Disclaimer: I wish I owned Naruto. But I don't
Hey guys. Sorry this is a day late but I had a final to take yesterday and couldn't spare the time to write this one out.
I'm a bit sad that only three people have reviewed this story but I guess that is to be expected since I'm a new author and this is a new story.
But still. Thank you Kronos96, thor94, Okiro Benihime for reviewing. Sorry I didn't use your suggestion Okiro but you'll see why as the name I gave connects into the story later on.
I'll try to stay on the one update per day schedule but no promises that there won't missed missed days between now and the end of next week when my finals end.
Enjoy the Latest Chapter!
Naruto squinted, trying to see into the mist. Behind him sat Sasuke and Sakura (he liked to think that she was admiring how he was willing to keep a watch to protect her) while Kakashi-sensei sat a little farther behind with Tazuna, their client.
It had been a trying month and a half since officially becoming genin. Naruto had genuinely believed that they would be out liberating countries and saving princesses within the week, so when their first assignment had been to paint a fence, he had all but started a riot.
When they hadn't been taking missions, Kakashi had them sparring so as to increase their Taijutsu skills.
Naruto hated it.
While he may have been the one to grab the bells in the bell test, whenever he and Sasuke spared, he was reminded that he wasn't the best genin on the team. In their first spar, Naruto had released a Ninpo:Doki (Ninja Art : Beat), so named because the Inuzuka apparently heard a low thump whenever he performed it, as soon Sasuke had gotten in range. He'd managed to fling Sasuke into a tree but, by the time Naruto had recovered, Sasuke already had a kunai to his neck. Trying again with only his left arm had flung Sasuke back again without leaving Naruto a limp mess, but had also flung Naruto back as well and left his left arm completely useless for 10 seconds. Predictably, the end result of the second spar had also been a loss for Naruto.
Following his second defeat, Naruto had gone off to train his new technique. Hours of making craters in trees later, Naruto had come to a few conclusions about his technique. First, he confirmed that anytime he used the technique, it fatigued him and left him unable to use it again for a while. The amount of charka that Naruto had and the amount that the technique had release hadn't been the issue though. Instead, whenever Naruto used the technique, it caused localized weakness as his pathways emptied of charka. It apparently took time for them to refill, and because of that, Naruto found that he would have to wait anywhere from 10 to 15 seconds to reuse it in that limb, or 30 in the case of a full sized blast like he'd done with Kakashi at the pond.
When Kakashi had finally gotten around to dragging Naruto to the Hokage to explain his new technique and get it ranked, Naruto had gotten a stern lecture about fooling around with that much chakra before getting a small word of congratulation for his newly created jutsu. Following the grueling talk, Sarutobi had called for an ANBU who was proficient in medical justsu and shunshined with Naruto to a nearby training ground to discover more details about the technique. What they had learned was a mixed blessing. Naruto wasn't causing himself great harm by using the technique, though that was only because of the Kyuubi. Ninpo: Doki was labeled as a B-Rank kinjustu as if anyone,but another jinchuuriki used it more that twice in a day, they were liable to rupture their chakra pathways. Not to mention that using the technique on a single limb was equal to about 2 or 3 Kage Bunshin and the Full body version was about 3 times that of a Taju Kage Bunshin. It was also noted that the primary effects of the jutsu stopped about 5 feet from the point of release. The only reason that Naruto had displaced an entire lake during the bell test, was because the Doki had transferred the energy to the water while infusing it at the same time.
Both Kakashi and the Sandaime had asked that he learn and use the Kage Bunshin instead, but Naruto had stubbornly refused. "I'm gonna be awesome with my own jutsu" he had declared.
Still musing over just how he was going to accomplish that, Naruto missed the looming dark shapes in front of him. If it wasn't for a hit to the head from Sakura, he would have missed them entirely.
"Itai!" Naruto yell in pain.
"Shut up," the boatman hissed," or do you want Gato's men to find us?"
Naruto was scared. The missing nin they were facing had trapped Kakashi in a sphere of water and was now sending a Water clone to kill them. Naruto knew that he was no match for Zabuza. But he refused to run. He had already told himself back when he froze during the fight against the Demon Brothers, that he wouldn't freeze up again.
He looked down at the kunai he was holding and then back up at the Mizu Bunshin and Zabuza behind him. A plan began to form in his mind.
"Sasuke, Sakura." he called back at to his other teammates." I got a plan."
After a moment of planning, and large puff of smoke, Sasuke, followed by two Narutos, came running towards the Mizu Bunshin. The Demon of the Mist watched as the two genin engaged his clone, gauging their skills and noting that the girl was still guarding the bridge builder.
The black haired boy quite good: speedy and precise with his blows, he probably would match his tool given another half a year to train. A half a year that he wouldn't be getting when Zabuza killed him. The blonde, on the other hand, didn't worry him at all. His taijutsu was lackluster and he had yet to show off any other skills excluding his single clone, which had long been dispelled with a negligent swing. It would have been childs play for the real Zabuza to take out both of the two genin, but, having only 1/10 of the skill and much less durability, the Mizu bunshin popped when it took a shuriken to the knee.
Readying his blade in his left hand, Zabuza prepared for their arrival, the Uchiha in front and the eyesore behind him. Zabuza brought his arm up to block the kick of the first one and used his wrist to deflect the shuriken the second had thrown back at him with a smirk. The smirk fell when the projectile grazed the blonde brat and he transformed into a pink haired she with another puff of smoke. He looked back to the bridge builder and saw the second pink haired girl with the same grin that he had seen on the blonde brat before Zabuza had ambushed them.
It had worked. Naruto felt like jumping for joy, but now wasn't the time.
The plan had been for Sakura to transform into Naruto while tweaking the control a bit so extra smoke was produced. Then, within the cover of the smoke, she was to create a bunshin that looked like Naruto. Meanwhile, Naruto would transform into Sakura and hope that Zabuza thought all the smoke was simply the result of a poorly executed Bunshin. Naruto would then take Sakura's place and she would head out with Sasuke, hanging back a bit as her Taijutsu wasn't on the level of Naruto's let alone the Avenger's.
While the other two engaged the MIzu Bunshin and kept Zabuza's attention focused on them, Naruto began to visualize trajectories. He would only get a single shot at this so he couldn't miss. As the Mizu Bunshin popped, Naruto took the kunai and placed it so that his fingers were folded across his palm and the kunai was perpendicular to his palm, and aimed at Zabuza. A few seconds later, Sasuke occupied Zabuza's free arm and Sakura had occupied his hand and sword. With a loosening of his fingers, and an internal declaration of Ninpo:Doku followed by a violent release of charka, the kunai shot forward, much faster than he had ever been able to throw one, towards Zabuza.
The Demon of the Mist saw the kunai coming, headed straight for his left arm, and cursed as he realized he'd been had. Having mainly dealt with Hunter Nin for the past few years, He had been on the lookout for strategies that would lead to his death or severe injury. The gennin's plan to get him to move his arm and release Kakashi had completely bypassed him. He could still get away without injury, but he would have to dodge instead of block the kunai as he wouldn't be able to move his arm or sword into position to block fast enough. He could of course take the hit, but at the speed the kunai was traveling at, and with the chakra he could see infusing it, it would punch straight through his arm and he would end up releasing Kakashi anyway.
Jumping back he watched as his Water Prison fell and Kakashi got into position.
"Very good job team." the wet grey haired man praised." Now go back and defend the client while I take care of the rest."
"Ninpo:DOKI!" Naruto yelled fuming as he punched the tree again, finally punishing it enough that it started to fall, tearing at the branches of the trees surrounding it as if trying to stay upright. He panted, arms limp by his sides from pathway depletion.
How dare he.
How dare Inari claim that he had never know misery. What did the brat know about misery anyway. He had a mother feed him and love him and hug him. He had a grandfather who was willing die trying to make Inari's life better. Where as Inari knew his family, Naruto didn't even know if his parent had truly died or had just given him up (despite how much the Hokage reassured him, the looks of the villagers always left doubts in his head). Naruto barely had anyone that would acknowledge him, let alone take care of him.
Heck Naruto could count how many people even acknowledged him on one hand. There was jiji, and Ayume, and Teuchi...and Iruka and Kakashi, and Sakura, and Sasuke.
Naruto's thoughts halted, his anger calming. That was seven. He only had five fingers on his hand. Naruto hadn't thought he'd ever have seven people acknowledge him. Sure he knew they'd respect him after he became hokage, but that would be because he was the strongest ninja in the village.
A new thought wormed into the blonde genin's head : he didn't need to wait till he became hokage. Iruka, Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke proved that he could get people to acknowledge him well before that.
Naruto sat down on the newly created stump looking up at the sky. The sky shone a light blue above him, a wide stretch easily visible in the newly created clearing. For a while he just sat there, enjoying life until he heard a rustle to his right and turned to see a beautiful girl wearing a kimono walk into the clearing.
Naruto trudged back into the house, tired and with his head down, thinking deeply about his conversion with Haku. He mentally gagged for a moment as he remembered how he thought the feminine boy had been such a pretty girl.
Returning to his former thoughts, he thought about his precious people. Jiji, Ayame, Iruka, Teuchi, and Sakurai were definitely up there. Thinking about it a bit more, he tentatively added Kakashi, and Sasuke to the list as well.
Could he really get strong enough to protect his precious people? He knew for sure that he was stronger than Sakura, Ayame, and Teuchi, and promised to always be there when they needed him. But what about Jiji, Iruka, and Kakashi? They were already so much stronger than him. what could hurt them.
He froze.
What if there were people stronger than the hokage that came to hurt them?
No!
He couldn't allow that. He vouched that he would get stronger that any enemy. He needed to do it quickly before anyone could hurt his precious people.
But how?
He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see his sensei's hand on his shoulder."Got a lot on your mind Naruto?" Kakashi asked.
"Ah...Yeah" Naruto blushed. He'd been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed the presence in the living room.
Kakashi smiled at his student. "Come with me," he said, dragging Naruto into the living room."I want to you to meet someone."
Kakashi pulled him in through the doorway and stepped aside.
"Who are you?" Naruto asked a little rudely, the lack of sleep starting to get to him. He hadn't slept since he'd left the house following his argument with Inari, and after using Doki dozens of times, he was finally starting to feel the fatigue affect him.
"I am Myouboku Mountain's Monk of the Toad Spirits." The man began to dance oddly.
"Also known as the Toad Hermit." He stopped in a weird pose, hands extended and one leg behind the other.
"Jiraya!"
AN: Thanks for reading and I hope you leave reviews. If you ask me a question I promise that I'll respond and answer!
