Sorry I took so long writing this one. I'm feeling lazy now… Well, let's go! I DO NOT OWN NARUTO.
"Speech"
Thoughts
'Actions'
Into the Naruto Realm – Chapter 4
I couldn't help myself but act like a tourist and stare at every little detail of the Hidden Leaf Village.
Wow. Just one day, and I'm feeling confident that I know the layout of the village somewhat!
"So, Keito, what's up? Something on your mind?" I heard a voice to my far left.
Sakura was looking at me, wondering why I wasn't talking as much earlier.
"Eh, nothing. Just admiring the place." I said.
"So you're not fro-" Sakura started to say.
"Yeah, this village is pretty awesome!" Naruto cut her off.
Naruto turned away from Sakura, who was starting to get pissed, and gave me a wink.
Oh thank you Naruto, for having my back.
I would let him onto the lie Kakashi and I made but he would probably trip up and spill the beans unintentionally.
"Oh here we are! RAMEN!... Oh wait, I'm paying for you two as well…" Naruto sulked as we entered while Sakura chuckled and I had a grin.
"No worries Naruto! I'll repay you my part later down the line." I reassured him, patting his back.
Teuchi, the old man, welcomed us. "Welcome! Keito and Naruto are back I see. Sakura! Haven't seen you in a while."
"Hello!" We all said in unison.
We sat down with Sakura to my left and Naruto to my right.
We ordered what we wanted and ate. Sakura, however, seemed to order a few more things than us.
"It's because Naruto cut me off earlier. It's payback!" She whispered in my ear when Naruto wasn't looking. He was busy gulping down his ramen.
I smirked and Naruto saw this. "What's so funny?" Naruto asked, with a noodle dripping down his lip.
"Um, just how you eat ramen so fast!" I lied.
"Oh, I guess… But I don't care, I have RAMEN!" Naruto was buzzing with joy.
I continued to smirk while eating.
As I was finishing, Sakura silently moved one of her bowls over to me.
I looked at her in surprise, and she was staring at me with puppy-dog eyes. I got the message, smiled and ate what was left.
"Thanks so much, I couldn't finish it!" She whispered.
"No problem" I whispered back grinning.
We then finished, and Teuchi dropped down the bill. Sakura slid it over to Naruto as he stared at it with fear.
After Naruto paid, he groaned, "Awww great, I barely have any money now."
We laughed and started talking about the two ninjas' childhoods. I, knowing a lot of this, wasn't really surprised. I still had to act like all of it was new to me.
However, we did touch upon certain stories that I'm sure were never shown in the anime or the manga.
I wonder what would happen if I mention Sasuke…?
"So, if you were on three-man squad when you were younger, and Sai recently joined, who was the third before?" I asked with a thoughtful face.
Naruto and Sakura started to have grim faces.
Fuck me and my curiosity. I punched myself mentally.
Naruto showed a tiny smile and said, "…No, it wasn't Sai. He's an old friend of ours. His name's Sasuke Uchiha."
Sakura became more sullen after hearing the name and she looked away from us, so I became quiet and just nodded. Naruto kept elaborating.
"We had a fight and he left the village, but I'm sure he misses this place and wants to come back. And I'll go find him and bring him back." He turned to me and did a small smile.
"Well, I hope you do find him, and bring him back." I said.
Naruto became happy again, and Sakura faced us again, with another smile.
We kept conversing until we reached the training grounds. A bit early. Maybe TOO early.
"Well, we're here but Sai, Captain Yamato and Kakashi aren't." Sakura said.
"Looks like we're waiting then…" Naruto yawned as he lay on the grass and began to take a nap.
"NARUTOOOO! WAKE UP!" Sakura yelled.
"WAHH! OKAY. OKAY! I'm up!" Naruto shrieked in fear and sat up.
Feeling tired, I decided to sit to his right.
A couple minutes later, Sakura sat down next to Naruto. "Haha! I knew you were tired too!" Naruto grinned.
Sakura turned and glared at him. Naruto got scared and looked towards me with a weird face. I bursted out laughing.
Sakura also started to laugh. Naruto just looked confused but smiled.
I suddenly sensed another presence nearby. Sai then appeared in front of us and said "Hello everyone." He did his fake smile.
"Sai! Oh my god, guys you won't believe what happened! I sensed Sai or someone was going to appear and HE DID!" I exclaimed.
"Oh? Did you Keito? That's a good sign of development." Sai said.
"That's the power of Ichiraku Ramen!" Naruto fist pumped the air.
"I wouldn't say it was the ramen…" Sakura sighed.
There was a trio who were walking nearby and noticed us. They started coming over, while we were talking until we noticed them back.
Whoa! It's… My thoughts were interrupted.
"Hey guys, training much?" Shikamaru asked. "Oh, and who are you?" He looked at me with curious eyes.
"Hey Shikamaru! This is Keito! He's our newest teammate! Granny Tsunade assigned him here." Naruto stated proudly.
"Hi! Nice to meet you guys." I said, while quickly standing up and putting my hand out.
"Nice to meet you too! Shikamaru Nara." He said, shaking my hand.
This is so fucking awesome.
"Choji Akimichi!" He grinned as he stepped forward and gave me a fist bump. He was busy eating a bag of chips.
As I turned to the last person, my eyes widened a little bit.
"Ino Yamanaka!" She said while waving and smiling.
Holy hell, she's cuter in person!
I felt my face becoming a bit warm. Sakura saw my cheeks turn a bit pink and a devious grin appeared on her face. However, no one noticed.
I waved back and smiled.
Kakashi, Yamato and another man finally came and joined us.
"Oh, Asuma! Ready to lose at shogi later? Shikamaru smiled.
"We don't know who'll win so don't be that confident. Besides, first we have training." Asuma replied.
"Ahhhh, what a drag..." Shikamaru complained.
"Alright guys, time for training!" Kakashi smiled.
We each said our goodbyes, and headed our separate ways.
"Remember the groupings, team? Let's head out. Sakura, Sai, with me." Yamato started walking with the two ninja.
"Ok, Keito. Now I will teach you about chakra control. Since your chakra levels are abnormally low, we will start off with raising the levels to an adequate amount." Kakashi explained as we walked the other way.
"Yes sir! What to do now then?" I answered.
"We will start with meditating and focusing chakra. This seems like a good place! Let's sit down." Kakashi said while crouching next to another tree.
"I can see you like the shade, sensei!" I pointed out while sitting down.
"What can I say, I like to keep cool…" Kakashi turned his gaze to Naruto. "Well?"
"Aww, do I have to too?" Naruto whined.
"Naruto, if you want to be better than Jiraya, then you need to control your chakra better as well." Kakashi replied.
"...Good point." He sat down to my right.
"Who's Jiraya?" I asked (lying).
"WHAT! YOU DON'T KNO… Oh wait, yeah I almost forgot! Hehe... He's one of the three Leaf's legendary sannin. Along with Granny Tsunade and… Orochimaru.
"Ahh… They seem pretty powerful…" I started to trail off as Naruto appeared very serious, looking off into the distance.
"Now, now, let's all focus our chakra…" Kakashi whispered loudly.
I closed my eyes and took many deep breaths. I focused my energy and my concentration on building chakra.
Honestly… Can I really build chakra? We don't have that in my world…
I kept at it. I could feel Kakashi's occasional glance as well as Naruto's own breathing. I noticed the wind and the birds chirping. I felt connected with something.
Something… seems to be happening.
Kakashi took notice of this and said, "Well, it seems that you did it! I think now, we can start practicing jutsu."
"Huh? What?! YEAH!" I jumped up and cheered.
"Hooray!" Naruto joined me.
"Okay, Keito remember the jutsus I performed with Sai?" Kakashi calmed us down. "Let's start with Clone Jutsu."
"Ok... Ram, Snake and Tiger, was it?..." I muttered.
Let me focus my chakra... Breathing calmly seems to help.
"...Clone Jutsu!". I yelled while finishing the hand signs.
A small puff of smoke happened and a very disfigured version of myself appeared.
"...This takes me back." Naruto started to reminisce.
I examined my clone in fascination even if it looked almost nothing like me.
"Keep it up Keito. You'll get it eventually." Kakashi said. "Naruto, more meditation for you. Try it on the rock over there."
Naruto sighed and walked towards the rock. "I wanted to see Keito succeed..."
After a couple more tries and more control over the
amount of chakra I exerted, my clone started looking human.
"Clone Jutsu!" I exclaimed.
'Poof' I viciously stared at my clone, hoping to see improvements.
Hey! It's getting there!
I started to smile as I kept thinking how exciting this was.
Kakashi noticed and said, "Your next attempt should be the one. Naruto, adjust your spot to the tree next to me now."
"Kakashi-sensei, what does changing my spot where I meditate has to do with helping my chakra control?" Naruto complained as he reluctantly jumped and landed on the tree branch.
I marveled at the height of his jump. "You gotta show me how to jump like that too!"
"After you finish these jutsus." Kakashi told me. "Anyways, to answer Naruto's question... meditation is good in general, but it helps to change your spot to not become comfortable and get used to different environments. Now, continue both of you."
"Yes sir!" I responded. I dispelled the jutsu.
"Got ya." Naruto seemed like he understood Kakashi's reasoning.
"Clone Jutsu!" I said.
The puff of smoke was back again, and the clone... looked just like me!
"I DID IT!" I was proud of myself.
"Great! Now do it one more time, but add another one." Kakashi said.
"Will do." I replied after dispelling the clone.
Another puff of smoke, and like magic: two more me's!
I'm getting the hang of it!
"Whoaaaa! Great job Keito!" Naruto briefly opened his eyes and commented before shutting them back when Kakashi looked at him.
"Excellent. Now, we will definitely cover the Substitution jutsu soon, but right now, I wanna see you try your hand at the Transformation jutsu. Kakashi explained. "It's an ability that lets us mimic the appearance of another being, whether it be living or non-living."
"You could be pass off as another ninja, or even a piece of paper." He continued. "It all depends on your skill to not miss a detail. The hand signs are Dog, Boar, and Ram."
Kakashi showed me the signs and I copied like a trained monkey.
"Dog... Boar... Ram. Okay." I confirmed.
"Make sure you have a clear image of what you want to transform into." Kakashi noted.
"Got it...Transform!" I yelled doing the hand signs.
'Poof' I felt really weird. Like REALLY weird.
"...Give it more practice." Kakashi stated as he took out a small mirror.
I received the mirror from him and cringed at my face. I looked like a chubby and ugly Naruto.
"Hey... I don't look like that!" Naruto barked.
"Whoops sorry!" I apologized.
"...I'm actually flattered you tried to look like me. I'll let it slide this time." Naruto laughed, but immediately shut up as Kakashi looked back at him.
"You know the drill Keito. Practice!"
More time went by. It felt like hours.
"Transform!" I yelled, out of breath.
There was silence and then Kakashi's voice cut through.
"Hold it! I think you got it down. Naruto, you can stop now. Come give your opinion!"
Naruto yawned and jumped down from the tree. He was stretching his arms while walking towards me.
"Say, meditation makes me more tired than usu-" Naruto dropped his mouth and stop speaking. "AH KEITO! You did it! You look just like me!"
I looked in the mirror Kakashi had given me. I gasped and kept eyeing Naruto then the mirror, then back again.
"Hey it worked!" I was ecstatic.
"Great job! Now, Keito, let's review what you have learned." Kakashi said. "Make five clones of yourself."
Dispelling the transformation, I prepared myself. "Clone jutsu!"
Five people, that is five Keitos, appeared next to me.
"Awesome job! Now try to transform all of them, including you, into me!" Naruto said.
"I'll try my best!" I yelled. "Transform!"
More smoke...
"Well?" The one Keito/Naruto in the middle said.
"Well, I'll be damned. You managed to do it, Keito." Kakashi sounded really proud. "Sure, it's not really an advanced technique but for someone of your background, that's impressive.
"You did it!" Naruto said, jumping in the air happily. Kakashi also gave me a thumbs-up.
"I don't wanna push you here; I see you're exhausted, but try to transform into someone else instead of dispelling the jutsu.
"Uhm... Ok!" I said nervously.
Lemme try Sakura!
I "dispelled" the jutsu and standing there was one Sakura.
"Sakura?!" Naruto was dumbfounded.
"Don't be a loudmouth, knucklehead!" I jokingly said.
"Seems like you copied her personality well! Good reading." Kakashi complimented me.
"Yeah... really scary if you ask me. I can't tell the difference!" Naruto had a chill run down his spine.
I dispelled the jutsu and sat down. I couldn't stand anymore.
"You're doing excellent, Keito. If you wanna stop now, I won't push you." Kakashi told me.
Out of breath, I replied, "No... No... I should learn all of this... Phew! This is... an amazing lesson."
"...Alright. Let's rest up then, for the last thing today: have a quick sparring match with Naruto. We're gonna help you learn the Substitution Jutsu as you fight him." Kakashi took out a book and started reading.
"Fighting Keito right now seems a bit excessive, I mean, he is tired..." Naruto said.
Awww, the bastard's looking out for me haha!
"Hmm, I could... Here, Keito. Eat this and tell me how you feel." Kakashi took out a small little ball that looked like dog/cat food from his pouch.
He threw it to me, and I was amazed at the sight of it.
...A food pill...!
"What is this...?" I loved how cute it was. It was so tiny.
"A food pill! Kakashi-sensei, you carry those?" Naruto asked.
"I carry an assortment of things in case we need them." Kakashi stated. "Go ahead, Keito, it won't bite back."
Chuckling, I ate the food pill. Within seconds, I felt renewed and re-energized.
"I feel... so much better... like SO MUCH better." I was astonished at my new found power.
"It's specifically engineered to recover chakra fast, and basically upgrade you to a super version of yourself." Kakashi explained, as he continued to read his book.
"Thats amazing! I feel like I can run 50 miles!" I exclaimed.
"You might give Rock Lee or Guy-sensei a run for their money if you use more powerful food pills!" Naruto said excitedly.
"Listen here, Keito. Under no circumstances, should you ever go beyond a level 1 food pill." Kakashi warned me. "Although what Naruto said is pretty funny, it's still dangerous to try."
"Oh, yes sir!" I replied. "Sorry Naruto, maybe in the future if I become stronger and able to handle the stress of the food pills."
"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei has a point. Alright, I'm ready for our match, Keito. Are you?" Naruto punched his open palm with a grin.
"As long as Keito doesn't overexert himself, the side effects of the food pill won't be severe. I trust Keito can see his limits. That's another lesson right there: understanding one's limitations." Kakashi said.
"So full of wisdom, oh mighty Kakashi-sensei." I jokingly proclaimed. "I'm ready, Naruto."
Kakashi arched his eyebrow at me, which I noticed and I immediately apologized.
"Oh sorry! I understand sir!" I regained my martial arts attitude, while giving a small bow.
Kakashi sighed and chuckled. "It's fine."
At that moment, Yamato, Sai, and Sakura were walking back from their training.
"Captain Yamato! Sakura! Sai! Get your front row seats to the showdown!" Naruto laughed.
"What's happening?" Yamato asked with a smile.
Kakashi filled them in on what was going to happen.
"This should be interesting…" Yamato commented.
"Indeed…" Sai added.
"Let's go guys! We don't have all day!" Sakura cheering us on.
"I won't go hard, but it doesn't mean I won't try, Keito!" Naruto yelled with a grin.
"Come on!" I yelled back, returning the same grin.
End of Chapter 4
Thanks for reading! :D
Edit 7/15/19: I feel like I keep coming back to edit this more and more and I'm not getting my other things done hahaha
