Author's Note: Now I know everyone is waiting eagerly for Drifting to be updated. If anyone is wondering, I'm currently going through exams and am trying to write several chapters ahead before posting more for my stories. I'll try and update it as quickly as possible, but for the time being, here is the second chapter to Unbreakable.

NARUTO

Unbreakable

An Interesting First Encounter

Two and a half weeks later…

Just like he promised to Iruka, Naruto went on to try and turn over a new leaf in his life.

In order to avoid getting into confrontations and causing problems for the locals, the jinchuriki had started the not-so-easy task of evading the various alleyways and kids he'd had less than agreeable encounters with in the past. Though he did pass the abovementioned troublemakers on the streets every now and again following his little heart to heart chat with his teacher at the ramen stand, in an effort to dodge any possible conflicts, disagreements and alike, he tried not making any eye contact with them and just overtook them without a second thought or care.

But even when he did do that, it failed to escape the blonde's notice that some of those kids he remembered scraping with in the shadows and parks made sure to step well out of his way whenever he came by…

…just like every other villager he encountered on the streets on a daily basis.

So now, instead of receiving some acknowledgement from the public in the form of exciting fist fights and epic battles in the background, he was receiving none at all for just being in the same breathing space.

It was a harsh and depressing reality, but that was the price he was willing to pay.

No doubt it was tough getting used to breaking his routine in the past two weeks, but Naruto was adamant on starting out fresh. He wanted to make good on his word in approaching people with nothing but the intent of being nice and making friends. However, thanks to his poor standing with the population before and after he became a street fighting firebrand and the fear that manifested from his reputation as the 'Wild Beast', his task of making companions seemed like a near impossibility in his eyes.

This was further accentuated when he walked down the main road that morning for the academy and everyone he passed moved over to the side of the road, at least those who could help it. Those who couldn't, most notably the villagers behind the counters of stalls, remained where they were as the jinchuriki breezed into their midst, paying him not so much as a glance as he sauntered on. The blonde nevertheless ignored them and kept his gaze trained forward, knowing full well that no matter what, sooner or later he was going to change their perspectives on him.

When he finally got to school to start the day, business went by as usual. This consisted of his habit of getting to the classroom, sitting in his seat by the window, and watching the other students file in one at a time, only to hang back to one end of the room. Out of the vast majority that chose to keep their distance from him like they were under some sort of restraining order, the only people who treated him with any form of casual indifference and sat anywhere within speaking distance of him were Sasuke, Shikamaru and Shino, with the former not really caring, the Nara just wanting to get some peace and quiet in one of the empty spaces provided, and the Aburame because… well… he was just weird.

After that, when Iruka finally arrived on the scene to get everything in order, he made sure that everyone was properly seated so that the lesson could get underway. That morning had them talking about battlefield strategy and conflicts that had been fought between shinobi in the past utilizing the same basic concepts. The lesson went by normally without anything out of the ordinary taking place, save for the teacher having to stop short to wake Shikamaru up when the kid went off and fell asleep. It was then after the first hours ticked by, the bell for recess inevitably sounded and everyone quickly headed off to eat.

Following another failed attempt to interact with the other kids, Naruto and the rest of his class then retreated to the courtyard outside the academy for taijutsu practice. The ring was basically a white square drawn across a flat, dirt plain with a wire fence dividing the school grounds from the village streets beyond it. Lining up alongside the mini arena, the students stood shoulder to shoulder as their instructor then drew up a list of his class and his infamous marking pen. He counted each of them to make sure they were all there, before proceeding with the second lesson for the day.

What followed consisted of a lot of one-on-one matches using the same combat etiquette hammered into their heads for the past couple of years since starting taijutsu practice. Iruka made extra certain that everybody gave each other the Sign of Confrontation at the start of each bout and the Sign of Reconciliation at the end of each match respectively. It was all business as usual for the most part, including the 'fight' that saw Sasuke utterly dominate his opponent with a swift take-down. Eventually however, the kids were then hurried off the field for lunch, leaving Naruto standing in the same spot with his hood pulled over and hands in his pockets like he was just part of the backdrop.

In the end he didn't wind up competing like the others. For the sake of improving his reputation and not hospitalizing his opponent in case he went a little too far in the practice match, Naruto threw in the towel just like Shikamaru did in every one of his sessions. This allowed him free reign during lunch period, in which he took to wandering the main training area of the academy with the obstacle course nearby.

Dumplings in hand, the youngster maneuvered around the stumps absently while looking at the target range across the way. Chewing on the pork roll and thinking quietly to himself, he then became engrossed in the ropes wrapped tightly around one of the larger hitting posts and stood before it curiously. Upon looking it over and seeing how it was position, he then shrugged, set his lunch down, and practiced striking it lightly.

Punching and kicking the target repeatedly, his blows rattled the stump from top to bottom, filling the area with the sounds of loud thumps and thuds. After a minute or so of stretching his legs and warming up his arms, in a manner of speaking, Naruto then threw a right straight and smacked the binding rope hard. Hearing the wood crack and seeing it split before his very eyes, he pulled his fist away and looked down at it.

Pondering over the feelings of contact for a moment and contemplating his task, the youngster sighed and shook his head in disappointment.

"It's just not the same," Naruto mumbled.

He preferred it when his targets tried to fight back and allowed him to mercilessly pummel them into submission.

While the young upstart was massaging his knuckles and considering his choices for the better part of his brief, five minute reprieve, he failed to notice a shinobi of the village walking past that part of the academy along the nearby footpath. Though the man wasn't a regular member of staff of the school, mostly filling in for one or two of the lessons whenever his assistance was required in the academy, the man was purely there for business that day and was merely passing through to get to his intended destination. However, when he noticed one of the academy students standing over by the hitting stumps all by himself the Jonin stopped to look over and watch out of curiosity.

Cigarette hanging from his lips and smoke gently wafting off of it, the bearded individual blinked when he then saw the boy, with his back turned to him, scrutinize his hands for some strange and unexplained reason.

Nothing happened beyond that point for the next few seconds. However, after clenching and unclenching his fist a couple of times, Naruto finally decided on a course of action to take to break the monotony of the moment and, smirking, cocked his knuckle and sent it hooking straight into the post, a loud 'whoosh' sound echoing out from the power he exerted.

A sharp and violent 'bang' then echoed out when he struck the post with his punch, denting the massive piece of wood at the ropes while also sending it shooting across the field from the spot it had been propped up. It flew a grand distance of about eight to ten meters before bouncing and slamming into the wire fence at the back of the field fifteen meters away. The barrier that served as the boundary between the training area and the village cushioned the airborne post and, though it did indeed stop it, the impact of the stump still left quite an impression in its side.

When the dust settled, an imprint of a small fist could be seen clearly embedded in the very front of the target.

Grinning at sending the hitting post away with a single blow, Naruto then looked down at his fist once again and pumped it triumphantly. "Hey. That was pretty fun."

It was settled.

Time for target number two!

Seeing the cloud of excess rest from the explosive hit, the Jonin standing on the sidelines raised an eyebrow in interest as he then watched the boy move on to the second training item; a wooden man target. Hands still in his pockets, the bearded individual stepped around to face the field more completely as he then proceeded to study the sideshow.

"That kid's got a pretty decent swing," the Jonin thought, clearly impressed at what he was witnessing. And here he was just heading up to the main building for a meeting and to get some of his boring paperwork out of the way. But cutting across the training grounds of the main facility with no reason other than to get to his intended destination, he actually ran into something quite fascinating.

He then went on to watch the boy approach the next target and, after assuming the position, did the exact same thing to the wooden man as he did its predecessor, only with his left. The Jonin cracked a smile at the sight of the second target that had been setup with sandbags barrel the short distance over the field before smacking into the wire wall. "And his hitting power is easily above average for a kid his age. He could take down people twice his size with a single punch."

"Hey, Asuma-chan."

Hearing his name called as well as the honorific jab at the end of it, the man turned to see another face heading him up on the same footpath. Long, purple hair tied into a high ponytail, khaki trench coat worn over a fishnet uniform, combat skirt and shin guards in full view, Tokubetsu Jonin and exam proctor Anko, who was also walking to the academy for a meeting, stopped beside the taller man blocking the road and looked at him curiously. Despite her appearance and her opening greeting, the man didn't respond beyond a murmur and a glance.

"What are you doing out here? Did you get lost on the way to the bathroom or something?" the woman teased.

Smirking, Asuma turned back to the training field and gestured to it with a nod, "No. I just stopped here to watch a rather interesting performance. Check it out."

Doing as directed, Anko turned to look towards the training stumps as well, where she saw the blonde haired ten-year-old with the hood pulled up hanging around the posts. At first finding the sight a little bit peculiar, the kunoichi then saw exactly why the youngster had the elite Jonin's gaze when she watched the child smash the thick post with a kick and send it tumbling across the field with a deep indent in its side and its base snapped from its previous spot wedged into the ground.

Needless to say, the woman also voiced her intrigue at the raw display of power with a whistle.

"Nice kick."

"Tell me about it. I was just heading up to the office to see gramps about my previous mission report, but then I spotted this rascal out here messing around with the equipment," Asuma replied, pulling his cigarette out and flicking the ashes off. "I have to say… he has some wicked taijutsu skill."

Case in point, the pair then saw the kid rattle the next wooden training dummy with a few brisk combinations. Easily denting the frame with his various punches and kicks, he then drilled the stump with a twisting shot, which ripped it spinning from its supports and across the field. Though it didn't reach the end, it still had one hell of a flight when it bounced across the ground and kicked up dust. The sounds Naruto had made when he hammered the thing sounded like someone knocking down a tree with an axe.

Chuckling excitedly, the hooded upstart then sprang over to the next one. Not wanting to waste time on formalities, he drew his fist back and with a mighty yell, drilled the post with a straight that tore it out of the ground and sent it flying into the fence. The airborne trunk crashed into the wire and bent the fence's metal post over the dirt road, where the human-sized projectile shuddered to a stop.

"Yosh," Naruto said, pumping a fist proudly. "That was awesome. Maybe I can set them up one after the other and see if I can domino them."

Unfortunately, before he could move forward with any of his plans for a second bout, a series of footsteps stopping directly behind him had the child cut short his thinking and spin around to investigate the anomaly. Finding his gaze staring directly into a shinobi vest, the youngster then looked up to see a large man with dark hair and beard staring down at him. Not at all intimidated by the man's sudden appearance, despite the fact he was so big that his frame was practically blocking out the entire view of the sun, the jinchuriki merely looked up at him and stood firmly under his gaze. "Hey?"

Staring at the kid for a moment, Asuma allowed an amused grin to cross his face before rolling his cigarette around and gesturing towards the field, "You do realize you're going to have to clean this up before any of your teachers see this."

Turning to see the damages he'd caused for himself and the fence he'd bent from throwing one of the heavy training posts into it, Naruto groaned and punched the air, "Ah, damn it. I didn't think about that." Moving the stumps back into place wouldn't be a problem for him. No. It was fixing the fence he quickly became most concerned about. "Man. Iruka-sensei is going to be pissed."

"Well, I suggest you get right to it before lunch ends, otherwise you're going to have one hell of a long afternoon cleaning classrooms and scrubbing toilets," Asuma replied with an amused smirk, getting the blonde to glance in his direction again. Upon slipping his hands into his pockets, the Jonin nodded toward him, "You've got some pretty wicked punches and kicks in your arsenal, kid. Your physical strength and dexterity is really impressive."

"Heh. Thanks," the jinchuriki responded with a chuckle, "I do this a lot."

"So I can tell," Asuma laughed, turning heel so that he looked across the open ground once again. "You can cause a lot of damage with just a single blow… and not just to people."

"Yeah… which also turns out to be my biggest problem at the moment," Naruto said, scratching his head and letting out a weary sigh. "In more ways than one."

Getting the gist of one of his points, Asuma returned the youngster's statement with an understanding gaze and patted the boy on the shoulder. When he saw the teen look at him, the instructor began speaking again, "If you're concerned about a proper training space, then why not go out to the forests around the village? They have plenty of fields specifically reserved for shinobi and people wanting to work on their skills that doesn't have to involve the rest of the community. Maybe you'll be able to find a safe spot to work on your taijutsu there."

Considering the information for a moment, the jinchuriki gave a thoughtful facial tweak and a grin. "Hey… that's not a bad idea." He looked to the Jonin and smiled gratefully. "Thanks."

Now that he couldn't fight delinquents on the streets anymore, perhaps the woods and trees would be a much better substitute than the posts on the training ground, most of which weren't even fixed to the floor.

"Just some food for thought," Asuma responded, giving the kid another pat of acknowledgement and taking his leave. "Keep at it, kiddo."

It was then, as the jinchuriki was watching the adult vacate the area, he noticed there was also a woman in a trench coat standing on the footpath and watching them as well. After seeing the two adults leave for the main building and leave him to ponder over the new information given to him, Naruto looked to the training grounds for the second time that hour. He groaned when he got another decent view of the mess he'd made and scratched his head exhaustedly.

"Damn it. Next time I should think about what I'm doing before I start smacking things around."

This time he didn't.

It wasn't like he could help it though. Since he didn't want to fight during taijutsu practice, was forcing himself not to get into confrontations outside of school and was still having rotten luck trying to interact with the other kids, he was bored as hell.

However, not dawning on the issue for any longer than he had to, the jinchuriki then went around clearing up the field and fixing the fence as best as he could. He placed a few two-by-fours around the fence post when he bent it back into place so as to cover up most of the damage and to support it, before then heading to the main building for his next class once the bell sounded. On his way to homeroom, the youngster made a mental reminder to go check out the library before it closed so that he could find a map of the training fields on the edge of the village.

OOO

That afternoon…

When the bell for the end of school sounded and everyone had filtered out of the building, Naruto wasted no time in heading for his next destination. Taking the main road out of the administration part of town, the youngster began making his way to the center of the village where Konoha's public library was situated.

Upon reaching the facility and finding a map with directions to the supposed training areas suggested to him by the big Jonin that had approached him during lunch, the blonde quickly skimmed over the birds-eye-view shot of Konohagakure for the fastest route from his place to the outskirts. Considering the other times of the day where he found himself in different parts of the village that wasn't his home, he eventually figured out a good spot around the North Westerly region of town he could come and go from as he pleased.

After that, he then vacated the public venue and headed over to Ichiraku's Ramen for dinner with the only thoughts sticking in Naruto's head as he strolled down the road with his hands in his pockets was the stuff he was going to practice tomorrow.

Since he couldn't really work on technique without another partner, he figured he could concentrate on strength building material. Skills and form he could build up gradually over time once he figured out the best way to do that using logs and stuff he could find lying around the forest. He reasoned that focusing on developing his muscles and power would also be good at relieving some stress well out of range of prying eyes. Once he got this part of his daily routine figured, he could work on the rest of the stuff.

Maybe by then he would have improved his reputation enough to approach other people again.

Anyway, after buying himself three bowls of ramen and sating his hunger, he then made his way back to his apartment. It had been a long and boring day, with not much happening aside from the stuff on the training field. All he wanted to do at this point was hit the hay and wait out the night for early morning tomorrow where the real fun would start.

But just as he came within sight of his apartment and was ready to turn himself in, the jinchuriki suddenly sensed a familiar presence watching him from the sidelines and stopped in his tracks. His hood still pulled over his head, the blonde turned to look towards the nearby alleyway, where he saw the beige hair and form of a still slightly bandaged Yagura glaring at him from the wall with his arms folded. When the leader of the gang saw Naruto's own gaze lock onto him, the boy remained standing in place, completely composed, until the sound of the blonde's tongue clicking broke the monotony and he spoke towards his former antagonist.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was in the neighborhood and decided to drop by to visit an acquaintance. Just for business," the academy dropout replied before lowering his head.

Naruto's gaze hardened, "Really?" He then glanced over his shoulder when he heard more footsteps behind him and spotted several other figures step out from nearby alleys. When the groups fell under the lights of the main street, he was able to make out the distinct symbols of the Yagura Gang emblazed upon all of the newcomers as the platoon of teenagers came to surround him. This had the blonde's stare harden. "Ah. I'm guessing this is business of a personal nature. Got some itches you want to have scratched, huh… Yagura?" He then glared back at the teen in question.

He then saw the older teen approach him as well and come to stand in front of him. When they faced each other, both fighters had their hands in their pockets and serious glares in play.

The sight of the jinchuriki being surrounded by over twenty kids, all of them looking menacing in appearance, had other villagers quickly vacate the road and give them some space. For all they knew, another big fight was about to break out.

For the next minute or so Naruto stood there in silence facing the leader of the group that had picked on him since he was much younger. However, once a certain amount of time had passed and the certainty of a fight in the air had reached its highest point, the long haired Yagura then spoke up. "We're not here looking for trouble. As fun as it would be to get into another scrap with you, it's clear to all of us who would win in the end." He then smiled slightly at the jinchuriki. "I'm not going to lie… you have a really mean right straight."

Blinking at this admission, Naruto tilted his head and smirked, "The counter I threw when you came at me with that left shook you up quite a bit, huh?"

"That and the shots you started landing on me when you got my timing down," Yagura replied, wincing when he rubbed his still sore chin and rolled his shoulder. After settling the ache in his muscles, the gang leader then put on a frown and continued without missing a beat. "You're a strong kid, 'Wild Beast'. There's no arguing that."

The blonde glanced once at the group of teenagers behind him, all of them looking back at him warily and nervously, before he turned to face Yagura a second time. "As much as I appreciate the words of praise… why are you guys really here?"

Facing down the delinquent street fighter firmly and after taking in another deep breath, the leader of the gang stepped forward, "We're just here to make a peace treaty with you." Seeing the jinchuriki raise an eyebrow in confusion, Yagura proceeded to explain, "You're a strong and dangerous fighter… much stronger than any other drop out or street kid we've ever come across. The fact that you defeated me proves that. Not even a whole group of us stands a chance against you, and if anyone is stupid enough to try, they are paid dearly for it. So, just to make sure that neither one of us ends up getting ambushed or has to walk on thin ice around each other, I just want you to know that neither my gang nor I will be causing anymore problems for you."

Raising an eyebrow oddly at Yagura and looking him over, Naruto then glared back at the group behind him. When he did, he hit them all with a small wave of killing intent for extra reassurance, which had a bit of sweat break out on all their faces before they all stood at attention and bowed. Figuring this as a gesture of consent toward their leader's decision, the blonde once more turned to the abovementioned individual.

"Honest?"

Naruto blinked when he saw the boy's hand suddenly extend towards him.

Yagura smiled, "Honest."

Considering the offering being held out towards him, the jinchuriki thought about it for a good, long minute. Once he ran it through his head several times and thought about all of his options, he then took the hand in his and shook it. When the two boys gave the person across from them a reassuring nod and a look, they then broke apart, with Yagura stepping around the kid to return to his friends. Said blonde then proceeded to watch as the leader and his gang started making their way down the road, with the entire group quickly dispersing and disappearing from sight.

Staring after them over his shoulder for a minute longer, Naruto then breathed a sigh and moved on, an amused smile pulling across his lips.

"They better not have wrecked my apartment again… otherwise I'm going to hunt each and every one of them down and beat them to within an inch of their lives."

Fortunately for them, they didn't. That meant that Yagura's personal extension of good faith was genuine.

XXX

The very next morning…

Getting up after a very comfortable sleep, hours before he was officially scheduled to be anywhere that day, Naruto had his breakfast of oats and toast, threw on his standard hooded vest, as he'd slept in his regular clothes that entire night, before heading off to attend to some much needed business. Due to the afternoon he'd had beforehand and the fact that he couldn't really be bothered addressing the training field locations he'd collected from the library on the same day, he'd chosen to set the information aside for the night and work on it in the morning.

Before dawn could even break over Konoha's horizon, the youngster soon found himself running down the road to find his perfect workout spot. Over breakfast he'd had a chance to consider his routine for the day. After getting an eyeful of the material he'd managed to snag from the library and memorizing the roads, he was quick to finish the rest of his meal and rush out onto the streets en route to the edge of the village.

Making his way to the forests of Konoha where he remembered the fields were, the youngster quickly found a secluded spot inside the woods and got to work. This being the perfect area to wreck some stuff and not be disturbed for it, the blonde was certain to get a lot of recreational time out here, and since it was close to home he'd have no trouble going to and from there, and to school.

Positioning himself in the middle of the biggest clearing, the blonde went through some stretches. Once his body was limbered up and he was all good to go for the still dark and early morning ahead, he then took aim at one of the trees on the edge of the open space and smirked.

"Alright. I'm here. I'm all good to go. Let's give it a shot!"

However, just before he could throw himself right into his session, the sounds of branches snapping nearby had the blonde's eyes suddenly cut to the side and instinctively jump out of the way. He leapt from his place just in time to avoid a cluster of kunai that suddenly impaled the ground where he'd previously been standing, bursting the bubble that had previously been his belief that he would not be interrupted out here. Skidding away after his evasion, the boy clicked his tongue in annoyance and glared up towards the canopy where the weapons had come from.

"Who's there?!"

He was still inside the boundaries of his village, right? Sure, people have attacked him on the streets before, but who the hell would be throwing knives at him all the way out here?

Before he could inquire further into his attacker's identity, the person responsible for the attempted assassination decided right then and there to reveal themselves to the youngster. While the jinchuriki was scanning the canopy above him, a figure suddenly dropped down from the tree at the other end of the clearing. Landing and upon rising from a crouched position with leaves cascading all around them, the assassin appeared to the jinchuriki adorned in a full body, khaki cloak with a hood pulled over their head and concealing their face in shadow.

The second the person emerged, Naruto jumped to his feet and took a stance.

As soon as the boy raised his guard, the figure threw back the cloak and hurled another volley of kunai in his direction, which Naruto slipped around before the person eventually pulled out two of the knives, twirled them on their fingers and charged at the teen. Due to the sudden burst of speed and the zigzag path the person followed, Naruto became baffled when all he saw was a dark blur heading in his direction, which had him widen his eyes in alarm.

"Holy shit! This guy's fast!" Ducking under the person's opening swing when they appeared directly in front of him the jinchuriki began weaving between strikes as his attacker slashed out at him with graceful yet lightning fast blows that cut the wind with every combination. The blades flashed through the air in an elaborate dance, with Naruto forced to make a hasty retreat while staying just a hair's breadth away from the knives and expertly slipping around the blows.

The cloaked figure struck out at him with amazing fury and speed, causing the blonde to recoil at every attempt he managed to slip under as he avoided another blow meant to separate his head from his body. Gritting his teeth, Naruto backed off again as fast as he could so as to get out from under his assailant, until he suddenly felt his body shudder to a stop.

Realizing to his surprise that he'd backed straight into a tree, Naruto spared it a momentary glance before looking ahead again. Seeing his foe come in with another downward strike to finish him off, the boy concluded right then and there that he was sick and tired of ducking and parried the attack, before catching the stabbing motion to follow.

Acting quickly, Naruto twisted the person's arm the wrong way, forcing them to relinquish their blade and disarmed them of one of their two kunai. Continuing to twist to either lock up the arm in his grip or break it, the jinchuriki then slipped under the person when they struck at him with their other arm. He went under them while they leapt over him in a spin, reversing their positions but also resulting in the attacker managing to twist their way out of the hand lock. When the assassin landed with both feet against the tree Naruto had previously been pinned against, they suddenly unbolted a kick right into the blonde's chest and sent him flying across the clearing, with a loud 'oof' escaping his lips.

Tumbling across the ground and stopping on all-fours, Naruto coughed up blood before glaring towards his enemy again. As soon as he did, he saw them rush across the grass towards him again, prompting him to hastily return to his feet, cross his arms over his face and block the elbow that plowed into him. This leading attack knocked him off his feet, but it wasn't enough to shake his focus from the opposition as he immediately parried a left hook to the side and a right kick, the attacks smashing him this way and that until he slid to a stop.

Hands still up, the jinchuriki began blocking and deflecting a series of quick punches and palm strikes. Deflecting the assault, he immediately countered with a right cross. But his opponent expertly slipped under it and stepped forward with a double palm strike with both hands to his chest, knocking him sliding away before the cloaked figure then spun at him with a side kick. The blow smashed into the boy's chest and sent him blasting off his feet into the tree behind him.

Slamming into the side of the trunk with an earsplitting 'crack', Naruto then dropped to the base of the tree and groaned. Blood dripping out of his mouth from the hits he'd taken, the jinchuriki shook it off and looked up again, where he saw the assassin rise up in the center of the clearing with their face still covered by their hood.

At first appearing infuriated from getting knocked around by his adversary, a more manic grin then formed on the blonde's face before he wiped the blood from his lips, smearing it across his jaw line like war paint.

"Oh, now isn't this interesting. I'm getting the shit kicked out of me by somebody who's the exact same height as me," Naruto whispered to himself before grinning excitedly. "There's no way that I'm going to let this fucking stand." He then pushed himself up so that he was sitting against the tree and brought both his arms up into a guard. Slowly, he gestured for his opponent to come at him. "You want some more of this? Bring it."

Seeing the mouth of the person underneath the veil frown, Naruto's eyes then widened when he saw the figure draw another set of kunai and hurl them at him in a quick swipe. The jinchuriki growled and, using his hand, smacked all of them out of the air by hitting them in the sides, knocking them to the ground before springing off of the tree with a yell.

When he rushed his opponent, the cloaked figure did the same thing and the two of them met in the center. Naruto opened up with a series of swinging hits, whereas his opponent blocked them before throwing palm strikes and hooks in his direction. The pair began trading blows at middle range, ducking or parrying the attacks so as to deflect the power of each other's strikes. Slipping around the blonde's hits, the hooded figure rushed in with a guard and forced his target to back off. Still swinging furiously, smacking his foe repeatedly in the arms, the jinchuriki felt himself backing up into another tree and took a step away for a setup.

Seizing the opportunity, his opponent charged in, ducking under two punches with a great deal of effort before spinning in with a side kick, which the blonde dodged and watched slam into the tree. The kick smashed a deep impression into the trunk, with Naruto moving away again to dodge a second jump kick coming from the other side, which also smashed a good chunk off of the trunk.

Gritting his teeth, Naruto moved around his foe and swung in with a hook, which the figure ducked around and threw a roundhouse kick at him in response. The blonde swayed under it and began backing off, throwing a few more punches and forcing his opponent to weave around them. When he did and ducked under another hit, the jinchuriki seized that opportunity, grabbed their head and kneed them in the stomach. The blonde then jumped up, wrapped both arms around the figure and repeatedly began kneeing them in the chest and face, his blows landing hard, fast and causing pained grunts to come off of his target. The two circled, the cloaked figure trying to push his enemy off, but Naruto pressed forward and sped up his assault.

He then jumped up with one more knee, but the cloaked figure managed to dislodge themselves from the blonde's hold and elbowed it back down. The masked adversary then swung a hook into the jinchuriki's face followed by another elbow, both of which Naruto guarded against yet forced him to step away. The second the enemy followed up with another kick, the delinquent ducked in and tackled them in the waist, causing a yelp to come from the figure as they were suddenly pushed violently across the ground. Not wanting to get knocked over, the hooded individual then jumped backwards and slammed both feet into the grass at an angle, forcing them to a cloudy stop and resulting in a wrestling match between the two.

Huffing angrily, Naruto then threw his head up, smashing the person in the chin from underneath and disorientating them before pulling them forward, dislodging the winded enemy from his position. As he pulled them along, the jinchuriki repeatedly kicked at the person's shins and ankles, knocking them off balance repeatedly at speed so they couldn't regain a foothold. As soon as he kicked his adversary's stance out, he grabbed their arm and, shouldering his way underneath them a second time, hoisted the person off the ground and threw them straight into the floor with a loud 'crack'.

Just as they were trying to get up, Naruto grabbed them by the collar and threw them over him again, sending them sprawling onto the floor while he expertly jumped to his feet. When they attempted to push themselves up a third time, the blonde stepped over to them, grabbed them by the scruff of their shoulder and arm and, with a loud yell of effort, shoulder tossed them straight into a fallen tree. He sent them hurling through the rotting trunk, causing splinters, chunks of wood and bark to explode in all directions on impact, with the cloaked figure crashing to the hard floor behind it and rolling onto their front.

Clearly damaged from being thrown around and kneed in the face, the figure looked up through a bruised face and clenched their teeth. Obviously pissed, they watched the blonde haired boy that was their target jump and skip around on the spot with his arms at his sides, a grin drawn upon his bloody face as he kept moving to keep his heart pumping and adversary confused.

"Well. Come on. Get up!" Naruto chuckled, holding a hand out and gesturing the assailant over. "What are you waiting for?"

Breathing hard, the cloaked figure then spat blood to the side before forcing themselves to their feet. Upon straightening up, the figure ripped the cloak from their person and threw it onto the wind. It was as soon as the veil was completely removed and the figure had unmasked themselves that Naruto got his second biggest surprise for that morning and looked up in shock at the person he'd been fighting.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa, hang on a second!" the jinchuriki said loudly, his jumping coasting to a stop and his hand being raised to point in disbelief. "Y-You're a girl?"

Damn. He never figured he'd been fighting a girl this entire time. Not only that, but it was somebody he'd never even seen before.

The stranger was about the same height and age as him, was tough looking, fair-skinned and cute. She had green eyes and waist-length, raven black hair with a hime-style cut tied into a high ponytail with short bangs and chin-length strands framing her face. She was also wearing a grey-colored, form-fitting uniform with a right shoulder-guard, grey gloves, black sandals, and an opening in her shirt with ninja mesh underneath.

She didn't wear any headband or identifying marks, but she was obviously trained in the art of the shinobi and incredibly strong from what the boy gathered on first contact.

The shock of her reveal held Naruto's attention for but a moment before his gaze reflected how impressed he really was.

"Whoa…" he mouthed when a grin formed on his face again. Wiping away the rest of the blood from his chin to look more presentable and his adversary doing the same, he assumed another fighting stance with both hands up and widened his feet. "You're obviously much stronger than anyone else I've fought before, even Sasuke and Yagura. Where've you been hiding this entire time?"

Blinking at the question, the girl then spoke in a fair and surprisingly level tone of voice, "In the forest."

Shrugging at the response, the jinchuriki then rolled his shoulder, "That's cool. As much as I would like to ask why you're here and why the hell you're attacking me out of nowhere, I'm more interested in finding out what else you've got to show me. It's been two weeks since my last fight and I've been dying for a good workout." He then ground his feet and set himself for round two, "Let's do this."

Nodding in understanding, the raven haired girl drew more kunai and threw them at him. Ducking right, Naruto responded by charging in, meeting the kunoichi in the center and colliding elbow to elbow. Both grabbing the other's wrist, with the blonde keeping his opponent's knife well away from him, the pair circled while exchanging blows, with the spiky haired jinchuriki slipping under her knife when she lashed at him and they separated. When the two got to a distance, they circled again when a gust of wind blew past them, sending leaves drifting across the clearing.

Twirling her blade, the kunoichi tossed it at her opponent, seeing him smack it out of the air from the side and lunge in. The pair once again engaged in a furious exchange of attacks, the blonde hooking and punching out at her while she slipped and countered with palm strikes and kicks. The jinchuriki blocked her shots and came in with more compact blows, forcing his opponent to continue dodging before eventually back flipping away for distance. He pursued her.

Reaching a tree, the girl flipped onto it and pushed off, leaping over her foe and slashing down at him with a knife. The jinchuriki swayed under her and countered with an upward kick, managing to smack her in the arm and send her overshooting her mark. The attacker managed to right herself in midair, and upon making landfall dashed in at him. She lashed out with her knife, cutting the air repeatedly until she stabbed in, only for her opponent to counter by catching her wrist and forcing it out. He then turned into her, shoving her front up against his back, before he drove an elbow into her stomach and then into her face… hard.

The two blows knocking her stumbling, the jinchuriki then spiraled towards the kunoichi and kicked her in the face, sending the girl sliding across the ground with blood flying from her mouth. Knocking up dust and blades of grass, the raven haired assassin managed to stop herself and growled. In a fit of frustration, she charged, slashing at her opponent on a pass and getting him to duck and counter with a quick body shot to her side that had her stagger away.

Seeing her disoriented, Naruto charged in with a left hook, forcing the girl to dodge and slam into a tree. Once she was set up, the boy let out a yell and threw a roundhouse kick at her, only for his attack to slam into the tree and cut right through it, taking a decent chunk out of its side.

In a shower of dust and splinters, the jinchuriki turned away from the object he'd attacked and spotted his opponent moving away with a look of shock drawn across her face, which brought another grin to the blonde who reset his stance.

"Against somebody like you, there's no way I'm holding back."

Yeah. If he let up for even a second against this chick, the girl would kill him without the slightest bit of hesitation.

She was bloody accurate with those kunai of hers and if ordinary taijutsu wasn't going to throw her off, then the blonde was going to break through a lot more tree trunks if their fight went further into the forest.

Frown reappearing upon seeing her target take another stance and begin shifting on the spot, the raven haired girl responded by cocking back her fist and rushing forward. Her opponent braced himself for another engagement, only for his eyes to widen in panic when he sensed something dangerous approaching on the wind and he dropped his guard.

Spotting the opening, the kunoichi went for it, her fist suddenly becoming enveloped in a sheath of misty, white light, before she thrust her attack forward with all fingers extended.

"Nadeshiko-Ryū Kōha Reppūken!" (Nadeshiko-Style Hardliner Gale Fist) the girl shouted before plowing her attack forward in a swift straight, like a spear.

Unwilling to counter it due to the uncertainty of facing the attack, Naruto slipped out of the way and dodged the blow. The second he did so and found himself on the inside of his opponent's defensive circle, a sonic boom echoed out before a shockwave ripped apart the entire area around and in front of the kunoichi. The jinchuriki let out a yell of surprise when he was hit by the invisible force of the explosion blasting off of her person and sent barreling painfully across the clearing, where he eventually stopped in time several meters out to watch the girl blast several fissures around her and fell five trees standing directly in her path.

The sight of the solid oak trunks exploding into clouds of splinters had Naruto gawking until a grin spread across his face.

"Fuck me. If I was standing in line of that attack she would have disintegrated me."

Spinning around when she realized her opponent had barely avoided the attack, the kunoichi narrowed her eyes on him again and set herself up for another charge.

"This next one will end this," she said declaratively, her knuckles of her right fist cracking as they tightened.

Knowing she was going to attack him again, possibly with the exact same technique that she used to wipe out an entire area of forest inside of an enormous crater, the jinchuriki sprang back up and set his form into another stance. Ignoring the bruises he'd received from his flight and the fact his body looked like it had been used to plough a field of turnips, Naruto faced off against his adversary bravely as she flexed her right fist and readied for a second attack.

Unwilling to be at the receiving end of that straight, especially after seeing exactly what it was capable of, the jinchuriki began counting down the seconds till their next and final engagement.

In the deafening silence that followed, nothing critical or attention grabbing took place as the two fighters readied themselves, until the sound of a bird chirping and taking off from a nearby shrub gave them the green light and the two ninja in training exploded into action.

Launching himself from his spot, Naruto dashed towards the kunoichi as she too advanced upon him. Both meeting in the center of the clearing under the breaking rays of light from the canopy above, the two of them eventually slid in and uncorked their attacks.

The jinchuriki however lingered in his counter for but a millisecond, his eyes narrowing dangerously when he saw the kunoichi's corked back hand eventually come flying around from behind her. "The path of her attack is incredibly direct and she swings in with a twisting shot. She doesn't have to fear counters coming in from either side of her when she executes her jutsu because the shockwave it generates disturbs the air and deflects anything that tries to hit her from the sides after she throws it. That's a really dangerous technique."

"However…"

Fingers outstretched and hand glowing again, the rogue kunoichi let out a battle cry and lunged forward, intent on cutting her opponent down once and for all. "Kōha Reppūken!" Her shot came in wild, hard and fast.

His left fist clenching, the jinchuriki's senses honed from years of fighting against an onslaught of strong opponents analyzed his opponent's motion and, in that exact instant, led him to an instinctive response.

"There's a moment when her swing is too wide!"

Directly under her arm while it was extending!

"RIGHT THERE!"

Then… it happened.

When the kunoichi struck out Naruto's fist connected with a loud crunching sound against her ribs, the blonde managing to slide directly under her stretching limb when it fully extended. The kunoichi's eyes widened in shock when bolts of pain suddenly shot through her like lightning, a split second before she choked up blood and the sonic boom from her attack exploded forward, ripping apart the ground around them like confetti. Both fighters braced themselves against the shockwaves bouncing off of their bodies from their simultaneous hits connecting, before the explosion that occurred seconds afterwards sent both of them flying away.

A massive crater was punched into the earth at the center of the exchange at the exact same time the two rocketed out of range. The kunoichi barreled across the ground the moment Naruto did, before they both stopped on opposite sides of the clearing as it was literally decimated from their final exchange.

The earth trembled violently and startled birds from their roosts, the shockwaves lasting for a total of five seconds before it all inevitably ended.

As a result of the impressive jutsu going off, not only had an enormous fissure been torn into the floor, leaving an impressive landmark in the middle of that part of the village's surrounding forests, but several more trees had also collapsed and the entire area lay in ruin. Every single animal that had been in the region had been scared off, most notably the birds, as nobody in their right of mind would want to get caught up in whatever the hell had taken place down in the small field.

With the dust from the attacks settling over the grounds, life slowly returned to the participants.

At first lying motionless where they had crashed, the two adversaries slowly twitched back into consciousness. Limbs numb and blood dripping out of their mouths and down their faces from their heads, the two bruised and battered contestants stood up from the ground. Shaking as they righted themselves and panting heavily, the youngsters then glared hard across the field at the person they had come to blows with.

Both exhausted from the fierce battle that had ensued, the pair locked gazes with one another. As they stood there, with the kunoichi holding her side where she had cracked ribs and the blonde nursing a dislocated shoulder, the duo couldn't help but offer their appraisal of the other.

"His fighting sense is incredible and his physical strength is far greater than his appearance suggests," the girl thought in astonishment while at the same time gulping in air. "Though he lacks significant ninjutsu prowess, he relies solely on his taijutsu and raw power to overwhelm his adversaries. However, what's even more phenomenal than that is his sense for counterattacking. He was able to spot a fatal flaw in my jutsu and went right for it the second I executed it, even with such a small gap to use." It was unreal. No opponent she'd fought before had ever attempted something as daring as that, nor had they been sharp enough to spot and exploit such a glaring weakness.

At the same time the kunoichi performed her assessment, her blonde haired adversary was doing the exact same thing to her.

"She's really smart and she's deadly accurate with her shuriken. But what amazes me most is how nimble she is," Naruto thought while narrowing his eyes and holding onto his shoulder tightly. "I'm pretty damn fast in combat, much faster than anyone else in my age group, but this girl is able to go toe to toe with me on open ground and uses a very efficient and clear-cut fighting style. She combines the grace of her form with overwhelming speed and a sense of fierceness that allows her to utilize the battlefield more effectively; an incredibly nasty combination." He then smirked as he thought on it some more. "I've adjusted for her style, but combined with her ninjutsu it makes her a much more troublesome enemy to deal with. She's powerful."

When the pair finished catching their breaths and making assessments on the opposition, they then began making plans for a second engagement and a third round. Setting themselves into stances, they prepared to run at each other again, only to stop and rethink their situations.

As if mirroring each other's thoughts, their eyes panned down and they tested the condition of their bodies.

The girl was sporting cracked ribs and could barely lift her arm up, her chakra was running thin and she was bruised badly from the beating she'd taken thus far. Naruto too was unable to move his arm at all from that last hit and was feeling equally beaten up. He was nursing a nasty head wound on top of his screaming muscles, was bleeding like his opponent, and if he was assessing his vision correctly he also seeing triple.

Seeing as that they were both exhausted and in no way able to carry on a fight, the pair eventually turned to look at each other again with firm gazes in play.

"Truce?" the kunoichi asked.

"Truce," Naruto nodded in agreement before a grin formed on his face again, "Until next time?"

Throwing him a smirk of her own and nodding her answer, the raven haired kunoichi took off, picking up her cloak on the way out of the clearing and vanishing into the canopy high above. Cascading leaves were the only thing she left behind when she disappeared from the scene, leaving the blonde haired youngster staring at an empty space and a ruined ring.

For several seconds he remained in place staring in the direction his opponent had previously been in. After a moment of standing there and looking into the woods, the blonde staggered away and sighed. Testing his arm for a moment, he quickly wedged it between his legs and with a quick tug and pull he snapped it back into place. With his dislocated joint back where it's supposed to be, the jinchuriki let out a pained groan and straightened up, rolling his arm and shoulder to rid himself of the tension.

"Damn… that girl packed a wallop," Naruto chuckled while shaking his head, "She was amazing." Yeah. His body was still feeling the sting of how fantastic she was.

Rolling his head around and testing his sight again, the jinchuriki smirked before starting to limp out of the clearing with his hand massaging his shoulder. Though he didn't know who that girl was or why she had attacked him from out of the blue like that, the one thing that stuck out in the jinchuriki's mind at that very moment was that he hadn't had so much fun in a long time.

He wanted to fight her again…

Right after he got some tablets for the wicked migraine he now had from the two shockwaves going off right in his face.

OOO

Meanwhile…

Upon managing to put a significant amount of distance between herself and her opponent, landing on a tree further into the thick of Konoha's woods the raven haired kunoichi stopped and glanced over her shoulder, and back towards the clearing she'd left far behind.

Holding her position for the moment, the girl quickly thought back to the fight she'd just had and the boy she'd met while she'd been exploring the outer areas of the village she was 'visiting'. Even though the match had clearly been a brutal one, and one that had left her bruised and bleeding, and had forced her to fight at her absolute best, there was no doubt in her mind that she'd found something incredible; a boy her age and in her exact class that could go toe to toe with her.

Of the many she'd challenged in her travels across the continent and the many matches she'd fought with shinobi in the same league as her, this one had proven to be the toughest of them all.

Simply remembering the blonde's face brought an excited smile to her lips.

"This isn't over."

TO BE CONTINUED…

Author's Note: And that's chapter two, everyone. Hope you enjoyed it.

Question of the day, who is the girl that attacked Naruto?