The White Fang's Legacy

Chapter 3: The Trial of Will, An Enemy Lurks

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto, I do however own a child's laughter... seriously it's in a jar, on my shelf.

-Konoha Forest, Hi no Kuni-

We find one Hatake Keito running through the forest like the devil was on his tail, which might well have been true since five of Danzou's Ne ANBU were chasing him. Not that he knew who they were, all he knew was that there was definitely someone pursuing him and they were catching up rapidly. Thinking quickly, he formed a set of handsigns before muttering, "Bunshin no Jutsu." Several images of himself dispersed before he made one more handsign, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Three solid clones appeared and split from the real one, each heading in a different direction. That should slow them down long enough for me to reach a different country's border. Hopefully that'll make them stop. He thought tensely. Just in case it didn't, Keito drew his kunai and kept it close to him.

-Eastern Outskirts, Hi no Kuni-

A white streak burst out of the forest line that gave way to a field of long grass just in time to avoid a hail of shuriken. That distraction did NOT last long enough! The white streak thought in alarm. Before he knew what happened, the white streak was forced to stop since he was now surrounded. The white streak now revealed to be our hero just hung his head at being put against such insurmountable odds on the first fucking day no less. The strange, masked ninja all drew their ninjato which made Keito subconsciously grip his kunai tighter. When he finally looked up, his Sharingan was alive and focused on the ninja directly in front of him. All of them stood as if waiting for something to signal the beginning of the fight. At that moment, a single leaf blew into the clearing and as soon as it touched ground all of the ninja blurred into action.

Keito's Sharingan was buzzing with inputs from each opponent around him, but his body wasn't quite fast enough to avoid every enemy strike. The best he could do was avoid the killing blows while his Wind-charged kunai was cutting their weapons to ribbons. Whenever one of his opponents had an opening the others would cover the opening and counter whatever he tried. This situation was quickly turning hopeless, he wouldn't last long with all the damage that had already been done to him. The wounds were slowing him down and his adversaries just seemed to get more aggressive. Keito bent backwards to dodge a thrust and performed a back handspring to get some distance. He threw his kunai into the air and blurred through handsigns. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" He roared before blowing a massive fireball into the enemy ranks. He caught his kunai and darted back into the forest. The Ne ANBU just followed him after seemingly taking no damage from Keito's jutsu. They stopped at the tree line and each held up a handsign. The forest in front of them exploded from the trap they had set just in case their prey ever decided to run back to the safety of cover.

The suspected leader of the group nodded and the rest began a survey of the annihilated forest. A thorough search of the blasted area had turned up nothing of their prey. The leader had them regroup so he could hear what they had to report.

One of the masked ninja spoke up. "Sir, it appears that there is no trace left of the boy."

The rest reported similar findings. There appeared to be nothing left. After a short silence, the ninja that had first reported in spoke up once more. "Sir, if I may?"

The leader simply nodded that the ninja could continue.

"We used a great deal of exploding tags. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that the explosion simply vaporized him." The ninja politely suggested.

The leader seemed to be thinking on what their next action would be and after a bit more contemplation he had come to a conclusion. "Then that is what we shall report to Danzou-sama. Let's head back now, there's nothing more we can do here." With that, all the masked ninja disappeared in puffs of smoke.

The coast now clear, a scorched stump exploded in a puff of smoke which revealed a burned, bleeding Hatake Keito. Henge no Jutsu success. My plan worked okay, for the most part. He thought, but as soon as he tried to stand a crippling pain shot through his body. "Scratch that, my plan did nothing but keep me alive, in terrible pain." He muttered bitterly. He simply sat against a tree to rest a bit and reflect on what had happened moments ago. His Sharingan had picked up the detonation signal that those ninja used to set off all of their tags which prompted him to create a shadow clone to take the brunt of the blast. He had also expelled a bit of Wind chakra from his hands to absorb most of the shockwave, but based on his condition it appeared that the plan was all but a complete failure. So here he was, broken and in mind-numbing pain with shock slowly setting in until his brain played one of the lessons that his father had taught him. It was about a distress signal used during wartime sent via a pulse of chakra, the pulse was supposed to notify nearby medics that somebody was in need of help. Keito mentally shrugged. Well I'm gonna die anyway so what the hell. He focused a suitable amount of chakra, condensed it, then released the pulse.

Breathing was starting to get difficult and the sun was beginning to set. Keito was sure that no one would come now, but just as darkness was taking him he heard the faint sound of movement. The sounds of movement were accompanied by several shouts that he couldn't quite hear since the explosion had also damaged his hearing. Right before he passed out, Keito caught sight of a girl with short black hair running into what used to be the forest and spotting him. Then nothing.

"Over here Tsunade-shishou!" The black-haired girl called as a blond woman with an enormous pair of 'assets' joined her. "That pulse must've come from this kid."

The blond known as Tsunade just snorted. "This kid looks like shit, Shizune. Had to have been a hell of a party by the looks of this place." She finished with a quick survey of the area.

The now identified Shizune sighed as she approached the unconscious boy. "Yeah he is pretty banged up." She paused to check his vitals and gasped with a worried expression. "He stopped breathing!"

Tsunade quickly joined Shizune at the boy's side and barely held back a flinch at some of his more gruesome wounds. She began trembling a bit at the blood before her student snapped at her.

"Tsunade-shishou, he needs your help now!" Shizune shook her mistress a bit and pleaded desperately for her assistance.

The blond woman snapped out of her trance and, without skipping a beat, performed a string of handsigns that resulted in her hands glowing green. She placed her glowing hands on Keito's chest while Shizune performed the breathing portion of CPR. A few tense minutes passed until the two medics managed to get the boy's vitals back and to a stable level. They then treated the major wounds in order to prepare him for transportation to the inn that the two were staying in.

-Tadari Inn, Hi no Kuni-

Shizune carried the boy to their room and gently laid him down on one of the beds in her's and Tsunade's room. Once there, she healed the rest of his minor wounds. She stripped him to his boxers in order to give him a complete examination. When she found no further damage, she applied bandages to his more superficial wounds to prevent infection. She placed the bed's comforter over his body before she left to wash his clothes. Tsunade stood at the bedroom's doorway after Shizune left and began staring at the sleeping boy with scrutinizing eyes. Something clicked in her head. "Ne, Shizune?" Tsunade called to her student.

"What is it, shishou?" Shizune replied curiously upon seeing her teacher's face.

"Doesn't this kid kinda remind you of Kakashi?" Tsunade asked her apprentice.

Shizune simply scanned the boy and contorted her face in thought. "A little, I suppose." She answered.

Tsunade just pursed her lips. "You think Kakashi had a kid while we've been gone?"

"Doubt it." Shizune answered with a shake of her head. "I'd lean more towards Sakumo having a second child than Kakashi having his first."

"You're probably right." Tsunade agreed. "Wonder what he was doing in the middle of a destroyed forest?" She pondered aloud.

Shizune just shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe he'll give us an explanation when he wakes up." She suggested.

"Maybe." Tsunade muttered before making her way over to the other bed. She hopped onto it and fell asleep thinking about what this kid was going to tell them when he awoke.

Two full weeks had passed before Keito started showing signs of awakening. He breathed in sharply as he shook awake, his eyes snapping open. Once he determined that he wasn't in danger, he scanned the room and figured that he wasn't in hell. That's a great relief to know that I'm not dead, and not outside for that matter. Keito thought as he relaxed slightly. He carefully shifted his body out of the bed and upon standing he found that he was now dressed in dark blue gym shorts and a gray t-shirt. He gingerly made his way to the door and opened it quietly. Keito made his way to what seemed to be the main living area using the walls for support. He poked his head into the room and saw two occupants: that black-haired girl who found him and a blond woman that he didn't know. The black-haired girl spotted him, put down what she was doing, and moved to approach him.

"Hey shishou look who decided to join us." Shizune announced to the blond woman who merely grunted in response. She laughed lightly before turning back to Keito, "Don't mind her, she's just hungover. My name's Shizune, it's nice to meet you..." She let the sentence hang in the air.

They didn't seem to be enemies, in fact they saved him and clothed him. He gave Shizune a small smile. "Keito. Akira Keito. And the pleasure's all mine." He falsely introduced himself just in case he found that they couldn't be trusted.

Shizune mentally frowned at the fact that he may have lied about his identity since her and Tsunade were both sure that he was a Hatake. She was about to voice her protest when her master beat her to it.

"Bullshit!" Tsunade yelled out, startling both of the room's other occupants. "We may not know exactly who you are, but we do know that you're a Hatake."

Keito chuckled a bit. "A Hatake? I think you must be mistak-" He was cut off by the blond woman.

"Look brat, enough games." Tsunade got out of her seat and grabbed Keito before he could react and got level with him. "I am Tsunade of the Sannin and you will answer my damn questions truthfully, got that?" She left no room for argument.

"Yes ma'am." Keito answered quickly now that he knew who he was dealing with. He then fully explained himself but subtly lied about the 'Trial of Will' thing since the rules stated that he couldn't disclose that he was participating in it. Instead, he simply told her that he was "exploring" and got attacked by a gang of bandits. She knew he was lying, but didn't care to pursue it just yet. The Slug Princess simply took her seat to converse with the kid.

"So you're Sakumo's, huh?" Tsunade asked rhetorically she then settled her chin upon her intertwined fingers. "So how is he and your mother doing?"

Keito closed his eyes at the question. "My mom died during the Kyuubi attack, but my dad's still kickin'. He's officially retired so now he just takes care of me since Kaka-nii moved out a few months ago." He began somberly finishing with a content tone.

"That's too bad." Tsunade paused then decided to change the subject. "So what's your perverted, cycloptic brother up to?"

Keito smiled a bit at how she referred to his brother. "Kaka-nii is out of the ANBU and working as a Jounin now. Still a pervert and still a cyclops." He ended with a joke.

Shizune was doing her best to just stay quiet and let them talk but something was really getting to her. "What's wrong with you?" She blurted her question at Keito.

Both Keito and Tsunade blinked in shock at Shizune's outburst. Keito managed to utter a stunned, "Eh?"

Shizune sighed. "What I meant to say was: Now that you know who she is, why haven't you been begging to get trained by her?" She asked curiously.

"Hmm, that's a good question." Keito admitted with a smile now that the shock had worn off. "I figured that I'd wait a little before asking since a Sannin's time is fairly valuable. I need to show that I'm worth it."

Tsunade just stood up and put her hands on her hips. " Well I don't mind training the White Fang's brat, but be prepared for the cost to get taken out of your ass." She finished with an evil smile.

Keito just sweat-dropped. Why do I keep doing this to myself? He thought with a miserable smile on his face. "I'm honored to receive training from you, Tsunade-sensei." He bowed respectfully to emphasize his declaration.

-Kyonburo Inn, Hi no Kuni, One Week Later-

Once Keito fully recovered, the small group traveled to the southern part of Hi no Kuni. Tomorrow was going to be his first official day of training with the Slug Princess and her apprentice, so he took advantage of the time to create ten shadow clones and sent them off in different directions. As Keito rested on one knee from the exertion, Tsunade saw the whole thing and shot him a questioning look. He just gave her a withering smile and cryptically said, "Multitasking."

Tsunade just rolled her eyes. "Just don't kill yourself, gaki." Why are all Hatake men so strange? It's gotta be hereditary. She thought before crossing her arms over her chest and shaking her head as she walked away.

Keito made his way back to their inn room to meditate and then sleep for the rest of the day in preparation for the training he would receive.

The following morning our hero woke up early and grabbed a simple breakfast from the various pastries and fruits that the inn supplied in a small dining room just a little ways from their room. He got back to the room and nearly ran into the two people he wanted to speak with. However, before words could even be exchanged Keito was turned back out of the room's door and led to a secluded area about a mile away from the inn. Tsunade finally turned to face him and smiled, "Hope you slept well gaki, 'cause you're about to have a hell of a day."

Keito felt her chakra spike and instinctively performed a back handspring to dodge whatever had been sent his way. Whatever it was caused a huge dust cloud to fill the area and forced his Sharingan to activate out of mental distress. The dust cleared to reveal an enormous crater where he had been not more than a few seconds ago. He saw Tsunade in the crater with her fist still touching the ground. She lifted her head to reveal an evil grin that faltered once she made eye contact with him.

"Sharingan." Tsunade uttered it like it was a curse word. "Gaki, explain."

Keito averted his eyes and sighed. "My mom was an Uchiha. I actually just found out fairly recently myself." He confessed, almost ashamed of himself for leaving that part out when he told his new teacher about who he was. "I hope this doesn't change anything, Tsunade-sensei."

Tsunade just narrowed her eyes in contemplation before smiling. "Nothing changed, but now I know that I can be a little rougher with you than previously thought." She walked up to Keito and flicked him in the forehead which sent him flying. "Get ready to learn a thing or two, gaki."

-Yukari Lodge, Hi no Kuni, One Year Later-

The last year had seen Keito, Tsunade, and Shizune traveling all around Hi no Kuni until they reached a mountain range to the northeast just a few miles from the border to Rai no Kuni. In that year Keito had learned a variety of jutsu as well as a ton of useful information. Tsunade showed him plenty of healing arts in the first year, but this year was all about damage-dealing skills and advanced medical ninjutsu which made him incredibly excited. Shizune was in charge of teaching him the rest which consisted of: poisons, antidotes, anatomy, medical history, diseases, and a plethora of treatment methods that he hadn't even heard of. Then there was the shadow clones that he had sent to the far corners of the continent to absorb everything they saw. He dispelled them every month to find out what they learned and created ten more for further knowledge absorption. Keito's clones sent him a few jutsu in addition to new skills for him to develop on his own. He had even changed the way he dressed these days, choosing to emulate his current teacher wearing a simple dark blue t-shirt, baggy charcoal gray pants taped from his mid-calf down to his ankles, black sandaru, and a green coat to match her's. What can he say, he's easily influenced.

At the moment, the trio was enjoying the hot spring that the lodge offered. Of course Keito was in the men's bathing area whereas Tsunade and Shizune were occupying the women's side. It wasn't more than a few minutes until the white-haired youth sensed a presence on the other side of the wall where his teachers were bathing. He had no choice but to alert the women of the peeping tom. "Tsunade-sensei, Shizune-nee!" he called over the wall dividing the bathing areas.

"What is it, gaki?" He heard Tsunade call back.

"There's a pervert spying on you two." Were the only words Keito needed to say in order for the peaceful hot spring area to explode with feminine rage. He heard yelling, screaming, and begs for mercy but knew that the guy wasn't going to receive any. Keito waited a bit before asking, "Are you two decent?"

"Yes, Keito-kun." He heard Shizune respond this time.

Keito wrapped a towel around his waist to see what had become of the peeping tom. What he saw was certainly surprising to say the least. It happened to be none other than the Gama Sennin, Jiraiya. He had heard plenty about the man's greatness from both his father and brother but for different reasons. His father told him that the man taught the Yondaime Hokage and was also one of the legendary Sannin. While his brother simply gushed about how the man was the author of his favorite smut series. Guess he really is just a giant pervert. Keito thought with a sweat-drop. "Guess you got him, ne sensei?" he asked even though he knew the answer.

The three had left and gotten dressed properly just as Jiraiya was coming around from his savage beating at the hands of his former teammate. They all decided to go to a nearby restaurant, on Jiraiya's coin of course, to discuss what was current. Jiraiya informed them of his travels and the recent developments that his spies let him in on. Tsunade in turn told him all about who Keito was which made Jiraiya express interest in training him. This made the Slug Princess bristle and vehemently deny his request immediately causing the other three to laugh a bit at her territorial attitude toward her apprentices.

Just as Jiraiya's visit was coming to an end, the man approached Keito and offered him a scroll saying that it contained some good stuff for a young ninja like himself. The young Hatake made sure that Tsunade wasn't around before quickly taking the scroll and bowing politely in thanks to the man. Jiraiya just smiled and told him to say hello to his father and brother for him. The Gama Sennin then disappeared in a puff of purple smoke leaving Keito to ponder on what was in the scroll that he received.

A/N: Wow, so let's recap this chapter: survived an encounter with Ne ANBU, saved by a Sannin, taught by the same Sannin, and received a training scroll from a second Sannin. Look, I know what you all are thinking 'Keito's such a Gary Stu', but that's the beauty of his character. I feel that I've done pretty well to keep Keito just on the line between a Stu and a reasonable character with little limits here and there.

Also, I know it feels like I rushed through a year of training and his encounter with Jiraiya but just bear with me. Once the prepatory crap is outta the way I can actually get to the real point of this story. Be patient, Naruko will come. Ja ne.