I do not own naruto or grandia only my personal plot bunnies and dust bunnies

Chapter 3: and we're off

Naruto stared at the the two graves before him in silence. The grave site was on a hill overlooking a large bridge and marked with a large cleaver sword. Naruto had spent his recovery time going over everything that happened to him on the wave mission. He could only come to one conclusion in the end of his thoughts. He could have saved her if he had not hidden his skill level. He had regretted the creation of his idiot mask from time to time because it dampened his ability to have normal friends. Naruto never regretted the mask more than what he did right know.

Naruto felt the air shift behind him and sniffed the air like an animal. He did not say anything but he was not surprised when Kakashi, his sensei, stepped beside him and put his had on Naruto's shoulder. No word were spoken however the silent exchange was clear to the two of them. Kakashi had known he was holding back from early on into Naruto's gennin career. At one point Kakashi held Naruto back and asked him about it. Naruto gave Kakashi his reasons for holding back in the academy and on the team.

He continued to look at the graves as he thought about he a-for mentioned reason. Confusing his enemies into thinking he was weak was one. Another one was because he already knew what they were teaching at the academy. The last and most important reason was the civilian council. They had been after his head sense he had been born according to the old man. If they knew how much skill and power he had attained before he was an official ninja they would have went ballistic.

In the face of what has happened he now understood that his reasons were no longer viable. Clenching his fist hard enough to draw blood, he held his hand over her grave and promised to no longer hold back. He turned towards his sensei and looked him in his visible eye. Kakashi nodded to him and Naruto returned the nod. With his hand still on Naruto's shoulder they both disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

After a very long goodbye in front of a newly built bridge Team seven of Jonnin Kakashi Hatake and Gennin Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Naruto Uzumaki started the trek back home to Konoha. Normally this would be a mundane venture, but anyone familiar with team seven would it is never normal around them. Kakashi is reading his porn like normal, although he glaces up at his students every so often. Sasuke was brooding like he normally does, although when he thinks no one is looking he sends confused glaces at Naruto. Sakura is talking at Sasuke and trying to get him to date her like normal, although she to was giving Naruto a confused look every so often. Naruto was walking a little ahead of the others and was not saying a word...... which was not normal for his team. This was why his fellow gennin were giving him looks confusion.

This continued on for the rest of the day and on into the night. Once the sun had set Kakashi called a halt and they set up camp in the forest. Everyone set up their tents while Kakashi started the fire. He looked to and fro at his three students.

"I will take first and last watch", he stated. "In between those times will be Sakura first, Sasuke second, and Naruto third," he continued. He looked between the three teens as they either nodded or grunted their acknowledgment before he gave an eye-smile and jumped into the trees.

The next morning started normally with everyone packing up and continuing their journey. Soon enough the walls of Konoha were in sight. Team seven subconsciously picked up their pace in anticipation of home. A moment later they reached the gates of the village. The guards nodded to them as they went through although they gave naruto weird looks.

Team seven stood before the Hokage as Kakashi gave his oral report. The Hokage looked at the ninja before him and sighed.

"So to sum it up Kakashi," he said. "Your client lied about the mission difficulty, you continued the mission anyway, you fought two chunnin and jonnin, helped finish the bridge, scared off an army of bandits, and saved the entire Wave country," he continued. The Hokage let out another sigh, "Is nothing normal when you are involved Naruto." Naruto laughed and scratched the back of his head good-naturedly while the other members either chuckled, giggled, or snorted.

The Hokage Dismissed the team and gave them while giving them the next day off. The rest of team seven was walking out the door when they noticed that Naruto was not with them. Kakashi looked at him in curiosity.

"Is everything alright Naruto," Kakashi asked. Naruto looked at Kakashi and smiled at him.

"Mostly," he replied, "Just need to ask the old man about a furry friend of mine." Kakashi's eye widened slightly in understanding but the rest of team seven did not notice it. He nodded his head and ushered Sasuke and Sakura off knowing if it was important enough the Hokage would inform him later.

Naruto and Akira examined each other in silence for moment as Naruto's team left. Naruto watched as Sarutobi ran through a series of hand seals and released his chakra. The walls, floor and ceiling glowed blue for a moment then faded. The hokage nodded towards Naruto and they both relaxed for a moment.

"So," Sarutobi started, "what did you want to tell me.

Naruto thought about how he wanted to say what happened and Sarutobi noticing this gave he the time he needed. Naruto finally sighed and just winged it.

"I came into contact with the Kyuubi while fighting on the bridge," he stated. The Hokage's eyes widened in surprise, but Naruto continued on before he could say anything. "The seal is not weakening so that is not a worry on that account." "The fox is a stuck up bastard that was making demands and threats of bodily harm, but other than that there is nothing much to report." "Lastly, expect to have more paperwork because I am going to drop the idiot mask."

The Hokage watched Naruto as he was giving his personal report and sighed at the end of it. He nodded to Naruto as a silent dismissal and Naruto left the office. Akira gave off a second sigh at the thought of the future. Without any warning the door opened and his secretary walked in pushing a wheelbarrow full of papers. He stared at the papers as his secretary, (with a smile), piled column after column on his desk. Through this the Hokage's eyes got bigger and bigger until the demon in disguise left the room. When the door shut he promptly burst into tears with one thought going through his head "More paper work that THIS."

The sun rose up over the Hokage Monument, the bird were chipping and shopkeepers were opening their stores. Ninja were already jumping across the roofs to missions or guard and patrol duties. Inside an average apartment the sun touched bright blond hair that was bobbing up and down. Naruto was preforming pushups on one of his hands with the other hand balancing a leaf on each finger with chakra. With the breathy murmur of one hundred Naruto stood up and walked over to his closet and opened the door.

Inside the door was an arm bracer with a tattoo on it. Naruto smiled as he placed the bracer on his right arm. The bracer covered his wrist and forearm with a steel commonly used in the making of fuma shurikens with a guard that covers the back of the hand. The bracer had a small spike in the center of the tattoo that looked very sharp. Naruto ran his left hand over the piece of armor and nicked his index finger on the spike. His blood touched the tattoo and there was a puff of smoke.

Sunlight gleamed off of the edge of a longsword that was revealed from the smoke. The blade was three to three and a half feet long with a nine inch handle and a fox head hand guard. The blade had no ornaments on it although the guard had rubies for eyes. Overall it was a practical weapon made to be used and not looked at.

Naruto smiled and resealed the sword into the seal before standing and going out his front door. He started to ninja jump towards his favorite training grounds in hopes of having a good spar. Naruto landed in a familiar glade to the sight of two people fighting with swords. He cleared his throat to get their attention which caused them to stop mid swing.

Hayate and Yuugao turned to look at naruto for a moment to take in his appearance. Hayate noticed the bracer and smiled "so you decided to stop hiding have you." Naruto nodded and unsealed his sword standing in a guard stance. Hayate and Yuugao exchanged glances before he shot forward at mid-chunnin and swung his sword at Naruto's head. Naruto parried the attack and the fight was on.

They spent the entire day sparing back and forth one-on-one while the third rested. About an hour before sunset they rested for ten minutes and then Yuugao surprised them. "Naruto your kenjitsu skills are mid-jonnin easily, but your speed is mid-chunnin only." Naruto nodded and Yuugao smiled, "so release your gravity seals and lets work on controlling your full speed."

Naruto blinked in confusion and tilted his head in thought, "oh yeah, I forgot that I had those on" he said sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head causing both stronger ninja to face-fault. Naruto brought his hands into the ram symbol. A faint glow could be seen under the fabric of his jump suit and as he shouted release the glowing stopped. Naruto started to bob up and down to get a feel for his new sense of lightness and then smiled at the two jonnin. Together the three of them shot off back to the village proper.

A few hours after dark Naruto walked through the door of his apartment with a big smile on his face and a spring in his step. Today had been a good day for him and he was content with its outcome. The next few day were going to be interesting to say the least.

Omake

Sasuke Uchiha was a determined and obsessive teenager few to none knew what went through his emo brain. He was pending his time at guard duty to practice the fireball jitsu. What he did not notice was that between his legs lay a small egg and whenever he released the jitsu, because his chakra control was not perfect, he was letting off trace of excess chakra that was flowing into the egg.

The egg cracked little by little its contents looking around before its gaze landed on the young gennin. The first though that went through its head was that of any new born animal, mommy. It broke out of the rest of its shell and walked over to greet its mother.

Sasuke was resting from using the jitsu consecutively and was about to continue before he heard an unexpected noise. "QUACK" He looked down between his legs to see a duckling staring up at him. He shook his head and noticed that it was time for his shift to end. He did not notice that the duck was following him back to camp or notice it slip into his tent as he laid down to sleep.

AN: I would like to think those few of you that reviewed my first attempt at a story and I hope you continue to review in the future.

I found the motivation to finish this chapter because one person reviewed and said that they loved what I have written so far. Thank You and I hope you keep that attitude about this story in the future.

As always if you have questions or constructive criticism please feel free to PM me or review. I read all that is sent me.

Have a good day/night.