A Naruto Fanfiction

Tempered by Spiritual Fire

Actions Speak Louder

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.

Summary: Naruto was banished after the battle at the Valley of the End after bringing a comatose Uchiha Sasuke home. Cast out by those he considered family he makes his own path through life, first stop; the illustrious Fire temple, the next...who knows?

Author's Notes: First of all I would like to thank everyone for their reviews, I'm sorry that I didn't respond to all of them personally. Second of all I'd like to apologise about the lateness of this chapter, I was fussing over it quite a bit. And Finally I'd like to point out that this is my first attempt at a 'Naruto' fight scene so there is very little jutsu use, and even when I get my bearings I won't be just having a list of jutsu and their effects (As I've seen done) and call it an action piece, this is part of the reason I had Naruto be unable to create hand seals.

Previously: In the furore that was precipitated by Naruto's leaked heritage his employer, the Fire Daimyo, releases him to leave. After exploring his old home and finding, to his dismay, that very little has changed he comes across the last two members of his old team sparring. Not wanting to be discovered he continues on to a lake, one of the numerous training grounds Konoha boasts, and meditates. During his meditation Kakashi comes and the two speak, beginning to reconnect, while a Sakura bunshin spies from nearby while the real one gets reinforcements. Knowing what is to come, Naruto, in a roundabout way, ask Kakashi to stay out of the coming fight.

Sakura, followed by Ino, Hinata and Kiba surround Naruto with the intent of killing him, but Naruto refuses to go quietly...


It all happened so fast, Kiba felt he was missing a few seconds of his life. First he felt pain explode in his jaw and the next he felt himself hit a tree, on the opposite bank of the lake, a quarter of a mile away. He shook his head and tried to focus, silently happy that Akamaru, his nin-dog companion had refused to come. He forced himself up into a seating position and caught sight of the brawl.

Naruto finished the roundhouse heel-kick that KO'd Kiba and slammed his palm onto the surface of the water, using his chakra to explode the water up and outwards. The three kunoichi all jumped back, effectively separated enough for Naruto to work comfortably. The jinchuuriki charged at Ino, who pulled out a kunai and attempted to slash at the opposing blonde. Naruto ducked the blade, span out and around from Ino and stood back up, resting the heels of both palms on the girl's spine. Ino attempted to turn around to face her enemy but felt the constant contact of his hands on her back, in an act of desperation she kicked back, the hands left her spine, only to grab her outstretched leg and a foot kicking her load bearing leg out from under her. She only had a second to gasp in panic before she went under the water, where Naruto held her long enough to subdue her before throwing her towards the shore.

He used the momentum to swing around, bringing his arms up to deflect Sakura and Hinata's pincer attack. He brought his left hand up high and grabbed Sakura's forearm as it cam down for a crashing blow and pushed her arm across her body, forcing her off balance while at the same time he took his other hand down low and grabbed Hinata's low sweeping leg by the calf and pulled it up and back, throwing her into the water. He spun around and and aimed a kick at Sakura's closer leg but hit the surface of the water as she dodged backwards. The two combatants settled back into their beginning katas and sized each other up.

"You have improved Haruno-san." Naruto complimented.

"So have you, Naruto." She replied. "But your fighting style seems familiar and I can't seem to place it." She added. So far everything about Naruto had screamed 'deadly' to her and she couldn't place why exactly. It had started with his clothes; tailored for the Suna desert wastelands but not Suna-nin gear. Then that chakra exercise, making a glass orb out of sand and chakra, she'd heard it was difficult to do and only the Kazekage did it as general exercise. And then the was the way he made the sand explode and now his fighting style. "Just what are you Naruto?" She asked. She didn't get her answer.

Hinata forced herself back onto the temporary dry land of the lake surface and looked to see Sakura take on the beast. She still felt a shiver of disgust at herself every time she thought about how she used to feel and act around the Kyuubi. She saw her chance to take him down, his back was turned to her. She quickly and silently charged him and charged up chakra into her right hand, ready to use a jyuken strike to Naruto's back to break his spinal cord. Somewhere nearby an owl hooted and, as if on cue, Naruto span to his right and dodged her attack. Her look of surprise only lasted as long as it too for Naruto to axe kick her into the water once more.

"So, why don't you tell me why you had Naruto...forcibly escorted into you village Tsunade-dono?" Shizuke asked her blonde haired friend, they'd already settled the seal stealing with a reduction in the pay Konoha received as retainers for the next five years as well as a concession for every time it was reapplied. Shizuke always believed that holding mistakes over peoples heads was in bad taste, something Tsunade knew, so the matter would never be spoken of again.

"Seven years ago, Naruto successfully retrieved Uchiha Sasuke from defecting to Otogakure and Orochimaru, the Uchiha was returned in a coma that lasted for about a year, once he was fully recovered he was placed on trial." Tsunade took a sip of her tea before continuing. "The verdict was imprisonment for five years. This was later repealed to house arrest a year later but with a year added for bad behaviour, he'll be fully released in a weeks time.

"The council felt that it wouldn't be prudent to place him back into a genin team and have decided to place him in a team with his peers. Unfortunately there aren't any jounin available to lead the team and only two people from his age group have shown that they can, and would, take him on if he attempts to escape again. Rock Lee has agreed to join this...parole detail, I suppose you could say, and so has Haruno Sakura and Aburame Shino." Tsunade paused again. "Naruto is to be the fourth member. He's the only one of his peers to win outright against Sasuke." Shizuke sized up the Hokage for a moment, picking her words carefully.

"The only problem with that as I can see is that you expected Naruto to still be loyal to the village, loyal to you after you exiled him on a stupid charge." Tsunade's face creased with a frown.

"Did Naruto tell you that?" She asked. "I exiled Naruto because he lost control of Kyuubi's chakra, he was a danger to the village and to himself, he was supposed to go away, learn to control it then come back to report for duty." She added. Shizuke rebuked with a sharp laugh.

"And that is the problem, you made the same mistake that every other hidden village made when they created their Jinchuuriki weapons-" She started

"Naruto was not created to be a weapon!" Tsunade snapped.

"But you and the council still think of him in those terms." Shizuke told her. "Your problem was, is, that you though of him in terms that can't ever be applied to Jinchuuriki, you thought that Naruto, as the Kyuubi container, had nice and easy access to Kyuubi's chakra, but he doesn't, no Jinchuuriki has. Just look at the Kazekage, the one tail alone was too overwhelming for him and you seemed to expect an under developed, badly trained and taught twelve year old to do better with the most powerful of all the Bijuu." Shizuke said. "You keep thinking of him in terms of a kunai or katana; a finely honed edge that attacks swiftly and accurately. But Jinchuuriki aren't finely honed weapons, their have the destructive power of a million explosive notes, the relentless power of a tidal wave. I'll tell you what Naruto told me when I asked why he couldn't ever do what you and Konoha expected of him: 'The Kyuubi's chakra is an unrelenting force of nature, you could sooner stop an earthquake with a kunai or turn a tidal wave off of it's path with a wave of your hand. Kyuubi's chakra can't be controlled, only guided and even then it's up to luck.' The only times Naruto looked like he had control was when he was in complete harmony with the Kyuubi, when all Naruto wanted was his opponents death." Shizuke lectured. "What you wanted from Naruto was unobtainable in those circumstances and he told you that, but you didn't listen." She added. "When we met Jiriaya once on our travels they got into an argument over Naruto's refusal to try and control Kyuubi. He, like you, was under the impression that just because it's chakra and it was in Naruto's body he should have complete control of it." Tsunade was confused and it showed.

"But the seal the Yondaime used-"

"Was designed to filter the Kyuubi's chakra, it slowly purifies it not instantly transforms it. When Naruto pulled on the Kyuubi's chakra it was slowly killing him as well as giving the Kyuubi a foothold on his psyche." Shizuke paused and let out a ragged breath. "But this is getting off subject. Why is it that you are absolutely sure that Naruto should come back to the Konoha?" Shizuke asked, all she got was a silent pause. "I see." she finally said. "you were counting on the iron-like loyalty he once had to this village." She stated, Tsunade nodded.

"And if that didn't work I was going to barter information on his parents." She added. "How did he find out about Minato, anyway?"

"My father told him when he hired him, he felt that if he was going to trust Naruto with me then Naruto should know why." Shizuke answered.

"What do you mean 'trust Naruto with you'?" Tsunade asked. Shizuke smiled softly.

"Naruto was hired to teach me various things as well as protect me, we travelled around Fire country, Wind country and various others. While there he taught me the local history, culture and politics. This was all to get me prepared for my role as the Daimyo." She answered, watching as Tsunade started to take a sip of tea. "He also took my virginity." She added and a satisfied smile grew as tea was sprayed over the Hokage's desk.

How is he doing this?! Hinata thought to herself, the pattern was pretty much set, every attack on Naruto's back was dodged then countered but he didn't so much as glance her way, and where did all the damn owls come from?

Naruto smirked as he crouched a spinning kick from his ex-team-mate and then dodged a palm strike aimed at his kidneys from Hinata, he deflected a punch from Sakura by pushing the offending wrist across her body and spun around and embedded his elbow into Hinata's stomach. He rounded back on Sakura and deflected the one-two combo she sent his way, he felt the chakra spike in her hands as she threw her fists at him.

"So how far along are you with mastering your teacher's massive strength?" He asked as he pushed a jab up past his shoulder.

"Far enough to turn you into paste!" She answered and on the last word she powered up a right hook, which was stopped dead when Naruto gripped her fist in his left hand. He cocked his head and smirked in a way that reminded her a little of Sasuke.

"Are you sure about that?" He asked. Sakura tried to pull her fist out of his grip but found it stuck fast.

"That's impossible." she stammered. Naruto shook his head and pulled her fist back and her off balance, then pushed chakra into his right fist and punched her in her stomach, hard. One second they were both there, almost frozen in a tableau of violence and the next Naruto was all alone, only a jet of water and a rising spray to signify where Sakura was launched from. From behind him, Naruto heard four owls hoot in succession, he spun around and raised his right hand and plucked four shuriken from from the air and locked them behind his first knuckles by making a half fist, he now had a make-shift knuckle duster. He faced his opponent, no, his three opponents. Ino had revived and Kiba was back into the fray. Naruto hung his hands down by his sides and began to force his chakra into the water. I've had enough of this he thought one more warning before I take them down.

"This is your last warning, leave or I will be forced to hurt you, badly." He lightly closed his hands, as if holding onto a bag handle and waited for their reply. No reply was forthcoming, instead the four Konoha-nin steeled themselves for a final charge. "Very well, do not say that I didn't warn you." He said and raised his arms, the strain showing in his limbs as if he was lifting a great weight. The four ninja began to charge the jinchuuriki only subconsciously taking notice that the water was no rushing past their feet, straight towards Naruto.

Naruto's hands raised up to his chest level and behind him the water began to rise and hold into a wave, he flipped his hands around and pushed upwards, the wave rose. Sakura and Ino stopped and gaped at the sight, Kiba and Hinata ploughed on, focused completely on their target. Naruto took in the scene before him and sighed before gesturing with his arms, pushing them out in front of him like he was pushing something. The giant wall of water that had built up behind him, now several stories high, rushed forward, around Naruto, and hit the rushing chunins. Despite the distance between Sakura and Ino and Kiba and Hinata, the pink and blonde haired kunoichi couldn't dodge in time and were swept away with the man-made tide.

To say that Kakashi was impressed with his ex-student was an understatement, he was blown completely away. As he watched the fight, Kakashi mentally compared the young Naruto to this one and found that Naruto had matured both physically and mentally and had a better grasp of his intelligence. Naruto had had complete control over the skirmish from the get go, he'd charged his chakra into the sand to use as a screen to mask his movement as well as his next move, which itself was equally impressive.

Kakashi looked to his right and left where two barn owls patiently watched Naruto fight, Kakashi had never heard of an Owl contract but saw Naruto summon a whole flock of them as he landed in the middle of the lake by swiping some blood upon a stylized seal on his left fore arm. The taijutsu fight after that had been entertaining to say the least as Naruto systematically shut down the team one by one. And then the 'dead last' had created giant wave without seals and crashed it down upon the chunin Whatever training Naruto has undertaken Kakashi mused it was good for him. Kakashi looked down at the bottom of the tree had was hiding in and watched the four chunin groan and twitch as they slowly roused themselves, he looked up again to see Naruto slowly walking towards them. What will you do now Naruto?


Shuriken knuckle duster still in hand, Naruto slowly approached the four leaf-nin sprawled on the bank. He watched calmly as Hinata forced herself back to her feet and settled into her families taijutsu stance, but with her leading hand holding a kunai in a reverse grip. Naruto raised an eyebrow at the action.

"I suggest you stand down Hyuuga-sama." He intoned, no emotion evident in his speech. Hinata's grip on the kunai tightened as she watched Naruto approach, now walking slowly up the bank towards her. She took a moment to steel herself and then charged forward, kunai raised for a downward stab, her arm was stopped and pain blossomed in her wrist as Naruto raised the shuriken covered hand and blocked the attack with them. He quickly opened his hand and grabbed her wrist, getting a small squeak of pain from the Hyuuga as he did so, then grabbed her other hand with his free one and twisted her around and held both of her arms behind her back in on hand and kept her their. "I told you that you would fall last Hyuuga-sama." he said and forced her to her knees before freeing up his uncovered hand and jabbing it into the pressure point at the base of her skull, she was out instantly.

He let the unconscious nin drop, then let the four throwing weapons fall from his fingers and began to walk away.

"Just who are you Naruto?" He heard Sakura groan out. He stopped and looked at his ex-team-mate over his shoulder.

"I am Namikaze Naruto." He replied. "Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, exile of Konohagakure no Sato, seal specialist, monk of the Fire Temple, warrior monk of the wind temple." He added. "Adept of the temples of water, earth, lightning and metal, son of the Yondaime Hokage, retainer of the Daimyo of Hi no Kuni and the last person you ever should have fucked with." He finished and continued to walk away. "See you at dinner Hatake-san." He said as he left and, as if on cue, Kakashi appeared by his team-mate. He helped her up before gently admonishing her.

"Do you realise what you just did Sakura?" He asked, she shook her head in the negative. "You just attacked one of the Fire guardians of the Daimyo, and she takes any attack on them personally." He explained to her. She dropped her head in both embarrassment and shame. Tsunade-sama is going to kill me.