?"
Ami, caught up in her thoughts, suddenly flinched and unknowingly blushed when Naruto looked at her way, more out of embarrassment than anything else.
During their trip around the mall, Ami noticed how Naruto was enjoying Usagi's company. He noticed how boyish Usagi can be sometimes, if by eating much more than any person he would have known in a woman not named Tsunade was an indication. Except Usagi isn't a grouch and she was much more of a ditz than anything else.
He laughed at her jokes and she was easy to be around. He guessed it usually happens to people who find it easy to relate to someone. And Usagi, reminded him of himself in a lot of ways.
The blonde male felt better all of a sudden. Maybe because it's what Usagi does to them most of the time. It was… Wonderful to be around the girl, he had to admit. He felt as upbeat as her.
If it weren't so disturbing, he would have fallen head over heels for Usagi as fast as he had come to love Ramen.
There was just, something about her. Something that brought smiles to everyone around her, even Ami, who Naruto would later identify as too strict, would let out smiles when she was with Usagi.
As their shopping for clothes continued, much to Naruto's dismay and annoyance, they sat at an available bench while the two girls looked tired but visibly contented. Naruto, being the only male and the one who had to give in to the necessary evil, became the designated bell boy of the two.
He set the bags down to a plop near his side before sitting at the edge of the bench and looked absolutely exhausted.
"This is the last time I'm going shopping." Naruto muttered as he looked at his side, seeing Usagi talk to Ami before he gave another sigh.
He looked at the bags and then looked once more at the girls. He had noticed that none of the stuff that they had bought was for the ladies. He had no money as well, so Naruto was utterly grateful for the two. He had never been one to go buy clothes when he was younger; the Sandaime bought them for him. The tacky Orange jumpsuits merely came from a time when Sarutobi taught him the value of money and immediately bought the clothing at a reasonable price.
He smiled, perhaps if he had gained some money, he would treat the girls as a gesture of gratitude sometime.
As he reached out to the bag to see a shirt he had noticed that had the color he grew on, a sudden spike in his senses that went overdrive suddenly erupted in him like a geyser.
"Hello, child, how good it is for you and me to meet?"
Naruto had acted, on his own and immediately leapt from his seat as he dashed. He had, over the course of his service during the course of the Fourth Great Ninja War, grown attuned to the senses of using Sage Energy and the Kyuubi's chakra when using it. His body adjusted to the wellspring of senses invading his body and among them, the ability to sense killing intent and malice in subtle forms.
"Why are you trembling? Come, touch my hand and smile and greet!"
Usagi suddenly stood up as he noticed Naruto making a dash.
"Wow, for a sheltered guy, he sure has quick feet!" Usagi commented, but Ami didn't look at Naruto's explosive athleticism at that time, rather, she noticed the blonde's expression.
It was this exact situation why she was compelled to study Naruto's behavioural pattern. He was much different than any other person there was out there, barring the fact that he was a marooned alien in their planet, it utterly frustrated Ami that a boy like Naruto was so compulsive that she can't even predict how he will behave!
"For if little children go badly and if my anger takes its toll…"
It was at this moment when they saw Naruto make a quick snap turn to his left that she decided to follow.
Naruto, who had endured an entire war and survived (even barely), had keen and sharp reflexes that surpassing that of a normal human in pique physical condition. He gathered that it was just a side-effect of many that involved in the exposure to a bijuu's chakra and the energy of the earth itself as well as his training.
"Pay the price and give to me your soul!"
A woman walked over to a child, who carried with her, a small stuffed animal. What it is, Naruto didn't care, because he was more focused on the woman leaning down and grabbing the child's hand with the little girl looking at the woman, too scared to even move. The child was trembling, staring at the messy haired woman that had glowing yellow eyes staring back at her. The woman's face was hidden from the shadow of her hair except for her eyes.
As she was about to touch the girl, a hand held on to her wrist.
"Excuse me, kid, but is this your mother?" A blonde boy asked, the small girl looked up to the boy and shook her head. The blonde scowled at this as he turned back to the creepy looking lady.
"You're scaring the kid there, ma'am. Were you just here to talk to her or what?" Naruto asked, seeing as there were many people around him, he couldn't just straight up and beat the ever living hell out of this one, even if she was a monster.
"Why yes, I did. I came here to help her find her parents. Is there something wrong?" The woman replied to the blonde who was looking at the woman suspiciously.
"Nothing, it's just I heard a bad wind was in here. Turns out I was wrong." Naruto turned his back for a moment for the bait. The child behind him was already running away to her mother.
The woman simply flashed a predatory grin as she had suddenly jumped at the blonde with his back exposed. Naruto had then ducked from the surprise attack and easily avoided the woman who was literally jumping him with his opponent sailing over head.
Naruto quickly used a forward roll and grabbed anything in his hand that could be used as a weapon. Unfortunately, the thing that he threw was nothing more than a circular ashtray that was on top of a garbage can.
The woman laughed at his attempt as she approached the blonde who got up and went and punched her. The woman smirked wickedly; she could see the punch sailing past her but then as if something has happened, something had smashed her over her head and she went sailing past through a clothes rack before she had recognized the person's description.
Wild blonde hair, depicting the rays of the sun and fierce sapphire blue eyes, whiskered cheeks lined as if scars were marked by three blades each. They were told to watch out for this boy because of how dangerous he was. If they had somehow encountered him, then it was best to think of a way to escape rather than facing him alone. She had heard that this person had a brutality worse than their own, that his cruelty was worse than a youma's.
"Could have sworn that you were trying to attack me all of my sudden." Naruto said to her as he broke of a steel pipe that was a meter tall and approached her. The woman looked back as the blonde raised the offending object over his head.
Fear radiated within her as she instinctively jumped back, her disguise deteriorating due to her lack of concentration.
What Naruto saw made him raise his eyebrow. Her hair was as still dishevelled and her eyes were a gleaming yellow, her ears were sharper now and her incisors were much more pronounced even though her hair covered her face and only her skin was the most notable change with it turning to green. Overall, nothing was much different from her, except for her skin.
"That's what you look like? Your disguise sucks!" Naruto shouted at the monster who merely growled at him. She knew he was provoking her, if she gave way to her anger now, it would do her no good especially with one such as this person.
She had to think her way through this, even if the fear she was currently hiding was making it harder to come up with something.
She looked around and saw countless people already running for their lives as they ran out. She growled and noticed that she was now cornered as Naruto approached him slowly, as if he was stalking his opponent and waiting for her to make a wrong move.
She watched the boy, stepping sideways and pacing at her front and looking at her wordlessly. She can tell that he was intimidating her and she knew it was working. But how could a single human put that much fear in her even if she knew that she had far outclassed any human to date?
Naruto walked around her, stalking her like a hunter does on its prey. Prodding, planning and watching her every move with his fierce blue eyes.
The monster knew that he was gauging her threat level. The boy worked like a smart predator but does things that even they would consider barbaric.
As he took a step forward, she became alarmed. His footsteps rapidly became quicker and his eyes depicted that he was going in for the kill. It was here that she felt her back against the wall.
She felt exactly what many of the humans felt when they attacked, like a cornered rat.
With that she took a deep breath and shouted as loud as she could. It only came as a sort of last resort, but she had noticed that the air at her front suddenly got blurry as the object at her front were blasted away from the loud booming voice.
Naruto did not have time to react as he was suddenly engulfed by the large blast and was violently throttled outside the store as multiple clothing scattered about. As the dust settled, she could see the damage she had produced and her fear turned into confidence. She walked outside, her newfound confidence stemmed from the boy not expecting her to come up with that attack.
She looked at the damage in front of her and to the boy who had crashed hard on to the building's fountain causing the water to gush out like a hydrant as people scattered about and away from the scene.
Naruto got up, finding himself in a world of pain. It was excruciating, being slammed on to concrete and to have met something with a force of Gamabunta's tackle, he was lucky that shinobi like him tend to be much more durable than any civilian. If it were someone else, they would have died from the force of the attack alone.
He looked up straight towards the Youma that was looking down at him condescendingly that was scared out of her mind moments earlier. He scowled. He didn't expect that. Perhaps he should take note that these creatures tend to have unique abilities of their own.
No matter, the damage was already there and if he were to be honest, he could do not much else lest he reveal what he really was. It was here that the monster was suddenly distracted by two girls wearing what he could tell as scantily clad uniforms and suspiciously looked a lot like Ami and Usagi. But that was impossible, both didn't seem the type to wear something like that, especially Ami who always emphasized proper behavior and always wore plain looking clothes.
Naruto shook his head out of such thoughts for a moment and took this chance for a distraction. Naruto ran as fast as he could, looking for anything that may help him. He stopped when he reached over at a small accessory shop that sold motorcycle gear. He looked around, careful not to be seen and grabbed a motorcycle helmet that covered his upper head and eyes with a shaded visor, a pair of gloves and a jacket. He went over to the next store which was an outdoor gear shop and grabbed a leather satchel from there and armed himself with knives that he saw at kitchen store, storing them in the satchel.
It was then that he decided that run back to the fight and finally let loose.
Sailor Moon and Mercury were finding it hard to face this Youma right now for her ability to send out shockwaves through her voice. Both of them didn't have anything other than their hands to fight because this monster would be able to nullify any of their attacks through sound waves. Sailor Mercury had proposed earlier for a sneak attack but neither one of them could pull it off.
Mercury couldn't do it because even though she had the knowledge of pulling it off, she was more concerned about Moon and that she knew that she had to take all of the Youma's attention before she could strike. And she thought Moon was more like the type to botch up a plan rather than follow through. The Youma was smiling viscously at them as she spoke, "Fools, you senshi think that you can best me? If that boy with the golden hair could not outdo me then what hope could you two ever hope to accomplish?"
It was here that a knife had suddenly flown from the right and embedded itself on the Youma's right shoulder.
The pain from being impaled made itself known against her as she screamed. Sailor Moon and Mercury looked surprised as to the sudden attack. Both looked at each other and then looked back as another knife embedded itself this time, on the youma's left forearm.
"Are you doing that, Sailor Mercury?" Moon asked to the azure haired girl who shook her head at this.
"No, but I know someone who might be." She said and watched in morbid anticipation to where the blonde will strike. She could tell it's going to be brutal, just like how it went with the Hospital.
The Youma thrashed around, looking at every which way for her attacker as she screamed bloody murder. She took a deep breath and was about to let out another sonic wave when she was suddenly struck with three more knives from the back courtesy of a man wearing a helmet and black shirt. Apart from his lips and nose, the only thing left exposed in showing his skin was his black sandals. She looked at her back and saw the man briefly before disappearing from her view once more via a plume of smoke and reappearing behind the two senshi.
"She's mine." Naruto warned them before dashing at the enemy, who had her back exposed completely by the shinobi as Naruto leaned forward and grabbed the last knife from the leather satchel at his side. With precision and fluid grace, Naruto leaped from his already incredible run and a combat knife ready for use. Gathering wind chakra once more to the blade, he sharpened the knife to a point it could cut easily through solid steel and it glowed, like an incandescent blue light and just as easily, he swung the blade sideways at the youma's neck without any form of resistance as if he was merely cutting the very air itself.
Shocking to say the least was the monster's response. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth didn't even open. It felt nothing more than just a small tickle at her neck in just within a moment's notice or even less, there was no pain, her whole body felt numb while the masked person grabbed her head full of hair and her body came crumbling down leaving her head on Naruto's hands. The glazed look in her eyes remained as all the life in her suddenly vanished before disappearing in a handful of ash and brimstone.
Sailor Moon looked over in her own shock while Sailor Mercury looked concerned. There was no doubt that this was Naruto and his style of fighting still brought forth a queasy feeling in her stomach. The boy with the helmet merely looked down on the floor seeing the collected piles of ash and remained silent for a moment.
He didn't feel any remorse in striking her down. She was ready to kill a child so he acted within his reason, that much, he knew. Surviving the ninja war and having faced people who seemed impossible to redeem, Naruto took note that it was better to bear that responsibility rather than making them face their sins on their own for fear that they will never see their errors and involve more deaths at his hands.
Silently, Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury watched the boy's peculiar behavior before he vanished in a cloud of white smoke, but not before looking back at the two senshi and being engulfed in the plume and vanishing.
"Wow… Who was that?" Sailor Moon asked incredulously as Sailor Mercury answered. She didn't know why, but from when he looked back at them, she could tell that she was staring at him beneath that visor of his.
"Someone who I'm glad that's on our side."
Naruto was at the rooftop of the very same building that the creature had assaulted earlier. Thoughts of the battle made him feel quite natural. As he suspected, he lived and thrived in combat. But there was also something else in that. He hated the monster with a passion. One of those things attacked an innocent girl. And before he knew it, he had done something that brought a sense of tranquillity within him.
The thought alone strengthened his inner being to the brim with energy he had never thought he had. With that, he looked at his open right palm and closed it into a fist. His expression would have told anyone that he had decided on something. With a bite of his thumb, Naruto drew blood and began performing the sequence to a summoning technique.
Exactly as they had talked about, he and Fukasaku shall meet again and today was the day.
Smoke billowed from the cement that Naruto's hand had touched and from the white cloud, the figure of a small green toad with grey hair had appeared and behind it were numerous amounts of scrolls that contained many theories concerning Time and Space Ninjutsu. These were notes written by the Nidaime Hokage, the Sandaime, Jiraiya, Uzumaki Kushina and the Yondaime Hokage themselves.
More than a decade's worth of knowledge, passed down, researched, painstakingly improved, tirelessly written down and meticulously recorded for every trial and error now lay at the blonde ninja's hands.
Naruto looked incredulous! Is the old frog expecting him to study all of THAT?
Surely, the Fukasaku must have been joking! There's no way he would be able to understand all the technical bull crap in that thing!
"Right on time as always, Naruto-chan, you do know how to make an appearance at least at the last minute." Fukasaku said in good humor while his apprentice kept glancing at the small mountain of wrapped paper behind him.
"Ah yes, as I promised, all of the scrolls here at the back pertain to all the postulates, theories, seal formulas and frameworks of Time-Space Ninjutsu made throughout the century. The seals formulas are mostly from the Sandaime's time, to Jiraiya-chan's and finally to Kushina and Minato's time. While the actual principles, the practical knowledge, the seals and the sequence are from the Nidaime and the Yondaime themselves. Tsunade-chan allowed me into the archive that was miraculously spared during Pain's invasion. But more to that, I want to ask you about how you are feeling now?"
The blonde looked down on the toad and instantly knew what he was going to say. Forgetting about the monumental task that he had for that day, Naruto answered without as much as hesitation in his person.
"I have to stay here a bit longer, gramps." Naruto replied, earning a look of confusion coming from the old toad.
"I know you want to ask why, but I just can't leave the place behind like this. Just today I saw a kid getting attacked by this weird creature and kept mumbling about obtaining her soul."
To this Naruto clenched his fist as he uttered with a scowl, "If I were a bit later, the girl might not have made it and that thing could have gone for other children inside that place."
Now Naruto answered Fukasaku, his eyes were the same as it was days before the war, determined, focus and much more resolute.
The old toad noticed his expression and he smiled as Naruto continued, "I want to protect this place. I want to fight for it. I want to protect them. It's because I can't repay this town enough. Some of the people here took care of me when I didn't even ask for it. They made me feel human, much more than I could say about Konoha or any of the five nations. In here, I'm just the same like them to their eyes but I know I'm so much more than that. And it's in that view that I have to protect them. My debt and gratitude to this town has something to do with it, but I don't want to leave this place in chaos. Now I realize my own purpose now if the case that I can't come back does happen. My own purpose is to fight for the weak. I'll be the one to stand up for them when other people can't. I'll be their symbol of hope. I'll be the one who would stand tall against all of the nightmares that come alive. Back then, I'm not just a ninja or a soldier, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, a human infused with the power of the Ninetails, given the strength so that I can fight against the dangers brought upon by the person responsible for my parents' deaths. But now, I'm different. I'm someone else. The sage asked me to have another life to live. And this might be where I can start living beyond the name and title of Uzumaki Naruto, the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko. Who I am now, it's still to be determined. But I'll do everything I can to be that someone."
Fukasaku looked at Naruto, whose eyes remained as they are, blue, deep and full of determination, of will, and of undeniable conviction. The old toad's smile never left his face.
The blonde boy was back on his hind legs if only his resolve. Perhaps as time passes, his old self will be back as well or he become something so much more.
Fukasaku spoke to his apprentice, pride welling inside him for the blonde sage, "Very well, if that is what you think. But I hope it's not an excuse in not reading all these texts about Fuinjutsu and Time-Space Ninjutsu. After all, being an Uzumaki, sealing is metaphorically your birthright."
Naruto's jaw hit the floor as he saw the stacks and stacks of scrolls behind the old toad, "All of it? Are you sure?"
The old toad gave a hearty laugh before adding, "Indeed, Naruto-chan. You have to understand that Time-Space Ninjutsus are one of the most advanced and very complex in terms of requirements. If you wish to learn of a way to get back to our place, you're going to have to read on the basics of Fuinjutsu, understand the purpose of handseals and finally…" The toad then pointed to the pile of scrolls.
"Learn and improve upon the postulates, jutsus, and theories of each of your predecessors coming from the Second Hokage up to the Fourth. It is here that I can only lend my help. Everything would solely be up to you."
Naruto's only reply right now as he felt his knees weak from the thought of reading all of this material, was a small groan while saying, "You got to be kidding me."
The old toad gave a hearty laugh at the blonde's response before turning his back on his former apprentice.
"Do you remember Jiraiya-chan's words before he started your training as his official apprentice, Naruto-chan?" The old man asked out of nowhere.
Feeling like he should humor the old toad about that question, Naruto answered regardless.
"The foundations of a great ninjas rely on the basics rather than greater, more complicated jutsu which are just the results of understanding the basics like the back of their hands." Naruto said, remembering the old pervert's lecture word for word, Fukasaku nodded as he put up a single hand sign.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I must go back. Dispelling the Kuchiyose here is much more strenuous than back home. Remember Naruto-chan, you are who you choose to be. Do not let the opinions of others define you, but rather, you should define yourself. But I guess that you should already know that."
With that, Fukasaku disappeared in a plume of white smoke leaving behind an obviously vexed blonde ninja while staring at the pile of scrolls left behind by Fukasaku.
'I can't believe I have to read all of this and mix it with school! This place already sucks!' Naruto thought in irritation. But he never once regretted on what he decided if he his gut was always on the right track. Now was no different. To him, the circumstances are what changed, but he knew, it was all the same. It was the same hand he had been dealt with and he always had an idea that not even this would stop him.
The almost vagabond ninja had let out a much truer smile than he had before. Far from his goals, yet, somehow, he could already see the cloud with the silver lining.
Who knows? Maybe he'd discover some things much more in his stay here.
It would be hard, it would be arduous, and no doubt would be filled with obstacles, but when has he ever not faced impossible odds before?
To be continued…
Two fights in one chapter? Man, I think I'm getting sloppy. But I guess I can take that as a sign that I haven't been paying much attention to my writing and worrying about med school but I digress.
This chapter has brought forth so much of my thought about Naruto's developed character being more developed in more ways than one, at least for me. 'Naruto, if you take away his dream, take away the ones that he loves, what is there left for him?' I've always had that question when I was doing this fic. What is there left for a man who virtually has nothing for something to cling on? Especially with one who is close to those things as Naruto? His eventual search for a purpose is what made me write this thing and I hope I can take him further than that as the story progresses (or if my interest keeps me with this.)
Leave a review and tell me what you think.