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Day in and day out their training went. Sometimes he would wake them at sunrise, other times after a few hours of sleep. Before the first week was up even Naruto was a light sleeper. Once they all had water walking down Kakashi would also have them running across the rivers in town, changing from wall walking to water walking. Sparring was now done on irregular surfaces, sometimes the river, other times the tree's, and once even the edge of a waterfall.
Speaking of sparring they were never let out of that. The first time someone complained they were given two bells while two students would try and get the bell from them. Everyone had at least once been forced into this. Sasuke and Naruto worked on their elements while Sakura was being taught Katon: Flame Bullet. With partial success, but success none the less. Sasuke was easily getting the basics of Lightning manipulation and was told that if he got far enough then the month before the exams he would teach the boy his technique.
Naruto on the other hand was having a hell of a time with his ice manipulation. He could freeze it, no problem, but making the frozen stuff move was harder. Water he had no problem with and could mold it around in his hands like silly putty, causing Kakashi to try and teach him a few Suiton techniques, including the recreation of Haku's Thousand Flying Water Needles. It was hard work, but he was soon able to recreate most of the technique. By the end of the week he was able to do basic ice manipulation. And by basic I mean he was able to make an ice cube or even freeze a single water needle.
As for dodging, well soon they were all doing good… so good that Kakashi decided to start using multiple clones on them while they dodged. When they ran he would no longer throw just kunai… no, now he threw exploding Kunai, at least when they were in the forest.
Kakashi was actually a little awed by their progress, especially Naruto's. When he had started his Sharingan was nothing really, the weakest of the weak. But when he added in the Jinton in it became something more. By the end of the seventh day he could easily say that the boy's progress in those two areas was fantastic. Even the Sharingan alone was stronger, though still in its one Tomoe stage. His reflexes came like instinct now, even when he couldn't see the target coming towards him.
By the end of the first week he had started Sakura on basic genjutsu, which she took to like a fish to water, and had manages to triple the girl's reserves. With luck he could convince Kurenai to give him some genjutsu to teach the girl.
Not to diminish their achievements though was the fact that they still had their weak points. Sakura was still the slowest, weakest, and least enduing of the three, Sasuke was still arrogant and had yet to learn any lightning jutsu or new fire jutsu, though he said he was reading up on a few at the moment. As for Naruto, he was still too slow, had bad chakra control, only knew how to plan while in a fight, and hadn't learned a new jutsu with his ice element yet, though had managed to pick up the Suiton: Bullet Jutsu as well as the Sword of Water.
As for his Taijutsu, well, it sucked!
He was able to get the idea and forms easy enough, but when it came to execution it all fell apart from lack of physical ability in that field. That said Kakashi got a hold of Guy, Making a deal to train his other two students for a while if he and Lee could get Naruto up to speed, so to speak.
When the eight day dawned Naruto was amazed to find two green things staring at him from beside his bed, gigantic smile plastered into place.
"YOSH! Naruto-san, it is time to wake up and light the Fires of your Youth!" was the taller one.
"HAI! Guy-Sensei is right! We must run now, to get you fire burning!" the shorter.
"Wha-"
"There is no time for questions, get dressed so we can BURN WITH THE WILL OF FIRE OF YOUTH!"
"YOSH!"
"LEE!"
"GUY-SENSEI!"
"LEE!"
"GUY-SEN-"
"HOLD ON A SECOND!" he said, out yelling the other two. Sitting up in his bed he looked the duo down, still dressed from the night before. "Alright," he Said groggily, "I take it that you are Might Guy and you are Rock Lee, the guys that are taking over my train for the next few days?"
"Why, YES WE ARE! I am Might Guy, Konoha's Elegant Blue Beast! And this is my student-"
"I KNOW who, you are!" he said, interrupting them, "Now if you could keep it down or the Landlords going to get upset."
"Landlord?" asked Lee, a confused look on his face.
"Yes, the landlord. He doesn't like getting up early." He replied, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"But, Naruto-san, I was told that you claimed the building by Kakashi?"
"Yup, and I don't like getting up early… What time is it anyways?" he asked looking for a watch.
"Ah yes, the golden hour of three A.M." all too soon was Naruto chasing them, taking a page from Kakashi in his liberal use of kunai.
Soon though he stopped and started enjoying the run, especially after he saw Sakura, Sasuke, and several Kakashi's with instruments enter, what Lee told him to be, Tenten's house. The sight of a half naked Hyuuga chasing after Kakashi was another good sight.
"Ah, its good to see Kakashi is keeping up their regular schedule!" said Guy, smiling brightly.
The next four days were pure torture for Naruto. Since it was just the three of them, Guy decided that they would push their limits with intense runs that Naruto almost didn't finish, intense spars, which Naruto almost didn't survive, intense lunches, which Naruto almost wasn't able to eat, and intense form control, which Naruto almost did perfectly.
Naruto actually enjoyed that time, there was no change, no sudden wake up calls without notice, just the three of them, training.
By the fourth day Naruto could see improvement in his form thanks to watching Guy and Lee with his Sharingan. The runs became much easier, as it seemed he just needed to get used to his sleep schedule. The spars were actually the most fun Naruto had had in a while.
Lee was an amazing opponent, and for the first time he was actually able to see the difference between how he had fought before and how he fought now. He could see almost all of Lee's movements and was actually able to keep up with some, his body practically moving on its own with the Jinton, his Inner Naruto coming up with different moves and strategies to try and fight him with. And, despite Lee's apparent inability to use chakra, he was allowed to use jutsu himself, not that it changed the battles outcome's any.
He had learned quite a bit in those four days: that a water sword would break apart if Lee punched it straight on. That Shunshin no jutsu would let him move someplace fast, but he could only change the straight line path it took so much, meaning that he could move someplace, but he could not really set up an attack while still in the shunshin: he had to set it up before he moved and execute it mostly after he arrived, minute changes mid shunshin amazing Lee and Guy none-the-less. He also learned that that was harder than it sounded. Lucky for him he was able to get the jutsu down seal less, due to it being one of the easier to do techniques.
He also learned one last thing, something he couldn't wait to tell Kakashi, whatever bloodline trait Guy had, Lee apparently has as well. He had been told to expect a bloodline from the older of the two, but when he got it from Lee and nothing from Guy, he knew it right then. Unfortunately, the other half of his brain seemed to remind him, since all bloodlines are used through chakra somehow, that Lee would never be able to use it.
Once the fourth day of training was done, and Naruto was presented with a jumpsuit with weights, he took off to find Kakashi, strapping the orange legwarmers and weights on under his pants. Running along, trying to get used to the weights and doing so quite successfully, Naruto soon found them, Kakashi, Sasuke, and Neji being chased by the two girls as they threw different weapons at them gleefully.
Running after them e soon caught up to the girls, "So, um, Sakura-chan? Why are you two trying to kill them?"
Earning a grin from the other girl in a Chinese top and hair done up into two buns, he got a reply, "Well, Neji made a sexist comment on Kunoichi, Kakashi agreed, while Sasuke made a bad comment about the time of the month."
"Ah," was all he said, then, "Need any help?"
"Sorry, Kunoichi only." He laughed, watching as he made a single seal and turned into his sexy jutsu version of himself, "Much better! Here have a shuriken!"
Later, after saying goodbye to team Guy's members, Kakashi and Naruto sat down onto of his building, watching the sun set.
"So, learn anything useful while you were with Guy?" asked the masked man, watching the oranges and reds.
"Yeah, you could say that. I don't think I'll have a problem with my form anymore, not since watching a real master use it so much. So, which trait is it that Lee and Guy have?" he asked, wondering what ability he had now.
"Well, I was unaware that Lee had it as well, though it shouldn't surprise me. Its call 'the Keys to the Eight Gates.' It allows the possessor to open a certain number of the Eight inner gates without harming their bodies. I have seen guy use up to six of them, though his father could apparently use seven. If you are able to master this bloodline, then you should be able to open all eight gates without any harmful effects. Something not possible without… Massive, amounts of training." Which Guy had of course undergone as well.
Scrunching his face up in confusion Naruto asked him, "What are the eight gates?" even his inner Naruto was stumped.
Looking down at the boy he wondered, not for the first time, if he had actually slept through the whole academy. "The eight gates are limiters the body places on itself to prevent it from harming itself. When someone opens the gates they are forcing open these points to allow more chakra to enter their bodies, for muscles to go beyond their supposed limits, and for vast increases in stamina. However for a normal person to open the gates they need to break them open, causing a number of deadly side effects from muscle tears to insanity, even death if you open the final gate."
"Then why would someone open them?" he asked, wondering who would die, just for a quick boost of power.
"Plenty of people, the Nidaime for instance." Was the reply, as he looked away from the setting sun to fix his student with a hard look, "The final gate, if opened, is the ultimate power. It would let you become nearly invincible, several times faster than sound, strong enough to move the Hokage Mountain with a single hand, or enough chakra to use a jutsu that would destroy an entire country. Any Hokage would be willing to use that power to protect Konoha, especially if they have no other choice."
Turning around he started heading for the door, Naruto not far behind, "You start with Anko tomorrow. Try to make a good impression, she can be quite… violent… when provoked. By the way, Naruto, why didn't you try and get near the Hyuga boy earlier?" he asked, looking at Naruto expectantly.
"Why would I do that?" Kakashi just rubbed his eye and took off, leaving Naruto to ponder.
-0-
Walking into his back room Naruto sat down, several of his Shadow clones looking over scrolls, "So, any progress yet?" he asked, wanting to get the building maintenance under control, "Not yet boss. Since we discovered that little trick with the clones things have been going smoother, but still we have a lot of ground to cover and these scrolls need to be read in order."
It was on the second or third day when he discovered a little trick with the shadow clones, their ability to transfer whatever they learned to the original. It made things a lot easier in the seal department, as well as cleaning up the building. He didn't know a lot about seals yet, but he had enough to where he might be able to start knocking walls down soon.
"Great, well, keep up the work. After we're done with Anko I'll start getting to work remodeling the place. Hopefully by the time the exams are over we will be ready to furnish the place."
Laying down for a good night's sleep, goggles fixed into place on his face.
For once Naruto was allowed to wake up Naturally. Sitting up he stretched, opening his eyes after a minute or two.
Fwam!
And with that, his training started.
"Whad da PUCK!" he yelled through a bloody nose and increasingly fat lip. Opening his eyes again he saw Anko looking down on him, Kunai in one hand, licking the blood off her knuckles with the other.
"Mornin bastard!" she said, quite cheerfully, "Talked to Kakashi this morning and guess what?"
"Yur on yur rag and bont be peaching me?(Your on your rag and won't be teaching me?)" he asked, hopeful and swelling with pain.
"Oooh! Close, but no cigar." She said, jumping on his lap and pulling his face close to hers, "Actually, I let him know that if I was going to teach a little bitch like you anything that I would need more than a few days. So he asked how long would I need and I told him." moving the boys head so that they were face to face, quite literally, whispering to him. "So now you're my little sex toy for the rest of the month!"
Pulling their faces apart she punched him in the gut and told him to dress in the next ninety seconds before she threw a ration bar at his head and told him to eat up.
Anko didn't like wasting time, nor did she see why people would waste time with training by themselves or with blunted kunai, or no jutsu. As soon as the boy was dressed she told him that they would be sparring until she had a decent gauge on where he stood overall.
Too bad for Naruto he didn't know Anko.
Her idea of sparring put Kakashi's to shame. She beat him into the ground, tried to burn him with fire jutsu's, which he was able to not only avoid but copy, and had no problem summoning creatures to attack him.
One particular part of the fight stuck out in his mind, when she started using jutsu. By this point he had been physically beaten and cut, amazingly landing two hits on the woman since his wake up earlier this morning. The first had been when he used his shadow clones. The second was when she underestimated his ability to heal, thanks in total to the Fox. This had led her to decide 'hey, this kid can take a beating like no other, let's see what else I can do to try and kill him!' After that happened the fight didn't last too much longer.
With a vicious kick to the side of his head, snapping his neck back like a rubber band, the boy went down, landing in the grass face down. Immediately he could feel the injury starting to heal. That was one of the upsides of his training with Kakashi; he got injured so much that the foxes healing powers seemed to be driven into overtime.
Walking over to him the sadistic little… teacher, started taunting him, "You know, I really expected more from you, kid." She stated, pulling out a kunai, "Kakashi thinks so highly of you, same with the old monkey. Guess it's all show though, huh?" Bending down beside him she started stroking the side of his head, caressing it almost, "What was that thing you would yell out to the village all the time? That you would be some poor sap who would die a worthless death for the sake of a bunch of pigs… Yeah, something along those lines. Well I gotta say, if this is all you got then I better just kill you now!"
Lifting the Kunai up she started swinging down when he lashed out, punching her in the nose… hard. "Listen Anko-Oban!" he yelled, standing up, "I'm going to be Hokage one day! And anyone who thinks they can stop me or disrespect the Hokage's going down!" Looking at her, he cracked his neck to the side before getting into his Goken stance.
Looking back at him she clutched her bloody broken nose, a grin appearing on her face, "Bad idea bitch!" and with that she lunged her arm out, throwing dozens of snakes at him, wrapping around his arms and legs, "Sen'eijashu!" and with that he was air borne, being lifted up by the creatures and slammed into the ground a couple of times before swinging him into a tree. That wasn't the end of it though as she then had them bite onto him, injecting him with poison before swinging him around in a circle and releasing the snakes.
And, as they say in NASA, 'We have liftoff.'
Stumbling to his feet after the fall he soon saw his teacher/trainer/murderer/torturer/executioner run at him, kunai already in mid flight towards him, finishing the last hand seal for a technique. And with that the single kunai turned into twelve, forcing him to jump aside or be impaled.
Facing her again he tried to get a hit in but he came across the problem he had been having before. He would try and hit her, only to have her squirm out of the way at the last second and hit him. Not only was it frustrating because he couldn't hit her, but it was scary as well, as he couldn't follow her with the Sharingan either. He would see her, she wouldn't move a muscle, and then she would go, striking almost too fast to follow, completely unpredictable.
When she attacked it wasn't nearly as hard to follow, save how fast she struck and that it was never the same twice until it was too late to react.
Left and right he dodged, learning quickly that blocking did no good against her style, though even dodging her hits didn't work all the time. Point in case when he tried to lean out of the way of a kick only for her to turn it, striking him in the stomach and pushing him back quite a ways.
Panting, trying to get his breath back he watched her smile before making hand seals. Before Naruto had been wave he might have hesitated here, but now, after surviving both Zabuza and Kakashi's intense training he didn't. Watching through his Sharingan he started doing the seals in turn, just as Kakashi had shown him to do, 'snake-ram-monkey-boar-horse-tiger' releasing the technique a second after she did. "Katon: Great Fireball technique!"
Both attacks collided in the middle, making a giant explosion that consumed them both. All in all, it wasn't either of their proudest moments.
When they had released their attacks they had been about a dozen or two feet away from one another, meaning both of them were pretty close to the explosion. The only difference really had been the fact that Anko got the hell out of there when she saw it was going to blow. Well, that and the fact her fireball was bigger.
Walking over to him afterwards she looked down at him with a strange face, saying one thing before she walked away.
"I guess you're good enough to train. See ya tomorrow kid."
Panting, eyes closed, Naruto just lay there, letting the Kyuubi's chakra heal him, thinking about the fight, remembering that ending there. For the first time in a fight he had copied a jutsu like Kakashi showed him. And, just like his sensei had told him, he probably wouldn't want to use every jutsu immediately.
Opening his eyes he sat up, noticing the sun was already starting to wan, 'Probably around 1:30 or 2.'
Getting up he realized something else, something Sasuke had learned long ago, "Oh, shit! I'm naked!" and he started to run back to his apartment, blushing and stomach rumbling.
-0-
Anko was like no other instructor he had ever had, to say the least. Kakashi would spread a bunch of different things over the course of a day, making a full 'lesson' last several days or even an entire weak. Anko though had him work on one thing for a majority of that day until he got it or she had had enough and started their daily spar.
The second day started much like the first, with him waking up and getting hit, her cursing at him for being inattentive to his surroundings. This infuriated him to no end, especially seeing as Kakashi would try and sneak in there nearly every morning as well and could never catch the man.
That first day of actual training she had him out on a lake, quite literally, practicing the Great Fireball jutsu he had copied the day before, being told he did it sloppy, wasted too much chakra, and didn't know how to use it properly.
He did have to admit, she knew her stuff, almost as well as Kakashi. Whenever he put too much chakra into the attack he would slip underwater, meaning he had to refine his use for both the water walking and Katon jutsu to their ideal points before she would tell him it was mastered.
The boy also learned exactly how much chakra he had… He was not disappointed.
After each one of the fireballs the woman would just watch him, commenting, waiting for him to give up he was sure. But after two straight hours of breathing fire he was still going strong, at most a little tired from all the heat and standing, Anko's jaw just hung there, watching him work.
But it was the nightly spars where he got the most out of the training. Unlike Lee or Guy, Anko didn't hold back… in the slightest. The other two may have been tough, but just because you were on the ground, trying to get your breath back, didn't mean she wouldn't come behind you, kick your balls into your rear, and then point and laugh at you. Furthermore was the fact that she demanded he use the jutsu he had been working on, trying to hit her with it, telling him to try and combine it with other techniques. To be sure, if anything else, there was no practice for jutsu like fighting a real opponent, especially when they're a much stronger opponent.
Katon: Great Fireball turned into Fuuton: Great Breakthrough in a day and a half.
Naruto simply remembered being up, scared shitless, on a thin pole, barely enough room for his two feet, the ground beneath him covered in sharpened wooden sticks Anko had shoved into the ground. The fact that he was also forty feet above the ground might also have been part of why he was scared.
And that's the thing about Wind techniques; they involve a lot of movement. Anko's job was simply to get the idea of keeping his ground when he used the attack and it was MUCH more difficult to keep his ground here than it was to stay on the water before.
After nearly three days of that, Fuuton: Great Breakthrough turned into Doton: Underground Projection Fish jutsu and the Double Suicide Decapitation Technique, both of which he remembered Kakashi saying he used on Sasuke.
This had to of been the most fun he had had training. It only took a single day to complete her training for both techniques after he had the basics down. Anko was a free spirit, he realized, sneaking up on another person who was training, this time the girl from Guy and Lee's team. She wanted to have fun and protect Konoha, never being shackled to anything she didn't respect.
Coming up underneath the girl, as he had several other already, he prepared to grasp her ankles, only hesitating for a second to think if he wanted to do this to Lee's teammate. But then he remembered what Anko said: 'Take no survivors and show no mercy' so he grabbed her ankles and pulled her down to her neck into the earth.
As he sped away he started thinking about the woman some more. That first day had been a test, he had realized, because she wouldn't teach him if she couldn't respect some part of him. What had he done that she respected though?
Was it his attacks? He couldn't imagine his Taijutsu being enough; she had dominated that part, never letting up from start to finish. His persistence? He couldn't see that, as she just kept attacking him if he was down or not… Pulling down another person, this time a man dressed in typical Chuunin wear, he took off, deciding it would be better to focus on the training.
When he got back to her, ready for their spar she looked at him and smiled, "You know kid, if you ever get tired of working for old man Kakashi, there may be a place for you as my apprentice."
Naruto actually considered the idea for a minute or two. Apprenticed he would be able to grow much faster than if he were on a team with the others, he would be more likely to get a field promotion too, as apprentices more often than not don't bother with the Chuunin Exams, focusing on training and missions. But the thought of leaving Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura… it just didn't seem right to him, like he would be betraying something.
"No, I don't think so." He said, "Not yet anyway." And with that he settled into his Goken stance, ready to fight.
Slowly Anko walked forwards, a true smile on her face, "Come on kid, I'll treat you to some dango." She told him, walking away, him quickly following after. "Some of the best stuff in the world."
"Yeah, but Ramen's better!" he stated in kind, nearly out of years of doing so.
"Is not." She said simply.
"Is too." He replied, glancing over at her.
"Is. Not." Her teeth clenched together.
"Yes, it is!"
Wam!
"No, my fist is best and we're getting dango!" and like that she kept walking.
Once they were sitting, the same dango place Kakashi had brought them to he noted, he turned to her, "Anko-sensei?" he asked, ducking under her fist.
"What'd I tell you about calling me that?" she demanded, taking her first plate of dango.
"Yeah, yeah, 'don't'. Anyway, I was curious, what did I do to pass you test that first day?" looking at her expectantly.
Chewing she sat there and thought for a second, never putting the dango down, "Kid, it wasn't any one thing, it was a number of things. The fact that you made it as long as you did, that you didn't stop because it was too hard, the amount of stamina you have, the fact that your chakra reserves are easily three times as big as mine, nearly twice as big as Kakashi's, that fire jutsu you used, and by the way, Kakashi told me you didn't know how to do any fire techniques."
The way she leered at him made him nervous, 'did Kakashi tell her?' he thought to himself.
"Meaning one of two things, either you stole a Sharingan from that teammate of yours." Naruto gulped, "or you've simply been working that much harder."
Smirking at him she rubbed the top of his head in a playful manner, "Despite what some may think, hard work isn't rewarded with anything other than survival." She said, turning back to her food, face stony now after the show of emotions, "You don't get applauded or paraded for working hard, you just get to live. If, in the process of surviving, you do something worth noting, only then do they notice you, making it all the harder to survive."
The rest of the mean was eaten in silence, as Naruto thought over what she said, drawing his own conclusions. Before they left he said one last word, "Thanks."
The next day he woke up, jumping out of bed and onto the ceiling, sticking to it with chakra, looking down at Anko whose fist was still in the pillow. He was already dressed, having gotten into the habit of dressing before going to sleep thanks to Kakashi, Guy, and now Anko.
Jumping down to stand next to her he got a smile before she threw him his breakfast and they started for the training fields. As they walked Anko told him what they would be up to, "Ok, listen up brat, we got a week and a half before I need to give you back to Kakashi, so I plan of doing a few things with you. First off there are two jutsu left I plan on teaching you: Kanashibari jutsu and one of my signature techniques that you got very well oriented with on that first day, Sen'eijashu. Both are very difficult to learn, the first being an ANBU level technique, the other requiring a summoning contract to do so. After you have those two down I plan on having you drilled into the ground learning chakra sensing, silent killing techniques, and the basics of the Hebi style."
"Hebi style?" he asked, confused.
"Yeah, Hebi, the Snake style developed by Orochimaru of the Sannin. It involves moving in ways that are nearly impossible to track even with a Sharingan. The key to the style is to simply stop telegraphing your moves and reacting to an enemies attack by reading how they telegraph their moves. It actually consists of two parts, the upper and the lower. You see you don't want your enemy to be able to predict what you are going to do, so you need to move the top half of your body contrary to what the bottom half is doing. To be honest there is a pattern to it all, but you would need to be a full master of the style to know it all."
Reaching the training field they had been blowing up for the past week she brought him over to a favorite spot of his, the sticks in the ground. Now that he looked he saw that they were no longer just sharpened sticks stuck in the ground, they were razor sharp bamboo now.
'Uh-oh!'
"Ok, kid, since you've finally proven to me that your tough, and have good enough chakra control, I'm going to combine training again today." Saying that she stepped onto one of the bamboo spikes, through the Sharingan he could see that she was sending chakra to her foot, like the tree walking exercise, then focusing it in a single point keeping it at a steady rate, while sending that flow out from that point like the water walking. "This is the point balancing exercise, an advanced combination of the two basic chakra control exercises. Just focus your chakra into the exact point where you step on the point and send out a constant stream of chakra to keep it from piercing your foot. Need I mention the danger?" seeing him shake his head a negative she told him to get to it.
To put it simply, this exercise was HARD. As in he stabbed his foot several times and had to wait for it to heal before he could try again. It was so hard that Anko didn't try and make it harder. It was halfway through the day before he even started getting the hang of it. He personally had no idea how anyone without a bijuu was able to finish this exercise.
Soon after he started getting used to the exercise Anko started with the second half of the training, "Alright brat, now listen up and concentrate on the exercise." Amazingly this was not nearly as hard as it had seemed a week ago, "While you're doing this exercise I'm going to be training you to do the Kanashibari no jutsu too. The idea for the technique is to send your chakra into exact points on the enemy's body, preferably head, neck, spine, or any of the major nerves in the legs. Simple as that, shooting out your chakra. The hard part is that you need to pinpoint it, making it into a knife or a…"
"Senbon?" he asked helpfully thinking of Haku and a certain brand of jutsu he hadn't worked on in nearly two weeks.
Looking at him she smiled, personally amazed that the boy had not only already started to get the exercise he was doing, but was able to split his focus enough to talk and contribute to a conversation while he did so, "See I knew you weren't hopeless after all. For this training I have some very special friends to help us." And with that she summoned a dozen snakes, seemingly coming from her coat sleeve. "Now just try and hit these guys with the technique. They'll probably be the best practice as you still need to aim, but as long as you hit the straight on it should hit their heads. After you get the hang of things we'll start to… multitask."
Truth be told, the technique may have been considered ANBU class, but that was just because all Black Ops. Agents had to know the technique, for obvious reasons. The technique itself was only D-rank, the same level as the body flicker, and not that hard to learn. No, the hard part came when Naruto had to try and hit the heads as they moved, thanking every moment that Sakura had decided to bop him on the head.
The true impasse came the next day, when the crazy woman had the snakes trying to bite him, a special treat going to the first bite his nads! Naruto's feet hurt at this point, even with his Sharingan he was having a hard time concentrating on all the heads as they moved around, jumping out and biting him, and Anko made it clear that they wouldn't be moving onto the next technique until he had these two down.
Bite!
Bite!
Bite!
'Well, we could just take Anko's advice and hit the head!' one part of him suggested.
Another toning in, "Possibly, but we don't want to mess this up, we got a good thing going here."
"Awe, to hell with it!" and with a hard look he focused on Anko, who took this to be a simple glare at her as he always did when the training got tough.
"Aw, poor baby gunna cry? Wah, wah, ww- thunk!" as Anko fell the snakes all disappeared and the boy started jumping from bamboo to bamboo with intense concentration, waiting for the woman to get up.
Naruto was actually a little surprised when she did get up, ran to the boy and… hugged him? Insane death threats he could handle, Kakashi and Anko throwing kunai he could handle, Guy and Lee at three A.M. he could almost handle. But hugs from the woman that had tried to kill him for the past week straight? Nope, ain't going to happen, his brain shut down.
"Um, Uh…"
"Kid," she said, taking in a deep breath, "That was perfect! You took advantage of the situation, hitting the main target instead of wasting all your time on the distractions, effectively taking them all out. Sure, it was not what I wanted you to do, but it was just as good and actually even better. You looked Underneath the underneath! Even if you don't realize what you did, you just did, and that, my precious little student," she said, this part slowly, sensually, "is why I plan on fighting tooth and nail to try and keep you!"
"Think Uzumaki! We need to think!"
"I… Um, I don't know if that'll be a good idea or not… I."
'He's a flaming retard!' came the new voice inside his head.
"Hush now, we have more practice to do. But when we're done we can talk about it. Beside," she said with a grin that would have made the Tengu cringe, "it's time for your punishment!"
"Punishment!" he yelled, flabbergasted, "But I thought you approved of what I did?"
Stepping back a ways she eyed him, noting that he was standing on the bamboo while channeling his chakra subconsciously… or so she thought, "As a principle I do approve. However, not only did you not complete the task given to you but you assaulted a superior with an attack that left me vulnerable to assault. If this had been a mission, not just training, then you would have been court marshaled and possibly even executed, depending on whether the person likes you or not." She said all of this in a voice that had clearly both read and been read those lines before.
"Aw, horseshit! You hate the rules and you know it!" he yelled, earning a kunai to that nipped his left ear.
"Yeah, your right. But when on a mission it doesn't matter what I like, or what you like, or what Kakashi likes. It all winds down to the rules in the end. Sure, this village is one for bending the rules, making some leeway for good morals, but even in Konoha you wouldn't be able to avoid something like that. So, now we are going to work on you doing this attack, against twice as many snakes... but I'm not completely heartless, I will tell you why you weren't making any progress." That peaked his interest, "You're only forming one point of chakra at a time, you can create as many as your concentration, control, and chakra allow!" and without any further ado she sent the snakes out again, this time from both sleeves.
Anko's little hint did help things along quite a bit actually, as Naruto, and what he assumed to be a second 'inner Naruto' concentrated on making more of the chakra points, while the original inner Naruto held their concentration at the feet. He was done with the exercise by dinner and getting his ass kicked late into the night.
The next morning proved to be one of the more important days in Naruto's life, something that would shape him for years to come. When he woke up, jumping out of his bed to the side this time, he saw Anko standing there, no smirk, no grimace, nothing at all, a face blank of all emotion. Immediately this put him on guard.
"Um, Anko? Is everything alright?" he asked, walking towards her cautiously, his body turned slightly to the side in order to provide a smaller target.
Looking down at him she nodded approvingly at his guarded stance as he approached her, nothing else showing on the outside, "No… I'm wondering if what I am about to do is right. If what I do next might be the stepping stone to something terrible." She answered honestly.
Turning around she beckoned him to follow her, leading the boy out of the village, heading for the training areas. Soon they reached and passed the area they usually used, hopping from tree to tree for nearly a full hour before they stopped, Anko throwing a ration bar to him, as she always did. Sure, they didn't fill you up as well as ramen, nor were they very tasty, but he had practically been living off of them for nearly a week now and had gotten quite used to it. His appetite had been curved that was for sure.
'Guess that's another form of training she had me going through then, eh?'
Looking around he tried to see if he knew the place where they stopped. Honestly he had never been this far out of the village except for Wave country. They had reached an area of the forest where the tree's grew tall, hundreds of feet, and were nearly five times as big as he was from side to side. Forest vines hung from the tree's here and there, ferns and other plant life clung to the base's of the trees.
"Tell me Naruto… What is power for?" she asked suddenly, looking at him intently, her face still blank of any emotion.
"Power… well, it's what you use to do something!" he answered unabashedly, while another part of him popped in and expanded on it. At seeing Anko frown he added it in quickly, "It's also what we all need to accomplish our goals. If you don't have power then you what you can do is limited, meaning that 'everything in your power,' might not be enough. Some people like Sasuke want it for revenge, others like Ojiji-sama want it to protect people… and… and then there are more people like you nee-chan!" he said happily, not seeing her frown increase.
"OH! Like me you say?" watching him nod his head, "So tell me, why do I want power?" quite curious to hear his answer.
"Well… I didn't realize it until the day we worked on those earth techniques, but your just a free spirit, you want power so you can stay free! You don't take shit from anyone and if anyone wants something from you, even someone like Kakashi-sensei, you want them to prove that their good enough for you, not the other way around… THAT'S why you want power: for Freedom."
The woman just stared at him for a few long seconds, trying to tell if he was being honest with her… "You have no idea…" she started, looking at him as his smile faltered. She just stood there her face emotionless, "You have no idea…"
And she was there, watching this boy blow out streams of fire onto the lake, her jaw loose and hanging.
He was on top of that wooded beam, the illusionary spikes underneath it looming threateningly as he held his ground with chakra, sending out great gusts of wind that shook the tree tops, blowing leaves to the air.
And her emotionless mask didn't crumble, a single tear didn't stream down her cheek. Naruto gaping in surprise like she had done a week ago, making her laugh.
It was six years earlier when she had seen him for the first time, she had been back in the village for the past four and a half years, still working as Chuunin. He was just standing there in the middle of the street crying as people passed him by. He yelled out to them then, that he would be Hokage, he would get all the strength he needed and become the greatest Shinobi in the village. She just looked at him and walked away too, going about her business.
It was twelve years ago, she and Orochimaru-sama had been in one of their hideouts when they felt it coming, a great chakra signature. Watching from afar she saw as the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the beast from legends, tore through Shinobi and tree's like they were dust to be wiped off the face of the earth.
"That is power my dear Anko." He had told her then, "Power that is meant to be unleashed upon the weak, power to be used to gain something, no matter the cost to others… That is power my dear."
"You have no idea how right you are." she said, hoping she was not about to create another Orochimaru. Only one tear 'hadn't' fallen, but he 'hadn't' seen it, and that was enough. Pulling out a large scroll she handed it over to him, "I don't know how much attention you paid when me and Kakashi had our little chat a few weeks ago, but he asked if it was possible for you to summon any of my summons and I told him no… well, that was a lie… you CAN summon them if you sign the contract, it's just a matter of survival." And with that she handed over the contract to him and instructed him on how to sign.
"SO!" he asked, a little shaken over all of this, "What do you summon again?"
"Idiot!" "Idiot!" 'Dumbass!' both she and his two inner personalities yelled.
Sitting down, against one of the nearby tree's the woman beckoned him over.
Sitting next to the snake mistress, she began to talk, "Let me tell you a little story, about a man and his student…" she began, catching Naruto's interest immediately. Not long after that Naruto inherited a legacy… A legacy full of darkness and pain… one she hoped he could bring light to.
