Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything related to the series/manga.
Chapter 3
The Hokage, Jiraiya, and Naruto had finished their business at the hospital. They were now back in the Hokage's office. They made a little detour to Ichiraku Ramen as it was time for lunch. Of course when Naruto didn't try to bankrupt him by ordering twenty bowls the Hokage once again became shocked.
Naruto had only ordered one bowl again and it wasn't even the largest size bowl the Ramen stand carried. Instead Naruto had ordered a small bowl saying he wasn't very hungry. That threw everyone in the small stand for another loop.
A Naruto that wasn't hungry? More importantly not hungry for ramen? Teuchi had to excuse himself as he cried into his apron.
'My precious income, my second home, my vacation property, my retirement … gone all gone. I didn't even get to finish paying for that new stove I normally couldn't afford' Teuchi lamented.
Ayame was the one that actually prepared their meals. The flushed look on her face when she gazed at the boy she often referred to as a little brother did not go unnoticed as she handed them their order to go.
Naruto thanked the eleven year old for the food before they left causing her to blush even more. As the trio walked back to the Hokage's office Naruto noted he was getting a lot of non-angry or hostile looks. The two old men noticed as well. This served to lighten the mood a little as they entered the Hokage's Mansion.
When they got to the office took out the food and sat it around the old man's desk as every took what they ordered. It didn't take long for Naruto to finish as he sat in the chair facing the old man's desk as the two men finished their lunch.
Naruto looked up at the ceiling at the Hokage's personal guard as they looked back at him.
"Don't they get to eat?" Naruto asked.
The Hokage followed the boys eyes as did Jiraiya, who was surprised that he could see them.
"Yes they do Naruto, when the next group reports for duty they will be allowed to grab lunch or dinner. They will have to wait until then before they can eat" The Hokage answers.
"Oh"
Naruto kept looking at the ANBU a little longer before refocusing his attention on the other old man in the room.
"Who are you?" Naruto asked bluntly.
Jiraiya had still been slurping up the delicious noodles so it took him a second to answer.
"Don't tell me you never heard of me. The great sage of Toad Mountain, one of the three legendary sannin, the great the gallant the unstoppable ladies man … Jiraiya" the man introduces himself.
Naruto just looked at the man strangely.
'Seriously why had everyone become so weird lately' he thought.
"Nope, never heard of you" Naruto answers.
The Sandiame decided to intervene.
"Naruto this is one of my students Jiraiya. Jiraiya-kun is a legendary ninja and was the one who taught the Yondiame before he became the Hokage" Hiruzen adds.
"He was also supposed to be my godfather, correct" Naruto says.
Both older men turned shocked looks to the child.
"What?" Naruto asked.
Seriously having everyone stare at him like they were was unnerving. He could feel the ANBU's stares as well.
"Who told you that?" Jiraiya asked seriously.
"I'd like to know that as well my boy" The Sandiame adds.
Naruto couldn't see it as he wasn't looking at them, but he could just tell those ANBU were nodding their heads. Naruto wouldn't be intimidated and showed them all that.
"What does it matter who told me? The fact is I know and I'm not happy about it" Naruto states firmly.
Both old men looked at the boy suspiciously. He wasn't telling them something and now that they thought about it maybe there was a lot he was hiding.
"Naruto, this is serious. I want to know who told you about Jiraiya being your godfather?" Sarutobi asks sternly.
Naruto calmly sat in the chair.
"And I am being serious. You have been hiding things from me my entire life. I'm entitled to some secrets as well" Naruto replies.
The Hokage and ANBU could only blink at that. Whatever happened to him this wasn't the little ball of fire and sunshine they knew before.
"Haha, I like you kid" Jiraiya says with a big goofy grin.
"Can we get on with this? I'd like to know why I had to go through that examination that doctor gave me" Naruto says.
Sarutobi coughs a little and nods to Jiraiya.
"Before the old man answers that I need you to stand up and remove your shirt kid" Jiraiya directs.
Naruto complied and took off the shirt and undershirt. Jiraiya was creeping him out as he looked at his bare stomach.
"Can you channel cha…" Jiraiya had forgotten the kid had no chakra now.
"No. I don't have chakra any more" Naruto says as if Jiraiya had finished the question.
This shocked both men again. They never considered that Naruto might know he didn't have chakra.
"Care to tell me why you don't think you have chakra any more Naruto-kun?" Sarutobi asked.
"Because the same being that told me about Jiraiya told me that I no longer have chakra as well" Naruto answered.
"Did they tell you anything else?" Sarutobi asked.
This whole thing just kept getting weirder and weirder. It was all serving to give him one big headache.
"They also said that the seal containing the Kyūbi was removed from my body and destroyed" Naruto answers.
"WHAT!?" Everyone in the room shouted.
"That's … simply not possible" Jiraiya says.
"Then check and see for yourself" Naruto responds quickly.
Jiraiya immediately set to do just that as he channeled his own chakra to his finger tips and traced the boys' stomach, chest, and back searching for the seal. Eventually he stopped and shook his head at his old teacher. Sarutobi just slumped back in his chair.
Naruto meanwhile ignored them and put his shirt back on. This whole day had been nothing but a pain for him. He sat back in the chair as the adults took in and digested what they had learned so far.
"I guess this means I won't be able to be Hokage someday?" Nartuo asks breaking the silence.
Sarutobi focused on him for a moment before answering.
"I'm not going to lie Naruto-kun, it will be extremely difficult without chakra. I can allow you to stay in the academy and I will inform the headmaster and teachers of the academy of your condition and that you are excused from anything jutsu related.
As a result you will have to score near perfect marks in the academic, weapons training, and tiajutsu/martial arts portion of the graduation exam to pass. I'm afraid that without being able to do jutsu you will be automatically labeled the dead last of the class and slotted into the appropriate team upon graduation with your classes top male and female genin candidate" Sarutobi tells him.
Naruto nodded finding that satisfactory.
"I would like to have whatever belongings my parents left me, please" Naruto asks politely.
Jiraiya and Sarutobi shared a look before turning to the kid.
"Your parents left you their house, but I'm afraid without a proper guardian I can not release the house to your care before your 18th birthday or until you officially become a ninja" Sarutobi says.
"I'd be happy to look after you gaki" Jiraiya interrupts.
"I can wait" Naruto responds.
"Are you sure Naruto-kun, Jiraiya here can help make sure you pass the academy with top marks" Sarutobi tells him.
"I'm sure" Naruto says without pause.
Jiraiya and the Sandiame frowned at the answer, but nodded.
"Alright then Naruto, you are free to go. If that person contacts you again, please let me know" Sarutobi tells him.
Naruto gets up and leaves the room leaving the two old men behind.
"What are you going to do sensei?" Jiraiya asks.
"Nothing" was the short reply.
"Nothing?" Jiraiya repeats questioningly.
"Nothing, no one outside of this room knows what we do. I'll have the records of his hospital visit destroyed and the doctor sworn to secrecy. Oyone-san will keep track of Naruto and his changes off the record and there will be no mention of the Kyūbi. As far as the villagers are concerned everything is the same as it always was. I doubt they would believe it anyway even if Minato came back from the grave and told them himself that that damn monster was gone" Sarutobi says.
"What about Naruto? He no longer has the demons protection to ward off injury if the civilians were to become hostile against him" Jiraiya asks.
"I'm sorry Jiraiya-kun, but sacrifices must be made for the good of the village. If Kumogakure or Kami forbid Iwagakure found out we no longer host a Kyūbi container it would only invite war.
I can't afford to make any changes concerning Naruto-kun. No one can learn of this at least not until the village is strong enough to defend itself without the threat of a jinchūriki" Sarutobi answers.
Jiraiya nodded. He didn't like the situation, but he understood. Even an untrained baby jinchūriki was a threat. Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri had the advantage of having two containers. When one became too old they still had a younger one trained up that could take over until a new container was found and trained.
Konoha and Suna didn't have that advantage. For some reason the Shodai gave control of two of the chakra beasts to villages that would later become enemies and rivals of Konoha. Why the man hadn't kept one more for Konoha to have to protect itself with or why he hadn't given more villages the chakra beasts instead of giving two to future enemies was a mystery.
Either way now Konoha was screwed. Whatever happened to Naruto he wasn't talking about it. Jiraiya just hoped he would be okay. He knew he hadn't held up to his responsibilities, but he did care for the boy.
Later that night Naruto was lying on his bed. For some reason he wasn't tired at all and couldn't get to sleep. He noticed Tsuneo was also up on the small bed. He didn't even have time to blink before he was back in his mind only this time they appeared to be in some mountainous area.
Naruto took in the surrounding landscape for a minute before finding the still small white cub. Now that his mind was off the area he could also tell he was still in his pajamas and their was wind blowing.
"Where are we?" Naruto asked.
"This is where I will train you every night until you mature fully into an Angel" Tsuneo answers.
"Every night? Won't I need to sleep?" Naruto asked.
"You are no longer a human Namikaze-san. I will allow you time to rest, but you will find that you no longer need to sleep or rest everyday. Angels can go for years without sleep or rest, but you aren't at that level yet. You're a fledgling and it's my responsibility to make sure your ready by the time your powers fully mature" Tsunade explains.
"Alright, what to do we first?" Naruto asked.
"First we'll start working on how to regulate your strength" Tsuneo answers.
Soon a white light emerged from the cat and he transformed into some kind of lion-human hybrid about the same height as Naruto.
"W-what?" Naruto questioned as he stared.
"You didn't think I would train you stuck in a cat's body did you? You will find there are many wondrous creatures and people with abilities in service of Kami-sama. Now let's get started. We'll start off light … give me … one thousand push ups" Tsuneo ordered.
"What? One-thousand?" Naruto questioned.
"Yes, like this" Tsuneo proceeds to drop down and do ten push ups.
Naruto noted the form and speed Tsuneo used.
"Now you do it"
Naruto proceeded to do the first ten, then another, and another ten. Before he knew it he had done a full one-thousand push ups and he wasn't even sweating or out of breath. His muscles did slightly ache from use.
"Now give me the same number of sit-ups" Tsuneo orders.
He proceeds to demonstrate the exercise again. And Naruto once again finds that he completes it with little trouble only now he felt the ache in his stomach. He then went on to instruct Naruto to do squats, jumping jacks, leg lifts, and pull ups. They then stopped to relax before stretching.
"Now what?" Naruto asked.
"Now we run" Tsuneo says.
Before Naruto could say anymore Tsuneo took off forcing Naruto to follow and try to keep up. When it was over Naruto dropped to his knees. He couldn't believe that had ran so far and the sun was still high in the sky.
But still it wasn't over. A sword was dropped casually in front of him forcing him to jump back a little.
"What was that about?!" Naruto shouted.
"Pick it up" Tsuneo says.
Naruto did as instructed. He barely had time to bring the sword up in front of him before Tsuneo flashed in front of him and brought his sword down on his. The resulting clash sent Naruto tumbling heels over ass as the rocky terrain tore into his skin. He managed to stop himself and stand up sending the humanoid lion a withering glare. Naruto couldn't see it, but his blue eyes gained a soft glow to them.
"Glare at me all you want, but we have six years to get you ready for the day your powers mature and fully manifest. The training will be hard, exhausting, and relentless. Most angels are born in battle fighting non-stop even through their accession for centuries at a time. Frankly your getting off easy so I will make up for that by making these next six years while we train the most difficult experience you will have until Kami calls for you" Tsuneo explains.
"But … we can't train all the time. I still have school, ninja training …"
"I know that Naruto!" Tsuneo interrupted.
"Look around you, where do you think we are?" Tsuneo asked.
"Umm … my mind scape" Naruto answers unsure.
"I did not touch your head this time Naruto. No, instead we are on an alien planet. This planet only experiences 4 hours of darkness each night. It's sunny and fairly warm all the time as it doesn't experience a change in seasons either. This planet was created eons ago by a God for a chosen few.
Kami has given me permission to use this planet to train you with that Gods permission. A unique feature of this planet is that time operates differently here. 1 of your home worlds days pass in the time 3 pass here and yet you will see the days are full. That means we can train and you will still have time to get back and rest if you feel you must and change before going to school" Tsuneo explains.
Naruto just nodded figuring he didn't have a choice, but he at least appreciated the explanation.
"Pick up the sword" Tsuneo commands.
Naruto does and once again he's sent tumbling head over heels across the landscape. While he lay on the ground Tsuneo explained something else.
"Right now I am fighting at half the strength of what a fully matured angel is capable of. The goal of this training is for you to match my strength blow for blow with your sword and learn when the right time to surpass my strength is to claim victory. I will be varying my strength during this portion of our training so you can gauge just how much strength you need to fight different levels of opponents.
It would be a problem if when you fought your fellow academy students you killed them by not knowing how to restrain yourself properly. My hope is that you will have this down in time before you have to spar with your classmates" Tsuneo explains.
Naruto nods understanding this would be vital training for him if he wanted to have any kind of a normal existence or friends.
"Pick up your sword again. This time I will come at you with the strength level of an average genin" Tsuneo says.
Naruto nods and this time he was able to stand his ground even more so he managed to push Tsuneo back.
"Good … you didn't match my strength but it was at an appropriate level. Now try again" Tsuneo commands.
Next Day – Konoha
Naruto entered the classroom and sat at the desk he used before. He had spent nearly 50 hours fighting and training with Tsuneo. Frankly he was glad to have a break from the training even if it meant suffering through another day at the academy. The little cub was a sadist. He didn't even let him have a drink of water until after their tenth hour of training.
He waited as his classmates slowly trickled in and talked amongst themselves. As usual the whispers and stares that always accompanied him were present, but unlike before he could hear everything. Actually it was more like he knew what they were saying more than hearing anything.
Instead of reacting to anything he sat at his desk ignoring those around him even as their words reached him. Of course no one approached him until the it was time for class and everyone took their seats those around him waiting until the last second before the teacher stepped in the classroom to do so.
When he did he gave Naruto a look, it was full of hate but Naruto could tell beyond that was another feeling or emotion. When the man did the roll call Naruto was surprised to hear his name was called, but after that the surprises stopped. Well except for the fact he wasn't picked on or kicked out by the man that seemed to take pleasure doing so.
Naruto just sat and absorbed the lesson and the teacher didn't bother him. The rest of the year Naruto was pretty much left alone he managed to pass along to the next year, but like the Hokage said without chakra he was indeed placed at the bottom of those that passed. During the night he and Tsuneo would train in the other world.
This is the way things would go until the night of his next birthday.
Thank you for reading the third chapter of Choices: Angel Edition. I hope you enjoyed it. Until next time dear Reader :)
