greetings everyone! another part here . . . someone told me that the last part got a bit too technical . . . anywho, this is finally where we start following Naruto around . . . honestly last part could have been part of the prologue since this IS meant to be a Naruto centered story with occasionally following another character around. in any case, I know I said I wasn't going to do anymore warnings but I am offering another one now.
Warning!If you are Squeamish about blood, Do not continue reading this story!
there, warning given, that's the last one . . . unless I write in something I haven't warned you guys about yet.
in any case, I hope you enjoy, see you at the bottom.
Part 2 The day before.
"Alright, form three kata! Run through the entire thing for me!" Minori said to Naruto as the two stood in the middle of a training field that Minori had found in the middle of a forest and away from prying eyes.
"Awwwww! This is boooooring!" Whined Naruto in reply
"Naruto . . . you start at the academy tomorrow and they are gonna teach you the academy style . . . which is shit soooo I want to make sure you have this down because I only want you using the academy style while at the academy because a good spy never reveals themselves and always has a cover they can use" Minori replied, being patient with Naruto as always since it's all it took to get him to learn . . . that and treats. "Now, form three, from the top" Naruto complied this time with only a little grumbling as he moved through the kata for Yadokawa style form three taijutsu technique.
"Can we do something else now! Or are you gonna make me repeat this until the end of the day?" Asked Naruto looking like he was a little dejected in thinking that he already knew the answer.
"No . . . this time I think a practical application of your Taijutsu techniques are in order" Said Minori as she shook her limbs out before getting into the form three stance herself. Minori's stance had her with her arms in front of her face with her fists closed and the backs of her arms pointing outwards and her left foot forward just a touch allowing her to lower her weight into the ground whilst having the ability to rush forwards toward her target. Naruto grinned ear to ear as he settled into the exact same stance if only a little bit more rigid.
Minori moved first, using chakra to augment her speed and ferocity as she had already had Naruto practising using chakra augmentation and discovered his considerable amount of the stuff allowed him to move almost as fast as an experienced chunin at the moment even though he was only eight. Ducking to add her weight and momentum, Minori jabbed at Naruto's chest who in turn, shifted to the side at speed, bringing his own fist towards Minori's head whilst simultaneously launching a kick at Minori's shin. Minori checked Naruto's leg with her own while bringing her arm up to redirect Naruto's punch above her head before she pushed forward with her own punch and kick combo. Not stopping with one blow, Minori kept her combo going, her arms and legs flashing faster than the eye can track while Naruto desperately scrambled to check Minori's kicks and redirect her blows until he fell backwards, hitting the ground with a solid 'oompf'.
"Not bad, your footwork is improving steadily but still sloppy and your attacks are way too rigid. After that, not bad although you only attacked me once . . . the idea of form three is to not let your opponent have the time to perform flurries and combos, you are to get in their faces and attack with speed and ferocity or get out of the way of their attacks and attack from a different direction. If I wanted you to sit there and take hits I'd have taught you form two" Minori said as Naruto picked himself up and dusted himself off. He was still wearing his now distinctive grey kimono like Minori did but his kimono was worn over the top of a white shirt that had the orange Uzumaki swirl on it and a pair of blue shinobi pants that went down to his shin length shinobi sandals and were taped down to prevent making noise. Naruto very much looked the part of the aspiring ninja and he grinned as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Why don't you want me learning the academy style though?" Naruto said after a moment of grinning. "I know you said that a spy doesn't reveal themselves and always has a cover but I don't think that was the reason you actually had" Minori grinned down at Naruto and prided herself on a job well done of teaching the boy about hidden meaning, double truths and outright lies. Clearly his time with Aki was doing a world of good for him too.
"Naruto, as you are aware, a lot of people hate you, even your teachers may become . . . a little cold . . . so when people notice your taijutsu levels are through the roof . . . they may try and take action against you" replied Minori, her arm resting on her sword in her usual stance.
"Why do people hate me?" Naruto asked, giving Minori a pleading look. Minori looked down at the boy and his pleading expression, she knew she couldn't tell him but that didn't mean he couldn't figure it out for himself.
"Naruto, you have all the clues you need to figure this out for yourself. Look at your birth date, the events that have happened, your physical features and what people say about you when they think you aren't listening . . . put those pieces together and answer the question yourself" She said to the boy who immediately sat on the ground and settled into a cross legged position before he had even completely hit the ground.
"The Kyuubi attacked the day I was born" Naruto said as he thought on the matter, arms crossed and eyes closed. "I have unusual whisker marks on my face" He said, continuing the train of thought. "People call me the 'demon boy' behind my back . . . shit" It seems as though Naruto got his answer. "But how?" He asked, looking up at Minori again.
"Fuinjutsu can do a lot of things Naruto . . . and the best container for a living thing is another living thing as the thing you have sealed into an whatever you sealed it into will leak some power into the seal . . . if you have a person hold onto that, the excess chakra can go into the seal while the spillover from the seal can go into the person, increasing their capacity and strengthening the seal" Minori said, her own arms now crossed. "You have the rest of the day off . . . just remember Naruto, nothing has changed and that you are not the Kuubi . . . you are it's prison and that prison's warden and in return, he can give you some of his strength . . . perhaps you should look into contacting the Kuubi one day as he might have something interesting to say" Minori said and was about to walk off when she felt Naruto get up behind her.
"What could the Kuubi possibly say that would be of any interest to me, it killed my parents!" Naruto said, anger colouring his speech just a little.
"Your mother was the previous Kuubi Jinchuriki . . . Bijuu don't extract themselves, at least not without warning" Minori said before disappearing into the trees of their little forest training field leaving Naruto alone with that thought.
"Hey Naruto! How are you? Ready to start at the academy! We might even get to eat lunch together!" came Tenten's cheerful greeting as Naruto walked into the weapon shop that Tenten was living in. "What's the matter Naruto? You look a little down" Tenten asked as she walked up to him to see if he was alright. She was wearing just a simple pink chinese-style short sleeved tunic that went to her thighs and over a pair of black shinobi pants. She and Naruto had known each other for almost two years now and had become almost inseparable, acting like siblings in almost every way so far.
"Nee-chan was just telling me some things . . . about my parents" Naruto said, still somewhat subdued. Instantly, Tenten's countenance changed and she gave Naruto a concerned look that said she knew exactly what Minori and Naruto had talked about.
"Nee-chan told you?" Tenten asked quietly, she had begun to call Minori that shortly after they started their first Fuinjutsu lessons.
"Not quite, she pointed out that I already knew all the clues and hints and all I had to do was to put them together" Naruto replied and the two walked over to sit in Tenten's little seal corner where she liked to study Fuinjutsu, it was out of sight of the rest of the shop but within hearing range of it should anyone come in and the area was covered in seals to make sure Tenten's work was never stolen. The two plopped down inside of the seal circle that Tenten had set up and pulled out books, Tenten's was on the alchemical composition of the mysterious Yadokawa alloy while Naruto's was on the practical application of bi-linear lattices. Tenten and Naruto both laughed when Higurashi needed to be told again slowly before decided to give up on the endeavour to understand it.
"So how do you plan on playing the academy? I mean . . . you're not going in as is are you?" Asked Tenten as the two got comfortable with their reading material.
"I reckon I should play the loud mouthed idiot . . . If I pretend that I don't know anything than most people will ignore me and that is good" Replied Naruto as he read his book. Despite the title, the book actually had nothing to do with Fuinjutsu and was more on the ability to create stories and construct lies by using nothing but the truth or what other people think is the truth, in essence, creating a story that follows two paths, 'bi-linear' and layered with various aspects of lies and misinformation in a lattice.
"Why are you so into spying and all that anyway?" Asked Tenten who much rather prefered beating her enemies senseless than sneaking around.
"That's what the first ninja were ya know, they were samurai who went ahead of the army to scout and that's how we first started using chakra cause the Samurai started using chakra and then when handsigns started coming in and jutsu were made, we started using those
To give us an edge on the enemy and making clans and all that stuff" Naruto explained, using his arms to express himself as always
"I wanted to be a medic-nin like Lady Tsunade . . . now I want to be the number one weapon's smith in the world but . . . I wonder if being a ninja is good for that goal?" Tenten said as she looked up from her scroll and over to Naruto.
"Blacksmiths go on a journey to further their craft right? And you have some pretty good techniques that people want to get their hands on . . . so I'm just saying that maybe being a ninja is great cause you can protect yourself and . . . that" Replied Naruto, pointing to the scroll that Tenten was reading to highlight his point.
The bell attached to the entrance of the shop chimed, letting Tenten and Naruto know that there was a customer and so they both got up and walked out to meet the customer. The man they saw had black hair that was spiked up almost defying gravity and had a casual, almost lazy slouch to him as he stood in front of the counter with his hands in his pockets and a smoke sitting in his mouth.
"I could have walked in, grabbed what I wanted and left before you two came out and even if you did, what's to stop me now?" Asked the man with a slight grin. In response, Tenten held up her hand in a ram sign and the seal under the door became visible until Tenten dropped her hand. The man chuckled when he saw that the place was all sealed up and he pulled out two knives that had clearly seen better days with all the notches and even a bit of the tip missing off of one. "My knives could use a little repair, do you think your dad or master could do it for me? These are some special knives" The man asked as he set the knives on the counter to be looked at.
"Hmm, nice chakra enhancing qualities I'd say but the metal used isn't the best for this sort of thing . . . especially not for wind chakra . . . sure you don't want new ones?" Said Tenten as she looked at the knives.
"Thank you young miss but I'll just get these fixed up if that's alright" Replied the man as he looked at her. Naruto noticed that the man's eyes flicked over to him for the briefest moment as if he wanted to make sure that Naruto hadn't moved and, just to be sure, Naruto decided to position himself behind the man just a little. The result was almost instant as the Man pretended to shift restlessly until he was facing both Naruto and Tenten and cut off Naruto's ability to move around without the man's notice.
"You're Sarutobi Asuma aren't you?" Naruto suddenly asked with a grin and Asuma turned his attention to the boy.
"How'd ya know?" He replied even though he hadn't actually answered the question.
"That sash marks you as a member or a previous member of the twelve guardian ninja and those knives suggest wind chakra, that narrows you down to the only prominent wind chakra user in Konoha" Replied Naruto, his grin widening at being able to figure all this out even if it was easy.
"Naruto! Stop doing that to all my customers! One of these days it's gonna be a foreign-nin and they're going to think you know something you shouldn't and kill you!" Tenten said before bopping the boy on the head. "I'll have papa look at these for you but seriously, consider better ones . . . these are gonna be tricky to repair with all this damage and they'll be weaker for it" She said to Asuma who was watching the two with a grin of his own
"Are either of you two in the academy?" He asked with an amused look.
"I am! And Naruto starts tomorrow!" Tenten said enthusiastically "I'm studying to be the best weapons smith ev-ow! Naruto!" Tenten's impassioned speech was cut short by Naruto bopping her on the head.
"Don't go shouting your life's goals to everyone! Who knows, maybe a few years from now someone might remember something you said and use it against you!" Naruto exclaimed before noticing Tenten was growling at him
"Settle down settle down" Asuma said, trying to calm them down whilst chuckling "I still need my knives repaired" The sound of the bells on the door drew everyone's attention as Higurashi walked in.
"I'm back and what's this?" He said as he walked over to the counter, giving a cursory glance to the weapons on the counter.
"This guy wants his knives repaired papa" Said Tenten as she handed the knives to Higurashi.
"Hmmm, you'd be better off getting new ones, I can fix them but even then I wouldn't advise using them in combat afterwards" Said Higurashi as he studied the knives in greater detail.
"Is there no way you can make them usable? I was told this was the best weapons shop in Konoha" replied Asuma, looking a little forlorn at the prospect of losing his favoured weapons.
"I'm sorry, I might be a miracle worker but these knives have just lost too much metal to be repaired that easily . . . Tenten, how is your little project going?" Higurashi said, drawing attention back to Tenten for a moment.
"Umm, it's going fine papa, I could probably make enough for a pair of knives . . . I think I have a book on that somewhere . . ." Tenten said as she ducked into the back area of the shop and started rummaging around. "Yup, here it is!" She said as she walked back out holding a small book. "I could definitely make some knives with help" Tenten batted her eyelashes at her adoptive father who chuckled
"Well then, let's see about those knives shall we. come back tomorrow Shinobi-san, we'll have those knives ready for you by then" Higurashi said before he ducked into the back area behind Tenten.
"Quite the family huh?" Asuma asked Naruto who grinned and nodded
"It gets even better when you add Nee-chan" he replied giving Asuma his fox grin.
"Who is this 'Nee-chan' of yours? It's not the first time I've heard her being mentioned" Asuma asked and only received a cheeky grin from Naruto.
"So, Naruto . . . what do you hear?" Asked Aki as she sat beside Naruto at the counter of Shota's restaurant. Naruto had occasionally taken lessons in listening to the goings on around him in order to learn important information and Aki had been the one to teach him which surprised him at first.
"There is a couple one column in and two rows down to my right. I think they're on a date but the guy is staring at you too much . . . why is that a problem?" Naruto said as he picked up a pair of chopsticks and got stuck into a steaming bowl of ramen.
"Ahhhh, that's because he is supposed to be paying attention to his date and not looking at me, which might make the girl jealous . . . anything else you notice?" Replied Aki and Naruto was sure she had noticed something important and wanted him to figure it out as well.
"Hmmmm, I'm not sure" Said Naruto as he cast missable glances around the room. "Wait, that guy in the right bottom corner has been staring at us for a while hasn't he?" Naruto asked, cocking his head to the side and looking up at Aki so that the person in question wouldn't be able to read his lips, something Aki had taught him early.
"Indeed, I'm going to go serve that couple on a date . . . and draw a little attention, see what our observer does" Aki said before getting off of the stool she was sitting on and walking over to the table that Naruto had pointed out.
"Hey, can I get you guys some tea?" Aki Asked cheerfully to a non-descript couple that sat opposite from each other while the man wore a sheepish look and the woman a scowl.
"If you want this whore so much you should ask HER out instead!" Snapped the woman to the man who ducked his head as if to hide in his clothes like a turtle.
"Oh? Are you interested in me?" Aki asked the man who wanted desperately to be anywhere but where he was. "I'm sorry but you're not my type" She said dismissively. "But you on the other hand . . ." Aki said as she turned to the woman "Sure you can't do better than a man?" Aki was smiling her typical eye smile and the woman turned bright red as she blushed.
"N-no thank you . . . I'm fine as I am!" She squeaked out and Naruto chuckled as he watched the scene unfold, even though he was a kid he could still understand a lot of complex adult stuff sometimes. "We'll have that tea now" The woman said in a small voice before Aki happily went back to the kitchen.
"Oh hey Aki! Can I have a cup of tea?" Asked Naruto and Aki walked over to pour him a cup, as she did, she bent over and naruto quietly spoke. "He never took his eyes off of me" Aki gave Naruto an odd look but before Naruto could figure it out, she closed her eyes in her eye smile again.
"Here you go Naru-kun, now tea for the lovely lady . . . and her boy" Aki said, saying the last part loud enough for the couple behind her to hear which was immediately met with a blush from the woman and she began to duck her head like a turtle. "While I do that, head on outside" She said to naruto quietly in an authoritative voice and Naruto nodded, gulping as he did from having heard Aki be serious. Naruto made sure to finish off his ramen first though before he got up and walked outside.
Outside, the sun was starting to clip towards the horizon and birds were chirping their final calls. It wasn't long before that strange man walked outside as well. As soon as he saw Naruto, he stopped and the two stared at one another. The man had brown hair that was cut short and a long black cloak that went to his knees that was buttoned up thus preventing Naruto from seeing what it hid.
In a flash, the man had a kunai in his hand and Naruto instinctively slipped into his Taijutsu stance. Before either could move however, a single senbon appeared in front of the man and lodged itself in the ground where his foot would have been had he not moved it.
"Who are you and what do you want with Naruto?" demanded Aki who materialised in front of Naruto, fans appearing in her hands with blades sticking out of them as she snapped them open.
"That brat's dad murdered my wife!" Growled the man and was about to take a step forward when Aki flashed forward, her fans moving faster than Naruto could track and the man was so surprised that he only managed to block one of the fans while the other slid across his throat. Naruto watched with wide eyes as the man dropped his kunai and grabbed his throat, trying desperately to stop the red liquid of his blood from rushing out. The man dropped to his knees and crumpled into the ground moments before three ANBU materialised around the gurgling man. Naruto threw up the ramen he just ate and collapsed himself.
"Shit . . . I'm so sorry Naruto, I'm so sorry" Aki said as she ran over to the boy. Naruto barely heard her however and barely felt it when she grabbed him and hugged him close. All Naruto could see was the man as he held his throat, his ears were filled with his dying gurgles and the air was saturated in the scent of his blood. Naruto blacked out at that point.
"Hey" Said Minori as Naruto regained consciousness. Naruto blinked a few times and looked around him, he was in his room in his and Minori's house. "Aki told me what happened . . . I suppose you are wondering why she just up and killed the guy right?" Naruto started shaking as the scenes of what had just happened to him flashed through his mind until, simply by putting her hand on his shoulder, Minori had him focus back on her. "Naruto, you are going to be learning to be a ninja starting tomorrow . . . we ninja kill . . . a lot" Minori said in a soft, soothing voice. "Don't get used to it but rather, find a way to get past the horror of taking a life . . . Me and Aki . . . we got used to killing, it's our go to method for dealing with . . . problems . . . promise me you won't do that" Minori looked deep into Naruto's eyes as she said this.
"I-I promise dattebayo" Naruto said, his verbal tick back due to the horror he had just gone through. Minori smiled sweetly and bent over, giving Naruto a kiss on the forehead.
"Now, that man that Aki killed . . . he was a missing-nin from Iwagakure . . . It was immediately apparent by what he said" Minori said as she sat on Naruto's bed. Naruto took the opportunity and snuggled up into her while Minori put her arm around him and rested her head on his own. "He said your father killed his wife . . . Your father did some things that Iwa doesn't like and that's why nobody told you who your father was because we didn't want Iwa getting word . . . as you can see, they would have probably sent a hit squad against you" Naruto nodded from where he was snuggled up into Minori. "I'm leaving on a mission tomorrow . . . probably before you get up in the morning so I won't be able to send you off"
"But . . . nee-chan, you said your job was only meant to stay in the village" Said Naruto quietly.
"Yeah . . . but I'm a very valuable ninja . . . Hokage-sama needs my skills for a very important mission that he can't trust to anyone else . . . you know, they'd call me Minori of the thousand faces if anyone knew those other two thousand nine hundred and ninety nine faces belonged to me" Minori said with a light chuckle.
"But you said one thousand!" Naruto replied as the math didn't even add up to a seven year old.
"That's because I've only been using one thousand faces in public . . . the other two thousand are for sneaking" said Minori and Naruto looked up at her, they shared a look and then burst out laughing. "Get some more sleep naruto, you have a big day tomorrow and it might be a touch difficult to get the sleep you need after today" Minori said as she got up and Naruto nodded, stripping to his underwear before getting under the covers of his bed. "Goodnight Naruto, sweet dreams" Minori said
"Goodnight nee-chan, see you when you get back" Naruto said, a soft smile on his face.
"Naruto . . . Stay safe and . . . I love you" Minori said. Naruto's eyes were wide at Minori's admission. He felt his chest clench up as he felt all warm and fuzzy inside and his eyes watered up.
"I-I love you too nee-chan" Naruto said quietly as he figured that was what he was feeling at that moment. Minori gave Naruto a sweet smile and turned away with a short wave of her hand and left the room. Naruto never say the tears that Minori had been holding back fall.
"I'll see you when you come back Nee-chan" Naruto thought as sleep began to take him and all the delightful things he had done with Minori since he had met her two years ago.
Well, that's another chapter done. oh by the way, when I say Kimono (in terms of what people are wearing) I'm refering to the Kosode which is the 'shirt' of the Kimono 'suit' to use western terms here. I will use 'Kimono' to refer to the kosode but I will use the various words to refer to the other parts of the Kimono outfit if they should ever come up. did I know all this before I started writing this fic? nope, spur of the moment decision was that I should maybe know what it was that my characters were wearing led me to research this a little . . . I was surprised when I discovered that a Kimono was an entire outfit not a shirt . . . oh well.
I hope you all enjoyed, please let me know what you liked, disliked, what could be improved and what you'd liked to see more of.
