Naruto Uzumaki: Master Shinobi, Tamer Extraordinaire
Written By: Rave Rose of Twilight
Warning: I don't own Pokegirls or Naruto. Also, I would like to thank Chaoslegions and his Yahoo! Group, Pokegirl World Information for his generous offer of an up-to-date Pokedex, which I will be using. If you wish to join the group or simply wish to create a Pokegirl fan fiction, go to neo/groups/Pokegirlworldinformation/info.
Chapter Five: The Name of the Game: Teamwork! Let's Show Sensei How It Works!
As Asuma assumed a fighting stance with his knuckle dusters while Samara and Naruto took up a standard Academy Style Taijutsu stance. Naruto and Samara took off toward Asuma with matching grins. Asuma smirked and, in a cloud of dust, disappeared and planted his fists into the stomachs of the charging duo and watched as they disappeared in cloud of smoke.
"Shadow Clones," Asuma surmised. "Impressive for a Genin, but not quite enough for someone with my level of skill."
"Then how about this," came the sound of hundreds of Narutos suddenly appearing all around his potential teacher before they all shot off even faster than before.
Asuma seemed to genuinely smile before throwing punches at each clone that came close. The few clones that stayed back were throwing Kunai his way. It seemed to Asuma that Naruto was, indeed, changing tactics as the battle went on. Oddly enough, he didn't see the others or Naruto's Tigress nearby. Once Asuma was finished with the clones, he looked around and still couldn't see Naruto, even after getting rid of his clones.
After a few minutes of looking around, he noticed a few dozen shadows somehow connecting to his own. Following the shadows, he saw Shikamaru sitting cross legged in front of a bush.
"Shadow Possession Jutsu, complete," the lazy boy stated. "Amara. Grab and Go."
Without warning, Amara flashed before Asuma's eyes and reached up to the cigarette, but Asuma's eyes narrowed before flaring his chakra, releasing Shikamaru's technique, and jumping away from Amara. It wasn't until he saw Shikamaru and Amara smirking that he realized he made a critical error...
CRACK!
...well, that and when he felt a two legs connect with his body. One with his head and another with his back, sending him flying forward and forcing him to correct himself by digging his knuckle dusters into the ground to slow him down.
Looking up, he should have known Samara and Naruto would have shown up sooner or later.
"Hey, Smokey-sensei," Naruto said with a wicked grin. "Why don't you just give up the cigarette and face facts. You're going to be our sensei one way or another. It's inevitable. Like death...or taxes."
"This is too troublesome," muttered Shikamaru next to a nodding Amara.
Looking between the two, Asuma knew he was stuck between two tactical 'geniuses'. Were it not for his promise to not use his Pokegirls, he would have brought one out at this point in the battle/test, but his skills should be enough to ensure his victory, though it will be significantly harder than he originally imagined.
"Maybe, but I've been taking it easy on you," the chain smoker stated before igniting his knuckle dusters in an aura of blue. "It's time for me to take things up a notch."
"Samara," Naruto called. "Get ready for a real fight." The Tigress' hands and legs glowed blue, matching Naruto who channeled chakra into his limbs.
Asuma, in a display of tactical knowledge, went after Shikamaru and Amara first only to be surprised when Naruto and Samara took their place and delivered a violent punch, from Samara, to the man's stomach, forcing him to bend over and catch his breath while Naruto goes next with a knee to the chin, which Samara followed with a roundhouse kick to the stomach, sending him skidding toward a group of trees. "Uzumaki-Tigress Combination Pummel!"
As Asuma flew toward the trees, he was aware that several leaves were flying at him like shuriken thrown by an academy student. Using his knuckle dusters, Asuma easily cut each leaf in half before throwing a punch into the thick of the trees. "Withdraw!"
His fist struck pay dirt when it clashed against a frozen dirt shell that belonged to Ino's Turtwat, Sasami. However, the blade seemed to dig into the shell and refused to budge. Looking up, he noticed Ino smirking at him with her hands in a familiar seal. "Oh shit."
"Mind Body Switch Jutsu," she cried before sending her spirit toward a defenseless Asuma. Ino, now in Asuma's body, looked down at Sasami with a gentle smile. "Good job, Sasami-chan. You really showed everyone that even girls like us can kick ass!"
Sasami gave her/him a thumbs up before plucking the cigarette from the ground and was about to hand it to Shikamaru, but was stopped by something tackling into her back, sending her crashing into a tree before a gray hand plucked the cigarette from the air and placed it in her mouth before taking a drag and blowing out a cloud of smoke.
"Nobody takes Suma-kun's cigarettes but me," she called out in a slightly dark voice. Naruto's eyes widened as he pulled out his pokedex and scanned the odd-looking Pokegirl.
"Smokey, the Smoke Pokegirl. Normally very timid Pokegirls in the wild, these Pokegirls gain the necessary energy for their deadly poison attacks by devouring garbage, chemicals, and other things considered toxic to most non-poison Pokegirls and humans alike. These Pokegirls find highly urbanized environments that produce lots of garbage home. These Pokegirls are also light enough that a gentle breeze has been known to blow them away."
"Of course Smokey-sensei would have a Smokey Pokegirl," Naruto groaned. "Shikamaru's A-Bra doesn't know any Psychic attacks. Neither do any of our Pokegirls." Turning to Samara, he noticed her flinch slightly. "What's wrong, Samara-chan?"
"She's strong," Samara stated. "Stronger than me even. I don't know if we can beat her as we are now."
"Then it's a good thing we won't have to," Naruto stated. "Ino, release your technique."
Ino nodded and released her technique, allowing Asuma to take back control of his body again. He shook the after effects of the technique off and looked around to regain his bearings until his gaze landed on his Smokey...who was puffing on his cigarette...the one he was using to test the three genin and their pokegirls.
"Michiko-chan," Asuma stated. "You do realize that you interrupted a very important test to determine their futures, right?"
The smoking Smokey, now known as Michiko, looked at him then at the genin and their Pokegirls before looking at him again with a small blush and a sheepish grin. "Sorry, Suma-kun, but you smoke the best cigarettes I've ever tasted! I couldn't just let some snot-nosed brats and their Pokegirls steal them!"
"Hey," Naruto growled. "I'm no snot-nosed brat. I've been spending time around Pokegirls and Pokewomen all my life!"
"Yeah," remarked Ino. "We just became Ninja Tamers and Smokey-sensei is our Jonin sensei!"
"Will you stop calling me Smokey-sensei," Asuma shouted at the two, who simply ignored his cries. "Anyway...since you did get my cigarette, as per the rules of the test, and you used teamwork to do it, you guys are officially Ninja Tamer Genin." Looking over at the fairly injured Turtwat, Asuma winced and glared at Michiko lightly. "You may also want to visit a Pokecenter and get Sasami-chan healed. I'm genuinely surprised she's still able to move from the damage she must have taken from Michiko-chan's attack."
Ino held Sasami in her arms and nodded before returning Sasami to her Pokeball. "You did a good job, Sasami. Rest up and I'll get you taken care of as soon as possible. Okay?"
Naruto nodded and smiled at the caring tone Ino used with her young Turtwat. "Because she took the blow on the shell, it probably reduced the damage enough to keep her from fainting from the blow, but she must have felt the shockwave from the Take Down attack through her entire body, which must have rattled her enough that she couldn't get up."
"Sasami's really strong, Ino," called Shikamaru tiredly. "She'll pull through this and be stronger for it."
Ino nodded and smiled at the two. "Thanks a lot for that, guys."
"Well, since I have to report to Hokage-sama about your success, you three are dismissed to do whatever you want today. Hell, go out and celebrate your graduation, for all I care. Tomorrow, meet back here at 0800 for training and missions." Everyone nodded at the smoker and his Pokegirl before taking off. Naruto walked with Ino to the Pokegirl center while Shikamaru was going to tell his parents he graduated.
As Ino and Naruto walked down the streets, Samara had told him that she was returning to his apartment. The two walked in silence and Ino noticed several of the Pokegirls around town were smiling at Naruto while several villagers were either glaring at him or ignoring his very presence. Normally, she would ignore the looks being given to those around her, but something about the looks being given to Naruto both confused and irritated her slightly. Looking over at Naruto, however, she noticed he was either oblivious to the looks or simply ignoring them to the best of his ability.
It didn't take long for the duo to appear inside of the local Pokecenter, where only licensed practitioners of medicine for Pokegirls were allowed to work. At the front desk stood one of the several hundreds of NurseJoys who lived in Konoha. The pink-haired Pokewoman looked up from her paper work and smiled at the two. "Hello, Naruto-kun," she called, waving at the young boy in question before her eyes landed on his Gold Badge and Forehead Protector. "I see you finally graduated. I'm so happy for you and I hope you have a good team."
Naruto smiled and ran over to hug the Joy. "It's great to see you too, Miko-nee-chan, and thanks for the congratulations. Sadly, I'm here on business rather than a friendly visit. My teammates, Ino Yamanaka and Shikamaru Nara, were taking a test to see if we had what it takes to become Ninja Tamers when Ino's Turtwat, Sasami, got hit from behind by Asuma-sensei's Smokey's Take Down attack. Since then, she's been unable to move and it's my belief that she didn't die because of how hard and dense Sasami's shell is that it took the brunt of the attack surprisingly well."
Joy's eyes softened as Ino handed over Sasami's Pokeball. "I'm sorry to hear that, Naruto-kun, Ino-san. You have my word that I'll do my best to get Sasami-san back in prime fighting condition. Did any of your Pokegirls sustain damage, Naruto-kun?"
Naruto shook his head negative. "Thankfully they didn't, but that was only because Asuma-sensei promised not to use his Smokey. She only came out and attacked when Sasami was about to take the cigarette to Shikamaru. Before you go out to chew Asuma-sensei out, he didn't bring her out. She came out of her own free will."
At first, Miko was getting angry that Naruto's sensei would break his promise so quickly, but calmed down slightly when she heard the Pokegirl came out on her own. "That was still pretty reckless of him to bring his Pokegirl with him to something like a test for new graduates. As a Jonin, his Pokegirl had to be level 50 or higher. Sasami is incredibly lucky that she didn't die just from the amount of power a Take Down of that magnitude possessed."
Ino nodded in agreement. She was very lucky to be alive right now that it wasn't even funny. "Thank you, Miko-san. I really appreciate you taking care of Sasami-chan."
"It's no problem at all, Ino-san," Miko waved off. Looking at Naruto, she noticed he had four Pokeballs instead of one, like most beginning Ninja Tamers who started usually had. "So I take it you finally captured Harley-chan," she said with a giggle. "Who do those other three belong to?"
"Well, two of my Pokegirls were my starters. A pair of Elves named Zelda and Aeris. My fourth belongs to a Tigress I named Samara." Miko's eyes widened significantly larger than ever before.
"How did you get your hands on a Tigress around Konoha," she asked seriously. "They can be really dangerous Pokegirls out in the wild!"
Naruto chuckled to himself. "Yeah. Mizuki-sensei dared me to do something and he promised to give me one of his Pokegirls if I did it. Well, I did it and Mizuki-sensei handed over Samara to me."
"You do realize you'll need to get her registered as your Pokegirl tomorrow as well as your other Pokegirls," she said, waving her finger at him. Naruto nodded as Miko turned to Ino again. "Since you're already here, you can register Samara as your Pokegirl while we heal her. I'll just need to see your Pokedex." Ino nodded and handed over her Pokedex to the NurseJoy, allowing her to insert it into a computer and type up some information before scanning Sasami's Pokeball. When they were returned to Ino, Naruto handed over his four Pokeballs and his Pokedex.
"I might as well get them registered now," Naruto said, earning a nod and a smile from Ino and Miko.
"How will you keep your Fourth Pokegirl," Miko asked.
"For now, I'll switch Aeris out with one of the other three occasionally in my Battle Harem, but she'll mostly be staying at home on longer and higher ranked missions," Naruto replied as Miko nodded again. As she scanned the Pokeballs into the system and registered them as Naruto's Pokegirls, a small anomaly appeared as she scanned Zelda's Pokeball and Harley's Pokeballs.
"Erm...Naruto-kun, it says Harley is a Blessed Trixie and Zelda has an unknown subtype. Is that correct?" Naruto nodded and leaned in to whisper something into Miko's ear. Ino tried to listen in, but couldn't hear anything significant. However, Miko's shocked expression said that the news wasn't something she wanted to know yet...or at all, if the trembling of the experienced healer's hands were anything to go by. "Okay. The system will recognize Harley's subtype, but if you're sure you don't want anyone to know about Zelda, then I don't have to put in her subtype since the computer doesn't recognize it. Just...be careful."
Naruto shook his head. "You don't need to worry. Zelda-chan's just like every other Pokegirl I know."
Miko rolled her eyes, but nodded to the young man before turning to Ino. "Since you just got Sasami earlier today, once Sasami is healed completely, you can use one of the Taming Rooms upstairs, Ino-san."
Ino blushed and nodded. "Thank you, Miko-san. I'd like to rent one of those rooms."
Miko nodded in acknowledgment. "Well, if that's everything, then I'd better get going," Naruto stated. "Harley, Samara, Aeris, and Zelda are waiting for me at the house and I haven't Tamed Aeris or Zelda yet since we met at the ranch."
Ino nodded. "Thank you, Naruto...for everything. Sasami and I owe you for helping us out."
As Naruto turned to leave the Pokecenter, he waved Ino's remark off. "We're teammates, Ino. We're supposed to watch each others backs. It's only natural, after all."
As the doors shut behind him, Miko looked at the door with a forlorn look across her face. "He's a nice young man, isn't he, Ino-san?"
Ino smiled softly. "I guess," she whispered. "I never really got to know him well in the academy. He was always either playing pranks with that Trixie of his or skipping class. Even when he did attend, we never really talked to one another."
"A shame," Miko remarked. "Naruto never had many human friends. Most of the time in his youth, he spent either with Harley or here at the Pokecenter playing with some of the sick or injured Pokegirls who came through. Always so considerate. He helped so many Pokegirls who got crippled on missions."
Ino gasped gently. "I never knew. That explains more than a few of the times he skipped class."
"Yes. He's always been such a kind person. Always caring more about others than himself," Miko stated. "I wish there were more people like Naruto out there. It sure would help out with more than a few cases of crippled Pokegirls committing suicide out of depression. I remember this one Cheetit that was on the verge of suicide before Naruto came. The two spent quite some time with one another. Eventually, she evolved into a Leopardess after he spent more than a few months with him. I don't think I'd ever seen a Pokegirl so happy as she had evolved. Then her actual Tamer, the one who abandoned her after she was crippled, came and took her back. I'd never seen two people so heartbroken as I did that day."
"What happened to her," Ino asked, genuinely curious about the sad story.
"She committed suicide less than a month after he came for her," Miko said as she wiped a tear from her eye. "She loved Naruto so much that being apart from him for so little time broke her heart and caused her to kill herself."
"That's so sad. I can't imagine how Naruto took it if that Leopardess took her own life."
"Naruto did what he's always done when everything seemed like it was him against the world," Miko stated. "He moved forward. Sure. He mourned her death, but he knew that she wouldn't want him to just lay back and cry about how unfair it was. As a Cheetit, all she did was move forward. That didn't change when she evolved and it most certainly didn't change when she passed."
Ino wiped some tears from her eyes. This was genuinely the first she'd ever learned or bothered learning about her newest teammate and it definitely changed how she saw him. At first, she heard he was a troublemaker, a vagrant, and a hoodlum. Now that she heard more about him from one of the few people who actually knew him, she now had a much clearer and less biased view on him and it made her wonder if anyone even knew him at all.
After about thirty minutes, Sasami was given a clean bill of health from the NurseJoy and Ino spent the next half hour Taming her in the rented room before heading back home to her father, Inoichi Yamanaka, to tell him the good news and about her teammates.
By the time she reached her house, Ino's father and his Beta, a Rosebreasts named Katrina, were waiting for Ino to come home. Upon seeing the headband and her Silver Badge, the two grew excited and only Katrina ran over to hug the young woman.
"We're so proud of you, honey," Katrina said. She had long, flowing green hair and bright red eyes reminiscent of rose petals when she basks in the sunlight.
Inoichi chuckled. "Yes, princess. We're both incredibly proud you passed your Genin Test. Now, come on in. Katrina's cooking what looks to be a very delicious dinner. You can tell us about your sensei and your teammates on the way."
"Of course, daddy," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Well, Smokey-sensei's test was harder than we thought, but we managed to get his cigarette before the bell rang using good teamwork and strategies in combination with our Pokegirls."
"Smokey-sensei," Katrina asked curiously.
"Asuma Sarutobi," Inoichi cleared up. "He's the Third Hokage's last son. He smokes more than almost anyone I know. It must be a nickname for him. I must say...it fits his personality quite well." Looking back to his daughter, Inoichi asked his daughter another question. "So who are your teammates?"
"Shikamaru and Naruto Uzumaki," Ino said as Inoichi was about to drink from his glass of water only to spit it out all over the dining room.
"Naruto Uzumaki," he asked, wide eyed in either fear or worry. "He's your other teammate? I thought it would be you, Shika, and Chouji on the same team."
"It would have been if Naruto hadn't gotten the best grades in the Pokegirl Studies course and on the Basic Tamer's Test. He got a 97%! That's higher than Sasuke-kun and Forehead Sakura," Ino exclaimed. "He's already got 4 Pokegirls and it's only been a few hours since we got our starters!"
Inoichi spat more water across the table. "4! How can a Genin fresh out of the Academy already have 4 Pokegirls!?"
"Well, his starters were really strange. They were both Elves, but one held herself like a shinobi would while the other one kinda acted like Hinata Hyuuga, shy and a bit bashful, though she did seem really comfortable around Naruto for some reason or another. Then he bought a Tamer's Kit and captured Harley, his Blessed Trixie, and Samara, a Tigress he won from Mizuki in a bet."
Inoichi was about to spit out more water, but a vine wrapped around his mouth. He looked over to see Katrina looking at Ino with a small frown. "What kind of bet did Mizuki make that would allow Naruto to win one of his Pokegirls from him, much less a Tigress?"
Ino shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, but it must have been tough because Samara's really strong. Probably as strong as Zelda, his weird Elf with an unknown subtype. Zelda managed to beat Sasuke-kun's Charamanda with ease when he challenged Naruto to a Pokegirl battle. She used a few spells to fight Charamanda while Charamanda only used Ember. It was...really weird seeing Naruto command her like he did. It was like everyone was seeing a different side of him that nobody knew about. It was like he could read Sasuke-kun like a book and already had a plan to beat him within moments of the challenge being issued."
"You mean to say Naruto accepted Sasuke's challenge," Inoichi asked, but Ino shook her head.
"Actually, he refused to fight him considering the only reason Sasuke-kun did it was to see his fourth Pokegirl, Samara the Tigress. Smokey-sensei and another Jonin thought it would give the other Tamers and Ninja Tamers a taste of how Pokegirl battles went. After Naruto beat Sasuke-kun, Forehead Sakura tried to say he and Zelda cheated in the fight. I argued otherwise and I ended up getting into a Pokegirl battle with her Psi-Dyke with Sasami, my Turtwat. Needless to say, I won fairly easily."
"Very impressive," called a new voice. This one belonged to a brunette with bright blue eyes wearing a pure white silk kimono. "Young Uzumaki seems to be an incredibly talented Tamer to have captured four powerful Pokegirls and to defeat young Uchiha's Charamanda with an Elf."
"Lia-kaa-san," Ino whispered before running up to her father's Alpha and giving her a big hug.
"It's good to see you, Ino-hime," the Elf Queen said in a lyrical tone. "I have seen young Uzumaki around town before. Always playing with young Pokekits at the ranch or with Pokegirls around the village. He is quite charismatic to be loved by so many Pokegirls. What is your opinion of your fellow blond teammate, Ino-hime?"
Ino bit her lip. "At first, I thought he was just a troublemaker and a delinquent, but after hanging out with him and talking to Miko-san, I wonder if I even knew him at all."
"Miko-san," Lia said, placing a finger to her chin. "The NurseJoy that runs the Pokecenter, correct?" Ino nodded. "Indeed, she has known young Uzumaki far longer than most Pokegirls save those who live outside of the village. She would be the best Pokegirl, with the exception of his Blessed Trixie, to inquire about his personality and his behavior prior to the years before he joined the Academy. I would also suggest you speak to the Ichiraku family, specifically Ayame Ichiraku, for a human's insight into the mystery that is Naruto Uzumaki. He is quite fond of them. Probably the only humans, with the exception of Lord Hokage, that know him well enough to give you an unbiased opinion of his character."
Ino nodded. "Thanks a lot, Lia-kaa-san. I'm definitely going to talk to her when I get a chance between Team Meetings and missions."
"I'm glad," she said. "Now, let us eat. Katrina-chan has been slaving over that stove and it wouldn't be proper for us to go to bed without eating dinner as a family."
Ino nodded in agreement and released Sasami from her Pokeball. Together, the three Pokegirls and two Ninja Tamers ate dinner before Ino darted off to bed.
As Lia was picking up the dishes, Inoichi approached his beloved Elf Queen with a slight frown upon his lips. "Why did you do that, Lia?"
"You mean...why did I further her curiosity involving young Uzumaki," she asked, getting a firm nod from her Tamer. "Quite simple. He's not as dangerous as you might have been led to believe."
"Like hell he isn't," growled Inoichi. "Don't you remember what he contains? What if he goes out of control using its power or what if she accidentally uses the Mind Body Switch on him? He's an Explosive Note primed and ready to blow!"
"Because people like you refuse to see him as a human being that had been dealt a bad hand," Lia said, narrowing her eyes at her Tamer. "How many beatings has he been forced to endure at the hands of drunks who believe him to be Kyubi? How many times have people gotten away with torturing him both emotionally and physically because they were too drunk or too stupid to see the young boy that was standing there right in front of their eyes? You call him an Exploding Note primed and ready to blow, but who are the ones who primed him in the first place? This village hasn't given him a good reason to stay loyal? Hell, they've given him more than enough reason to level this village into an uninhabitable wasteland! What if it was Ino who had been chosen by the Fourth Hokage to contain Kyubi? Would you stand by and watch as she is ostracized by the village? Beaten and abused? Left for dead in an alley with nobody to look out for her?"
"Of course not," Inoichi shouted.
"Then what makes him any different," Lia shouted in his face. Inoichi couldn't look her in the eye. "Grab a pillow and blanket 'cause you're sleeping on the couch for the next month or until I say otherwise, dear husband." Lia stormed up to their room and locked the door behind her before going to sleep.
Inoichi sighed before grabbing a spare pillow and blanket before heading to the couch to sleep. Sleep would not come easy for the father and clan head as dreams of his daughter taking Naruto's place drifted in and out of his mind the entire night.