Thank you for your reviews :) I should have said last chapter that I would not be able to start working on this chapter until the beginning of the week. I also received a review saying my paragraphs were too long and for that I apologize. As a research assistant I spend a lot of time reading master student dissertations, or prospectuses, and paragraphs in those can go on for pages. So I thought my paragraphs were relatively short but I guess I was wrong, if this format is preferred I will go back and reformat earlier chapters. Enjoy the chapter and there is an AN at the bottom describing both my take on chapter 670 as well as a few points made in this chapter.
I do not own Naruto or One Piece; no money is made from this story.
"I've told you before. You shouldn't judge people based on appearances and your preconceptions."
― Masashi Kishimoto
There was no other way to say it, Gaara was odd. He acted like a blood thirsty psychopath but in reality he was just a scared kid. The redhead acted the way he did not only to appease the Ichibi, the reason Kyūbi kept talking about tails, but also to scare his would be assassins. Lying there without any chakra, at his lowest point, all Naruto saw in Gaara was a child that had been forgotten by the world and who would never forgive them for it.
Calling Gaara "Little Brother" seemed to be so unexpected that the redhead did not know how to respond. So Naruto explained his reasoning, "you and I are the same." Such a simple statement but it was so packed full of meaning: the pain, the loneliness, and fear. It was so unexpected to find a brother in arms that they both simply sat there in silence staring at one another.
After being alone for so long neither really knew what to say, how to act, what to do in the presence of another. So they sat in silence, enjoying simply being in the presence of someone who understood. They sat in silence so long for Gaara's chakra to have begun recovering. As Gaara's sand began to slither back towards the redhead Naruto began to talk.
The blonde spoke of his past, of his fears, of isolation. Of his world view of what he thought of Konoha. After a while Gaara started his own tale: of his life in Suna, of his place as Jinchūriki, of his uncle Yashamaru. Neither really knew where the conversation began; neither could tell when it would end as they continued long into the night. So began Naruto's family and with it the rumblings of a New Era.
ONE MONTH LATER (30 days)
Kakashi Hatake was standing in front of the memorial stone thinking about the past. The attack by both Suna and Oto had brought up memories: recollections of the Third Great Ninja War, the Kannabi Bridge mission, and the deaths of both Obito and Rin. Of how Kakashi had taken for granted his team until they were gone. How he had promised Obito to protect Rin. Only to be the person who killed her.
The three members of the Yondaime's gennin squad had been more a team of Obito and Rin with Kakashi tagging along. In his youth Kakashi used to think he was superior to both Rin and Obito, that his genius made him above his need for teammates. That Obito was only dead weight and Rin was only there for her medical talent.
The mission to Kannabi Bridge had changed that. With the loss of Obito, Rin had folded in on herself for a very long time. She was no longer friendly; she no longer viewed Kakashi in the same light. It had taken their Sensei sitting them both down for a talk on the fragility of life for the two remaining members of the former team Minato to even begin to become reacquainted. Kakashi with all his skill had missed the deep connection between Rin and Obito.
Rin's infatuation with Kakashi had died with Obito. With the removal of her closest friend, Rin overcame her crush on Kakashi. Only to find that the boy she loved was gone. A part of Rin had died with Obito and all that was left was the love Rin had for her village. So instead of returning to Konoha with the three tails sealed within her, Rin had chosen to die to save Konoha.
It was terrifying how similar Kakashi's former team was to the current team seven. Each member was almost eerily similar to their counterpart: Sakura and Rin, Sasuke and Kakashi, Obito and Naruto. The only true differences were their sensei and the bonds the team shared.
Kakashi knew he was a horrible teacher. He had learned the basic techniques that his students needed help with before he had even turned ten. He had only vague memories of training in their use and such concepts were so ingrain in his psyche that they had become instinct than conscious thought. He could not explain how to mold the chakra to climb a tree because he no longer had to consciously think about it. While this was useful on the battlefield it meant he could not tell what they were doing wrong without resorting to using his sharingan, something he had been in no condition to use.
So he left his students to their own devices, after the exercise into a competition, and hoped to be more help to them as they matured. Like he had with Sasuke, the boy had finally gotten to a level that Kakashi was capable of teaching and the boy had excelled under that guidance. Yet, that did not help with the feeling of his failure to help either Sakura or Naruto.
Sasuke, much like Kakashi, was goal oriented. The boy was so focused on revenge he could not see that he could never do it alone. Even Itachi needed help when he was first starting out. Sasuke could not understand that it was not that Itachi was stronger when he graduated from the academy but the entire program had been changed to prevent another Itachi from being created.
Before the massacre it had been possible to graduate the academy when a teacher thought a student had learned enough, no matter their age. The current academy guidelines stated a student could not graduate before the age of 12. Kakashi had tried to tell the boy just this fact on multiple occasions during training only for the boy to storm away in a fury.
Sakura was exactly the person that Kakashi had first thought Rin to be. She was a girl stuck in a dream of love over a boy who would likely never return her feelings. She was ill prepared for the life of a ninja and unwilling to face the reality of the job. Sakura had had a major shock in both Wave and the Forest of Death. She was beginning to realize that book smarts would not always save her. That she needed the ability to fight without relying on her teammates.
Then there was Naruto. The boy was so much like Obito that Kakashi wanted to both cry and laugh at the same time. The overconfident attitude paired with abundant energy. The boy even had the same never give up attitude. The only real difference between was when they cried. Obito cried when he was troubled and Naruto cried when he was happy. The boy did not weep over the deaths of Haku and Zabuza but he had cried when they left wave.
Not to mention the blonde's parents. Minato and Kushina were the closest thing to parents Kakashi had after the death of his father. They had helped him overcome his failures. Kushina had forced his to confront what had happened to Rin and proved it wasn't his fault. Although Kakashi still stood by the fact that she had cheated! Sealing his chakra and binding him with her chains was not a fair interrogation technique to be used on allies. Yet Kakashi had felt lighter after talking with her.
With Minato's and Kushina's deaths, all the guilt and despair had returned. This led Kakashi to spend longer and longer portions of time thinking about what he had done wrong. Kakashi no longer really cared what other people thought about him, unlike a certain blonde.
Naruto was trying to overcome the hatred that was directed towards him and it was an inspiration to behold. The blonde kept on trying no matter how many times he failed and Kakashi hoped that one day the village would see Naruto for the amazing person he had turned out to be. Kakashi knew that the blonde's childhood had been rough, but at least he was safe.
Kakashi too had grown up isolated and while it hurt it was still living. In the beginning it was frightening to see how secluded Naruto was, how both his teammates had been so quick to belittle the boy. Grades were not everything and theory rarely outweighed experience when tested in the real world.
Both Naruto and Sasuke's inclusion in the chunin exam finals was a point of great pride for the jonin. They had both come a long way and to be able to congratulate them after their completion was something Kakashi had greatly looked forward to. Yet the fact that neither of his two students actually participated in their matches during the finals was an embarrassing turn of events. Kakashi was always late and Sasuke wanted to warm up before they arrived, so naturally the duo had arrived late.
Naruto had slept through his match. When the blonde had not shown up to the fight with Neji, the Hokage had immediately sent an ANBU to locate the boy. Naruto had been located in his apartment, dead to the world. It appeared that the blonde had been so excited for the match that he didn't fall asleep until the sun had almost risen and slept through his alarm clock.
After insuring his safety the ANBU immediately returned to inform the Hokage, he had not tried to rouse the blonde it had already been decided that Naruto's absence was to be seen as a forfeit. Then the Third then refused to postpone Sasuke's match, who was also absent, to prevent favoritism and so Kakashi was now the laughing stock of the jonin sensei.
Not that Kakashi could really blame anyone but himself. He was well aware his tardiness was frowned upon by his comrades and superiors. Yet, the act of being late was Kakashi's way of paying homage to his dead teammate. It was ironic that after all the times Kakashi had scolded his Uchiha teammate that it was Kakashi's tardiness had rubbed off on his students.
After the cancelation of Sasuke's match, Shikamaru had been the only actual Konoha genin to fight his opponent, Temari. Shino's opponent had forfeited and right after Shikamaru had forfeited after capturing his opponent, sighting chakra exhaustion, the invasion had begun. Just in time for both Kakashi and Sasuke to appear. It had been a chaotic few hours. A reminder of what war was really like and seemed to have an eye opening effect on the young genin.
Before that moment none of this generation's genin had ever been in large scale combat where an enemy could come from any direction at any time. To have people who were both able and willing to kill them without a moment's hesitation. While team 7 had faced Zabuza and Haku in wave it was very different to fight hundreds instead of just two. Kurenai and Asuma said members of their teams, team 8 and 10, were still in a form of shock. Not that Kakashi would look down on them for it.
To the newest generations the idea of war was something only read about in history books. Konoha had not been outright attacked by an enemy village in well over a decade. To this generation it was not war they feared it was the Kyūbi, the monster that too many people had become the very definition of evil and destruction.
This skirmish in the heart of Konoha had been a strong reminder that the Kyūbi was not the only threat out there. That while many brave ninja had died to stop the Kyūbi, many more died in the line of duty during the great wars. It was easy for civilians to forget about wars they had never witnessed. For children to down play the pandemonium of a battlefield they have never experienced. To hear about the deaths of unknown ninja in a place far from home and be able to go on with their lives like nothing was happening. To ignore the fact that war could strike at any time and for any reason in the elemental nations.
The fighting happening in the middle of the village meant that civilians were confronted with both the combat and the aftermath that followed battles. It had been a slow week filled with the residents of Konoha working to remove all the debris that could be found and burying the dead. The counselors were leading as the village while they waited for the Hokage to recover.
The Third Hokage had only barely survived his confrontation with Orochimaru and had been on strict bed rest for the past nine days. It would appear that Orochimaru vastly underestimated the power of his chosen summons, the First and Second Hokage, and it resulted in the missing-nin's loss.
The first had escaped from the thrall of the traitorous snake and freed the second from the jutsu as well. Together the two brothers were then able to attack Orochimaru and wound him enough to force his retreat. Afterwards the second Hokage, the creator of whatever jutsu Orochimaru had used, had talked the third through how to defeat the technique and prevent someone from summoning them again.
With both Sakura and Sasuke currently in the hospital as well after fighting Gaara, a battle that the two had lost, meant that team 7 was incapable of going on missions until the two recovered. Sasuke had yet to forgive Kakashi for making him miss his match and only Naruto's missing the exam as well prevented the young Uchiha from rebelling.
That and the fact the medical staff had both sealed his chakra and were watching the boy like a hawk to insure he didn't escape, like he had to train before the finals. Naruto did not seem all that angry about missing his match. The fact that the blonde was not more upset about missing the fight, he had only complained for a little over five minutes, didn't sit right with the jonin.
With no way to go on missions, Kakashi had decided to spend some time personally training Naruto to make up for the fact the jonin had been requested by the Hokage to train Sasuke in the use of his Sharingan. Kakashi was also to insure the curse seal had no more adverse effects on the Uchiha. Yet Kakashi still felt guilty about leaving the blonde with Ebisu.
Only to find the blonde's time was already taken. It had been a surprise to discover that Jiraiya had returned to Konoha and had taken the blonde on as an apprentice. This meant Kakashi had little to do but wait for Sakura and Sasuke to be released. So he had spent time helping with relief and reconstruction efforts or reminiscing on failures of the past. Which now that the jonin thought about it should be tomorrow.
Deciding that he had spent long enough in front of the memorial stone, the sun was setting, Kakashi turned back towards Konoha. As he walked back through the village Kakashi jumped up onto a roof to quicken his path home only for another man to appear. "It's been a while Lord Jiraiya," Kakashi stated as the Sanin appeared in front of him, "First time you've returned in… How many years has it been?" The sannin said nothing as he moved to lean on the guard rail that circled the building's roof. After a few minutes of tense silence Jiraiya replied, "Kakashi, I'm going to be looking after Naruto from now on."
This declaration surprised the Cyclops. It was well known that Jiraiya was rarely in Konoha because of his vast information network. If he was going to be taking responsibility of the blonde's safety then something must be very wrong. Jiraiya continued by saying, "Ever since Orochimaru left the village I have been keeping tabs on his movements. At first it was simply to make sure he didn't attack Konoha, but after a few years of roaming around the elemental nations he joined a certain organization."
Narrowing his eye Kakashi again, "What is it that you are trying to tell me? What organization?" The sage sighed before saying, "It goes by the name of Akatsuki, a small organization that consisted of 10 ninja to start with. It's an organization that focuses more on quality instead of quantity; because almost all of its members are S-ranked missing-nin. However, recently Orochimaru left the organization after having a fight with one of its other members, Itachi Uchiha."
Kakashi froze at the mention of Sasuke's older brother and Jiraiya took this as a sign to continue talking. "When nine S-ranked missing-nins get together they are bound to be after something big. It's difficult enough just to deal with one of them but the organization seems to be bidding its time. They are sticking to simple mercenary work at the moment, but they are spread out through all the elemental nations. They appear to work in groups of two and are looking to acquire new jutsu, among larger targets."
Kakashi's immediately narrowed his eye, "would something on their shopping list happen to have nine tails?" Jiraiya grimaced but nodded his affirmation while replying, "It would appear so, and a new contact of mine indicates that while they appear to be simple mercenaries they are really looking for the location of all nine Jinchūriki."
Both ninja stood in silence for a while before Jiraiya stated, "Kakashi focus on Sasuke, it is Naruto's fate to live the remainder of his life looking over his shoulder. The third was smart to have put you in charge of his protection but its time he learned to stand on his own two feet. I'm trying to teach him how to harness the fox's power but he seems reticent to use it. What happened to make him so against its power?"
Kakashi sighed and explained the events of wave and how Naruto had used the power to almost kill Haku. Jiraiya sighed, "I see how that could affect him but he needs to understand that the Kyūbi is too strong a power to simply ignore. The boy has more chakra then even I do, but what makes him so unique is the density of his chakra. When he grows up the brat will be an outstanding ninja. His parents would be proud."
As the two ninja continued to reminisce, neither noticed the shadow that slowly receded from a neighboring rooftop. The shadowed figure slowly and methodically crawled back across the roof, careful to stay out of sight, until he reached the edge of the building and quietly dropped into a nearby alley. Upon reaching the ground the figure quickly moved through the trashcans and dumpsters. As the moonlight struck the figure, blonde hair and whiskers came into relief. Quickly moving down the alley the boy began to think, "It's ahead of schedule but this information is too important to wait." Passing back into the shadows the blonde burst into smoke, leaving behind an empty alley.
Up above a Cyclops narrowed his eyes. Kakashi was sure he had heard seen something, yet he had not arrived in time to identify what it was. Moving his headband so that his sharingan was no longer obscured; he looked once more into the dark alley. Not a soul to be found. Yet there was a chakra that permeated the scene, a chakra that Kakashi recognized.
In a small gambling town along the coast the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers a boy walked out of one of the few restaurants in town. The boy had short blonde hair and was wearing thin oval sunglasses even though the sun had long since set. Wearing a loose long sleeve white shirt, that buttoned at the top, tan plaid pants and simple sandals the boy looked like any other child headed home.
It would be hard for anyone in the small town to believe that the orphan who called himself "Kichi" was in fact a missing-nin. They would have commented on the absence of weapons, for a good ninja needed good weapons. Or that the boy was much too laid back to be a killer.
If they only knew, Naruto quite liked life outside of Konoha: no one to glare at him, no one to bother him with promises of learning a new jutsu only to waste his time, and no money problems either. It had been a fortunate accident that had drawn the young blonde into one of the many gambling establishments that were common in the small towns around the land of Fire. It had rained twice in the past week, with the start of the rainy season in the land of Fire.
On one of these days Naruto had ducked into the nearest building to try and stay dry. Low and behold there were no laws restricting gambling age in the land of Fire which meant the blonde was free to make a killing. He had spent one coin in a slot machine to pass the time after watching some adults' waste pouches of coins. It a seemed he was just lucky at these kinds of things, he hit the jackpot on the first try and hadn't lost yet.
After collecting a good 50,000 ryō from the gambling houses in the unfortunate town Naruto left to find another. In the next town it only took him about three hours to doubled his monetary supply and had quickly left the town to escape the enraged adults that thought he had cheated.
This whole new way of life had been made available by Naruto's talk with Gaara. The redhead had warned the blonde about Suna and Oto's planned invasion and the blonde had decided he would never get another chance like this and Naruto had warned Gaara about Sasuke. That Kakashi was likely teaching his teammate something that was capable of penetrating the sand shield. Gaara had listened and decided he would come up with a different plan for beating the Uchiha instead of his normal approach.
Naruto had asked Gaara not to kill the raven haired boy or Sakura, not only because to some extent Naruto cared for his teammates but also for the backlash of the death of the last Uchiha. Naruto did not gain a brother only to lose him to revenge. The others were fair game.
The next three weeks had been spent plotting and preparing, reading in the library about geography of the Elemental Nations and the power struggle present in the modern world. Naruto had also spent a lot of time researching and acquiring provisions and other necessities that could not be bought outside of a ninja village: Solider pills, scrolls, more weaponry. Then the day of the finals Naruto had left a bunch of shadow clones hidden throughout Konoha and walked out as everybody else walked in.
The guards were far more concerned about what was coming in to the village then what was leaving it and so they let him walk right out under a transformation with only a distrustful glance. Although Naruto was quick to admit if he hadn't learned how to mask his chakra signature he would have been found almost as soon as he left the village. It was a natural phenomenon that caused the diffusion of chakra from the body into the environment, for energy to want to pass from an area of high concentration into an area of low concentration. This gave a ninja away because the larger the concentration differential the quicker the diffusion occurred.
Kakashi had stated Naruto's reserves were larger than the jonin's own. Naruto had so much chakra that he appeared like a beacon to every sensor within 2 miles. He also did not want to be constantly moving, which would be required if it was so easy to locate his chakra. So Naruto made a seal.
It was a very simple seal. Simply the symbol "Change" surrounded by "Channel" and "Branch" symbols that snaked like roods around his body. With a simple on and off mechanism that could be flipped on or off with a single hand sign Naruto had acquired the greatest mask of all time. It didn't really block his chakra as much as prevent it from leaking out of his tenketsu. The seal simply changed the permeability of his skin to chakra, so he no longer lost chakra to the environment.
To the world he appeared to be an average civilian, in reality he was amassing chakra and storing it for when it was needed. The interesting part of Chakra was that the body produced only as much as it needed. When his reserves peaked production of Chakra slowed to a crawl, even his seal stopped siphoning chakra from the fox. He had spent a week with the seal on and he felt no different than when he had been experimenting with it for a few hours at a time.
The wondrous thing about sealing circuits placed on skin was that with a continuous supply of chakra it was not required to reapply the circuit. Overtime the chakra would replace the ink. As the skin shed old cells and grew new ones the ink of the seal would slowly fall off. Chakra would naturally fill these slight holes in the circuit and morph to become like the ink. So after a few weeks Naruto's suppression seal would be permanent and fade away like the seal on his stomach. He wouldn't have to worry about it being seen when he bathed. The ink itself was waterproof so it could not be sweated off, but he had to bath at awkward times to insure no one saw him.
Those more adept at using seals could turn their very chakra into this "ink" and skip the long drawn out process mixing the ink and blood to form the substance used for Fūinjutsu. These adepts could also use that chakra to apply memorized sealing arrays with but a touch. Masters of Fūinjutsu could create new seals and visualize the final product in their minds and apply the seal simply through contact with their chakra.
However, Naruto's scroll only mentioned this fact in passing, it did not detail how to accomplish this fact. At least not yet, reading ahead in Fūinjutsu was likely to cause him to try something he was not yet ready to accomplish.
Naruto liked his suppression seal. It made using jutsu more difficult but not impossible. He was able to force his chakra through this new barrier but only in very small amounts. He was capable of using the academy transformation because it required so little chakra as well as a regular illusion clone which was so ironic it made him laugh. With such a small amount of chakra, equivalent to a basic academy student, was nowhere near threatening enough to arouse suspicion from anyone.
Yet, it did not change the fact that while he could not release his chakra from his body did not mean he could not wield it. He had escaped from Konoha's borders with all the skill of a trained ninja but left little to nothing behind to be followed.
This seal also slowed the reabsorption of knowledge of his clones. While the seal was meant to prevent chakra from leaving the system, not entering, the permeability change seemed to alter how chakra was absorbed as well. This made reabsorption much less disorientating and allowed Naruto to slowly increase the number of clones he had out at any given time.
After reaching the first town Naruto, turned the seal of for a brief moment to create clones. He had then instructed his clones to take all his clothing, that was Konoha related, and disperse it throughout the land of Fire. All in the direction of the country's borders so that it appeared he had fled. Turing his seal back on the blonde reapplied his transformation and then entered the town.
He immediately had gone and acquired the clothes he was currently wearing along with a few spares before slowly making his way further and further from Konoha. In the next town some flesh toned face paint covered his cheek marks to prevent anyone from recognizing him, when not transformed, and a haircut; he had done himself in the mirror the bathroom at a hotel, to shorten his hair to keep it out of his eyes, since he was no longer wearing a head band.
The result was a boy that bore only a hint of a resemblance to Naruto Uzumaki. Without the baggy clothes Naruto's physique was more apparent and gave him a more defined look. Yet the greatest change for Naruto was his ability to drop his mask. Outside of Konoha: away from all the familiar hateful faces, oppressive building, and resentful atmosphere. Naruto found it much easier to simply be himself, to relax and simply enjoy life. To wear a lopsided smile out of enjoyment and to joke and poke fun at others with a confidence he had not had in Konoha. It was invigorating to have freedom, to have the ability to chart his own course.
In Konoha he had followed. Ninja villages were built around hierarchy. A genin obeyed a Jonin, because the jonin was both more skilled and more experienced. After tasting the freedom he had now, Naruto knew he would never be able to go back to following orders. This freedom was intoxicating. To do what he wanted when he wanted, such a simple ideology with such far reaching implications. He was free to choose his destiny and would never go back.
That didn't mean he was stopping his training, he had picked this very town for the fact that it was close to a neighboring allied nation that held only a small ninja village, Tanigakure. Most missions from this country were given to Konoha if they were above the rank of C. This meant that while this little town saw a steady flow of travelers they were mostly of the civilian kind headed towards Konoha to hire ninja. The border was sparsely guarded at best and after the news that Suna had surrendered to Konoha any extra ninja on the border had been recalled.
It was amazing how blind people could be. How easy it was to fool those that were supposed to live their lives in the shadows. He had met a handful of Konoha ninja in the past week. He had even gambled against them. Yet, they never realized they knew him. A chunin that use to teach at the academy had called him gifted at math. A former secretary for the Hokage whom he had spoken to on multiple occasions had passed him without a second glance. Heck a Hyuga had looked at him strangely for a minute before shaking his head and continuing on his way.
They were so caught up in the moment, in protecting their village, that they ignored all else. Naruto realized that looking underneath the underneath was not something widely believed in by Konoha and the blonde was going to capitalize on it.
He was about a third of the way through the scroll at the moment and was now capable of creating simple seals. It would be awhile yet before he could use the spiral pattern of his ancestors but it was pretty easy to form modern Fūinjutsu with Uzumaki symbols. He spent the nights holed up in his hotel room endlessly copying and recopying the symbols of his clans Fūinjutsu. It had a calming effect on him: the motions of the brush on paper, the repetition, and the silence.
Although the greatest breakthrough the blonde had discovered was how to create barriers with his chakra chains. By overlapping the chains the excess chakra naturally wanted to fill in the gaps between the chains. It was almost like forming bubbles. He simply slid the chains over each other and a thin sheet of chakra stretched between them. These barriers were very impressive and appeared to block all chakra from either entering or escaping from the barrier. This ability and the large number of caves that dotted the land of rivers allowed him to continue his training with little fear of detection.
He had sadly not made much headway with his finger chains or "strings" as he liked to call them. The strings thinner width made it easier for him to slice and pierce through things but harder to simply restrain them. It was a simple matter to catch his prey. Yet, the string's durability was such that if he was not careful, if he over compensated even the smallest amount, the motion was exaggerated by the sting and would either crush or cut whatever he had ensnared.
He was hoping to be able to use his strings to control others. Like the Suna puppet user, who happened to be Gaara's brother. But the few times he had practiced with clones he would wither cut off an arm or break a bone by simply twitching a finger in the wrong direction.
Naruto stopped mid step, as the latest of his clones left in Konoha dispersed. They were dispersing at a much faster rate than he had hoped. He had left 25 clones, 20 of which had already dispersed, within the confines of Konoha. They were to act like the real Naruto for as long as possible to insure his absence went unnoticed. Yet the information this clone had discovered was disconcerting.
An organization named Akatsuki, made up of S-ranked ninja, was targeting him and the other Jinchūriki. He would have to accelerate his plans. Entering the gambling house "Kichi" bore witness to a busty blonde bet on the worst possible odds and was that a pig?
Yes, I know many of you were looking forward to the Neji vs Naruto fight. It will happen, but not yet. Cannon Naruto should not have been able to beat Neji, even if the hyuga had a jaw of glass. I have already decided how Naruto will beat Neji and I promise it will be both insightful and possible.
Automaticity, covered in last chapters Authors Note is often connected to environments. Removing a person from a known environment and putting them in a new place can make it easier to "break" a mask. This environment must be none threatening, and the person must want to change behavior, or it will only make them cling to the mask harder.
As for Kakashi he is not ignorant as much as human. Humans as a hole think they see more than they actually do. Our "reality" is only as accurate as it is defined. Humans use inference to judge others far more often than they actually try to get to know them. In the beginning no one wanted to get to know Naruto and by the time people started caring they already thought they knew his personality. A troublemaker that is not very smart. With this character type in mind all other judgments about Naruto will be affected by these previous preconceptions. When these preconceptions are broken, and they will be broken, people will connect the dots and wonder how they missed these things.
This happens a lot in chronic mental illness cases. A person is diagnosed and the loved ones think back and realize that all these symptoms were visible, at least in part, years ago but they just thought it was a fluke. The problem is that to overcome these preconceptions overwhelming evidence must be shown that the preconception is wrong. Which causes the person to go back and rethink what they had previously experienced finding the correlations. This idea will be why people, who will meet Naruto from now on and have no previous knowledge of his character, will be unable to see the boy as a foolish prankster, which will make finding him a lot harder.
On a side note "Kichi" means good luck in Japanese, or so my translator tells me. Naruto's new character design is that of a young Doflamingo. He won't be smoking because its not a habit I'm willing to give to a kid.
SPOILERS IF YOU ARE NOT CAUGHT UP ON MANGA AS OF 3/26/2014… you have been warned
Alright now for chapter 670… Reincarnation as Kishimoto is using it seems to be based in Buddhism, like other aspects of Naruto (paths of pain along with other things). In this form of reincarnation the "soul" is neither completely the same nor completely different in the new life as in the old. This means that while Asura and Naruto share similar traits they are different people. Each new life's placement in the Buddhism cycle is decided by the actions of the last life but its future is its own.
I am not speaking about religion. Every individual is entitled to their own beliefs and I will not even mention my own. However the idea that the soul will bring with it preset behaviors into the new life can be correlated with the idea that DNA also depicts behavior. With no memories of the past life, a part of the reincarnation cycle, it can be likened to the psychological conundrum of Nature vs Nurture.
In Nature your personality is preset in your DNA. Everything you do as a person: How you react, how you mature, and your perception of the world around you is based on the mixing of parental DNA. In other words it does not matter where you grow up or how you live you will be the same person no matter what.
In Nurture it is implied that DNA has nothing to do with how you act as an individual. It is your experiences in the world: how you are raised by parents, who your friends are, or your inclusion in society that decide how you will turn out. Here your environment is the only impact in psychological growth.
In reality it is both Nature and Nurture that explain behavior. There are genetic markers that have been correlated with increase hormone levels that can make people quicker to anger, among more complex things. The fact that these genetic markers can be found in multiple generations leads credence to the idea of Nature but it does not explain everything.
For instance Verbal Tics are a learned behavior (Nurture) Naruto should not be saying "Dattebayo!" without first hearing Kushina say "(da)ttebane" many times or someone else with a verbal tic say something similar, which I have yet to find anything other than guy and youth. The child pics up the tic verbatim and then overtime changes it in to their own verbal tic.
Also behavior is altered by what you learned, just because you have a genetic marker for something does not mean it will actually appear. This has been seen in separated Twin studies. While they are similar on a basic level, the twins do no always showcase the same model behavior. Both may be genetically predisposed to be quick to anger but on May one may be better at controlling that anger and preventing from outbursts. Tourette's is a very different thing and normally uses oral sounds like clearing throat or coughing instead of actual full words, unlike it is portrayed in the media.
Asura and Naruto have very different upbringings. Even if they are both supposedly talentless to start one had a loving family and the other was an orphan with very little outside aid. This difference could lead the same "soul" to live vastly different lives.
The largest problem I have with Naruto is the impossible differentiation in the manga between love and acceptance. They seem connected but they really are to very different ideas. It is possible for a parent to love their child and not accept what they become. It is possible to accept something without loving it. These ideas are not mutually exclusive or inclusive.
Also genius does not equate to evil! Just because someone is born with the ability to quickly learn something does not mean they are incapable of realizing it takes hard work to advance. That genius' are incapable of cooperation or following others. Nor does it mean that geniuses think themselves better than everyone else. I have a professor that has an IQ of over 165 and he is probably the humblest man I have ever met.
I will warn you now as this story begins to take shape I will be throwing you all surprises. I try to introduce ideas long before they take shape so they don't just appear. This story is not as simple as it may seem or as straight forward as many Fan fictions I have read. In the words of my favorite Professor "Lend me your ear and I will mess with your mind." I have a busy month ahead of me but I will continue to update at least every 2 weeks.
Well I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review. I really do read them all- Louis the Gator